Hanging Pictures or Searching the Web: Informing the Design of a Decision-Making System that Empowers Teachers to Appropriate Educational Resources to Their School’s Infrastructure

In this paper, we report work in designing a decision-making system that aims to support teachers in appropriating to their practice innovative scenarios that employ uses of information and communication technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning. To this end, we break down educational scenarios into micro-activities, and connect them to required and alternative infrastructure. We argue that micro-activities is a unit of analysis of educational scenarios that is compatible with the role of teachers as designers who select, decompose, combine, enact and revise different pieces of resources. This paper offers a reflective viewpoint on integrating ICT in existing scenarios and investigates how teaching objectives make use, or not, of the potential of digital technologies

Strategies, methods and tools for managing nanorisks in construction

This paper presents a general overview of the work carried out by European project SCAFFOLD (GA 280535) during its 30 months of life, with special emphasis on risk management component. The research conducted by SCAFFOLD is focused on the European construction sector and considers 5 types of nanomaterials (TiO2, SiO2, carbon nanofibres, cellulose nanofibers and nanoclays), 6 construction applications (Depollutant mortars, selfcompacting concretes, coatings, self-cleaning coatings, fire resistant panels and insulation materials) and 26 exposure scenarios, including lab, pilot and industrial scales. The document focuses on the structure, content and operation modes of the Risk Management Toolkit developed by the project to facilitate the implementation of "nano-management" in construction companies. The tool deploys and integrated approach OHSAS 18001 - ISO 31000 and is currently being validated on 5 industrial case studies.Research carried out by project SCAFFOLD was made possible thanks to funding from the European Commission, through the Seventh Framework Programme (GA 280535

P21-PARP-1 pathway is involved in cigarette smoke-induced lung DNA damage and cellular senescence

Persistent DNA damage triggers cellular senescence, which may play an important role in the pathogenesis of cigarette smoke (CS)-induced lung diseases. Both p21(CDKN1A) (p21) and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) are involved in DNA damage and repair. However, the role of p21-PARP-1 axis in regulating CS-induced lung DNA damage and cellular senescence remains unknown. We hypothesized that CS causes DNA damage and cellular senescence through a p21-PARP-1 axis. To test this hypothesis, we determined the levels of γH2AX (a marker for DNA double-strand breaks) as well as non-homologous end joining proteins (Ku70 and Ku80) in lungs of mice exposed to CS. We found that the level of γH2AX was increased, whereas the level of Ku70 was reduced in lungs of CS-exposed mice. Furthermore, p21 deletion reduced the level of γH2AX, but augmented the levels of Ku70, Ku80, and PAR in lungs by CS. Administration of PARP-1 inhibitor 3-aminobenzamide increased CS-induced DNA damage, but lowered the levels of Ku70 and Ku80, in lungs of p21 knockout mice. Moreover, 3-aminobenzamide increased senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity, but decreased the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in mouse lungs in response to CS. Interestingly, 3-aminobenzamide treatment had no effect on neutrophil influx into bronchoalveolar lavage fluid by CS. These results demonstrate that the p21-PARP-1 pathway is involved in CS-induced DNA damage and cellular senescence

A novel 2-Dimensional correction method for mm-Wave Cartesian I/Q Modulators

This paper proposes a self-corrected In-phase/Quadrature-phase (I/Q) digital Cartesian modulator. The modulator is comprised of double balanced Gilbert cells to mitigate code dependent input and output impedances. Transistor-level simulations in 28 nm bulk CMOS demonstrate a static error vector magnitude (EVM) of −35 dB at 79 GHz carrier while providing 9.5 dBm peak output power with ~19% drain efficiency. Transistor level analysis shows that the linearity is limited by the transconductance (gm) I and Q input code dependency. To address this dependency a self-contained 2-dimensional correction technique is proposed. The proposed correction method improves the EVM from −35 dB to −42.5 dB without compromising the output power, power efficiency and occupied silicon area. The proposed solution enables linear and power efficient transmitters (TXs) for mm-Wave applications