The biology of some Pentatomoidea and their egg-parasites

Imperial Users onl

Teachers' personality types and their attitude toward receiving and employing postobservation feedback

Classroom observation has been long considered a power-ful tool for evaluating and monitoring teachers' perform-ance and progress. Teachers can benefit from the feedbackduring the postobservation conference but giving feedbackis not a simple skill and needs knowledge and training.Research on tackling postobservation problems remainsemerging and the aim of this study is to explore the rolethat a teacher's personality type–based on DiSC personal-ity test‐might play in postobservation conferences andreaction to receiving feedback from the supervisor. Togather data, 20 nonnative EFL teachers were asked to takethe DiSC personality test to have their personality typesidentified, then they were observed three times, and eachtime they received feedback on their classroom manage-ment techniques. Results indicate that teachers withdifferent personality types act differently during thepostobservation conferences. While D and i styles areactive and tend to employ feedback moderately andstrongly in their classes, S and C styles are mostly passivewith the tendency of employing feedback moderately andweakly. The findings contribute to a better understandingof the role of personality types in teachers' tolerance ofcriticism and their tendency to apply the received feedbackin their future classes

P2P Mapper: From User Experiences to Pattern-Based Design

User experience is an umbrella term referring to a collection of information that covers the user’s behavior and interaction with a system. It is observed when the user is actively using a service or interacting with information, includes expectations and perceptions, and is influenced by user characteristics and application or service characteristics. User characteristics include knowledge, experience, personality and demographics. We propose a process and supporting software tool called Persona to Pattern (P2P) Mapper, which guides designers in modeling user experiences and identifying appropriate design patterns. The three-step process is: Persona Creation (a representative persona set is developed), Pattern Selection (behavioral patterns are identified resulting in an ordered list of design patterns for each persona), and Pattern Composition (patterns are used to create a conceptual design). The tool supports the first two steps of the process by providing various automation algorithms for user grouping and pattern selection combined with the benefit of rapid pattern and user information access. Persona and pattern formats are augmented with a set of discrete domain variables to facilitate automation and provide an alternative view on the information. Finally, the P2P Mapper is used in the redesign of two different Bioinformatics applications: a popular website and a visualization tool. The results of the studies demonstrate a significant improvement in the system usability of both applications

Pattern-oriented UI design based on user experiences : a method supported by empirical evidence

User-Centered Design (UCD) is a philosophy surrounding interactive system design, with the purpose of achieving product usability. One challenge with UCD and its related methods is the lack of a concrete process which supports designers in building user interface (UI) designs founded on user experiences. In current practice, design decisions are made based on loosely-defined guidelines, giving rise to a significant "gap" between user analysis and design outcomes. This is especially problematic for novice designers who lack the background and training required to make trade-offs, judgments and interpretations towards a usable design. In this thesis, we propose a Pattern-Oriented UI Design method which is driven by user experiences. It is founded on a set of core UCD principles which we have enriched with "engineering-like" concepts such as reuse and traceability. The method is based on two key artifacts--personas, used to model user experiences, and patterns, used to capture best design practices. Following this method, we define the UX-P Process, a systematic process which is semi-automated and characterized by rigorously-defined steps; designers iteratively create personas, select patterns, and compose patterns into a comprehensive design, based on user specifications and usability considerations. We have built a supporting tool, which allows designers to cluster users into personas and select candidate patterns based on persona specifications. We carried out two empirical studies with end-users. The goal of the first study was to assess the feasibility of the method; the second, to validate the process. Both studies were carried out with Bioinformatics applications and were comparative in nature testing the original design with our prototype. The outcome of these empirical studies indicated a positive increase in usability measures for our design prototypes, including a significant improvement in task times and user satisfaction

Pattern-oriented design for interactive systems

Patterns are a medium created to capture and disseminate design knowledge and are used extensively in the software engineering community. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Patterns focus explicitly on (1) providing design solutions to any problems relating to interactive systems and their users, and (2) aim to help developers with the design of more usable systems. We will address pattern use from a practical standpoint, as a working part of design, and investigate their applicability in different contexts of use. First, the evolutionary use of patterns will be traced from single pattern use to Pattern-Oriented Design. Secondly, the applicability of patterns in redesigning existing systems will be discussed with a practical example of a Bioinformatics web-based system. We will focus on how usability issues in the existing system drove the choice of patterns used in redesigning the site. Finally, we will illustrate the use of patterns in redesigning the user interface of existing systems to different platforms, such as mobile phones and Pocket PCs. This design domain has a number of constraints, such as screen size and image resolution. Design strategies need to be rethought to accommodate the challenges associated with such devices, and we will suggest some new design ideas and patterns

The comparison of heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Pb) in the muscle of Otolithes ruber in Abadan and Bandar Abbas Ports, the Persian Gulf

A comparative study was conducted on concentration of heavy metals including: Hg, Cd and Pb in the muscle of Otolithes ruber in Abadan and Bandar Abbas Ports in the Persian Gulf. In this study, a total of 42 specimens of Otolithes ruber were collected from coastal waters of Abadan and Bandar Abbas Ports in 2010. Heavy metals were extracted from the muscle tissues using wet digestion method and concentration of metals were measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results showed that mean (±SD) accumulation of Hg, Cd and Pb in the muscles of Otolithes ruber in Bandar Abbas were 0.058±0.001, 0.279±0.056 and 0.668±0.077mgKg-1 wet weight, and in Abadan were 0.056±0.007, 0.25±0.038 and 0.638±0.087mgKg-1 wet weight respectively. No significant differences were found in concentrations of Hg, Cd and Pb in the muscle of Otolithes ruber between Abadan and Bandar Abbas ports. Accumulation of these metals were higher in the muscle of Otolithes ruber than that Bandar Abbas Port. Concentration of Hg in the muscle of Otolithes ruber was lower than acceptable limit suggested by WHO, MAFF, NHMRC. However concentrations of Pb and Cd were higher

Numerical Study on Uniaxial Compression Behavior of Geobags

Geobags have been used as coastal erosion control and flood preventing measures during the last decades. More recently engineers have used geobags to improve the bearing capacity of soft soils. In this paper, a study was performed to investigate the behavior of geobags under compression loadings utilizing a finite element computer software. The numerical modeling was verified by simulating reported laboratory compression test results. The effects of various parameters such as geobag's dimensions, mechanical characteristics of filling soil and bag material properties on the ultimate bearing capacity of geobags were investigated. It was shown that increasing the friction angle of filling soil and the tensile strength of textile lead to an increase in the geobag ultimate compressive load capacity. On the other hand, an increase in dilation angle of filling soil, Poisson's ratio and the height of geobag lead to a decrease in the ultimate compressive load capacity of geobags

Comparison of Some Nutrient Content of Sport Lawn under the Influence of Fertilizer and Seasons

Quantity, characteristics and composition of organic matter widely vary by changing seasons and geographical conditions. On the other hand when soil conditioning due to poor drainage limits then decomposition of organic matter by soil microorganisms highly reduces. Soil and plant testing is one of the best management methods in measuring these changes. In this study, the effect of seven types of organic fertilizer including Leaf Mold (LM), Rice Husk (RH), manure, Spent Mushroom Compost (SMC), a mixture of LM, RH and manure (mixture 1), a mixture of LM, RH and SMC (mixture 2) with the ratio of 1:1:1 and control (no fertilizer) at three levels of compaction including roller weighted at 36, 56 and 76 kilograms on some nutrient content of sport lawn were investigated in different seasons. An experiment was conducted as a strip plot design in three replications, in research farm of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources during 2008-9. With the comparison of the total mean of leaf nitrogen and potassium in different seasons, the highest and the lowest absorption rate of these elements was observed in the fall and summer respectively. Moreover, statistical analysis indicated higher concentration of phosphorus in spring and summer than fall and winter