Does Higher Social Diversity Affect People’s Contributions to Local Schools? Evidence from New Zealand

New Zealand is becoming more socially diverse, in common with other Western countries. Primarily U.S. based-evidence suggests that growing diversity may lower people’s participation in society, and their contributions towards public goods. We test whether there is evidence of a similar relationship in New Zealand, specifically between social diversity and voluntary contributions towards local schools. We use data from the New Zealand Ministry of Education and the Census for the years 2001 and 2006 to estimate whether social heterogeneity affects a school’s ability to raise funds locally. Individual school revenue data is matched with measures of the heterogeneity of the neighbourhood in which the school is located. We consider heterogeneity by language, ethnicity, religion and income. After running cross-section and fixed effects regressions which control for other factors, we find only limited evidence that diversity affects the financial support schools receive from their local communities. We do find that higher nominal household income inequality lowers the revenues schools collect from fundraising, but not the revenues they receive from parental contributions or donations.heterogeneity; social capital; school contributions; fundraising

Open Innovation and Knowledge Appropriation in African Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs)

This article seeks enhanced understanding of the dynamics of open innovation and knowledge appropriation in African settings. More specifically, the authors focus on innovation and appropriation dynamics in African micro and small enterprises (MSEs), which are key engines of productivity on the continent. The authors begin by providing an expansion of an emergent conceptual framework for understanding intersections between innovation, openness and knowledge appropriation in African small-enterprise settings. Then, based on this framework, they review evidence generated by five recent case studies looking at knowledge development, sharing and appropriation among groups of small-scale African innovators. The innovators considered in the five studies were found to favour inclusive, collaborative approaches to development of their innovations; to rely on socially-grounded information networks when deploying and sharing their innovations; and to appropriate their innovative knowledge via informal (and, to a lesser extent, semi-formal) appropriation tools

A Solvable Model for Decoupling of Interacting Clusters

We consider M clusters of interacting particles, whose in-group interactions are arbitrary, and inter-group interactions are approximated by oscillator potentials. We show that there are masses and frequencies that decouple the in-group and inter-group degrees of freedom, which reduces the initial problem to M independent problems that describe each of the relative in-group systems. The dynamics of the M center-of-mass coordinates is described by the analytically solvable problem of M coupled harmonic oscillators. This paper derives and discusses these decoupling conditions. Furthermore, to illustrate our findings, we consider a charged impurity interacting with a ring of ions. We argue that the impurity can be used to probe the center-of-mass dynamics of the ions.Comment: Version accepted for publication in EP

Stakeholder perspectives on the development of a virtual clinic for diabetes care : qualitative study

Background: The development of the Internet has created new opportunities for health care provision, including its use as a tool to aid the self-management of chronic conditions. We studied stakeholder reactions to an Internet-based “virtual clinic,” which would allow people with diabetes to communicate with their health care providers, find information about their condition, and share information and support with other users. Objective: The aim of the study was to present the results of a detailed consultation with a variety of stakeholder groups in order to identify what they regard as the desirable, important, and feasible characteristics of an Internet-based intervention to aid diabetes self-management. Methods: Three focus groups were conducted with 12 people with type 1 diabetes who used insulin pumps. Participants were recruited through a local diabetes clinic. One-on-one interviews were conducted with 5 health care professionals from the same clinic (2 doctors, 2 nurses, 1 dietitian) and with 1 representative of an insulin pump company. We gathered patient consensus via email on the important and useful features of Internet-based systems used for other chronic conditions (asthma, epilepsy, myalgic encephalopathy, mental health problems). A workshop to gather expert consensus on the use of information technology to improve the care of young people with diabetes was organized. Results: Stakeholder groups identified the following important characteristics of an Internet-based virtual clinic: being grounded on personal needs rather than only providing general information; having the facility to communicate with, and learn from, peers; providing information on the latest developments and news in diabetes; being quick and easy to use. This paper discusses these characteristics in light of a review of the relevant literature. The development of a virtual clinic for diabetes that embodies these principles, and that is based on self-efficacy theory, is described. Conclusions: Involvement of stakeholders is vital early in the development of a complex intervention. Stakeholders have clear and relevant views on what a virtual clinic system should provide, and these views can be captured and synthesized with relative ease. This work has led to the design of a system that is able to meet user needs and is currently being evaluated in a pilot study

Access to Knowledge in Africa: the role of copyright

The emergence of the Internet and the digital world has changed the way people access, produce and share information and knowledge. Yet people in Africa face challenges in accessing scholarly publications, journals and learning materials in general. At the heart of these challenges, and solutions to them, is copyright, the branch of intellectual property rights that covers written and related works. This book will help educators identifying challenges for learning materials access posed by copyright laws in Africa. Some solutions as to how to overcome these challenges are provided

Outcomes of the NuroSleeve and Occupational Therapy on Upper Limb Function of an Individual with Chronic Hemiparesis Following a Stroke: A Case Report

Background: Upper limb neuromuscular impairments can adversely impact function. This case report investigates the process and outcomes of occupational therapy (OT) for training in the use of the NuroSleeve, a novel research-grade exoskeletal powered orthosis, with a participant with chronic right hemiparesis following a stroke. Method: The participant engaged in 24 OT sessions using the NuroSleeve over 10 weeks. Therapeutic interventions included neuromuscular reeducation, device management, and engagement in occupation-based activities with training to use the NuroSleeve. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), ABILHAND, Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Upper Extremity Short Form 7a (PROMIS UE SF), Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), and Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) were administered before and after the 24 sessions. Results: With the NuroSleeve, there were clinically important increases in COPM performance and satisfaction for 6/8 and 7/8 goals, respectively; ABILHAND showed a clinically important increase of 4.959 logits; and there was an 11-point increase on the ARAT, indicating a clinically important difference. T-score on the PROMIS UE SF was 33.7 (SD = 2) compared to 23 (SD = 2.8) without the device. MMT remain unchanged. Conclusion: The data suggest that the NuroSleeve was the primary source of increased function and that incorporating OT with the NuroSleeve has benefits

Clusters in separated tubes of tilted dipoles

A few-body cluster is a building block of a many-body system in a gas phase provided the temperature at most is of the order of the binding energy of this cluster. Here we illustrate this statement by considering a system of tubes filled with dipolar distinguishable particles. We calculate the partition function, which determines the probability to find a few-body cluster at a given temperature. The input for our calculations—the energies of few-body clusters—is estimated using the harmonic approximation. We first describe and demonstrate the validity of our numerical procedure. Then we discuss the results featuring melting of the zero-temperature many-body state into a gas of free particles and few-body clusters. For temperature higher than its binding energy threshold, the dimers overwhelmingly dominate the ensemble, where the remaining probability is in free particles. At very high temperatures free (harmonic oscillator trap-bound) particle dominance is eventually reached. This structure evolution appears both for one and two particles in each layer providing crucial information about the behavior of ultracold dipolar gases. The investigation addresses the transition region between few- and many-body physics as a function of temperature using a system of ten dipoles in five tubes

In-situ and invasive carcinoma within a phyllodes tumor associated with lymph node metastases

BACKGROUND: Phyllodes tumors (cystosarcoma phyllodes) are uncommon lesions in the female breast. Rarely, the occurrence of carcinoma within a phyllodes tumor has been reported in the literature, but has never been associated with lymph node metastases. CASE PRESENTATION: A 26-year-old woman presented with a firm, mobile, non-tender mass in the left breast and palpable lymph nodes in the left axilla. The excised lesion appeared well circumscribed and lobulated, with variable fleshy and firm areas. Microscopic examination showed a circumscribed fibroepithelial lesion with a well developed leaf-like architecture, in keeping with a benign phyllodes tumor. The epithelial component showed extensive high grade ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) and invasive carcinoma of no special type, located entirely within the phyllodes tumor. Subsequent axillary lymph node dissection revealed metastatic carcinoma in four lymph nodes. CONCLUSIONS: Although rare, phyllodes tumors may harbor DCIS and invasive carcinoma, with potential for lymph node metastasis