The development that leads to the Cloud Computing Business Framework

The Cloud Computing Business Framework (CCBF) is proposed to help organisations achieve good Cloud design, deployment, migration and services. There are four key areas to be addressed: (i) Classification; (ii) Organisational Sustainability Modelling (OSM); (iii) Service Portability and (iv) Linkage. Each area's focus is described, and we explain how each fits into the CCBF and work altogether. The process that leads the CCBF is supported by literature, case studies, where examples in each CCBF key area are used to illustrate its effectiveness and contributions to organisations adopting it. CCBF has been used in several organisations offering added values and positive impacts.     

The probability of winning break points in Grand Slam men's singles tennis

Abstract

The probability of winning games of tennis has been modelled in terms of the probability of the server winning an individual point. These models are based on the assumptions of stationarity of the point and interdependence. Stationarity is the assumption that the outcome of tennis points is not influenced by the game score at the beginning of the point. The purpose of the current investigation was to compare the outcomes of tennis points during break points and non-break points using data from 528 men's singles tennis matches from all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2008 and 2009. The retrospective probability of the receiver winning a point was 0.42 ± 0.23 during break points which was significantly greater than the 0.38 ± 0.10 during non-break points (P < 0.001). This, in turn, led to players creating significantly more break points than expected (P < 0.001) and breaking serve more frequently than expected (P < 0.001) for the points won when receiving serve. This is evidence that stationarity cannot be assumed and that models of winning tennis games may need to be enhanced to address improved receiver performance during break points.     

Learning from demonstrations: the role of visual search during observational learning from video and point-light models

In this study, we examined the visual search strategies used during observation of video and point-light display models. We also assessed the relative effectiveness of video and point-light models in facilitating the learning of task outcomes and movement patterns. Twenty-one female novice soccer players were divided equally into video, point-light display and no-model (control) groups. Participants chipped a soccer ball onto a target area from which radial and variable error scores were taken. Kinematic data were also recorded using an opto-electrical system. Both a pre- and post-test were performed, interspersed with three periods of acquisition and observation of the model. A retention test was completed 2 days after the post-test. There was a significant main effect for test period for outcome accuracy and variability, but observation of a model did not facilitate outcome-based learning. Participants observing the models acquired a global movement pattern that was closer to that of the model than the controls, although they did not acquire the local relations in the movement pattern, evidenced by joint range of motion and angle-angle plots. There were no significant differences in learning between the pointlight display and video groups. The point-light display model group used a more selective visual search pattern than the video model group, while both groups became more selective with successive trials and observation periods. The results are discussed in the context of Newell's hierarchy of coordination and control and Scully and Newell's visual perception perspective.     

Desktop research – bibliographic databases and electronic journals

Contemporary aspects of research methods in sport and exercise psychology are discussed in this wide-ranging review. After an introduction centred on trends in sport and exercise psychology methods, the review is organized around the major themes of quantitative and qualitative research. Our aim is to highlight areas that may be problematic or controversial (e.g. stepwise statistical procedures), underused (e.g. discriminant analysis), increasingly used (e.g. meta-analysis, structural equation modelling, qualitative content analysis) and emergent (e.g. realist tales of writing). Perspectives range from the technical and speculative to the controversial and critical. While deliberately not providing a ‘cookbook’ approach to research methods, we hope to provide enough material to help researchers to appreciate the diversity of potential methods and to adopt a more critical perspective in their own research consumption and production.     

Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis of the Flow State Scale in exercise

In this study, we examined the factor structure and internal consistency of the Flow State Scale using responses of exercise participants.This self-report questionnaire consists of nine subscales designed to assess flow in sport and physical activity. It was administered to 1231 aerobic dance exercise participants. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to test three competing measurement models of the flow construct: a single-factor model, a nine-factor model and a hierarchical model positing a higher-order flow factor to explain the intercorrelations between the nine first-order factors. The single-factor model showed a poor fit to the data. The nine-factor model and the hierarchical model did not show an adequate fit to the data. All subscales of the Flow State Scale displayed acceptable internal consistency ( f > 0.70), with the exception of transformation of time ( f = 0.65). Collectively, the present results do not provide support for the tenability of the single-factor, nine-factor or hierarchical measurement models in an exercise setting.     

从妈祖造像看中国神像造型美学的意涵

妈祖信仰形成了大量不同时期风格多样的妈祖造像。这些造像,系统地展示了妈祖形象变化发展的历史轨迹,溶入了各时代人们对妈祖形象的理解,是造像师们的审美心态和时代审美倾向共同作用的结果,既秉承了中国传统神像造型艺术传统,同时记录了妈祖的造型演变和民众的文化审美理念,成为妈祖信仰文化中重要的艺术文化资产。从妈祖造像语言的发展脉络中,我们可以窥视到中国民间造神的演变过程;从妈祖造像中,我们可以解读出中国神像造像美学意涵的广大精微。     

The Evaluation of Modelling Competences: Difficulties and potentials for the learning of the sciences

Modelling is an inherent process for the construction and use of science concepts that mobilize diverse specific competences. The aims of this work are to put forward a means of evaluating modelling competences that is relevant for physics teaching and science education research and to identify the potentials and constraints in the development of modelling competences. A written test, which embraces a wide range of modelling aspects in mechanics domain, was drawn up and validated, and a theoretically based evaluation methodology was specified. In the validation process, the test was given to 75 subjects distributed across seven levels of physics education. The answers were analysed and later cluster analysis was carried out in order to identify categories of answers among the diverse answers. The results indicate that the test identified and delimitated modelling competences. Some results are in agreement with those obtained through other research into this issue and other results better elucidate certain aspects of modelling. The way in which evaluation methodology can be used in other areas of physics is discussed, such as in research and in teaching. Also discussed is how the constraints and potentials identified in the development of modelling competences can be taken into account in teaching and learning sciences.     

Multilevel Modelling in Repeated Measures of the Quality of Finnish School Life

The main interest of the paper is methodological: to exploit multilevel modelling in analysing quality of school life data gathered in 1991 and 1995 in Finnish comprehensive schools, with the intention of investigating differences and related changes in the quality of school life over time. The specific methodological aim is to explore the advantages gained and problems encountered while applying multilevel models and the statistical program MLwiN in analysing large scale educational data with repeated measures. The quality of school life was assessed by a representative sample of all the Grade 8 pupils throughout the country with a 4 year interval in the same schools. The measurement of the quality of school life focused on general school satisfaction and on teacher-student relations. The validity of the instrument was confirmed by means of factor analysis. The findings of the multilevel statistical analysis are discussed both from an educational and a methodological point of view.