Electronic stepping stones: a mosaic metaphor for the production and re-distribution of communicative skill in an electric mode

About the book: In this book the relation between architecture, management and organization theory, a relation much under-explored and long overdue for reconsideration, is explored. By looking at processes of organizing from a spatial perspective, the authors reveal interesting insights into how power, culture, change, and identity are embedded, enacted and played out in and through space. Not only do we shape buildings but buildings also shape us. The interaction between how we design our environments, how these environments influence our behavior and by extension, who we are, is the key issue that provides the coherent focus for this volume. Combining both theoretically inspiring as well as practically relevant contributions, the book will be of interest for people studying architecture, design, sociology, and anthropology as well as management and organization theory

A symbol of imperial unity? The Australian colonies and the 1897 Imperial Conference

The 1897 colonial conference coincided with Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and an outpouring of late-Victorian imperial sentiment. Against this backdrop of imperial celebration, colonial leaders met with Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, whose own views as to the importance of imperial reform were taking shape. For the most part, while grateful for Chamberlain's interests, Australian leaders feared significant imperial reform might undermine rather than reinforce imperial unity. As a result, the conference struggled to translate pro-imperial sentiment into tangible commitments. This article argues that the meetings between Chamberlain and colonial leaders in 1897 are worthy of examination not only because they shed light on Anglo-Australian relations but also because they provide insight into a significant period in the history of late-Victorian British imperialism and the development of Australian federation. Drawing on the confidential proceedings of the conference, this article offers a close reading of the key imperial issues under discussion and their resonance in contemporary Australian and imperial political discourse. Moreover, it contends that the conference debates reflected not only important issues in Anglo-Australian affairs, but also a series of broader ambitions and limitations when it came to the campaign for imperial unity in the late-Victorian era

Reported Perception and Clinical Diagnosis of Autism Among White and Non-White Groups

Objective: Lessen racial disparity by advancing awareness and promoting culturally competent practice related to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) among racial groups to safeguard that children regardless of race, receive timely, accurate diagnosis and intervention. Evidence has been inconclusive regarding disparities in identifying and diagnosing ASD with some reports of higher incidents of delayed and missed diagnoses of ASD among underserved ethnic and racial minority groups. Thus, this study examined the relationship between the child’s race and reported perception of ASD and clinical diagnosis of ASD among White and Non-White children. Method: The sample (N=48) consisted of preschool children (between the ages 2 to 5) referred by the Child Find Project to the Psychological and School Services of Eastern Carolina (PSSEC), who completed the Pediatric Autism intakes and diagnostic forms. The MANOVA statistical analysis was used to examine whether differences existed between reported perceptions of ASD in White and Non-White groups compared to clinician’s diagnosis of ASD in White and Non-White groups based on the child’s race. Results: The results revealed an overall higher rate of diagnosis of ASD among the White group compared to the Non-White group. However, teachers’ reported perception of ASD was higher for the Non-White group, while parents reported perception of ASD was lower for the Non-White group. Conclusions: These findings revealed differences in the way ASD symptoms were perceived, which can explain the previously reported higher delayed and missed diagnoses of ASD among underserved ethnic and racial minorities. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; race; ethnicity; minority; perceptio

Graduate Attributes: Development and Testing

Background: Universities across the world have considered which attributes were important to their graduates and examined the extent that programs included experiences and opportunities conducive to exposure to and development of the desired attributes. Methodology: An action research cycle of three phases focused on review, development and implementation of statements of curriculum intent and outcomes. Results: The iterative processes of evaluation and curriculum renewal led to agreement that graduates from university degrees should exit with attributes that distinguish their higher education experience. Conclusion: Consultative processes led to identification of Graduate Attributes (GAs) Domains unique to the University. Implementation of the GAs with a selection of programs demonstrated practicality and effectiveness

Family Matters: Immigrant Women’s Activism in Ontario and British Columbia, 1960s -1980s

This article uses oral history interviews to explore the ways in which different attitudes towards family and motherhood could create major tensions between mainstream feminists and immigrant women’s activists in Ontario and British Columbia between the 1960s and the 1980s.  Immigrant women’s belief in the value of the family did not prevent immigrant women from going out to work to help support their families or accessing daycare and women’s shelters, hard fought benefits of the women’s movement.  However, these women demanded access to job training, English language classes, childcare, and women’s shelters on their own terms, in ways that minimized the racism they faced, respected religious and cultural values, and respected the fact that the heterosexual family remained an important resource for the majority of immigrant women.  Immigrant women activists were less likely to accept a purely gender-based analysis than mainstream feminists. They often sought to work with men in their own communities, even in dealing with violence against women. And issues of violence and of reproductive rights often could not be understood only within the boundaries of Canada. For immigrant women violence against women was often analyzed in relation to political violence in their homelands, while demands for fully realized reproductive rights drew on experiences of coercion both in Canada and transnationally.Cet article s’appuie sur des entrevues d’histoire orale pour explorer les façons dont différentes attitudes à l’égard de la famille et de la maternité pouvaient créer des tensions considérables entre les féministes traditionnelles et les femmes immigrantes activistes en Ontario et en Colombie-Britannique entre les années 1960 et 1980. L’attachement des femmes immigrantes aux valeurs familiales ne les a pas empêchées d’aller travailler pour aider à nourrir leur famille et de se prévaloir des garderies et des refuges pour femmes battues, avantages gagnés de haute lutte par le mouvement féministe. Toutefois, ces femmes ont exigé d’avoir accès à la formation professionnelle, aux cours d’anglais, aux garderies et aux refuges pour femmes battues à leur façon, de manière à minimiser le racisme qu’elles rencontraient, à honorer leurs valeurs religieuses et culturelles et à respecter le fait que la famille hétérosexuelle restait une ressource importante pour la majorité des immigrantes. Les immigrantes militantes étaient moins susceptibles d’accepter une analyse purement sexospécifique que les féministes traditionnelles. Elles cherchaient souvent à travailler avec les hommes dans leur propre communauté, même dans le domaine de la violence contre les femmes. Et les questions de violence et de droits génésiques ne peuvent souvent pas être comprises uniquement à l’intérieur des frontières du Canada. Pour les femmes immigrantes, la violence à l’égard des femmes était souvent analysée en liaison avec la violence politique dans leur pays d’origine, tandis que leurs exigences en faveur de la pleine réalisation de leurs droits génésiques s’appuyaient sur des expériences de coercition tant au Canada que dans d’autres pays

Roles for HLA and KIR polymorphisms in natural killer cell repertoire selection and modulation of effector function

Interactions between killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I ligands regulate the development and response of human natural killer (NK) cells. Natural selection drove an allele-level group A KIR haplotype and the HLA-C1 ligand to unusually high frequency in the Japanese, who provide a particularly informative population for investigating the mechanisms by which KIR and HLA polymorphism influence NK cell repertoire and function. HLA class I ligands increase the frequencies of NK cells expressing cognate KIR, an effect modified by gene dose, KIR polymorphism, and the presence of other cognate ligand–receptor pairs. The five common Japanese KIR3DLI allotypes have distinguishable inhibitory capacity, frequency of cellular expression, and level of cell surface expression as measured by antibody binding. Although KIR haplotypes encoding 3DL1*001 or 3DL1*005, the strongest inhibitors, have no activating KIR, the dominant haplotype encodes a moderate inhibitor, 3DL1*01502, plus functional forms of the activating receptors 2DL4 and 2DS4. In the population, certain combinations of KIR and HLA class I ligand are overrepresented or underrepresented in women, but not men, and thus influence female fitness and survival. These findings show how KIR–HLA interactions shape the genetic and phenotypic KIR repertoires for both individual humans and the population

Psychosocial impact of alternative management policies for low-grade cervical abnormalities : results from the TOMBOLA randomised controlled trial

Background: Large numbers of women who participate in cervical screening require follow-up for minor cytological abnormalities. Little is known about the psychological consequences of alternative management policies for these women. We compared, over 30-months, psychosocial outcomes of two policies: cytological surveillance (repeat cervical cytology tests in primary care) and a hospital-based colposcopy examination. Methods: Women attending for a routine cytology test within the UK NHS Cervical Screening Programmes were eligible to participate. 3399 women, aged 20–59 years, with low-grade abnormal cytology, were randomised to cytological surveillance (six-monthly tests; n = 1703) or initial colposcopy with biopsies and/or subsequent treatment based on colposcopic and histological findings (n = 1696). At 12, 18, 24 and 30-months post-recruitment, women completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). A subgroup (n = 2354) completed the Impact of Event Scale (IES) six weeks after the colposcopy episode or first surveillance cytology test. Primary outcomes were percentages over the entire follow-up period of significant depression (≥8) and significant anxiety (≥11; “30-month percentages”). Secondary outcomes were point prevalences of significant depression, significant anxiety and procedure-related distress (≥9). Outcomes were compared between arms by calculating fully-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for initial colposcopy versus cytological surveillance. Results: There was no significant difference in 30-month percentages of significant depression (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.80–1.21) or anxiety (OR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.81–1.16) between arms. At the six-week assessment, anxiety and distress, but not depression, were significantly less common in the initial colposcopy arm (anxiety: 7.9% vs 13.4%; OR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.38–0.81; distress: 30.6% vs 39.3%, OR = 0.67 95% CI 0.54–0.84). Neither anxiety nor depression differed between arms at subsequent time-points. Conclusions: There was no difference in the longer-term psychosocial impact of management policies based on cytological surveillance or initial colposcopy. Policy-makers, clinicians, and women themselves can be reassured that neither management policy has a significantly greater psychosocial cost

In-vivo anterior segment OCT imaging provides unique insight into cerulean blue-dot opacities and cataracts in Down syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is frequently associated with cataract, but there remains scant information about DS cataract morphology. Supra-nuclear cataracts in DS have been proposed as indicative of betaamyloid (Aß) aggregation and thus potential biomarkers for Alzheimer’s (AD). This study employed anterior segment OCT (AS-OCT) and slit-lamp (SL) photography to image the crystalline lens in DS, compared with adult controls. Lens images were obtained post-dilation. Using MATLAB, AS-OCT images were analysed and lens opacities calculated as pixel intensity and area ratios. SL images were classifed using LOCS III. Subjects were n=28 DS (mean±SD 24.1±14.3years), and n=36 controls (54.0±3.4years). Forthe DS group,AS-OCT imaging revealed the frequent presence of small dot opacities (27 eyes, 50%) in the cortex and nucleus ofthe lens, covering an area ranging from 0.2–14%. There was no relation with age or visual acuity and these dot opacities (p>0.5) and they were not present in any control lenses. However, their location and morphology does not coincide with previous reports linking these opacities with Aß accumulation andAD. Four participants (14%) in the DS group had clinically signifcant age-related cataracts, butthere was no evidence of early onset of age-related cataracts in DS.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft