The Acute Toxicity Of Ground Recycled Automobile Tires On Aquatic Life With Model Species P. Promelas

Used tires have the potential for becoming popular in pollution control media used in stormwater applications including pervious pavement sub bases, green roof growth media, and upflow filters. Using tire crumb to decrease nutrients can minimize impacts on ecology while reducing the human footprint left by used tires. However, if tire crumb is not examined for toxicity, the ecological balance could unknowingly be disrupted. This research tested the acute toxicity of tire crumb in aquatic systems by finding the Lethal Concentration for 50% kill (LC50). Using an extreme tire crumb load, P. promelas (fathead minnow) were exposed to leachates created with tire crumb and several different types of water including distilled water, tap water, and detention pond water. For distilled and tap water, the addition of tire crumb increased the survival of P. promelas. For detention pond water, the addition of tire crumb decreased the survival of P. promelas, though only enough to find an LC50 for detention pond water influenced immediately by stormwater runoff. An LC50 was found when 100 percent tire crumb filtrate is prepared with 25 grams of tire crumb per liter of detention pond water collected directly after a storm. The LC50 found is resultant of a tire crumb load significantly higher than what can be expected in the environment. Based on this research, tire crumb is considered non-threatening to aquatic fish and safe to use with detention pond water

The dynamics of digital platform innovation: unfolding the paradox of control and generativity in Apple's iOS

Mobile digital platforms provide an architectural basis for third party innovation of platform complements. Platform owners have property rights, enabling them to establish a boundary of permissible innovation demarcating the permitted from the prohibited. This allows for the curation of complements, which provides a means of controlling for value creation. Consequently, platform innovationthe innovation of platform complements is occasionally refused by platform owners. When this occurs tensions may arise between the two parties over where the boundary of permissible innovation should lie. Tussles may break out, embodied in complex interactions, as each party attempts to get its way. Eventually an outcome is achieved, and a platform innovation is either allowed or prohibited. A body of platform innovation literature is emerging from fields including information systems. Whilst this literature considers many aspects of platform innovation, the dynamics concerning the control of the innovation of platform innovation complements is overlooked. This research attempts to address that gap. Its relevance to information systems concerns the digitalisation of platforms as systemsdigital infrastructures, which affects their capacity for innovation and regulation. This research uses the method of narrative networks to analyse 45 examples of contested platform innovation. This approach, informed by empirical data sourced from over 4500 blog entries, identifies patterned sequences of actions across the examples. These sequences describe how tension builds, how control is asserted, and how control is then resisted. A theory of formal managerial control is used to explain how mechanisms of control are applied by platform owners as well as how developers respond to control. The principle contribution of this research is to theory. It develops and presents a theory to describe and explain the dynamics of contested innovation of complements on curated digital platforms. In doing so, iIt challenges the understanding that the platform owner alone controls platform design rules and concerning which platform complements are allowed, and which are notthe boundary of permissible innovation. Furthermore, tThe study indicates opens up the possibility that the forces of digitalisation provide third parties with the power to affect influence platform architecture, but at the cost of additional means of being controlled

When Auditors’ Skeptical Judgments do not lead to Skeptical Actions

Auditors are required to maintain professional skepticism through the course of an audit engagement. Professional skepticism is maintained through both skeptical judgment and observable skeptical behavior (skeptical action). However, auditors who exhibit professional skepticism in judgment do not always exhibit professional skepticism in action. The present study examines whether social presence alters the likelihood of auditors acting on skeptical judgments by utilizing an experimental setting where participants interact with a hypothetical client using four different communication mediums varying in social presence. Results suggest that auditor-client interactions high in perceived social presence inhibit auditors from acting on skeptical judgments compared to auditor-client interactions that are low in perceived social presence. Results extend literature on auditor-client interactions, professional skepticism, and communication medium while also informing regulator concern over inappropriately applied, or even absent, professional skepticism

Immediation (Cultures of Immediacy):Liveness and immediacy in creative and everyday media praxis

La pràctica dels mitjans del segle xxi es caracteritza cada vegada més per l'emergent principi cultural, condició o cultura «de la immediatesa». Aquest procés, resumit en anglès sota el terme immediation (‘immediació’), suggereix el tancament d'un «buit» espaciotemporal entre les agències i els mitjans implicats i té com resultat una interacció complexa entre qüestions socials, de seguretat, científiques i econòmiques. L’interès creixent per a aquesta immediació en confirma l’estatus de nou, i subestimat, paradigma de les arts, les ciències i les humanitats, que requereix una recerca de les cultures de la immediatesa centrada en el futur. No obstant això, en els discursos acadèmic i popular, l'interès rau a documentar o bé els reptes (socials) o bé les solucions (tècniques). Aquest estudi pretén abordar aquest desequilibri i respondre a la necessitat urgent d'una comprensió sistemàtica de les principals formes d'aparició d'aquesta immediació: 1) les produccions actuals amb sistemes de circuit tancat a tot el món, i 2) les pràctiques de transmissió en directe. Es proposa una combinació innovadora de perspectives i mètodes interdisciplinaris per tractar les opcions disponibles i incrementar i enriquir la comprensió del potencial de la immediació per així impulsar-ne la immensa varietat d'aplicacions socials. Així concebuda, la recerca futura de la immediació i la retransmissió en directe promet, en concret, respondre qüestions sobre: 1) les repercussions concretes de les produccions creatives realitzades amb sistemes de circuit tancat sobre l'emergent «domesticació» de la retransmissió en directe, i 2) les mesures reals necessàries que cal prendre dins de la recerca emergent de la retransmissió en directe per avaluar la R+D més innovadora en un futur pròxim

Chesapeake Bay Baseline Data Acquisition Appendix III: Toxics in the Chesapeake Bay

This report comprises four sections as follows: Annex I. is a consolidation of toxic substances from five major summaries. Annex II. contains researchers presently engaged in toxic studies in the Chesapeake Bay. Annex III. is an indexed listing of toxic data files pertinent to the Chesapeake Bay and adjacent coastal states. Annex IV. summarizes the monitoring efforts as derived from Annex III

Limited efficacy of APRIL CAR in patients with multiple myeloma indicate challenges in the use of natural ligands for CAR T-cell therapy

BACKGROUND: We used a proliferating ligand (APRIL) to construct a ligand-based third generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) able to target two myeloma antigens, B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and transmembrane activator and CAML interactor. METHODS: The APRIL CAR was evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT03287804, AUTO2) in patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma. Eleven patients received 13 doses, the first 15×106 CARs, and subsequent patients received 75,225,600 and 900×106 CARs in a 3+3 escalation design. RESULTS: The APRIL CAR was well tolerated. Five (45.5%) patients developed Grade 1 cytokine release syndrome and there was no neurotoxicity. However, responses were only observed in 45.5% patients (1×very good partial response, 3×partial response, 1×minimal response). Exploring the mechanistic basis for poor responses, we then compared the APRIL CAR to two other BCMA CARs in a series of in vitro assays, observing reduced interleukin-2 secretion and lack of sustained tumor control by APRIL CAR regardless of transduction method or co-stimulatory domain. There was also impaired interferon signaling of APRIL CAR and no evidence of autoactivation. Thus focusing on APRIL itself, we confirmed similar affinity to BCMA and protein stability in comparison to BCMA CAR binders but reduced binding by cell-expressed APRIL to soluble BCMA and reduced avidity to tumor cells. This indicated either suboptimal folding or stability of membrane-bound APRIL attenuating CAR activation. CONCLUSIONS: The APRIL CAR was well tolerated, but the clinical responses observed in AUTO2 were disappointing. Subsequently, when comparing the APRIL CAR to other BCMA CARs, we observed in vitro functional deficiencies due to reduced target binding by cell-expressed ligand

Diamagnetic Stabilization of Double-tearing Modes in MHD Simulations

Double-tearing modes have been proposed as a driver of ‘off-axis sawtooth’ crashes in reverse magnetic shear tokamak configurations. The DTM consists of two nearby rational surfaces of equal safety factor that couple to produce a reconnecting mode weakly dependent on resistivity and capable of nonlinearly disrupting the annular current. In this dissertation we examine the linear and nonlinear growth of the DTM using the extended magnetohydrodynamic simulation code MRC-3d. We consider the efficacy of equilibrium diamagnetic drifts, which emerge in the presence of a pressure gradient when ion inertial physics is included, as a means of stabilizing DTM activity. In linear slab simulations we find that a differential diamagnetic drift at the two resonant surfaces is able to both interfere with the inter-surface coupling and suppress the reconnection process internal to the tearing layers. Applying these results to a m=2, n=1 DTM in cylindrical geometry, we find that asymmetries between the resonant layers and the presence of an ideal MHD mode result in stabilization being highly dependent on the location of the pressure gradient. We achieve a significant reduction in the linear DTM growth rate by locating a strong diamagnetic drift at the outer resonant surface. In nonlinear simulations we show that growth of the magnetic islands may enhance the pressure gradient near the DTM current sheets and significantly delay disruption. Only by locating a strong drift near the outer, dominant resonant surface are we able to saturate the mode and preserve the annular current ring, suggesting that the appearance of DTM activity in advanced tokamaks may depend on the details of the plasma pressure profile

Implementation of IT service management in Australia: case studies focusing on organisational change strategies

In order to provide better Information Technology (IT) services to their customers, organisations are increasingly implementing the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL describes processes, procedures, tasks, and checklists that can be applied by an organisation for establishing integration with its own strategies, delivering value, and maintaining a minimum level of competency. It allows the organisation to establish a baseline from which it can plan, implement, and measure improvements as well as compliance. Whilst the promise of ITIL implementation is compelling, many implementations do not achieve the anticipated outcomes. The extant literature provides very little information as to how ITIL is implemented or the organisational change strategies that organisations use to implement it. To find a point of comparison, study of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) projects have found that there are similarities in this change processes with those observed during ITIL implementations. Research into the implementation of ERP and BPR has found that applying a formal change management strategy, incorporating a Socio-Technical Systems (STS) approach, can assist in the likelihood of a successful implementation. This exploratory research was conducted using a multiple case study approach to investigate the organisational change strategies that organisations have applied to ITIL implementation. This research also sought to identify if using STS as an approach to organisational change can influence the success of ITIL implementations. In this research, one particular STS model, the Leavitt Diamond, was applied in order to investigate the inter-relationships between the STS components and how they are affected during the implementation of ITIL. This research found that organisations were not deliberately selecting and applying an organisational change strategy during implementation. Interestingly though, without knowing it or doing so consciously, the organisations adopted similar organisational change approaches and types for their ITIL implementations. All eight of the organisations studied adopted a planned change approach with a phased ITIL implementation. The research found that although none of the organisations deliberately applied an STS approach to their ITIL implementations, they did without realising, apply an STS approach. The ITIL implementation was found to require greater effort to be applied to the people component of the STS; followed by process, technology and structure. The research also found that an appropriate amount of effort was necessary for each of the individual STS components; rather than an equal effort per component. This research has developed new insights into organisational change strategies and ITIL implementations that had not previously been explored. Through this research, an ITIL STS Model of Organisational Change has been produced that provides a plan and overview of the primary decisions to be made, with the resultant actions, in response to changes to the STS components. This research provides ITIL practitioners, for the first time, information about organisational change strategies as they have been applied to successful ITIL implementations; as well as a model that may assist with developing their own organisational change strategies

Violence Exposure and Pathways to HIV Risk Behaviors in Black and White Young Men who have Sex with Men

HIV remains a critical public health issue facing men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. Young MSM (YMSM) ages 13-34 years account for the greatest number of new HIV infections in MSM, with Black YMSM bearing the highest burden of disease. Sexual risk behaviors (e.g. unprotected sex) continue to be the leading transmission mode for HIV among all YMSM and studies have indicated that these behaviors are associated with a number of psychosocial and environmental factors, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), exposure to violence, substance use, and mental health problems. Moreover, recent studies based on the syndemic model of HIV risk have shown that exposure to violence, substance use, mental health problems may interact to increase HIV risk in vulnerable populations, including YMSM. However, the relationships among these risk factors and their association with sexual risk behaviors in YMSM are not yet fully understood. Therefore, the purpose of this cross-sectional, quantitative study was to: 1) describe the degree to which YMSM engage in HIV risk behaviors, are exposed to ACEs and other multiple forms of violence, experience mental health problems, and use substances; 2) identify the ACEs and violence exposure, substance use, and mental health problems that significantly predict HIV risk behaviors in Black and White YMSM; and 3) test the indirect (through substance use and mental health pathways) effects of violence exposure on HIV risk behaviors. Data was collected using structured computer-assisted personal interviews from a convenience sample of 168 Black (97) and White (71) YMSM recruited at AIDS service organizations that provide HIV prevention programs and testing for YMSM in the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. The current study contributed to knowledge regarding HIV risk behaviors and related syndemic risk factors in service-using YMSM. This study was unique in the assessment of adverse childhood experiences, multiple types of violence exposure, experiences of multiple types of mental health problems, and use of multiple substances in a service-using sample of HIV-negative Black and White YMSM, the populations at highest risk for HIV infection in the US. This study found that a substantial proportion of YMSM are exposed to multiple adverse childhood experiences, intimate partner violence, and community violence, all of which were previously unexplored or understudied in YMSM. Additionally, findings from the study identified unique significant mental health and substance use predictors of unprotected anal sex and number of male sex partners for YMSM when controlling for demographic factors. Further, although relationships between adverse childhood experiences or intimate partner violence and HIV risk behaviors were not significant in multiple regression models, this study demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner violence indirectly affect HIV risk behaviors through polydrug use, whereby higher rates of violence exposure lead to more polydrug use, which leads to a higher rate of multiple male sex partners. The results of this study have implications for social work practice and policy changes that lead to integration of mental health and substance use screening and referral into AIDS service organization that provide HIV prevention services. Moreover, results can be used by researchers to adapt theoretical models of HIV risk and prevention for YMSM

The impact of a storytelling seminar for friend-grievers

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1082/thumbnail.jp