Review Article: The Personalisation of Computing—from Behemoth to Desktop

Social media (SM) are fast becoming a locus of disaster-related activities that range from volunteers helping locate disaster victims to actions that are malicious and offensive, from sincere expressions of empathy towards affected communities to consuming disaster imagery for mere entertainment, from recovery support funds being collected to online marketers preying on the attention afforded to a disaster event. Because of the diversity and sheer volume of both relevant and irrelevant information circulating throughout SM, prioritising an affected population’s needs and relevant data is an increasingly complex task. In addition, SM data need to be interpreted as manifestations of social processes related to community resilience, diversity and conflict of interests, and attitudes to particular response strategies. The use of SM in disasters generates a growing need for domain-specific technological solutions that can enhance public interests as well as address the needs of both disaster managers and the affected population. This task requires integrating social sciences into the development of tools that enable disaster SM data detection, filtering, analysis and representation. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a critical-constructive dialogue between social scientists and developers of SM analytic capabilities. In the context of historical, anthropological and sociological research on disaster, this paper outlines concepts of the disaster paradigm, data as a product of social and representational practices, and disaster context, and discusses their heuristic significance for the analysis of disaster SM as a manifestation of social and cultural practices.     

Review Article��Dielectrophoresis: Status of the theory, technology, and applications

A review is presented of the present status of the theory, the developed technology and the current applications of dielectrophoresis (DEP). Over the past 10 years around 2000 publications have addressed these three aspects, and current trends suggest that the theory and technology have matured sufficiently for most effort to now be directed towards applying DEP to unmet needs in such areas as biosensors, cell therapeutics, drug discovery, medical diagnostics, microfluidics, nanoassembly, and particle filtration. The dipole approximation to describe the DEP force acting on a particle subjected to a nonuniform electric field has evolved to include multipole contributions, the perturbing effects arising from interactions with other cells and boundary surfaces, and the influence of electrical double-layer polarizations that must be considered for nanoparticles. Theoretical modelling of the electric field gradients generated by different electrode designs has also reached an advanced state. Advances in the technology include the development of sophisticated electrode designs, along with the introduction of new materials (e.g., silicone polymers, dry film resist) and methods for fabricating the electrodes and microfluidics of DEP devices (photo and electron beam lithography, laser ablation, thin film techniques, CMOS technology). Around three-quarters of the 300 or so scientific publications now being published each year on DEP are directed towards practical applications, and this is matched with an increasing number of patent applications. A summary of the US patents granted since January 2005 is given, along with an outline of the small number of perceived industrial applications (e.g., mineral separation, micropolishing, manipulation and dispensing of fluid droplets, manipulation and assembly of micro components). The technology has also advanced sufficiently for DEP to be used as a tool to manipulate nanoparticles (e.g., carbon nanotubes, nano wires, gold and metal oxide nanoparticles) for the fabrication of devices and sensors. Most efforts are now being directed towards biomedical applications, such as the spatial manipulation and selective separation∕enrichment of target cells or bacteria, high-throughput molecular screening, biosensors, immunoassays, and the artificial engineering of three-dimensional cell constructs. DEP is able to manipulate and sort cells without the need for biochemical labels or other bioengineered tags, and without contact to any surfaces. This opens up potentially important applications of DEP as a tool to address an unmet need in stem cell research and therapy.     

CAS Leaders Convene to Review Previous Work and Plan Future

The 2004 enlarged summer session of the Leading Group of the CommunistParty of China (CPC) at CASwas held July 26–31. It cameamid a nationwide campaign tostudy the important thought ofthe Three Represents and thescientific approach to develop-ment advanced by the CPC Cen-tral Committee. The meetingcoincided with a crucial momentfor the development of CAS, asthe Academy is about to kick offthe third phase of work for thetrial implementation of itsKnowledge Innovation Prog…     

A Review of: “The Information Revolution and Developing Countries”

There is an increasing rhetoric from politicians for universities to become more involved in policy analysis and policy research. In this article, we reflect on our experiences of the analysis we conducted into the legislation to introduce biometric identity cards in the United Kingdom. We highlight how our work had direct consequences for the ongoing policy deliberation around this controversial piece of legislation. In particular, we highlight our role in the debate surrounding the government's figures for identity fraud and the concerns about the likely cost of the scheme to the government and taxpayer. We end the article by discussing some of the practical realities of such a foray into real politik.     

Review Article: The Rise of Studying Happiness,but what of the Shadow of Unhappiness from Mental Illness? 1

Abstract

This essay is concerned with describing some issues associated with a relatively recent development in economics, viz. the economics of happiness literature. After providing a very brief account of the history of the concept of happiness, and the recent literature in economics, the focus turns to two issues that have been relatively neglected. First, there has been little attention in this recent literature to the concept of virtue or a flourishing life, or a moral disposition to happiness. Second, it is argued that the focus on aggregate happiness for a society in general may be misplaced: focus on subgroups, such as the mentally ill, may be more appropriate.     

A Narrative Review of Potential Future Antidiabetic Drugs: Should We Expect More?

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus, a chronic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, is growing worldwide. The majority of the cases belong to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Globally, India ranks second in terms of diabetes prevalence among adults. Currently available classes of therapeutic agents are used alone or in combinations but seldom achieve treatment targets. Diverse pathophysiology and the need of therapeutic agents with more favourable pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamics profile make newer drug discoveries in the field of T2DM essential. A large number of molecules, some with novel mechanisms, are in pipeline. The essence of this review is to track and discuss these potential agents, based on their developmental stages, especially those in phase 3 or phase 2. Unique molecules are being developed for existing drug classes like insulins, DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 analogues; and under newer classes like dual/pan PPAR agonists, dual SGLT1/SGLT2 inhibitors, glimins, anti-inflammatory agents, glucokinase activators, G-protein coupled receptor agonists, hybrid peptide agonists, apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT) inhibitors, glucagon receptor antagonists etc. The heterogeneous clinical presentation and therapeutic outcomes in phenotypically similar patients is a clue to think beyond the standard treatment strategy.     

Changing Science: The Advent of Neo‐liberalism

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the change process of academic science. The change pressures currently visible in UK science have been conceptualised as the product of three interdependent dynamics: a shift towards neo‐liberal ideologies and discourses of government; a process of reconstitution of the relationship between government and science; and the resulting reshaping of science itself. Focusing on the universities and academic science, we argue that this process of transformation has adverse consequences the end result of which may be a loss of capacity within the science system to maintain knowledge bases.     

Top‐Down e‐Infrastructure Meets Bottom‐Up Research Innovation: The Social Shaping of e‐Research

Abstract

Are advances in ICTs enabling positive transformations in academic research practices? This paper explores key themes emerging from a 2008 survey of researchers aimed at identifying use and non‐use of advanced ICTs for research. Deterministic perspectives on e‐Research suggest that new e‐infrastructures will reshape research in predictable ways, such as by fostering more collaboration. In contrast, social shaping perspectives lead to the expectation that existing practices and institutions will shape the ways in which e‐Research is employed. This exploratory study found that individual variations across researchers cluster into identifiable groupings of research practices, which help to illuminate involvement in e‐Research, and differences in methods and research software used across the disciplines. In line with a social shaping perspective, the findings suggest that, in the social sciences, top‐down visions of e‐infrastructure development need to be tied to the realities of bottom‐up patterns of innovation in approaches to e‐Research.     

Future Carbon Research: Monitoring Regional Emissions and Developing Sequestration Strategies——An Interview with Prof. ZENG Ning

＂The ICDC meeting was first convened in Switzerland in 1981 with 40 attendees. This time it has more than 500 participants from all over the world. It speaks for both how interesting the scientific questions are and how much good science we can do＂ -- Prof. ZENG Ning     

National Science Review——A journal on Chinese and global scientific achievement

<正>The National Science Review(NSR)proudly announces the publication of its inaugural issue.As China’s irst comprehensive science review journal published in English,NSR will link China’s rapidly advancing scientiic community with the frontiers of global science and technology for the beneit of the scientiic community worldwide.     

Money and Marriage——The matrimonial value orientation in Pride and Prejudic

Introduction Pride and Prejudice is the most enduringly popular novel writ- ten by Jane Austen. It talks about trivial matters of love, marriage and family life between country squires and fair ladies in Britain in the 18th century. The plot is very simpl…