Towards a geometrical model for polyrepresentation of information objects

The principle of polyrepresentation is one of the fundamental recent developments in the field of interactive retrieval. An open problem is how to define a framework which unifies different as- pects of polyrepresentation and allows for their application in several ways. Such a framework can be of geometrical nature and it may embrace concepts known from quantum theory. In this short paper, we discuss by giving examples how this framework can look like, with a focus on in- formation objects. We further show how it can be exploited to find a cognitive overlap of different representations on the one hand, and to combine different representations by means of knowledge augmentation on the other hand. We discuss the potential that lies within a geometrical frame- work and motivate its further developmen

Implementation intention and planning interventions in health psychology: recommendations from the Synergy Expert Group for research and practice

The current article details a position statement and recommendations for future research and practice on planning and implementation intentions in health contexts endorsed by the Synergy Expert Group. The group comprised world-leading researchers in health and social psychology and behavioural medicine who convened to discuss priority issues in planning interventions in health contexts and develop a set of recommendations for future research and practice. The expert group adopted a nominal groups approach and voting system to elicit and structure priority issues in planning interventions and implementation intentions research. Forty-two priority issues identified in initial discussions were further condensed to 18 key issues, including definitions of planning and implementation intentions and 17 priority research areas. Each issue was subjected to voting for consensus among group members and formed the basis of the position statement and recommendations. Specifically, the expert group endorsed statements and recommendations in the following areas: generic definition of planning and specific definition of implementation intentions, recommendations for better testing of mechanisms, guidance on testing the effects of moderators of planning interventions, recommendations on the social aspects of planning interventions, identification of the preconditions that moderate effectiveness of planning interventions and recommendations for research on how people use plans

Boundary management practices in youth work relationships between young people and practitioners on online social network sites

A report published by the National Youth Agency (NYA) in England during 2008 found that the majority of social network site on-line interaction between youth work practitioners and young people took place 'under the radar'. 'Under the radar' or 'unsanctioned', in this context was defined as outside the relevant guidance and without the line manager's agreement. My research set out to find why and how this is taking place, and the meaning attached to this practice to the different role players. As part of my qualitative research I interviewed twenty-one youth work practitioners (paid and voluntary) from a variety of backgrounds and fourteen young people over the age of 16, who are accessing universal youth work. Youth work practitioners and young people differ in their reasons for wanting to 'friend' each other on social media and what this signifies; is it a professional or personal relationship or a hybrid of the two? Boundaries and expectations of the 'audience' become blurred and perforated. Combined with the ever-changing nature of the technology itself, maintaining or developing professional relationships through social network sites becomes challenging. This article explores the boundary management techniques used by young people and practitioners in online social network sites to maintain developed relationships. The study uncovered limited dissemination of existing policies which resulted in diverse practice. Most unsanctioned connections took place with the best intentions and in order to support rather than with malicious inten

Mitochondrial DNA replication during differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells

Oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), the intracellular process that generates the majority of the ATP of a cell through the electron-transfer chain, is highly dependent on proteins encoded by the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA). MtDNA replication is regulated by the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and the mitochondrial-specific DNA polymerase gamma, which consists of a catalytic (POLG) and an accessory (POLG2)subunit. Differentiation of pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into specific cell types requires expansion of discrete populations of mitochondria and mtDNA replication to meet the specific metabolic requirements of the cell. We determined by real-time PCR that expression of pluripotent markers is reduced before the upregulation of Polg, Polg2 and Tfam in spontaneously differentiating R1 murine (m)ESCs, along with transient increases in mtDNA copy number. In D3 mESCs, the initial transient increase did not take place. However, precursors of neuronal and cardiomyocyte differentiation were positive for both POLG and TFAM. Similar-stage ESCs also showed active mtDNA replication, identified by 5-bromo-2 -deoxy-uridine labelling, as mtDNA copy number increased. Retinoic-acidinduced differentiation resulted in more consistent patterns of replication and upregulation of Polg, Polg2 and Tfam, whereas siRNA knockdown demonstrated that steadystate expression of POLG is essential for maintaining pluripotency

Gender and school-level differences in students' moderate and vigorous physical activity levels when taught basketball through the tactical games model

The Tactical Games Model (TGM) prefaces the cognitive components of physical education (PE), which has implications for physical activity (PA) accumulation. PA recommendations suggest students reach 50% moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, this criterion does not indicate the contribution from vigorous physical activity (VPA). Consequently, this study investigated: a) the effects of TGM delivery on MVPA/VPA and, b) gender/school level differences. Participants were 78 seventh and 96 fourth/fifth grade coeducational PE students from two different schools. Two teachers taught 24 (middle) and 30 (elementary) level one TGM basketball lessons. Students wore Actigraph GT3× triaxial accelerometers. Data were analyzed using four one-way ANOVAs. Middle school boys had significantly higher MVPA/VPA (34.04/22.37%) than girls (25.14/15.47%). Elementary school boys had significantly higher MVPA/VPA (29.73/18.33%) than girls (23.03/14.33%). While TGM lessons provide a context where students can accumulate VPA consistent with national PA recommendations, teachers need to modify lesson activities to enable equitable PA participation

UK company strategies in reducing carbon dioxide emissions

This study investigated a number of large UK companies’ strategies in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in their supply chain operations. In-depth interviews were conducted with logistics/supply chain (SC) managers across different sectors. The research identified the main CO2 reduction strategies, and examined these in the light of existing literature in the research domain. One of the key findings was that there was a strong tension between cost reduction (identified as the major driver for reducing CO2) and lack of resources (the main barrier). It was also found that most CO2 reduction strategies had started only fairly recently, and so far, were mainly operational and tactical in nature. This study makes an empirical contribution to a better understanding of how companies form their CO2 reduction strategies in response to environmental pressures. It has implications for policy makers in terms of how to motivate logistics/SC managers to implement strategies to reduce the environmental impact of CO2 emissions in their business operations. Therefore, it is recommended that logistics/SC managers develop and implement practical initiatives and strategies to reduce CO2 emissions, and to embed these into corporate strategy

Energy management in LTE networks

Wireless cellular networks have seen dramatic growth in number of mobile users. As a result, data requirements, and hence the base-station power consumption has increased significantly. It in turn adds to the operational expenditures and also causes global warming. The base station power consumption in long-term evolution (LTE) has, therefore, become a major challenge for vendors to stay green and profitable in competitive cellular industry. It necessitates novel methods to devise energy efficient communication in LTE. Importance of the topic has attracted huge research interestsworldwide. Energy saving (ES) approaches proposed in the literature can be broadly classied in categories of energy efcient resource allocation, load balancing, carrier aggregation, and bandwidth expansion. Each of these methods has its own pros and cons leading to a tradeoff between ES and other performance metrics resulting into open research questions. This paper discusses various ES techniques for the LTE systems and critically analyses their usability through a comprehensive comparative study

“Catching them young” – some reflections on the meaning of the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the tension between government protestations that youth justice policy is evidence-led and what the evidence implies in the context of the age of criminal responsibility. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a conceptual analysis of government policy and the evidence base. Findings – The paper concludes that the current low age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales can be understood as a manifestation of the influence of underclass theory on successive governments. Research limitations/implications – The paper is not based on primary research. Practical implications – The arguments adduced help to explain the reluctance of government to countenance any increase in the age of criminal responsibility. Social implications – The analysis might help inform approaches adopted by youth justice policy makers, practitioners and academics with an interest in seeking a rise in the age of criminal responsibility. Originality/value – The paper offers an original analysis of government intransigence on an important social issue

Training needs for women-owned SMEs in England

Originality/value – The study offers original primary research into the contributory growth factors for women-owned enterprises in a representative area of Britain, identifies key issues, maps survival and success factors, and assesses women entrepreneurs' training needs and preferences.Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate the needs and preferences for training among growth-oriented women-owned SMEs in the East of England. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative data were collected through 108 on-line questionnaires, and the means analysed using SPSS. Qualitative data collected in response to open-ended questions were inductively analysed and interpreted. Findings – Only one fourth of respondents received growth-oriented training in the previous two years, with an average duration of 3-5 days per year. Programmes most in demand concerned innovation and opportunity recognition, business evaluation and growth considerations, developing strategic customers and customers care, customer relationship management, as well as selling, networking and negotiation skills. High demand for these programmes corresponds to others results identifying contributory factors to higher enterprise performance and growth: product/service quality, new product/service development, appropriate marketing, effective use of websites, selling skills and informal networking. Research limitations/implications – The scope of the project is limited to service sectors and sole proprietorships. Geographic scope is limited to the East of England. These limits nonetheless provide a reasonable base and rationale for the scope of the study. Practical implications – With a better understanding of the capacity building requirements of women entrepreneurs in growth businesses, appropriately designed training programmes can be developed to help women achieve higher levels of entrepreneurial success