The psychosocial effects of landmines in Cambodia

The widespread use of landmines in conflict situations around the world and their continuing legacy for the civilian population in injuries, amputations, disabilities and economic costs has been recognized as a major problem. However, the psychosocial consequences for landmine victims are still to be realized. Although there are some facilities for the medical, orthopaedic and long-term rehabilitative care of landmine victims, hardly any exist for their psychosocial needs. This study considers the mental costs in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. Individual difficulty in relationships and daily functioning is considerable, and the landmine victim faces social stigmatization, rejection and unemployment. Suggestions are made for brief training in relatively simple mental health care for staff working in already functioning programmes.     

Temperature-Dependent Indentation Behavior of Transformation-Toughened Zirconia-Based Ceramics

Indentation behavior of Ce-TZP, Y-TZP, and Mg-PSZ between room temperature and 1300°C was investigated. Hardness decreased with increasing temperature for all three materials, but indentation cracking increased with increasing temperature. The opposing temperature dependences are discussed in terms of dislocation and transformation plasticity.     

Controllability of nonlinear systems consisting of a bilinear mode with distributed delays in control

Sufficient conditions for global relative controllability, of nonlinear systems consisting of a bilinear mode with distributed delays in control are given. Results for bilinear systems with multiple delays and general nonlinear systems with distributed delays in control are stated. Proofs are based on Schauder's fixed point theorem.     

Analysis of tapered-land hybrid aerostatic journal bearings

Results of the analysis of hybrid (aerostatic and aerodynamic) taperedland ournal bearings are presented. For a known bearing geometry, the Reynolds equation is reduced to a set of partial differential equations by using a first-order perturbation method. These differential equations are solved by a finite-difference numerical technique. The effects of various design and operational parameters on the load-carrying capacity and the attitude angle of the bearing were studied. The results are expressed in terms of non-dimensional parameters to enable their direct use for design purposes.     

Tribological and electrical properties of silica‐filled epoxy nanocomposites

The tribological and electrical properties of epoxy composites filled with nano‐sized silica particles are studied and discussed in this article. To enhance the interfacial interaction between the fillers and the matrix, nanoparticles were pretreated with silane coupling agent. Dry sliding wear tests were carried out with configuration of composite sample on a rotating steel disc. Electrical measurements such as AC breakdown voltage, at 50 Hz, high voltage‐low current arc resistance and wet tracking resistance were carried out. The results reveal the influence of nanosized silica loading on wear resistance of the epoxy. It is observed that 10 wt% loading of silica is very effective in reducing the wear loss. With further increase of silica filler loading, the nanoparticles agglomerated and resulted in increase of the specific wear rate. The influence of silica particles on the specific wear rate is more pronounced under sliding wear situation. The influence of silica particle loading on epoxy is evident in the results of electrical parameters like dielectric strength, arc resistance and tracking resistance. These parameters showed improvement with filler loading up to 15 wt% and beyond this value of filler loading noticeable deterioration was observed. The effects of electrical stresses in the morphologies of the surfaces of epoxy nanocomposites are discussed. POLYM. COMPOS., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Robust Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Signal Detection Allowing for Amplitude Uncertainties

Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) is a solid-state radio frequency spectroscopic technique that can be used to detect compounds which contain quadrupolar nuclei, a requirement fulfilled by many high explosives and narcotics. Unfortunately, the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the observed signals currently inhibits the widespread use of the technique, thus highlighting the need for intelligent processing algorithms. In earlier work, we proposed a set of maximum likelihood-based algorithms enabling detection of even very weak NQR signals. These algorithms are based on derived realistic NQR data models, assuming that the (complex) amplitudes of the NQR signal components are known to within a multiplicative constant. However, these amplitudes, which are obtained from experimental measurements, are typically prone to some level of uncertainty. For such cases, these algorithms will experience a loss in performance. Herein, we develop a set of robust algorithms, allowing for uncertainties in the assumed amplitudes, showing that these offer a significant performance gain over the current state-of-the art techniques.     

LC-MS–MS characterisation of curry leaf flavonols and antioxidant activity

Curry leaf (Murraya koenegii) is a common flavouring agent in Indian foods. This study characterised the flavonol profile of curry leaf extracted with different solvents and the relative antioxidant capacity of these extracts by quantifying phenolic constituents. Flavonols were extracted using ethanol, methanol, or acetone prior to identification and quantification using liquid chromatography coupled to atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI) mass spectrometry in tandem mode (LC-MS–MS) with negative ion detection. Major curry leaf flavonols included myricetin-3-galactoside, quercetin-O-pentohexoside, quercetin-3-diglucoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin-3-glucoside, quercetin-3-acetylhexoside, quercetin-O-xylo-pentoside, kaempferol-O-glucoside, and kaempferol-aglucoside. Lag-time and TBARS tests demonstrated that curry leaf phenolics prevent cupric-ion induced oxidation of LDL. The best extraction yield was obtained with 80% ethanol. Acetone extracts provided better antioxidant activity expressed as increased lag-time formation, than did ethanol or methanol extracts. Curry leaf is a rich source of flavonols that have biological activity in vitro and further studies are warranted in regards to the potential health benefits and identification of the novel flavonols whose identities remain unknown.     

Sol- gel synthesis of Ga2O3 nanorods and effect of precursor chemistry on their structural and morphological properties

Synthesis of mono-crystalline Ga₂O₃ Nanorods was done by sol-gel transformation of gallium(III) isopropoxide (Ga(OPrⁱ)₃). XRD studies were done to determine the planes and crystal structure of synthesized nanorods that showed the synthesis of β-Ga₂O₃(a). TEM studies of synthesized Ga₂O₃ confirmed the synthesis of monocrystalline β-Ga₂O₃ nanorods. To study the effect of precursor chemistry and to determine role of precursor structures on the crystal structure, phase and morphology of the Ga₂O₃, a new modified precursor complex was synthesized. The reaction of Ga(OPrⁱ)₃ with N-phenylsalicylaldimine, [C₆H₄(OH)CH=N(C₆H₅)] in 1:1?M ratio yielded [{(H₅C₆)N?=?CH-C₆H₄O}Ga(OPrⁱ)₂]. The newly synthesized complex was characterized by elemental analyses, molecular weight measurement, FT-IR and NMR (¹H and ¹³C) spectral studies. Spectral studies of the modified complex suggest the presence of bi-dentate mode of attachment of Schiff's base in the solution state. Sol-gel transformations of [{(H₅C₆)N?=?CH-C₆H₄O}Ga(OPrⁱ)₂] in organic medium, yielded γ-Ga₂O₃(b), as found by XRD studies. TEM image of the sample (a) revealed the formation of nano-rods of oxide with average diameter of ~100?nm whereas the TEM image of sample (b) showed presence of nano-sized particles of oxide with average particle size of 10?nm. Morphological and compositional studies of synthesized samples (a) and (b) were carried out using SEM and EDX. The method provides a possibility of large scale synthesis of dissimilar shaped and pure Ga₂O₃ nanoparticles.     

Customer preferences in mobile game pricing: a service design based case study

This article examines the service design of freemium game pricing. Freemium games are a type of game that is partially free to play, but its players are able to access various options by playing real money. The article increases knowledge of the usability of service design processes in the pricing of mobile games, as well as the understanding of central aspects of freemium pricing models from the perspective of user experience and customer value. Existing research shows that one major reason for failing freemium pricing models is the orientation for technology development, alongside poor content and too aggressive monetization, rather than customer experience. The article presents a process in which an alternative pricing model was developed for freemium games, through the use of service design workshops.