Elements that Influence the Implementation of Crisis Preparedness Measures by Meeting Planners

The purpose of this study was to analyse the adoption of crisis preparedness measures by meeting planners. The study sought to determine how the adoption of crisis preparedness measures relates to meeting planner characteristics and identify the elements that influence their adoption (or lack of adoption) of these measures. A survey of professional meeting planners identified significant differences in the frequency of use of some key core crisis preparedness measures. Additionally, 10 categories of elements influencing the adoption of or failure to adopt crisis preparedness measures were identified. The findings of this study should be of interest to meeting organizers and professionals who want to make their meetings more crisis prepared rather than crisis prone.     

Plato: A localised orbital based density functional theory code

The Plato package allows both orthogonal and non-orthogonal tight-binding as well as density functional theory (DFT) calculations to be performed within a single framework. The package also provides extensive tools for analysing the results of simulations as well as a number of tools for creating input files. The code is based upon the ideas first discussed in Sankey and Niklewski (1989) [1] with extensions to allow high-quality DFT calculations to be performed. DFT calculations can utilise either the local density approximation or the generalised gradient approximation. Basis sets from minimal basis through to ones containing multiple radial functions per angular momenta and polarisation functions can be used. Illustrations of how the package has been employed are given along with instructions for its utilisation.

Program summary

Program title: PlatoCatalogue identifier: AEFC_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEFC_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.htmlNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 219 974No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1 821 493Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: C/MPI and PERLComputer: Apple Macintosh, PC, Unix machinesOperating system: Unix, Linux and Mac OS XHas the code been vectorised or parallelised?: Yes, up to 256 processors testedRAM: Up to 2 Gbytes per processorClassification: 7.3External routines: LAPACK, BLAS and optionally ScaLAPACK, BLACS, PBLAS, FFTWNature of problem: Density functional theory study of electronic structure and total energies of molecules, crystals and surfaces.Solution method: Localised orbital based density functional theory.Restrictions: Tight-binding and density functional theory only, no exact exchange.Unusual features: Both atom centred and uniform meshes available. Can deal with arbitrary angular momenta for orbitals, whilst still retaining Slater–Koster tables for accuracy.Running time: Test cases will run in a few minutes, large calculations may run for several days.     

On graph reasoning

In this paper, we study the (positive) graph relational calculus. The basis for this calculus was introduced by Curtis and Lowe in 1996 and some variants, motivated by their applications to semantics of programs and foundations of mathematics, appear scattered in the literature. No proper treatment of these ideas as a logical system seems to have been presented. Here, we give a formal presentation of the system, with precise formulation of syntax, semantics, and derivation rules. We show that the set of rules is sound and complete for the valid inclusions, and prove a finite model result as well as decidability. We also prove that the graph relational language has the same expressive power as a first-order positive fragment (both languages define the same binary relations), so our calculus may be regarded as a notational variant of the positive existential first-order logic of binary relations. The graph calculus, however, has a playful aspect, with rules easy to grasp and use. This opens a wide range of applications which we illustrate by applying our calculus to the positive relational calculus (whose set of valid inclusions is not finitely axiomatizable), obtaining an algorithm for deciding the valid inclusions and equalities of the latter.     

Thermal Isolation of Encapsulated MEMS Resonators

This paper presents an in-chip thermal-isolation technique for a micro-ovenized microelectromechanical-system resonator. Resonators with a microoven can be used for high-precision feedback control of temperature to compensate for the temperature dependence of resonator frequency over a wide temperature range. However, ovenization requires power consumption for heating, and the thermal time constant must be minimized for effective temperature control. This paper demonstrates an efficient local-thermal-isolation mechanism, which can reduce the power requirement to a few milliwatts and the thermal time constant to a few milliseconds. In this method, the mechanical suspension of the resonator is modified to provide thermal isolation and include an integrated resistive heater. This combination provides mechanical suspension, electrical heating, and thermal isolation in a compact structure that requires low heating power and has a small thermal time constant. A power consumption of approximately 12 mW for a 125degC temperature rise and a thermal time constant ranging from 7 to 10 ms is reported in this paper, which is orders of magnitude lower than that of commercially available ovenized quartz resonators. A CMOS-compatible wafer-scale encapsulation process is used to fabricate this device, and the thermal-isolation design is achieved without any modification to the existing resonator fabrication process.     

Design of large deflection electrostatic actuators

Electrostatic, comb-drive actuators have been designed for applications requiring displacements of up to 150 /spl mu/m in less than 1 ms. A nonlinear model of the actuator relates the resonant frequency and the maximum stable deflection to the actuator dimensions. A suite of experiments that were carried out on deep reactive ion etched (DRIE), single-crystal silicon, comb-drive actuators confirm the validity of the model. Four actuator design improvements were implemented. First, a folded-flexure suspension consisting of two folded beams rather than four and a U-shaped shuttle allowed the actuator area to be cut in half without degrading its performance. Second, the comb teeth were designed with linearly increasing lengths to reduce side instability by a factor of two. Third, the folded-flexure suspensions were fabricated in an initially bent configuration, improving the suspension stiffness ratio and reducing side instability by an additional factor of 30. Finally, additional actuation range was achieved using a launch and capture actuation scheme in which the actuator was allowed to swing backward after full forward deflection; the shuttle was captured and held using the backs of the comb banks as high-force, parallel-plate actuators.     

Fabrication of collimating grids for an x-ray solar telescope using LIGA methods

 We are fabricating sub-collimating X-ray grids that are to be used in an orbiting solar X-ray telescope. The telescope optics consist of twelve rotating pairs of high aspect ratio grids. The pitch for the grids ranges from 34 μm to 317 μm. The grid thickness-to-grid-slit ratio must be approximately 50:1, resulting in grid thicknesses of 1 to 10 millimeters. We are implementing a design in which a 34 μm pitch, free-standing PMMA grid is fabricated with 20 μm wide slits through a 800 μm thickness. After exposure and developing, metal is electrodeposited into the slits in the PMMA grid and the PMMA is left in place to hold the individual metal pieces. For optimum imaging performance, the root-mean-square pitch of the two grids of each pair must match to within 1 part in 10000 and simultaneous exposures of stacked sheets of PMMA have insured that this requirement is met. Received: 30 October 1995 / Accepted: 25 January 1996     

Micromachined jets for liquid impingement cooling of VLSI chips

Two-phase microjet impingement cooling is a potential solution for removing heat from high-power VLSI chips. Arrays of microjets promise to achieve more uniform chip temperatures and very high heat transfer coefficients. This paper presents the design and fabrication of single-jets and multijet arrays with circular orifice diameters ranging from 40 to 76 /spl mu/m, as well as integrated heater and temperature sensor test devices. The performance of the microjet heat sinks is studied using the integrated heater device as well as an industry standard 1 cm/sup 2/ thermal test chip. For single-phase, the silicon temperature distribution data are consistent with a model accounting for silicon conduction and fluid advection using convection coefficients in the range from 0.072 to 4.4 W/cm/sup 2/K. For two-phase, the experimental results show a heat removal of up to 90 W on a 1 cm/sup 2/ heated area using a four-jet array with 76 /spl mu/m diameter orifices at a flowrate of 8 ml/min with a temperature rise of 100/spl deg/C. The data indicate convection coefficients are not significantly different from coefficients for pool boiling, which motivates future work on optimizing flowrates and flow regimes. These microjet heat sinks are intended for eventual integration into a closed-loop electroosmotically pumped cooling system.     

Computerized transcutaneous monitoring incorporating laser Doppler velocimetry

Measurements of transcutaneous oxygen tension, transcutaneous carbon dioxide tension, transcutaneous heater power, transcutaneous electrode temperature, and peripheral perfusion at the gas measurement site (assessed by laser Doppler velocimetry) are monitored by a microprocessor-based data acquisition system. Arterial blood pressure, central venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, respiration rate, and heart rate may be simultaneously captured with the system unattended for 12-hour intervals. This computerized monitoring system is mobile and easily applied by medical technologists to adult or neonatal intensive care patients. Simultaneous collection of the measurement data has facilitated research on the interrelationships of the measured parameters. It should be helpful in assessing optimal therapeutic interventions as well as the changing physiology of acutely ill patients.     

Multiscale computer simulation of polymer nanocomposites based on thermoplastics

A literature review is presented on a multiscale approach to the simulation of nanocomposites based on thermoplastic polymers that includes calculations using quantum-chemical methods and molecular dynamics simulations with the use of full-atomic and mesoscopic models. Common problems arising during the multiscale simulation of thermoplastic nanocomposites and the ways to solve them are discussed. The results of studies of the structural, thermal, and mechanical properties of thermoplastic nanocomposites obtained via the simulation with consideration for the detailed chemical structures of components are given.