Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PhotoLingo—Development and Improvement of Higher-Order Thinking and Language Skills Through Photographs

This article presents the major findings of a longitudinal study on the use of photograph-based assignments to improve higher-order thinking and language skills among second- and fifth-grade students using an intervention framework and a convergent mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach. The method promoted oriented study skills for students with an accent in the combination of higher-order thinking strategies, reading skills, and photo-elicitation. Participants in the second grade attained a level close to participants in the fifth grade. Students with different levels of language skills in the intervention group progressed significantly compared with the control group.
Economic evaluation of universal BCG vaccination of Japanese infants.

BACKGROUND The international controversy surrounding the use and effectiveness of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine and the low incidence of tuberculosis (TB) among Japanese children prompted this study. METHODS We compared 'universal BCG vaccination' with 'no vaccination at all' using a cost-effectiveness analysis. The study population was a hypothetical cohort comprising a total of 1.2 million infants born in 1996 at locations all over Japan. A model was developed to calculate the number of TB cases prevented by the vaccination programme. Assuming 40-80% overall vaccine efficacy (64-86% for TB-meningitis) and 10 years of protection, we calculated the cost and number of immunizations required to prevent one child from developing TB, the total number of TB cases averted by vaccination and total costs required for the programme. RESULTS Based on an assumption of flexible vaccine efficacy (40-80%), we estimated that 111-542 TB cases including 10-27 of TB-meningitis would be prevented during the 10 years after BCG vaccination among the cohort of infants born in 1996. About US$35 950-175 862 or 2125-10 399 immunizations would be required to prevent one child from developing TB. Sensitivity analyses covering a wide duration of protection, incidence of TB, vaccine coverage and discount rate, revealed that other than vaccine efficacy, the cost of preventing a single case of TB is highly sensitive to the duration of BCG protection and TB incidence. CONCLUSION The cost per case of TB prevented is heavily dependent on vaccine efficacy and the duration of protection, and is high compared with the cost of treating one child who has developed TB.
Hybrid Imaging for Patient-Specific Dosimetry in Radionuclide Therapy

Radionuclide therapy aims to treat malignant diseases by systemic administration of radiopharmaceuticals, often using carrier molecules such as peptides and antibodies. The radionuclides used emit electrons or alpha particles as a consequence of radioactive decay, thus leading to local energy deposition. Administration to individual patients can be tailored with regards to the risk of toxicity in normal organs by using absorbed dose planning. The scintillation camera, employed in planar imaging or single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), generates images of the spatially and temporally varying activity distribution. Recent commercially available combined SPECT and computed tomography (CT) systems have dramatically increased the possibility of performing accurate dose planning by using the CT information in several steps of the dose-planning calculation chain. This paper discusses the dosimetry chain used for individual absorbed-dose planning and highlights the areas where hybrid imaging makes significant contributions.
Three-Dimensional Full-Band Simulations of Si Nanowire Transistors

In this paper the current characteristics of Si triple-gate nanowire transistors are simulated for different channel orientations. The full-band properties of Si are taken into account via the semi-empirical sp3d5s* tight-binding method. The 3D electrostatic potential is solved self-consistently with the device charge density. This allows the treatment of more realistic transistor structures with rough semiconductor-oxide interfaces along the channel
Large-Scale Cover Song Identification Using Chord Profiles

This paper focuses on cover song identification among datasets potentially containing millions of songs. A compact representation of music contents plays an important role in large-scale analysis and retrieval. The proposed approach is based on high-level summarization of musical songs using chord profiles. Search is performed in two steps. In the first step, the Locality Sensitive Hashing (LHS) method is used to retrieve songs with similar chord profiles. On the resulting list of songs a second processing step is applied to progressively refine the ranking. Experiments conducted on both the Million Song Dataset (MSD) and a subset of the Second Hand Songs (SHS) dataset showed the effectiveness of the proposed solution, which provides state-of-the-art results.
From Agricultural Education to Education for Rural Development and Food Security: All for Education and Food for All. SD Dimensions.

Reducing the number of undernourished people in all countries to half its present level no later than 2015 is the commitment undertaken by the international community during the World Food Summit of 1996. In order to accomplish this goal, a common vision to work for sustainable growth that favors the poor and provides more resources for health, education, gender equality, and environmental sustainability worldwide is needed. Since the agriculture-only model of rural development has proven inadequate to address poverty education, rural development, and sustainable natural resources management, international assistance to agricultural education has declined. The latest good practices in such domains indicate that the empowerment of poor people, policy, and institutional reforms in the rural sector leading to participation of stakeholders need to be the starting point. At present, however, access to education is lower among rural populations, quality of education is lower in rural areas, and institutional capacity to address education for rural development and food security needs strengthening. In order to move forward, the following areas should be addressed: (1) targeting multiple stakeholders, focusing on Education for All and Food for All; (2) contributing to placing education at the core of the global and national development agenda and food security agenda; and (3) fostering interdisciplinary efforts and new partnerships. (Contains 38 endnotes.) (KC) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Surviving Apprenticeship Training: A Duration Analysis of Apprenticeship Contracts in Australia

Fifty percent of youth entrants to apprenticeships in Australia fail to complete their course producing costs to, employers, the trainees themselves and society in general. This study uses data from the Direct Entry Level Training Administration for a duration analysis of this high attrition rate. We find those most likely to survive apprenticeship training will be males who have completed high school prior to training, work with a single employer, undertake train within the Government system and avoid occupations such as food trades and hairdressing.
Temporal Asthma Patterns Using Repeated Questionnaires over 13 Years in a Large French Cohort of Women

Variable expression is one aspect of the heterogeneity of asthma. We aimed to define a variable pattern, which is relevant in general health epidemiological cohorts. Our objectives were to assess whether: 1) asthma patterns defined using simple asthma questions through repeated measurements could reflect disease variability 2) these patterns may further be classified according to asthma severity/control. Among 70,428 French women, we used seven questionnaires (1992–2005) and a comprehensive reimbursement database (2004–2009) to define three reliable asthma patterns based on repeated positive answers to the ever asthma attack question: “never asthma” (n = 64,061); “inconsistent” (“yes” followed by “no”, n = 3,514); “consistent” (fully consistent positive answers, n = 2,853). The “Inconsistent” pattern was related to both long-term (childhood-onset asthma with remission in adulthood) and short-term (reported asthma attack in the last 12 months, associated with asthma medication) asthma variability, showing that repeated questions are relevant markers of the variable expression of asthma. Furthermore, in this pattern, the number of positive responses (1992–2005) predicted asthma drug consumption in subsequent years, a marker of disease severity. The “Inconsistent” pattern is a phenotype that may capture the variable expression of asthma. Repeated answers, even to a simple question, are too often neglected.
Shyness and Psychological Adjustment During Adolescence: The Moderating Role of Parenting Style

Although shyness constitutes a risk factor for maladjustment, parenting style may influence these developmental trajectories during childhood. Little is known about the role of parental style in the relationship between shyness and psychological adjustment during adolescence. Aims: To explore the relationship between shyness and parenting style and to analyse the moderating role of the quality of parenting in the relationship between shyness and internalizing difficulties during adolescence. Method: 787 11 to 19 year-old participants (divided in early and late adolescents) were recruited for this study. Participants completed Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale, Parental Bonding Instrument and internalizing scale of Youth Self Report. Results: Shy adolescents perceived parents to be less warm and close, less encouraging of their autonomy and independence, and more overprotective and intrusive than did other participants. During early-adolescence participants who perceived their parents as supportive and not intrusive showed significantly fewer internalizing problems related to shyness.
REAL-TIME HALLUCINATION SONIFICATION AND SIMULATION THROUGH USER-LED DEVEL-OPMENT OF AN IPAD AUGMENTED REALITY PERFORMANCE

The simulation of visual hallucinations has multiple applications. For example in helping diagnosis, in helping patients to express themselves and reduce their sense of isolation, for medical education, and in legal proceedings for damages due to eye / brain injuries. We present a new approach to hallucination simulation, which was developed initially for a performance but proved to have potential uses to sufferers of certain types of hallucinations. The system allows real-time audio and visual expression, using an iPad. An individual can overlay their hallucinations in real-time on the iPad screen over the iPad’s video camera image. The system has been developed focusing on the visual symptoms of Palinopsia, experienced by the first author, and hence has initially been user-led research. However such an approach can be utilized for other conditions and visual hallucination types. The sys-tem also allows the hallucinations to be converted into sound through visual sonification, providing another ave-nue for expression for the hallucinating individual. A musical performance is described which uses the system, and which has helped to raise awareness and to comfort some people who have Palinopsia symptoms. Although no formal experimentation was done outside of performance preparation, we report on a number of unsolicited informal responses to the simulator from palinopsia sufferers and a palinopsia charity.
Refiner: A Problem-Solving Environment for Scientific Simulator Creation

The science and engineering disciplines rely heavily on computer simulation as a tool for solving large, complex mathematical problems. The difficulty of creating scientific simulation code presents the need for a programming environment that is able to assist the programmer in the code development process. This paper describes a development methodology and a prototype implementation of a system that provides such assistance. Refiner, a programming environment for creating scientific simulators, provides expert users with online support for the entire development process, from mathematical modeling to low-level implementation details. Refiner is based on Posit, a high-level object-oriented modeling and programming language. Mathematical models are specified, and executable programs are then developed through the successive application of semantics-preserving program transformations. Code development is recorded in the form of a refinement tree structure where each path from root to leaf encodes a series of program transformations representing a single-solution strategy.
The Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor MS-275 Interacts Synergistically with Fludarabine to Induce Apoptosis in Human Leukemia Cells

Interactions between the novel benzamide histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor MS-275 and fludarabine were examined in lymphoid and myeloid human leukemia cells in relation to mitochondrial injury, signal transduction events, and apoptosis. Prior exposure of Jurkat lymphoblastic leukemia cells to a marginally toxic concentration of MS-275 (e.g., 500 nm) for 24 h sharply increased mitochondrial injury, caspase activation, and apoptosis in response to a minimally toxic concentration of fludarabine (500 nm), resulting in highly synergistic antileukemic interactions and loss of clonogenic survival. Simultaneous exposure to MS-275 and fludarabine also led to synergistic effects, but these were not as pronounced as observed with sequential treatment. Similar interactions were noted in the case of (a) other human leukemia cell lines (e.g., U937, CCRF-CEM); (b) other HDAC inhibitors (e.g., sodium butyrate); and (c) other nucleoside analogues (e.g., 1-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine, gemcitabine). Potentiation of fludarabine lethality by MS-275 was associated with acetylation of histones H3 and H4, down-regulation of the antiapoptotic proteins XIAP and Mcl-1, enhanced cytosolic release of proapoptotic mitochondrial proteins (e.g., cytochrome c, Smac/DIABLO, and apoptosis-inducing factor), and caspase activation. It was also accompanied by the caspase-dependent down-regulation of p27KIP1, cyclins A, E, and D1, and cleavage and diminished phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein. However, increased lethality of the combination was not associated with enhanced fludarabine triphosphate formation or DNA incorporation and occurred despite a slight reduction in the S-phase fraction. Prior exposure to MS-275 attenuated fludarabine-mediated activation of MEK1/2, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and Akt, and enhanced c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase phosphorylation; furthermore, inducible expression of constitutively active MEK1/2 or Akt significantly diminished MS-275/fludarabine-induced lethality. Combined exposure of cells to MS-275 and fludarabine was associated with a significant increase in generation of reactive oxygen species; moreover, both the increase in reactive oxygen species and apoptosis were largely attenuated by coadministration of the free radical scavenger l-N-acetylcysteine. Finally, prior administration of MS-275 markedly potentiated fludarabine-mediated generation of the proapoptotic lipid second messenger ceramide. Taken together, these findings indicate that the HDAC inhibitor MS-275 induces multiple perturbations in signal transduction, survival, and cell cycle regulatory pathways that lower the threshold for fludarabine-mediated mitochondrial injury and apoptosis in human leukemia cells. They also provide insights into possible mechanisms by which novel, clinically relevant HDAC inhibitors might be used to enhance the antileukemic activity of established nucleoside analogues such as fludarabine.
Bargained Wages, Wage Drift and the Design of the Wage Setting System

This paper aims at answering the question: How does a typically 'European' bargaining system - with collective bargaining, extension mechanisms and national minimum wage - coexist with low unemployment rate and high wage flexibility? A unique data set on workers, firms and collective bargaining contracts in the Portuguese economy is used to analyze the determinants of both the bargained wage and the wage drift. Results indicate that wage drift stretches the returns to every worker and firm attribute, whereas it shrinks the returns to union bargaining power. Therefore, firm-specific arrangements, in the form of wage drift, partly offset collective bargaining, granting firms a high degree of freedom when setting wages. Union bargaining power raises the overall wage level, but lowers the returns on worker attributes, an outcome of the egalitarian policy pursued.
On the (Ir)Relevance of Psychological Research: Students versus Scientists and Implications for Teaching

Research articles are widely used in the training of undergraduate students. Editors and reviewers of the top scientific psychology journals influence the development in the field by publishing certain articles and rejecting others, probably assuming that the published articles are empirically sound and theoretically highly relevant. The current study investigated if published articles are indeed regarded as relevant by a sample of 393 psychology undergraduate students from a university in the Southeast of the United States. The students’ age ranged between 18 and 57 (M = 23, SD = 6.05) and 84% were female. Students received brief statements about potential research studies and rated them regarding relevance, not knowing that the summaries were from actual research studies published in peer-reviewed journals. Results showed that (1) overall, research articles were regarded as generally irrelevant, (2) applied articles were regarded as more relevant than basic research articles, (3) ratings did not differ based on gender or age, and (4) the more advanced students were in the Psychology program, the higher their relevance ratings were for applied research as compared to basic research. Results are comforting or disturbing; comforting, because students might not have the professional expertise to make such relevance judgments; disturbing, because results might indicate how specialized and insulated journals have become by not addressing topics relevant to a wider population. Results also have implications for teaching research methods and experimental psychology courses.
Power spectrum constraints from spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background

Using recent experimental limits on chemical potential distortions from Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Far Infrared Astronomy Satellite (FIRAS), and the large lever-arm spanning the damping of sub-Jeans scale fluctuations to the COBE DMR fluctuations, we set a constraint on the slope of the primordial power spectrum n. It is possible to analytically calculate the contribution over the full range of scales and redshifts, correctly taking into account fluctuation growth and damping as well as thermalization processes. Assuming conservatively that mu is less than 1.76 x 10(exp -4), we find that the 95% upper limit on n is only weakly dependent on other cosmological parameters, e.g., n is less than 1.60 (h=0.5) and n is less than 1.63 (h=1.0) for Omega(sub 0) = 1, with marginally weaker constraints for Omega(sub 0) is less than 1 in a flat model with a cosmological constant.
Industry Characteristics, Risk Premiums, and Debt Pricing

ABSTRACT: Despite theoretical and anecdotal evidence highlighting the importance of industry-level analyses to lenders, the empirical literature on debt pricing has focused almost exclusively on firm-level forces that affect expected loss. This paper provides empirical evidence that industry-level characteristics relate to debt pricing through risk premiums. We address the empirical challenges that arise when testing these theories by using a proprietary dataset of time-varying and forward-looking measures of industry characteristics. These characteristics include growth, sensitivity to external shocks, and industry structure, all measured at the six-digit NAICS level. Our results show that lenders demand higher spreads to bear industry-level risk. The relation exists within subsamples with constant credit ratings, and strengthens when lenders' loan portfolios are less diversified and during periods when diversification is difficult. Therefore, our results suggest that industry characteristics relate to d.
A Simple Field Test to Evaluate the Maintenance Requirements of Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements

Adequate infiltration through Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements (PICPs) is critical to their hydraulic and stormwater treatment performance. Infiltration is affected by clogging caused by the trapping of fines in the PICP surface, which, over time, reduces treatment performance. Clogging can be reduced by periodic maintenance such as vacuum sweeping and/or pressure washing. Maintenance requirements can be indicated by measuring reduced infiltration rates. This paper compared infiltration results using the standard test (C1781M-14a) with the results of a new stormwater infiltration field test (SWIFT) developed in Australia to evaluate the maintenance requirements of PICPs. A strong correlation (Pearson’s r = −0.714) was found between results using the two methods. This study found that the SWIFT was a reliable method for estimating the degree of clogging of PICPs while successfully overcoming some of the problems with the more technical existing test methodology such as horizontal water leakage (use of sealant), unrealistic pressure heads, speed of test, and portability. The SWIFT test is a simple, fast and inexpensive way for asset managers and local government employees to quickly assess the maintenance requirements of PICP installations in the field.
EDGE FINITE ELEMENTS FOR THE APPROXIMATION OF MAXWELL RESOLVENT OPERATOR

In this paper we consider the Maxwell resolvent operator and its finite element approximation. In this framework it is natural the use of the edge element spaces and to impose the divergence constraint in a weak sense with the introduction of a Lagrange multiplier, following an idea by Kikuchi [14]. We shall review some of the known properties for edge element approximations and prove some new result. In particular we shall prove a uniform convergence in the L 2 norm for the sequence of discrete operators. These results, together with a general theory introduced by Brezzi, Rappaz and Raviart [8], allow an immediate proof of convergence for the finite element approximation of the time-harmonic Maxwell system.
Higher education: a policy statement

This policy statement outlines the Australian Commonwealth Government’s strategy for the long-term development of Australia’s higher education system. The release of ‘Higher education: a policy discussion paper’ in December 1987 led to a process of intensive community discussion and debate on the roles and objectives of the higher education system. This policy statement contains the following sections: Part one, ‘The environment for reform’ - The context; Growth and equity; Part two, ‘The unified national system’ - The framework; Institutional structures; Equity strategies; Links with other sectors; Consultative and advisory arrangements to determine higher education priorities; Part three, ‘The allocation of resources’ - Resource allocation: principles and mechanisms; Research and postgraduate education; Part four, ‘Organisational effectiveness’ - Institutional management and staffing; Appendixes; Index.
From Ritual to Theatre

In what case do you like reading so much? What about the type of the from ritual to theatre book? The needs to read? Well, everybody has their own reason why should read some books. Mostly, it will relate to their necessity to get knowledge from the book and want to read just to get entertainment. Novels, story book, and other entertaining books become so popular this day. Besides, the scientific books will also be the best reason to choose, especially for the students, teachers, doctors, businessman, and other professions who are fond of reading.