National research on the postgraduate student experience:Case presentation on postgraduate student diversity (Volume 2 of 3)

This is volume two of a set of three case studies that explore the postgraduate student experience. The theme of this case study is postgraduate student diversity and is based on experiences derived from student engagement breakfasts, interviews, and focus groups with 366 people across the stakeholder groups of postgraduate students, educators, and university executives from 26 institutions. The case studies constitute part of the output from the project, Engaging postgraduate students and supporting higher education to enhance the 21st century student experience

Computing Web-scale Topic Models using an Asynchronous Parameter Server

Topic models such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) have been widely used in information retrieval for tasks ranging from smoothing and feedback methods to tools for exploratory search and discovery. However, classical methods for inferring topic models do not scale up to the massive size of today's publicly available Web-scale data sets. The state-of-the-art approaches rely on custom strategies, implementations and hardware to facilitate their asynchronous, communication-intensive workloads. We present APS-LDA, which integrates state-of-the-art topic modeling with cluster computing frameworks such as Spark using a novel asynchronous parameter server. Advantages of this integration include convenient usage of existing data processing pipelines and eliminating the need for disk writes as data can be kept in memory from start to finish. Our goal is not to outperform highly customized implementations, but to propose a general high-performance topic modeling framework that can easily be used in today's data processing pipelines. We compare APS-LDA to the existing Spark LDA implementations and show that our system can, on a 480-core cluster, process up to 135 times more data and 10 times more topics without sacrificing model quality.Comment: To appear in SIGIR 201

Web Based Organizing and the Management of Human Resources

The paper focuses on the consequences of web-based business-to-business transactions in medium and large old economy companies in particular and discusses the implications for HRM and HR professionals. Medium and large old economy companies can be involved in transactions within the new economy in different ways. First of all the paper gives an overview of the striking characteristics that distinguish web-based transactions from more traditional transactions. The paper continues with an overview of the different ways in which old economy companies are attempting to integrate elements of web-based organizing into their current business and the implications of it for human resources management. Three different ways of integration are distinguished:-Seeing the Net as an extension of normal market channels for buying and selling.-Using the Net to expand and improve current co-makership relationships amongst key suppliers (section 4).-Totally re-thinking business models before deciding on e-commerce strategy and practice, which implies desegregation and organizational revolution. Each of these areas will be highlighted and possible implications for human resources management and HR managers considered.human resource management;business to business transactions;human resource managers;web-based organizing

Interstitial laser therapy of benign prostatic hyperplasia

The objective of interstitial laser coagulation (ILC) of benign prostatic enlargement is to achieve a marked volume reduction and to decrease bladder outlet obstruction and lower urinary tract symptoms with minimal morbidity. Coagulation necrosis is generated well inside the adenoma by means of specifically designed laser applicators combined with either a Nd:YAG laser or a diode laser. Because the laser applicators can be inserted as deeply and as often as necessary, it is possible to coagulate any amount of tissue at any desired location while preserving adjacent structures such as the urethra. Postprocedural, the intraprostatic lesions result in secondary atrophy and regression of the prostate lobes, rather than sloughing of necrotic tissue. Several single-armed and randomized studies indicated the effectiveness of interstitial laser coagulation of BPH-syndrome. Marked improvements in AUA score, peak flow rate, residual urine volume and prostate volume were reported. Pressure-flow studies demonstrated a sufficient decrease of the intravesical/detrusor pressure, urethral opening pressure and urethral resistance. Long-term results demonstrating sustained success for up to 3 years were reported on a series of 394 patients. ILC is suitable to debulk even large prostates and to treat highly obstructive patients. Therefore, ILC can be seen as a true alternative to TURF with certain advantages, such as almost no serious morbidity and with certain disadvantages, such as the need for postoperative catheterization. However, ILC can be done under local anesthesia and does not require hospitalization

Teacher change and development during training in social and emotional learning programs in Sweden

The paper presents the results from a thematic analysis of the process diaries of teachers involved in teacher training in social and emotional learning (SEL) in Sweden. Twentynine out of the 122 diaries available were analyzed until saturation was reached. The following themes and sub-themes were extracted: development (professional and personal, and classroom climate), and concomitants of development (need for collaboration and unease). The themes and sub-themes are related to theoretical aspects of specialised teacher education and to the debate in Sweden on how to proceed with SEL programs, and more generally with life skills programs. The results suggest that training generates both general teacher improvement and better implementation of SEL programs.peer-reviewe

SmartEx: a case study on user profiling and adaptation in exhibition booths

An investigation into user profiling and adaptation with exhibition booth as a case study is reported. First a review of the field of exhibitions and trade fairs and a summary introduction to adaptation and profiling are given. We then introduce three criteria for the evaluation of exhibition booth: effectiveness, efficiency and affect. Effectiveness is related the amount of information collected, efficiency is a measurement of the time taken to collect the information, and affect is the perception of the experience and the mood booth visitors have during and after their visit. We have selected these criteria to assess adaptive and profiled exhibition booths, we call smart exhibition (SmartEx). The assessment is performed with an experiment with three test conditions (non-profiled/non adaptive, profiled/non-adaptive and profiled adaptive presentations). Results of the experiment are presented along discussion. While there is significant improvements of effectiveness and efficiency between the two-first test conditions, the improvement is not significant for the last test condition, for reasons explained. As for the affect, the results show that it has an under-estimated importance in people minds and that it should be addressed more carefully

EBSLG Annual General Conference, 18. - 21.05.2010, Cologne. Selected papers

Am 18.-21. Mai 2010 fand in der Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek (USB) Köln die „Annual General Conference“ der European Business Schools Librarians Group (EBSLG) statt. Die EBSLG ist eine relativ kleine, aber exklusive Gruppe von Bibliotheksdirektorinnen und –direktoren bzw. Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekaren in Leitungspositionen aus den Bibliotheken führender Business Schools. Im Mittelpunkt der Tagung standen zwei Themenschwerpunkte: Der erste Themenkreis beschäftigte sich mit Bibliotheksportalen und bibliothekarischen Suchmaschinen. Der zweite Themenschwerpunkt Fragen der Bibliotheksorganisation wie die Aufbauorganisation einer Bibliothek, Outsourcing und Relationship Management. Der vorliegende Tagungsband enthält ausgewählte Tagungsbeiträge

Doing, being, becoming: a historical appraisal of the modalities of project-based learning

Any pedagogy of media practice sits at the intersection between training for employment and education for critical thinking. As such, the use of projects is a primary means of structuring learning experiences as a means of mirroring professional practice. Yet, our understanding of the nature of projects and of project-based learning is arguably under-theorised and largely taken for granted. This paper attempts to address this issue through a synthesis of the literature from organisational studies and experiential learning. The article aims to shift the debate around project-based learning away from an instrumentalist agenda, to one that considers the social context and lived experience of projects and re-conceptualises projects as ontological modalities of doing, being and becoming. In this way, the article aims to provide a means for thinking about the use of project-based learning within the media practice curriculum that draws on metaphors of discovery, rather than of construction