Attracting and retaining young professional women in the construction industry

Women are underutilised in the Construction Industry, making up only 11.8% of its employees in Australia. Online survey responses of young Australian female construction professionals were used to explore 1. what attracted them into the Construction Industry, 2. what challenges they experienced, and 3. what helped retain them in the Industry. Responses to the open-ended survey questions were coded and thematically analysed. Many of the young women were initially attracted to architecture and design, but later switched to construction. A quarter were temperamentally attracted to project work due to their skills in planning and organising; others were attracted to the nature of the Industry and the diversity of its roles and projects; while others were interested in the Industry at a very young age; or attracted due to family connections in the Construction Industry. The young women's main challenges were feeling like they had to continuously prove themselves to male co-workers; a lack of experience in the Construction Industry; and finding that long working hours placed demands on their personal lives. All the respondents planned to stay in the Construction Industry: most were excited by the opportunities for career advancement; were motivated by the training opportunities provided; and by changes in the Industry towards equal opportunity. These findings are encouraging: the young professional women displayed passion for their work and felt that despite its challenges, the Construction Industry offers them exciting future career prospects

Synthesis and Activity of Six-Membered Cyclic Alkyl Amino Carbene–Ruthenium Olefin Metathesis Catalysts

Ru–cyclic alkyl amino carbene (Ru–CAAC) olefin metathesis catalysts perform extraordinarily in metathesis macrocyclization and ethenolysis, but previous studies have been limited to the use of five-membered CAAC (CAAC-5) ligands. In this work, we synthesized a different group of ruthenium catalysts with more σ-donating and π-accepting six-membered CAAC (CAAC-6) ligands, and their metathesis activity was probed through initiation studies, ring-closing metathesis (RCM), cross-metathesis, and ethenolysis. These catalysts display higher initiation rates than analogous Ru–CAAC-5 complexes but demonstrate lower activity in RCM and ethenolysis

Functional Cellular Anti-Tumor Mechanisms are Augmented by Genetic Proteoglycan Targeting.

While recent research points to the importance of glycans in cancer immunity, knowledge on functional mechanisms is lacking. In lung carcinoma among other tumors, anti-tumor immunity is suppressed; and while some recent therapies boost T-cell mediated immunity by targeting immune-checkpoint pathways, robust responses are uncommon. Augmenting tumor antigen-specific immune responses by endogenous dendritic cells (DCs) is appealing from a specificity standpoint, but challenging. Here, we show that restricting a heparan sulfate (HS) loss-of-function mutation in the HS sulfating enzyme Ndst1 to predominantly conventional DCs (Ndst1f/f CD11cCre+ mutation) results in marked inhibition of Lewis lung carcinoma growth along with increased tumor-associated CD8+ T cells. In mice deficient in a major DC HS proteoglycan (syndecan-4), splenic CD8+ T cells showed increased anti-tumor cytotoxic responses relative to controls. Studies examining Ndst1f/f CD11cCre + mutants revealed that mutation was associated with an increase in anti-tumor cytolysis using either splenic CD8+ T cells or tumor-infiltrating (TIL) CD8+ T cells purified ex-vivo, and tested in pooled effector-to-target cytolytic assays against tumor cells from respective animals. On glycan compositional analysis, HS purified from Ndst1f/f CD11cCre + mutant DCs had reduced overall sulfation, including reduced sulfation of a tri-sulfated disaccharide species that was intriguingly abundant on wildtype DC HS. Interestingly, antigen presentation in the context of major histocompatibility complex class-I (MHC-I) was enhanced in mutant DCs, with more striking effects in the setting of HS under-sulfation, pointing to a likely regulatory role by sulfated glycans at the antigen/MHC-I - T-cell interface; and possibly future opportunities to improve antigen-specific T cell responses by immunologic targeting of HS proteoglycans in cancer

Bringing home the trash: Do colony-based differences in foraging distribution lead to increased plastic ingestion in Laysan albatrosses?

When searching for prey, animals should maximize energetic gain, while minimizing energy expenditure by altering their movements relative to prey availability. However, with increasing amounts of marine debris, what once may have been ‘optimal’ foraging strategies for top marine predators, are leading to sub-optimal diets comprised in large part of plastic. Indeed, the highly vagile Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) which forages throughout the North Pacific, are well known for their tendency to ingest plastic. Here we examine whether Laysan albatrosses nesting on Kure Atoll and Oahu Island, 2,150 km apart, experience different levels of plastic ingestion. Twenty two geolocators were deployed on breeding adults for up to two years. Regurgitated boluses of undigestable material were also collected from chicks at each site to compare the amount of plastic vs. natural foods. Chicks from Kure Atoll were fed almost ten times the amount of plastic compared to chicks from Oahu despite boluses from both colonies having similar amounts of natural food. Tracking data indicated that adults from either colony did not have core overlapping distributions during the early half of the breeding period and that adults from Kure had a greater overlap with the putative range of the Western Garbage Patch corroborating our observation of higher plastic loads at this colony. At-sea distributions also varied throughout the year suggesting that Laysan albatrosses either adjusted their foraging behavior according to constraints on time away from the nest or to variation in resources. However, in the non-breeding season, distributional overlap was greater indicating that the energy required to reach the foraging grounds was less important than the total energy available. These results demonstrate how a marine predator that is not dispersal limited alters its foraging strategy throughout the reproductive cycle to maximize energetic gain and how this has led to differences in plastic ingestion

Effects of carbon dioxide on the searching behaviour of the root-feeding clover weevil <i>Sitona lepidus</i> (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The respiratory emission of CO2 from roots is frequently proposed as an attractant that allows soil-dwelling insects to locate host plant roots, but this role has recently become less certain. CO2 is emitted from many sources other than roots, so does not necessarily indicate the presence of host plants, and because of the high density of roots in the upper soil layers, spatial gradients may not always be perceptible by soil-dwelling insects. The role of CO2 in host location was investigated using the clover root weevil Sitona lepidus Gyllenhall and its host plant white clover (Trifolium repens L.) as a model system. Rhizochamber experiments showed that CO2 concentrations were approximately 1000 ppm around the roots of white clover, but significantly decreased with increasing distance from roots. In behavioural experiments, no evidence was found for any attraction by S. lepidus larvae to point emissions of CO2, regardless of emission rates. Fewer than 15% of larvae were attracted to point emissions of CO2, compared with a control response of 17%. However, fractal analysis of movement paths in constant CO2 concentrations demonstrated that searching by S. lepidus larvae significantly intensified when they experienced CO2 concentrations similar to those found around the roots of white clover (i.e. 1000 ppm). It is suggested that respiratory emissions of CO2 may act as a ‘search trigger’ for S. lepidus, whereby it induces larvae to search a smaller area more intensively, in order to detect location cues that are more specific to their host plant.<br/

The restraint chair: A qualitative study of nurses\u27 experience with the restraint chair versus four point restraint

Restraint and seclusion continues to be a challenging topic in psychiatric nursing care. While there is a movement toward reduction and elimination of restraint, emergency situations still arise that require intervention for the safety of patients and staff. In addition to traditional methods of restraint (physical holds, four-point restraint, seclusion), the restraint chair has been introduced at some hospitals as an alternative to four-point restraint. The restraint chair allows the patient to be upright in a seated position during the restraint process. Little research on the restraint chair currently exists. The purpose of this study was to examine the nurses\u27 experience with the restraint chair compared to four-point restraint. Results indicate nurses feel the restraint chair is easier to use, more humane, less traumatic, comforting, and enhances the therapeutic relationship compared to four-point restraint. Based on the reports of nurses in this study and prior quantitative work on the restraint chair (Castillo, Coyne, Chan, Hall, & Vilke, 2011; Visaggio et al., 2018), the restraint chair appears to be a safe and effective alternative to traditional four-point restraint. More research verifying these results at other hospitals in the United States and abroad is warranted

Neural responses to facial and vocal expressions of fear and disgust

Neuropsychological studies report more impaired responses to facial expressions of fear than disgust in people with amygdala lesions, and vice versa in people with Huntington's disease. Experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have confirmed the role of the amygdala in the response to fearful faces and have implicated the anterior insula in the response to facial expressions of disgust. We used fMRI to extend these studies to the perception of fear and disgust from both facial and vocal expressions. Consistent with neuropsychological findings, both types of fearful stimuli activated the amygdala. Facial expressions of disgust activated the anterior insula and the caudate-putamen; vocal expressions of disgust did not significantly activate either of these regions. All four types of stimuli activated the superior temporal gyrus. Our findings therefore (i) support the differential localization of the neural substrates of fear and disgust; (ii) confirm the involvement of the amygdala in the emotion of fear, whether evoked by facial or vocal expressions; (iii) confirm the involvement of the anterior insula and the striatum in reactions to facial expressions of disgust; and (iv) suggest a possible general role for the perception of emotional expressions for the superior temporal gyrus

Let’s Play! Gamifying Engineering Ethics Education Through the Development of Competitive and Collaborative Activities

Engineering ethics is an extremely important topic that needs to be focused on more in engineering curricula, as many of the projects that engineers work on have a profound impact on society. There are many pitfalls with the traditional ways in which ethics is taught to engineering students as an abstract philosophical topic, rather than personal decision making situated in complex real contexts. The three main approaches that are used for engineering ethics include being taught by a professor outside of the engineering space, being taught late in their curriculum such as during a senior capstone project, and being taught in a short period of time as a module of another class. The downsides to these approaches are that students do not see ethics as equally important as some other topics, they do not see it consistently integrated throughout the curriculum, nor do they see ethical decisions as complex nuanced, and situated in context,. Game-based learning is a means to actively engage students in interrogating the complexities of ethical decision making. Game play can align with student learning objectives as well as improve student knowledge, behaviors, and dispositions. Our paper introduces three games that are designed to assist in the development of students’ ethical awareness and reasoning. Three engineering ethics games have been developed as the foundation for an NSF-funded project that investigates the empirical impacts of game play on ethical reasoning and decision making. Cards Against Engineering Ethics, Toxic Workplaces, and Mars: An Ethical Expedition have all been in development for the last few years. Each game targets specific ethics learning outcomes as well as different play mechanics. These outcomes include identifying the complexities of ethical dilemmas, evaluating responses to ethical situations in context, and promoting ethical discussions among peers. The time required to play each game varies, ranging from 20 minutes, to 75 minutes, to 5 minutes once a week for 15 weeks. The benefits that these games include an enriched learning experience, student engagement, and a greater connection between ethics and real life