Protein identification and localization using mass spectrometry and staining tests in cross-sections of polychrome samples

The identification and localization of the proteinaceous binders are essential issues in studies of painting materials and techniques, for further proposing valid restoration and conservation treatments of the painted or polychrome works of art. The challenge for analytical chemists and conservation scientists is the availability of methods able to simultaneously identify and map the presence of the binders in the multilayered structure of a sample and the possibility to use a very low amount of sample from the studied art object (considering also the criteria of minimum sampling). These methods should be fast, reproducible in different artefacts and in case of mixture of protein-based binders with other non-proteinaceous constituents (oils, resins, waxes, gums etc.) and also economical (both in terms of materials and time consume). In this context, the present paper proposes an innovative protocol of investigation using two complementary techniques – Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation – Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and staining tests (one visible and one fluorescent stain) assisted by Optical Microscopy (OM) on cross-section of samples – for the simultaneous identification and mapping of protein – and oil-based binders in paint materials. The novelty is based on the use of MALDI-TOF MS on cross-sections of paints together with a fluorescent stain for protein identification and mapping (mainly used in the area of proteomics) complementing the use of a traditional visible stain for oil-based material identification. The protocol was successfully applied on several samples taken from a Czech medieval polychrome sculpture, entitled “The Mourning of Jesus Christ” (16th century) belonging to the Moravian Gallery (Brno).     

Top-down and bottom-up approaches to improve educational quality: their intended and unintended consequences

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability -     

Ratings of usability of didactic models: a comparative case study in Croatia and Germany

The study refers to the unfavourable reputation and status of general didactics as well as its decreasing importance in teacher education. This is a result of poor performance achieved in international tests by students. They score low on knowledge and arguments, and empirical studies indicate that didactic models are useless. In view of the above problem, the aim of this article is to examine the validity of the argument that didactic models are useless. It is necessary to examine if general didactics are being in an unfavourable position along with its possible successors in the international context. In order to achieve that, we conducted an empirical study into the usability of didactic models for lesson planning in Croatia and compared it with the results obtained in previous research in Germany. The term usability means the advantages of theory in practice. On the basis of the results of the empirical study, we concluded that didactic models are not generally unusable. Additionally, they are different according to their usability. These results open a path for further research on this topic in the international context.     

Technology intensity and agglomeration economies

This article investigates the relationship between industry technology intensity and the impacts of agglomeration economies on industrial growth. Many recent studies suggest the actual economic impacts of different forms of agglomeration economies depend on industrial characteristics such as technology intensity, but systematic empirical evidence is still lacking. To fill this gap, we analyze employment data covering all 3-digit NAICS industries of U.S. counties. The results confirm that technology-intensive industries are more likely to benefit from Jacobs spillovers as measured by related variety, while sectors with low technology intensities can better benefit from MAR spillovers as measured by regional specialization.     

Learning with videos vs. learning with print: The role of interactive features

Two complementary studies, one in the laboratory and one in the field, compared the usage patterns and the effectiveness of interactive videos and illustrated textbooks when German secondary school students learned complex content. For this purpose, two videos affording different degrees of interactivity and a content-equivalent illustrated textbook were used. Both studies showed that in contrast to previous studies working with non-interactive videos, the effectiveness of interactive videos was at least comparable to that of print, probably due to the possibilities provided for self-regulated information processing. It was shown that the interactive features of the videos were used spontaneously. However, features enabling micro-level activities, such as stopping the video or browsing, seemed to be more beneficial for learning than features enabling macro-level activities, such as referring to a table of contents or an index. This finding is explained by students’ misconceptions about the use of features enabling macro-level activities.     

Automatic,semantics-based indexing of natural language texts for information retrieval systems

The fundamental idea of the work reported here is to extract index phrases from texts with the help of a single word concept dictionary and a thesaurus containing relations among concepts. The work is based on the fact, that, within every phrase, the single words the phrase is composed of are related in a certain well denned manner, the type of relations holding between concepts depending only on the concepts themselves. Therefore relations can be stored in a semantic network. The algorithm described extracts single word concepts from texts and combines them to phrases using the semantic relations between these concepts, which are stored in the network. The results obtained show that phrase extraction from texts by this semantic method is possible and offers many advantages over other (purely syntactic or statistic) methods concerning preciseness and completeness of the meaning representation of the text. But the results show, too, that some syntactic and morphologic “filtering” should be included for effectivity reasons.     

Believing in Neuromyths Makes Neither a Bad Nor Good Student‐Teacher: The Relationship between Neuromyths and Academic Achievement in Teacher Education

Neuromyths have been discussed to detrimentally affect educational practice, but the evidence for this assumption is still very scarce. We investigated whether 255 student‐teacher' beliefs in neuromyths are related to their academic achievement (overall grade point averages and first‐year practical courses). Believing or rejecting neuromyths that make no direct assumptions about learners' educability was not related to academic achievement. Believing in neuromyths that explicitly deny the educability of learners was only marginally related to academic achievement. We conclude that self‐reported beliefs in neuromyths do not differentiate between high‐ and low‐achieving initial teacher education students.     

The machine intelligence Hex project

Hex is a challenging strategy board game for two players. To enhance students’ progress in acquiring understanding and practical experience with complex machine intelligence and programming concepts we developed the Machine Intelligence Hex (MIHex) project. The associated undergraduate student assignment is about designing and implementing Hex players and evaluating them in an automated tournament of all programs developed by the class. This article surveys educational aspects of the MIHex project. Additionally, fundamental techniques for game programming as well as specific concepts for Hex board evaluation are reviewed. The MIHex game server and possibilities of tournament organisation are described. We summarise and discuss our experiences from running the MIHex project assignment over four consecutive years. The impact on student motivation and learning benefits are evaluated using questionnaires and interviews.     

The First International Recreation Congress in Los Angeles in 1932 and Its Importance as a Stage for the National Recreation Association and the International Olympic Committee

In 1932, as a prelude to the Los Angeles Olympics, an international gathering of supporters of ‘Sport for All’ held the first International Recreation Congress. The meeting sought to revive the original connection established during the early decades of the Olympic Movement by the Baron Pierre de Coubertin between the elite sporting spectacles he created and his commitment to active mass recreation for modern societies. The International Olympic Committee had a long and complex relationship with ‘Sport for All’ programmes, as revealed in this initial meeting of mass recreation enthusiasts and the subsequent congresses that followed. The International Olympic Committee leaders who inherited Coubertin's mantle used the recreation conclave to push the responsibility of implementing ‘sport for all’ onto other agencies rather than returning the Olympic Movement to the centre of the struggle – as Coubertin desired. While scholars have paid considerable attention to other elements of the 1932 Los Angeles games, the International Recreation Congress has been neglected, even though it created important legacies for the struggles between elite and mass sport during the rest of the twentieth century.     

Data-driven approaches to education governance and their implications

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability -