The Problem and Politics of Temporary Housing

There has been wide acknowledgement of the relationship between inadequate housing and poor health; however, temporary housing has largely escaped attention. This paper takes a socio-spatial perspective of camping ground residence, reflecting on competing narratives of the meaning of these places. The temporary nature of this housing leaves residents vulnerable to eviction and inadequate housing standards, and particularly at-risk of further homelessness. Legislation, regulation and public discourse undermine camping ground residence as a legitimate housing option. This paper examines camping grounds as sites of politics of place, where many camping ground residents live in a politically and socially unsecured space. The conception of camping grounds as housing is a complex and contested issue, regardless of any economic and social functions that camping grounds fulfil. This research is an example of the consequences of social exclusion in housing, and findings reinforce the need to take into account socio-spatial structuring of housing within policy settings.     

Optimization of extracellular lipase production by Debaryomyces hansenii isolates from dry-salted olives using response surface methodology

The lipase production by Debaryomyces hansenii strains isolated from dry-salted olives cv. Thassos was investigated. Glucose, olive oil and pH were essential to obtain a high lipase yield. Optimization of the medium components which enhance lipase production by the strain D. hansenii YLL29 was achieved with the aid of response surface methodology. The composition of the optimized medium to enhance lipase production by D. hansenii is as follows (g/L): yeast extract 5.0, peptone 10, K₂HPO₄ 4.0, MgSO₄·7H₂O 1.0, glucose 13.1, olive oil 19, Tween 80 3.8, and pH 6.4. Practical validation of the optimum medium gave lipase activity 7.44 U/mL, which was 2.28-fold higher than the unoptimized conditions. Under the optimized conditions the twenty D. hansenii isolates showed increased lipase activity fluctuating between 6.00 and 7.44 U/mL. The results corroborated the validity and the effectiveness of the model, as the statistical approaches proved to be suitable in predicting the optimum production medium composition for maximum extracellular lipase yield. The high lipolytic activity of D. hansenii YLL29 (7.44 U/mL) indicates the possible commercial importance of this isolate.     

A comparative study of the anti-listerial activity of smear bacteria

Cell-free supernatants from Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus warneri and Brevibacterium linens were found to possess anti-listerial activities. Anti-listerial activities were increased during exponential growth phase and reached a maximum during stationary growth phase. S. epidermidis (SE1) and S. warneri (SW1) were found to have particularly high activities against both Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria innocua as inhibition zones for 48 h cell-free supernatants of these strains were found on average to be approximately 10 times larger than those of B. linens (9174, M18 and BL1). Incubation of 48 h cell-free supernatants from S. epidermidis (SE1) and S. warneri (SW1) with proteolytic enzymes (trypsin and pronase E) resulted in a total loss of anti-listerial activity, which revealed its proteinaceous nature, and thus suggested that the observed anti-listerial activities were due to bacteriocin production. The bacteriocins were found to be relatively heat stable and had a molecular mass higher than 30 kDa.     

Between psychology and pedagogy: “Moral orthopedics” and case studies of children in fin-de-siècle French medicine.

In the latter decades of the 19th century, European physicians debated a controversial practice that mixed placebos with suggestion therapy to treat children diagnosed with neurotic disorders and behavioral problems. Designed to optimize suggestibility in juvenile patients, this “moral orthopedics” offered parents and therapists the message that children could be saved from becoming victims of their own personalities, of familial neuroses, or even of public health problems. Case studies, published in medical journals and books, circulated accounts of innovative strategies to treat childhood hysteria and to change habits that were considered destructive. Moral orthopedics actualized the insight that suggestibility could be therapeutically productive for juvenile subjects. However, because its adherents sought to manipulate patients' behavior and health by influencing unconscious thought, moral orthopedics provoked questions of expertise and disciplinary propriety among domains of medicine, law, and philosophy. This article reconstructs the controversy surrounding moral orthopedics by examining case studies. I argue that adherents of moral orthopedics did overcome philosophical objections raised against the method, and that they did so through what physician Edgar Bérillon referred to as “education of the will.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addressing multicollinearity in semiconductor manufacturing

When building prediction models in the semiconductor environment, many variables, such as input/output variables, have causal relationships which may lead to multicollinearity. There are several approaches to address multicollinearity: variable elimination, orthogonal transformation, and adoption of biased estimates. This paper reviews these methods with respect to an application that has a structure more complex than simple pairwise correlations. We also present two algorithmic variable elimination approaches and compare their performance with that of the existing principal component regression and ridge regression approaches in terms of residual mean square and R². Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Digitized RF-over-fiber as a cost-effective and energy-efficient backhaul option for wireless communications

Digitized RF-over-fiber technique based on bandpass sampling theory is studied as an alternative of analog radio-over-fiber to deliver wireless signals, taking advantage of digital optical link and realizing simpler base station architecture. In this paper, we present an overview of our recent research on digitized radio-over-fiber (RoF) technique, including discussions on the designing issues and possible solutions, proof-of-concept demonstrations and experimental results. Then, we examine the energy efficiency of the digitized RoF technique using a generic base station (BS) power model and compare with conventional BS designs. Based on the estimated energy consumption per square meter, digitized RoF technique has advantage for larger cell size.