Effects of the heterogeneity of game complexity and user population in learning performance of business simulation games

Previous studies on business simulation games (BSGs) have concluded that improved performance may not be the primary benefit of using BSGs, due to mixed results between student performance and perceptions. Two relevant and insightful issues attract our attention, namely, the impacts of the heterogeneous student population and the different complexity levels of BSG software. To address these issues, the present study aims to understand the relationship between student profile/characteristics and performance in the classroom with BSG-facilitated learning. An in-depth case study is conducted on a general college course designed to teach three different complexities of BSGs to students enrolled in different majors. Four student profile factors are individually tested for differences in performance scores as evaluated by the teacher. Additionally, the influences of 11 student characteristics are assessed with regard their self-reported perceived learning performances. Regression analysis and ANOVA are used to investigate the impacts of heterogeneous users and game complexity on student performance. Based on the regression analyses of the data collected from 43 respondents who participated in the general course, the study concludes that knowledge and skill may influence the heterogeneous student population; moreover, student participation and tacit learning preference improve performance, and students with an auditory learning preference or high learning motivation may not perform well in classroom BSG learning. However, the low value of adjusted R square implies that more dimensions or variables are needed to increase the explaining power of the performance scores in the regression analyses. In contrast, heterogeneous BSG software with different complexity levels present different results. The current research contributes practical and incremental knowledge on the complexity of heterogeneous BSG software on performance scores and the perceived learning performance of heterogeneous student populations. With the research limitations acknowledged, a series of suggestions for teachers pertaining to appropriate applications of BSGs in classes is offered as well as recommendations to BSG providers. Nevertheless, in-depth analyses are required, preferably with larger student population samples, to further explore the insignificant relationship between student perceptions and attitude under nonlinear extended complexity.     

The dilemma of whiplash

BACKGROUND: Scabies is not a notifiable disease in most countries. Thus, the reported rates of the disease in large populations are usually inaccurate and based on estimations. Scabies is usually reported only when large outbreaks occur. OBJECTIVE: This article describes the global epidemiology of scabies in the Israel Defense Force. The data used in this study are based on the routine and mandatory reporting of every individual case of scabies to the Army Health Branch Epidemiology Department since 1968. RESULTS: There was a period of 13 years of quiescence from the implementation of reporting in 1968 until 1981. This period was followed by an epidemic of 15 years, peaking in 1985 and 1986, and returning to the baseline rates of the quiescent period by 1996. This prospectively observed pattern of at least 13 years of quiescence followed by a peak of 15 years is consistent with other, mostly retrospective, reports. Although the peak may have been triggered by the "Lebanon" war of 1982, it is noticeable that no peak was observed during the "Yom Kippur" war (1973). CONCLUSIONS: Prospective, mandatory reporting of the kind described here should help to better understand the epidemiology of scabies.     

Articulating collaboration in a learning community

A common computer-based collaborative learning approach is to simply introduce contemporary computermediated communication technology into the classroom to support prescribed learning activities. This approach assumes that all students collaborate in similar ways and that presentday technology is sufficient to accommodate all collaboration forms. This view is superficial and limiting. Students collaborate in different ways at different levels on different learning activities. A more detailed articulation of collaboration in learning is crucial to understanding and extending the pedagogical capabilities and usefulness of collaborative technologies. A model is presented for a more finely articulated form of analysis that enumerates types of collaborative learning activities and evaluates how these activities may be supported through different design options. The analysis is based on actual classroom scenarios and the collaboration requirements that emerge from them. The authors have successfully applied this analysis model in the design of a computer-based collaborative learning environment for science education.     

Influence of alginate on type II collagen fibrillogenesis

Collagen II is the majority of extracellular matrix components in articular cartilage, which with the major functions of preventing expansion of the tissue and distributing the load of body weight. To obtain man-made ECM, the reconstitution of collagen could be conducted in the presence of negatively charged polysaccharide, such as alginate. Alginate is an anionic polysaccharide capable of eversible gelated in calcium ion solution to prepare different shapes of biomaterials. Its well-known biocompatibility makes it an ideal material in biomedical applications. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of alginate on the fibrillogenesis of type II collagen. The preliminary results revealed that inclusion of alginate into soluble type II collagen solution could inhibit the development of turbidity of collagen solution, and the apparent rate constants in lag and growth phases decreased during collagen formation period, both rate constants decreased to about one-third of the original constants, respectively. From TEM observations, the collagen fibrils were significantly thicker in 0.05% and 0.1% alginate as compared with pure collagen solution. Furthermore, the D-periods of collagen fibers kept unchanged significantly under all reconstituted conditions, which meant the packing of collagen monomer was probably not affected by adding these amounts of alginate.     

Long-range detection and length estimation of light filaments using extra-attenuation of terawatt femtosecond laser pulses propagating in air

High-energy femtosecond laser pulses propagating in the atmosphere undergo self-focusing resulting in the appearance of the phenomenon of filamentation. We observed an extra-attenuation of such (terawatt) femtosecond laser pulses propagating in the atmosphere when compared with long pulses (200 ps) with the same energy. This is because, in contrast to the linear propagation of the long pulse, the input femtosecond laser pulse is attenuated owing to either absorption through multiphoton ionization/tunnel ionization or to scattering on the laser-induced plasma; self-phase-modulation and self-steepening further convert partially the energy initially contained in the fundamental bandwidth into the broad side bands of the laser, becoming eventually a white-light laser pulse (supercontinuum). The experimental data allow us to extract an effective extra-attenuation coefficient for an exponential decay of the input pulse energy with the propagation distance. Such a coefficient allows us to estimate an upper bound of the filament length under the experimental conditions used. More generally, our observation leads to a new technique to remotely detect light filaments in the atmosphere.     

Chiral Nanoparticle‐Induced Enantioselective Amplification of Molecular Optical Activity

Enantiodifferentiation is of fundamental importance in chiral chemistry and substantially requires high optical activity (OA) of enantiomers; but the enantiomeric OA is typically weak due to subwavelength molecular dimension, leading to a lack of sensitive enantiodifferentiation. A new approach is devised to evidently amplify the enantiomeric OA by anchoring axially chiral molecules containing the binaphthyl chromophore on silver chiral nanoparticles (AgCNPs) with a sub‐5 nm helical pitch (P). Compared to the OA of dissolved enantiomers, that of (R)‐ and (S)‐ enantiomers can be enantioselectively amplified on right‐handed and left‐handed AgCNPs, respectively, in as high as one order of magnitude. The enantioselective amplification is probably ascribed to the enantiospecific adsorption‐induced change in the dihedral angle of the binaphthyl chromophore, resulting from chirality transfer from chiral footprints of the AgCNPs to the binaphthyl chromophore through the Ag–S bicontacts. The enantioselective amplification tends not to occur as long as P > 5 nm or on achiral Ag nanoparticles, due to a lack of the chirality transfer. This work imposes the significant application of enantiodifferentiation, which is on practical demand for producing single‐enantiomer pharmaceutics and pesticides with no fatal adverse effect, on the emerging chiral metamaterials composed of metallic CNPs.     

Development of a web-based insulin decision aid for the elderly: usability barriers and guidelines

Universal Access in the Information Society - In recent years, researchers have attempted to shift patient decision aids (PDAs) from paper-based to web-based to increase its accessibility. Insulin...     

Dynamic behaviour of a magnetically actuated floating liquid marble

This paper reports the dynamic behaviour of a magnetically actuated floating liquid marble by analysing the oscillation of the marble. A liquid marble is a liquid droplet coated with hydrophobic powder. Magnetite particles inside the marble make it magnetic. The marble floats on a carrier liquid that contains aqueous glycerol of various concentrations. A permanent magnet located under the carrier liquid drives the floating marble with the initial velocity. Stopping the magnet abruptly causes the marble to oscillate around its final position for a few seconds. The oscillation was recorded and analysed using customised image processing and evaluation software. The damped harmonic motion model was then applied to the data and tested. Subsequently, critical parameters of the system such as the initial displacement, friction correction factor, the apparent frequency and the spring constant were determined and discussed. The simple experimental set-up and convenient theoretical approach allow us to characterise the marble motion under the influence of a magnet with good accuracy.     

Calculating the elastic moduli of steel-fiber reinforced concrete using a dedicated empirical formula

The equivalent inclusion method (EIM) is adopted to study the characteristics of the equivalent material properties of steel-fiber reinforced concrete as a function of the volume fraction and the length to diameter ratio of the fibers. It is found that the equivalent material moduli of concrete reinforce with randomly orientated and distributed fibers are insensitive to the length to diameter ratio of the steel fibers. A set of empirical formulae is then proposed for the purposes of engineering applications. The proposed empirical model can simplify the calculation of the equivalent material moduli. Verifications of the proposed empirical formulae with the EIM model and with experimental data are performed with two examples. The first is a compression test. The second is 4 point bending test. The empirical formulae, based on the equivalent inclusion method proposed in this study, represent an alternative means of quickly calculating the effective elastic modulus of steel-fiber reinforced concrete materials.