Surface protein gradients generated in sealed microchannels using spatially varying helium microplasma

Spatially varied surface treatment of a fluorescently labeled Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) protein, on the walls of a closed (sealed) microchannel is achieved via a well-defined gradient in plasma intensity. The microchips comprised a microchannel positioned in-between two microelectrodes (embedded in the chip) with a variable electrode separation along the length of the channel. The channel and electrodes were 50 μm and 100 μm wide, respectively, 50 μm deep, and adjacent to the channel for a length of 18 mm. The electrode separation distance was varied linearly from 50 μm at one end of the channel to a maximum distance of 150, 300, 500, or 1000 μm to generate a gradient in helium plasma intensity. Plasma ignition was achieved at a helium flow rate of 2.5 ml/min, 8.5 kV_pk-pk, and 10 kHz. It is shown that the plasma intensity decreases with increasing electrode separation and is directly related to the residual amount of BSA left after the treatment. The plasma intensity and surface protein gradient, for the different electrode gradients studied, collapse onto master curves when plotted against electrode separation. This precise spatial control is expected to enable the surface protein gradient to be tuned for a range of applications, including high-throughput screening and cell-biomolecule-biomaterial interactions.     

Re-examining the effects of adding relevance information in a relevance feedback environment

This paper presents an investigation about how to automatically formulate effective queries using full or partial relevance information (i.e., the terms that are in relevant documents) in the context of relevance feedback (RF). The effects of adding relevance information in the RF environment are studied via controlled experiments. The conditions of these controlled experiments are formalized into a set of assumptions that form the framework of our study. This framework is called idealized relevance feedback (IRF) framework. In our IRF settings, we confirm the previous findings of relevance feedback studies. In addition, our experiments show that better retrieval effectiveness can be obtained when (i) we normalize the term weights by their ranks, (ii) we select weighted terms in the top K retrieved documents, (iii) we include terms in the initial title queries, and (iv) we use the best query sizes for each topic instead of the average best query size where they produce at most five percentage points improvement in the mean average precision (MAP) value. We have also achieved a new level of retrieval effectiveness which is about 55–60% MAP instead of 40+% in the previous findings. This new level of retrieval effectiveness was found to be similar to a level using a TREC ad hoc test collection that is about double the number of documents in the TREC-3 test collection used in previous works.     

A framework for developing pre‐service teachers’ competencies in using technologies to enhance teaching and learning

This paper presents a framework for developing pre‐service teachers’ competencies in using technologies to enhance teaching and learning. It focuses on building the capacity of teacher education institutions (TEI) based on six strategic dimensions: (1) vision and philosophy; (2) program; (3) professional learning of deans, teacher educators and support staff; (4) ICT plan, infrastructure, resources and support; (5) communications and partnerships; and (6) research and evaluation. This paper describes each of these six strategic dimensions and synthesizes these in the overall framework for developing pre‐service teachers’ competencies in generating technology‐enhanced teaching and learning.     

Determinants of Students' Quality of School Life: A Path Model

This study examined factors contributing to the quality of school life of secondary school students. A path model, expressing interrelationships between students' background characteristics, their expectations of schools, the perceived quality of both the formal and the informal school curriculum, the classroom environment and students' quality of school life, was developed and tested. The sample comprised 8265 Grade 12 students from 70 schools in New South Wales, Australia. Analysis indicated that, after controlling for other variables in the model, students' experience of the classroom environment was the single most important factor explaining their quality of school life. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A comparison of scientific epistemological views between mainland China and Taiwan high school students

This study investigates the similarities and differences between high school students from Taiwan and China in terms of their scientific epistemological views. In addition, the effects of age and gender on scientific epistemological views were also examined. The results indicate that the students from these two localities, which signify two similar yet different cultures, are substantially different in five out of the six dimensions. Age and gender were also found to have significant effects in some dimensions. Implications for future research were discussed at the end of the paper.     

Taiwanese primary school teachers’ perceived enablers for and barriers to the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning

Educational Studies in Mathematics - This study is part of the international survey studies on teachers’ beliefs concerning the integration of children’s literature in mathematics...     

Motion controllers for learners to manipulate and interact with 3D objects for mental rotation training

Mental rotation is an important spatial processing ability and an important element in intelligence tests. However, the majority of past attempts at training mental rotation have used paper‐and‐pencil tests or digital images. This study proposes an innovative mental rotation training approach using magnetic motion controllers to allow learners to manipulate and interact with three‐dimensional (3D) objects. Stereovision allows learners to perceive the spatial geometric form of a 3D object. This approach allows learners to perceive 3D objects in space through stereovision and make mental rotation visible from each intrinsic and invisible mental rotation step using motion‐interaction methods. This study examines the effects of user training performance and perceptions. The results indicate that the proposed approach can improve user mental rotation ability effectively. Learners expressed high degrees of concentration toward the mechanism that included direct control and immediate feedback. The results also suggest that female testers perceive greater degrees of playfulness toward the mechanism and improve more through training than male testers.     

Trends of educational technology research: more than a decade of international research in six SSCI-indexed refereed journals

This study applied text mining methods to examine the abstracts of 2,997 international research articles published between 2000 and 2010 by six journals included in the Social Science Citation Index in the field of Educational Technology (EDTECH). A total of 19 clusters of research areas were identified, and these clusters were further analyzed in terms of productivity by country and by journal. The analysis revealed research areas with rising trends, stable status, and low attention. This study also identified areas of research emphasis by journal and research strength by country. A discussion of results through the lens of Critical Theory of Technology is also included. The authors hope to inform the EDTECH community about the trends of EDTECH research on topics and regions of research contributions. The authors also believe that such examination of trends can help facilitate fruitful discussions of directions for future research, and possible international collaboration across various geographical regions.