Development of a simple information pump.

The Information Pump (IP) is a methodology that aims to counter the problems arising from traditional subjective product data collection. The IP is a game theory based process that aims to maximise information extracted from a panel of subjects, while maintaining their interest in the process through a continuous panelist scoring method. The challenge with implementing this arises from the difficulty in executing the 'game'. In its original format, there is an assumption that the game is played with each player using their own PC to interact with the process. While this in theory allows information and scores to flow in a controlled manner between the players, it actually provides a major barrier to the wider adoption of the IP method. This barrier is two-fold: it is costly and complex, and it is not a natural manner for exchanging information. The core objective is to develop a low cost version of the IP method. This will use the game theory approach to maintain interest among participants and maximise information extraction, but remove the need for each participant to have their own PC interface to the game. This will require replacing both the inter-player communication method and the score keeping/reporting

Formation of hot tear under controlled solidification conditions

Aluminum alloy 7050 is known for its superior mechanical properties, and thus finds its application in aerospace industry. Vertical direct-chill (DC) casting process is typically employed for producing such an alloy. Despite its advantages, AA7050 is considered as a "hard-to-cast" alloy because of its propensity to cold cracking. This type of cracks occurs catastrophically and is difficult to predict. Previous research suggested that such a crack could be initiated by undeveloped hot tears (microscopic hot tear) formed during the DC casting process if they reach a certain critical size. However, validation of such a hypothesis has not been done yet. Therefore, a method to produce a hot tear with a controlled size is needed as part of the verification studies. In the current study, we demonstrate a method that has a potential to control the size of the created hot tear in a small-scale solidification process. We found that by changing two variables, cooling rate and displacement compensation rate, the size of the hot tear during solidification can be modified in a controlled way. An X-ray microtomography characterization technique is utilized to quantify the created hot tear. We suggest that feeding and strain rate during DC casting are more important compared with the exerted force on the sample for the formation of a hot tear. In addition, we show that there are four different domains of hot-tear development in the explored experimental window-compression, microscopic hot tear, macroscopic hot tear, and failure. The samples produced in the current study will be used for subsequent experiments that simulate cold-cracking conditions to confirm the earlier proposed model.This research was carried out within the Materials innovation institute (www.m2i.nl) research framework, project no. M42.5.09340

Nucleation of Al3Zr and Al3Sc in aluminum alloys: from kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to classical theory

Zr and Sc precipitate in aluminum alloys to form the compounds Al3Zr and Al3Sc which for low supersaturations of the solid solution have the L12 structure. The aim of the present study is to model at an atomic scale this kinetics of precipitation and to build a mesoscopic model based on classical nucleation theory so as to extend the field of supersaturations and annealing times that can be simulated. We use some ab-initio calculations and experimental data to fit an Ising model describing thermodynamics of the Al-Zr and Al-Sc systems. Kinetic behavior is described by means of an atom-vacancy exchange mechanism. This allows us to simulate with a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm kinetics of precipitation of Al3Zr and Al3Sc. These kinetics are then used to test the classical nucleation theory. In this purpose, we deduce from our atomic model an isotropic interface free energy which is consistent with the one deduced from experimental kinetics and a nucleation free energy. We test di erent mean-field approximations (Bragg-Williams approximation as well as Cluster Variation Method) for these parameters. The classical nucleation theory is coherent with the kinetic Monte Carlo simulations only when CVM is used: it manages to reproduce the cluster size distribution in the metastable solid solution and its evolution as well as the steady-state nucleation rate. We also find that the capillary approximation used in the classical nucleation theory works surprisingly well when compared to a direct calculation of the free energy of formation for small L12 clusters.Comment: submitted to Physical Review B (2004

Phytoremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil using native plants

Non-Peer ReviewedPhytoremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil involves plants and their associated microorganisms. However, few cold-tolerant plants have been identified for reclamation in the native grasslands and woodlands of Canada. We assessed 35 native grasses, legumes and forbs, and seven exotic grasses and legumes for their ability to germinate and survive in crude oil contaminated soil. Based on germination, survival, growth rate, and above and below ground biomass five native (Artemisia frigida, Bromus ciliatus, Glycyrrhiza lepidota, Potentilla pensylvanica, and Psoralea esculenta) and three exotic (Medicago sativa, Melilotus officinalis and Trifolium repens) plants exhibited phytoremediation potential. The ability of these species to degrade specific hydrocarbons and mixtures of hydrocarbons is currently being assessed

E-testing in Graduate Courses: Reflective Practice Case Studies

Do testing and exam conditions make a difference in final exam grades? Do testing “out of class” and “in class” produce different results over the same courses? Several graduate courses (N = 84) were tested under different and varying conditions. The majority of students were international, where English was a second language. In general, the “online” e-testers performed at a higher level than the ““in class”” testers with and without any time restrictions while test taking. Tentative implications might be that online exams (less controls) yield grades which are possibly higher, and may or may not be “grade inflated.” On the other hand, possibly less controls in exams yield more learning and higher retention of course content

Observation of Scaling Violations in Scaled Momentum Distributions at HERA

Charged particle production has been measured in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) events over a large range of $x$ and $Q^2$ using the ZEUS detector. The evolution of the scaled momentum, $x_p$, with $Q^2,$ in the range 10 to 1280 $GeV^2$, has been investigated in the current fragmentation region of the Breit frame. The results show clear evidence, in a single experiment, for scaling violations in scaled momenta as a function of $Q^2$.Comment: 21 pages including 4 figures, to be published in Physics Letters B. Two references adde

D* Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

This paper presents measurements of D^{*\pm} production in deep inelastic scattering from collisions between 27.5 GeV positrons and 820 GeV protons. The data have been taken with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The decay channel $D^{*+}\to (D^0 \to K^- \pi^+) \pi^+$ (+ c.c.) has been used in the study. The $e^+p$ cross section for inclusive D^{*\pm} production with $5<Q^2<100 GeV^2$ and $y<0.7$ is 5.3 \pms 1.0 \pms 0.8 nb in the kinematic region {$1.3<p_T(D^{*\pm})<9.0$ GeV and $| \eta(D^{*\pm}) |<1.5$}. Differential cross sections as functions of p_T(D^{*\pm}), $\eta(D^{*\pm}), W$ and $Q^2$ are compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on the photon-gluon fusion production mechanism. After an extrapolation of the cross section to the full kinematic region in p_T(D^{*\pm}) and $\eta$(D^{*\pm}), the charm contribution $F_2^{c\bar{c}}(x,Q^2)$ to the proton structure function is determined for Bjorken $x$ between 2 $\cdot$ 10$^{-4}$ and 5 $\cdot$ 10$^{-3}$.Comment: 17 pages including 4 figure

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (22 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, matches published version in Physical Review

Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance Australian Enterobacteriaceae Sepsis Outcome Programme annual report, 2014

The Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance performs regular period-prevalence studies to monitor changes in antimicrobial resistance in selected enteric Gram-negative pathogens. The 2014 survey was the second year to focus on blood stream infections. During 2014, 5,798 Enterobacteriaceae species isolates were tested using commercial automated methods (Vitek 2, BioMérieux; Phoenix, BD) and results were analysed using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) breakpoints (January 2015). Of the key resistances, non-susceptibility to the third-generation cephalosporin, ceftriaxone, was found in 9.0%/9.0% of Escherichia coli (CLSI/EUCAST criteria) and 7.8%/7.8% of Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 8.0%/8.0% K. oxytoca. Non-susceptibility rates to ciprofloxacin were 10.4%/11.6% for E. coli, 5.0%/7.7% for K. pneumoniae, 0.4%/0.4% for K. oxytoca, and 3.5%/6.5% in Enterobacter cloacae. Resistance rates to piperacillin-tazobactam were 3.2%/6.8%, 4.8%/7.2%, 11.1%/11.5%, and 19.0%/24.7% for the same 4 species respectively. Fourteen isolates were shown to harbour a carbapenemase gene, 7 blaIMP-4, 3 blaKPC-2, 3 blaVIM-1, 1 blaNDM-4, and 1 blaOXA-181-lke