Disruptive Innovation as Insight

Inaugural Guest Editorial: In significant ways, Dr. Marcel Dumestre was a motivating force in the creation of this scholarly online journal. Marcel founded the Ignatian Scholars Program in 2005, a faculty development opportunity in the College for Professional Studies at Regis University that included in its objectives the publication of a scholarly article by each of the participants. The article was to explore and develop a spirituality or philosophy of education related to the discipline of each faculty member. It became clear, however, that venues for publication in discipline-specific journals that also encompassed educational philosophy and the unique Jesuit pedagogical paradigm were indeed limited. The expertise and experience of one of the editors, Dr. Gaetz, with another online open access journal in librarianship gave rise to the idea of this journal. Over the past two years, as the idea germinated, the scope of its reach expanded to include not only the scholarly output of the Ignatian Scholars but also that of other faculty members within the community of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, and beyond. Under Marcel’s leadership of the Ignatian Scholars Program, a guiding light has been the work of noted Jesuit philosopher, Bernard Lonergan. Although many other thinkers factor into the reflection, critique and practice of education during the program’s course of studies, Lonergan seemed to hold a particular place of privilege given the scope, depth and profoundly Jesuit character of his thought. In recognition of Marcel’s role, we believe it fitting to present the following editorial article that represents the aspirations of this journal—to think deeply, critically and radically on educational matters represented in the Jesuit tradition of higher education. This article also shows how the journal hopes to widen the horizons of Jesuit educational thought by engaging other important thinkers. Clearly, it is not that articles will always, or even mostly, reflect the work of Lonergan, but it is hoped that all articles in Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal, will be insightful and perhaps even be disruptive as they explore, develop, extend and critique this great tradition in higher education. -- General Editor

Whiter, brighter, and more stable cellulose paper coated with antibacterial carboxymethyl starch stabilized ZnO nanoparticles

Small, carboxymethyl-starch-stabilised zinc oxide nanoparticles with a defined shape, size and morphology were prepared in situ in water at relatively low reaction temperatures using soluble carboxymethyl starch (CMS) as a combined crystallising, stabilising and solubilising agent and triethanolamine as the reducing agent. Aqueous colloidal solutions of these CMS-stabilised ZnO nanoparticles were used to deposit a coating of ZnO nanoparticles on cellulose paper by a wet-chemistry, polyelectrolyte, layer-by-layer approach using water as the only solvent. Such cellulose paper samples, coated with these CMS-stabilised ZnO nanoparticles, show higher brightness and whiteness than that of blank reference paper and are more stable to UV-radiation than the paper reference as well as demonstrating good antibacterial activity against MRSA and A. baumannii

Remarques à propos des « Propositions pour l’orthographe du bambara »

Les propositions pour l’orthographe bambara de Mahamadou Konta et Valentin Vydrine sont excellentes dans la plupart des cas, cependant, quelques remarques peuvent être formulées. Par exemple, l’emploi des signes phonétiques ɔ, ɛ, ɲ (là où on pourrait se passer des digraphes ou des lettres accentuées) ; l’écriture séparée des noms de dizaines (une écriture collée me semble préférable) ; l’écriture des marques du « parfait inférentiel » ; l’utilisation des traits d’union. Il serait souhaitable de réglementer l’utilisation de la ponctuation.Proposals for the Bambara orthography by Mahamadou Konta and Valentin Vydrin are excellent. However, there are certain points where some reservations can be expressed: the use of phonetic symbols ɔ, ɛ, ɲ (digraphs and accented letters could be used instead: ò, è, ny); separate spelling of the names for tens (a writing as one solid word seems to be preferable: bisaba 30, biduuru 50, etc.); spelling of the “inferential perfect” marker; use of a hyphen. A reglementation of the ponctuation marks would be desirable.Предложения по орфографии бамана, сформулированные Махамаду Конта и Валентином Выдриным, в основном представляются весьма удачными. Тем не менее, по некоторым пунктам следует сделать оговорки. Это касается, в част-ности, следующего: использования фонетических символов ɔ, ɛ, ɲ (можно было бы обойтись диграфами и буквами с акцентами: ò, è, ny); раздельного написания названий десятков (слитное написание представляется более предпочтительным: bisaba 30, biduuru 50, и т.д.); правописание показателя «инферентивного перфекта»; использование дефиса. Представляется желатель¬ным также регла-ментировать использование знаков пунктуации

Optimized physical recovery of DNAPL using upwelling technique and geostatistical analysis at large field scale

International audienceBackground/Objectives. The site is a large chloralcali chemical plant located in the centre-east of France. From the 1980s to 2007, a several hectares historical DNAPL pool was physically confined while migration was monitored. The DNAPL has rapidly migrated from a landfill and reached a static state within a shallow water-table sandy aquifer at top of a clayey unit at 10 meters depth. Thicknesses of DNAPL have been observed from 20 cm to 150 cm according to substratum morphology. Migration of DNAPL has been controlled by two water pumping wells for thirty years making a water depression in the area and inverse gradient. The average flow-rate of the hydraulic confinement is 40 m3/h. The DNAPL is composed of a mixture of heavy perchlorinated compounds, mainly hexchlorobutadiene (50%), hexachloroethane (10%), perchlorethylene, carbon tetrachloride and hexachlorobenzene. The continental climate at the site, with cold winters, adds major constraints due to crystallization of hexachlorobenzene in the mixture. After a review of several DNAPL recovery strategies, various pumping techniques were selected for testing and then implemented in the field. These methods include batch DNAPL pumping with and without water pumping and batch DNAPL pumping with vacuum. Approach/Activities. Location of DNAPL pumping stations was optimized after implementation of drillings and a geostatistical analysis. This revealed interesting features of DNAPL accumulation at the top of the substratum, such as a main flow channel and connected and disconnected basins. A non-enhanced low-flow batch pumping of DNAPL demonstrated that DNAPL could be recovered continuously at the beginning of the experiment (100 l/h). After a while, a lack of product feeding was observed at the pumping site revealing a threshold pumping rate (5 l/h) caused by weir effects (partially disconnected basin) of the substratum morphology. This demonstrated the limits of batch-pumping stations located above disconnected DNAPL basins. Results/Lessons Learned. When using hydraulic upwelling technique, during the pumping phase, water is pumped at a constant rate of 15 m3/h while DNAPL is continuously pumped with an average rate of 20 l/h. The pumping set leads to DNAPL upconing of 0,30 m while water level decrease by 3 meters. After both pumping ceased, DNAPL recovered to the initial interface static level after 50 hours while water level recover static level almost instantaneously. Water pumping induces a pressure gradient around the well that forces the DNAPL to flow at a higher rate towards the screened well without disconnecting small pools of product. Local pneumatic (vaccum) are being experimented at moment and are demonstrated good results. In order to improve the physical recovery of DNAPL, the optimized techniques implemented in the field tripling the yearly recovery rate between 2008 and 2013 to reach 200 tons

High temperature structural and magnetic properties of cobalt nanowires

We present in this paper the structural and magnetic properties of high aspect ratio Co nanoparticles (~10) at high temperatures (up to 623 K) using in situ X ray diffraction (XRD) and SQUID characterizations. We show that the anisotropic shapes, the structural and texture properties are preserved up to 500 K. The coercivity can be modelled by u0Hc=2(Kmc+Kshape)/Ms with Kmc the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant, Kshape the shape anisotropy constant and Ms the saturation magnetization. Hc decreases linearly when the temperature is increased due to the loss of the Co magnetocrystalline anisotropy contribution. At 500K, 50% of the room temperature coercivity is preserved corresponding to the shape anisotropy contribution only. We show that the coercivity drop is reversible in the range 300 - 500 K in good agreement with the absence of particle alteration. Above 525 K, the magnetic properties are irreversibly altered either by sintering or by oxidation.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Journal of Solid State Chemistr

Autogenic versus environmental control during development of river biofilm

In the natural environment, microbial community structure of river biofilm is controlled by biotic and abiotic factors. This study explored the capacity to manipulate the structure of microbial communities by modifying environmental conditions during the course of biofilm development. River epilithic biofilm was cultivated in situ on artificial substrates placed parallel to river water flow. Substrates were incubated for 3 and 5.5 weeks in river to allow natural biofilm development, at two sites with contrasting physico-chemical characteristics. The first site (Aurade´ , Gers, France) was located in an agricultural watershed basin and the second site (Larroque, Haute-Garonne, France) was located in a forested watershed basin. After 3 weeks of biofilm development, a subset of substrates was collected from one site and transplanted to the second site where they remained for 2.5 further weeks. Epilithic bacterial community structure (at 3 weeks from each site and at 5.5 weeks from biofilms with and without transplantation) was assessed using PCR-DGGE of 16S rDNA fragment. Biofilm biomass was estimated using ash free dry mass (AFDM). After 3 weeks of development, biofilms from the two sites exhibited comparable AFDM values (average of 1.4¡0.2 g.mx2). A difference between the two sites was observed after 5.5 weeks of development: AFDM decreased for biofilms from the agricultural watershed basin (from 1.4 to 0.18 g.mx2) as a consequence of grazing pressure (Bithynia), and increased for biofilms from the forested agricultural watershed (from 1.4 to 2.6 g.mx2). Microbial community analyses revealed a differentiated community structure between biofilms from the different sites and exhibited a change of microbial community structure after 5.5 weeks of biofilm development. These observations confirm a process of ecological succession in microbial communities. Changing the incubation site during biofilm development modified the trajectory of these ecological successions, suggesting that site characteristics mainly conditioned the structure of these microbial communities

Physico-chemical and biological characterization of an aquifer polluted with ETBE

International audiencePetroleum compounds and among them, gasoline, is the most massively used chemicals worldwide and, as a consequence gasoline derives compounds are the most frequently found contaminants in groundwate

Iron amidinates as precursors for the MOCVD of iron-containing thin films

Iron amidinates as precursors for the MOCVD of iron-containing thin film

Helium poisoning: new procedure for sampling and analysis.

An increasing number of suicidal asphyxiation with a plastic bag with inert gases, and in particular helium (He), have been reported from numerous countries over the last decade. These cases are differently managed and lead to different and variable interpretations. Based on the 12 last cases analysed in the laboratory and on the review of the most recent literature about this topic, updated autopsy guidelines for sampling have been proposed regarding to the samples choice and analytical challenges required by the gaseous state of this substance. Biological samples from airways (lungs lobe) followed by brain and cardiac blood are the best matrices to take during the autopsy to diagnose He exposure. Gaseous samples from trachea, pulmonary bronchi, gastric and cardiac areas are also recommended as alternative samples. The anatomical site of sampling must be carefully detailed, and to this end, forensic imaging constitutes a beneficial tool. Even if He detection is sufficient to conclude to He exposure, He concentrations in samples may be related to He exposure conditions (duration, breathing rate, etc.). A quantification in biological samples could be helpful to document more precisely the case. He concentrations in gaseous samples are reported up to 6.0 μmol/mL (tracheal gas), 2.4 μmol/mL (pulmonary gas), 0.64 μmol/mL (cardiac gas) and 12 μmol/mL (gastric gas). He concentrations in solid/liquid samples are reported up to 28 μmol/g (lungs) and 0.03 μmol/g (cardiac blood). The other matrices usually sampled during autopsy such as urine, peripheral blood, liver, fat matter and kidney appear as not relevant