Students make a plan: understanding student agency in constraining conditions

Drawing on Archer’s perspectives on the agency / structure relationship, this paper explains situations where students in varied, challenging circumstances find ways to negotiate difficult conditions. The paper firstly reports specific findings of a study on student access and use of technology in three universities in South Africa; and then uses Archer’s concept of agency to explain the findings. The context of the study is a South African higher education system clearly committed to preparing university students for participation in the knowledge society as is evident in numerous policy documents. However, the response to this rapid worldwide social and economic transformation has occurred simultaneously with the substantial restructuring of a fragmented, divided and unequal sector, the legacy of racially demarcated and differentially resourced apartheid institutions (Department of Education, 2001, Gillard, 2004). Additionally, social demands on South African higher education institutions have intensified in recent years. Increased participation by a diverse range of students has resulted in massification of the sector within a context of limited or even reduced funding (Maasen and Cloete, 2002). As is the case internationally, there are both more and different students entering the sector

Viscous Boundary Value Problems for Symmetric Systems with Variable Multiplicities

Extending investigations of M\'etivier&Zumbrun in the hyperbolic case, we treat stability of viscous shock and boundary layers for viscous perturbations of multidimensional hyperbolic systems with characteristics of variable multiplicity, specifically the construction of symmetrizers in the low-frequency regime where variable multiplicity plays a role. At the same time, we extend the boundary-layer theory to ``real'' or partially parabolic viscosities, Neumann or mixed-type parabolic boundary conditions, and systems with nonconservative form, in addition proving a more fundamental version of the Zumbrun--Serre--Rousset theorem, valid for variable multiplicities, characterizing the limiting hyperbolic system and boundary conditions as a nonsingular limit of a reduced viscous system. The new effects of viscosity are seen to be surprisingly subtle; in particular, viscous coupling of crossing hyperbolic modes may induce a destabilizing effect. We illustrate the theory with applications to magnetohydrodynamics

Using hypermedia to develop an intelligent tutorial/diagnostic system for the Space Shuttle Main Engine Controller Lab

This is a tutorial/diagnostic system for training personnel in the use of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Controller (SSMEC) Simulation Lab. It also provides a diagnostic capable of isolating lab failures at least to the major lab component. The system was implemented using Hypercard, which is an program of hypermedia running on Apple Macintosh computers. Hypercard proved to be a viable platform for the development and use of sophisticated tutorial systems and moderately capable diagnostic systems. This tutorial/diagnostic system uses the basic Hypercard tools to provide the tutorial. The diagnostic part of the system uses a simple interpreter written in the Hypercard language (Hypertalk) to implement the backward chaining rule based logic commonly found in diagnostic systems using Prolog. Some of the advantages of Hypercard in developing this type of system include sophisticated graphics, animation, sound and voice capabilities, its ability as a hypermedia tool, and its ability to include digitized pictures. The major disadvantage is the slow execution time for evaluation of rules (due to the interpretive processing of the language). Other disadvantages include the limitation on the size of the cards, that color is not supported, that it does not support grey scale graphics, and its lack of selectable fonts for text fields

ADVANCES IN GROUPER AQUACULTURE

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Are we predisposed to behave securely? Influence of risk disposition on individual security behaviors

Employees continue to be the weak link in organizational security management and efforts to improve the security of employee behaviors have not been as effective as hoped. Researchers contend that security-related decision making is primarily based on risk perception. There is also a belief that, if changed, this could improve security-related compliance. The extant research has primarily focused on applying theories that assume rational decision making e.g. protection motivation and deterrence theories. This work presumes we can influence employees towards compliance with information security policies and by means of fear appeals and threatened sanctions. However, it is now becoming clear that security-related decision making is complex and nuanced, not a simple carrot- and stick-related situation. Dispositional and situational factors interact and interplay to influence security decisions. In this paper, we present a model that positions psychological disposition of individuals in terms of risk tolerance vs. risk aversion and proposes research to explore how this factor influences security behaviors. We propose a model that acknowledges the impact of employees' individual dispositional risk propensity as well as their situational risk perceptions on security-related decisions. It is crucial to understand this decision-making phenomenon as a foundation for designing effective interventions to reduce such risk taking. We conclude by offering suggestions for further research.</p

Troubling the concept of the 'academic profession' in 21st century higher education

The final publication is available at Springer via: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10734-007-9109-x.Concern has been expressed about the vulnerability of the 'academic profession'as a consequence of threats from productivism, managerialism and the like (Beck and Young, Br J Sociol Educ 26(2):183–197, 2005). I question the apparent self-understanding of academe as a profession. Referring to thinking from higher education (Barnett, High Educ 40:409–422, 2000a; Educ Phil Theor 32(3):319–326, 2000b; Realizing the University in an age of supercomplexity, 2000c; Stud High Educ 25(3):255–265, 2000d; Lond Rev Educ 2(1):61–73, 2004a; Piper, Are professors professional? The organisation of University examinations, 1994; Taylor 1999), and from the sociology of the professions (in particular Evetts, Int J Sociol Soc Policy 23(4/5):22–35, 2003a; Int Sociol 18(2):395–415 2003b; Curr Sociol 54(1):133–143 2006a; Curr Sociol 54(4):515–531, 2006b), I propose that significant shifts in self-understanding and practice are needed for academe to claim a social role as a 'profession'

The Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Muscle Synthesis and Fitness Levels in Drosophila melanogaster Using a Model of Muscle Atrophy

This study examines whether an inhibited electron transport chain can be aided with supplemented creatine to make up for the challenged adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production mechanism. The differences between male and female flies and the supplementation of creatine at a 0.15% concentration was studied. The relationship between these components was studied over the course of two 3-week trials using a fly treadmill and Drosophila. The effects of creatine on a mitochondrial disease modeled Drosophila melanogaster were analyzed by tracking climbing speed, leg width, and body width. The research yielded largely minimal differences between supplemented and non-supplemented, mutated, and non-mutated mitochondria, and before and after the trial. Combined gender trials showed qualitative decreases in leg width for mutated flies and a slight increase for wild-type flies. Combining trials and genders yielded results that were largely inconclusive