On disciplinary judgement

This paper enquires into the grounds for convergence of judgements in a situation of blind peer review, where reviewers are asked to assess the standing of scholars in a disciplinary field. The paper first considers traditional accounts of peer review and threats to its reliability and validity. Next it examines the grounds for disciplinary sociality and different forms of expertise that stratify the disciplinary field. The paper will report the results of an initial study of peer review judgements in the disciplines of Law, Psychology and Historical Studies. The paper will conclude by assessing the variable merits of micro- and macro-sociological explanations in accounting for the phenomenon of convergent disciplinary judgements. A case will be made for the explanatory power of social norms.     

Comparisons of the ski turn techniques of experienced and intermediate skiers

We compared selected kinematic variables for four different ski turn techniques performed by five experienced and five intermediate male skiers. The four ski turn techniques were the upstem turn, the downstem turn, the parallel turn and the parallel step turn. Each turn was divided into the initiation phase and the first and second steering phases. Most of the statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) between the two groups were found for the initiation phases of the four turns. Both the hip axis-hand axis angle and the edging angle of the uphill ski were significantly different between the two groups for the upstem turn at the beginning of the initiation phase. For the downstem turn, significant differences between the groups were found at the start of the initiation phase for the hip axis-hand axis angle, the shoulder axis-fall line angle, and the edging angle of the uphill ski. The standard deviation of the distance between the tips of the two skis over the second steering phase also differed significantly between the two groups. For the parallel step turn, significant differences were found at the start of the initiation phase for the edging angle of the downhill ski and the downhill ski to movement direction angle. Significant differences were also found for the edging angle of the downhill ski in the middle of the second steering phase and the shoulder axis to movement direction angle at the end of this phase. For the initiation phase of the parallel turn, significant differences were found for the timing of setting the ski pole, the uphill knee angle at the start of this phase and the range of the knee angle of the uphill leg from the start to the end of this phase. For this turn, significant differences between the two groups were also found for the edging angle of the downhill ski in the middle of the second steering phase and the shoulder axis to movement direction angle at the end of this phase. One of the reasons it was possible to identify a few significant differences only for the turns analysed, was the variability within the intermediate group: for most of the variables analysed, the standard deviation was much higher for the intermediate than for the experienced group.     

Disciplines,skills and the university

Several authors have suggested that the contract between the university and society formulated in the nineteenth century is breaking down, and a new relation between knowledge and society is being installed. This paper investigates what is at stake in this shift by re-visiting the roots of disciplinary knowledge, examining Durkheim’s social theory of knowledge to display the evolution of basic and professional disciplines in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Two contemporary challenges to disciplinary knowledge are then examined and evaluated. The paper concludes that it is time to transcend the standoff between disciplinary knowledge and practice-based accounts of knowledge.     

Flow of DNA solutions in a microfluidic gradual contraction

The flow of λ-DNA solutions in a gradual micro-contraction was investigated using direct measurement techniques. The effects on DNA transport in microscale flows are significant because the flow behavior is influenced by macromolecular conformations, both viscous and elastic forces dominate inertial forces at this length scale, and the fully extended length of the molecule approaches the characteristic channel length w_c (L/w_c ∼ 0.13). This study examines the flow of semi-dilute and entangled DNA solutions in a gradual planar micro-contraction for low Reynolds numbers (3.7 × 10⁻⁶< Re < 3.1 × 10⁻¹) and high Weissenberg numbers (0.4 < Wi < 446). The semi-dilute DNA solutions have modest elasticity number, El = Wi/Re = 55, and do not exhibit viscoelastic behavior. For the entangled DNA solutions, we access high elasticity numbers (7.9 × 10³< El < 6.0 × 10⁵). Video microscopy and streak images of entangled DNA solution flow reveal highly elastic behavior evidenced by the presence of large, stable vortices symmetric about the centerline and upstream of the channel entrance. Micro-particle image velocimetry measurements are used to obtain high resolution, quantitative velocity measurements of the vortex growth in this micro-contraction flow. These direct measurements provide a deeper understanding of the underlying physics of macromolecular transport in microfluidic flow, which will enable the realization of enhanced designs of lab-on-a-chip systems.     

Professional and Educational Perspectives on Spirituality in Young Children

Spirituality is a concept which is hard to define, not least because it is not a neutral idea. How you understand it depends in part on your belief system. However, the quality of a school's contribution to spiritual development of its pupils is something included in OFSTED inspections. This paper describes an investigation which sought to answer the question, 'What are the professional perspectives of OFSTED inspectors and teachers with regard to the provision for spiritual growth of children in schools?' A small sample of inspectors and teachers were interviewed and asked to define spirituality. They were also asked what they looked for to indicate a spiritual dimension in children. The results showed a significant gap between the views and understandings of inspectors and teachers. The writers highlight the significance of these and make a number of suggestions about their implications.     

The Well-tempered Learner: Self-regulation,pedagogical models and teacher education policy

This article considers the curriculum reforms of outcomes-based education and the mechanism of a national qualifications framework in South Africa, also referring to New Zealand, in terms of the kind of learners they instantiate and therefore the kind of teachers needed for learners of that sort to be able to learn. Distinguishing between performance and competence models of pedagogy and analysing their implicit pedagogical logic, the article arrives at the conclusion that the curricular reforms initiated in South Africa embody incompatible logics, which can only lead to confusion. The article ends by reflecting on the ideal of the self-regulating learner pursued by much contemporary curriculum reform, concluding that there are distinct and different kinds of selfregulation fostered by different pedagogical models.     

Attachment and social support in the prediction of psychopathology among young adults with and without a history of physical maltreatment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the roles that social support and attachment play with regard to psychopathology among young adults with and without a history of physical maltreatment. Attachment was conceptualized in terms of the dimensions of view of self and view of other. Attachment and social support were examined individually and concurrently as protective factors. METHOD: The sample consisted of 956 young adults, 294 of whom had a history of physical abuse. Individuals filled out a series of questionnaires inquiring about current attachment, social support, and psychopathology symptoms. A regression design was used, examining how well attachment and/or social support predicted current psychopathology. RESULTS: Results indicated that attachment security, particularly when characterized by a positive view of self, strongly predicted lower levels of psychopathology, irrespective of abuse status. Notably, view of self was a substantially larger predictor than was view of other or social support for individuals with and without a history of physical maltreatment. Among maltreatment subtypes, psychological abuse emerged as the largest predictor of psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that the attachment dimension of view of self is fundamental in predicting current psychopathology level, irrespective of abuse history. In addition, the subtype of psychological abuse deserves further investigation as a risk factor.     

Business services as actors of knowledge transformation: the role of KIBS in regional and national innovation systems

Over the last years, there has been a significant increase in the attention paid to the activities of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). KIBS produce and diffuse knowledge, which is crucial for innovation processes. The paper gives an overview of the role and function of KIBS in innovation systems and their knowledge production, transformation and diffusion activities. Focusing on innovation interactions between manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and KIBS, the empirical analyses grasps KIBS position in five regional contexts. The analysis leads to the conclusion that innovation activities link SMEs and KIBS through the process of knowledge generation and diffusion.