Peer Influence on Ethnic‐Racial Identity Development: A Multi‐Site Investigation

The peer context features prominently in theory, and increasingly in empirical research, about ethnic‐racial identity (ERI) development, but no studies have assessed peer influence on ERI using methods designed to properly assess peer influence. We examined peer influence on ERI centrality, private, and public regard using longitudinal social network analysis. Data were drawn from two sites: a predominantly Latina/o Southwestern (SW) school (N = 1034; Mage = 12.10) and a diverse Midwestern (MW) school (N = 513; Mage = 11.99). Findings showed that peers influenced each other's public regard over time at both sites. However, peer influence on centrality was evident in the SW site, whereas peer influence on private regard was evident in the MW site. Importantly, peer influence was evident after controlling for selection effects. Our integration of developmental, contextual, and social network perspectives offers a fruitful approach to explicate how ERI content may shift in early adolescence as a function of peer influence.     

The determinants of international student mobility flows: an empirical study on the Erasmus programme

The Erasmus Programme for higher education students is supposed to play an important socio-economic role within Europe. Erasmus student mobility flows have reached a relevant level of two million since 1987, boosted in recent years by the enlargement of the programme to eastern countries. Thereafter, it seems that flows have staggered. In this context, the article analyses the determinants of Erasmus student mobility establishing relevant hypotheses, which arise from the migration theory and gravity models. A panel data set of bilateral flows for all the participating countries has been used in order to test the factors influencing these student flows. Country size, cost of living, distance, educational background, university quality, the host country language and climate are all found to be significant determinants. Results also reveal that there are other determinants, like a country’s characteristics and time effects, which can affect mobility flows. Based on these findings, some general recommendations are put forward to enhance these flows.     

Ten years of preanalytical monitoring and control: Synthetic Balanced Score Card Indicator

Introduction

Preanalytical control and monitoring continue to be an important issue for clinical laboratory professionals. The aim of the study was to evaluate a monitoring system of preanalytical errors regarding not suitable samples for analysis, based on different indicators; to compare such indicators in different phlebotomy centres; and finally to evaluate a single synthetic preanalytical indicator that may be included in the balanced scorecard management system (BSC).

Materials and methods

We collected individual and global preanalytical errors in haematology, coagulation, chemistry, and urine samples analysis. We also analyzed a synthetic indicator that represents the sum of all types of preanalytical errors, expressed in a sigma level. We studied the evolution of those indicators over time and compared indicator results by way of the comparison of proportions and Chi-square.

Results

There was a decrease in the number of errors along the years (P < 0.001). This pattern was confirmed in primary care patients, inpatients and outpatients. In blood samples, fewer errors occurred in outpatients, followed by inpatients.

Conclusion

We present a practical and effective methodology to monitor unsuitable sample preanalytical errors. The synthetic indicator results summarize overall preanalytical sample errors, and can be used as part of BSC management system.Key words: Preanalytical phase, errors in laboratory medicine, balanced scorecard, patient safety     

The use of intellectual capital to obtain competitive advantages in regional small and medium enterprises

Entrepreneurs use resources and capacities to form core competencies. These are competitive advantages if they produce better company performance. Intellectual capital (IC) is a key resource for competitive advantage. This paper analyses the process through which entrepreneurs use this resource to obtain competitive advantages in regional SMEs. We show how entrepreneurs constitute three core competencies with IC and territory: internal knowledge management, relationship management and innovativeness. By partial least squares techniques we demonstrate that: (i) the two first factors influence innovativeness; (ii) this dynamic affects company performance. The study contributes to the analysis of the process of building core competencies by the entrepreneur from IC, in order to get better company performance.     

The validity and reliability of an iPhone app for measuring vertical jump performance

The purpose of this investigation was to analyse the concurrent validity and reliability of an iPhone app (called: My Jump) for measuring vertical jump performance. Twenty recreationally active healthy men (age: 22.1 ± 3.6 years) completed five maximal countermovement jumps, which were evaluated using a force platform (time in the air method) and a specially designed iPhone app. My jump was developed to calculate the jump height from flight time using the high-speed video recording facility on the iPhone 5 s. Jump heights of the 100 jumps measured, for both devices, were compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r), Cronbach’s alpha (α), coefficient of variation and Bland–Altman plots. There was almost perfect agreement between the force platform and My Jump for the countermovement jump height (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.997, P < 0.001; Bland–Altman bias = 1.1 ± 0.5 cm, P < 0.001). In comparison with the force platform, My Jump showed good validity for the CMJ height (r = 0.995, P < 0.001). The results of the present study showed that CMJ height can be easily, accurately and reliably evaluated using a specially developed iPhone 5 s app.     

Aerobic exercise did not have compensatory effects on physical activity levels in type 2 diabetes patients

Although exercise promotes beneficial effects in diabetic patients, some studies have questioned the degree of their importance in terms of the increase in total energy expenditure. In these studies, the decrease of physical activity levels (PAL) was referred as “compensatory effect of exercise”. However, our aim was to investigate whether aerobic exercise has compensatory effects on PAL in type 2 diabetes patients. Eight volunteers (51.1 ± 8.2 years) were enrolled in a supervised exercise programme for 8 weeks (3 d · wk^?1, 50–60% of VO₂ peak for 30–60 min). PAL was measured using tri-axial accelerometers in the 1st, 8th and 12th weeks. Biochemical tests, cardiorespiratory fitness, anthropometric assessment and body composition were measured in the 2nd and 11th weeks. Statistical analysis was performed using non-parametric tests (Friedman and Wilcoxon, P < 0.05). We found no significant differences in PAL between intervention periods, and participants spent the majority of their awake time in sedentary activities. However, the exercise programme generated a significant 14.8% increase in VO₂ peak and a 15% reduction in fructosamine. The exercise programme had no compensatory effects on PAL in type 2 diabetes patients, but improved their cardiorespiratory fitness and glycaemic control.     

“I couldn't answer when you called my name”: A journey of language and culture integration

Dr. Ahnell examines several tenets of perceptual psychology and makes specific suggestions for their application by supervising teachers. All supervising teachers could benefit from reading this article.     

A hybrid system of pedagogical pattern recommendations based on singular value decomposition and variable data attributes

To carry out effective teaching/learning processes, lecturers in a variety of educational institutions frequently need support. They therefore resort to advice from more experienced lecturers, to formal training processes such as specializations, master or doctoral degrees, or to self-training. High costs in time and money are invariably involved in the processes of formal training, while self-training and advice each bring their own specific risks (e.g. of following new trends that are not fully evaluated or the risk of applying techniques that are inappropriate in specific contexts).This paper presents a system that allows lecturers to define their best teaching strategies for use in the context of a specific class. The context is defined by: the specific characteristics of the subject being treated, the specific objectives that are expected to be achieved in the classroom session, the profile of the students on the course, the dominant characteristics of the teacher, and the classroom environment for each session, among others. The system presented is the Recommendation System of Pedagogical Patterns (RSPP). To construct the RSPP, an ontology representing the pedagogical patterns and their interaction with the fundamentals of the educational process was defined. A web information system was also defined to record information on courses, students, lecturers, etc.; an option based on a unified hybrid model (for content and collaborative filtering) of recommendations for pedagogical patterns was further added to the system. RSPP features a minable view, a tabular structure that summarizes and organizes the information registered in the rest of the system as well as facilitating the task of recommendation. The data recorded in the minable view is taken to a latent space, where noise is reduced and the essence of the information contained in the structure is distilled. This process makes use of Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), commonly used by information retrieval and recommendation systems. Satisfactory results both in the accuracy of the recommendations and in the use of the general application open the door for further research and expand the role of recommender systems in educational teacher support processes.     

Las estrategias de aprendizaje en la Educación formal: enseñar a pensar y sobre el pensar

Resumen

En el presente trabajo se analiza la relación existente entre el concepto de estrategias de aprendizaje y de habilidades metacognitivas en el marco de un modelo explicativo basado en la mediación cognitiva. Posteriormente se revisan los métodos instruccionales que se han mostrado más eficaces en la instauración de macroestrategias entre los estudiantes, y se describe de manera pormenorizada un sistema de autointerrogación metacognitiva, el procedimiento metacognitive de enseñanza-aprendizaje (promete-a). La aplicación de promete-a, en un estudio piloto, a 16 profesores de distintos niveles educativos no-universitarios, ha demostrado tener una incidencia positiva en la planificación, monitorización y evaluación de los procesos cognitivos implicados en la tarea ae preparation de sesiones de clase.