Extending Australia's digital divide policy: an examination of the value of social inclusion and social capital policy frameworks

  Digital divide policies have been historically rooted within the information society / knowledge economy credo and as such they have been largely motivated by the anticipated value of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) diffusion. In Australia, a range of government policies have attempted to address inequalities in ICT access and use since the late 1990s. Despite these attempts, key determinants of internet access such as age, income, educational attainment and Indigenous status are proving to be persistent, while more complicated and nuanced factors are likely to be determining the way people use the internet. In order to examine how the social benefits of internet access and use can be understood and harnessed in Australia, this paper explores the implications of adding two concepts to policy deliberations: social inclusion and social capital. In line with the network society thesis, both concepts highlight the way social, political and economic practices, institutions and relationships are increasingly organised through ICT mediated network structures. Tanya Notley and Marcus Foth are researchers at the Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation Queensland University of Technolog

Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs

Archaeopteryx is an iconic fossil that has long been pivotal for our understanding of the origin of birds. Remains of this important taxon have only been found in the Late Jurassic lithographic limestones of Bavaria, Germany. Twelve skeletal specimens are reported so far. Archaeopteryx was long the only pre-Cretaceous paravian theropod known, but recent discoveries from the Tiaojishan Formation, China, yielded a remarkable diversity of this clade, including the possibly oldest and most basal known clade of avialan, here named Anchiornithidae. However, Archaeopteryx remains the only Jurassic paravian theropod based on diagnostic material reported outside China

Novi aspekti u klasifikaciji kancerogena

The existing systems of classification of carcinogens should include a distinction between genotoxic and non-genotoxic chemicals. For non-genotoxic chemicals, permissible exposure levels can be derived at which no relevant human cancer risks are anticipated. While genotoxic carcinogens can induce chromosomal effects without mutagenic action, non-DNA-reactive genotoxins affecting topoisomerase or the spindle, or those having an exclusively aneugenic effect can be carcinogenic only at high, toxic doses. Specific mechanisms of clastogenicity and processes of carcinogenesis based on reactive oxygen have practical thresholds. Since reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generally genotoxic, the question is whether chemicals that increase ROS production will add to endogenously produced background levels and lead to nonlinear dose-effect relationships. Taking into account the presence of endogenous carcinogens, it is now becoming evident that carcinogenic risk extrapolation to low doses must be considered according to the mode of action.U postojećem sistemu klasifikacije kancerogenih tvari utvrđena je razlika između genotoksičnih i negenotoksičnih kemikalija. Za negenotoksične kemikallije mogu se izvesti pretpostavljeni stupnjevi izlaganja kod kojih ne postoji značajan rizik od pojave raka kod ljudi. Za genotoksične kancerogene mogući su na primjer inducirani kromosomski efekti bez početka procesa mutageneze, dok genotoksični toksini koji se ne vežu za DNA-molekulu, a djeluju na topoizomere ili diobeno vreteno ili su aneugeni, izazivaju kancerogene efekte jedino u visokim, toksičnim dozama. Za specifične mehanizme klastrogenog djelovanja i procesa kancerogeneze koji se baziraju na reaktivnom kisiku postoji prag početka procesa. Kako su vrste kemikalija reaktivne na kisik (ROS) u načelu genotoksične, pojavljuju se pitanja da li kemikalije koje povećavaju produkciju ROS-vrsta treba pridodati endogenim kancerogenima pozadinskog stupnja koji uzrokuju nelinearni odnos doze i učinka. Uzimajući u obzir rasprave o prisutnosti endogenih kancerogena, sada postaje jasno da se kancerogeni rizik od niskih doza mora uzeti u obzir sukladno načinu njihova djelovanja

A non-archaeopterygid avialan theropod from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany

The Late Jurassic 'Solnhofen Limestones' are famous for their exceptionally preserved fossils, including the urvogel Archaeopteryx, which has played a pivotal role in the discussion of bird origins. Here we describe a new, non-archaeopterygid avialan from the Lower Tithonian Mornsheim Formation of the Solnhofen Archipelago, Alcmonavis poeschli gen. et sp. nov. Represented by a right wing, Alcmonavis shows several derived characters, including a pronounced attachment for the pectoralis muscle, a pronounced tuberculum bicipitale radii, and a robust second manual digit, indicating that it is a more derived avialan than Archaeopteryx. Several modifications, especially in muscle attachments of muscles that in modern birds are related to the downstroke of the wing, indicate an increased adaptation of the forelimb for active flapping flight in the early evolution of birds. This discovery indicates higher avialan diversity in the Late Jurassic than previously recognized

A non-archaeopterygid avialan theropod from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany

The Late Jurassic 'Solnhofen Limestones' are famous for their exceptionally preserved fossils, including the urvogel Archaeopteryx, which has played a pivotal role in the discussion of bird origins. Here we describe a new, non-archaeopterygid avialan from the Lower Tithonian Mornsheim Formation of the Solnhofen Archipelago, Alcmonavis poeschli gen. et sp. nov. Represented by a right wing, Alcmonavis shows several derived characters, including a pronounced attachment for the pectoralis muscle, a pronounced tuberculum bicipitale radii, and a robust second manual digit, indicating that it is a more derived avialan than Archaeopteryx. Several modifications, especially in muscle attachments of muscles that in modern birds are related to the downstroke of the wing, indicate an increased adaptation of the forelimb for active flapping flight in the early evolution of birds. This discovery indicates higher avialan diversity in the Late Jurassic than previously recognized

K-Ras and β-catenin mutations cooperate with Fgfr3 mutations in mice to promote tumorigenesis in the skin and lung, but not in the bladder

The human fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene is frequently mutated in superficial urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC). To test the functional significance of FGFR3 activating mutations as a ‘driver’ of UCC, we targeted the expression of mutated Fgfr3 to the murine urothelium using Cre-loxP recombination driven by the uroplakin II promoter. The introduction of the Fgfr3 mutations resulted in no obvious effect on tumorigenesis up to 18 months of age. Furthermore, even when the Fgfr3 mutations were introduced together with K-Ras or β-catenin (Ctnnb1) activating mutations, no urothelial dysplasia or UCC was observed. Interestingly, however, owing to a sporadic ectopic Cre recombinase expression in the skin and lung of these mice, Fgfr3 mutation caused papilloma and promoted lung tumorigenesis in cooperation with K-Ras and β-catenin activation, respectively. These results indicate that activation of FGFR3 can cooperate with other mutations to drive tumorigenesis in a context-dependent manner, and support the hypothesis that activation of FGFR3 signaling contributes to human cancer

El estatus taxonómico de <i>Melanosuchus fisheri</i> (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) arroja nueva luz sobre la diversidad de los caimanes del Mioceno de América del Sur

Melanosuchus niger Spix is distributed throughout the Amazon River basin today. The extinct Melanosuchus fisheri Medina from the late Miocene of Venezuela was erected based on two almost complete, but heavily deformed skulls (the holotype MCNC 243 and the referred specimen MCZ 4336), which show morphological differences from each other. The comparison indicates that only the holotype can be referred to Melanosuchus Gray. We propose MCZ 4336 is a representative of the caimanine Globidentosuchus brachyrostris Scheyer, Aguilera, Delfino, Fortier, Carlini, Sánchez, Carrillo-Briceño, Quiroz and Sánchez-Villagra. Although the taxonomy of M. fisheri is taken into question herein, the classification of the holotype still sustains the hypothesis that the genus is registered in South America since the late Miocene.Melanosuchus niger Spix se distribuye actualmente por toda la cuenca del Río Amazonas. La especie extinta Melanosuchus fisheri Medina del Mioceno tardío de Venezuela se erigió sobre la base de dos cráneos casi completos pero muy deformados (el holotipo MCNC 243 y el material referido MCZ 4336), que muestran diferencias morfológicas entre sí. La comparación indica que solo el holotipo puede ser referido a Melanosuchus Gray. Aquí se propone que MCZ 4336 es un representante del caimanino Globidentosuchus brachyrostris Scheyer, Aguilera, Delfino, Fortier, Carlini, Sánchez, Carrillo-Briceño, Quiroz and Sánchez-Villagra. Si bien la taxonomía de M. fisheri es aquí discutida, la clasificación del holotipo aún sostiene la hipótesis de que el género se registra en América del Sur desde el Mioceno tardío.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

More-than-human participation: Design for sustainable smart city futures

In this forum we highlight innovative thought, design, and research in the area of interaction design and sustainability, illustrating the diversity of approaches across HCI communities. — Roy Bendor, Edito

Remarks on the naturality of quantization

Hamiltonian quantization of an integral compact symplectic manifold M depends on a choice of compatible almost complex structure J. For open sets U in the set of compatible almost complex structures and small enough values of Planck's constant, the Hilbert spaces of the quantization form a bundle over U with a natural connection. In this paper we examine the dependence of the Hilbert spaces on the choice of J, by computing the semi-classical limit of the curvature of this connection. We also show that parallel transport provides a link between the action of the group Symp(M) of symplectomorphisms of M and the Schrodinger equation.Comment: 20 page