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The introduction of new composite material systems and cost-efficient manufacturing routes requires the development, or adaptation, of existing material testing standards that can objectively quantify key material properties for design. The properties of discontinuous, randomly oriented, non-woven composites are inherently more variable than their established continuous fibre-reinforced counterparts, demanding some different approaches to testing. We adapted standard tests to better represent the material with significance given to test geometry, load introduction, failure modes and practical testing protocols. The material response to static and cyclic mechanical, physical thermal tests and exposure to various environmental conditions, was studied. We found that standard test procedures require some modification, and data interpretation must be undertaken very carefully.
Clostridium autoethanogenum is an industrial microbe used for the commercial-scale production of ethanol from carbon monoxide. While significant progress has been made in the attempted diversification of this bioprocess, further improvements are desirable, particularly in the formation of the high-value platform chemicals, such as 2,3-butanediol. A new, experimentally parameterised genome scale model of C. autoethanogenum predicts dramatically increased 2,3-butanediol production under non-carbon-limited conditions when thermodynamic constraints on hydrogen production are considered.
The papers presented in this publication are drawn from the Annual Conference for Research Students in the Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment at Oxford Brookes University. They showcase the excellent and varied research being carried out in our faculty: our students may be from different schools - architecture, arts, built environment and computing engineering and mathematics - but they share an enthusiasm for research and an ability to communicate their results to an interdisciplinary audience.
Mitosis and meiosis in higher plants involves significant reconfiguration of the nuclear envelope and the proteins that interact with it. The dynamic series of events involves a range of interactions, movement, breakdown and reformation of this complex system. Recently, progress has been made in identifying and characterising the protein and membrane interactome that performs these complex tasks, including constituents of the nuclear envelope, the cytoskeleton, nucleoskeleton and chromatin. This review will present current understanding of these interactions and advances in knowledge of the processes for the breakdown and reformation of the nuclear envelope during cell divisions in plants.
One of the main challenges when integrating biological and social perspectives in primatology is overcoming interdisciplinary barriers. Unfamiliarity with subject-specific theory and language, distinct disciplinary-bound approaches to research, and academic boundaries aimed at ‘preserving the integrity’ of subject disci-plines can hinder developments in interdisciplinary research. With growing interest in how humans and other primates share landscapes, and recognition of the importance of combining biological and social information to do this effectively, the disparate use of terminology is becoming more evident. To tackle this problem, we dissect the meaning of what the biological sciences term studies in ‘human–wildlife conflict’ or more recent-ly ‘human–wildlife interactions’ and compare it to what anthropology terms ‘multispecies ethnography’. In the biological sciences, human–wildlife interactions are the actions resulting from people and wild animals sharing landscapes and resources, with outcomes rangi…
This paper addresses two questions through a study of 180 SMEs located in contrasting industry and home country contexts. First, which business models for international markets prevail among SMEs and do they configure into different types? Second, which factors predict the international business models that SMEs follow? Three distinct international business models (traditional market-adaptive, technology-exploiter, and ambidextrous explorer) are found among the SMEs studied. The likelihood of SMEs adopting one business model rather than another is to a high degree predictable with reference to a small set of factors: industry, level of home economy development, and decision-maker international experience.