A digital ecosystem for ICT educators, ICT industry and ICT students

Worldwide ICT education (Information Communication Technology) is facing a major challenge of declining student enrolments; battling to keep its curriculum relevant and up-to-date while trying to meet the high demand of ICT skilled workers in domain, such as resources, health, government and commerce. This paper, documenting research in progress, discusses these issues and challenges in ICT education and proposes a solution in the form of a digital ecosystem in ICT education involving three main stakeholders: academics, students and the IT industry, and how they could come together to tackle the problems faced

Tree growth and management in Ugandan agroforestry systems: effects of root pruning on tree growth and crop yield

Tree root pruning is a potential tool for managing below-ground competition when trees and crops are grown together in agroforestry systems. This study investigates its effects on growth and root distribution of Alnus acuminata (HB & K), Casuarina equisetifolia (L), Grevillea robusta (A. Cunn. ex R. Br), Maesopsis eminii (Engl.), and Markhamia lutea (Benth.) K. Schum. and on yield of adjacent crops in sub-humid Uganda. The trees were 3 years old at the commencement of the study, and most species were competing strongly with crops. Tree roots were pruned 41 months after planting by cutting and back-filling a trench to a depth of 0.3 m, at a distance of 0.3 m from the trees, on one side of the tree row. The trench was re-opened and roots re-cut at 50 and 62 months after planting. Effects on tree growth and root distribution were assessed over a 3 year period, and crop yield after the third root pruning at 62 months is reported here. Overall, root pruning had only a slight effect on tree growth: height growth was unaffected and diameter growth was reduced by only 4 %. A substantial amount of root re-growth was observed by 11 months after pruning. Tree species varied in the number and distribution of their roots, and Casuarina and Markhamia had considerably more roots per unit of trunk volume than the other tree species, especially in the surface soil layers. Casuarina and Maesopsis were the most competitive tree species with crops and Grevillea and Markhamia the least. Crop yield data provides strong evidence of the redistribution of root activity following root pruning, so that competition increased on the unpruned side of tree rows. Thus, one-sided root pruning will only be of use to farmers in a few circumstances. Key words: Alnus acuminata, Casuarina equisetifolia, Grevillea robusta, Maesopsis eminii, Markhamia lutea, root distribution, root functio

Cloning and characterization of MADS-box gene in oil palm

Oil palm has emerged as one of the most important source of oils and fats. The mechanism of floral organs development in this plant is still at its infancy. We describe here the cloning and characterization of a MADS-box gene in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) named EMADS1. It belongs to the AGAMOUS-like2 family of MADS-box gene which plays critical role in flower development as defined by the ABCDE model. EMADS1 was ubiquitously expressed in the immature male and female flower buds and its expression pattern was similar to EgAGL2 and EgMADS8 of oil palm. The EMADS1 transcript also accumulated in embryos of developing seeds. These results suggested that EMADS1 is likely to function at the initial stages of flowering in determination of the inflorescence and the identity of the flower whorls and also embryo development in seeds

Ontology-based IT pedagogical knowledge framework

Prospective students often have trouble differentiating between many computer-related programs of study such as computer science (CS), information systems (IS), information engineering (IE), software engineering (SE), information technology (IT), electronic commerce (EC), computer engineering (CE), etc. To compound the problem many institutions offer programs with similar names but with different content, or programs with different names but with similar content. The extensive overlap in course content in many computing-focused disciplines has even created confusion among academics. This paper first reviews relevant literature on the topic and then presents a high-level view of an Information Technology (IT) Pedagogical Knowledge framework from an ontological point of view

Effects of flanking sequences and cellular context on subcellular behavior and pathology of mutant HTT

Huntington’s disease (HD) is caused by an expansion of a poly glutamine (polyQ) stretch in the huntingtin protein (HTT) that is necessary to cause pathology and formation of HTT aggregates. Here we ask whether expanded polyQ is sufficient to cause pathology and aggregate formation. By addressing the sufficiency question, one can identify cellular processes and structural parameters that influence HD pathology and HTT subcellular behavior (i.e. aggregation state and subcellular location). Using Drosophila, we compare the effects of expressing mutant full-length human HTT (fl-mHTT) to the effects of mutant human HTTexon1 and to two commonly used synthetic fragments, HTT171 and shortstop (HTT118). Expanded polyQ alone is not sufficient to cause inclusion formation since full-length HTT and HTTex1 with expanded polyQ are both toxic although full-length HTT remains diffuse while HTTex1 forms inclusions. Further, inclusions are not sufficient to cause pathology since HTT171-120Q forms inclusions but is benign and co-expression of HTT171-120Q with non-aggregating pathogenic fl-mHTT recruits fl-mHTT to aggregates and rescues its pathogenicity. Additionally, the influence of sequences outside the expanded polyQ domain is revealed by finding that small modifications to the HTT118 or HTT171 fragments can dramatically alter their subcellular behavior and pathogenicity. Finally, mutant HTT subcellular behavior is strongly modified by different cell and tissue environments (e.g. fl-mHTT appears as diffuse nuclear in one tissue and diffuse cytoplasmic in another but toxic in both). These observations underscore the importance of cellular and structural context for the interpretation and comparison of experiments using different fragments and tissues to report the effects of expanded polyQ

New Criminal Law Review Symposium on Privilege or Punish: Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties

This symposium includes three review essays by Professors Doug Berman, Naomi Cahn, and Jack Chin. The review essays are focused on a recent book by Professors Dan Markel, Jennifer M. Collins and Ethan J. Leib entitled \u27Privilege or Punish: Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties\u27 (Oxford 2009). You can download the entire book for free at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1677503. In addition to the three review essays, the collection includes an essay by the book\u27s authors that serves as a reply to this set of critiques. Collectively, we are grateful to the New Criminal Law Review, which is hosting this collection in an upcoming issue. The essays are titled, respectively: Berman: Digging Deeper into, and Thinking Better about, the Interplay of Families and Criminal Justice Cahn: Protect and Preserve? Chin: Mandatory, Contingent, and Discretionary Policy Arguments Collins, Leib & Markel: (When) Should Family Status Matter in the Criminal Justice System