Archiving Web-published materials: A needs assessment of librarians,researchers, and content providers

The Web-at-Risk project is a digital preservation project funded by the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. The project is developing a Web archiving service to enable curators to build, store, and manage archived collections of Web-published materials captured largely from U.S. federal and state government agency Web sites. In 2005 the project’s 22 curators, as well as librarians and archivists working primarily in academic libraries (n = 43), university researchers (n = 7), and content providers (n = 7) participated in a study to identify their needs in relation to Web archiving. This paper summarizes the issues and challenges these groups face and discusses the need for collaborations among libraries and government entities for preserving Web-published materials.     

Comparative studies on the analysis of glycoproteins and lipopolysaccharides by the gel-based microchip and SDS-PAGE

In order to determine time efficiency between the gel-based microchip (LabChip) and traditional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), glycoproteins and lipopolysaccharides were analyzed in this study. After 90 min of gel electrophoresis, glycoproteins (bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, ovalbumin, and apo-transferrin) and fluorescent lipopolysaccharides (LPS-O and LPS-S) under reducing conditions could be analyzed by SDS-PAGE, and it would take (including imaging and analyzing) more than 3 h. The same sample could also be assayed on a Bioanalyzer in combination with the LabChip, and it would only need 30 min from start to finish. The assay software automatically calculated the size and concentration of each separated peak and displayed the results in real time, thus eliminating time-consuming procedures such as imaging and analyzing. Compared to the traditional reducing SDS-PAGE, LabChip has a faster turnaround time.     

Students’ Scientific Epistemic Beliefs,Online Evaluative Standards,and Online Searching Strategies for Science Information: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Load Experience

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of cognitive load experience between students’ scientific epistemic beliefs and information commitments, which refer to online evaluative standards and online searching strategies. A total of 344 science-related major students participated in this study. Three questionnaires were used to ascertain the students’ scientific epistemic beliefs, information commitments, and cognitive load experience. Structural equation modeling was then used to analyze the moderating effect of cognitive load, with the results revealing its significant moderating effect. The relationships between sophisticated scientific epistemic beliefs and the advanced evaluative standards used by the students were significantly stronger for low than for high cognitive load students. Moreover, considering the searching strategies that the students used, the relationships between sophisticated scientific epistemic beliefs and advanced searching strategies were also stronger for low than for high cognitive load students. However, for the high cognitive load students, only one of the sophisticated scientific epistemic belief dimensions was found to positively associate with advanced evaluative standard dimensions.     

Simulations of DNA stretching by flow field in microchannels with complex geometry

Recently, we have reported the experimental results of DNA stretching by flow field in three microchannels (C. H. Lee and C. C. Hsieh, Biomicrofluidics 7(1), 014109 (2013)) designed specifically for the purpose of preconditioning DNA conformation for easier stretching. The experimental results do not only demonstrate the superiority of the new devices but also provides detailed observation of DNA behavior in complex flow field that was not available before. In this study, we use Brownian dynamics-finite element method (BD-FEM) to simulate DNA behavior in these microchannels, and compare the results against the experiments. Although the hydrodynamic interaction (HI) between DNA segments and between DNA and the device boundaries was not included in the simulations, the simulation results are in fairly good agreement with the experimental data from either the aspect of the single molecule behavior or from the aspect of ensemble averaged properties. The discrepancy between the simulation and the experimental results can be explained by the neglect of HI effect in the simulations. Considering the huge savings on the computational cost from neglecting HI, we conclude that BD-FEM can be used as an efficient and economic designing tool for developing new microfluidic device for DNA manipulation.     

一种改进的AODV安全路由协议

针对Ad Hoc网络的黑洞攻击问题,基于AODV协议提出一种采用“逆向逐节点验证”的解决方案.本方案使用控制报文和数据报文检查网络中是否存在黑洞节点,确定黑洞节点的位置并进行排除.中间节点也对可疑节点进行验证,将黑洞攻击危害降到最低.与现有其他方案的比较表明,改进的方案在有效抵御针对Ad Hoc网络黑洞攻击的同时,具有更低的网络开销和网络延迟.     

The development of a robot-based learning companion: a user-centered design approach

A computer-vision-based method is widely employed to support the development of a variety of applications. In this vein, this study uses a computer-vision-based method to develop a playful learning system, which is a robot-based learning companion named RobotTell. Unlike existing playful learning systems, a user-centered design (UCD) approach is applied to assess the interface design of the RobotTell System so that the human–robot interaction can be enhanced during the design process. More specifically, the interface of the RobotTell system is assessed based on Nielsen's heuristics. Based on the results of Nielsen's heuristic evaluation, three versions of the RobotTell system were produced. The implications for the design of these three versions of the RobotTell system are discussed.     

A Unified Latent Growth Curve Model

Applying item response theory models to repeated observations has demonstrated great promise in developmental research. By allowing the researcher to take account of the characteristics of both item response and measurement error in longitudinal trajectory analysis, it improves the reliability and validity of latent growth curve analysis. This has enabled the study, to differentially weigh individual items and examine developmental stability and change over time, to propose a comprehensive modeling framework, combining a measurement model with a structural model. Despite a large number of components requiring attention, this study focuses on model formulation, evaluates the performance of the estimators of model parameters, incorporates prior knowledge from Bayesian analysis, and applies the model using an illustrative example. It is hoped that this fundamental study can demonstrate the breadth of this unified latent growth curve model.     

ARE TAIWANESE AND SINGAPOREAN FUTURE TEACHERS SIMILAR IN THEIR MATHEMATICS-RELATED TEACHING COMPETENCIES?

This study investigates the similarities and differences of mathematics-related teaching competencies between the future secondary school teachers of Taiwan and Singapore by using data from the international Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M), organized by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. Taiwan and Singapore are identified as the only two Asian countries integrating the Chinese/Confucian tradition in their education regarding TEDS-M. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these two countries, as compared to other TEDS-M higher-achieving Western countries, such as Germany, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, and the USA, are examined after reselecting and reclassifying the achievement items based on Niss’ (2003) mathematics competence and Hsieh’s (Secondary Education, 63(3), 2012) mathematics teaching competence structures. This study shows that Singaporean future teachers are weaker in the competence of devising formal mathematical arguments and transforming heuristic ideas into valid proofs than Taiwanese future teachers. Taiwan and Singapore demonstrate relative strengths at primary, lower-, and upper-secondary levels in mathematics competencies but show relative weaknesses at the tertiary level than do other higher-achieving Western countries. Comparing these two countries, Taiwan shows relative strengths at upper-secondary and tertiary levels, and Singaporean strengths are at primary and lower-secondary levels. This distinction is primarily because of the thought-oriented category of mathematics competencies. This study also finds that Taiwan and Singapore belong to different clusters compared with the higher-achieving Western countries regarding their future teachers’ relative strengths and weaknesses in either mathematics or mathematics teaching competence.