Improved children’s motor learning of the basketball free shooting pattern by associating subjective error estimation and extrinsic feedback

This study aimed at assessing the interaction between subjective error estimation and frequency of extrinsic feedback in the learning of the basketball free shooting pattern by children. 10- to 12-year olds were assigned to 1 of 4 groups combining subjective error estimation and relative frequency of extrinsic feedback (33% × 100%). Analysis of performance was based on quality of movement pattern. Analysis showed superior learning of the group combining error estimation and 100% feedback frequency, both groups receiving feedback on 33% of trials achieved intermediate results, and the group combining no requirement of error estimation and 100% feedback frequency had the poorest learning. Our results show the benefit of subjective error estimation in association with high frequency of extrinsic feedback in children’s motor learning of a sport motor pattern.     

Can intermunicipal collaboration help the diffusion of E-Government in peripheral areas? Evidence from Italy

This paper analyzes the implementation of new intermunicipal structures in Italy to support the development of E-Government in the country's peripheral areas. Our exploratory case study, conducted in the Piedmont Region, shows that intermunicipal collaborations can facilitate the coordination of interdependent subjects, rationalize existing resources (e.g., through the reuse of application software solutions), and prevent the dispersion of federal government funds. Nevertheless, intermunicipal collaborations alone do not seem to have the power needed to ensure that decisions made at the central level will automatically translate into concrete and binding commitments for the municipalities involved. From a methodological standpoint, the article makes use of the analytical frameworks offered by organization science to interpret the effects of collaborative arrangements on E-Government implementation.     

From organelle to protein gel: a 6-wk laboratory project on flagellar proteins

Research suggests that undergraduate students learn more from lab experiences that involve longer-term projects. We have developed a one-semester laboratory sequence aimed at sophomore-level undergraduates. In designing this curriculum, we focused on several educational objectives: 1) giving students a feel for the scientific research process, 2) introducing them to commonly used lab techniques, and 3) building skills in both data analysis and scientific writing. Over the course of the semester, students carry out two project-based lab experiences and write two substantial lab reports modeled on primary literature. Student assessment data indicate that this lab curriculum achieved these objectives. This article describes the first of these projects, which uses the biflagellate alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to introduce students to the study of flagellar motility, protein synthesis, microtubule polymerization, organelle assembly, and protein isolation and characterization.     

Romanians abroad: a snapshot of highly skilled migration

This paper is about the experience of labour migration among skilled Romanians, mainly Information Technology workers and highly qualified researchers. It is based on a questionnaire survey where, among other elements, the researcher investigated the push‐pull aspects of qualified migration and the strategies of labour migration. This paper considers the perspective and personal experience of ‘brain’ protagonists, the effective reasons of their migration and their future perspectives. Some significant elements refer to the importance of electronic ‘transnationalism’, the relatively limited and unlikely possible return of ‘brains’ and a denunciation of immigration barriers and difficulties. The study is part of the author's PhD Research Project, ‘International Patterns of Migration: The Recruitment Strategies of Firms and the Aspirations and Migratory Projects of Highly Skilled Workers’.     

The role of IT literacy in defining digital divide policy needs

This article expands our current understanding of the digital divide by examining differences in individuals' IT skills acquisition. In the last two decades scholars have gradually refined the conceptualization of the digital divide, moving from a dichotomous model mainly based on access, to a multidimensional model accounting for differences in usage levels and actors' perspectives. Digital divide views tend to focus on groups of users and user characteristics and focus less on different processes of use. As models of the digital divide became more complex, research focused on deepening the understanding of demographic and socioeconomic differences between adopters and non-adopters. While IT literacy is an important factor in digital divide research, and studies examine user characteristics with respect to IT literacy, few studies make the process of basic IT literacy acquisition their main focal point (Selwyn, 2005). This perspective furthers our thinking by expanding the notion of user characteristics beyond demographic and socioeconomic differences to differences in the processes leading to internet use. Based on a dataset referring to an Italian region, this paper presents a metaphorical interpretation of the digital divide in general and explores the process of IT skills acquisition in particular. Our analysis shows the key role of self-learning and the presence of three distinct approaches in IT skills acquisition leading to different needs in terms of policy. We argue that these preliminary results are a useful starting point for the design of more effective and sophisticated digital inclusion policies.     

mtDNA analysis of the human remains buried in the sarcophagus of Federico II

The sarcophagus containing the remains of Federico II, located in the Cathedral of Palermo (Sicily, Italy), was opened on 1998 to perform a multidisciplinary survey [1]. Next to the remains of Federico II and in close contact with them were laying two other skeletons belonging, according to historical records, to Pietro II di Aragona and to an anonymous person (“The Third Individual”), probably a woman. The bones appeared severely deteriorated. Chemical analysis performed on bone samples excluded that the bodies underwent some kind of embalming process. The analysis of mtDNA from bone samples taken from the three skeletons was successful in only one of the two labs involved. The HVR1-mtDNA sequence (region: from nt 16,035 to nt 16,395), obtained from the bone samples of Federico II and “The Third Individual” appear identical but bear double peaks at the same nucleotide positions, suggesting mixing (i.e. contamination) of different mtDNA types. The HVR1 sequence obtained from the bone sample of Pietro II di Aragona does not present double peaks and differ from the Cambridge Reference Sequence (CRS) at six nucleotide positions. Cloning experiment of the Federico II amplicon demonstrated that the mixed mtDNA types are only two: one identical to CRS, the other identical to the sequence of Pietro II di Aragona. A reconstruction of these data are proposed in the Discussion. Due to the problematic context in which this study was carried out (mixed and deteriorated biological material, failure to replicate results in two different labs), our results and reconstruction can only be offered on a tentative basis. It is hoped that the data presented in this study will reveal useful, for future comparison, if further molecular genetics research will be carried out on the royal dynasties that ruled Sicily in the early centuries of the past millennium.     

NESTOR: A formal model for digital archives

Archives are an extremely valuable part of our cultural heritage since they represent the trace of the activities of a physical or juridical person in the course of their business. Despite their importance, the models and technologies that have been developed over the past two decades in the Digital Library (DL) field have not been specifically tailored to archives. This is especially true when it comes to formal and foundational frameworks, as the Streams, Structures, Spaces, Scenarios, Societies (5S) model is.     

CLAIRE: A combinatorial visual analytics system for information retrieval evaluation

Information Retrieval (IR) develops complex systems, constituted of several components, which aim at returning and optimally ranking the most relevant documents in response to user queries. In this context, experimental evaluation plays a central role, since it allows for measuring IR systems effectiveness, increasing the understanding of their functioning, and better directing the efforts for improving them. Current evaluation methodologies are limited by two major factors: (i) IR systems are evaluated as “black boxes”, since it is not possible to decompose the contributions of the different components, e.g., stop lists, stemmers, and IR models; (ii) given that it is not possible to predict the effectiveness of an IR system, both academia and industry need to explore huge numbers of systems, originated by large combinatorial compositions of their components, to understand how they perform and how these components interact together.We propose a Combinatorial visuaL Analytics system for Information Retrieval Evaluation (CLAIRE) which allows for exploring and making sense of the performances of a large amount of IR systems, in order to quickly and intuitively grasp which system configurations are preferred, what are the contributions of the different components and how these components interact together.The CLAIRE system is then validated against use cases based on several test collections using a wide set of systems, generated by a combinatorial composition of several off-the-shelf components, representing the most common denominator almost always present in English IR systems. In particular, we validate the findings enabled by CLAIRE with respect to consolidated deep statistical analyses and we show that the CLAIRE system allows the generation of new insights, which were not detectable with traditional approaches.     

Diagnostic investigations and statistical validation of EDXRF mapping of the burial monument of Pope Sixtus IV by Antonio Pollaiolo (1493) in the Vatican

It has become a common practice to include diagnostics and archaeometric studies during a masterpiece restoration. The advantages and limits of this approach are now topic of discussion in the community of researchers that is growing up quickly. The bronze burial monument of Pope Sixtus IV (1471–84) by Antonio del Pollaiolo, now in the Treasure Museum in the Vatican was intended to be located at the center of a chapel, this explains its apparent asymmetry: lack of height and large base. The restoration of the burial monument started in May 2007, it was carried out by first fulfilling a series of non-invasive analyses using a transportable EDXRF to map the composition of the alloy and evaluate the diagnostic capabilities for deterioration processes of the bronze surface. As a consequence of the first non-invasive diagnostic campaign, a second campaign of micro invasive tests was planned and carried out. The samples were analysed with SEM-EDS and XRF techniques. In this article some of the results of the EDXRF tests will be shown together with the procedures set up to maximize the diagnostic information obtained and minimize the need of microsampling from the artefact. The results and the statistical analysis of data show that a straightforward planning of the measurements can give several, sometimes unexpected, results in the definition of the state of conservation of the monument and also from an archaeometric point of view. With a high amount of data, the use of statistical analysis is necessary, for example in our case, the analysis of the variance confirmed the hypothesis of the use of different alloys for the elements of the panels.