Effect of Fat and Casein Particles in Milk on the Scattering of Elliptically Polarized Light

In this article, we present an experimental approach to determine the milk fat content using scattered light intensity profiles. The elements of the scattering (Mueller) matrix have been shown to provide valuable information about variation of the optical properties of scattering particles. The scattering behavior of fat and casein in terms of the scattering matrix elements was experimentally determined for milk with varying fat levels ranging from 0.05 wt% (skim) to 3.20 wt% (whole). Three of the scattering Mueller matrix elements, specifically S11, S12/S11, and S33/S11, were found to be sensitive to the number of fat particles in milk. These results indicate that it should be possible to develop a reliable sensor based on the measurement of these scattering elements, which will allow for the development of a robust, in-line sensor to be used in food processing. In addition, an attempt was made to model the phenomena using a relatively simple approach based on single scattering with a size distribution. The disagreement between the model and experiments suggests that a more comprehensive model is needed which can account for multiple scattering

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love: A Duoethnographic Exploration of the Dissertation Relationship

In the aftermath and mop-up following a successful dissertation defense, an unintended and unexpected data source remained unexplored and unanalyzed: 32 audio-recorded discussions and work sessions documenting the processes, approaches, and decisions made by a dissertation director and his doctoral candidate. What might those conversations reveal about the dissertation relationship? Taking a page from Raymond Carver’s short story, “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love,” we wondered what we might have been talking about when we were talking about dissertation writing. Inspired and shaped by Norris, Sawyer, and Lund’s (2012. Duoethnography: Dialogic methods for social, health, and educational research. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.) duoethnographic methods, this study provides opportunity for us to not just look back on the journey, but pushes us into the messiness of “recalling and reconceptualizing” (p. 10). As we each “become the foil for the Other, challenging the Other to reflect on their own life in a deeper, more relational, and authentic manner” (Norris et al., 2012, p. 10) we also interrogate and trouble our own simplistic categories of analysis

Photodynamic therapy activities of phthalocyanine-based macromolecular photosensitizers on MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Poly(oxanorbornene)s with zinc(II) phthalocyanine side chains have been synthesized by ring-opening metathesis polymerization. The incorporation of zinc(II) phthalocyanine into cationic polymer has given poly(oxanorbornene)s noteworthy photophysicochemical properties and the capacity to generate singlet oxygen under light irradiation. To investigate photosensitizer’s properties of the newly synthesized polymers P6 and P7: fluorescence (ΦF), singlet oxygen (ΦΔ) and triplet (ΦT) quantum yields of polymers have been measured in dimethyl sulfoxide and aqueous medium. Singlet oxygen quantum yields of P6 and P7 have been found to be 0.22 and 0.20 in dimethyl sulfoxide, respectively. Then, photodynamic therapy activities of polymers (P1-P7) against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7 cells) have been investigated. The copolymer P5 bearing pendant zinc(II) phthalocyanine and triethyl phosphonium functionalities has showed enhanced PDT activity with less than 10% viable cells at 60 μg/mL

Enhanced Light-Driven Antimicrobial Activity of Cationic Poly (oxanorbornene) s by Phthalocyanine Incorporation into Polymer as Pendants

Amphiphilic poly(oxanorbornene)s are promising synthetic polymers that mimic the structural properties and antimicrobial functions of naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides. Here, poly(oxanorbornene)s bearing pendant zinc(II) phthalocyanine and triphenyl(ethyl) phosphonium functionalities are synthesized by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Fluorescence, singlet oxygen and triplet quantum yields of polymers are measured in dimethyl sulfoxide and aqueous medium. The singlet oxygen quantum yields of copolymers with the highest triphenyl and triethyl phosphonium content are found to be 0.29 and 0.41, respectively. Then, antimicrobial activities of polymers against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are investigated under both dark and light conditions. Synergistic effect of zinc(II) phthalocyanine and phosphonium-containing poly(oxanorbornene) is observed that the conjugate possessing the most triphenyl phosphonium side chains has the highest activity under light against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains after 80 min irradiation, reducing the survival of E. coli or S. aureus by 99.9999%. Hemolytic concentrations of the copolymers are found between 8 and 512 µg mL−1. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) proves that the bacteria membrane deforms after contacting with the biocidal polymer

Retelling racialized violence, remaking white innocence: the politics of interlocking oppressions in transgender day of remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance has become a significant political event among those resisting violence against gender-variant persons. Commemorated in more than 250 locations worldwide, this day honors individuals who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. However, by focusing on transphobia as the definitive cause of violence, this ritual potentially obscures the ways in which hierarchies of race, class, and sexuality constitute such acts. Taking the Transgender Day of Remembrance/Remembering Our Dead project as a case study for considering the politics of memorialization, as well as tracing the narrative history of the Fred F. C. Martinez murder case in Colorado, the author argues that deracialized accounts of violence produce seemingly innocent White witnesses who can consume these spectacles of domination without confronting their own complicity in such acts. The author suggests that remembrance practices require critical rethinking if we are to confront violence in more effective ways. Description from publisher's site: http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/srsp.2008.5.1.2

The locus of legitimate interpretation in Big Data sciences : Lessons for computational social science from -omic biology and high-energy physics

This paper argues that analyses of the ways in which Big Data has been enacted in other academic disciplines can provide us with concepts that will help understand the application of Big Data to social questions. We use examples drawn from our Science and Technology Studies (STS) analyses of -omic biology and high energy physics to demonstrate the utility of three theoretical concepts: (i) primary and secondary inscriptions, (ii) crafted and found data, and (iii) the locus of legitimate interpretation. These help us to show how the histories, organisational forms, and power dynamics of a field lead to different enactments of big data. The paper suggests that these concepts can be used to help us to understand the ways in which Big Data is being enacted in the domain of the social sciences, and to outline in general terms the ways in which this enactment might be different to that which we have observed in the ‘hard’ sciences. We contend that the locus of legitimate interpretation of Big Data biology and physics is tightly delineated, found within the disciplinary institutions and cultures of these disciplines. We suggest that when using Big Data to make knowledge claims about ‘the social’ the locus of legitimate interpretation is more diffuse, with knowledge claims that are treated as being credible made from other disciplines, or even by those outside academia entirely