Media discourse and perception of game regulatory issues

This study examines how the issue of game regulation has been discussed and influenced public perception by exploring ideologically differing media outlets’ distinct uses of frames by analyzing news contents (N = 1,217) and public opinion survey of the national sample of Korean gamers (N = 1,362), who play games currently. The analyses include the influence of media on attitudes toward game regulation, perception of games, and frame adoption, based on the results of news content analysis. The study found that (a) mainstream media was ambivalent about game issues and tended to define gaming and gamers in sensationalistic ways; (b) while the dynamics of media effects on public attitudes toward game regulation are complex, exposure to game-related news content significantly impacted public attitudes; mass media that highlight the negative aspects of games have strong impacts on public perception toward games, which may ultimately affect attitudes toward game regulation.     

Women academics and research productivity: an international comparison

In the prestige economy of higher education, research productivity is highly prized. Previous research indicates, however, a gender gap with respect to research output. This gap is often explained by reference to familial status and responsibilities. In this article, we examine the research productivity gender gap from an international perspective by undertaking a gendered analysis of the Changing Academic Profession Survey. We suggest that family is not, in all cases, operating as a form of negative equity in the prestige economy of higher education. In addition, we argue that an over-reliance on an explanatory framework that positions family-related variables as central to the research productivity gender gap might well be drawing our attention from significant structural and systemic discriminatory practices within the profession.     

Comparisons of Three Empirical Methods for Partial Factorial Invariance: Forward,Backward, and Factor-Ratio Tests

When factorial invariance is violated, a possible first step in locating the source of violation(s) might be to pursue partial factorial invariance (PFI). Two commonly used methods for PFI are sequential use of the modification index (backward MI method) and the factor-ratio test. In this study, we propose a simple forward method using the confidence interval (forward CI method). We compare the performances of the aforementioned 3 methods under various simulated PFI conditions. Results indicate that the forward CI method using 99% CIs has the highest perfect recovery rates and the lowest Type I error rates. A performance that is competitive with this is that produced by the backward method with the more conservative criterion (MI = 6.635). Consistently delivering the poorest performance, regardless of the chosen confidence level, was the factor-ratio test. Also discussed are the work’s contribution, implications, and limitations.     

Rapid separation of bacteriorhodopsin using a laminar-flow extraction system in a microfluidic device

A protein separation technology using the microfluidic device was developed for the more rapid and effective analysis of target protein. This microfluidic separation system was carried out using the aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) and the ionic liquid two-phase system (ILTPS) for purification method of the protein sample, and the three-flow desalting system was used for the removal of salts from the sucrose-rich sample. Partitioning of the protein sample was observed in ATPS or ILTPS with the various pHs. The microdialysis system was applied to remove small molecules, such as sucrose and salts in the microfluidic channel with the different flow rates of buffer phase. A complex purification method, which combines microdialysis and ATPS or ILTPS, was carried out for the effective purification of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) from the purple membrane of Halobacterium salinarium, which was then analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption∕ionization time-of-flight. Furthermore, we were able to make a stable three-phase flow controlling the flow rate in the microfluidic channel. Our complex purification methods were successful in purifying and recovering the BR to its required value.     

开放远程教育成本效益研究的现状及思考

有关开放远程教育成本效益的早期研究表明,远程教育比面授教育更具成本效益。远程教育的成本主要取决于两个方面:入读学生人数;课程开发和传递的固定成本。然而,分析网上教育成本效益的实证研究可谓相当缺乏。本文首先介绍一些早期关于开放远程教育成本效益的研究结果;进而描述最近的网上教育的成本效益研究;最后,文章探讨了开放远程教育的重要主题,并对未来研究的领域提出了建设性提议。     

Theaters of war: Tracing the strange careers of Shina No Yoru in the military contact zones of the Pacific, 1937–1954

This article examines the ways in which multiple traditions of camp shows and the overlapping and relational layers of Imperial Japan and U.S. presence in Korea shaped Korean entertainers’ lives after 1945, producing their idiosyncratic performances in response to rapid shifts in Korea’s relations with Japan and the United States in the 1940s–1950s. When the United States sought to reposition Japan at the top of the newly emerging American hegemonic order of Asian countries, Korean entertainers who served the Imperial Japanese Army a few months earlier found themselves performing for American soldiers. The stage of the Korean native camp shows became a “strange and exotic” yet “familiar and even comforting” place where inconsistent logics, such as Imperial Japan’s pan-Asian ideology and American Orientalist fantasy, mingled. Under the complicated legacies of overlapping militarization and colonization in Korea, militarization has constituted a structuring force that enabled Korean women camp show entertainers generating their hybrid performance styles in ironies, contradictions, and complexities. Building on postcolonial theorists’ notion of hybridity, I argue that Korean entertainers’ performances were being shaped or negotiated in contact with different audiences and expectations as well as Korean entertainers attempted to navigate the acceptable ground of performances and womanhood in the constantly changing political and ideological environment.     

The impact of past performance on information valuation in virtual communities: Empirical study in online stock message boards

Unlike other types of virtual communities, individuals participate in online stock message boards for their material needs rather than non-material needs (e.g., sense of belonging). They may seek and read others’ opinions to make better investment performances. The value of information in online stock message boards may vary from person to person according to their past investment experiences. However, little is known regarding how their past investment performance influences the value of others’ opinions. Therefore, our study investigates how individuals process others’ opinions on stock message boards for their investment decisions when they have different levels of past investment performance. We proposed the unique research model with two paths consisting of both online stock message board factors and individual factors to determine continuous use of online stock message boards. We conducted SEM analysis with 452 questionnaire data. The results, first, showed that message boards factors (e.g., satisfaction using others’ opinions) have a positive impact on continuous intention to use while their own satisfaction with past investment activities has a negative impact on continuous intention to use. In addition, we believe that this is one of the few papers to examine the moderating role of self-attribution bias on the effects of stock investment performance. Our results indicated that investors with strong self-attribution bias lower the usefulness of opinions when losing money while they increased confidence in their investment-related abilities when achieving a profit from investment. This study will help to support and extend the theory of IS continuance model while providing practical insights for online stock message board managers by suggesting ways to vitalize online stock message boards.     

Motor Origins of Tool Use

The current study examines the developmental trajectory of banging movements and its implications for tool use development. Twenty (6‐ to 15‐month‐old) infants wore reflective markers while banging a handled cube; movements were recorded at 240 Hz. Results indicated that through the second half‐year, banging movements undergo developmental changes making them ideally suited for instrumental hammering and pounding. Younger infants were inefficient and variable when banging the object: Their hands followed circuitous paths of great lengths at high velocities. By 1 year, infants showed consistent and efficient straight up‐down hand trajectories of smaller magnitude and velocity, allowing for precise aiming and delivering dependable levels of force. The findings suggest that tool use develops gradually from infants' existing manual behaviors.     

The effect of recommendation systems on Internet‐based learning for different learners: A data mining analysis

A general challenge facing Internet‐based learners is how to identify information objects which are helpful in expanding their understanding of important information in a domain. Recommendation systems may assist learners in identifying potentially helpful information objects. However, the recent literature mainly focuses on the technical performance, rather than on how recommendations support searching in educational contexts. This study thus investigates how recommendation systems may influence the searching behaviors and strategies of different learners, when they are used with a mind map. The results suggested two main different searching behavioral patterns, namely focused searchers and broad searchers. It is found that the recommendations may influence the searching behaviors of the two types of searchers in different ways. For the focused searchers, the recommendations may support these searchers to expand their keywords to explore the domain. Regarding the broad searchers, they did not rely on the computer recommendations. However, the mind map interface applied along with the recommendations may support them in monitoring their searching processes. Online Information Searching Strategies Inventory (OISSI) was applied to examine the participants' perceptions of how students applied information searching strategies. The results of OISSI support that both types of searchers perceived a higher level of searching strategies when they search with the recommendation system and mind maps.