Egocentric analysis of co-authorship network structure,position and performance

In this study, we propose and validate social networks based theoretical model for exploring scholars’ collaboration (co-authorship) network properties associated with their citation-based research performance (i.e., g-index). Using structural holes theory, we focus on how a scholar’s egocentric network properties of density, efficiency and constraint within the network associate with their scholarly performance. For our analysis, we use publication data of high impact factor journals in the field of “Information Science & Library Science” between 2000 and 2009, extracted from Scopus. The resulting database contained 4837 publications reflecting the contributions of 8069 authors. Results from our data analysis suggest that research performance of scholars’ is significantly correlated with scholars’ ego-network measures. In particular, scholars with more co-authors and those who exhibit higher levels of betweenness centrality (i.e., the extent to which a co-author is between another pair of co-authors) perform better in terms of research (i.e., higher g-index). Furthermore, scholars with efficient collaboration networks who maintain a strong co-authorship relationship with one primary co-author within a group of linked co-authors (i.e., co-authors that have joint publications) perform better than those researchers with many relationships to the same group of linked co-authors.     

Swedish young people’s after-school extra-curricular activities: attendance,opportunities and consequences

Recent research demonstrates that, along with the family, the peer group and the school environment, extra-curricular activities are important contexts for young people’s educational and social development. This article is the result of a survey conducted with a sample of young people in their last year of compulsory school in Sweden and examines both who has access to the different types of extra-curricular activity and the consequences of their participation in the various programmes. As the results indicate, after controlling for respondents’ class and migrant background, their gender and their health, there are positive and significant associations between participation in certain types of activity (sporting, cultural and religious) on the one hand, and students’ school performance and educational expectations on the other. However, attendance at a less-organised activity (youth recreation centres or fritidsgård) shows a negative association with these outcomes. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the gender, social class and migrant background of students affect their rate of participation in many of these activities.     

The role of sociocultural mediational tools in EFL teachers’ development: insights from a life history approach

The sociocultural orientation in general education, which has gradually leaked into second language teacher education, argues that teachers usually employ social relations, cultural artefacts, and theoretical concepts to mediate their thinking and practice. Against this background, the present study aimed to explore how three male Iranian English as a foreign language teachers have capitalised on the three sociocultural tools to mediate their development. The findings revealed that not all three mediational tools, though each influential in its own terms, have been available wholesale to the teachers and that different academic and teaching phases have yielded differential access to the tools. The authors indicate that during school as student, human mediation, particularly of apprenticeship, seems to be the dominant tool available for the teachers to mediate their development. Later on, in higher education institutes, although the human apprenticeship is still visible, cultural artefacts and scientific theories start to surface influencing the teachers’ learning and teaching trajectories. The implications for both teachers and teacher educators are discussed.     

Development of a scale for data quality assessment in automated library systems

A credible scale based on the opinions of system users was developed to evaluate and assess data quality in automated library systems (ALS). Development and testing were carried out in two stages. In the first stage, 77 dimensions for data quality which had been previously identified through a systematic literature review were used to develop scale items. The first draft of the scale was then distributed among a target population of ALS experts to solicit their opinions on the scale and the items. In the second stage, a revised version of the scale was distributed among the main study population, which included end users of the target systems. This stage used factor analysis to determine the final draft of the scale, which consists of 4 factors and 62 items. The 4 factors were named after the qualities of their associated items: Data Content Quality, Data Organizational Quality, Data Presentation Quality, and Data Usage Quality. This scale can help system managers identify and resolve potential problems in the systems they manage and can also aid in evaluating the quality of data sources based on the opinions of end users.     

Social capital and the educational achievement of young people in Sweden

Based on Bourdieu’s conceptualization of social capital (the social stratification perspective), this study examines the impact of social capital on the educational outcomes of young people in Sweden, with a focus on the extra-familial aspect of social capital – that is, social capital generated by parental networks and active membership in various social organizations and friendship networks. The results indicate that the class background of respondents is the main predictor of access to all three forms of extra-familial social capital. However, after controlling for class background, the children of racialized immigrant groups are more likely to have access to more types of social capital than others. All three aspects of extra-familial social capital positively influence the educational performance of pupils.     

Cytotoxicity and Apoptosis Inducing Activities of 2-Amino-4H-chromene-3-carbonitrile Derivatives Loaded on Gold Nanoparticles Against Human Breast Cancer Cell Line T47D

Chemotherapy drugs, used for prevention of uncontrolled cell proliferation in certain tissues as well as inducing apoptosis in tumor cells, are important candidates for treatment of cancer. The synthesized 2-amino-4H-chromene-3-carbonitrile derivatives effective on cancerous cells resistant to other drugs such as Paclitaxel were used due to their ability in induction of apoptosis. The growth inhibitory and inducing apoptosis activities were determined. In order to make it target-oriented, the best compound was conjugated with gold nanoparticles (NPs) by aspartic acid with chemical reduction method. Cytotoxicity effect of 2-amino-4H-chromene-3-carbonitrile derivatives against the T47D breast cancer cell line was determined by MTT assay. The synthesis of gold NPs was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, UV–Vis and dynamic light scattering. To assess the effects of compounds on the process of apoptosis, staining methods with acridine orange–ethidium bromide and Hoechst staining by fluorescence microscopy and DNA fragmentation by the diphenylamine method were used. The synthesized compounds containing two NH₂ groups on benzene rings, demonstrated more cytotoxicity effect. The effect of conjugation with gold NPs and the induction of apoptosis were studied with the best compound. The cytotoxicity effects of the synthesized 2-amino-4H-chromene-3-carbonitrile compounds were changed by replacement of NO₂ group on thiol ring with different chemical groups on the benzene ring. Analyses of treated cell lines by conjugated and non-conjugated forms of compounds verified their ability in inducing apoptosis while conjugated form demonstrated higher apoptosis.     

No-wait flow shop scheduling using fuzzy multi-objective linear programming

This study develops a fuzzy multi-objective linear programming (FMOLP) model for solving the multi-objective no-wait flow shop scheduling problem in a fuzzy environment. The proposed model attempts to simultaneously minimize the weighted mean completion time and the weighted mean earliness. A numerical example demonstrates the feasibility of applying the proposed model to no-wait flow shop scheduling problem. The proposed model yields a compromised solution and the decision maker's overall levels of satisfaction.