An ethical analysis of student-faculty interactions

Senior nursing students described their interactions with faculty in a journal writing assignment. These interactions were categorized by the ethical perspectives of justice, autonomy, beneficence, and caring. An ethical analysis of faculty-student interactions is a strategy that may help nursing faculty and students understand differing perceptions about their relationships.     

Fibre-polarimeter based on grating taps

The fabrication of novel tilted fibre Bragg gratings coupling light out of the fibre core into two different directions is demonstrated. These gratings in combination with a fibre based quarter waveplate are used to form a high-speed fibre polarimeter for real-time polarisation monitoring.     

Worms and viruses and botnets, oh my! Rational responses to emerging Internet threats

No longer satisfied with compromising and controlling individual computers, a new breed of hackers have set their sights on virtual networks of zombie systems, which they use in concert to accomplish various nefarious deeds. Beware the botnet.     

Impact of apolipoprotein E polymorphism on lipoproteins and risk of myocardial infarction. The ECTIM Study

Human apolipoprotein (apo) E, a polymorphic protein with three common alleles, epsilon 2, epsilon 3, and epsilon 4, plays an important role in lipoprotein metabolism. This article describes the association of this polymorphism with lipids, apolipoproteins, and lipoproteins with a particular regard to lipoprotein particles, as defined by their apolipoprotein content, as well as the risk of myocardial infarction in a multicenter population-based case-control study (ECTIM study). In the ECTIM study, 574 male patients aged 25 to 64 were examined 3 to 9 months after myocardial infarction in four regions participating in the World Health Organization MONICA project: Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Lille, Strasbourg, and Toulouse (France). Control subjects (n = 722) were randomly selected from the regional populations. The distribution of apoE phenotypes was significantly different across the four control samples (P = .04), with a higher frequency of the epsilon 4 allele in Belfast (14.3%) than in Toulouse (8.2%). The association of apoE polymorphism with biological measurements was studied in the control groups (n = 640) after men with coronary heart disease or those taking hypolipidemic drugs were omitted, with the apoE3/3 phenotype as a reference after adjustment for concomitant factors. Individuals carrying the epsilon 2 allele had lower levels of plasma cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and apoB and higher levels of triglycerides, very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), apoC-III, apoE, lipoprotein (Lp) C-III:B, and Lp E:B. However, the effect of the epsilon 2 allele on triglyceride, VLDL-C, apoE, and Lp E:B parameters was heterogeneous across the populations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Technical Note: Selecting a Classification Method by Cross-Validation

If we lack relevant problem-specific knowledge, cross-validation methods may be used to select a classification method empirically. We examine this idea here to show in what senses cross-validation does and does not solve the selection problem. As illustrated empirically, cross-validation may lead to higher average performance than application of any single classification strategy, and it also cuts the risk of poor performance. On the other hand, cross-validation is no more or less a form of bias than simpler strategies, and applying it appropriately ultimately depends in the same way on prior knowledge. In fact, cross-validation may be seen as a way of applying partial information about the applicability of alternative classification strategies.     

Bivariate Scientific Function Finding in a Sampled,Real-Data Testbed

This article reports the results of a study of domain-independent function finding based on a collection of several hundred real scientific data sets. Prior studies have introduced the controversial idea of discovering functional relationships of interest to scientists directly from the data they collect. The evidence presented here supports the view that this is sometimes possible, but it also suggests how often purely data-driven discovery is not possible and how much more difficult it may be than has often been assumed. Experience with sampled examples of real scientific data suggests as well that emphasis on search in prior studies may have been misplaced. For the function-finding problems studied here, scientists typically propose only a handful of different functional relationships. The difficulty is not in searching through a large space of relationships but in evaluating a few common ones to determine if they are likely to be of scientific interest.     

X as a Service, Cloud Computing, and the Need for Good Judgment

The paper talks about the spreading "X as a service" phenomenon in the IT arena, cloud computing, and SLA. In the article, the author mentioned that "X as a Service" has entered the vocabulary in many forms, mostly in computing aspect. Also, cloud computing can lead to significant savings as well as significant service improvements. Cloud computing vendors would like to reap most of those benefits.It can change this by bringing past experiences and good judgment into play and adapt them to new situation. That is the mark of being a "professional" in IT field. Experience, understanding, and thoughtfulness can help the contract people write an effective service level agreement (SLA) that puts its needs in good legal form. Ideally the SLA will include all needed services and none that aren't needed.     

Parameters effect on proton conductivity to obtain chitosan membranes for use as electrolytes in PEMFC

The chitosan biopolymer can be used as a proton‐conducting membrane in proton‐exchange membrane fuel cell. In the forms that they have normally obtained and tested, chitosan membranes typically show poor performance in conduction of protons, requiring modifications in the structure of the biopolymer or blending with other polymers to increase its proton conductivity. The present work investigates the individual properties of chitosan and relates them to the proton conductivity performance of membranes composed of this polymer. Evaluation was made of the effects of variables such as the degree of deacetylation (DD) and the molar mass (Mv) of chitosan membranes without addition of any other polymer. The DD and Mv values of the chitosan used to produce membranes determined the proton conduction, with lower DD and higher Mv resulting in higher conductivity. The thicker membranes presented greater crystallinity, with conductivity between 2.0 × 10^?4 and 1.8 × 10^?3 S cm^?1. The characteristic stages of degradation of the chitosan membranes were in the ranges 200 to 300°C and 500 to 600°C, indicating good thermal stability of the material.     

The Behavior of a Silicone-Lubricated Electrostatic Clutch

The performance of a silicone-lubricated electrostatic clutch, as originally reported by Fitch [IBM J. Res. Develop. 61, No. 1 (1957)], differs considerably from that of one using dry surfaces or boundary lubricants. The study reported here, of constriction resistance and the dependence of the coefficient of friction on the bearing modulus (μ v/p), provides a qualitative and quantitative explanation of this behavior. The existence of an air film was experimentally observed for the first time. This film, occurring under proper speed and loading conditions, explains the low residual torque. Effects due to voltage, rotor surface speed, fluid viscosity, band width, and surface roughness are shown to exist and are discussed. The lubricating film thickness, determined by a radioactive tracer technique, is shown to depend on rotor surface speed and voltage.