Mobile learning object authoring tool and management system for mobile ad hoc wireless networks

Mobile learning can augment formal education and bridge the gap between formal and informal education by creating extended learning communities using any digital technology in connected or infrastructure‐less environments. With the use of ad hoc networks and mobile authoring tools, we can now create an ‘on‐the‐fly’ learning scenario, where learners can create, share, and view content from their mobile devices without the need for server–client or infrastructure‐based liaisons. Mobile learning, however, is not just about sharing content or learning using mobile, wireless, and portable devices. Rather, it is learning across spatiotemporal contexts that enables learners to form knowledge and understanding in different scenarios. When facing limited resources stemming from the characteristics of mobility and wireless technologies, determining the best practices for content creation and delivery becomes a challenge. This paper describes the architecture of a mobile‐focused learning network designed so that learning tools, activities, contexts, and interactions are created as necessary over time and space while adhering to traditional learning object standards. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How people interpret conditionals: Shifts toward the conditional event.

We investigated how people interpret conditionals and how stable their interpretation is over a long series of trials. Participants were shown the colored patterns on each side of a 6-sided die and were asked how sure they were that a conditional holds of the side landing upward when the die is randomly thrown. Participants were presented with 71 trials consisting of all combinations of binary dimensions of shape (e.g., circles and squares) and color (e.g., blue and red) painted onto the sides of each die. In 2 experiments (N? = 66, N? = 65), the conditional event was the dominant interpretation, followed by conjunction, and material conditional responses were negligible. In both experiments, the percentage of participants giving a conditional event response increased from around 40% at the beginning of the task to nearly 80% at the end, with most participants shifting from a conjunction interpretation. The shift was moderated by the order of shape and color in each conditional's antecedent and consequent: Participants were more likely to shift if the antecedent referred to a color. In Experiment 2 we collected response times: Conditional event interpretations took longer to process than conjunction interpretations (mean difference = 500 ms). We discuss implications of our results for mental models theory and probabilistic theories of reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Laboratory investigation of bitumen based on round robin DSC and AFM tests

In the past years a wide discussion has been held among asphalt researchers regarding the existence and interpretation of observed microstructures on bitumen surfaces. To investigate this, the RILEM technical committee on nano bituminous materials 231-NBM has conducted a round robin study combining differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). From this, methods for performing DSC and AFM tests on bitumen samples and determination of the influence of wax on the observed phases, taking into account thermal history, sample preparation and annealing procedure, are presented and critically discussed. DSC is used to measure various properties and phenomena that indicate physical changes such as glass transition temperature (T _g) and phase transition such as melting and crystallization. In the case of existence of wax, either natural or synthetic, it can further indicate the melting point of wax, that could be used to determine wax content. The results from seven laboratories show that T _g temperatures obtained from the heating scans are more repeatable and easier to obtain in comparison to the cooling scans. No significant difference was noted for T _g’s obtained from the first and second heating scans. AFM is an imaging tool used to characterize the microstructures on a bituminous surface. Using AFM three phases in the materials with wax could be distinguished. The changes in the phases observed with AFM for increases in temperature were correlated with the DSC curve, and it could be established that the so called “Bee” structure disappeared around the melting peak in the DSC curve. Thus, this research has confirmed the relation between the microstructures on a bitumen surface and the wax content.     

Raspberry wine fermentation with suspended and immobilized yeast cells of two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The objectives of this study were to assess the differences in fermentative behaviour of two different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (EC1118 and RC212) and to determine the differences in composition and sensory properties of raspberry wines fermented with immobilized and suspended yeast cells of both strains at 15 °C. Analyses of aroma compounds, glycerol, acetic acid and ethanol, as well as the kinetics of fermentation and a sensory evaluation of the wines, were performed. All fermentations with immobilized yeast cells had a shorter lag phase and faster utilization of sugars and ethanol production than those fermented with suspended cells. Slower fermentation kinetics were observed in all the samples that were fermented with strain RC212 (suspended and immobilized) than in samples fermented with strain EC1118. Significantly higher amounts of acetic acid were detected in all samples fermented with strain RC212 than in those fermented with strain EC1118 (0.282 and 0.602 g/l, respectively). Slightly higher amounts of glycerol were observed in samples fermented with strain EC1118 than in those fermented with strain RC212. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preservation of Scallop Adductor Muscle in Oxygenated Artificial Seawater

ABSTRACT: Adductor muscles dissected from live scallops ( Patinopecten yessoensis ) were preserved in artificial seawater containing various concentrations of dissolved oxygen at 5°C. The period over that the initial ATP level was maintained decreased with a decrease in oxygen concentration. The K-value, an index of freshness, rose markedly after ATP levels and energy charge decreased. Muscle contraction occurred after 4 to 5 d in 1.0 m M oxygen or after 3 d in 0.07 m M oxygen. Sodium azide and 2,4-dinitrophenol accelerated the decrease in ATP, even in oxygenated seawater. These results suggest that enough oxygen to support aerobic respiration is required to preserve adductor muscles in a vital state for a relatively long period.     

Optimum design of color pixel arrangement for 5-in diagonal TFT-LCDsuitable for character and TV images

A new GRGB arrangement used for a 5-in TFT-LCD enables the total number of pixels to be decreased to 2/3 of the conventional RGB stripe arrangement. Adopting a signal compensation technique, 15×20 legible characters are displayed. TV display quality for the GRGB arrangement is expected to remain similar to that for the RGB stripe arrangement. A normalization method which is effective for comparisons of different LCTVs is proposed. It is concluded that, when the values of pixel pitch ratio vertical to horizontal are nearly 1/3, 1/2, and 1, the optimum color pixel arrangements are the RGB, GRGB, and RGB delta arrangements, respectively     

Temperature dependence of photoacoustic spectra in CuInSe2 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

CuInSe₂ (CIS) thin films, the thickness of about 1.0 μm and composition of Cu/In ratio (γ = 1.79), were grown on (0 0 1)-oriented GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at substrate temperature of T_s, = 450°C. The samples have been characterized by means of piezoelectric photoacoustic (PPA) measurements between liquid helium (4.2 K) and room temperature (300 K). Two distinct PPA signals due to band gap of CIS and GaAs are observed in the whole temperature range from 4.2 to 300 K and the PPA signals of CIS decrease curvilinearly at the temperature range. Since the PPA signals of CIS thin films can be obtained up to room temperature, the PPA measurements are quite effective to obtain the optical characterizations, especially for the nonradiative recombination processes.     

Possible participation of cyclooxygenase-2 in the recurrence of allergic inflammation in rats

The possible involvement of purines and/or nitric oxide (NO) in the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor-mediated effects on the spontaneous activity of isolated preparations from longitudinal and circular muscles of cat terminal ileum was investigated. GABA had biphasic effects, which were neurogenic and muscarinic. ATP and adenosine dose dependently inhibited the activity of the muscles. A contractile response evoked by the nucleotide only was also observed. The effects of the purines were equipotent and resistant to Nomega-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA), tetrodotoxin and to desensitization by alpha,beta-methylene adenosine 5'-triphosphate (alpha,beta-meATP), except for the contractile effect of ATP, which was abolished by alpha,beta-meATP. Pretreatment of the preparations with ATP or adenosine produced: (i) desensitization to the effects of the respective purinoceptor agonist only; and (ii) suppression of the GABA-induced responses of longitudinal and circular muscles. Hemoglobin and L-NNA greatly reduced or completely blocked the GABA(A)-induced relaxation and decreased the GABA(A)-induced contraction. Our results indicate that purines and NO, to a different extent, mediate the relaxant phase of the GABA effects in both layers. Interactions between muscarinic cholinoceptors and GABA-nitrergic pathway and a concomitant activation of postjunctional P1 and P2y purinoceptors are suggested to explain the prejunctional biphasic effects of GABA.