Patents and incentives to invent

The laws which govern the grant of patents for inventions are assumed to serve two useful ends. Firstly, they are conceived as an incentive to inventors to make and then disclose their inventions. Secondly they are viewed as providing an appropriate means for facilitating a division of resources between those who make inventions and those who exploit them. Both these presumed functions are examined in this article, which raises questions as to the utility of current laws in the achievement of these ends.     

Magnetic compass orientation in C57BL/6J mice

We report evidence for a robust magnetic compass response in C57BL/6J mice. Mice were trained to build their nests in one of four magnetic directions by creating a light gradient along the long axis of a rectangular cage and positioning a nest box at the opposite (dark) end. The mice were then tested overnight in a circular, visually symmetrical arena in one of four magnetic field alignments. The positions of the nests built in the test arena showed strong unimodal orientation in the magnetic direction coinciding with the dark end of the training cage.     

Preservice teachers respond to And Tango Makes Three: deconstructing disciplinary power and the heteronormative in teacher education

This study employs Foucualdian concepts to analyse macro and micro contexts of publicly spoken and silent discourses describing ‘homosexuality,’ ‘education’ and ‘teacher’ in order to identify teacher subject positions available to preservice teachers. The macro context is analysed by tracing heteronormative discourses found in newspaper stories involving teachers and public schools that address conflicting views of homosexuality. The macro context analysis indicates two binary teacher subject positions: martyred (unemployed) teacher/silent (employed) teacher and sophisticated teacher/unsophisticated teacher. The micro context analysis is of preservice teachers' responses to And Tango Makes Three, a picture book by Richardson and Parnell. This analysis demonstrates how preservice teachers take up and negotiate teacher subject positions found in the macro analysis. Combined, the analyses allow the researchers to consider how preservice teachers' performances of teacher subjectivity open up possibilities for re-imagining new teacher subject positions and what this might mean for the practice of teacher educators.     

Thresholds of Quality: Implications for the Social Development of Children in Center-based Child Care

We assessed the quality of center child care relationships with adults and peers for 414 children (ages 14 to 54 months). Classrooms were classified by ratio and group size provisions of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR) and by the Early Childhood and Infant and Toddler Environmental Rating Scales. Children cared for in classrooms meeting FIDCR ratios were more likely to be in classrooms rated as good or very good in caregiving and activities. Children in classrooms rated as good or very good in caregiving were more likely to be securely attached to teachers. Securely attached children were more competent with peers. Children cared for in classrooms meeting FIDCR group size were more likely to be in classrooms rated higher in activities. Children in classrooms rated high in activities were likely to orient to both adults and peers. Children with social orientations to adults and peers were more competent with peers.     

A CRITIQUE OF THE IDEA OF A WORLD UNIVERSITY

Since the end of the First World War, proposals have been made by individuals and international agencies for the establishment of a ‐world university, a university which would link together the nations of the world, and facilitate contributions to knowledge from all cultures. Despite the number of proposals that have been made, a world university has yet to be established. This paper provides an examination of two of the assumptions common to the proposals and subjects them to a critique with respect to current theories of world order and knowledge. These assumptions are that 1. international inter‐cultural understanding and the development of a shared world culture promote peace, and 2. that the institutional model of the university is applicable on a world scale.     

Impacts of a Comprehensive School Readiness Curriculum for Preschool Children at Risk for Educational Difficulties

This article reports findings from a cluster‐randomized study of an integrated literacy‐ and math‐focused preschool curriculum, comparing versions with and without an explicit socioemotional lesson component to a business‐as‐usual condition. Participants included 110 classroom teachers from randomized classrooms and approximately eight students from each classroom (N = 760) who averaged 4.48 (SD = 0.44) years of age at the start of the school year. There were positive impacts of the two versions of the curriculum on language, phonological awareness, math, and socioemotional outcomes, but there were no added benefits to academic or socioemotional outcomes for the children receiving explicit socioemotional instruction. Results are discussed with relevance to early childhood theory, policy, and goals of closing the school readiness gap.