Creating an iPod library tour

[FIRST PARAGRAPH] Over the years, traditional tours of the Main Library for new students had become unviable, primarily because of the huge numbers of students on many programmes and the short induction period. The value of such tours had also been questioned and most Liaison Librarians had replaced them with presentations to large groups in lecture theatres. A printed self-guided tour had been available for some time, but was looking dated. The concept of the iPod tour provided the opportunity to supplement other induction activities with something that students could download and use when they chose to, using innovative technologies. Planning for the project started towards the end of June 2005 and the deadline was Intro Week towards the end of September

Goal-directed therapy in intraoperative fluid and hemodynamic management.

Intraoperative fluid management is pivotal to the outcome and success of surgery, especially in high-risk procedures. Empirical formula and invasive static monitoring have been traditionally used to guide intraoperative fluid management and assess volume status. With the awareness of the potential complications of invasive procedures and the poor reliability of these methods as indicators of volume status, we present a case scenario of a patient who underwent major abdominal surgery as an example to discuss how the use of minimally invasive dynamic monitoring may guide intraoperative fluid therapy

Leadership Development of Ethnic Minoritized Men in CES: A Phenomenological Theory Study

Ethnic minoritized men continue to be underrepresented in the counselor education and supervision (CES) field in faculty and leadership roles. This qualitative phenomenological study highlights the lived experiences of six ethnic minoritized men leaders in CES to examine the factors that helped them in their leadership development and how those elements can be fostered in others to increase diversity in leadership in CES. The six participants come from universities across the United States. Limited research has been done on ethnic minoritized men leaders in counseling and CES, and that research focused on their current leadership experiences. A semi structured interview provided the data for the thematic analysis. The analysis revealed six themes and two subthemes. The themes were: community support, which included family, leaders, and peers; the importance of mentorship, encountered barriers (external: racism, discrimination, marginalization, and glass ceiling; internal: Impostor syndrome); persistence; religion as a basis for leadership development; and servant leadership. The study revealed that the themes of community support, mentorship, and religion as a basis for leadership development were foundational in the participants’ ability to persist and overcome internal and external barriers and then see themselves as servant leaders

Teaching Journalism Students About Confidential Whistleblower Sources: An Analysis Of Introductory News Writing Textbooks

Whistleblowers are a key journalistic source for many current news stories. However, reporters pursuing these major stories must navigate the dilemma between transparent full disclosure and protecting their confidential source. Professional journalists begin their journey as students, and students begin their journey in the classroom with a teacher and a textbook. But are journalism students being trained to deal effectively, and sensitively, with a whistleblowing source who may bring complex needs and difficulties to the news gathering process? This study explores how contemporary introductory news writing textbooks tackle issues surrounding the use of unnamed whistleblower sources. Beginning with a quantitative analysis as its foundation, the study explores, qualitatively, the advice being offered to students on how to handle these sources. We suggest that there are a number of important gaps that characterize textbooks when it comes to whistleblowing and associated concepts, with scant attention being paid to, for example, differentiation among varying types of anonymous source, the contextualization of a whistleblower’s unique circumstances, and the potential of positive source motivation. Suggestions are included for enhancing textbook content in this important area

Fast targeted gene transfection and optogenetic modification of single neurons using femtosecond laser irradiation

This work is supported by the UK Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).A prevailing problem in neuroscience is the fast and targeted delivery of DNA into selected neurons. The development of an appropriate methodology would enable the transfection of multiple genes into the same cell or different genes into different neighboring cells as well as rapid cell selective functionalization of neurons. Here, we show that optimized femtosecond optical transfection fulfills these requirements. We also demonstrate successful optical transfection of channelrhodopsin-2 in single selected neurons. We extend the functionality of this technique for wider uptake by neuroscientists by using fast three-dimensional laser beam steering enabling an image-guided “point-and-transfect” user-friendly transfection of selected cells. A sub-second transfection timescale per cell makes this method more rapid by at least two orders of magnitude when compared to alternative single-cell transfection techniques. This novel technology provides the ability to carry out large-scale cell selective genetic studies on neuronal ensembles and perform rapid genetic programming of neural circuits.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A Case Study Of Crisis Communication, Image Restoration And Utilitarian Ethics: A Recall Of Contaminated Peanut Butter Examined

In a publicized crisis, the goal to ethically and restoratively regain public trust is paramount to most corporations. In 2009, the food industry in the USA was thrust into a crisis when the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), a small peanut processing company in Georgia, was linked to a salmonella outbreak resulting in illness, fatalities, and the recall of close to 4,000 products. Many large food product companies bore the economic impact, though they were not the cause of the problem. Consumers became confused about which products were safe. The oversight stewardship abilities of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) became suspect. PCA went bankrupt and its owners face federal prosecution. To fully understand the public communication decisions made by PCA, principles of Image Restoration Theory are used to examine and evaluate PCA’s responses to this event. To render generalizable knowledge for others from this historic case, Utilitarian Ethics are applied to the actions of PCA, the FDA, and the peanut industry as a whole. This analysis of past events may serve to empower business leaders and corporate communicators faced with correcting future food borne illness problems and communicating with their key constituencies of regulators, business partners and consumers

Spatially optimized gene transfection by laser-induced breakdown of optically trapped nanoparticles

We demonstrate laser-induced breakdown of an optically trapped nanoparticle with a nanosecond laser pulse. Controllable cavitation within a microscope sample was achieved, generating shear stress to monolayers of live cells. This efficiently permeabilize their plasma membranes. We show that this technique is an excellent tool for plasmid-DNA transfection of cells with both reduced energy requirements and reduced cell lysis compared to previously reported approaches. Simultaneous multisite targeted nanosurgery of cells is also demonstrated using a spatial light modulator for parallelizing the technique.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe