Evaluating Community Safety Programmes and Community Engagement: The Role of Qualitative Methods and Collaborative Approaches to Policy Research

This article explores the role of qualitative and collaborative methods when undertaking evaluation research into local community safety partnerships and neighbourhood strategies. It draws on recent examples of research and evaluation studies of regeneration and community safety programmes in a number of cities and towns in England. The discussion is set against the background of the major changes in policy relating to crime and community safety, particularly the introduction of Crime and Disorder Partnerships and their engagement with local communities. The value of qualitative methods in exploring some key questions is discussed, particularly within a collaborative approach to policy research.     

The materials test station: A fast-spectrum irradiation facility

The United States Department of Energy is developing technologies needed to reduce the quantity of high-level nuclear waste bound for deep geologic disposal. Central to this mission is the development of high burn-up fuel with significant inclusion of plutonium and minor actinides. Different fuel forms (e.g., nitrides, oxides, and metal matrix) and composition are under study. The success of these cannot be judged until they have been irradiated and tested in a prototypic fast neutron spectrum environment. In 2005, the US Congress authorized funding for the design of the materials test station (MTS) to perform candidate fuels and materials irradiations in a neutron spectrum similar to a fast reactor spectrum. The MTS will use a 1-MW proton beam to generate neutrons through spallation reactions. The peak neutron flux in the irradiation region will exceed 1.2 × 10¹⁹ n m⁻² s⁻¹ and the fast neutron fluence will reach 2 × 10²⁶ n m⁻² per year of operation. Site preparation and test station fabrication are expected to take four years.     

Engineering of Immobilized Enzyme Systems

The advent of enzyme immobilization, allowing re-use of enzymes, and essentially eliminating product contamination, has greatly increased the potential of enzymatic processes for industrial use. Although this is a relatively new field of study, the literature is rapidly expanding. The compendium of references prepared by the New England Research Applications Center for Corning Glass Works now lists over 800 papers concerning immobilized enzymes. For this reason the scope of this paper is limited to immobilized enzyme engineering, including reactor design and performance. Although medical and analytical applications of immobilized enzymes are important, they will not be discussed as such here. Another large body of information concerning enzyme immobilization techniques will be treated only briefly as an introduction. Other general articles and reviews [1-5] may be useful in providing additional background information.     

Accessory soleus presenting as a posterior ankle mass: a case report and literature review

The accessory soleus muscle is a rare anatomic variant that may present as a mass in the posterior-medial aspect of the ankle in young adults. The presence of such a mass may result in pain and difficulty with running. We present a case of accessory soleus muscle in a 21-year-old soldier and review the literature. We present the first magnetic resonance imaging studies in the American literature, to our knowledge, of this unusual anomaly.     

Electromagnetic analysis of ITER diagnostic equatorial port plugs during plasma disruptions

ITER diagnostic port plugs perform many functions including structural support of diagnostic systems under high electromagnetic loads while allowing for diagnostic access to the plasma. The design of diagnostic equatorial port plugs (EPP) are largely driven by electromagnetic loads and associate responses of EPP structure during plasma disruptions and VDEs. This paper summarizes results of transient electromagnetic analysis using Opera 3d in support of the design activities for ITER diagnostic EPP. A complete distribution of disruption loads on the diagnostic first walls (DFWs), diagnostic shield modules (DSMs) and the EPP structure, as well as impact on the system design integration due to electrical contact among various EPP structural components are discussed.     

Bioamplification and the selective depletion of persistent organic pollutants in Chinook salmon larvae

The maternal provisioning of yolk to eggs transfers significant quantities of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). As yolk utilization progresses via metabolic activity, there is a potential to realize further increases in POP concentrations if yolk lipids are depleted at a faster rate than POPs, a condition referred to as bioamplification. This study investigated the bioamplification of POPs in Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) eggs and larvae. Chinook eggs were sampled from the Credit River, ON, Canada, and brought to an aquaculture facility where they were fertilized, incubated, and maintained posthatch until maternally derived lipid reserves became depleted (approximately 168 days). The loss of chemicals having an octanol-water partition coefficient (log K(OW)) greater than 5.8 was slow to negligible from days 0-135. However, during the increase in water temperatures in early spring, K(OW)-dependent elimination of POPs was observed. Bioamplification was maximized for the highest log K(OW) POPs, with an approximate 5-fold increase in lipid equivalents concentrations in 168 day old larvae as compared to newly fertilized eggs. This study demonstrates that later yolk-sac Chinook larvae (before exogenous feeding) are exposed to higher lipid equivalents POP concentrations than predicted by maternal deposition, which could lead to underestimates in the toxicity of critical life stages.     

Evaluation of electromagnetic loads on various design options of the ITER diagnostic upper port plug during plasma disruptions

Electromagnetic (EM) loads due to eddy current and halo current during plasma disruptions are evaluated for the ITER diagnostic upper port plug. To reduce strong EM loads acting on the port plug fixed to the vacuum vessel like a cantilever beam, three design options have been considered: removal of the diagnostic first wall, slitting of the diagnostic shield module and recess of the port plug. The main focus of the present study is to examine the efficacy of these options in terms of EM loads on the upper port plug. It is found that making slits is more effective than removing the first wall. It is also shown that the upper port plug needs to be recessed to reduce the EM load induced by halo current.     

Numerical modelling of particle distribution effects on fatigue in Al–SiCp composites

Various reports in the literature have highlighted the effects of particle distribution on the fatigue behaviour of particulate reinforced metal matrix composites (PMMCs), although few attempts have been made at modelling such effects. A micromechanical understanding of the effects of clustering on short crack growth behaviour in Al–SiC_p composites has been achieved via finite element modelling. Comparison of preliminary models with the literature has shown that shielding/anti-shielding effects were significantly affected by the relative sizes of the particle and the overall model such that, when edge effects were removed, a crack was predicted to be accelerated rather than decelerated as it propagated through closely spaced pairs of particles. Consistent differences were identified between models with homogeneous versus clustered particle arrangements in terms of crack path morphologies and local crack–tip stress intensity fluctuations. Furthermore, predicted influences of clustering on growth rates in the numerical models were found to be consistent with previous experimental results (i.e. growth rates rose with increased clustering), demonstrating that load transfer effects associated with changes in particle distribution may play a direct role in controlling the growth of short cracks in these materials.     

Castleman''s disease in the extremity

Castleman's disease is an uncommon entity that is characterized by lymphoid hyperplasia with two variants: the hyaline vascular type and the plasma cell type. We present a case affecting the lower extremity, an extremely rate site of the disease.     

Defining the infrared systems for ITER

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor will have wide angle viewing systems and a divertor thermography diagnostic, which shall provide infrared coverage of the divertor and large parts of the first wall surfaces with spatial and temporal resolution adequate for operational purposes and higher resolved details of the divertor and other areas for physics investigations. We propose specifications for each system such that they jointly respond to the requirements. Risk analysis driven priorities for future work concern mirror degradation, interfaces with other diagnostics, radiation damage to refractive optics, reflections, and the development of calibration and measurement methods for varying optical and thermal target properties.