Comment on ``Method to analyze electromechanical stability of dielectric elastomers" [Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 061921 (2007)]

The model of Zhao and Suo can be readily generalized to predict the critical breakdown electric field $E_c$ value of elastomers with arbitrary elastic strain energy function. An explicit expression for $E_c$ is presented for elastomeric thin films under biaxial strain and comparisons are made with experimental data using a two term Ogden rubber elasticity model. Simplified results for uniaxial and for equi-biaxial stress provide further insight into the findings of Zhao and Suo.Comment: 2 page

Expanding Department Visibility by Starting an Industry Council

Today’s managers seek employees with strong communication skills who can apply knowledge in a business setting, while academic business departments seek exposure in their communities. Industry councils can be an effective tool for bridging this gap. As the business world adapts to technological change, education based on information will cede to education based on the generation of ideas. The creation of an industry council creates a repository of relevant knowledge combined with a cadre of seasoned professionals to foster an environment that frames the challenges of an industry in a manner that is useful to professional and instructive to students. Accordingly, council led competitions aid students in identifying problems and synthesizing information from multiple sources into solutions that simulate real business situations. This document outlines steps to start an industry council. While every experience will be different, this paper offers guidelines to help form a council. The authors share their experience and suggest a process to lessen the learning curve for others who may benefit from establishing an industry council

Cardiac output and regional blood flow in conscious rats exposed to acute hypoxia

Cardiac output and regional blood flow in conscious rats exposed to acute hypoxi

Efficacy according to viewing length and video content of promotional videos for sustainability graduate education.

Sustainability communication opens up a range of perspectives on the definition and theory associated with concepts of sustainability and communication. An overview of the literature dealing with sustainability communication and its measure is presented with a dialogic perspective in mind. Practical matters of the video length, production methods and design are described. The Project is evaluated with the sustainability testing rubric advanced by Polk, Reilly, Servaes, Shi and Yakupitijage. The study compares three videos of different length and environmental images through an online survey. It is hypothesized that related environmental images and a three minute video will prompt more positive affect and cognitive retention of Maltese sustainability issues than a one minute video with similar images and a one minute video with no such images and a group that views no video

Hearing the grass grow. Emotional and epistemological challenges of practice-near research

This paper discusses the concept of practice-near research in terms of the emotional and epistemological challenges that arise from the researcher coming 'near' enough to other people for psychological processes to ensue. These may give rise in the researcher to confusion, anxiety and doubt about who is who and what is what; but also to the possibility of real emotional and relational depth in the research process. Using illustrations from three social work doctoral research projects undertaken by students at the Tavistock Clinic and the University of East London the paper examines four themes that seem to the author to be central to meaningful practice-near research undertaken in a spirit of true emotional and epistemological open-mindedness: the smell of the real; losing our minds; the inevitability of personal change; and the discovery of complex particulars

The impact of oxalate ions on barium sulfate crystallization

In this manuscript we investigate the impact of oxalate ions on the crystallization of barium sulfate. The organic anion, oxalate, was found to inhibit both nucleation and growth according to atomic force microscopy measurements and dynamic light scattering data. Raman confocal imaging was used to try and determine how the oxalate interacts with the barium sulfate surface. It was found that barium oxalate is only seen at very high oxalate concentrations. At lower concentrations no direct evidence for the presence of oxalate was observed, however, the most probable mode of action for oxalate is via adsorption onto the barium sulfate surface including into key kink or step sites, impacting growth