Bordering Spaces and Encounters in Music of Gabriela Ortiz [abstract only]

The Mexican city of Cuidad Juárez, Chihauhaua, across the river from El Paso, Texas, has become a flashpoint for the complex of values of border relations between the United States and Mexico. Two works of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz confront ever-present problems of drug trafficking and violent death (the “disappeared women of Cuidad”) in, respectively, her video-opera ¡Únicamente la verdad! (Only the Truth!) (2008-10) and 2009 “requiem” setting Río Bravo for six female voices and crystal cups to text by Mónica Sánchez Escuer. ¡Únicamente la verdad! crosses boundaries of fact and fiction, myth and reality, documentary, opera, and corrido (Mexican ballad). Drawing on specific journalistic reports, it explores border imaginations of Camelia La Tejana, a woman fictionalized in the narcocorrido Contrabando y traición (Smuggling and Betrayal) made popular by the norteño music band Los Tigres del Norte in the 1970s. In multiple musical references (corrido, la música ranchera, cumbia del norte, art/popular music), scene five enacts the journalist César Güemes’s interview of Camelia María, one of the “Camelias” of the opera, and her resistance to his attempt to pin down the “real” Camelia. Ortiz’s 2009 work, Río Bravo takes a different turn in honoring the “lost “disappeared” women (Desaparecidos) of the Juárez maquiladoras (sweatshops). Their voices, “without echo”, multiply through work’s musical “echoing”, articulating the strangeness of their musical displacements of Escuer’s poem. I consider how private spaces—the interview, the requiem—can have public impact in musically enacting and ritualizing the stark realities of individual experience and loss

The Heterogeneity, Distribution, and Environmental Associations of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato, the Agent of Lyme Borreliosis, in Scotland

Genospecies controls were obtained from the laboratory of Dr. Muriel Cornet at the Institut Pasteur, Paris. We thank Bob Furness for collecting ticks from passerine birds, Steph Vollmer for processing the samples from one site, E. Packer, A. Wiebe, J. Low, E. Stephen, and J. Arthur for help collecting ticks, Kenny Raey for laboratory assistance, and Jackie Potts for statistical advice. Marianne C. James was funded by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Doctoral Training Grant with CASE support from the Macaulay Development Trust awarded to Alan S. Bowman and Lucy Gilbert. Lucy Gilbert was supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Biaxial orientation of poly(vinyl chloride) compounds Part 2 –Structure–property relationships and their time dependency

X-ray diffraction and thermomechanical analysis have been used, respectively, to examine structural order and shrinkage behaviour for oriented samples of rigid and flexible poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Results were compared with previously measured tensile properties and structure–property relationships explored. X-ray diffraction showed that drawing produces planar crystallite orientation in PVC sheets. If drawing and subsequent annealing conditions are held constant, but draw ratio is varied, there is good correlation between structural order measured by X-ray diffraction and tensile strength. Increased annealing time and temperature improve crystallite order and dimensional stability, while tensile strength is unchanged. The greatest enhancement in tensile strength is achieved by stretching PVC towards its maximum draw ratio at 90°C, but optimum thermal stability of the oriented structure is achieved when higher annealing temperatures are used. Room temperature recovery is observed for flexible PVC when the material has a glass transition temperature below ambient. This can be delayed by increased annealing time and temperature, and by increased draw ratio

Crosslinking of rigid poly(vinyl chloride)

Various formulations for the crosslinking of rigid poly(vinyl chloride) have been investigated including three different thermal stabilisers: a tin maleate; an octyl thio tin stabiliser; and a tribasic lead sulphate. The possibility of using aminosilanes and peroxides as crosslinking agents was considered and the additives used in the formulations were bis(-trimethoxysilylpropyl)amine, a blend of trimethylol propane trimethacrylate and amorphous silica, and 1,1-di-t-butylperoxy-3,3,5-trimethyl cyclohexane incorporating 40% peroxide. It was shown that rigid poly(vinyl chloride) can be crosslinked using both aminosilane and peroxide systems and the optimum level of the aminosilane was found to be 2 phr while significant property improvements were achieved with only 0·5 phr peroxide. The effects of the various thermal stabilisers and crosslinking additives are presented and discussed

Nurse leadership in promoting and supporting civility in health care settings : a scoping review

Aim: This scoping review aimed to identify the existing evidence on how nurse leaders promote and maintain civility amongst nurses in health care settings. Background: Research on managing workplace incivility in nursing, a prevalent and concerning issue worldwide, recommends nurse leaders to command cultural change through strong leadership and civility interventions. However, there is very little empirical evidence summarizing and analysing how nurse leaders pragmatically achieve civility, and combat workplace incivility, in the health care setting. Evaluation: A scoping review was undertaken using the electronic databases CINAHL, Emerald Insight, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, PubMed and Scopus. Google Scholar was used to search for grey literature. Key issues: The eight studies included in this review describe how nurse leaders promote and maintain civility under four key themes: (1) creating a shared vision, (2) educating self and others, (3) fostering accountability and (4) providing support. Conclusion: The review provides an overview of commonly used strategies and actions that pragmatically promote and maintain civility in the health care setting by nurse leaders, while also highlighting areas of future research needed to strengthen the evidence base. Implications for Nursing Management: It is important for nurse leaders to gain an understanding of evidence-based practices when addressing workplace incivility in order to address this prevailing problem for the future and safety of nurses moving forward. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Peroxide crosslinking of rigid poly(vinyl chloride)

Peroxide crosslinking of unplasticised poly(vinyl chloride), PVC with trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) has been investigated. Formulations used in this work contained a nontoxic lead free stabiliser and showed good colour and heat stability. The samples have been examined by differential scanning calorimeter(DSC) and tensile properties at room temperature and at 130oC were measured. Gel content or tetrahydrofuran (THF) insoluble material was measured as an indication of crosslinking. It is shown that premature crosslinking can be avoided during processing. It was found that 190oC was the optimum processing temperature for maximum gel content. The residual unsaturation was monitored using FTIR

Partielle Nitritation / Anammox bei niedrigen Temperaturen

Die Kombination aus Partieller Nitritation und Anammox (PNA) ist eine neuartige Methode zur biologischen Stickstoffelimination aus Abwasser. Im Rahmen dieser Promotion wurde die prinzipielle Eignung verschiedener Reaktorsysteme und Biomasse unterschiedlicher Größen-Ausprägungen für den Einsatz von PNA bei niedrigen Temperaturen untersucht

Degradation studies of crosslinked polyethylene. 1, Aged in air

Silane crosslinking of polyethylene, carried out by grafting an organofunctional silane (vinyltrimethoxysilane) onto polyethylene and by subsequent moisture crosslinking in hot water using a tin catalyst, has been widely used in industrial applications because of its advantages in terms of low cost and easy processing. This study focused on the degradation processes which occurred in the material after air ageing in an oven; temperatures ranged from 90 to 220°C, while ageing times ranged from 2h to 500h. Significant structural changes were observed according to the different ageing conditions (below and above the melting region of the material), since the carbonyl group concentration increased substantially during ageing above the melting region and the silicone containing groups were also affected by the degradation. These structural changes affected the mechanical and thermal properties of the material, which was annealed at lower ageing temperatures (up to 155°C) and highly degraded at higher temperatures, when C-C crosslinks formed. Experimental design software was used in order to optimise the number of experimental trials and to model the results obtained; its analysis contributed to the interpretation of the results

Cross-linking of unplasticised poly(vinyl chloride) with peroxide

The peroxide cross-linking of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) with trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) has been investigated. The degree of cross-linking was measured in terms of the gel content of the material, i.e. the insoluble residue remaining after soxhlet extraction in tetrahydrofuran. Cross-linking gave rise to significant improvements in high temperature tensile strength, but at higher levels of peroxide, dehydrochlorination of PVC was found to compete with grafting and cross-linking reactions. The results have been analysed to predict the optimum amount of TMPTMA and peroxide to maximise gel content and strength while maintaining thermal stability

Degradation studies of crosslinked polyethylene. 2, Aged in water

Silane crosslinking of polyethylene was carried out by grafting an organofunctional silane (vinyltrimethoxysilane) onto polyethylene and by subsequent moisture crosslinking in hot water using a tin catalyst. This study focuses on the degradation processes, which occurred in the material after water ageing in an autoclave; ageing temperatures ranged from 90 to 190°C, while ageing times ranged from 2h to 500h. Significant changes in the chemical structure of the material were observed by FTIR, as carbonyl group concentration increased and different structures formed in the region of absorbance of groups containing silicone; the structural changes affected significantly the mechanical properties as shown by the tensile data. A chemical analysis of the extracts in chloroform of water aged samples carried out by using FTIR, LIMA and GPC techniques and some optical microscopy evidence, suggested that the mechanism of degradation in water is different from the one in air, as during water ageing the antioxidants are washed away by water and hydrolytic oxidation also occurs. ECHIP experimental design software was used in order to optimise the number of experimental trials and to model the results obtained. Keywords: PE-crosslink, water ageing, carbonyl ratio, silane, antioxidants