Bandpass sorting of heterogeneous cells using a single surface acoustic wave transducer pair

Separation and sorting of biological entities (viruses, bacteria, and cells) is a critical step in any microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device. Acoustofluidics platforms have demonstrated their ability to use physical characteristics of cells to perform label-free separation. Bandpass-type sorting methods of medium-sized entities from a mixture have been presented using acoustic techniques; however, they require multiple transducers, lack support for various target populations, can be sensitive to flow variations, or have not been verified for continuous flow sorting of biological cells. To our knowledge, this paper presents the first acoustic bandpass method that overcomes all these limitations and presents an inherently reconfigurable technique with a single transducer pair for stable continuous flow sorting of blood cells. The sorting method is first demonstrated for polystyrene particles of sizes 6, 10, and 14.5 μm in diameter with measured purity and efficiency coefficients above 75 ± 6% and 85 ± 9%, respectively. The sorting strategy was further validated in the separation of red blood cells from white blood cells and 1 μm polystyrene particles with 78 ± 8% efficiency and 74 ± 6% purity, respectively, at a flow rate of at least 1 μl/min, enabling to process finger prick blood samples within minutes.     

Defining'science-based targets'

The 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2℃above pre-industrial levels and aim towards limiting warming to 1.5℃marked a wa-tershed in planetar...     

Automatic text structuring and categorization as a first step in summarizing legal cases

The SALOMON system automatically summarizes Belgian criminal cases in order to improve access to the large number of existing and future court decisions. SALOMON extracts relevant text units from the case text to form a case summary. Such a case profile facilitates the rapid determination of the relevance of the case or may be employed in text search. In a first important abstracting step SALOMON performs an initial categorization of legal criminal cases and structures the case text into separate legally relevant and irrelevant components. A text grammar represented as a semantic network is used to automatically determine the category of the case and its components. In this way, we are able to extract from the case general data and to identify text portions relevant for further abstracting. It is argued that prior knowledge of the text structure and its indicative cues may support automatic abstracting. A text grammar is a promising form for representing the knowledge involved.     

Neuro-mechanical adjustments to shod versus barefoot treadmill runs in the acute and delayed stretch-shortening cycle recovery phases

In habitually shod recreational runners, we studied the combined influence of footwear and stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) fatigue on treadmill running pattern, paying special attention to neuro-mechanical adjustments in the acute and 2-day delayed recovery periods. The SSC exercise consisted of a series of 25 sub-maximal rebounds on a sledge apparatus repeated until exhaustion. The acute and delayed functional fatigue effects were quantified in a maximal drop jump test. The neuro-mechanical adjustments to fatigue were examined during two submaximal treadmill run tests of 3 min performed either barefoot or with shoes on. Surface electromyographic (EMG) activities, tibial accelerations and kinematics of the right lower limb were recorded during the first and last 15 s of each run. The main result was that neuro-mechanical differences between the shod and barefoot running patterns, classically reported in the absence of fatigue, persisted in the fatigued state. However, in the delayed recovery phase, rearfoot eversion was found to significantly increase in the shod condition. This specific footwear effect is considered as a potential risk factor of overuse injuries in longer runs. Therefore, specific care should be addressed in the delayed recovery phase of SSC fatigue and the use of motion control shoes could be of interest.     

Regarding learning: Children’s drawings of learning in the classroom

This article explores drawings of learning in the classroom made by a class of 6 to 7-year-olds in a UK primary school. The drawings were analysed by considering the choices that children made in their drawings in terms of four themes: self and social relations in learning, the physical environment, learning activities, and learning and behaviour. These are discussed using five drawings as examples. A wide range of images was used by the children, although some drew common views of learning. The article warns against assuming that we know how a young person views their learning, or that a class of children share a common view of it. It is also suggested that talk about such drawings can make a contribution to a joint exploration of understandings of learning by teachers and children.     

Caddie woodlawn: A feminist case study

Caroline Zilboorg is an associate professor of English at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. She has just finished editingRichard Aldington and H.D.: The Early Years in Letters, 1918–1920 (forthcoming from the University of Indiana Press) and is currently working on a book-length study of H.D.     

Usefulness of cognitive intervention programmes for socio-emotional and behaviour problems in children with learning disabilities

Behavioural and emotional problems occur more frequently in children with learning problems than in a cross-section of the general population, both at home and at school. While behaviour problems reportedly are a key obstructive factor impeding inclusive education, children with both behavioural and learning disabilities carry a high risk of social exclusion and school dropout when they are in mainstream environments. Meta-analyses indicated only a moderate impact of social skills training. To see what kind of intervention programme would be effective in modifying cognitive as well as socio-emotional behaviour and at the same time focusing on contextual interaction and intervention, a pilot study has been carried out in Belgium with 11–13-year-old students with learning disability and behaviour problems in special schools. A total of 24 children in the experimental group were matched against a control group of 24. Children in the experimental group, after having received 14 lessons of FIE (Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment Programme), showed a marked increase in some cognitive functions (hypothetical thinking, perception and understanding of humour) but not in others. A significant effect on socio-emotional behaviour could not be shown quantitatively, but was evident from qualitative interviewing. The mediating attitude of the teachers was a key influencing factor in producing lasting changes. Programmes such as FIE, provided they address children as well as teachers in a comprehensive way, focusing on cognitive as well as socio-emotional behavioural changes, may become powerful instruments to help children as well as teachers in a highly differentiated inclusive school environment.     

Parameters in television captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing adults: effects of caption rate versus text reduction on comprehension

Caption rate and text reduction are factors that appear to affect the comprehension of captions by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These 2 factors are confounded in everyday captioning; rate (in words per minute) is slowed by text reduction. In this study, caption rate and text reduction were manipulated independently in 2 experiments to assess any differential effects and possible benefits for comprehension by deaf and hard-of-hearing adults. Volunteers for the study included adults with a range of reading levels, self-reported hearing status, and different communication and language preferences. Results indicate that caption rate (at 130, 180, 230 words per minute) and text reduction (at 84%, 92%, and 100% original text) have different effects for different adult users, depending on hearing status, age, and reading level. In particular, reading level emerges as a dominant factor: more proficient readers show better comprehension than poor readers and are better able to benefit from caption rate and, to some extent, text reduction modifications.     

Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs

In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.