Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing EFL learners’ speaking skills through dynamic assessment: A case of a beginner and an advanced learner

Abstract Dynamic assessment (DA), having its theoretical base in Vygotskyan Sociocultural theory of mind, is a newly developed classroom assessment through which learners are helped to perform beyond their current ability. Drawing upon the theoretical aspect of DA, the present study explored the impact of DA on the development of speaking skills. To this end, a beginner and an advanced English language learner were recruited for the present study. To collect the data, the participants narrated a set of picture stories during which they received mediation based on their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Microgenetic and thematic analysis as a data analysis framework was employed to identify any possible changes in the participants’ cognition development. Moreover, the participants’ private speech was considered as an index of their movement toward self-regulation. The findings revealed a significant development in the participants’ cognition and their movement toward further self-regulation. Furthermore, the results of thematic analysis of unstructured interviews showed their satisfaction with DA. The findings of the study call for teachers’ and materials developers’ attention to learners’ individualized needs which require tailored mediation to help them move forward toward further self-regulation.
An alternative mechanism for the formation of specialized protein nano-domains ( cluster phases ) in biomembranes

We propose a realistic mechanism accounting for the existence of sub-micrometric protein domains in cell membranes. At the biological level, such membrane domains have been demonstrated to be specialized, in that sense that they congregate one or a few protein species amongst the hundreds of different species that a cell membrane may contain, in order to perform a determined biological task. By analyzing the balance between mixing entropy and protein affinities, we elucidate by statistical mechanics arguments how such protein sorting in distinct domains can be explained without appealing to pre-existing lipidic micro-phase separations, as in the lipid raft scenario. At equilibrium, it is preferable to co-localize certain proteins because the ensuing energetic gain is larger than the concomitant entropic cost. This alternative mechanism is discussed to be compatible with known physical interactions between membrane proteins. Classification: PHYSICAL SCIENCES & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biophysics and computational biology.
Culture and Well-Being: The Cycle of Action, Evaluation, and Decision

Two studies were conducted to examine how European and Asian Americans experience and remember their task performance, make a decision about a future task, and how that decision affects enjoyment of the task. In Study 1, although Asians solved as many anagrams as European Americans, Asians remembered solving fewer than did European Americans at Time 2. European Americans' Time 2 choice of task was predicted from Time 1 performance, but Asians' Time 2 choice was not. In Study 2, European Americans chose the same task if they had previously done well and a different task if they had not. Their actual enjoyment of the Time 2 task, furthermore, was significantly higher than at Time 1. In contrast, there was no change in actual enjoyment of the task at Time 2 among Asians because their choice was not based on their performance at Time 1.
Expanding ‘Appropriate’ Police Behavior Beyond Procedural Justice: Bounded Authority and Legal Legitimation

This paper expands previous conceptualizations of appropriate police behavior beyond procedural justice. The focus of the current study is on the notion of bounded authority – i.e. respecting the limits of one’s power. Work on legal socialization shows how citizens come to acquire three dimensions of values that determine how authorities ought to behave: (a) neutral, consistent and transparent decision-making; (b) interpersonal treatment that conveys respect, dignity and concern; and (c) respect for the limits of rightful authority. Using survey data from a nationally representative sample of US adults, we show that concerns over bounded authority, respectful treatment, and neutral decision-making combine to form a strong predictor of police and legal legitimacy. Legal legitimacy is also associated with greater compliance behavior, controlling for personal morality and perceived likelihood of sanctions. Our conclusions address some future directions of research, particularly in the extension of procedural justice theory.
Long-Term Outcome of an HIV-Treatment Programme in Rural Africa: Viral Suppression despite Early Mortality

Objective. To define the long-term (2–4 years) clinical and virological outcome of an antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme in rural South Africa. Methods. We performed a retrospective observational cohort study, including 735 patients who initiated ART. Biannual monitoring, including HIV-RNA testing, was performed. Primary endpoint was patient retention; virological suppression (HIV-RNA < 50 copies/mL) and failure (HIV-RNA > 1000 copies/mL) were secondary endpoints. Moreover, possible predictors of treatment failure were analyzed. Results. 63% of patients (466/735) have a fully suppressed HIV-RNA, a median of three years after treatment initiation. Early mortality was high: 14% died within 3 months after treatment start. 16% of patients experienced virological failure, but only 4% was switched to second-line ART. Male gender and a low performance score were associated with treatment failure; immunological failure was a poor predictor of virological failure. Conclusions. An “all or nothing” phenomenon was observed in this rural South African ART programme: high early attrition, but good virological control in those remaining in care. Continued efforts are needed to enrol patients earlier. Furthermore, the observed viro-immunological dissociation emphasises the need to make HIV-RNA testing more widely available.
Disempowered by the media: causes and consequences of the lack of media voice of Roma communities

ABSTRACT Roma communities have experienced widespread historical exclusion in most European countries. The media can be a powerful instrument of a group’s inclusion into the mental map of a society, or, on the contrary, it can contribute to the group’s exclusion and disempowerment. This article builds on a series of content and discursive analyses of the news media’s coverage of Hungarian Roma communities since 1993, interviews with stakeholders and focus group discussions in Roma communities. It scrutinises media reporting about Roma and argues that, in general, the scope and the agenda of Roma’s portrayal coincide with mainstream society’s stereotypes about the group. The article will additionally look at the media’s disempowering role from two perspectives: on the one hand, the extent to which Roma have access to influencing media content, and on the other hand, it will consider the role of minority communities in challenging stereotypical images.
Can Engaged and Positive Employees Delight Customers?

The Problem Although there have been a plethora of studies on the determinants of customer delight in marketing literature, less attention has been given to understand the role of employees’ work engagement and psychological capital (PsyCap) in satisfying and delighting customers. The objective of the present study is threefold—the first is to examine how engaged employees are positive and efficacious; the second is to investigate how engaged, positive, and efficacious employees delight patients specifically in the health care sector; and the third is to examine how the relationship between employees’ positive PsyCap and customer delight is mediated by beneficiary contact, which is the perception of employees about the meaningful impact of their efforts on their patients. The Solution Previous studies have shown that employees who are absorbed, dedicated, and immersed in their work are more confident and positive at their workplace. Engaged, positive, and confident employees not only keep themselves but also their customers happy and positive through their optimistic outlook and efficacious work behavior. Responses are collected from 200 employees and their 200 patients from different hospitals of India. Hierarchical regression analysis shows a significant and positive relationship between work engagement, PsyCap, and customer delight. Work engagement is found to predict PsyCap and customer delight. Beneficiary contact is found to mediate between the relationship of PsyCap and customer delight. The originality of the article lies in its interdisciplinary approach to understand how engaged and dedicated employees keep themselves and their patients positive and delighted. The Stakeholders This study is of relevance to human resource development (HRD) professionals, customer relationship managers of the health care sector, and also academicians belonging to the disciplines of marketing and human resource management. The findings of this study would help them understand how engaged employees lead to employees’ positive PsyCap and customer delight. Furthermore, they will also understand the vital role of the interface between employees and customers, as beneficiary contact mediates the relationship of employees’ PsyCap and customer delight.
Failure to Preserve β-Cell Function With Mycophenolate Mofetil and Daclizumab Combined Therapy in Patients With New- Onset Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE This trial tested whether mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) alone or with daclizumab (DZB) could arrest the loss of insulin-producing β-cells in subjects with new-onset type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked trial was initiated by Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet at 13 sites in North America and Europe. Subjects diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and with sufficient C-peptide within 3 months of diagnosis were randomized to either MMF alone, MMF plus DZB, or placebo, and then followed for 2 years. The primary outcome was the geometric mean area under the curve (AUC) C-peptide from the 2-h mixed meal tolerance test. RESULTS One hundred and twenty-six subjects were randomized and treated during the trial. The geometric mean C-peptide AUC at 2 years was unaffected by MMF alone or MMF plus DZB versus placebo. Adverse events were more frequent in the active therapy groups relative to the control group, but not significantly. CONCLUSIONS Neither MMF alone nor MMF in combination with DZB had an effect on the loss of C-peptide in subjects with new-onset type 1 diabetes. Higher doses or more targeted immunotherapies may be needed to affect the autoimmune process.
CFD validation for hypersonic flight: Real gas flows

Abstract : The aerodynamics of future hypersonic air-breathing vehicles will be greatly affected by high-enthalpy or "real gas" effects. It is the purpose of a recent NATO Research and Technology Organization study to assess the readiness of computational fluid dynamics to simulate high-enthalpy flows. This paper summarizes the results of this effort through the discussion of four test cases: a transverse cylinder, shock-shock interactions, blunt double-cones, and a large blunt cone-flare. The contributed CFD results are capable of capturing the main features of these flows, but quantitative comparisons are probably not sufficiently accurate for vehicle design. The study also shows that there are too few reliable high-enthalpy datasets to validate CFD codes.
Managers’ Assessments of Employees’ Organizational Career Growth Opportunities: The Role of Extra-Role Performance, Work Engagement, and Perceived Organizational Commitment

This study examined the role of perceived organizational commitment on managers’ assessments of employees’ career growth opportunities. Based on a paired sample of 161 legal secretaries and their managers, results indicated that managers used the attitudes and behaviors displayed by employees (strong extra-role performance and enhanced work engagement) as cues from which to base their perceptions of employees’ affective commitment to the organization. In turn, employees perceived as highly committed to the organization experienced enhanced content and structural career growth opportunities. Moreover, the relation between managers’ perceptions of employees’ organizational commitment and content career growth opportunities was stronger for employees perceived as also highly committed to their careers than for employees perceived as less committed to their careers.
Mars Express HRSC Data Processing - Methods and Operational Aspects

Automated procedures for ground processing of Mars Express HRSC data have been developed and are applied systematically immediately after download in order to provide calibrated data sets as well as photogrammetric image and 3D data products within a short time frame. Multi-spectral orthoimages in scales of 10 - 50 m/pixel and digital terrain models of 200 m raster width are generated within days even for large orbits covering areas of several hundred thousand square kilometers. An even higher image resolution of up to 2.3 m/pixel provided by HRSC's Super Resolution Channel (SRC) extends the potential of the HRSC camera experiment.
Effect of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk on skin and intestinal conditions in healthy young female students

Although persistent constipation is considered to be associated with skin problems, the supporting evidence is limited. Hence, this study investigated the effects of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk on skin and intestinal conditions in an open-label trial. Among the 101 Japanese healthy young female students that participated, the 81 subjects in the intake group consumed a bottle of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk containing Bifidobacterium breve strain Yakult and galactooligosaccharides daily for 4 weeks after a pre-intake period of 4 weeks, while the 20 subjects in the non-intake group did not consume the test beverage. Defecation patterns, skin conditions including hydration levels in the stratum corneum, and urinary phenol and p-cresol levels were evaluated before (baseline) and after intake. All subjects completed the study. No differences in dietary intake and body mass index were observed between both groups during the trial. In the intake group, hydration levels of the stratum corneum, defecation frequency, and feces quantity significantly increased, and urinary phenol and p-cresol levels significantly decreased after intake compared with the corresponding baseline values. However, they did not significantly change in the non-intake group. A significant difference was observed between the intake group and non-intake group in regard to clearness of the skin as assessed by visual analogue scale. Therefore, consecutive intake of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk might have beneficial effects on the skin that prevent dryness and beneficial effects on the intestinal conditions that stimulate defecation and decrease phenol production by gut bacteria in healthy young women.
Striving for contribution: the five Cs and positive effects of cross-age peer mentoring

Abstract This article explores the relationship between cross-age peer mentoring and positive life outcomes as defined by the Five Cs: competence, character, confidence, connection, and compassion. Qualified high school juniors and seniors were randomly assigned groups of 4–5 freshmen to mentor through the challenges of transitioning to secondary school. Through a qualitative interview process, 12 former mentors discuss the benefits they have experienced in their lives as college students or productive members of the workforce, ranging from 1–4 years removed from the experience. All mentors found some value to the program as outlined by the Five Cs.
The price of an egg: oocyte donor compensation in the US fertility industry

Market-based health services have arisen out of major transformations in US healthcare in the last several decades. This study addresses pricing in the human egg donation market – an under-explored topic despite substantial scholarship on commodification and financial coercion of donors. Through analysis of primary data collected from 276 US fertility clinics and egg donation agencies, I assess what impacts average donor compensation and likelihood of compensation being more than $5000. Drawing on theories of organizational behavior, I test whether organizational characteristics, ecological factors, or regulatory pressure have the greatest impact on donor compensation amounts. I find that compensation is influenced primarily by ecological/market factors. Furthermore, industry self-regulation (measured by professional affiliation) did not deter clinics and agencies from having higher donor compensation levels, despite American Society for Reproduction Medicine recommendations. I conclude by addressing the broader implications of these findings for medical market dynamics and the problem of industry self-regulation.
AVERAGING THEOREM FOR QUASILINEAR HAMILTONIAN PDEs IN ARBITRARY SPACE DIMENSIONS

We study the dynamics of quasilinear Hamiltonian wave equations with Dirichlet boundary conditions in an n–dimensional parallepided. We prove an averaging theorem according to which the solution corresponding to an arbitrary small amplitude smooth initial datum remains arbitrarily close to a finite dimensional torus up to very long times. We expect the result to be valid for a very general class of quasilinear Hamiltonian equations.
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Genetic Diversity Analysis of Genotype 2 Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Viruses Emerging in Recent Years in China

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is characterized by its extensive genetic diversity. Here we analyzed 101 sequences of NSP2 hypervariable region, 123 ORF3 sequences, and 118 ORF5 sequences from 128 PRRSV-positive clinical samples collected in different areas of China during 2008–early 2012. The results indicated that the amino acid identities of the three genes among these sequences were 87.6%–100%, 92.5%–100%, and 77%–100%, respectively. Meanwhile, 4 novel patterns of deletion and insertion in NSP2 region or GP5 were first found. The phylogenetic analysis on these 3 genes revealed that the Chinese PRRSV strains could be divided into three subgroups; majority of genes analyzed here were clustered in subgroup 3 with multiple branches; the strains with 30-aa deletion in NSP2-coding region were still the dominant virus in the field. Further phylogenetic analysis on four obtained complete genomic sequences showed that they were clustered into different branches with the Chinese corresponding representative strains. Our analyses suggest that the genetic diversity of genotype 2 PRRSV in the field displays a tendency of increasing in recent years in China, and the 30-aa deletion in NSP2-coding region should be no longer defined as the molecular marker of the Chinese HP-PRRSV.
Latrunculin-A increases outflow facility in the monkey.

PURPOSE To determine the effect of Latrunculin (LAT)-A, a macrolide that binds to G-actin, which leads to the disassembly of actin filaments, on shape, junctions, and the cytoskeleton of cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) and on outflow facility in living monkeys. METHODS Latrunculin-A dose-time-response relationships in BAECs were determined by immunofluorescence and phase contrast light microscopy, facility by two-level constant pressure anterior chamber perfusion. RESULTS In BAECs, LAT-A caused dose- and incubation time- dependent destruction of actin bundles, cell separation, and cell loss. Cell-cell adhesions were more sensitive than focal contacts. Recovery was also dose- and time-dependent. In monkeys, exchange intracameral infusion and topical application of LAT-A induced dose- and time-dependent several-fold facility increases. The facility increase was completely reversed within several hours after drug removal. However, for at least 24 hours after a single topical LAT-A dose, perfusion with drug-free solution caused an accelerated increase in facility beyond that attributed to normal resistance washout. CONCLUSIONS Pharmacological disorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in the trabecular meshwork by specific actin inhibitors like LAT-A may be a useful antiglaucoma strategy.
Gas-rich galaxies and the H I mass function

We have developed an automated cross-correlation technique to detect 21cm emission in sample spectra obtained from the H i Parkes All Sky Survey. The initial sample selection was the nearest spectra to 2435 low-surface-brightness galaxies in the catalogue of Morshidi-Esslinger, Davies and Smith. The galaxies were originally selected to have properties similar to Fornax cluster dE galaxies. As dE galaxies are generally gas poor it is not surprising that there were only 26 secure detections. All of the detected galaxies have very high values of (MH/LB)⊙. Thus the H i selection of faint optical sources leads to the detection of predominately gas-rich galaxies. The gas-rich galaxies tend to reside on the outskirts of the large-scale structure delineated by optically-selected galaxies, but they do appear to be associated with it. These objects appear to have relative dark matter content similar to that of optically-selected galaxies. The H i-column densities are lower than the ‘critical density’ necessary for sustainable star formation and they appear, relatively, rather isolated from companion galaxies. These two factors may explain their high relative gas content. We have considered the H i mass function by looking at the distribution of velocities of H i detections in random spectra on the sky. The inferred H i mass function is steep, though confirmation of this result awaits a detailed study of the noise characteristics of the H i survey.