Monitor chamber backscatter for intensity modulated radiation therapy using multileaf collimators

Children are entitled to their cultural heritage and it is important to their development. Cultural considerations must be incorporated in devising custody and parenting plans. Several generalizations are useful. Children are capable of integrating highly diverse and even contradictory cultural and religious identity fragments. The more distinctly a child's cultural inheritance varies from that of the dominant society, the more it must be taken into account. The more bias or hostility that exists against an aspect of the child's cultural inheritance, the more that cultural component is to be considered. The value of culture to the child is best seen in a developmental context. We are limited in our ability to ensure children's rights to cultural inheritance by our own ethnocentrism or ignorance, by bureaucratic or legalistic definitions of cultural identity, by the desire of one parent to reduce the contribution of the other parent, and by a tendency to rely on consistency as a value in and of itself.     

Green design alternatives for isopropanol recovery in the celecoxib process

Various approaches to solvent recovery have been studied for the manufacturing process of celecoxib, the active ingredient in Celebrex^®. A design case study has been performed by Rowan University with Pfizer through a green engineering partnership program. The manufacturing operation at one of their plants was evaluated and several green engineering alternatives for the purification and recovery of isopropanol (IPA) from waste streams proposed. This separation is complex due to the multiple waste streams generated, with varying compositions of IPA, ethanol, methanol, water, and dissolved solids. Overall goals were waste minimization and IPA recovery and purification. A conceptual study of distillation, extraction, reactive distillation, adsorption, and membrane-based processes was performed. Through use of computer simulation and literature/design methodologies, traditional methods were shown to be unable to obtain high IPA purities with the available equipment. Several green design approaches were evaluated using distillation combined with either molecular sieve adsorption or membrane pervaporation. These process schemes appear to have the most promise to effectively recover and purify IPA. The case study describes equipment and processing issues, and estimates environmental impacts from a life cycle analysis.     

The Duality of Caspases in Cancer,as Told through the Fly

Caspases, a family of cysteine-aspartic proteases, have an established role as critical components in the activation and initiation of apoptosis. Alongside this a variety of non-apoptotic caspase functions in proliferation, differentiation, cellular plasticity and cell migration have been reported. The activity level and context are important factors in determining caspase function. As a consequence of their critical role in apoptosis and beyond, caspases are uniquely situated to have pathological roles, including in cancer. Altered caspase function is a common trait in a variety of cancers, with apoptotic evasion defined as a “hallmark of cancer”. However, the role that caspases play in cancer is much more complex, acting both to prevent and to promote tumourigenesis. This review focuses on the major findings in Drosophila on the dual role of caspases in tumourigenesis. This has major implications for cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with the activation of apoptosis being the end goal. However, such treatments may inadvertently have adverse effects on promoting tumour progression and acerbating the cancer. A comprehensive understanding of the dual role of caspases will aid in the development of successful cancer therapeutic approaches.     

Field Study of Concrete Maturity Methodology in Cold Weather

The objective of this study was to assess the reliability and potential benefits of using the concrete maturity method in cold weather. This paper reviews the concrete maturity method, describes the technology and field observations, and discusses potential benefits of using concrete maturity in cold climates. The concrete maturity method is based on the idea that concrete strength development is strongly correlated with the curing temperature history. Modern sensor and processing devices (loggers) are able to measure and record the temperature of concrete over time. This information could be used to predict concrete strength over time. Findings from a case study in application of the maturity method in an industrial construction project in Edmonton, Alta., Canada indicated a significant potential time and cost reduction. The study also indicated that the concrete maturity methodology enables reliable quality control through the accurate estimation of in-place concrete strength. The real time information available through the concrete maturity method allowed the project manager to be proactive in managing heating and protection to ensure that the proper level of concrete strength was developed.     

Characterization of placentation-specific binucleate cell glycoproteins possessing a novel carbohydrate. Evidence for a new family of pregnancy-associated molecules

The ovine binucleate cell-specific glycoproteins recognized by the monoclonal antibody SBU-3 first appear at the initiation of placentation, and their expression continues throughout gestation. These placenta-specific proteins have not been detected in any other adult or fetal sheep tissues and are specific to the materno-fetal interface. The SBU-3 monoclonal antibody recognizes the carbohydrate epitope common to a group of proteins ranging in molecular mass from 30 to 200 kDa whose function during pregnancy remains undefined. The biochemical properties of these uniquely expressed glycoproteins were investigated by analyzing both the carbohydrate and protein portion of the molecules. Analysis of phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A binding to electrophoretically separated SBU-3 proteins revealed that the major proteins between 40 and 70 kDa bind phytohemagglutinin. In contrast, concanavalin A bound only to minor proteins in the SBU-3 glycoprotein preparation. Analysis of the carbohydrate conjugated to the SBU-3 glycoproteins revealed that the major chains are sialylated O-linked and complex partially sialylated multiple antennary N-linked chains. The presence of N-glycolylneuraminic acid in an N-linked structure indicates the unique nature of this carbohydrate epitope. The differential binding to phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A provided a method for further purification and characterization of the major protein components with monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity-purified SBU-3 proteins being further separated by concanavalin A-Sepharose chromatography. Microsequence analysis of the major non-concanavalin A-binding proteins (69, 62, and 57 kDa) revealed partial homology to ovine and bovine pregnancy-associated glycoprotein and rabbit pepsinogen F. Immunoblot analysis of the SBU-3 proteins showed cross-reactivity with polyclonal antisera directed against ovine placental-associated glycoprotein and pregnancy-specific glycoprotein B. These results suggest that together these glycoproteins represent members of a binucleate cell-derived family of pregnancy-associated molecules in the ruminant placenta.     

The end of handwriting? Using computers in traditional essay examinations

Abstract   Most of our students complete most of their written assignments using a word processor, but they are still asked to handwrite responses in an examination. It could be argued that they have not practiced this task and the validity of the assessment could thus be questioned. This paper explores the possibility of bringing computers into the traditional essay-examination context, describes an appropriate hardware and software configuration, and provides feedback from initial evaluations with students and their reactions to the idea. Some of the implications and equity concerns that need to be considered before a decision can be made to use computers in essay exams are also discussed.     

Review of urban traffic management and the impacts of new vehicle technologies

Traffic congestion is a growing problem in most urban areas across the world. In recent years, the problem has often been tackled by management of existing capacity rather than the traditional concept of more road building. This requires efficient traffic management tools and has led to widespread implementation of advanced traffic control systems integrated within a wider urban traffic management (UTM) environment. UTM systems collect data from various sources, process and manage the data and use this information to implement various measures to manage traffic. While infrastructure-based UTM systems continue to develop, there is now also a rapid market-driven development of vehicle technologies and invehicle driver support systems. Driver information and satellite navigation (sat-nav) systems are two examples already in widespread use, whereas other applications under research and development include intelligent speed adaptation (ISA), adaptive cruise control (ACC) and various other safety-related applications. This study will firstly present state-of-the-art reviews of UTM and in-vehicle systems. It will then discuss the potential impacts of new in-vehicle systems on UTM and opportunities for beneficial cooperation between the two. The research described in the study has been undertaken within a collaborative project FUTURES, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).