Legal Aspects of SIDS

My remarks today focus on four legal aspects of SIDS; the first three are problems of long standing and the fourth is less well recognized, an immediate problem to some but more of a cloud on the horizon to others. At the outset, I want to emphasize that I bring you no certain solutions. Rather my more modest objective is to provide a focus and framework for further discussions

A Complexity Analysis of Smart Pixel Switching Nodes for Photonic Extended Generalized Shuffle Switching Networks

This paper studies the architectural tradeoffs found in the use of smart pixels for nodes within photonic switching interconnection networks are discussed. The particular networks of interest within the analysis are strictly nonblocking extended generalized shuffle (EGS) networks. Several performance metrics are defined for the analysis, and the effect of node size on these metrics is studied. Optimum node sizes are defined for each of the performance metrics and system-level limitations are identified

Chemical Characterization and Source Apportionment of Household Fine Particulate Matter in Rural, Peri-urban, and Urban West Africa

Household air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions is an important cause of disease burden. Little is known about the chemical composition and sources of household air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa, and how they differ between rural and urban homes. We analyzed the chemical composition and sources of fine particles (PM2.5) in household cooking areas of multiple neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana, and in peri-urban (Banjul) and rural (Basse) areas in The Gambia. In Accra, biomass burning accounted for 39–62% of total PM2.5 mass in the cooking area in different neighborhoods; the absolute contributions were 10–45 μg/m3. Road dust and vehicle emissions comprised 12–33% of PM2.5 mass. Solid waste burning was also a significant contributor to household PM2.5 in a low-income neighborhood but not for those living in better-off areas. In Banjul and Basse, biomass burning was the single dominant source of cooking-area PM2.5, accounting for 74–87% of its total mass; the relative and absolute contributions of biomass smoke to PM2.5 mass were larger in households that used firewood than in those using charcoal, reaching as high as 463 μg/m3 in Basse homes that used firewood for cooking. Our findings demonstrate the need for policies that enhance access to cleaner fuels in both rural and urban areas, and for controlling traffic emissions in cities in sub-Saharan Africa

What is Lesson Study?

This paper addresses the conceptual question ‘what is lesson study?’ as an issue that arises in the context of the globalization of lesson study as a method for improving teaching and learning beyond its presumed origins in the Japanese education system. To what extent can adaptations of the method in different national settings be interpreted as faithful representations of its practically significant ‘critical features’ in the country of origin? In order to address this question the author begins by examining the comparative classroom research by Stigler and Hiebert that culminated in the publication of their ground-breaking book The Teaching Gap. This work is generally acknowledged to have been seminal for the global development of lesson study as a method for improving teaching and learning. Sponsored by the 1997 TIMMS testing programme, the research sought to explain pronounced differences in measured educational attainment between students of all ages in Japan, and the USA and Germany. In the process Stigler and Hiebert discovered the extensive use of lesson study in Japanese primary schools as a school-based research method for securing consistency between learning goals and teaching methods. In doing so they identified six principles which underpinned the method and pinpointed its practical significance. In this paper the author claims, that the principles identified by Stigler and Hiebert can be used as a framework for assessing adaptations of lesson study in the context of globalization, and connecting it to related methodological ideas that are internationally circulating. In particular the author stresses links between lesson study, the tradition of classroom action research forged by Lawrence Stenhouse and his colleagues at the University of East Anglia, UK and the pedagogical theory of variation developed in Sweden and Hong Kong by Ference Marton, Lo Mun Ling and others. Such links it is argued can deepen a theoretical understanding of ‘lesson study’ and safe-guard it against a ‘cherry-picking’ approach to its implementation in a context of globalization. The paper particularly highlights the importance of understanding the ways in which the organizational cultures of schooling in many countries shape and distort the implementation of lesson study. It argues for the greater involvement of school leaders and administrators in a form of second-order action research aimed at transforming the organizational context of teachers’ work in classrooms, and creating more space for them to spend less time as test data managers and more time as lesson researchers in accordance with the six principles outlined

A population-modulated bibliometric measure with an application in the field of statistics

We use confirmatory factor analysis to derive a unifying measure of comparison of scientists based on bibliometric measurements, by utilizing the h-index, some similar h-type indices as well as other common measures of scientific performance. We use a real data example from nine well-known departments of statistics to demonstrate our approach and argue that our combined measure results in a better overall evaluation of a researchers' scientific work

"I don't eat a hamburger and large chips every day!" A qualitative study of the impact of public health messages about obesity on obese adults

BackgroundWe are a society that is fixated on the health consequences of \u27being fat\u27. Public health agencies play an important role in \u27alerting\u27 people about the risks that obesity poses both to individuals and to the broader society. Quantitative studies suggest people comprehend the physical health risks involved but underestimate their own risk because they do not recognise that they are obese.MethodsThis qualitative study seeks to expand on existing research by exploring obese individuals\u27 perceptions of public health messages about risk, how they apply these messages to themselves and how their personal and social contexts and experiences may influence these perceptions. The study uses in depth interviews with a community sample of 142 obese individuals. A constant comparative method was employed to analyse the data.ResultsPersonal and contextual factors influenced the ways in which individuals interpreted and applied public health messages, including their own health and wellbeing and perceptions of stigma. Individuals felt that messages were overly focused on the physical rather than emotional health consequences of obesity. Many described feeling stigmatised and blamed by the simplicity of messages and the lack of realistic solutions. Participants described the need for messages that convey the risks associated with obesity while minimising possible stigmatisation of obese individuals. This included ensuring that messages recognise the complexity of obesity and focus on encouraging healthy behaviours for individuals of all sizes.ConclusionThis study is the first step in exploring the ways in which we understand how public health messages about obesity resonate with obese individuals in Australia. However, much more research - both qualitative and quantitative - is needed to enhance understanding of the impact of obesity messages on individuals

Entrepreneurial passion and a firm’s innovation strategies

Drawing upon the role of affect in the entrepreneurship model and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, this study surveyed 195 entrepreneurs in Vietnam and found that entrepreneurial passion has a positive effect on a firm’s exploratory innovation strategies and a complex inverted U-shaped effect on the exploitative innovation strategies. These results extend the literature on entrepreneurial emotions and underscore the need to depart from the simplistic linear association between entrepreneurial passion and firm-level indicators. Furthermore, this study enriches our understanding of three types of entrepreneurs’ social identities by supporting their contingent effects on the links between passion and innovation strategies