Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MOOC Educators: Who They Are And How They Learn

This study set out to answer the following research questions: who teaches in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and how do these different educators learn to teach? To do this, it utilised Tynjala’s theoretical model of Integrative Pedagogy that brings together different elements of professional expertise. To this end, a ‘multiple case study’ was conducted, with a focus on teaching activities and who is involved in them, as well as on educators’ ‘processes of knowledge building’, and the forms of knowledge they integrate. The data comprised 28 interviews with professionals with teaching responsibilities in seven MOOCs on the subject of History and of Politics on the FutureLearn platform. The seven cases were analysed using different strategies (theoretical propositions, ground-up data, and rival explanations). The analysis showed that the role of ‘educator’ is filled not only by those with the titles used by the FutureLearn platform, but also by other professionals who take pedagogical decisions. MOOC teaching activities are diverse, different from face-to-face teaching and it is difficult for them to be carried out by a single individual. Educators in different courses and different universities used diverse models of work practice, each of which had advantages and disadvantages. MOOC educators learned to teach effectively when they had a shared goal, worked in transparent ways and involved interdisciplinary teams in a timely manner. These findings can help institutions and platforms to design better Continuing Professional Development programmes and, ultimately, more effective MOOC learning journeys. Drawing on this evidence, the original contribution to knowledge of this thesis is a new conceptualisation of who the educators of MOOCs are, developed by uncovering the roles of professionals who carry out teaching on these courses, the wide variety of teaching activities involved and the ways people learn to work towards these.
Impact of Job Enlargement on Employees' Job Satisfaction, Motivation and Organizational Commitment: Evidence from Public Sector of Pakistan

In this world of globalization, organizational are competing globally. Resource utilization has increased and their supply is limited. All this along with other universal factors is contributing towards increase in cost of production. To remain competitive organizations are trying to control their cost. Means include stoppage of new hiring that ultimately putting existing employee under additional work to catch organizational growth. Expansion of same level work is also known as job enlargement. The purpose of the present study is to understand the degree of job enlargement in public sector of Pakistan and its impact on employees work related attitudes and behavior. A sample of 650 employees from two government organizations was selected out of which 534 responded. Questionnaire was used as survey instrument to collect data personally at the locations of the organizations. Descriptive statistics and Correlation analysis were performed to test the relationships on the data by using SPSS. In general the findings revealed that government organizations of Pakistan are using job enlargement practices that are negatively associated with motivation, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The results of the study and future implications are discussed along with suggestions.
Primal-dual algorithms for non-negative matrix factorization with the Kullback-Leibler divergence

Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) approximates a given matrix as a product of two non-negative matrix factors. Multiplicative algorithms deliver reliable results, but they show slow convergence for high-dimensional data and may be stuck away from local minima. Gradient descent methods have better behavior, but only apply to smooth losses. For non-smooth losses such as the Kullback-Leibler (KL) loss, surprisingly, these methods are lacking. In this paper, we propose a first-order primal-dual algorithm for non-negative decomposition problems (one of the two factors is fixed) with the KL distance. All required computations may be obtained in closed form and we provide an efficient heuristic way to select step-sizes. By using alternating optimization, our algorithm readily extends to NMF and, on synthetic or real world data, it is either faster than existing algorithms, or leads to improved local optima, or both.
Linking Tortilla Price Policies To Household Food Consumption And Child Nutritional Intake: Potential Outcomes Of Globalization In Rural Mexico

Globalization or the integration of economies and societies through trade, investment, finance, information, technology, and labor flows is an inescapable feature of the world today. Globalization has been affecting our lives at various levels, and understanding the pathways linking globalization to individual outcomes such as health and nutrition is crucial to formulating effective health and nutrition policies in future. In studying the effects of globalization on individuals and populations, however, different disciplines have used different approaches in definition, measurement, and conceptualization of outcomes of globalization. Thus, the agenda for empirical research especially of an interdisciplinary nature is yet to be clarified. With this background, the purpose of this paper is to review and examine the currently available evidence on potential pathways through which globalization can affect the nutritional status of households and individuals. Furthermore, after discussing the presently available conceptual frameworks linking globalization and nutrition, a conceptual model will be presented, calling for a better, more thorough development of a widely accepted framework. Finally, future challenges and implications for research and policy will be discussed.
Time-scale detection of microemboli in flowing blood with Doppler ultrasound

Small formed elements and gas bubbles in flowing blood, called microemboli, can be detected using Doppler ultrasound. In this application, a pulsed constant-frequency ultrasound signal insonates a volume of blood in the middle cerebral artery, and microemboli moving through its sample volume produce a Doppler-shifted transient reflection. Current detection methods include searching for these transients in a short-time Fourier transform (STFT) of the reflected signal. However, since the embolus transit time through the Doppler sample volume is inversely proportional to the embolus velocity (Doppler-shift frequency), a matched-filter detector should in principle use a wavelet transform, rather than a short-time Fourier transform, for optimal results. Closer examination of the Doppler shift signals usually shows a chirping behavior apparently due to acceleration or deceleration of the emboli during their transit through the Doppler sample volume. These variations imply that a linear wavelet detector is not optimal. We apply linear and quadratic time-frequency and time-scale detectors to a set of noise-corrupted embolus data. Our results show improvements of about 1 dB using the time-scale detectors versus an STFT-based detector signifying that embolus detection is best approached as a time-scale problem. A time-scale-chirp detector is also applied and is found to have the overall best performance by about 0.5-0.7 dB while coming fairly close (about 0.75 dB) to a theoretical upper bound.
Creating an Elliptic Curve arithmetic unit for use in elliptic curve cryptography

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is a very promising cryptographic method, offering the same security level as traditional public key cryptosystems (RSA, El Gamal) but with considerably smaller key lengths. To increase the performance of an EC Cryptosystem, dedicated hardware is employed for all EC point operations. However, the computational complexity and hardware resources of an Elliptic Curve processing unit are very high and depend on the efficient design of the Elliptic Curvepsilas underlined GF(2k) Field. In this paper, we propose an EC arithmetic unit that is structured over a high peformance, low gate number GF(2k) arithmetic unit. This proposed GF(2k) arithmetic unit is based on one dimensional systolic architecture that can perform GF(2k) multiplication and inversion with only the performance cost of inversion. This is achieved by utilizing a multiplication/inversion algorithm based on the modified extended Euclidean algorithm.
Air Quality and Exercise-Related Health Benefits from Reduced Car Travel in the Midwestern United States

Background: Automobile exhaust contains precursors to ozone and fine particulate matter (PM ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter; PM2.5), posing health risks. Dependency on car commuting also reduces physical fitness opportunities. Objective: In this study we sought to quantify benefits from reducing automobile usage for short urban and suburban trips. Methods: We simulated census-tract level changes in hourly pollutant concentrations from the elimination of automobile round trips ≤ 8 km in 11 metropolitan areas in the upper midwestern United States using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Next, we estimated annual changes in health outcomes and monetary costs expected from pollution changes using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Benefits Mapping Analysis Program (BenMAP). In addition, we used the World Health Organization Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) to calculate benefits of increased physical activity if 50% of short trips were made by bicycle. Results: We estimate that, by eliminating these short automobile trips, annual average urban PM2.5 would decline by 0.1 µg/m3 and that summer ozone (O3) would increase slightly in cities but decline regionally, resulting in net health bene-fits of $4.94 billion/year [95% confidence interval (CI): $0.2 billion, $13.5 billion), with 25% of PM2.5 and most O3 bene-fits to populations outside metropolitan areas. Across the study region of approximately 31.3 million people and 37,000 total square miles, mortality would decline by approximately 1,295 deaths/year (95% CI: 912, 1,636) because of improved air quality and increased exercise. Making 50% of short trips by bicycle would yield savings of approximately $3.8 billion/year from avoided mortality and reduced health care costs (95% CI: $2.7 billion, $5.0 billion]. We estimate that the combined benefits of improved air quality and physical fitness would exceed $8 billion/year. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that significant health and economic benefits are possible if bicycling replaces short car trips. Less dependence on automobiles in urban areas would also improve health in downwind rural settings.
Economics of intelligent selection of wireless access networks in a market-based framework: a game-theoretic approach

The Digital Marketplace is a market-based frame- work where network operators offer communications services with competition at the call level. It strives to address a tussle between the actors involved in a heterogeneous wireless access network. However, as with any market-like institution, it is vital to analyze the Digital Marketplace from the strategic perspective to ensure that all shortcomings are removed prior to implementation. In this paper, we analyze the selling mech- anism proposed in the Digital Marketplace. The mechanism is based on a procurement first-price sealed-bid auction where the network operators represent the sellers/bidders, and the end-user of a wireless service is the buyer. However, this auction format is somewhat unusual as the winning bid is a composition of both the network operator's monetary bid and their reputation rating. We create a simple economic model of the auction, and we show that it is mathematically intractable to derive the equilibrium bidding behavior when there are N network operators, and we make only generic assumptions about the structure of the bidding strategies. We then move on to consider a scenario with only two network operators, and assume that network operators use bidding strategies which are linear functions of their costs. This results in the derivation of the equilibrium bidding behavior in that scenario.
Touchless gestural interaction with small displays: a case study

Touchless gestural interaction enables users to interact with digital devices using body movements and gestures, and without the burden of a physical contact with technology (e.g., data gloves, body markers, or remote controllers). Most gesture-based touchless applications are designed for interaction with medium or, more often, large displays. Our research instead explores touchless gestural interaction "in-the- small", where the user interacts with small displays, of the size, for example, of a smart phone screen. Our work applies this to the domain of household appliances. We describe the design and evaluation of MOTIC (MOtion-based Touchless Interactive Cooking system), and highlight the complexity of employing touchless gestures to interact with visual interfaces constrained in size. This case study shows how existing design guidelines, mostly conceived for touchless gestural interaction "in the large", can be adapted and applied for gestural interaction in-the-small, and high-lights that touchless gestures have the potential of forming a valuable addition to our repertoire of interaction techniques with small displays.
The Preventive Role of Transformational Leadership and Trust in the Leader on Employee Turnover Risk of Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand: The Moderating Role of Salary and Job Tenure

This research investigated the contribution of transformational leadership to the turnover intention of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. Trust in the leader was proposed as the mediator to explain the association between transformational leadership to turnover intention. Data was collected from 736 Myanmar employees from two manufacturing plants. The results from the partial least squares regression revealed that the Myanmar migrant workers who perceived that the top management of their company possessed the characteristics of transformational leadership tended to have lower turnover intention. This association was significantly mediated by trust in the leader. Moreover, the moderating effect analysis showed that the contribution of transformational leadership and trust in the leader to turnover intention were significantly moderated by the level of salary and the length of job tenure of the Myanmar migrant workers. The findings from this study also suggested that the leadership style of top management is an essential factor in reducing the risk associated with high turnover.
Natural oil slicks fuel surface water microbial activities in the northern Gulf of Mexico

We conducted a series of roller tank incubations with surface seawater from the Green Canyon oil reservoir, northern Gulf of Mexico, amended with either a natural oil slick (GCS-oil) or pristine oil. The goal was to test whether bacterial activities of natural surface water communities facilitate the formation of oil-rich marine snow (oil snow). Although oil snow did not form during any of our experiments, we found specific bacterial metabolic responses to the addition of GCS-oil that profoundly affected carbon cycling within our 4-days incubations. Peptidase and β-glucosidase activities indicative of bacterial enzymatic hydrolysis of peptides and carbohydrates, respectively, were suppressed upon the addition of GCS-oil relative to the non-oil treatment, suggesting that ascending oil and gas initially inhibits bacterial metabolism in surface water. Biodegradation of physically dispersed GCS-oil components, indicated by the degradation of lower molecular weight n-alkanes as well as the rapid transformation of particulate oil-carbon (C: N >40) into the DOC pool, led to the production of carbohydrate- and peptide-rich degradation byproducts and bacterial metabolites such as transparent exopolymer particles (TEP). TEP formation was highest at day 4 in the presence of GCS-oil; in contrast, TEP levels in the non-oil treatment already peaked at day 2. Cell-specific enzymatic activities closely followed TEP concentrations in the presence and absence of GCS-oil. These results demonstrate that the formation of oil slicks and activities of oil-degrading bacteria result in a temporal offset of microbial cycling of organic matter, affecting food web interactions and carbon cycling in surface waters over cold seeps.
Smart People or Smart Contexts? Cognition, Ability, and Talent Development in an Age of Situated Approaches to Knowing and Learning

Intelligence, expertise, ability and talent, as these terms have traditionally been used in education and psychology, are socially agreed upon labels that minimize the dynamic, evolving, and contextual nature of individual-environment relations. These hypothesized constructs can instead be described as functional relations distributed across whole persons and particular contexts through which individuals appear knowledgeably skillful. The purpose of this article is to support a concept of ability and talent development that is theoretically grounded in 5 distinct, yet interrelated, notions: ecological psychology, situated cognition, distributed cognition, activity theory, and legitimate peripheral participation. Although talent may be reserved by some to describe individuals possessing exceptional ability and ability may be described as an internal trait, in our description neither ability nor talent are possessed. Instead, they are treated as equivalent terms that can be used to describe functional transactions that are situated across person-in-situation. Further, and more important, by arguing that ability is part of the individual-environment transaction, we take the potential to appear talented out of the hands (or heads) of the few and instead treat it as an opportunity that is available to all although it may be actualized more frequently by some.
Essays on behavioral responses to income taxes

This dissertation consists of an introductory chapter and four empirical essays on behavioral responses to income tax incentives. The introductory chapter presents the conceptual background of the welfare analysis of income taxation, highlighting the crucial roles of behavioral elasticities and the structure of the behavioral response. In addition, I present an overview of recent empirical literature on behavioral responses to income taxes. The first essay studies the extent and significance of income-shifting behavior among the owners of privately held corporations in Finland. The dual income tax system in Finland offers considerable incentives and opportunities for income-shifting between wages and dividends for business owners. Extensive panel data at both the owner and firm level together with Finland’s dividend tax reform of 2005 enable us to credibly analyze the empirical significance of income-shifting. The results show that incomeshifting is evident. The income-shifting response is homogenous across different owners and firms. However, the size of the income-shifting incentive affects the extent of income-shifting activity, indicating that the costs of income-shifting are non-negligible. The second essay focuses on distinguishing between real responses and incomeshifting. Previous literature shows that income taxes affect the behavior of high-income earners and business owners. However, it is still unclear how much of the response is caused by real economic activity (labor supply, effort etc.), and how much is due to income-shifting and other tax-planning activities. This distinction is important because it can greatly affect the welfare implications. We build a model that formalizes the analysis of the elasticity of taxable income under income-shifting possibilities. We show that income-shifting accounts for over two thirds of the overall behavioral response among the owners of privately held corporations in Finland. This considerable incomeshifting response halves the marginal excess burden of income taxes among Finnish
Criteria and Measurable Indicators for Assessing the Performance of Public Works Contract Award Process in Chad

A major problem in performance assessment is the selection of appropriate indicators or measures. The objective of the study is to establish relevant criteria and related quantifiable indicators to assess performance of works contracts award process. Through a quantitative method with an adapted AHP methodology, the weights of identified criteria and related indicators were computed. The results show that relevant criteria in order of importance are Transparency, Fairness, Competitiveness and Compliance for having attracted in total 0.80 of weight over the total of 1. Also, the following indicators are established as key in measuring performance: Time allocated for the preparation of tender, Advertisement total duration, Number and Nationalities of Bidders, Publicity frequency, Time Performance Index, Number of complaints or litigations generated, Cost Estimate Accuracy, Publicity extent, and Number of approvals and controls performed, etc. The study concludes that public contract award process must be transparent, fair, competitive, and complies perfectively with rules and procedures to achieve likely above 80% of the expected performance.
A study of relative redundancy in test-suite reduction while retaining or improving fault-localization effectiveness

Test-suite reduction technique aims to find a subset of the test suite while still satisfying the original test requirements; therefore, it can save the cost of software testing. Because many test cases have been removed, the testing information is also lost. Fault localization is a technique using testing information to locate the fault and widely used by programmers to debug programs, so it suffers from the side effects of test-suite reduction. How to reduce the test-suite size in software testing with the premise of retaining or improving fault-localization effectiveness has become the hot spot in the area of software debugging recently. In this paper, we propose a new approach that selectively keeps the limited redundant test cases in the reduced set; it makes the new reduced set relatively redundant compared to the original one, and we expect that it retains or even improves fault-localization effectiveness. We also describe a framework that implements our approach and conduct a set of empirical studies for evaluation. The results show that our approach can retain or even improve fault-localization effectiveness as expected.