10 research outputs found
Tailoring thermoelectric properties in double-filled skutterudites (La,Sm)y(FexNi1-x)4Sb12: insights from bulk and thin-film studies
No full textExploring (La,Sm)y(FexNi1-x)4Sb12 skutterudites to enhance thermoelectric performance: bulk and thin-film investigations
No full textEvaluation of the Library’s Digital Collections web site & usability testing of the Western Waters Digital Library web site
No full textSpring 2007.Presents results of a heuristic evaluation and usability testing conducted for two digital collections web sites by the JT661 (Information Design) class during spring 2007. Instructor: Don Zimmerman. Class members: Rebecca Anderson, Darren Bau-Madsen, Christian Blevins, Asma Bukhari, Meghala Divakaran, Jefferie Mitchell, Greg Vogl
Rational design on materials for developing next generation Lithium-ion secondary battery
No full textresearch groups involved:
1. Emerging Technologies Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
2. Engineering and Energy, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia
3. Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India
4.School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) gained global attention as the most promising energy storing technology for the mobile and stationary applications due to its high energy density, low self-discharge property, long life span, high open-circuit voltage and nearly zero memory effects. However, to meet the growing energy demand, this energy storage technology must be further explored and developed for high power applications. The conventional lithium-ion batteries mainly based on Li-ion intercalation mechanism cannot offer high-charge capacities. To transcend this situation, alloy-type anode and conversion-type anode materials are gaining popularity. This review article focuses on the historical and recent advancements in cathode and anode materials including the future scope of the lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) cathode. Equal emphasis is dedicated in this review to discuss about lithium based and beyond lithium-based anode materials. This review additionally focuses on the role of technological advancements in nanomaterials as a performance improvement technique for new novel anode and cathode materials. Also, this review offers rational cell and material design, perspectives and future challenges to promote the application of these materials in practical lithium-ion batteries
Recent progress in performance evaluations and near real-time assessment of operational ocean products
No full textOperational ocean forecast systems provide routine marine products to an ever-widening community of users and stakeholders. The majority of users need information about the quality and reliability of the products to exploit them fully. Hence, forecast centres have been developing improved methods for evaluating and communicating the quality of their products. Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) OceanView, along with the Copernicus European Marine Core Service and other national and international programmes, has facilitated the development of coordinated validation activities among these centres. New metrics, assessing a wider range of ocean parameters, have been defined and implemented in real-time. An overview of recent progress and emerging international standards is presented here
Measuring Corporate Transparency in Sustainability Reporting
No full textCorporations play a central role in sustainability, as their operations have major ramifications on the ecological, social, and economic contexts in which they operate. These operations need to be transparent to all stakeholders so that meaningful reporting could be easily accessed and understood by stakeholders. Indeed, transparency is an important measure of the effectiveness of corporate sustainability reporting (Kaptein et al., 2003). Bushman et al. (2003) defined transparency as the availability of firm-related information to the public, which is external to the organization. The most influential media outlets for firms to report their sustainability efforts include annual reports, social media, and websites. While several researchers have studied measures for corporate transparency (e.g. Delmas et al., 2010; Eldomiaty, 2005), broad-based quantitative approaches grounded in automated text-analysis have not yet attracted much attention. The key objective of this research is to develop a measure of corporate transparency in sustainability reporting and a related methodological approach to examining the sustainability reporting practices of organizations. \ \ The first step in the proposed research is to build a dictionary of keywords in a systematic way through text analytics of a corpus of sustainability-rich documents compiled from different sources such as seminal articles, authoritative subject-specific books, social media, websites, and sustainability-specific reports of companies. The quality of the corpus is then evaluated both analytically and with the help of subject experts. The probability distribution of terms in the sustainability dictionary relative to the original corpus documents, will serve as a basis for developing an entropy-based measure of transparency in the sustainability reporting of businesses (Cover and Thomas, 1991). More specifically, we define a transparency score of a corporate report as the cross entropy between the probability distribution of sustainability terms in the dictionary and sustainability terms in a corporate report. Besides helping to compare reporting across groups of organizations within a specific industry sector, the measure will also help determine which information media are effective indicators of corporate transparency and which are not. The broader aim of this research is to influence improvements in transparency in sustainability reports and in communicating related information to stakeholders, in turn enhancing a corporation’s sustainability strategies and related progress. \ \ Acknowledgement: \ This research was made possible by the generous support of the Qatar Foundation through Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar’s Seed Research program. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the author(s).
Applying the Onion Model to Scaffold Writing Development in Information Systems Courses
No full textRecent information systems (IS) curriculum guidelines emphasize the importance of writing skill development (Topi et al., 2010). Although IS faculty are expected to take an active role in the development of students’ writing abilities (Pomykalski, 2006), this is a daunting task for professors who lack explicit knowledge of the various rhetorical moves that are accepted within their specific discourse community. In this study, an interdisciplinary collaboration between IS faculty and applied linguists was carried out in a first-year course about core concepts of IS at a branch campus of an English-medium American university in the Middle East to: (1) unpeel the different discourse patterns involved in the case analysis genre, (2) revise the professor’s writing assignments to make his expectations more explicit, and (2) develop writing workshops aimed at strengthening students’ skills in scholarly writing. The case analysis genre involves examining a case, identifying an organization’s problem(s), and proposing an IS solution through stages of analysis and recommendation (Forman & Rymer, 1999). The valued linguistic features of the case analysis genre were identified through: (1) interviews with the IS faculty, (2) think-alouds where the IS faculty read and commented on student writing from previous semesters, and (3) detailed analysis of the linguistic resources present in higher-and lower-graded assignments. These data informed the re-design of the assignment guidelines and the scaffolding materials for a writing workshop delivered in class. Our approach to scaffolding writing in the IS classroom is grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)-based genre pedagogy (de Oliveira & Iddings, 2014) and the Onion Model (Humphrey & Economou, 2015), which discloses the discourse patterns that students need to master to generate successful academic genres across numerous disciplines. Our analysis of the students’ case analysis writing reveals more evidence of analytical writing compared to a previous semester where no writing workshops were offered. \ \ Based on the positive outcomes of this collaboration and with the aim of tracking and reinforcing the development of analytical writing across courses in the IS program, we are currently collaborating in other IS classrooms to investigate other types of genres such as project reports and case development exercises. This model of collaboration between English faculty and disciplinary faculty can be useful in meeting the needs of the increasing number of linguistically and culturally diverse students in IS education. Thus, we argue that collaborations like this are needed to help disciplinary teachers scaffold L2 writing development. Such a model of collaboration can have a positive impact on teacher development and student writing outcomes. \ \ Acknowledgement: \ \ This research was made possible by the generous support of the Qatar Foundation through Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar’s Seed Research program. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the author(s).
Author response: Unexpected sequences and structures of mtDNA required for efficient transcription from the first heavy-strand promoter
No full textAn Immunopathological Evaluation of the Porcine Cholecyst Matrix as a Muscle Repair Graft in a Male Rat Abdominal Wall Defect Model
No full text With the increasing use of animal-based biomaterials for regenerative medical applications, the need for their safety assessment is paramount. A porcine cholecyst-derived scaffold (CDS), intended as a muscle repair graft, prepared by a nondetergent/enzymatic method was engrafted in a rat abdominal wall defect model. Host tissue–scaffold interface samples were collected 2, 8, and 16 weeks postimplantation and evaluated by histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. The nature of the tissue reaction was compared with those induced by a jejunum-derived scaffold (JDS) prepared by the same method and a commercial-grade small intestinal submucosa (CSIS) scaffold. A study of the immunopathological response in major lymphoid tissues and immunophenotyping for M1 and M2 macrophages was performed at the host tissue–scaffold interface. Further, “irritancy scores” for CDS and JDS were determined using CSIS as the reference material. Both CDS and JDS appeared to be potential biomaterials for muscle grafts, but the former stimulated a skeletal muscle tissue remodeling response predominated by M2 macrophages. The data support the notion that biomaterials with similar biocompatibility, based on local tissue response on implantation, may cause differential immunogenicity. Additionally, CDS compared to JDS and CSIS was found to be less immunotoxic. </jats:p
Diversidad genética del jengibre (Zingiber officinale Roscoe.) A nivel molecular: Avances de la última década
No full textEl jengibre ( Zingiber officinale ) es una especie medicinal, aromática y condimentaria que se cultiva principalmente en regiones tropicales y subtropicales del mundo. Por tratarse de una especie de propagación vegetativa, su variabilidad genética tiende a ser baja; sin embargo es posible hallar una amplia variabilidad genética principalmente en la China e India, considerándose actualmente como el principal centro de origen y diversidad de esta especie. Conocer y caracterizar la diversidad genética del jengibre es una tarea de vital importancia para fomentar programas de conservación ex situ o in vitro que ayuden a evitar la erosión genética de esta especie, así como para direccionar correctamente estrategias de mejoramiento genético. Marcadores moleculares han sido ampliamente usados en los últimos años con la finalidad de estudiar la variabilidad genética del jengibre, directamente a nivel del ADN. En este artículo, los avances en la investigación en diversidad genética del jengibre, usando marcadores moleculares, son revisados. Esto con la finalidad de hacer un análisis sobre sus impli - caciones para la conservación y el mejoramiento genético de la especie
