School Mapping Restructure in China: What role for the small rural school?

Despite significant progress over the past fifteen years associated with School Mapping Restructure (SMR) in Chinese rural schools, many small schools have been closed or have merged with larger primary schools. This has resulted, among other things, in difficulties for many students in rural areas who now have to travel longer distances to a central (primary) school and whose families generally have to bear greater expenses for schooling. This paper examines the role of small rural schools in the Chinese education system, looks at the context and impacts of SMR on these schools in terms of quality, cost and access indicators, and highlights some of the key difficulties faced by these schools in the restructured education system. We argue that small rural schools have a significant role to play in delivering education services in rural China and should therefore be retained, supported and equipped with the right levels of facilities and quality services for them to fulfill their role. The policy implications of these findings for education officials are discussed in the context of continuing SMR.     

Parenting styles of mothers with deaf or hard-of-hearing children and hearing siblings

The present study aims to determine whether rearing a deaf or hard-of-hearing (d/hh) child would differentiate the parenting and disciplinary preference of parents between the d/hh and the hearing child. The parenting styles of 30 hearing mothers from Cyprus were assessed using the Greek version of the Parenting Styles & Dimensions Questionnaire. Additionally, mothers rated sibling interactions using the sibling inventory of behavior. The results indicated that the dominant parenting style for both the hearing and the d/hh children among the participating mothers was the authoritative type and the least prevalent parental types were the permissive and the strict. Moreover, mothers' perceptions of sibling relationship were found to be a significant factor in predicting mothers' reported parenting styles in this sample. The contribution of the present findings to our knowledge of the parenting characteristics and practices of families who have a d/hh child along with their possible implications for child and family services are discussed.     

Effects of targeted interventions and of specific instructional time on reading ability in French children in grade 1

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The aim is to examine the impact of interventions on fluency and reading comprehension and how the effects of these interventions depend on the time...     

Effects of Population Heterogeneity on Accuracy of DIF Detection

Heterogeneity within English language learners (ELLs) groups has been documented. Previous research on differential item functioning (DIF) analyses suggests that accurate DIF detection rates are reduced greatly when groups are heterogeneous. In this simulation study, we investigated the effects of heterogeneity within linguistic (ELL) groups on the accuracy of DIF detection. Heterogeneity within such groups may occur for a myriad of reasons including differential lengths of time residing in English-speaking countries, degrees of exposure to English-speaking environments, and amounts of English instruction. Our findings revealed that at high levels of within-group heterogeneity, DIF detection is at the level of chance, implying that a large proportion of DIF items might remain undetected when assessing heterogeneous populations potentially leading to developing biased tests. Based on our findings, we urge test development organizations to consider heterogeneity within ELL and other heterogeneous focus groups in their routine DIF analyses.     

Test–retest reliability of the 30–15 Intermittent Fitness Test: A systematic review

PurposeThis review aimed to synthesize previous findings on the test–retest reliability of the 30–15 Intermittent Fitness Test (IFT).MethodsThe literature searches were performed in 8 databases. Studies that examined the test–retest reliability of the 30–15 IFT and presented the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and/or the coefficient of variation (CV) for maximal velocity and/or peak heart rate were included. The consensus-based standards for the selection of health measurement instruments (COSMIN) checklist was used for the assessment of the methodological quality of the included studies.ResultsSeven studies, with a total of 10 study groups, explored reliability of maximal velocity assessed by the 30–15 IFT. ICCs ranged from 0.80 to 0.99, where 70% of ICCs were ≥0.90. CVs for maximal velocity ranged from 1.5% to 6.0%. Six studies, with a total of 7 study groups, explored reliability of peak heart rate as assessed by the 30–15 IFT. ICCs ranged from 0.90 to 0.97 (i.e., all ICCs were ≥0.90). CVs ranged from 0.6% to 4.8%. All included studies were of excellent methodological quality.ConclusionFrom the results of this systematic review, it can be concluded that the 30–15 IFT has excellent test–retest reliability for both maximal velocity and peak heart rate. The test may, therefore, be used as a reliable measure of fitness in research and sports practice.     

Evaluation of the willingness for cadaveric donation in Greece: A population‐based study

Despite the importance of body donation for medical education and the advancement of medical science, cadaveric donation remains suboptimal worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the willingness of body donation in Greece and determine the characteristics of donors. This cross‐sectional questionnaire survey was conducted from January to June 2011. A specially designed questionnaire was distributed to 1,700 individuals who were randomly selected from five major Greek cities. It was found that higher educational levels (P = 0.002), annual family income below 30,000 Euros (P = 0.001), guaranteed employment status (P = 0.02), and the presence of comorbid conditions (P = 0.004) seemed to affect potential donors' willingness for cadaveric donation. Those with strong religious beliefs were found to be unwilling to donate their bodies to medical science. Interestingly, the majority of participants who believed that hospitalized patients are deceived or are used for harmful experiments were willing to become whole body donors (P = 0.043). In Greece, the rate of body donation to medical science remains low, and most Greek citizens are not willing to become body donors. Efforts to encourage discussions about whole body donation should be implemented in order to improve current low levels of donation. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Consequences of Vertical Separation and Monopoly: Evidence From the Telecom Privatizations

Policy variation across countries on the use of mandatory vertical separation and statutory monopoly allows the assessment of their impact on basic telephone services (local, long distance, and international service). Panel data analysis from 56 countries during the 7-year period following the privatization of the main telephone provider indicates that vertical separation and monopoly harm the consumers that were supposed to benefit: the downstream users of international telephony and the upstream users of residential local telephony. Mandatory vertical separation reduces the usage of international telephone service and the number of fixed lines in service, whereas statutory monopoly reduces the amount of fixed lines in service and increases the price of local residential telephony.     

Do Consonant Sonority and Status Influence Syllable-Based Segmentation Strategies in a Visual Letter Detection Task? Developmental Evidence in French Children

This article queries whether consonant sonority (sonorant vs. obstruent) and status (coda vs. onset) within intervocalic clusters influence syllable-based segmentation strategies. We used a modified version of the illusory conjunction paradigm to test whether French beginning, intermediate, and advanced readers were sensitive to an optimal “sonorant coda–obstruent onset” sonority profile within the syllable boundaries as a cue for a syllable-based segmentation. Data showed that children used a syllable-based segmentation that improved with reading skills and age. The results are discussed to support that the visual letter detection within pseudowords primarily and early relies on acoustic-phonetic cues within the syllable boundaries, whereas the syllable effect seems to be developmentally constrained by reading skills and age.     

Designing interaction metaphors for Web3D cultural dissemination

In the last few years the improved performances of graphics hardware and the growing availability of broadband internet connections have eventually led to effectively adding a third dimension to web interfaces, achieving what is commonly referred to as Web3D. Nevertheless, these technologies are not yet widespread, especially in the cultural sector, for at least two factors: technological limitations, mostly in the lack of coherent and effective metaphors to visualize and interact with digital cultural assets using the third-dimension as an added value rather than as a stylish gadget, and communication issues, as, despite the principles stated in the London Charter aimed at ensuring technical and intellectual rigor for the digital visualization of cultural heritage, a proper way to deal with relevant and sustainable 3D information is not yet completely established. For this reason this paper focuses on identifying and analyzing the aspects that may contribute to a more efficient use of Web3D technologies to access cultural content, in order to set up a set of development standards aiming to encourage web-based learning and guaranteeing systems accessible and usable by the widest possible audience.     

Microarray of non-connected gold pads used as high density electric traps for parallelized pairing and fusion of cells

Cell fusion consists of inducing the formation of a hybridoma cell containing the genetic properties of the progenitor cells. Such an operation is usually performed chemically or electrically. The latter method, named electrofusion, is considered as having a strong potential, due to its efficiency and non-toxicity, but deserves further investigations prior to being applicable for key applications like antibody production and cancer immunotherapy. Indeed, to envision such applications, a high amount of hybrid cells is needed. In this context, we present in this paper a device for massive cell pairing and electrofusion, using a microarray of non-connected conductive pads. The electrofusion chamber––or channel––exposes cells to an inhomogeneous electric field, caused by the pads array, enabling the trapping and pairing of cells with dielectrophoresis (DEP) forces prior to electrofusion. Compared to a mechanical trapping, such electric trapping is fully reversible (on/off handling). The DEP force is contactless and thus eases the release of the produced hybridoma. Moreover, the absence of wire connections on the pads permits the high density trapping and electrofusion of cells. In this paper, the electric field mapping, the effect of metallic pads thickness, and the transmembrane potential of cells are studied based on a numerical model to optimize the device. Electric calculations and experiments were conducted to evaluate the trapping force. The structure was finally validated for cell pairing and electrofusion of arrays of cells. We believe that our approach of fully electric trapping with a simple structure is a promising method for massive production of electrofused hybridoma.