Do social networking groups support online petitions?

This article is the post-print version of the final paper that has been accepted for publication and is forthcoming in Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy. Copyright @ Emerald Group Publishing LimitedEPetitioning has been emerging as arguably the most important eParticipation institutional activity. This paper aims to provide some insights into how ePetitions are perceived and supported by social networking sites. The connection between the UK government’s ePetitioning system and social networking groups linking to governmental petitions was investigated. Online data from Facebook were collected and analysed with respect to numbers of supporters compared to official signatures. The results indicate that although the process of signing an official petition is not more complex than joining a Facebook group, the membership of respective Facebook groups can be much higher. In particular, certain topics experienced very high support on Facebook which did not convert to signatures. The paper raises interesting questions about the potential uptake of citizen-government interactions in policy making mechanisms.The online research tool used for data collection in this paper was developed by Steven Sams who acknowledges support by the World Class University (WCU) program through the National Research Foundation of Korea. The program is funded by the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. 515-82-06574

Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project: Development of the TTF TPACK survey instrument

This paper presents a summary of the key findings of the TTF TPACK Survey developed and administered for the Teaching the Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project implemented in 2011. The TTF Project, funded by an Australian Government ICT Innovation Fund grant, involved all 39 Australian Higher Education Institutions which provide initial teacher education. TTF data collections were undertaken at the end of Semester 1 (T1) and at the end of Semester 2 (T2) in 2011. A total of 12881 participants completed the first survey (T1) and 5809 participants completed the second survey (T2). Groups of like-named items from the T1 survey were subject to a battery of complementary data analysis techniques. The psychometric properties of the four scales: Confidence - teacher items; Usefulness - teacher items; Confidence - student items; Usefulness- student items, were confirmed both at T1 and T2. Among the key findings summarised, at the national level, the scale: Confidence to use ICT as a teacher showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2, and the scale: Confidence to facilitate student use of ICT also showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2. Additional key TTF TPACK Survey findings are summarised

Discovery of Resolved Debris Disk Around HD 131835

We report the discovery of the resolved disk around HD 131835 and present the analysis and modeling of its thermal emission. HD 131835 is a ~15 Myr A2 star in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association at a distance of 122.7 +16.2 -12.8 parsec. The extended disk has been detected to ~1.5" (200 AU) at 11.7 {\mu}m and 18.3 {\mu}m with T-ReCS on Gemini South. The disk is inclined at an angle of ~75{\deg} with the position angle of ~61{\deg}. The flux of HD 131835 system is 49.3+-7.6 mJy and 84+-45 mJy at 11.7 {\mu}m and 18.3 {\mu}m respectively. A model with three grain populations gives a satisfactory fit to both the spectral energy distribution and the images simultaneously. This best-fit model is composed of a hot continuous power-law disk and two rings. We characterized the grain temperature profile and found that the grains in all three populations are emitting at temperatures higher than blackbodies. In particular, the grains in the continuous disk are unusually warm; even when considering small graphite particles as the composition.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for Publication in Ap

A Ring of Warm Dust in the HD 32297 Debris Disk

We report the detection of a ring of warm dust in the edge-on disk surrounding HD 32297 with the Gemini-N/MICHELLE mid-infrared imager. Our N'-band image shows elongated structure consistent with the orientation of the scattered-light disk. The Fnu(11.2 um) = 49.9+/-2.1 mJy flux is significantly above the 28.2+/-0.6 mJy photosphere. Subtraction of the stellar point spread function reveals a bilobed structure with peaks 0.5"-0.6" from the star. An analysis of the stellar component of the SED suggests a spectral type later than A0, in contrast to commonly cited literature values. We fit three-dimensional, single-size grain models of an optically thin dust ring to our image and the SED using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm in a Bayesian framework. The best-fit effective grain sizes are submicron, suggesting the same dust population is responsible for the bulk of the scattered light. The inner boundary of the warm dust is located 0.5"-0.7" (~65 AU) from the star, which is approximately cospatial with the outer boundary of the scattered-light asymmetry inward of 0.5". The addition of a separate component of larger, cooler grains that provide a portion of the 60 um flux improves both the fidelity of the model fit and consistency with the slopes of the scattered-light brightness profiles. Previous indirect estimates of the stellar age (~30 Myr) indicate the dust is composed of debris. The peak vertical optical depths in our models (~0.3-1 x 1e-2) imply that grain-grain collisions likely play a significant role in dust dynamics and evolution. Submicron grains can survive radiation pressure blow-out if they are icy and porous. Similarly, the inferred warm temperatures (130-200 K) suggest that ice sublimation may play a role in truncating the inner disk.Comment: ApJ accepted, 8 pages, 4 figure

First scattered light images of debris disks around HD 53143 and HD 139664

We present the first scattered light images of debris disks around a K star (HD 53143) and an F star (HD 139664) using the coronagraphic mode of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). With ages 0.3 - 1 Gyr, these are among the oldest optically detected debris disks. HD 53143, viewed ~45 degrees from edge-on, does not show radial variation in disk structure and has width >55 AU. HD 139664 is seen close to edge-on and has belt-like morphology with a dust peak 83 AU from the star and a distinct outer boundary at 109 AU. We discuss evidence for significant diversity in the radial architecture of debris disks that appears unconnected to stellar spectral type or age. HD 139664 and possibly the solar system belong in a category of narrow belts 20-30 AU wide. HD 53143 represents a class of wide disk architecture with characteristic width >50 AU.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

CCRS proposal for evaluating LANDSAT-4 MSS and TM data

The measurement of registration errors in LANDSAT MSS data is discussed as well as the development of a revised algorithm for the radiometric calibration of TM data and the production of a geocoded TM image

Ferromagnetism in substituted zinc oxide

Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in (110) oriented ZnO films containing 5 at % of Sc, Ti, V, Fe, Co or Ni, but not Cr, Mn or Cu ions. There are large moments, 1.9 and 0.5 muB/atom for Co- and Ti-substituted oxides, respectively. Sc-substituted ZnO shows also a moment of 0.3 muB/Sc. Magnetization is very anisotropic, with variations of up to a factor three depending on the orientation of the applied field relative to the R-cut sapphire substrates. Results are interpreted in terms of a spin-split donor impurity band model, which can account for ferromagnetism in insulating or conducting high-k oxides with concentrations of magnetic ions that lie far below the percolation threshold. The variation of the ferromagnetism with oxygen pressure used during film growth is evidence of a link between ferromagnetism and defect concentration.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Carbon turnover in the water-soluble protein of the adult human lens.

PurposeHuman eye lenses contain cells that persist from embryonic development. These unique, highly specialized fiber cells located at the core (nucleus) of the lens undergo pseudo-apoptosis to become devoid of cell nuclei and most organelles. Ostensibly lacking in protein transcriptional capabilities, it is currently believed that these nuclear fiber cells owe their extreme longevity to the perseverance of highly stable and densely packed crystallin proteins. Maintaining the structural and functional integrity of lenticular proteins is necessary to sustain cellular transparency and proper vision, yet the means by which the lens actually copes with a lifetime of oxidative stress, seemingly without any capacity for protein turnover and repair, is not completely understood. Although many years of research have been predicated upon the assumption that there is no protein turnover or renewal in nuclear fiber cells, we investigated whether or not different protein fractions possess protein of different ages by using the (14)C bomb pulse.MethodsAdult human lenses were concentrically dissected by gently removing the cell layers in water or shaving to the nucleus with a curved micrometer-controlled blade. The cells were lysed, and the proteins were separated into water-soluble and water-insoluble fractions. The small molecules were removed using 3 kDa spin filters. The (14)C/C was measured in paired protein fractions by accelerator mass spectrometry, and an average age for the material within the sample was assigned using the (14)C bomb pulse.ResultsThe water-insoluble fractions possessed (14)C/C ratios consistent with the age of the cells. In all cases, the water-soluble fractions contained carbon that was younger than the paired water-insoluble fraction.ConclusionsAs the first direct evidence of carbon turnover in protein from adult human nuclear fiber cells, this discovery supports the emerging view of the lens nucleus as a dynamic system capable of maintaining homeostasis in part due to intricate protein transport mechanisms and possibly protein repair. This finding implies that the lens plays an active role in the aversion of age-related nuclear (ARN) cataract