Surveillance for the masses: the political and legal landscape of the UK Investigatory Powers Bill

In March 2016, the UK Government put the Investigatory Powers Bill before Parliament. The new law, if enacted, will considerably increase the powers of law enforcement and security services regarding mass data retention, mass surveillance and mass hacking. This raises considerable concerns not just about the content of the Bill and its impact on privacy, but also about the method of its enactment and the ever diminishing parliamentary and judicial scrutiny of surveillance legislation in the UK.     

Development and Evaluation of a Nanoparticle Generator for Human Inhalation Studies with Airborne Zinc Oxide

In the EU there is an increasing need for regulatory agencies to derive health based threshold limits based on human inhalation studies with airborne particles. A necessary prerequisite for such projects is the development of a suitable generator system to produce nanoparticle test aerosols for human whole-body inhalation studies. We decided to use a generator with flame-based heating of aqueous precursor solutions. Validation of the test system was done by generating zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with minimal contamination of trace gases, i.e., nitric oxides or carbon monoxide that could confound the effects seen in exposed subjects. ZnO was selected based on the uncertainties surrounding its health effects after exposure at the workplace. The generation process of the developed flame generator yields ZnO nanoparticles with monomodal size distribution and very good temporal stability. The maximum target exposure mass concentration of 2 mg/m³ ZnO, with a resulting median particle diameter of 57 nm, is attainable in our human exposure laboratory. The morphological examination shows typical agglomerates and aggregates formed by high temperature processes. Overall, the performed experiments confirm that a constant exposure can be provided for all subjects at all times.

Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Mikrostruktur und Anlaßverhalten aufgedampfter bzw. thermisch gespritzter ZrO2-Schichten auf metallischen Substraten

Microstructure and Tempering Behaviour of Evaporated resp. Thermally Sprayed ZrO₂-Layers on Metallic Substrates Because of their application in gas turbines plasmasprayed thermal barrier coatings of partially stabilized zirconia on metallic substrates are an example for the technical use of ceramic-metal-composites. Problems especially concerning the interface adhesion are still partly not understood. In this paper several systems are examined by electron microscopy, which all consist of ceramic zirconia layers evaporated or thermally sprayed on a metallic substrate. Priority is given to structural analysis. An attempt is made to lighten the interface morphology by the method of cross section preparing, because thereby the possibility of aimed preparation is given.     

Sheet metal forming of piezoceramic-metal-laminar structures—Simulation and experimental analysis

Adaptive systems with piezoelectric components offer significant opportunities for the active control of dynamic behaviour. Vibration and acoustics control as well as structural health monitoring are also possible. However ineffective production technologies prevent industrial applications. The authors are therefore proposing the integration of piezo-modules inside a double-layer sheet. The use of semi-cured adhesive avoids shear-forces being transferred to the piezo-modules during forming. After forming the adhesive will cure and the transfer of piezoelectric strain to the sheet is made possible. A detailed finite-element-model incorporating the electro-mechanical characteristics of the piezo-modules has been developed. The simulation results were validated experimentally.     

Design of reflectors which will distribute sunlight in a specified manner

A differential equation is obtained for the shape of a reflecting surface which will distribute axially symmetric light intensity into a specified irradiance over a receiver surface which is symmetric about the direction of the incident light. Results are applied to the design of rotationally symmetric solar reflectors and also to a 2-dimensional geometry, that is one in which the reflector is a cylinder with its axis perpendicular to the incident beam. The procedure is used to numerically calculate the shape of reflectors which will uniformly concentrate collimated light and also light from a point source over a flat receiver surface. Results are also applied to determine the shape of a reflector which will distribute collimated light uniformly over the surface of a cylinder and also over a sphere.