Analysis Of Group Interaction Research Articles

Reuse of waste beer yeast sludge for biosorptive decolorization of reactive blue 49 from aqueous solution.

Reactive blue 49 was removed from aqueous solution by biosorption using powder waste sludge composed of Saccharomyces cerevisiae from the beer-brewing industry. The effect of initial pH, temperature and the biosorption thermodynamics, equilibrium, kinetics was investigated in this study. It was found that the biosorption capacity was at maximum at initial pH 3, that the effect of temperature on biosorption of reactive blue 49 was only slight in relation to the large biosorption capacity (25°C, 361mgg(-1)) according as the biosorption capacity decreased only 43mgg(-1) at the temperature increased from 25 to 50°C. The biosorption was spontaneous, exothermic in nature and the dye molecules movements decreased slightly in random at the solid/liquid interface during the biosorption of dye on biosorbents. The biosorption equilibrium data could be described by Freundich isotherm model. The biosorption rates were found to be consistent with a pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The functional group interaction analysis between waste beer yeast sludge and reactive blue 49 by the aid of Fourier transform infrared (abbr. FTIR) spectroscopy indicated that amino components involved in protein participated in the biosorption process, which may be achieved by the mutual electrostatic adsorption process between the positively charged amino groups in waste beer yeast sludge with negatively charged sulfonic groups in reactive blue 49.

Interdisciplinary knowledge integration through group model building: recognizing dualities and triadizing the conversation

As part of the inquiry into managing an interdisciplinary research process on adaptive water governance, we investigated the process of group model building (GMB) and, more specifically, the role of Unified Modeling Language (UML) in this process. An analysis of group interaction reveals several tensions in the process of knowledge integration, which can be grouped into three overarching dualities: ‘simplicity versus complexity’, ‘constraining versus containing’ and ‘defining versus refining’. As group members take different positions with regard to these dualities, these represent sources of tension and potential ‘stuckness’ of the GMB. Hence the question arises how the group can manage duality in ways that take the GMB beyond its opposing forces. We suggest that knowledge integration processes may benefit from early recognition of the dualities at hand and strategies aimed at creating ‘thirdness’, including some suggestions on the concrete forms such ‘thirdness’ may take.

On the failure of ‘meaning’: Bible reading in the anthropology of Christianity

In this article I contribute to research in the anthropology of Christianity by exploring the practice of group Bible reading. I focus on the analytical category of ‘meaning’ and what happens when readers continually fail to produce defined, resolved readings of particular Biblical texts. To investigate these issues I draw on ethnographic fieldwork with a Missouri-Synod Lutheran men's group in the Midwestern United States, and their 12-week study of the book of Proverbs. Based on in-depth analyses of group interactions, I argue that, despite the lingering of multiple and conflicting interpretations, the search for meaning encodes a distinct set of cultural concerns. For example, presuppositions about the Bible's authority, textuality and relevance, and notions of religious identity are embedded within the group's interpretive discourse. Following research in the recent volume The limits of meaning, I maintain that ‘meaning’ is best conceptualized as a process that unfolds through social practice rather than a product that is discovered.

Group Interaction Analysis in Dynamic Context

Computer understanding of human actions and interactions is one of the key research issues in human computing. In this regard, context plays an essential role in semantic understanding of human behavioral and social signals from sensor data. This paper put forward an event-based dynamic context model to address the problems of context awareness in the analysis of group interaction scenarios. Event-driven multilevel dynamic Bayesian network is correspondingly proposed to detect multilevel events, which underlies the context awareness mechanism. Online analysis can be achieved, which is superior over previous works. Experiments in our smart meeting room demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Effects of diet and exercise interventions on health outcomes in women with and without metabolic syndrome (MS)

355 sedentary women (46±11 yrs, 163±7 cm; 92±16 kg; 45±4% body fat) were assigned to a control group (C); an exercise group (E); an exercise & high calorie diet (HCD) group (2,600 kcals/d); or, isoenergetic high carbohydrate (HC) or high protein (HP) diets. Diets consisted of 1,200 kcal/d for 1-wk and 1,600 kcal/d for 9 wks during the weight loss phase, During the maintenance phase, subjects ingested 2,600 kcal/d and dieted for 2-d (1,200 kcal/d) only if they gained 3 lbs. Subjects participated in a Curves fitness program 3-d per wk. Subjects were retrospectively divided into those with less than (n=196) or more than (n=159) 3 criteria for MS. Data were collected at 0, 10, and 14 weeks and analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA and are presented as changes from baseline after 10 and 14 wks for the no MS and MS groups, respectively. Subjects who had MS had greater loss of DEXA fat mass (−2.29±2.6, −2.44±3.4; −2.78±4.2; −3.1±3.0 kg, p=0.046) and SBP (−1.3±13, −2.3±14; −5.6±18; −8.4±15 mmHg, p=0.01) with no significant differences between groups in reductions in waist circumference (−2.8±6.6, −3.8±7.3; −3.2±8.3; −4.2±6.9 cm, p=0.42), glucose (−0.4±15, −2.1±15; −2.6±14; −4.1±14 %, p=0.85), triglycerides (5.6±42, 2.4±42; −5.5±33; 0.2±41%, p=0.67) or HDL (−3.9±19, −2.9±17; −0.1±19; −0.9±19 %, p=0.86). Analysis of group interactions revealed that MS subjects following the HCD lost significantly more weight than the non-MS group with results comparable to those observed in the HC and HP diet groups. Also, results in the HP group were generally better than remaining groups. Results indicate that subjects with MS may experience differential effects from adhering to various types of diets during training.

A layered framework for evaluating on-line collaborative learning interactions

Evaluating on-line collaborative learning interactions is a complex task due to the variety of elements and factors that take place and intervene in the way a group of students comes together to collaborate in order to achieve a learning goal. The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of group interaction and determine how to best support the collaborative learning process. To that end, we propose a principled framework for the study and analysis of group interaction and group scaffolding which is built by combining different aspects and issues of collaboration, learning and evaluation. In particular, we define learning activity indicators at several levels of description which prompt to the application of a mixed interaction analysis scheme and the use of different data types and specific tools. At an initial layer, the basis of the approach is set by applying a qualitative process for evaluating the individual and group task performance as well as the group functioning and scaffolding. The interaction analysis process is completed by defining and applying two more layers: a social network analysis of the group activity and participation behaviour and a quantitative analysis of group effectiveness as regards task achievement and active interaction involvement. Our work defines a grounded and holistic conceptual model that describes on-line collaborative learning interactions sufficiently and applies it in a real, web-based, complex and long-term collaborative learning situation. An in-depth empirical evaluation of the conceptual model is fully discussed, which demonstrates the usefulness and value of the approach.

Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Is Associated With Circulating Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in Younger Normotensive Subjects in a General Population Survey

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection has been associated with atherosclerosis, but serodiagnosis is unreliable in predicting vascular infection. Direct detection of circulating chlamydial DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was thus evaluated as a marker for cardiovascular risk in a general population survey using the common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) as surrogate marker of asymptomatic atherosclerosis. C pneumoniae DNA in PBMCs was determined by nested polymerase chain reaction and associated with IMT for 1032 healthy participants of a general population survey who were within the highest or lowest IMT distribution quartile. C pneumoniae DNA was more prevalent in those with increased IMT (13.4% versus 10.7%), but this was not significant in univariate and of borderline significance in multivariate analysis. Testing for potential effect modifications by known strong determinants of an increased IMT in group interaction analysis revealed an independent association between C pneumoniae DNA and IMT in normotensive subjects (odds ratio [OR], 2.06; 95% CI, 1.05 to 4.03; P=0.04) and in those <70 years old (OR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.19; P=0.03). Asymptomatic atherosclerosis is associated with circulating C pneumoniae DNA independently of classical cardiovascular risk factors in normotensive subjects and those <70 years old. C pneumoniae has been implicated in atherogenesis. We determined the association of chlamydial DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells with the carotid intima-media thickness from 1032 healthy subjects from a general population survey. A stratified group interaction analysis revealed an independent association in normotensive subjects and those <70 years old.

The Sequential Analysis of Group Interaction and Critical Thinking in Online

The purpose of this study was to examine group interaction and critical thinking in online threaded discussions. The Discussion Analysis Tool (DAT) was used to identify patterns in interactions and determine which interactions promoted critical thinking. With DAT, discussion transcripts were coded across twelve critical thinking events, and transitional probabilities between events were computed using the method of sequential analysis (Bakeman and Quera 1995). By computing the transitional probabilities, DAT generated useful quantitative descriptions of interaction patterns and critical thinking events that followed. The findings show that interactions involving conflicting viewpoints promoted more discussion and critical thinking, and that evaluation of arguments was more likely to occur as conclusions were being drawn-not as arguments were being presented. Tools such as DAT will be useful for empirically testing interactions and structures that enhance online discussions, providing the basis for more systematic testing of instructional interventions and computer-conferencing technologies.

Qualitative Analyse von Gruppeninteraktionen in offenen verteilten Lernumgebungen

Open learning environments support on the one hand a constructive approach to potentially open tasks and on the other hand social interaction by means of distributed systems. Beyond that they enable a detailed data acquisition and thus the focusing on the process of interaction in groups. On the basis of a distributed system with shared workspaces and structured visual representations, an approach has been developed for the analysis of collaboration on the basis of group interactions (action based collaboration analysis). This approach was implemented in a system for the automatic analysis of group interactions which uses formalizations of interaction events in predicate logic as indicators for action sequences. Tests with different groups of participants indicate the applicability of the approach and give first insights into cooperations and conflicts in shared problem solving situations.

The Multidimensional Audioconferencing Classification System (MACS)

Abstract Increasing awareness and emphasis on interactional aspects of distance education is accompanied by growing interest in describing the actual process of audioconferencing instruction. Drawing on three theoretical and empirical streams—systematic small group interaction analysis, systematic classroom interaction analysis, and interaction in distance education settings—the schema presented here offers an approach to classify and analyze the elements accounted for by the contextual structure in audioconferencing instruction.

Conceptual change strategies and cooperative group work in chemistry

AbstractThis study conducted at a suburban community college tested a method of conceptual change in which treatment students worked in small cooperative groups on tasks aimed at eliciting their misconceptions so that they could then be discussed in contrast to the scientific conceptions that had been taught in direct instruction. Categorizations of student understanding of the target concepts of the laws of conservation of matter and energy and aspects of the particulate nature of gases, liquids, and solids were ascertained by pre‐ and posttesting. Audiotapes of student verbal interaction in the small groups provided quantitative and qualitative data concerning student engagement in behaviors suggestive of the conditions posited to be part of the conceptual change process (Posner, Strike, Hewson &amp; Gertzog, 1982). Chi‐square analysis of posttests indicated that students in treatment groups had significantly lower (p &lt; 0.05) proportion of misconceptions than control students on four of the five target concepts. Students who exhibited no change in concept state had a higher frequency of verbal behaviors suggestive of “impeding” conceptual change when compared to students who did change. Three factors emerged from qualitative analysis of group interaction that appeared to influence learning: (a) many students had flawed understanding of concepts that supported the target concepts; (b) student views towards learning science affected their engagement in assigned tasks, (c) “good” and “poor” group leaders had a strong influence on group success.

EQUIVOCAL MESSAGES IN ORGANIZATIONS

This study examined the impact of ambiguous messages and organizational level on the processing of equivocality. Using Weick's (1979) model as a theoretical frame, investigators measured the number of rules, the number of people, and the frequencies of message categories generated in two zero-history organizations. Subjects used more rules and more people to process Hi ambiguous messages than they did to process Lo ambiguous messages. Analysis of group interaction revealed that most groups spent their talk time reducing equivocality. Workers and foremen reduced ambiguity by adding interpretations while managers proposed specific action steps. This study suggested that misunderstandings in organizations might evolve from divergent approaches to the management of equivocality. Since some degree of equivocality is present, in all organizational inputs (Weick, 1979), the way individuals interpret and process this ambiguity is a key to understanding how organizations make sense of their activities.

Symbolic Interaction Theory for Small Group Treatment

Three different treatment groups were studied to conduct a content analysis of group interaction and dynamics. Symbolic interaction theory was used to categorize the forms of interaction. Typologies of interaction were then developed to measure and give meaning to the behavior of the clients as well as the therapists.

A report on the instructional usage of PROANA5: A computerized technique for the analysis of group interaction

A report on the instructional usage of PROANA5: A computerized technique for the analysis of group interaction

Crisis: group response to emergency.

This descriptive and exploratory paper has as its objective the analysis of group interaction during a crisis and the generation of hypotheses about crisis interaction. Hypotheses are suggested in the areas of verbal and nonverbal interaction, leadership style and fluctuation, and the volume of task and process communication. These hypotheses and the questions raised by the study suggest directions for future crisis research.

A set theoretic analysis of group interactions

Prior to the statistical treatment of experimentally derived data the experimenter must obtain the data. In many studies in psychology, the content of group interactions is obtained by a data coding scheme. Coding schemes are shown to possess hierarchical structures and can be characterized by a hierarchy of fields. Three examples of coding schemes as hierarchies of fields are given. Techniques for extracting numbers from the set are presented. Problems associated with the improper assignment of elements of a data coding scheme to a theoretical structure are examined. The main result is that there will be errors in assignment of data to theory unless the structure of the data coding scheme is identical with that structure which is relevant to the theory being tested. Whenever the structures are not equal, the results are hard to interpret. In fact, any size of assignment error can be obtained. Since these errors precede the usual statistical treatment of data, it would appear that reported empirical findings are only valid when there exists no assignment errors.