Footwear traction at different areas on artificial and natural grass fields

Footwear traction has been linked to lower-extremity injuries with the theory that higher traction leads to an increased incidence of injury. Recent studies have challenged this showing similar injury rates on artificial turf, which has higher traction than natural grass. This could suggest that the magnitude of traction may not be as relevant for injury as relative changes from one location to another, due to inconsistencies in the surface. The purpose of this study was to compare the traction at various locations on an in-fill artificial turf and natural grass surface. A portable traction tester measured the traction of three shoes at six locations on both surfaces. The results indicate that over the course of a season the traction on natural grass changes considerably, especially rotational traction. Surprisingly the artificial turf surface also had areas of high and low traction due to the movement of the in-fill material during play.     

ApoStream?, a new dielectrophoretic device for antibody independent isolation and recovery of viable cancer cells from blood

Isolation and enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are used to monitor metastatic disease progression and guide cancer therapy. However, currently available technologies are limited to cells expressing specific cell surface markers, such as epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) or have limited specificity because they are based on cell size alone. We developed a device, ApoStream^™ that overcomes these limitations by exploiting differences in the biophysical characteristics between cancer cells and normal, healthy blood cells to capture CTCs using dielectrophoretic technology in a microfluidic flow chamber. Further, the system overcomes throughput limitations by operating in continuous mode for efficient isolation and enrichment of CTCs from blood. The performance of the device was optimized using a design of experiment approach for key operating parameters such as frequency, voltage and flow rates, and buffer formulations. Cell spiking studies were conducted using SKOV3 or MDA-MB-231 cell lines that have a high and low expression level of EpCAM, respectively, to demonstrate linearity and precision of recovery independent of EpCAM receptor levels. The average recovery of SKOV3 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells spiked into approximately 12 × 10⁶ peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 7.5 ml normal human donor blood was 75.4% ± 3.1% (n = 12) and 71.2% ± 1.6% (n = 6), respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision coefficients of variation of the device were both less than 3%. Linear regression analysis yielded a correlation coefficient (R²) of more than 0.99 for a spiking range of 4–2600 cells. The viability of MDA-MB-231 cancer cells captured with ApoStream was greater than 97.1% and there was no difference in cell growth up to 7 days in culture compared to controls. The ApoStream device demonstrated high precision and linearity of recovery of viable cancer cells independent of their EpCAM expression level. Isolation and enrichment of viable cancer cells from ApoStream enables molecular characterization of CTCs from a wide range of cancer types.     

Too much,too soon? A critical investigation into factors that make Flipped Classrooms effective

The Flipped Classroom (FC) method is used widely in higher education, with studies claiming various benefits. However, to date, little work has focused on what makes FCs effective for student learning. This study presents data collected from interviews with 14 UK-based undergraduate students, investigating their perceptions of participating in a series of FC sessions. Findings indicate that the FC format discouraged a significant number of students from attending. However, students who did attend the flipped classes reported valuing the resultant learning opportunities and enjoying the experience. This study sheds light on the learning process within the FC. Challenges in implementing the FC were highlighted both by students who attended and by those who did not. We conclude that implementing the FC should not be undertaken lightly or be seen as a quick fix; at minimum, it requires staff willingness and opportunities for engagement and peer learning.     

Language Motivation,Use and Achievement

“How is it that some people can learn a second or foreign language so easily and so well while others, given what seem to be same opportunities to learn, find it almost impossible?” (Gardner and Lambert, 1972: 131). This seemingly simple question triggered off a series of studies which has kept researchers rather busy since 1960.     

A tale of two cities’ university rankings: comparing Hong Kong and Singapore

Hong Kong and Singapore were former British colonies, have a predominant Chinese population and value. They began to develop quickly in the late 1960s, become financial hubs of the world in the 21st century. This paper reviews the tertiary education development of the two cities, particularly on the perspective of university rankings. It first elaborates about the emergence of university rankings, and the reason why it becomes a growing exercise, and who would be the benefactors of these exercises. Then it examines the performance of universities of the two cities in the international university ranking systems, makes a general assessment about the relative merits of the higher education systems in both cities. The paper requests ranking comparisons on the detailed items rather than just the sums, and argues that universities in the two cities are on par.     

Finland and Singapore in PISA 2009: similarities and differences in achievements and school management

In PISA 2009, Finland and Singapore were both ranked high among the participating nations and have caught much attention internationally. However, a secondary analysis of the means for Reading achievement show that the differences are rather small and are attributable to spurious precision. Hence, the two nations should be considered as being on par with each other in achievements and be assigned the same rank. Spurious precision as a problem of interpreting and reporting research findings has caught the attention of researchers in several other disciplines, though not in the field of education, and this needs to be rectified. In spite of the finding of no differences in PISA Reading achievement, principals in Finland and Singapore differ somewhat in school management and involvement in school matters. It is suggested that some intervening variables (e.g., teachers’ quality and instruction) are needed to explain the correlation (or the lack of it) between principals’ management styles and student Reading achievement. It is also suggested that school principals’ management styles might have been influenced by the cultural milieus of the countries and have influenced students’ social-emotional development, which is not measured by PISA.     

Engagement@web 2.0 between the government and citizens in Singapore: dialogic communication on Facebook?

Responding to the rapid adoption of new technologies, political parties, both incumbent parties and minor ones, have been quick to leverage web 2.0 technologies for party communication and mobilization. A coterie of work addressed how social media such as Facebook are used as political tools for the promotion of candidate and party campaign platforms. However, a present bias is observed as current literature focus on western democracies. To bridge the gap, this study examines the gradual, yet significant, evolution in technology deployment by the ruling elite in Singapore. This paper traces the developments in e-engagement to bridge the affective gap between the ruling elite and an increasingly IT-savvy population, one which has demonstrated its astuteness in using new media to articulate its disenchantment. Developments in the last five years indicate that the government's earlier endeavor to centralize and streamline its political engagement via a single portal, REACH, is insufficient to say the least. Between the general election in 2006 and the watershed election in May 2011, the repertoire of media tools deployed by the political elite has broadened, with the inclusion of personal blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. In this paper, we apply Kent and Taylor's public relations dialogic communication framework to examine how Facebook fosters greater mutuality, propinquity, and empathy between the government and the electorate. However, problems arising from new technologies themselves inadvertently create risks and challenge the government's ability to commit to dialogic communication.