POLICRYPS-based electrically switchable Bragg reflector

The formation and characterization of a switchable volume reflective element fabricated from a polymer liquid crystal (LC) polymer slice (POLICRYPS) structure by holographic photopolymerization at high temperature (65 °C) using a photosensitive/nematic liquid crystal prepolymer mixture is reported. The submicron Bragg structure formed consists of periodic continuous polymeric walls separated by periodic LC channels. The phase separated NLC self-aligns in a homeotropic alignment between the polymer walls as indicated by polarizing optical microscopy analysis (Maltese cross). The resulting periodic grating structure results in a Bragg reflection notch upon illumination with white light due to the periodic variation in refractive index. Electro-optical experiments realized through in-plane electrodes and temperature experiments confirm that the multilayer structure acts as a Bragg mirror whose reflection efficiency can be controlled by either a small (∼3V/μm) electric field or temperature

A home-based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) techniques in rural Kenya: what are the caregivers’ experiences?

Background Caring for a child with complex communication needs associated with a developmental condition frequently adds stress to the caregiver. Furthermore, professional assistance is scarce in low-income rural settings. For such children speech is frequently unachievable. Augmentative and alternative communication provides options for supplementing or replacing speech with other techniques. The current study aimed to examine the experiences of caregivers in Kenya before and after a home-based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication techniques with children with complex communication needs. Methods Caregivers were interviewed pre- and post-intervention. The interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed and translated into English. Content analysis was applied through the stages of text familiarization and topic organization. Emergent themes and their sub-themes were identified and labelled. Connections between themes were established and interpretations made. The procedure was completed by a second researcher independently. Conflicting ideas were jointly discussed until consensus was achieved. Results Four themes emerged from the data: communication process; struggle; normality; and supernatural power. Before intervention, the caregivers acknowledged their expertise in communications with the child, while also revealing their sense of isolation, burden and pain. Normality was present as a source of comparison and also an aspirational goal. Post-intervention more positive language was used to describe the child. There was an ‘opening up’ of communication that recognized the child’s strengths and some social support systems were re-established. The power of the supernatural was recognized before and after intervention. Conclusion Caring of a child with complex communication needs presents many challenges. A home-based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication techniques appears to have been a catalyst for some positive transformations in the caregivers’ experiences, although it is not possible to attribute this change to any one aspect. The potentials of the home-based intervention would benefit from further investigation on a larger scale

Commentary on “promoting positive communication environments: a service evaluation”: the communication partnership as a focus for change

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to debate the complexities of intervening with adults with learning disabilities and support staff in the natural environment and challenges of evaluating change. Design/methodology/approach: A critical review of the relevance and amenability of communication partnerships for interventions that promote communication growth in context was carried out. Particular consideration was given to the mechanism for change and implications for research design. Findings: The communication partnership is a reasonable focus for interventions aiming to promote the communication of adults with learning disabilities. Combining instructional training with in situ coaching appears to provide the most effective approach. Bringing about change within the dynamic context of communication is challenging and may benefit from an open, investigative design. Originality/value: This paper synthesises the available evidence on intervening in the communication environment and debates the potential of realist evaluation as a context-focused research design

Evolutionary analysis of host proteins CD4, CXCR4 and CCR5, and HIV/SIV gp12

The acquired immune deficiency syndrome, AIDS, is a growing epidemic in the United States and the world. Since its discovery in 1981, the virus that causes AIDS, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has escalated. .Certain African ape (i.e., chimpanzees and gorillas) and monkey species are known to harbor forms of the virus termed SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus). Chimpanzees are the natural hosts of the SIV strains from which HIV-I evolved, but do not rapidly progress to AIDS, unlike their human relatives. In the wild, gorillas have been observed to harbor SIV, but this species\u27 disease progression is currently unknown. As the closest living species to humans, the chimpanzee genome is over 95% identical to the human genorne, yet genetic differences between the species are known to exist that are thought to play a role in their different responses to SIV/HIV infection. It is posfulated that African apes and monkeys have co-evolved with SIV for a few million years, and thus have been able to adapt to, and co-evolve with, this deadly virus. By contrast, the recent cross-over of HIV to humans would suggest that such adaptive changes are missing from the human genome. Previous work by this and other labs has identified the T cell surface proteins CD4, CCR5, and CXCR4 which are involved in HIV infection of these cells potential targets of selection in the viral-host response. This past year I analyzed the protein-coding exons of the CD4, CCR5 and CXCR4 genes and their inferred proteins from a variety of primate species. In addition to the analysis of these host genes,I gathered numerous sequences for the F{IV/SIV surface protein gpl20 and scanned the translated amino acid sequences for unique changes at sites of interaction with the host CD4 protein. I found strong evidence for rapid evolution of CD4 on the chimpanzee hneage, and found no change on the human lineage. Two of the amino acid replacements on the chimpanzee lineage create two potential N-linked glycosylation sites which, if glycosylated, would likely interfere with gp120-binding. This finding supports the thesis that chimpanzees have adapted genetically to SIV

Narratives of Adult ESOL Learners: Successfully Finding Their Way

This article examines narratives about successful uses of English, told and written by adult learners in a beginning-level class of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). The learners told stories of using English to solve a problem of getting lost by asking for and receiving directions. In their narratives, we see where they were going, their path to get there, their use of English, and their evaluation of these experiences. An analysis of the structure of the stories indicates learners’ inclusion of essential elements of narratives and raises questions about how the learners related to each other’s stories. The extended chunks of discourse that the learners produced when telling their stories were longer than what they produced in other genres of speaking and writing in the class. This finding supports the inclusion of various genres of text and talk in an ESOL class for learners at lower proficiency level

Dampier Peninsula\u27s Community Navigators: Empowering Kimberley Families through their Aboriginal-led Woombooriny Amboon Angarriiya Partnership Initiative (WAAPI)

The Dampier Peninsula is home to a pristine coastal landscape and rugged country with diverse and abundant marine life, flora and fauna. Valuable Aboriginal cultural knowledge, traditions and science are still shared and practiced, while local tourism and industry opportunities are poised for growth. Throughout this unique and beautiful region, an exciting project led by the Aboriginal people of Beagle Bay, Djarindjin, Lombadina and Ardyaloon communities called WAAPI - the Woombooriny Amboon Angarriiya Partnership Initiative is taking shape. It aims to empower Aboriginal families and improve outcomes for their children, young people and families living across the Dampier Peninsula region. WAAPI’s focus is on creating strong families, strong leaders and strong communities with an Indigenous governance family empowerment model. This provides a model for a ‘voice’ to facilitate local decision-making and ensure Aboriginal-led, designed and delivered positive social change.https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/nulungu_insights/1003/thumbnail.jp

Electronic Transport Properties of Linear Organic Semiconductors

PhDThe electronic transport properties of certain organii c semIi conductors are expected to exhibit a quasi one-dimensional nature. Pulsed laser techniques have been used to study transient photoconductivity in a number of such linear molecular systems. This thesis explores carrier motion of zeolite encapsulated conjugated polymers such as polyacetylene and polypropyne, columnar discotic liquid crystals and single walled carbon nanotubes. At the time of writing, this thesis presents the first observations of transient photoconductivity for carbon nanotubes. In the systems studied: electric field, temperature and spectral dependencies are explored and the results are used to calculate a number of parameters, such as: carrier mobilities, carrier range and quantum efficiencies. Also, the effect of sample preparation has been investigated. A variation on the Auston switch technique has enabled picosecond time resolved photocurrents to be measured on carbon nanotubes, with a rise time of the order of 100ps. A similar technique was utilised to study the encapsulated polymers, but no measurable effect was observed. The Kepler-LeBlanc Time of Flight technique has been employed to find the carrier mobility in a number of columnar discotic liquid crystals along with the quantum efficiency for carrier generation in those systems. The results presented in this thesis have led to a greater understanding of charge transport on carbon nanotubes from which a ID bimolecular recombination model has been proposed. We have demonstrated a novel polymeric DLC where electrons are the majority carrier and demonstrated a photogeneration mechanism controlled by Poole- Frenkel barrier lowering. We have also been able to refute the proposal that the 3D Onsager model is applicable for describing the photogeneration mechanism in most DLC's

Do Taste Buds Trump Labels and Information? A Sensory Test and Economic Experiment on Organic and Local Apples

Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Control of the plasmonic resonance of a graphene coated plasmonic nanoparticle array combined with a nematic liquid crystal

We report on the fabrication and characterization of a switchable plasmonic device based on a conductive graphene oxide (cGO) coated plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) array, layered with nematic liquid crystal (NLC) as an active medium. A monolayer of NPs has been immobilized on a glass substrate through electrostatic interaction, and then grown in place using nanochemistry. This monolayer is then coated with a thin (less then 100nm) cGO film which acts simultaneously as both an electro-conductive and active medium. The combination of the conductive NP array with a separate top cover substrate having both cGO and a standard LC alignment layer is used for aligning a NLC film in a hybrid configuration. The system is analysed in terms of morphological and electro-optical properties. The spectral response of the sample characterized after each element is added (air, cGO, NLC) reveals a red-shift of the localized plasmonic resonance (LPR) frequency of approximately 62nm with respect to the NP array surrounded by air. The application of an external voltage (8Vpp) is suitable to modulate (blue shift) the LPR frequency by approximately 22nm