More than just friends? Facebook, disclosive ethics and the morality of technology

Social networking sites have become increasingly popular destinations for people wishing to chat, play games, make new friends or simply stay in touch. Furthermore, many organizations have been quick to grasp the potential they offer for marketing, recruitment and economic activities. Nevertheless, counterclaims depict such spaces as arenas where deception, social grooming and the posting of defamatory content flourish. Much research in this area has focused on the ends to which people deploy the technology, and the consequences arising, with a view to making policy recommendations and ethical interventions. In this paper, we argue that tracing where morality lies is more complex than these efforts suggest. Using the case of a popular social networking site, and concepts about the morality of technology, we disclose the ethics of Facebook as diffuse and multiple. In our conclusions we provide some reflections on the possibilities for action in light of this disclosure

Collaborative Epistemic Discourse in Classroom Information Seeking Tasks

We discuss the relationship between information seeking, and epistemic beliefs – beliefs about the source, structure, complexity, and stability of knowledge – in the context of collaborative information seeking discourses. We further suggest that both information seeking, and epistemic cognition research agendas have suffered from a lack of attention to how information seeking as a collaborative activity is mediated by talk between partners – an area we seek to address in this paper. A small-scale observational study using sociocultural discourse analysis was conducted with eight eleven year old pupils who carried out search engine tasks in small groups. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were performed on their discussions using sociocultural discourse analytic techniques. Extracts of the dialogue are reported, informed by concordance analysis and quantitative coding of dialogue duration. We find that 1) discourse which could be characterised as ‘epistemic’ is identifiable in student talk, 2) that it is possible to identify talk which is more or less productive, and 3) that epistemic talk is associated with positive learning outcomes

Management of Khalitya through Pracchana followed by Vanadhanyakadi Lepa - A Case Report

Alopecia is caused by androgen and genetic factors. Androgens cause hair follicles to shrink and eventually disappear if they are not addressed. It is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. A 26-year-old male presented to the Panchakarma OPD Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Ayurveda and Hospital, Hassan, with complaints of gradual hair loss and scalp itching over a two-year period. It was diagnosed as a case of Khalitya and was treated with Udwartana to Shira Pradesha, Pracchana, and Lepa application. The Norman Hamilton scale, hair pull test and symptoms before and after treatment were used to evaluate the case. Following treatment, there was a significant reduction in symptoms and significant hair growth

Dynamics of localization in a waveguide

This is a review of the dynamics of wave propagation through a disordered N-mode waveguide in the localized regime. The basic quantities considered are the Wigner-Smith and single-mode delay times, plus the time-dependent power spectrum of a reflected pulse. The long-time dynamics is dominated by resonant transmission over length scales much larger than the localization length. The corresponding distribution of the Wigner-Smith delay times is the Laguerre ensemble of random-matrix theory. In the power spectrum the resonances show up as a 1/t^2 tail after N^2 scattering times. In the distribution of single-mode delay times the resonances introduce a dynamic coherent backscattering effect, that provides a way to distinguish localization from absorption.Comment: 18 pages including 8 figures; minor correction

Development of the Carers’ Alert Thermometer (CAT) to identify family carers struggling with caring for someone dying at home: a mixed method consensus study

Background: There is an increasing international policy direction to promote home death for dying patients which will impact on the demands placed on family carers. The early identification of carer needs and appropriate intervention can help avoid crisis situations for the carer and avoidable hospital admissions which are reported to be a global concern. The aim of the study was to explore what professionals and carers of patients with cancer and advanced progressive illness, in their last year of life, find burdensome and to develop an alert system for use by non-specialist staff. Methods: A mixed-method, multi-phased, consensus study sequentially utilising qualitative and quantitative data to develop and pilot the Carers’ Alert Thermometer (CAT). 245 people (117 carers and 128 professionals) participated in the study across a range of health and social care settings in the North West of England (2011–2014). Results: A number of key domains were identified and prioritised by consensus for inclusion in the CAT. The 8 domains fit within two overarching themes of the reported carer experience; the support needed by the carer to provide care and the support needed for the carer’s own health and well-being. The resultant CAT is an evidence-based alert thermometer consisting of 10 questions, guidance on the possible actions for each alert and space for an action plan to be jointly agreed by the assessor and carer. Preliminary piloting of the CAT has shown it to be valued, fit for purpose and it can be administered by a range of personnel. Conclusions: The CAT enables the identification of current and potential future needs so a proactive approach can be taken to supporting the carer as their role develops over time, with a view to enhancing their well-being and preventing avoidable hospital admissions; ultimately supporting patient choice to remain in their own home

Fermionic Wigs for AdS-Schwarzschild Black Holes

We provide the metric, the gravitino fields and the gauge fields to all orders in the fermionic zero modes for D=5 and D=4, N=2 gauged supergravity solutions starting from non-extremal AdS--Schwarzschild black holes. We compute the Brown-York stress--energy tensor on the boundary of AdS_5 / AdS_4 spaces and we discuss some implications of the fermionic corrections to perfect fluid interpretation of the boundary theory. The complete non-linear solution, which we denote as fermionic wig, is achieved by acting with supersymmetry transformations upon the supergravity fields and that expansion naturally truncates at some order in the fermionic zero modes.Comment: 27 pages, Latex2e, no figures, 3 ancillary file

Aspects of Black Hole Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics in 2+1 Dimensions

We discuss the quantum mechanics and thermodynamics of the (2+1)-dimensional black hole, using both minisuperspace methods and exact results from Chern-Simons theory. In particular, we evaluate the first quantum correction to the black hole entropy. We show that the dynamical variables of the black hole arise from the possibility of a deficit angle at the (Euclidean) horizon, and briefly speculate as to how they may provide a basis for a statistical picture of black hole thermodynamics.Comment: 20 pages and 2 figures, LaTeX, IASSNS-HEP-94/34 and UCD-94-1

The comprehensive cohort model in a pilot trial in orthopaedic trauma

Background: The primary aim of this study was to provide an estimate of effect size for the functional outcome of operative versus non-operative treatment for patients with an acute rupture of the Achilles tendon using accelerated rehabilitation for both groups of patients. The secondary aim was to assess the use of a comprehensive cohort research design (i.e. a parallel patient-preference group alongside a randomised group) in improving the accuracy of this estimate within an orthopaedic trauma setting. Methods: Pragmatic randomised controlled trial and comprehensive cohort study within a level 1 trauma centre. Twenty randomised participants (10 operative and 10 non-operative) and 29 preference participants (3 operative and 26 non-operative). The ge range was 22-72 years and 37 of the 52 patients were men. All participants had an acute rupture of their Achilles tendon and no other injuries. All of the patients in the operative group had a simple end-to-end repair of the tendon with no augmentation. Both groups then followed the same eight-week immediate weight-bearing rehabilitation programme using an off-the-shelf orthotic. The disability rating index (DRI; primary outcome), EQ-5D, Achilles Total Rupture Score and complications were assessed ed at two weeks, six weeks, three months, six months and nine months after initial injury. Results: At nine months, there was no significant difference in DRI between patients randomised to operative or non-operative management. There was no difference in DRI between the randomised group and the parallel patient preference group. The use of a comprehensive cohort of patients did not provide useful additional information as to the treatment effect size because the majority of patients chose non-operative management. Conclusions: Recruitment to clinical trials that compare operative and non-operative interventions is notoriously difficult; especially within the trauma setting. Including a parallel patient preference group to create a comprehensive cohort of patients has been suggested as a way of increasing the power of such trials. In our study, the comprehensive cohort model doubled the number of patients involved in the study. However, a strong preference for non-operative treatment meant that the increased number of patients did not significantly increase the ability of the trial to detect a difference between the two interventions

Gravitino Dark Matter in Tree Level Gauge Mediation with and without R-parity

We investigate the cosmological aspects of Tree Level Gauge Mediation, a recently proposed mechanism in which the breaking of supersymmetry is communicated to the soft scalar masses by extra gauge interactions at the tree level. Embedding the mechanism in a Grand Unified Theory and requiring the observability of sfermion masses at the Large Hadron Collider, it follows that the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle is a gravitino with a mass of the order of 10 GeV. The analysis in the presence of R-parity shows that a typical Tree Level Gauge Mediation spectrum leads to an overabundance of the Dark Matter relic density and a tension with the constraints from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. This suggests to relax the exact conservation of the R-parity. The underlying SO(10) Grand Unified Theory together with the bounds from proton decay provide a rationale for considering only bilinear R-parity violating operators. We finally analyze the cosmological implications of this setup by identifying the phenomenologically viable regions of the parameter space.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures. References added. To appear in JHE