Digital Commons Network^™

Reporting And Comparing School Performances, Geoff N. Masters, Glenn Rowley, John Ainley, Siek Toon Khoo

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This report provides advice on the collection and reporting of information about the performances of Australian schools. The focus is on the collection of nationally comparable data. Two purposes are envisaged: use by education authorities and governments to monitor school performances and, in particular, to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances; and use by parents/caregivers and the public to make informed judgements about, and meaningful comparisons of, schools and their offerings. Our advice is based on a review of recent Australian and international research and experience in reporting on the performances of schools. …

Australian Certificate Of Education: Exploring A Way Forward, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Geoff Masters explains why Australia needs greater national consistency in senior school certificates and how an Australian Certificate of Education would likely benefit all Australian students.

Switchable Polarization-Independent Liquid-Crystal Fabry-Perot Filter, Enkh-Amgalan Dorjgotov, Achintya K. Bhowmik, Philip J. Bos

Philip J. Bos

A new approach to a polarization-independent twisted liquid-crystal (LC) structure, where phase difference between orthogonal eigenmodes is tuned to be an integer multiple of 2 pi, is demonstrated with a numerical model. For select wavelengths, polarization-independent operation can be achieved by tuning the twist rate and thickness of the LC cavity Applications can be found in polarization-independent switches and field sequential wavelength selection devices.

Virtual R&D Teams: A Sustainable Infrastructure For Promoting Smes, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a major part of the industrial economies. Their survival and growth has therefore been a prominent issue. Research and development (R&D) enables firms to create new technologies and/or to build on existing technologies obtained through technology transfer. Nowadays unpredictable environment suggests that many firms seek new ways of conducting their business through some kind of R&D activities to make a profit and stay ahead of the competition. To survive in the global economy SMEs have to improve their products and processes exploiting their intellectual capital in a dynamic network of knowledge-intensive relations inside …

Hertzian Plasmonic Nanodimer As An Efficient Optical Nanoantenna, Andrea Alù, Nader Engheta

Nader Engheta

Inspired by the geometry and shape of the classical radio-frequency radiator, the Hertzian dipole, here we analyze the design of a plasmonic optical dimer nanoantenna. We show how it may be possible to operate a pair of closely spaced spherical nanoparticles as an efficient optical nanoradiator, and how its tuning and matching properties may be tailored with great degree of freedom by designing suitable nanoloads placed at the dimer gap. In this sense, we successfully apply nanocircuit concepts to model the loading nanoparticles. High levels of optical radiation efficiency are achieved, even considering the realistic absorption of optical metals, thanks …

Benchmark Forecasts For Climate Change, Kester C. Green, J. Scott Armstrong, Willie Soon

J. Scott Armstrong

We assessed three important criteria of forecastability—simplicity, certainty, and variability. Climate is complex due to many causal variables and their variable interactions. There is uncertainty about causes, effects, and data. Using evidence-based (scientific) forecasting principles, we determined that a naïve "no change" extrapolation method was the appropriate benchmark. To be useful to policy makers, a proposed forecasting method would have to provide forecasts that were substantially more accurate than the benchmark. We calculated benchmark forecasts against the UK Met Office Hadley Centre's annual average thermometer data from 1850 through 2007. For 20- and 50-year horizons the mean absolute errors were …

Effects Of Size And Frequency Dispersion In Plasmonic Cloaking, Andrea Alù, Nader Engheta

Andrea Alù

The plasmonic venue to realize invisibility and cloaking [A. Alù and N. Engheta, Phys. Rev. E 72, 016623 (2005)] is analyzed here in terms of its limitations and its frequency dispersion relative to the cloak size. Intrinsic limits due to causality and comparison with transformation-based cloaking techniques are discussed and analyzed. An interestingly simple low-dispersion cloak is also suggested for background materials with larger refractive index. These results may shed light on this scattering cancellation phenomenon, suggesting potential applications in scattering reduction and noninvasive probing.

Hertzian Plasmonic Nanodimer As An Efficient Optical Nanoantenna, Andrea Alù, Nader Engheta

Andrea Alù

Inspired by the geometry and shape of the classical radio-frequency radiator, the Hertzian dipole, here we analyze the design of a plasmonic optical dimer nanoantenna. We show how it may be possible to operate a pair of closely spaced spherical nanoparticles as an efficient optical nanoradiator, and how its tuning and matching properties may be tailored with great degree of freedom by designing suitable nanoloads placed at the dimer gap. In this sense, we successfully apply nanocircuit concepts to model the loading nanoparticles. High levels of optical radiation efficiency are achieved, even considering the realistic absorption of optical metals, thanks …

Using Computer-Based Case Studies For Developing Information Searching Skills And Implementing Evidence-Based Medicine In Patient Care Plans., Anthony J. Frisby, Daniel G. Kipnis

Daniel G. Kipnis

Since 1987 over 1,300 first year medical students at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA have completed a required Medical Informatics course. This course is the responsibility of the Library’s Education Services division. Designed to develop information-searching skills and teach methods for evaluating evidence-based medicine, the course employs a combination of self-paced online tutorials and case studies. The case studies in particular have proven to be a very effective learning tool. Course evaluations are consistently positive, with comments citing the interesting case studies and the effectiveness and appropriateness of the teaching method. This chapter describes the case development process, presents …

Developing And Sustaining A Web-Based Library Newsletter, Liz Mikita, Daniel G. Kipnis, Anthony J. Frisby

Daniel G. Kipnis

Before the rising popularity of the Internet in the mid 1990s, Scott Memorial Library, like most others, used printed newsletters to inform users about new resources and services. The JEFFLINE Forum, our attempt to resuscitate the Library's newsletter by employing the technical advantages-and increasing presence-of the Web, debuted in October of 1999. The fifth anniversary of the Forum seemed like a good time to look back at its evolution and to examine some of the challenges inherent in developing and sustaining a library newsletter.

Multi-Disciplinary Medical Case Study Development For First Year Medical Students, Daniel G. Kipnis, Anthony J. Frisby, Liz Mikita

Daniel G. Kipnis

This poster will describe the history of the medical informatics course and the process of designing the case studies to fit into the new course management system, and will review the experiences of the librarians involved.

Librarians In The Woods Hole Biomedical Informatics Course, Jane Bridges, Christian J Miller, Daniel G. Kipnis

Daniel G. Kipnis

What has come to be known as the "Woods Hole course," Biomedical Informatics, is a week-long course sponsored by the National Library of Medicine which has been offered since 1992. Its participants include librarians, clinicians, educators, and administrators. This article discusses the content of the course and its applicability to medical librarians.

Educating Generation X And Generation Y: Teaching Tips For Librarians., Daniel G. Kipnis, Gary M. Childs

Daniel G. Kipnis

This article provides a list of helpful teaching tips for instructional librarians who need to meet the changing generational needs of their patrons. Specific generational qualities and attitudes of Generation X and Generation Y are discussed along with educational techniques and software recommendations. These tips are based on the authors' experiences at Drexel University's Hahnemann Library and Thomas Jefferson University's Scott Memorial Library, both of which are academic health sciences libraries.

Gokilaht®-S 5ec Testing On Culex Quinquefasciatus Say Larvae For An Early Detection In Esterase And Monooxygenase Resistance System, Soam Prakash, Gavendra Singh

Soam Prakash

Collaborative Co-Design: The Cal Poly Digital Teaching Library User Centric Approach, Mary M. Somerville, Navjit Brar

Navjit Brar

Undergraduate students currently enrolled in US universities represent the first generations to grow up with the digital technologies developed and disseminated in the last decades of the 20th century. Having spent their entire lives using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, email, instant messaging, and all the other tools and toys of contemporary technology, they think differently (Prensky, December 2001). As a consequence, today’s students are not the people that the US educational system was designed to teach (Prensky, October 2001). It is also the case that traditional design approaches are insufficient for developing enabling information management …

A User-Centered And Evidence-Based Approach For Digital Library Projects, Mary M. Somerville, Navjit Brar

Navjit Brar

Purpose–Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) processes fortified by collaborative evidence-based librarianship (EBL) principles can guide end-user involvement in digital library project design and development. User-generated research examples reveal the efficacy of this inclusive human-focused approach for building systems. Design/Methodology/Approach– From 2003 to 2006, user-centered interaction design guided increasingly complex human-computer interaction (HCI) projects at California Polytechnic State University. Toward that end, project planners invited polytechnic students, supervised by computer science professors, to assess peers’ information seeking needs. This student-generated evidence informed creation of paper prototypes and implementation of usability tests. Sustained relationships between planners and beneficiaries permitted iterative evaluation and continuous …

An Ugly Game, John R. Kilbourne

John R. Kilbourne

As a college professor and parent of a college athlete, I have been reading with great interest reports that small colleges have been seeking to increase their enrollments by promoting their sports programs. An article in The Chronicle last fall, for example, described how the president of Adrian College, in Michigan, devised a plan to raise enrollment by expanding the institution's intercollegiate-athletics program and assigning recruiting quotas to its coaches. Adrian's recruiting plan requires its 16 head coaches to sign up almost 200 athletes per year. Coaches who fail to meet their assigned quotas risk losing their jobs. The total …

Physicians' Experiences With Brca1/2 Testing In Community Settings., Nancy L. Keating, Kathryn A. Stoeckert, Meredith M. Regan, Lisa Digianni, Judy E. Garber

Kathryn Sabella

Tending The Vineyard: Maritime Religion On Martha's Vineyard From 1824-1978, Steven H. Park

Steven H. Park

The first part of this paper will give a brief introduction to maritime missiology, the second section will trace the beginnings of the Boston Seaman’s Friend Society in the nineteenth century and the third will focus on the Vineyard Haven branch of that work well into the twentieth century. Using source material from the American Seamen’s Friend Society - there is a 5,000 document collection of the ASFS papers in the G.W. Blunt White Library at Mystic Seaport, the Boston Seaman’s Friend Society - whose papers are mostly in the Congregational House on Beacon Hill in Boston, and other secondary …

“I Don’T Mean To Be Defiant Or Anything…”: Instructional Films For Girls, 1945-1960, Jill Anderson

Jill E. Anderson

No abstract provided.

Labor Rights In The Generalized System Of Preferences: A 20-Year Review, Lance A. Compa, Jeffrey S. Vogt

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt]In the fall of 1982, a small group of labor, religious, and human rights activists began charting a new course for human rights and workers' rights in American trade policy. The principles of these labor rights advocates were straightforward: 1. No country should attract investment or gain an edge in international trade by violating workers' rights; 2. No company operating in global trade should gain a competitive edge by violating workers' rights; and, 3. Workers have a right to demand protection for labor rights in the international trade system, and to have laws to accomplish it. The coalition that took …

...And The Twain Shall Meet?, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] No country or company should gain a commercial edge in international trade by jailing or killing union organizers, crushing independent union movements, or banning strikes. Gaining an advantage in labor costs should not depend on exploiting child labor or forced labor, or discriminating against women or oppressed ethnic groups. Deliberately exposing workers to life-threatening safety and health hazards, or holding wages and benefits below livable levels should not be permissible corporate strategies. But these are exactly the abuses that happen all too often in a rapidly globalized world trading system based on "free trade."

Corporate Social Responsibility And Workers’ Rights, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] Corporate social responsibility (CSR) brings an important dimension to the global economy. CSR can enhance human rights, labor rights, and labor standards in the workplace by joining consumer power and socially responsible business leadership—not just leadership in Nike headquarters in Oregon or Levi Strauss headquarters in California, but leadership in trading house headquarters in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and leadership at the factory level in Dongguan and Shenzhen. Ten years ago, I would not have said this. I viewed corporate social responsibility and corporate codes of conduct as public relations maneuvers to pacify concerned consumers. Behind a facade of …

Training And Service Quality: A Case Study Analysis Of Regional Australian Restaurants, Grant Cairncross, Simon J. Wilde, Lucinda Hutchinson

Dr Simon J Wilde

The incorporation of training procedures, both formal and informal, within hospitality firms is recognised as a vital element in achieving sustainable perceived service quality. Yet, despite this importance, relatively little is known about the extent, nature and determinants of training in hospitality firms in regional Australia. Restaurants in particular have proven hard to analyse because many are what the Australian Bureau of Statistics calls micro-businesses who employ less than five staff, or are small businesses with five to twenty employees, and have little in the way of training resources and expertise in the area. An examination of six restaurants in …

Factors For Business Establishment In Regional Australia: An Analysis Of The Mid North Coast Of New South Wales, Douglas Neil, Margaret Frances Drever, Bruce Armstrong, Don Dingsdag

Dr Bruce Armstrong

This paper examines reasons why businesses relocated or established on the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The region is characterised by having one of the highest levels of unemployment in Australia, one of the lowest average incomes and a high dependency on social security infrastructure. The region also has a climate, which has been described as one of the best in Australia. These conditions make it an attractive location for ‘lifestyle’ reasons as well as a large reserve of unutilised labour. Data used in the preparation of the paper was gathered initially in 1996 and updated …

The Right Of Public Participation In The Law-Making Process And The Role Of The Legislature In The Promotion Of This Right, Karen Czapanskiy, Rashida Manjoo

Karen Czapanskiy

In 2006, the South African Constitutional Court found a constitutional right to participate in the legislative process in the case of Doctors for Life, Case CCT 12/05 (decided 17 August 2006). In this article, we argue that, first, legislation is better when legislators are required to invite and attend to public input, and, second, citizenship is better when legislators are required to invite and attend to public input. Doctors for Life puts South Africa on the road to improving both legislation and citizenship. In the United States, this road is largely untraveled. While rejecting traditional representative democracy as an adequate …

Yisd Honor Choir, Elisa Fraser Wilson

Elisa Fraser Wilson

Dr. WIlson was the featured clinician for the annual Ysleta Independent School District's Honor Choir. For two days, Dr. Wilson rehearsed the ensemble, comprised of the top singers in the YISD, working on ensemble skills and technique in preparation for the final concert, which she conducted.

Choosing Among Unequals: A Statistical Solution To A Stalemate, Durgesh Chandra Pathak

Durgesh Chandra Pathak

In Uttar Pradesh, a new tradition has been started of selecting B.Ed degree holders for a job in Primary Schools and it has been named "Vishisht BTC". Applying their own logic, the ruling governments use variuos criterion to select the candidates. The basic problem is that they have to choose candidates on the basis of merit of their marks in various exams. Now, it is well-established fact that marking is not similar in all universities/colleges. So for a same exam, there can be much inter-university as well as intra-university variation in marks given to students. The point is that student …

Dealing With Virtual R&D Teams In New Product Development, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

National and global collaboration in research and development (R&D) is becoming increasingly important in creating the knowledge that makes research and business more competitive. Multinational enterprises have increased their research and development (R&D) investment in different countries. These multiple sites encourage the development of more ideas, due to the varied international backgrounds in global networks and the knowledge spillovers. In order to secure the viability of business processes, services and products R&D teams need to access and retrieve information from as many sources as possible. From the other perspective virtual teams are important mechanisms for organizations seeking to control scarce …

Giant Sequoia Insect, Disease, And Ecosystem Interactions, Douglas D. Piirto

Douglas D. Piirto

Individual trees of giant sequoia (Sequoia gigantea [Lindl.] Decne.) have demonstrated a capacity to attain both a long life and very large size. It is not uncommon to find old-growth giant sequoia trees in their native range that are 1,500 years old and over 15 feet in diameter at breast height. The ability of individual giant sequoia trees to survive over such long periods of time has often been attributed to the species high resistance to disease, insect, and fire damage. Such a statement, however, is a gross oversimplification, given broader ecosystem and temporal interactions. For example, why isn't there …