Experiences of diagnosis, stigma, culpability, and disclosure in male patients with hepatitis C virus: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

The current study aimed to explore the lived experience of patients with hepatitis C virus infection. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven male participants living with hepatitis C virus and were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two master themes were identified: (1) diagnosis and the search for meaning and (2) impact of stigma on disclosure. Participants reported fears of contaminating others, feelings of stigma and concerns of disclosing the condition to others. Response to diagnosis, stigma and disclosure among the participants appeared to be interrelated and directly related to locus of blame for virus contraction. More specifically, hepatitis C virus transmission via medical routes led to an externalisation of culpability and an openness to disclosure. Transmission of hepatitis C virus as a direct result of intravenous drug use led to internalised blame and a fear of disclosure. The inter- and intra-personal consequences of hepatitis C virus explored in the current study have potential implications for tailoring future psychological therapy and psychoeducation to the specific needs of the hepatitis C virus population

Precision and manufacturing at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Precision Engineering is one of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's core strengths. This paper discusses the past and present current technology transfer efforts of LLNL's Precision Engineering program and the Livermore Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Productivity (LCAMP). More than a year ago the Precision Machine Commercialization project embodied several successful methods of transferring high technology from the National Laboratories to industry. Currently, LCAMP has already demonstrated successful technology transfer and is involved in a broad spectrum of current programs. In addition, this paper discusses other technologies ripe for future transition including the Large Optics Diamond Turning Machine

Interfacing a quantum dot spin with a photonic circuit

A scalable optical quantum information processor is likely to be a waveguide circuit with integrated sources, detectors, and either deterministic quantum-logic or quantum memory elements. With microsecond coherence times, ultrafast coherent control, and lifetime-limited transitions, semiconductor quantum-dot spins are a natural choice for the static qubits. However their integration with flying photonic qubits requires an on-chip spin-photon interface, which presents a fundamental problem: the spin-state is measured and controlled via circularly-polarised photons, but waveguides support only linear polarisation. We demonstrate here a solution based on two orthogonal photonic nanowires, in which the spin-state is mapped to a path-encoded photon, thus providing a blue-print for a scalable spin-photon network. Furthermore, for some devices we observe that the circular polarisation state is directly mapped to orthogonal nanowires. This result, which is physically surprising for a non-chiral structure, is shown to be related to the nano-positioning of the quantum-dot with respect to the photonic circuit

The relation between school leadership from a distributed perspective and teachers' organizational commitment: examining the source of the leadership function

Purpose: In this study the relationship between school leadership and teachers’ organizational commitment is examined by taking into account a distributed leadership perspective. The relation between teachers’ organizational commitment and contextual variables of teachers’ perceptions of the quality and the source of the supportive and supervisory leadership function, participative decision making, and cooperation within the leadership team are examined. Research Design: A survey was set up involving 1,522 teachers from 46 large secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). Because the data in the present study have an inherent hierarchical structure, that is, teachers are nested into schools, hierarchical linear modeling techniques are applied. Findings: The analyses reveal that 9% of the variance in teachers’ organizational commitment is attributable to differences between schools. Teachers’ organizational commitment is mainly related to quality of the supportive leadership, cooperation within the leadership team, and participative decision making. Who performed the supportive leadership function plays only a marginally significant positive role. The quality of the supervisory leadership function and the role of the leadership team members in this function were not significantly related to teachers’ organizational commitment. Conclusions: The implications of the findings are that to promote teachers’ organizational commitment teachers should feel supported by their leadership team and that this leadership team should be characterized by group cohesion, role clarity, and goal orientedness. Recommendations for further research are provided

Hybrid additive manufacturing of 3D electronic systems

A novel hybrid additive manufacturing (AM) technology combining digital light projection (DLP) stereolithography (SL) with 3D micro-dispensing alongside conventional surface mount packaging is presented in this work. This technology overcomes the inherent limitations of individual AM processes and integrates seamlessly with conventional packaging processes to enable the deposition of multiple materials. This facilitates the creation of bespoke end-use products with complex 3D geometry and multi-layer embedded electronic systems. Through a combination of four-point probe measurement and non-contact focus variation microscopy, it was identified that there was no obvious adverse effect of DLP SL embedding process on the electrical conductivity of printed conductors. The resistivity maintained to be less than 4  ×  10−4 Ω centerdot cm before and after DLP SL embedding when cured at 100 °C for 1 h. The mechanical strength of SL specimens with thick polymerized layers was also identified through tensile testing. It was found that the polymerization thickness should be minimised (less than 2 mm) to maximise the bonding strength. As a demonstrator a polymer pyramid with embedded triple-layer 555 LED blinking circuitry was successfully fabricated to prove the technical viability

Dynamically controlled deposition of colloidal nanoparticles suspension in evaporating drops using laser radiation

Dynamic control of the distribution of polystyrene suspended nanoparticles in evaporating droplets is investigated using a 2.9 μm high power laser. Under laser radiation a droplet is locally heated and fluid flows are induced that overcome the capillary flow, and thus a reversal of the coffee-stain effect is observed. Suspension particles are accumulated in a localised area, one order of magnitude smaller than the original droplet size. By scanning the laser beam over the droplet, particles can be deposited in an arbitrary pattern. This finding raises the possibility for direct laser writing of suspended particles through a liquid layer. Furthermore, a highly uniform coating is possible by manipulating the laser beam diameter and exposure time. The effect is expected to be universally applicable to aqueous solutions independent of solutes (either particles or molecules) and deposited substrates

The relationship between the perception of distributed leadership in secondary schools and teachers' and teacher leaders' job satisfaction and organizational commitment

This study investigates the relation between distributed leadership, the cohesion of the leadership team, participative decision-making, context variables, and the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of teachers and teacher leaders. A questionnaire was administered to teachers and teacher leaders (n=1770) from 46 large secondary schools. Multiple regression analyses and path analyses revealed that the study variables explained significant variance in organizational commitment. The degree of explained variance for job satisfaction was considerably lower compared to organizational commitment. Most striking was that the cohesion of the leadership team and the amount of leadership support was strongly related to organizational commitment, and indirectly to job satisfaction. Decentralization of leadership functions was weakly related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction

Entrepreneurship Assessment in Higher Education: A Research Review for Engineering Education Researchers

BackgroundDespite the wide adoption of entrepreneurship by United States engineering programs, there have been few advances in how to measure the influences of entrepreneurial education on engineering students. We believe the inadequate growth in engineering entrepreneurship assessment research is due to the limited use of research emerging from the broader entrepreneurship education assessment community.PurposeThis paper explores entrepreneurship education assessment by documenting the current state of the research and identifying the theories, variables, and research designs most commonly used by the broader community. We then examine if and how these theories and constructs are used in engineering entrepreneurship education.Scope/MethodTwo literature databases, Scopus® and Proquest, were searched systematically for entrepreneurship education assessment research literature. This search yielded 2,841 unique papers. Once inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 359 empirical research papers were coded for study design, theory, variables measured, instruments, and validity and reliability.ConclusionsWhile there has been growth in entrepreneurship education assessment research, little exchange of ideas across the disciplines of business, engineering, and education is occurring. Nonempirical descriptions of programs outweigh empirical research, and these empirical studies focus on affective, rather than cognitive or behavioral, outcomes. This pattern within the larger entrepreneurship community is mirrored in engineering where the use of theoryâ based, validated entrepreneurship education assessment instruments generally focuses on the context of intent to start a new company. Given the engineering community’s goals to support engineering entrepreneurship beyond business creation, the engineering education community should consider developing assessment instruments based in theory and focused on engineeringâ specific entrepreneurship outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145556/1/jee20197.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145556/2/jee20197_am.pd