This paper examines how a classroom culture develops advanced strategies and procedures for handling complex digital tools. We report from a vocational Media and Communication course at an Upper Secondary School in Oslo, Norway. Our analysis reveals how a procedure called practical assignments has developed historically at the school, and how this procedure is carried out in the classroom. Theoretically, our study is informed by Activity Theory, which affords us tools to analyze how social institutions and learning trajectories evolve over (...) time, and how longitudinal dimensions emerge in situ. Our findings show how teachers and learners create a space for solving context-specific problems involving sophisticated technology. A historical analysis is here crucial not only in understanding why digital technologies are used in specific ways, but also how they evolve into classroom conventions. (shrink)

The PRDM family has recently spawned considerable interest as it has been implicated in fundamental aspects of cellular differentiation and exhibits expanding ties to human diseases. The PRDMs belong to the SET domain family of histone methyltransferases, however, enzymatic activity has been determined for only few PRDMs suggesting that they act by recruiting co‐factors or, more speculatively, confer methylation of non‐histone targets. Several PRDM family members are deregulated in human diseases, most prominently in hematological malignancies and solid cancers, where they (...) can act as both tumor suppressors or drivers of oncogenic processes. The molecular mechanisms have been delineated for only few PRDMs and little is known about functional redundancy within the family. Future studies should identify target genes of PRDM proteins and the protein complexes in which PRDM proteins reside to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the biological and biochemical functions of this important protein family. (shrink)

What will your soul's gender be in Heaven? Will your pet Harry be there? Could your clone have a soul? Will eternity be fun? What is it with the ghosts of loved ones? A Natural History of the Soul makes a challenging topic accessible through an entertaining and readable exploration. It begins by reviewing beliefs about the soul and the afterlife in our popular culture, and looks at how they have evolved from the earliest humans. It identifies key concepts in (...) philosophy and major religions, and examines developments in medicine and technology that are shaping our ideas. Throughout the book, provocative questions are raised to help clarify your own beliefs and inform emerging social policy debates. (shrink)

We present the first quantitative analysis of the three-dimensional microstructure of a n - n ' alloy that does not make any a priori assumptions about the n '-particle morphologies. The n '-particle size distribution is derived using the particle volumes to provide a measure of the particle sizes that is independent of particle morphology and is found to be somewhat broader and to have a lower maximum peak height than the theoretical prediction in the absence of elastic stress. Non-equiaxed (...) n ' particles are found to be approximately equally likely to have rod-like, plate-like or mixed-character morphologies. In contrast with theoretical predictions, smaller particles tend to be more non-equiaxed than larger particles. The latter two findings are a result of the attractive interparticle configurational forces induced by stress at the corners of neighbouring particles. By analysing the distribution of particle side lengths, it is concluded that the average thickness of the sheets of n '-particles is between 0.4 and 0.6 µm. (shrink)

This article demonstrates that Tacitus, who coined the term interpretatio Romana, used this concept differently than today's historians of religion. Tacitus differentiated between universal and local gods. It is also shown that this differentiation fits the author's structuring of "Germania", which he divides into a general and a specific part. This carries far-reaching consequences because for instance the cult of the Semnones is a local superstitio in tacitean terms, and the common identification of Roman with ”Germanic“ gods since J. Grimm (...) must be abandoned. Finally, the article establishes that G. Wissowa's seminal work on interpretatio Romana, which assumes the deity cults of Germania superior and inferior, fails to take into account that Tacitus, as a historian of religion, merely dealt with "authentic" and "original" Germania. (shrink)

The following article shows what Tacitus Ann. 15,44 thought of the role of the Chrestiani at the burning of the Roman capital A.D. 64 and why they themselves as punishment of their,,crime“ were crucified and burned. In order to demonstrate this the textus receptus is first analysed linguistically and its content interpreted in its historical and sociological context. It is ethnohistorically established as a fact that Tacitus counted the Chrestiani as a minority of the Iudaei. Linguistically it is proved that (...) the words aut flammandi atque ubi are corrupt and have to be emended ad flammas dati, ut, cum why some of the Chrestiani as part of their punishment were given to the flames, i.e. Latine: ad flammas dati. (shrink)