Soft and Hard Implant Fabrication Using 3D-Bioplotting TM

At the Freiburger Materialforschungszentrum we have developed a new process (3DBioplotting TM) that permits most kind of polymers and biopolymers to be used in 3D scaffold design, including hydrogels (e.g. collagen, agar), polymer melts (e.g. PLLA, PGA, PCl) and twocomponent systems (e.g. chitosan, fibrin). Cells can be incorporated within the construction process, making this an ideal Rapid Prototyping technique for Organ Printing. Tailor-made biodegradable soft or hard scaffolds can so be fabricated in a short time using individual computer-tomography data from the patient. In-vitro tests showed promising results and in-vivo experiments are now under observation.Mechanical Engineerin

The Impacts of Gender Minority Stress on Wellness Among Trans and Gender Diverse Adults

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of gender minority stress and its connection with wellness among trans and gender diverse adults. Trans and gender diverse (TGD) individuals experience unique and pervasive stress due to living within a society that is hostile towards their gender identities. They are also more than their experiences of gender minority stress. Better understanding TGD wellness is crucial for both researchers and counseling psychologists as a means of holistically viewing TGD communities. The present study examined the impacts that gender minority stress had on the overall wellness among a sample of TGD adults (n = 198). A hierarchical linear regression and mediation analysis were conducted to assess if each of the individual external and internal gender minority stress constructs were significantly related to overall wellness, if each of the cumulative effects for both external and internal gender minority stress constructs accounted for significant variance of overall wellness, and if internal gender minority stress mediated the relationship between external gender minority stress and overall wellness. Results of the analyses showed that each of the individual external and internal gender minority stress constructs were significantly negatively related with overall wellness, that each of the cumulative effects for both external and internal gender minority stress constructs significantly accounted for variance in overall wellness, and that internal gender minority stress fully mediated the relationship between external gender minority stress and overall wellness. These results provide a clearer understanding of the relationship between the gender minorit

Managing Bitterweed to Reduce Sheep Losses.

2 p

Responses of Species in Kalsow Prairie, Iowa, to an April Fire

Selected prairie species were observed during the first growing season following a prescribed burn on Kalsow Prairie, a mesic tall grass prairie in central Iowa. Changes in dry weight, vegetative cover, and flowering response were measured on burned, unburned and mowed areas. Significant changes were recorded for many species following the burn ranging from a flowering response of prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) on burned areas 30 times that on unburned areas to a slight reduction in flowering of bluegrass (Poa pratensis) on burned areas

A Handy Field Herbarium for Identification of Plant Species

A procedure is described for preparation of plant specimens for field use with transparent, self-adhering material

Development of a scale to assess avoidance behavior due to a fear of falling: the fear of falling avoidance behavior questionnaire

Journal ArticleBackground. A history of falls or imbalance may lead to a fear of falling, which may lead to self-imposed avoidance of activity; this avoidance may stimulate a vicious cycle of deconditioning and subsequent falls. Objective. The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire that would quantify avoidance behavior due to a fear of falling. Design. This study consisted of 2 parts: questionnaire development and psychometric testing. Questionnaire development involved an expert panel and 39 residents of an assisted living facility. Sixty-three community-dwelling individuals with various health conditions participated in psychometric testing. Method. Questionnaire development included the evaluation of face and content validity and factor analysis of the initial questionnaire. The final result of questionnaire development was the Fear of Falling Avoidance Behavior Questionnaire (FFABQ). In order to determine its psychometric properties, reliability and construct validity were assessed through administration of the FFABQ to participants twice, 1 week apart, and comparison of the FFABQ with other questionnaires related to fear of falling, functional measures of balance and mobility, and daily activity levels using an activity monitor. Results. The FFABQ had good overall test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=.812) and was found to differentiate between participants who were considered ?fallers? (ie, at least one fall in the previous year) and those who were considered ?nonfallers.? The FFABQ predicted time spent sitting or lying and endurance. Limitations. A relatively small number of people with a fear of falling were willing to participate. Conclusion. Results from this study offer evidence for the reliability and validity of the FFABQ and support the notion that the FFABQ measures avoidance behavior rather than balance confidence, self-efficacy, or fear

Modelling human factors in perceptual multimedia quality: On the role of personality and culture

Perception of multimedia quality is shaped by a rich interplay between system, context, and human factors. While system and context factors are widely researched, few studies in this area consider human factors as sources of systematic variance. This paper presents an analysis on the influence of personality (Five-Factor Model) and cultural traits (Hofstede Model) on the perception of multimedia quality. A set of 144 video sequences (from 12 short movie excerpts) were rated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, producing 1232 ratings. On this data, three models are compared: a baseline model that only considers system factors; an extended model that includes personality and culture as human factors; and an optimistic model in which each participant is modeled as a random effect. An analysis shows that personality and cultural traits represent 9.3% of the variance attributable to human factors while human factors overall predict an equal or higher proportion of variance compared to system factors. In addition, the quality-enjoyment correlation varied across the movie excerpts. This suggests that human factors play an important role in perceptual multimedia quality, but further research to explore moderation effects and a broader range of human factors is warranted