A hydrogen framework for the East Midlands

Profiles capabilities in midlands-based organisations in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies as a rationale for support of a Midlands hydrogen cluster

Solid state cryogenic temperature sensor Final report

Gallium arsenide cryogenic temperature sensor developmen

Improving uncertainty in Widmark equation calculations:alcohol volume, strength and density

The Widmark equation is probably the most commonly used calculation for medicolegal purposes. Recently the National Research Council (USA) and the Forensic Science Regulator (UK) have called for the uncertainty of all results to be given with all forensic measurements and calculations. To improve the uncertainty of measurement of results from Widmark calculations we have concentrated on the uncertainties of measurement involved in the calculation of alcohol, that of the volume of alcohol, the concentration of alcohol and the density of alcohol as previous studies have investigated some of the other factors involved . Using experimental studies, the scientific literature and legal statutes, we have determined revised and improved uncertainties of the concentration of ethanol for Widmark calculations for both the USA and UK. Based on the calculations that we have performed we recommend the use of Monte Carlo Simulation for the determination of uncertainty of measurement for Widmark Calculations

The benefit of context for facial-composite construction

Purpose - The aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of a whole-face context during facial composite production facilitates construction of facial composite images. Design/Methodology - In Experiment 1, constructors viewed a celebrity face and then developed a facial composite using PRO-fit software in one of two conditions: either the full-face was visible while facial features were selected, or only the feature currently being selected. The composites were named by different participants. We then replicated the study using a more forensically-valid procedure: In Experiment 2 non-football fans viewed an image of a premiership footballer and 24 hours later constructed a composite of the face with a trained software operator. The resulting composites were named by football fans. Findings - In both studies, the presence of the facial context promoted more identifiable facial composites. Research limitations/implications - Current composite software was deployed in a conventional and unconventional way to demonstrate the importance of facial context. Practical implications - Results confirm that composite software should have the whole-face context visible to witnesses throughout construction. Although some software systems do this, there remain others that present features in isolation and these findings show that these systems are unlikely to be optimal. Originality/value - This is the first study to demonstrate the importance of a full-face context for the construction of facial composite images. Results are valuable to police forces and developers of composite software

Spectral density affects the intelligibility of tone-vocoded speech: Implications for cochlear implant simulations

For small numbers of channels, tone vocoders using low envelope cutoff frequencies are less intelligible than noise vocoders, even though the noise carriers introduce random fluctuations into the crucial envelope information. Here it is shown that using tone carriers with a denser spectrum improves performance considerably over typical tone vocoders, at least equalling, and often surpassing, the performance possible with noise vocoders. In short, the spectral sparseness of tone vocoded sounds for low channel numbers, separate from the degradations introduced by using only a small number of channels, is an important limitation on the intelligibility of tone-vocoded speech

Relationships between hydrodynamics and rheology of flocculating yeast suspensions in a high-cell-density airlift bioreactor

In this article a hydrodynamic and rheological analysis of a continuous airlift bioreactor with high-celldensity system is presented. A highly flocculating recombinant strain of Sacharomyces cerevisiae containing genes for lactose transport (lactose permease) and hydrolysis (β-galactosidase) was exploited to ferment lactose from cheese whey to ethanol. The magnetic particle-tracer method was used to assess the effect of operational conditions (air-flow rate, biomass concentration) on hydrodynamic behavior of an airlift bioreactor during the fermentation process. Measurements of liquid circulation velocity showed the existence of a critical value of biomass concentration at which a dramatic deceleration of net liquid flow appeared with increasing biomass quantity. Rheological analysis revealed exponential increase of viscosity of the yeast floc suspension at the same biomass concentration of about 73 g/dm³ corresponding to 42.8% v/v of solid fraction. These facts have a particular importance for the successful processing of a high-celldensity airlift bioreactor as only a circulated flow regime will be favorable to keep the solid particles in suspension state and evenly distributed throughout the bioreactor.União Europeia (UE). Marie Curie Fellowship of the European Community Programme - grant number HPMF-CT-2002-01643

Ethics Standards (HRPP) and Public Partnership (PARTAKE) to Address Clinical Research Concerns in India: Moving Toward Ethical, Responsible, Culturally Sensitive, and Community-Engaging Clinical Research.

Like other emerging economies, India's quest for independent, evidence-based, and affordable healthcare has led to robust and promising growth in the clinical research sector, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.4% between 2005 and 2010. However, while the fundamental drivers and strengths are still strong, the past few years witnessed a declining trend (CAGR -16.7%) amid regulatory concerns, activist protests, and sponsor departure. And although India accounts for 17.5% of the world's population, it currently conducts only 1% of clinical trials. Indian and international experts and public stakeholders gathered for a 2-day conference in June 2013 in New Delhi to discuss the challenges facing clinical research in India and to explore solutions. The main themes discussed were ethical standards, regulatory oversight, and partnerships with public stakeholders. The meeting was a collaboration of AAHRPP (Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs)-aimed at establishing responsible and ethical clinical research standards-and PARTAKE (Public Awareness of Research for Therapeutic Advancements through Knowledge and Empowerment)-aimed at informing and engaging the public in clinical research. The present article covers recent clinical research developments in India as well as associated expectations, challenges, and suggestions for future directions. AAHRPP and PARTAKE provide etiologically based solutions to protect, inform, and engage the public and medical research sponsors

An Analysis of Certain Factors Related to the Use of PowerPoint

With more and more educators relying on PowerPoint presentation software to facilitate the delivery of course content as a lecture in a traditional classroom or via a distance education medium, it is important to ascertain whether it is a viable presentation tool. Current literature indicates that students feel negatively toward PowerPoint presentations, but is this really the case? The researchers conducted a study to determine student’s attitudes toward the use of PowerPoint for delivering course materials, and in particular, several factors that contribute to the quality of a PowerPoint presentation were analyzed. The results of this study will help educators (as well as those who use this tool in business) determine if it is an effective aid in delivering ideas, or whether it is ineffective and its widespread use should be reconsidered

Serum models accurately predict liver related clinical outcomes in chronic hepatitis C

Background and Aim: This study developed liver outcome scores in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) that directly predict liver related death, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver decompensation. Methods: 617 CHC patients were followed for a mean of six years and randomized into a training set (n=411) and a validation set (n=206). Clinical outcomes were determined using a population based data-linkage system. Results: In the training set, albumin, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), hyaluronic acid (HA), age and sex were in the final model to predict five year liver related death (AUROC 0.95). Two cut points (4.0, 5.5), defined three risk groups with an incidence rate for liver related death of 0.1%, 2% and 13.2% respectively (p\u3c0.001). Albumin, GGT, HA, age and sex were used to predict five year liver decompensation (AUROC 0.90). A cut point of 4.5 gave a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 84% to predict five year decompensation and defined two groups with an incidence rate for decompensation of 0.2% and 5.8% respectively (p\u3c0.001). Alkaline phosphatase, α2-macroglobulin, age and sex were used to predict five year HCC occurrence (AUROC 0.95). A cut point of 8 had a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 88% to predict five year HCC occurrence and defined two groups with an incidence rate for HCC of 0.2% and 5.6% respectively (p\u3c0.001). Similar results were obtained using the validation set. Conclusions: All three liver outcome scores had excellent predictive accuracy and were able to stratify risk into clinical meaningful categories for CHC patients