Negotiating Among Opportunity and Constraint: The Participation of Young People in Out-of-School-Time Activities

Out-of-school opportunities -- such as arts and music programs, sports teams, community service and youth entrepreneurship opportunities -- are increasingly seen as potentially powerful tools to promote positive youth development and to prevent problematic behaviors. Based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 99 students in 10th grade in four Chicago Public Schools, this Chapin Hall report explores young people's perspectives on their use of out-of-school time and the influences, barriers, contexts, and processes that contribute to their choices and experiences. The report investigates how young people learn about and choose to get involved in different kinds of out-of-school opportunities and the influence that family members, peers, and non-family adults have on their thinking and decision making. It also explores the relationship between young people's participation in out-of-school programs and their interests, aspirations, and assessments of the kinds of opportunities and barriers found within their families, schools and neighborhoods. Finally, it offers conclusions and recommendations about how to improve opportunities for young people based on the insights provided by them, including specific suggestions about approaches to outreach, access, ongoing engagement and program provision

Big Data and International Development: Impacts, Scenarios and Policy Options

Many people are excited about data, particularly when those data are big. Big data, we are told, will be the fuel that drives the next industrial revolution, radically reshaping economic structures, employment patterns and reaching into every aspect of economic and social life. The numbers are certainly impressive. In 1946, one of the first computers weighed 30 tonnes and could do 500 calculations per second. Today, IBM’s ‘Watson’ supercomputer can process 500 gigabytes of data per second. Every day, 39 per cent of the global population use the internet. Facebook has more than 1.3 billion active users, and after the United States the countries with the most subscribers are India, Brazil and Indonesia. In 2007, Twitter had 400,000 tweets per quarter. By 2013, there were 500 million per day. Ninety per cent of data in existence were created in the past two years, and the quantity is doubling every two years. The size and cost of storage has fallen by a third every year since the 1970s, making it possible to store these vast new pools of data. New statistical techniques and tools such as machine-learning algorithms can process and analyse these data dynamically, at a scale and speed that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. These changes are already having major effects and will continue to do so. Beyond that little is clear, however. In the world of data, size obviously matters. But how much will it matter in the end, in what ways will these effects be felt and by whom. Perhaps most importantly, what can be done to influence this? While considering the potential impacts of big data in a broad sense, this paper applies these questions specifically to developing countries.UK Department for International Developmen

The Augustinian Values Institute: Preserving a Legacy of Augustinian Education

A concern for Catholic educators is how to keep Catholic schools viable and healthy in a milieu of diminishing numbers of religious as well as a very complex and changing world. This article addresses the Augustinians’ response to the challenge to keep the Order’s mission of education alive and thriving in this 21st century. This article hopes to accomplish two goals: first to articulate the meaning of the three core values of Unitas (Unity), Veritas (Truth), and Caritas (Charity). Secondly, the article reports the results of a study of the Augustinian Values Institute (AVI), a program that engages participants in reflection on the core values and how they might be applied to their classroom pedagogies. The article concludes with some discussion about future directions for the Institute. Keywords Augustinian education, Catholic school, values, Augustinian Values Institute L\u27Institut des valeurs augustiniennes : Préservation de l\u27héritage de l\u27éducation augustinienne Les éducateurs catholiques se préoccupent de la manière de préserver des écoles catholiques viables et solides dans un milieu où les religieux diminuent, et aussi dans un monde complexe et évolutif. Cet article traite de la réponse apportée par les Augustiniens à la difficulté de conserver la mission de l\u27ordre vivante et prospère au 21esiècle. Il espère atteindre deux objectifs :premièrement, énoncer la signification des trois valeurs fondamentales, Unitas (unité), Veritas (vérité) et Caritas (charité). Deuxièmement, donner les résultats d\u27une étude de l\u27Institut des valeurs augustiniennes (Augustinian Values Institute ,AVI), un programme dans lequel les participants se livrent à une réflexion sur les valeurs fondamentales et la manière dont elles peuvent être appliquées à la pédagogie en classe. L\u27article s\u27achève par une discussion sur les orientations futures de l\u27Institut. Mots-clés : éducation augustinienne, école catholique, valeurs, Institut des valeurs augustiniennes El instituto de valores agustinianos: conservar el legado de la educación agustiniana Una preocupación para los educadores católicos consiste en cómo mantener las escuelas católicas viables y sanas en un ambiente en que disminuye el número de religiosos así como también en un mundo cada vez más complejo y cambiante. Este artículo dirige la respuesta agustiniana al reto de mantener viva la misión educativa de la orden y prosperar en el siglo 21. El presente artículo espera conseguir dos objetivos: primero, articular el significado de los tres valores centrales de Unitas (unidad), Veritas (verdad) y Caritas (caridad). Segundo, el artículo informa sobre los resultados de un estudio del Instituto de Valores Agustinianos (AVI), un programa que involucra a los participantes en una reflexión sobre los valores centrales y cómo se pueden aplicar en la pedagogía del aula. El artículo concluye con una discusión sobre futuras direcciones para el Instituto. Palabras clave educación agustiniana, escuela católica, valores, Instituto de Valores Agustiniano

Limitations for change detection in multiple Gabor targets

We investigate the limitations on the ability to detect when a target has changed, using Gabor targets as simple quantifiable stimuli. Using a partial report technique to equalise response variables, we show that the log of the Weber fraction for detecting a spatial frequency change is proportional to the log of the number of targets, with a set-size effect that is greater than that reported for visual search. This is not a simple perceptual limitation, because pre-cueing a single target out of four restores performance to the level found when only one target is present. It is argued that the primary limitation on performance is the division of attention across multiple targets, rather than decay within visual memory. However in a simplified change detection experiment without cueing, where only one target of the set changed, not only was the set size effect still larger, but it was greater at 2000 msec ISI than at 250 msec ISI, indicating a possible memory component. The steepness of the set size effects obtained suggests that even moderate complexity of a stimulus in terms of number of component objects can overload attentional processes, suggesting a possible low-level mechanism for change blindness

Impact of polymorphic variants on the molecular pharmacology of the two-agonist conformations of the human β1-adrenoceptor

β-blockers are widely used to improve symptoms and prolong life in heart disease primarily by inhibiting the actions of endogenous catecholamines at the β1-adrenoceptor. There are two common naturally occurring polymorphisms within the human β1-adrenoceptor sequence: Ser or Gly at position 49 in the N-terminus and Gly or Arg at position 389 in the C-terminus and some clinical studies have suggested that expression of certain variants may be associated with disease and affect response to treatment with β-blockers. The β1-adrenoceptor also exists in two agonist conformations - a high affinity catecholamine conformation and a low affinity secondary agonist conformation. Receptor-effector coupling and intracellular signalling from the different conformations may be affected by the polymorphic variants. Here, we examine in detail the molecular pharmacology of the β1-adrenoceptor polymorphic variants with respect to ligand affinity, efficacy, activation of the different agonist conformations and signal transduction and determine whether the polymorphic variants do indeed affect this secondary conformation. Stable cell lines expressing the wildtype and polymorphic variants were constructed and receptor pharmacology examined using whole cell binding and intracellular secondary messenger techniques. There was no difference in affinity for agonists and antagonists at the human wildtype β1-adrenoceptor (Ser49/Gly389) and the polymorphic variants Gly49/Gly389 and Ser49/Arg389. Furthermore, the polymorphic variant receptors both have two active agonist conformations with pharmacological properties similar to the wildtype receptor. Although the polymorphism at position 389 is thought to occur in an intracellular domain important for Gs-coupling, the two agonist conformations of the polymorphic variants stimulate intracellular signalling pathways, including Gs-cAMP intracellular signalling, in a manner very similar to that of the wildtype receptor

Control via electron count of the competition between magnetism and superconductivity in cobalt and nickel doped NaFeAs

Using a combination of neutron, muon and synchrotron techniques we show how the magnetic state in NaFeAs can be tuned into superconductivity by replacing Fe by either Co or Ni. Electron count is the dominant factor, since Ni-doping has double the effect of Co-doping for the same doping level. We follow the structural, magnetic and superconducting properties as a function of doping to show how the superconducting state evolves, concluding that the addition of 0.1 electrons per Fe atom is sufficient to traverse the superconducting domain, and that magnetic order coexists with superconductivity at doping levels less than 0.025 electrons per Fe atom.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Two-gap superconductivity with line nodes in CsCa2_2Fe4_4As4_4F2_2

We report the results of a muon-spin rotation ($\mu$SR) experiment to determine the superconducting ground state of the iron-based superconductor CsCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ with $T_{\rm c} \approx 28.3\,$K. This compound is related to the fully-gapped superconductor CaCsFe$_4$As$_4$, but here the Ca-containing spacer layer is replaced with one containing Ca$_2$F$_2$. The temperature evolution of the penetration depth strongly suggests the presence of line nodes and is best modelled by a system consisting of both an $s$- and a $d$-wave gap. We also find a potentially magnetic phase which appears below $\approx 10\,$K but does not appear to compete with the superconductivity. This compound contains the largest alkali atom in this family of superconductors and our results yield a value for the in-plane penetration depth of $\lambda_{ab}(T=0)=423(5)\,$nm.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Detection of terminal complement components in experimental immune glomerular injury

Detection of terminal complement components in experimental immune glomerular injury. Complement mediates glomerulonephritis by inflammatory cell-dependent and non-inflammatory cell-independent effects on glomerular permeability. The latter may involve terminal components of the complement system. We examined several models of immunologic renal injury in the rat by immunofluorescence (IF) for terminal complement components C5, C6, C7, and C8 in glomeruli using antisera to human C5-8, which cross-react with the analogous rat complement components. Rats with the heterologous and autologous phases of passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) had proteinuria and 1 to 2+ capillary wall deposits of heterologous or rat IgG, rat C3, and C5-8. Complement depletion with cobra venom factor (CVF) significantly decreased proteinuria in both models and prevented deposition of all complement components. Rats with active Heymann nephritis had similar deposits of rat IgG and C5-8. Rats with anti-GBM nephritis and aminonucleoside nephrosis had severe proteinuria which was not affected by CVF treatment and deposits of C5-8 were absent. The presence of terminal complement components in immune deposits in experimental glomerular disease correlates with a functional role for complement in mediating glomerular injury. These data support the hypothesis that the terminal complement pathway may be a major mediator of some types of immune glomerular injury.Détection des constituants terminaux du complément au cours de lésions immunes glomérulaires expérimentales. Le complément est le médiateur d'une glomérulonéphrite par des effets inflammatoires cellule-dépendants, et non inflammatoires cellule-indépendants sur la perméabilité glomérulaire. Ces derniers pourraient mettre en jeu les constituants terminaux du système complémentaire. Nous avons examiné plusieurs modèles de lésions rénales immunologiques chez le rat par la immunofluorescence (IF) en ce qui concerne les constituants complémentaires terminaux C5, C6, C7, et C8 dans les glomérules en utilisant des antisérums contre C5-8 humain qui croisent avec les constituants complémentaires analogues du rat. Des rats dans les phases hétérologue et autologue d'une néphrite passive de Heymann (PHN) avaient une proléinurie et des dépôts sur les parois capillaires 1 à 2 + d'IgG hétérologue ou de rat, de C3 et de C5-8 de rat. Une déplétion complémentaire avec du facteur de venin de cobra (CVF) a diminué significativement la protéinurie dans les deux modèles et a prévenu le dépôt de tous les constituants complémentaires. Des rats atteints d'une nephrite active de Heymann avaient des dépôts identiques d'IgG et de C5-8 de rat. Des rats atteints de néphrite anti-GBM et de néphrose aux aminoglucosides avaient une protéinurie sévère non affectée par le traitement au CVF et les dépôts de C5-8 étaient absents. La présence des constituants terminaux de complément dans les dépôts immuns lors des glomérulopathies expérimentales est corrélée avec un rôle fonctionnel du complément dans la médiation des lésions glomérulaires. Ces données sont en faveur de l'hypothèse que la voie terminale du complément peut être un médiateur majeur de certains types de lésions glomérulaires immunes