Educational Research and Developing Countries; facts, figures and some conceptual approaches for analysing interactions between funding, products and users

SUMMARY Educational research in the development context (ERDC) is the product of various kinds of international interactions and negotiations. These provide a typology of such research: disciplinary, instrumental, action, and policy research. All these are characterised by particular patterns of information flow and are influenced by resource availability and power structures. Suggestions for reforming ERDC are put forward. RESUMEN Investigación en educación y países en desarrollo: hechos, cifras y algunos enfoques conceptuales para analizar las interacciones existentes entre financiamiento, resultados y usuarios La investigación educacional en el contexto del desarrollo es resultado de variadas interacciones y negociaciones internacionales, las que le proporcionan una tipología; disciplina, instrumental, acción y política. Todas estas categorías están caracterizadas por determinados flujos informativos e influenciadas por la disponibilidad de recursos y las estructuras de poder. Se formulan sugerencias para reformarla. SOMMAIRE La recherche sur l'éducation et les pays en voie de développement: faits, chiffres, et quelques approches conceptuelles pour l'analyse des interactions entre le financement, les produits et les utilisateurs La recherche sur l'éducation dans le contexte du développement (RECD) est le résultat de différentes sortes d'interactions et de négotiations internationales. Elles donnent une typologie d'une telle recherche: disciplinaire, instrumentale, action, et politique de recherche. Elles sont toutes caractérisées par des formes particulières de courant d'information et sont influencées par la disponibilité des ressources et les structures de compétence Des suggestions en vue de faire des réformes dans la RECD sont énoncées

Richard P. Feynman 1918-1988

Richard Feynman, simply put, was a genius. His quick wit and uncommon grasp of physics meant that any research area he encountered, he quickly mastered. Despite the fact that his own area of research was not geophysics, his life and work influenced almost all of us. Virtually every physics graduate student who started in the mid 60s or later was exposed to his Lectures on Physics, either by having them as a text for a course or by using them (as I did) to bone up for oral qualifying exams. Feynman diagrams appear in nearly every modern quantum mechanics textbook and are featured in his official Caltech portrait, which illustrates this article

Dynamic masses for the close PG1159 binary SDSSJ212531.92-010745.9

SDSSJ212531.92-010745.9 is the first known PG1159 star in a close binary with a late main sequence companion allowing a dynamical mass determination. The system shows flux variations with a peak-to-peak amplitude of about 0.7 mag and a period of about 6.96h. In August 2007, 13 spectra of SDSSJ212531.92-010745.9 covering the full orbital phase range were taken at the TWIN 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory (Alm\'{e}ria, Spain). These confirm the typical PG1159 features seen in the SDSS discovery spectrum, together with the Balmer series of hydrogen in emission (plus other emission lines), interpreted as signature of the companion's irradiated side. A radial velocity curve was obtained for both components. Using co-added radial-velocity-corrected spectra, the spectral analysis of the PG1159 star is being refined. The system's lightcurve, obtained during three seasons of photometry with the G\"ottingen 50cm and T\"ubingen 80cm telescopes, was fitted with both the NIGHTFALL and PHOEBE binary simulation programs. An accurate mass determination of the PG1159 component from the radial velocity measurements requires to first derive the inclination, which requires light curve modelling and yields further constraints on radii, effective temperature and separation of the system's components. From the analysis of all data available so far, we present the possible mass range for the PG1159 component of SDSSJ212531.92-010745.9.Comment: 8 pages, in "White dwarfs", proceedings of the 16th European White Dwarf Workshop, eds. E. Garcia-Berro, M. Hernanz, J. Isern, S. Torres, to be published in J. Phys.: Conf. Se

(3R,5S,7as)-(3,5-bis(4-Fluorophenyl)tetrahydro-1H-oxazolo[3,4-c]oxazol-7a-yl)methanol: A Novel Neuroprotective Agent

Compounds that interact with microtubules, such as paclitaxel, have been shown to possess protective properties against β-amyloid (Aβ)-induced neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease. In this work, the novel agent (3R,5S,7as)-(3,5-bis(4-fluorophenyl)tetrahydro-1H-oxazolo[3,4-c]oxazol-7a-yl)methanol was investigated for effectiveness in protecting neurons against several toxic stimuli and its interaction with the microtubule network. Exposure of neuronal cultures to Aβ peptide in the presence of 5 nM (3R,5S,7as)-(3,5-bis(4-fluorophenyl)tetrahydro-1H-oxazolo[3,4-c]oxazol-7a-yl)methanol resulted in a 50% increase in survival. Neuronal cultures treated with other toxic stimuli such as staurosporine, thapsigargin, paraquat and H2O2 showed significantly enhanced survival in the presence of (3R,5S,7as)-(3,5-bis(4-fluorophenyl)tetrahydro-1H-oxazolo[3,4-c]oxazol-7a-yl)methanol. Microtubule binding and tubulin assembly studies revealed differences compared to paclitaxel, but confirmed the interaction of (3R,5S,7as)-(3,5-bis(4-fluorophenyl)tetrahydro-1H-oxazolo[3,4-c]oxazol-7a-yl)methanol with microtubules. Furthermore, in vitro studies using bovine brain microvessel endothelial cells experiments suggest that (3R,5S,7as)-(3,5-bis(4-fluorophenyl)tetrahydro-1H-oxazolo[3,4-c]oxazol-7a-yl)methanol can readily cross the blood-brain barrier in a passive manner

Convection and electrodynamic signatures in the vicinity of a Sun-aligned arc: Results from the Polar Acceleration Regions and Convection Study (Polar ARCS)

An experimental campaign designed to study high-latitude auroral arcs was conducted in Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland, on February 26, 1987. The Polar Acceleration Regions and Convection Study (Polar ARCS) consisted of a coordinated set of ground-based, airborne, and sounding rocket measurements of a weak, sun-aligned arc system within the duskside polar cap. A rocket-borne barium release experiment, two DMSP satellite overflights, all-sky photography, and incoherent scatter radar measurements provided information on the large-scale plasma convection over the polar cap region while a second rocket instrumented with a DC magnetometer, Langmuir and electric field probes, and an electron spectrometer provided measurements of small-scale electrodynamics. The large-scale data indicate that small, sun-aligned precipitation events formed within a region of antisunward convection between the duskside auroral oval and a large sun-aligned arc further poleward. This convection signature, used to assess the relationship of the sun-aligned arc to the large-scale magnetospheric configuration, is found to be consistent with either a model in which the arc formed on open field lines on the dusk side of a bifurcated polar cap or on closed field lines threading an expanded low-latitude boundary layer, but not a model in which the polar cap arc field lines map to an expanded plasma sheet. The antisunward convection signature may also be explained by a model in which the polar cap arc formed on long field lines recently reconnected through a highly skewed plasma sheet. The small-scale measurements indicate the rocket passed through three narrow (less than 20 km) regions of low-energy (less than 100 eV) electron precipitation in which the electric and magnetic field perturbations were well correlated. These precipitation events are shown to be associated with regions of downward Poynting flux and small-scale upward and downward field-aligned currents of 1-2 micro-A/sq m. The paired field-aligned currents are associated with velocity shears (higher and lower speed streams) embedded in the region of antisunward flow

Creating new consultation programs in community mental health centers: Analysis of a case study

A primary prevention program, initiated in a community mental health center, never became fully operational. Analysis suggests that failure to include recipients in initial planning, an unrealistic time table, insufficient institutional support for innovation, the project leader's organizational marginality, and the institutional constraints created by commitment to direct treatment of troubled individuals were factors that contributed to the project's failure. Several recommendations are presented. The most novel and important one is that systems-oriented, preventive mental health work should be based in a separate, distinct institution .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44297/1/10597_2005_Article_BF01410882.pd

Total Synthesis and Evaluation of c26-Hydroxyepothilone D Derivatives for Photoaffinity Labeling of β-Tubulin

Three photaffinity labeled derivatives of epothilone D were prepared by total synthesis, using efficient novel asymmetric synthesis methods for the preparation of two important synthetic building blocks. The key step for the asymmetric synthesis of (S,E)-3-(tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy)-4-methyl-5-(2-methylthiazol-4-yl)pent-4-enal involved a ketone reduction with (R)-Me-CBS-oxazaborolidine. For the synthesis of (5S)-5,7-di-[(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)oxy]-4,4-dimethylheptan-3-one an asymmetric Noyori reduction of a β-ketoester was employed. The C26 hydroxyepothilone D derivative was constructed following a well-established total synthesis strategy and the photoaffinity labels were attached to the C26 hydroxyl group. The photoaffinity analogues were tested in a tubulin assembly assay and for cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and HCT-116 cancer cell lines. The 3- and 4-azidobenzoic acid analogues were found to be as active as epothilone B in a tubulin assembly assay, but demonstrated significantly reduced cellular cytotoxicity compared to epothilone B. The benzophenone analogue was inactive in both assays. Docking and scoring studies were conducted that suggested that the azide analogues can bind to the epothilone binding site, but that the benzophenone analogue undergoes a sterically driven ligand rearrangement that interrupts all hydrogen bonding and therefore protein binding. Photoaffinity labeling studies with the 3-azidobenzoic acid derivative did not identify any covalently labeled peptide fragments, suggesting that the phenylazido side chain was predominantly solvent-exposed in the bound conformation

Total synthesis and evaluation of 22-(3-azidobenzoyloxy)methyl epothilone C for photoaffinity labeling of β-tubulin

The total synthesis of 22-(3-azidobenzoyloxy)methyl epothilone C is described as a potential photoaffinity probe to elucidate the β-tubulin binding site. A sequential Suzuki-aldol-Yamaguchi macrolactonization strategy was utilized employing a novel derivatized C1–C6 fragment. The C22-functionalized analog exhibited good activity in microtubule assembly assays, but cytotoxicity was significantly reduced. Molecular modeling simulations indicated that excessive steric bulk in the C22 position is accommodated by the large hydrophobic pocket of the binding site. Photoaffinity labeling studies were inconclusive suggesting non-specific labeling

Optimizing Feature Interaction Detection

© 2017, Springer International Publishing AG. The feature interaction problem has been recognized as a general problem of software engineering. The problem appears when a combination of features interacts generating a conflict, exhibiting a behaviour that is unexpected for the features considered in isolation, possibly resulting in some critical safety violation. Verification of absence of critical feature interactions has been the subject of several studies. In this paper, we focus on functional interactions and we address the problem of the 3-way feature interactions, i.e. interactions that occur only when three features are all included in the system, but not when only two of them are. In this setting, we define a widely applicable definition framework, within which we show that a 3 (or greater)-way interaction is always caused by a 2-way interaction, i.e. that pairwise sampling is complete, hence reducing to quadratic the complexity of automatic detection of incorrect interaction