Cognitions and emotions - testing the tenets of Fairness Theory

In this study, we test the tenets put forth by Fairness Theory (Folger & Cropanzano, 2001). Fairness Theory argues that perceptions of unfairness are formulated through a cognitive process that evaluates an event in terms of the presence or absence of injury or harm, the commission or omission of discretionary conduct on the part of the entity responsible for the injury or harm, and whether or not an ethical or moral standard was violated by such conduct (termed “Would,” “Could,” and “Should,” respectively). In this paper, we examine the role each of these elements plays in the assessment of fairness. Across two laboratory studies we show that a combination of harm and moral infraction shows the strongest effects on both first- and third-party justice perceptions, anger, and subsequent behaviors, whereas perceived discretion (“Could”) has little effect. Results are interpreted in light of recent research in moral psychology

The Impact of Changing Net Returns on Minimum Energy Requirements For Grain Farms

With sources of energy more restricted and higher priced, optimal combinations of enterprises must logically be considered on the basis of energy efficiency. One method of ascertaining this efficiency is to optimize solutions for given levels of income on the basis of energy used (e.g., the objective function was in terms of energy kilocalories). In general, soybeans were most feasible at lower levels of income regardless of farm size and labor circumstance. As income levels increased, double-cropping (wheat soybeans) was first substituted and finally corn at highest income levels

High-grade urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation metastasizing to the tongue.

Tumors metastasizing to the head and neck region are uncommon. Metastasis of urothelial carcinoma to the maxillofacial region is exceedingly rare and mostly involves the jaw. We present a case of urothelial carcinoma metastasizing to the tongue. Immunohistochemistry in conjunction with fluorescent in situ hybridization was used to confirm the relation between the primary and metastatic lesions, making it the first such reported case employing the UroVysion (Catalogue number 02 J27-025, Abbott Molecular Inc., Des Plaines, IL, USA) fluorescent in situ hybridization probe in a metastatic lesion in the head and neck region

DATA-DRIVEN REDUCED ORDER MODELING OF ENVIRONMENTAL HYDRODYNAMICS USING DEEP AUTOENCODERS AND NEURAL ODES

Model reduction for fluid flow simulation continues to be of great interest across a number of scientific and engineering fields. In a previous work [1], we explored the use of Neural Ordinary Differential Equations (NODE) as a non-intrusive method for propagating the latent-space dynamics in reduced order models. Here, we investigate employing deep autoencoders for discovering the reduced basis representation, the dynamics of which are then approximated by NODE. The ability of deep autoencoders to represent the latent-space is compared to the traditional proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) approach, again in conjunction with NODE for capturing the dynamics. Additionally, we compare their behavior with two classical non-intrusive methods based on POD and radial basis function interpolation as well as dynamic mode decomposition. The test problems we consider include incompressible flow around a cylinder as well as a real-world application of shallow water hydrodynamics in an estuarine system. Our findings indicate that deep autoencoders can leverage nonlinear manifold learning to achieve a highly efficient compression of spatial information and define a latentspace that appears to be more suitable for capturing the temporal dynamics through the NODE framework

Preliminary Investigation of Novel Bone Graft Substitutes based on Strontium-Calcium-Zinc-Silicate Glasses

Bone graft procedures typically require surgeons to harvest bone from a second site on a given patient (Autograft) before repairing a bone defect. However, this results in increased surgical time, excessive blood loss and a significant increase in pain. In this context a synthetic bone graft with excellent histocompatibility, built in antibacterial efficacy and the ability to regenerate healthy tissue in place of diseased tissue would be a significant step forward relative to current state of the art philosophies. We developed a range of calcium-strontium-zinc-silicate glass-based bone grafts and characterized their structure and physical properties, then evaluated their in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo biocompatibility using standardized models from the literature. A graft (designated BT109) of composition 0.28SrO/0.32ZnO/0.40 SiO2 (mol fraction) was the best performing formulation in vitro shown to induce extremely mild cytopathic effects (cell viability up to 95%) in comparison with the commercially available bone graft Novabone® (cell viability of up to 72%). Supplementary to this, the grafts were examined using the standard rat femur healing model on healthy Wister rats. All grafts were shown to be equally well tolerated in bone tissue and new bone was seen in close apposition to implanted particles with no evidence of an inflammatory response within bone. Complimentary to this BT109 was implanted into the femurs of ovariectomized rats to monitor the response of osteoporotic tissue to the bone grafts. The results from this experiment indicate that the novel grafts perform equally well in osteoporotic tissue as in healthy tissue, which is encouraging given that bone response to implants is usually diminished in ovariectomized rats. In conclusion these materials exhibit significant potential as synthetic bone grafts to warrant further investigation and optimisation. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

The effects of diesel exhaust pollution on floral volatiles and the consequences for honey bee olfaction

There is growing evidence of a substantial decline in pollinators within Europe and North America, most likely caused by multiple factors such as diseases, poor nutrition, habitat loss, insecticides, and environmental pollution. Diesel exhaust could be a contributing factor to this decline, since we found that diesel exhaust rapidly degrades floral volatiles, which honey bees require for flower recognition. In this study, we exposed eight of the most common floral volatiles to diesel exhaust in order to investigate whether it can affect volatile mediated plant-pollinator interaction. Exposure to diesel exhaust altered the blend of common flower volatiles significantly: myrcene was considerably reduced, β-ocimene became undetectable, and β-caryophyllene was transformed into its cis-isomer isocaryophyllene. Proboscis extension response (PER) assays showed that the alterations of the blend reduced the ability of honey bees to recognize it. The chemically reactive nitrogen oxides fraction of diesel exhaust gas was identified as capable of causing degradation of floral volatiles

In vivo safety and efficacy testing of a thermally triggered injectable hydrogel scaffold for bone regeneration and augmentation in a rat model

Bone loss resulting from degenerative diseases and trauma is a significant clinical burden which is likely to grow exponentially with the aging population. In a number of conditions where pre-formed materials are clinically inappropriate an injectable bone forming hydrogel could be beneficial. The development of an injectable hydrogel to stimulate bone repair and regeneration would have broad clinical impact and economic benefit in a variety of orthopedic clinical applications. We have previously reported the development of a Laponite® crosslinked pNIPAMco- DMAc (L-pNIPAM-co-DMAc) hydrogel delivery system, loaded with hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAPna), which was capable of inducing osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) without the need for additional growth factors in vitro. However to enable progression towards clinical acceptability, biocompatibility and efficacy of the L-pNIPAM-co-DMAc hydrogel to induce bone repair in vivo must be determined. Biocompatibility was evaluated by subcutaneous implantation for 6 weeks in rats, and efficacy to augment bone repair was evaluated within a rat femur defect model for 4 weeks. No inflammatory reactions, organ toxicity or systemic toxicity were observed. In young male rats where hydrogel was injected, defect healing was less effective than sham operated controls when rat MSCs were incorporated. Enhanced bone healing was observed however, in aged exbreeder female rats where acellular hydrogel was injected, with increased deposition of collagen type I and Runx2. Integration of the hydrogel with surrounding bone was observed without the need for delivered MSCs; native cell infiltration was also seen and bone formation was observed within all hydrogel systems investigated. This hydrogel can be delivered directly into the target site, is biocompatible, promotes increased bone formation and facilitates migration of cells to promote integration with surrounding bone, for safe and efficacious bone repai

Optimization of a Managed Aquifer Recharge Network

2014 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Informing Strategic Water Planning to Address Natural Resource, Community and Economic Challenge