DNA-Based Kinship Analysis

Relatedness between individuals and groups can be investigated using DNA markers. A child’s DNA profile is a combination of alleles passed down from the father and mother. This means that relationships can be investigated between alleged family members. DNA profiling is commonly used to test for potential paternity, parentage and sibship (whether people are related as brothers or sisters) relationships. In many forensic cases more complex relationships have to be considered

Taking video cameras into the classroom.

Research into the communication and interactions in classrooms need to take the multimodal nature of classrooms into account. Video cameras can capture the dynamics of teaching and learning, but the use of videos for research purposes needs to be well thought through in order to accommodate the challenges this tool holds. This article refers to three research projects where videos were used to generate data. It is argued that videos allow the researcher to hone in on the micro-details and, in contrast to other data generation tools, allows researchers who were not present at the time to view what has been witnessed. A video recording is a data source but not data by itself and the information that is discerned from a video is framed and shaped by the research paradigm and the questions asked

Regulation Fair Disclosure and its Effect on Corporate Information: a Checkup on a Controversial Rule & Content Analysis of Hewlett-Packard News Release Habits

On October 23, 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) instituted Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD), which mandated that all public companies give stock-moving information to all investors simultaneously. What seems simple in concept has actually been difficult for many companies to interpret and has resulted in some falling victim to sanctions from the SEC. Siebel Systems, ImClone Systems, Tyco International, Adelphia Communications and Raytheon are some examples of companies who have recently engaged in corporate fraud that has misled investors. Reg FD is in existence today to stop companies from hand-picking who gets their news first. This study will provide background on Reg FD and what effect it has had on disclosure for publicly held companies, analysts and investor relations professionals. Reg FD is just over six years old - what are the differences since the implementation over the last three years compared with the first three years? Is disclosure of stock-moving news happening with more frequency? This author will take a look at the news release practices of Hewlett Packard and compare what it has done since the inception of Reg FD. This author is in charge of a newsroom in New York for Business Wire - a company that distributes hundreds of news releases on a daily basis. It is that involvement in news distribution over the last 18 years which has motivated the author to focus on this topic

An exploratory study to determine students' perceptions of the value of interaction in an Australian classroom context and the perceived impact on learning outcomes

Interaction has long been a defining and critical component of the educational process, whatever the classroom context (Anderson 2003). This paper presents findings of a study to explore the attitudes of students at an Australian university towards various types interactivity in the classroom. The study also investigates students perceptions of how interactivity in the classroom impacts on cognitive, affective and behavioural learning outcomes. In a recent review of the literature Muirhead & Juwah (2003) argue that interactivity is critical in underpinning the learning process in face-to-face, campus based and distance and online education. They say that interactions serve a diverse range of functions in the educational process, which include learner to learner, learner to content, learner to tutor, learner to technology, tutor to content, tutor to technology, content to content. These functions promote and enhance the quality of active, participative learning in a learning environment. However, literature indicates that attitudes towards active learning involving greater interactivity varies across students and between students and lecturers (Billings, Connors, & Skiba 2001). Investigation into student attitudes of the value and effectiveness of interaction is of particular interest for educators who are adapting the learning of a diverse range of students, including oncampus, distance, international, under and postgradute students. Much of the existing research into classroom interaction was grounded in the behaviourist and cognitive sciences approach to learning and teaching, where traditional classroom interaction placed the teacher at the centre of all activities as transmitter of knowledge and co-coordinator of student interaction (McLoughlin 2002). Those studies predate the recent application of constructivism (Bonk and Cunningham 1998) and social learning theory (Bandura (1977), and the emphasis on building life long learning skills. This research will contribute to current discussion about the role of interaction in learning, based on a constructivist approach to developing life long learning skills. This paper will present the findings of an exploratory study of students’ attitudes to various types of interaction in a classroom context. The first step of this exploratory study will employ a focus group approach to gather data from on campus students to identify the key issues that emerge from this data. These findings will be used to design a survey instrument to implement a follow-up research project

The Design And Clinical Use Of A Reflective Brachial Photoplethysmograph

This report concerns the design and clinical use of a reflective brachial photoplethysmograph. A plethysmograph is an instrument to obtain tracings showing volume changes of a part of the body. Originally this related to volume variations due to blood circulation within the body part of interest. The instrument is said to have been invented by Mosso of Turin around 1870 [1], known in Italian as a "pletismografo", and first reported in Scientific American in July 1872. A photoplethysmograph is an optical detector that indicates the volume of blood in or passing through an area of tissue. By placing the photoplethysmograph at or near the site of a human artery the pulse waveform can be detected and measured. The photoplethysmograph can be transmissive or reflective. There are a variety of sites around the body that are commonly used for detecting the pulse waveform including the finger, the ear lobe, and the foot. The device developed in this work is a reflective detector that uses the brachial artery as a photoplethysmographic site. There appear to be no prior indications in academic or patent literature of this site being used with this type of detector and consequently the authors believe this device to be novel and worthy of reporting to the research community

The Design And Clinical Use Of A Reflective Brachial Photoplethysmograph

This report concerns the design and clinical use of a reflective brachial photoplethysmograph. A plethysmograph is an instrument to obtain tracings showing volume changes of a part of the body. Originally this related to volume variations due to blood circulation within the body part of interest. The instrument is said to have been invented by Mosso of Turin around 1870 [1], known in Italian as a "pletismografo", and first reported in Scientific American in July 1872. A photoplethysmograph is an optical detector that indicates the volume of blood in or passing through an area of tissue. By placing the photoplethysmograph at or near the site of a human artery the pulse waveform can be detected and measured. The photoplethysmograph can be transmissive or reflective. There are a variety of sites around the body that are commonly used for detecting the pulse waveform including the finger, the ear lobe, and the foot. The device developed in this work is a reflective detector that uses the brachial artery as a photoplethysmographic site. There appear to be no prior indications in academic or patent literature of this site being used with this type of detector and consequently the authors believe this device to be novel and worthy of reporting to the research community

The Smiley Faces task and how it can help teach some fundamentals for good clinical trials

Background: Many factors need to be considered when designing a clinical trial. Although structures such as PICOT (Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, Timeline) are helpful, people with little or no prior knowledge can find designing and implementing a trial to be overly complicated. We developed a simple exercise to illustrate key features of trials: the Smiley Faces task.Aim: We describe how the Smiley Faces task can demonstrate the importance of good planning of trials and highlight pitfalls.Method and Results: The Smiley Faces task is centred on the simple, intuitive task to “draw a smiley face”. It requires no existing knowledge about trials or research generally, but can be used to highlight key features of a trial; such as formulating the research question; planning for coding, collection and analysis of data; handling of missing data and drawing of conclusions. We present insights from conducting the exercise dozens of times and collecting hundreds of smiley face drawings in a range of educational settings.Conclusion: The simplicity and accessibility of the task makes it relatively easy to demonstrate key points for careful planning of clinical trials. The approach is generalizable and applicable to researchers and teachers in a variety of medical settings

Electrocardiograph and photoplethysmograph superimposition as an investigative tool for circulatory function

This paper set out to examine the usefulness of the electrocardiograph (ECG) and photoplethysmograph (PPG) superimposition as an investigative tool for circulatory function. Further, a system was constructed and an experimental protocol established to examine this proposition. The three main components of circulatory function are pulse rate, arterial compliance and blood pressure. These components are each interrelated, and these relationships are the subject of much research. It was decided, focusing on blood pressure, to examine the superimposition information with regard to systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure. Data was collected, conclusions were drawn and interesting possibilities for further work emerged

Electrocardiograph and photoplethysmograph superimposition as an investigative tool for circulatory function

This paper set out to examine the usefulness of the electrocardiograph (ECG) and photoplethysmograph (PPG) superimposition as an investigative tool for circulatory function. Further, a system was constructed and an experimental protocol established to examine this proposition. The three main components of circulatory function are pulse rate, arterial compliance and blood pressure. These components are each interrelated, and these relationships are the subject of much research. It was decided, focusing on blood pressure, to examine the superimposition information with regard to systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure. Data was collected, conclusions were drawn and interesting possibilities for further work emerged