THE EFFECTS OF INOCULUM SIZE, AIRFLOW RATE, BULK DENSITY AND PARTICLE SIZE ON THE SCALE-UP OF \u3cem\u3ePHANEROCHAETE CHRYSOSPORIUM\u3c/em\u3e PRETREATMENT

The following full-factorial study compared fungal activity on lignocellulosic biomass that was inoculated with three different amounts of fungus, and grown using three different airflow rates. These treatments were compared to a control which consisted of biomass that was not inoculated but was exposed to the same growth conditions in the environmental chamber. The objectives of the following experiment were to determine the inoculum density and airflow rate required to optimize Phanerochaete chrysosporium lignin degradation. Additionally, this study quantifies the saccharification yield from the pretreated switchgrass. The impact of substrate bulk density and substrate particle size on fungal growth were compared to determine if the particle size or the substrate bulk density has the predominant influence on the growth of the fungus, and subsequent pretreatment effectiveness quantified as an increase in glucose yields and lignin degradation. The particle size tests were controlled for bulk density; all three particle sizes were tested at a bulk density of 80 kg/m3. To test the density, three different bale densities were prepared controlling for particle size. The density tests were performed on small-scale bales made of 4 inch cut pieces of switchgrass compressed to the correct density. Therefore; density tests had the same particle size throughout all treatments, and particle size tests had the same density through all treatments. Carbohydrate accessibility post-pretreatment was examined through enzymatic saccharification and determination of glucose yields in the treatments and controls

Joyful noise: the ecclesiological and evangelistic significance of racial diversity and religious pluralism in the experiences of historically black collegiate gospel choirs on three majority-white university campuses in Greater Boston

This study offers a practical theology of evangelism for black churches in an increasingly postmodern American cultural context. As a postmodern politics of difference challenges the traditional construction of black racial identity and religious pluralism challenges the basis of Christian confessional commitment, the black church must reassess what it means to bear witness to a distinctive black Christian faith tradition. As a work in practical theology, this reflection emanates from a consideration of how these issues manifest in a concrete situation. Specifically, the dissertation investigates the practices and self-understanding of three historically black collegiate gospel choirs (HBCGCs) affiliated with predominantly white major research universities in the greater Boston area. The descriptive analysis of these HBCGCs and the ecclesiological discussion that follows assume a reflexive quality whereby the research on HBCGCs contributes fresh insights regarding the nature of black Christian community within a racially diverse and religiously pluralist social context even as the praxis of HBCGCs is subjected to critique through the normative gaze of black theology. This dialogue includes voices from black postmodern cultural criticism in order to develop a black postmodern ecclesiology that preserves the distinctiveness of the black Christian tradition through the exercise of narrative discipline while embracing a reconstructed notion of communal solidarity that is strengthened by difference. From this black postmodern ecclesiology, evangelism emerges as the ecclesial practice of extending the church’s communal witness across the boundary lines between church and world through mutually critical transformative exchanges. The study brings black postmodern ecclesiology into conversation with cross-cultural missional theology and postliberal communalism to arrive at a narrativist confessional approach to evangelism that affirms the particularity of the Christian gospel while recognizing the work of the Spirit outside the church. The descriptive analysis of HBCGCs aids in imagining the practical implications of this approach as they creatively embody aspects of the communal life of black churches, thereby providing unique extra-ecclesial spaces within which mutually critical transformative exchanges occur between those for whom the black Christian tradition is normative and those for whom it is not—risky exchanges the outcomes of which are unpredictable, yet beautiful and joyful

Immigrant women's Identity and Integration: Liverpool, "The World in One City"

This article is based on the original research that studied immigrant women who have been living in Liverpool since 2001. It deals with issues concerning the identity of immigrant women. One of the aims was to identify if there was a difference between subjective perception and findings derived from an objective evaluation of their integration based on the collected data. The study, conducted in Liverpool in 2009, explores the choices immigrant women have made with respect to their preferred identity, i.e. by nationality, religion, or ethnicity. The inductive explorative research is postpositivist in approach and a questionnaire was used to collect primary data. The results have demonstrated how the various challenges immigrants face when moving to another country influence their choice of identity. Their preference of identification by nationality, religion and ethnic group helped to define the level of integration of these women within the wider society. The study has found that the way the respondents wanted to be identified depended on a number of factors; degree of integration, knowledge of the local language, and participation in the local community. The quantitative method and the multiple correspondence analyses have enabled the mapping profile of the sample and have demonstrated the existence of spatial urban self-segregation. The study shows that these women live in their diaspora space rather than within the wider community

Reflections on Miller

We have been invited to open the symposium in this volume of the UK Supreme Court Yearbook with some reflections on the Miller litigation, taking as our starting point our blog post, Pulling the Article 50 Trigger: Parliament’s Indispensable Role (‘the blog post’).1 As self-indulgent as it is to accept this invitation, it provides a useful opportunity to set-out the background and provide the context to the Miller litigation, before setting out our thoughts on the judgments of the Divisional Court and the UK Supreme Court (‘the Supreme Court’) themselves. Part I of this chapter examines the context, Part II explores the reasoning of the Divisional Court2 and the Supreme Court3 and Part III provides some conclusions regarding the Miller litigation

The Sir2-Sum1 Complex Represses Transcription Using Both Promoter-Specific and Long-Range Mechanisms to Regulate Cell Identity and Sexual Cycle in the Yeast Kluyveromyces lactis

Deacetylases of the Sir2 family regulate lifespan and response to stress. We have examined the evolutionary history of Sir2 and Hst1, which arose by gene duplication in budding yeast and which participate in distinct mechanisms of gene repression. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Sir2 interacts with the SIR complex to generate long-range silenced chromatin at the cryptic mating-type loci, HMLα and HMRa. Hst1 interacts with the SUM1 complex to repress sporulation genes through a promoter-specific mechanism. We examined the functions of the non-duplicated Sir2 and its partners, Sir4 and Sum1, in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis, a species that diverged from Saccharomyces prior to the duplication of Sir2 and Hst1. KlSir2 interacts with both KlSir4 and KlSum1 and represses the same sets of target genes as ScSir2 and ScHst1, indicating that Sir2 and Hst1 subfunctionalized after duplication. However, the KlSir4-KlSir2 and KlSum1-KlSir2 complexes do not function as the analogous complexes do in S. cerevisiae. KlSir4 contributes to an extended repressive chromatin only at HMLα and not at HMRa. In contrast, the role of KlSum1 is broader. It employs both long-range and promoter-specific mechanisms to repress cryptic mating-type loci, cell-type–specific genes, and sporulation genes and represents an important regulator of cell identity and the sexual cycle. This study reveals that a single repressive complex can act through two distinct mechanisms to regulate gene expression and illustrates how mechanisms by which regulatory proteins act can change over evolutionary time

The world in One City: Immigrant Integration in Liverpool

This exploratory study focuses on immigrant women who have been living in Liverpool since 2001. Its aim is to identify the difference - if any – between a subjective perception of integration of the respondents and the findings derived from an objective evaluation of their integration based on the collected data. The foreign women contacted had arrived from all over the world and the extensive questionnaire addressed a breadth of aspects relating to the individuals and their relation to the host community. The intention of the study is not to examine exclusionary or inclusionary practices at play in Liverpool. A wide variety of texts on immigration/migration was consulted and it was noted that literature has generally neglected the importance of immigrant women’s integration into the host society, a gap this study attempts to fill. Purposive sampling, defined as a non-probability sampling procedure was used for the composition of the sample (Saunders et al, 2007). Data were gathered by mean of a questionnaire. The different sections related to demographic information, education, identity, and religion. A number of questions required the knowledge and practice of the local cultural approaches to daily life; in this way, focus was put on the lived experience of the respondents. To avoid bias, responses collected from the questionnaires were evaluated by using a purposely created mathematical tool (see page 6) which facilitated the formulation of an objective measurement of integration. The findings have shown a marked difference between the subjective perception of integration and the objective outcome. It is therefore possible to speculate that immigrant women in Liverpool are generally not integrated within the wider society of the city. Furthermore, the findings have shown that the knowledge of English, the level of education and the length of residence are useful indicators of integration

“I drive outside of peak time to avoid traffic jams—Public transport is not attractive here.” Challenging discourses on travel to the University campus in Manila

One of the major narratives in transport policy internationally concerns the promotion of private versus public modes. The Global North has many examples where public transport, walking and cycling networks are well developed, yet examples from the Global South are less evident. There is a historical failure of replicating policies and practices from the Global North, particularly in perpetuating the highway building model, often unsuitable to the cultural contexts in the Global South. This paper examines individual attitudes and discourses concerning travel to De La Salle University campus, in Metro Manila, the Philippines. 42 participants are surveyed using Q methodology. Four discourses are developed, reflecting attitudes to growing automobility in Manila, public transport service provision, the difficulties of travelling in the city and the aspiration for increased comfort whilst travelling. Manila provides an example of the complexities in moving towards greater sustainable travel in the southeast Asian context where levels of private car usage are already high. It is hoped that a greater awareness of the problems of the current travel experiences might lead to us to seek different narratives, where transport systems can be developed which better serve social equity and environmental goals

Self-Perceived Pain Assessment Knowledge and Confidence (Self-PAC) Scale for Cancer and Palliative Care Nurses: A Preliminary Validation Study

© 2018 American Society for Pain Management Nursing Background: Pain is highly prevalent in all health care settings, and frequently poorly managed. Effective pain management is predicated on a continuous cycle of screening, assessing, intervening and evaluating. Identifying gaps in nurses’ self-perceived pain assessment competencies is an essential first step in the design of tailored interventions to embed effective pain assessment into routine clinical practice, and improve patient reported pain outcomes. Yet, few validated instruments focus on the competencies required for undertaking a comprehensive pain assessment, with most focusing on clinician's pain management competencies. Aim: To examine the validity of the ‘Self-Perceived Pain Assessment Knowledge and Confidence’ (Self-PAC) Scale. Design: Preliminary instrument validation. Setting: Two Australian cancer and palliative care services. Participants/Subjects: 186 cancer and palliative care nurses. Methods: The Self-PAC Scale was administered to participants online. Factor Analyses, including Exploratory and Confirmatory, were applied to examine the structural validity, Cronbach's alpha was calculated for internal consistency. Criterion validity was investigated by comparing responses from experienced and non-experienced nurses. Results: Two components resulted with a single factor structure for pain assessment confidence and a two-factor structure for the knowledge of pain assessment. The factor loading for the subscales ranged from 0.653 to 0.969, with large proportions of the variances explained by the factors. Cronbach's alpha of the subscales ranged from 0.87-0.92 and significant difference in responses were found between experienced and non-experienced nurses. Conclusion: Preliminary validation of the Self-PAC Scale suggests that it is a helpful instrument for assessing cancer and palliative care nurse’ pain assessment competencies

Family stories, public silence: Irish identity construction amongst the second-generation Irish in England

Formal narratives of history, especially that of colonial oppression, have been central to the construction of national identities in Ireland. But the Irish diasporic community in Britain has been cut off from the reproduction of these narratives, most notably by their absence from the curriculum of Catholic schools, as result of the unofficial 'denationalisation' pact agreed by the Church in the 19th century (Hickman, 1995). The reproduction of Irish identities is largely a private matter, carried out within the home through family accounts of local connections, often reinforced by extended visits to parent/s 'home' areas. Recapturing a public dimension has often become a personal quest in adulthood, 'filling in the gaps'. This paper explores constructions of narratives of nation by a key diasporic population, those with one or two Irish-born parents. It places particular emphasis on varying regional/national contexts within which such constructions take place, drawing on focus group discussions and interviews for the ESRC-funded Irish 2 Project in five locations — London, Glasgow, Manchester, Coventry and Banbury