Determination of burn criterion for promoted combustion testing

Promoted ignition testing [1–3] is used to determine the relative flammability of metal rods in oxygen-enriched atmospheres. In these tests, a promoter is used to ignite each metal rod to start the sample burning. Experiments were performed to better understand the promoted ignition test by obtaining insight into the effect a burning promoter has on the preheating of a test sample. Test samples of several metallic materials were prepared and coupled to fast-responding thermocouples along their length. Various ignition promoters were used to ignite the test samples. The thermocouple measurements and test video were synchronized to determine temperature increase with respect to time and length along each test sample. A recommended length of test sample that must be consumed to be considered a flammable material was determined based on the preheated zone measured from these tests. This length was determined to be 30 mm (1.18 in.). Validation of this length and its rationale are presented.

Complaining in cyberspace : the motives and forms of hotel guests’ complaints online

Traditionally, consumers who have been dissatisfied with service have typically complained to the frontline personnel or to a manager in either a direct (face-to-face, over the phone) manner, indirect by writing, or done nothing but told friends and family of the incident. More recently, the Internet has provided various “new” ways to air a grievance, especially when little might have been done at the point of service failure. With the opportunity to now spread word-of-mouth globally, consumers have the potential to impact the standing of a brand or a firm's reputation. The hotel industry is particularly vulnerable, as an increasing number of bookings are undertaken via the Internet and the decision process is likely to be influenced by what other previous guests might post on many booking-linked sites. We conducted a qualitative study of a key travel site to ascertain the forms and motives of complaints made online about hotels and resorts. 200 web-based consumer complaints were analyzed using NVivo 8 software. Findings revealed that consumers report a wide range of service failures on the Internet. They tell a highly descriptive, persuasive, and credible story, often motivated by altruism or, at the other end of the continuum, by revenge. These stories have the power to influence potential guests to book or not book accommodation at the affected properties. Implications for managers of hotels and resorts are discussed.

Heat effects of promoters and determination of burn criterion in promoted combustion testing

Promoted ignition testing (NASA) Test 17) [1] is used to determine the relative flammability of metal rods in oxygen-enriched atmospheres. A promotor is used to ignite a metal sample rod, initiating sample burning. If a predetermined length of the sample burns, beyond the promotor, the material is considered flammable at the condition tested. Historically, this burn length has been somewhat arbitrary. Experiments were performed to better understand this test by obtaining insight into the effect a burning promotor has on the preheating of a test sample. Test samples of several metallic materials were prepared and coupled to fast-responding thermocouples along their length. Thermocouple measurements and test video were synchronized to determine temperature increase with respect to time and length along each test sample. A recommended flammability burn length, based on a sample preheat of 500 degrees fahrenheit, was determined based on the preheated zone measured from these tests. This length was determined to be 30 mm (1.18 in.). Validation of this length and its rationale are presented.

Backseat Drivers

Script for non verbal performance work for young audiences. Three productions by the Queensland Theatre Company 2000-2002. (QTC/QPAC) Out of the Box Festival of Early Childhood 2000. Queensland Arts Council Tours 2000, 2001, 2002. Seoul Arts Centre 2000 Selected by ASSITEJ as a representative script for Australia Set entirely in the backseat of a car, with the road behind appearing on a rear-projection screen, Backseat Driver is the story of two very different children battling the fingerdrumming, motor-humming boredom of a long car trip. Using non-verbal performance, video projection and the music of Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley and the Shadows, Backseat Drivers is a comedy for anyone who has ever asked the question ”are we there yet?”. Exploring the power of creative play, Backseat Driver has enjoyed three productions, including a season for Korean audiences at the Seoul Arts Centre in 2001.

Backseat drivers

Script for non verbal performance work for young audiences. Three productions by the Queensland Theatre Company 2000-2002. ----- ----- ----- (QTC/QPAC) Out of the Box Festival of Early Childhood 2000. Queensland Arts Council Tours 2000, 2001, 2002. Seoul Arts Centre 2000 ----- ----- ----- Selected by ASSITEJ as a representative script for Australia ----- ----- ----- Set entirely in the backseat of a car, with the road behind appearing on a rear-projection screen, Backseat Driver is the story of two very different children battling the fingerdrumming, motor-humming boredom of a long car trip. Using non-verbal performance, video projection and the music of Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley and the Shadows, Backseat Drivers is a comedy for anyone who has ever asked the question ”are we there yet?”. Exploring the power of creative play, Backseat Driver has enjoyed three productions, including a season for Korean audiences at the Seoul Arts Centre in 2001.

The impact of online reviews on hotel booking intentions and trust

A growing reliance on the Internet as an information source when making choices about tourism products raises the need for more research into electronic word of mouth. Within a hotel context, this study explores the role of four key factors that influence perceptions of trust and consumer choice. An experimental design is used to investigate four independent variables: the target of the review (core or interpersonal); overall valence of a set of reviews (positive or negative); framing of reviews (what comes first: negative or positive information); and whether or not a consumer generated numerical rating is provided together with the written text. Consumers seem to be more influenced by early negative information, especially when the overall set of reviews is negative. However, positively framed information together with numerical rating details increases both booking intentions and consumer trust. The results suggest that consumers tend to rely on easy-to-process information, when evaluating a hotel based upon reviews. Higher levels of trust are also evident when a positively framed set of reviews focused on interpersonal service.

Enhancing employment services for people with severe mental illness: the challenge of the Australian service environment

Objectives:  Comparatively few people with severe mental illness are employed despite evidence that many people within this group wish to obtain, can obtain and sustain employment, and that employment can contribute to recovery. This investigation aimed to: (i) describe the current policy and service environment within which people with severe mental illness receive employment services; (ii) identify evidence-based practices that improve employment outcomes for people with severe mental illness; (iii) determine the extent to which the current Australian policy environment is consistent with the implementation of evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness; and (iv) identify methods and priorities for enhancing employment services for Australians with severe mental illness through implementation of evidence-based practices. Method:  Current Australian practices were identified, having reference to policy and legal documents, funding body requirements and anecdotal reports. Evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness were identified through examination of published reviews and the results of recent controlled trials. Results:  Current policy settings support the provision of employment services for people with severe mental illness separate from clinical services. Recent studies have identified integration of clinical and employment services as a major factor in the effectiveness of employment services. This is usually achieved through co-location of employment and mental health services. Conclusions:  Optimal evidence-based employment services are needed by Australians with severe mental illness. Providing optimal services is a challenge in the current policy environment. Service integration may be achieved through enhanced intersectoral links between employment and mental health service providers as well as by co-locating employment specialists within a mental health care setting.

Savages crossing

For a screenwriter, the key challenge of writing genre movies is balancing formulaic convention (familiar plotlines, character types, themes) with generic invention (introducing novel generic elements or devices). The thriller genre is built around the elements of tension and suspense, and plot devices such as twists, red herrings, and cliff-hangers evoke uncertainty, anxiety and anticipation from the audience. For the feature film Savages Crossing, the question driving the screenplay was “How can the psychological thriller genre be renewed through elements of the family drama to challenge audience expectations?” While there are numerous sub-genres, each with thematic nuances, the psychological thriller typically revolves around a central antagonist. Taking this element as the focal point, the screenplay turned to family drama to revise this convention.

Kiss

In an age of mobile phones, Facebook, Twitter and online dating, interactions in mediated environments often outnumber face to face encounters. Kiss is an interactive light artwork by artists Priscilla Bracks & Gavin Sade. Kiss reacts to people standing in front of the artwork looking at each other - the moment before kissing. Without interaction the work generates a seductive, ambient, red lighting display, that creates the restful sense of staring into a fire. A fleeting response of white light – like sparks flying in the air – occurs the moment before two faces touch. These sparks are visible in peripheral vision, but fade when the kissing couple turns to look at the work. This moment - as two people look at each other - is a primal moment when two people recognise each other. Face to face encounters with another person are a privileged phenomenon in which the other person's presence and proximity are strongly felt. Kiss does not respond to every instance of a kiss or a look. Its recognition algorithms are fussy, selecting some faces and not others. As in life it’s difficult to tell why sparks fly with some people but not with others. For some this will be felt as a glitch. “This machine should be part of my social life!” But it does promote trial and error, asking viewers to be intimate in public and look at each other for longer than otherwise socially normal. 10 minutes continuous eye contact is said in most cases to arouse sexual feelings in both parties. But even if we don’t look that long, a short time may be all that is needed to explore the face of the person we are looking at. We see that they are human like us. We experience beauty, difference, discomfort, perhaps even nervous laughing, before turning to a more intimate moment of recognition.

Submarine pyroclastic deposits formed during the 20th May 2006 dome collapse of the Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

The 20th May 2006 lava dome collapse of the Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat, had a total non-dense rock equivalent (non-DRE) collapse volume of approximately 115 × 10 6 m 3. The majority of this volume was deposited into the ocean. The collapse was rapid, 85% of the mobilized volume being removed in just 35 min, giving peak pyroclastic flow flux of 66 × 10 3 m 3 s -1. Channel and levee facies on the submarine flanks of the volcano and formation of a thick, steep-sided ridge, suggest that the largest and most dense blocks were transported proximally as a high concentration granular flow. Of the submerged volume, 30% was deposited from the base of this granular flow, forming a linear, high-relief ridge that extends 7 km from shore. The remaining 70% of the submerged volume comprises the finer grain sizes, which were transported at least 40 km by turbidity currents on gradients of <2°. At several localities, the May 2006 distal turbidity currents ran up 200 m of topography and eroded up to 20 cm of underlying substrate. Multiple turbidites are preserved, representing current reflection from the graben margins and deflection around topography. The high energy of the May 2006 collapse resulted in longer submarine run out than the larger (210 × 10 6 m 3) Soufrière Hills dome collapse in July 2003.

Undrained sediment loading key to long-runout submarine mass movements : evidence from the Caribbean Volcanic Arc

Long undersea debris runout can be facilitated by a boundary layer formed by weak marine sediments under a moving slide mass. Undrained loading of such offshore sediment results in a profound drop of basal shear resistance, compared to subaerial shear resistance, enabling long undersea runout. Thus large long-runout submarine landslides are not truly enigmatic (Voight and Elsworth 1992, 1997), but are understandable in terms of conventional geotechnical principles. A corollary is that remoulded undrained strength, and not friction angle, should be used for basal resistance in numerical simulations. This hypothesis is testable via drilling and examining the structure at the soles of undersea debris avalanches for indications of incorporation of sheared marine sediments, by tests of soil properties, and by simulations. Such considerations of emplacement process are an aim of ongoing research in the Lesser Antilles (Caribbean Sea), where multiple offshore debris avalanche and dome-collapse debris deposits have been identified since 1999 on swath bathymetric surveys collected in five oceanographic cruises. This paper reviews the prehistoric and historic collapses that have occurred offshore of Antilles arc islands and summarizes ongoing research on emplacement processes.