Accommodations in the College Setting: The Perspectives of Students Living with Disabilities

Using a critical interpretive framework, the authors utilized semi-structured interviews to understand the experiences and perceptions of two college students living with disability concerning their use of accommodations, modifications, and adaptations in program requirements, classroom instruction, and testing. The central research questions were: “Are accommodations perceived as effective in supporting students with disabilities in their academic and social pursuits? Do students perceive that accommodations allow them maximum engagement and participation in their educational experiences?” and “To what extent are accommodations perceived by the participants as leveling the playing field for students with disabilities?” And, finally, “What do the participants perceive as the biggest obstacles to success for students with disabilities?” An understanding of the participants’ perceptions will enhance the overall awareness and appreciation for the experiences of students living with disability and will have direct implications for faculty-student interactions, student-to-student interactions as well as larger interactions within society

Catching the “Tail/Tale” of Teaching Qualitative Inquiry to Novice Researchers

This article responds to the call for deeper examination of qualitative inquiry teaching practices by presenting representative examples from the pedagogies of three teacher-educators who have taught Qualitative Research Methods courses for the past 15 years. We focus in particular on the pedagogical complexities of teaching data analysis, which is a topic that remains under-theorized and under-represented in contemporary scholarship on qualitative methodologies. Using a critical friends framework, we analyze and synthesize our pedagogical responses to key dilemmas we have encountered in our respective contexts, all state universities, to introducing qualitative inquiry to novice researchers who often enter the analytic process with positivist notions of knowledge creation. They sometimes enter the analytic process with the belief if they can only “catch the tail” of this thing called qualitative research they will be able to “do it right.” Yet, as the metaphor implies, catching a fierce beast by the tail, thinking you can control its actions, can intrude on the inductive and holistic character of the qualitative inquiry process

An Anomalous Phase in the Relaxor Ferroelectric Pb(Zn1/3_{1/3}Nb2/3_{2/3})O3_3

X-ray diffraction studies on a Pb(Zn$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$)O$_3$ (PZN) single crystal sample show the presence of two different structures. An outer-layer exists in the outer most $\sim$ 10 to 50~$\mu$m of the crystal, and undergoes a structural phase transition at the Curie temperature $T_C\approx410$ K. The inside phase is however, very different. The lattice inside the crystal maintains a cubic unit cell, while ferroelectric polarization develops below $T_C$. The lattice parameter of the cubic unit cell remains virtually a constant, i.e., much less variations compared to that of a typical relaxor ferroelectric, in a wide temperature range of 15 K to 750 K. On the other hand, broadening of Bragg peaks and change of Bragg profile line-shapes in both longitudinal and transverse directions at $T_C$ clearly indicate a structural phase transition occurring.Comment: to be submitted for PR

Classifying shape of internal pores within AlSi10Mg alloy manufactured by laser powder bed fusion using 3D X-ray micro computed tomography : influence of processing parameters and heat treatment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the EPSRC (grant EP/R021694/1). The authors also wish to thank Rosie Bird at the University of Aberdeen for assisting with Avizo.Peer reviewedPostprin

Testing the single-pass VOC removal efficiency of an active green wall using methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)

© 2017, The Author(s). In recent years, research into the efficacy of indoor air biofiltration mechanisms, notably living green walls, has become more prevalent. Whilst green walls are often utilised within the built environment for their biophilic effects, there is little evidence demonstrating the efficacy of active green wall biofiltration for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at concentrations found within an interior environment. The current work describes a novel approach to quantifying the VOC removal effectiveness by an active living green wall, which uses a mechanical system to force air through the substrate and plant foliage. After developing a single-pass efficiency protocol to understand the immediate effects of the system, the active green wall was installed into a 30-m3 chamber representative of a single room and presented with the contaminant 2-butanone (methyl ethyl ketone; MEK), a VOC commonly found in interior environments through its use in textile and plastic manufacture. Chamber inlet levels of MEK remained steady at 33.91 ± 0.541 ppbv. Utilising a forced-air system to draw the contaminated air through a green wall based on a soil-less growing medium containing activated carbon, the combined effects of substrate media and botanical component within the biofiltration system showed statistically significant VOC reduction, averaging 57% single-pass removal efficiency over multiple test procedures. These results indicate a high level of VOC removal efficiency for the active green wall biofilter tested and provide evidence that active biofiltration may aid in reducing exposure to VOCs in the indoor environment

Trauma-Informed Youth Sport: Identifying Program Characteristics and Challenges to Advance Practice

This purpose of this qualitative study was to explore shared characteristics and local challenges of trauma-informed youth sport program design and implementation through the voices of ten program facilitators (e.g., director, trainer; 8 women, 2 men; average age of 36.2 years, SD = 6.03) across four U.S. regions. Within a postpositivist approach and through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (average length of 53 minutes), shared characteristics identified by facilitators included promoting a safe and supportive environment, cultivating healthy relationships among adults and peers, and intentional psychological and social skill-building (e.g., attentional cues). Facilitators also explained the importance of understanding the local context to engage youth and develop key strategies to mitigate challenges such as prioritizing the voices of youth involved in their programs, attending to staff needs and providing continual development and training, and collaboration among community partners to support their programmatic efforts. The study findings may be used to inform future research conceptualizing best practices for inclusive youth sport settings and provide added context for facilitators in the development, implementation, and sustainability of the trauma-informed approach

Exact solution of a linear molecular motor model driven by two-step fluctuations and subject to protein friction

We investigate by analytical means the stochastic equations of motion of a linear molecular motor model based on the concept of protein friction. Solving the coupled Langevin equations originally proposed by Mogilner et al. (A. Mogilner et al., Phys. Lett. {\bf 237}, 297 (1998)), and averaging over both the two-step internal conformational fluctuations and the thermal noise, we present explicit, analytical expressions for the average motion and the velocity-force relationship. Our results allow for a direct interpretation of details of this motor model which are not readily accessible from numerical solutions. In particular, we find that the model is able to predict physiologically reasonable values for the load-free motor velocity and the motor mobility.Comment: 12 pages revtex, 6 eps-figure

Opportunities and challenges in triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based sustainable energy generation technologies: a mini-review

Almost ten years after the publication of the first triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) paper in 2012, this review gives a brief overview of recent technological advances in applying TENG technology to key sustainable and renewable energy applications. The paper examines progress of TENG applications in four key areas such as wearables, wave, wind and transport. TENGs have advanced hugely since its inception and approaches to apply them to a host of freely available sources of kinetic energy have been developed. However, electrical output remains low (mostly less than 500 W/m2) compared to some other forms of energy generation and the main challenges for the future appear to be further boosting output power and current, fabricating advanced TENGs economically and designing TENGs for lifetime survival in various practical environments. It concludes with a discussion of pressing challenges for realizing the full potential of TENGs in these application areas particularly from the perspective of materials and fabrication. It is noted that considerable research and development should be required to enable large-scale manufacture of TENG based devices. TENGs will be instrumental in the future evolution of the Internet of Things (IoTs), human-machine interfacing, machine learning applications and ‘net-zero emission’ technologies

A Marfan syndrome gene expression phenotype in cultured skin fibroblasts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a heritable connective tissue disorder caused by mutations in the fibrillin-1 gene. This syndrome constitutes a significant identifiable subtype of aortic aneurysmal disease, accounting for over 5% of ascending and thoracic aortic aneurysms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used spotted membrane DNA macroarrays to identify genes whose altered expression levels may contribute to the phenotype of the disease. Our analysis of 4132 genes identified a subset with significant expression differences between skin fibroblast cultures from unaffected controls versus cultures from affected individuals with known fibrillin-1 mutations. Subsequently, 10 genes were chosen for validation by quantitative RT-PCR.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Differential expression of many of the validated genes was associated with MFS samples when an additional group of unaffected and MFS affected subjects were analyzed (p-value < 3 × 10^-6under the null hypothesis that expression levels in cultured fibroblasts are unaffected by MFS status). An unexpected observation was the range of individual gene expression. In unaffected control subjects, expression ranges exceeding 10 fold were seen in many of the genes selected for qRT-PCR validation. The variation in expression in the MFS affected subjects was even greater.</p

The demand for sports and exercise: Results from an illustrative survey

Funding from the Department of Health policy research programme was used in this study.There is a paucity of empirical evidence on the extent to which price and perceived benefits affect the level of participation in sports and exercise. Using an illustrative sample of 60 adults at Brunel University, West London, we investigate the determinants of demand for sports and exercise. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews that covered indicators of sports and exercise behaviour; money/time price and perceived benefits of participation; and socio- economic/demographic details. Count, linear and probit regression models were fitted as appropriate. Seventy eight per cent of the sample participated in sports and exercise and spent an average of £27 per month and an average of 20 min travelling per occasion of sports and exercise. The demand for sport and exercise was negatively associated with time (travel or access time) and ‘variable’ price and positively correlated with ‘fixed’ price. Demand was price inelastic, except in the case of meeting the UK government’s recommended level of participation, which is time price elastic (elasticity = −2.2). The implications of data from a larger nationally representative sample as well as the role of economic incentives in influencing uptake of sports and exercise are discussed.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund