Measuring Trends in Urban Inequality and Poverty in the Copperbelt,Zambia

This article is a discussion of how to measure urban inequality using the results of large household samples. It has two aims. The first is to de-mystify the methods of measuring earnings inequality by discussing their logic and their results in plain language that is suitable for a non-specialist audience. The second is to persuade the reader that such surveys can be suitable for measuring income derived from all kinds of livelihood strategies, including informal sector activities. The results show persistently high levels of inequality over time among income earners on the Copperbelt. Disaggregation of the employed workforce by major occupational groups reveals increasingly more elementary and middle-income workers than higher income managers, professionals, and technicians. This pattern differs by gender, however, with only women experiencing a marked increase in low-skill, low-wage employment.     

Presentation of a mixed reality software with a HoloLens headset for a nutrition workshop

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Microsoft has recently released a mixed reality headset called HoloLens. This semi-transparent visor headset allows the user who wears it to view the projection...     

Effects of chloride,thiocyanate and sulphate salts on β‐lactoglobulin–pectin associative complexes

Protein–polysaccharide complexes are used to improve protein stability and encapsulate high‐value ingredients, yet the influence of different salts on their formation has not been investigated. Using light scattering and turbidimetry, effects of chloride, sulphate and thiocyanate salts on β‐lactoglobulin and pectin complexes (protein/pectin ratio = 2:1 and 4:1) were determined in relation to effects of pH and ionic strength. Effects of anions on complex formation were significant at 25 mmol kg^?1 added ionic strength. Cation effects were not significant. At 100 mmol kg^?1 ionic strength, pH of complex formation increased with sulphate salts (pH 5.1) relative to chloride and thiocyanate salts (pH 4.9), while pH of coacervation increased with sulphate salts (pH 4.7) and decreased with thiocyanate salts (pH 4.4) relative to chloride salts (pH 4.6). Pure β‐lactoglobulin stability was otherwise reduced with thiocyanate salts below pH 5, implying a significant effect of pectin interactions.     

Teaching Informal Urbanism: Simulating Informal Settlement Practices in the Design Studio

Informal settlements have become dominant forms and processes of urban development in many cities, yet the task of helping students engage with design issues in such contexts is fraught with difficulties of access, safety, and complexity. Drawing on detailed fieldwork, this article explores ways in which informal settlement formation can be taught in design studio through the use of games that simulate incremental practices of room-by-room accretion and prospects for transformation. The pedagogical goals are to effect a blurring of authorship and authority, to undermine top-down thinking, and to nourish forms of design imagination that unite process and form.     

Primary Li-air cell development

In the present communication, we report on recent researches for optimizing the performance of a primary organic-based Li-air cell. These researches focus on new processing technologies for a high capacity and high rate capable carbon cathode, and the development of oxygen selective membranes based on polysiloxane and methacrylate-polysiloxane copolymers. These membranes, generally classified as silicone rubbers exhibit high permeability for oxygen and impede water transport from the atmosphere into the Li-air cell and solvent loss from the cell into the atmosphere.     

A construction project cash flow model—an idiographic approach

The paper introduces and supports the contention that an idiographic methodology is appropriate to the post- hoc study and interpretation of individual construction project cash flows. A cash flow model based on the logit transformation is proposed to be consistent with this methodology. The model is based on historical data, and yields two parameters to describe each individual project. The model is tested using two samples totalling 72 projects. Goodness of fit for the model, using a measure of standard deviation from 1.0% to 4.6%, with a median of 2.5%, is found for individual projects.

The experimental hypothesis (that there is substantial variation between projects) is supported by the graphical and statistical evidence of deviation, which is argued to be the result of the individual ontology of each project - systematic error - rather than random error from an ideal. The paper concludes that forecasts of individual cash flows are invalid when derived from analysis of grouped data.     

Synthesis of High Refractive Index Silicone Materials Incorporating Aromatic Moieties with Adjacent Linkage Groups for Flexible Electronic Displays

The refractive index study of copoly(arylene-siloxane)s constructed with amide, ester, or ether linkage units was conducted to synthesize a step-growth polymer for application in flexible displays. The copoly(arylene-siloxane) based materials have potential use in optical applications due to their durability, flexibility, and possession of good optical clarity properties when compared to conventional silica-filled polydimethylsiloxane-based materials. Measurement of refractive index (RI) was used as the main mode of analysis due to its direct correlation to optical clarity and material flexibility. Synthesis and characterization, including RI compiled data, was performed for six series of step-growth polymers. Effects of different linkage units, namely amides, esters, and ethers, adjacent to at least one six-membered cyclic unit (aromatic or aliphatic) were evaluated. It was observed that the refractive index of these polymers was directly proportional to the aryl content; however, the influence on RI was not equal across all types of linkage units. The highest RI copolymer, poly(4,4-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate-co-carbinol-terminated polydimethylsiloxane) (MDI-SD1.0k), yielded refractive index 1.470 and molecular weight (M_n) 16,100 g/mol; however, the copolymer poly(toluene-2,4-diisocyanate-co-carbinol-terminated polydimethylsiloxane) (TDI-SD) had the highest RI (1.462) per phenyl content. The 4,4-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI), and hydrogenated methylenediphenyl-4,4-diisocyanate (HMDI) amide containing linkages best improved the refractive indices of the materials studied.     

Phytochemical composition and antioxidant capacity of various botanical parts of the fruits of Prunus × domestica L. from the Lorraine region of Europe

Mirabelle plums represent a famous fruit from the Lorraine region, however little is known about their phytochemical composition. The oil of the fruit contained predominantly oleic acid (59%) and linoleic acid (29%). The total content of phenolic antioxidants in the whole fruits was 5.338 g/kg with 456 mg/kg (9%), 701 mg/kg (13%) and 4159 mg/kg (78%) detected in the peels, flesh and pits respectively. The peels contained solely 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (270 mg/kg) and rutin (186 mg/kg), the flesh exclusively echinoids (723 mg/kg), whereas the pits contained a rich variety of phenolic compounds (4.2 g/kg) dominated by amygdalin (3.8 g/kg), but with significant contributions from vanillin (102 mg/kg), guajacyl-glycerin-coniferyl aldehyde isomers (87 mg/kg), dehydro-diconiferyl aldehyde (52 mg/kg), and vanillin diglucoside (48 mg/kg). Of the major phenolic compounds tested across a range of in vitro assays, rutin was the superior antioxidant.