“It’s Everybody’s Job”: Youth and Adult Constructions of Responsibility to Take Action for School Change through PAR

The Urban Review - Participatory action research (PAR) with youth holds potential to spur social justice-oriented change due to its explicit orientation to transform systemic inequity. Whereas...     

Patents versus ex post rewards: A new look

Economic studies that aim at comparing the patent system social efficiency versus an ex post reward system rest on an outdated view of patents. They assume that firms use the patent system only in order to be granted a short-term commercial monopoly rent. This assumption is convenient because it allows straightforward comparisons between patents and rewards but it is not confirmed by empirical studies, which stress that in many industries most firms use patents as strategic devices to trade technologies and to ease R&D collaborations. This change leads to rethinking the framework of the patent-reward debate.     

French Books on Media

INFORMATION HIGHWAYS &; BYWAYS FROM THE TELEGRAPH TO THE 21st CENTURY by Irwin Lebow (IEEE Press, 445 Hoes lane, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855–1331, 1995—$29.95, paper, ISBN 0–7803–1073‐X, 307 pp.)

AMERICAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH: THE REMEMBERED HISTORY edited by Everette E. Dennis and Ellen Wartella (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1996—$39.95/19.95, ISBN 0–8058–1743–3 hard, 0–8058–1744–1, 210 pp.)

BRITISH TELEVISION: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE by Tise Vahimagi (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994—$25.00, paper, ISBN 0–19–818336–4, 364 pp.)

DYNAMICS OF MODERN COMMUNICATION: THE SHAPING AND IMPACT OF NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES by Patrice Flichy (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1995—$69.95/22.95, ISBN 0–8039–7850–2 hard, 0–8039–7851–0 soft, 182 pp.)

POSTCARDS IN THE LIBRARY: INVALUABLE VISUAL RESOURCES edited by Norman D. Stevens (The Haworth Press, 10 Alice St., Binghampton, NY 13904–1580, 1995—$39.95, ISBN 1–56024–776–2, 233 pp.)

THE MEDIA IN AMERICA: A HISTORY edited by Wm. David Sloan and James D. Startt (Vision Press, PO Box 1106, Northport, AL. 35476—price not given, paper, ISBN 1–885219–03–2, 600 pp.)     

A "dry and wet hybrid" lithography technique for multilevel replication templates: Applications to microfluidic neuron culture and two-phase global mixing

A broad range of microfluidic applications, ranging from cell culture to protein crystallization, requires multilevel devices with different heights and feature sizes (from micrometers to millimeters). While state-of-the-art direct-writing techniques have been developed for creating complex three-dimensional shapes, replication molding from a multilevel template is still the preferred method for fast prototyping of microfluidic devices in the laboratory. Here, we report on a "dry and wet hybrid" technique to fabricate multilevel replication molds by combining SU-8 lithography with a dry film resist (Ordyl). We show that the two lithography protocols are chemically compatible with each other. Finally, we demonstrate the hybrid technique in two different microfluidic applications: (1) a neuron culture device with compartmentalization of different elements of a neuron and (2) a two-phase (gas-liquid) global micromixer for fast mixing of a small amount of a viscous liquid into a larger volume of a less viscous liquid.     

Librarians' experiences of the teaching role: Grounded in campus relationships

Analyses of information literacy instruction practices have neglected, until now, in-depth exploration of librarians' experiences in their teaching roles. That gap was addressed by this study, which explored Canadian academic librarians' self-perceptions as teachers. Semistructured interviews with 48 participants revealed that they experience complex relationships with teaching faculty. Data are analyzed using symbolic interactionism, Erving Goffman's concepts of deference and ceremonial rules, and work on gifting and reciprocity. The relationships are discussed as unequal in terms of power, where power is ceded to the teaching faculty. Study participants discuss this unequal balance of power by referring to their own self-positioning and the institutional culture of their workplaces. These results suggest areas of challenge to full realization of instructional goals, which merit attention by managers and by those charged with preparing librarians for instructional work.     

Cultural artifact and children’s understanding of the shape of the Earth: The case of Moroccan children

The non-computational brand of cognitivism is based on the premise that performances, including those of children, are generated by mental models or representations, i.e., “internal” resources. The sociocultural approach, on the other hand, regards context, i.e., an “external” resource, as the chief means of elaborating knowledge. The results of empirical research on how Moroccan children develop their understanding of the shape and properties of the Earth highlight some of the limitations not only of the representationalist paradigm but also of the more “radical” socioculturalist approach. They show that, while the sociocultural context does indeed play a vital role in the development of understanding, the latter in turn helps to increase children’s autonomy of mind.     

Reliability of observational data on teaching practices in secondary school mathematics

The reliability of data collected with a classroom observation instrument is considered. Thirty secondary school mathematics classes were observed on 10 different occasions. Results show that almost none of the variables describing instruction could be considered reliable. On the other hand, variables relating to questions, responses, and feedback in class did attain high reliability. The discussion evaluates the importance of this type of study for research on teaching.     

DNA-damage response network at the crossroads of cell-cycle checkpoints,cellular senescence and apoptosis

Tissue homeostasis requires a carefully-orchestrated balance between cell proliferation, cellular senescence and cell death. Cells proliferate through a cell cycle that is tightly regulated by cyclin-dependent kinase activities. Cellular senescence is a safeguard program limiting the proliferative competence of cells in living organisms. Apoptosis eliminates unwanted cells by the coordinated activity of gene products that regulate and effect cell death. The intimate link between the cell cycle, cellular senescence, apoptosis regulation, cancer development and tumor responses to cancer treatment has become eminently apparent. Extensive research on tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes, the cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory genes has revealed how the DNA damage-sensing and -signaling pathways, referred to as the DNA-damage response network, are tied to cell proliferation, cell-cycle arrest, cellular senescence and apoptosis. DNA-damage responses are complex, involving ＂sensor＂ proteins that sense the damage, and transmit signals to ＂transducer＂ proteins, which, in turn, convey the signals to numerous ＂effector＂ proteins implicated in specific cellular pathways, including DNA repair mechanisms, cell-cycle checkpoints, cellular senescence and apoptosis. The Bcl-2 family of proteins stands among ＂the mos＂t crucial regula＂tors of apop＂tosis and performs vi＂tal func＂tions in deciding whether a cell will live or die after cancer chemotherapy and irradiation. In addition, several studies have now revealed that members of the Bcl-2 family also interface with the cell cycle, DNA repair/recombination and cellular senescence, effects that are generally distinct from their function in apoptosis. In this review, we report progress in understanding the molecular networks that regulate cell-cycle checkpoints, cellular senescence and apoptosis after DNA damage, and discuss the influence of some Bcl-2 family members on cell-cycle checkpoint regulation.     

“We're Trying to Take Action”: Transformative Agency,Role Re-mediation,and the Complexities of Youth Participatory Action Research

This article seeks to illuminate the complexity of youth participatory action research (YPAR) through the use of two concepts: (1) transformative agency, a collective initiative to address conflicts and contradictions in activity systems, and (2) role re-mediation, the disruption of power relations. We demonstrate that these concepts, in comparison to the concept of civic participation, allow for an expanded consideration of the cross-contextual processes that are involved in collective mobilization to enact justice. To explore this area, we examine an afterschool YPAR program involving the adult authors and youth of color with intersectional identities—including emergent bilinguals and youth perceived as struggling academically. We illustrate three avenues of transformative agency and role re-mediation within the YPAR program: (1) engagement with critical fiction and non-fiction texts that expose power relations; (2) interactions between individuals within and beyond the YPAR space; and (3) production and dissemination of knowledge. Through this exploration, we illustrate how the lenses of transformative agency and role re-mediation can provide new understandings of change-oriented action in YPAR.