Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychometrics is Datametrics: the Test is not Reliable

The present article responds to selected criticisms of some EPM editorial policies and Vacha-Haase’s “reliability generalization” meta-analytic methods. However, the treatment is more broadly a manifesto regarding the nature of score reliability and what are reasonable expectations for psychometric reporting practices in substantive inquiries. The consequences of misunderstandings of score reliability are explored. It is suggested that paradigmatic misconceptions regarding psychometric issues feed into a spiral of presumptions that measurement training is unnecessary for doctoral students, which then in turn further reinforces misunderstandings of score integrity issues.
Drawing Development: Stages in the Representation of a Cube and a Cylinder.

A new schema for defining developmental stages in the drawing of geometrical objects is proposed. In four studies, (N = 917, 1851, 673, and 437, respectively) children and adults drew cubes and cylinders. The data demonstrate that the proposed stages appear in an invariant order: 2-year-old children almost always draw Scribbles; Single Units appear at the age of 3 years, Differentiated Figures at the age of 4 years, and Integrated Wholes after the age of 7 years.
The effect of prior experience with computers, statistical self-efficacy, and computer anxiety on students' achievement in an introductory statistics course: A partial least squares path analysis

A Partial Least Squares Path Analysis technique was used to test the effect of students’ prior experience with computers, statistical self-efficacy, and computer anxiety on their achievement in an introductory statistics course. Computer Anxiety Rating Scale and Current Statistics Self-Efficacy Scale were administered to a sample of 64 firstyear university undergraduates (35 males and 29 females) enrolled in an introductory statistics course in a Faculty of Education. Achievement scores were obtained from students’ records. Results of the study revealed that statistical self-efficacy was the most important predictor of students’ achievement in statistics, followed by prior experience with computers and finally computer anxiety. In addition, statistical selfefficacy and prior experience with computers had an indirect effect on achievement in statistics through their effect on computer anxiety. Implications of these findings for teaching and learning statistics are discussed.
Time course of Gag protein assembly in HIV-1-infected cells: a study by immunoelectron microscopy.

Recent biochemical studies have identified high molecular complexes of the HIV Gag precursor in the cytosol of infected cells. Using immunoelectron microscopy we studied the time course of the synthesis and assembly of a HIV Gag precursor protein (pr55gag) in Sf9 cells infected with recombinant baculovirus expressing the HIV gag gene. We also immunolabeled for pr55gag human T4 cells acutely or chronically infected with HIV-1. In Sf9 cells, the time course study showed that the first Gag protein appeared in the cytoplasm at 28-30 h p.i. and that budding started 6-8 h later. Colloidal gold particles, used to visualize the Gag protein, were first scattered randomly throughout the cytoplasm, but soon clusters representing 100 to 1000 copies of pr55gag were also observed. By contrast, in cells with budding or released virus-like particles the cytoplasm was virtually free of gold particles while the released virus-like particles were heavily labeled. Statistical analysis showed that between 80 and 90% of the gold particles in the cytoplasm were seen as singles, as doublets, or in small groups of up to five particles probably representing small oligomers. Clusters of gold particles were also observed in acutely infected lymphocytes as well as in multinuclear cells of chronically infected cultures of T4 cells. In a few cases small aggregates of gold particles were found in the nuclei of T4 lymphocytes. These observations suggest that the Gag polyprotein forms small oligomers in the cytoplasm of expressing cells but that assembly into multimeric complexes takes place predominantly at the plasma membrane. Large accumulations of Gag protein in the cytoplasm may represent misfolded molecules destined for degradation.
The Politics of Fear and the Fear of Politics: Reflections on Xenophobic Violence in South Africa

Reflecting on the causes of the recent xenophobic pogroms in South Africa, it is striking how most commentators have stressed poverty and deprivation as the underlying causes of the events. Yet it requires little effort to see that economic factors, however real, cannot possibly account for why it was those deemed to be non-South Africans who bore the brunt of the vicious attacks. Poverty can be and has historically been the foundation for the whole range of political ideologies, from communism to fascism and anything in between. In fact, poverty can only account for the powerlessness, frustration and desperation of the perpetrators, but not for their target. Why were not Whites, or the rich, or White foreigners in South Africa targeted instead? Of course, it is a common occurrence that the powerless regularly take out their frustrations on the weakest: women, children, the elderly — and outsiders. Yet this will not suffice as an explanation. The systematic and concerted attacks on those deemed to be foreign according to popular stereotypes requires more of an explanation than powerlessness can provide, however important a factor that may have been.
THE DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY OF MALAYSIA

Malaysia received, over the past decades, substanti al amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) in its manufacturing industry whic h is an important engine of its economic growth. The main aim of this study is to investigate the long-run relationship between FDI and its location-related d eterminants in the manufacturing industry of Malaysia over the period 1980-2002. The results of the Johansen (1988) co-integration method show that there is one cointegrating vector in each of the estimated models. Moreover, the results of the Phillips and Hansen (1990) fully-modified least squ ares (FMLS) estimator show that an increase in education, infrastructure, market size or current account balance leads to an increase in FDI whereas an increase in inflation or exchange rate leads to a decrease. The experience o f Malaysia in attracting FDI could be an example for other developing countries.
STATIC BODY BALANCE POSTUROGRAPHIC VALUES IN MEDIO-LATERAL AND ANTERIOR-POSTERIOR DIRECTIONS IN CONDITIONS OF UNSTABLE BASE OF SUPPORT IN MEN OLDER THAN 70 YEARS

One of the main reasons for falls among the elderly are disorders of body balance. The results of studies using posturographic equipment show an increased length and number of centre of body pressure (COP) deflections [8]. It is commonly accepted that maintaining stability in stance is a complex task which requires specific reflex reaction on the basis of integration of three types of different inputs: visual, vestibular and somatosensory [4]. The greatest role in balance maintenance plays the sensory information from prioprioceptors [1, 5]. The impact of base of support stability on body balance has been shown to be very significant in fall risk identification among elderly [1, 7]. The aim of the study was to compare the changes of static body balance posturographic values in mediolateral and anterior-posterior directions in conditions of unstable base of support among 70-year-old and older men. The question was also how the static body balance changes when it is influenced by an unstable base of support.
Teacher collaboration: good for some, not so good for others

This paper examines the outcomes of four Australian schools' efforts to promote greater collaboration between teachers in each school. Teachers' responses to questions about the nature and extent of collaboration they experienced at school revealed that teaming arrangements were in place in the four schools studied. Collaborative ways of working helped most teachers feel better about themselves and their work, and provided them with opportunities to learn from each other. However, a minority of teachers were negative about the new teaming arrangements claiming that the changes had led to an increase in their workloads, a loss of professional autonomy, and the emergence of damaging competition between teams for resources, recognition and power. The paper concludes with a call for further micropolitical work that problematises apparently self evident ‘goods’ like teacher collaboration.
Avoiding Infinite Recursion with Stratified Aspects

Abstract: Infinite recursion is a known problem of aspect-oriented programming with AspectJ: if no special precautions are taken, aspects advising aspects can easily and unintentionally advise themselves. We present a compiler for an extension of the AspectJ programming language that avoids self reference by associating aspects with levels, and by automatically restricting the scope of pointcuts used by an aspect to join points of lower levels. We report on a case study using our language extension, and provide numbers of the changes necessary for migrating existing applications to it. Our results suggest that we can make programming with AspectJ simpler and safer, without restricting its expressive power unduly.
Introducing curriculum innovations in science: Identifying teachers' transformations and the design of related teacher education

This paper introduces the four research papers in this paper set, which all derive from a European research project, STTIS (Science Teacher Training in an Information Society). The central concern of the project was to study curriculum innovations in science, and to investigate ways in which teachers transform these innovations when putting them into practice. This work led to the construction of appropriate teacher training materials for use when an innovation is being introduced. The paper describes the mutual research strategy agreed upon by the STTIS partners. Both to avoid repetition and to underline the understanding that the partners share about the issues involved in curriculum innovation and related teacher education, the main theoretical background and the review of literature relevant to all four papers is to be found here. Themes and conclusions common to all the papers are highlighted. The paper also outlines the common features of the approach the STTIS partners took toward the construction of teacher training materials. These materials build in concrete results from the research, in forms that provoke discussion and reflection aimed at making teachers more aware of their ideas and behavior, with a view to effecting lasting change. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed89:1–12, 2005
On Secrecy Capacity of Fast Fading Multiple-Input Wiretap Channels With Statistical CSIT

We consider the secure transmission in ergodic fast Rayleigh fading multiple-input single-output single-antenna-eavesdropper (MISOSE) wiretap channels. We assume that the statistics of both the legitimate and eavesdropper channels are the only available channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). By introducing a new secrecy capacity upper bound, we prove that the secrecy capacity is achieved by the Gaussian input without prefixing. To attain this result, we form another MISOSE channel for upper-bounding by relaxing the equivocation constraint, and tighten the bound by carefully selecting correlations between the legitimate and eavesdropper channel gains. The resulting upper bound is tighter than the others in the literature which are based on modifying the correlation between the noises at the legitimate receiver and eavesdropper. Next, we fully characterize the secrecy capacity by showing that the optimal channel input covariance matrix is a scaled identity matrix. The key to solve such a stochastic optimization problem is by exploiting the completely monotone property of the secrecy capacity. Finally, we prove that with only statistical CSIT of both channels, the capacity will neither scale with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) nor the number of antenna. Our numerical results also match these observations and further confirm that having the legitimate CSIT (realizations) is very beneficial to increase the secrecy capacity.
Criminal Victimization in Cross-National Perspective: An Analysis of Rates of Theft, Violence and Vandalism Across 27 Countries

This research examines the effect of resource deprivation, criminal opportunities and social disorganization on national rates of homicide, non-lethal violence, theft and car vandalism. Previous cross-national research has concentrated on homicide variation, owing to the comparative problems associated with rates for other crimes. In the present article, International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) data on various contact crimes, as well as homicide figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), are analysed across 27 East European and Western countries. First, a comparison of homicide levels with victimization rates for theft and non-lethal violence indicates considerable overlap, which suggests that countries with high levels of homicide tend to have high levels of other violence and theft too. Second, results from multivariate analyses indicate that income inequality is the most consistent structural correlate of victimization rates for homicide, theft, non-lethal violence and car damage across this se.
On a phonological innovation in French

Traditional analyses of French recognize three nasal consonant phonemes /m n ɲ/ appearing in the labial, apical and palatal orders respectively. What is interesting about this situation is that while French contains labial and apical oral stops /p b t d / corresponding to /m/ and /n/, there are no palatal occlusives linked to /ɲ/. Conversely, in the velar order where we find /k/ and /g/, there is no velar nasal representative. Thus, in a widely used presentation, Malmberg notes that ‘Le français n'a pas de phonème /ɲ/. Un son [ɲ] peut exceptionnellement apparaître comme variante par suite d'une assimilation de /g/ en contact avec une nasal: une longue minute [yn1Ʒɲminyt]. Dans les emprunts anglais comme smoking, parking, camping, il semble qu'un nombre croissant de Français prononcent une nasale vélaire /ɲ/. ’ (1969: 106). One can also cite the words of Fouché (1959: XIX), who notes that, ‘Il faut aussi ajouter à cette liste [de consonnes françaises] le son [ɲ] (= n vélaire) de la terminaison anglaise -ing qui a pénétré par voie d'emprunt dans le système consonantique français; cf. meeting, parking, smoking, etc.’ Neither author, however, explores the question in any detail.
Plasmodesmata Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.000778.

A new paradigm is emerging in plant biology in which proteins and ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes play non-cell-autonomous roles in contributing to the control over developmental and physiological processes. Plasmodesmata (PD), the intercellular organelle(s) of the plant kingdom, create the
SDFT-Based Ultrasonic Range Finder Using AM Continuous Wave and Online Parameter Estimation

An amplitude-modulated (AM) ultrasonic range finder using an online parameter estimation procedure is presented, which uses the sliding discrete Fourier transform (SDFT) algorithm for extracting the sinusoidal envelope from the received reference and ultrasonic signals. The received ultrasonic envelope contains an additive noise, which resembles another sine wave whose frequency is very close to that of the envelope. This gives rise to a low-frequency beat in the phase shift between the transmitted and received envelopes. Consequently, the estimated phase shows an equivalent phase jitter. The desired sinusoidal envelope signal cannot easily be separated from the noise signal, even by sharply tuned SDFT filters with phase-locked loops (PLLs). A parameter estimation procedure has been applied to remove these interharmonic signals with the help of comb filters. The PLL was strengthened by a cosine lookup table (LUT). By locating the envelope frequency far away from the interharmonic noise frequency, the convergence time could greatly be reduced. Simulation studies were conducted in the Matlab-Simulink-DSP builder environment, and ideas were implemented in a Cyclone-II field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based range finder fabricated in the laboratory. The test results of the AM ultrasonic range finder are presented to show its performance for static and slowly moving objects.
Problem-Oriented Policing and Crime Prevention

Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Cover photo courtesy of the Boston Police Department (BPD). This picture shows Deputy Superintendent Nora Baston interacting with community members as part of the BPD's Safe Street Team initiative. The initiative assigns officers to engage in problem-oriented policing in gun violence hot spots in Boston. Permissions: Figure 1-1 and Table 5-1 are reprinted under Her Majesty's Stationery Office core license C02W0005902. Figures 3-1 and 3-2 are reprinted with permission from Sage Publications, Inc. Figure 6-4 is reprinted with permission from the Police Executive Research Forum.
Helping behavior in urban and rural environments: Field studies based on a taxonomic organization of helping episodes.

Previous studies of urban-rural differences in helping behavior are contradictory. A number of methodological problems in previous research are noted, including the facts that previous studies selected communities on a nonrandom basis and gave little attention to the sampling of helping behaviors. The present research consisted of six studies carried out in a randomly selected sample of 55 cities and towns stratified on the basis of population size and geographical isolation. The six helping measures were systematically selected on the basis of a taxonomy of helping episodes. Results indicated that population size was negatively associated with helping with four of the measures. A planned, formal measure of helping involving nonresponse. rates to the Australian census revealed a positive association between city size and helping. The sixth measure was not associated with city size. No other individual-level or community-level variables emerged as substantial or consistent predictors of helping. The pattern of results is discussed in relation to the helping taxonomy employed, and implications for a number of theoretical perspectives are briefly drawn.
On Large Scale Distributed Compression and Dispersive Information Routing for Networks

This paper considers the problem of distributed source coding for a large network. A major obstacle that poses an existential threat to practical deployment of conventional approaches to distributed coding is the exponential growth of the decoder complexity with the number of sources and the encoding rates. This growth in complexity renders many traditional approaches impractical even for moderately sized networks. In this paper, we propose a new decoding paradigm for large scale distributed compression wherein the decoder complexity is explicitly controlled during the design. Central to our approach is a module called the "bit-subset selector" whose role is to judiciously extract an appropriate subset of the received bits for decoding per individual source. We propose a practical design strategy, based on deterministic annealing (DA) for the joint design of the system components, that enables direct optimization of the decoder complexity-distortion trade-off, and thereby the desired scalability. We also point out the direct connections between the problem of large scale distributed compression and a related problem in sensor networks, namely, dispersive information routing of correlated sources. This allows us to extend the design principles proposed in the context of large scale distributed compression to design efficient routers for minimum cost communication of correlated sources across a network. Experiments on both real and synthetic data-sets provide evidence for substantial gains over conventional approaches.
Eye Movements, Attention and Trans-saccadic Memory

The eyes make rapid, saccadic movements from point to point in space several times each second. It is generally assumed that some mental representation of the visual environment is maintained across eye movements in a trans-saccadic memory. We examined the role of attention in the encoding of information into trans-saccadic memory using a partial report procedure. A letter array was presented in one fixation, then a bar marker probed report of one array position after a saccade was made to a new location. Accuracy was high for positions that subjects had been told to attend to, but it was also high for positions near the saccade target, even if subjects had been instructed to attend elsewhere. These results indicate that attention determines what information is encoded into trans-saccadic memory and hence remembered across eye movements. Because attention automatically precedes the eyes to the saccade target location, information near the saccade target is likely to be encoded. The results are discussed i.
“One Day I’m Going to be Really Successful”: The Social Class Politics of Videos Made for the “It Gets Better” Anti-Gay Bullying Project

The author examines the “It Gets Better” (IGB) anti-gay bullying project, focusing particular attention on social class narratives in videos made for the campaign. Results, based on a content analysis of 128 videos, indicate that individuals most commonly began by describing negative experiences during adolescence before shifting to a narrative of progress, emphasizing how their life had improved since high school. In doing so, the makers of the videos drew on class-based standards of success such as traveling, attending college, and moving to a big city. At the same time, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people sometimes stigmatized the bullies in classist ways. Thus, as IGB encourages makers of the videos to underscore their financial success and to condemn the perpetrators of anti-gay bullying, the project reinforces the cultural elements of neoliberalism.
Shared Steering Control Using Safe Envelopes for Obstacle Avoidance and Vehicle Stability

Steer-by-wire technology enables vehicle safety systems to share control with a driver through augmentation of the driver's steering commands. Advances in sensing technologies empower these systems further with real-time information about the surrounding environment. Leveraging these advancements in vehicle actuation and sensing, the authors present a shared control framework for obstacle avoidance and stability control using two safe driving envelopes. One of these envelopes is defined by the vehicle handling limits, whereas the other is defined by spatial limitations imposed by lane boundaries and obstacles. A model predictive control (MPC) scheme determines at each time step if the current driver command allows for a safe vehicle trajectory within these two envelopes, intervening only when such a trajectory does not exist. In this way, the controller shares control with the driver in a minimally invasive manner while avoiding obstacles and preventing loss of control. The optimal control problem underlying the controller is inherently nonconvex but is solved as a set of convex problems allowing for reliable real-time implementation. This approach is validated on an experimental vehicle working with human drivers to negotiate obstacles in a low friction environment.