Use Of Such Sites Research Articles

The ethical professional as endangered person: blog notes on doctor–patient relationships

In theory, physicians subscribe to and in their actions personify a set of virtues whose performance demands personal engagement. At the same time, they are instructed in their professional roles...

Comparing Biomass Yields of Low-Input High-Diversity Communities with Managed Monocultures Across the Central United States

Biofuel cropping expansion is increasing pressure on food, grazing, and conservation lands. Debate over the efficacy of converting diverse native plant communities to managed monocultures prompted us to explore the extensive crop and ecological site productivity databases maintained by US Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service. We compared annual net primary productivity (ANPP) of diverse native plant communities to ANPP of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma; to coastal bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers.) in northern and central Texas; and to buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare [L.] Link.) in extreme southern Texas. In only 21% of the 1,238 sites in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma did native communities produce more or equivalent ANPP compared with managed alfalfa or coastal bermudagrass. In contrast, southern Texas native communities had greater ANPP than did buffelgrass at 81% of the sites. Regression analyses based on these results suggested that managed switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) ANPP would consistently exceed native community ANPP. We identified the type of sites that could remain in diverse communities or be converted to diverse communities and have productivity as great as or greater than highly managed monocultures of alfalfa, coastal bermudagrass, or buffelgrass. However, because of the low ANPP on these sites, biomass production may not be the optimal use of such sites. These lands may be better suited to providing other ecosystem services.

Social Networking Sites and Graduate Recruitment: Sharing Online Activities?

The increasing impact of social networking sites in communication and socializing worldwide brings attention to how they affect recruitment processes of graduates in organizations. Many employers are now searching for graduates’ data to complement their assessment of job candidates and hiring decisions. While this still is not developed as a common practice by (HR) practitioners and recruiters, existing research remains underdeveloped from the perspective of graduates’ use of such sites. In this paper we analyze key impacts of cyber personal data of social networking sites for students and graduates’ job opportunities. We use a combination of activity theory and interpretive analysis of data we obtain from graduates participation in several popular social networking sites, which enables us to ascertain more clearly the role that sites could play in recruitment. Findings from graduates’ experiences indicate that such sites have been used by a large proportion of them and with a variety of purposes. Graduates use these sites to post their cyber personal data to reflect their daily lives, with no little or no regard for the content and its potential effects on employers. This leads us to suggest the importance for graduates to project an adequate perspective of their daily activity to potential employers on social networking sites and for further clarification on how they can become a common reference for both employers and graduates.

Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites

Are there systematic differences between people who use social network sites and those who stay away, despite a familiarity with them? Based on data from a survey administered to a diverse group of young adults, this article looks at the predictors of SNS usage, with particular focus on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and Friendster. Findings suggest that use of such sites is not randomly distributed across a group of highly wired users. A person's gender, race and ethnicity, and parental educational background are all associated with use, but in most cases only when the aggregate concept of social network sites is disaggregated by service. Additionally, people with more experience and autonomy of use are more likely to be users of such sites. Unequal participation based on user background suggests that differential adoption of such services may be contributing to digital inequality.

Aphasia websites: An examination of their quality and communicative accessibility

Background : Studies have examined Internet use as a source of information by various populations, however no study has examined the quality and accessibility of websites for people with aphasia, or their use of such sites. Aims : This study aimed to describe the quality, communicative accessibility, and readability of a sample of aphasia websites and to determine whether sites preferred by people with aphasia were those rated highly on measures of accessibility and quality. The perceptions of people with aphasia regarding the accessibility of the sites were compared with those of speech pathologists. The relationship between the quality and communicative accessibility of websites was analysed. Factors that may influence use of the Internet by people with aphasia and speech pathologists were explored. Methods & Procedures : Tools for measuring quality and communicative accessibility were developed and a sample of five websites was selected. Two participant groups (18 speech pathologists and 6 people with aphasia) assessed aphasia websites in terms of communicative accessibility. Speech pathologists also rated website quality. Spearman's rho was used to determine levels of agreement between variables. Outcomes & Results : People with aphasia and speech pathologists showed minimal agreement on their perceptions of communicative accessibility. However, when the preferences of people with aphasia and overall ratings were considered, both groups agreed that two specific websites (Aphasia Help and Speakability) were of a very high standard. There was a weak relationship between quality and communicative accessibility, however it was not statistically significant. Conclusions : Accessible websites are not necessarily of high quality, and quality websites are not guaranteed to be easily accessible. People with aphasia did not agree with speech pathologists as to what makes a good aphasia website. Therefore, people with aphasia should be involved in the design of aphasia websites since they are often the intended users. If Internet use by people with aphasia increases in line with other health populations, speech pathologists need to have the skills and confidence to recommend appropriate sites to their clients.

Negotiating cross-cultural difference in electronic discussion

Although a good deal of research exists both on computer-mediated communication(CMC) and on cross-cultural communication, rarely are the two areas brought together. In practice, however, extrapolation from one context to the other is common, with the internet and email being increasingly used to teach cross-cultural communication. What assumptions about the transfer of culture into cyberspace inform these practices? And are these assumptions well-founded? This paper explores practices of discussion on French and British internet media sites to determine the extent to which they reflect communicative practices elsewhere in those cultures. The case studies underline the importance of attending to the interaction between culture and genre, and have pedagogical implications for the use of such sites in the teaching of cross-cultural communication.

Use of a behavioral health web site and service utilization.

18 A some regard mental health Web sites as a useful adjunct to therapy, a primary concern has been the use of such sites as a “BandAid,” which may delay or prevent consumers from obtaining much-needed mental health care (1,2). This study examined whether allowing free access to a behavioral health care Web site would affect the use of mental health services in a random sample of 1,806 adults who were enrolled in United Behavioral Health, a national managed behavioral health organization, and who had accessed their benefits for the first time. Members were randomly assigned to a group that received free and confidential access to the Web site (N=1,211) and a control group that had no access (N=595). Members of the first group were informed about their access by mail during the week of July 9, 2001; the second group received no information. Use of mental health services was tracked over a four-month period. Of the 1,211 members with access, 54 (4.5 percent) signed on to the Web site’s home page at least once during the four months. Neither Web site access nor logging on to the site were predictive of a mental health visit. No significant difference was found between the group that had Web site access and the control group in the time from the date the member requested an authorization to see a mental health clinician and the Use of a Behavioral Health Web Site and Service Utilization

News from Australia and New Zealand

Details are provided on the recent developments in the establishment and use of Web sites by Industrial Property Offices and the potential use of such sites as a means of publishing industrial property information is explored.

The RNA-binding protein TIA-1 is a novel mammalian splicing regulator acting through intron sequences adjacent to a 5' splice site.

Splicing of the K-SAM alternative exon of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 gene is heavily dependent on the U-rich sequence IAS1 lying immediately downstream from its 5' splice site. We show that IAS1 can activate the use of several heterologous 5' splice sites in vitro. Addition of the RNA-binding protein TIA-1 to splicing extracts preferentially enhances the use of 5' splice sites linked to IAS1. TIA-1 can provoke a switch to use of such sites on pre-mRNAs with competing 5' splice sites, only one of which is adjacent to IAS1. Using a combination of UV cross-linking and specific immunoprecipitation steps, we show that TIA-1 binds to IAS1 in cell extracts. This binding is stronger if IAS1 is adjacent to a 5' splice site and is U1 snRNP dependent. Overexpression of TIA-1 in cultured cells activates K-SAM exon splicing in an IAS1-dependent manner. If IAS1 is replaced with a bacteriophage MS2 operator, splicing of the K-SAM exon can no longer be activated by TIA-1. Splicing can, however, be activated by a TIA-1-MS2 coat protein fusion, provided that the operator is close to the 5' splice site. Our results identify TIA-1 as a novel splicing regulator, which acts by binding to intron sequences immediately downstream from a 5' splice site in a U1 snRNP-dependent fashion. TIA-1 is distantly related to the yeast U1 snRNP protein Nam8p, and the functional similarities between the two proteins are discussed.

The internet and its value for industrial property offices

Details are provided on the recent developments in the establishment and use of Web sites by Industrial Property Offices and the potential use of such sites as a means of publishing industrial property information is explored.

27Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy investigation of thermal transformation sequences of alumina hydrates. Part 1.—Gibbsite, γ-Al(OH)3

High-resolution 27Al magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MAS NMR)(78.15 MHz) spectra are reported for commercial and natural gibbsites and materials occurring in the thermal transformation sequences of gibbsite (boehmite; χ, α and ρ-aluminas; calcines produced at 400, 700, 900 and 1000 °C). Separate peaks assignable to aluminiums in near-regular six- and four-co-ordination in oxygen are observed for the materials in which use of such sites is believed to occur. For ρ-alumina a third peak (at 27 ppm) is seen due to the presence of Al in five-co-ordination. κ-Alumina may retain approximately hexagonal-close-packed oxygens (with a defect structure leading to a grossly asymmetric contributory line from four-co-ordinate Al) or may contain some five-co-ordinate Al (AlO5) in addition to AlO6 and AlO4 environments (and hence have oxygen packing deviating from h.c.p.). Distortions/disorders (when present) result in broader underlying signals and manifest themselves instrumentally for the most disordered systems as wings extending to either side of the central spectrum.

Plains Indian Portable Art as a Key to Two Texas Historic Rock Art Sites

Study of two Texas rock art sites reveals that they can be interpreted, at least in part, by comparison with conventions and ideographs of known meaning found on portable art of the Plains Indians. One site, Mujares Creek, is tentatively linked to specific historic events, and a date for its execution is thus derived. Function of the rock art sites as coup recounting stations is suggested. This function implies repeated use of such sites, and suggests proximity of the rock art sites to frequently visited trails or campsites.

Growth sites for experimental tumours: tail vs flank

Hill and Denekamp (1982) have concluded that tumours grown in the murine tail may be a poor model for human tumours in hyperthermia studies. Denekamp (1979) has also pointed out that limitations of blood supply in so-called “constricted” sites, e.g. tail and foot, may affect factors such as growth rate, drug availability, etc. It is noted here that features which have been considered to detract from the use of such sites can result in changes which, for some types of experiments, provide models closer to the human situation.

The utilisation of farmland by Golden Plovers wintering in southern England

Winter flocks of Golden Plovers show marked fidelity to particular areas from year to year. This paper investigates the species' use of such sites, and discusses the possible reasons for this behaviour. Comparisons are made with the Lapwing.