Searchability of Networks

We investigate the searchability of complex systems in terms of their interconnectedness. Associating searchability with the number and size of branch points along the paths between the nodes, we find that scale-free networks are relatively difficult to search, and thus that the abundance of scale-free networks in nature and society may reflect an attempt to protect local areas in a highly interconnected network from nonrelated communication. In fact, starting from a random node, real-world networks with higher order organization like modular or hierarchical structure are even more difficult to navigate than random scale-free networks. The searchability at the node level opens the possibility for a generalized hierarchy measure that captures both the hierarchy in the usual terms of trees as in military structures, and the intrinsic hierarchical nature of topological hierarchies for scale-free networks as in the Internet.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

A simple model for self organization of bipartite networks

We suggest a minimalistic model for directed networks and suggest an application to injection and merging of magnetic field lines. We obtain a network of connected donor and acceptor vertices with degree distribution $1/s^2$, and with dynamical reconnection events of size $\Delta s$ occurring with frequency that scale as $1/\Delta s^3$. This suggest that the model is in the same universality class as the model for self organization in the solar atmosphere suggested by Hughes et al.(PRL {\bf 90} 131101)

Workload and Performance in FOPA: A Strategic Planning Interface for Air Traffic Control

The Flight Organizer Planning Aid (FOPA) interface was designed to aid strategic planning in air traffic control. In particular, FOPA was designed to address difficulties in solving en route sequencing problems (combining multiple streams of traffic into a single stream heading for a destination). We compared the planning performance of 12 full performance level air traffic controllers using either the FOPA interface or normal flight progress strips. Planning performance was significantly better when using FOPA; subjective workload was also reduced. The results indicate that a key advantage of FOPA lies in its dynamic linkage between the flight organizer screen where aircraft tokens can be categorized into color-coded blocks and their matching spatial representation on the radar.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

JKarelRobot: A Case Study in Supporting Levels of Cognitive Development in the Computer Science Curriculum

We introduce a new software tool, JKarelRobot, for supporting an Inside/Out pedagogy in introductory programming courses. Extending the original conception of Karel the Robot , with Bloom\u27s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as a guiding principle, we have provided a mechanism for designing exercises that are cognitively appropriate to the developmental levels of our students. JKarelRobot is platform independent (written in Java) and language/paradigm independent, supporting Pascal, Java, and Lisp style environments

ROCs in Eyewitness Identification: Instructions vs. Confidence Ratings

From the perspective of signal-detection theory, different lineup instructions may induce different levels of response bias (Clark, 2005). If so, then collecting correct and false identification rates across different instructional conditions will trace out the ROC – the same ROC that, theoretically, could also be traced out from a single instruction condition in which each eyewitness decision is accompanied by a confidence rating. We tested whether the two approaches do in fact yield the same ROC. Participants were assigned to a confidence rating condition or to an instructional biasing condition (liberal, neutral, unbiased, or conservative). After watching a video of a mock crime, participants were presented with instructions followed by a 6-person simultaneous photo lineup. The ROCs from both methods were similar, but they were not exactly the same. These findings have potentially important policy implications for how the legal system should go about controlling eyewitness response bias

Technique and diagnostic utility of saline infusion sonohysterography

The introduction of saline infusion sonohysterography has significantly improved sonographic diagnosis of various endometrial pathologies. This procedure entails instillation of warm saline into the uterine cavity transcervically to provide enhanced visualization of the endometrium during transvaginal ultrasound examination. This article reviews the sonohysterography technique and current utility, as well as the spectrum of imaging features of various endometrial pathologies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135202/1/ijgo5.pd

A business model perspective for ICTs in public engagement

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published article can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ElsevierPublic institutions, in their efforts to promote meaningful citizen engagement, are increasingly looking at the democratic potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Previous studies suggest that such initiatives seem to be impeded by socio-technical integration barriers such as low sustainability, poor citizen acceptance, coordination difficulties, lack of understanding and failure to assess their impact. Motivated by these shortcomings, the paper develops and applies a business model perspective as an interceding framework for analysis and evaluation. The underlying principle behind this approach is that it is not technology per se which determines success, but rather the way in which the businessmodel of the technological artifact is configured and employed to achieve the strategic goals. The business model perspective is empirically demonstrated with the case of an online petitioning system implemented by a UK local authority. The case illustrates the importance of considering ICTs in public engagement from a holistic view to make them more manageable and assessable

A pedagogy of friendship: young children's friendships and how schools can support them?

Children’s friendships are often neglected by teachers and researchers. This phenomenological study conducted with seven children aged five and six years explores young children’s perceptions of their everyday friendship experiences. This multi-method study used role play interviews, drawings and persona doll scenarios to consider children’s everyday experiences of friendship in school. The paper discusses the importance of socio-cultural aspects of children’s friendship including: imaginary friends; losing friends; protecting time and space to develop friendships and children’s routines and practices as they form and maintain friendships. Data and findings are discussed, leading to an original conceptual framework: a ‘Pedagogy of Friendship’. This is designed to help children make meaning from their friendship experiences and also provide practitioners with the opportunity to nurture and scaffold children through their friendship experiences in schools. We suggest that there is a need to raise the profile of children’s friendships in early childhood education and generate an educational perspective on friendship. Finally we conclude that listening to children’s views of friendship indicates that the application of the framework of a ‘Pedagogy of Friendship’ would be beneficial to children’s all round learning and development. Keywords - children's perceptions, phenomenology, friendship, key stage one, Pedagogy of Friendshi

Boundaries of Semantic Distraction: Dominance and Lexicality Act at Retrieval

Three experiments investigated memory for semantic information with the goal of determining boundary conditions for the manifestation of semantic auditory distraction. Irrelevant speech disrupted the free recall of semantic category-exemplars to an equal degree regardless of whether the speech coincided with presentation or test phases of the task (Experiment 1) and occurred regardless of whether it comprised random words or coherent sentences (Experiment 2). The effects of background speech were greater when the irrelevant speech was semantically related to the to-be-remembered material, but only when the irrelevant words were high in output dominance (Experiment 3). The implications of these findings in relation to the processing of task material and the processing of background speech is discussed