You’ll never watch alone: media and community in the sports bar

This paper positions itself within the ongoing debate about the impact of media on community generated by Robert Putnam’s research. Accordingly, the increasing availability of sophisticated means of communication has led the progressive substitution of indirect interactions for direct interactions in shared space, thereby eroding an essential basis of community. In contrast, other theoretical perspectives have presented communication technologies as either enhancing community by altering the field of possible social interactions or incapable of replacing direct interactions. This debate is addressed through an ethnography of fans who gathered at a sports bar to watch the World Cup. Observations revealed that while televised broadcasts served as a primary motivation for attendance and a centrepiece of subsequent interactions, patrons did not watch alone; they watched with each other.     

One step antibody-mediated isolation and patterning of multiple cell types in microfluidic devices

Cell-cell interactions play a key role in regeneration, differentiation, and basic tissue function taking place under physiological shear forces. However, current solutions to mimic such interactions by micro-patterning cells within microfluidic devices have low resolution, high fabrication complexity, and are limited to one or two cell types. Here, we present a microfluidic platform capable of laminar patterning of any biotin-labeled peptide using streptavidin-based surface chemistry. The design permits the generation of arbitrary cell patterns from heterogeneous mixtures in microfluidic devices. We demonstrate the robust co-patterning of α-CD24, α-ASGPR-1, and α-Tie2 antibodies for rapid isolation and co-patterning of mixtures of hepatocytes and endothelial cells. In addition to one-step isolation and patterning, our design permits step-wise patterning of multiple cell types and empty spaces to create complex cellular geometries in vitro. In conclusion, we developed a microfluidic device that permits the generation of perfusable tissue-like patterns in microfluidic devices by directly injecting complex cell mixtures such as differentiated stem cells or tissue digests with minimal sample preparation.     

The preparation of cognitively agile principals for turnaround schools: a leadership preparation programme study

The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of two educational leadership university programmes to improve the cognitive agility of their graduates. The research looked to discover whether the aspiring principals exited the programmes with an increased ability to employ cognitive agility – the ability to use the multiple thinking skills of systems thinking, reflecting, and reframing – when engaged in their professional work and solving problems. Both Masters programmes were in School Leadership, offered through the same university department and following the same core curriculum leading to Level 1 educational leadership certification. The results indicate that of the two programmes studied, the Principal Rapid Orientation and Preparation in Educational Leadership (PROPEL) programme, designed to prepare leaders for turnaround schools, produced more cognitively agile graduates than the traditional Master’s programme. The mediating variables of participants’ years of experience and budget responsibility increased the level of cognitive agility of both programme’s graduates.     

全球气候变化问题的视点:中国和美国

就中国在国际气候变化协议中的位置、中国怎样减少CO2排放、有关碳交易的制度建设、中国在国际碳交易市场中扮演的角色和气候变化协定中的重要性进行了探讨,介绍了美国正在运行的气候法案的主要内容,并提出了中国目前的气候政策和碳交易市场发展中存在的问题,在国际气候大环境中和美国进行了分析对比。     

Spacing extinction trials alleviates renewal and spontaneous recovery

Studies of extinction in classical conditioning situations can reveal techniques that maximize the effectiveness of exposure-based behavior therapies. In three experiments, we investigated the effect of varying the intertrial interval during an extinction treatment in a fear-conditioning preparation with rats as subjects. In Experiment 1, we found less fear at test (i.e., more effective extinction) when extinction trials were widely spaced, relative to intermediate or massed extinction trials. In Experiment 2, we used an ABA renewal procedure and observed that spaced trials attenuated renewal of conditioned fear relative to massed trials. In Experiment 3, we used a similar design, but instead of changing the physical context at the time of testing, we interposed a retention interval after the extinction treatment to produce a change in the temporal context. The results showed less spontaneous recovery of fear after spaced than after massed extinction trials. These results suggest that extinction is more enduring when the extinction trials are spaced rather than massed. Although the benefits of spacing trials are small when there is no contextual change from extinction to testing, a change in either physical or temporal context following massed extinction trials leads to a recovery from extinction, which is reduced when the trials are spaced.     

Supply issues for science academics in Australia: now and in the future

Australia, like the rest of the developed world, is in the midst of dealing with notable issues related to the age structure of its academic workforce. These issues are widespread and have been articulated in the Australian context most comprehensively by Hugo (2008). This paper investigates issues with demographic change and other key factors related to the desirability of a science or mathematics academic career within Australian universities. It draws on the findings of a research project undertaken in 2008 for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The findings show that while demographic issues are not as dire for science academics compared to the entire sector, issues relating to tenure, workload and retaining young science academics in Australia are a threat to the long-term sustainability of science faculties in Australian universities.