John W. McCormack to John D. Feerick

Letter from Speaker John W. McCormack to John D. Feerick, regarding his scholarly article on the Vice President and presidential succession and inability.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_correspondence/1037/thumbnail.jp

Quadcopter Attitude Control Optimization and Multi-Agent Coordination

This thesis presents a method of automated control gain tuning for a Quadcopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and proposes a method of coordination multiple autonomous robotic agents capable for formation aggregation. Sliding Mode Control for Quadcopter altitude and attitude stabilization is presented and tuned using Particle Swarm Optimization. Different configurations for the optimization process are compared to determine an effective and time-efficient setup to complete the control gain tuning. The multi-agent coordination scheme expands upon an existing adjustable swarm framework based on an Artificial Potential Field Sliding Mode Controller. The original leader-follower scheme is modified with the goal of producing a leaderless swarm where agents move towards specific locations to aggregate a desired formation. Analysis of the swarm control scheme pays particular attention to maintaining proper distance between agents. Using Lyapunov methods following that of the original controller analysis, stability under first order and general higher order dynamics is analyzed. Numerical simulations of the swarm controller using agents with nonlinear Quadcopter or second order point mass dynamics are presented to illustrate the capabilities of this algorithm. The automatically tuned Quadcopter controller is used in simulations when applicable. The development of an experimental test platform is discussed with the intention of validating the simulation results on physical Quadcopters

A survey of beetle diversity (order Coleoptera) on Lizard Island

The beetles (order Coleoptera) of Lizard Island, a small granitic island on the mid shelf of the Great Barrier Reef, have never been assessed in the scientific literature. Prior to our work, only a single beetle genus had been documented on the island (Caryotrypes Decelle, 1968), based on a single specimen collected in 1993 (Reid & Beatson 2013). We conducted a survey of Lizard Island in April 2019 to determine which beetle families are present on the island and which families are the most diverse. The survey also assessed the beetle diversity in different habitats on the island and two smaller islands nearby. Our sampling yielded 111 beetle morphospecies representing at least 23 families, and showed evidence of differential taxonomic composition across the island. The most diverse families were Curculionidae, Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, Tenebrionidae, and Cerambycidae, in general accordance with global patterns in Coleoptera diversity. Greater habitat complexity and vegetation diversity appeared to correspond with greater beetle diversity at certain collection sites. The most densely forested area of Lizard Island yielded the greatest number of morphospecies, while a patch of mangrove forest yielded the least. Several morphospecies were found to be restricted in distribution, including two found only among beachfront Spartina grasses (families Anthicidae and Phycosecidae)

Globalization and Social Work Education and Practice: Exploring Australian Practitioners\u27 Views

The process of globalization is a controversial movement supported by some due to the potential cross-national benefits, but criticized by others because of the fragmented or uneven distribution of those benefits. As many social workers interact with clients who may be affected by globalization processes, we were interested to investigate their educational preparedness and practice views on this topic. Sixty-six social workers completed a questionnaire which explored the relationship between local and international issues. Practitioner responses indicated a strong interest in the topic and widespread agreement that there is a link between local and global issues on clients in their daily practice. Also, while there was a diversity of opinion on educational preparedness for global practice, practitioner responses again indicated general agreement that ongoing education would be useful. The paper concludes with some suggestions to further enhance the knowledge and education of social workers for global practice

Plasmonic luminescent down shifting layers for the enhancement of CdTe mini-modules performance

In this investigation, plasmonic coupling between luminescent species (lumogen yellow, and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has been exploited to produce significant enhancement in absorption and fluorescence emission of lumogen yellow dye luminescent downshifting (LDS) layers. The optimum dye concentration in a poly(methyl,methacrylate) polymer LDS layer of ∼100μm thickness was established. Subsequently, plasmonic coupling with Ag NPs was introduced and optimum concentration has been determined for the composite plasmonic Luminescent Down-Shifting (pLDS) layers. The optimum plasmonic coupling has been observed to produce fluorescence emission enhancement of up to 81% for the dye-pLDS layers. The pLDS layers were deposited on top of CdTe mini-modules to investigate the action of plasmonic interaction in LDS layers. It has been demonstrated that the addition of pLDS layers containing lumogen yellow dye increases the short circuit current density (Jsc) of CdTe devices between 300 and 500nm. An increase of ∼100% has been achieved. External quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements of the pLDS layers have also shown significant improvement below 500nm reaching 25–40%, while increased efficiency was confirmed with current–voltage (J–V) measurements

The great divide? Occupational limbo and permanent liminality amongst ‘teaching only’ staff in higher education

In this paper, we contribute new theoretical perspectives and empirical findings to the conceptualisation of occupational liminality, specifically in relation to so-called ‘teaching-only’ staff at UK universities. Here, we posit ‘occupational limbo’ as a state distinct from both transitional and permanent liminality; an important analytic distinction in better understanding occupational experiences. In its anthropological sense, liminality refers to a state of being betwixt and between; it is temporary and transitional. Permanent liminality refers to a state of being neither-this-nor-that, or both-this-and-that. We extend this framework in proposing a conceptualisation of occupational limbo as always-this-and-never-that. Based on interviews with 51 teaching-only staff at 20 research-intensive ‘Russell Group’ universities in the United Kingdom, findings revealed participants’ highly challenging occupational experiences. Interviewees reported feeling ‘locked-in’ to an uncomfortable state by a set of structural and social barriers often perceived as insurmountable. These staff felt negatively ‘marked’ (Allen-Collinson, 2009), subject to identity contestation as academics, and were found to engage in negative, often self-deprecatory identity talk that highlighted a felt inability to cross the līmen to the elevated status of ‘proper academics’ (Bamber et al., 2017). The findings and the new conceptual framework provide sociological insights with wider application to other occupational spheres

Combination therapy with ciprofloxacin and pentamidine against Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa : assessment of in vitro and in vivo efficacy and the role of Resistance-Nodulation-Division (RND) efflux pumps

Funding: This research was funded by the University of St Andrews.The aim of this work was to (i) evaluate the efficacy of a combination treatment of pentamidine with ciprofloxacin against Galleria mellonella larvae infected with an MDR strain of P. aeruginosa and (ii) determine if pentamidine acts as an efflux-pump inhibitor. Resistant clinical isolates, mutant strains overexpressing one of three RND efflux pumps (MexAB-OprM, MexCD-OprJ, and MexEF-OprN), and a strain with the same three pumps deleted were used. MIC assays confirmed that the clinical isolates and the mutants overexpressing efflux pumps were resistant to ciprofloxacin and pentamidine. The deletion of the three efflux pumps induced sensitivity to both compounds. Exposure to pentamidine and ciprofloxacin in combination resulted in the synergistic inhibition of all resistant strains in vitro, but no synergy was observed versus the efflux-pump deletion strain. The treatment of infected G. mellonella larvae with the combination of pentamidine and ciprofloxacin resulted in enhanced efficacy compared with the monotherapies and significantly reduced the number of proliferating bacteria. Our measurement of efflux activity from cells revealed that pentamidine had a specific inhibitory effect on the MexCD-OprJ and MexEF-OprN efflux pumps. However, the efflux activity and membrane permeability assays revealed that pentamidine also disrupted the membrane of all cells. In conclusion, pentamidine does possess some efflux-pump inhibitory activity, in addition to a more general disruptive effect on membrane integrity that accounts for its ability to potentiate ciprofloxacin activity. Notably, the enhanced efficacy of combination therapy with pentamidine and ciprofloxacin versus MDR P. aeruginosa strains in vivo merits further investigation into its potential to treat infections via this pathogen in patients.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe