Insider and Outsider Perspective in Ethnographic Research

Emic and etic perspectives are consequential for research because they impact the research process, the findings of a study, and the argument made by the researcher about the implications of these findings. Moreover, because the nature of ethnographic work involves the interpretation of cultures (Geertz, 1973), there is a responsibility on the part of the researcher to the culture being studied because the perspective the researcher takes impacts the knowledge produced about the cultural group that is studied.Contributors to this discussion represent a variety of research areas including rhetoric, library studies, family, media, and intercultural communication. Recurrant themes include awareness, bias avoidance, personal distance, appreciation of one\u27s insider/ outsider status

Exposure of benthic invertebrates to sediment vibration: From laboratory experiments to outdoor simulated pile-driving

Activities directly interacting with the seabed, such as pile-driving, can produce vibrations that have the potential to impact benthic invertebrates within their vicinity. This stimuli may interfere with crucial behaviors such as foraging and predator avoidance, and the sensitivity to vibration is largely unknown. Here, the responsiveness of benthic invertebrates to sediment vibration is discussed in relation to laboratory and semi-field trials with two marine species: the mussel (Mytilus edulis) and hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus). Sensory threshold curves were produced for both species in controlled laboratory conditions, followed by small-scale pile-driving exposures in the field. The merits of behavioral indicators are discussed, in addition to using physiological measures, as a method of determining reception and measuring responses. The measurement and sensors required for sediment vibration quantification are also discussed. Response and threshold data were related to measurements taken in the vicinity of anthropogenic sources, allowing a link between responsiveness and actual operations. The impact of pile-driving on sediment-dwelling invertebrates has received relatively little research, yet the data here suggest that such activities are likely to impact key coastal species which play important roles within the marine environment

Men’s health – the impact of stroke

Stroke is a leading cause of adult death and the most common cause of complex disability in the UK. This article discusses the incidence and impact of stroke, focusing on a range of issues from a male perspective, including stroke prevention, psychological needs, sexuality and return to work. There are some gender differences in modifiable risk factors for stroke, and women have better knowledge of stroke symptomatology. For men, the development of post-stroke depression is associated with greater physical disability. (c) Sherborne Gibbs Limite

Integrated High-Speed Torque Control System for a Robotic Joint

A control system for achieving high-speed torque for a joint of a robot includes a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) having a collocated joint processor and high-speed communication bus. The PCBA may also include a power inverter module (PIM) and local sensor conditioning electronics (SCE) for processing sensor data from one or more motor position sensors. Torque control of a motor of the joint is provided via the PCBA as a high-speed torque loop. Each joint processor may be embedded within or collocated with the robotic joint being controlled. Collocation of the joint processor, PIM, and high-speed bus may increase noise immunity of the control system, and the localized processing of sensor data from the joint motor at the joint level may minimize bus cabling to and from each control node. The joint processor may include a field programmable gate array (FPGA)

Acceleration of a full-scale industrial CFD application with OP2

Hydra is a full-scale industrial CFD application used for the design of turbomachinery at Rolls Royce plc., capable of performing complex simulations over highly detailed unstructured mesh geometries. Hydra presents major challenges in data organization and movement that need to be overcome for continued high performance on emerging platforms. We present research in achieving this goal through the OP2 domain-specific high-level framework, demonstrating the viability of such a high-level programming approach. OP2 targets the domain of unstructured mesh problems and enables execution on a range of back-end hardware platforms. We chart the conversion of Hydra to OP2, and map out the key difficulties encountered in the process. Specifically we show how different parallel implementations can be achieved with an active library framework, even for a highly complicated industrial application and how different optimizations targeting contrasting parallel architectures can be applied to the whole application, seamlessly, reducing developer effort and increasing code longevity. Performance results demonstrate that not only the same runtime performance as that of the hand-tuned original code could be achieved, but it can be significantly improved on conventional processor systems, and many-core systems. Our results provide evidence of how high-level frameworks such as OP2 enable portability across a wide range of contrasting platforms and their significant utility in achieving high performance without the intervention of the application programmer

CASIMIR, The Caltech airborne submillimeter interstellar medium investigations receiver

CASIMIR, the Caltech Airborne Submillimeter Interstellar Medium Investigations Receiver is a multiband, far infrared and submillimeter, high resolution, heterodyne spectrometer under development for SOFIA. It is a first generation, PI class instrument. CASIMIR is designed for detailed, high sensitivity observations of warm (100 K) interstellar gas both in external galaxies and Galactic sources, including molecular clouds, circumstellar envelopes, and protostellar cores. Combining the 2.5 m SOFIA mirror with state of the art superconducting mixers, will give CASIMIR unprecedented sensitivity. Initially, CASIMIR will have two bands, at 1000 and 1250 GHz, and a further three bands, 550, 750, 1400 GHz, will be added soon after. Any four bands will be available on each flight. The availability of multiple bands during each flight will allow for efficient use of flight time. For example, searches for weak lines from rare species in bright sources can be carried out on the same flight with observations of abundant species in faint or distant objects

Intestinal barrier dysfunction in inflammatory bowel diseases

The etiology of human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) is believed to involve inappropriate host responses to the complex commensal microbial flora in the gut, although an altered commensal flora is not completely excluded. A multifunctional cellular and secreted barrier separates the microbial flora from host tissues. Altered function of this barrier remains a major largely unexplored pathway to IBD. Although there is evidence of barrier dysfunction in IBD, it remains unclear whether this is a primary contributor to disease or a consequence of mucosal inflammation. Recent evidence from animal models demonstrating that genetic defects restricted to the epithelium can initiate intestinal inflammation in the presence of normal underlying immunity has refocused attention on epithelial dysfunction in IBD. We review the components of the secreted and cellular barrier, their regulation, including interactions with underlying innate and adaptive immunity, evidence from animal models of the barrier's role in preventing intestinal inflammation, and evidence of barrier dysfunction in both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2008