Productivity of Federally Financed Research and Development Final Report, May 15, 1963 - May 14, 1966

Research project on federal and industrial patent acquisition and economic implications - NASA PROGRA

A Non-Zeeman Interpretation for Polarized Maser Radiation and the Magnetic Field at the Atmospheres of Late-Type Giants

The linear polarization that is observed, together with likely changes in the orientation of the magnetic field along the line of sight and hence of the optical axes of the medium, can lead to the circular polarization that is observed in the radiation of the circumstellar SiO masers. A magnetic field greater than only about 30 mG is required, in contrast to 10-100 G that would be implied by the Zeeman interpretation. To assess quantitatively the likely changes in orientation of the magnetic field, calculations are performed with representative field configurations that are created by statistical sampling using a Kolmogorov-like power spectrum.Comment: 7 pages Latex (aaspp4.sty), 3 ps-figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter

A super-ductile alloy for the die-casting of aluminium automotive body structural components

Super-ductile die-cast aluminium alloys are critical to future light-weighting of automotive body structures. This paper introduces a die-cast aluminium alloy that can satisfy the requirements of these applications. After a review of currently available alloys, the requirement of a die-cast aluminium alloy for automotive body structural parts is proposed and an Al-Mg-Si system is suggested. The effect of the alloying elements, in the composition, has been investigated on the microstructure and mechanical properties, in particular the yield strength, the ultimate tensile strength and elongation. © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.The EPSRC and JLR U

Executive computer program for linking independent computer programs: ODINEX

Program controls sequence of execution of network of program elements and maintains data base of common information which forms communication link among them. Approach is applicable to any multiple-program task

Spectra of Maser Radiation from a Turbulent, Circumnuclear Accretion Disk. III. Circular polarization

Calculations are performed for the circular polarization of maser radiation from a turbulent, Keplerian disk that is intended to represent the sub-parsec disk at the nucleus of the galaxy NGC4258. The polarization in the calculations is a result of the Zeeman effect in the regime in which the Zeeman splitting is much less than the spectral linebreadth. Plausible configurations for turbulent magnetic and velocity fields in the disk are created by statistical methods. This turbulence, along with the Keplerian velocity gradients and the blending of the three hyperfine components to form the $6_{16} - 5_{23}$ masing transition of water, are key ingredients in determining the appearance of the polarized spectra that are calculated. These spectra are quite different from the polarized spectra that would be expected for a two-level transition where there is no hyperfine structure. The effect of the hyperfine structure on the polarization is most striking in the calculations for the maser emission that represents the central (or systemic) features of NGC4258. Information about magnetic fields is inferred from observations for polarized maser radiation and bears on the structure of accretion disks.Comment: Latex, uses aastex, eucal, to be published in the Astrophysical Journa

Evidence for risk of bias in cluster randomised trials: review of recent trials published in three general medical journals

Objective To examine the prevalence of a risk of bias associated with the design and conduct of cluster randomised controlled trials among a sample of recently published studies. Design Retrospective review of cluster randomised trials published in the BMJ, Lancet, and New England Journal of Medicine from January 1997 to October 2002. Main outcome measures Prevalence of secure randomisation of clusters, identification of participants before randomisation (to avoid foreknowledge of allocation), differential recruitment between treatment arms, differential application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and differential attrition. Results Of the 36 trials identified, 24 were published in the BMJ, I I in the Lancet, and a single trial in the New England journal of Medicine. At the cluster level, 15 (42%) trials provided evidence for secure allocation and 25 (69%) used stratified allocation. Few trials showed evidence of imbalance at the cluster level. However, some evidence of susceptibility to risk of bias at the individual level existed in 14 (39%) studies. Conclusions Some recently published cluster randomised trials may not have taken adequate precautions to guard against threats to the internal validity of their design

Annona muricata (graviola): toxic or therapeutic

This paper examines annona muricata (graviola): toxic or therapeutic

Experience of domestic violence by women attending an inner city accident and emergency department.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the prevalence of domestic violence (DV) (defined as physical abuse perpetrated by intimate partners) in women attending an inner city accident and emergency department and to elicit women's response about being asked routinely about domestic violence in this setting. METHODS: 22 nursing shifts were purposefully sampled to be representative of day, night, and weekends. A questionnaire was administered to 198 consenting women who were not intoxicated, confused, or critically ill. RESULTS: The prevalence of acute trauma in women attributable to DV was 1% (95%CI 0.14 to 3.6), the prevalence of lifetime physical abuse was 34.8% (95%CI 28.2 to 41.5), of past year physical abuse was 6.1% (95%CI 3.2 to 10.3), and of lifetime life threatening physical abuse was 10.6% (95%CI 6.3 to 14.9). Seventy six per cent of women felt comfortable about being asked about DV and 60.5% of women felt that they should always or usually be asked about DV in this setting. CONCLUSION: This cross sectional survey adds to the body of knowledge showing that the prevalence of DV in women attending an accident and emergency department is high. Most women were in favour of being asked, and disclosure was associated with discomfort in few women. This sensitive area of history taking and referral could be undertaken by health professionals using a supportive approach

Temporal properties of short and long gamma-ray bursts

A temporal analysis was performed on a sample of 100 bright short GRBs with T90 < 2s from the BATSE Current Catalog along with a similar analysis on 319 long bright GRBs with T90 > 2s from the same catalog. The short GRBs were denoised using a median filter and the long GRBs were denoised using a wavelet method. Both samples were subjected to an automated pulse selection algorithm to objectively determine the effects of neighbouring pulses. The rise times, fall times, FWHM, pulse amplitudes and areas were measured and their frequency distributions are presented. The time intervals between pulses were also measured. The frequency distributions of the pulse properties were found to be similar and consistent with lognormal distributions for both the short and long GRBs. The time intervals between the pulses and the pulse amplitudes of neighbouring pulses were found to be correlated with each other. The same emission mechanism can account for the two sub-classes of GRBs.Comment: 3 pages, 8 figures; Proceedings of "Gamma-Ray Burst and Afterglow Astronomy 2001", Woods Hol