Gamma-ray energy deposition in fast nuclear reactors

Imperial Users onl

Labor Union Locals, Radical Politics, and Sympathetic Views of Social Movement Organizations

Although there are thorough bodies of literature which focus on the different organizational structures of social movement organizations and how organizations cooperate with one another, the American Labor Movement is frequently seen as homologous. While challenged frequently in sociological literature, treating labor unions as interchangeable ignores the various motivations held by union locals. As members of national unions, it is assumed that labor union locals naturally have similar levels of participation both in internal campaigns and in their participation with other national social movement organizations. Operating on this assumption, the study conducted for this article surveyed locals from the Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, and the Communication Workers of America. Rating these different unions as conservative, liberal, and politically radical, this study argues that politically radical labor unions are more sympathetic of feminist SMOs. However, this study also suggests that the differences in political opinions and the organizational structures of broad social movements and social movement organizations do not incite different levels of sympathy among labor union locals. Supporting the call to action put forth by Lott, this article suggests that there is a large body of literature not yet published concerning the psychology of labor unions.No embargoAcademic Major: EnglishAcademic Major: Sociolog

Innovation in Course Design

Initial teacher education programs offered at Australian universities tend to qualify graduates to teach in the age-related contexts of early childhood/primary or secondary, a model that has reflected the organisational evolution of schools. Greater flexibility is required in the design of teacher preparation courses in order to produce graduates who meet teacher registration requirements for early childhood/primary and secondary and who have a better understanding of and focus on the academic and developmental needs of a diverse range of young people. With the establishment and growth of schools with Foundation to Year 9/10/12 learning environments a demand has been created for teachers with skills that will enable them to teach across a broader age range. A teacher who can combine a deep understanding of approaches to child and adolescent development, teaching & learning theories, together with a critical approach to pedagogical principals and practice across the stages schooling with content specialisation knowledge is an asset to any twenty-first century school. A graduate qualified to teach across the primary and secondary school divide has enhanced employment opportunities and a more flexible career pathway

Exploring the Pluralization of Community Safety: A Qualitative Analysis of the Perceived Operation and Implications of Situation Tables

Recent attention has been placed on the sustainability of policing, in that, increasing demands for public safety have been met with decreasing police budgets. The acknowledgement of this problem by Public Safety Canada has initiated the push towards new collaborative models of community safety. These collaborative models are often referred to as Situation Tables, which seek to mitigate acutely-elevated risks of crime and/or victimization in the community through multi-sectoral intervention. The present study explores how the lived experiences of those working on the frontlines of one Situation Table, the Community Partners Risk Intervention Table (CPRIT), fit within the broader community safety and well-being framework proposed by the Ontario Working Group (OWG). Though in-depth interviews with seven members of the CPRIT, and a documentary analysis of reports prepared by the OWG, I examine how Situation Tables are intended to operate, in rhetoric, and how one table is perceivably operating, on the ground. From this analysis, I uncover how service providers’ perceptions of CPRIT table practices closely reflect the framework proposed by the OWG. I further argue that Situation Tables present as state-centric mobilizations of the community that serve to responsibilize service providers and individuals at risk

Crossing the Primary and Secondary School Divide in Teacher Preparation

Teacher education courses at universities qualify graduates to teach in age-related contexts of primary/early childhood/secondary that reflect the organisational structure of schools. In terms of teacher employment, for some considerable time, these longstanding organisational divisions have been by-passed whereby a shortage of teachers in particular areas (for example a perennial shortage of science and mathematics teachers) has resulted in schools employing teachers in subjects and grade levels for which they are not qualified. More recently, the development of middle schooling, P/K to 10 and P/K to 12 colleges, has created demand for teachers with generic skills able to teach across a wide age range. As universities design teacher education courses that are required to meet the demands of teacher registration organizations, flexibility can be compromised. The intent of this article is to challenge the restrictions of early childhood/primary/secondary divisions and to advocate for more flexibility in the design of teacher education courses. An example of a K-12 Bachelor of Education degree course that produces graduates who meet teacher registration requirements for all three divisions, providing the option to teach across all years of school, is presented. A graduate from this program has enhanced employment opportunities as well as a more flexible career pathway

Threshold

My decisions in the studio are tied to my experiences outside of the studio, intertwining the complex relationship of memory and sentience. Each work precariously balances between softness and rigidity, vessel and sculpture, monumentality and intimacy. These tensions transform the familiar into the enigmatic and are an integral part of my philosophical approach to making. Soft curves and billowing planes are punctuated by the structure of defined edges, hard angles, and areas of dark shadows. This duality suggests two worlds, one of feeling, intuition, sensuality, and dreams, the other of intellect, reason, structure, form, rhythm, and geometry. By contradicting the visual with the tactile, the surface emphasizes the coupling of softness and rigidity. My surfaces are inspired by looking closely at our physical world, by exploring a Piñon tree as if was a whole forest or wandering through the colorful streets of “old town” Turkey, layers of heavily pigmented paint transforming the mundane into the extraordinary. I am drawn to the crusted and the weathered; objects that have had time transform their visual depth and speak about a layering of living. The forms relate to architectural spaces, intimacies of passageways opening to sacred spaces, eroded canyons, and the human body conceptualized as a landscape. I am interested in how light and shadow dictate our movements, how they affect the physical sensation in our body as we maneuver through interior spaces and natural landscapes. My intent is to create beautiful objects that elicit, as the viewer\u27s eye explores the form, a similar corporeal sensation to powerful physical spaces. By creating vessels that use volume and containment, qualities inherent to pottery, I explore content beyond utility. A vessel has a universality that has a certain familiarity to the viewer making my work more approachable and, by borrowing the language of pottery (i.e. lips, feet, etc), the vessel reemphasizes the reference to the body. Solid forms and unseen voids not only reference physical spaces, but allude to the play between our physical and psychological worlds. Interior spaces do not invite the viewer to fill the space with use, but rather, reference the shadows of our psyche. By limiting visual entry to enclosed volumes, my work evokes mystery, intrigue, and most importantly, the imagination. 7 images are attached below as Additional files

Private Copyright: Digital Rights Management Systems and the Consumer

Digital Rights Managements (DRM) systems impact the digital content and software marketplace on several levels. The issues include copyright law, contract law, privacy, antitrust, and consumer protection. This paper examines how DRM systems affect the consumer and what changes can be made to bring about a more sensible and transparent market in the United States

Multi-responsive microencapsulated nanogels for the oral delivery of small interfering RNA

Multi-responsive, anionic poly(methacrylic acid-co-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) microscale hydrogels (microgels) encapsulating polycationic nanoscale hydrogels (nanogels) were synthesized with either degradable or nondegradable crosslinks. The pH-responsive volume phase transition of these formulations was consistent with the pH transition experienced during intestinal delivery, as the hydrogels swelled at pH values greater than pH 5. The physicochemical characteristics of the nondegradable formulations were evaluated by microscopy, potentiometric titration, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The nondegradable formulations successfully loaded and released a model protein in physiological buffers, but the ability of the microgels to release the nanogels upon exposure to intestinal conditions was inadequate. Therefore, microgels containing enzyme-degradable oligopeptide crosslinks were synthesized then characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, and ImageStream flow cytometry. Degradation of the microgels upon incubation in trypsin solutions, simulated gastric fluid, or simulated intestinal fluid was evaluated by measuring the change in relative turbidity over time. Microgels were degraded specifically by the enzyme trypsin, and the rate of degradation was dependent upon the microgel to trypsin concentration ratio; for all ratios tested, degradation was complete within 4 hours. The cytocompatibility of the enzyme-degraded microgels encapsulating nanogels was evaluated in both a human and a murine cell line; at microgel concentrations less than 0.4 mg/ml the cell viability was greater than 90%. Confocal microscopy was used to obtain Z-stack images of the cells following incubation with the microgels, confirming that nanogels were released from the degraded microgels and subsequently inteRNAlized by RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells. The microencapsulated nanogels were able to load siRNA via electrostatic complexation with loading efficiencies ranging from 60-80%. Incubation of loaded microgels in simulated intestinal fluid with reduced trypsin concentrations or in rat intestinal fluid resulted in successful degradation of the microgel matrix and release of a detectable amount of viable siRNA. The degraded microgels with nanogels transfected the two different cell lines with up to 20% silencing efficiency. Though the knockdown efficiency is not as high as that of nanogels alone, the microgel results are consistent and reproducible across two cell lines.Chemical Engineerin