Laboratory accreditation in the UK

Two complementary national laboratory accreditation schemes are run by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to provide official recognition of competent British laboratories and an assurance of quality to their customers. The first of these, the British Calibration Service (BCS), was set up in 1966 to accredit laboratories to calibrate instruments, gauges and reference materials. In 1981 the National Testing Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (NATLAS) was formed to extend the service to all kinds of testing. Both BCS and NATLAS form an integral part of the UK national measurement system and were combined to form the National Measurement Accreditation Service on 1 October 1985.     

Questionnaire development: an examination of the Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire

This paper describes the outcome of user trials of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire which encompassed the views of the following groups: data entry clerks, technical staff, administrative clerks and 481 subjects employed in 10 supermarkets. A significant number of improvements was identified, especially concerning its wording, layout and administration. This has led to a standardized version being produced for use in studying the prevalence of reported symptoms in many types of occupational groups.     

Ultra-Thin Si<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ge<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> Dislocation Blocking Layers for Ge/Strained Si CMOS Devices

We demonstrate ultra-thin (<150 nm) Si_1−x Ge _x dislocation blocking layers on Si substrates used for the fabrication of tensile-strained Si N channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) and Ge P channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) devices. These layers were grown using ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD). The Ge mole fraction was varied in rapid, but distinct steps during the epitaxial layer growth. This results in several Si_1−x Ge _x interfaces in the epitaxially grown material with significant strain fields at these interfaces. The strain fields enable a dislocation blocking mechanism at the Si_1−x Ge _x interfaces on which we were able to deposit very smooth, atomically flat, tensile-strained Si and relaxed Ge layers for the fabrication of high mobility N and P channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices, respectively. Both N and P channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transister (MOSFETs) were successfully fabricated using high-k dielectric and metal gates on these layers, demonstrating that this technique of using ultra-thin dislocation blocking layers might be ideal for incorporating high mobility channel materials in a conventional CMOS process.     

Amino-terminal charge affects the periplasmic accumulation of recombinant heregulin/EGF hybrids exported using the Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase signal sequence

An Escherichia coli expression system that exploits the bacterial alkaline phosphatase (PhoA) signal sequence to translocate recombinant human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) to the periplasm was used to evaluate how changes in the composition and sequence of amino acids near the PhoA-hEGF junction influence the periplasmic accumulation of recombinant protein. A series of chimeric structural genes was generated by in vitro replacement of hEGF sequence with analogous segments from the EGF-like domain of human heregulin (HRG), significantly altering the electrostatic character of the amino-terminal region of the mature protein. Quantitation of HRG/EGF protein in E. coli periplasmic extracts, by RP-HPLC, showed a fourfold decrease after one of two acidic residues located in the amino-terminal region of the mature hEGF, near the PhoA junction, was replaced. An additional threefold decrease was observed when the second acidic residue was replaced with a positively charged lysine. Further extension of the amino-terminal HRG sequence, beyond the first six residues, resulted in net neutralization of a more distant EGF acidic residue with no additional effect on protein yield. The importance of having a negatively charged group in the amino-terminal region of the mature protein was confirmed when insertion of an aspartic acid near the amino-terminus of two poorly expressed hybrid protein sequences resulted in a five- to eightfold increase in their recovery from the periplasm. This study demonstrates the importance of having negatively charged residues near the fusion junction of recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli using the PhoA signal sequence for protein export.     

Optical communication and fiber design

Optical fiber has evolved from a not-so-transparent glass tube to an extraordinarily efficient transmission medium. It is now acknowledged as a central element of modern telecommunication being part of the whole optimization process to further improve transmission system performance and cost. In this paper, we briefly introduce transmission system optimization problematics as well as key fiber characteristics. We then review the elements of fiber design for optimized optical communication networks, including metropolitan, long and ultra-long haul applications and show how fibers have evolved over the last ten years to keep pace with more and more demanding requirement of transmission system.     

Control of wheeled mobile robots not satisfying ideal velocity constraints: A singular perturbation approach

We propose in this paper a singular perturbation formulation for mechanical systems not exactly satisfying velocity constraints. We particularize to ‘wheeled mobile robots’ which do not satisfy ideal pure rolling and nonslipping constraints. We study the robustness of static-state linearizing feedback laws which have been obtained to solve a point tracking problem in the ideal case when constraints were satisfied.     

Interdisciplinary approaches to job design: A constructive replication with extensions.

This study replicated Campion and Thayer's (1985) research, which drew from many disciplines (e.g., psychology, engineering, human factors, physiology) to demonstrate four approaches to job design and their corresponding outcomes: motivational approach with satisfaction outcomes, mechanistic approach with efficiency outcomes, biological approach with comfort outcomes, and perceptual/motor approach with reliability outcomes. This study extended the research in five ways. First, it used an expanded sample of 92 jobs and 1,024 respondents from a different industry. Second, a self-report measure was developed and evaluated, because many jobs cannot be analyzed observationally. Third, method bias was addressed by not finding evidence of priming effects, by demonstrating strong relationships even when within-subject bias was avoided, and by relating job design to independent opinion survey data. Fourth, reliability of aggregate responses was demonstrated, and relationships at the job level of analysis were larger than at the individual level. Fifth, neither individual differences in terms of preferences/tolerances for types of work nor demographics moderated job design–outcome relationships. It was concluded that different approaches to job design influence different outcomes, each approach has costs as well as benefits, trade-offs may be needed, and both theory and practice must be interdisciplinary in perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)