THERMODYNAMICS OF POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE)-POLY(VINYL ACETATE) BLENDS

Heat-of-mixing data, obtained on blends of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with whole and fractionated poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), were used to feed Patterson's theory of polymer-polymer miscibility. Negative values of mixing enthalpy, contact-energy term, interaction'' parameter and excess volume were obtained only for blends with the lowest molecular weight PVAc fraction. These results show that miscibility of PVAc with PEO strongly depends on its molecular weight. The calculated unfavourable excess volume term of the Patterson equation is small in comparison with the absolute value of the interaction term. Therefore, miscibility of PEO and low-molecular-weight PVAc is dictated by the weak specific interactions between different repeat units and by the entropic gain in the mixing process.

海洋剖面测量系统形态模拟及仿真研究

海洋监测是人类认识海洋、研究海洋的有利工具，海洋自动观测仪器又是海洋监测技术最基本的硬件单元。文章介绍了一种具有自主知识产权的新型海洋仪器产品¬――波浪驱动式海洋要素垂直剖面测量系统，并对其工作时的动力特性展开系统的数值模拟与仿真。 该测量系统在水中的受力情况可分解为海面和水下两部分进行系统地分析。本文依照流体力学理论，利用频域和时域的分析方法，给出了非线性条件下海面波浪力对运动系统的影响。 水下工作时，系统在三维方向的流的作用下，呈现不同工作姿态，其姿态又对系统的稳定性影响较大。本文对水下受力情况进行里了详尽的数值分析，建立了数学模型，进而做了仿真开发研究，给出了便于应用的直观仿真模型。利用已获取的深、浅海现场实测海流数据，通过仿真，反演出了该海况下测量系统的虚拟就位状态；得出了较为理想工作运动曲线，并分析了可满足系统高效工作的海流与水深关系。 本文通过一系列理论与实践研究，配合计算机软件编程，以Matlab为仿真模型的开发工具，完成了海洋要素垂直剖面测量系统动力响应的数值模拟和仿真工作，为实现系统最终的下海运行做出了科学的预演。

一种鉴定正品藏茵陈川西獐牙菜的分子试剂盒及其鉴定方法

本发明涉及一种鉴定正品藏茵陈川西獐牙菜的分子试剂盒及其应用。该试剂盒反应液主要由DNA片段引物IDl：GGCTTGCCTCTCGACGCTC，ID2：GCAAGCGTCACGAAGACGCG，和DMSO试剂等组成。该试剂盒的应用包括以下步骤：1、对药材进行总DNA提取；2、利用引物对提取的DNA进行PCR扩增，若得到约500bp片段的扩增产物，则为川西獐牙菜；无此扩增片段，则是伪品种类。

电离层参量M(3000)F2和hmF2的经验正交函数方法建模研究

The ionospheric parameter M(3000)F2 (the so-called transmission factor or the propagation factor) is important not only in practical applications such as frequency planning for radio-communication but also in ionospheric modeling. This parameter is strongly anti-correlated with the ionospheric F2-layer peak height hmF2，a parameter often used as a key anchor point in some widely used empirical models of the ionospheric electron density profile (e.g., in IRI and NeQuick models). Since hmF2 is not easy to obtain from measurements and M(3000)F2 can be routinely scaled from ionograms recorded by ionosonde/digisonde stations distributed globally and its data has been accumulated for a long history, usually the value of hmF2 is calculated from M(3000)F2 using the empirical formula connecting them. In practice, CCIR M(3000)F2 model is widely used to obtain M(3000)F2 value. However, recently some authors found that the CCIR M(3000)F2 model has remarkable discrepancies with the measured M(3000)F2, especially in low-latitude and equatorial regions. For this reason, the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) research community proposes to improve or update the currently used CCIR M(3000)F2 model. Any efforts toward the improvement and updating of the current M(3000)F2 model or newly development of a global hmF2 model are encouraged. In this dissertation, an effort is made to construct the empirical models of M(3000)F2 and hmF2 based on the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis combined with regression analysis method. The main results are as follows: 1. A single station model is constructed using monthly median hourly values of M(3000)F2 data observed at Wuhan Ionospheric Observatory during the years of 1957–1991 and compared with the IRI model. The result shows that EOF method is possible to use only a few orders of EOF components to represent most of the variance of the original data set. It is a powerful method for ionospheric modeling. 2. Using the values of M(3000)F2 observed by ionosondes distributed globally, data at grids uniformly distributed globally were obtained by using the Kriging interpolation method. Then the gridded data were decomposed into EOF components using two different coordinates: (1) geographical longitude and latitude; (2) modified dip (Modip) and local time. Based on the EOF decompositions of the gridded data under these two coordinates systems, two types of the global M(3000)F2 model are constructed. Statistical analysis showed that the two types of the constructed M(3000)F2 model have better agreement with the observational M(3000)F2 than the M(3000)F2 model currently used by IRI. The constructed models can represent the global variations of M(3000)F2 better. 3. The hmF2 data used to construct the hmF2 model were converted from the observed M(3000)F2 based on the empirical formula connecting them. We also constructed two types of the global hmF2 model using the similar method of modeling M(3000)F2. Statistical analysis showed that the prediction of our models is more accurate than the model of IRI. This demonstrated that using EOF analysis method to construct global model of hmF2 directly is feasible. The results in this thesis indicate that the modeling technique based on EOF expansion combined with regression analysis is very promising when used to construct the global models of M(3000)F2 and hmF2. It is worthwhile to investigate further and has the potential to be used to the global modeling of other ionospheric parameters.

A scenario-driven decision support system for serious crime investigation

Q. Shen, J. Keppens, C. Aitken, B. Schafer, and M. Lee. A scenario driven decision support system for serious crime investigation. Law, Probability and Risk, 5(2):87-117, 2006. Sponsorship: UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant GR/S63267; partially supported by grant GR/S98603

Client-ship and Citizenship in Latin America

Taylor, L. (2004). Client-ship and Citizenship in Latin America. Bulletin of Latin American Research. 23(2), pp.213-227. RAE2008

‘All the places we were not supposed to go’: a case study of formative class and gender habitus in adventure climbing

This paper explores the origins of meaning in adventurous activities. Specifically, the paper reports on a study of 10 adventure climbers in the Scottish mountaineering community. The study explores how formative experiences have influenced engagement in adventure climbing. Work has been done on the phenomenology of adventure and how individuals interpret and find meaning in the activity—this paper goes a step further and asks where do these dispositions come from? Using Bourdieu’s ideas of field, habitus and forms of capital to frame these experiences in the wider social environment, early experiences are identified that, for the subjects of this study, provide a framework for their later adoption of the ‘adventure habitus’. Among these influences are mainstream education, adventure education in particular, as well as broader formative experiences relating to factors such as gender and class. In addition, the study suggests that accounts differ between males and females in terms of their attitudes and dispositions towards adventure. This may relate to their respective experiences as well as expanding opportunities for both males and females. However, while the ‘adventure field’ provides a context where women can develop transformative identities, these are nearly always subject to male validation.

Staging Swissness : Inter-and Intracultural Theatre Translation

Wilkinson, Jane, 'Staging Swissness: Inter- and Intracultural Theatre Translation', Language and Intercultural Communication (2005) 5(1) pp.72-85 RAE2008

Inorganic glasses, glass-forming liquids and amorphizing solids

Greaves, George; Sen, S., (2007) 'Inorganic glasses, glass-forming liquids and amorphizing solids', Advances in Physics 56(1) pp.1-166 RAE2008

Using Warp to Control Network Contention in Mermera

Parallel computing on a network of workstations can saturate the communication network, leading to excessive message delays and consequently poor application performance. We examine empirically the consequences of integrating a flow control protocol, called Warp control [Par93], into Mermera, a software shared memory system that supports parallel computing on distributed systems [HS93]. For an asynchronous iterative program that solves a system of linear equations, our measurements show that Warp succeeds in stabilizing the network's behavior even under high levels of contention. As a result, the application achieves a higher effective communication throughput, and a reduced completion time. In some cases, however, Warp control does not achieve the performance attainable by fixed size buffering when using a statically optimal buffer size. Our use of Warp to regulate the allocation of network bandwidth emphasizes the possibility for integrating it with the allocation of other resources, such as CPU cycles and disk bandwidth, so as to optimize overall system throughput, and enable fully-shared execution of parallel programs.

Einleitung: Dramapädagogik und fremdsprachlicher Deutschunterricht

Published Version

Literatur verstehen und inszenieren: Foreign language literature through drama, a research project

Based on the experience that today's students find it more difficult than students of previous decades to relate to literature and appreciate its high cultural value, this paper argues that too little is known about the actual teaching and learning processes which take place in literature courses and that, in order to ensure the survival of literary studies in German curricula, future research needs to elucidate for students, the wider public and, most importantly, educational policy makers, why the study of literature should continue to have an important place in modern language curricula. Contending that students' willingness to engage with literature will, in the future, depend to a great extent on the use of imaginative methodology on the part of the teacher, we give a detailed account of an action research project carried out at University College Cork from October to December 2002 which set out to explore the potential of a drama in education approach to the teaching and learning of foreign language literature. We give concrete examples of how this approach works in practice, situate our approach within the subject debate surrounding Drama and the Language Arts and evaluate in detail the learning processes which are typical of performance-based literature learning. Based on converging evidence from different data sources and overall very positive feedback from students, we conclude by recommending that modern language departments introduce courses which offer a hands-on experience of literature that is different from that encountered in lectures and teacher-directed seminars.

Literaturvermittlung auf dem Weg von gestern nach morgen - eine auslandsgermanistische Perspektive

Literaturvermittlung in der Auslandsgermanistik ist traditionell die Domäne der Literaturwissenschaft, die allerdings eine Antwort darauf schuldig bleibt, was jemanden zu einem guten Literaturvermittler macht und worin die besondere Qualität von Lernprozessen besteht, die Studierende im Laufe der Semester anhand von deutschsprachiger Literatur machen. Angesichts der Tatsache, dass Literatur als Bildungsgut und ihr Stellenwert im Curriculum heutzutage nicht mehr so selbstverständlich akzeptiert ist wie vor Jahrzehnten, sollte sich die Auslandsgermanistik solchen und ähnlichen Fragen bereitwilliger stellen und offen diskutieren, wie in künftigen Jahren das studentische Interesse an Literatur wach gehalten bzw. neu entfacht werden kann. Ein wichtiger Schritt in diese Richtung wäre ein Ernster-Nehmen literaturdidaktischer Fragestellungen und insbesondere der Erforschung von Aspekten der vernachlässigten Lehrund Lernpraxis. Es wird dafür plädiert, sich in der Literaturvermittlung künftig nicht ausschließlich an wissenschaftlichen Kategorien zu orientieren, sondern diese auch als eine Form ästhetischer Praxis zu begreifen.

Zukunftsgemäße Deutschlehrerausbildung – einige Assoziationen, Thesen, offene Fragen und Reformvorschläge

Im ersten Teil wird kurz die Problematik unterschiedlicher Formen von Lehrerausbildung innerhalb Europas skizziert. Dabei wird auf gesellschaftliche Veränderungen hingewiesen, die sich in vielen fortgeschrittenen Industriegesellschaften vollziehen und Konsequenzen für die Lehrerausbildung bedeuten. Im Zentrum des zweiten Teils folgen deutschlandbezogene Überlegungen zu einer zukunftsgemäßen Lehrerausbildung, wobei insbesondere die Empfehlungen der von der deutschen Kultusministerkonferenz in Auftrag gegebenen Studie zu "Perspektiven der Lehrerbildung in Deutschland" zum Bezugspunkt werden. Im dritten Teil wird am Beispiel der Republik Irland ein landesspezifisches Ausbildungsmodell kritisch dargestellt; er endet mit allgemeinen Zukunftsprognosen für die irische Bildungswirklichkeit. Diese leiten zum vierten Teil über, in dem ein Plädoyer für ein Ausbildungsmodell erfolgt, in dem Fremdsprachenlehrer nicht nur wissenschaftlich, sondern auch künstlerisch ausgebildet werden. Zum Schluss wird die Notwendigkeit betont, über die Ursachen weiter nachzudenken, die der sich innerhalb Europas verschärfenden Krise des Lehrberufs zugrunde liegen, wie auch über geeignete Maßnahmen, mit denen auf diese Tendenzen reagiert werden könnte.

Heat-labile enterotoxin: beyond G(m1) binding.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a significant source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. One major virulence factor released by ETEC is the heat-labile enterotoxin LT, which is structurally and functionally similar to cholera toxin. LT consists of five B subunits carrying a single catalytically active A subunit. LTB binds the monosialoganglioside G(M1), the toxin's host receptor, but interactions with A-type blood sugars and E. coli lipopolysaccharide have also been identified within the past decade. Here, we review the regulation, assembly, and binding properties of the LT B-subunit pentamer and discuss the possible roles of its numerous molecular interactions.