Uranium nitride (UN) spheres embedded in uranium dioxide (UO2) matrix is considered an innovative accident tolerant fuel (ATF). However, the interaction between UN and UO2 restricts the applicability of such composite in light water reactors. A possibility to limit this interaction is to separate the two materials with a diffusion barrier that has a high melting point, high thermal conductivity, and reasonably low neutron cross-section. Recent density functional theory calculations and experimental results on interface interactions in UN-X-UO2 systems (X = V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W) concluded that Mo and W are promising coating candidates. In this work, we develop and study different methods of coating ZrN spheres, used as a surrogate material for UN spheres: first, using Mo or W nanopowders (wet and binder); and second, using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of W. ZrN-UO2 composites containing 15 wt% of coated ZrN spheres were consolidated by spark plasma sintering (1773 K, 80 MPa) and characterised by SEM/FIB-EDS and EBSD. The results show dense Mo and W layers without interaction with UO2. Wet and binder Mo methods provided coating layers of about 20 µm and 65 µm, respectively, while the binder and CVD of W methods layers of about 12 µm and 3 µm, respectively.

This paper addresses a particular gap in the further education (FE) literature offering an analysis of Incorporation within a theory of social change developed by Fligstein and McAdam, in their work ‘A Theory of Fields’. The authors argue that FE was subjected to the introduction of a quasi-market in advance of wider neoliberal reforms in the English public sector. The paper analyses the development of Incorporation arguing the marketisation of the sector developed a logic of its own which the authors term the ‘logic of Incorporation’. This logic overdeveloped areas of ‘market’ interest while neglecting other crucial areas such as teaching and learning, professionalism and the curriculum. These neglected areas are explained using the concept of ‘unorganised social space’ (taken from an undeveloped concept in Fligstein and McAdam’s work) which remain unstable and unresolved because the very logic of Incorporation blocks the discussion of other logics, discourses or alternatives. The paper concludes that the logic of Incorporation leaves many important areas underdeveloped including the strategic place or purpose of FE itself. It proposes that FE has yet to find the stability of a ‘strategic action field’ needed to maintain itself and should be returned to some form of local or regional government ownership and control.

This article summarizes some of the key features of the rat vibrissal system, including the actively controlled sweeping movements of the vibrissae known as whisking, and reviews the past and ongoing research aimed at replicating some of this functionality in biomimetic robots.

One of the key problems in copper-diamond composites is the interface between the metal matrix and the diamond reinforcement. In order to take advantage of the high thermal conductive diamond filler in a composite the design of the interface is crucial. One approach to minimize the thermal contact resistance between metal and diamond reinforcement is to coat the diamonds with functional layers, e.g. Mo or W. For coating of diamonds PVD and CVD have been used followed by characterization of coating thickness by different methods. The coated diamonds were used for composite manufacturing and the thermal diffusivity of the compacted materials was measured.

This paper presents a methodology for migration of legacy systems towards Service-Oriented Architectures. This approach is based on source code analysis and graph transformation with a central goal of allowing a high degree of automation.The work presented here is developed in the context of a collaboration between academia and industry and is targetted to be applied systematically in software reengineering projects.KeywordsLegacy SystemGraph TransformationGeneral MethodologyGraph Transformation RuleLegacy SoftwareThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The first day of February 2008 saw the College hosting the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS®) 20th-anniversary celebrations. A stimulating and productive conference was attended by 140 people and provided an opportunity to update the audience on forthcoming developments in ATLS®, including details of the eighth edition to be released in early 2009. The conference was followed by a Caribbean themed party in the evening with steel bands and dancing.

The development of efficient gas turbines leads to an increasing of the combustion temperature. Therefore the improvement of the protective coatings for the turbine components is an important factor. These high temperature protective coatings enhance the oxidation and corrosion resistance of the nickel base material components. Different coating processes were developed and since several years NiAl and modified NiAl layers were used for this application. Based on an AlCl 3 /Al/YCl 3 chemical vapour deposition process (CVD process) aluminum and yttrium containing aluminum coatings were investigated. The evaporation and codeposition processes were studied and GTD111 samples with different geometries were coated with aluminum and yttrium/aluminum. The composition of the coatings were determined and the measured yttrium amount of the layer was correlated with the deposition conditions. The prepared samples were tested in a thermal cycling oxidation test and the enhanced oxidation resistance of the yttrium containing coatings were shown.

This paper is based upon the initial findings of a CIMA research project into the way in which corporate performance measurement systems are influenced by the use of shareholder value management techniques. It compares and contrasts the techniques in use in a sample of 10 companies that either explicitly use shareholder value techniques also known as Value‐Based Management (VBM), or explicitly do not use such techniques. The analysis undertaken is based upon the finding of semi‐structured interviews with company representatives which formed the first part of the data collection process of the project. The analysis traces the interactions between corporate objectives, decision making criteria, performance measurement systems and executive incentive schemes in order to develop an understanding of the effects of such shareholder value techniques upon corporate behaviour. The literature reviewed suggests that the other aspects of the planning and control system should be aligned with the corporate objectives whether a company has adopted VBM or not. Therefore this research contributes new evidence on the use of VBM techniques in the UK and also more generally on whether VBM and non‐VBM companies internal planning and control systems are aligned.