The Voice of History and the Message of the National Curriculum: Recontextualising History to a Pedagogic Discourse for Upper Secondary VET

In the reform by the liberal-conservative government of Swedish upper secondary education in 2011, history was recognized as an important part of citizenship education and was introduced into the curriculum for vocational education and training (VET) tracks. Through the concepts of classification and framing, this article explores the process of constructing the history syllabus for VET. The data consist of archived material from the working group responsible for the history curriculum under the Swedish National Agency for Education. The analysis shows that there are competing discourses concerning the relative emphasis on competencies and skills and concerning the emphasis on contemporary and modern history. Although historians, history teachers and other agents are invited to respond to the content of the curriculum, the respondents have no influence on the knowledge structure of the curriculum, which is controlled by agents of the dominant educational ideology. From a critical perspective, this article suggests that the curriculum reflects the instrumental and neoconservative message of the reform through strong classification and framing and through the emphasis on general abilities and a contemporary history that has a more direct explanatory value to contemporary society.

The importance of improving diet in 'Securing Scotland's Health': exploring differences in dietary intake between Scotland and England

Background: Various factors have been investigated to account for the higher premature death rates in Scotland compared to England. Higher levels of deprivation in Scotland provide a partial explanation for these differences but recent work comparing areas of the UK with similar deprivation profiles and low life expectancy has shown that this is not the only reason. One hypothesis yet to be tested adequately is differences in diet and nutrition. Objective: To conduct a comparative analysis of dietary intake between Scotland and England using pooled food purchase data from the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCFS) from 2001 to 2012 and to assess differences in equivalised income quintiles (controlling for survey year, age of household reference person, and age household reference person left full-time education). Results: Lower intakes of fruit and vegetables, oil rich fish, fibre, vitamin A, folate, vitamin C and vitamin D and higher intakes of red and processed meat, whole milk, butter, savoury snacks, confectionary, soft drinks, saturated fat and NMES (added sugar and sugar in fruit juice), sodium and alcohol were found for Scotland compared to England. Differences between Scotland and England were higher for those on lower incomes for dietary components known to be related to health outcomes. For example fruit consumption was 14g/day lower for the lowest income quintile compared to 4 g/day lower in the highest quintile for Scotland versus England. Conclusions: A poorer diet in Scotland compared to England, particularly among disadvantaged groups, is likely to be one of the reasons for excess mortality. The current evidence on the continued poor diet in Scotland, particularly in disadvantaged groups, should not be ignored. Identifying effective, culturally appropriate approaches to improve diet across the population and notably in the most deprived areas needs further investment. Funded by NHS Health Scotland. Data provided by DEFRA, ONS and the UK Data Archive.

The role of intracellular calcium perturbations in muscle damage and dysfunction in mouse models of muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a neuromuscular disease caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. DMD is clinically characterized by severe, progressive and irreversible loss of muscle function, in which most patients lose the ability to walk by their early teens and die by their early 20’s. Impaired intracellular calcium (Ca2+) regulation and activation of cell degradation pathways have been proposed as key contributors to DMD disease progression. This dissertation research consists of three studies investigating the role of intracellular Ca2+ in skeletal muscle dysfunction in different mouse models of DMD. Study one evaluated the role of Ca2+-activated enzymes (proteases) that activate protein degradation in excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling failure following repeated contractions in mdx and dystrophin-utrophin null (mdx/utr-/-) mice. Single muscle fibers from mdx/utr-/- mice had greater E-C coupling failure following repeated contractions compared to fibers from mdx mice. Moreover, protease inhibition during these contractions was sufficient to attenuate E-C coupling failure in muscle fibers from both mdx and mdx/utr-/- mice. Study two evaluated the effects of overexpressing the Ca2+ buffering protein sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase 1 (SERCA1) in skeletal muscles from mdx and mdx/utr-/- mice. Overall, SERCA1 overexpression decreased muscle damage and protected the muscle from contraction-induced injury in mdx and mdx/utr-/- mice. In study three, the cellular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of SERCA1 overexpression in mdx and mdx/utr-/- mice were investigated. SERCA1 overexpression attenuated calpain activation in mdx muscle only, while partially attenuating the degradation of the calpain target desmin in mdx/utr-/- mice. Additionally, SERCA1 overexpression decreased the SERCA-inhibitory protein sarcolipin in mdx muscle but did not alter levels of Ca2+ regulatory proteins (parvalbumin and calsequestrin) in either dystrophic model. Lastly, SERCA1 overexpression blunted the increase in endoplasmic reticulum stress markers Grp78/BiP in mdx mice and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) in mdx and mdx/utr-/- mice. Overall, findings from the studies presented in this dissertation provide new insight into the role of Ca2+ in muscle dysfunction and damage in different dystrophic mouse models. Further, these findings support the overall strategy for improving intracellular Ca2+ control for the development of novel therapies for DMD.

Modeling the Network of Dutch and Flemish Print Production, 1550-1750

The production of artistic prints in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Netherlands was an inherently social process. Turning out prints at any reasonable scale depended on the fluid coordination between designers, platecutters, and publishers; roles that, by the sixteenth century, were considered distinguished enough to merit distinct credits engraved on the plates themselves: invenit, fecit/sculpsit, and excudit. While any one designer, plate cutter, and publisher could potentially exercise a great deal of influence over the production of a single print, their individual decisions (Whom to select as an engraver? What subjects to create for a print design? What market to sell to?) would have been variously constrained or encouraged by their position in this larger network (Who do they already know? And who, in turn, do their contacts know?) This dissertation addresses the impact of these constraints and affordances through the novel application of computational social network analysis to major databases of surviving prints from this period. This approach is used to evaluate several questions about trends in early modern print production practices that have not been satisfactorily addressed by traditional literature based on case studies alone: Did the social capital demanded by print production result in centralized, or distributed production of prints? When, and to what extent, did printmakers and publishers in the Low countries favor international versus domestic collaborators? And were printmakers under the same pressure as painters to specialize in particular artistic genres? This dissertation ultimately suggests how simple professional incentives endemic to the practice of printmaking may, at large scales, have resulted in quite complex patterns of collaboration and production. The framework of network analysis surfaces the role of certain printmakers who tend to be neglected in aesthetically-focused histories of art. This approach also highlights important issues concerning art historians’ balancing of individual influence versus the impact of longue durée trends. Finally, this dissertation also raises questions about the current limitations and future possibilities of combining computational methods with cultural heritage datasets in the pursuit of historical research.

Guiding Monte Carlo tree searches with neural networks in the game of go

A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements to the degree of Master in Computer Science and Computer Engineering

Joseph McKeen and the soul of Bowdoin College: an analysis of the chapel sermons of Rev. Joseph McKeen, first president of Bowdoin College, as they relate to his call to serve the common good

The Reverend Joseph McKeen (1757-1807) was the first president of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, USA, (founded 1794). McKeen is famous for his inaugural address in which he calls students to serve the common good. His view of common good is a deeply theological view, coloured by the theological era in which he lived and worked. This study examines the idea of common in the light of McKeen’s college sermons, taking note of the following subjects: Scottish Common Sense Realism; The Nature of True Virtue; The Controversy with Unitarianism; and Science and Mathematics. McKeen’s view of common good is not simply a political view. He is not merely a republican, expressing his views on the future of the republic in a classical political way. He is also, indeed primarily, a pastor and theologian.

Consideration of the relevance of standard quality techniques in Mass Customisation

The business philosophy of Mass Customisation (MC) implies rapid response to customer requests, high efficiency and limited cost overheads of customisation. Furthermore, it also implies the quality benefits of the mass production paradigm are guaranteed. However, traditional quality science in manufacturing is premised on volume production of uniform products rather than of differentiated products associated with MC. This creates quality challenges and raises questions over the suitability of standard quality engineering techniques. From an analysis of relevant MC and quality literature it is argued the aims of MC are aligned with contemporary thinking on quality and that quality concepts provide insights into MC. Quality issues are considered along three dimensions - product development, order fulfilment and customer interaction. The applicability and effectiveness of conventional quality engineering techniques are discussed and a framework is presented which identifies key issues with respect to quality for a spectrum of MC strategies.

COMMUNICATION, SUBJECT, CULTURE: JOYS AND SOLITUDE INAUGURAL LECTURE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR 2002 OF THE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY, DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION

When you are invited to offer a conference like this, can not stop having a series of questions and considerations about the very fact of speaking to an audience informed and educated about the issues that the title might suggest exposure and how without falling into the usual cliches, without repeating the views and opinions set forth, if not obvious. I propose, then, establish, as a starting point, two things: the first is a promise: I will not talk about internet, a recurrent theme in his classes and activities. The second is a kind of contract between you and me: check out the obviousness of some views and question it, see it from behind, because that is where we might find the seams, some of the patches, if not outright nudity. I wonder if this is not precisely one of the first tasks of teaching in the University: to force what seems obvious to justify its obviousness, which is not easy.We can start messing things up a bit, looking like a very smooth and made ​​some surrealist poets to cut one by one the words of poems and writings, throw them into the air and read with amazement the order they fall to form a new verse, Perhaps more interesting and evocative than the first. Is not this somewhat random operation of new blends the fundamental operation of so many new discoveries and innovative ideas in the fields of science, culture, arts? Some of you know the thought of Pascal says: "Do not say that I am not proposing something new: the order in which the material presented is different."

Studying and measuring the amount of detergents in sea-water samples in order to eliminate with adsorbents and inorganic nano-adsorbents for the sake of securing the water for marine nourishment pools

Increasing the amount of detergent industries in world in spite of having abundant benefits; entering a new kind of contamination into environment and attract the attention of environment liable of different countries to itself. Entering detergents into an aqueous solution cause pollution of water sources and environment in respect of appearing e problem and charges like: nutritive phenomenon, decomposition of hard group of detergent and producing foam. After using Detergents, they were poured into rivers, seas and lakes and have destructive effect on environment. A lot of hygiene problems were attributed to the water having detergents more than allowed value. So, it is specified the importance of eliminating detergents from contaminated water and it is application for secondary use. In order to attain to this aim, we can use inorganic nano and micro-caolin. In this study the adsorptive properties of detergent on the micro and nano caolin adsorbents were studied and the effect of various parameters like the amount of adsorptive materials, initial concentration of detergent, speed of stirring, electrolyte, temperature, time and pH were determined. The surface area of micro- and nano-caoline was reported 11.867 and 49.1438 m2 g-1, respectively. That increasing in nano-caoline surface area confirms increasing in capacity and more rate of adsorption. The results gained by this research recommend using micro- and nano-caolin as a plentiful, available and effective adsorbents. Also in comparison, using nano-caoline was recommended in order to have more effectiveness.

Investigate the effect of antibacterial ingredients used in marine paints in sea water

In this study, consider to the mechanism of controlled depletion paint, has been made the Antifouling (A/F) paints that use these in a paint system which applied on the steel. As a first step, it is necessary to prove that the system subject to investigation does fit into the mechanisms proposed for the CDPs system. According to this, the machine was designed and built as for ASTM D5108-90, D4939-89. Specimens immersed in natural sea water and were rotating by 60 r/min rotor. Painted specimens were tested for 59 days. The main objective of this study was to investigate if new antifouling paint are less toxic than traditional paint and more efficient. For this reason, Zineb and Ziram which is an ingredient in antifouling paints, was also studied. Zineb and Ziram are known as booster biocides in A/P composition. We used the Zineb and Ziram and synthesis of these in a A/F paints. The concentration of booster biocides are 3% and 6% in paints. We use scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for evaluation of paint film. The settlement and the growth of living organism on immersed surfaces was observed during 59 days. According to reports, the growth of organism was observed for A/F paint contains, 3% Zineb after 20days,3%Ziram after 24days and 3% Zineb +Ziram after 30days. By measuring leached rate of the Zn in A/F paints, we figured out the effectiveness of booster biocides on the growth of organism, for example in the absence of booster biocides, the critical released rate for preventing biofilm for A/F paint with ZnO is 15 μg/cm2day. This despite the fact that this figure for A/F paint contain Zineb is 4 μg/cm2, Ziram is 3 μg/cm2 and Zineb +Ziram is 2 μg/cm2.

The role of context in image annotation and recommendation

With the rise of smart phones, lifelogging devices (e.g. Google Glass) and popularity of image sharing websites (e.g. Flickr), users are capturing and sharing every aspect of their life online producing a wealth of visual content. Of these uploaded images, the majority are poorly annotated or exist in complete semantic isolation making the process of building retrieval systems difficult as one must firstly understand the meaning of an image in order to retrieve it. To alleviate this problem, many image sharing websites offer manual annotation tools which allow the user to “tag” their photos, however, these techniques are laborious and as a result have been poorly adopted; Sigurbjörnsson and van Zwol (2008) showed that 64% of images uploaded to Flickr are annotated with < 4 tags. Due to this, an entire body of research has focused on the automatic annotation of images (Hanbury, 2008; Smeulders et al., 2000; Zhang et al., 2012a) where one attempts to bridge the semantic gap between an image’s appearance and meaning e.g. the objects present. Despite two decades of research the semantic gap still largely exists and as a result automatic annotation models often offer unsatisfactory performance for industrial implementation. Further, these techniques can only annotate what they see, thus ignoring the “bigger picture” surrounding an image (e.g. its location, the event, the people present etc). Much work has therefore focused on building photo tag recommendation (PTR) methods which aid the user in the annotation process by suggesting tags related to those already present. These works have mainly focused on computing relationships between tags based on historical images e.g. that NY and timessquare co-exist in many images and are therefore highly correlated. However, tags are inherently noisy, sparse and ill-defined often resulting in poor PTR accuracy e.g. does NY refer to New York or New Year? This thesis proposes the exploitation of an image’s context which, unlike textual evidences, is always present, in order to alleviate this ambiguity in the tag recommendation process. Specifically we exploit the “what, who, where, when and how” of the image capture process in order to complement textual evidences in various photo tag recommendation and retrieval scenarios. In part II, we combine text, content-based (e.g. # of faces present) and contextual (e.g. day-of-the-week taken) signals for tag recommendation purposes, achieving up to a 75% improvement to precision@5 in comparison to a text-only TF-IDF baseline. We then consider external knowledge sources (i.e. Wikipedia & Twitter) as an alternative to (slower moving) Flickr in order to build recommendation models on, showing that similar accuracy could be achieved on these faster moving, yet entirely textual, datasets. In part II, we also highlight the merits of diversifying tag recommendation lists before discussing at length various problems with existing automatic image annotation and photo tag recommendation evaluation collections. In part III, we propose three new image retrieval scenarios, namely “visual event summarisation”, “image popularity prediction” and “lifelog summarisation”. In the first scenario, we attempt to produce a rank of relevant and diverse images for various news events by (i) removing irrelevant images such memes and visual duplicates (ii) before semantically clustering images based on the tweets in which they were originally posted. Using this approach, we were able to achieve over 50% precision for images in the top 5 ranks. In the second retrieval scenario, we show that by combining contextual and content-based features from images, we are able to predict if it will become “popular” (or not) with 74% accuracy, using an SVM classifier. Finally, in chapter 9 we employ blur detection and perceptual-hash clustering in order to remove noisy images from lifelogs, before combining visual and geo-temporal signals in order to capture a user’s “key moments” within their day. We believe that the results of this thesis show an important step towards building effective image retrieval models when there lacks sufficient textual content (i.e. a cold start).

Boosting the performance of metaheuristics for the MinLA problem using a more discriminating evaluation function

International audience

Fundamentals for the Development of a Performance Analysis Approach in Collaborative Networks

Part 15: Performance Management Frameworks

The Impact of Motor Learning on Motor Behavior and Cortical Dynamics in a Complex Stressful Social Environment

An economy of effort is a core characteristic of highly skilled motor performance often described as being effortless or automatic. Electroencephalographic (EEG) evaluation of cortical activity in elite performers has consistently revealed a reduction in extraneous associative cortical activity and an enhancement of task-relevant cortical processes. However, this has only been demonstrated under what are essentially practice-like conditions. Recently it has been shown that cerebral cortical activity becomes less efficient when performance occurs in a stressful, complex social environment. This dissertation examines the impact of motor skill training or practice on the EEG cortical dynamics that underlie performance in a stressful, complex social environment. Sixteen ROTC cadets participated in head-to-head pistol shooting competitions before and after completing nine sessions of skill training over three weeks. Spectral power increased in the theta frequency band and decreased in the low alpha frequency band after skill training. EEG Coherence increased in the left frontal region and decreased in the left temporal region after the practice intervention. These suggest a refinement of cerebral cortical dynamics with a reduction of task extraneous processing in the left frontal region and an enhancement of task related processing in the left temporal region consistent with the skill level reached by participants. Partitioning performance into ‘best’ and ‘worst’ based on shot score revealed that deliberate practice appears to optimize cerebral cortical activity of ‘best’ performances which are accompanied by a reduction in task-specific processes reflected by increased high-alpha power, while ‘worst’ performances are characterized by an inappropriate reduction in task-specific processing resulting in a loss of focus reflected by higher high-alpha power after training when compared to ‘best’ performances. Together, these studies demonstrate the power of experience afforded by practice, as a controllable factor, to promote resilience of cerebral cortical efficiency in complex environments.

The effect of calcium applications on kiwifruit quality preservation during storage

It is well known that calcium increases storage life of many fruits. This study investigated the effect of vine calcium application, as well as postharvest application on storage behaviour of 'Hayward' kiwifruit. Three applications of 0.03% CaCl2 or CaO were made in June, July and September. After harvest half of the fruit from sprayed vines were dipped in a solution of 2% CaCl2; the other fruit were untreated. All fruit were then stored at 0 degrees C and relative humidity of about 90-95%. Results for fruit of the size range 85-105 g are discussed. Kiwifruit dipped in 2% CaCl2 postharvest maintained higher firmness through storage than undipped fruit, but soluble solids content was only slightly lower after storage. This suggests that postharvest dipping of kiwifruit in 2% CaCl2 benefits storage life. The concentrations of 0.03% CaCl2 (Antistip) or 0.03% CaO (Chelal) used in vine applications seem to be too low and higher concentrations should be tried.