On the Applicability of Camera Lens Protectors in Emergency Luminescence Dosimetry

In this work, the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) properties of camera lens protectors and their potential use in emergency dosimetry were investigated. Camera lens protectors can be attached to mobile phones, which are commonly carried by individuals and may be useful in estimating an emergency dose. The presented results confirm the great potential of this type of glass material for dose determination. The glass protectors exhibit advantageous properties, such as linear dose dependence in the range of at least 0.6–10 Gy, minimum detectable dose at the level of tens of mGy, and good measurement repeatability for samples of the same type. Significant fading during the first day after exposure is an undesirable feature of tested glass. Nevertheless, the application of the correction for fading shows promising results in the dose recovery process.

A Perfect Plastic Material for Studies on Self-Propelled Motion on the Water Surface

We describe a novel plastic material composed of camphene, camphor, and polypropylene that seems perfectly suited for studies on self-propelled objects on the water surface. Self-motion is one of the attributes of life, and chemically propelled objects show numerous similarities with animated motion. One of important questions is the relationship between the object shape and its motility. In our previous paper, {R. Löffler et al. PCCP, 2019, 21, 24852–24856}, we presented a novel hybrid material, obtained from the solution of camphor in camphene, that allowed making objects of various shapes. This hybrid material has wax-like mechanical properties, but it has a very high tackiness. Here, we report that a small amount of polypropylene removed this undesirable feature. We investigated the properties of camphor–camphene–polypropylene plastic by performing the statistical analysis of a pill trajectory inside a Petri dish and compared them with those of camphor-camphene wax. The plastic showed the stable character of motion for over an hour-long experiment. The surface activity of objects made of plastic did not significantly depend on the weight ratios of the compounds. Such a significant increase in usefulness came from the polypropylene, which controlled the dissipation of camphor and camphene molecules.

Ways to care: Forms and possibilities of compassion within UK food banks

Food banks are organisations which occupy an uncomfortable position, being seen both as a manifestation of caring communities as well as an undesirable feature of neoliberal government. By focusing on the encounters between volunteers and food bank users within these organisations, we excavate their caring side to find three forms of compassion: compassion ‘for’, compassion ‘with’ and compassion ‘within’. We show that while compassion ‘for’ can lead to countless selfless acts, it remains embedded within neoliberal discourses. This can serve to reinforce distance and inequalities between giver (volunteer) and receiver (food bank user), creating a chain of indebtedness as compassion becomes part of a transactional exchange offered to those seen as worthy. Compassion ‘with’ others focuses on the person rather than the problem of food poverty and manifests itself in expressions of connection and responsibility which can, however, become possessive at times. Compassion ‘within’ is a form of compassion that, although less visible and demonstrative in response to the immediate suffering of others, provokes ethical and political reflection for individual volunteers who at times may challenge the very need for food banks. By grounding compassion in a specific social and organisational context, we highlight its relational nature and the dynamic and uncomfortable relation between different forms of compassion in the context of UK food banks. We conclude that compassion is a socially embedded and differentiated relationship which can activate affective, ethical and political responses to food poverty.

A new anisotropic soft tissue model for elimination of unphysical auxetic behaviour

Auxetic behaviour , the unphysical transverse expansion during uniaxial tension, is a common and undesirable feature of classical anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive models for soft tissue. In this study we uncover the underlying mechanism of such behaviour; high levels of in-plane compaction occurs due to increasing tension in strain-stiffening fibres, leading to unphysical out-of-plane expansion. We demonstrate that auxetic behaviour is primarily influenced by the ratio of fibre to matrix stiffness, and is accentuated by strain-stiffening fibres in a constant stiffness matrix (e.g., the widely used neo-Hookean matrix with exponentially stiffening fibres). We propose a new bilinear strain stiffening fibre and matrix (BLFM) model which allows close control of the fibre-matrix stiffness ratio, thereby robustly eliminating auxetic behaviour. We demonstrate that our model provides accurate prediction of experimentally observed out-of-plane compaction, in addition to stress-stretch anisotropy, for arterial tissue subjected to uniaxial tension testing.

The effect of static and dynamic eccentricities on the performance of flux reversal permanent magnet machine

This study investigates the effect of static and dynamic eccentricities on the performances of flux reversal permanent magnet (FRPM) machine with even rotor pole number, i.e. FRPM machine with 12/10 stator/rotor combination. No-load and load performances of the machine are investigated under three rotor operating conditions including centricity, static eccentricity and dynamic eccentricity. The investigation has been carried out using 2D-FEA. It has been revealed that the 12/10 FRPM machine under normal operating condition has no unbalanced magnetic force, due to the even pole number of the rotor. On the other hand, such undesirable feature would be presented in the 12/10 FRPM machine as a result of the existing of static and dynamic eccentricities. Both static and dynamic eccentric machines exhibit unbalanced three-phase flux linkage as well as back-EMF. Moreover, three operating conditions of the investigated machine have the same fundamental cogging torque harmonic. However, low order harmonics are existed in the static and dynamic centric machines and are not found in the centric machine. Furthermore, about 16% less torque ripple delivered by the centric machine compared with both static and dynamic counterparts.

“Body as a Machine”: How Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease Construct Their Fatigue Experiences

Research exploring illness experiences of young people with sickle cell disease (SCD) has, to date, ignored fatigue, despite the distinctive anemic nature of SCD. To examine adolescents with SCD fatigue experiences, we conducted narrative and picture-elicitation interviews with 24 adolescents in Ghana. A grounded theory, “body as a machine,” was constructed from the narratives. Fatigue represented the most restrictive and disruptive aspect of growing up with SCD. Its meaning and significance laid in what it symbolized. Fatigue represented a socially undesirable feature that was stigmatizing, due to the expectations of high physicality in adolescence. Fatigue was therefore a major threat to “normalcy.” The social significance of the physical body and its capacities shaped the adolescents’ fatigue experiences. Managing fatigue to construct/maintain socially acceptable identities dominated the adolescents’ lives. Consequently, there is a need for a recognition of the significance of fatigue to adequately support young people growing up with SCD.

Peak p-values and false discovery rate inference in neuroimaging

Peaks are a mainstay of neuroimage analysis for reporting localization results. The current peak detection procedure in SPM12 requires a pre-threshold for approximating p-values and a false discovery rate (FDR) nominal level for inference. However, the pre-threshold is an undesirable feature, while the FDR level is meaningless if the signal is assumed to be nonzero everywhere. This article provides: 1) a peak height distribution for smooth Gaussian error fields that does not require a screening pre-threshold; 2) a signal-plus-noise model where FDR of peaks can be controlled and properly interpreted. Matlab code for calculation of p-values using the exact peak height distribution is available as an SPM extension.

Wind Tunnel Study of a Generic Wind Turbine Nacelle Model

Three versions of a generic horizontal axis wind turbine nacelle model were tested in a wind tunnel. Force and wake velocity measurements were performed at a Reynolds number of 4.2e5 based on the complete length of the nacelle and the spinner. The effect of main body corner shape was examined as well as that of the spinner. It was found that rounded corners can lead to significant reduction in the aerodynamic forces experienced by the nacelle. At the same time, however, smooth curve surfaces cause instabilities in the separation location, which lead to sudden drops in the lift force. In terms of aeroelastic behavior this is an undesirable feature that leads to negative aerodynamic damping and structures prone to galloping.

Is Hippocampus Susceptible to Antinociceptive Tolerance to NSAIDs Like the Periaqueductal Grey?

Emotional distress is the most undesirable feature of painful experience. Numerous studies have demonstrated the important role of the limbic system in the affective-motivational component of pain. The purpose of this paper was to examine whether microinjection of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), Clodifen, Ketorolac, and Xefocam, into the dorsal hippocampus (DH) leads to the development of antinociceptive tolerance in male rats. We found that microinjection of these NSAIDs into the DH induces antinociception as revealed by a latency increase in the tail-flick (TF) and hot plate (HP) tests compared to controls treated with saline into the DH. Subsequent tests on consecutive three days, however, showed that the antinociceptive effect of NSAIDs progressively decreased, suggesting tolerance developed to this effect of NSAIDs. Both pretreatment and posttreatment with the opioid antagonist naloxone into the DH significantly reduced the antinociceptive effect of NSAIDs in both pain models. Our data indicate that microinjection of NSAIDs into the DH induces antinociception which is mediated via the opioid system and exhibits tolerance.