Fabrication of mesoscale topographical gradients in bulk titanium and their use in injection moulding

Fabrication methods for titanium substrates exhibiting continuous micro and nano scale arrays, with increasing feature heights over the length of the array are reported. The resultant feature heights spanned 0–2 μm. Patterned gradient arrays of circular features with diameters of: 500 nm, 1 μm and 2 μm, spaced by twice the diameter were manufactured by the process using specially prepared titanium substrates. Patterns were exposed by electron beam lithography and the length of the patterned arrays was 15 mm or 20 mm. This work presents two selectivity amplification processes to achieve a gradient of feature heights ranging over the titanium array after consecutive reactive ion etching processes. The first, route A: a HSQ on Ti, gradient amplification process. The second, route B, a SiO2 layer amplification transfer into Ti. The crucial initial gradient component deposited for the amplification process for both routes was a diffusion limited plasma polymerised hexane gradient. Etching using respective reactive ion etch chemistries for each gradient transfer through the various selectivity amplification layers (employing consecutive etch steps, in this way) enables a dual amplification for each route to manufacture. The original gradient is transferred into titanium as a function of the sum of the respective selectivities between the materials, using the appropriate dry etch plasma conditions. The substrates henceforth are referred to as inlays, and were tested for use as a high throughput platform for polymer replication by injection moulding. It is envisaged that the fabrication methodology and resultant topographies have use in a range of engineering applications. The overall selectivity to Ti for polymerised hexane is increased by more than 20 times using each dual amplification process

A Case Study in the Superiority of the Purposive Approach to Statutory Interpretation: \u3cem\u3e Bruesewitz v. Wyeth \u3c/em\u3e

This Article uses the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth to examine the textualist or “plain meaning” approach to statutory interpretation. For more than a quarter-century, Justice Scalia has successfully promoted textualism, usually associated with conservatism, among his colleagues. In Bruesewitz, Scalia, writing for the majority, and his liberal colleague Justice Sotomayer, in dissent, both employed textualism to determine if the plaintiffs, whose child was allegedly harmed by a vaccine, could pursue common-law tort claims or whether their remedies were limited to those available under the no-fault compensation system established by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Despite these Justices’ common approach to statutory interpretation, they reached diametrically opposite conclusions in opinions that dissected the statutory language and quarreled over the meaning of “even though” and “if” clauses. In contrast, Justice Breyer employed a purposive or “purposes and objectives” approach to statutory interpretation. Rather than obsessing over the meaning of each and every phrase, Breyer looked at Congress’s goals in passing the Act. He recognized that Scalia’s conclusion was correct, not because of the supposedly “plain” meaning of specific language, but because this interpretation was the only one that enabled the alternative compensation system to function as Congress envisioned. Other scholars have analyzed Bruesewitz as a preemption case, but despite statutory interpretation’s inherently decisive role in express preemption cases, this is the first Article to highlight Bruesewitz as an illustration of the emptiness of textualism

Non-volant modes of migration in terrestrial arthropods

Animal migration is often defined in terms appropriate only to the ‘to-and-fro’ movements of large, charismatic (and often vertebrate) species. However, like other important biological processes, the definition should apply over as broad a taxonomic range as possible in order to be intellectually satisfying. Here we illustrate the process of migration in insects and other terrestrial arthropods (e.g. arachnids, myriapods, and non-insect hexapods) but provide a different perspective by excluding the ‘typical’ mode of migration in insects, i.e. flapping flight. Instead, we review non-volant migratory movements, including: aerial migration by wingless species, pedestrian and waterborne migration, and phoresy. This reveals some fascinating and sometimes bizarre morphological and behavioural adaptations to facilitate movement. We also outline some innovative modelling approaches exploring the interactions between atmospheric transport processes and biological factors affecting the ‘dispersal kernels’ of wingless arthropods

Compositional nanodomain formation in hybrid formate perovskites

We report the synthesis and structural characterisation of three mixed-metal formate perovskite families [C(NH$_2$)$_3$]M$_{1-x}$Cu$_x$(HCOO)$_3$ (M = Mn, Zn, Mg). Using a combination of infrared spectroscopy, non-negative matrix factorization, and reverse Monte Carlo refinement, we show that the Mn- and Zn-containing compounds support compositional nanodomains resembling the polar nanoregions of conventional relaxor ferroelectrics. The M = Mg family exhibits a miscibility gap that we suggest reflects the limiting behaviour of nanodomain formation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Chemistry by Mobile Phone (or how to justify more time at the bar)

By combining automatic environment monitoring with Java smartphones a system has been produced for the real-time monitoring of experiments whilst away from the lab. Changes in the laboratory environment are encapsulated as simple XML messages, which are published using an MQTT compliant broker. Clients subscribe to the MQTT stream, and produce a user display. An MQTT client written for the Java MIDP platform, can be run on a smartphone with a GPRS Internet connection, freeing us from the constraints of the lab. We present an overview of the technologies used, and how these are helping chemists make the best use of their time

Parent Engagement at a Cristo Rey High School: Building Home-School Partnerships in a Multicultural Immigrant Community

Catholic social teaching affirms the primary role of parents in their children’s education, as well as the importance of a home-school partnership. The purposes of this article are to review the results of a mixed methods study of parent engagement at Cristo Rey Boston High School, and how the results of this study led to specific efforts to include parents more closely in the life of the school. Results suggest that parents in multicultural communities perceive their engagement to be an important part of their children’s education. Yet, this engagement may take different forms that may go unrecognized by school staff. Based on study findings, school administrators began integrating parent engagement efforts through a coordinated system of student advising. From the perspective of Catholic social teaching, recognizing and responding to these multicultural differences are a means of praxis that affirms human dignity and reduces barriers to education for the marginalized

What is on Tap? The Role of Spin in Compact Objects and Relativistic Jets

We examine the role of spin in launching jets from compact objects across the mass scale. Our work includes a total of 37 Seyferts, 11 stellar-mass black holes, and 13 neutron stars. We find that when the Seyfert reflection lines are modeled with Gaussian line features (a crude proxy for inner disk radius and therefore spin), only a slight inverse correlation is found between the Doppler-corrected radio luminosity at 5 GHz (a proxy for jet power) and line width. When the Seyfert reflection features are fit with relativistically-blurred disk reflection models that measure spin, there is a tentative positive correlation between the Doppler-corrected radio luminosity and the spin measurement. Further, when we include stellar-mass black holes in the sample, to examine the effects across the mass scale, we find a slightly stronger correlation with radio luminosity per unit mass and spin, at a marginal significance (2.3 sigma confidence level). Finally, when we include neutron stars, in order to probe lower spin values, we find a positive correlation (3.3 sigma confidence level) between radio luminosity per unit mass and spin. Although tentative, these results suggest that spin may have a role in determining the jet luminosity. In addition, we find a slightly more significant correlation (4.4 sigma confidence level) between radio luminosity per Bolometric luminosity and spin, using our entire sample of black holes and neutrons stars. Again, although tentative, these relations point to the possibility that the mass accretion rate, i.e. Bolometric luminosity, is also important in determining the jet luminosity, in addition to spin. Our analysis suggests that mass accretion rate and disk or coronal magnetic field strength may be the "throttle" in these compact systems, to which the Eddington limit and spin may set the maximum jet luminosity that can be achieved.Comment: 14 pages, 13 Figures, ApJ Accepte

Filling the Gaps with Public Policy: The Application of the Hague Convention Protocol in US Courts in the Absence of a Co-Signing State

This article will consider a possible avenue for filling \u27gaps\u27 when the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention or the 1996 Child Protection Convention do not apply in child custody/abduction cases. Specifically, it will explore utilizing internal US domestic relations law to facilitate the return of a child who has been abducted to the USA from a non-signatory country. To better illustrate the potential effects, the article will explore this \u27gap filler\u27 through the lens of a case study involving Japan, the most prominent first world country that is not yet a signatory to the Convention. The article also considers the implications for the international community

Improved gene delivery to human saphenous vein cells and tissue using a peptide-modified adenoviral vector

The establishment of efficient gene delivery to target human tissue is a major obstacle for transition of gene therapy from the pre-clinical phases to the clinic. The poor long-term patency rates for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a major clinical problem that lacks an effective and proven pharmacological intervention. Late vein graft failure occurs due to neointima formation and accelerated atherosclerosis. Since CABG allows a clinical window of opportunity to genetically modify vein ex vivo prior to grafting it represents an ideal opportunity to develop gene-based therapies. Adenoviral vectors have been frequently used for gene delivery to vein ex vivo and pre-clinical studies have shown effective blockade in neointima development by overexpression of candidate therapeutic genes. However, high titers of adenovirus are required to achieve sufficient gene delivery to provide therapeutic benefit. Improvement in the uptake of adenovirus into the vessel wall would therefore be of benefit. Here we determined the ability of an adenovirus serotype 5 vector genetically-engineered with the RGD-4C integrin targeting peptide inserted into the HI loop (Ad-RGD) to improve the transduction of human saphenous vein smooth muscle cells (HSVSMC), endothelial cells (HSVEC) and intact saphenous vein compared to a non-modified virus (Ad-CTL). We exposed each cell type to virus for 10, 30 or 60 mins and measured transgene at 24 h post infection. For both HSVSMC and HSVEC Ad-RGD mediated increased transduction, with the largest increases observed in HSVSMC. When the experiments were repeated with intact human saphenous vein (the ultimate clinical target for gene therapy), again Ad-RGD mediated higher levels of transduction, at all clinically relevant exposures times (10, 30 and 60 mins tissue:virus exposure). Our study demonstrates the ability of peptide-modified Ad vectors to improve transduction to human vein graft cells and tissue and has important implications for gene therapy for CABG