That's News to Me! Information Revelation in Professional Certification Markets

Using sportscard grading as an example, we employ field experiments to investigate empirically the informational role of professional certifiers. In the past 20 years, professional grading of sportscards has evolved in a way that provides a unique opportunity to measure the information provision of a monopolist certifier and that of subsequent entrants. Empirical results suggest three patterns: the grading certification provided by the first professional certifier offers new information to inexperienced traders but adds little information to experienced dealers. This implies that the certification may reduce the information asymmetry between informed and uninformed parties. Second, compared with the incumbent, new entrants adopt more precise signals and use finer grading cutoffs to differentiate from the incumbent. Third, our measured differentiated grading cutoffs map consistently into prevailing market prices, suggesting that the market recognizes differences across multiple grading criteria.

A DIALECTICAL RELATIONAL ANALYSIS OF TESOL QUARTERLY 2006 SPECIAL ISSUE ON RACE: DISCOURSE, RACE, AND WHITE SUPREMACIST IDEOLOGY

Although the field of TESOL is not racially neutral this dialectical relational analysis examined (1) what discourses did the authors use to deploy race in the articles in the 2006 TESOL Quarterly Special Issue on Race (TQSIR)? and (2) how do these discourses work to either conform to, or resist white supremacist ideology? Analysis of the texts identified four key discourse: racialization, whiteness, emotional labor of racism, and sonic and optic negation of racism. These discourses were examined in the domains of scholarship, curriculum, teachers, and students. In 21 instances, these four discourses work to resist white supremacist ideology. In five instances, these discourses work to conform to white supremacist ideology. Results point to the need for further research regarding racism in the field of TESOL

An Overview of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Facility, and the Gravity-Dependent Phenomena Research Performed in the MSG on the International Space Station (ISS)

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) is a double rack facility aboard the International Space Station (ISS) designed for gravity-dependent phenomena investigation handling. The MSG has been operating in the ISS US Laboratory Module since July 2002. The MSG facility provides an enclosed working area for investigation manipulation and observation, The MSG's unique design provides two levels of containment to protect the ISS crew from hazardous operations. Research investigations operating inside the MSG are provided a large 255 liter work volume, 1000 watts of dc power via a versatile supply interface (120, 28, +/-12, and 5 Vdc), 1000 watts of cooling capability, video and data recording and real time downlink, ground commanding capabilities, access to ISS Vacuum Exhaust and Vacuum Resource Systems, and gaseous nitrogen supply. With these capabilities, the MSG is an ideal platform for research required to advance the technology readiness levels (TRL) needed for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Exploration Initiative. Areas of research that will benefit from investigations in the MSG include thermal management, fluid physics, spacecraft fire safety, materials science, combustion, reaction control systems, in situ fabrication and repair, and advanced life support technologies. This paper will provide a detailed explanation of the MSG facility, a synopsis of the research that has already been accomplished in the MSG and an overview of investigations planning to operate in the MSG. In addition, this paper will address possible changes to the MSG utilization process that will be brought about by the transition to ISS as a National Laboratory

Cardiometabolic outcomes in children and adolescents following discontinuation of long-term risperidone treatment

Objective: Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) cause weight gain and cardiometabolic abnormalities in children and adolescents. Less well-investigated is the outcome of these adverse events following SGA discontinuation, which we examined. Methods: Medically healthy 7 to 17-year-old patients treated with risperidone for ≥6 months were enrolled and returned for follow-up, 1.5 years later. Treatment history was extracted from the medical and pharmacy records. Anthropometric and laboratory measurements were obtained at each research visit. Multivariable linear regression analysis and Fisher's exact test were used to compare participants who remained on risperidone at follow-up (Risp Cont Group) with those who had discontinued SGA treatment (SGA Disc Group) and those who had switched to another SGA (SGA Cont Group). Correlational analyses examined the association between change in age-sex specific body mass index (BMI) z score between study entry and follow-up and change in cardiometabolic outcomes. Results: The sample consisted of 101 participants (93% male) with a mean age of 11.7±2.6 years at study entry. The majority had an externalizing disorder and received 0.03±0.02 mg/kg/day of risperidone, for 2.5±1.6 years. At follow-up, 18% (n=18) were in the SGA Disc Group and 9% (n=9) were in the SGA Cont Group. BMI z score decreased in the SGA Disc Group, remained unchanged in the Risp Cont Group (n=74), and increased in the SGA Cont Group. Importantly, the change in BMI z score between study entry and follow-up was significantly correlated with the change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure z scores, heart rate, waist circumference, percent body fat, inflammatory markers, fasting total insulin, homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), C-peptide, total, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, triglycerides/HDL ratio, and leptin. Conclusions: Following several years of treatment, risperidone discontinuation is associated with a reversal of the excessive weight gain, mediated by a negative energy balance, and a corresponding improvement in cardiometabolic parameters

Virtual World Problem-Centered Challenge Evaluation

This paper describes the two-year implementation evaluation of a problem-based engineering design challenge held in a virtual world. The team-based challenge was designed and facilitated by an aerospace research and education institute for middle and high school student competitors in both classrooms and afterschool programs across the U.S. An independent evaluation team examined participant experiences to consider the strengths of the challenge, as well as recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of future challenges. Overall, the evaluation team found that the problem-centered design challenge offered the student competitors a unique and valuable opportunity to engage in real-life science and engineering problems with the support of advanced science, technology, and engineering resources and college-level and professional experts. Recommendations centered on needed adjustments to achieve and prepare for growth, support for teams, assessment refinement, and collaboration and other technology enhancement

Capturing the context of digital literacy: a case study of Illinois public libraries in underserved communities

This dissertation study examines the role of the public library in fostering digital literacies in underserved Illinois communities. Over the course of two years I collected data on the library as an institution, and as a context, by investigating people, policies, activities and infrastructure related to how individuals learn, comprehend and apply digital technologies in collaboration with and in relation to the library. The data was collected during visits to libraries in sixteen locations around the state with significant levels of poverty, including a selection of rural localities and predominantly African American and Latino communities. Research methods included several kinds of site observation as well as interviews with librarians. As a collective whole, these case studies yield a series of interesting and surprising stories that reflect some of the connections between social roles and service roles, as well as the particular innovations and challenges present in underserved communities. These findings support a number of related theories and initiatives, including the need to reconstruct digital literacy as digital literacies, in the plural, and the impetus to see them primarily as a function of community engagement, especially in underserved community settings. The data suggests that library roles related to digital literacy are changing in several substantial ways. First, libraries are moving beyond merely providing internet to proactively promoting assisted public computing. Second, they are shifting their view of themselves as a community space to include leadership in community networking. Finally, they are working to cultivate information experiences that progress beyond consumption to involve a dimension of generative learning. When considered in conversation with existing scholarship, these findings have important implications: they show new avenues for research into diversity and social inclusion, critical discourse analysis and dynamic models for learning. They also suggest new directions for the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) and offer a compelling reason for libraries to both participate in and help guide movements and initiatives to promote digital literacies