Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reading Across the Curriculum at an Urban Community College: Student and Faculty Perspectives on Reading

ABSTRACT Research indicates that there has been a decline in college reading over the past decades, yet few studies have been conducted at community colleges. The aim of this exploratory study was to gain a broad view of what reading across the curriculum looks like at one urban community college from the perspectives of students and faculty. A survey was administered to students to gather information on their reading practices, beliefs, and attitudes. A second survey was distributed to full-time faculty to gather information on assignments, practices, and beliefs regarding reading. Findings indicate that many students do not complete assigned readings. Further, women students spend more time on reading and attend class more often having completed assigned reading than men. There are discrepancies between students’ and faculty’s assessments of students’ reading abilities, whether reading is essential to course success and between the kinds of readings commonly assigned and those students enjoy reading. The study identified areas for further research on reading in community college including the relationship between gender, reading compliance, and community college outcomes; the effectiveness of reading compliance strategies; the relationship between PowerPoint use and student reading; and students’ use of active reading strategies. The findings also point out the need for pedagogical innovation in the teaching of reading in community college, namely through the implementation of reading across the curriculum programs.
Do all raters value task, citizenship, and counterproductive behaviors equally: An investigation of cultural values and performance evaluations

ABSTRACT We investigated whether individualistic and collectivistic cultural values influence the extent to which raters consider task, citizenship (OCB), and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) when evaluating overall employee performance. Participants completed a managerial role-play exercise in which they read employee performance vignettes and rated the overall performance of each employee. A relative weights approach was used to determine to what extent raters considered task, OCB, and CWB information when evaluating employee performance. Results indicated that as compared to individualistic raters, collectivistic raters placed higher weights on OCBs and less weight on task performance when assigning an overall performance rating. However, contrary to expectations, collectivistic raters did not place significantly higher weights on CWBs as compared to individualistic raters. Future research directions and practical implications are discussed.
Scalable Evolution of Robot Morphology

The majority of work in the field of evolutionary robotics concerns itself with evolving control strategies for existing morphologies. However, evolving morphology along with control may provide a better path to realizing intelligent agents. Towards this goal, a novel method for evolving three-dimensional structures has been implemented. This method is capable of producing physical structures that capture the non-obvious but close relationship between function and physical structure in order to achieve a desired dynamic property.
Social Decision-Making in the Primate Brain

Social Decision Making in the Primate Brain by Amanda George Vamvas Utevsky Department of Psychology & Neuroscience Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Scott Huettel, Supervisor ___________________________ Tobias Egner, Chair ___________________________ Michael Platt ___________________________ Marc Sommer ___________________________ Grainne Fitzsimons An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience in the Graduate School of Duke University 2017 Copyright by Amanda George Vamvas Utevsky 2017
A preliminary investigation of the psychometric characteristics of transformational bosses' performance evaluations

Despite substantial attention focusing on the nature and consequences of transformational leadership, extant research has not examined transformational leaders in the context of their administrative responsibilities. The current study takes a step in this direction by investigating the psychometric properties of 105 transformational bosses’ evaluations of their subordinates’ performance. Results suggest that transformational leaders’ ratings tend to be elevated and in agreement with other sources, yet these effects only held for their ratings of interpersonal performance dimensions. These results are discussed in the context of the information processing of transformational leaders and future directions of research are offered. INDEX WORDS: Transformational Leadership, Rating Characteristics, Performance Appraisal, Classic Rating Errors, Leadership A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL BOSSES’ PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS
An Hα survey of cluster galaxies - V. Cluster-field comparison for early-type galaxies

We have extended our Hα objective prism survey of eight low-redshift clusters (viz. Abell 262, 347, 400, 426, 569, 779, 1367 and 1656) to include a complete sample of early-type galaxies within 1.5 Abell radii of the cluster centres. Of the 379 galaxies surveyed, 3 per cent of E, E‐S0 galaxies, 6 per cent of S0 galaxies, and 9 per cent of S0/a galaxies were detected in emission. From a comparison of cluster and supercluster field galaxies, we conclude that the frequency of emission-line galaxies (ELGs; W λ 20 A) is similar for field and cluster early-type galaxies. A similar result has previously been obtained for galaxies of types Sa and later. Together, these results confirm the inference of Biviano et al. that the relative frequency of ELGs in clusters and the field can be entirely accounted for by the different mix of morphological types between the differing environments, and that, for galaxies of a given morphological type, the fraction of ELGs is independent of environment. Detected emission is classified as ‘compact’ or ‘diffuse’, identified as circumnuclear starburst or active galactic nucleus (AGN) emission and disc emission, respectively. By comparing spectroscopic data for cluster early-type ELGs with data for field galaxies from the Palomar spectroscopic survey of nearby galactic nuclei, we demonstrate that there is modest evidence for an enhancement of compact H II emission relative to AGN emission in the early-type cluster ELGs as compared to the field. For the cluster earlytype galaxies, compact H II emission correlates strongly with a disturbed morphology. This suggests that, as for later-type cluster galaxies, this enhanced compact H II emission can readily be explained as an enhancement of circumnuclear starburst emission due to gravitational tidal interactions, most likely caused by subcluster merging and other on-going processes of cluster virialization. Ke yw ords: surveys ‐ galaxies: clusters: general ‐ galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD ‐ galaxies: evolution ‐ galaxies: interactions ‐ galaxies: starburst.
Neural Encoding in Orbitofrontal Cortex and Basolateral Amygdala during Olfactory Discrimination Learning

Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is part of a network of structures involved in adaptive behavior and decision making. Interconnections between OFC and basolateral amygdala (ABL) may be critical for encoding the motivational significance of stimuli used to guide behavior. Indeed, much research indicates that neurons in OFC and ABL fire selectively to cues based on their associative significance. In the current study recordings were made in each region within a behavioral paradigm that allowed comparison of the development of associative encoding over the course of learning. In each recording session, rats were presented with novel odors that were informative about the outcome of making a response and had to learn to withhold a response after sampling an odor that signaled a negative outcome. In some cases, reversal training was performed in the same session as the initial learning. Ninety-six of the 328 neurons recorded in OFC and 60 of the 229 neurons recorded in ABL exhibited selective activity during evaluation of the odor cues after learning had occurred. A substantial proportion of those neurons in ABL developed selective activity very early in training, and many reversed selectivity rapidly after reversal. In contrast, those neurons in OFC rarely exhibited selective activity during odor evaluation before the rats reached the criterion for learning, and far fewer reversed selectivity after reversal. The findings support a model in which ABL encodes the motivational significance of cues and OFC uses this information in the selection and execution of an appropriate behavioral strategy.
E-service Quality Impact on Online Customer's Perceived Value and Loyalty

Although the internet is a popular shopping medium for global consumers, research into the issues of online shopping is still scarce. This study attempts to serve as a basis for internet marketing by employing a holistic model to conceptualize e-service quality. The survey results from 444 college students suggest that the three dimensions of e-service quality: interaction quality, environmental quality, and outcome quality, do have significant impacts on online customer’s perceived value and loyalty. Both utilitarian and hedonic values are positively related to customer loyalty. This study concludes with discussions of managerial implications and directions for future research.
“My leader’s group is my group”. Leader-member exchange and employees’ behaviours

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to check the mediating role of work engagement (WE) between leader – member exchange and extra-role behaviours (ERBs) like organizational citizenship behaviour, knowledge sharing behaviour and innovative work behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Hypothetical deductive method was used. Longitudinal, time-lagged approach (three times) was used to collect the data using structured questionnaire. Findings It has been found that the WE plays its mediating role between leader – member exchange, organizational citizenship behaviour and innovative work behaviour but not for knowledge sharing behaviour. Research limitations/implications Data related to dependent variables, specifically and for the whole model generally, was collected through self-reported questionnaire, which leads toward self-serving bias at respondents’ end, as exaggeration/manipulation in responses is highly expected. Second mediating role of WE between leader – member exchange and knowledge sharing behaviour has not been proven, but same mediating role has been found in case of organizational citizenship behaviour and innovative work behaviour which is beyond understanding, as all dependent variables are actually different facets of ERBs. Lastly, data for the study variable has been collected from research and development and IT-related organizations only, which can question the generalization of the survey results to other sectors/organizations. Practical implications The study concluded that leader’s exchange plays a vital role for under commands’ ERBs, and WE vitally predicts ERBs; organizational leaders need to pay attention to this part, in Pakistan, being a poor/developing country fulfilling necessary psychological needs can result in better engagement at employees end. Study findings have importance with the view of training, as while conducting training, strategies through which leaders/supervisors may be trained about how they can build good exchange with their subordinates must be incorporated. This study has significance for policy makers, while making policies, as they consider deviant work behaviours as dangerous phenomena, at the same time they need to recognize the importance of ERBs. Originality/value Early mechanism of work performance did not cover full range of behaviours, so now it has been changed from fixed tasks written in employee’s job description (in-role) to broader terms (extra-role) due to uncertain and dynamic work requirements. Extra-role behaviours are more important for the organization as compared to in-role performance. So, a pathway of WE has been established through which ERBs can be expected. Current study was an attempt to explore that how leader can play his role in this situation.
Primary squamous cell carcinomas in the thyroid gland: an individual participant data meta-analysis

Primary squamous cell carcinomas arising from the thyroid gland (SCCTh) is extremely rare diseases, which have never been fully studied. Thus, we performed a systematic review and individual participant data meta‐analysis of published SCCTh cases, to understand the clinical characteristics and to identify the prognostic factors of primary SCCTh. A literature search was conducted within Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library databases and KoreaMed using the following Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords: “primary,” “squamous,” “carcinoma,” “cancer,” and “thyroid. ” Eighty‐four patients' individual data from 39 articles and five patients' data in our institute were selected for analysis (N = 89). The mean age at diagnosis was 63.0 years (range, 24–90) and female preponderance (M:F = 1:2) was noted. The commonest complaint was the anterior neck mass, followed by dyspnea or dysphagia, and extension to the adjacent structure was found in 72%. The median survival was 9.0 months (95% CI, 6.0–23.0) and 3‐year survival rate (3YSR) was 37.6% by Kaplan–Meier method, but only 20.1% by a shared frailty model for adjusting heterogeneity. Complete resection (R0) of tumors was the only significant prognostic factor in multivariable analysis, and the benefit of adjuvant treatment was not proved. The prognosis of patients with SCCTh is very poor (20% in 3YSR), but complete resection of disease is correlated with improved survival. To achieve complete surgical eradication of tumors, early detection and accurate diagnosis should be emphasized.
Aβ Internalization by Neurons and Glia

In the brain, the amyloid β peptide (Aβ) exists extracellularly and inside neurons. The intracellular accumulation of Aβ in Alzheimer's disease brain has been questioned for a long time. However, there is now sufficient strong evidence indicating that accumulation of Aβ inside neurons plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Intraneuronal Aβ originates from intracellular cleavage of APP and from Aβ internalization from the extracellular milieu. We discuss here the different molecular mechanisms that are responsible for Aβ internalization in neurons and the links between Aβ internalization and neuronal dysfunction and death. A brief description of Aβ uptake by glia is also presented.
Creating Business Cycles Through Credit Constraints

Business cycles appear to be large, persistent, and asymmetric relative to the shocks hitting the economy. This observation suggests the existence of an asymmetric amplification and propagation mechanism, which transforms the shocks into the observed movements in aggregate output. This article demonstrates, in a small open economy, how credit constraints can be such a mechanism. The article also shows, however, that the quantitative significance of the amplification which credit constraints can provide is sensitive to the quantitative specification of the underlying economy (especially factor shares).
Tradeoffs between hydraulic and mechanical stress responses of mature Norway spruce trunk wood.

We tested the effects of growth characteristics and basic density on hydraulic and mechanical properties of mature Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst. ) wood from six 24-year-old clones, grown on two sites in southern Sweden differing in water availability. Hydraulic parameters assessed were specific hydraulic conductivity at full saturation (ks100) and vulnerability to cavitation (Psi50), mechanical parameters included bending strength (sigma b), modulus of elasticity (MOE), compression strength (sigma a) and Young's modulus (E). Basic density, diameter at breast height, tree height, and hydraulic and mechanical parameters varied considerably among clones. Clonal means of hydraulic and mechanical properties were strongly related to basic density and to growth parameters across sites, especially to diameter at breast height. Compared with stem wood of slower growing clones, stem wood of rapidly growing clones had significantly lower basic density, lower sigma b, MOE, sigma a and E, was more vulnerable to cavitation, but had higher ks100. Basic density was negatively correlated to Psi50 and ks100. We therefore found a tradeoff between Psi50 and ks100. Clones with high basic density had significantly lower hydraulic vulnerability, but also lower hydraulic conductivity at full saturation and thus less rapid growth than clones with low basic density. This tradeoff involved a negative relationship between Psi50 and sigma b as well as MOE, and between ks100 and sigma b, MOE and sigma a. Basic density and Psi50 showed no site-specific differences, but tree height, diameter at breast height, ks100 and mechanical strength and stiffness were significantly lower at the drier site. Basic density had no influence on the site-dependent differences in hydraulic and mechanical properties, but was strongly negatively related to diameter at breast height. Selecting for growth may thus lead not only to a reduction in mechanical strength and stiffness but also to a reduction in hydraulic safety.
Religious Problem Solving and Methods of Control

This study examined the connections between religious problem-solving strategies and experiences of control, specifically an internal and external locus of control, God locus of control, and the illusion of control. In addition, it explored how these connections relate to psychological well-being. Undergraduates enrolled in psychology courses were recruited to participate in this study. They completed five scales and a computerized task. These scales consist of the Religious Problem-Solving Scale, the Locus of Control Scale, the Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale-God Control Revision (God control subscale), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depressed Mood Scale, and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale. The computerized task will be a light bulb illumination task. While there were no significant results found in regards to the illusion of control, the religious measures of God control and religious problem-solving were shown to be consistent with previous findings. This can prove beneficial to clinicians working with religious clients.
Increased lipolysis and altered lipid homeostasis protect γ-synuclein – null mutant mice from diet-induced obesity

BIOCHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY Correction for “Dicyanovinylnaphthalenes for neuroimaging of amyloids and relationships of electronic structures and geometries to binding affinities,” by Andrej Petri c, Scott A. Johnson, Hung V. Pham, Ying Li, Simon Ceh, Amalija Golobi c, Eric D. Agdeppa, Gerald Timbol, Jie Liu, Gyochang Keum, Nagichettiar Satyamurthy, Vladimir Kepe, Kendall N. Houk, and Jorge R. Barrio, which appeared in issue 41, October 9, 2012, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (109:16492–16497; first published September 25, 2012; 10.1073/pnas.1214134109). The authors note that an additional affiliation should be listed for Gyochang Keum. The new affiliation should appear as Center for Neuro-Medicine, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Hwarangro 14-gil 5 Seoungbuk-gu, Seoul 136-791, Republic of Korea. The corrected author and affiliation lines appear below. The online version has been corrected.
Engineered valley-orbit splittings in quantum-confined nanostructures in silicon

An important challenge in silicon quantum electronics in the few electron regime is the potentially small energy gap between the ground and excited orbital states in 3D quantum confined nanostructures due to the multiple valley degeneracies of the conduction band present in silicon. Understanding the “valley-orbit” (VO) gap is essential for silicon qubits, as a large VO gap prevents leakage of the qubit states into a higher dimensional Hilbert space. The VO gap varies considerably depending on quantum confinement, and can be engineered by external electric fields. In this work we investigate VO splitting experimentally and theoretically in a range of confinement regimes. We report measurements of the VO splitting in silicon quantum dot and donor devices through excited state transport spectroscopy. These results are underpinned by large-scale atomistic tight-binding calculations involving over 1 million atoms to compute VO splittings as functions of electric fields, donor depths, and surface disorder. The results provide a comprehensive picture of the range of VO splittings that can be achieved through quantum engineering.
New Variants of Adaptive Differential Evolution Algorithm with Competing Strategies

New variants of the adaptive competitive differential evolution algorithm are proposed and tested experimentally on the CEC 2013 test suite. In the new variants, the adaptation is based on the competition of several strategies. The current-to-pbest mutation borrowed from JADE is included into the pool of the competing strategies in newly proposed variants. The aim of the experimental comparison is to find whether the presence of the current-to-pbest mutation strategy increases the efficiency of the differential evolution algorithm, especially on rotated objective functions. The results of the experiments show that the new variants performed better in a few of the test problems, while the benefit is not observed in the majority of the test problems.
Exploring Consensus in Practice with Youth Who Are Sexually Abusive: Findings from a Delphi Study of Practitioner Views in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

This article presents the findings of a study exploring current levels of consensus among practitioners in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) about good practice in relation to youth who are sexually abusive. A three-stage Delphi procedure was used to survey the views of 78 practitioners, experienced in this field, on a range of matters relating to preferred responses to this population. The exercise indicated high levels of agreement that youth who are sexually abusive should be seen as a group clinically distinct from adult sex offenders and that all of their developmental needs, and their problematic behavior, should be targeted in intervention. A strong level of consensus was found among respondents about the goals and content of ideal practice with this user group, although there was less consensus about the theoretical models that should underpin practice.