At the edge: media constructions of a stigmatised Irish housing estate

By triangulating analyses of content and reception with a focus on production, this article attempts to understand the dynamics of and underlying reasons for the media stigmatisation of place. The research described contributes to a body of work examining how mass media and other social forces factor in the creation of negative stereotypes that damage the reputations of the places in which the poor reside. The overarching framework of understanding, provided by Goffman’s theory of stigma, is complemented by two further inter-related theoretical approaches, namely Social Exclusion and Political Economy. Combining analyses of media production (practices), media content (discourses) and audience reception (beliefs, attitudes), we analyse the representation of one of Ireland’s most deprived public housing estates in the print and broadcast media. Having established the stigmatising character and impact of national and local media content via this tripartite methodology, we focus on identifying and explaining the media practices that serve to (re)produce the estate’s ‘spoiled identity’. Our analysis of journalists’ explanations for these practices identifies the commercial realities, which progressively influence media production, as directly impacting media producers’ relationships with, and depictions of, poor places. We conclude by examining debates regarding the potential for rehabilitating a spoiled identity.     

Proteome profiling-pitfalls and progress

In this review we examine the current state of analytical methods in proteomics. The conventional methodology using two-dimensional electrophoresis gels and mass spectrometry is discussed, with particular reference to the advantages and shortcomings thereof. Two recently published methods which offer an alternative approach are presented and discussed, with emphasis on how they can provide information not available via two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. These two methods are the isotope-coded affinity tags approach of Gygi et al. and the two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry approach as presented by Link et al. We conclude that both of these new techniques represent significant advances in analytical methodology for proteome analysis. Furthermore, we believe that in the future biological research will continue to be enhanced by the continuation of such developments in proteomic analytical technology.     

Vocabulary competence in early childhood: measurement, latent construct, and predictive validity

We systematically examined relations among 6 measures of child language derived from 3 sources, including observations of the child's speech with mother, experimenter assessments, and maternal reports. A total of 184 20-month-olds and their mothers contributed complete information about child language comprehension and expression. Correlations of child language measures with socioeconomic status and maternal education were accounted for, as were correlations of child language measures with mothers' verbal intelligence, maternal report measures with mothers' tendency to respond in a socially desirable fashion, and experimenter assessments with child social competence. Structural equation modeling supported (1) strong relations among child language measures derived from observations of the child's speech with mother, experimenter assessments, and maternal reports; (2) the loading of multiple measures of child language from different sources on a single latent construct of vocabulary competence; and (3) the predictive validity of the vocabulary competence latent variable at 20 months, as well as receptive vocabulary specifically, for both verbal and performance IQ (verbal better than performance) at 48 months. Neither an index of child monologing (a nonvocabulary language measure) nor symbolic play (a nonlinguistic representational measure) covaried with vocabulary competence. Girls consistently outperformed boys on individual language measures, but no differences emerged in any model in the fit for boys and girls.     

Investigation of a Dipole Model for Transient Analysis of Electromagnetic Field Coupling into Long Cables

The authors describe a mathematical model for a long conductor exposed to a high-intensity transient electric field to aid in determining interface requirements at connected equipment. Dipole characteristics of the conductors are used to simulate the impedance and in turn to calculate the induced currents. Example calculations for four models, two conductor lengths, and two conductor sizes, are presented and compared.     

Sex Pheromone Components of the Bronzed Cutworm, Nephelodes minians, a Prey Species of a Bolas Spider, Mastophora hutchinsoni

The bolas spider, Mastophora hutchinsoni, attracts adult males of four species of moths by aggressively mimicking their sex pheromone. Here, we report the identification of two sex pheromone components of one of these species, the bronzed cutworm, Nephelodes minians. Simultaneous gas chromatographic (flame ionization detection) and electroantennographic detection (EAD) analysis of extracts of the sex pheromone glands of female N. minians indicated two components eliciting strong EAD responses from a conspecific male antenna that corresponded in retention time with (Z)-11-hexadecenal (Z11-16:Ald) and (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate (Z11-16:OAc), using both polar and nonpolar columns. Mass spectra of these two peaks were identical to those of synthetic Z11-16:Ald and Z11-16:OAc. The double-bond positions were confirmed by GC-MS analysis of dimethyl disulfide derivatives of the putative pheromone components. In a field test, a 5:1 blend of Z11-16:Ald to Z11-16:OAc attracted male N. minians. Overall, there is no overlap in the chemical constituents of the sex pheromones of three moth species preyed upon by this bolas spider for which pheromones have now been identified. These studies suggest that bolas spiders are versatile in their ability to synthesize semiochemicals for different prey species. This versatility may be advantageous to a predator that has an otherwise extremely specialized hunting tactic.     

Determining the characteristic length of model ice sheets

For determining the characteristic length of a floating ice sheet, a vertical load is applied to the ice sheet either by placing dead weights in discrete increments or with a screw drive apparatus in series with a load cell, and the deflection of the ice sheet is monitored at the point of loading or near it. For a model ice sheet exhibiting creep behavior, the experimental results with the screw apparatus show that the slope of the load—deflection curve decreases as the load increases, and one is not able to choose a unique value of the slope for the computation of characteristic length. This is attributed to relaxation of stress in ice. For tests with sudden placement of dead weights, the elastic response of the ice sheet can be separated from the inelastic response. The latter method gives consistent results for the determination of the characteristic length.The effective modulus of elasticity may be calculated from the characteristic length, but the error in measuring the characteristic length and in assuming a value of Poisson's ratio may result in a greater percentage of error in the modulus of elasticity. It is suggested that the characteristic length of a model ice sheet be scaled in ship resistance and other such tests as it describes the flexural behavior of the ice sheet.     

Clinical assessment applications of ambulatory biosensors.

Ambulatory biosensor assessment includes a diverse set of rapidly developing and increasingly technologically sophisticated strategies to acquire minimally disruptive measures of physiological and motor variables of persons in their natural environments. Numerous studies have measured cardiovascular variables, physical activity, and biochemicals such as cortisol in psychopathology and treatment research. The physiological concomitants of many behavior and medical disorders and the benefits of a multimethod assessment strategy provide strong rationales for clinical applications of ambulatory biosensor measurement. A number of psychometric dimensions of evaluation are important in clinical applications of biosensor measurement, including accuracy and validity, reliability and consistency, clinical utility, incremental validity and utility, sensitivity to change, generalizability, cost benefits, and the conditional nature of dimensions of biomeasure evaluation. The authors review ambulatory biosensor methods and make recommendations for use of the technology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visualization and debugging of distributed multiagent systems

Visualizing the behavior of systems with distributed data, control, and process is a notoriously difficult task. Each component in the distributed system has only a local view of the whole setup, and the onus is on the user to integrate, into a coherent whole, the large amounts of limited information they provide. In this article, we describe an architecture and an implemented system for visualizing and controlling distributed multiagent applications. The system comprises a suite of tools, with each tool providing a different perspective of the application being visualized . Each tool interrogates the components of the distributed application, collates the returned information, and presents this information to users in an appropriate manner. This in essence, shifts the burden ofinference from the user to the visualizer. Our visualizer has been evaluated on four distributed multiagent systems: a travel management application, a telecommunications network management application, a business process management demonstrator, and an electronic commerce application. Lastly, we briefly show how the suite of tools can be used together for debugging multiagent applications - a process we refer to as debugging via corroboration.