bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the Fracture Resistance of Six Denture Base Acrylic Resins
Authors: Uzun Gülay , Hersek Nur 
Published: July 2003

Fracture strength of denture base resins is of great concern, and many approaches have been used to strengthen acrylic resin dentures. Fracture resistance of six commercially available acrylic resin denture base materials were compared, through impact and transverse strength tests. Three rapid heat-polymerised resins (QC 20, Meliodent and Trevalon), two high-impact strength resins (Trevalon Hi and Lucitone 199) and a strengthened injection-moulded acrylic resin (SR Ivocap plus) were included in the study. Twenty acrylic resin test specimens were fabricated from each resin. For impact strength test, ten notched specimens were tested in a Charpy-type impact tester. The other ten specimens were used for transverse strength tests, deflection and modulus of elasticity values were also determined, which were assessed with three-point bending tests using an Universal Testing Machine. Impact test values showed significant differences among acrylic resins ( F = 4.817 p = 0.0). SR Ivocap resin showed the highest impact strength values, followed by Trevalon Hi and Lucitone 199. The transverse strength test values were not significant when six acrylic resins were compared ( F = 1.705 p = 0.151). High-impact resins can be recommended to increase the impact strength of denture base. If the cause of fracture is mechanical or anatomical, strengthened acrylic resins and conventional acrylic resins have similar fracture resistance.
Manufacturing of Doubly Curved Tubular Composite Structures: Mapping and Weave Modifications
Authors: Sharma Shrikant B. , Porat Isaac , Potluri Prasad , Atkinson John 
Published: July 2003

The versatility of the textile weaving process has made it a popular method for producing structural composite preforms. Enhanced through-thickness strength by multi-layer weaving, good in-plane strength and the ability to produce 2.5D or 3D shapes, are some of the advantages which have made weaving the most commonly used textile process for composite applications. It is also possible to incorporate local modifications to the weave patterns and fibre-densities within the woven structure; although this characteristic of weaving has not been completely exploited by the composites industry. It is easy to produce a tubular structure having good bi-directional mechanical properties. Moreover, the preform also can be molded into bent shapes, making the woven composites more versatile than ever before. Drape behavior of such tubular fabrics is complex and has not previously been investigated. The aim of this paper is to discuss the manufacturing aspects of such tubular preforms and to suggest ways to overcome the wrinkling problems using the mapping results. In terms of the mapping models, existing shear-based algorithms for mapping a flat fabric over open surfaces are first applied to a closed tubular section. Specific algorithms are developed to map a straight tubular preform over a bent tubular section. Wrinkles are prevalent in sections with severe bends and the paper also discusses methods to remove them.
Energy Absorption and Dissipation Characteristics of Pultruded Glass-Graphite/Epoxy Hybrid Composite Beams
Authors: Kowsika Murthy V.S.L.N. , Mantena P. Raju , Balasubramaniam K. 
Published: July 2003

The response of pultruded glass-graphite/epoxy hybrid composites has been evaluated under two different incident impact energy conditions. A high incident energy (HIE) and a low incident energy (LIE) of impact are chosen to cause either complete fracture or induce delamination, respectively, for assessing the energy absorption characteristics and delamination fracture toughness of these hybrid composites. From the HIE instrumented drop-weight impact tests, the energies required for damage initiation, propagation, as well as total absorbed energies and other parameters necessary for evaluating the impact performance of composites were derived from the load-deformation behavior of each sample. The influence of hybridization on the energy absorption characteristics of pultruded composites was investigated. A parametric study also was performed to correlate the energy absorption characteristics with the energy dissipative mechanisms attributed to the inherent material damping capacity of these composites. The qualitative assessment of the impact performance using inherent damping capacity as a non-destructive testing parameter is highlighted. The samples that were subjected to LIE impact testing were examined using ultrasonic C-scan tests to ascertain changes in the extent of delamination crack propagation as a result of hybridization. Finite element modeling was performed to simulate delamination crack propagation at various levels through the thickness. The strain energy release rate computed using the virtual crack closure technique was monitored to determine the likelihood of delamination crack propagation with increment in crack growth. The results obtained from LIE impact tests and ultrasonic C-scan tests were used to corroborate the predicted delamination fracture toughness of pultruded hybrids. Graphite-outside hybrids exhibited high flexural stiffness, propagation energy, ductility and failure index, but had lower initiation energy along with a greater tendency to delaminate.
Design, Fatigue Test and NDE of a Sectional Wind Turbine Rotor Blade
Authors: Hahn F. , Kensche C. W. , Paynter R. J. H. , Dutton A. G. , Kildegaard C. , Kosgaard J. 
Published: July 2003

Future sizes of wind turbine rotor blades will exceed 50 m. For transportation, it is favourable to make them in two parts and connect them in a suitable way at the operational site. With the co-operation of industry and research institutes in three countries, a spar beam-connection principle was selected as a possible solution. The pre-design, including finite element analysis, for the structural details were carried out at DLR, Stuttgart (Germany). LM Glasfiber A/S (Denmark) realised the concept in a 13.4 m GRP blade with a wound tube as a transverse load and bending moment transferring spar stump. The sectional blade was investigated for static and fatigue integrity at DLR up to 5 million load cycles in a sinusoidal one-step test. Strain gauges were applied at those locations shown by the finite element analysis to be critical. During the fatigue tests, the blade was observed by means of a thermoelastic stress analysis camera (TSA) by CLRC (United Kingdom) with the aim to observe the stress distributions. These measurements located stress concentrations not otherwise predicted by the finite element analysis. At those locations more strain gauges were applied and found to show relatively high stresses. The strain measurements can be used to calibrate the signals shown by the TSA camera. Thus, on the basis of the combined use of different design and measurement methods, a promising way is shown to find stress “hot spots” in complex composite components and to inform directly and immediately the manufacturers of those articles about possible or necessary modifications.
Development of a Novel Composite Based on Thermoplastic Polymers and Low Melting Point Thermoplastic Chalcogenide Glasses
Authors: Bormashenko Edward , Pogreb Roman , Sutovsky Semion 
Published: July 2003

A novel composite material has been developed based on thermoplastic polymers on one hand and thermoplastic chalcogenide glass on the other hand. Extrusion technique and pressing allowed the production of very different structures of the composite, ranging from fibrous to “sandwich” structures. Also obtained were highly homogenous compositions that contain perfectly spherical glass particles of 1-6 mm in diameter dispersed into a polymer matrix. Optical properties of the composite have been studied thoroughly. It was established that extrusion allows the obtaining of composites, which are highly transparent in the 2-25 mm wavelength band when the concentration of the chalcogenide glass does not exceed 33%. When the concentration of chalcogenide glass was as great as 40%, dramatic changes in the transmission spectrum were observed. The extruded films are opaque not only in the visible band but in the near and middle IR as well, while being transparent in the far IR band. Such composite films are suitable as far IR filters. Pressing permits the production of “sandwiches” which are opaque in visible light and highly transparent in the near and middle IR. “Sandwich” composites could be used as effective flexible near-IR filters. Oriented composites can be applied as IR waveguides.
Freelance Workers and Contract Uncertainty: The Effects of Contractual Changes in the Television Industry
Authors: Dex Shirley , Willis Janet , Paterson Richard , Sheppard Elaine 
Published: July 2003

Changes in the competitive and regulative conditions of British television over the 1980s and 1990s make for an environment of increased uncertainty for those who work in television. Broadcasting legislation, increased competition and technological advances have changed the working practices of the UK's 28,000 production workforce. The introduction of a 25 per cent quota of independent productions on all terrestrial channels, the implementation of Producer Choice in the BBC and the creation of a Network Centre in ITV, leading to a new commissioning process along with merger rationalisation and increasing competition have all contributed to constructing a workforce in which over 50 per cent are freelance and face much uncertainty. This paper focuses on some of the ways workers have experienced and responded to these changes by analysing the postal questionnaire and diary-data collected in an eight-wave panel study of 436 creative production workers in British television 1994-97, collected by the British Film Institute. This paper considers whether uncertainty is a problem and finds that it is for the majority of these workers. The question of what makes uncertainty a problem is also considered. Individuals were found to cope with uncertainty by diversifying the income sources, by collecting information, building informal networks and by thinking of leaving work in television.
`Apprentice Entrepreneurs'? Ethnic Minority Workers in the Independent Restaurant Sector
Authors: Ram Monder , Abbas Tahir , Sanghera Balihar , Barlow Gerald , Jones Trevor 
Published: July 2003

Ethnic minority business activity has often been presented as a vehicle for `upward mobility' for owners and workers alike. Much attention has focused upon the owners themselves. The co-ethnic labour that such employers usually rely upon has often been treated as unproblematic. This paper aims to illuminate the experiences of workers in ethnic minority owned restaurants. In particular, the widely held view that working in a co-ethnic firm serves as an `apprenticeship' for eventual self-employment is explored. Rather than co-ethnic ties, workers' labour market experiences highlight the importance of the `opportunity structure' in shaping employment choices. The evidence of the current research suggests that the goal of self-employment was not widely held; and although many workers did move around to acquire better paid work, this was not part of a strategic route to becoming a restaurateur. Some workers did cherish such ambitions, but were inhibited by major obstacles. These included intense competition, high start-up costs, and a lack of `know-how'. The labour market and social context of the firm often militated against the hazardous proposition of self-employment.
The propaedeutic delusion: what can ‘ethogenic science’ add to our pre-theoretic understanding of ‘loss of dignity, humiliation and expressive failure’?
Authors: Cioffi Frank 
Published: July 2003

This article assembles reasons for holding that the propaedeutic rationale for much of the discourse produced by ‘ethogenic science’ is inadequate. One reason is that the interactional principles that are the pretext for assembling the situational vignettes, which are the staple of ethogenics, are truisms and do not require documentation. Our familiarity with the risks and rewards of social life is already considerable and it is not clear how, or to what end, ethogenic science can augment them. Moreover ethogenic theorists do not explain how a discipline that eschews experiment and causal inquiry can transcend the understanding of the subject and how, if it does not, it can do more than provide perspicuous views of the social facts and practices already known, or at least within reach of unspecialized observation. The programme of uncovering the mechanisms by which we register and evince our social standing is not one of which we are given a coherent account and is, in any case, not to be served by multiplying examples of how respect and contempt are merited or meted out. It is suggested that the need such discourse surreptiously meets is that of an autonomous craving for Wittgensteinian Übersichten - overviews - of the vicissitudes of social existence.
The relevance of Bentley for group theory: founding father or mistaken identity?
Authors: Jordan Grant 
Published: July 2003

A. F. Bentley’s The Process of Government (1908) is widely accepted as an important source of contemporary interest group study. This paper argues to the contrary that Bentley’s arguments in this area are obscure and have contributed little to the programme of modern interest group research. His importance is as a contributor to the debate on the nature of social science and social science method and not as the starting-point for interest group analysis. The judgement about his role as a social scientist should rest on consideration of his body of work and not simply the one book. In terms of his much cited book, Bentley, it is argued, is misread. The central purpose of this article is to explore the consequences of that misinterpretation. The misreading of The Process of Government, and the unmerited assumption that it is directly connected to modern interest group theory, has led to a misunderstanding of that contemporary theory. In particular his use of the term ‘group’ is much wider in scope than is now usually followed. This means that his claims are not so uni-dimensional as they appear when extracted from their context. Bentley used the term in a sociological sense that included informal social associations as ‘groups’: these are not the sort of formal, collective organizations of the interest group type as identified in political science. It is argued that the major sources of ideas current in the interest group field are Truman (1951) and the case-study authors of the 1930s such as Odegard, Childs, Herring and Schattschneider. Bentley’s contribution to political science is not as progenitor of interest group studies, but his emphasis on process anticipates the policy studies movement.
When did a psychologist last discuss ‘chagrin’? American psychology’s continuing moral project
Authors: Dryden Windy , Still Arthur 
Published: July 2003

The starting-point of this article is Graham Richards’ (1995) claim that American psychology includes a moral project present even before the discipline got underway as a modern institution. We accept this, but identify a different kind of moral project, stemming from the radical critique of morality by Ralph Waldo Emerson, rather than the moral aims of Noah Porter and James McCosh. This leads to a morality based on (but not reducible to) psychological events, and worked out, not in academic psychology, but in the practical disciplines of counselling and psychotherapy. We trace its elaboration from Freud to the writings and practice of Albert Ellis and Carl Rogers. The critique is of a traditional morality of obligation with its discourse of ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’. A parallel is drawn with a similar (and contemporaneous) critique in moral philosophy.
Reading Plans as an Exercise in Evaluation
Authors: Khakee Abdul 
Published: July 2003

The communicative turn in policy analysis and planning has resulted in increasing interest in the issue of what the text of the plan has to narrate to different categories of readership. The quality of the text of the plan is a central aspect of this new concern. According to rational planning theory, a plan should be an exposition of various directives. The plan is based on the scientific examination of issues and the readership is assumed to consist of persons with technical and/or juridical proficiency. Evaluation in rational planning amounts to the examination of the effectiveness and legitimacy of the plans. Communicative planning theory, on the other hand, conceives of the plan as the result of a broad democratic discourse, comprising a large number of stakeholders. The plan acquires different functions according to different readerships. Besides examining effectiveness and legitimacy, evaluation in communicative planning involves an appraisal of how plans promote a broad stakeholder involvement and help in building relational resources. The reading of plans becomes a rich assessment of the policy discourses that characterize the planning process. This article presents three approaches to reading plans as part of evaluation in communicative planning: (1) the plan as an account of a drama with many actors; (2) the plan as an instrument for uniting rational rhetoric with a multitude of opinions; and (3) the plan as the product of a democratic discourse. The empirical analysis consists of a reading of five Swedish strategic spatial plans. The aim of this exercise is to examine the attributes of the plans when their texts are analysed from different perspectives, and in turn to determine the implications for the quality of the planning process and the programme of actions.
Performance Management and Policy Evaluation in the Netherlands
Authors: Van Der Knaap Peter 
Published: July 2003

In June 1999, the Netherlands government presented its new proposals on the structure, content and presentation of budget documents. The new style government budget should give answers to three simple questions: ‘What do we want to achieve? What will we do to achieve it? What will be the costs of our efforts?’After the budgetary year, the government annual report will have to answer the logical equivalents to these questions: ‘Have we achieved what we intended? Have we done what we should have done in achieving it? Did it cost what we had expected?’ The general purpose of the proposals is to make budget documents, and hence the budgetary process, more policy-oriented by presenting information on (intended and achieved) policy objectives, policy measures or instruments, and their costs. In this article, I will focus in on the merits of the new style budget from a performance management and policy evaluation point of view. The central question is: will the new style budget indeed allow for a better geared employment of periodic (annual or cyclic) and less frequent information on policy outcomes and management output? And, if so, what are the chances of enhancing the utilization of the results of evaluation research by tuning its employment to the systematically available data of performance-oriented systems of planning and control?
The Impact of Development Co-operation in Conflict Situations
Authors: Klingebiel Stephan 
Published: July 2003

Within a debate about the contribution that development co-operation (DC) can make to stable and peaceful development in conflict situations, development agencies are trying to gain a better understanding of their options. This article deals with the experience and findings of German DC in six countries. The direct influence of DC on conflict situations is limited. Conflict recognition and the flow of information are important and this has been sometimes deficient or even highly problematic. DC actors are often insufficiently aware of conflict situations and there are no real 'conflict strategies'. German DC pursued very different strategies in the countries studied: sometimes German governmental DC tried to act independently of the actual or potential conflict, whilst on other occasions efforts were made to help prevent crises or resolve conflicts. The six country studies differ in their conclusions on the overall impact of German DC on potential and actual conflict situations: some positive and some negative. All the studies identify opposing tendencies (ambivalence); in each case German DC may exacerbate potential or actual conflict situations as well as make positive contributions.
Assessing USAID's Assistance for Democratic Development
Authors: Mcmahon Edward R. 
Published: July 2003

The focus of this article is on efforts undertaken within the United States government, especially the US Agency for International Development, to develop a coherent approach to determining the effectiveness of its democracy support programming. The main four priority areas are to support: civil society development; competitive political processes; the rule of law; and governance. The article begins by asking the question of why this issue is important. It then provides context, and briefly assesses varying perspectives and motivations of different stakeholders. It examines and critiques current approaches being taken to ‘measure performance’ and concludes by suggesting some potentially useful policy and research directions. These include instituting structural reforms to enhance the independence of the evaluation process, disaggregating approaches to assessing the impact of programming, focussing on priority countries, and expanding use of integrative methodologies.
Investigating Consumer Perspectives on Evaluating Health Technologies
Authors: Oliver Sandy , Milne Ruairidh , Bradburn Jane , Buchanan Phyll , Kerridge Lynn , Walley Tom , Gabbay John 
Published: July 2003

In a short pilot study we systematically involved healthcare consumers in identifying research topics, and prioritizing, commissioning and reporting evaluations of health technologies. We analysed records of consumers' suggestions for their content and, wherever possible, compared them with suggestions from academics and staff of the UK National Health Service. Consumers tended to highlight issues about patients' views, social contexts, information and support needs, long-term outcomes, and dissemination of research findings to consumers. These issues were usually not addressed by professionals who tended to focus more on technical and economic aspects of the work. Consumers made unique contributions and brought fresh ideas and skills, which were readily incorporated, into the programme. Their direct involvement promises to better satisfy the information needs of those who use the NHS, and similar approaches may be applied to evaluating other public services.
Inter-governmental Evaluation: Balancing Stakeholders' Expectations with Enlightenment Objectives?
Authors: Barbier Jean-Claude 
Published: July 2003

This article discusses, from an evaluator's point of view, the uses and utility of evaluation in inter-governmental contexts. Empirical data are drawn from the current evaluation of the European Social Fund's (ESF) Objective 3 programme in France.1 It cannot be expected that the evaluator alone is in a position to assess whether the various stakeholders' expectations have been met in a satisfactory manner. However, the evaluator's mission undoubtedly includes accountability and consideration of the ways in which research is used, contributing to evaluation design and to the process and the scope of findings.2 The expectations of the partners involved in the French ESF evaluation will first be analysed in order to highlight the evaluator's contribution. It is argued that, potentially, the benefits of evaluation extend beyond strictly satisfying the expressed needs of direct partners. An inter-governmental context tends to be favourable for such an extension.