Visualisation techniques for users and designers of layout algorithms

Visualisation systems consisting of a set of components through which data and interaction commands flow have been explored by a number of researchers. Such hybrid and multistage algorithms can be used to reduce overall computation time, and to provide views of the data that show intermediate results and the outputs of complementary algorithms. In this paper we present work on expanding the range and variety of such components, with two new techniques for analysing and controlling the performance of visualisation processes. While the techniques presented are quite different, they are unified within HIVE: a visualisation system based upon a data-flow model and visual programming. Embodied within this system is a framework for weaving together our visualisation components to better afford insight into data and also deepen understanding of the process of the data's visualisation. We describe the new components and offer short case studies of their application. We demonstrate that both analysts and visualisation designers can benefit from a rich set of components and integrated tools for profiling performance

Pass the Ball: Enforced Turn-Taking in Activity Tracking

We have developed a mobile application called Pass The Ball that enables users to track, reflect on, and discuss physical activity with others. We followed an iterative design process, trialling a first version of the app with 20 people and a second version with 31. The trials were conducted in the wild, on users' own devices. The second version of the app enforced a turn-taking system that meant only one member of a group of users could track their activity at any one time. This constrained tracking at the individual level, but more successfully led users to communicate and interact with each other. We discuss the second trial with reference to two concepts: social-relatedness and individual-competence. We discuss six key lessons from the trial, and identify two high-level design implications: attend to "practices" of tracking; and look within and beyond "collaboration" and "competition" in the design of activity trackers

The Impact of Second Step on Foster Youth with Disabilities

The impact of classroom behaviors, particularly aggression, on education is an ongoing concern among educators. Aggression includes behaviors formed with the intent to harm an individual physically or verbally. Students with disabilities typically engage in aggressive behaviors more frequently due to elevated levels of stress and anxiety. Further, students with disabilities living in the foster care system are even more at risk for aggressive behaviors due to increased stress and anxiety. Research suggests that cognitive-based interventions, such as Second Step, are effective in changing behavior and reducing aggression. Using an A-B single case design, this study examined the impact of the Second Step program at reducing aggression in students with disabilities living in the foster care system. Participants included one male and two female students attending a non-public school in Central California. A frequency count was used for this study to measure the number of aggressive behaviors. Five pre-selected lessons from the Second Step program were taught as the intervention. Results did not provide substantial evidence of program effectiveness, though some participants showed a decrease in aggression

Where Web 2.0 and Legal Information Intersect: Adjusting Course without Getting Lost

For more than a century, the process of legal research remained unchanged. This process was rooted in an established legal information structure. The law was published in standard texts, such as the West reporters, annotated codes, treatises, and the West Key Number Digest. While the advent of computer-assisted legal research was a departure from the print-based model, it did not fundamentally change the structure of legal information or the nature of authority. In fact, in its conservative beginnings, computer-assisted legal research provided a mere format shift as case texts were transcribed to simple online databases. More recently, Web 2.0 technologies have altered the web, taking what was a one-way publishing platform and transforming it into a two-way participatory phenomenon. The web now offers a collaborative space in which users create and define content and determine how information is accessed. This article considers the potential impact of Web 2.0 applications on legal information. First, the traditional legal information model is reviewed. Then, Web 2.0 technologies and their implications for the legal information structure are explored. To gain a better understanding of Web 2.0 participants, recent studies are examined. Finally, the article concludes with considerations for teaching legal research in the face of the Web 2.0 transition

Where Web 2.0 and Legal Information Intersect: Adjusting Course without Getting Lost

For more than a century, the process of legal research remained unchanged. This process was rooted in an established legal information structure. The law was published in standard texts, such as the West reporters, annotated codes, treatises, and the West Key Number Digest. While the advent of computer-assisted legal research was a departure from the print-based model, it did not fundamentally change the structure of legal information or the nature of authority. In fact, in its conservative beginnings, computer-assisted legal research provided a mere format shift as case texts were transcribed to simple online databases. More recently, Web 2.0 technologies have altered the web, taking what was a one-way publishing platform and transforming it into a two-way participatory phenomenon. The web now offers a collaborative space in which users create and define content and determine how information is accessed. This article considers the potential impact of Web 2.0 applications on legal information. First, the traditional legal information model is reviewed. Then, Web 2.0 technologies and their implications for the legal information structure are explored. To gain a better understanding of Web 2.0 participants, recent studies are examined. Finally, the article concludes with considerations for teaching legal research in the face of the Web 2.0 transition

Class Dismissed: Equal Protection, the Class-of-One, and Employment Discrimination After Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture

This Note examines whether government employees should be able to assert so-called class-of-one claims against public employers under the Fourteenth Amendment\u27s Equal Protection Clause. Traditional equal protection claims allege that the government has impermissibly singled out the plaintiff for disparate treatment on account of his or her race, gender, or some other trait shared with a larger class of individuals. Such claims reflect the traditional understanding of the Equal Protection Clause as a prohibition on discriminatory group classifications. Class-of-one claims, however, merely allege that the plaintiff was intentionally singled out from other similarly situated individuals and subjected to unequal treatment for no rational, legitimate reason. The plaintiff need not allege that the discrimination was motivated by his or her membership in a larger class. Rather, the plaintiff is said to comprise a class-of-one. Recently, the Supreme Court held in Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture that courts are barred from hearing class-of-one claims arising in the public employment context. Thus, government employees are now prohibited from asserting class-of-one claims against their employers. This Note traces the development of the class-of-one theory under the Equal Protection Clause and discusses its application in the public employment realm. This Note ultimately concludes that the Supreme Court\u27s asserted rationales for eliminating the class-of-one rights of public employees do not hold up under close scrutiny and posits that the Engquist decision reflects a certain skepticism among the members of the Roberts Court concerning the social utility of litigation

Osteoclast function: Role of extracellular pH and ATP

Osteoclasts are multinucleated cells responsible for the resporption of both the organic and inorganic components of bone. The molecular mechanisms by which these cells are activated to resorb bone are still poorly understood. Previous work has shown that mature rat osteoclasts in short term cultures are extremely sensitive to small shifts in extracellular pH (H+ out) and are strongly stimulated in acidified conditions (pH 6.8 - 7.0). The aim of the work presented in this thesis was to further investigate the actions of [H+ out] on osteoclast function and to study the interactions of ([H+ out]) with other stimulators of resorption. Experiments with mature rat osteoclasts indicated that the acid-activation effect does not abate over time but may become even more pronounced. Conversely, osteoclast formation in long-term mouse marrow cultures was inhibited at low pH and stimulated in more alkaline conditions; however, after formation in marrow cultures, the mature mouse osteoclasts exhibited the same acid-activation characteristics as freshly isolated mature rat osteoclasts. Experiments with cultured mouse calarial bones showed similar effects: osteoclastic resorption was strongly activated below pH 7.0, but acidified conditions resulted in a reduction in the number of osteoclasts visible in bones. Acid-stimulated resorption in calvaria occurred with HCO3- rather than CO2 acidosis and was blocked by inhibitors of prostaglandin and leukotriene synthesis. In contrast, prostaglandin inhibitors stimulated pit formation by cultured rat osteoclasts. I also found that resorption pit formation by isolated chick osteoclasts was very sensitive to small changes in although maximum pH sensitivity occurs over a more alkaline pH range than is the case for rodent osteoclasts. The data from these diverse systems provide strong support for the critical role of acid-base balance in modulating osteoclast function, despite apparent differences in the role of prostaglandins. The results show how pH can be manipulated to optimise resorption assays, and emphasise the importance of controlling this key variable. I also discovered that extracellular ATP, now recognised as an important signalling molecule in many tissues, stimulated both the activation and formation of rodent osteoclasts. There was a marked synergy between the stimulatory effects of [H+ out] and low dose ATP on the resorptive activity of rat osteoclasts. Acid-activated resorption was blocked by apyrase (an ecto-ATPase) and by suramin (an ATP antagonist). Thus, extracellular ATP and low pH both appear to be necessary for osteoclast activation. The findings suggest an important new mechanism for the local control of osteoclast function which may be relevant to, for example, the bone loss associated with inflammation