Writing a feminist ethnography: A comparative analysis of Iranian women\u27s stories of resistance and agency in Iran and America

The aim of this project works against the stigmatization of Middle Eastern women in the West by examining women\u27s experiences of resistance and agency within the diaspora and in Iran. Through a feminist ethnographic analysis of Iranian women\u27s narratives, I work against Western stereotypes as a way to problematize the assumption that immersion in Western culture saves Middle Eastern women from their supposed cultural and religious victimization. The focus of my inquiry is centered on four issues, or themes, of analysis, which are: everyday acts of resistance, subversion, and negotiation, issues of dress, household dynamics, and women\u27s values and self-expression. Drawing on secondary academic research (including anthropology, critical and comparative gender studies, and transnational feminist theory), this project is designed to further understand how the dynamics of subversion, resistance, and agency that take place within the micro-practices of these women\u27s daily lives impact or improve their ability to exercise individual agency against societal limitations and against the State at large. I argue that despite common assumptions made about Middle Eastern women in the West, Iranian women exercise as much, if not more, social agency in Iran as they do in America

Human-centred design methods : developing scenarios for robot assisted play informed by user panels and field trials

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Copyright ElsevierThis article describes the user-centred development of play scenarios for robot assisted play, as part of the multidisciplinary IROMEC1 project that develops a novel robotic toy for children with special needs. The project investigates how robotic toys can become social mediators, encouraging children with special needs to discover a range of play styles, from solitary to collaborative play (with peers, carers/teachers, parents, etc.). This article explains the developmental process of constructing relevant play scenarios for children with different special needs. Results are presented from consultation with panel of experts (therapists, teachers, parents) who advised on the play needs for the various target user groups and who helped investigate how robotic toys could be used as a play tool to assist in the children’s development. Examples from experimental investigations are provided which have informed the development of scenarios throughout the design process. We conclude by pointing out the potential benefit of this work to a variety of research projects and applications involving human–robot interactions.Peer reviewe

Do team processes really have an effect on clinical performance? A systematic literature review

There is a growing literature on the relationship between team processes and clinical performance. The purpose of this review is to summarize these articles and examine the impact of team process behaviours on clinical performance. We conducted a literature search in five major databases. Inclusion criteria were: English peer-reviewed papers published between January 2001 and May 2012, which showed or tried to show (i) a statistical relationship of a team process variable and clinical performance or (ii) an improvement of a performance variable through a team process intervention. Study quality was assessed using predefined quality indicators. For every study, we calculated the relevant effect sizes. We included 28 studies in the review, seven of which were intervention studies. Every study reported at least one significant relationship between team processes or an intervention and performance. Also, some non-significant effects were reported. Most of the reported effect sizes were large or medium. The study quality ranged from medium to high. The studies are highly diverse regarding the specific team process behaviours investigated and also regarding the methods used. However, they suggest that team process behaviours do influence clinical performance and that training results in increased performance. Future research should rely on existing theoretical frameworks, valid, and reliable methods to assess processes such as teamwork or coordination and focus on the development of adequate tools to assess process performance, linking them with outcomes in the clinical setting

Draft genome of Rosenbergiella nectarea strain 8N4T provides insights into the potential role of this species in its plant host.

Background:Rosenbergiella nectarea strain 8N4T, the type species of the genus Rosenbergiella, was isolated from Amygdalus communis (almond) floral nectar. Other strains of this species were isolated from the floral nectar of Citrus paradisi (grapefruit), Nicotiana glauca (tobacco tree) and from Asphodelus aestivus. R. nectarea strain 8N4T is a Gram-negative, oxidase-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacterium in the family Enterobacteriaceae. Results:Here we describe features of this organism, together with its genome sequence and annotation. The DNA GC content is 47.38%, the assembly size is 3,294,717 bp, and the total number of genes are 3,346. The genome discloses the possible role that this species may play in the plant. The genome contains both virulence genes, like pectin lyase and hemolysin, that may harm plant cells and genes that are predicted to produce volatile compounds that may impact the visitation rates by nectar consumers, such as pollinators and nectar thieves. Conclusions:The genome of R. nectarea strain 8N4T reveals a mutualistic interaction with the plant host and a possible effect on plant pollination and fitness

Impact of washing and sterilization on properties of fabrics used for medical applications

This paper reports a study on the characterization of cellulosic, polyester/cotton (PES/cotton) and Tencel fabrics as well as PES/PU/PES laminate used for medical applications, before and after frequent washing and sterilization. The impact of washing and sterilization is analysed by tensile properties, spectral changes and surface characterization. The results indicate that, during washing and sterilization, cellulosic fabrics show prominent changes of all studied properties when compared to PES/PU/PES laminate

Predicting melting points of organic molecules : applications to aqueous solubility prediction using the General Solubility Equation

In this work we make predictions of several important molecular properties of academic and industrial importance to seek answers to two questions: 1) Can we apply efficient machine learning techniques, using inexpensive descriptors, to predict melting points to a reasonable level of accuracy? 2) Can values of this level of accuracy be usefully applied to predicting aqueous solubility? We present predictions of melting points made by several novel machine learning models, previously applied to solubility prediction. Additionally, we make predictions of solubility via the General Solubility Equation (GSE) and monitor the impact of varying the logP prediction model (AlogP and XlogP) on the GSE. We note that the machine learning models presented, using a modest number of 2D descriptors, can make melting point predictions in line with the current state of the art prediction methods (RMSE ≥ 40 oC). We also find that predicted melting points, with an RMSE of tens of degrees Celsius, can be usefully applied to the GSE to yield accurate solubility predictions (log10S RMSE < 1) over a small dataset of druglike molecules.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe