What Motivates Parents to Mediate Children’s Use of Smartphones? An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study examines parents’ attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, and intentions regarding parental mediation of children’s smartphone use. A survey conducted with parents of young smartphone users aged 10–17 shows that parents tend to perceive discussion-based active mediation to be more desirable, as compared to rule-making restrictive mediation. Findings also indicate that the extent to which parents believe that they have control over their parental mediation practices plays an important role in forming positive intentions to practice parental mediation, regardless of the mediation domain.     

Preparation of glucosamine by hydrolysis of chitosan with commercial α-amylase and glucoamylase

Objective  

In order to overcome the defects of chemical hydrolysis approach to prepare glucosamine, an enzymatic hydrolysis method was developed.     

An Entrance for the Uninterested: Who Watches Soft News and How Does It Affect Their Political Participation?

As soft news shows in television present politics in an entertaining format, they are likely to attract and grab the attention of people who do not have a high interest in politics. Consequently, soft news might mobilize these citizens to engage in politics. This study tests this potential by using a 2-wave panel survey among a national sample of voters (N = 2,680) collected in relation to the 2015 National Election in Denmark. The results show that people with lower political interest were indeed more likely to increase their use of soft news during the election campaign and that, as a consequence, these low-motivated people also increased their passive participation, such as seeking additional information about the election. Further, the results show that this type of passive participation is likely to function as a stepping-stone to active forms of participation, such as attending political events or contacting politicians.     

Learning in Action: How Competent Professionals Learn

The studies pertaining to expertise development are diverse and broad (Bjork, 1994; Einstein & McDaniel, 2005; Schneider, Healy, & Bourne, 2002), yet empirical research that bridges expertise development into instructional design theories is still in its very formative stages (Ertmer et al., 2008; Fadde, 2009). This article is intended to identify the instructional principles that are effective in accelerating the performance of journeymen, considering the significant impact of the journeyman stage and the need for hastening performance in that stage. With the introduction to the major scholarly works and principles that have led to the elaboration of training methods, strategies, and materials, this review of literature proposes a learning model that has four components: (1) development plan, (2) action, (3) reflection‐on‐action, and (4) remedies.     

Effectiveness of a satellite educational television program for Ethiopian secondary education

This study examined the actual practice and effectiveness of a satellite educational TV program in Ethiopian secondary schools. Participants in the survey were 228 students and 63 teachers from secondary schools. The results of the data analysis indicate that Ethiopian students and teachers scored highly in the evaluation areas. Levels of students’ general satisfaction with the satellite educational TV program were not equal for the variables of location and gender. It was also found that for students, learning demand, learning content, and class management were factors affecting their satisfaction with the satellite educational TV programs. For teachers, learning content and class management were the factors. The statistical mean difference in the satisfaction with the satellite educational TV program was between students and teachers. These findings suggest that the satellite educational TV program has the possibility of improving the quality of education in Ethiopian secondary schools.     

Government support for SME innovations in the regional industries: The case of government financial support program in South Korea

This study explores the impact of governmental support policies on the innovation of SMEs in the regional strategic industries in South Korea. We use the technological development assistance funds as a proxy for governmental support policies for SMEs in the regional industries in Korea. The innovation of SMEs is measured by technological innovation: patent, utility model, trademark, and new design registrations. Before empirically testing the impact of governmental support policies on the innovation of SMEs, this study reviews the literature concerning the innovation and the governmental support policies of SMEs in regional industries. Results from empirical models, which simultaneously control for factors which were thought to affect the innovation of regional SMEs, indicate that a positive relationship exists among the technological development assistance by the Korean government and patent acquisitions and new design registrations of regional SMEs. Networks with universities also have a positive relationship with patent acquisitions and new design registrations of regional SMEs. This study suggests there is an importance to governmental financial aids for regional SME innovations, and there is an importance to the need to build a strong social relationship in today's networked economy.     

Programmed sample delivery on a pressurized paper

This paper reports a method to control the fluid flow in paper-based microfluidic devices simply by pressing over the channel surface of paper, thereby decreasing the pore size and permeability of a non-woven polypropylene sheet. As a result, fluid resistance is increased in the pressed region and causes flow rate to decrease. We characterize the decrease of flow rate with respect to different amounts of pressure applied, and up to 740% decrease in flow velocity was achieved. In addition, we demonstrate flow rate control in a Y-shaped merging paper and sequential delivery of multiple color dyes in a three-branched paper. Furthermore, sequential delivery of multiple fluid samples is performed to demonstrate its application in multi-step colorimetric immunoassay, which shows a 4.3-fold signal increase via enhancement step.