Research on virtual learning groups is still in its infancy, despite the related technology’s proliferation in education institutions. This paper reports on an experiment investigating the relationships among type of technology, gender, social presence, and learning outcomes. Using a 2x2 factorial design, each same-gender group collaborated on a learning task, using either videoconferencing, or...

Social Presence is the concept of ‘being there’, of emotional connectedness to another person. As relationships are increasingly formed by spatially disparate partners, supporting social presence has become more important. As many intimate acts involve touching, this paper investigates the impact that heat, one aspect of touch, has upon social presence. This is presented in the form of a therma...

With the growing popularity of information and communication technologies (ICT), researchers from information systems (IS) field are increasingly interested in the factors influencing user satisfaction in computer-mediated environment. Drawing on media synchronicity theory (MST), this study explores how various media characteristics influence user satisfaction through social presence. The resul...

Carum carvi (CC) is a grassy plant which is believed to have several therapeutic effects, including anti-asthmatic properties. We have therefore studied the bronchodilatory and anticholinergic effects of this plant. The bronchodilatory effects of the aqueous extract (AE), macerated extract (ME), essential oil (EO), and 4µM theophylline (T) in comparison with saline (S) were examined by the...