Feminist Collective Activism in Telangana, South India: Exemplary by the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha Society

This research aims at contributing to the ongoing debate of feminist standpoint epistemology by introducing a study on feminist collective activism in Sangareddy and Yellareddy, two districts of the newly established 29th state of India, Telangana. The purpose here is to document the work of two sanghams (collectives) by the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha Society (APMSS). The focus lies on songs created by Dalit and indigenous women, which are used as a form of, protest against societal and gender inequality. Those songs contribute in making a positive difference on a local level. Analysis of two group interviews strengthens this argument. The sanghams have shown that despite all societal differences, solidarity among women for a common cause can make a difference in combating social issues on a local level. Taking the APMSS as an example, this research shows that the use of a holistic approach to education to support women in their responses to social issues has an overall positive effect on women. Furthermore, and most importantly, women are strengthened in believing that their life-experiences matter. My research shows that literacy is not necessarily needed to be a successful advocate for women´s rights. What is needed, however, is an understanding of local contexts, social issues and ultimately the ability to link them to life-experiences

Sensorimotor adaptation to auditory perturbation of speech is facilitated by noninvasive brain stimulation

Repeated exposure to disparity between the motor plan and auditory feedback during speech production results in a proportionate change in the motor system’s response called auditory-motor adaptation. Artificially raising F1 in auditory feedback results in a concomitant decrease in F1 during speech production. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can be used to alter neuronal excitability in focal areas of the brain. The present experiment explored the effect of noninvasive brain stimulation applied to the speech premotor cortex on the timing and magnitude of adaptation responses to artificially raised F1 in auditory feedback. Participants (N = 18) completed a speaking task in which they read target words aloud. Participants' speech was processed to raise F1 by 30% and played back to them over headphones in real time. A within-subjects design compared acoustics of participants’ speech while receiving anodal (active) tDCS stimulation versus sham (control) stimulation. Participants' speech showed an increasing magnitude of adaptation of F1 over time during anodal stimulation compared to sham. These results indicate that tDCS can affect behavioral response during auditory-motor adaptation, which may have translational implications for sensorimotor training in speech disorders

Sensor-based proximity metrics for team research: A validation study across three organizational contexts

Wearable sensors are becoming increasingly popular in organizational research. Although validation studies that examine sensor data in conjunction with established social and psychological constructs are becoming more frequent, they are usually limited for two reasons: first, most validation studies are carried out under laboratory settings. Only a handful of studies have been carried out in real-world organizational environments. Second, for those studies carried out in field settings, reported findings are derived from a single case only, thus seriously limiting the possibility of studying the influence of contextual factors on sensor-based measurements. This article presents a validation study of expressive and instrumental ties across 9 relatively small R&D teams. The convergent validity of Bluetooth (BT) detections is reported for friendship and adviceseeking ties under three organizational contexts: research labs, private companies and universitybased teams. Results show that, in general, BT detections correlated strongly with self-reported measurements. However, the organizational context affects both the strength of the observed correlation and its direction. Whereas advice-seeking ties generally occur in close spatial proximity and are best identified in university environments, friendship relationships occur at a greater spatial distance, especially in research labs. We conclude with recommendations for fine-tuning the validity of sensor measurements by carefully examining the opportunities for organizational embedding in relation to the research question and collecting complementary data through mixedmethod research designs

Life cycle assessment of carbon concrete composites: a circular economy path beyond climate mitigation?

Sustainable construction and materials play an ever-important role to stay within our planetary boundaries. In support, innovative carbon concrete composites (CCC) promise significant raw material savings by integral design. We aim to illustrate current environmental hotspots and a feasible recycling scenario of CCC that meets circularity requirements. We modelled a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment for two potential building structural applications (sandwich wall, ceiling reinforcement) made of CCC. We based our recycling scenario on previously conducted large-scale experiments. Results show a relative larger energy intensity and abiotic depletion of fossil fuels for variants of CCC but lower global warming. Yet, recycling is, second to embodied emissions of basic materials, the driving force of total environmental impacts. The presented recycling path (demolition, pyrolysis for carbon fabric, reuse in fiber fleece) offers less "green credentials" than steel

Symptomatic spinal cord malperfusion after stent-graft coverage of the entire descending aorta

Objective: The study aims to identify risk constellations for symptomatic spinal cord malperfusion in patients undergoing extensive stent-graft coverage of the thoracic aorta. Methods: From 1997 through 2009, 26 patients (mean age 70 years) underwent extensive stent-graft coverage of the thoracic aorta. Indications for stent-graft placement were atherosclerotic aneurysms (n=18) and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers (PAUs) (n=8). In 16 patients, a re-routing procedure was required to gain sufficient proximal landing zone length. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage was not routinely applied owing to the necessity of maintaining continuing anti-platelet therapy due to severe cardiovascular co-morbidities. Results: Technical success was 100%. Five patients developed symptomatic spinal cord malperfusion. All symptomatic patients had impaired spinal cord blood supply by acute or chronic occlusion of at least two major blood-supplying vascular territories of the spinal cord. Secondary CSF drainage improved neurologic symptoms in all patients without causing any anti-platelet therapy-related collateral injury. Conclusions: Extensive stent-graft coverage of the entire thoracic aorta can be performed with a high rate of success. If collateral blood supply to the spinal cord is maintained, occlusion of the intercostal arteries does not cause symptomatic malperfusion. However, if acute or chronic occlusion of the subclavian, lumbar or hypogastric arteries is present, likelihood of symptomatic malperfusion dramatically increase

Safety and Outcome of Modified Laparoscopic Bilateral Sacropexy

Sacropexy is a generally applied treatment of prolapse, yet there are known possible complications of it. An essential need exists for better alloplastic materials. Methods. Between April 2013 and June 2014, we performed a modified laparoscopic bilateral sacropexy (MLBS) in 10 patients using a MRI-visible PVDF mesh implant. Selected patients had prolapse POP-Q stages II-III and concomitant OAB. We studied surgery-related morbidity, anatomical and functional outcome, and mesh-visibility in MRI. Mean follow-up was 7.4 months. Results. Concomitant colporrhaphy was conducted in 1/10 patients. Anatomical success was defined as POP-Q stage 0-I. Apical success rate was 100% and remained stable. A recurrent cystocele was seen in 1/10 patients during follow-up without need for intervention. Out of 6 (6/10) patients with preoperative SUI, 5/6 were healed and 1/6 persisted. De-novo SUI was seen in 1/10 patients. Complications requiring a relaparoscopy were seen in 2/10 patients. 8/10 patients with OAB were relieved postoperatively. The first in- human magnetic resonance visualization of a prolapse mesh implant was performed and showed good quality of visualization. Conclusion. MLBS is a feasible and safe procedure with favorable anatomical and functional outcome and good concomitant healing rates of SUI and OAB. Prospective data and larger samples are required

Residual Metallic Contamination of Transferred Chemical Vapor Deposited Graphene

Integration of graphene with Si microelectronics is very appealing by offering potentially a broad range of new functionalities. New materials to be integrated with Si platform must conform to stringent purity standards. Here, we investigate graphene layers grown on copper foils by chemical vapor deposition and transferred to silicon wafers by wet etch and electrochemical delamination methods with respect to residual sub-monolayer metallic contaminations. Regardless of the transfer method and associated cleaning scheme, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and total reflection x-ray fluorescence measurements indicate that the graphene sheets are contaminated with residual metals (copper, iron) with a concentration exceeding 10$^{13}$ atoms/cm$^{2}$. These metal impurities appear to be partly mobile upon thermal treatment as shown by depth profiling and reduction of the minority charge carrier diffusion length in the silicon substrate. As residual metallic impurities can significantly alter electronic and electrochemical properties of graphene and can severely impede the process of integration with silicon microelectronics these results reveal that further progress in synthesis, handling, and cleaning of graphene is required on the way to its advanced electronic and optoelectronic applications.Comment: 26 pages, including supporting informatio

Noninvasive neurostimulation of left ventral motor cortex enhances sensorimotor adaptation in speech production

Sensorimotor adaptation¬—enduring changes to motor commands due to sensory feedback—allows speakers to match their articulations to intended speech acoustics. How the brain integrates auditory feedback to modify speech motor commands and what limits the degree of these modifications remain unknown. Here, we investigated the role of speech motor cortex in modifying stored speech motor plans. In a within-subjects design, participants underwent separate sessions of sham and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over speech motor cortex while speaking and receiving altered auditory feedback of the first formant. Anodal tDCS increased the rate of sensorimotor adaptation for feedback perturbation. Computational modeling of our results using the Directions Into Velocities of Articulators (DIVA) framework of speech production suggested that tDCS primarily affected behavior by increasing the feedforward learning rate. This study demonstrates how focal noninvasive neurostimulation can enhance the integration of auditory feedback into speech motor plans.This research was supported by NIDCD of the NIH under award numbers R03DC014045 to TP, and R01DC002852 to FG. TLS was supported by T90DA032484. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Healt

Decidual Macrophages Are Significantly Increased in Spontaneous Miscarriages and Over-Express FasL

Decidual macrophages (DM) are the second most abundant population in the fetal-maternal interface. Their role has been so far identified as being local immuno-modulators favoring the maternal tolerance to the fetus. Herein we investigated tissue samples from 11 cases of spontaneous miscarriages and from 9 cases of elective terminations of pregnancy. Using immunohistochemistry and dual immunofluorescence we have demonstrated that in spontaneous miscarriages the DM are significantly increased. Additionally, we noted a significant up-regulation of macrophage FasL expression. Our results further support a dual role for DM during pregnancy and miscarriages. We hypothesize that the baseline DM population in normal pregnancy is in line with an M2 phenotype supporting the ongoing gestation. In contrast, during spontaneous miscarriages, the increased FasL-expressing population could be a part of an M1 phenotype participating in Fas/FasL-related apoptosis. Our results highlight a new aspect of macrophage biology in pregnancy physiology and pathophysiology. Further studies with larger samples are needed to verify the current results and evaluate their clinical impact