Development and Validation of the Metacognitive Strategies for Library Research Skills Scale (MS-LRSS)

The possession of metacognitive strategies can contribute to successful library research experiences. Accordingly, these skills should be explicitly taught during library instruction. In order to facilitate further examination of student metacognitive strategies, the Metacognitive strategies for Library Research Skills Scale (MS-LRSS) was developed and deployed to 224 graduate and undergraduate students at two post-secondary institutions. Development and validation of this instrument is described in this article. Overall, this instrument demonstrated to be a valid and reliable measure of metacognitive strategies in the context of information literacy and library research.     

Insect-Infested Wood Remediation by Microwave Heating and Its Effects on Wood Dehydration: A Case Study of Hylotrupes bajulus Larva

Wood artefacts are subject to damage by biologic infestations due to bacteria, insects, and fungal species. One of the worst feared attacks is due to the xylophagous insects whose larvae feed on wood by boring galleries, at the expense of building timbers and worked woods. These beetles are responsible for daily destruction of the world’s wooden cultural heritage, and their elimination has been always a big problem for conservation of wood. The need to avoid the use of chemical methods in conservation for pest control has led to the development of various non-chemical, non-toxic treatments. Among these, heating with microwaves (MW) seems to be one of the most promising, since it has already shown its high efficacy in destroying pests. Insect-infested wood remediation by MW heating in conservation is based on the larger thermal increment induced in larvae than in wood, due to their different dielectric permittivity in the GHz frequency range. However, the side effects that may occur due to MW heating of wood, such as dehydration, have never been discussed so far. Here we study the possible application of microwave heating as a remediation method for wood samples infested by the larvae of the insect Hylotrupes bajulus. We show that it is possible to set up exposure conditions able to achieve 100% of larvae death and that are sufficiently mild not to induce significant dehydration of the exposed wood from which shrinkage effects may derive. Indeed, under these conditions, MW-induced wood dehydration on cubic and parallelepiped sweetgum samples can be kept under control and to percentages as low as 0.4% (w/w).     

Assessment of aerobic endurance: a comparison between CD-ROM and laboratory-based instruction

Traditional approaches to teaching exercise physiology are costly in terms of staff time and consumable expenses. Ethical considerations, large student numbers and availability of technical expertise magnify the delivery problems. In an attempt to overcome these problems, a CD-ROM version of a basic course in exercise physiology was designed and delivered to a group of undergraduate sport and exercise science students. It simulated five tests of aerobic endurance which are traditionally taught using laboratory methods. A controlled experiment was conducted to compare the two delivery methods, as part of an independent, formative evaluation. Although there were equal knowledge gains and the CD-ROM design and content were well rated by students who used it, this approach has engendered less student interaction, commitment to wider reading and in-depth understanding. Tutorials and other approaches designed to promote more active learning are now being introduced to accompany the use of the CD-ROM.     

A Pilot Study Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Predict HPV Vaccination Intentions of Unvaccinated College Women

Although college-aged women are at high risk for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, many college women remain unvaccinated against HPV. Testing health behavior theory can assist sexuality educators in identifying behavioral antecedents to promote behavior change within an intervention. The purpose of this pilot study was to utilize social cognitive theory (SCT) to predict unvaccinated college women's intentions to receive the HPV vaccine within the next six months. A total of 197 unvaccinated college women ages 18–26 attending a large public southeastern university in the United States completed an online questionnaire to assess SCT constructs. Expectations, HPV knowledge, self-efficacy to get the HPV vaccine, situational perception, self-control to get the HPV vaccine, and self-efficacy in overcoming barriers to get the HPV vaccine were regressed on HPV vaccination intentions using the stepwise method. Self-control (p < 0.001, β = .292) and situational perception (p < 0.001, β = .332) were significant predictors of intentions to receive the HPV vaccine, explaining 23.5% of its variance. The results of this pilot study suggest that sexuality educators should aim to increase self-control and situational perception in order to increase HPV vaccination intentions among college women.     

When Children Are Water: Representation of Central American Migrant Children in Public Discourse and Implications for Educators

Since June, 2014 when the U.S. government began to document an increase in unaccompanied/separated children arriving in the United States from Central America, these children have become a frequent topic in media discourse. Because rhetoric about immigration issues have been shown to affect schooling of these children, the present article aims to examine how these children are represented in the discourse of one community. Findings from this critical multimodal discourse analysis reveal multiple strategies of representation that result in the dominant metaphor of IMMIGRANT CHILDREN ARE DANGEROUS WATER and negative perceptions that have implications for the education of these students.     

Biological constraints on literacy acquisition

This paper investigates some of the biological constraints that shape the process of literacy acquisition. It explores the possibility of isolating processing components of reading which correspond to computational units of equivalent size in the neural architecture. After reviewing and evaluating the current approaches to the biology of literacy acquisition, the paper considers three interconnected topics: (a) developmental dissociations, (b) early stages of literacy acquisition (in a transparent orthography), and (c) effects of remedial intervention for children with reading disorders. Developmental dissociations between reading and severe mental retardation, motor impairment, congenital anarthria and inaccuracy in phonemic awareness tasks reveal the functional independence of the reading processes. The early stages of literacy acquisition in a transparent orthography show a very steep increase in word and non-word reading accuracy; a speed that could hardly be accounted for by unconstrained learning. Finally, rehabilitation treatments of reading disorders either produce no specific effects, or marginal improvements in reading accuracy, which fade away in the long term. Concurrently, these data suggest that the process of literacy acquisition is largely constrained by a specific biological architecture which mimics the functional properties of a modular system. It is speculated that the core component of reading is a metaphonological parser, designed to perform automatic cross-modal associations between visual and sublexical units, according to the paradigms set up by any orthographic system. The phylogenetic implications of the specificity hypothesis are discussed.     

Reliability based multiobjective optimization for design of structures subject to random vibrations

Based on a multiobjective approach whose objective function （OF） vector collects stochastic reliability performance and structural cost indices, a structural optimization criterion for mechanical systems subject to random vibrations is presented for supporting engineer＇s design. This criterion differs from the most commonly used conventional optimum design criterion for random vibrating structure, which is based on minimizing displacement or acceleration variance of main structure responses, without considering explicitly required performances against failure. The proposed criterion can properly take into account the design-reliability required performances, and it becomes a more efficient support for structural engineering decision making. The multiobjective optimum （MOO） design of a tuned mass damper （TMD） has been developed in a typical seismic design problem, to control structural vibration induced on a multi-storey building structure excited by nonstationary base acceleration random process A numerical example for a three-storey building is developed and a sensitivity analysis is carried out. The results are shown in a useful manner for TMD design decision support.     

Unusual coin from the Parabita hoard: combined use of surface and micro-analytical techniques for its characterisation

Out of the staters collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto, during the full examination of about one hundred coins minted by the Greek colony of Taras between the V century BC and the III century BC, our attention has been devoted to a lead coin, which has been regarded for many years as a genuine silver coin. This artifact, entry number 13 in the inventory list for the Parabita hoard, has been studied with the combined use of surface and micro-analytical techniques (SEM, EDX, PIXE, XRD). The joint use of different analytical techniques allowed us to obtain information about the morphology, the structure and the chemical composition of the analysed coin, that revealed a lead core coated with a bi-layer of copper and silver.     

New strategies for doping control

Doping in sports is commonplace. The prevention of harm to the athlete, the guarantee of fair play, and a level playing field for all competitors are the basis of the current anti-doping strategies. As healthcare systems are forced to allocate increasing resources to prevent and treat the prevailing pathologies worldwide, funding for anti-doping campaigns will necessarily be restricted. Ideally, additional resources should be devoted to increasing the number of athletes tested, the panels of tests used, and the frequency of out-of-competition controls. Since doping prevention cannot be considered a priority for most healthcare systems, such an approach is unaffordable and an alternative framework should be devised, focused primarily on harm reduction rather than fair play. The identification of abnormal deviations from reference values, regardless of pathological or artificial causes, would allow the athlete to be followed and tested using conventional laboratory tests, which are affordable to governments and healthcare systems and available to clinical laboratories. Although this strategy would not detect cheating, it would safeguard athletes' health.     

Use of Spanish broom (Spartium junceum L.) canvas as a painting support: Evaluation of the effects of environmental conditions

One of the problems in the field of cultural heritage is the degradation of artworks and especially paintings. They appear very sensitive to environmental conditions. In this work, Spanish broom canvas is proposed as a novel painting support. In order to assess the deterioration properties of this new type of canvas, three degradation processes (exposure to wet atmosphere, to acidic attack and to UV light) were simulated and investigated. The deterioration state of the samples was monitored with Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The structure of the canvas was also analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). These techniques were successfully applied to study the occurrence significant changes of samples. The exposure to acidic and UV attack produced deep changes on the samples (only on the canvas surface in the case of UV light), while no significant effect was identified on the sample after the exposure to wet atmosphere. The results obtained from Spanish broom canvas are reported in comparison to flax canvas.