Functionalization of cotton with poly-NiPAAm/chitosan microgel: Part II. Stimuli-responsive liquid management properties

An innovative strategy for functional finishing of cotton involves application of stimuli-responsive surface modifying system based on temperature- and pH-responsive poly-NiPAAm/chitosan microgel. The stimuli-responsiveness implied to cotton is the consequence of swelling/collapse of the microgel particles incorporated to the fibre surface, which produces an active liquid management system. The performance of functionalized cotton fabric in terms of liquid management properties was assessed by choosing appropriate techniques (water uptake; thin-layer wicking; water retention capacity; and drying capability) and discussion of the results was based on the types of water that are expected to be present in hydrated cotton and stimuli-responsive microgel

It’s all about the story : Personal narratives in children’s literature about refugees

Stories are one way that experiences, ideas and culture are shared with children in educational settings. Commercially published books are the standard means in schools for sharing stories. Qualitative content analysis was carried out on 30 personal narrative-based children's picture books. While the range of stories told in books is vast, our research focuses on refugee stories for children in light of the contemporary political and public focus on refugees and the forced movement of people around the world. Scholars have identified that books about refugees for children can be useful to explore the topic of refugees, but also caution that they can perpetuate simplistic and stereotypical understandings about forced movement in the world. In our research we examine personal narratives and propose that educators should use stories and books written and illustrated by children as a means to bring refugee children's voices into formal educational spaces. We argue that this is a respectful approach that counters a deficit model of refugee children; it highlights refugee children's authentic voices and stories told on their own terms. Additionally, it offers a counter-narrative to dominant refugee stories in the public sphere and presents understandings of forced migration and its legacies from children's perspectives. We suggest that to effectively examine refugee experiences through literature, educators should use a number of texts to begin conversations in classrooms, and stories by children who have experienced forced migration should be featured

Transport and magnetic Jc of MgB2 strands and small helical coils

The critical current densities of MgB2 monofilamentary strands with and without SiC additions were measured at 4.2 K. Additionally, magnetic Jc at B = 1 T was measured from 4.2 K to 40 K. Various heat treatment times and temperatures were investigated for both short samples and small helical coils. SiC additions were seen to improve high field transport Jc at 4.2 K, but improvements were not evident at 1 T at any temperature. Transport results were relatively insensitive to heat treatment times and temperatures for both short samples and coils in the 700C to 900C range.Comment: 8 text pages, 1 table, 4 fig

Identification of individual neurons reflecting short- and long-term visual memory in an arthropod

Ideally, learning-related changes should be investigated while they occur in vivo, but physical accessibility and stability limit intracellular studies. Experiments with insects and crabs demonstrate their remarkable capacity to learn and memorize visual features. However, the location and physiology of individual neurons underlying these processes is unknown. A recently developed crab preparation allows stable intracellular recordings from the optic ganglia to be performed in the intact animal during learning. In the crab Chasmagnathus, a visual danger stimulus (VDS) elicits animal escape, which declines after a few stimulus presentations. The long-lasting retention of this decrement is mediated by an association between contextual cues of the training site and the VDS, therefore, called context-signal memory (CSM). CSM is achieved only by spaced training. Massed training, on the contrary, produces a decline of the escape response that is short lasting and, because it is context independent, is called signal memory (SM). Here, we show that movement detector neurons (MDNs) from the lobula (third optic ganglion) of the crab modify their response to the VDS during visual learning. These modifications strikingly correlate with the rate of acquisition and with the duration of retention of both CSM and SM. Long-term CSM is detectable from the response of the neuron 1 d after training. In contrast to MDNs, identified neurons from the medulla (second optic ganglion) show no changes. Our results indicate that visual memory in the crab, and possibly other arthropods, including insects, is accounted for by functional changes occurring in neurons originating in the optic lobes.Fil:Tomsic, D. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Berón de Astrada, M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Sztarker, J. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina