'As entertaining as it is engrossing' John Banville 'Enlightening, delightful' Arthur der Weduwen, author of The Library Why don’t eleven and twelve end in –teen? The rest of our counting system sits in neatly arithmetical sets of ten, so why do these two rulebreakers seem so at odds with the numbers that follow them? Admittedly, that’s probably a question that might never have occurred to you. But if you’re even remotely interested in the origins and oddities of language, it’s likely also a question you’re now intrigued to know the answer to. Nor is it the only question: take a moment to think about how our language operates and even more spring mind. Why do these letters look the way they do? Why are some uppercase and others lowercase? Why are these words in this order? How are you understanding what these seemingly arbitrary shapes and symbols mean, while doubtless hearing them read to you in a voice inside your head? And what is this question mark really doing at this end of this sentence? Books explaining the origins of our most intriguing words and phrases have long proved popular, but they often overlook the true nuts and bolts of language: the origins of our alphabet and writing system; grammatical rules and conventions; the sound structure of language; and even how our brains and bodies interpret and communicate language itself. Why Is This a Question? is a fascinating and enlightening exploration of linguistic questions you’ve likely never thought to ask. ‘Every page will make you stop, think and wonder.’ James Hawes, author of The Shortest History of England ‘Enthralling, with a riveting “who knew?� moment on nearly every page.’ Caroline Taggart, author of Humble Pie and Cold Turkey

Higher Education is a vibrant, changing field of study. With roots in multiple disciplines, these degree programs prepare the administrators, faculty, and policy makers who direct the current and future higher education enterprise. At a time when higher education is changing rapidly, these programs are poised to frame the future of an educated society. This book examines all aspects of how Higher Education programs operate - from their marketing, focus on student affairs and community colleges, the emergence of online programs and core curricula. Authors from a broad and diverse spectrum of institutions map the current setting of Higher Education programs with an eye on future directions for their livelihood and survival.

The goal of this book is to generate discussion not only about how we can create meaningful educational experiences for all learners, but to challenge systems that necessitate a resilient nature. Ultimately, the authors promote the need for a foundation of socially just policies and practices in all educational settings and respond to the question: How does a paradigm of resiliency translate into institutional change that benefits everyone?

Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism in Liver Failure contains research reports and state-of-the-art reviews that were presented at the 11th International Symposium on Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism in relation to liver disease, that was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 30 May to 1 June, 2002. Themes covered include the metabolism of ammonia and amino acids in relation to liver disease, the assessment of hepatic encephalopathy (HE), minimal HE, animal models of HE, neuropsychiatric dysfunction in patients with chronic liver disease, the pathogenesis of HE, the astrocyte in liver disease, acute liver failure and cerebral edema, treatment of HE and artificial liver support systems. This volume provides an indispensable source of important new research findings and ideas for clinicians and biomedical scientists working in the field of HE and nitrogen metabolism in relation to liver disease.

The UN designated the decade 2005-2015 as the International Decade for Action - Water for Life. The move was initiated at the third World Water Forum in Kyoto, 2003, and it could prove the most significant and effective outcome of the triennial series of World Water For a yet. Its major aims are: (1) to promote efforts to fulfil recent international commitments, especially in the Millennium Goals, (2) to advance towards a truly integrated, int- national approach to sustainable water management, and (3) to put special emphasis on the role of women in these efforts. Even so, it faces tremendous and, as I write, increasing obstacles. The intense season of hurricanes and tropical storms in 2008 illustrated yet again not only the power of nature, but also the vulnerability of the poorer nations, like Haiti and Jamaica. New Orleans and Texas fared better, not because of the efforts of the International Decade for Natural Disasters (1990-2000) to increase preparedness, but more because the USA had learnt from its own experiences in Hurricane Katrina. The biggest obstacle of all is the burgeoning world population. It took off last century, but it is predicted to reach unimaginable heights this century: at least 10 billion by 2050, maybe 20 billion by 2100. Governments are powerless to halt it, even the Chinese. Achieving water security globally against this backdrop will be a Herculean task.

Education and Technology for a Better World was the main theme for WCCE 2009. The conference highlights and explores different perspectives of this theme, covering all levels of formal education as well as informal learning and societal aspects of education. The conference was open to everyone involved in education and training. Additionally players from technological, societal, business and political fields outside education were invited to make relevant contributions within the theme: Education and Technology for a Better World. For several years the WCCE (World Conference on Computers in Education) has brought benefits to the fields of computer science and computers and education as well as to their communities. The contributions at WCCE include research projects and good practice presented in different formats from full papers to posters, demonstrations, panels, workshops and symposiums. The focus is not only on presentations of accepted contributions but also on discussions and input from all participants. The main goal of these conferences is to provide a forum for the discussion of ideas in all areas of computer science and human learning. They create a unique environment in which researchers and practitioners in the fields of computer science and human learning can interact, exchanging theories, experiments, techniques, applications and evaluations of initiatives supporting new developments that are potentially relevant for the development of these fields. They intend to serve as reference guidelines for the research community.

This book analyzes the Soviet Union's social problems, focusing on those it shares with Western industrial societies. It assesses the social concerns confronting Gorbachev, including poverty; prostitution; health, education, and family issues; and the difficulty of adapting to technological change.

Colleges and universities face a variety of challenges in meeting the needs of students, and one of the greatest is their ability to respond to student needs while protecting institutional and academic integrity. For those working with students, a primary example of this challenge is the involvement of students in shared decision-making, a process often developed and fostered through organizations such as student government. Few discussions have embraced the challenges of shared governance with students, particularly within the past two decades. This book arose from continuous conversations with college and university administrators and policy makers who struggle daily with the decision- making process and the role of student voices. The volume is also intended to be an extension of the Julie Caplow and Michael Miller volume on Policy and University Governance (2003) that looked at internal and external governance issues and their impact on institutional policy formation and decision-making. The collections of chapters included here provide a comprehensive view of student involvement in policy formation and decisionmaking. The volume begins with a general overview of the challenges associated with investing students with power, authored by Tulane University's Morolake O. Laosebikan-Buggs. Michael Miller and Daniel Nadler then provide a rationale as to why students have been involved in shared decision-making in the past, outline the benefits and problems historically associated with student shared governance, and offer some meaningful recommendations for continuing to work with students.

Due to the pace of change in the USSR, monographs and textbooks in the field are quickly becoming dated. This book is the inaugural edition of a series that seeks to fill that void by presenting a biannual, systematic summary and analysis of developments in Soviet affairs. In this first volume, noted experts cover the years 1989-1990, examining the full range of political, economic, social, and ethnic changes of these two tumultuous years. Additional chapters focus on the Soviet Union's foreign relations and key developments abroad as well as at home. Scholars and students as well as general readers will find this series to be of great value as a means of staying current in an era of constant change.

This book analyzes the Soviet Union's social problems, focusing on those it shares with Western industrial societies. It assesses the social concerns confronting Gorbachev, including poverty; prostitution; health, education, and family issues; and the difficulty of adapting to technological change.

A volume in Educational Policy in the 21st Century: Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions Series Editor Bruce Anthony Jones,University of South Florida This volume of The David C. Anchin Research Center Series on Educational Policy in the 21st century: Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions focuses on tribal colleges and universities. As a recent member of higher education community, tribal colleges and universities provide a unique perspective on higher education policy. Policies and structures rely increasingly on native culture and traditions and yet provide the framework for academic rigor, collaboration, and relevance. Tribal Colleges and Universities have played an integral role in the growing numbers of students who attain the bachelor's degree. According to Ward (2002), these colleges and universities experienced a five-fold increase in student enrollment between 1982 and 1996. As it stands today, approximately 142,800 American Indians and Alaska Natives who are 25 and older hold a graduate or professional degree (Diverse, 2007), and Tribal Colleges and Universities have been integral to this graduate level attainment. With this edited volume, Dr. Linda Sue Warner and Dr. Gerald E. Gipp, and the invited scholarly contributors, have provided a comprehensive explication of the phenomenal history of Tribal Colleges and Universities in the United States and the policy issues and concerns that these colleges and universities face.

Despite decades of substantial investments by the federal government, state governments, colleges and universities, and private foundations, students from low-income families as well as racial and ethnic minority groups continue to have substantially lower levels of postsecondary educational attainment than individuals from other groups. The State of College Access and Completion draws together leading researchers nationwide to summarize the state of college access and success and to provide recommendations for how institutional leaders and policymakers can effectively improve the entire spectrum of college access and completion. Springboarding from a seminar series organized by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, chapter authors explore what is known and not known from existing research about how to improve student success. This much-needed book calls explicit attention to the state of college access and success not only for traditional college-age students, but also for the substantial and growing number of "nontraditional" students. Describing trends in various outcomes along the pathway from college access to completion, this volume documents persisting gaps in outcomes based on students' demographic characteristics and offers recommendations for strategies to raise student attainment. Graduate students, scholars, and researchers in higher education will find The State of College Access and Completion to be an important and timely resource.

Serious criticisms of research on IT in education have been published recently in both the UK and the USA. Researching IT in Education aims to provoke thought and discussion among practising researchers by considering a range of approaches to undertaking quality research. Establishing priorities and directions for future research in the sub-discipline of IT in education, the book is structured around five foci:

• theory
• history
• research directions
• methodology
• research topics.

This book argues for the enormous power of IT to enable fundamental research that both refines and develops theory and practice in education. High quality research that advances knowledge and educational practice in this area will generally require longer timelines and more complex data collection and analysis methods. The authors draw attention to the value of theoretical frameworks used in mainstream educational research and highlight the early theoretical work on the subject of IT in education.

Researching IT in Education is the only book in its area to focus on methodological and research design issues. The individual chapters are contributed by expert researchers and leaders in the field from ten countries, thus providing an unusually broad but coherent international set of perspectives for the issues examined in the book.

This book will benefit anyone interested in or undertaking research on IT in education, including academics, research students, teachers and policy-makers.

Performing Difference is a compilation of seventeen essays from some of the leading scholars in history, criticism, film, and theater studies. Each author examines the portrayal of groups and individuals that have been traditionally marginalized or excluded from dominant historical narratives. As a meeting point of several fields of study, this book is organized around three meta-themes: race, gender, and genocide. Included are analyses of films and theatrical productions from the United States, as well as essays on cinema from Southern and Central America, Europe, and the Middle East. Topically, the contributing authors write about the depiction of race, ethnicities, gender and sexual orientation, and genocides. This volume assesses how the performing arts have aided in the social construction of the "other" in differing contexts. Its fundamental premise is that performance is powerful, and its unifying thesis is that the arts remain a major forum for advancing a more nuanced and humane vision of social outcasts, not only in the realm of national imaginations, but in social relations as well.

Due to the pace of change in the USSR, monographs and textbooks in the field are quickly becoming dated. This book is the inaugural edition of a series that seeks to fill that void by presenting a biannual, systematic summary and analysis of developments in Soviet affairs. In this first volume, noted experts cover the years 1989-1990, examining the full range of political, economic, social, and ethnic changes of these two tumultuous years. Additional chapters focus on the Soviet Union's foreign relations and key developments abroad as well as at home. Scholars and students as well as general readers will find this series to be of great value as a means of staying current in an era of constant change.

'As entertaining as it is engrossing' John Banville 'Enlightening, delightful' Arthur der Weduwen, author of The Library Why don't eleven and twelve end in -teen? The rest of our counting system sits in neatly arithmetical sets of ten, so why do these two rulebreakers seem so at odds with the numbers that follow them? Admittedly, that's probably a question that might never have occurred to you. But if you're even remotely interested in the origins and oddities of language, it's likely also a question you're now intrigued to know the answer to. Nor is it the only question: take a moment to think about how our language operates and even more spring mind. Why do these letters look the way they do? Why are some uppercase and others lowercase? Why are these words in this order? How are you understanding what these seemingly arbitrary shapes and symbols mean, while doubtless hearing them read to you in a voice inside your head? And what is this question mark really doing at this end of this sentence? Books explaining the origins of our most intriguing words and phrases have long proved popular, but they often overlook the true nuts and bolts of language: the origins of our alphabet and writing system; grammatical rules and conventions; the sound structure of language; and even how our brains and bodies interpret and communicate language itself. Why Is This a Question? is a fascinating and enlightening exploration of linguistic questions you've likely never thought to ask. 'Every page will make you stop, think and wonder.' James Hawes, author of The Shortest History of England 'Enthralling, with a riveting "who knew?" moment on nearly every page.' Caroline Taggart, author of Humble Pie and Cold Turkey

This book chronicles a 10-year introduction of blended learning into the delivery at a leading technological university, with a longstanding tradition of technology-enabled teaching and learning, and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Hence, both teachers and students were familiar with the idea of online courses. Despite this, the longitudinal experiment did not proceed as expected. Though few technical problems, it required behavioural changes from teachers and learners, thus unearthing a host of socio-technical issues, challenges, and conundrums. With the undercurrent of design ideals such as "tech for good", any industrial sector must examine whether digital platforms are credible substitutes or at best complementary. In this era of Industry 4.0, higher education, like any other industry, should not be about the creative destruction of what we value in universities, but their digital transformation. The book concludes with an agenda for large, repeatable Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to validate digital platforms that could fulfil the aspirations of the key stakeholder groups - students, faculty, and regulators as well as delving into the role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as surrogates for "fees-free" higher education and whether the design of such a HiEd 4.0 platform is even a credible proposition. Specifically, the book examines the data-driven evidence within a design-based research methodology to present outcomes of two alternative instructional designs evaluated - traditional lecturing and blended learning. Based on the research findings and statistical analysis, it concludes that the inexorable shift to online delivery of education must be guided by informed educational management and innovation.

This book chronicles a 10-year introduction of blended learning into the delivery at a leading technological university, with a longstanding tradition of technology-enabled teaching and learning, and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Hence, both teachers and students were familiar with the idea of online courses. Despite this, the longitudinal experiment did not proceed as expected. Though few technical problems, it required behavioural changes from teachers and learners, thus unearthing a host of socio-technical issues, challenges, and conundrums. With the undercurrent of design ideals such as "tech for good", any industrial sector must examine whether digital platforms are credible substitutes or at best complementary. In this era of Industry 4.0, higher education, like any other industry, should not be about the creative destruction of what we value in universities, but their digital transformation. The book concludes with an agenda for large, repeatable Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to validate digital platforms that could fulfil the aspirations of the key stakeholder groups - students, faculty, and regulators as well as delving into the role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as surrogates for "fees-free" higher education and whether the design of such a HiEd 4.0 platform is even a credible proposition. Specifically, the book examines the data-driven evidence within a design-based research methodology to present outcomes of two alternative instructional designs evaluated - traditional lecturing and blended learning. Based on the research findings and statistical analysis, it concludes that the inexorable shift to online delivery of education must be guided by informed educational management and innovation.

Open The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities and you'll find both a word and a day to remember, every day of the year. Each day has its own dedicated entry, on which a curious or notable event--and an equally curious or notable word--are explored. On the day on which flirting was banned in New York City, for instance, you'll discover why to "sheep's-eye" someone once meant to look at them amorously. On the day on which a disillusioned San Franciscan declared himself Emperor of the United States, you'll find the word "mamamouchi," a term for people who consider themselves more important than they truly are. And on the day on which George Frideric Handel completed his 259-page Messiah after twenty-four days of frenzied work, you'll see why a French loanword, literally meaning "a small wooden barrow," is used to refer to an intense period of work undertaken to meet a deadline. The English language is vast enough to supply us with a word for every occasion--and this linguistic "wunderkammer" is here to prove precisely that. So whatever date this book has found its way into your hands, there's an entire year's worth of linguistic curiosities waiting to be found.

Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism in Liver Failure contains research reports and state-of-the-art reviews that were presented at the 11th International Symposium on Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism in relation to liver disease, that was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 30 May to 1 June, 2002. Themes covered include the metabolism of ammonia and amino acids in relation to liver disease, the assessment of hepatic encephalopathy (HE), minimal HE, animal models of HE, neuropsychiatric dysfunction in patients with chronic liver disease, the pathogenesis of HE, the astrocyte in liver disease, acute liver failure and cerebral edema, treatment of HE and artificial liver support systems. This volume provides an indispensable source of important new research findings and ideas for clinicians and biomedical scientists working in the field of HE and nitrogen metabolism in relation to liver disease.

Education and Technology for a Better World was the main theme for WCCE 2009. The conference highlights and explores different perspectives of this theme, covering all levels of formal education as well as informal learning and societal aspects of education. The conference was open to everyone involved in education and training. Additionally players from technological, societal, business and political fields outside education were invited to make relevant contributions within the theme: Education and Technology for a Better World. For several years the WCCE (World Conference on Computers in Education) has brought benefits to the fields of computer science and computers and education as well as to their communities. The contributions at WCCE include research projects and good practice presented in different formats from full papers to posters, demonstrations, panels, workshops and symposiums. The focus is not only on presentations of accepted contributions but also on discussions and input from all participants. The main goal of these conferences is to provide a forum for the discussion of ideas in all areas of computer science and human learning. They create a unique environment in which researchers and practitioners in the fields of computer science and human learning can interact, exchanging theories, experiments, techniques, applications and evaluations of initiatives supporting new developments that are potentially relevant for the development of these fields. They intend to serve as reference guidelines for the research community.

Serious criticisms of research on IT in education have been published recently in both the UK and the USA. Researching IT in Education aims to provoke thought and discussion among practising researchers by considering a range of approaches to undertaking quality research. Establishing priorities and directions for future research in the sub-discipline of IT in education, the book is structured around five foci:

• theory
• history
• research directions
• methodology
• research topics.

This book argues for the enormous power of IT to enable fundamental research that both refines and develops theory and practice in education. High quality research that advances knowledge and educational practice in this area will generally require longer timelines and more complex data collection and analysis methods. The authors draw attention to the value of theoretical frameworks used in mainstream educational research and highlight the early theoretical work on the subject of IT in education.

Researching IT in Education is the only book in its area to focus on methodological and research design issues. The individual chapters are contributed by expert researchers and leaders in the field from ten countries, thus providing an unusually broad but coherent international set of perspectives for the issues examined in the book.

This book will benefit anyone interested in or undertaking research on IT in education, including academics, research students, teachers and policy-makers.