The ‘Anderson Report’ on surveillance powers does fudge the issues, but its findings should be implemented

David Anderson, a QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, recently published a report on the governments surveillance activities in the wake of the Snowden revelations, which showed a far higher degree of unwarranted data collection than most had previously thought. Andrew Wheelhouse argues that though the report does fudge the issues to an extent, its recommendations should be implemented in order to improve accountability

The impact of a woman\u27s physical attractiveness on the height of her glass ceiling

Abstract: The impact of a woman’s physical attractiveness on the height of her glass ceiling It is the purpose of this thesis to identify whether or not a woman’s level of physical attractiveness has any impact on the height of her glass ceiling. The thesis first provides a comprehensive review of literature and previous studies. It is well established by prior research that attractiveness is beneficial to women pursuing entry-level employment, but there have been mixed conclusions as to whether or not attractiveness is beneficial or detrimental for women seeking employment at the managerial level (Heilman and Saruwatari, 1979; Hosoda, Stone-Romero, and Coats, 2003). Studies have not yet looked at the impact of attractiveness on employment decisions at levels beyond management. Based on the literature, this thesis hypothesizes that attractiveness will be detrimental to women seeking managerial and executive employment and that attractive women will receive lower performance evaluations. This thesis tests these hypotheses by developing an objective scale for attractiveness and then varying the level of attractiveness of identical applicants for managerial and executive job openings. All of the proposed hypotheses in this thesis were rejected. There is no statistically significant evidence to suggest that attractiveness is detrimental for women seeking managerial or executive employment. In fact, the results suggest the opposite in one scenario, showing with near significance that attractiveness may in fact be beneficial to women seeking employment at the executive level. Citations Heilman, M. E. and Saruwatari, L. R. (1979). When beauty is beastly: The effects of appearance and sex on evaluations of job applicants for managerial and nonmanagerial jobs. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 23, 360-372. Hosoda, M., Stone-Romero, E. F., Coats, G. (2003). The effect of physical attractiveness on job related outcomes: A meta-analysis of experimental studies. Personnel Psychology, 56, 431-462

Raymond Arthur Dart : his life and work

Relatório de Estágio em Ensino do Português e de Língua Estrangeira (Francês) no 3.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e no Ensino Secundário apresentado à Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de CoimbraNa sequência de investigação anterior (Freitas, 2014), pretendemos com o presente relatório apresentar os resultados qualitativos de um projeto de investigação-ação inserido num curso de formação inicial de professores (Castro, 2010). O trabalho incide sobre o ensino e a aprendizagem da gramática do Francês Língua Estrangeira em contexto escolar, através da abordagem da marcação do género e do número (Franceschina, 2005; Wilmet, 2007), e assenta numa metodologia que privilegia a utilização de laboratórios gramaticais com os quais se trabalhará os conteúdos referidos (Brito, 1997). Além de apresentar a experiência de estágio, analisaremos o desempenho dos alunos ao longo do ano letivo utilizando as notas da observação de aulas, os resultados de dois testes de avaliação efetuados antes e depois da aplicação do laboratório gramatical, e os resultados de um teste de diagnóstico realizado no final do ano letivo. Verifica-se que os alunos aprendem facilmente as regras, ainda que evidenciem maiores dificuldades nas exceções, na relação entre oral e escrito e, sobretudo, nas interferências causadas pela influência da língua materna. Na parte final, apresentar-se-á algumas considerações finais, bem como ideias de estudos futuros.Sur la base d’une recherche antérieure (Freitas, 2014), notre objectif avec ce rapport est celui de présenter les résultats qualitatifs d'un projet de recherche-action integré dans un master de formation initiale de professeurs (Castro, 2010). Le travail se centre sur l'enseignement et l’apprentissage de la grammaire du Français comme langue étrangère en contexte scolaire, en abordant les marques du genre et du nombre (Franceschina, 2005; Wilmet, 2007) et se base sur une méthodologie qui favorise l'utilisation des laboratoires grammaticaux avec lesquels nous travaillerons ces contenus (Brito, 1997). En plus de présenter l'expérience de stage, nous analyserons les performances des élèves tout au long de l'année scolaire, en utilisant les notes d'observation en classe, les résultats de deux tests d'évaluation effectués avant et après l'application du laboratoire grammatical et les résultats d'un test diagnostic réalisé à la fin de l'année scolaire. On constate que les élèves apprennent facilement les règles, quoiqu’ils montrent plus de difficultés dans les exceptions, dans le rapport entre l’oral et l’écrit et, surtout, dans les interférences causées par l'influence de la langue maternelle. Dans la dernière partie, nous présenterons quelques considérations finales et des idées pour de futures recherches.Following the results of previous work (Freitas, 2014), this report presents a research-and action project for grammar teaching in school within an initial teacher training experience in French as a Foreign Language (Castro, 2010). The project analyses gender and number marking learning (Franceschina, 2005; Wilmet, 2007) and is based on a methodology that favours the use of grammatical laboratories (Brito, 1997). The report describes the teacher training experience and the pupils’ progress throughout the year, according to class observation notes, the results of two tests (before and after the grammar laboratory experience), and the results of a diagnosis test at the end of the year. General rules for gender and number marking are easily learned, but pupils show some difficulties in exceptions, in the relationship between oral and written forms and especially in interferences from their mother tongue. In the final part, we will present some final considerations and future research ideas

Biological studies on some moorland short-palped craneflies (Tipulidae, Diptera)

Moorland Tipulidae (in particular, short-palped craneflies with special reference to Tricyphona immaculata) have been studied on the upper Teesdale moor district of Chapel Fell (Ref NY 863349) between September 1992 and August 1993. The lifecycles of a number of short and long-palped craneflies were recorded using a series of pit-fall traps located at fourteen sites previously selected to represent the range of vegetation present at Chapel Fell summit, 630m.Spiracular disc size was measured in five small-palped species and frequency distribution histograms are given showing the presence of four instars in each. Using pit-fall traps Tricyphona immaculata was found to emerge as an adult both in May and September. Through the collection of peat from the field and subsequent extraction of larvae Tricyphona immaculata was found to exist in two groups, one beginning its lifecycle in the spring, the other in the autumn. Laboratory experiments on eggs of Tricyphona immaculata revealed that eggs do not respond differently to long and short- day photoperiod regimes and that egg development was positively related to temperature. Field experiments indicated species-site habitat associations. Larval densities for short- palped species are given along with adult-site occurrence for both long and short-palped species. The two different habitats of Sphagnum and Nardus are shown to maintain different densities of three species of short-palped cranefly. Annual variation in cranefly numbers is discussed in relation to the summer drought of 1992 after which most species showed a decline in number. Egg development in Tipula czezeki was found not to be influenced by short and long-day photoperiod regimes and this finding is compared to the hatching distribution found in Tipula pagana eggs when subjected to similar conditions. A comparative assessment on larval growth showed that the relationship of breadth and length differs between the species studied. Molophilus after and Ormosia pseudosimilis adults are also compared physically

Process to Incorporate a Therapy Service Dog in an Occupational Therapy Educational Program

The purpose of the scholarly project is to incorporate a therapy/service dog within the occupational therapy department at the University of North Dakota (UND). The therapy/service dog will be utilized as a support system for student’s and faculty’s health and well-being and as an educational tool for enhancing student learning. The authors completed the process of implementation by progressing through the hierarchical process of UND gatekeepers. Through the development of a legality and safety protocol, loan agreement, and purpose proposal, the authors obtained official approval to implement a therapy/service dog in the UND Occupational Therapy program

An analysis of the extent to which companies in the oil industry are environmentally responsible

Behind pessimistic expectations regarding the future of an international climate treaty, substantial changes can be observed in company positions. Multinationals in the oil industry are increasingly moving towards support for the Kyoto Protocol, and have taken measures to address climate change. This piece of research analyses developments in the oil industry over the past few years, observing considerable shifts in corporate climate strategies. It compares British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, and ExxonMobil, of which only the latter still opposes international environmental regulations. BP and Shell have moved decisively toward supporting emission reductions and investing in renewable energy. The study examines CER in the oil industry by analysing the three case companies through investigating their environmental awareness, the drivers of corporate positioning, the implementation of environmentally responsible activities and the impact this has on financial performance. Findings from this investigation can be generalized to the oil industry as a whole

The Medicinal Chemistry of Imidazotetrazine Prodrugs

YesTemozolomide (TMZ) is the standard first line treatment for malignant glioma, reaching “blockbuster” status in 2010, yet it remains the only drug in its class. The main constraints on the clinical effectiveness of TMZ therapy are its requirement for active DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins for activity, and inherent resistance through O6-methyl guanine-DNA methyl transferase (MGMT) activity. Moreover, acquired resistance, due to MMR mutation, results in aggressive TMZ-resistant tumour regrowth following good initial responses. Much of the attraction in TMZ as a drug lies in its PK/PD properties: it is acid stable and has 100% oral bioavailability; it also has excellent distribution properties, crosses the blood-brain barrier, and there is direct evidence of tumour localisation. This review seeks to unravel some of the mysteries of the imidazotetrazine class of compounds to which TMZ belongs. In addition to an overview of different synthetic strategies, we explore the somewhat unusual chemical reactivity of the imidazotetrazines, probing their mechanisms of reaction, examining which attributes are required for an active drug molecule and reviewing the use of this combined knowledge towards the development of new and improved anti-cancer agents

A Strategy for Imidazotetrazine Prodrugs with Anti-cancer Activity Independent of MGMT and MMR

The imidazotetrazine ring is an acid-stable precursor and prodrug of highly-reactive alkyl diazonium ions. We have shown that this reactivity can be managed productively in an aqueous system for the generation of aziridinium ions with 96% efficiency. The new compounds are potent DNA alkylators and have antitumor activity independent of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase and DNA mismatch repair constraints that limit the use of temozolomide

Formal Verification of Prim’s Algorithm in SPARK

Many distributed systems use a minimum spanning tree (MST) as the backbone of efficient communication within the system. Given its critical role, it is important that the MST be implemented correctly. One way to ensure its correctness with a high degree of confidence is to use formal methods, i.e. mathematically-based tools and approaches for design and verification of software and hardware. Toward this end, we implement Prim’s algorithm for construction of MSTs in SPARK, which is both a programming language and associated set of formal verification tools. At the most basic levels, formal verification in SPARK requires proving that code satisfies contracts on data flow and initialization and is free of run-time errors, which often reveals rare or subtle errors that are hard to detect through testing alone. Once errors are corrected and formal verification is complete, the result is code that is mathematically proven to satisfy the verified properties. In this paper, we provide background on SPARK and describe the process of using it to implement and verify basic properties of MSTs constructed using Prim’s algorithm