Wa/ondering with data - or, Responsibly measuring socio-technical serendipity in the urban environment

Current trends in serendipity research and collaborative ethics point to the importance of cultivating bottom-up approaches to designing for datafication in urban centers. The focus on pattern recognition in big scale data analysis, combined with an exponential growth in and infrastructural support of ubiquitous information and communication technologies (ICIs), has led to concerns about whether smart cities will turn urban environments into sites that leave little space for diverse and unplanned encounters. We take the position that smart cities need to take citizen agency into account and explain how to conceive the smart city in terms of serendipitous opportunity and community engagement. We do this by elaborating on the idea of situated serendipity, and how this kind of serendipity is co-constructed by technologies, citizens, and the urban setting. We subsequently present a methodology in line with recent work with sensory ethnography, to better understand the meaning and value of serendipity in the smart city. Ultimately, we propose a new way to imagine the ‘living lab’ as a cultivator of serendipity, through techniques developed in the fields of design, innovation, improvisation, citizen science and participatory ethics

Can Conducting a Talking Circle about a Sensitive Topic Increase Participation for Elementary Aged Learners?

This action research project investigated the effects of talking circles on student participation when engaging in sensitive topics. Researchers used 38-4th and 5th graders from two elementary classrooms. Both classrooms were located in Catholic schools. For the pretest phase, students were taught a series of controversial topics within the curriculum. To deconstruct the lesson themes, a traditional question, answer and discussion was employed. Researchers examined students’ participation, the quality of questions about injustice/justice that was raised and the students’ written statements about how they could make changes towards solutions. The strategy of using talking circles was implemented as a treatment. A second series of lessons concerning a controversial topic was presented. Students were directed to use the talking circle method to deconstruct themes in the lesson. Researchers again examined participation, the quality of questions about injustice/justice and students’ written statements about how they could make changes towards solutions. The researchers as teachers also reflected on their behavior and participation comparing a traditional discussion to the talking circle. The implementation of talking circles increased student participation, and the level of commitment to problem solving increased. The researchers as teachers also found that using the talking circle method was a more effective tool as it alleviated the role of teacher from expert to participant and facilitator. During the talking circle treatment, students communicated their opinions with civility. Researchers concluded that talking circles was an effective method for discussing sensitive topics for the 4th and 5th graders in this study. This corroborates the research on talking circles which has been implemented with older populations as much of the research begins with adolescent students. This research demonstrates that the method can be effective with younger populations and be an essential aid for teachers who may have difficulty presenting sensitive topics such as racism, death, gender differences, disability, immigration and slavery to younger students

The Vehicle, Fall 2008

Table of Contents DwIFoFErREINdTPhilip Gallagherpage 17 LeftoversAmanda Vealepage 18 the bogGrace Lawrencepage 19 Visitor\u27s Morning on EarthSteven T. Coxpage 20 The Moon Man Philip Gallagherpage 21 SearchingsAmanda Vealepage 23 Becoming WiseAmanda Vealepage 24 PerennialsAmanda Vealepage 26 SoldierMary Lieskepage 27 Desecration of a RelicAmanda Vealepage 29 New LifeJennifer O\u27Neilpage 30 GardenerKrystina Levyapage 43 The Reasons WhyMary Lieskepage 44 Dining at the MortuaryAmanda Vealepage 45 Poetry Hop Scotch BehopJake Dawsonpage 1 Empty RoomAmanda Vealepage 2 Mantis (from memory) Muddy ShoesGina Marie LoBiancopage 3 MEMOSamuel Clowardpage 5 MathMary Lieskepage 7 To a Little Black GirlJustin Sudkamppage 8 Government OfficeSamuel Clowardpage 9 FirstKellen Fasnachtpage 10 Seeing Artichoke, Call MeAmanda Vealepage 11 TrumpetSarah Fairchildpage 12 That\u27s the StuffJake Dawsonpage 13 Your Hair is ThinningAmanda Vealepage 15 UnableDonica Millerpage 16 Dance PartnersSamantha Sauerpage 32 I StillMegan Mathypage 33 IncandescenceSarah Fairchildpage 34 Stone CraneBrendan Hughespage 35 The Road TakenSamantha Sauerpage 36 YouMegan Mathypage 37 Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Zhangjiajie, ChinaBrendan Hughespage 38 Spotlight on 2008 Chapbook LessonsGlen Davispage 62 Interview with Glen DavisRebecca Griffithpage 64 Contributorspage 69 Submission Guidelines/Reading Event Blues Mad FoolJake Dawsonpage 47 Good WomanJake Dawsonpage 49 Good ManJake Dawsonpage 51 And I Miss YouDonica Millerpage 53 Entropy of Your ShirtAmanda Vealepage 56 Mavericks Philip Gallagherpage 57 Untitled [It\u27s 10:15 p.m....]Philip Gallagherpage 59 Prose A Birdhouse for GrandpaLeslie Hancockpage 39 MotivationMary Lieskepage 55 Art Forgotten GardenBrendan Hughescovers BeMegan Mathypage 31https://thekeep.eiu.edu/vehicle/1088/thumbnail.jp

Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein deficiency perturbs the homeostasis of B-cell compartment in humans

Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASp) regulates the cytoskeleton in hematopoietic cells and mutations in its gene cause the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS), a primary immunodeficiency with microthrombocytopenia, eczema and a higher susceptibility to develop tumors. Autoimmune manifestations, frequently observed in WAS patients, are associated with an increased risk of mortality and still represent an unsolved aspect of the disease. B cells play a crucial role both in immune competence and self-tolerance and defects in their development and function result in immunodeficiency and/or autoimmunity. We performed a phenotypical and molecular analysis of central and peripheral B-cell compartments in WAS pediatric patients. We found a decreased proportion of immature B cells in the bone marrow correlating with an increased presence of transitional B cells in the periphery. These results could be explained by the defective migratory response of WAS B cells to SDF-1α, essential for the retention of immature B cells in the BM. In the periphery, we observed an unusual expansion of CD21low B-cell population and increased plasma BAFF levels that may contribute to the high susceptibility to develop autoimmune manifestations in WAS patients. WAS memory B cells were characterized by a reduced in vivo proliferation, decreased somatic hypermutation and preferential usage of IGHV4-34, an immunoglobulin gene commonly found in autoreactive B cells. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that WASp-deficiency perturbs B-cell homeostasis thus adding a new layer of

Amplifying deceivers’ flawed metacognition: Encouraging disclosures after delays with a model statement

Truth tellers provide less detail in delayed than in immediate interviews (likely due to forgetting), whereas liars provide similar amounts of detail in immediate and delayed interviews (displaying a metacognitive stability bias effect). We examined whether liar’s flawed metacognition after delays could be exploited by encouraging interviewees to provide more detail via a Model Statement. Truthful and deceptive participants were interviewed immediately (n = 78) or after a three-week delay (n = 78). Half the participants in each condition listened to a Model Statement before questioning. In the Immediate condition, truth tellers provided more details than liars. This pattern was unaffected by the Model Statement. In the Delayed condition, truth tellers and liars provided a similar amount of detail in the Model Statement-absent condition, whereas in the Model Statement-present condition, liars provided more details than truth tellers

Bedrock geology of DFDP-2B, central Alpine Fault, New Zealand

<p>During the second phase of the Alpine Fault, Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP) in the Whataroa River, South Westland, New Zealand, bedrock was encountered in the DFDP-2B borehole from 238.5–893.2 m Measured Depth (MD). Continuous sampling and meso- to microscale characterisation of whole rock cuttings established that, in sequence, the borehole sampled amphibolite facies, Torlesse Composite Terrane-derived schists, protomylonites and mylonites, terminating 200–400 m above an Alpine Fault Principal Slip Zone (PSZ) with a maximum dip of 62°. The most diagnostic structural features of increasing PSZ proximity were the occurrence of shear bands and reduction in mean quartz grain sizes. A change in composition to greater mica:quartz + feldspar, most markedly below c. 700 m MD, is inferred to result from either heterogeneous sampling or a change in lithology related to alteration. Major oxide variations suggest the fault-proximal Alpine Fault alteration zone, as previously defined in DFDP-1 core, was not sampled.</p

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Structural basis of nanobody-mediated blocking of BtuF, the cognate substrate-binding protein of the Escherichia coli vitamin B12 transporter BtuCD

Bacterial ABC importers catalyze the uptake of essential nutrients including transition metals and metal-containing co-factors. Recently, an IgG antibody targeting the external binding protein of the Staphylococcus aureus Mn(II) ABC importer was reported to inhibit transport activity and reduce bacterial cell growth. We here explored the possibility of using alpaca-derived nanobodies to inhibit the vitamin B12 transporter of Escherichia coli, BtuCD-F, as a model system by generating nanobodies against the periplasmic binding protein BtuF. We isolated six nanobodies that competed with B12 for binding to BtuF, with inhibition constants between 10−6 and 10−9 M. Kinetic characterization of the nanobody-BtuF interactions revealed dissociation half-lives between 1.6 and 6 minutes and fast association rates between 104 and 106 M−1s−1. For the tightest-binding nanobody, we observed a reduction of in vitro transport activity of BtuCD-F when an excess of nanobody over B12 was used. The structure of BtuF in complex with the most effective nanobody Nb9 revealed the molecular basis of its inhibitory function. The CDR3 loop of Nb9 reached into the substrate-binding pocket of BtuF, preventing both B12 binding and BtuCD-F complex formation. Our results suggest that nanobodies can mediate ABC importer inhibition, providing an opportunity for novel antibiotic strategies.ISSN:2045-232

Lap Harp

Located in the Marvin Foyer, Booth http://libraryhttps://thekeep.eiu.edu/building_memories_photos/1019/thumbnail.jp