Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Imagined futures: why are vocational learners choosing not to progress to HE?

This paper is based on a small‐scale mixed‐method research project, which was located in south‐east England and was funded by the British Academy. The project, investigated the factors that affected young people’s decisions not to progress to higher education (HE) after following a Level 3 vocational pathway in upper secondary education. Set against the context of divergent and somewhat contradictory government policy initiatives, it draws on the concept of imagined futures as a way of considering students’ ‘decision‐making’ in their transition from further education to other locations. This paper explores how a group of young people completing their vocational courses in summer 2008 viewed – or imagined – their futures. Contrary to policy discourses, vocational pathways did not necessarily offer straightforward progression to HE. Respondents’ ‘imagined futures’ did not lack agency, but HE was not an immediate part of them.
The effects of an entrepreneurship programme on Need for Achievement and Locus of Control of reinforcement

The study examines the change in n Achievement and Locus of Control of individuals in an 9 months entrepreneurship programme. The experiment comprised of two experimental groups (n = 10 and n = 9), and two control groups (n = 19 and n = 32). All groups consisted of male and female students. All groups were at similar educational levels, age, and area of study. All participants had finished high school or an equivalent level of education. Need for Achievement was measured with Thematic Apperception Test consisting of six pictures. Locus of Control was measured with Rotter’s Internal‐External test. A pretest was carried out in the beginning of the experimental and control groups education, the posttest after 7 months. A statistically significant increase in n Achievement (t = ‐3.33, p < 0.005) and in internal Locus of Control (t = 3.63, p = 0.001) were obtained as a result of participating in entrepreneurship education, while the control group showed no change. The result supports the hypothesis that participating in an entrepreneurship programme should increase Need for Achievement and internal Locus of Control of Reinforcement.
School-Related Attitudes in Middle-School Age Students1

Much has been written on American education and various proposals for administrative and curricular changes have been offered to cure its alleged shortcomings (e.g., Committee for Economic Development, 1968; Conant, 1959; Educational Policies Commission, 1961). Interestingly, however, children themselves have been rather consistently left out of the recommendationmaking process. Thus, we find little, if any, information on how pupils themselves perceive the school curriculum and personnel. In the same vein, not much is known of the possible variations in these perceptions as a function of pupil sex, grade, or subgroups (private vs. public schools, normal vs. disturbed children, Orientals vs. Indians, etc.). Coleman (1961) and Tannenbaum (1962), among others, gave some evidence that academic concern does not occupy a central place in the mind of a typical high school student. Even so, it is an interesting question to ask whether he reacts uniformly to every academic subject. Yamamoto and Wiersma (1968) showed with 120 college students in education that there are indeed
Boosting consumers’ self-efficacy by repositioning the self

Purpose – This article aims to lend insight into the consumption situation wherein consumers are unmotivated to try new products or behaviors that they perceive as too difficult to adopt as a result of low self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach – Two experiments were introduced to test hypotheses. In Studies 1 and 2, we demonstrated that enhancing specific self-efficacy (SSE) by repositioning the self, through marketing messages, increased participants’ behavioral intentions toward difficult to adopt (DTA) products. Findings – In this research, an important issue is elucidated in consumer behavior: a phenomenon wherein consumers lack the motivation, as a result of low self-efficacy (i.e. assessing the disparity between their current situation and some desired goals as too wide to bridge over), to try a product that would benefit them. Thus, the marketer’s role in this case is to convince the consumers that they are able to achieve these goals. Research limitations/implications – This study focuses on .
Deep Convolutional Neural Networks with Merge-and-Run Mappings

A deep residual network, built by stacking a sequence of residual blocks, is easy to train, because identity mappings skip residual branches and thus improve information flow. To further reduce the training difficulty, we present a simple network architecture, deep merge-and-run neural networks. The novelty lies in a modularized building block, merge-and-run block, which assembles residual branches in parallel through a merge-and-run mapping: average the inputs of these residual branches (Merge), and add the average to the output of each residual branch as the input of the subsequent residual branch (Run), respectively. We show that the merge-and-run mapping is a linear idempotent function in which the transformation matrix is idempotent, and thus improves information flow, making training easy. In comparison with residual networks, our networks enjoy compelling advantages: they contain much shorter paths and the width, i.e., the number of channels, is increased, and the time complexity remains unchanged. We evaluate the performance on the standard recognition tasks. Our approach demonstrates consistent improvements over ResNets with the comparable setup, and achieves competitive results (e.g., 3.06% testing error on CIFAR-10, 17.55% on CIFAR-100, 1.51% on SVHN).
Extracts affecting mitotic division in root-tip meristematic cells

Some species of Psychotria (Rubiaceae) are important in herbal medicine, where their extracts are used internally for infections of the female reproductive system, bronchitis, gastrointestinal disturbances, skin irritations, tumors, ulcers, and eye disturbances. The antiproliferative and genotoxic effects of Psychotria myriantha Mull. Arg. and P. leiocarpa Cham. et Schlecht infusions on the Allium cepa L. cell cycle were evaluated. The teas were prepared by infusing the leaves in distilled water, in two concentrations: 1.13 mg/mL and 6.78 mg/mL. Three groups of four bulbs were used for each Psychotria species. After the bulbs rooted in distilled water, they were transferred to the teas for 24 hours, except for the control that stayed in water. The rootlets were then collected, fixed in ethanol-acetic acid (3:1) for 24 hours, and stored in 70% ethanol. For each group of bulbs, 4000 cells were analyzed, calculating the mitotic indexes, submitting them to statistic analysis, using the χ2 test (p = 0.05). The results showed a decrease in mitotic index with an increase in tea concentration in both species. In P. leiocarpa, the mitotic index values differed significantly between the control and concentration of 6.78 mg/mL (χ2 = 9.863). For P. myriantha, the values referring to the mitotic index differed greatly between the control and the treatments (χ2 = 124.8). With this study, it was determined that P. myriantha and P. leiocarpa infusions possess antiproliferative effects on the A. cepa cell cycle, and teas of P. myriantha also have genotoxic activity.
Selective versus nonselective arterial clamping during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: impact upon renal function in the setting of a solitary kidney in a porcine model.

INTRODUCTION Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy has emerged as a standard of care for small renal masses. Nevertheless, there remains concern over the potential for irreversible insult to the kidney as a result of exposure to warm ischemia. We aim to investigate the utility of selective segmental arterial clamping as a means to reduce the potential for ischemic damage to a solitary kidney during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy utilizing a porcine model. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 20 domestic swine were randomized into four equal groups. Each subject underwent laparoscopic radical nephrectomy to create the condition of a solitary kidney. On the contralateral side, a laparoscopic lower pole partial nephrectomy was performed, employing either selective or nonselective vascular clamping for either 60 or 90 minutes. Postoperatively, clinical status and serial serum studies were closely monitored for 1 week. RESULTS There were no intraoperative complications. The 90-minute nonselective clamping produced devastating effects, resulting in rapid deterioration into florid renal failure within 72 hours. The 60-minute nonselective clamping group experienced modest but significant rises in both blood urea nitrogen and creatinine. Both 60- and 90-minute selective clamping groups performed well, with no significant rises in creatinine over a 7-day period, and no instances of renal failure. CONCLUSIONS Selective arterial clamping is a safe and feasible means of vascular control during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. In the porcine model, selective clamping appears to improve functional outcomes during prolonged periods of warm ischemic insult. Prospective evaluation of the technique in humans is necessary to determine if selective arterial control confers long-term functional benefits in patients with limited renal reserve.
Evaluation of a commercial ELISA for diagnosis of paratuberculosis in cattle.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate sensitivity and specificity of a new ELISA for antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis. DESIGN Cross-sectional observational survey. SAMPLE POPULATION Serum samples from 590 cattle that were infected with M avium subsp paratuberculosis and 723 cattle that were not infected. PROCEDURE Serum samples were tested by use of an ELISA for antibodies against M avium subsp paratuberculosis. RESULTS Sensitivity of the test varied from 15.4 to 88.1%, depending on the clinical stage and bacterial shedding status of the cattle. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results obtained with use of the new ELISA agreed favorably with those of a previous ELISA. Practitioners must be aware of variability in the sensitivity of the test, which depends on the clinical and shedding status of the cattle, because this may affect interpretation of test results.
The XMM-SSC survey of hard-spectrum XMM-Newton sources - I. Optically bright sources

We present optical and X-ray data for a sample of serendipitous XMM-Newton sources that are selected to have 0.5-2 versus 2-4.5 keV X-ray hardness ratios which are harder than the X-ray background. The sources have 2-4.5 keV X-ray flux , and in this paper we examine a subsample of 42 optically bright (r sources; this subsample is 100 per cent spectroscopically identified. All but one of the optical counterparts are extragalactic, and we argue that the single exception, a Galactic M star, is probably a coincidental association rather than the correct identification of the X-ray source. The X-ray spectra of all the sources are consistent with heavily absorbed power laws (21.8 10(44) erg s(-1), and two of these sources have optical spectra which are dominated by narrow emission lines, that is, are type 2 QSOs. Only a small fraction of the sources (7/42) show broad optical emission lines, and all of these have N(H) 100 times the Galactic gas-to-dust ratio are rare in AGN absorbers (at most a few per cent of the population), and may be restricted to broad absorption line QSOs. Seven objects appear to have an additional soft X-ray component in addition to the heavily absorbed power law; all seven are narrow emission-line objects with z 4 per cent of broad-line AGN (BLAGN) have ionized absorbers that attenuate their soft X-ray flux by > 50 per cent. In at least one of the X-ray-absorbed BLAGN in our sample the X-ray spectrum requires an ionized absorber, consistent with this picture.
COMPOSITION OF THE ROOTS AND STUBBLE OF PERENNIAL RYEGRASS FOLLOWING PARTIAL DEFOLIATION.

When the foliar portion of a grass plant is removed by a mower or by a grazing animal, the growth of new tissues is initiated to replace the parts removed. The rate with which the regeneration of new top growth proceeds and the total amount produced are of great importance in forage production. This rate of recovery and total yield, although dependent to a large extent upon external environmental factors, are also influenced considerably by the intensity and frequency of defoliation as determined by management practices. Evidence has been offered by many workers (5, 9, 10, 11, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29) that close and frequent clipping or grazing reduces the total yield of tops of forage plants. Associated with the ability of the plant to produce new growth after cutting is its chemical composition. Plants cut less frequently and less severely have a greater opportunity to synthesize and maintain reserve food materials which are available for the production of new growth than plants more severely grazed. That carbohydrates are important as reserve substances in pasture plant economy has been pointed out by earlier workers (1, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 25, 27, 28). The specific carbohydrates which may be considered "reserves" that can be utilized by the plants for purposes of respiration and production of new tissues have not been definitely established. Weinmann (27) considered that sugars and polysaccharides hydrolyzable by hot dilute HCI were lost from the tops of some South African grasses after the time of flowering and were largely recovered in the roots. In another contribution (28), the seasonal changes in the composition of roots were described as mainly due to translocation and storage. Sugars and starch (polysaccharides rendered soluble by saliva and hydrolyzed by HCI) were considered of importance but the results with total hydrolyzable polysaccharides were not conclusive and were not reported. In alfalfa, Albert (2), Graber, et al. (8), and Leukel (13) considered sugars, dextrins, starch, and hemicelluloses as available carbohydrates and found that the supply of these in the roots was lowered by frequent cutting of the immature tops. Plants in darkness (2, 8) produced new top growth while starch disappeared from the roots; total carbohydrates decreased and hemicelluloses increased. According to Bukey and Weaver (4) there was a marked decrease in the percentage of invert sugar, water-soluble hydrolyzable, and water-insoluble hydrolyzable ? Contribution no. 48, of the U. S. Regional Pasture Research Laboratory, Division of Forage Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Research Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture, State College, Pennsylvania, in cooperation with the northeastern states. 656
Landscape preferences in the cork oak Montado region of Alentejo, southern Portugal: Searching for valuable landscape characteristics for different user groups

Abstract The Montado is the open savannah-like landscape predominant in southern Portugal. This landscape results from an extensively managed agro-silvo-pastoral system and has for a long time been appreciated for a variety of other uses. Research is needed in relation to the links between the various intensities of use, the resulting landscape patterns and new societal functions. In this study the preferences of user groups representing these functions are surveyed in relation to these diverse landscape patterns. Interviews with land users and also landowners were carried out using photograph preference techniques relating to the management options of the cork oak Montado. The results showed divergences among hunters, mushroom pickers, beekeepers, landowners, Portuguese walkers and foreign walkers. The content analysis of qualitative data revealed preferences relating to landscape characteristics. In particular, walkers were receptive not only to objective features, but particularly perceived the importance of subjective experiences in landscape.
Single Image Shadow Detection Using Multiple Cues in a Supermodular MRF

We propose a single region shadow classifier based on a multikernel SVM. Our multikernel model is a linear combination of χ2 and Earth Mover’s Distance(EMD)[5] kernels that operate on texture and color histograms disjointly. This single region classifier already outperforms the more complex state of art methods, without performing MRF/CRF optimization. The local appearance of a single region is often ambiguous. Even for a human observer it can be hard to discern if a region is in shadow or not, without considering its context. Hence, it is sensible to look beyond the boundaries of a single region to decide its shadow label [1] [6]. In contrast to previous work we strive to use such contextual information sparingly. For MRF optimization reasons we prefer that most of the work is handled by the single region classifier (unary MRF potentials), with sparse pairwise connections that smooth the label changes across regions. We build on the work of [1] to propose our own improved pairwise classifiers but constrained to adjacent regions: for pairs of regions sharing the same material and same illumination condition, and for same material pairs viewed under different illumination (first lit, second in shadow). We also propose a shadow boundary classifier. Since shadow boundaries often overlap with reflectance changes confounding the effects of the illumination change, our classifier focuses on boundaries of shadows cast over surfaces with the same underlying material. We integrate our single region classifier, our pairwise classifiers, and our boundary classifier using an MRF. Confident positive predictions of the pairwise and boundary classifiers are used to define the pairwise potentials and the graph topology of the MRF. The unary potentials are defined based on the single region classifier. We want to minimize the following functional:
Linking home and school literacy in an inner city reception class

New perspectives on childhood learning are beginning to change the way we view the development of early literacy, which is progressively conceptualized as embedded in social practice. The recognition of the powerful influence of out-of-school learning prompts questions about ways of linking home and school practices. This article reports a home-based literacy activity that was introduced by a Teaching Assistant, developed with a Reception child and his family who participated in the Literacy Early Action Project, and then crossed sites from the home context into the classroom. Likely reasons for the success of this activity centre on the ‘co-construction of expertise’ (McNaughton, 2001) between the Teaching Assistant and members of the boy’s family, and the opportunities afforded for the child’s playful engagement.
National causes/moral clauses?: the National Theatre, young people and citizenship

For over ten years, London's National Theatre, under the banner of ‘Connections’, has been commissioning ten professional playwrights per year, each to write a play for young people. The plays are workshopped and performed by secondary schools, colleges and youth theatres across the United Kingdom and Ireland, and are presented in a series of regional festivals at professional theatres and arts venues, before culminating in the showing of a selection of all ten plays at the National Theatre each summer. The location of Connections within a ‘cultural flagship’ such as the National Theatre might be seen to endorse state-sanctioned discourses where the interface between citizenship and young people is concerned. However, through focusing on two Connections’ plays, Totally Over You and Citizenship, both by Mark Ravenhill, this article proposes that Connections has facilitated new dialectical possibilities that resist the conformist tendencies of authorised citizenship education. Most importantly, the article argues how the procedures and practices of so-called ‘conventional’ text-based theatre, in relation to both participation and spectatorship, are by no means antithetical to current developments in applied theatre that seek to question and redefine the terms of the relationship between citizenship and young people.
The Test–Taking Strategy Intervention for College Students with Learning Disabilities

Limited research exists related to empirically validated strategies to assist college students with learning disabilities (LD). Given that students with LD demonstrate both fewer test–taking skills and higher levels of test anxiety than their peers without LD, and poor test–taking skills contribute to higher levels of test anxiety, such research is critical. The present study examines the effectiveness of the test–taking strategy on test performance (timed/untimed), degree of strategy usage, and time on test–taking task, with a sample of university students with LD. This strategy has been successful with adolescents with LD, but has not been studied with postsecondary populations. Results of a multiple baseline design suggested that the strategy was an effective intervention for these students. Implications are discussed.
Factors That Impel Individuals' To Share Knowledge

To enhance one’s understanding of knowledge sharing, this study is aimed to investigate the factors that trigger individuals’ to share their knowledge. Based on the Social Exchange Theory, we proposed that trust and mutual reciprocity may influence knowledge sharing behaviour of which a research model was developed. In addition, drawing from previous studies, we added another construct i.e., perceived enjoyment to the research model. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were distributed to administrators at one public university in Malaysia. Multiple regression was employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that perceived enjoyment and trust have a significant influence on knowledge sharing. Surprisingly, the effect of mutual reciprocity was not supported. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.
A Canonical Correlation Analysis of Behavior Problems and School Achievement for Different Grades, Sexes, and Races.

AbstractThis study examined the relation between behavior problems and school achievement. Subjects were 971 elementary school children. Measures were the Behavior Problem Checklist and the California Achievement Tests. Data were analyzed using canonical correlation techniques. Results indicated a generally negative correlation between the measures that varied with grade, sex, and race and that were felt to provide a framework for interpreting other research in the area.
Species Identification and Genome Mapping of Cytoplasmic Adenovirus Type 2 RNAs Synthesized Late in Infection

Adenovirus type 2 cytoplasmic RNAs synthesized late in productive infection were resolved by electrophoresis on formamide gels. Regions of the adenovirus 2 genome specifying RNAs of distinct size were determined by hybridization to specific DNA fragments generated by cleavage with endo R·EcoRI and endo R·SmaI. From these studies 13 distinct viral RNA species were identified. A 26S to 28S size class and a 21S to 23S size class were each found to consist of four distinct RNA species. Three RNA species were identified in a 16S to 18S size class, and a fourth size class, 11S to 13S, was resolved into two components. The SmaI-D region (0.38 to 0.51 on the unit genome) and the EcoRI-F, D region (0.70 to 0.83) of the genome were found to code for multiple transcripts. Three RNAs (28S, 22S, and 18S) are specified by SmaI-D, and four components, 28S, 22S, 18S, and 16S, are encoded by EcoRI-F,D. The RNA represented by each set of multiple transcripts exceeds the coding capacity of the respective region, and the species within each set of RNAs appear to contain common sequences. The relationship between the cytoplasmic RNA species synthesized at late times and early cytoplasmic RNAs was determined by hybridization-inhibition experiments. The multiple transcripts encoded by the EcoRI-D fragment were found to contain sequences that are present in early cytoplasmic RNA. These studies enabled preparation of a map which accounts for transcription of approximately 67% of the r strand of the adenovirus 2 genome.