Researching the role of the PhD in developing an academic career: does it make a difference?

This single paper builds on the arguments developed through the think piece by Bak (2013) in that it will report on research that explored academics’ experiences of the role of the PhD in developing their academic careers. Bak (2013) questions the ‘conventional way of approaching the PhD´ in South Africa (p.1) and proposes reconsideration of how doctoral education is conceptualised, delivered and valued. The current study, undertaken in Australia and the UK, commenced from the premise that it is commonly assumed that the PhD prepares people for academic careers, yet little is known about how academics are influenced and developed through doctoral study. Early findings demonstrate that the PhD has not been particularly effective in preparing academics for independent research and teaching and that changes in doctoral education are neede

Positioning ourselves for research and teaching: a cross-country analysis of academic formation

This paper presents early findings emerging from an international collaborative research project that addresses the key question of the nature of academic work, how academics make decisions regarding teaching and research and how they develop their academic identities. Drawing on survey data and pilot interviews administered in Australian and English Universities, the paper considers emerging evidence in relation to factors that contribute to success in research as well as contextual factors that discourage it. The paper begins to illuminate how academics in different countries, university contexts and with different career orientations, interpret and position themselves in relation to those contexts and how structural and agential factors may influence the formation of academic identity. The findings emerging from this research will provide new in-depth understandings about how institutions might most effectively support, develop and encourage world-class teaching, and the capacity for high quality research

Dança e Performance Digital Mediada por Telepresença e Métodos Telemáticos

In this paper we discuss a series of dance and media performance works spanning almost 20 years through which we have explored concepts of telepresence and telematic art. We trace the origins of these terms: telematic referring to collaborative, multi-site art projects utilizing computer and telecommunications technologies; and telepresence referring to the feeling of being physically present within the distributed computer-mediated environment. Our projects use the Active Space networked media system, a collection of media objects for creating interactive performance environments based on motion tracking technology. Cameras capture the movement of the performer, the system processes the moving image through feedback loops and related methods, and projections merge video layers between multiple sites. The nine works described here include an early integrating dance, music and drama over dial-up computer links; several dance/media Naugle, Lisa and Crawford, John. Dance and Digital Media Performance with  projects using the high-performance research computer networks of the Internet2 consortium; and a new multi-year program of research into innovative forms of distance collaboration combining dance with advanced digital media technologies. Telepresence in the performing arts is simultaneously situated and defined within multiple realms, physical, digital, and phenomenological. Our work endeavors to make connections between these realms, and among the participants, using progressive composing techniques that integrate synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences with a focus on improvisation.Neste artigo discutimos uma série de trabalhos de dança e de performance mediada, obras que abrangem quase 20 anos, através dos quais exploramos conceitos de telepresença e arte telemática. Traçamos as origens desses termos: telemática, referindo-se a projetos de arte multisite que utilizam informática e tecnologias de telecomunicações colaborativas; e telepresença, referindo-se à sensação de estar fisicamente presente dentro do ambiente mediado por computador distribuído. Nossos projetos de usar o sistema de mídia Active Space em rede: uma coleção de objetos de mídia para acriação de ambientes interativos de performance com base em tecnologia de rastreamento de movimento; Câmeras de captura de movimento do performer: o sistema processa a imagem em movimento através de feedback loops (retroalimentação da imagem) e métodos relacionados, e as projeções mesclam camadas de vídeo entre vários sites. Os nove trabalhos descritos aqui incluem um prévio projeto de integração entre dança, música e drama, através de ligações dial-up de computador; projetos diversos de dança / mídia utilizando as redes de computadores de pesquisa de alto desempenho do consórcio Internet2; e um novo e rpolongado programa de pesquisa sobre formas inovadoras de colaboração à distância, combinando dança com avançadas tecnologias de mídia digital. Telepresença nas artes do espectáculo é simultaneamente situada e definida dentro de vários campos: físico, digital e fenomenológico. Nossos esforços de trabalho para fazer conexões entre esses campos e entre os participantes, através de técnicas progressivas de composição que integram experiências de aprendizagem síncrona e assíncrona com foco na improvisação

Creating a New Collections Allocation Model for These Changing Times: Challenges, Opportunities, and Data

This presentation focuses on the development of a formula for potential use in allocating the collections budget for Penn State and the questions that arose during the process. The Associate Dean for Collections, Information, and Access Services charged a Collections Allocations Team to examine the development and use of a collections allocation formula. The team used a variety of methods to guide the development of the formula including a literature review, a survey of ARL Chief Collection Development Officers, and discussions with fellow selectors within the University Libraries. In addition, the Team developed other recommendations related to the allocation of the collections budget, especially focusing on the process of collection development, duplication of materials across the University Libraries, and the rewriting of collection development policies

The role of the CCN family of proteins in blood cancers

Haematopoiesis is the term used to describe the production of blood cells. This is a tightly regulated hierarchical system in which mature circulating blood cells develop from a small population of haematopoietic stem (HSC) and progenitor cells within the microenvironment of the bone marrow. Molecular and genetic abnormalities arising in these stem cells lead to a block in the normal programme of proliferation and differentiation and result in the development of the blood cancers known as the leukaemias and lymphomas. Recently the regulatory role of the bone marrow microenvironment or niche has also become increasingly recognised. The interface between the bone and bone marrow (endosteum) and the region surrounding the blood vessels (perivascular) provide distinct niches harbouring quiescent HSC or proliferative HSC respectively. Current chemotherapeutic regimes can often successfully target the proliferative HSC but disease relapse occurs due to residual quiescent HSC. Understanding these developmental and regulatory processes and the associated cell communication mechanisms are thus crucial to the development of new treatment strategies. The CCN family of proteins have been recognised to play a key role in all aspects of haematopoiesis

Six conseils pour l’intégration du croisement des savoirs traditionnels autochtones et de la biomédecine dans l’enseignement aux étudiants en médecine dans le cadre d'un programme culturellement sécuritaire sur la santé des Autochtones

As Indigenous knowledges and biomedicine come together in healthcare today, to improve health outcomes and strengthen cultural identity among Indigenous Peoples, it is vital for physicians to learn about this convergence during their training. This narrative review article aims to provide practical advice for educators when implementing teaching regarding this topic, using examples from the research literature, and pedagogical and practice-based methods used at the University of Toronto (UofT). The methodology on obtaining the research literature included a search of a computer database called Medline. Moreover, the medical school curriculum information specific to UofT, was obtained through the formal curriculum map and UofT’s Office of Indigenous Medical Education. The following six recommendations provide a way to successfully implement the teachings on Indigenous knowledges and biomedicine, within a culturally-safe Indigenous health curriculum.Alors que les savoirs autochtones et la biomédecine se rejoignent dans les soins de santé aujourd’hui, il est essentiel d’intégrer cette rencontre dans la formation des médecins afin d’améliorer les issues de santé et de renforcer l'identité culturelle des peuples autochtones. À l’aide d’exemples tirés de la littérature et des méthodes pédagogiques et pratiques employées à l'Université de Toronto, la présente revue narrative vise à offrir aux éducateurs des conseils pratiques sur l’intégration de ce sujet dans leur programme. La méthodologie utilisée pour la recherche de littérature scientifique comprenait une consultation de la base de données informatique Medline. Quant aux informations sur le programme d'études de la Faculté de médecine de l’Université de Toronto, elles ont été obtenues par le biais du schéma tutoriel officiel et du Bureau de la formation médicale autochtone de l’université. Nous présentons six recommandations pour un enseignement réussi du croisement des savoirs autochtones et de la biomédecine dans le cadre d'un programme culturellement sécuritaire sur la santé des Autochtones. &nbsp

Potassium ferrate [Fe(VI)] does not mediate self-sterilization of a surrogate mars soil

BACKGROUND: Martian soil is thought to be enriched with strong oxidants such as peroxides and/or iron in high oxidation states that might destroy biological materials. There is also a high flux of ultraviolet radiation at the surface of Mars. Thus, Mars may be inhospitable to life as we know it on Earth. We examined the hypothesis that if the soil of Mars contains ferrates [Fe(VI)], the strongest of the proposed oxidizing species, and also is exposed to high fluxes of UV radiation, it will be self-sterilizing. RESULTS: Under ambient conditions (25°C, oxygen and water present) K(2)FeO(4 )mixed into sand mineralized some reactive organic molecules to CO(2), while less reactive compounds were not degraded. Dried endospores of Bacillus subtilis incubated in a Mars surrogate soil comprised of dry silica sand containing 20% by weight K(2)FeO(4 )and under conditions similar to those now on Mars (extreme desiccation, cold, and a CO(2)-dominated atmosphere) were resistant to killing by the ferrate-enriched sand. Similar results were observed with permanganate. Spores in oxidant-enriched sand exposed to high fluxes of UV light were protected from the sporocidal activity of the radiation below about 5 mm depths. CONCLUSION: Based on our data and previously published descriptions of ancient but dormant life forms on Earth, we suggest that if entities resembling bacterial endospores were produced at some point by life forms on Mars, they might still be present and viable, given appropriate germination conditions. Endospores delivered to Mars on spacecraft would possibly survive and potentially compromise life detection experiments

Reflexive deliberation in international research collaboration

This paper uses issues that have arisen in carrying out the first stage of a research project as a focus for an exploration of international collaboration in research. The project was designed to explore how academics make decisions regarding teaching and research and how they develop specific academic identities. The paper uses a framework of multi-national research arrayed along a trajectory of increasing academic risk, decreasing stability, increasing human factors with compounding interaction costs, and increasing time to research outputs to discuss the challenges of doing research across countries. It explores factors that enable and those that constrain progress in carrying out collaborative research. It argues that the reflexive deliberations of the participating researchers are critical to reducing time to outputs and managing the complexity of the interface