Knowledge heterogeneity and social network analysis – Towards conceptual and measurement clarifications

This literature review highlights some Social Network Analysis (SNA) concepts applicable to the study of organizational knowledge and, more particularly, to knowledge heterogeneity. Knowledge being all at the same time decentralized and distributed, knowing up to what point knowledge can be heterogeneous or homogeneous across organizational units becomes as important as the question of knowing how to structure the organization. SNA applied to knowledge management thus seems a stimulant for future research in the fields of management.     

Polymorphisms within the COL5A1 gene and regulators of the extracellular matrix modify the risk of Achilles tendon pathology in a British case-control study

Several genetic loci have been associated with risk of Achilles tendon pathology (ATP) within South African and Australian populations. The aim of this study was, therefore, to evaluate eight previously implicated genetic variants in an independent British population. A total of 130 asymptomatic controls (CON) and 112 participants clinically diagnosed with ATP comprising 87 individuals with chronic Achilles tendinopathy (TEN) and 25 with Achilles tendon ruptures (RUP) were included. All participants were genotyped for variants within the COL5A1, MIR608, IL-1β, IL-6 and CASP8 genes. Primary findings implicated COL5A1 and CASP8. Three inferred allele combinations constructed from COL5A1 rs12722, rs3196378 and rs71746744 were identified as risk modifiers. The T–C–D combination was associated with increased risk of ATP (P = 0.023) and RUP (P < 0.001), the C–A–I combination was associated with increased risk of ATP (P = 0.011), TEN (P = 0.011) and RUP (P = 0.011) and the C–C–D combination was associated with decreased risk of ATP (P = 0.011) and RUP (P = 0.004). The CASP8 rs3834129 DD genotype was associated with decreased risk of TEN (P = 0.020, odds ratio: 0.45, 95% confidence interval: 0.22–0.90) and the CASP8 I–G (rs3834129–rs1045485) inferred allele combination was associated with increased risk of TEN (P = 0.031). This study further highlights the importance of polymorphisms within COL5A1 and CASP8 in the aetiology of ATP.     

Anisotropic alignments of hierarchical Li2SiO3/TiO2 @nano-C anode//LiMnPO4@nano-C cathode architectures for full-cell lithium-ion battery

We report on low-cost fabrication and high-energy density of full-cell lithium-ion battery (LIB) models. Super-hierarchical electrode architectures of Li₂SiO₃/TiO₂@nano-carbon anode (LSO.TO@nano-C) and high-voltage olivine LiMnPO₄@nano-carbon cathode (LMPO@nano-C) are designed for half- and full-system LIB-CR2032 coin cell models. On the basis of primary architecture-power-driven LIB geometrics, the structure keys including three-dimensional (3D) modeling superhierarchy, multiscale micro/nano architectures and anisotropic surface heterogeneity affect the buildup design of anode/cathode LIB electrodes. Such hierarchical electrode surface topologies enable continuous in-/out-flow rates and fast transport pathways of Li⁺-ions during charge/discharge cycles. The stacked layer configurations of pouch LIB-types lead to excellent charge/discharge rate, and energy density of 237.6 Wh kg⁻¹. As the most promising LIB-configurations, the high specific energy density of hierarchical pouch battery systems may improve energy storage for long-driving range of electric vehicles. Indeed, the anisotropic alignments of hierarchical electrode architectures in the large-scale LIBs provide proof of excellent capacity storage and outstanding durability and cyclability. The full-system LIB-CR2032 coin cell models maintain high specific capacity of ∼89.8% within a long-term life period of 2000 cycles, and average Coulombic efficiency of 99.8% at 1C rate for future configuration of LIB manufacturing and commercialization challenges.     

General Education Teachers in the United Arab Emirates and Their Acceptance of the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

In this article, Dr Emad M. Alghazo and Dr Eman El. Naggar Gaad, both assistant professors at the Department of Special Education in the United Arab Emirates University, report on their research into the attitudes of mainstream teachers towards the inclusion of students with disabilities. The research took place in the Emirate of Abu-Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and set out to explore the extent to which general education teachers there accept the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. The research process incorporated a questionnaire survey, analysed quantitatively, and a series of interviews with teachers to follow up on a range of issues. The analysis of the results takes account of a number of variables, including the gender of the respondents; number of years' experience as a teacher; and type of learner disability. Emad Alghazo and Eman Naggar Gaad report that there is more work to be done on the development of an 'inclusion culture' among teachers in the United Arab Emirates. They close their article by making a series of recommendations for future practice focusing on initial teacher education, continuing professional development and attitudinal change.     

Childhood Problems in a Sudanese City: A Comparison of Extended and Nuclear Families

The relation between emotional and social development and family structure in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, was examined. Children between the ages of 4 and 9 living in extended and nuclear families were compared on mothers' ratings of a range of childhood problems. Analysis revealed that children in nuclear families had more conduct, emotional, and sleep problems, poorer self-care, and were more likely to be overdependent than those living in extended families. They were also less likely to be breast fed, to be weaned later, and to have grandmothers involved in child care. Linear multiple regression revealed that, of these 3 childcare factors, grandmother's involvement was the strongest predictor of normal social and emotional adjustment. The possible protective characteristics of the extended family are discussed in relation to the importance of the grandmother as maternal advisor, social support, and socialization agent.     

An On-Demand and Cloud-Based Digital Scholarship Applications Dashboard

Building on the findings of a 2013 NEH Digital Humanities Start-Up funded project, in early 2016 we began working on an IMLS Sparks! funded project: Digital Scholarship Applications Dashboard. The project is a collaborative initiative between University IT and the Library's Center for Digital Scholarship. We are currently evaluating an efficient and user-friendly dashboard solution that will allow faculty and student to easily choose, configure, deploy, and evaluate any of a set of common web applications in a shared and virtual hosting environment. The service is similar to those offered by commercial hosting providers for deployment of popular web applications, but our Scholars Dashboard service will focus on tools more relevant to digital scholarship and digital humanities. The prototype leverages OpenNebula, an open source cloud-computing platform for managing distributed data center environments, and Amazon Web Services for deploying virtual machines. In this article, we will describe the work we have done in the last year and further discuss the role of digital scholarship teams within academic libraries in providing cloud-based infrastructure for digital scholarship and research.