The marketisation of prison alternatives

A short article on why market logics curtail possibilities for genuine alternatives to prison

A Web-Based Learning Module for Teaching GIS within the Context of Environmental Engineering

There is a Growing Need for Teaching Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Engineering Disciplines, Such as Environmental. However, There Has Been Limited Focus on GIS in Undergraduate Programs, Since It\u27s Difficult to Fit a GIS Class into the Large Number of Class Requirements Already Included in Engineering Curricula. the Purpose of This Research is the Evaluation of Web-Based Learning Module Created by a Multidisciplinary Team at a Midwestern Technological Research University, Which Allows Instructors to Integrate GIS Instruction into Existing Courses. This Module is One Part of a Large-Scale National Science Foundation Funded Project in Which GIS Modules Are Being Developed for Several Areas in Civil Engineering. the Principal Goals of This Evaluation Are to Determine the overall Effectiveness of the Module, Identify the Factors that Mediate the Effectiveness, and to Determine Ways in Which the Module Can Be Made More Effective. Data Were Collected from 56 Students, 28 in an Experimental Group and 28 in a Control Group. Students in an Experimental Group Participated in a Laboratory Session, Which Utilized the Module, to Solve a Problem on Urban Ozone Events and Census Tract Analysis, Whereas Students in a Control Group Attended a Class Lecture Covering the Same Information. Students in the Experimental Group Completed a Questionnaire and Students in Both Groups Completed a Quiz over the Material. Quantitative Analysis Was Carried Out on the Quantitative Portion of the Scale for the Experimental Group, and for Both Groups on the Quiz. a Qualitative Analysis Was Applied to the Open-Ended Questionnaire Items for the Experimental Group. Students in the Experimental (Learning System) Section Scored Significantly Higher on the Quiz. Students in the Learning Systems Group Rated the Laboratory Session as Significantly More Effective for Learning, and More Motivational Than the Class Texts. They Also Rated the Lab Significantly More Applicable to Real World Engineering Than Both their Textbooks and Class Lecture. the Qualitative Analysis Revealed a Number of Ways the System Can Be Further Improved to Make the Module More Effective. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education

The structure ofAl(111)-K−(√3 × √3)R30° determined by LEED: stable and metastable adsorption sites

It is found that the adsorption of potassium on Al(111) at 90 K and at 300 K both result in a (√3 × √3)R0° structure. Through a detailed LEED analysis it is revealed that at 300 K the adatoms occupy substitutional sites and at 90 K the adatoms occupy on-top sites; both geometries have hitherto been considered as very unusual. The relationship between bond length and coordination is discussed with respect to the present results, and with respect to other quantitative studies of alkali-metal/metal adsorption systems

Crash dieting: The effects of eating and drinking on driving performance

Previous research suggests that compared to mobile phone use, eating and drinking while driving is more common and is seen as lower risk by drivers. Nevertheless, snacking at the wheel can affect vehicle control to a similar extent as using a hands-free phone, and is actually a causal factor in more crashes. So far, though, there has not been a controlled empirical study of this problem. In an effort to fill this gap in the literature, we used the Brunel University Driving Simulator to test participants on a typical urban scenario. At designated points on the drive, which coincided with instructions to eat or drink, a critical incident was simulated by programming a pedestrian to walk in front of the car. Whilst the driving performance variables measured were relatively unaffected by eating and drinking, perceived driver workload was significantly higher and there were more crashes in the critical incident when compared to driving normally. Despite some methodological limitations of the study, when taken together with previous research, the evidence suggests that the physical demands of eating and drinking while driving can increase the risk of a crash

Retelling racialized violence, remaking white innocence: the politics of interlocking oppressions in transgender day of remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance has become a significant political event among those resisting violence against gender-variant persons. Commemorated in more than 250 locations worldwide, this day honors individuals who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. However, by focusing on transphobia as the definitive cause of violence, this ritual potentially obscures the ways in which hierarchies of race, class, and sexuality constitute such acts. Taking the Transgender Day of Remembrance/Remembering Our Dead project as a case study for considering the politics of memorialization, as well as tracing the narrative history of the Fred F. C. Martinez murder case in Colorado, the author argues that deracialized accounts of violence produce seemingly innocent White witnesses who can consume these spectacles of domination without confronting their own complicity in such acts. The author suggests that remembrance practices require critical rethinking if we are to confront violence in more effective ways. Description from publisher's site: http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/srsp.2008.5.1.2

Transverse and Longitudinal Nonlinear Beam Dynamics

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Theoretical study of chlorine adsorption on the Ag(111) surface

Published versio

“Hot standards” for the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus

Within the archaea, the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeote Sulfolobus solfataricus has become an important model organism for physiology and biochemistry, comparative and functional genomics, as well as, more recently also for systems biology approaches. Within the Sulfolobus Systems Biology (“SulfoSYS”)-project the effect of changing growth temperatures on a metabolic network is investigated at the systems level by integrating genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and enzymatic information for production of a silicon cell-model. The network under investigation is the central carbohydrate metabolism. The generation of high-quality quantitative data, which is critical for the investigation of biological systems and the successful integration of the different datasets, derived for example from high-throughput approaches (e.g., transcriptome or proteome analyses), requires the application and compliance of uniform standard protocols, e.g., for growth and handling of the organism as well as the “–omics” approaches. Here, we report on the establishment and implementation of standard operating procedures for the different wet-lab and in silico techniques that are applied within the SulfoSYS-project and that we believe can be useful for future projects on Sulfolobus or (hyper)thermophiles in general. Beside established techniques, it includes new methodologies like strain surveillance, the improved identification of membrane proteins and the application of crenarchaeal metabolomics

Purification and immobilization of engineered glucose dehydrogenase: A new approach to producing gluconic acid from breadwaste

Background Platform chemicals are essential to industrial processes. Used as starting materials for the manufacture of diverse products, their cheap availability and efficient sourcing are an industrial requirement. Increasing concerns about the depletion of natural resources and growing environmental consciousness have led to a focus on the economics and ecological viability of bio-based platform chemical production. Contemporary approaches include the use of immobilized enzymes that can be harnessed to produce high-value chemicals from waste. Results In this study, an engineered glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) was optimized for gluconic acid (GA) production. Sulfolobus solfataricus GDH was expressed in Escherichia coli. The Km and Vmax values for recombinant GDH were calculated as 0.87 mM and 5.91 U/mg, respectively. Recombinant GDH was immobilized on a hierarchically porous silica support (MM-SBA-15) and its activity was compared with GDH immobilized on three commercially available supports. MM-SBA-15 showed significantly higher immobilization efficiency (> 98%) than the commercial supports. After 5 cycles, GDH activity was at least 14% greater than the remaining activity on commercial supports. Glucose in bread waste hydrolysate was converted to GA by free-state and immobilized GDH. After the 10th reuse cycle on MM-SBA-15, a 22% conversion yield was observed, generating 25 gGA/gGDH. The highest GA production efficiency was 47 gGA/gGDH using free-state GDH. Conclusions This study demonstrates the feasibility of enzymatically converting BWH to GA: immobilizing GDH on MM-SBA-15 renders the enzyme more stable and permits its multiple reuse