177 research outputs found
Preconditions for Citizen Journalism: A Sociological Assessment
The rise of the citizen journalist and increased attention to this phenomenon requires a sociological assessment that seeks to develop an understanding of how citizen journalism has emerged in contemporary society. This article makes a distinction between two different subcategories of citizen journalism, that is independent and dependent citizen journalism. The purpose of this article is to present four preconditions for citizen journalism to emerge in contemporary society: advanced technology, an \"active audience\", a \"lived\" experience within digital culture, and an organisational change within the news media.Sociology of Web 2.0, Citizen Journalism, Social Media, Digital Culture, User Generated Content, Digital Technology, Active Audience
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Automation in distance learning: an empirical study of unlearning and academic identity change linked to automation of student messaging within distance learning
This paper explores the unlearning and learning undertaken by adjuncts (Associate Lecturers) during the introduction of automated messaging by the university as part replacement of adjunct pastoral support for students. Automated messages were introduced by the University to standardize the student experience in terms of qualification communications, for example, reminders of forthcoming assessment deadlines. This change in communicative strategy is due to shifting power from a collegial to a managerial culture and practice in supporting distance learning students effectively. This is a university-wide initiative in a bid to improve progression and completion in an increasingly cost-focused higher education environment. The introduction of automated messaging requires adjuncts to learn new processes, and thus unlearn previous organizational routines which impacts upon their academic identity and perceived power within their roles
Biorelevant drug release of Metformin dosage forms using complementary in vitro tools
Drug release from immediate release (IR) and extended release (ER) metformin
products was investigated using the Dow Chemical Company’s FloVitroTM
biorelevant dissolution instrument. This was complemented by using the Sirius SDi2
(Surface Dissolution Imaging) platform to investigate mechanistic differences
accounting for drug release. Level A IVIVC was demonstrated for metformin IR
dosage forms, using FloVitroTM, whilst ER tablets demonstrated lower Cmax and
Tmax using the same method. The SDi2 showed disintegration as the main release
mechanism for IR tablets, whilst swelling and drug diffusion was observed for ER
tablets. FloVitroTM and SDi2 technologies can be used to compare behaviour of
formulations during dosage form selectio
Synthesis and reactivity of cyclopropanes and cyclopropenes
Activated cyclopropanes have been extensively used in synthetic chemistry as precursors for cycloaddition reactions. The rationale behind this is their ability to undergo ring-opening when activated by a Lewis acid, this can be enhanced further by the presence of a carbocation stabilising group like electron-rich aromatics. The stabilised dipole formed after ring opening can be trapped with suitable electrophiles such as imines and aldehydes via a [3+2] cycloaddition reaction. This results in the synthesis of pyrrolidines and tetrahydrofurans in excellent yields but moderate diastereoselectivity. Similarly, 6-membered heterocycles can be formed via a [3+3] cycloaddition reaction of activated cyclopropanes with nitrones. Now to extend the scope of the methodology, a [3+3] dipolar cycloaddition has been developed using activated 2,3 disubstituted cyclopropane diesters to access a range of highly functionalised oxazines in moderate to good yields (50-75%) and with reasonable diastereoselectivity. The use of activated symmetrical disubstituted cyclopropanes afforded the desired oxazines in a regio- and diastereocontrolled manner, while the use of unsymmetrical cyclopropanes significantly reduced the diastereoselectivity of the reaction. The stereochemistry outcome of the reaction developed was determined by nOe analyses and X-ray diffraction structures could be recorded in some examples. A new methodology has also been developed to gain access to novel N-heterocyclic- and phenol- substituted cyclopropanes in one step from the corresponding cyclopropene via a conjugated addition.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Predisposition to Out-of-Body Experience (OBE) is associated with aberrations in multisensory integration:psychophysiological support from a “rubber-hand illusion” study
It has been argued that disorders in body-ownership and aberrant experiences in self-consciousness are due to biases in multisensory integration. Here we examine whether such biases are also associated with spontaneous Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) in a non-clinical population. One-hundred and eighty participants took part in a rubber-hand illusion (RHI) experiment with synchronous and asynchronous visual and tactile stimulation. A realistic threat was delivered to the rubber-hand after a fixed period of stimulation. Self-report exit questionnaires measured the subjective strength of the illusion and psychophysiological measures (skin conductance responses / finger temperature) provided an objective index of fear / anxiety towards the threat. Control participants reported a stronger RHI, and revealed larger threat-related skin conductance responses during synchronous compared with asynchronous brushing. For participants predisposed to OBEs, the magnitude of the skin conductance was not influenced by brushing synchrony - fear responses were just as strong in the asynchronous condition as they were in the synchronous condition. There were also no reliable effects of finger-temperature for either group. Collectively, these findings are taken as support for the presence of particular biases in multisensory integration (perhaps via predictive coding mechanisms) in which imprecise top-down tuning occurs resulting in aberrant experiences in self-consciousness even in non-clinical hallucinators
Operationalising Human Security in the Contemporary Operating Environment: Proposing Population Intelligence (POPINT)
Drawing upon primary research funded by the UK Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), this article is about using data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) for operationalising human security in the contemporary operating environment. The idea of human security has gained much traction in the international community since its introduction in a 1994 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report and has more recently become a military concern. Yet, the core tenets of this idea remain contested, and the military role in support of human security remains an open question. Nonetheless, the concurrent increase in Open Data and AI does give rise to new opportunities to understand the various human security concerns. In response, DASA funded Projects SOLEBAY and HAMOC to research these concerns and the possibilities of data analytics for human security. Drawing on the research findings, we propose the idea of Population Intelligence (POPINT) as a new intelligence discipline to operationalise human security
Why ask: the epistemology of questioning
Imagine living one day without asking a single question. Why not try it. How long before a question surfaces
in your mind. How long before you are compelled, by force of necessity or habit, to ask it. Questioning is an
integral part of our everyday lives. We use it to learn, to communicate, to express ourselves and to understand
our world. Questioning binds us to common goals, allows us to establish common ground and is a vital tool
in our daily search for information. What we ask, how we ask and where, when, and who we ask determines a
large proportion of what we come to know about our world and the people that we share it with. That’s why
questioning matters. Regardless of who we are, questioning occupies a familiar, ubiquitous, and indispensable
place in our lives.
This thesis examines the nature and value of questioning. It opens in Chapter One with an overview of the
history of questioning in the Western philosophical tradition, uncovering divergent roles for questioning in
distinct historical contexts, and changing attitudes towards the practice in line with underlying epistemological
commitments. In Chapter Two a contemporary context for the epistemology of questioning is offered,
providing an indication of the nature and scope of contemporary philosophical inquiry into questioning, and
outlining a contemporary epistemological context for the investigation. Chapter Three begins the analytical
investigation, presenting a characterisation of questioning as a social epistemic practice, and a characterisation
of questions as acts, drawing on the results of a large online survey. Chapter Four investigates the value of
questioning, highlighting its role in the acquisition of epistemic goods, such as knowledge and understanding,
and in the dissemination of these goods within epistemic communities. Chapter Five examines the nature and
practice of good questioning, presenting a component-based account of good questioning, drawing on the
results of an original empirical study conducted with schoolchildren. Chapter Six explores the nature of
virtuous questioning, offering a characterisation of the intellectual virtue of inquisitiveness and highlighting
the distinctive role of inquisitiveness in the intellectually virtuous life. Finally, Chapter Seven investigates the
role that questioning plays in education and presents an argument in support of educating for virtuous
questioning.
The epistemological examination of questioning captures its essential character and significance. Questioning
matters because of the purpose that it serves; that of finding things out. We ask questions in order to gather
information on the basis of which we form beliefs and decide how to act. Through the information that we
gather and the beliefs that we form, we arrive at knowledge and understanding. Questioning matters because
it forms the basis of what we know and understand, as individuals and communities. This thesis examines
questioning in light of its central epistemological significance. As such, it provides the groundwork for an
epistemology of questioning
Evaluation of a national workplace physical activity and sport initiative in England: the CSP network workplace challenge [Abstract]
Evaluation of a national workplace physical activity and sport initiative in England: the CSP network workplace challenge [Abstract
Population genetic structure of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) in the Irish Sea and implications for the effectiveness of the first British marine protected area
Levels of self-recruitment within and connectivity among populations are key factors influencing marine population persistence and stock sustainability, as well as the effectiveness of spatially explicit management strategies such as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). In the United Kingdom (UK), Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel was designated a No-Take Zone (NTZ) in 2003 and became the UK’s first Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) in 2009. This NTZ is expected to represent an additional resource for the sustainable management of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) fishery. As the first step in a genetic monitoring program, this study aimed to investigate population genetic structure of lobster within and between the Irish Sea and Bristol Channel and in doing so to assess the functioning of the Lundy NTZ in the context of connectivity and other genetic parameters. Analysis of microsatellite data indicated that lobsters within the study area are genetically homogeneous and supports the view of a single panmictic population wherein the Lundy NTZ is highly connected. Levels of genetic variability were universally high with no evidence of differences for the NTZ. Furthermore, there was no evidence of recent genetic bottlenecks, and estimates of effective population sizes were infinitely large. The results suggest that if current management and breeding stock sizes are maintained genetic drift will not be strong enough to reduce neutral genetic diversity
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