Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes Synthesized by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Despite the tremendous application potentials of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) proposed by researchers in the last two decades, efficient experimental techniques and methods are still in need for controllable production of CNTs in large scale, and for conclusive characterizations of their properties in order to apply CNTs in high accuracy engineering. In this dissertation, horizontally well-aligned high quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been successfully synthesized on St-cut quartz substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Effective radial moduli (Eradial) of these straight SWCNTs have been measured by using well-calibrated tapping mode and contact mode atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the measured Eradial decreased from 57 to 9 GPa as the diameter of the SWCNTs increased from 0.92 to 1.91 nm. The experimental results were consistent with the recently reported theoretical simulation data. The method used in this mechanical property test can be easily applied to measure the mechanical properties of other low-dimension nanostructures, such as nanowires and nanodots. The characterized sample is also an ideal platform for electrochemical tests. The electrochemical activities of redox probes Fe(CN)63-/4-, Ru(NH3)63+, Ru(bpy)32+ and protein cytochrome c have been studied on these pristine thin films by using aligned SWCNTs as working electrodes. A simple and high performance electrochemical sensor was fabricated. Flow sensing capability of the device has been tested for detecting neurotransmitter dopamine at physiological conditions with the presence of Bovine serum albumin. Good sensitivity, fast response, high stability and anti-fouling capability were observed. Therefore, the fabricated sensor showed great potential for sensing applications in complicated solution.

Entre lo riesgoso y lo político : hacia una teoría posmarxista del riesgo

A partir del análisis crítico de diversas teorías del riesgo propuestas por autores como Paul Slovic, CassSunstein, Mary Douglas y Ulrich Beck, este artículo delinea algunos fundamentos para una teoría posmarxista del riesgo. Contra cualquier pretendida "Sociedad Mundial del Riesgo" se identificará una específica Lógica del Riesgo capaz de poseer alcance mundial pero que, más allá de su vocación utópica, es concebida como incapaz de lograr el cierre final de lo social, ya sea mediante los instrumentos de un "Estado costo-beneficio" o del desenvolvimiento dialéctico necesario de la sociedad industrial.

Entre lo riesgoso y lo político : hacia una teoría posmarxista del riesgo

A partir del análisis crítico de diversas teorías del riesgo propuestas por autores como Paul Slovic, CassSunstein, Mary Douglas y Ulrich Beck, este artículo delinea algunos fundamentos para una teoría posmarxista del riesgo. Contra cualquier pretendida "Sociedad Mundial del Riesgo" se identificará una específica Lógica del Riesgo capaz de poseer alcance mundial pero que, más allá de su vocación utópica, es concebida como incapaz de lograr el cierre final de lo social, ya sea mediante los instrumentos de un "Estado costo-beneficio" o del desenvolvimiento dialéctico necesario de la sociedad industrial.

Entre lo riesgoso y lo político : hacia una teoría posmarxista del riesgo

A partir del análisis crítico de diversas teorías del riesgo propuestas por autores como Paul Slovic, CassSunstein, Mary Douglas y Ulrich Beck, este artículo delinea algunos fundamentos para una teoría posmarxista del riesgo. Contra cualquier pretendida "Sociedad Mundial del Riesgo" se identificará una específica Lógica del Riesgo capaz de poseer alcance mundial pero que, más allá de su vocación utópica, es concebida como incapaz de lograr el cierre final de lo social, ya sea mediante los instrumentos de un "Estado costo-beneficio" o del desenvolvimiento dialéctico necesario de la sociedad industrial.

Factors influencig software migration decision: case studies of acerlormittal Tubarão and the city government of Serra, Espirito Santo

The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence the migration of free software to proprietary software, or vice-versa. The theoretical framework was developed in light of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DIT) proposed by Rogers (1976, 1995), and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) proposed by Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis (2003). The research was structured in two phases: the first phase was exploratory, characterized by adjustments of the revised theory to fit Brazilian reality and the identification of companies that could be the subject of investigation; and the second phase was qualitative, in which case studies were conducted at ArcelorMittal Tubarão (AMT), a private company that migrated from proprietary software (Unix) to free software (Linux), and the city government of Serra, in Espírito Santo state, a public organization that migrated from free software (OpenOffice) to proprietary (MS Office). The results show that software migration decision takes into account factors that go beyond issues involving technical or cost aspects, such as cultural barriers, user rejection and resistance to change. These results underscore the importance of social aspects, which can play a decisive role in the decision regarding software migration and its successful implementation.

Ethos and Ideology of Knowledge Organization: Toward Precepts for and Engaged Knowledge Organization Drawing on The Arts and Crafts Movement, Critical Theory, and Žižek

Ethos is the spirit that motivates ideas and practices. When we talk casually about the ethos of a town, state, or country we are describing the fundamental or at least underlying rationale for action, as we see it. Ideology is a way of looking at things.It is the set of ideas that constitute one’s goals, expectations, and actions. In this brief essay I want to create a space where we might talk about the ethos and ideology in knowledge organization from a particular point of view; combining ideas and inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement of the early Twentieth Century, critical theory in extant knowledge organization work, the work of Slavoj Žižek, and the work of Thich Nhat Hahn on Engaged Buddhism.I will expand more below, but we can say here and now that there are many open questions about ethos and ideology in and of knowledge organization, both its practice and products. Many of them in classification, positioned as they are around identity politics of race, gender, and other marginalized groups, ask the classificationist to be mindful of the choice of terms and relationships between terms. From this work we understand that race and gender requires special consideration, which manifests as a particular concern for the form of representation inside extant schemes. Even with these advances in our understanding there are still other categories about which we must make decisions and take action. For example, there are ethical decisions about fiduciary resource allocation, political decisions about standards adoption, and even broader zeitgeist considerations like the question of Fordist conceptions (Day, 2001; Tennis 2006) of the mechanics of description and representation present in much of today’s practice.Just as taking action in a particular way is an ethical concern, so too is avoiding a lack of action. Scholars in Knowledge Organization have also looked at the absence of what we might call right action in the context of cataloguing and classification. This leads to some problems above, and hints at larger ethical concerns of watching a subtle semantic violence go on without intervention (Bowker and Star, 2001; Bade 2006).The problem is not to act or not act, but how to act or not act in an ethical way, or at least with ethical considerations. The action advocated by an ethical consideration for knowledge organization is an engaged one, and it is here where we can take a nod from contemporary ethical theory advanced by Engaged Buddhism. In this context we can see the manifestation of fourteen precepts that guide ethical action, and warn against lack of action.

La retroalimentación facial y su efecto en la evaluación de publicidad de humor

La hipótesis de retroalimentación facial planteada por Tomkins en 1962 sustenta que la activación de algunos músculos faciales envía información sensorial al cerebro y se induce entonces una experiencia emocional en el sujeto. Partiendo de dicha teoría y de investigaciones que la sustentan, el presente estudio se propuso confirmar el efecto de la emoción inducida a través de la retroalimentación facial sobre la evaluación de cinco tipos de humor en publicidad. Para ello se realizó un experimento con 60 hombres y 60 mujeres, que fueron asignados aleatoriamente a una de dos condiciones: estimulación de sonrisa –músculos hacia arriba- o inhibición de sonrisa –músculos hacía abajo-, mientras evaluaban 16 imágenes de publicidad de humor. A partir del análisis de los resultados se encontraron diferencias significativas entre las condiciones; en línea con la hipótesis formulada, los participantes expuestos a la condición estimulación de sonrisa –músculos hacía arriba- evaluaron más positivamente los comerciales. También se encontraron diferencias significativas en función del sexo y los tipos de humor evaluados. El estudio ofrece evidencia empírica de la teoría propuesta hace más de medio siglo y su efecto en el ámbito de la publicidad actual.

La migración infantil indocumentada de Centroamérica, un desafío a la reformulación de la política migratoria de Estados Unidos. Estudio de caso de Honduras (2010-2014)

El siguiente estudio de caso analiza la influencia de la llegada de la migración infantil indocumentada centroamericana en la reformulación de la política migratoria de Estados Unidos en el período 2010-2014. Enfocándose en el caso de Honduras para dar a conocer y analizar las causas que crean las dinámicas migratorias por parte de los menores, este trabajo analiza como la llegada de estas poblaciones genera ciertos efectos en el proceso de toma de decisión de las políticas internas de los Estados Unidos. Por un lado, para resaltar las características del fenómeno migratorio, se utilizan las teorías de redes sociales y la teoría push and pull. Por otro, mediante los conceptos de Sensibilidad y Vulnerabilidad expuestos en la teoría de la Interdependencia Compleja de las Relaciones Internacionales, como también el concepto de Seguridad Societal propuesto por Barry Buzan se estudia el nivel de influencia del fenómeno infantil en el gobierno norteamericano.

El daño y el nexo causal en la perdida de oportunidad

El presente escrito se ocupa de estudiar el nexo de causalidad como elemento estructural de la responsabilidad cuando éste es difuso. Para ello, se pretende abordar la pérdida de la oportunidad como una teoría especial de causalidad que tiene lugar cuando el nexo causal no resulta claro, lo cual contradice la tesis preponderante de la doctrina y la jurisprudencia tradicional según la cual, la pérdida de la oportunidad es un criterio autónomo del daño. En su contenido se realiza una explicación del por qué se entiende la pérdida de la oportunidad como una teoría especial de causalidad y no como un criterio autónomo de daño, haciendo énfasis en el elemento de certeza que caracteriza al daño. Posteriormente, se advierte del tratamiento que la jurisprudencia le ha dado a la pérdida de la oportunidad. A su turno, el presente documento, indica la naturaleza jurídica de la pérdida de la oportunidad, afirmando que es una inferencia lógica que realiza el juez y no un hecho que altere el estado de las cosas como si sucede con el daño. Finalmente, se aborda la prueba de la teoría de la pérdida de la oportunidad mediante un cálculo de probabilidades y se identifican los pasos para realizar una adecuada reparación integral.

Interpretación de la construcción de un racismo de Estado : política inmigratoria de Angela Merkel en Alemania (2005-2014)

El objetivo de esta monografía es interpretar, desde la biopolítica, la construcción de un racismo de Estado en Alemania a través de la política inmigratoria bajo el mandato de Angela Merkel (2005-2014). Por medio de tres apartados se presenta de manera organizada la teoría de la biopolítica desarrollada por Michel Foucault, con sus postulados y conceptos principales, resaltando el concepto de racismo de Estado. También se enuncia de manera breve la historia de la inmigración en Alemania, su ley de inmigración actual y la ley de nacionalidad. De esta forma, se puede analizar que en Alemania se ha construido un racismo de Estado, desde la visión teórica de la biopolítica de Foucault, a través de la consolidación de la política inmigratoria vigente en dicho Estado (2005-2014), que reúne el tema de la migración internacional regular.

Propuesta de cambio para los proyectos de la vicepresidencia de empresas de telefónica desde la teoría de restricciones (TOC)

Telefónica es una empresa que desde 2003 presta en Colombia servicios de telecomunicaciones a personas naturales y jurídicas. Para las personas jurídicas sus servicios se prestan por medio de proyectos, los cuales ejecuta la Vicepresidencia de Empresas. En búsqueda de proponer cambios en la manera como esta Vicepresidencia gestiona los proyectos, este proyecto de aplicación práctica utiliza la Teoría de Restricciones (TOC), expuesta por el Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt, en relación a la gestión de proyectos. Al aplicar la TOC se utilizó herramientas tales como nubes de solución de conflictos, ramas negativas, arboles de realidad actual y de realidad futura. Los resultados de este proceso arrojaron las restricciones que enfrenta la Vicepresidencia, propuestas de cambio y una amplia gama de recomendaciones para la gestión y ejecución de proyectos, todo lo anterior basado en la TOC.

Avaliação do potencial de desenvolvimento em meninos e meninas dos 4 aos 6 anos

Todos nós, educadores, devemos prestar uma atenção aprofundada às potencialidades e inclinações das crianças que constituem os nossos grupos, para que possamos estimular e desenvolver as suas competências. É nesse sentido que desenvolvemos este Estudo Exploratório, com o qual se pretende analisar a adaptação da avaliação de potencial derivada da Teoria das Inteligência Múltiplas ao contexto da Educação Pré-Escolar, com o objectivo de contribuir para a qualidade da intervenção educativa, articulando conceitos como Inteligência, Competência, Potencial, Currículo, Avaliação Dinâmica. Participam no estudo 42 crianças que frequentam Jardim de Infância e integram dois grupos heterogéneos e as respectivas educadoras. A metodologia é de natureza qualitativa e quantitativa, apoiando-se na aplicação dos seguintes instrumentos: modelo de avaliação de potencial baseado no Spectrum; Inventário de Quociente Emocional, versão para crianças e jovens (Bar-On Emocional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version), adaptado a educadores por Candeias e Monteiro (2010); questionário de Caracterização do ambiente educativo - Sala de Actividades, adaptado por Candeias e lglésias (2010); Teste de Avaliação de Habilidades Cognitivas de Solução de Problemas lnterpessoais (EVHACOSPI). Os resultados obtidos sugerem a importância de uma avaliação do potencial, baseada na Teoria das Inteligências Múltiplas, que utiliza instrumentos adequados a cada um dos domínios do potencial e da competência humana propostos por H. Gardner: verbal, Lógico-Matemática, Musical, Corporal-Cinestésica, Visuo-espacial, lnterpessoal, Intrapessoal e Naturalista. Apontam também para o papel que este tipo de avaliação pode desempenhar na intervenção educativa que se objectiva intencional e fundamentada. ABSTRACT: Ali of us, educators, must pay a special attention to the potentialities and inclinations of children who make up our groups, so enabling the stimulation and development of their competences. ln this sense we developed this Exploratory Study, through which is intended to analyse the adaptation of potential evaluation derived from the Theory of Multiple intelligences in the range of Pre-School Education, aiming at the contribution for the educative intervention: articulating concepts such as Intelligence, Competence Potential, Curriculum, and Dynamic Evaluation. The study involves 42 children attending Infant School, belonging to two heterogeneous groups and respective educators. Methodology is of qualitative and quantitative nature, supported by the following instruments: evaluation model based on Spectrum; Inventory of Emotional Quotient, version for children and youths, adapted to educators by Candeias e Monteiro (2010), Query of Characterization of Educative Environment - Activities Room, adapted by Candeias e lglésias (2010); Test for Evaluation of Cognitive Abilities of Interpersonal Problems Solution. (EVHACOSPI). The results suggest the importance of an assessment, based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligence, which uses instruments fitted to each of the domains of human potential and competence proposed by H. Gardiner: Verbal, Logical-Maths, Musical, Corporal¬ Kinaesthetic, Visuo-Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Naturalist. They also refer to the role that this type of assessment can play in the educational intervention aiming to be intentional and grounded.

Exploring non-cancer pain conditions in a community sample : critiquing a current conceptual model of the acute to chronic pain transition and examining predictors of chronicity

This program of research examines the experience of chronic pain in a community sample. While, it is clear that like patient samples, chronic pain in non-patient samples is also associated with psychological distress and physical disability, the experience of pain across the total spectrum of pain conditions (including acute and episodic pain conditions) and during the early course of chronic pain is less clear. Information about these aspects of the pain experience is important because effective early intervention for chronic pain relies on identification of people who are likely to progress to chronicity post-injury. A conceptual model of the transition from acute to chronic pain was proposed by Gatchel (1991a). In brief, Gatchel’s model describes three stages that individuals who have a serious pain experience move through, each with worsening psychological dysfunction and physical disability. The aims of this program of research were to describe the experience of pain in a community sample in order to obtain pain-specific data on the problem of pain in Queensland, and to explore the usefulness of Gatchel’s Model in a non-clinical sample. Additionally, five risk factors and six protective factors were proposed as possible extensions to Gatchel’s Model. To address these aims, a prospective longitudinal mixed-method research design was used. Quantitative data was collected in Phase 1 via a comprehensive postal questionnaire. Phase 2 consisted of a follow-up questionnaire 3 months post-baseline. Phase 3 consisted of semi-structured interviews with a subset of the original sample 12 months post follow-up, which used qualitative data to provide a further in-depth examination of the experience and process of chronic pain from respondents’ point of view. The results indicate chronic pain is associated with high levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, the levels of disability reported by this Queensland sample were generally lower than those reported by clinical samples and consistent with disability data reported in a New South Wales population-based study. With regard to the second aim of this program of research, while some elements of the pain experience of this sample were consistent with that described by Gatchel’s Model, overall the model was not a good fit with the experience of this non-clinical sample. The findings indicate that passive coping strategies (minimising activity), catastrophising, self efficacy, optimism, social support, active strategies (use of distraction) and the belief that emotions affect pain may be important to consider in understanding the processes that underlie the transition to and continuation of chronic pain.

Negotiating social and moral order in internet relay chat

Although internet chat is a significant aspect of many internet users’ lives, the manner in which participants in quasi-synchronous chat situations orient to issues of social and moral order remains to be studied in depth. The research presented here is therefore at the forefront of a continually developing area of study. This work contributes new insights into how members construct and make accountable the social and moral orders of an adult-oriented Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel by addressing three questions: (1) What conversational resources do participants use in addressing matters of social and moral order? (2) How are these conversational resources deployed within IRC interaction? and (3) What interactional work is locally accomplished through use of these resources? A survey of the literature reveals considerable research in the field of computer-mediated communication, exploring both asynchronous and quasi-synchronous discussion forums. The research discussed represents a range of communication interests including group and collaborative interaction, the linguistic construction of social identity, and the linguistic features of online interaction. It is suggested that the present research differs from previous studies in three ways: (1) it focuses on the interaction itself, rather than the ways in which the medium affects the interaction; (2) it offers turn-by-turn analysis of interaction in situ; and (3) it discusses membership categories only insofar as they are shown to be relevant by participants through their talk. Through consideration of the literature, the present study is firmly situated within the broader computer-mediated communication field. Ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis were adopted as appropriate methodological approaches to explore the research focus on interaction in situ, and in particular to investigate the ways in which participants negotiate and co-construct social and moral orders in the course of their interaction. IRC logs collected from one chat room were analysed using a two-pass method, based on a modification of the approaches proposed by Pomerantz and Fehr (1997) and ten Have (1999). From this detailed examination of the data corpus three interaction topics are identified by means of which participants clearly orient to issues of social and moral order: challenges to rule violations, ‘trolling’ for cybersex, and experiences regarding the 9/11 attacks. Instances of these interactional topics are subjected to fine-grained analysis, to demonstrate the ways in which participants draw upon various interactional resources in their negotiation and construction of channel social and moral orders. While these analytical topics stand alone in individual focus, together they illustrate different instances in which participants’ talk serves to negotiate social and moral orders or collaboratively construct new orders. Building on the work of Vallis (2001), Chapter 5 illustrates three ways that rule violation is initiated as a channel discussion topic: (1) through a visible violation in open channel, (2) through an official warning or sanction by a channel operator regarding the violation, and (3) through a complaint or announcement of a rule violation by a non-channel operator participant. Once the topic has been initiated, it is shown to become available as a topic for others, including the perceived violator. The fine-grained analysis of challenges to rule violations ultimately demonstrates that channel participants orient to the rules as a resource in developing categorizations of both the rule violation and violator. These categorizations are contextual in that they are locally based and understood within specific contexts and practices. Thus, it is shown that compliance with rules and an orientation to rule violations as inappropriate within the social and moral orders of the channel serves two purposes: (1) to orient the speaker as a group member, and (2) to reinforce the social and moral orders of the group. Chapter 6 explores a particular type of rule violation, solicitations for ‘cybersex’ known in IRC parlance as ‘trolling’. In responding to trolling violations participants are demonstrated to use affiliative and aggressive humour, in particular irony, sarcasm and insults. These conversational resources perform solidarity building within the group, positioning non-Troll respondents as compliant group members. This solidarity work is shown to have three outcomes: (1) consensus building, (2) collaborative construction of group membership, and (3) the continued construction and negotiation of existing social and moral orders. Chapter 7, the final data analysis chapter, offers insight into how participants, in discussing the events of 9/11 on the actual day, collaboratively constructed new social and moral orders, while orienting to issues of appropriate and reasonable emotional responses. This analysis demonstrates how participants go about ‘doing being ordinary’ (Sacks, 1992b) in formulating their ‘first thoughts’ (Jefferson, 2004). Through sharing their initial impressions of the event, participants perform support work within the interaction, in essence working to normalize both the event and their initial misinterpretation of it. Normalising as a support work mechanism is also shown in relation to participants constructing the ‘quiet’ following the event as unusual. Normalising is accomplished by reference to the indexical ‘it’ and location formulations, which participants use both to negotiate who can claim to experience the ‘unnatural quiet’ and to identify the extent of the quiet. Through their talk participants upgrade the quiet from something legitimately experienced by one person in a particular place to something that could be experienced ‘anywhere’, moving the phenomenon from local to global provenance. With its methodological design and detailed analysis and findings, this research contributes to existing knowledge in four ways. First, it shows how rules are used by participants as a resource in negotiating and constructing social and moral orders. Second, it demonstrates that irony, sarcasm and insults are three devices of humour which can be used to perform solidarity work and reinforce existing social and moral orders. Third, it demonstrates how new social and moral orders are collaboratively constructed in relation to extraordinary events, which serve to frame the event and evoke reasonable responses for participants. And last, the detailed analysis and findings further support the use of conversation analysis and membership categorization as valuable methods for approaching quasi-synchronous computer-mediated communication.

Levelling expectations across different years in an undergraduate degree to support work-related learning : evidence for a multi-pronged approach.

One of the ways in which university departments and faculties can enhance the quality of learning and assessment is to develop a ‘well thought out criterion‐referenced assessment system’ (Biggs, 2003, p. 271). In designing undergraduate degrees (courses) this entails making decisions about the levelling of expectations across different years through devising objectives and their corresponding criteria and standards: a process of alignment analogous to what happens in unit (subject) design. These decisions about levelling have important repercussions in terms of supporting students’ work‐related learning, especially in relation to their ability to cope with the increasing cognitive and skill demands made on them as they progress through their studies. They also affect the accountability of teacher judgments of students’ responses to assessment tasks, achievement of unit objectives and, ultimately, whether students are awarded their degrees and are sufficiently prepared for the world of work. Research reveals that this decision‐making process is rarely underpinned by an explicit educational rationale (Morgan et al, 2002). The decision to implement criterion referenced assessment in an undergraduate microbiology degree was the impetus for developing such a rationale because of the implications for alignment, and therefore ‘levelling’ of expectations across different years of the degree. This paper provides supporting evidence for a multi‐pronged approach to levelling, through backward mapping of two revised units (foundation and exit year). This approach adheres to the principles of alignment while combining a work‐related approach (via industry input) with the blended disciplinary and learner‐centred approaches proposed by Morgan et al. (2002). It is suggested that this multi‐pronged approach has the potential for making expectations, especially work‐related ones across different year levels of degrees, more explicit to students and future employers.