319 research outputs found
Improving judicial oversight and processing of probate court matters
No full textabstract: This final report makes Recommendations A through F1 to AJC outlining steps to take to better enable the judiciary to protect Arizona’s vulnerable and incapacitated population. These recommendations are in addition to the 12 recommendations made to AJC in October 2010, some of which have been adopted and implemented
Gene loss and lineage specific restriction-modification systems associated with niche differentiation in the Campylobacter jejuni Sequence Type 403 clonal complex
No full textCampylobacter jejuni is a highly diverse species of bacteria commonly associated with infectious intestinal disease of humans and zoonotic carriage in poultry, cattle, pigs, and other animals. The species contains a large number of distinct clonal complexes that vary from host generalist lineages commonly found in poultry, livestock, and human disease cases to host-adapted specialized lineages primarily associated with livestock or poultry. Here, we present novel data on the ST403 clonal complex of C. jejuni, a lineage that has not been reported in avian hosts. Our data show that the lineage exhibits a distinctive pattern of intralineage recombination that is accompanied by the presence of lineage-specific restriction-modification systems. Furthermore, we show that the ST403 complex has undergone gene decay at a number of loci. Our data provide a putative link between the lack of association with avian hosts of C. jejuni ST403 and both gene gain and gene loss through nonsense mutations in coding sequences of genes, resulting in pseudogene formation
Integration schemes for dissipative particle dynamics simulations: From softly interacting systems towards hybrid models
No full textWe examine the performance of various commonly used integration schemes in dissipative particle dynamics simulations. We consider this issue using three different model systems, which characterize a variety of different conditions often studied in simulations. Specifically, we clarify the performance of integration schemes in hybrid models, which combine microscopic and mesoscale descriptions of different particles using both soft and hard interactions. We find that in all three model systems many commonly used integrators may give rise to surprisingly pronounced artifacts in physical observables such as the radial distribution function, the compressibility, and the tracer diffusion coefficient. The artifacts are found to be strongest in systems, where interparticle interactions are soft and predominated by random and dissipative forces, while in systems governed by conservative interactions the artifacts are weaker. Our results suggest that the quality of any integration scheme employed is crucial in all cases where the role of random and dissipative forces is important, including hybrid models where the solvent is described in terms of soft potentials. Regarding the integration schemes, the best overall performance is found for integrators in which the velocity dependence of dissipative forces is taken into account, and particularly good performance is found for an approach in which velocities and dissipative forces are determined self-consistently. Remaining temperature deviations from the desired limit can be corrected by carrying out the self-consistent integration in conjunction with an auxiliary thermostat, in a manner that is similar in spirit to the well-known Nose-Hoover thermostat. Further, we show that conservative interactions can play a significant role in describing the transport properties of simple fluids, in contrast to approximations often made in deriving analytical theories. In general, our results illustrate the main problems associated with simulation methods in which dissipative forces are velocity dependent, and point to the need to develop new techniques to resolve these issues. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.PT: J; CR: AHLRICHS P, 1999, J CHEM PHYS, V111, P8225 ALLEN MP, 1993, COMPUTER SIMULATION BESOLD G, 2000, PHYS REV E A, V62, R7611 BOON JP, 1980, MOL HYDRODYNAMICS DENOTTER WK, 2000, INT J MOD PHYS C, V11, P1179 DENOTTER WK, 2001, EUROPHYS LETT, V53, P426 DUNWEG B, 1991, INT J MOD PHYS C, V2, P817 DZWINEL W, 2000, INT J MOD PHYS C, V11, P1 DZWINEL W, 2000, J COLLOID INTERF SCI, V225, P179 ESPANOL P, 1995, EUROPHYS LETT, V30, P191 ESPANOL P, 1999, PHYS REV E, V59, P6340 ESPANOL P, 1999, PHYS REV LETT, V83, P4542 FLEKKOY EG, 1999, PHYS REV LETT, V83, P1775 FLEKKOY EG, 2000, PHYS REV E A, V62, P2140 FORREST BM, 1995, J CHEM PHYS, V102, P7256 FRENKEL D, 1996, UNDERSTANDING MOL SI GARDINER CW, 1983, HDB STOCHASTIC METHO GIBSON JB, 1999, INT J MOD PHYS C, V10, P241 GROOT RD, 1997, J CHEM PHYS, V107, P4423 GROOT RD, 1999, J CHEM PHYS, V110, P9739 HANSEN JP, 1986, THEORY SIMPLE LIQUID HOOGERBRUGGE PJ, 1992, EUROPHYS LETT, V19, P155 LADD AJC, 1993, PHYS REV LETT, V70, P1339 LADD AJC, 1994, J FLUID MECH, V271, P285 LADD AJC, 1994, J FLUID MECH, V271, P311 LECUYER P, 1988, COMMUN ACM, V31, P742 MALEVANETS A, 1999, J CHEM PHYS, V110, P8605 MALEVANETS A, 2000, EUROPHYS LETT, V52, P231 MALEVANETS A, 2000, J CHEM PHYS, V112, P7260 MARSH CA, 1997, EUROPHYS LETT, V38, P411 MARSH CA, 1997, PHYS REV E, V56, P1676 MARTYNA GJ, 1995, J CHEM PHYS, V102, P8071 MASTERS AJ, 1999, EUROPHYS LETT, V48, P1 MURAT M, 1998, J CHEM PHYS, V108, P4340 NIKUNEN P, UNPUB NOVIK KE, 1998, J CHEM PHYS, V109, P7667 PAGONABARRAGA I, 1998, EUROPHYS LETT, V42, P377 PRESS WH, 1972, NUMERICAL RECIPES FO, P271 SERRANO M, 2001, PHYS REV E 2, V64 SHELLEY JC, 2000, CURR OPIN COLLOID IN, V5, P101 SODDEMANN T, 2001, EUR PHYS J E, V6, P409 SPENLEY NA, 2000, EUROPHYS LETT, V49, P534 THIJSSEN JM, 1999, COMPUTATIONAL PHYSIC TUCKERMAN ME, 2000, J PHYS CHEM B, V104, P159 VATTULAINEN I, UNPUB VENTUROLI M, 1999, PHYS CHEM COMM, V10 VERLET L, 1967, PHYS REV, V159, P98 WARREN PB, 1998, CURR OPIN COLLOID IN, V3, P620; NR: 48; TC: 37; J9: J CHEM PHYS; PG: 13; GA: 525TLSource type: Electronic(1
Learning from a distance : A conceptual teaching framework that supports positive emotions and novelty during independent fashion design processes
No full textAbstract: The importance of cultivating a creative mindset in fashion design students to eventually thrive in the rapidly changing work environment that demands novelty in design is becoming increasingly relevant from an educational perspective. In addition, the challenges to enhance creative design processes of students have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which caused a sudden transformation from traditional contact education, to online and later blended learning. This implies that educators are challenged to re-think traditional strategies of teaching creativity to align to the shifting conditions. This paper addresses a possible means to re-conceptualise a creativity framework that has been developed and implemented in a previous study for collaborative face-to-face learning environments, to align with the new learning situation. A framework from this study highlights, firstly, that it is important for students to apply creative problem solving with cognitive fluency, flexibility, and flow, particularly in constantly changing environments where it is necessary for a designer to be agile. Secondly, the role of positive emotions is imperative in students’ creative design processes, as experiencing these emotions can ignite an open mind that may enhance the ability to think creatively to produce novelty. It is therefore important that students' positive emotions are supported during independent creative design processes. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual teaching framework that presents principles to enhance students’ positive emotions and novelty during design processes in a blended learning context with a strong online component. A conceptual approach was taken to construct the proposed framework. The inquiry followed reasoned argumentation to synthesise a) the four pedagogical areas of Cronje’s (2021) suggested integrated blended learning matrix for decision-making learning contexts, namely: Known knowledge, Complex knowledge, as well as the domains of Knowable and Chaos with, b) literature, including previously published papers by the researcher/author of this paper, and c) the researcher’s interpretations of how these can be applied to derive a logical framework for the purpose of this paper. The discussion of the synthesis for the proposed framework links Cronje’s (2021) model logically to positive emotion theory in terms of interest, pleasure, pride, and satisfaction, and then relates these to aspects of the fashion design process. This synthesis of information is then consolidated into a diagrammatical framework to illustrate how the concepts in the structure relate. The conceptual framework of this paper provides a valuable starting point but needs further investigation and implementation to assess the efficiency of the structure for students’ independent creative design processes
Review of \u3ci\u3eA Force upon the Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate.\u3c/i\u3e By Kenneth S. Stern
No full textNine days before the 19 April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Kenneth Stern, an expert on hate groups for the American Jewish Committee (AJC), warned of just such an attack. In a Washington, D.C., press conference, Stern and other AJC professionals presented a six hundred page report entitled Militias: A Growing Danger warning of the cauldron of disaffection, hate, conspiracy and violence brewing around the country. They documented murders of federal workers and anyone perceived as opposing the militia and therefore seen as doing \u27the work of the government.\u27 Moreover, they suggested that the anniversary of the fire at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, would be a prime opportunity for a militia-style assault. Stern was thus among the few Americans who never thought that Middle Eastern terrorists had parked a truck bomb outside the Murrah Building. Hard as it was to fathom, he suspected that home-grown Americans were most likely to blame.
A Force upon the Plain, originally published in 1996 by Simon & Schuster, and now with a new foreword by the author, tells us a great deal about the militia movements of the early and mid-1990s. Its strengths are its immediacy, its forceful, serious, no-sweet-talking tone, and most of all its detail. Rather than the vague account of militia activity often provided in the media, Stern supplies concrete information: where major cells of militia activity are located, who the best-known leaders are, what their ideology-from the New World Order and black helicopters to anti-Semitism and other virulent hatreds-entails. For example, he draws clear connections between the incident at Ruby Ridge and the growth of the militia movement in the middle 1990s. Likewise, in the brief concluding chapters on the Oklahoma City bombing, he ties the ideologies of McVeigh and Nichols to those he has already examined
School Health Services’ Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Interorganizational Collaboration Regarding Students With Mental Illness : A Scoping Review
No full textSchool health services (SHSs) and school nurses play a crucial role in identifying and supporting students with mental illness. The integration of information and communication technology (ICT) can facilitate interorganizational collaboration in this context. Due to the limited research in this area, a scoping review was conducted to explore SHSs’ use of ICT in interorganization collaboration regarding students with mental illness. Six articles were reviewed, revealing three key themes: “types of ICT employed by SHSs in interorganizational collaboration,” “constellation of SHSs in interorganizational collaboration,” and “opportunities and challenges for SHSs using ICT in interorganizational collaboration.” Notably, two of the six articles highlighted the absence of school nurses in interorganizational collaboration. Even though ICT plays a crucial role in interorganizational collaboration, no comprehensive solution was found. This scoping review confirms that there are challenges with operability and regulations that govern the exchange of private information between organizations.CC BYFirst published online April 9, 2024Corresponding author(s): Angelika Johansson Cristvall, Institution of Health, Blekinge Institute of Technology BTH, 371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden. Email: [email protected] would like to thank the librarians at Blekinge University of Technology and an extend special thanks to librarian Krister Johannesson at the University of Skövde for the support during the study.The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: research grants for PhD studies (AJC) from Norrtälje County Council.</p
Strategic planning for the New York apple industry
No full textThe author was involved in strategic planning for the New York apple industry, a process that began in the Spring of 2000. The industry was beset by negative economic performance resulting from a series of factors such as a world over-supply of apples in relation to demand; depressed prices for apples utilized for juice due to the effects of China selling apple juice concentrate (AJC) at prices below the cost of production; severe weather events such as hail storms in 1998 and 2000; and increasing concentration in the retailing sector that constrained access to markets in major retail chains. The combination of these events led to four consecutive years of declining prices that had the effect of reducing growers‘ equity and placing perhaps 20 per cent of the state's approximately 700 apple growers in vulnerable positions for survival. The extreme economic hardship faced by growers signaled clearly to industry leaders that major changes were needed for the industry to survive and prosper in the future
Experimental and Finite Element Studies of Acetabular Cement Pressurisation and Socket Fixation in Total Hip Replacement
No full textPhDWith time, the rate of symptomatic acetabular component loosening accelerates and
overtakes that of the femoral component as the principal reason for the revision of
total hip replacement. In the femur extensive study has shown that cement
pressurisation and good preparation of the bone bed improves the survival rate, but
acetabular fixation requires further investigation.
Production of cement pressure in the acetabulum is anatomically difficult.
Pressurisation with conventional and novel designs of cement pressurisers has been
compared to manual techniques and component insertion. The pressurisers increased
peak and mean pressures and pressure duration. Finite element modethng of cup
insertion showed that flanges and higher insertion rates increased cement penetration
into cancellous bone. Per-operatively, one design of pressuriser produced cement
pressures comparable to those found in the laboratory.
Structural finite element modelling of the natural hip indicated that the subehondral
plate and the relatively dense cancellous bone supporting it distribute the joint contact
force into the medial and lateral pelvic cortices. A perfectly bonded cemented
polyethylene cup stiffened the acetabulum so that more load was transferred directly to
the cortices at the acetabular rim, with consequent interface stress concentrations.
However, complimentary experimental studies using a dynamic joint simulator and a
servo-hydraulic materials testing machine suggested that perfect fixation between
cement and bone at the rim was not possible, even under laboratory conditions.
Debonding of the cement bone interface at the rim, where dense bone prevents cement
interdigitation, allowed micromotion. Since the clinical mechanism of failure of the
acetabular component appears to be progressive debonding, from rim to apex, of the
cement-bone interface, these studies support the initiation of the failure mechanism by
mechanical factors, which may then allow the ingress of wear debris. The experimental
studies suggested that the use of pressurisers reduces the amount of micromotion and
thus may improve the long term stability of the interface
Toroidal black holes in four dimensions
No full textFrom a purely geometric (kinematic) perspective, black holes in four dimensional spacetimes can have event horizons with arbitrary topologies. It is only when energy conditions are imposed that the horizon's topology is constrained to be that of a sphere. Despite this, exploring exotic horizon topologies remains theoretically intriguing since it allows to unveil structural aspects of General Relativity and gain intuition on energy condition violations. In the axisymmetric case, besides the well-known spherical topology, only a toroidal topology is consistent with the symmetry. Complete solutions, describing the entire exterior region of such toroidal black holes without singularities, have not been reported yet. To the best of our knowledge, the construction we present here is the first explicit example of a toroidal black hole solution in four spacetime dimensions that is free of singularities in the external region. © 2025 The Author(s).The authors would like to thank Luis J Garay, Matt Visser and Bert Janssen for valuable discussion and José M M Senovilla for helpful correspondence. Financial support was
provided by the Spanish Government through the Grants No. PID2020-118159GB-C43,
PID2020-118159GB-C44, PID2023-149018NB-C43 and PID2023-149018NB-C44 (funded
by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), and by the Junta de Andalucía through the Project
FQM219. GGM is funded by the Spanish Government fellowship FPU20/01684. CB and
GGM acknowledge financial support from the Severo Ochoa Grant CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The work of AJC has been supported by the
Grant PID2022-140831NB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033. The computations have been checked with xAct [23], a Mathematica package for tensorial symbolic
calculus. The corresponding notebook is available upon request.With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2021-001131-S).Peer reviewe
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