Technology, Empowerment and Community Radio

This article will provide an overview of the conceptual contours of community media and community radio, highlighting some of the key questions shaping the debate and, with the help of a case study, show how digital media in the context of community radio can help local groups to get a voice in their local media systems, and how a university-based radio station, and its students and volunteers, play an important role for a more diverse and vibrant media content available in their area

An Investigation of Assessment, Equal Opportunity, and Educational Equity in Conservative Evangelical Schools

The purpose for this ex post facto, causal comparative study was to use a three-tiered investigation; each tier was related to the investigation of equity and student achievement. Based on the literature, there is little to no research about the relationship between equity in conservative Evangelical Christian schools and student achievement. The data used in this study was drawn from conservative Evangelical schools. The research focus was on schools which are members of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) in the Mid-America/Ohio River Valley Region. The participant schools were divided into different tiers and categories, in accordance with the size, tuition, and location. With use of the variables of location, school size, and cost per student, an ANOVA was used to analyze student achievement solely in ACSI member schools. Three separate ANOVAs were used to analyze the data for each part of the study. The first ANOVA was used to analyze student achievement in ACSI schools with regard to location; the second ANOVA was used to analyze student achievement in ACSI schools with regard to tuition; and the final ANOVA was used to analyze student achievement in ACSI schools with regard to enrollment size. The instrument used for measuring student achievement in this study was the Terra Nova Test (3rd Edition) for ACSI schools

Scanning tunneling microscopy simulations of poly(3-dodecylthiophene) chains adsorbed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

We report on a novel scheme to perform efficient simulations of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) of molecules weakly bonded to surfaces. Calculations are based on a tight binding (TB) technique including self-consistency for the molecule to predict STM imaging and spectroscopy. To palliate the lack of self-consistency in the tunneling current calculation, we performed first principles density-functional calculations to extract the geometrical and electronic properties of the system. In this way, we can include, in the TB scheme, the effects of structural relaxation upon adsorption on the electronic structure of the molecule. This approach is applied to the study of regioregular poly(3-dodecylthiophene) (P3DDT) polymer chains adsorbed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Results of spectroscopic calculations are discussed and compared with recently obtained experimental datComment: 15 pages plus 5 figures in a tar fil

The relationship between inferential processing and text processing: a developmental study

The research reported here was designed to investigate the critical role played by certain factors implicated in the mental representation of text, and to establish whether their role varies significantly as a function of developmental age. Specifically, it was decided to analyse, in a sample of 180 subjects was selected from three different age groups (7, 10 and 18 years of age respectively), the role of such factors in mediating and influencing the generation of the inferences needed to understand a piece of text characterised by a sequence of information which flows in a logical order, but leads to a conclusion which is contrary to the expectations evoked by the text. In line with this objective, it was decided to take into account factors related to encoding (added information about the key object – a title), those involved in recall (inferential tests regarding the object and action of change), as well as purely metacognitive factors, such as evaluation of one’s own comprehension and awareness of textual incongruence, whose presence, according to our assumptions, should facilitate the formulation of inferential hypotheses. It would thus seem that inferential processing is powerfully influenced both by cognitive and structural factors, factors which can play a role during both encoding and recall. The results reported here tend to confirm the hypothesis that there is indeed a significant developmental trend in the role played by those factors involved in the coherent representation of text and in the formulation of inferences. The data suggest that children in the youngest age group obtain the greatest advantage from clues in reaching a more correct representation of the text concerned. It is concluded that inferential processes do not serve only to make connections between propositions, but to construct a coherent mental representation of text (Kintsh, 1994; Zwaan, 1994, 1996)

Music in the first days of life

In adults, specific neural systems with right-hemispheric weighting are necessary to process pitch, melody and harmony, as well as structure and meaning emerging from musical sequences. To which extent does this neural specialization result from exposure to music or from neurobiological predispositions? We used fMRI to measure brain activity in 1 to 3 days old newborns while listening to Western tonal music, and to the same excerpts altered, so as to include tonal violations or dissonance. Music caused predominant right hemisphere activations in primary and higher-order auditory cortex. For altered music, activations were seen in the left inferior frontal cortex and limbic structures. Thus, the newborn's brain is able to plenty receive music and to figure out even small perceptual and structural differences in the music sequences. This neural architecture present at birth provides us the potential to process basic and complex aspects of music, a uniquely human capacity

PERANCANGAN DAN PEMBUATAN PERANGKAT LUNAK BERBASIS MOBILE AGENT UNTUK PENCARIAN BUKU

The development of information technology and today's growing very fast. Client-server technology is already very familiar with programming concepts. A new concept called the mobile agent has been found and is expected to replace the concept of client-server. The concept of Mobile Agent is a concept where the program code is called an agent can move from one computer to another to perform tasks assigned to him. Mobile Agents are often used to collect data, information or process transactions on the Internet. Based on the concept is then carried out research that purpose to implement technology on a Mobile Agent software with a case study of a software used to search a book on multiple database servers so that users do not need to visit web store one by one. In this study used Aglet 2.0.2 as the software for development applications. For the design of client web server interface using PHP and HTML language. The research was applied to a web URL address localhost with local and two servers where each server contained a database of books. To see the process of transfer agent can be seen in Tahiti server logs information both on the client side or server. Based on the results of testing that has been done the conclusion that this application could be implemented by the method of Mobile Agents. Mobile Agents are used consists of three pieces of AgentOne, AgentTwo, and AgentThree which has the task and its own function. Proof of transfer agent can be seen in Tahiti server log information from the client and server. Keywords : Agent, Mobile Agent, Aglets, Book Searchin

Down Syndrome and Referential Communication: Understanding and Production

This study aimed to evaluate the ability of referential communication in subjects with Down Syndrome (DS). We evaluated the possibility that the referential communication is the result of a set of cognitive factors, verbal and nonverbal through the evaluation of relationship between cognitive abilities in individuals with DS and typically developing. In particular, we have identified some critical dimensions of communicative function, such as the referential communication, which means the subject's ability to produce o the listener or messages "referentially oriented", ie messages that are characterized by "clarity or ambiguity referential ". The referential communication skills, intended both as production (speaker condition) and as understanding (listener condition). Furthermore, has been decided to deepen their understanding through a test that assesses understanding of the text. This choice stems from the need to investigate whether the understanding of a text for individuals with DS could be easier than the understanding of individual messages. It is assumed in fact, that understanding of a text works as a facilitator in coherent mental representation of the text, compared to a single message

The origins and development of community radio in Britain under New Labour (1997-2007)

This thesis is a study of the origins and development of Community Radio in the United Kingdom under New Labour, focusing on the decade that saw Tony Blair serving as Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007. The research contributes to an enhanced understanding of Community Radio in Britain during this period, in two ways. First, it provides a factual contribution – namely, it places into the public domain hidden testimonies and evidence about how Community Radio developed. On the basis of a sample of stations, it uses case studies to examine how, if at all, New Labour policies affected actual practice on the ground. Second, it attempts to provide an intellectual argument – namely, that Community Radio in Britain today can be understood fully only in the wider context of New Labour’s period in office. While Part I of the thesis focuses on the ideals of community radio advocacy, community media theories, British local radio practice and New Labour’s social and cultural policies, Part II discusses the realities and how the community radio sector developed its policy proposals and practices after 1997. The evolution of Community Radio is studied using a mix of qualitative methods, including the review of a consistent body of ‘grey literature’, informal data gathering, oral history interviews, and a period of observational research in a selection of three case-studies: ALL FM (Manchester), Forest FM (Verwood), and Canterbury Student Radio-CSR FM (Canterbury). The original contribution to knowledge that this thesis makes, is to demonstrate how the most important factor facilitating community radio lobbying in this period was the presence of a discourse within which the arguments of community media activists could make sense, and that led to the introduction of Community Radio as a third sector of full-time radio broadcasting in the United Kingdom