Geoengineering and Non-Ideal Theory

The strongest arguments for the permissibility of geoengineering (also known as climate engineering) rely implicitly on non-ideal theory—roughly, the theory of justice as applied to situations of partial compliance with principles of ideal justice. In an ideally just world, such arguments acknowledge, humanity should not deploy geoengineering; but in our imperfect world, society may need to complement mitigation and adaptation with geoengineering to reduce injustices associated with anthropogenic climate change. We interpret research proponents’ arguments as an application of a particular branch of non-ideal theory known as “clinical theory.” Clinical theory aims to identify politically feasible institutions or policies that would address existing (or impending) injustice without violating certain kinds of moral permissibility constraints. We argue for three implications of clinical theory: First, conditional on falling costs and feasibility, clinical theory provides strong support for some geoengineering techniques that aim to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Second, if some kinds of carbon dioxide removal technologies are supported by clinical theory, then clinical theory further supports using those technologies to enable “overshoot” scenarios in which developing countries exceed the cumulative emissions caps that would apply in ideal circumstances. Third, because of tensions between political feasibility and moral permissibility, clinical theory provides only weak support for geoengineering techniques that aim to manage incoming solar radiation

Between the Structure and the Agent:

A contentious debate has been under way for decades over whether prostitution is inherently harmful to women, or a job that can be freely chosen. This debate has become particularly heated around one subject: human trafficking for sexual purposes. In recent decades human trafficking has manifested in many forms and affected countless victims. There has also been a rise in films and other media devoted to human trafficking, especially sex trafficking, some of which have been the subject of academic analysis. This study seeks to shed light on this debate and the related discourses, and contribute to this growing field of scholarship. Two documentaries about women who have either been smuggled voluntarily or trafficked from Nigeria to different parts of Europe are analyzed. A narrative analysis is applied to gain insights into how these women perceive and integrate the, sometimes traumatic, experiences they have had. The study concludes that structure seems to dominate or negate agency in these cases, and that the distinctions of voluntary and forced prostitution can obscure a complex reality, which can further marginalize victims of exploitation

The role of the notch and hedgehog signalling pathways in vascular smooth muscle cell growth

Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell (SMC) fate decisions are fundamental features in the pathogenesis of vascular disease. We investigated the role of Notch 1 and 3 receptor signalling in controlling adult rat SMC growth in vitro. Constitutive expression of active Notch receptors, Notch 1 IC. and Notch 3 IC, resulted in significant upregulation of CBF-l/RBP-Jk-dependent promoter activity and Notch target gene expression concomitant with significant increases in SMC growth. Moreover, inhibition of endogenous Notch mediated CBF-l/RBP-Jk regulated gene expression resulted in a significant decrease in cell growth. Furthermore we examined the specific role of a Hedgehog (Hh)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway in controlling vascular SMC growth through regulation of Notch signalling. We determined that Hh signalling pathway components are constitutively expressed VSMC in culture. Moreover activation of Hh signalling with recombinant Shh resulted in a significant increase in Hh signalling concomitant with an increase in VEGF expression, cell growth and activation of Notch target gene expression in SMC. Inhibition of Hh signalling with cyclopamine resulted in a decrease in Hh signalling concomitant with a decrease in SMC growth while concurrently decreasing Notch target gene expression. Moreover, Shh-mediated stimulation of SMC growth was significantly attenuated following inhibition of Notch target gene expression. In addition, we investigated the role of cyclic strain in modulating Notch/Hh mediated growth of SMC in vitro. Rat SMC cultured under the condition of cyclic strain exhibited a temporal and force dependent reduction in Notch and Hh signalling concomitant with a decrease in SMC growth. Furthermore we could reverse this downregulation of Notch/Hh signalling and subsequent decrease in SMC growth by over-expression of Notch 3 IC .To validate these finding we utilized two in vivo models of increased biomechanical forces and vascular remodelling where we determined that altered mechanical forces significantly downregulate Notch/Hh signalling concomitant with decreased growth in vivo. Collectively, these data suggest that Hh control of SMC fate via VEGF activation of Notch may represent a novel therapeutic target for disease states in which changes in vascular cell fate occur

Minimizing hydraulic losses in additively-manufactured swirl coaxial rocket injectors via analysis-driven design methods

Additive manufacturing (AM) has matured significantly over the past decade and become a highly attractive tool for reducing manufacturing complexity and removing traditional design constraints. This is particularly desirable for rocket combustion devices which often feature hundreds of individual parts with precise tolerances. The degree to which AM can be used to improve combustion device performance, however, has been less rigorously explored. In this work, hydraulic performance impacts associated with and enabled by AM are assessed for a liquid bi-propellant swirl coaxial injector. Specifically, a single-element liquid oxygen/kerosene injector based on a canonical design was manufactured from inconel using Direct Metal Laser Sintering at two different coaxial recess depths. Cold-flow testing for the as-manufactured baseline injector found a reduction in the designed discharge coefficients, which is primarily attributed to increased surface roughness inherent in the AM process. Quantifying this difference provides data for tuning surface roughness effects in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models, which may be used to inform the design stage. In addition, CFD simulations were leveraged to identify hydraulic losses in the baseline design and redesign a more hydraulically efficient injector geometry utilizing reductions in dramatic flow constrictions. For the modified injector geometry, computational results predict a 19% and 8% increase in the fuel and oxidizer discharge coefficients, respectively, as well as an 18% increase in angular momentum relative to the baseline. These results in addition to recommendations made for minimizing frictional losses that resulted from the printing process demonstrate how AM and analysis-driven design may be utilized to develop a more hydraulically efficient liquid rocket engine injector, thus highlighting a pathway to higher thrust-to-weight ratio propulsion systems and increased launch vehicle payload capacity. This work was presented in part at the 2019 AIAA Propulsion and Energy Conference

Implementing a Heart Failure Education Program for Bedside Nurses in the Acute Care Setting

Heart failure is a chronic disease in which a weakened heart is no longer able to deliver adequate blood flow to supply the body with needed oxygen and nutrients. Heart failure is the most common reason for hospitalization in the United States for patients age 65 and over, accounting for over 1,000,000 hospital admissions annually. Due to the chronic nature of this debilitating condition and associated symptoms, patients discharged from the hospital with a diagnosis of heart failure are at high risk for readmission. Effective self-care behaviors have been shown to reduce readmissions and improve quality of life for these patients. Unfortunately, evidence shows that nurses are often unprepared to deliver effective self-care education to their patients with heart failure. The primary goal of this project was to implement an educational intervention within a multi-hospital system to improve nurses’ knowledge and comfort level in delivering heart failure self-care education to their patients. Two conceptual models were used to guide the project, andragogy and Carper’s Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing. The Nurses’ Knowledge of Heart Failure Education Principles Survey (NKHFEP) measured nurses’ knowledge of heart failure self-care principles before and after the intervention. A Likert-scale survey was used to assess nurses’ self-perception of heart failure knowledge and comfort in delivering such education. Post-intervention scores on the NKHFEP survey indicated a significant improvement in heart failure knowledge, and participant self-assessment of knowledge and comfort levels also increased post-intervention. The class is now a permanent offering in the hospital system’s central education department. By empowering nurses to deliver effective heart failure education to their patients, this project has a high likelihood of improving patient outcomes as part of a multimodal approach to reducing heart failure readmissions

An evaluation of a socio-sexuality education program for individuals with a developmental handicap

This thesis is an evaluation of eight week socio-sexuality education group for seven individuals with a developmental handicap who live in a twenty-four hour supervised group home. Pre and post-test data collection measured the socio-sexual knowledge of the participants. Attitudes of their primary counsellors toward the sexuality of individuals with developmental handicaps were also measured pre and post-test. A qualitative analysis of the facilitators’ process notes and a post participation focus group with the counsellors provided an understanding of why changes in knowledge and attitude had, or had not, occurred There was a significant increase in the client groups overall socio-sexual knowledge at post-test with minimal group change on the attitude indicators. Qualitative findings demonstrated that this approach was successful in enhancing the learning and retention of socio-sexual didactic material and facilitating a change in attitude of the individual members of both groups

Correction: Use of "biokitHSV-2 Rapid Assay" to improve the positive predictive value of Focus HerpeSelect HSV-2 ELISA

As the competing interests for only the previous calendar year were included in the published article and it is journal policy to list competing interests for the previous five years, a full declaration of interests for the authors is now published

Generating Feedback from Self and Peer Review: Developing Evaluative Judgement

Peer review not only results in students receiving additional feedback from peers but it also encourages self-assessment and develops feedback literacy (e.g. Carless & Boud, 2018; Morrow, 2006; Nicol, Thomson & Breslin, 2014). In this presentation we will examine how the quality of the work reviewed and stage of the review process (i.e. peer review, self-review or receiving reviews) influences students’ evaluative judgments about their own work. Students anonymously reviewed 3 pieces of work via an established online peer review tool. Two of these online submissions were from their peers, and one was an exemplar written by the teacher. After each review, students completed a “self-review” of their own work using a rubric, and after all three reviews, they then received feedback comments from their peers. Participants were psychology students, and the contribution of each aspect of the peer review process to their learning was evaluated using a quantitative questionnaire, open ended questions and focus groups. When asked how the peer review process contributed to their learning, students indicated that reviewing the work of their peers contributed most. Typical comments were: “I felt this helped me to see if I was on the right track with my own work”; “I already had a template in my own head of what I had written so could see how theirs differed to mine”; “Just from reviewing their work I could identify areas in which mine could be improved”. Our findings suggest that while students reported the process of ‘reviewing and commenting’ as challenging, students learned more from comparing, reflecting and generating feedback for themselves than from receiving feedback comments. This presentation will discuss how use of peer review as a platform to develop evaluative judgement can provide an authentic method of assessment which prepares students for a final summative assessment