Is the Shroud of Turin in Relation to the Old Jerusalem Historical Earthquake?

Phillips and Hedges suggested, in the scientific magazine Nature (1989), that neutron radiation could be liable of a wrong radiocarbon dating, while proton radiation could be responsible of the Shroud body image formation. On the other hand, no plausible physical reason has been proposed so far to explain the radiation source origin, and its effects on the linen fibres. However, some recent studies, carried out by the first author and his Team at the Laboratory of Fracture Mechanics of the Politecnico di Torino, found that it is possible to generate neutron emissions from very brittle rock specimens in compression through piezonuclear fission reactions. Analogously, neutron flux increments, in correspondence to seismic activity, should be a result of the same reactions. A group of Russian scientists measured a neutron flux exceeding the background level by three orders of magnitude in correspondence to rather appreciable earthquakes (4th degree in Richter Scale). The authors consider the possibility that neutron emissions by earthquakes could have induced the image formation on Shroud linen fibres, trough thermal neutron capture by Nitrogen nuclei, and provided a wrong radiocarbon dating due to an increment in C(14,6)content. Let us consider that, although the calculated integral flux of 10^13 neutrons per square centimetre is 10 times greater than the cancer therapy dose, nevertheless it is100 times smaller than the lethal dose.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

"The Great Event of the Fortnight”: Steamship Rhythms and Colonial Communication

This paper engages with Tim Cresswell’s ‘contellations of mobility’ in order to contribute some understanding of historical maritime rhythms. The empirical focus is upon a steamship mail service in the post-emancipation Caribbean. In examining this communications network, it is stressed that while those managing the network valorised predictable efficiency, ‘friction’ was prized by mercantile groups at the steamers’ ports of call. Thus, the different aspects of mobility signified differently across the network, and this historical case study reinforces the resonance of slowness and stoppage time. The synchronisation of steamship arrivals with sociocultural norms in the Caribbean colonies also necessitated the adaptation of mail service rhythms. Through a focus on shipping operations, this paper proposes to temper our understanding of the role of steamship technology in empire. The influence of colonies on the metropole encompassed an alteration of the rhythms of imperial circulation, and it is within the maritime arena that these realities came into sharp focus

TQM implementation: An empirical examination and proposed generic model

Total quality management (TQM) is considered by many as an important quality and business performance improvement tool. The popularity of the concept has led to an explosion of TQM related literature. A careful review of the literature suggests that most publications recount the experiences or perceptions of the authors or deal with single case organisations. Furthermore, there is a dearth of empirical research and literature dealing with TQM's implementation process. This paper reports the findings of a research project that empirically examined the process of TQM implementation in a sample of organisations widely regarded as leading exponents of TQM. The paper presents a non-prescriptive model of the TQM implementation process derived from the findings and proposes an "outcome driven" approach as an alternative to the more commonplace TQM implementation strategies

Bringing the countryside to the city: practices and imaginations of the rural in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

10.1177/0042098014563031Urban Studies532324-33

China’s Dam Builders: their role in transboundary river management in Southeast Asia

This article investigates China’s role as the world’s largest builder of and investor in large dams, focussing on the Greater Mekong Sub-Region in South-East Asia. It addresses the role Chinese actors play in dam-building as well as the environmental, social, economic and political implications by drawing on case studies from Cambodia and Vietnam. The article finds that China’s dam-building is perceived very differently in different countries of South-East Asia. In Cambodia, the dams in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region are considered instruments of economic growth and development, whereas downstream in Vietnam the dams are seen as potentially undermining national growth, development and security

Bowling Together: Scientific Collaboration Networks of Demographers at European Population Conferences

Studies of collaborative networks of demographers are relatively scarce. Similar studies in other social sciences provide insight into scholarly trends of both the fields and characteristics of their successful scientists. Exploiting a unique database of metadata for papers presented at six European Population Conferences, this report explores factors explaining research collaboration among demographers. We find that (1) collaboration among demographers has increased over the past 10 years, however, among co-authored papers, collaboration across institutions remains relatively unchanged over the period, (2) papers based on core demographic subfields such as fertility, mortality, migration and data and methods are more likely to involve multiple authors and (3) multiple author teams that are all female are less likely to co-author with colleagues in different institutions. Potential explanations for these results are discussed alongside comparisons with similar studies of collaboration networks in other related social sciences

Diversion of Benzodiazepines through Healthcare Sources

Background—Benzodiazepines (BZ) are often diverted from legal sources to illicit markets at various points in the distribution process which begins with a pharmaceutical manufacturer, followed by distribution to healthcare providers, and finally, to the intended users. Little is known about the extent of BZ diversion involving distribution points directly related to healthcare sources (e.g., a script doctor) as opposed to points further down the distribution chain (e.g., street dealers). The present study examines the scope of BZ diversion via mechanisms directly related to a healthcare source. It examines the association between BZ dependence and the direct utilization of particular healthcare-related diversion sources among a diverse sample of prescription drug abusers in South Florida. Method—Cross-sectional data were collected from five different groups of drug users: methadone-maintenance clients (n = 247), street drug users (n = 238), public-pay treatment clients (n = 246), private-pay treatment clients (n = 228), and stimulant using men who have sex with men (MSM; n = 248). Results—Findings suggest that those ages 26 to 35 years old, non-Hispanic White participants, private-pay treatment clients, those who are insured, and those with higher incomes had higher odds of utilizing healthcare diversion sources. Participants utilized a pharmacy as a diversion source more than other healthcare sources of diversion, and the highest number of BZs were obtained from doctor shopping compared to other diversion sources. Those who reported BZ dependence also had 2.5 times greater odds of using a healthcare source to obtain BZs than those who did not meet criteria for dependence. Discussion—Prevention of BZ diversion through healthcare sources should include strategies to reduce doctor shopping and diversion from pharmacies

Economic viability of alternative horizontal axis tidal turbine concepts: operation and maintenance simplicity is the key?

A recent dti funded study[1] examined the difference in power capture between a variety of concept horizontal axis tidal turbines (HATT). The aim of the work was to examine the trade-off between design complexity and expected economic cost over the lifetime of tidal turbine farm. Two types of mechanical complexity were examined. The first assumed that the device was free to yaw as the tidal current changes direction. In this case the difference in power capture came from the use of either an optimum uni-directional blade or for a fixed device a bi-directional blade design developed at the University of Southampton. The second complexity was whether the blades would have a controllable pitch. For the basis of the comparison it was assumed that the basic turbine would have a fixed diameter of 20m and be sited in 40m water depth with a spring mean maximum tidal current of 2.5m/s. The methodology adopted was to analyse the hydrodynamic performance and tidal cycle energy capture using a blade element momentum code. In order to make a best-case comparison a blade shape design optimisation was carried out for both the uni and bi-directional blades by searching of the order of 50,000 combinations of chord and twist distributions. A range of alternative blade rpm control strategies were examined to see how this would influence the energy capture. A detailed mechanical system representation was developed so that the reliability and availability of each turbine within the farm could be assessed with a stochastic Monte-Carlo simulation applied to examine variability. The result of the work based on the establishment of a systematic framework, using realistic assumptions was the extent to which the loss in energy conversion efficiency of the simpler concepts was counterbalanced by a reduction in capital and O&amp;M costs. It was concluded that such a simple system is technically feasible and is competitive on a life cycle cost basis and worthy of further consideration<br/