Reviews

Successful Instructional Diagrams by Ric Lowe, London, Kogan Page, 1993. ISBN: 0–7494–0711–5

On properties of almost all matroids

We give several results about the asymptotic behaviour of matroids. Specifically, almost all matroids are simple and cosimple and, indeed, are 3-connected. This verifies a strengthening of a conjecture of Mayhew, Newman, Welsh, and Whittle. We prove several quantitative results including giving bounds on the rank, a bound on the number of bases, the number of circuits, and the maximum circuit size of almost all matroids. © 2012 Elsevier Inc

The Motivation to “Like”: Do “Likes” Cause Conformity on Social Media?

Social media has become the norm in westernized culture in many households. Many companies ranging from small to large organizations have employed multiple forms of social media in order to promote their business. Some companies are inclined to buy “likes” from other businesses in order that their product may seem more appealing to viewers online. The question that this study aimed to address whether participants were more likely to “like” a picture if the picture has more associated “likes”, rather than if it is a good picture as deemed by a professional photographer. This would follow the traditional conformity principles, but applied to the 21st century media. In this study, 628 participants were surveyed from Cedarville University via an online survey that was sent out over email. In the survey, participants were shown 12 pairs of the photos and asked to choose which one that they would “like”. The photos of the same item were paired together of high and low quality, and larger and smaller number of “likes” were associated. Those photos included water bottle, laptop, Bluetooth speakers, and backpack. The high and low quality of the photos were determined based on the evaluation of a professional photographer and group of 35 students. The small number of “likes” was chosen at random and the larger number was calculated at a 150% increase. The number of participants’ “likes” were tallied for each photo. Chi-square goodness of fit tests were calculated comparing the frequency of “likes “of each photo in each pair of the photos. Contrary to the prediction, the preliminary data analysis indicated that participants were significantly more to like the higher than lower quality photos regardless of the number of “likes” associated. But they were not significantly more to “like” either of the photos in a pair when the quality of both photos were the same. In conclusion, the present study provide evidence that participants were more interested in the quality of a photo rather than the associated number of “likes” when they chose their preferred pictures. Limitations and implication of the current study would be discussed

"Intellectual and Practical Knowing": the introduction of the Professional Knowledge and Skills Base at University College London

Early work in progress paper, reporting on questionnaire-based survey of students working with the new self-assessment professional development tool (Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB)) provided by the UK professional association (CILIP). Discussion of the sociology of professionalization identifies Wilensky’s Process of Professionalization as a useful starting point for discussion. Provides historical overview of the association’s seminal involvement in the creation of Library and Information Studies (LIS) as a discipline in the UK. Highlights the importance of the reflective practitioner within LIS education. The first in a series of papers that will explore the implementation of the PKSB within the academic setting in the three-year period 2014-2017.ye

ON IMPROVISATION, LEARNING, AND LITERACY

Previously, improvisation has served as a term for describing a quality of the action taking place in classrooms between teachers and students. This project begins to theorize a way of understanding embodied literacies and scenes of learning through a lens of improvisation that enhances the description and better equips researchers to analyze this quality. This project synthesizes numerous research threads and theories from theater (Halpern, 1994, 2005; Johnstone, 1992; Spolin, 1999), anthropology (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 2003), psychology (Sawyer, 2011b; Vygotsky, 1978), and literary theory (Bakhtin, 1981) in an effort to provide a theory of improvisation that could be deployed in future qualitative studies or serve as a way for literacy teachers to think about their classrooms. A theory of improvisation enables qualitative researchers in the field of education to acquire a more thorough understanding of the way literacies are an improvised process in scenes of learning. This project is necessary because no such theory yet exists. As part of theorizing literacy and improvisation, I draw upon scenes from my own teaching and from theatrical improvisation. I analyze these moments to illustrate various theoretical premises such as instances of "yes, and-ing" that carry a scene of learning forward. This theory building and analysis amount to a first iteration of improv theory

Community Conflicts over Intensive Livestock Operations: How and Why Do Such Conflicts Escalate?

Why do community groups and individuals oppose establishment of intensive scale livestock operations in communities? Why have established forms of economic activity become the pariah of rural communities across the nation? In December 1997, the Pennsylvania Senate passed Resolution 91. This article addresses the results of a research project funded by the state Department of Agriculture in response to Senate Resolution 91, directing the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a model of community dispute resolution to address community conflicts involving intensive livestock operations ( ILOs ). Specifically this article addresses project findings detailing why conflicts over ILOs arise and how they escalate

Cardiac Troponin T and Troponin I in the General Population: Comparing and Contrasting Their Genetic Determinants and Associations With Outcomes

Background: There is great interest in widening the use of high sensitivity cardiac troponins for population cardiovascular disease (CVD) and heart failure screening. However, it is not clear whether cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and troponin I (cTnI) are equivalent measures of risk in this setting. We aimed to compare and contrast i) the association of cTnT and cTnI with CVD and non-CVD outcomes, and ii) their determinants in a Genome wide association study (GWAS). Methods: High-sensitivity cTnT and cTnI were measured in serum from 19,501 individuals in Generation Scotland Scottish Family Health Study. Median follow-up was 7.8 years (Q1-Q3 7.1-9.2). Associations of each troponin with a composite CVD outcome (1,177 events), CVD death (n=266), non-CVD death (n=374), and heart failure (n=216) were determined using Cox models. A genome-wide association study was conducted using a standard approach developed for the cohort. Results: Both cTnI and cTnT were strongly associated with CVD risk in unadjusted models. After adjusting for classical risk factors, the hazard ratio for a one standard deviation increase in log transformed troponin was 1.24 (95%CI 1.17-1.32) and 1.11 (1.04-1.19) for cTnI and cTnT, respectively; ratio of HRs 1.12 (1.04-1.21). cTnI, but not cTnT, was associated with MI and CHD. Both cTnI and cTnT had strong associations with CVD death and heart failure. By contrast, cTnT, but not cTnI, was associated with non-CVD death; ratio of HRs 0.77 (0.67-0.88). We identified five loci (53 individual SNPs) that had GWAS significant associations with cTnI, and a different set of four loci (4 SNPs) for cTnT. Conclusions: The upstream genetic causes of low grade elevations in cTnI and cTnT appear distinct, and their associations with outcomes also differ. Elevations in cTnI are more strongly associated with some CVD outcomes, whereas cTnT is more strongly associated with the risk of non-CVD death. These findings help inform selection of an optimal troponin assay for future clinical care and research in this setting

RNA sequencing analysis of human podocytes reveals glucocorticoid regulated gene networks targeting non-immune pathways

Glucocorticoids are steroids that reduce inflammation and are used as immunosuppressive drugs for many diseases. They are also the mainstay for the treatment of minimal change nephropathy (MCN), which is characterised by an absence of inflammation. Their mechanisms of action remain elusive. Evidence suggests that immunomodulatory drugs can directly act on glomerular epithelial cells or ‘podocytes’, the cell type which is the main target of injury in MCN. To understand the nature of glucocorticoid effects on non-immune cell functions, we generated RNA sequencing data from human podocyte cell lines and identified the genes that are significantly regulated in dexamethasone-treated podocytes compared to vehicle-treated cells. The upregulated genes are of functional relevance to cytoskeleton-related processes, whereas the downregulated genes mostly encode pro-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors. We observed a tendency for dexamethasone-upregulated genes to be downregulated in MCN patients. Integrative analysis revealed gene networks composed of critical signaling pathways that are likely targeted by dexamethasone in podocytes

Polls and the political process: the use of opinion polls by political parties and mass media organizations in European post‐communist societies (1990–95)

Opinion polling occupies a significant role within the political process of most liberal-capitalist societies, where it is used by governments, parties and the mass media alike. This paper examines the extent to which polls are used for the same purposes in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in particular, for bringing political elites and citizens together. It argues that these political elites are more concerned with using opinion polls for gaining competitive advantage over their rivals and for reaffirming their political power, than for devolving political power to citizens and improving the general processes of democratization