Proposal for the Creation of a Subdiscipline: Education Informatics

“Education Informatics” is the name for an emerging new sub-discipline of education. We define “Education Informatics” as the application of technology to discovering and communicating education information. This article will provide an historical and theoretical foundation for the emergence of this new sub-discipline. Existing definitions of informatics, the literature on education informatics, and the evolution of academic disciplines will be examined. The authors will explore commonalities between the two disciplines from which education informatics is derived: information science and education. They will justify the foundation of the sub-discipline, grounding it within the existing discipline of education. The article will conclude with a discussion of how this new sub-discipline might impact research and practice; a plan for incorporating the new sub-discipline in the educational system; and a proposed research agenda

FCC Reform: Governing Requires a New Standard

Perhaps one of the most crucial questions legislators need to address after passing the 1996 Act is the reform of the Federal Communications Commission. Some suggest that the Commission should be abolished altogether, while others recommend merely curtailing some of the Commission\u27s responsibilities. However, true reform of the FCC recognizes that the Commission still has a vital role to play in the shaping of the telecommunications industry. Instead of dismantling the FCC altogether, Congress should redefine the public interest standard under which the FCC operates. The 1934 Communications Act charged the Federal Communications Commission with protecting the public interest. While communications have changed drastically since 1934, the Commission continues to view the public interest as promoting the fair allocation of a scare resource. The current abundance of telecommunications services demands the reform of this public interest standard. The new public interest standard should incorporate procompetitive antitrust principles

FCC Reform: Governing Requires a New Standard

Perhaps one of the most crucial questions legislators need to address after passing the 1996 Act is the reform of the Federal Communications Commission. Some suggest that the Commission should be abolished altogether, while others recommend merely curtailing some of the Commission\u27s responsibilities. However, true reform of the FCC recognizes that the Commission still has a vital role to play in the shaping of the telecommunications industry. Instead of dismantling the FCC altogether, Congress should redefine the public interest standard under which the FCC operates. The 1934 Communications Act charged the Federal Communications Commission with protecting the public interest. While communications have changed drastically since 1934, the Commission continues to view the public interest as promoting the fair allocation of a scare resource. The current abundance of telecommunications services demands the reform of this public interest standard. The new public interest standard should incorporate procompetitive antitrust principles

Human Exploratory Behavior as a Function of Information Acquisition and Diversionary Activity

Psycholog

A Strategic Audit of Hasbro

This strategic audit dives into ten components of Hasbro’s strategic management. The first component discusses Hasbro’s history and current strategic leadership. This is followed by an analysis of the impacts of its external and internal environment. Next, the audit examines Hasbro’s recent performance and competition it faces in the Toy Wholesaling industry. The sixth, seventh, and eighth components consider different levels of strategy that Hasbro pursues. Lastly, the strategic audit considers Hasbro’s corporate governance and its organizational structure and controls. Overall, we conclude that Hasbro is a mature company in a slow-growing industry. Its ability to translate its iconic and well-known brands from toys to online games and TV shows provides a source of competitive advantage that allows it to differentiate itself from competitors. However, Hasbro faces stiff competition from Mattel, which has seen higher profit margins and stronger financial results recently

Distinct Retinohypothalamic Innervation Patterns Predict the Developmental Emergence of Species-typical Circadian Phase Preference in Nocturnal Norway Rats and Diurnal Nile Grass Rats

How does the brain develop differently to support nocturnality in some mammals, but diurnality in others? To answer this question, one might look to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is entrained by light via the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT). However, because the SCN is more active during the day in all mammals studied thus far, it alone cannot determine circadian phase preference. In adult Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), which are nocturnal, the RHT also projects to the ventral subparaventricular zone (vSPVZ), an adjacent region that expresses an in-phase pattern of SCN-vSPVZ neuronal activity. In contrast, in adult Nile grass rats (Arvicanthis niloticus), which are diurnal, an anti-phase pattern of SCN-vSPVZ neuronal activity is expressed. We hypothesized that these species differences result in part from a weak or absent RHT-to-vSPVZ projection in grass rats. Here, using a developmental comparative approach, we assessed species differences in behavior, hypothalamic activity, and RHT anatomy. We report that a robust retina-to-vSPVZ projection develops in Norway rats around the end of the second postnatal week when nocturnal wakefulness and the in-phase pattern of neuronal activity emerge. In grass rats, however, such a projection does not develop and the emergence of the anti-phase pattern during the second postnatal week is accompanied by increased diurnal wakefulness. When considered within the context of previously published reports on RHT projections in a variety of species, the current findings suggest that how and when the retina connects to the hypothalamus differentially shapes brain and behavior to produce animals that occupy opposing temporal niches

Pre-surgical radiographic and clinical features as predictors for temporomandibular joint discectomy prognosis

Objectives This study aimed to identify potential clinical and radiological predictors associated with the outcome of discectomies. Methods In this retrospective observational study, the material comprised preoperative CBCT images and medical records of 62 patients with disc derangement disorders, who had undergone discectomy because of disc displacement with reduction (DDwR), disc displacement without reduction (DDwoR), systemic arthritis (SA), or joint hypermobility. Clinical and radiographic variables were analysed in relation to success rate determined by subjective, objective and combined outcomes. Results The success odds ratio was 11 times higher in patients with painful DDwR versus that of SA (p = 0.03), and even 25.9 times higher when considering solely objective outcome (p = 0.03). In the absence of subchondral pseudocyst, there were 5.2 times higher odds to have a successful subjective outcome (p = 0.04). Extensive bone apposition on the temporal joint component indicated a 9.3 times higher likelihood of a failed objective outcome (p = 0.04). Conclusions There is a significant higher risk for combined outcome failure for the diagnosis SA involving the TMJ compared with DDwR. Predictors of importance based on CBCT findings related to the objective outcome failure were extensive bone apposition on the temporal joint component and condylar subchondral pseudocysts for the subjective outcome failure.publishedVersio

An Actin-Based Wave Generator Organizes Cell Motility

Although many of the regulators of actin assembly are known, we do not understand how these components act together to organize cell shape and movement. To address this question, we analyzed the spatial dynamics of a key actin regulator—the Scar/WAVE complex—which plays an important role in regulating cell shape in both metazoans and plants. We have recently discovered that the Hem-1/Nap1 component of the Scar/WAVE complex localizes to propagating waves that appear to organize the leading edge of a motile immune cell, the human neutrophil. Actin is both an output and input to the Scar/WAVE complex: the complex stimulates actin assembly, and actin polymer is also required to remove the complex from the membrane. These reciprocal interactions appear to generate propagated waves of actin nucleation that exhibit many of the properties of morphogenesis in motile cells, such as the ability of cells to flow around barriers and the intricate spatial organization of protrusion at the leading edge. We propose that cell motility results from the collective behavior of multiple self-organizing waves