Adam Smith's dinner

In 1961, the East German government erected what they claimed was an anti-capitalist barricade. In 1989, this barricade was dismantled by those whom it was supposed to keep apart: the forces it was intended to contain had overwhelmed it. In the aftermath, the victims of Stalinist oppression and the planned economy opted for radical change. Some might have hoped that they would intellectually march resolutely westwards towards the forms of social democracy that had proven so successful in their nearest neighbours – Scandinavia, Germany and Austria – and stop when they had reached a point on the political spectrum with which they felt comfortable, and which worked for them. Unfortunately, they went to the opposite end of political economy. That choice was celebrated by those theorists who wanted our own countries to move in the same direction. Eastern Europe suffered a decline of 50% in its GDP. Much earlier in 1653, Peter Stuyvesant had erected an earth and wooden wall to protect the westernmost settlement of a great commercial nation from those they imagined to be barbarians. In 1699 Stuyvesant’s barrier was dismantled by the British, who replaced it with a street named after the wall. So it came to be that one of the most inconsequential walls in history became one of history’s most famous streets. I am not sure if the Dutch had left some tulip bulbs on either side of the wall, perhaps as a reminder of capitalism’s first bubble, and an inspiration to later bubbles. However, many of the victims of the latest burst bubble are pretty keen to tear down that Wall.1 As in 1989, they want to take action against the guardians of the system that failed them. And the more they suffer, the more likely it is that they will demand radical change, and the more likely that the resulting change will go too far – as seems to have been the case in Eastern Europe after the terminal crisis of communism, and in the majority of democracies that fell in the dozen years following the Great Crash. The current reaction is so strong that some are even wondering what role there will be for markets. I was invited to address a conference in the EU Parliament last November on the topic ‘Capitalism: Quo Vadis?’, where I apologized to the international audience that the topic was posed in a dead European language because the answer to this question is not going to be determined by the west alone. The problems we have been addressing emerged in the west and have affected the rest. However, the answers will not come, solely from the west, and may even come primarily from the south and the east.

Creative China must find its own path

Rather than catch-up with the West, when it comes to creative industries, China must find its own path.

The changing role of the supervisory board chairman: the case of the Netherlands (1997-2007)

Over the last ten years, the corporate governance context in most Western countries has changed as a result of irregularities, increased regulation, heightened societal expectations and shareholder activism. This paper examines the impact of the changing context on the role of chairmen of supervisory boards in the Netherlands. Based on a combination of thirty semi-structured interviews with board members of leading Dutch corporations and secondary data on the position of supervisory board chairmen at the top-100 listed firms in the Netherlands, the study reveals that board chairmen have become increasingly involved in both their control and service roles. While the demographics (i.e., age, tenure, gender and nationality) of chairmen have hardly changed over the last decade, chairmen are spending considerably more time on boards and committees, have reduced the number of board interlocks and have become more active on the forefront of the corporate governance discussion. The paper highlights several implications for scholars and practitioners.

Attitudinal impact of hybridized writing about a socioscientific issue

The development of scientifically literate citizens remains an important priority of science education; however, growing evidence of students’ disenchantment with school science continues to challenge the realisation of this aim. This triangulation mixed methods study investigated the learning experiences of 152 9th grade students as they participated in an online science-writing project on the socioscientific issue of biosecurity. Students wrote a series of hybridized scientific narratives, or BioStories, that integrate scientific information about biosecurity with narrative storylines. The students completed an online Likert-style questionnaire, the BioQuiz, which examined selected aspects of their attitudes toward science and science learning, prior to their participation in the project, and upon completion of the writing tasks. Statistical analyses of these results and interview data obtained from participating students suggest that hybridized writing about a socioscientific issue developed more positive attitudes toward science and science learning, particularly in terms of the students’ interest and enjoyment. Implications for research and teaching are also discussed.

Development of an autonomous unmanned aerial system to collect time-stamped samples from the atmosphere and localize potential pathogen sources

This paper presents the hardware development and testing of a new concept for air sampling via the integration of a prototype spore trap onboard an unmanned aerial system (UAS).We propose the integration of a prototype spore trap onboard a UAS to allow multiple capture of spores of pathogens in single remote locations at high or low altitude, otherwise not possible with stationary sampling devices.We also demonstrate the capability of this system for the capture of multiple time-stamped samples during a single mission.Wind tunnel testing was followed by simulation, and flight testing was conducted to measure and quantify the spread during simulated airborne air sampling operations. During autonomous operations, the onboard autopilot commands the servo to rotate the sampling device to a new indexed location once the UAS vehicle reaches the predefined waypoint or set of waypoints (which represents the region of interest). Time-stamped UAS data are continuously logged during the flight to assist with analysis of the particles collected. Testing and validation of the autopilot and spore trap integration, functionality, and performance is described. These tools may enhance the ability to detect new incursions of spores

Polycaprolactone microspheres as carriers for dry powder inhalers : effect of surface coating on aerosolization of salbutamol sulfate

This study reports the factors controlling aerosolization of salbutamol sulfate (SS) from mixtures with polycaprolactone (PCL) microspheres fabricated using an emulsion technique with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as stabilizer. The fine particle fraction (FPF) of SS from PCL measured by a twin-stage impinger was unexpectedly found to be zero, although scanning electron microscopy showed that the drug coated the entire microsphere. Precoating the microspheres with magnesium stearate (MgSt) excipient solutions (1%–2%) significantly increased (p < 0.05, n = 5) the FPF of SS (11.4%–15.4%), whereas precoating with leucine had a similar effect (FPF = 11.3 ± 1.1%), but was independent of the solution concentration. The force of adhesion (by atomic force microscopy) between the PCL microspheres and SS was reduced from 301.4 ± 21.7 nN to 110.9 ± 30.5 nN and 121.8 ± 24.6 nN, (p < 0.05, n = 5) for 1% and 2% MgSt solutions, respectively, and to 148.1 ± 21.0 nN when coated with leucine. The presence of PVA on the PCL microspheres (detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) affected the detachment of SS due to strong adhesion between the two, presumably due to capillary forces acting between them. Precoating the microspheres with excipients increased the FPF significantly by reducing the drug–carrier adhesion. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 101:733–745, 2012

A temporal comparison of AltaVista Web searching

Major Web search engines, such as AltaVista, are essential tools in the quest to locate online information. This article reports research that used transaction log analysis to examine the characteristics and changes in AltaVista Web searching that occurred from 1998 to 2002. The research questions we examined are (1) What are the changes in AltaVista Web searching from 1998 to 2002? (2) What are the current characteristics of AltaVista searching, including the duration and frequency of search sessions? (3) What changes in the information needs of AltaVista users occurred between 1998 and 2002? The results of our research show (1) a move toward more interactivity with increases in session and query length, (2) with 70% of session durations at 5 minutes or less, the frequency of interaction is increasing, but it is happening very quickly, and (3) a broadening range of Web searchers' information needs, with the most frequent terms accounting for less than 1% of total term usage. We discuss the implications of these findings for the development of Web search engines. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Compact multiport antenna with isolated ports

The small element spacing of compact multiport arrays introduces strong mutual coupling between the antenna ports. Due to this coupling, the input impedance of the array changes when elements excitations are varied, and consequently, the array cannot be matched for an arbitrary excitation. Decoupling networks have in the past been used to provide an additional connection between antenna ports in order to cancel the coupling between elements. An alternative approach is to design the antenna so that each port does not excite a single element, but all elements simultaneously instead. The geometry of the antenna is optimized so that this direct excitation of elements counteracts the mutual coupling, thus yielding decoupled ports. This paper describes the design of such a 4-port antenna.

UWB antenna array for wireless transmission along corridors

A 2-element elliptical patch antenna array with a bi-directional radiation pattern has been developed for ultra wideband indoor wireless communications. The array is constructed by means of feeding two omni-directional elliptical patch elements with a 3-section hybrid power divider. Experimental results show that the array has a stable radiation pattern and low return loss over a broad bandwidth of 64% (3.1 - 6 GHz).

A modified dual-band microstrip monopole antenna

A modified microstrip-fed planar monopole antenna with open circuited coupled line is presented in this paper. The operational bandwidth of the proposed antenna covers the 2.4 GHz ISM band (2.42-2.48 GHz) and the 5 GHz WLAN band (5 GHz to 6 GHz). The radiating elements occupy a small area of 23×8 mm2. The Finite Difference Time Domain method is used to predict the input impedance of the antenna. The calculated return loss shows very good agreement with measured data. Reasonable antenna gain is observed across the operating band. The measured radiation patterns are similar to those of a simple monopole antenna.

Characteristics of a two-layer microstrip patch antenna for Bluetooth applications

A double-layer rectangular patch microstrip antenna suitable for Bluetooth applications is investigated. The patch is etched on a separate substrate which is suspended above the ground plane and supported by an MCX connector. The air gap between the patch and the ground plane increases the impedance bandwidth and can be used to tune the resonant frequency. This paper presents experimental results on the effects of various parameters on the antenna characteristics and provides guidelines for the design of such an antenna.

Microstrip decoupling networks for low-order multi-port arrays with reduced element spacing

An array of monopole elements with reduced element spacing of λ/6 to λ/20 is considered for application in digital beam-forming and direction-finding. The small element spacing introduces strong mutual coupling between the array elements. This paper discusses that decoupling can be achieved analytically for arrays with three elements and describes Kuroda’s identities to realize the lumped elements of the derived decoupling network. Design procedures and equations are proposed. Experimental results are presented. The decoupled array has a bandwidth of 1% and a superdirective radiation pattern.

A superdirective 3-element array for adaptive beamforming

A small array composed of three monopole elements with very small element spacing on the order of λ/6 to λ/20 is considered for application in adaptive beamforming. The properties of this 3-port array are governed by strong mutual coupling. It is shown that for signal-to-noise maximization, it is not sufficient to adjust the weights to compensate for the effects of mutual coupling. The necessity for a RF-decoupling network (RF-DN) and its simple realization are shown. The array with closely spaced elements together with the RF-DN represents a superdirective antenna with a directivity of more than 10 dBi. It is shown that the required fractional frequency bandwidth and the available unloaded Q of the antenna and RF-DN structure determine the lower limit for the element spacing.

Photocatalytic disinfection of bacterial pollutants using suspended and immobilized TiO(2) powders

The photocatalytic disinfection of Enterobacter cloacae and Enterobacter coli using microwave (MW), convection hydrothermal (HT) and Degussa P25 titania was investigated in suspension and immobilized reactors. In suspension reactors, MW-treated TiO(2) was the most efficient catalyst (per unit weight of catalyst) for the disinfection of E. cloacae. However, HT-treated TiO(2) was approximately 10 times more efficient than MW or P25 titania for the disinfection of E. coli suspensions in surface water using the immobilized reactor. In immobilized experiments, using surface water a significant amount of photolysis was observed using the MW- and HT-treated films; however, disinfection on P25 films was primarily attributed to photocatalysis. Competitive action of inorganic ions and humic substances for hydroxyl radicals during photocatalytic experiments, as well as humic substances physically screening the cells from UV and hydroxyl radical attack resulted in low rates of disinfection. A decrease in colony size (from 1.5 to 0.3 mm) was noted during photocatalytic experiments. The smaller than average colonies were thought to occur during sublethal (•) OH and O(2) (•-) attack. Catalyst fouling was observed following experiments in surface water and the ability to regenerate the surface was demonstrated using photocatalytic degradation of oxalic acid as a model test system

An investigation into the effect of amphiphilic siloxane oligomers on dermal fibroblasts

This study investigates the effect of well-defined poly(dimethylsiloxane)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PDMS-PEG) ABA linear block co-oligomers on the proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts. The co-oligomers assessed ranged in molecular weight (MW) from 1335 to 5208 Da and hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) from 5.9 to 16.6 by varying the number of both PDMS and PEG units. In general, it was found that co-oligomers of low MW or intermediate hydrophilicity significantly reduced fibroblast proliferation. A linear relationship between down-regulation of fibroblast proliferation, and the ratio HLB/MW was observed at concentrations of 0.1 and 1.0 wt % of the oligomers. This enabled the structures with highest efficiency to be determined. These results suggest the possible use of the PEG-PDMS-PEG block co-oligomers as an alternative to silicone gels for hypertrophic scar remediation.