Wireless Battery Charging System using Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting

It seems these days that everyone has a cellular phone. Whether yours is for business purposes or personal use, you need an efficient way of charging the battery in the phone. But, like most people, you probably don't like being tethered to the wall. Imagine a system where your cellular phone battery is always charged. No more worrying about forgetting to charge the battery. Sound Impossible? It is the focus of this thesis to discuss the first step toward realizing this goal. A system will be presented using existing antenna and charge pump technology to charge a cellular phone battery without wires. In this first step, we will use a standard phone, and incorporate the charging technology into a commercially available base station. The base station will contain an antenna tuned to 915MHz and a charge pump. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a system, and hopefully pave the way for a system incorporated into the phone for charging without the use of a base station

Developmental Considerations in University-School Collaborative Research

Some common complications that arise in collaborative research between school and university researchers, as well as some conditions for successful collaboration are described in this report. Difficulties possibly attributable to developmental levels of the researchers are discussed utilizing Kegans (1982) theory of constructive developmentalism. A collaborative, qualitative study of needs for independence and inclusion in two fifth grade classrooms is described to illustrate the importance of attending to issues of differing perspectives and experiences that may be related to development. The authors suggest that researchers carefully consider issues of role, status, and contextual differences, as well as the developmental maturity of those with whom they engage in collaborative research

A phenomenological investigation of the experience of ambivalence

Results obtained from analyzing interviews with eight research co-participants who described experiences of having more than one feeling at a time were discussed. Three major categories of experience emerged from the descriptions of ambivalence provided by the interviewees. Using the specific language of research co-participants, these categories of experience were labeled: imbalance, weigh, and outweigh. These category labels communicate a kinesthetic sense of the experience that conveys the multiple layers of meaning regarding various facets of the experience including: bodily, emotional, cognitive and interpersonal themes salient in the experience of ambivalence. Minor themes and their relation to the essential themes are also elaborated as is the relationship of these categories to broader existential themes. The relevance of ambivalence to psychopathology and psychotherapy are also considered. A phenomenological understanding of the experience of ambivalence provides an overview of the landscape of the world as multiple feelings lead to experiences of being out of balance, weighing, and rebalancing and may allow one to orient oneself in the world when it is experienced ambivalently

Synchronous and nonsynchronous parent-child interaction : relations with children\u27s later competence with peers

This study is an investigation of the link between children\u27s experiences at home and their later behavior with peers at kindergarten. Specifically, the occurrence of three types of parent-child interaction -- positive synchrony, negative synchrony, and nonsynchrony -- was used to predict child social competence, social withdrawal, and aggression, as assessed by teachers, classmates, and outside observers. Thirty families with prekindergartners were observed in their homes for four hours each. Narrative records of naturally occurring parent-child interactions were coded in terms of the dyadic engagement, affective quality, dyadic balance, and parental appropriateness displayed in each interactional episode. Positively synchronous social events (balanced, appropriate, positive episodes) were found to predict high levels of child competence and low levels of social withdrawal and aggression. Negatively synchronous events (balanced, negative episodes) and nonsynchronous events (unbalanced or inappropriate episodes) predicted high levels of withdrawal and aggression, and low levels of competence. Additionally, global ratings of overall parental responsiveness predicted each child outcome. Speculation was made regarding the role parent-child interaction style plays in the development of competent and incompetent behavior styles, and suggestions for future investigations were discussed

Hearing Voices. A Response to “Case Study of a Participatory Health-Promotion Intervention in School”

Venka Simovska’s article “Case Study of a Participatory Health-Promotion Intervention in School” provides important insights regarding the active involvement of youths in service programs. This response essay extends Simovska’s discussions and frames them within three key areas: positive youth development, youth voice, and meaningful participation. The paper agrees with Simovska’s assertions that more process-centered research is needed to identify and explain what happens within a program that yields positive development. While many youth workers verbally declare that the focus of their programs is the youths they serve, many fail to carry out this claim with their actions. Youth practitioners must seek to create meaningful relationships with program participants and help children become active agents in their own development

An investigation of the impact of young children's self-knowledge of trustworthiness on school adjustment: a test of the realistic self-knowledge and positive illusion models

The study aimed to examine the relationship between self-knowledge of trustworthiness and young children’s school adjustment. One hundred and seventy-three (84 male and 89 female) children from school years 1 and 2 in the United Kingdom (mean age 6 years 2 months) were tested twice over one year. Children’s trustworthiness was assessed using: (a) self-report at Time 1 and Time 2, (b) peers’ reports at Time 1 and Time 2, and (c) teacher-reports at Time 2. School adjustment was assessed by child-rated school-liking and the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment. Longitudinal quadratic relationships were found between school adjustment and children’s self-knowledge, using peer-reported trustworthiness as a reference: more accurate self-knowledge of trustworthiness predicted increases in school adjustment. Comparable concurrent quadratic relationships were found between teacher-rated school adjustment and children’s self-knowledge, using teacher-reported trustworthiness as a reference, at Time 2. The findings support the conclusion that young children’s psychosocial adjustment is best accounted for by the realistic self-knowledge model (Colvin & Block, 1994)

Young children's interpersonal trust consistency as a predictor of future school adjustment

Young children’s interpersonal trust consistency was examined as a predictor of future school adjustment. One hundred and ninety two (95 male and 97 female, M age = 6 years 2 months, SD age = 6 months) children from school years 1 and 2 in the United Kingdom were tested twice over one-year. Children completed measures of peer trust and school adjustment and teachers completed the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment. Longitudinal quadratic relationships emerged between consistency of children’s peer trust beliefs and peer-reported trustworthiness and school adjustment and these varied according to social group, facet of trust, and indictor of school adjustment. The findings support the conclusion that interpersonal trust consistency, especially for secret-keeping, predicts aspects of young children’s school adjustment

All in the Family? Parental Roles in the Epidemic of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a serious global health challenge. Families and consumption are at the nexus of the problem, as childhood weight issues depend significantly on family-related influences (genetic predispositions, physical activities, and household food consumption practices). This article focuses on how a family socializes a child toward or away from obesity. It advances a family consumer socialization framework to characterize key elements and processes. Biological predispositions, parent/family inputs, elements of child development, parent-child interactions, and intergenerational transfer are all major contributors to weight status and life course potentials. Time is also a crucial component, here represented in two forms -- linear and cyclical. Drawing on extensive research from other disciplines and related consumer research, five “Foundational Properties” are distilled, representing fundamental tenets underpinning the family’s role in this problem. Each property is then used to chart promising opportunities for consumer researchers and others interested in advancing knowledge on this pressing concern

Annexin A2 antibodies but not inhibitors of the annexin A2 heterotetramer impair productive HIV-1 infection of macrophages in vitro

During sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), macrophages are initial targets for HIV infection. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) has been shown to protect against HIV infection of macrophages through interactions with annexin A2 (A2), which is found on the macrophage cell surface as a heterotetramer (A2t) consisting of A2 and S100A10. Therefore, we investigated potential protein-protein interactions between A2 and HIV-1 gp120 through a series of co-immunoprecipitation assays and a single molecule pulldown (SiMPull) technique. Additionally, inhibitors of A2t (A2ti) that target the interaction between A2 and S100A10 were tested for their ability to impair productive HIV-1 infection of macrophages. Our data suggest that interactions between HIV-1 gp120 and A2 exist, though this interaction may be indirect. Furthermore, an anti-A2 antibody impaired HIV-1 particle production in macrophages in vitro, whereas A2ti did not indicating that annexin A2 may promote HIV-1 infection of macrophages in its monomeric rather than tetrameric form

Aerobic Exercise during Pregnancy and Presence of Fetal-Maternal Heart Rate Synchronization

It has been shown that short-term direct interaction between maternal and fetal heart rates may take place and that this interaction is affected by the rate of maternal respiration. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of maternal aerobic exercise during pregnancy on the occurrence of fetal-maternal heart rate synchronization.In 40 pregnant women at the 36th week of gestation, 21 of whom exercised regularly, we acquired 18 min. RR interval time series obtained simultaneously in the mothers and their fetuses from magnetocardiographic recordings. The time series of the two groups were examined with respect to their heart rate variability, the maternal respiratory rate and the presence of synchronization epochs as determined on the basis of synchrograms. Surrogate data were used to assess whether the occurrence of synchronization was due to chance.In the original data, we found synchronization occurred less often in pregnancies in which the mothers had exercised regularly. These subjects also displayed higher combined fetal-maternal heart rate variability and lower maternal respiratory rates. Analysis of the surrogate data showed shorter epochs of synchronization and a lack of the phase coordination found between maternal and fetal beat timing in the original data.The results suggest that fetal-maternal heart rate coupling is present but generally weak. Maternal exercise has a damping effect on its occurrence, most likely due to an increase in beat-to-beat differences, higher vagal tone and slower breathing rates