Guidelines For Pursuing and Revealing Data Abstractions

Many data abstraction types, such as networks or set relationships, remain unfamiliar to data workers beyond the visualization research community. We conduct a survey and series of interviews about how people describe their data, either directly or indirectly. We refer to the latter as latent data abstractions. We conduct a Grounded Theory analysis that (1) interprets the extent to which latent data abstractions exist, (2) reveals the far-reaching effects that the interventionist pursuit of such abstractions can have on data workers, (3) describes why and when data workers may resist such explorations, and (4) suggests how to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risks through transparency about visualization research perspectives and agendas. We then use the themes and codes discovered in the Grounded Theory analysis to develop guidelines for data abstraction in visualization projects. To continue the discussion, we make our dataset open along with a visual interface for further exploration

Blog bodies: Mortuary archaeology and blogging

This is the published version of the book chapter which is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Mortuary archaeology - the study of past beliefs and practices surrounding dying, death and the dead using archaeological theories, methods and techniques - is a rich, diverse and growing field of research that incorporates, and extends beyond, bioarchaeology (osteoarchaeology) in its scope (Parker Pearson 1999; Tarlow and Nilsson Stutz 2013a). This particular subfield has many dimensions, a global reach and the scope to study human engagements with mortality from earliest times to the present day. Mortuary archaeology is inseparable from other kinds of archaeology - it inevitably overlaps with material culture analyses, settlement studies and landscape archaeology. It incorporates many specialists scientific techniques used to analyse artefacts, bones and other materials retrieved from mortuary contexts. The archaeology of death also extends far beyond the study of mummified human cadavers and articulated and disarticulated skeletal remains (burnt or unburnt). It also involves: considering artefacts and ecofacts from mortuary contexts; the structure and arrangement of graves; burial chambers and tombs; a wide range of art, architectures, monuments and memorials to the dead. Mortuary archaeology incorporates both cemeteries and other spaces designed to commemorate the dead, the spatial relationships between mortuary locales and the evolving landscape in which they are situated. The archaeology of death and burial can be site-specific, or it can look within particular localities or regions. Likewise, it can look at single periods or they can chart the development and shifts in mortuary practice over many centuries and millennia. Taking these various points into account, it is evident that today’s mortuary archaeology not only has multiple dimensions and scales of analysis, but also many tendrils into, and explicit dialogues with, other disciplines. For instance, the archaeological and bioarchaeological investigation of death, burial and commemoration can involve close dialogue with cultural anthropologists as well as with social historians of death. Equally, mortuary archaeology shares and exchanges ideas and perspectives with: sociologists and theologians of death, dying and bereavement; studies of the representation and material culture of death; and memory by art-historians and architectural historians. Bearing these points in mind, for both prehistoric and historic eras, mortuary archaeology reveals increasingly new and fascinating insights into human engagements with mortality across time and space

The Land-Grant Mission and The Cowboy Church: Diffusing University-Community Engagement

The land-grant university and the cowboy church are two social institutions designed to engage communities. Research is abundant on the former and limited on the latter. The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive report on cowboy churches, while identifying the potential for university-cowboy church collaborations and examining the direct implications to Cooperative Extension. Rogers' Diffusions of Innovations conceptualized this study and was employed to evaluate the acceptability of university-cowboy church collaborations. This basic qualitative study utilized a purposive snowball technique to identify key informants of the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches (AFCC). Ten subjects participated in semi-structured, face-to-face and phone interviews. Data were analyzed for common themes and patterns within the context of each of this study's objectives. Findings described cowboy churches affiliated with the AFCC, the interpersonal and mass media communication channels used by these churches, and subject awareness of Cooperative Extension. Conclusions and implications suggest university-cowboy church collaborations are an acceptable innovation, especially in the context of Extension collaborations. There are relative advantages for such collaborations, shared compatibility through each institution's mission, and ample opportunities for trialibility. County agents should initiate contact with cowboy church pastors and collaborations should be initiated regarding in information exchange, horses, livestock shows, and youth

Epigallocatechin Gallate Modulates Microglia Phenotype to Suppress Pro-Inflammatory Signalling Cues and Inhibit Phagocytosis

Microglia are crucial players in the pathogenesis of late onset Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), with evidence for both deleterious and beneficial effects. Identifying interventions to modulate microglial responsiveness, to promote Amyloid β (Aβ) clearance, disrupt plaque formation, or to dampen excessive inflammation has therapeutic potential. Bioavailable flavonoids, such as the flavan 3-ols, are of interest due to their antioxidant, metal chelating, signalling and anti-inflammatory potential. Primary microglia were treated with a series of structurally related flavanol 3-ols to assess effects on phagocytosis, cytokine release and transcriptional responses by RNA sequencing. Data indicated that the extent of hydroxylation and the presence of the galloyl moiety were strong determinants of flavan 3-ol activity. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was the most effective flavan-3-ol tested and strongly inhibited phagocytosis of Aβ independent of any metal chelating properties, suggesting a more direct modulation of microglia responsiveness. EGCG was broadly anti-inflammatory, reducing cytokine release and downregulating transcription, particularly of components of the microglia extracellular matrix such as MMP3 and SerpinB2. Collectively, this brings new insight into the actions of flavonoids on microglial responsiveness with potential implications for the therapeutic use of EGCG and structurally related flavanol-3-ols in AD

Asynchronous Execution of Python Code on Task Based Runtime Systems

Despite advancements in the areas of parallel and distributed computing, the complexity of programming on High Performance Computing (HPC) resources has deterred many domain experts, especially in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), from utilizing performance benefits of such systems. Researchers and scientists favor high-productivity languages to avoid the inconvenience of programming in low-level languages and costs of acquiring the necessary skills required for programming at this level. In recent years, Python, with the support of linear algebra libraries like NumPy, has gained popularity despite facing limitations which prevent this code from distributed runs. Here we present a solution which maintains both high level programming abstractions as well as parallel and distributed efficiency. Phylanx, is an asynchronous array processing toolkit which transforms Python and NumPy operations into code which can be executed in parallel on HPC resources by mapping Python and NumPy functions and variables into a dependency tree executed by HPX, a general purpose, parallel, task-based runtime system written in C++. Phylanx additionally provides introspection and visualization capabilities for debugging and performance analysis. We have tested the foundations of our approach by comparing our implementation of widely used machine learning algorithms to accepted NumPy standards

How can cities thrive in the changing economy?

The last ten years of economic growth in the UK is a story of the knowledge economy; and one which has played out in our cities. The expansion of knowledge intensive industries, from financial services and professional services to high tech manufacturing, has made cities more important to the UK economy. Certain cities have provided industries with access to skilled workers, affluent consumers, the chance to exchange ideas and a thriving cultural offer: all particularly important for industries that rely on innovation and knowledge for comparative advantage. With every new job in other industries being matched by 12 new jobs in knowledge intensive industries between 1995 and 2005, it is little wonder that the cities that can attract these industries have boomed

Achieving the Gold Standard: How Exceptional Customer Service Creates Family Friendly Schools

Cumming ES was one of four schools to be awarded Georgia’s Family Friendly Schools-Partnership Award in 2014. After partnering with the Ritz Carlton Buckhead, our beliefs of the importance of customer service have been further enhanced. Learn how to incorporate the “Gold Standard” in your school by engaging parents with exciting events and motivating them to attend with small incentives

Active ageing and employment in rural SA: a Health in All Policies project

The South Australian (SA) Health in All Policies (HiAP) initiative provides a framework and mandate for intersectoral policy work on the social determinants of health. Participation in decent and meaningful employment is a key social determinant of health, and is also an important strategy to promote ‘active ageing’ in the population. This paper reports on an intersectoral project undertaken by the Health In All Policies Unit and Country Health SA Local Health Network (CHSA LHN) in collaboration with Flinders University’s SA Community Health Research Unit and Southgate Institute for Health Society & Equity. The project Active Ageing and Employment in Regional South Australia aims to identify policy levers to increase the workforce retention and re-entry for rural people aged 45+. The project is designed to do this by building the capacity of the regional health workforce to address the social determinants of health in collaboration with agencies outside of the health system. The project partners have adopted a ‘learning by doing’ strategy with the focus on employment and ageing