Evaluation of a mobile information system in context

The motivation for this work has been to provide relevant information to the right situation for mobile phone users. We have iteratively developed applications for travellers and tourists to provide a general travel guide with local tourist information. This used a combination of wireless tag technology and information from content service providers. The paper presents our evaluation methodology and how we used it to develop the applications.     

Structure of fractional spaces generated by second order difference operators

A second order difference operator with nonlocal boundary conditions is considered. The positivity of this operator in Banach spaces is proved. Moreover, the structure of the fractional spaces generated by this operator is investigated. Furthermore, the positivity of this operator in Hölder spaces is proved.     

Moral reasoning patterns and influential factors in the context of environmental problems

This study investigated pre-service science teachers’ (PSTs’) moral reasoning patterns and the factors underlying these reasoning patterns. Local and non-local environmental dilemmas were used to examine moral reasoning patterns. An explanatory design was used with the collection and analysis of quantitative data, which was subsequently refined using qualitative interview data. For the quantitative part of the study, PSTs were asked to comment on four local and non-local environmental dilemmas (i.e. deforestation, e-waste, oil spills, and global warming). The responses were categorized as ecocentric, anthropocentric, or non-environmental reasoning. The findings showed that the participants’ moral reasoning focused on both ecocentric and anthropocentric perspectives, with a few displaying non-environmental reasoning. Concern for environmental problems was related to perceptions of whether the issue was directly related to nature, and was independent of whether the issues were local or non-local. The Moral Decision Making Interview protocol was used in the qualitative part of the study. Analysis revealed that the participants’ moral decisions were based on their resolutions in situational context and their concerns showed variations in their moral reasoning due to different factors like, effect on human life, formal principles, notion of rights, moral emotions, potential harm to others, and popular culture.     

The effect of pitch type on ground reaction forces in the baseball swing

Coaches have identified the batter's weight shift as a critical component for promoting proper timing and balance in a baseball swing. Analysing the weight shift through maximum horizontal (Fx) and vertical (Fz) ground reaction forces (GRFs) of professional batters (N = 29; height = 185 +/- 6 cm; mass = 92 +/- 9 kg), the purpose of this study was to compare GRFs among swings against fastballs and changeups. General linear models were used to compare three conditions of interest: successful results against fastballs, successful results against changeups, and unsuccessful results against changeups. Batters had a similar loading mechanism and initial weight transfer from back foot to front foot regardless of pitch type, but peak front foot GRFx and GRFz occurred with significantly different magnitudes and at significantly different times, depending on the pitch type and hit result. Peak front foot GRFs were greater for successful swings against fastballs compared to both successful and unsuccessful swings against changeups. Peak front foot GRFs of unsuccessful swings against changeups occurred, on average, 15-20 ms earlier than successful swings against changeups and 30-35 ms earlier than successful swings against fastballs, quantifying how a changeup can disrupt the coordination of a hitter's weight shift.     

Teachers' perceptions regarding school principals' coaching skills

The purpose of this study was to find out teachers' perceptions about school principals' coaching skills. The study was carried out within qualitative research methods. The study group included 76 teachers in Elazig and 73 teachers in Kahramanmara? provinces of Turkey. All the data were processed using Nvivo 9 software. The results indicate that teachers' perceptions about their principals' coaching skills do not differ according to the age, marital status, sex and education status variables. The teachers think that their principals are successful at some coaching skills such as being experienced and knowledgeable, being an effective listener and setting achievable targets. Principals fail to show empathy, communicate effectively, praise, give feedback, motivate and have effective inquiry coaching skills. According to teachers' opinions, being a role model, showing empathy, praising, effectively communicating and motivating are important coaching skills that they would show if they were to sit in the principal chair.     

Microstructured multi-well plate for three-dimensional packed cell seeding and hepatocyte cell culture

In this article, we present a microstructured multi-well plate for enabling three-dimensional (3D) high density seeding and culture of cells through the use of a standard laboratory centrifuge to promote and maintain 3D tissue-like cellular morphology and cell-specific functionality in vitro without the addition of animal derived or synthetic matrices or coagulants. Each well has microfeatures on the bottom that are comprised of a series of ditches/open microchannels. The dimensions of the microchannels promote and maintain 3D tissue-like cellular morphology and cell-specific functionality in vitro. After cell seeding with a standard pipette, the microstructured multi-well plates were centrifuged to tightly pack cells inside the ditches in order to enhance cell-cell interactions and induce formation of 3D cellular structures during cell culture. Cell-cell interactions were optimized based on cell packing by considering dimensions of the ditches/open microchannels, orientation of the microstructured multi-well plate during centrifugation, cell seeding density, and the centrifugal force and time. With the optimized cell packing conditions, we demonstrated that after 7 days of cell culture, primary human hepatocytes adhered tightly together to form cord-like structures that resembled 3D tissue-like cellular architecture. Importantly, cell membrane polarity was restored without the addition of animal derived or synthetic matrices or coagulants.     

Pre-service teachers' performance from teachers' perspective and vice versa: behaviors,attitudes and other associated variables

In a rapidly changing world, the mission of education deserves some reflection. Mutual understanding and assessment between trainers and trainees offers a way to promote discussion concerning goals, values, and strategies that should be promoted at schools. This study offers the views of 153 pre-service teachers and their respective trainers during their practicum. We aimed to determine if an association exists between the scores of pre-service teachers and teachers regarding behaviors and attitudes shown by the first. We also want to analyze the extent to which pre-service teachers rate the importance of different educational strategies as well as the extent to which teachers use these strategies in their daily work. We also aim to determine to what extent self-rated behaviors and attitudes of pre-service teachers are associated to their ratings on importance and utilization of different educational strategies. Two questionnaires were utilized to gather the data. Results revealed higher scores on self-evaluation than others’ evaluations; utilization of diverse educational strategies was associated to evaluations on pre-service students’ responsibility, ability to detect and meet students’ needs, and final grade in practicum. Association between pre-service teachers’ self-evaluation and evaluation on the importance of different educational strategies revealed large associations between climate for the expression of ideas, teaching methodology, and the importance given to using language appropriate to the level of the students. Average ratings on importance and utilization of different teaching strategies resulted in high scores, with utilization of teaching methodologies obtaining the lowest scores. Gender resulted in significant differences on importance, with women scoring higher than men. Importance scores were significantly higher than utilization scores. High associations were found between self- and others’ evaluations on values related to compliance with rules, as well as on behaviors associated to maintain order and discipline in the classroom. Differences in views of teaching, importance, and utilization of different teaching strategies should be debated in order to advance our understanding of effectiveness of educational practices.