The Copyright Law Framework and Its Interaction with Open Access Repositories in Europe

The paper examines the European copyright framework and its interaction with open access repositories. Access to information resources has become a modern necessity that needs to be met to share equitably the wealth of the European society. The Directives with intellectual property provisions to enhance copyright law policy makers are the foundation of the European copyright regime. This statement helps me to clarify the design and assumptions underlying open access practice in Europe. The paper analyses strengths and short-comings of these Directives in relation to copyright protection and open access practice among European member states.     

Metadata and Quality in Digital Repositories and Libraries from 1995 to 2015: A Literature Analysis and Classification

The purpose of this article is to study a broad set of journal papers related to metadata and quality in digital repositories and libraries, and to provide a quantitative analysis of the relevant research. It also aims at identifying open issues and future directions for research. A detailed search was carried out in relevant journals of information science, computer science, and library science; mainly, that allowed us to identify an extensive corpora of relevant work. The identified papers were classified based on an existing framework and a statistical analysis was carried out on the main classifications used within the framework. The analysis of the 702 papers identified, led to a series of statements for the field examined, focusing on the type of research carried out, the research methods deployed, and the research claims made. In addition, the papers were classified based on their target audiences, disciplines, as well as institutional and geographical origins. The article identifies areas in the literature that have not been addressed, as well as areas for future research. It also provides a clear image of the areas already researched, analyzing scientific literature that covers 20 years of repository/library deployment. This article makes an original contribution for researchers, practitioners, and managers of digital repositories and libraries alike as it provides a set of specific recommendations for the metadata and quality in digital repositories and libraries research agenda, along with a thorough analysis and classification of the research carried out so far.     

Coordination between governance actors in universities: the role of policy documents

Tertiary Education and Management - This article focuses on coordination between governance actors in a public university. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and analyze policy documents as...     

On the cascaded Weibull fading channel model

A new stochastic fading channel model called cascaded Weibull fading is introduced and the associated capacity is derived in closed form. This model is generated by the product of independent, but not necessarily identically distributed, Weibull random variables (RVs). By quantifying the convergence rate of the central limit theorem as pertaining to the multiplication of Weibull distributed RVs, the statistical basis of the lognormal distribution is investigated. By performing Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, the null hypothesis for this product to be approximated by the lognormal distribution is studied. Another null hypothesis is also examined for this product to be approximated by a Weibull distribution with properly adjusted statistical parameters.     

The Mathematics of High School Physics

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mathematicians and physical philosophers managed to study, via mathematics, various physical systems of the sublunar world through idealized and simplified models of these systems, constructed with the help of geometry. By analyzing these models, they were able to formulate new concepts, laws and theories of physics and then through models again, to apply these concepts and theories to new physical phenomena and check the results by means of experiment. Students’ difficulties with the mathematics of high school physics are well known. Science education research attributes them to inadequately deep understanding of mathematics and mainly to inadequate understanding of the meaning of symbolic mathematical expressions. There seem to be, however, more causes of these difficulties. One of them, not independent from the previous ones, is the complex meaning of the algebraic concepts used in school physics (e.g. variables, parameters, functions), as well as the complexities added by physics itself (e.g. that equations’ symbols represent magnitudes with empirical meaning and units instead of pure numbers). Another source of difficulties is that the theories and laws of physics are often applied, via mathematics, to simplified, and idealized physical models of the world and not to the world itself. This concerns not only the applications of basic theories but also all authentic end-of-the-chapter problems. Hence, students have to understand and participate in a complex interplay between physics concepts and theories, physical and mathematical models, and the real world, often without being aware that they are working with models and not directly with the real world.     

Cross-cultural generalizability of the theory of planned behavior among young people in a physical activity context

The present study tested the cross-cultural generalizability of the measurement and structural parameters of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) among youth in a physical activity context. Pupils from five cultural groups completed measures of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intentions for physical activity. Five weeks later, participants completed self-report measures of physical activity behavior. Confirmatory factor analyses and multisample structural equation models revealed well-fitting models within each sample with minimal variations in the measurement parameters across cultures. There were a few significant cross-cultural differences in the structural relations among the TPB constructs. Attitudes predicted intentions in all samples (beta range = .300 to .550), whereas the effect of the subjective norms on intention was nonsignificant in all but the Hungarian sample (beta = .243). Conversely, the effect of PBC on intentions was significant (beta range = .302 to .573) in all but the Hungarian sample. Findings support the generalizability of the measures and pattern of effects for the TPB among young people in a physical activity context.     

Insulin sensitivity derived from oral glucose tolerance testing in athletes: disagreement between available indices

The aims of the present study were to determine whether available "fasting" and oral glucose tolerance test-derived insulin sensitivity indices could effectively discriminate between individuals with higher than normal insulin sensitivity, and whether they would all provide similar information in clinical practice. Sprint runners (n = 8), endurance runners (n = 8) and sedentary controls (n = 7) received a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. All participants were healthy lean males, aged 21-29 years. Besides glucose and insulin responses, a total of nine such indices were computed. Fasting as well as post-load glucose concentrations were similar in the three groups, while basal plasma insulin and the insulinaemic response to glucose were both higher in untrained individuals (at P < 0.05 and P < 0.02, respectively). There were no differences between endurance and sprint runners. The results for insulin sensitivity, however, were quite variable: three indices showed that both groups of athletes were more insulin-sensitive than controls; three indicated that this was the case for endurance runners only; one indicated that this was the case for sprint runners only; and two showed that sprint runners were more insulin-sensitive than either sedentary individuals or endurance runners (all differences were significant at P < 0.05). Controlling for total body weight or lean mass did not effectively resolve this disagreement. Apparently, the various insulin sensitivity indices examined provided different quantitative and qualitative information, despite insulin action being greater in both groups of athletes relative to controls, as reflected by their similar glucose tolerance with lower insulin concentrations. We suggest, therefore, that the use and interpretation of such indices among physically active individuals be made with caution.     

Education, political institutions and innovative activity: A cross-country empirical investigation

Sustained economic growth has been high in the list of priorities of many nations, developed and developing, and the important role of new technology on it has long been recognized in literature.This article examines some factors that affect national innovation activity. The assumption is that innovation grows in the framework of a national system of institutions and organizations. Objective of this article is to empirically examine how the quality of education and of political institutions affects national innovation activity.This article uses a sample of 29 countries and empirically tests the cross-country variation of innovation activity using panel-data methodology. Dependent variable is the number of patents, a proxy for the output of innovation activity, and independent variables are proxies for the quality of education and the quality of governmental institutions. Finally, research and development expenditure is considered as control variable.The findings support the hypothesis that the higher the investment of a society in the quality of education, the higher the output of innovation activity. Furthermore, the development level of the governmental institutions is positively correlated with innovation activity.     

What is the Meaning of the Physical Magnitude ‘Work’?

Usually, in physics textbooks, the physical magnitude ‘work’ is introduced as the product of a force multiplied by its displacement, in relation to the transfer of energy. In other words, ‘work’ is presented as an internal affair of physics theory, while its relation to the world of experience, that is its empirical meaning, is missing. On the other hand, in the history of its creation, ‘work’ was a concept that had empirical meaning from the start. It was constructed by engineers to measure the work (labor) of motor engines, men, and animals. Very soon however this initial meaning seems to vanish. In this article, it will be looked at how ‘work’ is presented in physics textbooks, what was its initial meaning in the history of its formulation, under what circumstances this initial meaning faded, and how elements from the history of its creation can be used in the classroom to teach it.