Assessing the Need and Potential of Community Networking for Development in Rural India

This article reports the results and conclusions of a mixed-methods research strategy designed to assess the potential of community networking in rural Tamil Nadu, India. The data reported and analyzed in this article include socioeconomic and household spending, agricultural marketing and price search, availability and use of information on agricultural problems, and communication media use. We use these data to define a framework of existing sources of information for various community agents, with a special emphasis on farmers. We analyze the methods and costs at which these agents obtain information, and identify information and communication gaps that information and communication technologies (ICTs) may help alleviate. This study allows us to demonstrate opportunities for socioeconomic development through ICT-enabled information access. The article concludes by stating the importance of basic communication technologies and contextually relevant information services, and suggesting recommendations for future research in this area.     

Coping with Complexity: How do educational psychologists assess students with emotional and behavioural difficulties?

This paper explores the issue of how educational psychologists (EPs) deal with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) referrals. Self-reported EP practice is highlighted and discussed using data gathered from a survey of EPs ( n =107) drawn from 16 local education authorities. Data relating to the age and gender of students referred, the types and frequency of tests used, and specialist interventions recommended/used are presented. A number of findings are emphasised; for example, the gender imbalance of referrals, the extensive range of behaviours deemed by referrers to provide evidence of EBD, and the considerable variations in the assessment and intervention practices of individual EPs.     

Learning Styles and Training and Development in Work Settings: lessons from educational research

Abstract While human resource development (HRD) practioners are interested in learning style, there has been relatively little empirical research in work settings. This paper reviews the research on the interaction effect of learning style and the learning style orientation of the learning environment on learning outcomes, and discusses how the findings from educational research can inform training and development practice. The need for more research in work settings is discussed and the dearth of valid and reliable measures of cognitive (learning) style that can be easily administered to employees is considered as a factor which may have inhibited research The advantages and disadvantages of a number of measures that could be used in work settings are discussed.     

析出硬化粉末冶金不锈钢

高硬度不锈钢的使用需求在快速增长.尽管析出硬化不锈钢具有高强度,但在粉末冶金(PM)中使用的并不多.可通过加入在时效过程形成金属问沉淀的成份如铜、铌对这些合金进行强化.析出硬化级不锈钢的耐腐蚀性能可与铬镍级(300系列)相媲美.本文提出了两种析出硬化不锈钢粉末的物理性质和微观结构:17-4PH,一种高铬马氏体析出硬化不锈钢,优化条件后应用于粉末冶金中;另一种是在析出反应中使用铜的新型低铬(12w/o)合金.这种新型合金(410LCu)被视为满足高强度和中等耐腐蚀性的要求的低成本选择.     

Electrokinetic focusing and filtration of cells in a serpentine microchannel

Focusing cells into a single stream is usually a necessary step prior to counting and separating them in microfluidic devices such as flow cytometers and cell sorters. This work presents a sheathless electrokinetic focusing of yeast cells in a planar serpentine microchannel using dc-biased ac electric fields. The concurrent pumping and focusing of yeast cells arise from the dc electrokinetic transport and the turn-induced ac∕dc dielectrophoretic motion, respectively. The effects of electric field (including ac to dc field ratio and ac field frequency) and concentration (including buffer concentration and cell concentration) on the cell focusing performance were studied experimentally and numerically. A continuous electrokinetic filtration of E. coli cells from yeast cells was also demonstrated via their differential electrokinetic focusing in a serpentine microchannel.     

The teaching well: Experience, education, and counselling

Wellness classes based on Eastern and Western philosophical concepts were offered to graduate level counselling students as a means of helping them to integrate and clarify their views on counselling. Through experiential activities, students learned to more fully activate inner creative resources for an enhanced sense of wholeness. The concepts and methods learned have practical application to counselling.     

Effects of antisocial behaviour on opponent's anger,attention, and performance

Sledging, which is verbal antisocial behaviour in sport, aims to impair an opponent’s performance. Previously, variations in performance have been attributed to changes in emotion and cognition. To improve our understanding of sledging, the current experiment examined the effects of verbal antisocial behaviour on anger, attention and performance. Participants performed a competitive basketball free-throw shooting task under insult (verbal behaviour designed to offend and upset the performer), distraction (verbal behaviour designed to draw attention away from the task), or control (neutral verbal behaviour) conditions. Performance was assessed by the number of successful baskets and a points-based scoring system, while anger and attention were measured post-task. The insult condition provoked more anger than the control and distraction conditions, whereas the insult and distraction conditions increased distraction and reduced self-focus compared to the control condition. Although verbal antisocial behaviour had no overall direct effect on performance, mediation analysis showed that anger indirectly impaired performance via distraction. Implications for the antisocial behaviour-performance relationship are discussed.     

An Investigation Into Handedness and Choking Under Pressure in Sport

When athletes fail to perform at an expected level during an important moment, it is implied the athletes have experienced “choking“ (sudden decline in performance) under pressure.”. Researchers have reported that persistent left-hemispheric activation patterns occur when an athlete experiences considerable performance deteriorations under pressure. Researchers have also observed differences in brain activation patterns between left- and right-handed people on a variety of physical and cognitive tests, with the left-hemispheric activation more pronounced in right-handed participants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether athletes’ handedness may be linked to choking susceptibility (i.e., likelihood to experience performance decline under pressure). Method: Twenty right-handed and 13 left-handed experienced Australian football players completed 15 shot attempts, in both a low-pressure and a high-pressure condition. Both groups displayed equal state anxiety increases due to the pressure manipulation, indicating similar increases in anxiety in both handedness groups. Results: Differences were indicated in performance between the left- and right-handed groups during the high-pressure condition, with the left-handed group maintaining, and the right-handed participants declining, performance. Conclusion: Future electroencephalogram (EEG) research investigating this link may clarify the effect between handedness and choking.