Improving Prison Safety: Breaking the Code of Silence

A system permeated by a code of silence reinforces negative behaviors in inmates, ultimately increasing the risk to staff. As the former Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety, Edward A. Flynn, is keen on saying, “If nothing else, inmates must leave our custody with a belief that there is moral order in their world. If they leave our care and control believing that rules and regulations do not mean what they say they mean, that rules and regulations can be applied arbitrarily or capriciously or for personal interest, then we will fail society, we will fail them, and we will unleash people more dangerous than when they went in.” We know that many offenders go through life believing that rules and laws do not apply to them. If the system in which they are incarcerated lacks integrity and moral order their notions regarding law and order are reinforced. Corrections staff should be the very best people inmates encounter, as we may be the first individuals they are exposed to who do respect rules and laws. We should be role models of positive behavior. If staff members do not follow the rules there is no hope for intervention or for changing inmate behavior in the long term. If staff members are not held accountable we demonstrate that there is no consequence for bad behavior

Application of a picosecond soft x-ray source to time-resolved plasma dynamics

We demonstrate the application of an ultrashort x-ray source as an external probe to measure plasma dynamics. The plasma is generated by a 100-fs Ti:sapphire laser focused onto thin metallic films. Time-resolved spectroscopy of the gold x-ray probe transmission through a perturbed 1000 Å aluminum film reveals redshifts of the LL-shell photoabsorption edge. We show that the dynamic behavior of this shift is consistent with the relaxation of the aluminum following the compression generated by a shock wave traveling through the film. An analytic plasma model, with comparison to a numerical hydrodynamics model, indicates compression up to 1.4 times solid density. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69766/2/APPLAB-70-3-312-1.pd

First report of kobuvirus detection in swine in the Province of Quebec

Kobuviruses, non-enveloped and single-stranded positive RNA viruses, are members of the Picornaviridae family and were previously detected in a variety of animal species including humans. Their prevalence in swine is reported over the world, but their role as a causative agent of diarrhea in animals is still unclear. No data is available regarding the presence of kobuvirus on Quebec farms. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of kobuvirus in swine farms belonging to a single integration system in Québec

A Candida albicans early stage biofilm detachment event in rich medium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dispersal from <it>Candida albicans </it>biofilms that colonize catheters is implicated as a primary factor in the link between contaminated catheters and life threatening blood stream infections (BSI). Appropriate in vitro <it>C. albicans </it>biofilm models are needed to probe factors that induce detachment events.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using a flow through system to culture <it>C. albicans </it>biofilms we characterized a detachment process which culminates in dissociation of an entire early stage biofilm from a silicone elastomer surface. We analyzed the transcriptome response at time points that bracketed an abrupt transition in which a strong adhesive association with the surface is weakened in the initial stages of the process, and also compared batch and biofilm cultures at relevant time points. K means analysis of the time course array data revealed categories of genes with similar patterns of expression that were associated with adhesion, biofilm formation and glycoprotein biosynthesis. Compared to batch cultures the biofilm showed a pattern of expression of metabolic genes that was similar to the <it>C. albicans </it>response to hypoxia. However, the loss of strong adhesion was not obviously influenced by either the availability of oxygen in the medium or at the silicone elastomer surface. The detachment phenotype of mutant strains in which selected genes were either deleted or overexpressed was characterized. The microarray data indicated that changes associated with the detachment process were complex and, consistent with this assessment, we were unable to demonstrate that transcriptional regulation of any single gene was essential for loss of the strong adhesive association.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The massive dispersal of the early stage biofilm from a biomaterial surface that we observed is not orchestrated at the level of transcriptional regulation in an obvious manner, or is only regulated at this level by a small subpopulation of cells that mediate adhesion to the surface.</p

Characterisation of the clinical importance of porcine group C rotavirus in a swine nursery production network in Quebec

Enteric infectious diseases in swine have considerable economic impact on the industry due either to mortality, cost of treatment or reduced growth rates which can lead to extended production periods. The consequences can be catastrophic especially in nursery sites since young piglets are in a susceptible period associated with immature immune system and are often affected by rapid dehydration related to neonatal diseases

Coloured peak algebras and Hopf algebras

For $G$ a finite abelian group, we study the properties of general equivalence relations on G_n=G^n\rtimes \SG_n, the wreath product of $G$ with the symmetric group \SG_n, also known as the $G$-coloured symmetric group. We show that under certain conditions, some equivalence relations give rise to subalgebras of \k G_n as well as graded connected Hopf subalgebras of \bigoplus_{n\ge o} \k G_n. In particular we construct a $G$-coloured peak subalgebra of the Mantaci-Reutenauer algebra (or $G$-coloured descent algebra). We show that the direct sum of the $G$-coloured peak algebras is a Hopf algebra. We also have similar results for a $G$-colouring of the Loday-Ronco Hopf algebras of planar binary trees. For many of the equivalence relations under study, we obtain a functor from the category of finite abelian groups to the category of graded connected Hopf algebras. We end our investigation by describing a Hopf endomorphism of the $G$-coloured descent Hopf algebra whose image is the $G$-coloured peak Hopf algebra. We outline a theory of combinatorial $G$-coloured Hopf algebra for which the $G$-coloured quasi-symmetric Hopf algebra and the graded dual to the $G$-coloured peak Hopf algebra are central objects.Comment: 26 pages latex2

Using interdisciplinary research project collaborations as a pedagogic tool to enhance learning and teaching : a showcase with low temperature fused recycled glass for a reception desk in the new academic building at the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter

This paper demonstrates how a collaboration between staff from differing subject areas within the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) at its Swansea Campus performed on a live project. The project was embedded in a research active field which investigated the feasibility of low temperature fused recycled glass as an architectural material, and invited undergraduate students to take part in the research within their discipline of study. The project’s initial intentions were aligned to the amendments, which occurred in June 2015, in the Sustainability Principles for the SA1 Waterfront Development also known as Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter (SWIQ). These amendments developed opportunities to use the creative design and environmental skills of staff and learners within UWTSD for the development of the new academic building at the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter. The delivery of project outcomes cumulated with three main aims; enhanced learner experience, formation of a research active and cross-faculty group and the development of a commercially viable product. This project was bespoke as it considered the changing environment and tells a progressive story of learner engagement, a collaboration between staff and external stake holders and demonstrates the first goal and the five ways of working from the Wellbeing of Future Generation (Wales) Act

Combinatorial Hopf algebras and Towers of Algebras

Bergeron and Li have introduced a set of axioms which guarantee that the Grothendieck groups of a tower of algebras $\bigoplus_{n\ge0}A_n$ can be endowed with the structure of graded dual Hopf algebras. Hivert and Nzeutzhap, and independently Lam and Shimozono constructed dual graded graphs from primitive elements in Hopf algebras. In this paper we apply the composition of these constructions to towers of algebras. We show that if a tower $\bigoplus_{n\ge0}A_n$ gives rise to graded dual Hopf algebras then we must have $\dim(A_n)=r^nn!$ where $r = \dim(A_1)$.Comment: 7 page