Designing Drugs for Parasitic Diseases of the Developing World

McKerrow outlines three new strategies, all originating within academic centers, that provide a new drug pipeline for treating parasitic diseases

Dynamics of ``Small Galaxies'' in the Hubble Deep Field

We have previously found in the Hubble Deep Field a significant angular correlation of faint, high color-redshift objects on scales below one arcsecond, or several kiloparsecs in metric size. We examine the correlation and nearest neighbor statistics to conclude that 38% of these objects in the HDF have a companion within one arcsecond, three times the number expected in a random distribution with the same number of objects. We examine three dynamical scenarios for these object multiplets: 1) the objects are star-forming regions within normal galaxies, whose disks have been relatively dimmed by K-correction and surface brightness dimming; 2) they are fragments merging into large galaxies; 3) they are satellites accreting onto normal L_* galaxies. We find that hypothesis 1 is most tenable. First, large galaxies in the process of a merger formation would have accumulated too much mass in their centers (5e12 M_sun inside 2 kpc) to correspond to present day objects. Second, accretion by dynamical friction occurs with a predictable density vs. radius slope, not seen among the faint HDF objects. Since the dynamical friction time is roughly (1 Gyr), a steady-state should have been reached by redshift z < 5. Star-forming regions within galaxies clearly present no dynamical problems. Since large spirals would still appear as such in the HDF, we favor a scenario in which the faint compact sources in the HDF are giant starforming regions within small normal galaxies, such as Magellanic irregulars. Finally we checked that reduction in mass-to-light from induced star-formation cannot alone explain the luminosity overdensity.Comment: AASTeX 4.0 (preprint), 4 PostScript figure

'A bit like British Weather, I suppose' Design and Evaluation of the Temperature Calendar

In this paper we present the design and evaluation of the Temperature Calendar -- a visualisation of temperature variation within a workplace over the course of the past week, highlights deviation from organisational temperature policy, and aims to bring staff "into the loop" of understanding and managing heating, and so reduce energy waste. The display was deployed in five public libraries. Analysis of logs, questionnaires and interviews shows staff used the displays to understand heating in their buildings, and took action to relate their libraries to organisational policy and improve thermal comfort. We also present a subsequent lab study, demonstrating that adding electricity consumption to the visualisation did not improve likelihood of spotting heating "errors". Bringing together our results, we discuss three topics of relevance to the research community: design implications for workplace displays, the engagement of staff through focus on organisational policy, and sustainability cost-benefit analysis of the Temperature Calendar

"This has to be the cats": personal data legibility in networked sensing systems

Notions like ‘Big Data’ and the ‘Internet of Things’ turn upon anticipated harvesting of personal data through ubiquitous computing and networked sensing systems. It is largely presumed that understandings of people’s everyday interactions will be relatively easy to ‘read off’ of such data and that this, in turn, poses a privacy threat. An ethnographic study of how people account for sensed data to third parties uncovers serious challenges to such ideas. The study reveals that the legibility of sensor data turns upon various orders of situated reasoning involved in articulating the data and making it accountable. Articulation work is indispensable to personal data sharing and raises real requirements for networked sensing systems premised on the harvesting of personal data

Making sense of the measurement, feedback and control of energy

This thesis investigates the digital interventions that aim to promote a more sustainable future through reducing energy consumption and adds new understanding and perspectives to this domain. Through a review of related work within HCI and UbiComp, it surfaces the key principles within these interventions as being measurement, feedback and control. The thesis discusses methods for addressing the need to understand the nature of measurement, feedback and control in the wild, considering cultural, informational and technology probes in addition to complementary fieldwork and contextual inquiry methods. Two technology probe studies were developed, focusing on widespread energy monitoring and thermal comfort and control in the workplace. The results from these studies highlight key issues which are presented and used to discuss the nature of measurement, feedback and control. Through this discussion, important issues for sustainability research are highlighted, contributing new understanding of the core principles of sustainability interventions and where appropriate new directions for design and future work within sustainability and HCI are suggested

HOW DOES NETWORK IMPROVEMENT SCIENCE (NIS) IMPACT THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF BLACK AND LATINO MALE TEACHERS?

The purpose of this study was to answer the following question: How does network improvement science (NIS) impact the recruitment and retention of Black and Latino male teachers? Using multiple sources of data such as Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) documents, video recordings of focus group interviews, self-reflections, informal and formal meetings notes and minutes, our preliminary results revealed that recruitment and retention of Black and Latino male teachers is a complex process that require cross campus collaboration of all stakeholders, the challenging of structures of power, and overcoming institutional and professional barriers. This study is situated within the broader context of the national debate on diversifying the teaching force

“What do you want for dinner?”: need anticipation and the design of proactive technologies for the home

This paper examines ‘the routine shop’ as part of a project that is exploring automation and autonomy in the Internet of Things. In particular we explicate the ‘work’ involved in anticipating need using an ethnomethodological analysis that makes visible the mundane, ‘seen but unnoticed’ methodologies that household members accountably employ to organise list construction and accomplish calculation on the shop floor. We discuss and reflect on the challenges members’ methodologies pose for proactive systems that seek to support domestic grocery shopping, including the challenges of sensing, learning and predicting, and gearing autonomous agents into social practice within the home

The Reproductive Seasonality and Gametogenic Cycle of Acropora cervicornis off Broward County, Florida, USA

Reproductive characters of the Caribbean reef-building coral Acropora cervicornis were investigated based on histological samples collected from April 2001 through October 2002. Oogenesis commenced in early to mid-October through November and spermatogenesis was initiated from January to March. The onset of gametogenesis was staggered, exhibiting up to approximately a 1-month delay within colonies. In the hermaphroditic polyps, the observed male-to-female gonad ratio was nearly 1:1 and ripe oocytes represented over 70% of the total gonadal volume. Fecundity estimates based on Stage IV ova ranged between 10.4 and 21.8 mm3 per square centimeter per year, comparable to A. cervicornis in Puerto Rico and other broadcasting Indo-Pacific Acropora. Fecundity estimates based on Stage III vitellogenic oocytes indicated statistically significant differences among study sites. Spawning in field conditions was observed in 2001, 2003, and 2004 from 2300 to 2330 h. Gamete release generally occurred synchronously between nights two and seven after the full moon of July or August. However in 2003, multiple, small-scale gamete release episodes occurred over more than one lunar cycle. This coincided with the full moon occurring early in the month of July. While prolific gamete production is reported in this study, low levels of recruitment have been reported for this species. Thus, the highly fragmenting A. cervicornis may rely heavily on asexual reproduction for population maintenance and expansion, and recovery after disturbance may be greatly protracted