A preliminary Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) study of magnetite surface microtextures from the Wahianoa moraines, Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand.

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) of quartz micro‐textures has routinely been used to identify the depositional environment of sediments in areas of former ice‐sheet glaciation. On volcanic mountains, where the geomorphic origin of ridge deposits is often poorly understood, quartz is much less abundant, so SEM analysis has not been used as a depositional discriminator. Preliminary research on surface micro‐textures of abundant magnetite grains from the Wahianoa moraines, south‐eastern Mt Ruapehu, suggests that SEM of magnetite may be useful in determining the process‐origin of deposits. We describe micro‐textures and surface characteristics of samples of magnetite, and our study shows that many of the micro‐textures visible on quartz, thought to be diagnostic of glacial transport, are present on magnetite too. However, evaluating whether SEM analysis of magnetite is an applicable technique will require a better understanding of the microtextures occurring on known glacial, fluvioglacial and aeolian deposits on volcanic mountains

Interfacial strength in thermoplastic composites - at last an industry friendly measurement method?

Many elegant techniques have been developed for the quantification of composite micro-mechanical parameters in recent years. Unfortunately, most of these techniques have found little enthusiastic support in the industrial product development environment, where they are viewed as time consuming, complex, inefficient, labour intensive, and in many cases unproven or inapplicable in 'real' systems. Despite this reaction, there is a real need for a 'user-friendly' micro-mechanics to aid the composites industry to move to the next level of development. A method for deriving values for τ (the interfacial shear strength) and ηo (a fibre orientation factor) from a simple combination of the composite tensile stress-strain curve and the fibre length distribution has been available for some time. Despite the recent wealth of activity in the development of micro-mechanical test techniques, there has been little follow-up on this older technique. In this paper we explore this analysis by its application to injection moulded glass-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites produced using three matrices (polypropylene, polyamide 6,6 and polybutyleneterephthalate) and containing different levels of glass-fibre. We furthermore show how the analysis can be extended to obtain another important micro-mechanics parameter, σuf, the fibre stress at composite failure. Values of τ and ηo obtained using this improved version of the original model are presented and discussed

Analysis of β-globin chromatin micro-environment using a novel 3C variant, 4Cv

Copyright: © 2010 Pink et al.Higher order chromatin folding is critical to a number of developmental processes, including the regulation of gene expression. Recently developed biochemical techniques such as RNA TRAP and chromosome conformation capture (3C) have provided us with the tools to probe chromosomal structures. These techniques have been applied to the β-globin locus, revealing a complex pattern of interactions with regions along the chromosome that the gene resides on. However, biochemical and microscopy data on the nature of β-globin interactions with other chromosomes is contradictory. Therefore we developed a novel 4C variant, Complete-genome 3C by vectorette amplification (4Cv), which allows an unbiased and quantitative method to examine chromosomal structure. We have used 4Cv to study the microenvironment of the β-globin locus in mice and show that a significant proportion of the interactions of β-globin are inter-chromosomal. Furthermore, our data show that in the liver, where the gene is active, β-globin is more likely to interact with other chromosomes, compared to the brain where the gene is silent and is more likely to interact with other regions along the same chromosome. Our data suggest that transcriptional activation of the β-globin locus leads to a change in nuclear position relative to the chromosome territory.Ryan Pink is supported by a grant from Action Medical Research; Daniel Caley is supported by a grant from The Dunhill Medical Trust; David Carter is supported by a grant from the British Society for Haematology

Which environmental factors most strongly influence a street's appeal for bicycle transport among adults? : a conjoint study using manipulated photographs

BACKGROUND: Micro-environmental factors (specific features within a streetscape), instead of macro-environmental factors (urban planning features), are more feasible to modify in existing neighborhoods and thus more practical to target for environmental interventions. Because it is often not possible to change the whole micro-environment at once, the current study aims to determine which micro-environmental factors should get the priority to target in physical environmental interventions increasing bicycle transport. Additionally, interaction effects among micro-environmental factors on the street's appeal for bicycle transport will be determined. METHODS: In total, 1950 middle-aged adults completed a web-based questionnaire consisting of a set of 12 randomly assigned choice tasks with manipulated photographs. Seven micro-environmental factors (type of cycle path, speed limit, speed bump, vegetation, evenness of the cycle path surface, general upkeep and traffic density) were manipulated in each photograph. Conjoint analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Providing streets with a cycle path separated from motorized traffic seems to be the best strategy to increase the street's appeal for adults' bicycle transport. If this adjustment is not practically feasible, micro-environmental factors related to safety (i.e. speed limit, traffic density) may be more effective in promoting bicycle transport than micro-environmental factors related to comfort (i.e. evenness of the cycle path surface) or aesthetic (i.e. vegetation, general upkeep). On the other hand, when a more separated cycle path is already provided, micro-environmental factors related to comfort or aesthetic appeared to become more prominent. CONCLUSIONS: Findings obtained from this research could provide advice to physical environmental interventions about which environmental factors should get priority to modify in different environmental situations

Social Opportunities and Private Convenience of Choices at Farm Level: An Approach to the Links Between Farm Income and Sustainable GDP

This work proposes a method to identify and evaluate the links between the economic and environmental management of a farm, its income, and sustainable GDP. The approach is designed to link micro and macro economic aspects and is based on certain indicators, chosen from among those obtained from analysis of the farm accounts, suitable for representing socially desirable objectives. Three different types of farm accounts are employed. An MADM method of quantitative MCDM analysis was used to make a joint evaluation of various objective indicators in different types of farm management. The work only presents the most interesting result of the research, which was the method itself and does not include the results of a specific case study which was made. This method can be generally applied to connect macro and micro economic aspects and thus might be applicable to different contexts.Method, Farm, Society, Income, Environment, Well-being, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Q1,

Hysteresis in the fundamentals of macroeconomics.

Two fundamental problems in economic analysis concern the determination of aggregate output, and the determination of market prices and quantities. The way economic adjustments are made at the micro level suggests that the history of shocks to the economic environment matters. This paper presents tractable approach for introducing hysteresis into models of how aggregate output and market prices and quantities are determined.Hysteresis, Aggregate Output, Market Supply and Demand

Pengaruh Lingkungan Kerja,Motivasi Kerja Dan Disiplin kerja Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Pada Bank Syariah Mandiri Surakarta (Mikro)

This study aims to examine and analyze the influence of the working environment, motivation and discipline on the performance of employees at Bank Syariah Mandiri Surakarta (Micro). Data collected through questionnaires carried out on 50 employees of Bank Syariah Mandiri Surakarta (Micro). Analysis of the data in this study using Linear Regression Analysis Berganda. Setelah conduct a literature review and formulation of hypotheses, data collected through questionnaires in 50 employees of Bank Syariah Mandiri Surakarta obtained using random sampling techniques, then analysis of data obtained using multiple linear analysis. This analysis included: validity and reliability test, classical assumption (normality, multicollinearity, and heteroscedasticity), multiple linear regression analysis and goodness of fit (test F, the coefficient of determination / R square, t-test). Where the employee performance variable (Y), work environment (X1), motivation (X2), work discipline (X3) were tested by t-test showed that the three independent variables significantly influence the decision of the dependent variable. Then through the F test showed that there is influence between work environment, motivation and discipline of work on employee performance. Keywords: employee performance, work environment, work disciplin

How Phase Transitions induce classical behaviour

We continue the analysis of the onset of classical behaviour in a scalar field after a continuous phase transition, in which the system-field, the long wavelength order parameter of the model, interacts with an environment, of its own short-wavelength modes and other fields, neutral and charged, with which it is expected to interact. We compute the decoherence time for the system-field modes from the master equation and directly from the decoherence functional (with identical results). In simple circumstances the order parameter field is classical by the time the transition is complete.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure: To be published in the International Journal of Theoretical Physics (2005) as part of the Proceedings of the "Peyresq Physics 9" meeting (2004) on "Micro and Macro structures of spacetime",ed. E. Verdague