347 research outputs found
Paid Consulting in Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology
A survey of faculty participation in paid consulting arrangements in Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology reveals that 34% were involved in at least one project during a specified one-year period. There was significant variation in participation by division of academic appointment and by gender. The authors suggest that further research should be undertaken concerning the nature and role of paid consulting in community colleges. A number of basic questions are raised in an attempt to induce further study on this important topic.Cette étude porte sur le niveau de consultation rémunérée effectuée par les membres du corps professoral des Collèges des arts appliqués et de la tech-nologie de l'Ontario. Elle révèle que 34% d'entre eux ont été impliqués dans au moins un projet au cours d'une même année; on note que cette participation variait de façon significative selon le genre et la position académiques en ques-tion. Les auteurs suggèrent que des études plus poussées soient entreprises quant à la nature et au rôle de la consultation rémunérée dans les collèges communautaires; ils soulèvent également des questions fondamentales voulant inciter à d'autres recherches sur ce sujet d'importance
Program Applicants as a Comparison Group in Evaluating Training Programs: Theory and a Test
The authors begin with a thorough assessment of the many nonexperimental employment and training program evaluation techniques based on non-random comparison groups. These techniques typically use econometric methods to estimate the effects of employment and training programs by using comparison groups from non-program external sources. Then, recognizing the inherent drawbacks in these methods, Bell, Orr, Blomquist and Cain respond by reintroducing an evaluation method first implemented in the 1960s, the use of internal comparison groups consisting of nonparticipating program applicants. These groups include withdrawals, screen-outs and no-shows of the programs being evaluated in order to solve the selection bias problem. By applying to the program, say the authors, nonparticipating applicants reveal themselves to have some of the same difficult-to-measure, personal characteristics that inspire participants to seek help in response to their current economic situation. The methodology of this technique is updated, then tested against the random experimental findings derived from a controlled job training experiment, the AFDC Homemaker-Home Health Aide Demonstrations. Encouraging results are presented along with useful suggestions for designers and implementers of all types of program evaluations.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1080/thumbnail.jp
Methods Used to Evaluate Employment and Training Programs in the Past
The authors begin with a thorough assessment of the many nonexperimental employment and training program evaluation techniques based on non-random comparison groups. These techniques typically use econometric methods to estimate the effects of employment and training programs by using comparison groups from non-program external sources. Then, recognizing the inherent drawbacks in these methods, Bell, Orr, Blomquist and Cain respond by reintroducing an evaluation method first implemented in the 1960s, the use of internal comparison groups consisting of nonparticipating program applicants. These groups include withdrawals, screen-outs and no-shows of the programs being evaluated in order to solve the selection bias problem. By applying to the program, say the authors, nonparticipating applicants reveal themselves to have some of the same difficult-to-measure, personal characteristics that inspire participants to seek help in response to their current economic situation. The methodology of this technique is updated, then tested against the random experimental findings derived from a controlled job training experiment, the AFDC Homemaker-Home Health Aide Demonstrations. Encouraging results are presented along with useful suggestions for designers and implementers of all types of program evaluations.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1080/thumbnail.jp
Essential prescribing tips for GP Associates-in-Training
Prescribing is an essential role in general practice but it is also, at times, a high risk activity. GP Associates-in-Training (GP AiTs) have been highlighted as needing further support to reduce the risk of prescribing errors. This article highlights some common prescribing errors to help GP AiTs to review their prescribing and develop prescribing habits to avoid errors. The general practice workforce is changing and there are more pharmacists working in general practice. This article describes the role of clinical pharmacists in prescribing safety and in supporting GP AiTs
Engineering a Model Cell for Rational Tuning of GPCR Signaling.
G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling is the primary method eukaryotes use to respond to specific cues in their environment. However, the relationship between stimulus and response for each GPCR is difficult to predict due to diversity in natural signal transduction architecture and expression. Using genome engineering in yeast, we constructed an insulated, modular GPCR signal transduction system to study how the response to stimuli can be predictably tuned using synthetic tools. We delineated the contributions of a minimal set of key components via computational and experimental refactoring, identifying simple design principles for rationally tuning the dose response. Using five different GPCRs, we demonstrate how this enables cells and consortia to be engineered to respond to desired concentrations of peptides, metabolites, and hormones relevant to human health. This work enables rational tuning of cell sensing while providing a framework to guide reprogramming of GPCR-based signaling in other systems.BBSR
The Origin of Neutral Hydrogen Clouds in Nearby Galaxy Groups: Exploring the Range Of Galaxy Interactions
We combine high resolution N-body simulations with deep observations of
neutral hydrogen (HI) in nearby galaxy groups in order to explore two
well-known theories of HI cloud formation: HI stripping by galaxy interactions
and dark matter minihalos with embedded HI gas. This paper presents new data
from three galaxy groups, Canes Venatici I, NGC 672, and NGC 45, and assembles
data from our previous galaxy group campaign to generate a rich HI cloud
archive to compare to our simulated data.
We find no HI clouds in the Canes Venatici I, NGC 672, or NGC 45 galaxy
groups. We conclude that HI clouds in our detection space are most likely to be
generated through recent, strong galaxy interactions. We find no evidence of HI
clouds associated with dark matter halos above M_HI = 10^6 M_Sun, within +/-
700 km/s of galaxies, and within 50 kpc projected distance of galaxies.Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures, AJ accepte
Photoevaporation as a Truncation Mechanism for Circumplanetary Disks
We investigate the conditions under which the regular satellites of Jupiter
and Saturn formed. The final stage of giant planet accretion is thought to
occur slowly over a relatively long, 10 Myr, timescale. Gas accretion during
this stage, through a completely or partially opened gap in the solar nebula,
occurs slowly allowing for the condensation of ices, and incomplete
differentiation, seen in the regular satellites of the giant planets.
Furthermore, the dichotomy seen in the Jovian and Saturnian systems may be
explained as this infall wanes or is completely shutoff as a result of gap
opening or global depletion of gas in the solar nebula. We present
one-dimensional simulations of circumplanetary disks that couple the viscous
transport of material with the loss of mass at the disk outer edge by
ultraviolet photoevaporation as well as the infall of material from the solar
nebula. We find that the circumplanetary disks of these protoplanets are
truncated, as a result of photoevaporation, at a range of values with the mean
corresponding to 0.16 Hill radii. These truncation radii are broadly
consistent with the current locations of the regular satellite systems of
Jupiter and Saturn. We also find that photoevaporation can successfully act as
a clearing mechanism for circumplanetary nebulae on the potentially short
timescales, 100-10,000 yr, over which mass accretion from the solar nebula
wanes as a result of gap opening. Such a rapid clearing of the circum-Jovian
disk may be required to explain the survival of the Galilean satellites.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journa
Diffusive Shock Acceleration in Unmodified Relativistic, Oblique Shocks
We present results from a fully relativistic Monte Carlo simulation of
diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in unmodified shocks. The computer code uses
a single algorithmic sequence to smoothly span the range from nonrelativistic
speeds to fully relativistic shocks of arbitrary obliquity, providing a
powerful consistency check. While known results are obtained for
nonrelativistic and ultra-relativistic parallel shocks, new results are
presented for the less explored trans- relativistic regime and for oblique,
fully relativistic shocks. We find, for a wide trans-relativistic range
extending to shock Lorentz factors >30, that the particle spectrum produced by
DSA varies strongly from the canonical f(p) proportional to p^{-4.23} spectrum
known to result in ultra-relativistic shocks. Trans- relativistic shocks may
play an important role in gamma-ray bursts and other sources and most
relativistic shocks will be highly oblique.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics, August 2004, 22
pages, 14 figure
Tele-branding in TVIII: the network as brand and the programme as brand
In the era of TVIII, characterized by deregulation, multimedia conglomeration, expansion and increased competition, branding has emerged as a central industrial practice. Focusing on the case of HBO, a particularly successful brand in TVIII, this article argues that branding can be understood not simply as a feature of television networks, but also as a characteristic of television programmes. It begins by examining how the network as brand is constructed and conveyed to the consumer through the use of logos, slogans and programmes. The role of programmes in the construction of brand identity is then complicated by examining the sale of programmes abroad, where programmes can be seen to contribute to the brand identity of more than one network. The article then goes on to examine programme merchandising, an increasingly central strategy in TVIII. Through an analysis of different merchandising strategies the article argues that programmes have come to act as brands in their own right, and demonstrates that the academic study of branding not only reveals the development of new industrial practices, but also offers a way of understanding the television programme and its consumption by viewers in a period when the texts of television are increasingly extended across a range of media platforms
The physical scale of the far-infrared emission in the most luminous submillimetre galaxies II: evidence for merger-driven star formation
We present high-resolution 345 GHz interferometric observations of two
extreme luminous (L_{IR}>10^{13} L_sun), submillimetre-selected galaxies (SMGs)
in the COSMOS field with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Both targets were
previously detected as unresolved point-sources by the SMA in its compact
configuration, also at 345 GHz. These new data, which provide a factor of ~3
improvement in resolution, allow us to measure the physical scale of the
far-infrared in the submillimetre directly. The visibility functions of both
targets show significant evidence for structure on 0.5-1 arcsec scales, which
at z=1.5 translates into a physical scale of 5-8 kpc. Our results are
consistent with the angular and physical scales of two comparably luminous
objects with high-resolution SMA followup, as well as radio continuum and CO
sizes. These relatively compact sizes (<5-10 kpc) argue strongly for
merger-driven starbursts, rather than extended gas-rich disks, as the preferred
channel for forming SMGs. For the most luminous objects, the derived sizes may
also have important physical consequences; under a series of simplifying
assumptions, we find that these two objects in particular are forming stars
close to or at the Eddington limit for a starburst.Comment: 9 pages, 3 Figures, submitted to MNRA
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