Open University

About: Open University is a education organization based out in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 11702 authors who have published 35020 publications receiving 1110835 citations. The organization is also known as: Open University, The & Open University.

ENGIN-X: a third-generation neutron strain scanner

Abstract: ENGIN-X, a new time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffractometer optimized to measure elastic strains at precise locations in bulky specimens recently commissioned at the ISIS Facility in the Rutherford Laboratory, UK, is described. Fast counting times, together with a flexible and accurate definition of the instrumental gauge volume are the main requirements of neutron strain scanning and have been addressed on ENGIN-X through the design of a novel TOF diffractometer with a tuneable resolution and interchangeable radial collimators. Further, the routine operation of the instrument has been optimized by creating a virtual instrument, i.e. a three-dimensional computer representation of the diffractometer and samples, which assists in the planning and execution of experiments. On comparing ENGIN-X with its predecessor ENGIN, a 25× gain in performance is found, which has allowed the determination of stresses up to 60 mm deep in steel specimens. For comparison with constant-wavelength diffractometers, special attention has been paid to the absolute number of counts recorded during the experiments. A simple expression is presented for the estimation of counting times in TOF neutron strain scanning experiments.

Widespread magma oceans on asteroidal bodies in the early Solar System

Abstract: Our Solar System formed about 4.6 billion years ago, and within 4 million years small planetary bodies had formed, some melting to form volcanic and related rocks. Two families of meteorites (the HEDs and angrites) are thought to have originated from asteroids that melted at this time. New oxygen isotope measurements confirm that these meteorites are from two distinct asteroids that underwent large-scale melting in the early Solar System. These new results show that early, global-scale melting was a feature of all the differentiated planets (Earth, Moon and Mars) and asteroids so far sampled. Immediately following the formation of the Solar System, small planetary bodies accreted1, some of which melted to produce igneous rocks2,3. Over a longer timescale (15–33 Myr), the inner planets grew by incorporation of these smaller objects4,5 through collisions. Processes operating on such asteroids strongly influenced the final composition of these planets4, including Earth5. Currently there is little agreement about the nature of asteroidal igneous activity: proposals range from small-scale melting, to near total fusion and the formation of deep magma oceans2. Here we report a study of oxygen isotopes in two basaltic meteorite suites, the HEDs (howardites, eucrites and diogenites, which are thought to sample the asteroid 4 Vesta6) and the angrites (from an unidentified asteroidal source). Our results demonstrate that these meteorite suites formed during early, global-scale melting (≥ 50 per cent) events. We show that magma oceans were present on all the differentiated Solar System bodies so far sampled. Magma oceans produced compositionally layered planetesimals; the modification of such bodies before incorporation into larger objects can explain some anomalous planetary features, such as Earth's high Mg/Si ratio.

Multilingual Scholars and the Imperative to Publish in English: Negotiating Interests, Demands, and Rewards

Abstract: This article examines how multilingual scholars who work outside English-speaking countries negotiate the demand to publish in English alongside their broader academic and publishing interests. Based on our ethnographic study of the academic writing and publishing practices of 16 psychology scholars in Hungary, Slovakia, and Spain, we characterize the range of communities for whom the scholars are writing, drawing on notions of discourse community, community of practice, and speech community. We discuss the differential value attached to publications for different communities and how such value is sustained through the rewards systems in which scholars work. We offer brief profiles of three scholars from the study to illustrate how they negotiate academic and professional interests. We explain implications of the findings to TESOL, particularly for curriculum and pedagogy in English for academic purposes.