Digital Commons Network^™

Bismuth-Doped Glass Microsphere Lasers, Zaijn Fang, Sile Nic Chormaic, Shanyu Wang, Xin Wang, Jibo Yu, Yuxuan Jiang, Jianrong Qiu, Pengfei Wang

Articles

In this work, a hybrid structure consisting of a multicomponent germanate glass microsphere containing bismuth as a gain medium is proposed and presented. The bismuth-doped germanate glass microspheres were fabricated from a glass fiber tip with no precipitation of the bismuth metal. Coupling with a fiber taper, the bismuth-doped microsphere single-mode laser was observed to lase at around 1305.8 nm using 808 nm excitation. The low threshold of absorbed pump power at 215 μWmakes this microlaser appealing for various applications, including tunable lasers for a range of purposes in telecommunication, biomedical, and optical information processing.

Durability Of Switching Behaviour After Outdoor Exposure For A Suspended Particle Device Switchable Glazing, Aritra Ghosh, Brian Norton

Articles

Adaptive suspended particle device (SPD) switchable glazing is promising for low energy building application. SPD glazing allows light passes through it in the presence of applied voltage and block light in the absence of power supply. In this work SPD glazing performance after 3 years of outdoor exposure was evaluated. It was found that contrast ratio of SPD glazing before and after exposures changed from 1:11 to 1:10. SPD glazing surface temperature for any transparency level varies between 13 and 40 °C under indoor and outdoor thermal exposure. SPD glazing's surface temperature variation occurs due to the incident radiation level, …

Whither The Functional Parent? Revisiting Equitable Parenthood Doctrines In Light Of Same-Sex Parents’ Increased Access To Obtaining Formal Legal Parent Status, Jessica Feinberg

Articles

Until relatively recently, the law did not provide avenues through which both members of a same-sex couple could gain recognition as the parents of the children they were raising together. Instead, generally only the member of the same-sex couple who was the child’s biological parent was recognized as the child’s legal parent, and the nonbiological parent was considered a legal stranger to the child. Historically, nonbiological parents in same-sex relationships could not gain legal parent status because the traditional avenues for establishing legal parent status in the United States have been based upon biology, marriage, and adoption. Since joint biological …

#Betterrules: The Appropriate Use Of Social Media In Rulemaking, Stephen M. Johnson

Articles

In December 2015, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) use of various social media tools in a rulemaking under the Clean Water Act violated prohibitions in federal appropriations laws against publicity, propaganda, and lobbying. Although academics previously explored whether the use of technology in rulemaking might violate the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), the Paperwork Reduction Act, or the Federal Advisory Committee Act, none predicted that one of the first firestorms surrounding the use of social media in rulemaking would arise out of federal appropriations laws. ...

As the Administrative Conference of the United States …

Using Rapid Reviews In Nursing And Midwifery Research: An Example From A Study Commissioned To Inform Policy-Making, Denise O'Leary, Mary Casey, Laserina O’Connor, Diarmuid Stokes, Gerard Fealy, Denise O’Brien, Rita Smith, Martin Mcnamara, Claire Egan

Articles

Aim: To illustrate the potential use of rapid review approaches in nursing and midwifery research by presenting a worked example from a study conducted to inform policy decision making.

Background: Rapid reviews, which can be defined as outputs of a knowledge synthesis approach that involves modifying or omitting elements of a systematic review process due to limited time or resources, are becoming increasingly popular in health research. This paper provides guidance on how a rapid review can be undertaken and discusses the strengths and challenges of the approach.

Data source and research design: Data from a rapid …

The Universal, Collaborative And Dynamic Model Of Specialist And Advanced Nursing And Midwifery Practice: A Way Forward?, Laserina O’Connor, Mary Casey, Rita Smith, Gerard M. Fealy, Denise O'Brien, Denise O'Leary, Diarmuid Stokes, Martin S. Mcnamara, Mary Ellen Glasgow, Andrew Cashin

Articles

Aims and objectives

To inform and guide the development of a future model of specialist and advanced nursing and midwifery practice.

Background

There is a sizable body of empirical literature supporting the unique contributions of specialist and advanced practice roles to health care. However, there is very little international evidence to inform the integration of a future model for advanced or specialist practice in the Irish healthcare system.

Design

A qualitative study was conducted to initiate this important area of inquiry.

Methods

Purposive sampling was used to generate a sample of informants (n = 15) for the interviews. Nurses and …

An Investigation Into The Development And Progressive Adaptation Of Graduate Attributes In Tourism Programmes, Louise Bellew, Odette Gabaudan

Articles

As higher education institutes are embracing the notion of graduate attributes, it has become highly desirable to embed these attributes within programmes. This study proposes to investigate students’ views of recently identified graduate attributes in the Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), and how they perceive their development and application in their tourism programme. The study supports the idea of the importance of placement in the progressive adaptation of learning and in translating the conception of attributes. While students strongly believe that graduate attributes are developed through the placement experience, it is equally important to embed and strengthen the visibility of …

The Perceptions Of Key Stakeholders Of The Roles Of Specialist And Advanced Nursing And Midwifery Practitioners, Mary Casey, Laserina O'Connor, Emma Nicholson, Rita Smith, Denise O'Brien, Denise O'Leary, Gerard Fealy, Martin Mcnamara, Diarmuid Stokes, Claire Egan

Articles

Aim: To explore the perceptions of key stakeholders of the roles of specialist and advanced nursing and midwifery practitioners. Background: There is evidence that the contribution of these roles to patient care is poorly understood. Design: This research took place over 2 months in 2015 and is part of a larger study involving a rapid review to inform policy development on the specialist and advanced nursing and midwifery practice in Ireland. As an added value, a qualitative element involving thematic analysis was undertaken with key stakeholders. Methods: A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted incorporating semistructured interviews …

A Comparison Of Stimulus Presentation Methods In Temporal Discrimination Testing, Eavan M. Mcgovern, John Butler, Ines Beiser, Laura Williams, Brendan Quinlivan, Shruti Narasiham, Rebecca Beck, Sean O'Riordan, Richard B. Reilly, Michael Hutchinson

Articles

The temporal discrimination threshold (TDT) is the shortest time interval at which an individual detects two stimuli to be asynchronous (normal  =  30-50 ms). It has been shown to be abnormal in patients with disorders affecting the basal ganglia including adult onset idiopathic focal dystonia (AOIFD). Up to 97% of patients have an abnormal TDT with age- and sex-related penetrance in unaffected relatives, demonstrating an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. These findings support the use of the TDT as a pre-clinical biomarker for AOIFD. The usual stimulus presentation method involves the presentation of progressively asynchronous stimuli; when three sequential stimuli are …

Arts And Humanities Research, Redefining Public Benefit, And Research Prioritization In Ireland, Andrew Gibson, Ellen Hazelkorn

Articles

This article looks at the effects of a national policy of research prioritization in the years following Ireland’s economic crisis. A national research prioritization exercise initiated by policymakers redefined the purpose of higher education research, and designed policies in line with this approach. Placing research for enterprise to the fore, it emphasized the economic value that subjects could return on state investments. This article examines the post-crisis policy of prioritization, its relationship with and effects on arts and humanities research, and how the notion of the benefit of research can be broadened while still addressing economic needs. It draws on …

Grief, Loss, And Separation: Experiences Of Birth Children Of Foster Carers, David Williams

Articles

Previous research identifies the increased exposure of birth children of foster carers to experiences of separation, grief, and loss due to the transient nature of foster care, but little is known about how birth children manage this loss. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that examined the retrospective experiences of 15 adult birth children of foster carers (aged between 18 and 28 years) in Ireland. Findings suggest that birth children experience grief and loss when foster children leave their families. They report experiencing a range of emotional responses such as guilt, blame, and sadness. A reluctance to discuss …

A Chalcogenide Multimode Interferometric Temperature Sensor Operating At A Wavelength Of 2 Μm, Lin She, Pengfei Wang, Weimin Sun, Xianfan Wang, Wenlei Yang, Gilberto Brambilla, Gerald Farrell

Articles

This paper investigated the fabrication of a singlemode-multimode-singlemode fiber structure based on a chalcogenide (As2S3 and AsxS1−x) multimode fiber sandwiched between two standard silica singlemode fibers using a commercial fiber fusion splicer. The temperature dependence of this hybrid fiber structure was investigated and a first proof of concept showed that the hybrid SMS fiber structure has an average experimental temperature sensitivity of circa 84.38 pm/°C over a temperature range of 20 °C∼100°C at the wavelength range around 2 μm. The measured results show a general agreement with numerical simulations based on a guided-mode propagation analysis method. Our result provides a …

A Curvature Sensor Based On Twisted Single-Mode-Multimode-Single-Mode Hybrid Optical Fiber Structure, Ke Tian, Yifan Xin, Wenlei Yang, Tao Geng, Jing Ren, Ya-Xian Fan, Gerald Farrell, Elfed Lewis, Pengfei Wang

Articles

An optical fiber curvature sensor based on a twisted multimode fiber (MMF) sandwiched between two single-mode fibers (SMF) is proposed and investigated theoretically and experimentally. The measured transmission spectrum exhibits good agreement with theoretical predictions. Compared with a traditional single-mode-multimode-single-mode fiber structure sensor, the proposed configuration offers a higher average curvature sensitivity of -2.42 nm/m -1 over a curvature measurement range of 0-1.7390 m -1 and -7.09 dB/m -1 at an operating wavelength of 1537 nm. The temperature sensitivity of this sensor has been determined as 0.01 nm/°C over a wavelength range of 1535-1550 nm and circa 0.007 dB/°C at …

Investigation Of The Self-Imaging Position Of A Singlemode-Multimode-Singlemode Optical Fiber Structure, Xianfan Wang, Elfed Lewis, Pengfei Wang

Articles

In this paper, a theoretical and experimental investigation of the multimode interference induced self-imaging phenomenon in a singlemode-multimode-singlemode (SMS) fiber structure is described. The simulated transmission spectra based on guided modal propagation analysis and beam propagation method are presented and compared with experimental obtained results. The temperature dependence of the self-imaging position of the SMS fiber structure is also investigated. These investigations provide excellent opportunities for multiple future applications including telecommunications and sensing.

Public Employee Speech: Answering The Unanswered And Related Questions In Lane V. Franks, John E. Rumel

Articles

No abstract provided.

Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuses: Can State Legislation Solve The Problem?, David Pimentel

Articles

No abstract provided.

Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuses: Can State Legislation Solve The Problem?, David Pimentel

Articles

No abstract provided.

On Competence: (Re)Considering Appropriate Legal Standards For Examining Sixth Amendment Claims Related To Criminal Defendants’ Mental Illness And Disability, Sarah Gerwig-Moore

Articles

This Article addresses the questions of attorney error and client competency and examines the following issues: the origin and development of the legal tests for intellectual competency to stand trial or enter a plea and the tests for evaluating Sixth Amendment effective assistance of counsel claims; the range of state and federal approaches to circumstances when those two situations converge; and whether and how our legal tests should be shaped to best assess attorney error when the client likely has an intellectual disability or incompetence. When consideration of a defendant's mental illness or mental disability forms the basis of a …

Chile, The Biobio, And The Future Of The Columbia River Basin, Jerrold A. Long

Articles

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Teacher Certification In Idaho: Proceedings Before Idaho's Professional Standards Commission Covering The Denial Of An Application For Or Action Against A Teaching Certificate, John E. Rumel

Articles

No abstract provided.

Glass Half-Empty Approach To Securities Regulation, Wendy Gerwick Couture

Articles

In this Article, I propose a novel approach, which I call the “glass-half-empty” approach, to analyze the appropriate boundaries of securities regulation. This approach assumes a baseline of “full” regulation and then analyzes which regulations should be stripped away because the costs exceed the benefits. This is the opposite of the traditional approach, which assumes a baseline of zero regulation, identifies a market failure, and then weighs the costs and benefits of regulatory intervention.

Although, in theory, the two approaches should reach the same conclusions about the appropriate bounds of securities regulation, the glass-half-empty approach yields new insights because it …

Cycling, Safety, And Victim-Blaming: Toward A Coherent Public Policy For Bicycling In 21st Century America, David Pimentel

Articles

No abstract provided.

Global Science, National Research, And The Question Of University Rankings, Ellen Hazelkorn, Andrew Gibson

Articles

Science has always operated in a competitive environment, but the globalisation of knowledge and the rising popularity and use of global rankings have elevated this competition to a new level. The quality, performance and productivity of higher education and university-based research have become a national differentiator in the global knowledge economy. Global rankings essentially measure levels of wealth and investment in higher education, and they reflect the realisation that national pre-eminence is no longer sufficient. These developments also correspond with increased public scrutiny and calls for greater transparency, underpinned by growing necessity to demonstrate value, impact and benefit. Despite on-going …

R-Hopfian And L-Co-Hopfian Abelian Groups, Brendan Goldsmith, Katao Gong

Articles

The notions of Hopfian and co-Hopfian groups are well known in both non-commutative and Abelian group theory. In this work we begin a systematic investigation of natural generalizations of these concepts and, in the case of Abelian p-groups, give a complete characterization of the generalizations in terms of the original concepts.

Circumcision: Immigration, Religion, History, And Constitutional Identity In Germany And The U.S., David Abraham

Articles

A four-year-old Muslim boy was brought to a local Cologne emergency room by his mother, who was concerned about minor bleeding around the site of a circumcision. A District Court there found that circumcision, notwithstanding parental consent or religious motivation, constituted a criminal bodily injury and child abuse. Ultimately, on July 19, 2012 the Bundestag resolved that "Jewish and Muslim religious life be viable in Germany," and in December a bill was passed that legislatively overrode the ruling of the District Court and recognized circumcision as a non-punishable undertaking when undertaken for religious reasons by someone professionally trained. Two years …

The Problem Of Creative Collaboration, Anthony J. Casey, Andres Sawicki

Articles

In this Article, we explore a central problem facing creative industries: how to organize collaborative creative production. We argue that informal rules are a significant and pervasive-but nonetheless underappreciated-tool f or solving the problem. While existing literature has focused on how informal rules sustain incentives for producing creative work, we demonstrate how such rules can facilitate and organize collaboration in the creative space.

We also suggest that informal rules can be a better fit for creative organization than formal law. On the one side, unique features of creativity, especially high uncertainty and low verifiability, lead to organizational challenges that formal …

Positive Sum Design: Designing Affordances For Bias, Choice, And Coordination, Ian Gonsher

Articles

No abstract provided.

Hamiltonian Model For Coupled Surface And Internal Waves In The Presence Of Currents, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

We examine a two dimensional fluid system consisting of a lower medium bounded underneath by a flatbed and an upper medium with a free surface. The two media are separated by a free common interface. The gravity driven surface and internal water waves (at the common interface between the media) in the presence of a depth-dependent current are studied under certain physical assumptions. Both media are considered incompressible and with prescribed vorticities. Using the Hamiltonian approach the Hamiltonian of the system is constructed in terms of ’wave’ variables and the equations of motion are calculated. The resultant equations of motion …

Formative Assessment In Mathematics For Engineering Students, Eabhnat Ni Fhloinn, Michael Carr

Articles

this paper, we present a range of formative assessment types for engineering mathematics, including in-class exercises, homework, mock examination questions, table quizzes, presentations, critical analyses of statistical papers, peer-to-peer teaching, online assessments and electronic voting systems. We provide practical tips for the implementation of such assessments, with a particular focus on time or resource constraints and large class sizes, as well as effective methods of feedback. In addition, we consider the benefits of such formative assessments for students and staff.

Characteristics Of Different Systems For The Solar Drying Of Crops, Brian Norton

Articles

Solar dryers are used to enable the preservation of agricultural crops, food processing industries for

dehydration of fruits and vegetables, fish and meat drying, dairy industries for production of milk powder,

seasoning of wood and timber, textile industries for drying of textile materials. The fundamental concepts and

contexts of their use to dry crops is discussed in the chapter. It is shown that solar drying is the outcome of

complex interactions particular between the intensity and duration of solar energy, the prevailing ambient

relative humidity and temperature, the characteristics of the particular crop and its pre-preparation and the

design and …