Carburising and carbon transfer coefficient in a fluidised bed furnance

The carburising of a steel workpiece with complex geometry in a fluidised bed hasbeen studied experimentally. This involved carburising experiment in an electrically heated fluidised bed at 900 - 970°C with natural gas and air as the atmosphere. The carbon transfer coefficient at the workpiece surface and diffusivity within the workpiece were determined from the carbon distribution within the diffusion layer of the sample. A reverse method and the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm were used in the calculations. The methodology of the reverses method to extract the carbon transfer coefficient and diffusivity is also discussed in some detail.

Does the concept of ″altered states of consciousness″ rest on a mistake?

Block (2002) has argued that the multiplicity of meanings ascribed to consciousness is due to the erroneous treatment of very different concepts as a single concept. Block distinguished four notions of consciousness intended to encapsulate the various meanings attributed to the term: phenomenal, access, self, and monitoring consciousness. We argue that what is common to all of these definitions is the implicit distinction between consciousness and the content of consciousness. We critically examine the term “altered state of consciousness” and argue that affixing the qualifier “altered state” to consciousness results in a theoretical confusion of consciousness and its content, that is, consciousness is mistaken for the content of consciousness. We refer to this as the consciousness/content fallacy and argue that it may be avoided if one supplants “altered states of consciousness” with “altered pattern of phenomenal properties,” an extrapolation of the term “phenomenal field.” Implications of the consciousness/content fallacy for theory and research are also considered.

Comparing Victoria's genuine progress with that of the Rest-of-Australia

While a range of exogenous and endogenous factors affect the standard of  living of most Australians in a more-or-less uniform way, the different social and economic-policies of each state government are likely to affect the levels of sustainable well-being experienced across the various states. With this in mind, a Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) - a newly devised measure of sustainable well-being - is calculated for Victoria and the Rest- of- Australia (Australia minus Victoria) for the period 1986-2003. The GPI takes account of the various costs and benefits of economic activity in order to investigate the impact of a growing state or national economy on sustainable well-being.
By analysing the GPI results and the policies undertaken by the Victorian government, it is possible to determine what the state of Victoria is doing differently to the Rest-of-Australia that might be beneficial or detrimental to sustainable well-being. While our study reveals that Victoria is performing better than the Rest-of-Australia, it also highlights flaws in the policy-making process that have resulted in Victoria's Gross State Product (GSP) overstating its genuine progress.

The west and the rest

TOPICS
European exploration of the Orient
Oriental ism
Orientalist art
Early European views of Muslims
Universal values versus cultural relativism
The clash of civilisations
The emergence and function of rogue states
The axis of evil and the war on terror
Future predictions

Projections to the preoptic area from the paraventricular nucleus, acuate nucleus and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are unlikely to be involved in stress-induced suppression of GnRH secretion in sheep

Stress compromises reproductive function and the major physiological system activated during stress is the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Corticotrophin-releasing hormone and arginine vasopressin (AVP), which are produced in neurones of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), drive the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and are also implicated in the suppression of the reproductive axis. We used retrograde tracing and Fos labelling to map the projections from the PVN to the preoptic area (POA) where most gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurones are found. Fluorogold (FG) injections were made into the POA of gonadectomised male and female sheep (n = 5/sex), the animals were stressed and the brains recovered for histochemistry. All animals responded to stress with an increase in the number of Fos-labelled nuclei in the PVN. Few retrogradely labelled cells of the PVN were activated by stress. Dual labelling showed that very few FG-labelled cells also stained for corticotrophin-releasing hormone, none for AVP or enkephalin. Dual labelling for FG and Fos in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and the arcuate nucleus showed that no FG-labelled cells in the BNST and only few in the ARC were activated by stress. No sex differences were observed in the activation of FG-labelled cells in any of the nuclei examined. We conclude that, although cells of the PVN, BNST and/or arcuate nucleus may affect reproduction via the GnRH cells of the POA, this is unlikely to involve direct input to the POA. If cells of these regions are involved in GnRH suppression during stress, this may occur via interneuronal pathways.