Microclimate monitoring by multivariate statistical control: The renaissance frescoes of the Cathedral of Valencia (Spain)

The renaissance frescoes of the metropolitan cathedral of Valencia, located at the vault of the apse, were restored in 2006. We describe a microclimate monitoring system that was implemented for the preventive conservation of the paintings. It is comprised by a set of temperature and relative humidity sensors positioned at different points of the vault. This system is rather unique because some of these sensors were inserted inside the paintings during the restoration process. A principal components analysis was applied to the data of relative humidity recorded in February 2007. The analysis was repeated in three additional months of 2007. The resulting loading plots highlight the most relevant similarities and dissimilarities among sensors. These plots can be considered as some sort of control maps that could be used to detect abnormal conditions in the future. Actually, moisture problems at certain zones of the frescoes are causing the formation of efflorescence, and the sensors located close to these zones are the ones recording the highest values of relative humidity.     

Abilities and skill acquisition: A latent growth curve approach

The relationship between abilities and skill acquisition has been the subject of numerous controversies in psychology. However, while most researchers implicitly or explicitly accept the idea that abilities and skill acquisition should be related, empirical research has failed to provide evidence for a consistently strong correlation between the two constructs. Based on the reanalysis of a study on skill acquisition using the air traffic controller task TRACON [Ackerman, P. L., Kanfer, R., and Goff, M. (1995). Cognitive and Noncognitive Determinants and Consequences of Complex Skill Acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied, 1(4), 270–304], it will be shown how latent growth curve modeling can help to gain a better understanding of the relationship between human abilities and skill acquisition. A brief introduction into the basic concepts of latent growth curve modeling will be given, particularly with regard to the advantages for the analysis of skill acquisition and its determinants. The goal is thereby to provide evidence for a much closer association than commonly assumed and to offer a new, differential, perspective formerly obscured by traditional between-subject analyses.     

Development of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Professional Knowledge and Identity in Working with Information and Communication Technology

This paper describes the workundertaken in a course in communication andinformation technology in a pre-service programfor secondary school mathematics teachers. Thiscourse aimed to help pre-service teachersdevelop a positive attitude regarding ICT anduse it confidently. It focused on theexploration of educational software and of theInternet's potential as a means of research andproduction of web sites. We discuss how thepre-service mathematics teachers evaluate theirwork concerning their commitment, difficultiesthey found, learning they identified, andpersonal relationship. We also analyse theeffects of the course on the development oftheir professional knowledge and identity.     

Children’s and adolescents’ thoughts on pollution: cognitive abilities required to understand environmental systems

Pollution phenomena are complex systems in which different parts are integrated by means of causal and temporal relationships. To understand pollution, children must develop some cognitive abilities related to system thinking and temporal and causal inferential reasoning. These cognitive abilities constrain and guide how children understand pollution processes. Hence, ascertaining whether changes among children’s ideas of pollution are related to system thinking and inferential reasoning abilities could be useful in improving environmental education. Eighty participants between 9 and 16 years old were interviewed to evaluate how children explain different aspects of pollution-related systems. From the explanations found in these interviews, three progressive epistemic structures were reconstructed. The three epistemic structures differ in the type of causal and temporal relationship established by the participants and in the mechanisms that the participants used to relate the pollutant to its effects.     

Postmodern footballers and their ‘second skin’: emotional narratives ranging from solidarity to intimacy

This article underlines some key traits in the make-up of postmodern footballers. Specifically, we discuss the changes in celebrating goals as sporting events in recent years. We contribute a new perspective on the birth of the postmodern ‘me-event’ compared with the ‘goal-event’ typical of modern times. To support our contribution empirically, we use two methodological dimensions: the discourse analysis of international football legislation and photographic and video archive to illustrate the diversity of phenomena with hermeneutic sampling criteria. The differences between the modern and postmodern way of celebrating a goal, individually and/or collectively, highlight a process of social change in which the individual way of celebrating advances rapidly in a society where there is ever greater media coverage and commercialism.     

Addressing inequal risk exposure in the development of automated vehicles

Ethics and Information Technology - Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to operate on public roads, together with non-automated vehicles and other road users such as pedestrians or bicycles....     

Extending the understanding of mobile banking adoption: When UTAUT meets TTF and ITM

Mobile banking (mBanking) enables customers to carry out their banking tasks via mobile devices. We advance the extant body of knowledge about mBanking adoption by proposing a model for understanding the importance and relationship between the user perception of mBanking, initial trust in mBanking services, and the fit between the technology and mBanking task characteristics. We synergistically combine the strengths of three IS theories – task technology fit (TTF) model, unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology (UTAUT), and initial trust model (ITM). The model was tested in a study conducted in Portugal, one of the European Union (EU) countries with the highest mobile phone adoption. Based on the sample of 194 individuals we applied partial least squares (PLS) to test the conceptual model propose. The path significance levels were estimated using the bootstrapping method (500 resamples). The study found that facilitating conditions and behavioral intentions directly influence mBanking adoption. Initial trust, performance expectancy, technology characteristics, and task technology fit have total effect on behavioral intention. The paper offers valuable insights to decision-makers involved in the implementation and deployment of mBanking services. For researchers, the paper highlights the usefulness of integrating TTF, UTAUT and ITM in the development of a decision support framework to study the adoption of new technologies.