Phosphorus Adsorption through Engineered Biochars Produced from Local Waste Products

Phosphorus contained in agricultural runoff is a major anthropogenic contributor to harmful algal blooms (HABs). Biochars are carbon-based materials produced from the pyrolysis of waste biomass that have the potential to amend soils and remediate inorganic and organic contaminants from water. Engineered biochars tailored to adsorb phosphorus from water could reduce the availability of the nutrient in agricultural runoff, reducing the size and frequency of HABs. This study observed the phosphorus adsorption properties of engineered biochars produced from two source materials, oak sawdust and cornstalk residue, and being unmodified, acid-rinsed, or loaded with magnesium prior to pyrolysis, creating acid-rinsed, unmodified, and magnesium oxide biochars. Results indicate that the unmodified biochars released phosphates into solution, hinting at a potential agricultural soil amendment similar to older slash and burn methods of burning and burying crop residue. Magnesium-loaded biochars removed ~99% of 30 mg/L phosphate with 40 mL of solution and 0.1g of biochar. Further adsorption testing of the magnesium biochars showed a maximum adsorption capacity of 174 mg phosphate/g biochar for the sawdust-based biochar and 249.6 mg phosphate/g biochar for the cornstalk-based biochar. The sawdust biochar fit well with both the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models, slightly favoring the Langmuir isotherm, which suggests linear monolayer adsorption as the major adsorption mechanism. The cornstalk-based biochar did not fit either isotherm model particularly well, which suggests that the cornstalk biochar is influenced by other adsorption mechanisms

The effect of text on compositional decisions

The topic of this dissertation is the complex and varied relationship between words and music. Through the transference of the sonic and semantic properties and narrative capabilities of language to my music, I have discovered numerous ways of relating the meaning of the music to its design. This has resulted in a portfolio of pieces that incorporates text into vocal music, music with narration, and instrumental music. Chapter 1 functions in two ways. The first main subchapter sets out a theoretical framework for my research field by showing how the similarities and differences between language and music can illuminate exploitable tensions. These ideas draw on the work of Charles Ives, Virginia Woolf, Klaas de Vries, and Morton Feldman. The second subchapter explains the relevance of different textual elements and their eventual outcomes in my music. Chapter 2 provides commentary on eight pieces: Running at Still Life, Falling Up, as though birds, Sleep & Unremembrance, The Mysteries of Jacob, Three Pieces for Guitar (To the Sea in a Sieve), Beautiful School, and Three Biographies. A description and analysis of each piece relates the musical material and compositional process to the overall topic of words and music. Finally, Chapter 3 draws conclusions based on the eight pieces and discusses possible methods of reclassifying the text/music relationship in light of these musical outcomes

The Tale of e-Government: A Review of the Stories that Have Been Told So Far and What is Yet to Come

Since its first appearance, the concept of e-Government has evolved into a recognized means that has helped the public sector to increase its efficiency and effectiveness. A lot of research has therefore been done in this area to elaborate on the different aspects encompassing this concept. However, when looking at the existing e-Government literature, research mostly focuses on one specific aspect of e-Government and there are few generic publications that provide an overview of the diversity of this interdisciplinary research field over a longer term period. This study analyzes the abstracts of eight e-Government journals from 2000 to 2016 by means of a quantitative text mining analysis, backed by a qualitative Delphi approach. The article concludes with a discussion on the findings and implications as well as directions for future research

Can we Learn from Down Under How to Rise Up in E-Government? A Comparative Analysis of the Public Sector Competences in the German and Australian Higher Education Systems

Australia has been voted world’s second in the last two United Nations e-government surveys 2014 and 2016, despite the acknowledged difficulties that arise in terms of implementation because of its federal structure. Germany, having a similar federal structure, in contrast, only ranks 15th. The study at hand aims at eliciting, if this development can be ascribed to the higher public administration and e-government education landscape. By means of a content analysis, we examined 126 higher education study programmes with a link to the public sector in Australia and compared them to a similar study in Germany from the year 2015. Results show that there are indeed differences with respect to the delivered contents and the respective competences in Australia that might contribute to the different e-government development in the two countries: Higher levels of socio-technical courses and a more contextualised programme delivery in general are two of the main findings

Let’s Play … eGovernment! A Simulation Game for Competence Development among Public Administration Students

The rollout of eGovernment is in full swing worldwide, because of governments’ realization of its possible efficiency and effectiveness gains. The introduction of service accounts, as exemplary initiation of the European eID strategy in Germany, is one of the eGovernment projects that keeps the German public sector busy. Owing to the federal structure of Germany, the nationwide implementation poses an extraordinary challenge. With this, it forms a good example for the complexity of eGovernment projects in federal states. (Future) public servants need to have a full understanding of the interdisciplinary environment, they will need to operate in. Simulation games, offering the possibility of immerging into a subject matter in a neutral, risk-free environment, are increasingly used in educational programs in times of digitalization and therefore could represent a powerful tool to teach the needed eGovernment competences. At the same time, they help to early sensitize eGovernment students to the numerous exigencies in their working life. We developed a simulation game, targeting the introduction of service accounts in Germany, and tested it with an international student group (n=16) to measure its potential for competence development in higher education programs in eGovernment

eGovernment Competences revisited – A Literature Review on necessary Competences in a Digitalized Public Sector

With the growing proliferation of digital technologies, organizations at all levels are faced with a changing environment to which employees and leaders have to adapt. Digital competences can be considered a key factor for the successful implementation of digital technologies in organizations of all kinds. Public administrations are exemption from this trend and are the focus in this study as a special organizational form. Despite the importance of these competences, extensive research on this subject is yet missing. To better understand the shape of knowledge contributions made so far, a structured literature review is conducted to uncover the state of the art of research on these competences. Results of this study indicate that only very few scholars have so far researched public administration competences more closely. Besides functional competences, a focus on so-called soft skills and personality traits is unveiled. Based on the findings, directions for future research are derived

Making Capital of ‘Illegal’ Publication under Japanese Imperial Censorship: Publication Strategies of <i>Senki</i> (Battle Flag) around 1930

Around 1930, the Japanese publishing market was restructured, and as part of this process, the colonial market emerged within the Japanese Empire. In an attempt to expand into the colonial market, publishers such as Kaizō-sha, Chūōkōron-sha, and Senki-sha competed among each other, producing ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ commodities related to socialism. This paper examines the circulation of illegal commodities such as the often-banned magazine Senki (Battle Flag), cross-reading them with internal documents from Senki-sha (Senki’s publisher) and NAPF (All-Japan Federation of Proletarian Arts), as well as with those from the Japanese Home Ministry and the Japanese Government-General in Korea. By doing so, the essay argues that the main actors of the socialist cultural movement around 1930 purposefully planned to capitalize on the ‘illegal’ nature of their commodities, while adopting a public stance of differentiation from commercial capital. Furthermore, by proposing that the publication of illegal commodities was in fact deeply imbricated with the movement of capital in the publishing market, this paper also reveals that Korean-language publications–notably, the magazine Uri tongmu (Our Comrades)–produced by socialists in the Japanese interior around 1930, ended up playing a role in undermining the reconstruction of socialism in Korea. For this reason, it is crucial to reconsider the prevailing narrative about the history of the Japanese socialist movement of the late 1920s and early 1930s, which often essentializes the connection between Japanese and Korean socialists as pure ideological solidarity, paying little attention to the complex movement of capital, legal and illegal, at work in the Japanese Empire around 1930

IMECE2008-66778 FABRICATION AND CHAR ACTERIZATION OF BIO-INSPIRED STRUCTURAL COMPOSITES

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of mechanical tests performed on bio-inspired structural composites. The details of synthesis process, loading configurations, testing conditions are discussed. Results of the tests clearly show the superiority of the biomimicked layered composites made from concrete and polymer, in terms of toughness over their monolithic counterparts. The implications of the results and their impact on construction technology will be elucidated. INTRODUCTION Tough structural materials are desirable for applications such as residential and commercial buildings. Tough structures will mitigate loss of life and property caused b y earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes. The main culprit in natural disasters is the presence of dynamic shear forces that demolish brittle brick and mortar buildings. One way to make tough materials is to mimic naturally tough structures such as nacre. Oyster and mother of pearl shells combine hardness of aragonite with the softness of natural polymers. The result is a tough structure with nominal strengths of 194-248 MPa [1] reported for 3-point bend tests performed on abalone and oyster

ADAM17 Silencing in Mouse Colon Carcinoma Cells: The Effect on Tumoricidal Cytokines and Angiogenesis

ADAM17 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17) is a major sheddase for numerous growth factors, cytokines, receptors, and cell adhesion molecules and is often overexpressed in malignant cells. It is generally accepted that ADAM17 promotes tumor development via activating growth factors from the EGF family, thus facilitating autocrine stimulation of tumor cell proliferation and migration. Here we show, using MC38CEA murine colon carcinoma model, that ADAM17 also regulates tumor angiogenesis and cytokine profile. When ADAM17 was silenced in MC38CEA cells, in vivo tumor growth and in vitro cell motility were significantly diminished, but no effect was seen on in vitro cell proliferation. ADAM17-silencing was accompanied by decreased in vitro expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-A and matrix metalloprotease-9, which was consistent with the limited angiogenesis and slower growth seen in ADAM17-silenced tumors. Among the growth factors susceptible to shedding by ADAM17, neuregulin-1 was the only candidate to mediate the effects of ADAM17 on MC38CEA motility and tumor angiogenesis. Concentrations of TNF and IFN gamma, cytokines that synergistically induced proapoptotic effects on MC38CEA cells, were significantly elevated in the lysates of ADAM17-silenced tumors compared to mock transfected controls, suggesting a possible role for ADAM17 in host immune suppression. These results introduce new, complex roles of ADAM17 in tumor progression, including its impact on the anti-tumor immune response

Regulation of the Immune Balance During Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation by Vitamin D

One of the most promising therapeutic approaches for numerous hematological malignancies represents the allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). One major complication is the development of the life-threatening graft-vs.-host disease (GvHD) which limits beneficial effects of graft-vs.-leukemia (GvL) responses during allo-HSCT. Strengthening GvL effects without induction of severe GvHD is essential to decrease the relapse rate after allo-HSCT. An interesting player in this context is vitamin D3 since it has modulatory capacity in both preventing GvHD and boosting GvL responses. Current studies claim that vitamin D3 induces an immunosuppressive environment by dendritic cell (DC)-dependent generation of regulatory T cells (Tregs). Since vitamin D3 is known to support the antimicrobial defense by re-establishing the physical barrier as well as releasing defensins and antimicrobial peptides, it might also improve graft-vs.-infection (GvI) effects in patients. Beyond that, alloreactive T cells might be attenuated by vitamin D3-mediated inhibition of proliferation and activation. Despite the inhibitory effects of vitamin D3 on T cells, anti-tumor responses of GvL might be reinforced by vitamin D3-triggered phagocytic activity and antibody-based immunotherapy. Therefore, vitamin D3 treatment does not only lead to a shift from a pro-inflammatory toward a tolerogenic state but also promotes tumoricidal activity of immune cells. In this review we focus on vitamin D3 and its immunomodulatory effects by enhancing anti-tumor activity while alleviating harmful allogeneic responses in order to restore the immune balance