Using printer ink color to control the behavior of paper microfluidics.

Paper microfluidic devices (including lateral flow assays) offer an excellent combination of utility and low cost. Many paper microfluidic devices are fabricated using the Xerox ColorQube line of commercial wax-based color printers; the wax ink serves as a hydrophobic barrier to fluid flow. These printers are capable of depositing four different colors of ink, cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K), plus 11 combinations of these colors (CM, CY, CK, MY, MK, YK, CMY, CMK, CYK, MYK, and CMYK), although most researchers use only black ink to print paper microfluidic devices. Recently, as part of a project to develop a computer-aided design framework for use with paper microfluidics devices, we unexpectedly observed that different colors of wax ink behave differently in paper microfluidics. We found that among the single colors of ink, black ink actually had the most barrier failures, and magenta ink had the fewest barrier failures. In addition, some combinations of colors performed even better than magenta: the combinations CY, MK, YK, CMY, CYK and MYK had no barrier failures in our study. We also found that the printer delivers significantly different amounts of ink to the paper for the different color combinations, and in general, the color combinations that formed the strongest barriers to fluid flow were the ones that had the most ink delivered to the paper. This suggests that by simply weighing paper samples printed with all 15 combinations of colors, one can easily find the color combinations most likely to form a strong barrier for a given printer. Finally, to show that deliberate choices of ink colors can actually be used to create new functions in paper microfluidics, we designed and tested a new color-based "antifuse" structure that protects paper microfluidic devices from a typical operator error (addition of too much fluid to the device). Our results provide a set of color choice guidelines that designers can use to control the behavior of their paper microfluidics

Electoral Margins and American Foreign Policy 1

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100173/1/isqu12040.pd

Aperture efficiency of chemically etched horns at 93 GHz

The aperture efficiency of monolithic two-dimensional horn imaging arrays has been optimized at 93 GHz. The imaging arrays consist of several silicon wafers into which arrays of pyramidal horns are etched chemically. Dipole antennas and detectors are suspended on thin silicon oxynitride membranes on one of the central silicon wafers about halfway down the horns. The devices are 7×7 arrays with a 1 λ opening and a 71° flare angle. Antenna impedances have been measured on a low-frequency model. A variety of millimeter-wave dipole antennas and bolometers have been designed and tested. A large-area bismuth thin-film power meter is used to obtain accurate absolute power. The measured aperture efficiency improved from 44% to 72%. The highest system coupling efficiency with a lens was 36% including lens absorption and reflection losses

Trade and Volatility at the Core and Periphery of the Global Economy

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95090/1/j.1468-2478.2012.00748.x.pd

“Ignorance is not Innocence”: The Social Health Association of Indiana and Adolescent Sex Education, 1907-2007

“Ignorance is not innocence,” thundered John Hurty Secretary of the Indiana Board of Health in 1913 attempting to persuade his colleagues that only “sex knowledge” could prevent the problem of adolescent venereal disease. Throughout the twentieth century, Hurty and other Indiana reformers took the lead in national efforts to raise public awareness of the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases as part of larger debates on how to educate adolescents on the dangers of sexual activity prior to marriage This project, funded in part by the IUPUI Solution Center and Social Health Association of Indiana (SHA), seeks to use various public history methodologies to illustrate the important role Indiana played in the history of adolescent sexuality education. The history of the Social Health Association of Indiana (SHA) reflects changes not only in the sexuality education movement, but also in the broader context of adolescent sexuality, educational reform and public health movements. This project is an example of the IUPUI’s Public History Master’s program training that blends theory and hands-on experience specific to public history, often in partnership with community organizations. Today, the SHA continues their 100 year tradition of “foster successful lives by empowering youth to make responsible choices and adopt healthy behaviors.

In democracies an effective media and opposition are both needed to sanction leaders’ foreign policy missteps

Common wisdom in international affairs is that when democratically elected leaders and governments make threats towards other states, these are credible; voters will punish leaders who do not follow through on their words. New research by Philip B. K. Potter and Matthew A. Baum argues however, that not all democracies are equal in the credibility of their threats of military action. By analyzing data on international military disputes over a 35-year period, they find that both an effective and widespread media, and a robust opposition are needed in order for voters to become aware of foreign policy blunders. Without either of these, leaders can avoid following through on their threats with little fear of being punished by voters

Modern approaches to understanding stress and disease susceptibility: A review with special emphasis on respiratory disease

Studies in animals and humans link both physical and psychological stress with an increased incidence and severity of respiratory infections. For this manuscript we define stress as the physiological responses an individual undergoes while adjusting to a continually changing environment. It is known that stressors of various types (psychological/physical) can alter the physiological levels of certain hormones, chemokines and cytokines. These alterations send information to the central nervous system to take necessary action which then sends messages to appropriate organs/tissues/cells to respond. These messages can either activate or suppress the immune system as needed and failure to compensate for this by the body can lead to serious health-related problems. Little is known how stress affects disease susceptibility, yet understanding this mechanism is important for developing effective treatments, and for improving health and food quality. The current review focuses on (a) the effects of psychological stressors in humans and animals, (b) various methodologies employed to understand stress responses and their outcomes, and (c) the current status of the attempts to correlate stress and disease with respiratory disease as model system. The methodologies included in this review span traditional epidemiological, behavioral and immunological studies to current high throughput genomic, proteomic, metabolomic/metabonomic approaches. With the advent of various newer omics and bioinformatics methodologies we postulate that it will become feasible to understand the mechanisms through which stress can influence disease onset. Although the literature in this area is limited because of the infancy of this research area, the objective of this review is to illustrate the power of new approaches to address complex biological questions. These new approaches will also aid in our understanding how these processes are related to the dynamics and kinetics of changes in expression of multiple genes at various levels

Arbeitsmarktintegration von jungen Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Köln: Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse

"Die erfolgreiche Integration in Beruf und Erwerbsarbeit gilt in unserer Gesellschaft als Schlüsselindikator für ein gelungenes gesellschaftliches Zusammenleben schlechthin. Teile der Migrantenpopulation, vor allem aus den ehemaligen Anwerberländern, die mittlerweile in der dritten, teilweise schon in der vierten Generation hier leben, sind jedoch weit von einer solchen Integration entfernt. Oft verharren sie in einer Art kontinuierlichem Einwandererstatus: als Randbelegschaft von Betrieben, niedrig qualifiziert, schlecht bezahlt und mit hohen Sozialrisiken belastet. Besonders junge Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund erfahren seit längerem - in Köln wie in anderen Städten Deutschlands - vielfältige Formen gesellschaftlicher Ausgrenzung. Auf diese Zielgruppe richtete sich insbesondere das Erkenntnisinteresse des Forschungsprojekts 'Arbeitsmarktintegration von jungen Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Köln' (AIMm). Durchgeführt wurde das Projekt über einen gut zweijährigen Zeitraum zwischen Spätsommer 2000 und Herbst 2002. Im Zentrum der Analysen stand ein Schlüsselproblem der Integration, nämlich die Suche nach Wegen zur Verbesserung des Arbeitsmarktzugangs junger MigrantInnen. AIMm wurde konzipiert als Kooperationsprojekt zwischen einem politischen Initiativgremium (dem Runden Tisch für Ausländerfreundlichkeit, an dem zahlreiche Akteure der Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Köln vertreten sind) und Institutionen der angewandten Forschung (der Fachhochschule Köln und dem Klaus Novy Institut). Inhaltlich und methodisch gliederte sich die Forschungsarbeit in zwei Phasen: 1. Die Arbeiten der ersten Forschungsphase galten der Gewinnung differenzierter empirischer Erkenntnisse zur Arbeitsmarktsituation von Migrantenjugendlichen in Köln, wobei insbesondere bestehende Informationsdefizite zur arbeitsmarktpolitischen Infrastruktur zu beheben waren. 2. In der zweiten Phase wurden konkrete Schritte zu einem 'Wissenschafts-Praxis-Transfer' unternommen mit dem Ziel, die Fortentwicklung bestehender arbeitsmarktpolitischer Angebote zu befördern. Der vorliegende Kurzbericht stellt die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse der beiden Projektphasen im Überblick dar. Dokumentiert werden in dieser Zusammenfassung in kondensierter Form die Ergebnisse von Sekundäranalysen, speziellen empirischen Erhebungen und von moderierten Diskussionsprozessen mit örtlichen Akteuren." (Autorenreferat

Crystal Structures of Human Carboxylesterase 1 in Covalent Complexes with the Chemical Warfare Agents Soman and Tabun † , ‡

The organophosphorus nerve agents sarin, soman, tabun, and VX exert their toxic effects by inhibiting the action of human acetylcholinesterase, a member of the serine hydrolase superfamily of enzymes. The current treatments for nerve agent exposure must be administered quickly to be effective and they often do not eliminate long-term toxic side effects associated with organophosphate poisoning. Thus, there is significant need for effective prophylactic methods to protect at-risk personnel from nerve agent exposure, and protein-based approaches have emerged as promising candidates. We present the 2.7 Å resolution crystal structures of the serine hydrolase human carboxylesterase 1 (hCE1), a broad-spectrum drug metabolism enzyme, in covalent acyl-enzyme intermediate complexes with the chemical weapons soman and tabun. The structures reveal that hCE1 binds stereoselectively to these nerve agents; for example, hCE1 appears to react preferentially with the 104-fold more lethal PS stereoisomer of soman relative to the PR form. In addition, structural features of the hCE1 active site indicate that the enzyme may be resistant to dead-end organophosphate aging reactions that permanently inactivate other serine hydrolases. Taken together, these data provide important structural details toward the goal of engineering hCE1 into an organophosphate hydrolase and protein-based therapeutic for nerve agent exposure