Public Displays of Play: Studying Online Games in Physical Settings

As research on virtual worlds gains increasing attention in educational, commercial, and military domains, a consideration of how player populations are ‘reassembled’ through social scientific data is a timely matter for communication scholars. This paper describes a large‐scale study of virtual worlds in which participants were recruited at public gaming events, as opposed to through online means, and explores the dynamic relationships between players and contexts of play that this approach makes visible. Challenging conventional approaches to quantitatively driven virtual worlds research, which categorizes players based on their involvement in an online game at a particular point in time, this account demonstrates how players' networked gaming activities are contingent on who they are playing with, where, and when.     

Textbooks versus technology: teaching professional writing to thenext generation of technical communicators

The study used quantitative and qualitative measures to determine differences in learning outcomes between two sections of an advanced technical writing course taught by the same instructor. The instructor used traditional textbook methods in one and technology-enhanced methods in the other. The findings upheld those of previous studies in that students in the experimental group rated both the course and their learning higher than that of their counterparts in the control group. Although fewer significant differences than expected resulted from the many measures taken, substantive positive differences in the writing submitted by students in the experimental group did occur. In order for such changes in performance to emerge as statistically significant differences, evaluation criteria for technical communication students may need to change     

But what about smart girls? Adolescent self-esteem and sex role perceptions as a function of academic achievement.

Examined adolescent self-esteem and sex-role perceptions as a function of academic achievement with 71 male and 69 female 7th graders divided into 3 groups (below average, average, and above average level of academic competence). Ss responded to a self-esteem inventory under the following 2 sets of instructions: (a) a standard set and (b) a set in which Ss were asked to respond as they thought a member of the same age and grade but of the opposite sex would respond. Results of the standard instruction investigation reveal a significant but moderate difference in self-esteem levels in favor of the boys. Reported levels of self-esteem also rose very significantly and commensurately with higher academic achievement for both sexes. Under opposite-sex instructions, girls attributed significantly but moderately higher levels of self-esteem to boys, and boys attributed significantly lower levels of self-esteem to girls. Girls in the above average group, however, rated boys significantly below themselves. Findings are discussed in terms of attribution theory and the possibility that academically competent girls possess more masculine or androgynous than feminine characteristics. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress-function variational method for stress analysis of bonded joints under mechanical and thermal loads

High interfacial stresses near the ends of adherends are responsible for debonding failure of bonded joints used extensively in structural engineering and microelectronics packaging. This paper proposes a stress-function variational method for determination of the interfacial stresses in a single-sided strap joint subjected to mechanical and thermal loads. During the process, two interfacial shear and normal (peeling) stress functions are introduced, and the planar stresses of adherends of the joints are expressed in terms of the stress functions according to the static equilibrium equations. Two coupled governing ordinary differential equations (ODEs) of the stress functions are obtained through minimizing the complementary strain energy of the joints and solved explicitly in terms of eigenfunctions. The stress field of the joints based on this method can satisfy all the traction boundary conditions (BCs), especially the shear-free condition near the adherend ends. Compared to results based on finite element method (FEM) and other analytic methods in the literature, the present variational method is capable of predicting highly accurate interfacial stresses. Dependencies of the interfacial stresses upon the adherend geometries, moduli and temperature are examined. Results gained in this study are applicable to scaling analysis of joint strength and examination of solutions given by other methods. The present formalism can be extended conveniently to mechanical and thermomechanical stress analysis of other bonded structures such as adhesively bonded joints, composite joints, and recently developed flexible electronics, among others.     

Plasma chemistries for dry etching of NiFe and NiFeCo

Plasma chemistries based on chlorine, bromine, or iodine have been investigated for inductively coupled plasma etching of NiFe and NiFeCo. There is clear evidence of a chemically enhanced etch mechanism with both Cl₂- and I₂- based mixtures, with no enhancement present for Br₂ chemistries. Etch yields are typically low (≤0.25), emphasizing the need for high ion fluxes in order to achieve practical material removal rates.     

How to influence people to do what you want: The application of social psychology to diverse human problems.

Reviews the book, Influence: Science and Practice by Robert B. Cialdini (see record 1992-98649-000). This book states we like rare things and will act to get them. Less is best, rare is valuable, limited amounts, limited time, exclusive engagement are all scarcity terms that motivate people. Scarcity is used to sell everything from baseball cards to tickets for musical shows. When it is scarce, we value it. This is an extremely well written book. The second edition is designed for classroom use with research evidence to underpin each point or suggestion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lipid and lipoprotein measurements in a normal adult American population

From a parent population of 774, a subpopulation of 160 normal adults ages 27-66 was randomly selected, 20 from each decade and sex. A detailed comparison was made by analytic ultracentrifugation and complete agarose gel electrophoresis on serum and the 1.006 g/ml top and bottom preparative ultracentrifuge lipoprotein fractions. The latter was internally standardized by total lipid and plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride determinations giving normal reference lipoprotein values. The reading procedure allowed the identification and quantification of floating beta and sinking pre-beta. In the subpopulation, there were two of the former and 13 of the latter. For large scale clinical application of such quantitative lipoprotein electrophoresis full automation of the microdensitometry and calculations will be required.     

Microbiological quality of Australian sheep meat in 2004

The third national baseline microbiological survey of Australian sheep carcases and frozen boneless sheep meat was conducted in 2004. Carcases (n=1117) sampled at 20 slaughter establishments were found to have a mean log total viable count (TVC, 25°C) of 2.28 cfu/cm(2) and Escherichia coli was isolated from 43.0% carcases with a mean log 0.03cfu/cm(2) on positive samples. In samples from 10 boning (fabrication) plants (n=560) the mean log TVC for frozen boneless sheep meat was 1.85cfu/g and the mean log count for the 8.2% of samples with detectable E. coli was 1.39cfu/g. E. coli O157:H7 was isolated from 6/1117 carcases and from 1/560 boneless samples. Salmonella was isolated from 0/1117 carcases and from 3/560 samples of boneless product. Campylobacter sp. were isolated from 4/1117 carcases and from 1/560 boneless samples. Coagulase positive staphylococci were isolated from 23.4% to 32.7% of carcases and boneless sheep meat samples, respectively, with positive samples having a mean log count of 0.93cfu/cm(2) and 1.14cfu/g, respectively. The low level of bacteria described here is consistent with a very low risk to human health due to bacterial hazards in Australian sheep meat.     

Vacuum-packed beef primals with extremely long shelf life have unusual microbiological counts

When vacuum-packed striploins and cube rolls processed by six Australian establishments were stored at 2 0.5°C to determine their shelf life, all product was acceptable organoleptically for at least 26 weeks. The aerobic plate counts and counts of lactic acid bacteria over the storage period did not accord with those established by previous studies, i.e., stationary phase attained at 7 to 8 log CFU/cm(2) after 5 to 8 weeks followed by the development of negative sensory characteristics around 12 to 16 weeks. Rather, counts rarely progressed to 7 log CFU/cm(2) even after 30 weeks. It is believed that the combined effects of meat pH, temperature, and CO(2) concentration may combine to create conditions in which little or no growth occurs.     

Homework: A natural means of home-school collaboration.

Discusses the value of homework in terms of the emerging interest in the development of effective home–school partnerships. Specifically, a review of the homework literature is provided with attention to parent-, teacher-, and child-mediated programs. Several homework programs that have received empirical support are described. It is concluded that the school psychologist can adopt various roles in developing, supporting, and monitoring homework programs. Specifically, the school psychologist can assess homework difficulties, train teachers and parents, and serve as a liaison between home and school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)