Father Finn, S.J.: The Story of His Life Told by Himself for His Friends Young and Old

https://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/finn/1002/thumbnail.jp

A quest to find the cause of unknown peaks in cleaning verification chromatography following the manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations

Cleaning equipment following the manufacture of pharmaceutical products is of paramount importance to ensure that the following batch of product manufactured is not contaminated with therapeutic levels of the prior manufactured product. The patient must only receive the therapeutic effect expected from the drug they take. During a number of cleaning verification studies, it was discovered that unknown peaks were present in the chromatography, the source of which was unclear. A study was performed to examine a theory that the gloves used by the operator during the cleaning procedure, in combination with the solvent based cleaning products were responsible for the unknown peaks that were evident in the chromatography. NASA had performed a similar study for the critical parts of the space shuttle in the space shuttle program. The following poster examines the conclusions that were made from the data that was attained for the study. The data will answer the question: ‘Are the gloves themselves responsible by way of leachables for the unknown peaks in the cleaning verification chromatography.

Mineral–water reactions in Earth’s mantle:Predictions from Born theory and ab initio molecular dynamics

Recent studies present compelling evidence that a free aqueous fluid phase exists within the upper mantle. Fluid may be present at depths as great as the transition zone (410–660 km) and possibly beyond. The chemical reactivity of such deep fluids can be predicted from the Born model of solvation. To use the Born model, we need to know the dielectric constant of water under mantle conditions. We have used ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to determine the dielectric constant of water up to a pressure of 30 GPa and a temperature of 3000 K. Increased temperature lowers the dielectric constant and decreases ion solvation, but pressure overcomes this effect. The resulting high dielectric constant suggests that aqueous mantle fluids are highly reactive for ion solvation and mineral dissolution. We tested this by using the Helgeson–Kirkham–Flowers equation of state to estimate free energies of several mineral-solution and ion solvation reactions under mantle conditions. The results support previous estimates of carbonate solubility in the mantle. We also find that mantle fluids may play a key role in transporting ore metals: we evaluated the solubility of chalcopyrite and the complexation of Cu and Fe by Cl under mantle conditions and find that metal complexation is as significant as in ore-forming fluids in the crust. At reasonable conditions of pH and fH2, chalcopyrite is highly soluble. We tentatively hypothesize that exsolved fluids from subducted slabs may extract and mobilize primary sulfides in the mantle, implying potentially deep sources for porphyry copper deposits

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF STUDY CLUB PROGRAM AT SMAN 1 TOMOHON

Sekolah-sekolah meningkatkan kualitas melalui berbagai proyek sekolah. Artikel ini menyajikan manajemen mutu total (Total Quality Management) dalam program Study Club di SMAN 1 Tomohon. TQM mengacu pada manfaat yang diperoleh oleh siswa, guru dan sekolah. Tulisan ini merupakan hasil dari metode campuran. Teknik yang digunakan berupa studi literatur, observasi, wawancara dan analisis data kuantitatif. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, Study Club di sekolah tersebut terdiri dari 9 kelompok sesuai dengan mata pelajaran yang ada di Olimpiade Sains Nasional. Tahapan dalam membangun program sebagai pembelajaran ekstra kurikuler meliputi perencanaan, perekrutan, pelaksanaan dan pengendalian. Dengan mempertimbangkan manajemen risiko, program ini telah memenuhi tujuan untuk meningkatkan kualitas sekolah. Penerapan Total Quality Management di unit pendidikan memberikan hasil yang sangat baik dalam kemajuan kualitas sekolah. Indikator Kinerja Utama digunakan untuk mengukur desain proyek dan pencapaian tujuan

Multidimensional rasch models for partial credit scoring

Rasch models for partial-credit scoring are discussed and a multidimensional version of the model is formulated. A model may be specified in which consecutive item responses depend on an underlying latent trait. In the multidimensional partial-credit model, different responses may be explained by different latent traits. Data from van Kuyk’s (1988) size concept test and the Raven Progressive Matrices test were analyzed. Maximum likelihood estimation and goodness-of-fit testing are discussed and applied to these datasets. Goodness-of-fit statistics show that for both tests, multidimensional partial-credit models were more appropriate than the unidimensional partial-credit model. Index terms: X2 testing, exponential family model, multidimensional item response theory, multidimensional Rasch model, partial-credit models, Progressive Matrices test, Rasch model

The capabilities approach and critical social policy: lessons from the majority world?

The capabilities approach (CA) most closely associated with the thinner and thicker versions of Sen and Nussbaum has the potential to provide a paradigm shift for critical social policy, encompassing but also transcending some of the limitations associated with the Marshallian social citizenship approach. The article argues, however, that it cannot simply be imported from the majority world, rather there is a need to bear in mind the critical literature that developed around it. This is generally discussed and then critically applied to case studies of CA in the developed capitalist world, particularly the Equalities Review conducted for the Equality and Human Rights Commission

Four-fermion interaction from torsion as dark energy

The observed small, positive cosmological constant may originate from a four-fermion interaction generated by the spin-torsion coupling in the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble gravity if the fermions are condensing. In particular, such a condensation occurs for quark fields during the quark-gluon/hadron phase transition in the early Universe. We study how the torsion-induced four-fermion interaction is affected by adding two terms to the Dirac Lagrangian density: the parity-violating pseudoscalar density dual to the curvature tensor and a spinor-bilinear scalar density which measures the nonminimal coupling of fermions to torsion.Comment: 6 pages; published versio

Schools and civil society : corporate or community governance

School improvement depends upon mediating the cultural conditions of learning as young people journey between their parochial worlds and the public world of cosmopolitan society. Governing bodies have a crucial role in including or diminishing the representation of different cultural traditions and in enabling or frustrating the expression of voice and deliberation of differences whose resolution is central to the mediation of and responsiveness to learning needs. A recent study of governing bodies in England and Wales argues that the trend to corporatising school governance will diminish the capacity of schools to learn how they can understand cultural traditions and accommodate them in their curricula and teaching strategies. A democratic, stakeholder model remains crucial to the effective practice of governing schools. By deliberating and reconciling social and cultural differences, governance constitutes the practices for mediating particular and cosmopolitan worlds and thus the conditions for engaging young people in their learning, as well as in the preparation for citizenship in civil society

Optical properties of MgH2 measured in situ in a novel gas cell for ellipsometry/spectrophotometry

The dielectric properties of alpha-MgH2 are investigated in the photon energy range between 1 and 6.5 eV. For this purpose, a novel sample configuration and experimental setup are developed that allow both optical transmission and ellipsometric measurements of a transparent thin film in equilibrium with hydrogen. We show that alpha-MgH2 is a transparent, colour neutral insulator with a band gap of 5.6 +/- 0.1 eV. It has an intrinsic transparency of about 80% over the whole visible spectrum. The dielectric function found in this work confirms very recent band structure calculations using the GW approximation by Alford and Chou [J.A. Alford and M.Y. Chou (unpublished)]. As Pd is used as a cap layer we report also the optical properties of PdHx thin films.Comment: REVTeX4, 15 pages, 12 figures, 5 table

Transcriptomic analysis of the seminal vesicle response to the reproductive toxicant acrylamide

Background: The seminal vesicles synthesise bioactive factors that support gamete function, modulate the female reproductive tract to promote implantation, and influence developmental programming of offspring phenotype. Despite the significance of the seminal vesicles in reproduction, their biology remains poorly defined. Here, to advance understanding of seminal vesicle biology, we analyse the mouse seminal vesicle transcriptome under normal physiological conditions and in response to acute exposure to the reproductive toxicant acrylamide. Mice were administered acrylamide (25 mg/kg bw/day) or vehicle control daily for five consecutive days prior to collecting seminal vesicle tissue 72 h following the final injection. Results: A total of 15,304 genes were identified in the seminal vesicles with those encoding secreted proteins amongst the most abundant. In addition to reproductive hormone pathways, functional annotation of the seminal vesicle transcriptome identified cell proliferation, protein synthesis, and cellular death and survival pathways as prominent biological processes. Administration of acrylamide elicited 70 differentially regulated (fold-change ≥1.5 or ≤ 0.67) genes, several of which were orthogonally validated using quantitative PCR. Pathways that initiate gene and protein synthesis to promote cellular survival were prominent amongst the dysregulated pathways. Inflammation was also a key transcriptomic response to acrylamide, with the cytokine, Colony stimulating factor 2 (Csf2) identified as a top-ranked upstream driver and inflammatory mediator associated with recovery of homeostasis. Early growth response (Egr1), C-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (Ccl8), and Collagen, type V, alpha 1 (Col5a1) were also identified amongst the dysregulated genes. Additionally, acrylamide treatment led to subtle changes in the expression of genes that encode proteins secreted by the seminal vesicle, including the complement regulator, Complement factor b (Cfb). Conclusions: These data add to emerging evidence demonstrating that the seminal vesicles, like other male reproductive tract tissues, are sensitive to environmental insults, and respond in a manner with potential to exert impact on fetal development and later offspring health.David A. Skerrett-Byrne, Brett Nixon, Elizabeth G. Bromfield, James Breen, Natalie A. Trigg, Simone J. Stanger, Ilana R. Bernstein, Amanda L. Anderson, Tessa Lord, R. John Aitken, Shaun D. Roman, Sarah A. Robertson, and John E. Schjenke