A critical analysis of sperm donation practices : the personal and social effects of disrupting the unity of biological and social relatedness for the offspring

This thesis critically analyses sperm donation practices from a child-centred perspective. It examines the effects, both personal and social, of disrupting the unity of biological and social relatedness in families affected by donor conception. It examines how disruption is facilitated by a process of mediation which is detailed using a model provided by Sunderland (2002). This model identifies mediating movements - alienation, translation, re-contextualisation and absorption - which help to explain the powerful and dominating material, and social and political processes which occur in biotechnology, or in reproductive technology in this case. The understanding of such movements and mediation of meanings is inspired by the complementary work of Silverstone (1999) and Sunderland. This model allows for a more critical appreciation of the movement of meaning from previously inalienable aspects of life to alienable products through biotechnology (Sunderland, 2002). Once this mediation in donor conception is subjected to critical examination here, it is then approached from different angles of investigation. The thesis posits that two conflicting notions of the self are being applied to fertility-frustrated adults and the offspring of reproductive interventions. Adults using reproductive interventions receive support to maximise their genetic continuity, but in so doing they create and dismiss the corresponding genetic discontinuity produced for the offspring. The offspring’s kinship and identity are then framed through an experimental postmodernist notion, presenting them as social rather than innate constructs. The adults using the reproductive intervention, on the other hand, have their identity and kinship continuity framed and supported as normative, innate, and based on genetic connection. This use of shifting frameworks is presented as unjust and harmful, creating double standards and a corrosion of kinship values, connection and intelligibility between generations; indeed, it is put forward as adult-centric. The analysis of other forms of human kinship dislocation provided by this thesis explores an under-utilised resource which is used to counter the commonly held opinion that any disruption of social and genetic relatedness for donor offspring is insignificant. The experiences of adoption and the stolen generations are used to inform understanding of the personal and social effects of such kinship disruption and potential reunion for donor offspring. These examples, along with laws governing international human rights, further strengthen the appeal here for normative principles and protections based on collective knowledge and standards to be applied to children of reproductive technology. The thesis presents the argument that the framing and regulation of reproductive technology is excessively influenced by industry providers and users. The interests of these parties collide with and corrode any accurate assessments and protections afforded to the children of reproductive technology. The thesis seeks to counter such encroachments and concludes by presenting these protections, frameworks, and human experiences as resources which can help to address the problems created for the offspring of such reproductive interventions, thereby illustrating why these reproductive interventions should be discontinued.

Two stage unity power factor rectifier design

This paper presents the design process utilised for producing a two stage isolated Unity Power Factor (UPF) rectifier. The important yet less intuitive aspects of the design process are highlighted to aid in the simplification of designing a power converter which meets future UPF standards. Two converter designs are presented, a 200W converter utilising a critical conduction controller and a 750W converter based around a continuous conduction controller. Both designs presented were based on the requirements of an audio power amplifier, but the processes apply equally to a range of applications.

Complicated Presence : The Unity of Being in Parmenides and Heidegger

The attempt to refer meaningful reality as a whole to a unifying ultimate principle - the quest for the unity of Being - was one of the basic tendencies of Western philosophy from its beginnings in ancient Greece up to Hegel's absolute idealism. However, the different trends of contemporary philosophy tend to regard such a speculative metaphysical quest for unity as obsolete. This study addresses this contemporary situation on the basis of the work of Martin Heidegger (1889-1976). Its methodological framework is Heidegger's phenomenological and hermeneutical approach to the history of philosophy. It seeks to understand, in terms of the metaphysical quest for unity, Heidegger's contrast between the first (Greek) beginning or "onset" (Anfang) of philosophy and another onset of thinking. This other onset is a possibility inherent in the contemporary situation in which, according to Heidegger, the metaphysical tradition has developed to its utmost limits and thereby come to an end. Part I is a detailed interpretation of the surviving fragments of the Poem of Parmenides of Elea (fl. c. 500 BC), an outstanding representative of the first philosophical beginning in Heidegger's sense. It is argued that the Poem is not a simple denial of apparent plurality and difference ("mortal acceptances," doxai) in favor of an extreme monism. Parmenides' point is rather to show in what sense the different instances of Being can be reduced to an absolute level of truth or evidence (aletheia), which is the unity of Being as such (to eon). What in prephilosophical human experience is accepted as being is referred to the source of its acceptability: intelligibility as such, the simple and undifferentiated presence to thinking that ultimately excludes unpresence and otherness. Part II interprets selected key texts from different stages in Heidegger's thinking in terms of the unity of Being. It argues that one aspect of Heidegger's sustained and gradually deepening philosophical quest was to think the unity of Being as singularity, as the instantaneous, context-specific, and differential unity of a temporally meaningful situation. In Being and Time (1927) Heidegger articulates the temporal situatedness of the human awareness of meaningful presence. His later work moves on to study the situational correlation between presence and the human awareness. Heidegger's "postmetaphysical" articulation seeks to show how presence becomes meaningful precisely as situated, in an event of differentiation from a multidimensional context of unpresence. In resigning itself to this irreducibly complicated and singular character of meaningful presence, philosophy also faces its own historically situated finitude. This resignation is an essential feature of Heidegger's "other onset" of thinking.

The partition of unity finite element method for elastic wave propagation in Reissner-Mindlin plates

This paper reports a numerical method for modelling the elastic wave propagation in plates. The method is based on the partition of unity approach, in which the approximate spectral properties of the infinite dimensional system are embedded within the space of a conventional finite element method through a consistent technique of waveform enrichment. The technique is general, such that it can be applied to the Lagrangian family of finite elements with specific waveform enrichment schemes, depending on the dominant modes of wave propagation in the physical system. A four-noded element for the Reissner-indlin plate is derived in this paper, which is free of shear locking. Such a locking-free property is achieved by removing the transverse displacement degrees of freedom from the element nodal variables and by recovering the same through a line integral and a weak constraint in the frequency domain. As a result, the frequency-dependent stiffness matrix and the mass matrix are obtained, which capture the higher frequency response with even coarse meshes, accurately. The steps involved in the numerical implementation of such element are discussed in details. Numerical studies on the performance of the proposed element are reported by considering a number of cases, which show very good accuracy and low computational cost. Copyright (C)006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydration dynamics of protein molecules in aqueous solution: Unity among diversity

Dielectric dispersion and NMRD experiments have revealed that a significant fraction of water molecules in the hydration shell of various proteins do not exhibit any slowing down of dynamics. This is usually attributed to the presence of the hydrophobic residues (HBR) on the surface, although HBRs alone cannot account for the large amplitude of the fast component. Solvation dynamics experiments and also computer simulation studies, on the other hand, repeatedly observed the presence of a non-negligible slow component. Here we show, by considering three well-known proteins (lysozyme, myoglobin and adelynate kinase), that the fast component arises partly from the response of those water molecules that are hydrogen bonded with the backbone oxygen (BBO) atoms. These are structurally and energetically less stable than those with the side chain oxygen (SCO) atoms. In addition, the electrostatic interaction energy distribution (EIED) of individual water molecules (hydrogen bonded to SCO) with side chain oxygen atoms shows a surprising two peak character with the lower energy peak almost coincident with the energy distribution of water hydrogen bonded to backbone oxygen atoms (BBO). This two peak contribution appears to be quite general as we find it for lysozyme, myoglobin and adenylate kinase (ADK). The sharp peak of EIED at small energy (at less than 2 k(B)T) for the BBO atoms, together with the first peak of EIED of SCO and the HBRs on the protein surface, explain why a large fraction (similar to 80%) of water in the protein hydration layer remains almost as mobile as bulk water Significant slowness arises only from the hydrogen bonds that populate the second peak of EIED at larger energy (at about 4 k(B)T). Thus, if we consider hydrogen bond interaction alone, only 15-20% of water molecules in the protein hydration layer can exhibit slow dynamics, resulting in an average relaxation time of about 5-10 ps. The latter estimate assumes a time constant of 20-100 ps for the slow component. Interestingly, relaxation of water molecules hydrogen bonded to back bone oxygen exhibit an initial component faster than the bulk, suggesting that hydrogen bonding of these water molecules remains frustrated. This explanation of the heterogeneous and non-exponential dynamics of water in the hydration layer is quantitatively consistent with all the available experimental results, and provides unification among diverse features.

A parametric study on the buckling of functionally graded material plates with internal discontinuities using the partition of unity method

In this paper, the effect of local defects, viz., cracks and cutouts on the buckling behaviour of functionally graded material plates subjected to mechanical and thermal load is numerically studied. The internal discontinuities, viz., cracks and cutouts are represented independent of the mesh within the framework of the extended finite element method and an enriched shear flexible 4-noded quadrilateral element is used for the spatial discretization. The properties are assumed to vary only in the thickness direction and the effective properties are estimated using the Mori-Tanaka homogenization scheme. The plate kinematics is based on the first order shear deformation theory. The influence of various parameters, viz., the crack length and its location, the cutout radius and its position, the plate aspect ratio and the plate thickness on the critical buckling load is studied. The effect of various boundary conditions is also studied. The numerical results obtained reveal that the critical buckling load decreases with increase in the crack length, the cutout radius and the material gradient index. This is attributed to the degradation in the stiffness either due to the presence of local defects or due to the change in the material composition. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Proceedings of the Indian Ocean Conference: Forging Unity: Coastal Communities and the Indian Ocean's Future

This is the proceedings of the Indian Ocean Conference "Forging Unity: Coastal Communities and the Indian Ocean's Future". It contains papers, presentations and vision statement of the conference.

Unity in diversity: electronic patient record use in multidisciplinary practice

In this paper we examine the use of electronic patient records (EPR) by clinical specialists in their development of multidisciplinary care for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. We develop a practice theory lens to investigate EPR use across multidisciplinary team practice. Our findings suggest that there are oppositional tendencies towards diversity in EPR use and unity which emerges across multidisciplinary work, and this influences the outcomes of EPR use. The value of this perspective is illustrated through the analysis of a year-long, longitudinal case study of a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, and nurse specialists adopting a new EPR. Each group adapted their use of the EPR to their diverse specialist practices, but they nonetheless orientated their use of the EPR to each others' practices sufficiently to support unity in multidisciplinary teamwork. Multidisciplinary practice elements were also reconfigured in an episode of explicit negotiations, resulting in significant changes in EPR use within team meetings. Our study contributes to the growing literature that questions the feasibility and necessity of achieving high levels of standardized, uniform health information technology use in healthcare.