Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Many problems in the sciences and engineering can be rephrased as optimization problems on matrix search spaces endowed with a so-called manifold structure. This book shows how to exploit the special structure of such problems to develop efficient numerical algorithms. It places careful emphasis on both the numerical formulation of the algorithm and its differential geometric abstraction--illustrating how good algorithms draw equally from the insights of differential geometry, optimization, and numerical analysis. Two more theoretical chapters provide readers with the background in differential geometry necessary to algorithmic development. In the other chapters, several well-known optimization methods such as steepest descent and conjugate gradients are generalized to abstract manifolds. The book provides a generic development of each of these methods, building upon the material of the geometric chapters. It then guides readers through the calculations that turn these geometrically formulated methods into concrete numerical algorithms. The state-of-the-art algorithms given as examples are competitive with the best existing algorithms for a selection of eigenspace problems in numerical linear algebra. Optimization Algorithms on Matrix Manifolds offers techniques with broad applications in linear algebra, signal processing, data mining, computer vision, and statistical analysis. It can serve as a graduate-level textbook and will be of interest to applied mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists.

This article focuses on Schegloff's (1997) comments on critical discourse analysis and evaluates their force in relation to the analysis of a segment of a group discussion with three young white middle-class men concerning an episode in one of the participant's recent sexual history. The post-structuralist-influenced writings of Laclau and Mouffe (1985, 1987) are presented as an alternative analytic frame for the same data. The analysis examines the contextualization of the event which is the topic of the conversation and the positioning taken up and offered to the young man involved, drawing on the analytic concepts of interpretative repertoire and ideological dilemma. A critique of the post-structuralist concept of subject positions is developed and also of the methodological prescriptions Schegloff proposes for critical discourse analysis. The implications for critical discursive research in social psychology are discussed.

The aim of this collection of essays1 is to facilitate ‘a more sophisticated examination of the hitherto poorly elucidated phenomen of racism and to examine the adequacy of the theoretical formulations, paradigms and interpretive schemes in the social and human sciences…with respect to intolerance and racism and in relation to the complexity of problems they pose.’ This general rubric enables me to situate more precisely the kind of contribution which a study of Gramsci’s work can make to the larger enterprise. In my view, Gramsci’s work does not offer a general social science which can be applied to the analysis of social phenomena across a wide comparative range of historical societies. His potential contribution is more limited. It remains, for all that, of seminal importance. His work is, precisely, of a ‘sophisticating’ kind. He works, broadly, within the marxist paradigm. However, he has extensively revised, renovated and sophisticated many aspects of that theoretical framework to make it more relevant to contemporary social relations in the twentieth century. His work therefore has a direct bearing on the question of the ‘adequacy’ of existing social theories, since it is precisely in the direction of ‘complexifying existing theories and problems’ that his most important theoretical contribution is to be found. These points require further clarification before a substantive resume and assessment of Gramsci’s theoretical contribution can be offered.

This essay attempts to assess Althusser's contribution to the reconceptualization of ideology. Rather than offering a detailed exegesis, the essay provides some general reflections on the theoretical gains flowing from Althusser's break with classical Marxist formulations of ideology. It argues that these gains opened up a new perspective within Marxism, enabling a rethinking of ideology in a significantly different way.

<italic>The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology</italic> brings together many researchers in what can be termed Internet Psychology. Though a very new area of research, Internet Psychology is a fast-growing one. In addition to well-studied areas of investigation, such as social identity theory, computer-mediated communication, and virtual communities, the book also includes articles on topics as diverse as deception and misrepresentation, attitude change and persuasion online, Internet addiction, online relationships, privacy and trust, health and leisure use of the Internet, and the nature of interactivity. With over thirty articles written by experts in the field, it serves to define this emerging area of research. This content is supported by a section covering the use of the Internet as a research tool, including qualitative and quantitative methods, online survey design, personality testing, ethics, and technological and design issues. While it is likely to be a popular research resource to be ‘dipped into’, as a whole book it is coherent enough to act as a single textbook.

Current theorizations of bricolage in entrepreneurship studies require refinement and development to be used as a theoretical framework for social entrepreneurship. Our analysis traces bricolage's conceptual underpinnings from various disciplines, identifying its key constructs as making do, a refusal to be constrained by limitations, and improvisation. Although these characteristics appear to epitomize the process of creating social enterprises, our research identifies three further constructs associated with social entrepreneurship: social value creation, stakeholder participation, and persuasion. Using data from a qualitative study of eight U.K. social enterprises, we apply the bricolage concept to social entrepreneurial action and propose an extended theoretical framework of social bricolage.

We conducted preregistered replications of 28 classic and contemporary published findings, with protocols that were peer reviewed in advance, to examine variation in effect magnitudes across samples and settings. Each protocol was administered to approximately half of 125 samples that comprised 15,305 participants from 36 countries and territories. Using the conventional criterion of statistical significance ( p &lt; .05), we found that 15 (54%) of the replications provided evidence of a statistically significant effect in the same direction as the original finding. With a strict significance criterion ( p &lt; .0001), 14 (50%) of the replications still provided such evidence, a reflection of the extremely high-powered design. Seven (25%) of the replications yielded effect sizes larger than the original ones, and 21 (75%) yielded effect sizes smaller than the original ones. The median comparable Cohen’s ds were 0.60 for the original findings and 0.15 for the replications. The effect sizes were small (&lt; 0.20) in 16 of the replications (57%), and 9 effects (32%) were in the direction opposite the direction of the original effect. Across settings, the Q statistic indicated significant heterogeneity in 11 (39%) of the replication effects, and most of those were among the findings with the largest overall effect sizes; only 1 effect that was near zero in the aggregate showed significant heterogeneity according to this measure. Only 1 effect had a tau value greater than .20, an indication of moderate heterogeneity. Eight others had tau values near or slightly above .10, an indication of slight heterogeneity. Moderation tests indicated that very little heterogeneity was attributable to the order in which the tasks were performed or whether the tasks were administered in lab versus online. Exploratory comparisons revealed little heterogeneity between Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) cultures and less WEIRD cultures (i.e., cultures with relatively high and low WEIRDness scores, respectively). Cumulatively, variability in the observed effect sizes was attributable more to the effect being studied than to the sample or setting in which it was studied.

Microplastic debris (&lt;5 mm) is a prolific environmental pollutant, found worldwide in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. This review assesses the numerous different methods used to identify microplastics ingested by marine organisms.

Abstract Ecological citizenship cannot be fully articulated in either liberal or civic republican terms. It is, rather, an example and an inflection of ‘post‐cosmopolitan’ citizenship. Ecological citizenship focuses on duties as well as rights, and its conception of political space is not the state or the municipality, or the ideal speech community of cosmopolitanism, but the ‘ecological footprint’. Ecological citizenship contrasts with fiscal incentives as a way of encouraging people to act more sustainably, in the belief that the former is more compatible with the long‐term and deeper shifts of attitude and behaviour that sustainability requires. This book offers an original account of the relationship between liberalism and sustainability, arguing that the former's commitment to a plurality of conceptions of the good entails a commitment to so‐called ‘strong’ forms of the latter. How to make an ecological citizen? The potential of formal high school citizenship education programmes is examined through a case study of the recent implementation of the compulsory citizenship curriculum in the UK.

In Brief Study Design. A cross-sectional population study of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes. Objective. To examine the pattern and prevalence of lumbar spine MRI changes within a southern Chinese population and their relationship with back pain. Summary of Background Data. Previous studies on MRI changes and back pain have used populations of asymptomatic individuals or patients presenting with back pain and sciatica. Thus, the prevalence and pattern of intervertebral disc degeneration within the population is not known. Methods. Lumbar spine MRIs were obtained in 1043 volunteers between 18 to 55 years of age. MRI changes including disc degeneration, herniation, anular tears (HIZ), and Schmorl’s nodes were noted by 2 independent observers. Differences were settled by consensus. Disc degeneration was graded using Schneiderman’s classification, and a total score (DDD score) was calculated by the summation of the Schneiderman’s score for each lumbar level. A K-mean clustering program was used to group individuals into different patterns of degeneration. Results. Forty percent of individuals under 30 years of age had lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration (LDD), the prevalence of LDD increasing progressively to over 90% by 50 to 55 years of age. There was a positive correlation between the DDD score and low back pain. L5–S1 and L4–L5 were the most commonly affected levels. Apart from the usual patterns of degeneration, some uncommon patternsof degeneration were identified, comprising of subjects with skip level lesions (intervening normal levels) and isolated upper or mid lumbar degeneration. Conclusion. LDD is common, and its incidence increases with age. In a population setting, there is a significant association of LDD on MRI with back pain. This large scale population study of magnetic resonance imaging changes of the lumbar spine between the ages of 18 and 55 years showed that lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration was found to be common and age dependent. Magnetic resonance imaging changes of degeneration are associated with low back pain. Some unusual patterns of degeneration were identified.

In the global debates on English as international lingua franca or as ‘killer language’, the adoption of English as medium of instruction in Higher Education is raising increasing concern. Plurilingualism and multilingualism are embedded in the official policies of the European Union and Council of Europe, and the Bologna Process for harmonizing Higher Education promises ‘proper provision for linguistic diversity’. But even enthusiasts acknowledge the problems of implementing such policies in the face of an inexorable increase in the use of English. This survey draws on the most recent and sometimes disparate sources in an attempt to paint a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the spread of English-medium teaching in Europe's universities. The article sets the changes in the context of accelerating globalization and marketization, and analyses the forces which are driving the adoption of English, and some of the problems which accelerating ‘Englishization’ of European Higher Education might create.

We formulate theory on the effect of board of director gender diversity on the broad spectrum of securities fraud, and generate three key insights. First, based on ethicality, risk aversion, and diversity, we hypothesize that gender diversity on boards can operate as a significant moderator for the frequency of fraud. Second, we advance that the stock market response to fraud from a more gender-diverse board is significantly less pronounced. Third, we posit that women are more effective in male-dominated industries in reducing both the frequency and severity of fraud. Results of our novel empirical tests, based on data from a large sample of Chinese firms that committed securities fraud, are largely consistent with each of these hypotheses.

It has been 50 years since the publication of Goffman's influential work Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. This special issue celebrates Goffman's contribution with 14 articles reflecting the current state of the art in stigma research. In this article, we provide a theoretical overview of the stigma concept and offer a useful taxonomy of four types of stigma (public stigma, self-stigma, stigma by association, and structural stigma). We utilize this taxonomy to organize an overview of the articles included in this special issue. Finally, we outline new developments and challenges in stigma research for the coming decades.

Phenomenological researchers generally agree that our central concern is to return to embodied, experiential meanings aiming for a fresh, complex, rich description of a phenomenon as it is concretely lived. Yet debates abound when it comes to deciding how best to carry out this phenomenological research in practice. Confusion about how to conduct appropriate phenomenological research makes our field difficult for novices to access. Six particular questions are contested: (1) How tightly or loosely should we define what counts as "phenomenology" (2) Should we always aim to produce a general (normative) description of the phenomenon, or is idiographic analysis a legitimate aim? (3) To what extent should interpretation be involved in our descriptions? (4) Should we set aside or bring to the foreground researcher subjectivity? (5) Should phenomenology be more science than art? (6) Is phenomenology a modernist or postmodernist project, or neither? In this paper, I examine each of these areas of contention in the spirit of fostering dialogue, and promoting openness and clarity in phenomenological inquiry.

Most adults and adolescents in developed countries now own mobile phones and media devices, and for many people in developing countries a mobile phone can offer the only means of sending long distance messages. In a parallel development to the spread of personal technology, since the early 1980s schools, colleges and universities have experimented with handheld technology for learning, including classroom response systems, data probes, and handheld writing tools. Universities allow students to bring laptop computers to lectures and some schools are now providing pupils with Personal Digital Assistants and tablet computers. As personal mobile technologies for learning become more widespread, studies are starting to show evidence of the value of incorporating mobile devices in teaching and learning (McFarlane, Triggs and Yee 2008; p.7) and also substantial issues, including conflicts between informal learning with personal devices and traditional classroom education (Sharples 2007). Children are developing new skills and literacies enabled by mobile devices, such as SMS texting, moblogging (writing diaries and weblogs on mobile devices) and mobile video creation. A new generation of location-aware mobile phones will offer further possibilities, of education services and educational media matched to the learner's context and interests.

Abstract Sixty British primary school children aged 9‐10 and their teachers took part in an experimental teaching programme, designed to improve the quality of children's reasoning and collaborative activity by developing their awareness of language use and promoting certain ‘ground rules’ for talking together. Children's subsequent use of language when carrying out collaborative activities in the classroom was observed and analysed, and effects on their performance on Raven's Progressive Matrices test of non‐verbal reasoning were also investigated. Comparative data were gathered from children in matched control classes. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of discourse showed a marked shift in target children's use of language in accord with the aims of the teaching programme, and demonstrated that adherence to the ground rules helped groups solve the reasoning test problems. Children's individual scores on the Raven's test also improved. These findings support a sociocultural view of intellectual development and confirm the value of explicitly teaching children how to use language to reason.

This paper argues that the social dimension is important to effectiveness of Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) and needs to be taken into account in the design of courses. Evidence from an ethnographic study of the Teaching and Learning Online (TLO) course offered by the Institute of Education Technology at the Open University is presented in support of this argument. This study found that individual success or failure on the course depended upon the extent to which students were able to cross a threshold from feeling like outsiders to feeling like insiders. Factors affecting the construction of a sense of community are drawn out from interviews with students. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to a situated model of learning as induction into a community of practice. Finally recommendations are made for the support of community building in the design of courses.

Sociocultural researchers have claimed that students' learning of science is a discursive process, with scientific concepts and ways of reasoning being learned through engagement in practical enquiry and social interaction as well as individualized activity. It is also often claimed that interacting with partners while carrying out scientific investigations is beneficial to students' learning and the development of their understanding. The research we describe investigated the validity of these claims and explored their educational implications. An experimental teaching programme was designed to enable children in British primary schools to talk and reason together and to apply these skills in their study of science. The results obtained indicate that (a) children can be enabled to use talk more effectively as a tool for reasoning and (b) talk‐based activities can have a useful function in scaffolding the development of reasoning and scientific understanding. The implications of the findings for educational policy and practice are discussed.

The recent surge of interest in metal-catalysed C-H bond functionalisation reactions reflects the importance of such reactions in biomimetic studies and organic synthesis. This critical review focuses on metalloporphyrin-catalysed saturated C-H bond functionalisation reported since the year 2000, including C-O, C-N and C-C bond formation via hydroxylation, amination and carbenoid insertion, respectively, together with a brief description of previous achievements in this area. Among the metalloporphyrin-catalysed reactions highlighted herein are the hydroxylation of steroids, cycloalkanes and benzylic hydrocarbons; intermolecular amination of steroids, cycloalkanes and benzylic or allylic hydrocarbons; intramolecular amination of sulfamate esters and organic azides; intermolecular carbenoid insertion into benzylic, allylic or alkane C-H bonds; and intramolecular carbenoid C-H insertion of tosylhydrazones. These metalloporphyrin-catalysed saturated C-H bond functionalisation reactions feature high regio-, diastereo- or enantioselectivity and/or high product turnover numbers. Mechanistic studies suggest the involvement of metal-oxo, -imido (or nitrene), and -carbene porphyrin complexes in the reactions. The reactivity of such metal-ligand multiple bonded species towards saturated C-H bonds, including mechanistic studies through both experimental and theoretical means, is also discussed (244 references).

Recent developments in concept learning and in science-for-all curricula have stimulated our interest in two fields of study: how students move between their everyday life-world and the world of school science, and how students deal with cognitive conflicts between those two worlds. In the first field of study, Aikenhead conceptualized the transition between a student's life-world and school science as a cultural border crossing. In the second field, Jegede explained cognitive conflicts arising from cultural differences between students' life-world and school science in terms of collateral learning. This article (a) synthesizes cultural border crossing with its cognitive explanation (collateral learning) and (b) demonstrates by its example the efficacy of reanalyzing interpretive data published in other articles. The synthesis provides new intellectual tools with which to understand science for all in 21st-century science classrooms in developing and industrialized countries. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 269–287, 1999