Copper Homeostasis: Specialized Functions of the Late Secretory Pathway

Differentiated cells have evolved mechanisms to adapt the functions of the late secretory pathway to the specific needs of the organism. Reporting in this issue of Developmental Cell, Polishchuk et al. (2014) demonstrate that hepatocytes utilize a unique exocytic aspect of the late endosomal/lysosomal compartment to maintain organismal copper homeostasis

MIMO In Vivo

We present the performance of MIMO for in vivo environments, using ANSYS HFSS and their complete human body model, to determine the maximum data rates that can be achieved using an IEEE 802.11n system. Due to the lossy nature of the in vivo medium, achieving high data rates with reliable performance will be a challenge, especially since the in vivo antenna performance is strongly affected by near field coupling to the lossy medium and the signals levels will be limited by specified specific absorption rate (SAR) levels. We analyzed the bit error rate (BER) of a MIMO system with one pair of antennas placed in vivo and the second pair placed inside and outside the body at various distances from the in vivo antennas. The results were compared to SISO simulations and showed that by using MIMO in vivo, significant performance gain can be achieved, and at least two times the data rate can be supported with SAR limited transmit power levels, making it possible to achieve target data rates in the 100 Mbps.Comment: WAMICON 201

Rewriting Critical Pedagogy for Public Schools: Technological Possibilities

Critical pedagogy has been a powerful and persistent force in academia, informing dissertations, courses, and research. Despite this impact on higher education, critical pedagogy has not had similar success in public schools, even though these institutions host large numbers of marginalized students. One reason for this lack of influence in public schools is that the space of schooling is not particularly receptive to the ambitions and priorities of critical pedagogy. In this article, we build on the claim that there is a poor fit between public schools and critical pedagogy by laying out an argument for improving this fit by extending critical pedagogy. This extension can lead to the creation of new school spaces—spaces of difference—that will provide a more conducive environment to use critical pedagogy. To do this, we take the unconventional position that critical pedagogy be used with technology to create spaces of difference that will further opportunities for marginalized students and their ability to “name the world.” An in-depth consideration of these spaces of difference and their relation to critical pedagogy is presented to reveal how it can lead to forms of critical learning to address the needs of all students, including those most marginalized as they move through public schools.