Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aspects of the reading motivation and reading activity of Namibian primary school readers

Abstract This paper reports on the reading motivation and reading activity of 402, urban, Namibian learners in 6 schools in the central region of Namibia. From the fourth grade these Grade 7 learners received their instruction through the medium of English, and offered English as Second Language in addition to another Namibian language. They were enrolled in schools that performed above-average in the Namibian Standardised Achievement Test for English language and with reasonable access to reading resources. Employing adapted formats of instruments, developed by John T. Guthrie and colleagues, the relationships between various aspects of reading motivation, reading activity and achievement, as well as gender differences, were explored. Different from early adolescent readers in North America, the group showed moderate reading activity and high levels of motivation. Learners reported that they read slightly more often for pleasure than for academic purposes, and read fewer texts in digital than print format. Recognising the multifaceted nature of motivation, this study revealed that aspects, such as curiosity about specific topics, the importance of reading and reading for grades, were factors that highly motivated these Namibian learners. Positive relationships between motivation and reading activity, as well as between reading motivation and reading achievement, were established. Contrary to expectations, no statistically relevant correlation between academic achievement and reading activity was found. Relationships between these variables and gender, though modest, corroborate findings from previous research. These results may prove valuable in further research regarding the development of effective and inclusive classroom practices in the Namibian context.
Molecules and dust production in the Magellanic Clouds

We present ESO/VLT spectra in the 2.9−4.1 μm range for a large sample of infrared stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), mainly carbon stars, massive oxygen-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, and red supergiants. Strong emission from Polycyclic Aromatic Hyrdrocarbons (PAHs) is detected in the spectrum of the post-AGB object MSX SMC 29. Water ice is detected in at least one Young Stellar Object, IRAS 01042−7215, for the first time in the SMC. The strength and shapes of the molecular bands detected in the evolved stars are compared with similar data for stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Absorption from acetylene in carbon stars is found to be equally strong in the SMC as in the LMC, but the LMC stars show stronger dust emission in their infrared colours and veiling of the molecular bands. This suggests that a critical link exists in the formation of dust from the molecular atmosphere in carbon stars which scales with the initial metallicity. Nucleation seeds based on a secondary element such as titanium or silicon provide a plausible explanation. In oxygen-rich stars, both the nucleation seeds and molecular condensates depend on secondary elements (in particular titanium, silicon, and/or aluminium), which explains the observed lower molecular abundances and lower dust content in the SMC stars. Emission from silicon monoxide seen in some oxygen-rich AGB stars and red supergiants in the SMC suggests that these metal-poor stars are able to drive strong pulsation shocks through their molecular layers. Data for pulsating dusty AGB stars and supergiants in the LMC are used to show that pulsation is likely the critical factor in driving mass loss, as long as dust forms, rather than the stellar luminosity. Finally, we suggest that the reduced dust production and consequently slower winds of metal-poor AGB stars and red supergiants are more likely to result in chemical inhomogeneities and small-scale structure in the interstellar medium.
Elastic and Inelastic Seismic Response of Buildings with Damping Systems

The effect of damping on the response of elastic and inelastic single-degree-of-freedom systems was studied by nonlinear response-history analysis using earthquake histories that matched on average a 2000 NEHRP spectrum on a stiff soil site for a region of high seismic risk. New displacement reduction factors for levels of damping greater than 5% of critical are presented. New equations to relate inelastic and elastic displacements in the short-period range, for levels of damping greater than 5% of critical, are presented. The technical basis for reducing the minimum design base shear in damped buildings by a maximum of 25%, from that required for the corresponding undamped building, is derived based on comparable levels of damage in both the damped and undamped buildings.
Habitat use by European wildcats (Felis silvestris) in central Spain: what is the relative importance of forest variables?

Habitat preferences of wildcats are controversial. Although they are usually considered a forest species, alternative environments such as scrubland can be preferred. In this study we compared five habitat types in relation to wildcat occurrence. Sampling was carried out between 2001 and 2002 on a series of transects in search of wildcat scats to calculate an abundance index. Structural variables of landscape and rabbit abundance were also estimated and summarised as orthogonal factors using a principal component analysis (PCA). A priori contrasts showed that wildcats tended to be more abundant in areas with Mediterranean mountain vegetation, although agricultural steppes also provided suitable habitat. The forest variables were not included in the general linear model (GLM) obtained, indicating that wildcats are mainly associated with scrubland mosaics with rabbits in this region.
Too many is not enough: studying how children are affected by their number of siblings and resource dilution in families

Abstract This special issue contains a collection of papers that study how children are affected by their sibship size, using anthropometric data. The varied results provide a wealth of new knowledge and show that this influence is context-specific. In this paper I discuss the methodological challenges that we will encounter continuing research on resource dilution in families. The most important challenge is the plausible endogeneity of sibship size and thus biased estimates of the effect. The problem of endogeneity can be made worse through residual confounding caused by measurement error. I argue that we need to be creative and find many different ways to circumvent the problems of endogeneity, for example by looking for testable implications of the resource dilution model or studying specific situations or groups. Comparative or longitudinal studies, utilizing the variation and changes in societal contexts and institutions across time and place could also provide ways forward. In general it is the basics of the scientific method that we need to keep in mind when we continue research on this topic: formulate explicit models, do replication studies, separate exploratory and confirmatory analyses, report negative results, and be cautious of over-explaining results.
DNA Screening Reveals Pink Bollworm Resistance to Bt Cotton Remains Rare After a Decade of Exposure

Abstract Transgenic crops producing toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) kill insect pests and can reduce reliance on insecticide sprays. Although Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and Bt corn (Zea mays L.) covered 26 million ha worldwide in 2005, their success could be cut short by evolution of pest resistance. Monitoring the early phases of pest resistance to Bt crops is crucial, but it has been extremely difficult because bioassays usually cannot detect heterozygotes harboring one allele for resistance. We report here monitoring of resistance to Bt cotton with DNA-based screening, which detects single resistance alleles in heterozygotes. We used polymerase chain reaction primers that specifically amplify three mutant alleles of a cadherin gene linked with resistance to Bt cotton in pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), a major pest. We screened DNA of 5,571 insects derived from 59 cotton fields in Arizona, California, and Texas during 2001–2005. No resistance alleles were detected despite a decade of exposure to Bt cotton. In conjunction with data from bioassays and field efficacy tests, the results reported here contradict predictions of rapid pest resistance to Bt crops.
‘We are equals’; datum or delusion: perceptions of Muslim women academics in three Malaysian universities

Abstract Islam underlines equality between women and men regarding their spiritual and intellectual potential. However, given interpretations of religious texts are often availed to suppress women in most Muslim societies, with serious implications for gender equality in the domestic and the professional spheres. This article draws on data from a study of Muslim women academics from three Malaysian universities to highlight the impact of dominant discourses on these women’s professional lives and their perceptions of gender equality, and discusses its implications for their professional journeys. The article argues that the feudal patriarchal structures of most Muslim societies, reinforced by vested interpretations of religious texts, validate a powerful discourse of male authority which contributes to the perception that submitting to male authority is a Muslim woman’s religious obligation. The seductive power of these discourses couched in religious authority influences the terms of their professional engagement and their conceptualisations and understanding of gender equality.
Registration Procedures for URL Scheme Names

Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress. " To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the "1id-abstracts.txt" listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow Directories on ftp.ietf. org (US East Coast), nic.nordu. net Abstract This document defines the process by which new URL scheme names are registered. A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a compact string representation of the location for a resource that is available via the Internet. RFC 2396 [1] defines the general syntax and semantics of URIs, and, by inclusion, URLs. URLs are designated by including a "<scheme>:" and then a "<scheme-specific-part>". Many URL schemes are already defined, however, new schemes may need to be defined in the future in order to accommodate new Internet protocols and/or procedures. A registration process is needed to ensure that the names of all such new schemes are guaranteed not to collide. Further, the registration process ensures that URL schemes intended for wide spread, public use are developed in an orderly, well-specified, and public manner. This document defines the registration procedures to be followed when new URL schemes are created. A separate document, RFC [URL-GUIDELINES], Guidelines for URL Schemes [2], provides guidelines for the creation of new URL schemes. The primary focus of this document is on the <scheme> portion of new URL schemes, referred to as the "scheme name" throughout this document.
Evidence for Relational Contracts in Sovereign Bank Lending

This paper presents direct evidence for relational contracts in sovereign bank lending. Unlike the existing empirical literature, its instrumental variables method allows for distinguishing a direct influence of past repayment problems on current spreads (a “punishment” effect in prices) from an indirect effect through higher expected future default probabilities (“loss of reputation”). Such a punishment provides positive surplus to lenders after a default and decreases the borrower's present discounted value of the net benefits of future borrowing, which create dynamic incentives. Using data on bank loans to developing countries for 1973–1981 and constructing continuous variables for credit history, we find evidence that most of the influence of past repayment problems is through the direct, punishment channel.
The PIRO (predisposition, insult, response, organ dysfunction) model

Multimodal therapy for diseases like cancer has only become practicable following the development of staging systems like the TNM (tumor, nodes, metastases) system. Staging enables the identification of subgroups of patients with a disease who not only have a differing prognosis, but who are also more likely to benefit from a specific therapeutic modality. Critically ill patients represent a highly heterogeneous population for whom multiple therapeutic options are potentially available, each carrying not only the potential for differential benefit, but also the potential for differential harm. The PIRO system (predisposition, insult, response, organ dysfunction) is a template proposal for a staging system for acute illness that incorporates assessment of pre-morbid baseline susceptibility (predisposition), the specific disorder responsible for acute illness (insult), the response of the host to that insult, and the resulting degree of organ dysfunction. However the creation of a valid, robust, and clinically useful system presents significant challenges arising from the complexity of the disease state, the lack of a clear phenotype, the confounding influence of the effects of therapy and of cultural and socio-economic factors, and the relatively low profile of acute illness with clinicians and the general public. This review summarizes the rationale for such a model of illness stratification and the results of preliminary cohort studies testing the concept. It further proposes two strategies for building a staging system, recognizing that this will be a demanding undertaking that will require decades of work.
Energy saving approaches for video streaming on smartphone based on QoE modeling

In this paper, we study the influence of video stalling on QoE. We provide QoE models that are obtained in realistic scenarios on the smartphone, and provide energy-saving approaches for smartphone by leveraging the proposed QoE models in relation to energy. Results show that approximately 5J is saved in a 3 minutes video clip with an acceptable Mean Opinion Score (MOS) level when the video frames are skipped. If the video frames are not skipped, then it is suggested to avoid freezes during a video stream as the freezes highly increase the energy waste on the smartphones.
Cognitive and Emotional Math Problems Largely Dissociate: Prevalence of Developmental Dyscalculia and Mathematics Anxiety

A negative correlation between math anxiety and mathematics performance is frequently reported. Thus, some may assume that high levels of mathematics anxiety are associated with poor mathematical understanding. However, no previous research has clearly measured the association between mathematics anxiety and mathematical learning disability. To fill this gap, here we investigated the comorbidity of developmental dyscalculia (a selective, serious deficit in mathematical performance) and mathematics anxiety in a sample of 1,757 primary school (8- to 9-year-old) and secondary school (12- to 13-year-old) children. We found that children with developmental dyscalculia were twice as likely to have high mathematics anxiety as were children with typical mathematics performance. More girls had comorbid mathematics anxiety and developmental dyscalculia than did boys. However, 77% of children with high mathematics anxiety had typical or high mathematics performance. Our findings suggest that cognitive and emotional mathematics problems largely dissociate and call into question the assumption that high mathematics anxiety is exclusively linked to poor mathematics performance. Different intervention methods need to be developed to prevent and treat emotional and cognitive blocks of mathematical development.
Learning High School Biology in a Social Context

In this research, we developed a process that helped students connect cell and molecular biology concepts with problems in context of their lives. Specifically, we supplemented traditional teaching with problem, project and inquiry based laboratories, without changing the structure of the mandated biology curriculum. We ran the process twice, following the classroom based action research model. Our initial foray exhibited better student-developed projects and a modest improvement of test grades. Second time we compared changes in problem solving skills, attitude toward reading, writing and problem solving and improvement of traditional test grades from the beginning and end of the school year. This process made the biological concepts so interesting that by the end of the year nearly all students significantly (t(55) = -8.95, p ≤ 0.05) improved problem-solving skills and some students went further to develop and solve independent inquiries. They also exhibited improved attitude towards reading, writing and problem solving. However, we didn’t observe any causal relationship between improvement of problem solving skills and test grade, since its trend showed little difference between first and second trial.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports the Frbny Dsge Model the Frbny Dsge Model

paper presents preliminary findings and is being distributed to economists and other interested readers solely to stimulate discussion and elicit comments. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and are not necessarily reflective of views at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors. Abstract The goal of this paper is to present the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model developed and used at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The paper describes how the model works, how it is estimated, how it rationalizes past history, including the Great Recession, and how it is used for forecasting and policy analysis. The authors are very grateful to the many talented research assistants who have worked on the model over the years, in particular, The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System.
Spotlight on afatinib and its potential in the treatment of squamous cell lung cancer: the evidence so far

Compared to adenocarcinoma, fewer effective treatment options are available for advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung. Afatinib is an orally administered, irreversible EGFR antagonist. As a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, it has been applied in the treatment of patients with EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer. Recently, several clinical trials have shown that afatinib leads to a significant improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with SCC. Moving forward, afatinib should be one of the options among tyrosine kinase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and cytotoxicity chemotherapy drugs for SCC.
Biology and Management: A Review, Critique, and Research Agenda

In this article, we conduct a systematic review of the emerging literature on the biological perspective in management and investigate research spanning the areas of genetics, physiology, and neuroscience. We examine 291 papers published in 133 journals over an 85-year period as well as 10 conference/working papers and six books. On the basis of this analysis, we present an organizing framework of the area, explain the mechanisms through which biological factors relate to management, and discuss the implications of the biological perspective for the theory and the practice of management. Finally, we present an agenda highlighting avenues for future research in this field.
Effective pseudo-relevance feedback for spoken document retrieval

With the exponential proliferation of multimedia associated with spoken documents, research on spoken document retrieval (SDR) has emerged and attracted much attention in the past two decades. Apart from much effort devoted to developing robust indexing and modeling techniques for representing spoken documents, a recent line of thought targets at the improvement of query modeling for better reflecting the user's information need. Pseudo-relevance feedback is by far the most commonly-used paradigm for query reformulation, which assumes that a small amount of top-ranked feedback documents obtained from the initial round of retrieval are relevant and can be utilized for this purpose. Nevertheless, simply taking all of the top-ranked feedback documents obtained from the initial retrieval for query modeling (reformulation) does not always work well, especially when the top-ranked documents contain much redundant or non-relevant information. In the view of this, we explore in this paper an interesting problem of how to effectively glean useful cues from the top-ranked documents so as to achieve more accurate query modeling. To do this, different kinds of information cues are considered and integrated into the process of feedback document selection so as to improve query effectiveness. Experiments conducted on the TDT (Topic Detection and Tracking) task show the advantages of our retrieval methods for SDR.
The Ndc80 complex uses a tripartite attachment point to couple microtubule depolymerization to chromosome movement

Both genetics and biochemistry are used to demonstrate that the Ndc80 complex uses a tripartite attachment site to bind microtubules both in vitro and in vivo. Working together, the calponin homology domain and unstructured tail of Hec1 build a coupler that can move along the lateral surface of a depolymerizing microtubule.
Comparison of the Cost Metrics for Reversible and Quantum Logic Synthesis

A breadth-first search method for determining optimal 3-line circuits composed of quantum NOT, CNOT, controlled-V and controlled-V+ (NCV) gates is introduced. Results are presented for simple gate count and for technology motivated cost metrics. The optimal NCV circuits are also compared to NCV circuits derived from optimal NOT, CNOT and Toffoli (NCT) gate circuits. The work presented here provides basic results and motivation for continued study of the direct synthesis of NCV circuits, and establishes relations between function realizations in different circuit cost metrics.
Topologically Massive Gravity and the AdS/CFT Correspondence

We set up the AdS/CFT correspondence for topologically massive gravity (TMG) in three dimensions. The first step in this procedure is to determine the appropriate fall off conditions at infinity. These cannot be fixed a priori as they depend on the bulk theory under consideration and are derived by solving asymptotically the non-linear field equations. We discuss in detail the asymptotic structure of the field equations for TMG, showing that it contains leading and subleading logarithms, determine the map between bulk fields and CFT operators, obtain the appropriate counterterms needed for holographic renormalization and compute holographically one- and two-point functions at and away from the ``chiral point'' (μ = 1). The 2-point functions at the chiral point are those of a logarithmic CFT (LCFT) with cL = 0,cR = 3l/GN and b = −3l/GN, where b is a parameter characterizing different c = 0 LCFTs. The bulk correlators away from the chiral point (μ ≠ 1) smoothly limit to the LCFT ones as μ → 1. Away from the chiral point, the CFT contains a state of negative norm and the expectation value of the energy momentum tensor in that state is also negative, reflecting a corresponding bulk instability due to negative energy modes.