Reuse through rapid development

The general issue of reuse of digital resources, called Learning Objects (LOs), in education is discussed here. Ideas are drawn from software engineering which has long grappled with the reuse problem. Arguments are presented for rapid development methodologies and a corresponding method for generation of online mathematics question banks is described

Vectorcardiogram

System measures electrocardiographic potentials to produce precise quantitative measurement of changes that occur in individual's cardiac function. System is rugged, built to sustain extremes of temperature, pressure, humidity, shock, and vibration. It can also be used in pure oxygen environment without danger of combustion

Policy Primer: UK Migration Policy and EU Law

This policy primer discusses how EU membership shapes UK migration policy

Automat, automatic, automatism : Rosalind Krauss and Stanley Cavell on photography and the photographically dependent arts

How might philosophers and art historians make the best use of one another’s research? That, in nuce, is what this special issue considers with respect to questions concerning the nature of photography as an artistic medium; and that is what my essay addresses with respect to a specific case: the dialogue, or lack thereof, between the work of the philosopher Stanley Cavell and the art historian-critic Rosalind Krauss. It focuses on Krauss’s late appeal to Cavell’s notion of automatism to argue that artists now have to invent their own medium, both to provide criteria against which to judge artistic success or failure and to insulate serious art from the vacuous generalization of the aesthetic in a media-saturated culture at large. Much in the spirit of ‘Avant-Garde and Kitsch’, paying attention to the medium is once again an artist’s best line of defence against the encroachment of new media, the culture industry, and spectacle. That Krauss should appeal to Cavell at all, let alone in such a Greenbergian frame of mind, is surprising if one is familiar with the fraught history of debate about artistic media in art theory since Greenberg. Cavell’s work in this domain has always been closely associated with that of Michael Fried, and the mutual estrangement of Fried and Krauss, who began their critical careers as two of Greenberg’s leading followers, is legendary

Digital Preservation Education in iSchools

This poster investigates digital preservation education in the iSchool caucus. The project identifies core concepts addressed in digital preservation coursework in iSchools and identifies possible areas for curriculum development. Digital preservation education at the graduate level is critical. To ensure long-term access and use of digital materials, information professionals must have a working knowledge of digital curation, which emphasizes a lifecycle approach to digital preservation [1]. Unfortunately, the topic of digital preservation education is not prominent in literature about digital curation. Only a handful of case studies and recommendations have been published regarding digital preservation education within information science, library science, and computer science graduate programs. Instead, much of the work on digital preservation education is contained in more general studies on educating digital librarians or electronic records managers. To understand how to better design curricula that engages central issues of digital curation at the graduate level, an investigation of the current state of digital preservation education is warranted. Coursework devoted solely to digital preservation is essential for graduate students in information-centric disciplines. The necessity for devoted coursework is due to the complex and multifaceted nature of the topic. Unfortunately, a 2006 study found that very few library or information science schools offered courses specifically on the topic of digital preservation. Furthermore, an extremely small percentage of students in library or information science programs had exposure to the critical aspects of digital preservation during their coursework [2]. Digital preservation education can and should be studied in iSchools. The core mission of the iSchool movement is to connect people, information, and technology [3]. Digital curation supports this mission by enabling the continued maintenance of digital information resources throughout their lifecycle, allowing them to be rendered and re-used in the long-term. It is an interdisciplinary process that hinges on expertise from many different fields, including computer science, information and library science, informatics, management, and education. Furthermore, iSchools are a natural home for digital library education [4] and there are significant overlaps between digital library education and digital curation education [5]. It follows that iSchools are an excellent venue for research on the topic of digital preservation education. This project examines digital preservation courses in iSchools over the past five years (2005-2009). Course descriptions and syllabi are examined in order to develop a definition of current practices in digital preservation education. Based on this definition, areas for future developments in digital preservation curricula are identified. Course catalogs from the 26 iSchools have been analyzed to determine whether or not schools offer classes specifically on the topic of digital preservation. Of the 26 iSchools, 9 schools offer degrees in information science and in library science, 6 award degrees in information science but not in library science, and 5 award degrees in library science and not information science. The remaining 6 schools offer a variety of degrees, including computer science, information management, and information technology. These categories will be useful in determining what types of iSchools, if any, are leaders in digital preservation education. All of the schools that have been examined to date offer course catalogs and course descriptions on the open web. Many of the course syllabi are also available online. The course must contain the phrase ???Digital Preservation??? in its title or course description in order to be included. One-shot sessions and classes that deal with a subset of digital preservation, such as classes on digital libraries, are not considered. Course themes and assignments are compared to the DigCCurr Matrix of Digital Curation Knowledge and Competencies. This six-dimensional matrix from the University of North Carolina DigCCurr project defines and organizes materials to be covered in digital curation coursework [6]. This analysis will identify current strengths and potential areas for further development in digital preservation education. The study will also address the question of where current digital preservation course materials fit within the larger scope of digital curation knowledge and competencies

Judicial Interpretation of State Ethics Rules Under the McDade Amendment: Do Federal or State Courts Get the Last Word?

The McDade Amendment ( the Act ) is a federal law that requires federal prosecutors to abide by the state ethics rules of the jurisdiction in which they practice. The Act does not say, however, whether federal or state courts are definitive when it comes to interpreting state ethics rules as they apply to federal prosecutors. Those testifying before Congress raised this issue and noted that the Act left the issue unresolved. Despite this, Congress did not address this matter in either its legislative history or in the Act itself. No court has tackled this question and scholarship attends to it only in passing. At this time, both federal and state courts interpret state ethics rules as they apply to federal prosecutors. As it currently stands, with both court systems interpreting the rules and no determination as to which is definitive, federal prosecutors must comply with both federal and state court interpretations. This is likely to chill federal prosecutors in the exercise of their official duties because they are bound to be unsure of the rules they must abide by. More importantly, concurrent interpretation creates unsolvable conflicts when a federal and state court in the same jurisdiction interpret the same rule differently. This Note explores whether federal or state courts\u27 interpretations of state ethics rules are definitive as applied to federal prosecutors under the McDade Amendment. It considers the plain text of the Act, its legislative history, and the purposes and policies of the legislation. Ultimately, this Note argues that the legal community should regard state courts\u27 interpretations as definitive. This Note concludes by proposing a framework for federal courts to defer to state courts\u27 interpretations of ethics rules as they apply to federal prosecutors

Kaepernick’s Kneel: A Misinterpretation of a Movement

Overview: I am most proud of singing the national anthem. It gave me the opportunity to share my musical gift, building my confidence along the way. I performed the national anthem for over thirty athletic events. I sang for a men’s regional hockey game, a women’s regional volleyball game, three men’s regional volleyball games and for women’s basketball and men’s football games. Every time I sang the national anthem, I felt full. It became an important song to me and a reminder of principal memories. As an influential song to me and many others, it was absurd that athletes abused its sanctity. As I watched the football games every Sunday afternoon, each new protest during the singing of the national anthem set off a rage within me. I never imagined that the national anthem could be used as a protest symbol. I immediately reacted negatively to the protests which would quickly become known as the “Take a Knee” movement. Author\u27s Reflection: My name is Meghan Costello, and I am currently a sophomore majoring in psychology with a minor in religious studies. I was fortunate to have been a student in the AFAM 199 RW class: Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs. The content within this course was particularly intriguing to me, and I jumped at the chance to discuss such a modern topic. Writing my final research paper was a long but crucial process. I transitioned from writing attributive tag sentences to writing summaries to incorporating rhetorical analysis into my academic repertoire. With the use of these skills, I collectively reported on my research of Colin Kaepernick and the Take a Knee Movement. This movement was at the center of media attention for about three years and still continues to make headlines today. Before researching, kneeling during the national anthem was incomprehensible to me. I could not understand why players were kneeling and how it related to their cause. One I researched more and had put aside the media’s narratives, I found out the true reasons behind the movement’s beginning and continuance. From this information, I developed my research paper about how the Take a Knee Movement and Colin Kaepernick’s role are misinterpreted. Something that was challenging for me was analyzing my sources while not writing pure summaries from the articles I found. I learned to analyze and outline key ideas by using facts from the sources to emphasize my own argument. I had a difficult time staying in one tense while also being careful about sentence structure and grammatical errors. All of these struggles were corrected from my draft editing and polishing strategies. The 199-experience helped me advance the writing skills I had but did not connect in an organized fashion. 199 taught me to create a more cumulative and formulated way for my future academic writing. The culmination of my research paper was incredibly rewarding; there was a sense of accomplishment when I submitted the final paper. Writing this paper was never about getting a good grade for me. I wanted to write a complete paper that was able to educate readers about a movement that is absolutely misinterpreted, even by myself, at first glance. I would advise future students to research early and often on a topic they are passionate about. You will not hinder your progress by getting ahead on preliminary research. I hope you enjoy my research and walk away with a positive outlook on this movement! Professor Miller Smith\u27s Reflection: Meghan chose to research the contemporary and controversial issues surrounding football player Colin Kaepernick and the Take a Knee Movement. She worked to investigate and present multiple perspectives, and in her paper, Meghan addresses how her own understanding evolved as her research proceeded. She completes her research journey with a better understanding of the motivations of participating players, as well as the historical precedence for their actions and the American public\u27s response. Further, Meghan offers context from the country\u27s political climate, as well as differing perspectives from diverse and, sometimes competing voices. Tenacious in her academic pursuit, Meghan’s research resulted in a paper that includes a balanced and reasonable understanding of the salient issues. Ultimately, Meghan’s research journey led her to understand the true purpose and legacy of an athlete’s emboldened stance that even she initially believed represented unpatriotic disrespect and “proudly hail[ed]” dissonance. “Kaepernick’s Kneel: A Misinterpretation of a Movement” offers 199 and other student writers an example of a contemporary, controversial topic that employs a balance of reliable sources and strong research strategies

Integrable lattice models from four-dimensional field theories

This note gives a general construction of an integrable lattice model (and a solution of the Yang-Baxter equation with spectral parameter) from a four-dimensional field theory which is a mixture of topological and holomorphic. Spin-chain models arise in this way from a twisted, deformed version of N=1 gauge theory.Comment: Based on the longer paper arXiv:1303.2632 and on my talk at String-Math 2013. 9 figure