Enzyme purification projects are an excellent way to introduce many aspects of protein biochemistry, but can be difficult to carry out under the constraints of a typical undergraduate laboratory course. We have designed a short laboratory project for the purification and identification of an "unknown" lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isozyme that can…

The field of radio network planning and optimization (RNPO) is central for wireless cellular network design, deployment, and enhancement. Wireless cellular operators invest huge sums of capital on deploying, launching, and maintaining their networks in order to ensure competitive performance and high user satisfaction. This work presents a lab…

Difficult visual search is often attributed to time-limited serial attention operations, although neural computations in the early visual system are parallel. Using probabilistic search models (Dosher, Han, & Lu, 2004) and a full time-course analysis of the dynamics of covert visual search, we distinguish unlimited capacity parallel versus serial…

In this paper we address a common misconception concerning the thermal behaviour of matter, namely that the front surface of a very thin plate, uniformly illuminated by a constant light beam, reaches a higher temperature than the front surface of a very thick slab made out of the same material. We present analytical solutions for the temperature…

The pumping mechanism of a swing in a playground is due to the exchange of angular momentum from the rocking movement of the swinger to the swing oscillation around the point from which the swing is suspended. We describe the rocking events as square pulses of short duration. This choice, together with a simplified mechanical model for the…

In this communication we report on a "blended" form of assessment combining the positive aspects of a laboratory investigation, including practical skill acquisition, data reporting and social interaction, with the application and authenticity of a case study encouraging students to deepen their learning from laboratory activities. (Contains 2…

Research has shown that processing information in a survival context can enhance the information's memorability. The current study examined whether survival processing can also decrease the susceptibility to false memories and whether the survival advantage can be found in children. In Experiment 1, adults rated semantically related words in a…

Recollection has long been thought to play a key role in associative recognition tasks. Evidence that associative recollection might be a threshold process has come from analyses of the associative recognition receiver operating characteristic (ROC). Specifically, the ROC is not as curvilinear as a signal detection theory requires. In addition,…

Natural selection and other components of evolutionary theory are known to be particularly challenging concepts for students to understand. To help illustrate these concepts, we developed a simulation model of microevolutionary processes. The model features all the components of Hardy-Weinberg theory, with population size, selection, gene flow,…

In this paper we estimate the effect of class attendance on exam performance by implementing a policy in three large economics classes that required students scoring below the median on the midterm exam to attend class. This policy generated a large discontinuity in the rate of post-midterm attendance at the median of the midterm score. We…

Previous research has suggested that children with specific reading comprehension deficits (poor comprehenders) show an impaired ability to suppress irrelevant information from working memory, with this deficit detrimentally impacting on their working memory ability, and consequently limiting their reading comprehension performance. However, the…

We show the construction of a so-called levitation balance which is capable of measuring the levitation forces between a permanent magnet and a superconducting high-T[subscript c] thin film sample. The underlying theoretical basis is discussed in detail. The experiment is performed as an introductory physics experiment for school students as well…

Recent research has suggested that reading involves the mental simulation of events and actions described in a text. It is possible however that previous findings did not tap into processes engaged during natural reading but rather those triggered by task demands. The present study examined whether readers spontaneously mentally simulate the…

This paper presents an experiment in which students determine the mass sensitivity of three crystal quartz resonators, designed to be carried out in "Physics Laboratory II" at the Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Wroclaw. The authors discuss the process of setting up the experiment and the results of the measurements.…

When young children observe pretend-play, do they interpret it simply as a type of behavior, or do they infer the underlying mental state that gives the behavior meaning? This is a long-standing question with deep implications for how "theory on mind" develops. The two leading accounts of shared pretense give opposing answers. The behavioral…