Examining expansion and trends in higher education in Mozambique,Africa

Higher Education - Concerns about expansion in higher education (HE) have increasingly become a focus of educational policymakers in sub-Saharan countries. However, critical analysis and discussion...     

University-industry research collaboration: a model to assess university capability

Scholars and policy makers recognize that collaboration between industry and the public research institutions is a necessity for innovation and national economic development. This work presents an econometric model which expresses the university capability for collaboration with industry as a function of size, location and research quality. The field of observation is made of the census of 2001–2003 scientific articles in the hard sciences, co-authored by universities and private enterprises located in Italy. The analysis shows that research quality of universities has an impact higher than geographic distance on the capability for collaborating with industry. The model proposed and the measures that descend from it are suited for use at various levels of administration, to assist in realizing the “third role” of universities: the contribution to socio-economic development through public to private technology transfer.     

People and Technology Today： Some Educational Implications

The present article approaches some of the educational implications borne by humanity with technological progress We begin by pointing out significant data that classify what is considered relevant. Then, confronting the future is discussed by analyzing the attitudes necessary to promote the goals. Confronted with these challenges, three possible focuses are suggested in accordance to the novel realities issued from science and technology： The first is the revitalization of humanism; The second is, the society of knowledge calls for both ＂radicalism and responsibility＂, which is also a response to our own decisions, without avoiding their consequences nor discharging them in others; The third is, understanding the true and full significance of solidarity. Finally, some approaches and educational suggestions are highlighted allowing parents, professors and students the greatest opportunity for profiting from the limitless resources that science and technology provide us for personal growth.     

Long-term correlations in short,non-stationary time series: An application to international R&D collaborations

Within the perimeter of patent collaboration networks, the average distance of collaborations and the number of countries involved per each collaboration have been shown to have increased steadily in time. Less attention, though, has been devoted to assessing whether this growth of cross-country collaborations is stable in time. To address this scientific question we focus on the identification of long-term correlations (i.e. temporal persistence). Our data set consists of time series of yearly average collaboration radii and of cross-border links in the Euro-American subsystem of the global collaboration network for the period 1978–2014. To investigate the fundamental persistence properties of these time series, we use Detrended Fluctuation Analysis, a method that allows us to measure long-term correlations in detrended signals. Also, we devise a general and original procedure to assess the statistical significance of results for short time series. Our results, showing that long-term correlations do exist in the majority of our signals, reinforce the hypothesis of a diminishing role of geographical distance in technological collaborations. Results at national level show that a significant degree of heterogeneity in persistence parameters can be detected within Europe, irrespectively of the efforts towards the set-up of an integrated European Research Area.     

High-volume resistance training reduces postprandial lipaemia in postmenopausal women

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 11 weeks of low-volume resistance training (LVRT) and high-volume resistance training (HVRT) on muscle strength, muscle thickness (MT), and postprandial lipaemia (PPL) in postmenopausal women. Thirty-six healthy and untrained postmenopausal women (age, 58.9 ± 5.8 years; 68.6 ± 10.3 kg; and BMI, 26.9 ± 4.8 kg · m^?2) participated in resistance training 3× per week for 11 weeks (HVRT = 12; LVRT = 13; and control group = 11). Biochemical variables, both pretraining and post-training, were evaluated 16 h after the administration of an oral fat tolerance test (OFTT) and metabolic variable during [energy expenditure (EE)] and after training session [excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)]. Muscle strength (1 RM) and MT were also calculated, and no significant differences were observed between the groups for PPL (mmol · L^?1 per 5 h) as measured by glucose, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and total cholesterol. EE total (EE + EPOC; 6.12 ± 1.21 MJ vs. 2.26 ± 0.85 MJ), resting fat oxidation (5.52 ± 1.69 g · h^?1 vs. 4.11 ± 1.12 g · h^?1); MT (vastus medialis, 21.4 ± 1.8 mm vs. 18.4 ± 1.2 mm and vastus lateralis 22.3 ± 1.2 mm vs. 20.8 ± 1.3 mm); triacylglycerol (TAG) 0, 1, 2, 4; and 5 h after OFTT, TAG area under the curve (AUC) (5.79 ± 0.42 vs. 7.78 ± 0.68), and incremental AUC (?46.21 ± 14.42% vs. 7.78 ± 4.68%) were all significantly different post-training for HVRT versus LVRT, respectively (P < 0.05). The results of this investigation suggest that HVRT reduces PPL in postmenopausal women.     

On time-varying collaboration networks

The patterns of scientific collaboration have been frequently investigated in terms of complex networks without reference to time evolution. In the present work, we derive collaborative networks (from the arXiv repository) parameterized along time. By defining the concept of affine group, we identify several interesting trends in scientific collaboration, including the fact that the average size of the affine groups grows exponentially, while the number of authors increases as a power law. We were therefore able to identify, through extrapolation, the possible date when a single affine group is expected to emerge. Characteristic collaboration patterns were identified for each researcher, and their analysis revealed that larger affine groups tend to be less stable.     

Five themes in a thought-full curriculum

Curriculum, instruction, learning and assessment are the pulse of the school. They are what drive everything else. They are the currency through which we exchange thoughts and ideas. They are the passions that bind our organization together. Educators recognize the growing need for informed, skilled, thoughtful and compassionate citizens who value truth, openness, creativity, interdependence, balance and love as well as the search for personal and spiritual freedom in all areas of one's life. This demands that the school's curriculum must be open and flexible enough to accommodate these new perspectives. In this article, five themes will be presented as “lenses” with which to view a thought-filled curriculum.     

Observations sur la dimension pratique dans la formation des enseignants

The strongpoints on which to plan the initial education and training of teachers are dealt with. On the training side two elements are considered: that part of training linked to learning processes, and the other part facing the social life of classroom and school, social and affective growth, civic education. It is advocated that the interaction between subject‐matter and its construction/transmission could take place through practical experimental paths within the actual work of school.     

The difficulty of sit-ups tests: an empirical investigation.

This study estimated the difficulty of various sit-ups tests using an item response theory (IRT) model, the Rasch Poisson Counts model. Scores were obtained on 18 sit-ups tests. All tests were thought to vary in difficulty based on clinical observations. Item difficulty was defined by the Poisson model as the difficulty of Step 1, where the difficulty of a step represented the difficulty of completing a sit-up. The difficulty values of the tests ranged from -4.02 to -3.57. The easiest test was executed with hands on thighs and feet anchored. Most tests had good fit values. The results demonstrated that a variety of sit-ups tests can provide a range of difficulties and variety in forming a sit-ups test bank.