Living architecture: Toward energy generating buildings powered by microbial fuel cells

In this study, possibilities of integrating microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology and buildings were investigated. Three kinds of conventional house bricks from two different locations were tested as MFC reactors and their electrochemical characteristics were analysed. European standard off-the-shelf house bricks generated a maximum power of 1.2 mW (13.5 mW m−2) when fed with human urine. Ugandan house air bricks produced a maximum power of 2.7 mW (32.8 mW m−2), again with human urine. Different cathode types made by surface modifications using two kinds of carbon compounds and two PTFE based binders were tested in both wet and dry cathode conditions. The effects of both anode and cathode sizes, electrode connection, electrode configuration, and feedstock on brick MFC power generation were also studied. Water absorption test results showed higher porosity for the Ugandan air bricks than European engineering bricks, which contributed to its higher performance. This study suggests that the idea of converting existing and future buildings to micro-power stations and micro-treatment plants with the help of integrated MFCs and other renewable technologies is achievable, which will be a step closer to a truly sustainable life

"To form a new world, new systems create": Margaret Lowther Page's poetic revisions of women's roles in the early republic

This thesis looks at the ways one elite heterosocial literary group in Williamsburg, Virginia, used poetic exchange to discuss their society's developing ideas about politics, marriage, and the roles of women and men. The multi-authored text I analyze was privately printed in 1790, around the time that two of its main contributors, Margaret Lowther Page and John Page, were married.The extant copy of the book belonged to Margaret, and she used it as a place to record fair copies of additional poems that directly discuss her discontent with her role. In the printed text the male poets discuss two seemingly unrelated topics: the upcoming Page marriage and the issues they encounter in their political careers. Their poetic exchanges with each other demonstrate that marital and political institutions were not only male-centered, but also heavily interconnected. Margaret avoids these topics almost entirely in her printed work, writing many of her poems to female friends about their shared experiences of domestic labor, mourning, and friendship.I argue that Margaret used literary exchange to establish a female-centered community that provided a system of support outside of marriage. In her marriage she was limited to a domestic role that supported her husband's political career as a Virginia Congressman, even though the very laws he helped established denied her an official voice in government. Much of her poetry written to female friends subversively opposes the exclusionary systems of marriage and government discussed at length by the male poets. Through exchanges with friends, she privileges female intellectual work over domestic work as she encourages other women's writing and offers her own. Margaret's proto-feminist ideas participate in a long process of questioning and revising inequalities in American society

Patients' perceptions of a pressure ulcer prevention care bundle in hospital : A qualitative descriptive study to guide evidence-based practice

Background: Pressure ulcers place a significant burden on patients and hospitals. Our team developed and tested a pressure ulcer prevention care bundle (PUPCB) in a cluster randomized trial. As part of the process evaluation conducted alongside the trial, we explored patients’ perceptions of the intervention. Aims: To identify patients’ perceptions and experiences of a PUPCB in hospital. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study explored the perceptions of a subset of patients who participated in a trial testing the PUPCB across four intervention hospitals. A trained interviewer conducted semistructured interviews, which were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Nineteen patients were interviewed across the four hospitals. Three main themes emerged: (a) importance of personal contact in PUPCB delivery; (b) understanding pressure ulcer prevention (PUP) enhances participation; and (c) individual factors impact patients’ engagement in PUP. Discussion: The extent to which patients adopted the intervention appeared to be influenced by the complexity of education materials, compatibility with patients’ existing knowledge and beliefs, and perceived advantage of the intervention; ability for human interaction; and patient-related facilitators and barriers to participating in PUP care. Linking Evidence to Action: This study found patients accepted a PUPCB that encouraged participation in care, particularly as it involved personal and positive interactions with nurses and provision of information that was easy to understand and resonated with patients

A comprehensive study of custom-made ceramic separators for microbial fuel cells: Towards "living" bricks

Towards the commercialisation of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, well-performing, cost-effective, and sustainable separators are being developed. Ceramic is one of the promising materials for this purpose. In this study, ceramic separators made of three different clay types were tested to investigate the effect of ceramic material properties on their performance. The best-performing ceramic separators were white ceramic-based spotty membranes, which produced maximum power outputs of 717.7 ± 29.9 µW (white ceramic-based with brown spots, 71.8 W·m−3) and 715.3 ± 73.0 µW (white ceramic-based with red spots, 71.5 W·m−3). For single material ceramic types, red ceramic separator generated the highest power output of 670.5 ± 64. 8 µW (67.1 W·m−3). Porosity investigation revealed that white and red ceramics are more porous and have smaller pores compared to brown ceramic. Brown ceramic separators under performed initially but seem more favourable for long-term operation due to bigger pores and thus less tendency of membrane fouling. This study presents ways to enhance the function of ceramic separators in MFCs such as the novel spotty design as well as fine-tuning of porosity and pore size

Artificial neural network simulating microbial fuel cells with different membrane materials and electrode configurations

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are gaining interest due to higher power production achieved by deep analysis of their characteristics and their effect on the overall efficiency. To date, investigations on MFC efficiency, can only be based on laboratory experiments or mathematical modelling. However, there is only a handful of rule-based mathematical modelling due to the difficulties imposed by the high sensitivity of the MFC system to environmental parameters and the highly complex bacterial consortia that dictate its behavior. Thus, an application of an artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed to simulate the polarisation of cylindrical MFCs with different materials as the separation membranes. ANNs are ideal candidates for investigating these systems, as there is no need for explicit knowledge of the detailed rules that govern the system. The ANN developed here is a feed-forward back-propagation network with a topology of 4-10-1 neurons that approximates the voltage of each MFC at a given state. Two different membrane materials with two different electrode configurations were assembled and utilized in laboratory experiments to produce the data set on which the ANN was trained upon. For the whole data set the correlation coefficient (R) between real values and outputs of the network was 0.99662

The Office

This newsletter was created by the Fall 2016 Honors English Class from Stephen F. Austin State University. Throughout the semester students were asked to define and interpret the terms work and labor. Through our individual research on different aspects of work and labor, we hope to expand the general spectrum of what encompasses these topics. Works and labor are two important aspects of our culture. They are umbrella terms that encompass many occupational fields and serve as a uniting factor in modern-day society. Aspects of work and labor are observable in an assortment of environments, whether it be through schoolwork as children or salary-paying jobs as adults. Because the global employment industry as a whole has such strong relations to work and labor ingrained in how duties are completed, there is a wide range of areas where they are applicable. Here, in this newsletter, many different aspects of these terms will be discussed. There are more elements to work and labor than many realize. Through the works included in our newsletter, we hope to expand the general understanding of work, labor, and the components that make them what they are

A Review of Drowning Prevention Interventions for Children and Young People in High, Low and Middle Income Countries.

Globally, drowning is one of the ten leading causes of child mortality. Children aged <5 years are particularly at risk, and children and young people continue to be overrepresented in drowning statistics. Accordingly, evidence informed interventions to prevent children drowning are of global importance. This review aimed to identify, assess and analyse public health interventions to reduce child drowning and investigate the use of behavioural theories and evaluation frameworks to guide child drowning prevention. Thirteen databases were searched for relevant peer reviewed articles. The systematic review was guided by the PRISMA criteria and registered with PROSPERO. Fifteen articles were included in the final review. Studies were delivered in high, middle and low income countries. Intervention designs varied, one-third of studies targeted children under five. Almost half of the studies relied on education and information to reduce drowning deaths, only three studies used a multi-strategy approach. Minimal use of behavioural theories and/or frameworks was found and just one-third of the studies described formative evaluation. This review reveals an over reliance on education and information as a strategy to prevent drowning, despite evidence for comprehensive multi-strategy approaches. Accordingly, interventions must be supported that use a range of strategies, are shaped by theory and planning and evaluation frameworks, and are robust in intervention design, delivery and evaluation methodology. This approach will provide sound evidence that can be disseminated to inform future practice and policy for drowning prevention

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead