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Articles you may be interested inFluid structure in the immediate vicinity of an equilibrium three-phase contact line and assessment of disjoining pressure models using density functional theoryWe study the variation of density or chemical composition in the neighborhood of tbe line in which three phases meet and we determine the associated line tension. Three models are considered: a phenomenological model based on a primitive approximation to the excess free-energy density that arises from the inhomogeneities at tbe two-phase interfaces and at tbe three-phase line; a generalized van der Waals approximation. in which the excess free-energy density is the sum of an analytic function of the densities and a quadratic form in the density gradients; and a microscopic model of a three-component, three-phase fluid. for which the properties of the interfaces and of the three-phase line are determined in mean-field approximation as solutions of nonlocal functional equations. Both positive and negative line tensions are found. In the third model. when the nonlocal functional equations for the composition profiles of the twophase interfaces are approximated by gradient expansions truncated in second order (van der Waals approximation). the resulting profiles are fairly accurate but the surface tensions are not.

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 Purpose-Issues surrounding knowledge management, knowledge transfer and learning within organisations challenge continuity and resilience in the face of changing environments. While initiatives are principally applied within large organisations, there is scope to assess how the processes are handled within small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to consider how they might be enhanced. This paper presents an evaluation of practice within an evolving software development unit to determine what has been learned and how the knowledge acquired has been utilised to further organisational development. These results provide the basis for the design and implementation of a proposed support tool to enhance professional practice.  Design/methodology/approach-A small software development unit, which has successfully delivered bespoke systems since its establishment a number of years ago, was selected for analysis. The unit operates as a team whose actions and behaviours were identified and validated by the following means: in-depth interviews were carried out with each member of the team to elicit an understanding of individual and collective development. Interview data were recorded and transcribed and subjected to qualitative analysis to identify key themes underpinning knowledge acquisition and utilisation. Samples of project documentation were scrutinised to corroborate interview data. After analysing the data, a focus-group meeting was held to validate the results and to generate further insights into learning within the team.  Findings-Qualitative analysis of the data revealed key changes in thinking and practice within the team as well as insight into the development of individual and collective contextual knowledge, tacit understanding and learning. This analysis informed the proposal of a bespoke, lightweight, web-based system to support knowledge capture and organisational learning (OL). This approach has the potential to promote resilience and to enhance practice in similar small or start-up enterprises.  Research limitations/implications-Purposeful sampling was used in selecting a small software development team. This enabled in-depth interviewing of all members of the team. This offered a rich environment from which to derive awareness and understanding of individual and collective knowledge acquisition and learning. Focusing on a single small enterprise limits the extent to which the

A computer-aided graphics approach to correlating transmission electron microscope images of freeze-fractured and thin-sectioned samples is outlined. Any three-dimensional model of the imaged structure can be mathematically sectioned to provide a two-dimensional representation of the model in the "fracture" plane. The method is used to demonstrate that the structure of lamellar liquid crystalline liposomes is based on a family of Dupin cyclides; closed, parallel surfaces with a conjugate ellipse and hyperbola as curvature defects.