Using a Portfolio Platform as a Tool to Engage: A Case Study of Nanyang Technological University School of Art, Design and Media

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Libraries and the School of Art Design and Media (ADM) have recently embarked on a project to develop a school-wide portfolio platform – ADM Portfolios. Using an open-source platform, WordPress, the project aims to further engage the NTU-ADM community by collecting, curating, sharing and promoting the creative works of ADM students and alumni. Playing the dual roles of a consultant and a project manager, NTU Libraries work closely with the different ADM stakeholders, which includes the school’s top management, Office of Technical Operations, Offices of Publicity & Alumni, ADM Alumni Association (ADMAA), ADM Student Club and industry partners. This poster showcases the key components of the platform, the initiatives introduced to engage the ADM community, and the crucial roles that NTU Libraries has played in the project

An exploration of the factors that contribute to recidivism in incarcerated sexual offenders

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW)The aim of this study was to explore and describe the factors that contribute to recidivism with incarcerated sexual offenders. A qualitative research approach was used and ten incarcerated recidivist sexual offenders in the prisons were selected through purposive sampling. The researcher used semi-structured interview guides and a voice recorder to conduct as data collection tools during the interviews with the participants. The information gathered was transcribed, translated and analyzed using interpretive analysis

Phylogenetics of Seed Plants: An Analysis of Nucleotide Sequences from the Plastid Gene rbcL

We present the results of two exploratory parsimony analyses of DNA sequences from 475 and 499 species of seed plants, respectively, representing all major taxonomic groups. The data are exclusively from the chloroplast gene rbcL, which codes for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO or RuBPCase). We used two different state-transformation assumptions resulting in two sets of cladograms: (i) equal-weighting for the 499-taxon analysis; and (ii) a procedure that differentially weights transversions over transitions within characters and codon positions among characters for the 475-taxon analysis. The degree of congruence between these results and other molecular, as well as morphological, cladistic studies indicates that rbcL sequence variation contains historical evidence appropriate for phylogenetic analysis at this taxonomic level of sampling. Because the topologies presented are necessarily approximate and cannot be evaluated adequately for internal support, these results should be assessed from the perspective of their predictive value and used to direct future studies, both molecular and morphological. In both analyses, the three genera of Gnetales are placed together as the sister group of the flowering plants, and the anomalous aquatic Ceratophyllum (Ceratophyllaceae) is sister to all other flowering plants. Several major lineages identified correspond well with at least some recent taxonomic schemes for angiosperms, particularly those of Dahlgren and Thorne. The basalmost clades within the angiosperms are orders of the apparently polyphyletic subclass Magnoliidae sensu Cronquist. The most conspicuous feature of the topology is that the major division is not monocot versus dicot, but rather one correlated with general pollen type: uniaperturate versus triaperturate. The Dilleniidae and Hamamelidae are the only subclasses that are grossly polyphyletic; an examination of the latter is presented as an example of the use of these broad analyses to focus more restricted studies. A broadly circumscribed Rosidae is paraphyletic to Asteridae and Dilleniidae. Subclass Caryophyllidae is monophyletic and derived from within Rosidae in the 475-taxon analysis but is sister to a group composed of broadly delineated Asteridae and Rosidae in the 499-taxon study

Phylogenetics of Seed Plants: An Analysis of Nucleotide Sequences from the Plastid Gene rbcL

We present the results of two exploratory parsimony analyses of DNA sequences from 475 and 499 species of seed plants, respectively, representing all major taxonomic groups. The data are exclusively from the chloroplast gene rbcL, which codes for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO or RuBPCase). We used two different state-transformation assumptions resulting in two sets of cladograms: (i) equal-weighting for the 499-taxon analysis; and (ii) a procedure that differentially weights transversions over transitions within characters and codon positions among characters for the 475-taxon analysis. The degree of congruence between these results and other molecular, as well as morphological, cladistic studies indicates that rbcL sequence variation contains historical evidence appropriate for phylogenetic analysis at this taxonomic level of sampling. Because the topologies presented are necessarily approximate and cannot be evaluated adequately for internal support, these results should be assessed from the perspective of their predictive value and used to direct future studies, both molecular and morphological. In both analyses, the three genera of Gnetales are placed together as the sister group of the flowering plants, and the anomalous aquatic Ceratophyllum (Ceratophyllaceae) is sister to all other flowering plants. Several major lineages identified correspond well with at least some recent taxonomic schemes for angiosperms, particularly those of Dahlgren and Thorne. The basalmost clades within the angiosperms are orders of the apparently polyphyletic subclass Magnoliidae sensu Cronquist. The most conspicuous feature of the topology is that the major division is not monocot versus dicot, but rather one correlated with general pollen type: uniaperturate versus triaperturate. The Dilleniidae and Hamamelidae are the only subclasses that are grossly polyphyletic; an examination of the latter is presented as an example of the use of these broad analyses to focus more restricted studies. A broadly circumscribed Rosidae is paraphyletic to Asteridae and Dilleniidae. Subclass Caryophyllidae is monophyletic and derived from within Rosidae in the 475-taxon analysis but is sister to a group composed of broadly delineated Asteridae and Rosidae in the 499-taxon study

Review of \u3ci\u3eThe Black Hills Journals of Colonel Richard Irving Dodge\u3c/i\u3e Edited by Wayne R. Kime

Formal exploration of the Black Hills was long thwarted by their remoteness in northern Indian country and then by their inclusion in the Great Sioux Reservation created by the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Changing national circumstances by 1874, however, led to Custer\u27s well-publicized Black Hills survey where gold was discovered, as he reported, among the roots of the grass. Though several practical miners traveled with Custer, his expedition\u27s pronouncements were not scientifically grounded, and doubt shrouded his discovery. Across the nation the prospect of a new El Dorado grew irresistible, and the federal government soon authorized a formal scientific study of the Hills to better judge their mineral wealth. The 1875 mission was organized by Professor Walter P. Jenney of New York\u27s Columbia School of Mines. His corps numbered seventeen, including two geologists, a topographer, astronomer,naturalist, photographer, head miner, and laborers. Commanding Jenney\u27s military escort was Lieutenant Richard I. Dodge, Twenty-third Infantry, who led eight companies of soldiers drawn from the Second and Third Cavalry and Ninth Infantry, in all 452 men and seventy-one supply wagons. Dodge, appreciating the national significance of his assignment, compiled a record of daily activities and observations from the time of his departure from Omaha Barracks, Nebraska, in early May until his return in midOctober; it is these detailed journals that are presented here. A West Pointer, class of 1848, Dodge was a seasoned soldier with a reputation for discreet good judgment and administrative competence. More important, he had a literary bent, being both an avid reader and aspiring writer, and drew upon the observations he penned in 1875 for an official report of the expedition and his second book, a natural history of the Black Hills published in 1876

Monitoring a city

The use of indicators to measure urban sustainability is highlighted in Agenda 21 and has been emphasised as an important instrument at many of the European Conferences on Sustainable Cities and Towns. This study is an explorative analysis of eight European cities to determine what aspects of sustainable development are measured, what reasons are given for using indicators to measure urban sustainability, and to what extent uniformity has been included in indicator design. The most striking findings may be that the indicators were not equally distributed across aspects of sustainability and that almost all of the 332 identified indicators were differently defined. Further, a pressure-state-response (PSR) analysis revealed that most indicators focused on the state aspect

Spatial genetic structure in the Madeiran endemic Dactylorhiza foliosa (Orchidaceae)

Oceanic islands have isolated biota, which typically include many endemic species. However, island endemics are vulnerable due to small population sizes, and they are often threatened by habitat destruction or by introduced pests and predators. Adequate conservation planning requires good information on genetic variability and population structure, also when seemingly viable species are considered. Here, I analysed the genetic structure in the terrestrial orchid Dactylorhiza foliosa, which is endemic to Madeira. This species is a characteristic component of evergreen laurel forests occupying the northern slopes of the island. Levels of diversity in both the plastid genome and in the nuclear genome were comparable to levels of diversity found in congeners growing in continental regions. Within populations, plants separated by distances up to 256 m shared plastid haplotypes significantly more often than plants at random, but when nuclear markers were considered, only plants growing closer than eight metres were significantly more closely related. Analysis of plastid marker variation revealed that gene dispersal by seeds is not sufficiently large to counterbalance the accumulation of mutations that build up divergence between the most distant populations. However, differentiation in the nuclear genome was considerably smaller, suggesting that gene dispersal by pollen is much more efficient than gene dispersal by seeds in D. foliosa. The overall pollen to seed dispersal ratio, mp/ms, was 7.30. Considering genetic parameters, conditions for long-term persistence of D. foliosa on Madeira seem to be good