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In the oligotrophic, phosphorus (P)-limited Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS), grazing on heterotrophic bacteria (HB) by pigmented nanoflagellates (PNF) through mixotrophy is a significant source of bacterial mortality and is P-dependent. Heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) are also important consumers of HB. However, there is still no conceptual framework describing the flows of carbon (C) and P through the EMS microbial food web that takes into account the mixotrophic behavior of PNF. In the present modelling study, we explore qualitatively the pathways of C- and P-flow through the HB-mixotrophic PNF-HNF link under varying availability of inorganic P. At low P availability, given the assumption that PNF can fulfill most of their P requirements through HB consumption when P-limited, model simulations show that PNF support bacterial production and P uptake by supplying HB with dissolved organic carbon (DOC), leading to a win-win stable scenario, with PNF holding a key role in P-transfer through the microbial food web. Conversely, increased P availability results in lower PNF grazing upon HB, amplifying the relative contribution of HNF to bacterial grazing. Based on our modelling study we propose a novel conceptual framework for bacteria-nanoflagellate interactions in the EMS, where PNF have the functional role of DOC primary producers and also share with HNF the functional role of bacterial consumers via mixotrophy. This alternative microbial loop operates in a Pdependent way. Our modelling study pinpoints the significance of the adaptive physiology of PNF for the functioning of the oligotrophic ecosystem of the EMS.

BACKGROUND: One of the most serious concerns of parents, caregivers, teachers and therapists is children’s independent living, particularly of those with special educational needs (SEN). Purpose-built programs for the acquisition of independent living skills are considered a priority in special education settings. The main problem is the inefficacy of detached interventions to meet the needs of as many students as possible. OBJECTIVE: Our response is to create transmedia applications for inclusive learning environments. To this end, we have taken a participatory design approach to develop a project for Daily Living Skills Training by combining special education pedagogies, filmic methods, game design and innovative technologies. In this paper, we present the design and development of Waking up In the Morning (WUIM), and its improvement through user-based and expert-based evaluations by students, therapists and developers. The main research purpose is to confirm if: (1) the final products of the WUIM project could be educational resources for students with SEN and (2) the common gaming experience could promote collaborative learning, regardless of students’ cognitive profile. METHODS: During the alpha phase, we developed and improved WUIM. In July 2020, we implemented and evaluated WUIM in special education settings (beta-phase). More specifically, a quantitative and qualitative formative evaluation was conducted with children who have developmental disabilities (N= 11), their therapists (N= 7) and developers (N= 2). Methods of data collection included questionnaires filled in by therapists and developers, participant observation by researchers and interviews with children. RESULTS: The results of the formative evaluation were generally positive regarding four-factor groups that shape the learning experience: Content, Technical characteristics, User state of mind, Characteristics that allow learning. After the design team reviewed the potential users and experts’ comments that were mainly related to the user interface, the application was improved. CONCLUSIONS: The two hypotheses have been largely confirmed. Overall, we propose a simplified development process that showcases the importance of arts-based methods and aesthetics which deliver representational fidelity. The study reveals the necessity of developing transmedia learning materials to meet each individual’s needs.

The purpose of this synthetic work is to examine university students’ perception of children’s relevant factors for recycling behaviour aiming to improve their university curriculum. The main idea ...

Educational Robotics in inclusive learning environments creates a wide area of research where innovative teaching practices and theoretical approaches are developed and investigated in order for the new growing educational challenges to be met. In this context, an educational intervention research was carried out using mixed research methodology. The aim of the research was to investigate the effect of the“SAS Strategy Training” a strategy that developed to foster the participation of children with autism, at level 2, in inclusive teamwork with peers during construction and programming LEGO Mindstorms. 2 children, 10-11 years old, diagnosed with autism, at level 2, participated in two inclusive educational robotics teams with typical peers. Τhe SaS Strategy has been integrated in the collaboration script that was designed to support the interaction between the team members during their collaboration on programming LEGO Mindstorms. The “SaS Strategy Training” had encouraging results in reducing the barriers of the participation of the children with autism in teamwork with their typical peers. Critical questions, reflections and new research horizons emerged.

Unicellular eukaryotes have pivotal ecological roles in aquatic ecosystems by participating in biogeochemical processes and structuring microbial food webs. However, revealing their biogeographical patterns remains challenging, as it is reflected in the rather limited available knowledge. In this study, two central patterns, the taxa–area and the distance–decay relationships, were tested for freshwater unicellular eukaryotes. Sampling was performed in 31 mountainous freshwater ecosystems in Thessaly (Greece). Sampling sites had different geohydromorphological characteristics (altitude, 124–704 m; depth, 0.3–1 m; surface area, 188–123 000 m2; geographical distances, 0.03–48.4 km). Unicellular eukaryote diversity was assessed by 18S rRNA gene diversity with high-throughput sequencing. Five supergroups (Stramenopiles, Alveolata, Rhizaria, Archaeplastida and Opisthokonta) were found with the most abundant taxa being Stramenopiles and Alveolata. Aquatic unicellular eukaryotes showed statistically significant but weak DDR and TAR. This can be attributed to the large proportion of specialists (91.9% of operational taxonomic units according to Levin’s index). These results indicate that although mountainous pools and ponds can host high diversity of unicellular eukaryotes, the shaping of their communities is mainly regulated by niche-specific processes and environmental filtering and to a lesser extent by species dispersion processes.

During ages, new and innovative learning technologies are often criticized or rejected, while their full acceptance is commonly delayed. As a result, the progress of Smart Learning Environments is noticed nowadays to be delayed, while educator debate about the technology used in classroom effectiveness. Author’s objective is to explore potential factors in order to render modern communication devices such as mobile phones and tablets suitable for learning in schools, taking into consideration possible advantages or disadvantages. In the case that students use mobile devices during learning procedure, a shortage of suitable content as well as adequate integration of educational and edutainment systems employing gamification techniques within the school framework. These factors are considered to be sufficient enough to strengthen and improve learning experience and effectiveness.

The impacts of grazing by meso- and microzooplankton on phytoplankton primary production (PP) was investigated in the surface layer of the western North Atlantic during spring. Shipboard experiments were performed on a latitudinal transect at three stations that differed in mixed layer depth, temperature, and mesozooplankton taxonomic composition. The mesozooplankton community was numerically dominated byCalanus finmarchicusat the northern and central station, withCalanus hyperboreusalso present at the northern station. The southern station was >10 °C warmer than the other stations and had the most diverse mesozooplankton assemblage, dominated by small copepods includingParacalanusspp. Microzooplankton grazing was detected only at the northern station, where it removed 97% of PP. Estimated clearance rates byC. hyperboreusandC. finmarchicussuggested that at in-situ abundance these mesozooplankton were not likely to have a major impact on phytoplankton abundance, unless locally aggregated. Although mesozooplankton grazing impact on total phytoplankton was minimal, these grazers completely removed the numerically scarce > 10 µm particles, altering the particle-size spectrum. At the southern station, grazing by the whole mesozooplankton assemblage resulted in a removal of 14% of PP, and its effect on net phytoplankton growth rate was similar irrespective of ambient light. In contrast, reduction in light availability had an approximately 3-fold greater impact on net phytoplankton growth rate than mesozooplankton grazing pressure. The low mesozooplankton grazing impact across stations suggests limited mesozooplankton-mediated vertical export of phytoplankton production. The constraints provided here on trophic transfer, as well as quantitative estimates of the relative contribution of light and grazer controls of PP and of grazer-induced shifts in particle size spectra, illuminate food web dynamics and aid in parameterizing modeling-frameworks assessing global elemental fluxes and carbon export.

In recent years, machine learning has developed rapidly, enabling the development of applications with high levels of recognition accuracy relating to the use of speech and images. However, other types of data to which these models can be applied have not yet been explored as thoroughly. Labelling is an indispensable stage of data pre-processing that can be particularly challenging, especially when applied to single or multi-model real-time sensor data collection approaches. Currently, real-time sensor data labelling is an unwieldy process, with a limited range of tools available and poor performance characteristics, which can lead to the performance of the machine learning models being compromised. In this paper, we introduce new techniques for labelling at the point of collection coupled with a pilot study and a systematic performance comparison of two popular types of deep neural networks running on five custom built devices and a comparative mobile app (68.5–89% accuracy within-device GRU model, 92.8% highest LSTM model accuracy). These devices are designed to enable real-time labelling with various buttons, slide potentiometer and force sensors. This exploratory work illustrates several key features that inform the design of data collection tools that can help researchers select and apply appropriate labelling techniques to their work. We also identify common bottlenecks in each architecture and provide field tested guidelines to assist in building adaptive, high-performance edge solutions.

The planktonic food web in the oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea is dominated by small-sized (

Predation by grazing protists in aquatic habitats can influence prokaryotic community structure and provides a source of new, labile organic matter. Due to methodological difficulties associated with studies of deep-sea (below photic zone) microbiota, trophic interactions between eukaryotes and prokaryotes in mesopelagic and bathypelagic realms are largely obscured. Further complicating matters, examinations of trophic interactions using water samples that have been exposed to upwards of hundreds of atmospheres of pressure change prior to initiating experiments can potentially introduce significant artifacts. Here we present results of the first study of protistan grazing in water layers ranging from the euphotic zone to the bathypelagic, utilizing the Microbial Sampler-Submersible Incubation Device (MS-SID) that makes possible in situ studies of microbial activities. Protistan grazing in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic realm of the East Mediterranean Sea was quantified using fluorescently labeled prokaryotes (FLP) prepared from the naturally-occurring prokaryotic assemblages. These studies reveal daily prokaryotic removal due to grazing ranging from 31.3±5.9% at 40 m depth to 0.5±0.3% at 950 m. At 3540 m depth, where a chemocline habitat exists with abundant and active prokaryotes above Urania basin, the daily consumption of prokaryotes by protists was 19.9±6.6% of the in situ abundance.

Protists play a crucial role for ecosystem function(ing) and oxygen is one of the strongest barriers against their local dispersal. However, protistan diversity in freshwater habitats with oxygen gradients received very little attention. We applied high-throughput sequencing of the V9 region (18S rRNA gene) to provide a hitherto unique spatiotemporal analysis of protistan diversity along the oxygen gradient of a freshwater meromictic lake (Lake Alatsee, SW Germany). In the mixolimnion, the communities experienced most seasonal structural changes, with Stramenopiles dominating in autumn and Dinoflagellata in summer. The suboxic interface supported the highest diversity, but only 23 OTUs95% (mainly Euglenozoa, after quality check and removal of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with less than three sequences) were exclusively associated with this habitat. Eukaryotic communities in the anoxic monimolimnion showed the most stable seasonal pattern, with Chrysophyta and Bicosoecida being the dominant taxa. Our data pinpoint to the ecological role of the interface as a short-term 'meeting point' for protists, contributing to the coupling of the mixolimnion and the monimolimnion. Our analyses of divergent genetic diversity suggest a high degree of previously undescribed OTUs. Future research will have to reveal if this result actually points to a high number of undescribed species in such freshwater habitats.

Τα σοβαρά παιχνίδια (ψηφιακά εκπαιδευτικά παιχνίδια μαθησιακού σκοπού) κερδίζουν ολοένα και περισσότερο το ενδιαφέρον πολλών μελετητών της μαθησιακής διαδικασίας όλων των εκπαιδευτικών επιπέδων. Σημαντικές πτυχές της εφαρμογής τους στην εκπαίδευση σχετίζονται με τα χαρακτηριστικά τους, τη συνάφειά τους με την παιδαγωγική και τις απόψεις των μαθητών. Αυτή η ποσοτική έρευνα επικεντρώθηκε στα χαρακτηριστικά των φοιτητών παιδαγωγικών τμημάτων (φύλο, επιστημονικό υπόβαθρο, προηγούμενη εμπειρία με παιχνίδια και δεξιότητες ΤΠΕ) και στους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν και διαμορφώνουν την μαθησιακή εμπειρία τους όταν παίζουν σοβαρά παιχνίδια δύο (2D) και τριών (3D) διαστάσεων, όπως είναι η εμβύθιση, η απόλαυση, η υποκειμενική αντίληψη των μαθητών σχετικά με τη χρησιμότητά τους για τη βελτίωση της γνώσης, την επάρκεια της αφήγησης, τον ρεαλισμό, την ανατροφοδότηση, την οπτικοακουστική επάρκεια, τη συνάφειά τους με τα προσωπικά ενδιαφέροντά τους, τη σαφήνεια του στόχου τους, την ευκολία χρήσης τους, την καταλληλότητα του μαθησιακού υλικού και τα κίνητρα. Συνολικά 542 φοιτητές συμμετείχαν στη μελέτη. Σειρά μη παραμετρικών αναλύσεων (Mann-Whitney U tests και Kruskal-Wallis H tests) αποκάλυψε ότι οι φοιτητές προτίμησαν το 2D παιχνίδι. Το φύλο, το επιστημονικό υπόβαθρο και οι δεξιότητες στις ΤΠΕ δεν είχαν αντίκτυπο στις απόψεις τους. Από την άλλη πλευρά, οι φοιτητές με υψηλή ικανότητα στη χρήση των παιχνιδιών φαίνεται να έχουν καλύτερη μαθησιακή εμπειρία, καθώς οι βαθμολογίες τους στους περισσότερους παράγοντες ήταν υψηλότερες σε σύγκριση με τους φοιτητές με χαμηλότερη ικανότητα. Αυτά τα αποτελέσματα μας οδήγησαν να προσανατολιστούμε στην εξέταση άλλων πτυχών/δεξιοτήτων των φοιτητών πέρα από τα συνήθη δημογραφικά στοιχεία, όπως είναι η αυτορρύθμιση, η χωρική ικανότητα και η νοητική περιστροφή και να ερευνήσουμε τη δυνατότητα των σοβαρών παιχνιδιών να βελτιώσουν αυτές τις δεξιότητες.

High concordance of value priorities and actual behaviour implies the importance of studying values, especially on teachers as important agents of socialization. The theoretical framework comprises Schwartz theory of individual values, a taxonomy of values which embraces ten value types with different motivational goals. We applied a questionnaire in the form of five-point Likert-scale with a com­prehensive list of values on the sample of 163 students, future teachers. The value hierarchy was defined as the set of the most important and less important values. For data analysis we used: descriptive statistics, paired-samples t-test; frequencies of ranks; and principal component analysis. We compared the value hierarchy of our student sample with the results obtained for the samples of students, teachers and representative samples in the cross-national study conducted by Schwartz and his associates. Generally speaking, our research results are in concordance with the results of the cross-cultural study, suggesting that the most important values can be found among the value types benevolence, universalism and self-direction, while less important values belong to the types stimulation, power and tradition. The main difference from the international study results is found in the treatment of the value type tradition, placed at the bottom of the hierarchy by our sample of students. Visok stepen saglasnosti između vrednosnih prioriteta i stvarnog ponašanja ukazuje na važnost proučavanja vrednosti, posebno vrednosti nastavnika kao važnih agenasa socijalizacije. Teorijski okvir ovog rada predstavlja Švarcova teorija individualnih vrednosti, taksonomija vrednosti koja obuhvata deset tipova vrednosti sa različitim motivacionim ciljevima. Primenjen je upitnik u formi petostepene Likertove skale koji sadrži obuhvatnu listu vrednosti na uzorku od 163 studenta, budućih nastavnika. Vrednosna hijerarhija definisana je kao skup najvažnijih i manje važnih vrednosti. U analizi podataka korišćeni su deskriptivna statistika, t test za paralelne uzorke, frekvencije rangova i analiza glavnih komponenata. Uporedili smo vrednosnu hijerarhiju našeg uzorka studenata sa rezultatima dobijenim za uzorke studenata, nastavnika i reprezentativne uzorke u internacionalnoj studiji koju je sproveo Švarc sa saradnicima. Uopšteno posmatrano, rezultati našeg istraživanja u skladu su sa rezultatima kroskulturalne studije i pokazuju da najvažnije vrednosti spadaju pod vrednosne kategorije dobročinstvo, univerzalizam i samousmerenost, dok manje važne vrednosti pripadaju kategorijama stimulacija, moć i tradicija. Glavna razlika u odnosu na rezultate međunarodne studije javlja se na nivou kategorije tradicija koju naši studenti smeštaju na dno hijerarhije vrednosti.