Investigating teacher stress when using technology

In this study we use a model which we refer to as the ‘teacher–technology environment interaction model’ to explore the issue of the stress experienced by teachers whilst using ICT in the classroom. The methodology we used involved a comparison of three datasets obtained from: direct observation and video-logging of the teachers in the classroom; recordings of their galvanic skin response (GSR) taken whilst teaching; and interviews. Data were obtained from nine teachers, and in total, approximately 32 h of teaching activities were observed. The main results of this study were (a) the demonstration that teachers do suffer stress associated with the use of technology in the classroom (i.e. technostress) (b) the identification of causes, symptoms and coping strategies associated with technostress in the classroom. This study, therefore, points to an alternative way of thinking about the problems of implementing e-learning by conceptualizing some of these implementation problems in terms of technostress (and in particular of teacher–technology environment fit).     

Context-Processing Deficits in Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

Research suggests that schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is a part of the spectrum of schizophrenia-related illnesses. This article hypothesizes that a deficit in the representation and maintenance of context is a core cognitive disturbance in schizophrenia and that SPD individuals should demonstrate context-processing deficits. To test this hypothesis, the authors administered 3 versions of their AX-CPT task, designed to assess context processing, to 35 healthy controls and 26 individuals with DSM-IV SPD. They also administered working memory and selective attention tasks. SPD individuals displayed context representation deficits similar to those found in schizophrenia but did not show the same additional deficits in context maintenance. Context processing was strongly associated with working memory and selective attention performance in the SPD individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Focus Groups in Psychological Assessment: Enhancing Content Validity by Consulting Members of the Target Population.

A review of articles in Psychological Assessment reveals that many researchers develop instruments without the benefit of consultation with members of the target population. To the extent that researchers do consult the target population, most fail to bring consultation in early enough to inform the identification and specification of key constructs. Moreover, this consultation typically takes the form of one-to-one interviews. The authors' goal in this article was to elaborate on the importance of population consultation as part of content validation and to critically evaluate the potential of one method of consultation, focus groups, to inform multiple stages of instrument development. The authors suggest that this method holds promise for enhancing the content validity of instruments and, ultimately, the validity of research findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of foam growth and its nucleation in free and limited expansion

The influence volume approach (IVA) is often utilized for modeling the mass transfer process dictating bubble growth dynamics in physical foaming. However, the assumed concentration profile in the IVA method is only valid when the changes in dissolved gas concentration are small (less than 5%). In addition, the validity of the IVA method is difficult to justify in chemical foaming applications because of the difficulties involved in defining the dissolved gas concentration profile.In the present work, we define two distinct stages of bubble growth for physical foaming. These two stages are termed as free and limited expansion and are controlled by the bubble nucleation rate. Bubble nucleation is assumed to occur only in the free expansion stage. In this stage, the bubble pressure drops substantially from an initially high pressure in the supersaturated state while the dissolved gas concentration changes very little. The second stage of our two-stage mass transfer model is termed the limited expansion stage and accounts for bubble growth in the late stages of foam evolution, when the pressure changes become small. However, in the limited stage of bubble growth the dissolved gas concentration drops significantly, as the available dissolved gas is depleted. To summarize our two-stage mass transfer model of foam expansion, the pressure difference between the bubble phase and the liquid phase is the primary mechanism for driving mass transfer in the early (free) stages of foam growth and the concentration difference is the driver for bubble growth in the late (limited) stages of growth. The first stage can be regarded as the nucleation stage and it is relatively short; while the second stage can be regarded as the bubble growth stage and is much longer. Most of the bubble volume expansion takes place in the second stage.The concentration gradient at the bubble edge, which is often ignored in other models, is analyzed in detail in this paper. The details of our novel mass transfer model are also presented.     

Microelectronic package characterisation using scanning acoustic microscopy

In a highly competitive market, reliable techniques for manufacturing quality control of electronic devices are demanded. Characterisation of modern microelectronic package integrity becomes more difficult due to the continued miniaturisation of electronic device and the complexity of advanced micro-assembling technologies such as chip-scale packages and 3D IC stacks. In this paper, sparse representations of acoustic signals are sought to improve the scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM), a common non-destructive tool for failure analysis of microelectronic packages. Sparse representation of an ultrasonic signal is obtained by decomposing it in an overcomplete dictionary. Detection and location of ultrasonic echoes are then performed on the basis of the resulting redundant representation. The method offers a solution to the deconvolution problem for restoration of the ultrasonic reflectivity function. It can restore closely space overlapping echoes beyond the resolution of the conventional SAM system. It also produces high resolution and accurate estimates for ultrasonic echo parameters, i.e., time-of-flight, amplitude, centre frequency, and bandwidth. These merits of the proposed method are explored in various potential applications for microelectronic package characterisation.     

Self-Efficacy and Compliance With Benzodiazepine Taper in Older Adults With Chronic Insomnia.

Better understanding of compliance with BZD taper is warranted. Compliance with a taper program and perceived self-efficacy (SE) in being able to comply with hypnotic reduction goals was monitored weekly in 52 older adults (mean age: 63.0 years) with chronic insomnia (average duration: 21.9 years) who underwent a 10-week physician-supervised medication tapering. One group received cognitive- behavior therapy for insomnia during discontinuation, whereas the other did not. Compliant patients showed higher SE ratings at Weeks 6, 8, 9, and 10. Medication-free patients at the end of the treatment also reported higher mean SE ratings at those 4 weeks. Differences remained significant when withdrawal symptoms and sleep efficiency were controlled for. These results have important clinical implications because SE may indicate key time points when patients are experiencing more difficulty during discontinuation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

African lake management initiatives: The global connection

There is a global dimension to lake management in Africa and elsewhere that will require a concerted action not only from individual riparian states, but also from regional, continental and global communities. The current global lake threats arise from climate change, regional land degradation and semivolatile contaminants, and share the common feature that the atmosphere is the vector that spreads their impacts over large areas and to many lakes. The Great Lakes of Africa (Malawi, Victoria and Tanganyika) are particularly sensitive to these problems because of their enormous surface areas, slow water flushing rates, and the importance of direct rainfall in their water budgets. Their response times might be slow to yield a detectable change and, unfortunately, their recovery times might also be slow. It is possible for atmospheric effects to act antagonistically to the impacts of catchment change, but antagonistic effects could become synergistic in the future. Improved understanding of the physical dynamics of these lakes, and development of models linking their physical and biogeochemical behaviour to regional, mesoscale climate models, will be necessary to guide lake managers.     

Design and Analysis of Remote Center of Compliance Structures

Remote center‐of‐compliance devices were developed to facilitate insertion for assembly operations. An analysis using screw theory yields a more accurate model to better characterize the interesting properties of remote compliance. For design purposes, the remote center location and stiffnesses are presented as nondimensional ratios that are only functions of geometrical properties and Poisson's ratio. Important design results are (i) the high sensitivity of the center location and (ii) the inverse relationship between linear and angular lateral stiffnesses. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Plasma-assisted co-evaporation of β-indium sulfide thin films

This paper describes the development of plasma-assisted co-evaporation (PACE) for the formation of β-In₂S₃ thin films. Indium was supplied by conventional thermal evaporation, while the chalcogen gas precursor (H₂S) was activated using an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source. Using a combination of optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry it was shown that the ICP effectively dissociated H₂S, producing atomic sulfur. Transport modeling was used to quantify the flux distributions of the co-evaporated metal and the plasma-generated species impinging the substrate. Model predictions were validated by measurements of deposition rate and film properties. Substantial improvements in both materials utilization and substrate temperature reduction were realized with respect to conventional co-evaporation. β-In₂S₃ was formed as low as 100 °C and it was observed that quality was a strong function of S/In ratio. The grain size decreased and the optical band gap increased as the substrate temperature was reduced.     

Religion and spirituality: Linkages to physical health.

Evidence is presented that bears on 9 hypotheses about the link between religion or spirituality and mortality, morbidity, disability, or recovery from illness. In healthy participants, there is a strong, consistent, prospective, and often graded reduction in risk of mortality in church/service attenders. This reduction is approximately 25% after adjustment for confounders. Religion or spirituality protects against cardiovascular disease, largely mediated by the healthy lifestyle it encourages. Evidence fails to support a link between depth of religiousness and physical health. In patients, there are consistent failures to support the hypotheses that religion or spirituality slows the progression of cancer or improves recovery from acute illness but some evidence that religion or spirituality impedes recovery from acute illness. The authors conclude that church/service attendance protects healthy people against death. More methodologically sound studies are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)