Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reflection in Language Teaching: A Comparison between Preservice and Experienced Teachers of English.

Teachers’ ability to reflect on their performances or reflective teaching has been commonly used and accepted in the educational contexts. However, it has not become a content item or a course in educational curricula so far. For this reason, reflective abilities of teachers or preservice teachers cannot be measured, and there is limited feedback on their reflective performances in the teaching and learning process. The purpose of this study is to provide evidence of reflection and reflective skills of preservice teachers of English (PTE) along with experienced teachers of English (ETE) by measuring the use of reflection in different settings such as classroom settings, colleagues and management settings. Reflection-oriented reactions of ETE and PTE to possible complexities or problematic situations were scored by using Teacher Reflection Scale to reveal if they are reflective practitioners or not. The data were collected from 298 volunteer PTE and 293 ETE. Statistical analyses give evidence that ETE participants reflect more than PTE participants. Among PTE, participants mostly reflect in classroom and colleagues’ settings, but not in management settings. Besides, ETE participants also reflect in classroom settings, but not in collegial setting. They prefer to reflect within management setting. Compared to PTE, there is evidence that more ETE in teaching and learning environments reflect on their practices. Key words: Reflection, teaching, teacher development, assessment.
Accuracy of conventional radiography and computed tomography in predicting implant position in relation to the vertebral canal in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To compare the accuracy of radiography and computed tomography (CT) in predicting implant position in relation to the vertebral canal in the cervical and thoracolumbar vertebral column. STUDY DESIGN In vitro imaging and anatomic study. ANIMALS Medium-sized canine cadaver vertebral columns (n=12). METHODS Steinmann pins were inserted into cervical and thoracolumbar vertebrae based on established landmarks but without predetermination of vertebral canal violation. Radiographs and CT images were obtained and evaluated by 6 individuals. A random subset of pins was evaluated for ability to distinguish left from right pins on radiographs. The ability to correctly identify vertebral canal penetration for all pins was assessed both on radiographs and CT. Spines were then anatomically prepared and visual examination of pin penetration into the canal served as the gold standard. RESULTS Left/right accuracy was 93.1%. Overall sensitivity of radiographs and CT to detect vertebral canal penetration by an implant were significantly different and estimated as 50.7% and 93.4%, respectively (P<.0001). Sensitivity was significantly higher for complete versus partial penetration and for radiologists compared with nonradiologists for both imaging modalities. Overall specificity of radiographs and CT to detect vertebral canal penetration was 82.9% and 86.4%, respectively (P=.049). CONCLUSIONS CT was superior to radiographic assessment and is the recommended imaging modality to assess penetration into the vertebral canal. CLINICAL RELEVANCE CT is significantly more accurate in identifying vertebral canal violation by Steinmann pins and should be performed postoperatively to assess implant position.
The mediating effect of envy on time spent on highly visual social media and general life satisfaction in university students

The goal of this study was to examine the mediating effect envy has on the relationship between time spent on highly visual social media (HVSM) and general life satisfaction. While there has been quite some research done on the topic of social media in general, HVSM hasn't been the topic of many studies, at yet remains to fully be investigated. A sample of 180 university students, 76.1% female, 23.3% male, 0.6% other, with an average age of 21.6 years, answered an online questionnaire. The results showed a positive association between time spent on HVSM and envy, and a negative association between envy and general life satisfaction. No significant mediating effect of envy could be found. HVSM has grown to a substantial part of, mainly, young peoples life's, but exploring its use and influences on mental health are still in the very beginning and the topic of HVSM remains to be investigated in depth.
Relative Contribution of Arms and Legs in 30 s Fully Tethered Front Crawl Swimming

The relative contribution of arm stroke and leg kicking to maximal fully tethered front crawl swimming performance remains to be solved. Twenty-three national level young swimmers (12 male and 11 female) randomly performed 3 bouts of 30 s fully tethered swimming (using the whole body, only the arm stroke, and only the leg kicking). A load-cell system permitted the continuous measurement of the exerted forces, and swimming velocity was calculated from the time taken to complete a 50 m front crawl swim. As expected, with no restrictions swimmers were able to exert higher forces than that using only their arm stroke or leg kicking. Estimated relative contributions of arm stroke and leg kicking were 70.3% versus 29.7% for males and 66.6% versus 33.4% for females, with 15.6% and 13.1% force deficits, respectively. To obtain higher velocities, male swimmers are highly dependent on the maximum forces they can exert with the arm stroke (r = 0.77, P < 0.01), whereas female swimmers swimming velocity is more related to whole-body mean forces (r = 0.81, P < 0.01). The obtained results point that leg kicking plays an important role over short duration high intensity bouts and that the used methodology may be useful to identify strength and/or coordination flaws.
A reconfigurable, power-scalable Rake receiver IP for W-CDMA

During the last few years, the wireless market has experienced an exponential growth. 2G systems are essentially voice-oriented: the main innovation expected from 3G ones is the ubiquitous Internet and multimedia fruition. The transition from 2G to 3G provides both opportunities and challenges: one way to make this migration as smooth as possible relies on the employment of reconfigurable architectures. In this paper, a reconfigurable Rake receiver for W-CDMA is proposed. Very promising results from the physical implementation on a XCV300E have been obtained.
Effects of Cram Schooling on Academic Achievement and Mental Health of Junior High Students in Taiwan

Abstract The role of private supplementary tutoring in the well-being of youth has been speculated upon but remains understudied. Using data from the Taiwan Educational Panel Survey gathered in 2001 and 2003, this study joins the inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting approach and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model to estimate effects of cram schooling on two correlated outcomes: academic achievement and depressive symptoms in Grade 9. The findings suggest that 9th grade cram schooling has a positive effect on both academic achievement and depression in Grade 9. In other words, while cram schooling increases 9th graders’ academic achievement, it raises the risk of depression as well.
State Bureaucratic Performance and the Corporation

Recent research on financial market development has focused on the nature of the legal system. The law-and-finance literature, however, exclusively focuses on the abuse of management power as a major cause of shareholder expropriation. The role of the administrative capability of the state in providing and guaranteeing the institutional foundations for securities development is thereby overlooked. The characteristic feature of bureaucracy is predictable, calculable and methodical performance. Our analysis of the linkage between state bureaucratic performance and financial market development confirms our hypothesis that arm’s length finance not only needs a reliable legal environment, but also bureaucratic effectiveness. (1) We provide evidence that state bureaucratic performance plays a crucial role in determining financial market development; (2) We find that legal origin plays an indirect role, as it affects the financial market development through the bureaucratic channel, but it does not exert a direct and independent effect.
Effectiveness of Semmes-Weinstein monofilament examination for diabetic peripheral neuropathy screening in Ahvaz, Iran

Foot care prevention programs can reduce the occurrence of foot ulcerations and amputations. This investigation evaluated Effectiveness of Semmes-Weinstein monofilament examination for diabetic peripheral neuropathy screening in Ahvaz, Iran. In this quasi-experimental design 150 patients with diabetes mellitus were recruited by purposive sampling. All patients were tested for sensory neuropathy using Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament Examination. In the next phase nerve conduction velocity was examined. The sensitivity of Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament 10 g was 38.5-61.5 at sites 1-8, whereas the specificity was 77.5-95.5. Monofilament was found to be simple, cheap and useful method and suitable for detection of sensory neuropathy in clinical examinations. Hence, we recommend screening of patients for neuropathy as soon as they are diagnosed with diabetes.
Predictors of successful self control during brain-computer communication

Objectives: Direct brain-computer communication uses self regulation of brain potentials to select letters, words, or symbols from a computer menu to re-establish communication in severely paralysed patients. However, not all healthy subjects, or all paralysed patients acquire the skill to self regulate their brain potentials, and predictors of successful learning have not been found yet. Predictors are particularly important, because only successful self regulation will in the end lead to efficient brain-computer communication. This study investigates the question whether initial performance in the self regulation of slow cortical potentials of the brain (SCPs) may be positively correlated to later performance and could thus be used as a predictor. Methods: Five severely paralysed patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis were trained to produce SCP amplitudes of negative and positive polarity by means of visual feedback and operant conditioning strategies. Performance was measured as percentage of correct SCP amplitude shifts. To determine the relation between initial and later performance in SCP self regulation, Spearman’s rank correlations were calculated between maximum and mean performance at the beginning of training (runs 1–30) and mean performance at two later time points (runs 64–93 and 162–191). Results: Spearman’s rank correlations revealed a significant relation between maximum and mean performance in runs 1–30 and mean performance in runs 64–93 (r= 0.9 and 1.0) and maximum and mean performance in runs 1–30 and mean performance in runs 162–191 (r=1.0 and 1.0). Conclusions: Initial performance in the self regulation of SCP is positively correlated with later performance in severely paralysed patients, and thus represents a useful predictor for efficient brain-computer communication.
College Students’ Perceptions on Effects of Volunteering with Adults with Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of the current study was to address the research question, “Does direct contact with individuals with developmental disabilities positively alter college student attitudes toward people with developmental disabilities? ” Subjects were undergraduate students from various majors who participated in an alternative spring break trip working with adults with disabilities. A mixed-methods study was used. Two instruments were administered before and after the volunteer experience: (a) Demographic and Open-Ended Questionnaire and (b) Multidimensional Attitude Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities (MAS). During the week, research participants kept daily journals where they reflected on their experiences as camp counselors and activity facilitators. Results were consistent with previous research that found significant changes in students’ self-perceptions, perception of others, and increased appreciation for social issues (Mann & DeAngelo, 2016) . Further, results led to the identification of three distinct themes: transformation, enlightenment, and adjourning.
Evaluating cross-sectional forecasting models for implied cost of capital

The computation of implied cost of capital (ICC) is constrained by the lack of analyst forecasts for half of all firms. Hou et al. (J Account Econ 53:504–526, 2012, HVZ) present a cross-sectional model to generate forecasts in order to compute ICC. However, the forecasts from the HVZ model perform worse than those from a naïve random walk model and the ICCs show anomalous correlations with risk factors. We present two parsimonious alternatives to the HVZ model: the EP model based on persistence in earnings and the RI model based on the residual income model from Feltham and Ohlson (Contemp Account Res 11:689–732, 1996). Both models outperform the HVZ model in terms of forecast bias, accuracy, earnings response coefficients, and correlations of the ICCs with future returns and risk factors. We recommend that future research use the RI model or the EP model to generate earnings forecasts.
Bloch-Nordsieck Approximation in Linearized Quantum Gravity

The aim of this article is to review Fradkin's contribution in the realm of eikonal physics. In particular, the so-called Fradkin representation is employed to investigate a certain subclass of Feynman diagrams resulting in an expression for the scattering amplitude at Planckian energies. The 't Hooft poles are reproduced.
Chromosome Painting in Three Species of Buteoninae: A Cytogenetic Signature Reinforces the Monophyly of South American Species

Buteoninae (Falconiformes, Accipitridae) consist of the widely distributed genus Buteo, and several closely related species in a group called “sub-buteonine hawks”, such as Buteogallus, Parabuteo, Asturina, Leucopternis and Busarellus, with unsolved phylogenetic relationships. Diploid number ranges between 2n = 66 and 2n = 68. Only one species, L. albicollis had its karyotype analyzed by molecular cytogenetics. The aim of this study was to present chromosomal analysis of three species of Buteoninae: Rupornis magnirostris, Asturina nitida and Buteogallus meridionallis using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) experiments with telomeric and rDNA probes, as well as whole chromosome probes derived from Gallus gallus and Leucopternis albicollis. The three species analyzed herein showed similar karyotypes, with 2n = 68. Telomeric probes showed some interstitial telomeric sequences, which could be resulted by fusion processes occurred in the chromosomal evolution of the group, including the one found in the tassociation GGA1p/GGA6. In fact, this association was observed in all the three species analyzed in this paper, and also in L. albicollis, suggesting that it represents a cytogenetic signature which reinforces the monophyly of Neotropical buteoninae species.
Neuroinflammation: Peripheral and Neurogenic Underlying Processes

A complex, highly specialized immunomodulatory microenvironment exists in the central nervous system, as a number of protective mechanisms against insults of different kinds have evolved over time to help in maintaining homoeostasis in this compartment. Inflammation in the central nervous system (neuroinflammation) is an elaborate process, triggered in response to challenges of diverse nature. Characterized by increased glial activation (phagocytic phenotype) and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, it often leads to blood-brain barrier disruption and leukocyte invasion. While the initial response to an injury involving oxidative and nitrosative stress usually causes acute neuroinflammation, it seldom affects long-term neuronal survival. Chronic neuroinflammation, on the other side, may affect cell survival and brain functions, as observed in several neurodegenerative disorders. Various peripheral and central injuries can alter the homeostasis in the central nervous system, triggering a persistent adaptive inflammatory response that could lead to a vicious circle of neuronal damage.
Dynamic Games and Strategies

The present paper aims to provide a mathematical and syntax-independent formulation of dynamics and intensionality of computation; our approach is based on mathematical structures developed in game semantics. Specifically, we give a new game semantics of a prototypical programming language that distinguishes terms with the same value yet different algorithms, capturing intensionality of computation, equipped with the hiding operation on strategies that exactly corresponds to the (small-step) operational semantics of the programming language, modeling dynamics of computation. Categorically, our games and strategies give rise to a certain kind of a cartesian closed bicategory (CCB), and our game semantics forms an instance of a bicategorical refinement of the standard interpretation of functional languages in cartesian closed categories (CCCs) by CCBs. This work is intended to be a mathematical foundation of operational aspects of computation; our approach should be applicable to a wide range of logics and computations.
Validating constructs of learners’ academic self-efficacy for measuring learning gain

ABSTRACT Following previous research which showed the significance of learners’ self-efficacy and dispositions towards progression in school and university transition, we developed and validated similar measures for use in modelling undergraduate students’ Learning Gain (LG). We validated three dimensions of confidence using data from a sample of (mainly first year) undergraduate students in various departments of one major UK University which we call: ‘confidence in learning through…’ a) ‘traditional university transmission pedagogy’ (e.g. in lectures), b) ‘social means’ (e.g. working in teams), and c) ‘problem solving, reflection and critical thinking’. We explored psychometric properties of these measures and then focus on their association with other perceptions of students’ experience in HE and other measures of attainment. We then used these academic self-efficacy variables to inform (regression) models of LG. Finally, we discuss the prospects for measurements and modelling of LG involving dispositions and affect as well as attainment.
Distillation Codes and Applications to DoS Resistant Multicast Authentication

We introduce distillation codes, a method for streaming and storing data. Like erasure codes, distillation codes allow information to be decoded from a sufficiently large quorum of symbols. In contrast to erasure codes, distillation codes are robust against pollution attacks, a powerful class of denial of service (DoS) attacks in which adversaries inject invalid symbols during the decoding process. We examine applications of distillation codes to multicast authentication. Previous applications of erasure codes to multicast authentication are vulnerable to low bandwidth pollution attacks. We demonstrate pollution attacks against previous approaches which prevent receivers from verifying any authentic packets. To resist pollution attacks, we introduce Pollution Resistant Authenticated Block Streams, which have low overhead and can tolerate arbitrary patterns of packet loss within a block up to a predetermined number of packets. In the face of 40Mb/s of attack traffic, PRABS receivers successfully authenticate the stream and consume only 10% of their CPU.
mGlu1 Receptor-Induced LTD of NMDA Receptor Transmission Selectively at Schaffer Collateral-CA1 Synapses Mediates Metaplasticity

Hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons receive inputs from entorhinal cortex directly via the temporoammonic (TA) pathway and indirectly via the Schaffer collateral (SC) pathway from CA3. NMDARs at synapses of both pathways are critical for the induction of synaptic plasticity, information processing, and learning and memory. We now demonstrate that, in the rat hippocampus, activity-dependent mGlu1 receptor-mediated LTD (mGlu1-LTD) of NMDAR-mediated transmission (EPSCNMDA) at the SC-CA1 input prevents subsequent LTP of AMPAR-mediated transmission. In contrast, there was no activity-dependent mGlu1-LTD of EPSCNMDA at the TA-CA1 pathway, or effects on subsequent plasticity of AMPAR-mediated transmission. Therefore, the two major pathways delivering information to CA1 pyramidal neurons are subject to very different plasticity rules.
A Single Sign-on Mechanism for Authenticating Users across a Distributed Web-based Learning Environment

As learning management systems and learning object repositories are two separate concerns, it often makes sense to make them together. In previous work, we presented a tiered architecture that includes a middle layer for communication and exchange of learning objects between these two kinds of system, but we set up a basic and static authentication mechanism to identify users and their roles across the whole learning environment. In this paper, we suggest a dynamic way to authenticate users by exploiting a model driven approach together with a distributed architecture based on Web services. While offering a single sign-on process, this work can be extended to any other learning system such as authoring tools. Our authentication framework is also able to take into account users coming from various institutions or organizations, thus bringing scalability
Comparing and Evaluating Collection Strategies in Trust-Based Reputation Systems in Distributed Environments

Trust-based reputation system(TBRS) provides us an excellent decision-support tool for distributed environments. TBRS quantifies the trust relationships between entities based on the information that describes the entities' past behavior, so it is significant for TBRS to guarantee the quantity, the quality and the reliability of the collected information. In distributed environments, due to the lack of a central authority that is responsible for collecting global information, it is still a challenging work to design an effective and efficient information collection(IC) strategy. A variety of TBRS have been proposed in previous papers during recent years, however, there are few works on comparing and evaluating different IC strategies in TBRS. In this paper, we propose a formal model that is mainly focused on IC strategies in TBRS, classify existing IC strategies into three categories and describe their main features respectively. We propose a simulation framework based on the formal model and implement it for comparing and evaluating the performance of different IC strategies. We analyze the results of simulation and present the strength and weakness of different IC strategies.
Parallel and distributed simulation systems

Originating from basic research conducted in the 1970's and 1980's, the parallel and distributed simulation field has matured over the last few decades. Today, operational systems have been fielded for applications such as military training, analysis of communication networks, and air traffic control systems, to mention a few. The article gives an overview of technologies to distribute the execution of simulation programs over multiple computer systems. Particular emphasis is placed on synchronization (also called time management) algorithms as well as data distribution techniques.