Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Assessment Context: Part Two

This is the second installment of Chapter 1, “The Assessment Context,” by F. Robert Sabol, from Assessing Expressive Learning: A Practical Guide for Teacher-Directed Authentic Assessment in K–12 Visual Art Education, edited and written by Charles M. Dorn, Stanley S. Madeja, and F. Robert Sabol. © Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ 2003. Selections from the first part of Chapter 1 appeared in our previous issue. The discussion below follows up on sections about what criteria teachers use to evaluate student artwork, how these criteria have changed over time, students’ art making at home, and what criteria students used to evaluate artwork made at home. The following subsection begins with the way artists assess their own production.
Time-Dependent Changes in Extreme-Precipitation Return-Period Amounts in the Continental United States

Abstract Partial-duration maximum precipitation series from Historical Climatology Network stations are used as a basis for assessing trends in extreme-precipitation recurrence-interval amounts. Two types of time series are analyzed: running series in which the generalized extreme-value (GEV) distribution is fit to separate overlapping 30-yr data series and lengthening series in which more recent years are iteratively added to a base series from the early part of the record. Resampling procedures are used to assess both trend and field significance. Across the United States, nearly two-thirds of the trends in the 2-, 5-, and 10-yr return-period rainfall amounts, as well as the GEV distribution location parameter, are positive. Significant positive trends in these values tend to cluster in the Northeast, western Great Lakes, and Pacific Northwest. Slopes are more pronounced in the 1960–2007 period when compared with the 1950–2007 interval. In the Northeast and western Great Lakes, the 2-yr return-period pr.
Locus Equations and the Degree of Coarticulation of Arabic Consonants

Abstract The intent of the present study is to investigate the information for place of articulation provided by locus equations, using Moroccan speakers of Modern Standard Arabic. Locus equations are straight-line regression function fits to co-ordinates derived by relating onsets of F2 transitions of different vowels to their corresponding steady states. Ten subjects produced CVCVC(VC) tokens, the first consonant of each was one of the following list: (/f/, /b/, / bx/, /s/, /sx/, /d/, /dx/, /t/, /tx/, /σ/, /h/, /χ). Each initial consonant was followed by one of the six vowels (/i/, /æ/, /u/, /i:/, /æ:/, /u:/). The present study attempted to explore to what extent locus equations can distinguish between different consonants varying in place and manner of articulation. The findings are of two kinds. On the one hand, locus equations do not reflect certain place-of-articulation distinctions when many consonants varying both in place and manner of articulation are taken into consideration. On the other hand, locus equations are successful in distinguishing place between pharyngealized and non-pharyngealized consonants. Pharyngealized consonants (/bx, dx, sx, tx/) emerged as a totally distinct class, having the flattest locus equation slopes of all consonants.
An evaluation of a standards based portfolio.

In undergraduate and postgraduate nursing studies, the essay type assignment is commonly used to assess student learning. The literature suggests that of the alternatives for the assessment of learning, the use of portfolios may be an effective tool. A portfolio is generally conceptualized as a collection of the students best work or a collection of work that evidences incremental development. For a particular unit of learning, 'Nursing Business', second year undergraduate students in the Bachelor of Nursing programme were required to complete a portfolio. The assessment directed the students to meet specific criteria which in turn reflected the learning outcomes. Therefore the portfolio in this study is more appropriately described as a standards based portfolio (SBP). A SBP is a series of student work that seeks to address pre-determined learning outcomes. This study is an evaluation of student perceptions of a SPB and of interest to the study was the relationship between theory and practice, the availability of resources to complete the assignment and the contribution the portfolio made to the process of learning.
A two-sided coin

Four studies documented the pros and cons of people’s experiences of relational commitment. Study 1 used individual’s own words to develop an initial taxonomy of elements connected with commitment. Study 2 empirically refined that taxonomy, identifying three primary factors underlying perceptions of commitment—positive, negative, and constraint. Study 3 found evidence of convergent validity with various measures of relationship commitment and satisfaction. Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that the positive, negative, and constraint elements were differentially associated with ratings of positive and negative relationship quality. The findings provide an important and necessary step in efforts to create a better understanding of how individuals personally view and experience the contradictory nature of commitment in intimate relationships.
Student and Teacher Experiences of Assessing Different Levels of Understanding.

Examinations greatly influence course structures and student study strategies. A course for students in the civil and environmental engineering programme at Lulea University of Technology was reconstructed with the aim of increasing levels of understanding. A simple written test was designed to assess low levels of understanding (definitions, concepts, etc.). Laboratory work, fieldwork and extensive assignments (calculation tasks) were intended to assess medium levels of understanding (apply, use and combine algorithms, etc.). A final oral group exam that was used to assess high levels of understanding (compare/contrast, explain causes, analyse, relate) concluded the course. Peer assessment of laboratory work and assignments was also applied. The students ranked the entire course at 5 on a 6 grade scale and appreciated the extensive assignments and the assessment approach.
An SVD approach to identifying metastable states of Markov chains.

Being one of the key tools in conformation dynamics, the identification of metastable states of Markov chains has been subject to extensive research in recent years, especially when the Markov chains represent energy states of biomolecules. Some previous work on this topic involved the computation of the eigenvalue cluster close to one, as well as the corresponding eigenvectors and the stationary probability distribution of the associated stochastic matrix. More recently, since the eigenvalue cluster algorithm may be nonrobust, an optimization approach was developed. As a possible less costly alternative, we present an SVD approach of identifying metastable states of a stochastic matrix, where we only need the singular vector associated with the second largest singular value. We also introduce a concept of block diagonal dominance on which our algorithm is based. We outline some theoretical background and discuss the advantages of this strategy. Some simulated and real numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Gender Differences in College Students' Attitudes Towards Divorce and Their Willingness to Marry

This study compared the attitudes about divorce between young adults (college students) who had experienced parental divorce in their chilhood and those from intact homes. While there were no overall group differences, a significant two-way interaction was found for parents' marital status and sex of their respondent. In the intact group, females had a slightly more positive attitude, but in the divorced group, males were considerably more positive in their attitudes towards divorce. The only relationship between the two groups that was near significance in terms of their readiness to marry was the divorced group's more favorable attitude towards pre-marital cohabitation. These young adults were also significantly more actively dating than the intact group. Intergenerational marital instability was also greater for college students who experienced parental divorce.
Addictive use of social networking sites can be explained by the interaction of Internet use expectancies, Internet literacy, and psychopathological symptoms

Background and Aims Most people use the Internet in a functional way to achieve certain goals and needs. However, there is an increasing number of people who experience negative consequences like loss of control and distress based on an excessive use of the Internet and its specific online applications. Some approaches postulate similarities with behavioral addictions as well as substance dependencies. They differentiate between a generalized and a specific Internet addiction, such as the pathological use of social networking sites (SIA–SNS). Prior studies particularly identified the use of applications, personal characteristics, and psychopathological symptoms as significant predictors for the development and maintenance of this phenomenon. So far, it remains unclear how psychopathological symptoms like depression and social anxiety interact with individual expectancies of Internet use and capabilities of handling the Internet, summarized as Internet literacy. Methods The current study (N = 334) investigated the interaction of these components in a structural equation model. Results The results indicate that the effects of depression and social anxiety on SIA–SNS were mediated by Internet use expectancies and self-regulation. Discussion Thus, Internet use expectancies seem to be crucial for SIA–SNS, which is in line with prior models. Conclusions SNS use may be reinforced by experienced gratification and relief from negative feelings. Individual competences in handling the Internet may be preventive for the development of SIA–SNS.
Rotation of an immersed cylinder sliding near a thin elastic coating

It is well known that an object translating parallel to a soft wall produces viscous stresses and a pressure field that deform the wall, which, in turn, results in a lift force on the object. Recent experiments on cylinders sliding near a soft incline under gravity confirmed previously developed theoretical arguments, but also reported an unexplained rotation of the cylinder at steady state (Saintyves et al. \emph{PNAS} 113(21), 2016). Here, we use the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to calculate the angular velocity of an infinite cylinder sliding near a soft incline, in the lubrication limit. Our results show that the softness-induced angular velocity of the cylinder is quadratic in the deformation of the elastic layer. This implies that a cylinder sliding parallel to a soft wall without rotation experiences an elastohydrodynamic torque that is proportional to the cube of the sliding speed. We compare the theoretical predictions of the rotation speed with experimental measurements. We then develop scaling and symmetry arguments that are generally applicable to hydrodynamically mediated interactions between soft systems, such as those in biological and geophysical settings.
The effects of status differences, favoured treatment and equity on intergroup comparisons

Studied the effects of status and treatment differentials on in-group bias in an intergroup comparison experiment. The status differential conditions were formed by alleged differences in performance on a prior task between in and out-group. The treatment differential conditions were formed by experimenter's manipulation of a points differential between the in and out-groups. One hundred and fourteen undergraduates were each assigned to one of nine conditions in a 3 × 3 design of high equal low status and favour no favour disfavour. Results indicate a significant status effect (p < 0.01), with in-group bias increasing with status, and a significant favour effect (p < 0.01), with in-group bias decreasing with favour. There is no significant interaction (F < 1). Particular conjunctions of status and treatment represented three conditions oft equity, inequitable advantage, inequitable disadvantage. Contrary to predictions from equity theory, but in accord with predictions from social comparison theory, results indicate in-group bias in all three conditions.
Rib fractures in 31 abused infants: postmortem radiologic-histopathologic study.

PURPOSE To examine the morphologic alterations of fractures of the lateral and anterior rib arcs and costochondral junction (CCJ) to better understand the factors that influence radiographic visualization and to gain insight into the mechanism of injury in rib fractures of abused infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-one infants (average age, 3 months) who died with inflicted skeletal injuries were studied with high-detail, pre- or postmortem skeletal surveys, or both, and radiography of specimens, with histologic analysis. The distribution and number of fractures were determined for each technique, and dating was performed on the basis of radiographic and histologic criteria. The radiologic features were correlated with the pathologic findings in comparable histologic sections. RESULTS Of 165 fractures, 84 (51%) involved the ribs. Only 30 rib fractures (36%) were visible with skeletal survey examination. Lateral and anterior arc fractures tended to impact along the inner cortex of the rib. CCJ fractures tended to involve the inner aspect of the osteochondral interface with an associated osseous fragment. CONCLUSION Acute and healing rib fractures are common in infants who died with inflicted injury; detection is technique-dependent. Use of high-detail skeletal radiography to identify these injuries in live and deceased infants appears justified.
Youthful ‘fictions’, creative ‘journeys’ and potential strategies of resistance

The findings for this article emerge from data collected in June 2010, during a weeklong annual workshop with three groups of 14-year-olds. Working with a central London Academy school, the project as a whole asked teenagers to ‘map’ their journeys through their local environment, using a range of media from static cameras to audio recorders to mobile phones and flip cameras. It asked the teenagers to reflect on those journeys through group and individual interviews and through the editing process of converting their recordings into a mini-documentary of their area. In the course of a week, each group filmed, recorded, edited and produced a ‘documentary’, which was then showcased to their peers. At the end of each day, the audio-visual data was uploaded to group laptops and saved, along with the interviews. Our reflections and comments were also recorded and transcribed, along with our images and recordings of the processes during the day. The initial premise for the project was to move beyond conceptions of the so-called ‘digital native’ and conceptions of young people per se, and investigate the more nuanced engagements with media and with local environments. Our findings raise pertinent questions around understanding, conceptualizing, and working with young people. They also suggest, contrary to discourse of the so-called ‘digital-native’ (see Bennett et al., 2008, for discussions of the concept, and Thornham and McFarlane, 2011: 258–79), that when teenagers are given innovative and novel media, they rarely use such media in intended ways. Indeed, as Lievrouw and Livingstone argue, although new media may be:
The scholarliness of published peer reviews: a bibliometric study of book reviews in selected social science fields

Book reviews serve a number of important functions in various academic settings, necessitating a high level of scholarship. A scholarly book review describes and characterizes not only the book in question, but also the topic with which it is dealing. It examines whether the book under review provides new knowledge to the field, and how it relates to established theories. Scholarly book reviews consequently reflect their scholarly qualifications by containing appropriate discussions of related literature. The paper proposes a bibliometric technique for determining the scholarliness of book reviews. The proposed technique rests on central insights gained from related research on scholarly communication, strategic research materials, and genre analysis. Inclusion of bibliographic references is revealed to be a key indicator of scholarship and is therefore implemented as the decisive factor in the following case study of book reviews in six selected social science fields. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.
Extracting attribute-value pairs from product specifications on the web

Comparison shopping portals integrate product offers from large numbers of e-shops in order to support consumers in their buying decisions. Product offers often consist of a title and a free-text product description, both describing product attributes that are considered relevant by the specific vendor. In addition, product offers might contain structured or semi-structured product specifications in the form of HTML tables and HTML lists. As product specifications often cover more product attributes than free-text descriptions, being able to extract attribute-value pairs from these specifications is a critical prerequisite for achieving good results in tasks such as product matching, product categorisation, faceted product search, and product recommendation. In this paper, we present an approach for extracting attribute-value pairs from product specifications on the Web. We use supervised learning to classify the HTML tables and HTML lists within a web page as product specification or not. In order to extract attribute-value pairs from the HTML fragments identified by the specification detector, we again use supervised learning to classify columns as attribute column or value column. Compared to DEXTER, the current state-of-the-art approach for extracting attribute-value pairs from product specifications, we introduce several new features for specification detection and support the extraction of attribute-value pairs from specifications having more than two columns. This allows us to improve the F-score up to 10% for extracting attribute-value pairs from tables and up to 3% for lists. In addition, we report the results of using duplicate-based schema matching to align the product attribute schemata of 32 different e-shops. This experiment confirms the suitability of duplicate-based schema matching for product data integration.
APPLYING THE BIO-ECOLOGICAL MODEL OF INTELLIGENCE TO THE WECHSLER SCALES IN THE BAHAMAS

This paper contains information about theory and application of the bio-ecological model of intelligence by Sharon Gopaul-McNicol. The validity, reliability, and normative samples of the Wechsler scales for children will be described. Examples of how this model is applied to the Wechsler scales will be demonstrated. Emphasis will be placed on children of varying cultures living in The Bahamas. Twenty-nine Bahamian children completed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III) in The Bahamas using the bio-ecological model of intelligence. This small sample revealed that once this model was utilized the Bahamian children improved their intelligence quotient (IQ).
Fuzzy vault for fingerprint template security with error correcting codes

The main concern associated with biometric structures which are stored in a database is the security of the template storage system. A new technique which assembles the encryption key and biometric sample using a cryptographic means is the fuzzy vault. Most of the existing algorithms needs query fingerprint image used during vault decoding to be aligned with the enrolment fingerprint image used in vault encoding, which is a challenging and time consuming mission which in flip impacts the performance of analytical parameters of the system. In this paper, a Euclidean distance based method is used to construct the fuzzy vault, which is unbiased of alignment and translation of fingerprint images. Further, an error correcting code is applied to search for the proper key which is binded during the encoding. The memory requirement and recognition rate of the system with and without fuzzy vault are compared and also the system performance is compared with the aid of varying the complexity in the range of chaff points.
D38 is an essential part of the proton translocation pathway in bacteriorhodopsin.

At present, almost no knowledge exists about the functional relevance of the amino acid residues at the cytoplasmic (CP) surface of the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (BR) although a prerequisite for efficient vectorial proton translocation is the efficient capture of protons from the alkaline cytoplasm of the cell. To identify residues involved in the proton transfer reaction steps in the CP part of BR, the aspartic and glutamic amino acids D36, D38, D102, D104, and E161 were replaced by cysteine and arginine (i.e., a negatively charged residue by a neutral or positive one at the pH of investigation). The effect of these replacements on the photo- and transport cycle was examined by time-resolved visible and infrared spectroscopy, biochemical modification studies, and activity assays in intact cells. Of the five CP amino acids studied, only the replacement of D38 resulted in severe alterations of the reaction steps in BR during the second half of the photocycle. Our data show that D38, which seemed to be a freely accessible CP surface residue lacking functional importance, is an essential part of the CP proton uptake pathway connecting the membrane surface with the Schiff base of BR, probably as the first amino acid residue at the CP entrance. D38 influences the late steps in the functional cycle, such as the occurrence of the intermediates N and O, the modulation of the hydrogen-network, the conformational changes in the protein moiety, and the deprotonation/reprotonation of D96. Opposed to this function, the surface-exposed amino acids D36, D102, D104, and E161 seem to efficiently collect protons from the aqueous bulk phase and funnel them to the entrance of the CP proton pathway.
E-Learning Systems Adoption across Cultures: A Comparison Study

By incorporating intrinsic motivator into the Technology Acceptance Model, this study attempts to explain students' behavioral intention in using the E-learning system from a motivational perspective. In addition, we empirically compared the E-learning system adoption and usage behavior between Chinese students and Canadian students. The results show that both perceived usefulness and enjoyment have significant impact on students' intention to use the system in two groups. However, in contrast to Chinese subjects, Canadian subjects do not think ease of use has impact on their intention to use it. The academic and practical implications of the study are discussed.
Invasive and Noninvasive Methods for the Diagnosis of Endometriosis

Endometriosis has been associated with pain and infertility. The gold standard for the diagnosis of endometriosis has been visual inspection by laparoscopy, preferably with histologic confirmation. Because there is no good noninvasive test for endometriosis, there is often a significant delay in diagnosis of this disease. Imaging that confirms an endometriotic cyst or deep infiltrating endometriosis may help guide surgical therapeutic approaches. No serum marker has been found to diagnose endometriosis with adequate sensitivity and specificity. There has been a recent focus on the presence of nerve fibers in the eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis.