932 research outputs found
RoMEO Studies 6: Rights metadata for open-archiving
No full textThis is the final study in a series of six emanating from the UK JISC-funded RoMEO Project (Rights Metadata for Open-archiving) which investigated the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues relating to academic author self-archiving of research papers. It reports the results of a survey of 542 academic authors showing the level of protection required for their open-access research papers. It then describes the selection of an appropriate means of expressing those rights through metadata and the resulting choice of Creative Commons licences. Finally it outlines proposals for communicating rights metadata via the Open Archives Initiative’s Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH)
RoMEO Studies 4: An analysis of Journal publishers' Copyright Agreements
No full textThis article is the fourth in a series of six emanating from the UK JISC-funded RoMEO Project (Rights Metadata for Open archiving). It describes an analysis of 80 scholarly journal publishers’ copyright agreements with a particular view to their effect on author self-archiving. 90% of agreements asked for copyright transfer and 69% asked for it prior to refereeing the paper. 75% asked authors to warrant that their work had not been previously published although only two explicitly stated that they viewed self-archiving as prior publication. 28.5% of agreements provided authors with no usage rights over their own paper. Although 42.5% allowed self-archiving in some format, there was no consensus on the conditions under which self-archiving could take place. The article concludes that author-publisher copyright agreements should be reconsidered by a working party representing the needs of both partie
A preliminary investigation into the genetic variation and population structure of Taenia hydatigena from Sardinia, Italy
No full textCysticercosis caused by the metacestode stage of Taenia hydatigena is endemic in Sardinia. Information on the genetic variation of this parasite is important for epidemiological studies and implementation of control programs. Using two mitochondrial genes, the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1) we investigated the genetic variation and population structure of Cysticercus tenuicollis from Sardinian intermediate hosts and compared it to that from other hosts from various geographical regions.The parsimony cox1 network analysis indicated the existence of a common lineage for T. hydatigena and the overall diversity and neutrality indices indicated demographic expansion. Using the cox1 sequences, low pairwise fixation index (Fst) values were recorded for Sardinian, Iranian and Palestinian sheep C. tenuicollis which suggested the absence of genetic differentiation.Using the ND1 sequences, C. tenuicollis from Sardinian sheep appeared to be differentiated from those of goat and pig origin. In addition, goat C. tenuicollis were genetically different from adult T. hydatigena as indicated by the statistically significant Fst value. Our results are consistent with biochemical and morphological studies that suggest the existence of variants of T. hydatigena
RoMEO Studies 3: How academics expect to use open-access research papers
No full textThis paper is the third in a series of studies emanating from the UK JISC-funded RoMEO Project (Rights Metadata for Open-archiving). It considers previous studies of the usage of electronic journal articles through a literature survey. It then reports on the results of a survey of 542 academic authors as to how they expected to use open-access research papers. This data is compared with results from the second of the RoMEO Studies series as to how academics wished to protect their open-access research papers. The ways in which academics expect to use open-access works (including activities, restrictions and conditions) are described. It concludes that academics-as-users do not expect to perform all the activities with open-access research papers that academics-as-authors would allow. Thus the rights metadata proposed by the RoMEO Project would appear to meet the usage requirements of most academics
RoMEO Studies 2: How academics wish to protect their open-access research paper
No full textThis paper is the second in a series of studies (see Gadd, E., C. Oppenheim, and S. Probets. RoMEO Studies 1: The impact of copyright ownership on author-self-archiving. Journal of Documentation. 59(3) 243-277) emanating from the UK JISC-funded RoMEO Project (Rights Metadata for Open-archiving). It considers the protection for research papers afforded by UK copyright law, and by e-journal licences. It compares this with the protection required by academic authors for open-access research papers as discovered by the RoMEO academic author survey. The survey used the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL) as a framework for collecting views from 542 academics as to the permissions, restrictions, and conditions they wanted to assert over their works. Responses from self-archivers and non-archivers are compared. Concludes that most academic authors are primarily interested in preserving their moral rights, and that the protection offered research papers by copyright law is way in excess of that required by most academics. It also raises concerns about the level of protection enforced by e-journal licence agreement
Sex differences in Cognitive Abilities Test scores: a UK national picture
No full textBackground and aims. There is uncertainty about the extent or even existence of sex differences in the mean and variability of reasoning test scores ( Jensen, 1998; Lynn, 1994, ; Mackintosh, 1996). This paper analyses the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) scores of a large and representative sample of UK pupils to determine the extent of any sex differences.
Sample. A nationally representative UK sample of over 320,000 school pupils aged 11-12 years was assessed on the CAT (third edition) between September 2001 and August 2003. The CAT includes separate nationally standardized tests for verbal, quantitative, and non-verbal reasoning. The size and recency of the sample is unprecedented in research on this issue.
Methods. The sheer size of the sample ensures that any sex difference will achieve statistical significance. Therefore, effect sizes (d) and variance ratios (VR) are employed to evaluate the magnitude of sex differences in mean scores and in score variability, respectively.
Results. The mean verbal reasoning score for girls was 2.2 standard score points higher than the mean for boys, but only 0.3 standard points in favour of girls for non-verbal reasoning (NVR), and 0.7 points in favour of boys for quantitative reasoning (QR). However, for all three tests there were substantial sex differences in the standard deviation of scores, with greater variance among boys. Boys were over represented relative to girls at both the top and the bottom extremes for all tests, with the exception of the top 10% in verbal reasoning.
Conclusions. Given the small differences in means, explanations for sex differences in wider domains such examination attainment at age 16 need to look beyond conceptions of `ability'. Boys tend to be both the lowest and the highest performers in terms of their reasoning abilities, which warns against the danger of stereotyping boys as low achievers
CSI : Kuhn and Latour
No full textI have been always most moved by those whose views I have ended up opposing. I say
'ended up' because the views are typically ones in which I originally invested considerable
study and interest. But then a version of the 'familiarity breeds contempt' principle
sets in, and my intellectual immune system generates antibodies that ward off later, more
virulent strains of such thinkers' thoughts. So fortified, I welcome the opportunity to
reflect on the significance of Kuhn (1962) and Latour (1987), who have been influential
figures in my thinking about science and technology studies (STS) ever since I began to
encounter the field as a graduate student in the early 1980s. In fact, I had read The Structure
of Scientific Revolutions (SSR) as part of Columbia University's required general education
course, 'Contemporary Civilization', in 1976. As for Latour's work, I first read
Laboratory Life in Mary Hesse’s MPhil seminar at Cambridge in 1980, and I remember
purchasing my copy of Science in Action (SIA) in the Brunel University bookshop shortly
after it came out in 1987. I had been there, I believe, courtesy of early Latour collaborator
Steve Woolgar. The trip also coincided with the founding of the journal Social Epistemology
at the Taylor & Francis headquarters in London. In both cases, my first impression was
very favourable – in a way that did not extend to the rest of their works
Ukrainian Dancers - 03
No full textPhotograph - Evangeline Krawec, a member of the Athabasca Ukrainian Dancers, performing on stage, Athabasca, Alberta. Her father Steve is in the backgroun
Civil Defence Group
No full textPhotograph - Members of the Civil Defence Group at a provincial meeting. Second row, Steve Berezan (1), Harry Bayliss (9). Location unknow
Beginning teachers’ mathematical knowledge: What is needed?
No full textOver the past decade there has been growing interest in describing and measuring the kinds of mathematical knowledge needed by teachers. Such efforts are in parallel with the development of national standards for teachers, indicating levels of expectation across the years of teachers’ careers. This presentation provides an opportunity for teacher educators and teachers to consider the nature of mathematical knowledge needed by beginning teachers at all levels of schooling. Discussion will be informed by data from an ALTC funded national project that aims to improve the quality of pre-service teachers’ outcomes in mathematics and by the AAMT Standards framework
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