Application of Raman diagnostics to combustion

The use of laser Raman diagnostic techniques to measure the specie concentrations and their temperatures in combustion flow fields is discussed. The system designed to measure the specie concentrations, which included a ruby laser and a photodiode to trip the laser at the maximum light and heat output of the combustion process, is described and problems encountered in developing the system are reported. Photographs of the combustion process are presented and analyzed detailing the evolution of the combustion in terms of the photodiode and the lack of a noticeable Raman-Stokes signal. The absence of the Raman-Stokes signal is discussed

Online Academic Days: Using the IR to Showcase Student and Resident Scholarly Activity During a Pandemic

For many years, the Zucker School of Medicine and Northwell Health System has held Academic Days. These highly attended in-person events showcase the scholarly work of our many graduate and undergraduate academic trainee programs. Due to COVID-19, this event was required to be fully online in both 2020 and 2021. The library has partnered with the Academic Day Committee to create an online showcase of posters and abstracts using the School of Medicine’s Bepress repository to compliment the live Academic Day Zoom events. We will discuss the creation of the online collection, addressing faculty concerns over security, the expansion of the project to include resident research days at several of our hospitals, and potential future uses for the collection

Development of an Interpersonally Grounded Construction Management Curriculum Foundation Model

Purpose: Education is the driving force of higher education institution(s) (HEIs) globally and is critical for student employability and practitioner recruitment. Yet, against this backdrop, research in the field is limited and hitherto, investigations into construction management curriculum development are scant. This research presents a foundational design specification for construction management programme curriculum development and aims to engender wider polemic debate as well as stimulate new insight into current higher education employability preparation practice. Methodology: The overarching epistemology adopts interpretivist, pragmatic and post-positivist philosophical stances to critically analyse extant literature, secondary data and primary data on the foundational skills/competencies of construction management education. Abductive reasoning forms the overarching basis of a new emergent curriculum model that maps interpersonal skills and highlights the critical foundational skills and competencies necessary. Findings: Research findings illustrate that construction management curriculum development lacks a cohesive community of practice and curriculum agenda. Importantly, it appears that although the modern construction manager needs an appreciation of digital technologies under the umbrella of Industry 4.0, their interpersonal skills and competencies were observed to far outweigh and exceed these. Premised upon these findings, the curriculum foundation model developed delineates the four key interpersonal skills and competencies construction management programmes should utilise for developing their curriculum. Originality: This novel research unearths the lack of a cohesive curriculum agenda within construction management education, highlights the importance of interpersonal skills and competencies within the role of construction manager and based upon this, presents a curriculum foundation model

Using Simulations to Promote Generational Communication Awareness and Empathy in Construction Management Students – A Pilot Study

Today’s work environment, regardless of career, is experiencing an unprecedented number of generations working together. Specific to the construction management industry, in order to effectively manage a team in such a generationally diverse workforce, a construction manager needs to increase their awareness and empathy of the varying modes of communication. Working in teams, 29 undergraduate construction management students completed a quantity take-off estimating project where a series of communication constraints were implemented (simulation) within each team that mirrored the ‘preferred available mode of communication’ of different workplace generations. Likert scale questionnaires were administered throughout the course to collect data to determine if a student’s awareness and empathy of generational communication changed through the simulation experience. The results from the simulation indicate promotion in workplace generational communication awareness and the role of empathy within the construction industry. However, these promotions do not appear to have a statistically significant correlation with each simulation. Furthermore, while students generally favour their own generational ‘preferred available mode of communication,’ they overwhelmingly rate face-to-face communication as the most effective communication style in the construction management industry

Parnassus: Classical Journal (Volume 5, 2017)

Parnassus is an undergraduate journal published by the College of the Holy Cross in conjunction with the Classics Department. Parnassus\u27 mission is to share the passion of Holy Cross students for the ancient world. All pieces aim to be generally understandable, allowing the field to be more accessible to non-specialists in the community.https://crossworks.holycross.edu/parnassus/1004/thumbnail.jp

Forest management guidelines to promote the conservation of Apennine brown bear in Italy

Forests provide a wide range of important ecosystem services and, among these benefits, biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Forest management (including no active control) deeply affects wildlife management, since it can alter habitat structure and productivity, speed-up evolution of ecosystems, and impact on wildlife ability to survive and reproduce. Unfortunately still very often, practitioners, forest planners and policy-makers fail to understand this opportunity. Forest management can maintain and enhance quality, quantity and availability of natural resources for wildlife, and therefore it is a valuable management tool long recognized in the wildlife practice. This is particularly true for species associated to forest ecosystems which are threatened or endangered, such as the Apennine brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus). Based on an extensive literature review on forest management-bear interactions, we report recommended management actions and associated working techniques, hereby illustrated and discussed in order to define a set of forest management guidelines meant to promote and encourage the adoption of adequate silviculture practices in Apennine forests, as well as to facilitate and support the range expansion of Apennine brown bear beyond its current core distribution. Our aim is also to present these guidelines to a wider scientific audience and decision-makers to foster their implementation into management practices, especially within protected areas. Finally, our ultimate goal is to fill the gap between disciplines such as silviculture and animal ecology, with the aim of stimulating the multidisciplinary approach requested not only for the conservation of the Apennine brown bear but for the integrated and enhanced management of wildlife in general

Mapping of Human Autoantibody Binding Sites on the Calcium-Sensing Receptor

Previously, we have demonstrated the presence of anti-calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) antibodies in patients with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS1), a disease that is characterized in part by hypoparathyroidism involving hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and low serum levels of parathyroid hormone. The aim of this study was to define the binding domains on the CaSR of anti-CaSR antibodies found in APS1 patients and in one patient suspected of having autoimmune hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (AHH). A phage-display library of CaSR peptides was constructed and used in biopanning experiments with patient sera. Selectively enriched IgG-binding peptides were identified by DNA sequencing, and subsequently, immunoreactivity to these peptides was confirmed in ELISA. Anti-CaSR antibody binding sites were mapped to amino acid residues 41–69, 114–126, and 171–195 at the N-terminal of the extracellular domain of the receptor. The major autoepitope was localized in the 41–69 amino acid sequence of the CaSR with antibody reactivity demonstrated in 12 of 12 (100%) APS1 patients with anti-CaSR antibodies and in 1 AHH patient with anti-CaSR antibodies. Minor epitopes were located in the 114–126 and 171–195 amino acid domains, with antibody reactivity shown in 5 of 12 (42%) and 4 of 12 (33%) APS1 patients, respectively. The results indicate that epitopes for anti-CaSR antibodies in the AHH patient and in the APS1 patients who were studied are localized in the N-terminal of the extracellular domain of the receptor. The present work has demonstrated the successful use of phage-display technology in the discovery of CaSR-specific epitopes targeted by human anti-CaSR antibodies. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

Autoantibodies against the calcium-sensing receptor and cytokines in autoimmune polyglandular syndromes types 2, 3, and 4

OBJECTIVE: The frequency of autoimmunity against the parathyroid glands in patients with polyglandular autoimmunity that is not due to autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1) is unclear. To investigate this, the current study aimed to determine the prevalence of autoantibodies against parathyroid autoantigens the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) and NACHT leucine-rich-repeat protein 5 (NALP5) in a large group of patients with non-APS1 polyendocrine autoimmunity. Possible occult APS1 was investigated by cytokine autoantibody measurement and AIRE gene analysis. DESIGN, SUBJECTS, AND MEASUREMENTS: Subjects were 178 patients with APS2, 3 or 4, and 80 healthy blood donors. Autoantibodies against the CaSR, NALP5, and cytokines were measured by immunoprecipitation, radioligand binding assays, or ELISA, respectively. RESULTS: Four patient samples (2.2%), but none of the controls, were positive for CaSR autoantibodies. NALP5 autoantibodies were not detected in any participant. Eleven patients (6.2%) had cytokine autoantibodies, but none of the control samples was positive. None of the patients with cytokine autoantibodies had any known or novel mutations in the AIRE gene. CONCLUSIONS: The low prevalence of CaSR autoantibodies indicate a very low level of subclinical parathyroid autoimmunity in APS types 2, 3 and 4. In addition, autoantibodies against cytokines constitute an uncommon feature of non-APS1 polyglandular autoimmunity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved