New projects in particle physics

Recent results in the field of particle physics raise many questions on the elementary constituents of matter and their interactions. These cannot be answered, nor the latest theoretical predictions verified, without accelerators operating at higher energies. Pending world-wide collaboration for the construction of a gigantic accelerator, individual nations are engaged in an increasingly competitive race to construct such machines. The author describes the main assemblies under construction or currently planned in Western Europe, the USA and the USSR, and discusses the technical, financial, political, and, by no means least, human problems involved.     

To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media?

There is an ongoing debate over the activities of brands and companies in social media. Some researchers believe social media provide a unique opportunity for brands to foster their relationships with customers, while others believe the contrary. Taking the perspective of the brand community building plus the brand trust and loyalty literatures, our goal is to show how brand communities based on social media influence elements of the customer centric model (i.e., the relationships among focal customer and brand, product, company, and other customers) and brand loyalty. A survey-based empirical study with 441 respondents was conducted. The results of structural equation modeling show that brand communities established on social media have positive effects on customer/product, customer/brand, customer/company and customer/other customers relationships, which in turn have positive effects on brand trust, and trust has positive effects on brand loyalty. We find that brand trust has a fully mediating role in converting the effects of enhanced relationships in brand community to brand loyalty. The implications for marketing practice and future research are discussed.     

Biomarkers of inflammation and cardiac remodeling: the quest of relevant companions for the risk stratification of heart failure patients is still ongoing

Heart failure (HF) is a frequent chronic disease in elderly people and represents a major health and economic burden. The accurate diagnosis of HF and the identification of high risk patients is mandatory to select the appropriate therapy and care. HF is associated to cardiac remodeling and inflammation and to the release of neurohormones. If natriuretic peptides remain the biomarkers of choice for the diagnosis and the prognosis of HF, several biomarkers related to cardiac remodeling and inflammation are available for testing and may add valuable information for the risk estimation of HF patients and for the selection of the most appropriated therapy. Furthermore, the quest for new efficient biomarkers of cardiac remodeling and inflammation is still ongoing and new candidates have been identified for a potential use in daily clinical practices. However, before their potential translation to routine parameters several challenges ranging form the analytical validation to the cost-effectiveness estimation should be considered.     

Japan’s educational practices for mathematically gifted students

This study documents the inclusive, deliberate, and unintended educational practices in Japan for mathematically gifted students. It also aims to identify various schools’ strengths and challenges in improving the mathematics education of these students. Case studies with multisite designs were undertaken in five middle schools selected using purposive sampling. Mathematics education practices – assessed in terms of assessment, mathematics instruction, support and interventions, and teachers’ collaboration – guided the data collection and analysis. The primary goal of this study was to describe current school practices and identify common strengths and challenges (including outlier practices across schools) which were valuable in generating conclusion regarding how certain practices might lead to different student and/or teacher outcomes.     

Das MINERVA-Projekt: Datenbankselektion für Peer-to-Peer-Websuche

In diesem Artikel wird MINERVA pr?sentiert, eine prototypische Implementierung einer verteilten Suchmaschine basierend auf einer Peer-to-Peer (P2P)-Architektur. MINERVA setzt auf die in der P2P-Welt verbreitete Technik verteilter Hash-Tabellen auf und benutzt diese zum Aufbau eines verteilten Verzeichnisses. Peers in unserem Ansatz entsprechen v?llig autonomen Benutzern mit ihren lokalen Suchm"oglichkeiten, die bereit sind, ihr lokales Wissen und ihre lokalen Suchm?glichkeiten im Rahmen einer Kollaboration zur Verfügung zu stellen. Wir formalisieren unsere Systemarchitektur und beschreiben das zentrale Problem einer effizienten Suche nach vielversprechenden Peers für eine konkrete Anfrage innerhalb des Verbundes. Wir greifen dabei auf existierende Methoden zurück and passen diese an unseren Systemkontext an. Wir pr?sentieren Experimente auf realen Daten, die verschiedene dieser Ans?tze vergleichen. Diese Experimente zeigen, dass die Qualit?t der Ans?tze variiert und untermauern damit die Wichtigkeit und den Einfluss einer leistungsstarken Methode zur Auswahl guter Datenbanken. Unsere Experimente deuten an, dass eine geringe Anzahl sorgf?ltig ausgew?hlter Datenbanken typischerweise bereits einen Gro?teil aller relevanten Ergebnisse des Gesamtsystems liefert.     

Use of laptop computers in an academic medical library

Who borrows laptop computers in an academic health sciences library? Why do they choose to check out laptops? In a survey, laptop computer users responded that the laptops were used most frequently to do class-related work. Laptops were most often checked out because they could be taken to a quiet area of the library or to where the user had more room to work. The majority of such borrowers were satisfied or very satisfied with the laptops and the service from the library. The majority of those completing the survey were medical school students and graduate students. The circulation of laptop computers at this academic health sciences library is a very successful and popular program.