Developing design guidelines for inclusive housing: a multi-stakeholder approach using a Delphi method

Increasing interest and investment in inclusive housing for people with complex disabilities has resulted in a greater focus on research evidence and industry replication. In the absence of practice standards and regulatory structures, building design principles and guidelines for purpose-built supported housing have an important role within the sector. The current project was a first attempt at developing a set of principles and design features that have the potential to inform future inclusive housing guidelines. The researchers applied a multi-stakeholder Delphi process to generate nine design principles to guide future supported housing, and a parsimonious set of design features (n = 247) across ten design spaces. The framework such as developed in this study can be further tested to develop a more robust understanding of what works in supported housing design, and therefore what can be replicated over time.     

Quorum Sensing in the Squid-Vibrio Symbiosis

Quorum sensing is an intercellular form of communication that bacteria use to coordinate group behaviors such as biofilm formation and the production of antibiotics and virulence factors. The term quorum sensing was originally coined to describe the mechanism underlying the onset of luminescence production in cultures of the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Luminescence and, more generally, quorum sensing are important for V. fischeri to form a mutualistic symbiosis with the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes. The symbiosis is established when V. fischeri cells migrate via flagella-based motility from the surrounding seawater into a specialized structure injuvenile squid called the light organ. The cells grow to high cell densities within the light organ where the infection persists over the lifetime of the animal. A hallmark of a successful symbiosis is the luminescence produced by V. fischeri that camouflages the squid at night by eliminating its shadow within the water column. While the regulatory networks governing quorum sensing are critical for properly regulating V. fischeri luminescence within the squid light organ, they also regulate luminescence-independent processes during symbiosis. In this review, we discuss the quorum-sensing network of V. fischeri and highlight its impact at various stages during host colonization.     

Biosorption of lac dye by the red marine alga Gracilaria tenuistipitata: biosorption kinetics,isotherms, and thermodynamic parameters

The hypothesis that the dried, ground biomass of the red marine alga Gracilaria tenuistipitata could be used for the efficient removal of lac dye from aqueous solution was assessed in this work. The effects of parameters such as initial pH, biosorbent dosage, contact time, initial dye concentration, and temperature on the biosorption capacity of the dye were investigated. Equilibrium data were analysed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherm models, and the Freundlich model provided the highest coefficient of determination values. Biosorption kinetic data were successfully described with a pseudo‐second‐order model at initial dye concentrations of 50, 80, 100, and 120 mg l^?1. The thermodynamic parameters of biosorption – enthalpy change (?H° = ?30.64 kJ mol^?1), free energy change (?G° = 4.32 kJ mol^?1 at 303 K to 7.78 kJ mol^?1 at 333 K), and entropy change (?S° = ?115.38 J mol^?1 K^?1) – were determined. The negative value of the enthalpy change and positive values of the free energy change indicate that the biosorption process is exothermic and non‐spontaneous. The negative value of the entropy change is consistent with decreased randomness at the solid–liquid interface with dye biosorption. Attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis confirmed the presence of lac dye on the G. tenuistipitata material. The efficiency of lac dye removal by this biomass material at 20 g l^?1 and with an initial dye concentration of 50 mg l^?1 in acidic solution was 71%, which indicated its potential usefulness as a new dye biosorbent.     

Five-factor model personality traits as predictors of perceived and actual usage of technology

Understanding the adoption and use of technology is extremely important in the field of information systems. Not surprisingly, there are several conceptual models that attempt to explain how and why individuals use technology. Until recently, however, the role of personality in general, and the five-factor model (FFM) of personality in particular, had remained largely unexplored. Our study takes an interactional psychology perspective, linking components of the FFM to the use of technology within the conceptual framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). After empirically confirming previous research findings linking performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence to technology use, we test direct relationships between FFM personality traits and technology use in the context of a web-based classroom technological system, utilizing measures of perceived and actual use of technology. Consistent with expectations, conscientiousness and neuroticism are associated with perceived and actual use of technology, with conscientiousness demonstrating a positive association with both perceived and actual use and neuroticism, a negative association. Extraversion was also significantly associated with actual use, although not in the positive direction expected. Further, the significant relationships between the personality traits and the actual use of technology were direct and not mediated by expressed intentions to use the system.