942 research outputs found
What Do We Rank When We Rank Colleges? Who Determines How and Who Benefits?: Student Empowerment and the Development of Alternative College Rankings
This article describes the life-cycle thus far about how a class of undergraduates and their professor have been developing a new college ranking approach based on the college's cultivation of civic intelligence. The approach was educational in that we learned by doing what it might take to actually develop a rubric in general (although specifically for ranking colleges). We also found it to be empowering since it was largely a student inspired and directed project. it also fostered critical thinking and social critique based on a bottom-up approach to evaluating orthodox higher education
Windfalls of Emperors’ Sojourns: Stock Market Reactions to Chinese Firms Hosting High Ranking Government Officials
Research summary: We contribute to the corporate political activity (CPA) literature by showing that investors value companies that host visits of high-ranking government officials (President and Premier). We argue that investors may value host official visits for two reasons: (1) the signal received about possibility of firm accessing government-controlled resources via promotion or protection; and (2) the certification effect from such high-powered visitors elevating the firm's reputation and legitimacy. Results from an event study analysis of 84 high-ranking government official visits in China from 2003 to 2011 indicate that investors responded positively to host firms as reflected by stock market performance. Furthermore, the greatest positive reactions accrued to firms experiencing weaker prior period financial performance and to firms that are privately compared to state-controlled.
Managerial summary: Do visits by high-ranking government officials influence firm stock market performance? Studying a sample of Chinese public firms that hosted 84 visits by the Chinese President and the Premier from 2003 to 2011, we find that investors reacted positively to such visits compared with a group of non-host firms from the same industry and with similar financial performance and size. In addition, firms with weaker prior financial performance and private firms benefit the most from hosting such visits. Our findings imply that hosting visits of high-ranking government officials can signal future government-controlled resource inflows and boost host firms' reputation and legitimacy
Evaluation of Prototypes and the Problem of Possible Futures
There is a blind spot in HCI’s evaluation methodology: we rarely consider the implications of the fact that a prototype can never be fully evaluated in a study. A prototype under study exists firmly in the present world, in the circumstances created in the study, but its real context of use is a partially unknown future state of affairs. This present–future gap is implicit in any evaluation of prototypes, be they usability tests, controlled experiments, or field trials. A carelessly designed evaluation may inadvertently evaluate the wrong futures, contexts, or user groups, thereby leading to false conclusions and expensive design failures. The essay analyses evaluation methodology from this perspective, illuminating how to mitigate the present–future gap.Peer reviewe
Maker Movements, Do-It-Yourself Cultures and Participatory Design: Implications for HCI Research
Falling costs and the wider availability of computational components, platforms and ecosystems have enabled the expansion of maker movements and DIY cultures. This can be considered as a form of democratization of technology systems design, in alignment with the aims of Participatory Design approaches. However, this landscape is constantly evolving, and long-term implications for the HCI community are far from clear. The organizers of this one-day workshop invite participants to present their case studies, experiences and perspectives on the topic with the goal of increasing understanding within this area of research. The outcomes of the workshop will include the articulation of future research directions with the purpose of informing a research agenda, as well as the establishment of new collaborations and networks
Apaf-1 and caspase-9 do not act as tumor suppressors in myc-induced lymphomagenesis or mouse embryo fibroblast transformation
Based on experiments with cultured fibroblasts, the apoptosis regulators caspase-9 and Apaf-1 are hypothesized to function as tumor suppressors. To investigate their in vivo role in lymphomagenesis, an IgH enhancer-driven c-myc transgene was crossed onto Apaf-1−/− and caspase-9−/− mice. Due to perinatal lethality, Eμ-myc transgenic Apaf-1−/− or caspase-9−/− fetal liver cells were used to reconstitute lethally irradiated recipient mice. Surprisingly, no differences were seen in rate, incidence, or severity of lymphoma with loss of Apaf-1 or caspase-9, and Apaf-1 was not a critical determinant of anticancer drug sensitivity of c-myc–induced lymphomas. Moreover, loss of Apaf-1 did not promote oncogene-induced transformation of mouse embryo fibroblasts. Thus, Apaf-1 and caspase-9 do not suppress c-myc–induced lymphomagenesis and embryo fibroblast transformation
Evaluating the End-User Experience of Private Browsing Mode
Nowadays, all major web browsers have a private browsing mode. However, the
mode's benefits and limitations are not particularly understood. Through the
use of survey studies, prior work has found that most users are either unaware
of private browsing or do not use it. Further, those who do use private
browsing generally have misconceptions about what protection it provides.
However, prior work has not investigated \emph{why} users misunderstand the
benefits and limitations of private browsing. In this work, we do so by
designing and conducting a three-part study: (1) an analytical approach
combining cognitive walkthrough and heuristic evaluation to inspect the user
interface of private mode in different browsers; (2) a qualitative,
interview-based study to explore users' mental models of private browsing and
its security goals; (3) a participatory design study to investigate why
existing browser disclosures, the in-browser explanations of private browsing
mode, do not communicate the security goals of private browsing to users.
Participants critiqued the browser disclosures of three web browsers: Brave,
Firefox, and Google Chrome, and then designed new ones. We find that the user
interface of private mode in different web browsers violates several
well-established design guidelines and heuristics. Further, most participants
had incorrect mental models of private browsing, influencing their
understanding and usage of private mode. Additionally, we find that existing
browser disclosures are not only vague, but also misleading. None of the three
studied browser disclosures communicates or explains the primary security goal
of private browsing. Drawing from the results of our user study, we extract a
set of design recommendations that we encourage browser designers to validate,
in order to design more effective and informative browser disclosures related
to private mode
First Steps Towards an Understanding of a Mode ofCarcinogenic Action for Vanadium Pentoxide
Inhalation of vanadium pentoxide clearly increases the incidence of
alveolar/bronchiolar neoplasms in male and female B6C3F1 mice at all
concentrations tested (1, 2 or 4 mg/m3), whereas responses in F344/N
rats was, at most, ambiguous. While vanadium pentoxide is mutagenic in
vitro and possibly in vivo in mice, this does not
explain the species or site specificity of the neoplastic response. A nose-only
inhalation study was conducted in female B6C3F1 mice (0, 0.25, 1 and
4 mg/m3, 6 h/day for 16 days) to explore histopathological,
biochemical (α-tocopherol, glutathione and F2-isoprostane) and genetic (comet
assays and 9 specific DNA-oxo-adducts) changes in the lungs. No treatment
related histopathology was observed at 0.25 mg/m3. At 1 and
4 mg/m3, exposure-dependent increases were observed in lung
weight, alveolar histiocytosis, sub-acute alveolitis and/or granulocytic
infiltration and a generally time-dependent increased cell proliferation rate of
histiocytes. Glutathione was slightly increased, whereas there were no
consistent changes in α-tocopherol or 8-isoprostane F2α. There was no evidence
for DNA strand breakage in lung or BAL cells, but there was an increase in
8-oxodGuo DNA lesions that could have been due to vanadium pentoxide induction
of the lesions or inhibition of repair of spontaneous lesions. Thus, earlier
reports of histopathological changes in the lungs after inhalation of vanadium
pentoxide were confirmed, but no evidence has yet emerged for a genotoxic mode
of action. Evidence is weak for oxidative stress playing any role in lung
carcinogenesis at the lowest effective concentrations of vanadium pentoxide
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