Does computer-supported Math instruction makes students perceive them to be task-oriented and well-behaved? An experimental study

AbstractThis study investigated the effectiveness of computer-supported Math instruction on ninth graders’ task orientation and disruptive behaviors. Subjects were 40 students enrolled in two classes, each of which was randomly selected as the experimental and control group. The former was given instructions including animations, games, interactive drill-and-practice programs, and video documentaries while the latter was given with traditional media. The same questionnaire was administered before and after the intervention as pretest and posttest. Although both groups received better scores on the posttests, ANCOVA analyses failed to produce significant differences between adjusted posttest scores for both task orientation and disruptive behaviors

A Comparison Study of Multi-Objective Metaheuristic Techniques for Continuous Review Stochastic Inventory System

Supply chain management which involves managing the flow of material andinformation from sources to customers has been one of the most challenging issuesfacing both the academicians and the practitioners for years. Inventory control is acrucial part of tactical decision level affecting the performance of supply chain indistribution and production. The main focus of this study is to compare theperformance of different multi-objective metaheuristic techniques to optimizeinventory parameters for single-product continuous review stochastic inventorysystem with transportation costs. The simulation-based optimization method is usedto solve the problem by combining the simulation model and metaheuristicalgorithms in order to determine the inventory policy taking into account twoconflicting objectives: customer service level and total inventory cost. We build adiscrete event simulation model to evaluate the objective function of the problem.The Metaheuristic techniques such as the genetic algorithm and particle swarmoptimization are applied to search the solution space. The results obtained by allthese proposed techniques are compared and the effectiveness of each technique hasbeen illustrated

The effects of switching costs over the pricing strategies of operators in mobile telecommunications market

This thesis analyzes how the pricing decisions of mobile telecommunication operators are affected in a market where consumers' switching costs exist in favor of the incumbent firm which entered the market earlier. The market consists of two periods such that an incumbent firm owns all consumers in the first period and faces a new entry in the second period. As long as new consumers enter the market in the beginning of the second period, there will be both attached customers who suffer switching costs if they cancel their contract and subscribe to the new entrant and also unattached customers with no switching costs. In addition, the consumers attach value to receiving calls as well as making calls which will be introduced into their utilities by the concept of call externality. In this context, the incumbent firm will exploit switching costs by increasing off-net prices higher than the new entrant's so that it decreases the attractiveness of the new entrant's network due to the fact that it lowers the amount of calls that a subscriber of the new entrant receives. Therefore, the incumbent firm will be able to manipulate the market dynamics through its tariffs by seizing the opportunity of switching costs. Moreover, this thesis shows that the incumbent's market share increases with the access charges so that the incumbent will prefer higher access charges. In terms of welfare analysis, it would be inferred that switching costs will decrease consumer surplus in both price-discrimination and non-discriminatory prices cases. Therefore, the best practice would be imposition of remedies which eliminate or reduce switching costs in the market

Is there a need for counselling psychology and guidance services in kosova?

In the XXI century when the pendulum has reached its max height in the individualfreedom, society feels a need to raise its awareness one step further in its overall social andcultural development. Emergence of new values makes keeping society from falling apartharder than ever before. A special care should be given to education, physical health andespecially, mental health.Counseling psychology and guidance services play an important role in this viewbecause they define and increase structural factors of human activity and through itpromote positive mental health. Such services help intra and inter-individual relations ofhuman life, which are reflected in the wellbeing of a society.Our study is an attempt at researching the impact of counseling psychology andguidance services in Kosovar society, especially within Prizren region. Introduction of suchservices within a system of education that aims at uncovering all the hidden potentials ofeach and every individual, who will be more productive and useful to society, is an attemptworth taking

Mobil elektronik haberleşme pazarında geçiş maliyetlerinin işletmecilerin fiyatlandırma stratejileri üzerine etkileri ve etkin rekabetin tesis edilmesine yönelik regülasyon politikaları

Bu makale, pazara önceden girmiş olan yerleşik işletmecilerin lehine tüketicilerin geçiş maliyetlerinin bulunduğu bir pazarda, mobil telekomünikasyon işletmecilerinin fiyatlandırma stratejilerinin nasıl etkilendiğini incelemektedir. Söz konusu pazar iki safhadan oluşmaktadır. Birinci safhada yerleşik işletmeci pazardaki bütün tüketicilere sahip olup ikinci safhada pazara yeni giren bir işletmeciyle karşılaşmaktadır. İkinci safhanın başında pazara yeni katılan tüketiciler olacağından, pazarda hem işletmecilerini değiştirmeleri halinde geçiş maliyetlerine maruz kalacak bağlı müşteriler hem de geçiş maliyetleri olmayan bağımsız müşteriler bulunacaktır. Ayrıca, müşteriler çağrı yapmanın yanı sıra çağrı almaktan da fayda edinmektedirler ve bu kavram çağrı dışsallığı olarak müşterilerin fayda fonksiyonlarında yer almaktadır. Bu kapsamdaki çalışmalarımızın neticesinde, yerleşik işletmecinin pazara sonradan giren işletmeciye göre daha yüksek şebeke dışı fiyatlar belirleyerek geçiş maliyetlerinin avantajını kullanacağı görülmektedir. Böylelikle, şebeke dışı çağrı sayısı azalacağından yeni işletmecinin aboneleri daha az çağrı almakta ve bu durum da aboneler açısından yeni işletmecinin çekiciliğini azaltmaktadır. Dolayısıyla, yerleşik işletmeci geçiş maliyetlerinin avantajını kullanarak pazar dinamiklerini kontrol edebilmektir. Ayrıca, bu tez göstermektedir ki; yerleşik işletmecinin pazar payı arabağlantı ücretlerinin artmasıyla orantılı olarak artış göstermektedir. Bu yüzden yerleşik işletmecinin yüksek arabağlantı Ücretleri tercih edeceği söylenebilmektedir. Tüketicilerin refah seviyeleri üzerine yapılan analizin sonucunda ise hem fiyat farklılaştırmasına izin verildiği hem de şebeke içi - şebeke dışı fiyat farklılıklarına izin verilmediği durumlarda geçiş maliyetlerinin tüketici refahını düşürdüğü görülmektedir. Bu nedenle, pazardaki geçiş maliyetlerini ortadan kaldırmaya veya azaltmaya yönelik düzenlemelerin uygulanmasının en iyi yöntem olacağı söylenebilir

Seed Dormancy

Dormancy is when there is a lack of germination in seeds or tubers even though the required conditions (temperature, humidity, oxygen, and light) are provided. Dormancy is based on hard seed coat impermeability or the lack of supply and activity of enzymes (internal dormancy) necessary for germination. Dormancy is an important factor limiting production in many field crops. Several physical and chemical pretreatments are applied to the organic material (seeds/tubers) to overcome dormancy. Physical and physiological dormancy can be found together in some plants, and this makes it difficult to provide high-frequency, healthy seedling growth, since the formation of healthy seedlings from the organic material (seeds/tubers) sown is a prerequisite for plant production. This chapter will focus on the description of four different methods we have not seen reported elsewhere for overcoming dormancy

Prvi zabilježeni slučaj Ixodes ricinus (Acari; Ixodidae) u blavora (Pseudopus apodus; Anguidae) i studije ektoparazita u reptila od prošlosti do danas u Turskoj

Three adult European glass lizards (Pseudopus apodus Klembara) were caught in the garden of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University (Samsun, Turkey) and were observed to have a tick infestation. During macroscopic examination, tick samples were collected from the lateral groove on both sides of the lizard by using blunt-tip tweezers. All the samples were examined under the microscope and belonged to Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus) larvae and nymphs. This is the first report of a tick species or infestation in European glass lizard. In addition, we provide a detailed review of all studies conducted to date on reptile ectoparasites in Turkey.Tri odrasla blavora (Pseudopus apodus Klembara) uhvaćena su u vrtu Veterinarskog fakulteta, Sveučilišta Ondokuz Mayis (Samsun, Turska) te je otkrivena infestacija krpeljima. Tijekom makroskopskog pregleda, uzorci su prikupljeni iz bočnog utora s obje strane guštera uporabom pincete s tupim vrhom. Tijekom stereo-mikroskopske analize otkriveno je da svi uzorci pripadaju ličinkama i nimfama Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus). Ova studija prvi je zapis o vrsti krpelja ili infestaciji blavora. Uz to, ova studija provela je detaljnu analizu do sada provedenih studija na ektoparazitima reptila u Turskoj

The Nexus between Energy Consumption and Financial Development with Asymmetric Causality Test: New Evidence from Newly Industrialized Countries

In this study, the relationship between energy consumption and financial development is investigated via Hatemi-J asymmetric causality test (2012) which is able to separate positive and negative shocks in analysis. In order to determine different dimensions of financial system, deposit money bank assets to GDP (dbagdp), financial system deposits to GDP (fdgdp) and private credit to GDP (pcrdbgdp) were used as three different indicators. As a result of this study on Newly Industrialized 7 Countries spanning the period 1971 till 2010, both positive and negative shocks existed for Malaysia and Mexico, causality from energy consumption to financial developments emerged for Philippines in only negative shocks. While two-way causality occurred for India, Turkey and Thailand, there was not for South Africa. Keywords: energy consumption; financial development; newly industrialized countries; asymmetric causality JEL Classifications: C32; O13; Q43

Clinical utility of serum cystatin C in predicting coronary artery disease

Background: There is limited data regarding the clinical utility of cystatin C in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of cystatin C for the presence and severity of CAD and the association between this protein and other biochemical risk factors for atherosclerosis in patients with suspected CAD. Methods: Ninety-four patients with CAD, and 92 patients without CAD but with cardiovascular risk factors, were included in this study. Echocardiography and other pertinent laboratory examinations were performed. Subjects were divided into four groups according to their cystatin C quartile. Cystatin C groups were analyzed for the association with CAD characteristics. Results: The number of patients with CAD increased as the quartile of cystatin C increased, and there was a remarkable difference between quartiles (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed independent predictors of incident CAD as cystatin C, hs-CRP, eGFR, HDL cholesterol and SBP (p = 0.005, p = 0.027, p = 0.017, p = 0.014 and p = 0.001, respectively). Moreover, cystatin C concentration was significantly correlated with CAD severity score (b = 0.258, p < 0.01). A cut-off value of 0.82 mg/L for cystatin C predicted incident CAD with a sensitivity and specificity of 75.5% and 75.0% respectively. Cystatin C concentration also correlated well with the atherosclerotic biochemical risk factors like homocysteine, creatinine and hs-CRP. Conclusions: Cystatin C could be a useful laboratory tool in predicting the presence and severity of CAD in daily practice. It also correlates significantly with biochemical risk factors for CAD, namely homocysteine, low HDL and CRP. (Cardiol J 2010; 17, 4: 374-380