Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is Public Speaking Really More Feared Than Death?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the genesis of the 1973 R. H. Bruskin Associate's American Fears study appearing in the London Sunday Times and often reported in communication textbooks as “people fear public speaking more than death,” and to replicate the study among college students who read the textbooks. Participants in a multi-section communication course (N = 815) completed the survey during the first week of class by selecting their fears from a list of fears, ranking their top fears, and completing the 6 public speaking context items of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension–24 items. This study found that public speaking was selected more often as a common fear than any other fear, including death. However, when students were asked to select a top fear, students selected death most often. These findings help authors and instructors aptly quote the 1973 Bruskin Associate's findings, which were confirmed by this study.
‘When you see a normal person …’: social class and friendship networks among teenage students

This paper draws on social capital theory to discuss the way social class plays out in the friendships of teenage students. Based on data from individual interviews and focus groups with 75 students in four London secondary schools, it is suggested that students tend to form friendships with people who belong to the same social-class background as them. Social-class ‘sameness’ is considered to be an element that importantly exemplifies the quality of their friendships, and hence close, inter-class friendships were significantly less common than close, intra-class ones. In addition, class differentials were evident and often reproduced by students, even in the context of the rarer inter-class friendships. This paper concludes that social class is of continuous importance in teenagers’ lives and despite some agentic negotiation of class boundaries, as in the case of omnivorousness, students’ friendship networks are dynamically informed by class inequalities.
Foreign Language Reading Anxiety in a Jordanian EFL Context: A Qualitative Study.

In the last two decades, investigating the sources of foreign language anxiety in general has increasingly attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of foreign language teaching. However, the sources of anxiety that influence the acquisition of certain specific language skills such as reading in particular have rarely been investigated. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore and understand the underlying problems and factors that contribute to reading anxiety faced by EFL students at Yarmouk University, Jordan. It was a qualitative exploration of the sources of English language reading anxiety for which observation, semi-structured interviews and diaries were collected from six informants with different levels of English language proficiency. The findings of the study revealed that there were two aspects of foreign language reading anxiety: personal factor and text feature. Under the concept of personal factor there were also two main sources of foreign language reading anxiety, which are: afraid of making errors and worry about reading effects. On the other hand, there were three main sources of foreign language reading anxiety under the concept of text feature, which are: unknown vocabulary, unfamiliar topic, and unfamiliar culture. The five main sources of foreign language reading anxiety were arranged according to their occurrences and percentages in the study. Moreover, recommendations were proposed.
Tree-Bank Grammars

By a "tree-bank grammar" we mean a context-free grammar created by reading the production rules directly from hand-parsed sentences in a tree bank. Common wisdom has it that such grammars do not perform we & though we know of no published data on the issue. The primary purpose of this paper is to show that the common wisdom is wrong. In particular, we present results on a tree-bank grammar based on the Penn WaII Street Journal tree bank. To the best of our knowledge, this grammar outperforms ah other non-word-based statistical parsers/grammars on this corpus. That is, it outperforms parsers that consider the input as a string of tags and ignore the actual words of the corpus.
Altered connectivity of the dorsal and ventral visual regions in dyslexic children: a resting-state fMRI study

While there is emerging evidence from behavioral studies that visual attention skills are impaired in dyslexia, the corresponding neural mechanism (i.e., deficits in the dorsal visual region) needs further investigation. We used resting-state fMRI to explore the functional connectivity (FC) patterns of the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the visual word form area (VWFA) in dyslexic children (N = 21, age mean = 12) and age-matched controls (N = 26, age mean = 12). The results showed that the left IPS and the VWFA were functionally connected to each other in both groups and that both were functionally connected to left middle frontal gyrus (MFG). Importantly, we observed significant group differences in FC between the left IPS and the left MFG and between the VWFA and the left MFG. In addition, the strengths of the identified FCs were significantly correlated with the score of fluent reading, which required obvious eye movement and visual attention processing, but not with the lexical decision score. We conclude that dyslexics have deficits in the network composed of the prefrontal, dorsal visual and ventral visual regions and may have a lack of modulation from the left MFG to the dorsal and ventral visual regions.
Context of teaching and learning school science in Finland: Reflections on PISA 2006 results

Finnish students' opinions about the frequency of learning activities and communication in the Finnish science classroom, their interest in science and science studies and careers, their sense of self-efficacy, and their beliefs about their own competence as well as their performance in science are analyzed based on PISA 2006 Scientific Literacy Assessment data. Students' success on PISA is explained by these context variables and by the national education policy in Finland. The regression analysis revealed that positive student level predictors for PISA science performance were science-related self-efficacy and self-concept, interest in physics and chemistry, and a view of the usefulness of science studies in preparing students for future jobs in science. From the point of view of science teaching, one of the most robust predictors of the high results in Finland were frequent use of teacher demonstrations, practical work in the classroom, and the possibility for students to draw conclusions. Knowledge based society, educational equality, and devolution of decision power at the local level, and teacher education are named as most important educational policy issues behind students' high performance in PISA 2006 science. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 922–944, 2009
Childhood adiposity, adult adiposity, and cardiovascular risk factors.

BACKGROUND Obesity in childhood is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. It is uncertain whether this risk is attenuated in persons who are overweight or obese as children but not obese as adults. METHODS We analyzed data from four prospective cohort studies that measured childhood and adult body-mass index (BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters). The mean length of follow-up was 23 years. To define high adiposity status, international age-specific and sex-specific BMI cutoff points for overweight and obesity were used for children, and a BMI cutoff point of 30 was used for adults. RESULTS Data were available for 6328 subjects. Subjects with consistently high adiposity status from childhood to adulthood, as compared with persons who had a normal BMI as children and were nonobese as adults, had an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (relative risk, 5.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4 to 8.5), hypertension (relative risk, 2.7; 95% CI, 2.2 to 3.3), elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (relative risk, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4 to 2.3), reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (relative risk, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.8 to 2.5), elevated triglyceride levels (relative risk, 3.0; 95% CI, 2.4 to 3.8), and carotid-artery atherosclerosis (increased intima-media thickness of the carotid artery) (relative risk, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.4 to 2.2) (P ≤ 0.002 for all comparisons). Persons who were overweight or obese during childhood but were nonobese as adults had risks of the outcomes that were similar to those of persons who had a normal BMI consistently from childhood to adulthood (P>0.20 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS Overweight or obese children who were obese as adults had increased risks of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and carotid-artery atherosclerosis. The risks of these outcomes among overweight or obese children who became nonobese by adulthood were similar to those among persons who were never obese. (Funded by the Academy of Finland and others.).
Non-coding nucleotides and amino acids near the active site regulate peptide deformylase expression and inhibitor susceptibility in Chlamydia trachomatis

Chlamydia trachomatis, an obligate intracellular bacterium, is a highly prevalent human pathogen. Hydroxamic-acid-based matrix metalloprotease inhibitors can effectively inhibit the pathogen both in vitro and in vivo, and have exhibited therapeutic potential. Here, we provide genome sequencing data indicating that peptide deformylase (PDF) is the sole target of the inhibitors in this organism. We further report molecular mechanisms that control chlamydial PDF (cPDF) expression and inhibition efficiency. In particular, we identify the σ66-dependent promoter that controls cPDF gene expression and demonstrate that point mutations in this promoter lead to resistance by increasing cPDF transcription. Furthermore, we show that substitution of two amino acids near the active site of the enzyme alters enzyme kinetics and protein stability.
Olfactory Discrimination in Adult Male Rats Undernourished during the Pre- and Neonatal Period

In the neonatal rat, the olfactory system is a fundamental channel to locate and recognize the mother, to survive and develop early social behavior, and to distinguish related or unrelated members of a litter. Perinatal undernutrition in rats alters the neuronal organization and functioning of the olfactory system and its ascending relays, possibly affecting odor discrimination. In this study we compared the frequency and time spent visiting the source of urine obtained from unrelated female subjects and amyl acetate odors vs water in adult perinatally underfed rats. Each test initiated with one daily presentation during three consecutive aliquots of deionized water (10 μl) placed on a filter paper for 2 min, separated by 1-min intervals for habituation. The water presentations were followed by three exposures to an odor, all at the same dilution (either 1:1 or 1:80) for dishabituation. Control (C) and undernourished (U) subjects display similar, significant habituation/dishabituation responses, except that the U subjects showed greater increases in the frequency and duration of visits to undiluted and diluted urine and amyl acetate cues compared to the controls. These findings are similar to previous studies showing that adult rats investigate novel odors longer than the familiar ones. Thus, perinatal undernutrition appears to interfere with the foundation of the olfactory development causing long-term olfactory discrimination deficits as revealed by the increased frequency and duration of visits to the source of odors that may be relevant for social behavior.
Impactos da implantação das normas internacionais de contabilidade na controladoria: um estudo à luz da teoria da estruturação em uma empresa têxtil

Studies on controllership activities interrelated with other sciences, such as psychology and sociology, favor more holistic knowledge about this organizational area. This study aims to verify the impacts of the implementation of the International Accounting Standards in controllership in the light of the Structuration Theory. The assumption is that implementing international standards contributes to the production and reproduction of the social order of the organizational area of controllership. The Structuration Theory of Giddens (1979; 1996; 2003) supports this exploratory study, which relied on a qualitative approach and was conducted through the case study of a textile industry, analyzing the impacts of the implementation of the International Accounting Standards in controllership from 2008 to 2010. This period covers the implementation phase of CPCs in the company, issued by the Accounting Pronouncements Committee (CPC). Data collection was conducted through observation, desk research, interviews and a focus group. The analysis of the individual interviews and the focus group were conducted with the help of Atlas.ti software. The results showed that the implementation process of the International Accounting Standards impacted the organizational area of controllership, through new activities, discussions and changes in processes and controls, besides the interaction of the agents, through communication and capabilities, allowing the production and reproduction of this area. The conclusion was that the structure duality proposed by Giddens (1979; 1996; 2003) occurred in the company within the analyzed period, given that the structure had an impact on interaction and vice-versa.
Yet another MicroArchitectural Attack:: exploiting I-Cache

MicroArchitectural Attacks (MA), which can be considered as a special form of Side-Channel Analysis, exploit microarchitectural functionalities of processor implementations and can compromise the security of computational environments even in the presence of sophisticated protection mechanisms like virtualization and sandboxing. This newly evolving research area has attracted significant interest due to the broad application range and the potentials of these attacks. Cache Analysis and Branch Prediction Analysis were the only types of MA that had been known publicly. In this paper, we introduce Instruction Cache (I-Cache) as yet another source of MA and present our experimental results which clearly prove the practicality and danger of I-Cache Attacks.
Repression of the heat shock factor 1 transcriptional activation domain is modulated by constitutive phosphorylation

Heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) is constitutively expressed in mammalian cells and negatively regulated for DNA binding and transcriptional activity. Upon exposure to heat shock and other forms of chemical and physiological stress, these activities of HSF1 are rapidly induced. In this report, we demonstrate that constitutive phosphorylation of HSF1 at serine residues distal to the transcriptional activation domain functions to repress transactivation. Tryptic phosphopeptide analysis of a collection of chimeric GAL4-HSF1 deletion and point mutants identified a region of constitutive phosphorylation encompassing serine residues 303 and 307. The significance of phosphorylation at serines 303 and 307 in the regulation of HSF1 transcriptional activity was demonstrated by transient transfection and assay of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter construct. Whereas the transfected wild-type GAL4-HSF1 chimera is repressed for transcriptional activity and derepressed by heat shock, mutation of serines 303 and 307 to alanine results in derepression to a high level of constitutive activity. Similar results were obtained with mutation of these serine residues in the context of full-length HSF1. These data reveal that constitutive phosphorylation of serines 303 and 307 has an important role in the negative regulation of HSF1 transcriptional activity at control temperatures.
Explaining Victim Self-Protective Behavior Effects on Crime Incident Outcomes

Prior research on victim self-protective behavior (VSPB) has largely been void of a theoretical basis. Accordingly, it remains unclear why it would be expected that victim actions might mitigate crime incident outcomes or under which circumstances such actions might be most successful. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey for periods 1992 to 2004, this study uses a nested logistic regression analysis to test the predictive utility of opportunity theory in explaining outcomes of VSPB during incidents of robbery and rape. The results suggest that opportunity theory provides a useful framework for understanding the effect of victim resistance on crime outcomes. Greater levels of victim resistance increase the effort needed by offenders, resulting in some cases in a 93% and 92% decrease in the odds of a robbery and rape being completed, respectively, compared to when no resistance is used. Implications for crime prevention practice are discussed.
Fault-Tolerant Optimal Tip-Speed-Ratio Tracking Control of Wind Turbines Subject to Actuation Failures

In this paper, a maximum-power-point-tracking controller for variable-speed wind turbines (VSWTs) is developed, which is shown to be able to account for modeling uncertainties, unexpected disturbances, subsystem failures, and actuation saturation simultaneously. A novel memory-based approach is used to predict wind speed that is used to generate desired rotor speed accordingly. It is shown that the proposed algorithm not only is robust against nonlinear aerodynamics and adaptive to unknown and time-varying inertia/damp/stiffness properties of VSWTs but also is able to accommodate actuator failures under torque constraints. The benefits of the proposed control method are analytically authenticated and demonstrated with Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence code and Simulink.
The importance of religiosity and values in predicting political attitudes: Evidence for the continuing importance of religiosity in Flanders (Belgium)

It has often been argued that religions influence political attitudes only indirectly by their influence on the value system of believers. This value system, in turn, is supposed to be used as a guideline in forming political attitudes. Thus, in this view, it should be sufficient to focus on value orientations if one wants to examine religion's influence on political attitudes. However, results of this study among first year psychology students (n=389), show that although value orientations hold greater predictive strength than religiosity towards political attitudes in Flanders (Belgium), religiosity, even apart from values, does provide additional information in predicting political attitudes. Thus, our results suggest that, at least in Flanders, religion, even apart from values, is still a politically important force. The most important value types, as measured by the Schwartz' Value Inventory (Schwartz, 1992), and religiosity dimensions, as measured by the Post-Critical Belief scale (Desimpelaere et al., 1999), associated with political attitudes were identified. Results show that each political attitude included in this study (economic conservatism, cultural conservatism, racism and nationalism) is predicted by a more or less unique pattern of religiosity dimensions and value orientations.
The Uphill Struggle: Services for Deaf and hard of hearing people - issues of equality, participation and access

This article focuses upon the ways in which Deaf and hard of hearing people are excluded from participation in society. In particular, the focus is upon the ordinary expectations that members of society have in terms of participating as citizens and performing socially sanctioned, adult roles. The roles of 'citizen', 'employee', 'parent' and 'patient' are discussed. The data illustrate how the organisation and delivery of services can undermine, rather than facilitate, the performance of these roles. Despite policy emphasis on social inclusion, current services and legislation fail to provide a firm basis for the full participation of Deaf and hard of hearing people in British society.
The resource-based view of the firm: Ten years after 1991

At present, the resource-based view of the firm is perhaps the most influential framework for understanding strategic management. In this editor’s introduction, we briefly describe the contributions to knowledge provided by the commentaries and articles contained in this issue. In addition, we outline some additional areas of research wherein the resource-based view can be gainfully deployed.
Research Trends in Science Education from 2008 to 2012: A systematic content analysis of publications in selected journals

This paper presents the third study of research trends in science education. In this review, a total of 990 papers published in the International Journal of Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Science Education from 2008 to 2012 were analyzed. The results indicate that in the recent five years (2008–2012), the top three research topics in the published papers were those regarding the context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning. The changes in the most popular research topics in the past 15 years also evidentially indicate shifts in the journals' preferences and researchers' interest. For example, in 2003–2007, context of students' learning replaced students' conceptual learning, which was the most published research topic from 1998 to 2002. The research topic of students' learning contexts continued to rank the first in 2008–2012. Moreover, there was an increasing trend of research papers regarding science teaching from 1998 to 2012. The analysis of highly cited papers revealed that research topics such as argumentation, inquiry-based learning, and scientific modeling were recently highlighted by science educators. In recent 15 years, productive researchers' publications also focused on the topics about context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning.
Mean-Shift and Sparse Sampling-Based SMC-PHD Filtering for Audio Informed Visual Speaker Tracking

The probability hypothesis density (PHD) filter based on sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) approximation (also known as SMC-PHD filter) has proven to be a promising algorithm for multispeaker tracking. However, it has a heavy computational cost as surviving, spawned, and born particles need to be distributed in each frame to model the state of the speakers and to estimate jointly the variable number of speakers with their states. In particular, the computational cost is mostly caused by the born particles as they need to be propagated over the entire image in every frame to detect the new speaker presence in the view of the visual tracker. In this paper, we propose to use the audio data to improve the visual SMC-PHD (V-SMC-PHD) filter by using the direction of arrival angles of the audio sources to determine when to propagate the born particles and reallocate the surviving and spawned particles. The tracking accuracy of the audio-visual SMC-PHD (AV-SMC-PHD) algorithm is further improved by using a modified mean-shift algorithm to search and climb density gradients iteratively to find the peak of the probability distribution, and the extra computational complexity introduced by mean-shift is controlled with a sparse sampling technique. These improved algorithms, named as AVMS-SMC-PHD and sparse-AVMS-SMC-PHD, respectively, are compared systematically with AV-SMC-PHD and V-SMC-PHD based on the AV16.3, AMI, and CLEAR datasets.