The role of cognitive style and its influence on proportional reasoning

It has been suggested that proportional reasoning tasks contain field effects. Field-dependent students are considered to be highly influenced by the structure of the perceptual field and lack an articulated conceptual framework. To test the hypothesis that there is a significant correlation between field independence and proportional reasoning tasks, a sample of science students were tested to determine performance in proportional reasoning and degree of field independence. It was found that even students who are normally capable of proportional reasoning can be misled by the presence of field effects. A significant correlation (r = 0.50; p = 0.001) was found between the test of field independence and the nine items of proportional reasoning. Educational implications are drawn.     

Examining the antecedents of e-loyalty intention in an online reservation environment

Online reservation has increased significantly in recent years. Understanding how customers behave towards this technology is considered to be important to interested parties, such as travel agencies and tourism marketing managers, in order to enable them to improve their marketing strategies, which would, in turn, allow them to retain their customers. This paper presents findings about the antecedents of e-loyalty intention towards online reservation among 288 respondents in the United Arab Emirates. The research examines the role of e-service quality, hedonic and utilitarian values, satisfaction, and subjective norms in motivating loyalty intention towards online reservation. The results show that e-service quality has a significant influence on hedonic and utilitarian values, which, in turn, affect customer satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction and subjective norms positively affect e-loyalty intention towards online reservation.     

Academic Journals Plagued by Bogus Impact Factors

The current status of academic publishing is worrying. Cybercriminals are now targeting academic audiences, making it necessary to inform both editors and authors about such issues. The latest involves bogus impact factors, which are challenging scholarly publishing. Legitimate impact factors are used by authors and editors to get a general idea of the audience, if any, for a particular piece or journal. The bogus metrics only add confusion in support of the cybercrimes of their initiators. In this paper, we discuss bogus impact factors, victim countries, and try to clarify the phenomena for both authors and editors.     

Facilitating Conceptual Change in Students’ Understanding of Boiling Concept

The objective of this study was to construct a teaching strategy for facilitating students’ conceptual understanding of the boiling concept. The study is based on 52 freshman students in the primary science education department. Students’ ideas were elicited by a test consisting of nine questions. Conceptual change strategy was designed based on students’ alternative conceptions. Conceptual change in students’ understanding of boiling was evaluated by administering a pre-, post- and delayed post-test. The test scores were analysed both by qualitative and quantitative methods. Statistical analysis using one-way ANOVA of student test scores pointed to statistically significant differences in the tests and total scores (p < 0.05). Quantitative analysis of students’ responses on each test revealed different schema about changing their knowledge system. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that the teaching activities facilitated students’ conceptual understanding. No statistically significant differences were found between post-test and delayed post-test scores, suggesting that the teaching strategy enabled students to retain their new conceptions in the long-term memory.     

A Framework to Understand Students' Differentiation Between Heat Energy and Temperature and its Educational Implications

The main objective of this article is to investigate whether students' understanding of heat energy and temperature forms part of a 'hard-core' (Lakatos, 1970) of epistemological beliefs and the degree to which it affects their ability to learn thermodynamics in the classroom. Results obtained based on science major freshman students (n = 99) show that even after having responded correctly in one context that approximates the kinetic view of heat energy students fall back on the caloric theory of heat in a different context. It was also found that there is little relationship between the ability to differentiate between heat energy and temperature and performance on a problem of thermodynamics. Students in this study had been exposed to the kinetic theory in the previous semester and yet some of them had no problem in consistently using the caloric theory, while others switched between the two conceptualizations. It is concluded that an epistemological belief in the caloric theory of heat forms part of the hard-core of students' framework and that the conceptual shift to the kinetic theory requires radical restructuring (Chinn & Brewer, 1993). The question we need to ask is not only what are the students' prior epistemological beliefs, but as to what are the conditions under which the hard-core could crumble. A framework that could facilitate conceptual shifts is formulated.     

Inclusive assessment for linguistically diverse learners in higher education

As classrooms become increasingly diverse in higher education, educators are emphasising inclusive practices in teaching and learning to accommodate the needs of diverse learners. There is also an emerging need for an inclusive approach in assessment for accessibility, opportunity, relevance and engagement. This study, using design-based research guidelines with student–faculty partnership, designed, developed, implemented and evaluated contextually sensitive assessment protocol as inclusive and fair assessment. Data from students’ reflections and face-to-face interviews with open-ended questions suggested that, despite concerns such as potential bias, time and accommodation challenges, such assessment practices can make valuable contributions in creating a positive learning environment, improving relatedness and self-esteem and motivating and engaging students for better effort and effective learning. Implications for higher education practitioners with diverse learners are discussed.     

Investigation and evaluation of ultrasound reactor for reduction of fungi from sewage

The objective of the investigation was to study the application of ultrasound reactor technology （USRT） as a disinfectant for reduction of fungi from sewage effluent. Fungi are carbon heterotrophs that require preformed organic compounds as carbon sources. USRT is an attractive means to improve water quality because of the system simplicity and no production of toxic by-products. An ultrasound reactor produces strong cavitation in aqueous solution causing shock waves and reactive free radicals by the violent collapse of the cavitation bubble. These effects should contribute to the physical disruption of microbial structures and inactivation of organisms. There was significant reduction in fungal growth, with decreased fungal growth with increasing USRT. In this study, ultrasound irradiation at a frequency of 42 kHz was used to expose suspensions of fungi to evaluate the disinfection efficacy of the ultrasound reactor. Also, this study showed that in this system more than 99% reduction of sewage fungi was achieved after 60 min.     

The study of the success indicators for pre-implementation activities of Iran's E-Government development projects

E-Government and E-Government development project studies have been conducted in most industrialized societies, as well as in Iran. Due to their nature and structure, E-Government development projects have numerous political, social, and economic impacts on society. Given the incorporation of significant capital, human resources, information, and political commitments, these projects are considered quite vital to society. Following the systematic pre-implementation activities of E-Government development projects is critical for the success of such projects; ignoring such issues leads to various problems during E-Government project implementation. This research aims to explore and detect the success indicators for pre-implementation activities of E-Government development projects, evaluate the validity of these indicators, and investigate the indicators' status in the Fuel Smart Card Project. The researcher has also provided some suggestions on the successful implementation of E-Government development projects.     

Hydro-Alcoholic Cinnamon Extract, Enhances Glucose Transporter Isotype-4 Translocation from Intracellular Compartments into the Cytoplasmic Membrane of C2C12 Myotubes

Cinnamon has been used as an anti-diabetic agent for centuries but only in recent few years its mechanism of action has been under investigation. Previous studies showed that cinnamon might exert its anti-diabetic effect via increasing glucose transporter isotype-4 (GLUT4) gene and glycoprotein contents in fat cells. To study if hydro-alcoholic cinnamon extract (HACE) enhances GLUT4 translocation from intracellular compartments of nuclear or endoplasmic reticulum membranes (N/ER) into the cytoplasmic membrane (CM). C2C12 myoblastic cell line were seeded in DMEM plus 20 % FBS and differentiated to myotubes using 2 % horse serum. After myotubes formation, 100 or 1,000 μg/ml HACE, as intervention, and as control 1 % DMSO were added for 3 h. Cells were washed and homogenized followed by ultracentrifuge fractionation, protein separation by SDS-PAGE and GLUT4 detection using semi-quantitative Western blotting. Data analysis was done by two-independent samples t test for comparison of mean ± SD of GLUT4 percent in categories. GLUT4 contents were higher in CM of groups 100 and 1,000 μg/ml HACE and lower in 1 % DMSO treated myotubes (CI = 0.95, P < 0.05). For N/ER reverse results were obtained (CI = 0.95, P < 0.05). As our results have shown HACE induces GLUT4 translocation from intra-cell into cell surface. We conclude that cinnamon maybe a choice of type-2 diabetes mellitus treatment because its extract enhances GLUT4 contents in CM where it facilitates glucose entrance into the cell. However it is necessary to trace the signaling pathways which are activated by HACE in muscular tissue.     

Antagonistic interaction between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trichoderma asperellum</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora capsici</Emphasis> in vitro

Phytophthora capsici is a phytopathogen that causes a destructive pepper blight that is extremely difficult to control. Using a fungicide application against the disease is costly and relatively ineffective and there is also a huge environmental concern about the use of such chemicals. The genus Trichoderma has been known to have a potential biocontrol issue. In this paper we investigate the mechanism for causing the infection of T. asperellum against P. capsici. Trichoderma sp. (isolate CGMCC 6422) was developed to have a strong antagonistic action against hyphae of P. capsici through screening tests. The strain was identified as T. asperellum through using a combination of morphological characteristics and molecular data. T. asperellum was able to collapse the mycelium of the colonies of the pathogen through dual culture tests by breaking down the pathogenic hyphae into fragments. The scanning electron microscope showed that the hyphae of T. asperellum surrounded and penetrated the pathogens hyphae, resulting in hyphal collapse. The results show that seven days after inoculation, the hyphae of the pathogen were completely degraded in a dual culture. T. asperellum was also able to enter the P. capsici oospores through using oogonia and then developed hyphae and produced conidia, leading to the disintegration of the oogonia and oospores. Seven days after inoculation, an average 10.8% of the oospores were infected, but at this stage, the structures of oospores were still intact. Subsequently, the number of infected oospores increased and the oospores started to collapse. Forty-two days after inoculation, almost all the oospores were infected, with 9.3% of the structures of the oospores being intact and 90.7% of the oospores having collapsed.