Juridisch Kennismanagement in het IT-tijdperk

Gegevens, informatie en kennis worden voor organisaties van steeds groter belang. Zij worden steeds meer beschouwd als producten waarvan de waarde wordt bepaald door vraag en aanbod. Dit wordt mede veroorzaakt door de steeds verdergaande invloed van informatietechnologie (IT). Voor sommige organisaties zijn informatie en kennis inmiddels de belangrijkste productiefactoren geworden. Dit geldt ook, en zelfs in sterke mate, voor juridische organisaties. Deze dienen te beschikken over steeds meer juridische kennis en informatie om hun taak naar behoren te kunnen uitvoeren. Juridische informatie en kennis zijn vastgelegd in een breed scala van documenten en worden steeds vaker aangeboden via elektronische media. De vorm van de oorspronkelijke documenten, en daarmee ook de inhoud, ondergaat daarbij deels veranderingen, evenals de wijze waarop zij kunnen worden geraadpleegd. Dit onderzoek voorziet in een eerste inventarisatie en analyse van de wijze waarop juristen met informatiestromen omgaan, alsmede van de rol die IT hierbij speelt. Daartoe werd onderzoek gedaan bij organisaties die een juridische taak vervullen: gemeenten met wel/geen vergaande automatisering. Voorts wordt nagegaan in hoeverre IT een geschikt hulpmiddel is voor het kanaliseren van de steeds toenemende stroom gegevens, informatie en kennis en in welke omgeving dit het best tot zijn recht komt

Very low mass microcables for the ALICE silicon strip detector

Proposal of abstract for LEB99, Snowmass, Colorado, 20-24 September 1999The ALICE Inner Tracker (ITS) silicon strip layers will use kapton/aluminium microcables (12/14 um thickness) exclusively for all interconnections to and from the front-end chips and hybrids, completely eliminating traditional wirebonding. Benefits are increased robustness and an extra degree of dimensional freedom. Utilising a low-power, low temperature and low-force (10-15 grams) single-point TAB bonding process, aluminium traces are directly bonded through bonding windows in the kapton foil to bond pads on the chips and the hybrid. The same technique is also used to interconnect these microcables to create multi-layer bus structures with "bonded via's". A double-sided strip detector using prototype cables has been installed in the NA57 experiment in 1998

Recycling Attitudes and Behavior among a Clinic-Based Sample of Low-Income Hispanic Women in Southeast Texas

We examined attitudes and behavior surrounding voluntary recycling in a population of low-income Hispanic women. Participants (N = 1,512) 18–55 years of age completed a self-report survey and responded to questions regarding household recycling behavior, recycling knowledge, recycling beliefs, potential barriers to recycling (transportation mode, time), acculturation, demographic characteristics (age, income, employment, marital status, education, number of children, birth country), and social desirability. Forty-six percent of participants (n = 810) indicated that they or someone else in their household recycled. In a logistic regression model controlling for social desirability, recycling behavior was related to increased age (P<0.05), lower acculturation (P<0.01), knowing what to recycle (P<0.01), knowing that recycling saves landfill space (P<0.05), and disagreeing that recycling takes too much time (P<0.001). A Sobel test revealed that acculturation mediated the relationship between recycling knowledge and recycling behavior (P<0.05). We offer new information on recycling behavior among Hispanic women and highlight the need for educational outreach and intervention strategies to increase recycling behavior within this understudied population

Understanding and reducing sexual prejudice in Jamaica: Theoretical and practical insights from a severely anti-gay society

Jamaica has earned an international reputation for severe sexual prejudice: perhaps disproportionately so compared to other severely anti-LGBT societies. Until recently, however, no quantitative empirical research had investigated Jamaica’s sexual prejudice, leaving the prejudice poorly understood and methods of reducing it unclear. This article reviews the past 15 years of empirical research on Jamaican anti-LGBT prejudice. It situates Jamaica within the global context, explains the current understanding of the severity and nature of the problem, evaluates solutions currently being explored and suggests promising strategies based on available evidence. Importantly, this article also reflects on lessons learned from Jamaica that are relevant for other severely anti-LGBT societies

Investigating cooperation with robotic peers

We explored how people establish cooperation with robotic peers, by giving participants the chance to choose whether to cooperate or not with a more/less selfish robot, as well as a more or less interactive, in a more or less critical environment. We measured the participants' tendency to cooperate with the robot as well as their perception of anthropomorphism, trust and credibility through questionnaires. We found that cooperation in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) follows the same rule of Human-Human Interaction (HHI), participants rewarded cooperation with cooperation, and punished selfishness with selfishness. We also discovered two specific robotic profiles capable of increasing cooperation, related to the payoff. A mute and non-interactive robot is preferred with a high payoff, while participants preferred a more human-behaving robot in conditions of low payoff. Taken together, these results suggest that proper cooperation in HRI is possible but is related to the complexity of the task

NECAB2 is an endosomal protein important for striatal function

Synaptic signaling depends on ATP generated by mitochondria. Dysfunctional mitochondria shift the redox balance towards a more oxidative environment. Due to extensive connectivity, the striatum is especially vulnerable to mitochondrial dysfunction. We found that neuronal calcium-binding protein 2 (NECAB2) plays a role in striatal function and mitochondrial homeostasis. NECAB2 is a predominantly endosomal striatal protein which partially colocalizes with mitochondria. This colocalization is enhanced by mild oxidative stress. Global knockout of Necab2 in the mouse results in increased superoxide levels, increased DNA oxidation and reduced levels of the antioxidant glutathione which correlates with an altered mitochondrial shape and function. Striatal mitochondria from Necab2 knockout mice are more abundant and smaller and characterized by a reduced spare capacity suggestive of intrinsic uncoupling respectively mitochondrial dysfunction. In line with this, we also found an altered stress-induced interaction of endosomes with mitochondria in Necab2 knockout striatal cultures. The predominance of dysfunctional mitochondria and the pro-oxidative redox milieu correlates with a loss of striatal synapses and behavioral changes characteristic of striatal dysfunction like reduced motivation and altered sensory gating. Together this suggests an involvement of NECAB2 in an endosomal pathway of mitochondrial stress response important for striatal functio

Gender Socialization in Chinese Kindergartens: Teachers’ Contributions

Teacher-child interactions and peer exchanges were observed once a week for 10 months in four kindergartens in Hong Kong, China. A total of 206 anecdotes/scenes considered representative of the gender-related experiences of 109 4-year-old Chinese children in these kindergartens were analyzed. Descriptive codes, generated iteratively were clustered, categorized, integrated, recoded and recategorized and led to the identification of two major themes related to the socialization practices of teachers: Gendered Kindergarten Routines and Perpetuation of Gender Stereotypes. Findings indicated that these early years’ educational contexts were not gender neutral. Teachers interacted with boys significantly more than girls. They also subtly conveyed traditional Chinese gender values through their repeated use of gendered routines in the kindergartens and their behaviors reflected gender stereotypes