Anomalous dielectric response of very small quantities of virgin, aged and failed silicone oil

A technique is described for making dielectric spectroscopy measurements of very small quantities (<1μl) of oil. The technique utilises surface tension to hold the oil between the plates of a capacitor, the inter-electrode distance being controlled by a micrometer. Breakdown strength can also be estimated using this technique. Three samples of silicone oil, used in cable sealing ends, were tested: virgin, used and failed. A major component in the frequency dependent impedance had the form Z(ω)=B(1-b)(iω)/sup.1-p/). This component was interpreted in terms of a fractal percolation model, and the anomalous thickness dependence predicted by the model verified by varying the inter-electrode distance. The difference observed for the three different samples indicate that conducting contaminants are responsible for the percolation system

Understanding the meaning of politicisation of hte employment relationship through historical analysis

For more than one hundred years, Australian governments have supported the principle that the employment relationship of public servants should be independent of direct control by politicians. In recent decades, concern has been expressed that the independence of public servants has been undermined and that they have become politicised. Scholarly examination of the issue has been somewhat limited by the absence of a clear definition of what is meant by politicisation, with the term being associated both with the exercise of control over the human resource management (HRM) elements of the relationship as well as the tasks performed by public servants. The purpose of this paper is to establish a valid definition of politicisation through historical analysis of the patronage and the independent civil service systems of employment

Two-year sealant survival in a high caries cohort at a graduate pedodontic clinic

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of resin sealants in children aged 6-12 years referred to one graduate pedodontic program located in the Middle East (2009-2010). Study Design: Data from a cohort of 110 patients with at least 2 erupted first permanent molars were included in this study. Dental health status was evaluated using the DMFs/t index. UltraSeal XT® Plus sealants (n=253 applications) were performed in presence of rubber dam isolation and survival carefully inspected and scored at 1 and 2 years. Cross-sectional examination of descriptives and bi/multivariate analysis followed. Results: Majority (63%) were males. Caries were diagnosed in 77.9% of children with only 1% deemed caries-free. Hence, mean DMFs/t was 9.3±6.1/7.2±5.1, respectively. At 2 years, 66% of sealants were completely retained and 11% completely lost. Analysis revealed higher sealant survival in mandibular teeth. Conclusions: Fluoride-releasing resin sealant is an effectual preventive tool especially in such a high carious population

Parallel scalability study of three dimensional additive Schwarz preconditioners in non-overlapping domain decomposition

In this paper we study the parallel scalability of variants of additive Schwarz preconditioners for three dimensional non-overlapping domain decomposition methods. To alleviate the computational cost, both in terms of memory and floating-point complexity, we investigate variants based on a sparse approximation or on mixed 32- and 64-bit calculation. The robustness of the preconditioners is illustrated on a set of linear systems arising from the finite element discretization of elliptic PDEs through extensive parallel experiments on up to 1000 processors. Their efficiency from a numerical and parallel performance view point are studied

Bahan Pengawet Pada Jajanan Anak Sekolah Di Perkotaan Dan Pinggiran Kota Di Sukoharjo

Latar Belakang: Makanan yang sehat merupakan salah satu kebutuhan dasar manusia. Pada makanan jajanan anak sekolah diketahui adanya kandungan bahan tambahan makanan berisiko, seperti formalin dan boraks. Hal ini dapat menyebabkan gangguan kesehatan pada hati dan ginjal. Ada berbagai faktor yang menyebabkan pedagang menggunakan bahan tambahan makanan berisiko seperti; ekonomi, pengetahuan, dan pengawasan dari pemerintah. Tujuan Penelitian: (1) Untuk mengetahui adanya pemakaian bahan pengawet berisiko pada jajanan anak sekolah di Kabupaten Sukoharjo. (2) Mengetahui perbedaan antara pemakaian pengawet berisiko pada jajanan anak sekolah di perkotaan dan pinggiran kota di Kabupaten Sukoharjo Metode Penelitan: Desain penelitian menggunakan metode observasional analitik dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Jumlah sampel penelitian sebanyak 48 sampel yang terdiri atas 24 sampel dari makanan jajanan sekolah di perkotaan dan 24 sampel dari makanan jajanan sekolah di pinggiran kota. Teknik pengambilan sampel menggunakan purposive sampling. Metode uji menggunakan tes nyala api untuk boraks dan larutan PK untuk formalin. Data dianalisis dengan uji Chisquare dan uji alternatifnya Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Hasil: Hasil penelitian menunjukkan terdapat kandungan bahan pengawet berisiko pada jajanan makanan anak sekolah di kabupaten Sukoharjo. Sebesar 75% makanan jajanan di perkotaan dan 87,5% di pinggiran kota mengandung bahan pengawet berisiko. Kesimpulan: Terdapat penggunaan bahan pengawet berisiko pada jajanan anak sekolah di Sukoharjo, tetapi tidak terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara wilayah di perkotaan dengan pinggiran kot

Performance of upstream interaction region detectors for the FIRST experiment at GSI

The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at GSI has been designed to study carbon fragmentation, measuring 12C double differential cross sections (∂2σ/ ∂θ∂E) for different beam energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/u. The experimental setup integrates newly designed detectors in the, so called, Interaction Region around the graphite target. The Interaction Region upstream detectors are a 250 μm thick scintillator and a drift chamber optimized for a precise measurement of the ions interaction time and position on the target. In this article we review the design of the upstream detectors along with the preliminary results of the data taking performed on August 2011 with 400 MeV/u fully stripped carbon ion beam at GSI. Detectors performances will be reviewed and compared to those obtained during preliminary tests, performed with 500 MeV electrons (at the BTF facility in the INFN Frascati Laboratories) and 80 MeV/u protons and carbon ions (at the INFN LNS Laboratories in Catania)