Small business survey: linking 2006 and 2007 waves to the IDBR

This report describes work to link two waves of the Small Business Survey (SBS) to the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)1. The first is the Annual Small Business Survey 2006/07, hereafter SBS 2006; the second is the survey for 2007/8, hereafter SBS 2007. The linking work has been undertaken by Belmana and Middlesex University; IFF Research conducted both surveys and has overseen this work. The focus of this research was to understand the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of linking and then develop an approach for application to the 2006 and 2007 waves of the survey. A particular difficulty, as older waves of SBS are linked to the IDBR, is the changes to businesses that would have occurred since the survey. This work has taken steps to reduce the effect of the age of the survey on the quality of the data linking, by linking to historic vintages of the IDBR and the Companies House register. The report also reviews earlier work by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) linking the 2010 and 2012 SBS surveys to the IDBR. The project draws on insights from this, but introduces new linking methods that improve link rates. Various quality checks have been undertaken and, given the surveys were conducted almost a decade ago, the ability to link a higher proportion of respondents to the IDBR than achieved for the 2010 survey indicates the linking of SBS can be undertaken even for relatively old waves. Some preliminary analysis of the linked survey data suggests that there is potential for understanding the more long-term outcomes for businesses and correlating these with SBS responses

Opening access to administrative data for evaluating public services: the case of the Justice Data Lab

As government administrative data sets are increasingly made available for new (non-administrative) purposes, there is a need to improve access to such resources for voluntary and community organizations, social enterprises and private businesses for statistical analysis and evaluation purposes. The Justice Data Lab set up by the Ministry of Justice in the UK presents an innovative case of how administrative data can be linked to other data held by organizations delivering public services. The establishment of a unit within a secure setting holding evaluation and statistical expertise has enabled providers of programmes aimed at reducing re-offending to obtain evidence on how the impact of their interventions differs from that of a matched comparison group. This article explores the development of the Justice Data Lab, the methodological and other challenges faced, and the experiences of user organizations. The article draws out implications for future development of Data Labs and the use of administrative data for the evaluation of public services

Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior in Pipes and Elbows of Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel Materials

AbstractThe objective of the present study is to understand the fatigue crack growth behavior and validate analytical procedures for austenitic stainless steel and carbon steel pipes, pipe welds and elbows. The study involved fatigue tests on actual components and specimens. The Paris law has been used for the prediction of fatigue crack growth life. Paris constants have been determined for pipe (base), pipe weld and pipe elbow materials by using Compact Tension (CT)/Three Point Bend (TPB) specimens machined from the actual pipe, pipe weld and pipe elbow. Analyses have been carried out to predict the fatigue crack growth life of these piping components having part through cracks on the outer surface. In the analyses, Stress Intensity Factor (K) has been evaluated through two different schemes. The first scheme considers the ‘K’ evaluations at two points of the crack front i.e. maximum crack depth and crack tip end at the outer surface. The second scheme accounts for the area averaged root mean square stress intensity factor (KRMS) at deepest and surface points. In order to validate the analytical procedure/results, experiments have been carried out on full scale pipes, pipe welds with part through circumferential crack. The tests have also been conducted on the full scale carbon steel elbows having part-through circumferential notch at intrados location and axial notch at crown location on the outer surface. Fatigue crack growth life evaluated using both schemes have been compared with experimental results. Use of stress intensity factor (KRMS) evaluated using second scheme gives better fatigue crack growth life prediction compared to that of first scheme

SMEs in a low carbon economy: final report for BERR enterprise directorate.

This report reviews the established evidence and thinking around the challenges and opportunities that will affect UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the transition to a low carbon economy. The serious threat of global climate change is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels and land-use change and few now dispute that there is a need for urgent collective action to achieve a transition to a low carbon and more resource efficient economy. Although little has been written specifically on SMEs in a low carbon economy, a considerable body of relevant academic and policy literature has been identified

Fatigue studies on stainless steel piping materials and components: Indian AHWR

As a part of component integrity test program at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, fatigue tests on full scale pipe and pipe welds were conducted in addition to CT and TPB specimens. In this paper the outcome of this program is discussed. Specimen testing was conducted to determine the basic cyclic stress strain curve, LCF and FCGR properties. FCGR tests were conducted on CT and TPB specimens to understand the effect of different conditions: Specimen level tests result show that, for the present grade of material, the FCGR is not significantly affected by specimen type (CT and TPB), specimen thickness and notch orientation. FCGR resistance of the hot wire GTAW is superior compared to that of conventional SMAW. The effects of stress ratio are mildly significant at lower R-values for base metal but are significant for weld metal. Component tests were conducted to understand the effect of the following variables:(a)Component type and size: pipe and pipe weld, Pipe diameters 170 mm and 324 mm,(b)Pipe and pipe weld: initial notch in pipe base, and girth welded pipe, (c) Pipe welds: Conventional GTAW/SMAW and hot wire narrow gap GTAW, (d)Environment: Air and water, (e) Type of loading: Constant amplitude cyclic, vibration, Block, overload and underload. Results indicated that the fatigue life of the component is reduced under water environment compared to air environment. Fatigue life of the pipe subjected to block loading (increasing stress ratio followed by decreasing stress ratio), intermittent overloading and underloading is also decreased compared to that of constant amplitude loading. Vibration loading reduces fatigue life significantly. Crack growth in thickness direction is more compared to circumferential direction for all types of loading which is desirable for demonstration of LBB criteria. Fatigue life of the notched component has also been predicted using the Paris constants data from the specimen level tests. Fatigue crack growth and the crack shape of the growing crack have been evaluated for regular interval of loading cycles. The predictions compares well with those of experiments

Relations between plasma microRNAs, echocardiographic markers of atrial remodeling, and atrial fibrillation: Data from the Framingham Offspring study

BACKGROUND: Circulating microRNAs may reflect or influence pathological cardiac remodeling and contribute to atrial fibrillation (AF). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify candidate plasma microRNAs that are associated with echocardiographic phenotypes of atrial remodeling, and incident and prevalent AF in a community-based cohort. METHODS: We analyzed left atrial function index (LAFI) of 1788 Framingham Offspring 8 participants. We quantified expression of 339 plasma microRNAs. We examined associations between microRNA levels with LAFI and prevalent and incident AF. We constructed pathway analysis of microRNAs\u27 predicted gene targets to identify molecular processes involved in adverse atrial remodeling in AF. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 66 +/- 9 years, and 54% were women. Five percent of participants had prevalent AF at the initial examination and 9% (n = 157) developed AF over a median 8.6 years of follow-up (IQR 8.1-9.2 years). Plasma microRNAs were associated with LAFI (N = 73, p \u3c 0.0001). Six of these plasma microRNAs were significantly associated with incident AF, including 4 also associated with prevalent AF (microRNAs 106b, 26a-5p, 484, 20a-5p). These microRNAs are predicted to regulate genes involved in cardiac hypertrophy, inflammation, and myocardial fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating microRNAs 106b, 26a-5p, 484, 20a-5p are associated with atrial remodeling and AF

Comparison of two-phase pipe flow in openFOAM with a mechanistic model

Two-phase pipe flow is a common occurrence in many industrial applications such as power generation and oil and gas transportation. Accurate prediction of liquid holdup and pressure drop is of vast importance to ensure effective design and operation of fluid transport systems. In this paper, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study of a two-phase flow of air and water is performed using OpenFOAM. The two-phase solver, interFoam is used to identify flow patterns and generate values of liquid holdup and pressure drop, which are compared to results obtained from a two-phase mechanistic model developed by Petalas and Aziz (2002). A total of 60 simulations have been performed at three separate pipe inclinations of 0°, +10° and -10° respectively. A three dimensional, 0.052m diameter pipe of 4m length is used with the Shear Stress Transport (SST) k - turbulence model to solve the turbulent mixtures of air and water. Results show that the flow pattern behaviour and numerical values of liquid holdup and pressure drop compare reasonably well to the mechanistic model

Defining optimal DEM resolutions and point densities for modelling hydrologically sensitive areas in agricultural catchments dominated by microtopography

AbstractDefining critical source areas (CSAs) of diffuse pollution in agricultural catchments depends upon the accurate delineation of hydrologically sensitive areas (HSAs) at highest risk of generating surface runoff pathways. In topographically complex landscapes, this delineation is constrained by digital elevation model (DEM) resolution and the influence of microtopographic features. To address this, optimal DEM resolutions and point densities for spatially modelling HSAs were investigated, for onward use in delineating CSAs. The surface runoff framework was modelled using the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) and maps were derived from 0.25m LiDAR DEMs (40 bare-earth points m−2), resampled 1m and 2m LiDAR DEMs, and a radar generated 5m DEM. Furthermore, the resampled 1m and 2m LiDAR DEMs were regenerated with reduced bare-earth point densities (5, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125 points m−2) to analyse effects on elevation accuracy and important microtopographic features. Results were compared to surface runoff field observations in two 10km2 agricultural catchments for evaluation. Analysis showed that the accuracy of modelled HSAs using different thresholds (5%, 10% and 15% of the catchment area with the highest TWI values) was much higher using LiDAR data compared to the 5m DEM (70–100% and 10–84%, respectively). This was attributed to the DEM capturing microtopographic features such as hedgerow banks, roads, tramlines and open agricultural drains, which acted as topographic barriers or channels that diverted runoff away from the hillslope scale flow direction. Furthermore, the identification of ‘breakthrough’ and ‘delivery’ points along runoff pathways where runoff and mobilised pollutants could be potentially transported between fields or delivered to the drainage channel network was much higher using LiDAR data compared to the 5m DEM (75–100% and 0–100%, respectively). Optimal DEM resolutions of 1–2m were identified for modelling HSAs, which balanced the need for microtopographic detail as well as surface generalisations required to model the natural hillslope scale movement of flow. Little loss of vertical accuracy was observed in 1–2m LiDAR DEMs with reduced bare-earth point densities of 2–5 points m−2, even at hedgerows. Further improvements in HSA models could be achieved if soil hydrological properties and the effects of flow sinks (filtered out in TWI models) on hydrological connectivity are also considered

Dynamics and Regulation of RecA Polymerization and De-Polymerization on Double-Stranded DNA

10.1371/journal.pone.0066712PLoS ONE86