State of New York Public Employment Relations Board Decisions from June 12, 2012

BD_Mtng_6_12_2012.pdf: 549 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

E-learning – Who? What? Where?

This paper considers case studies of experience in distance-learning environments from the UK's Open University, two having successfully utilised e-learning, and a third which is at the proposal stage, requiring e-learning facilities which are not yet well-developed. Some of the lessons learned are described and the potential role of the world-wide web briefly assessed. The paper also considers how a future strategy for collaboration amongst East and West European Universities and commercial organisations might be developed

X-Ray Spectroscopy of the Low-Mass X-ray Binaries 2S 0918-549 and 4U1543-624: Evidence for Neon-Rich Degenerate Donors

We present high-resolution spectroscopy of the neutron-star/low-mass X-ray binaries 2S 0918-549 and 4U 1543-624 with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer onboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Reflection Grating Spectrometer onboard XMM-Newton. Previous low-resolution spectra of both sources showed a broad line-like feature at 0.7 keV that was originally attributed to unresolved line emission. We recently showed that this feature could also be due to excess neutral Ne absorption, and this is confirmed by the new high-resolution Chandra spectra. The Chandra spectra are each well fit by an absorbed power-law + blackbody model with a modified Ne/O number ratio of 0.52+/-0.12 for 2S 0918-549 and 1.5+/-0.3 for 4U 1543-624, compared to the interstellar-medium value of 0.18. The XMM spectrum of 2S 0918-549 is best fit by an absorbed power-law model with a Ne/O number ratio of 0.46+/-0.03, consistent with the Chandra result. On the other hand, the XMM spectrum of 4U 1543-624 is softer and less luminous than the Chandra spectrum and has a best-fit Ne/O number ratio of 0.54+/-0.03. The difference between the measured abundances and the expected interstellar ratio, as well as the variation of the column densities of O and Ne in 4U 1543-624, supports the suggestion that there is absorption local to these binaries. We propose that the variations in the O and Ne column densities of 4U 1543-624 are caused by changes in the ionization structure of the local absorbing material. It is important to understand the effect of ionization on the measured absorption columns before the abundance of the local material can be determined. This work supports our earlier suggestion that 2S 0918-549 and 4U 1543-624 are ultracompact binaries with Ne-rich companions.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, major revisions including addition of XMM spectral analysis, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, vol. 59

Clinical usefulness of cancer markers in primary breast cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic power of CA 549, MSA and CA 15-3 in identifying breast cancer. The study included 232 patients of which 56 were healthy, 43 had benign breast cancer and 191 with other growths. The results were obtained using a specific immunoassay and using producers' cut offs. The following sensitivity and specificity of markers were found: CA 549 (sen.: 40%/spec.: 90%), MSA (sen.: 22%/spec.: 96%), and CA 15-3 (sen.: 33%/spec.: 86%). Ideal cut offs were defined with ROC curves. A significant correlation was found between CA 549, MSA, and CA 15-3. The combination of markers does not improve the clinical usefulness to identify only breast cancer. Serum tumor markers are abnormally elevated in patients with breast cancer. CA 549, MSA, CA 15-3 are useful clinical markers, good indicators of disease extent, and may have important prognostic value. This study demonstrates the role of the tumor markers in breast cancer

Gordon Baldwin: Objects for a Landscape

‘Gordon Baldwin: Objects for a Landscape’ was a major retrospective exhibition of the work of Gordon Baldwin designed by Smith and Tatjana Marsden. Initiated by York Museums Trust, the exhibition opened at York Art Gallery in February 2012 and toured to Gallery Oldham (2012); The National Centre for Craft and Design, Lincolnshire (2012–13); Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery (2013); and Ruthin Craft Centre (2013). During the first two months at York, 37,700 people saw the exhibition. Gordon Baldwin OBE (born 1932) is ‘one of the world’s most distinguished ceramic artists, a sculpture potter who has helped to redefine the expressive language of clay over the last fifty years’ (Whiting 2012). Internationally renowned as the UK’s most distinguished living sculptural potter, he has been influential both as an artist and teacher, and is regarded as ‘one of the last true modernists to work in clay’, moving ceramics onto a sculptural platform, away from its traditional and functional concerns (Whiting 2012). Smith’s research for the project included a series of in-depth interviews conducted with Baldwin in his studio. These explored how Baldwin conceived of his work and anticipated the way individual pieces would be presented. Smith also undertook documentary research of previous large-scale exhibitions of Baldwin’s work to develop an understanding of the motivations and aims behind previous display choices. The resulting touring exhibition of 147 individual works was the largest assemblage of Baldwin’s work ever undertaken. The unprecedented number of artworks brought together for the show gave Smith the opportunity to construct a comprehensive thematic interpretation of Baldwin’s work that foregrounded his working processes and development as an artist. Smith also gave a paper about his curation of the show, ‘Designing the landscape’, at a symposium about Baldwin and sculptural ceramics hosted by the University of York (2012)

The role of computer mediated environment and simulations in mediating consumers' personal and domestic life-worlds

This thesis examines the impacts of consumption of simulations. Using ethnographic methods, it explores how Irish consumers are using simulated products in lieu of the real and tangible, and how consumption of these simulations impact on their lifeworlds. Drawing heavily upon Jean Baudrillard’s conceptions of simulacra and hyperreality, it argues that consumers adapt to the differences between simulated and real worlds, by accepting the replacement of tangibles by simulations, and by aiming to situate their selves seamlessly between these two worlds. It further argues that within consumers’ lives cyberspace manifests itself as a field of tensions and discourses of power, and that consumers feel that mastery of this ethereal domain empowers them. It finds that consumers use cyberspace as a place to create lived experience narratives, and that these narratives become an important component of their life-worlds

The Likely Orbital Period of the Ultracompact Low-Mass X-Ray Binary 2S 0918-549

We report the discovery of the likely orbital period of the ultracompact low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) 2S 0918-549. Using time-resolved optical photometry carried out with the 8-m Gemini South Telescope, we obtained a 2.4-hr long, Sloan r' light curve of 2S 0918-549 and found a periodic, sinusoidal modulation at 17.4+/-0.1 min with a semiamplitude of 0.015+/-0.002 mag, which we identify as the binary period. In addition to 4U 0513-40 in the globular cluster NGC 1851 and the Galactic disk source 4U 1543-624, 2S 0918-549 is the third member of the ultracompact LMXBs that have orbital periods around 18 min. Our result verifies the suggestion of 2S 0918-549 as an ultracompact binary based on its X-ray and optical spectroscopic properties. Given that the donor in 2S 0918-549 has been suggested to be either a C-O or He white dwarf, its likely mass and radius are around 0.024--0.029 M_sun and 0.03--0.032 R_sun, respectively, for the former case and 0.034--0.039 M_sun and 0.033--0.035 R_sun for the latter case. If the optical modulation arises from X-ray heating of the mass donor, its sinusoidal shape suggests that the binary has a low inclination angle, probably around 10 deg.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Consequences of sexual harassment in sport for female athletes

Sexual harassment research was first undertaken in the workplace and educational settings. Research on sexual harassment in sport is scarce but has grown steadily since the mid-1980s. Even so, very little is known about the causes and/or characteristics and/or consequences of sexual harassment in sport settings. This article reports on the findings from interviews with 25 elite female athletes in Norway who indicated in a prior survey (N =572) that they had experienced sexual harassment from someone in sport. The consequences of the incidents of sexual harassment that were reported were mostly negative, but some also reported that their experiences of sexual harassment had had no consequences for them. “Thinking about the incidents”, a “destroyed relationship to the coach”, and “more negative view of men in general” were the most often negative consequences mentioned. In addition, a surprising number had chosen to move to a different sport or to drop out of elite sport altogether because of the harassment