Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Everyday World of Simulation Modeling

This article explores the practice of simulation modeling by investigating how parameterizations are constructed and integrated into existing frameworks. Parameterizations are simplified process descriptions adapted for simulation models. On the basis of a study of meteorological research, the article presents predictive and representative construction as two different ways of developing parameterizations and the trade-offs involved in this work. Because the overall aim in predictive construction is to improve weather forecasts, the most practical solutions are chosen over the best theoretical solutions. In representative construction, the situation is reversed, but while discourse focuses on theory and models, the everyday work is often tied to computer programs. These different ways of construction work are closely related to the role of the simulation models as epistemic or technical objects, and this characterization is also used to compare the results with previous research.
A Study to Investigate the Impact of Personification of Grammar on Second Grade EFL in UAE

This study is designed to develop a new method of teaching that aims to improve the ability of second grade EFL learners in UAE to understand, retain, and apply grammatical concepts taught in class in different contexts inside and outside the classroom setting. The study seeks an alternative to the current teaching methods used to teach grammar due to the fact that students are usually scoring low grades in grammar assessments which demonstrate the presence of some flaws of such methods. Moreover, teachers are facing challenges to keep young learners engaged during grammar lessons. The new teaching method that has been developed, analyzed, and tested in this study is the “Personification of Grammar” (PoG). Three primary data collection methods were employed in this study, which are observation, interviewing, and document analysis. The interview involved three class teachers of Grade 2 (Class A, B and C) prior the application stage. Moreover, a post interview was conducted with grade 2B teacher. Additionally, an observation was conducted in class B alongside a document analysis of 22 students writing samples in six grammatical concepts before and after the application of the targeted method which will be referred to as PoG “Personification of Grammar” throughout the thesis. From this study, it was found that the implementation of PoG significantly improved the scores of students in all six grammatical concepts at individual and collective levels. Moreover, there was a notable improvement at the students’ level of engagement, attentiveness, and participation during grammar lessons. Furthermore, it enhances students’ ability to apply grammatical concepts orally in different contexts.
Early Lineage Priming by Trisomy of Erg Leads to Myeloproliferation in a Down Syndrome Model

Down syndrome (DS), with trisomy of chromosome 21 (HSA21), is the commonest human aneuploidy. Pre-leukemic myeloproliferative changes in DS foetal livers precede the acquisition of GATA1 mutations, transient myeloproliferative disorder (DS-TMD) and acute megakaryocytic leukemia (DS-AMKL). Trisomy of the Erg gene is required for myeloproliferation in the Ts(1716)65Dn DS mouse model. We demonstrate here that genetic changes specifically attributable to trisomy of Erg lead to lineage priming of primitive and early multipotential progenitor cells in Ts(1716)65Dn mice, excess megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors, and malignant myeloproliferation. Gene expression changes dependent on trisomy of Erg in Ts(1716)65Dn multilineage progenitor cells were correlated with those associated with trisomy of HSA21 in human DS hematopoietic stem and primitive progenitor cells. These data suggest a role for ERG as a regulator of hematopoietic lineage potential, and that trisomy of ERG in the context of DS foetal liver hemopoiesis drives the pre-leukemic changes that predispose to subsequent DS-TMD and DS-AMKL.
The Validation of the German Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale in the Context of Mental Health

The primary aim of the current study was to examine the unique contribution of psychological need frustration and need satisfaction in the prediction of adults’ mental well-being and ill-being in a heterogeneous sample of adults (N = 334; Mage = 43.33, SD = 32.26; 53% females). Prior to this, validity evidence was provided for the German version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT). The results of the validation analyses found the German BPNSFS to be a valid and reliable measurement. Further, structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that both need satisfaction and frustration yielded unique and opposing associations with well-being. Specifically, the dimension of psychological need frustration predicted adults’ ill-being. Future research should examine whether frustration of psychological needs is involved in the onset and maintenance of psychopathology (e.g., major depressive disorder).
Towards a pluralist labor geography: Constrained grassroots agency and the socio-spatial fix in Dȇrsim, Turkey

This paper explores the interplay between capital, socio-spatial structure and grassroots agency in the context of the recent trajectories of labor geography. Based on field research conducted in Dȇrsim, Turkey, our analysis unfolds the constraining role of socio-spatial structure in the agency and praxis of grassroots movements and their geography-making and crisis-displacement from below. Through the case study, we propound a concept of socio-spatial fix to explain how this praxis conjoins with and assists capital in both staving off its recurrent crises and reproducing its own logic of accumulation. Our analysis reveals that the socio-spatial fix in Dȇrsim, which is constituted by the grassroots struggle against hydroelectric power plant projects, performs three functions. First, it facilitates the production of capitalist social relations and spaces; second, it strengthens and maintains the existing social order through temporally moderating the province’s chronic problems; and third, it provides legitimacy for the capitalist exploitation of nature, culture and histories. Our research contributes to the emerging pluralist school of labor geography, providing an empirically substantiated insight into how capital reproduces itself via socio-spatial fixes produced by constrained grassroots agency.
BMI and all-cause mortality among middle-aged and older adults in Taiwan: a population-based cohort study

Abstract Objective The present study investigates the relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality among middle-aged and older adults with or without pre-existing diseases. Design A population-based cohort study. Setting The Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging is a nationwide prospective cohort study comprising a representative random sample of middle-aged and older adults. The study period was 1996–2007. Subjects We followed 4145 middle-aged and older adults, totalling 42 353 person-years. Results Overweight and mildly obese participants showed a 16 % and 30 % decrease in the risk of death, respectively, compared with those of normal weight after adjusting for potential covariates (e.g. demographic characteristics, health behaviour, co-morbidities and physical function). Underweight adults showed a 1·36-fold increased adjusted hazard ratio of death compared with normal-weight adults. Adults with a BMI of 27·0–28·0 kg/m2 showed a significantly lower adjusted hazard ratio of all-cause mortality rate compared with adults who had normal BMI values when they had coexisting hypertension or diabetes (adjusted hazard ratio=0·50; 95 % CI 0·30, 0·81 for hypertension and adjusted hazard ratio=0·41; 95 % CI 0·18, 0·89 for diabetes). Conclusions The study demonstrates that underweight people have a higher risk of death, and overweight and mildly obese people have a lower risk of death, compared with people of normal weight among middle-aged and older adults. An optimal BMI may be based on the individual, who exhibits pre-existing diseases or not.
Discovering Latent States for Model Learning: Applying Sensorimotor Contingencies Theory and Predictive Processing to Model Context

Autonomous robots need to be able to adapt to unforeseen situations and to acquire new skills through trial and error. Reinforcement learning in principle offers a suitable methodological framework for this kind of autonomous learning. However current computational reinforcement learning agents mostly learn each individual skill entirely from scratch. How can we enable artificial agents, such as robots, to acquire some form of generic knowledge, which they could leverage for the learning of new skills? This paper argues that, like the brain, the cognitive system of artificial agents has to develop a world model to support adaptive behavior and learning. Inspiration is taken from two recent developments in the cognitive science literature: predictive processing theories of cognition, and the sensorimotor contingencies theory of perception. Based on these, a hypothesis is formulated about what the content of information might be that is encoded in an internal world model, and how an agent could autonomously acquire it. A computational model is described to formalize this hypothesis, and is evaluated in a series of simulation experiments.
Photography 2.0: competenes and cultural practices in digital natives

In the following work of research, we shall present the results of a study on forms of digital photographic socialization as carried out by the so-called �digital natives� in order to explore their competence in managing digital photographic output and cultural practices. This shall be done under the following categories of analysis: snapshot, organization, socialization, recepcion, privacy and copyrights in digital photography. The study explores the forms of digital photography production, technical problems of photographic management and the final uses that digital photographers give to their photos in terms of web tools 2.0, Mobile telephones and social Networks. Digital photography technology, compact cameras, mobile phones with cameras, specialized websites in photography and the Internet generate new forms of production and emerging styles of digital photographic socialization. The study is carried out using a defined sample of university students, those �digital natives� who create and use digital photography.
Evaluation of Health-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Turkish Students in Urban and Rural School Districts

Physical fitness (PF) is an important element for overall health. The scope of the current study was to investigate the level of physical fitness of 12-14 aged students in urban and rural school districts and it's relation to the rate of physical activity participation. A total of 214 students (100 boys and 114 girls) were enrolled in this research, respectively. PF was assessed using five tests from the Fitnessgram Test Battery. According to Fitnessgram health-related ﬁtness standards the prevalence of percent body fat (NI-Health Risk: 22.8% vs. 11.5%; NI: 43.3% vs. 19.5; HFZ: 33.1% vs. 69.0%; Very Lean: 0.8% vs. 0%); BMI (NI-Health Risk: 4.7% vs. 2.3%; NI: 17.3% vs. 5.7%; HFZ: 67.7% vs. 78.2%; Very Lean: 10.2% vs. 13.8%) and VO2max (NI: 12.6% vs. 0%; HFZ: 87.4% vs. 100%) were found in the overall sample in urban and rural school districts, respectively. As stated in Kruskal-Wallis H test results, the students in the urban school districts had significantly higher body weight ( x 2 (1) =20.44, p=0,000), percent body fat( x 2 (1) =20.49, p=0.000), BMI( x 2 (1) =15.45, p=0.000) and significantly lower VO2max ( x 2 (1) =11.21, p=0.001), curl-ups ( x 2 (1) =54.77, p=0.000), 90 o push-ups ( x 2 (1) =5.09, p=0.024) and PA participation rates ( x 2 (1) =85.02, p=0.000) compared to counterparts in the rural school districts. In conclusion, the physical activity participation levels of the overall students were positively associated with the school district, VO2max, curl-up, and push-up. However, it was negatively correlated with body weight, percent body fat, and BMI in urban and rural school districts.
An analysis of a mesa instruction set using dynamic instruction frequencies

The Mesa architecture is implemented on a variety of processors, and dynamic instruction frequency data for two programs is used to analyze the architecture in an implementation independent fashion. The Mesa compiler allocates variables in an order based upon their static frequency of use, and measurements are provided that show that these static predictions predict run time usage as well. We provide an evaluation of the advantages and costs of Mesa's compact byte encoding, its reliance upon an evaluation stack, and its use of memory. The Mesa language has evolved over time in a hardware environment oriented around 16-bit quantities with growing use of and accommodations to 32-bit quantities. The cost of emulating 32-bit data paths on a 16-bit machine is identified for a program that heavily exploits longer values. Several potential areas for improving the execution speed of a Mesa processor with special purpose hardware are identified.
Stability and critical phenomena of black holes and black rings

We revisit the general topic of thermodynamical stability and critical phenomena in black hole physics, analyzing in detail the phase diagram of the five dimensional rotating black hole and the black rings discovered by Emparan and Reall. First we address the issue of microcanonical stability of these spacetimes and its relation to thermodynamics by using the so-called Poincare (or 'turning point') method, which we review in detail. We are able to prove that one of the black ring branches is always locally unstable, showing that there is a change of stability at the point where the two black ring branches meet. Next we study divergence of fluctuations, the geometry of the thermodynamic state space (Ruppeiner geometry) and compute the appropriate critical exponents and verify the scaling laws familiar from renormalization group theory in statistical mechanics. We find that, at extremality, the behavior of the system is formally very similar to a second order phase transition.
LoSeRO: a locality sensitive routing protocol in opportunistic networks

User trajectories can be used to extrapolate personal information such as interests and movement patterns. Extrapolating this information is especially important in the context of opportunistic networks, which take advantage of human mobility and their interactions to deliver messages to relevant users. In this paper, we propose a Geo-casting routing protocol called LoSeRO for opportunistic networks, which uses knowledge of the locations most frequently visited by a user to route messages. LoSeRO forwards messages---in a multicasting way---to all users who have a mobility profile that intersects the packet's destination zone. In particular, users' mobility profile is based on pre-defined zones, and LoSeRO generates a mobility vector, called MobyZone, populated by the most n-frequented zones. Thus, if the destination zone of the packet belongs to the MobyZone of a user, then the user is chosen as valid candidate for receiving the packet. Efficiency of our protocol has been evaluated using different metrics, such as coverage, precision and success rate, and compared to that of state-of-the-art geo-casting protocols. Simulations show that LoSeRO reaches the best compromise among the mentioned evaluation metrics.
Challenges faced by parents of children with autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Purpose: A limited number of studies have explored the challenges and issues faced by parents with children of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are receiving speech-language services in Malaysia. This study aimed to explore the perceptions, challenges, and experiences of parents whose children with ASD are receiving speech-language therapy services. Methods: Three individual interview sessions were conducted with eight parents of children with ASD. Interviews were transcribed and evaluated using thematic analysis. Results: Four major themes were discovered from the interviews with the parents of children with ASD. These included: (1) a lack of knowledge about ASD, (2) insights into the impacts of ASD on the parents’ lives, (3) their perceived challenges at the time they were seeking speech intervention, and (4) their views about the positive aspects of their children receiving speech therapy. Conclusions: Parents viewed their children’s speech therapy as positive and helpful, but they also perceived barriers and challenges when accessing this therapy. An increase in public awareness about ASD and establishing structured ASD support group could provide helpful resources for parents and may assist them in overcoming these challenges. Future studies should determine coping strategies and solutions for these challenges to provide better support for families of children with ASD.
Strategic Ambiguity and Crisis Apologia: The Impact of Audiences' Interpretations of Mixed Messages

ABSTRACT Based on the perspectives of strategic ambiguity and organizational reputation, the current study examines the effects of mixed crisis response strategies, which adopt seemingly contradictory messages (i.e., apology and denial), through experiments. Consistent with the scope of strategic communication research, this study incorporates theoretical aspects of distinct areas of organizational communication to examine audience response to strategic messages, and makes recommendations for organizational communication strategies during crisis situations. The findings demonstrate that, instead of taking messages straightforwardly, people interpret the same messages divergently in their own ways, and these interpretations accordingly affect their attitudes and behavioral intentions. Findings indicate participants choose a dominant interpretation when given mixed messages, and subsequent responses are based on the initial interpretation, such that evaluating a mixed message as an apology yielded more positive outcomes than those who interpreted the message in other ways. In addition to people’s diverse interpretations, organizations’ crisis communication strategies and the business type also significantly influenced the outcomes. The apology-interpreters showed more positive outcomes than those who were exposed only to apology for an automaker’s crisis. On the other hand, for a nonprofit organization’s crisis, those who were exposed to a simple denial message showed more positive outcomes than those who perceived the mixed message as a denial. Based on these findings, this study offers practical recommendations on when to use single messages versus mixed messages, along with the explanation of how these divergent strategies work.
Exploring the assessment process on a ward for older people : a constructivist grounded theory

Background: There are many challenges in assessing older people in hospital and despite guidelines advocating Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), there is a lack of clarity regarding how these patients are currently assessed in practice. Objective: To explore the assessment process on a ward for older people from the perspective of patients and health care professionals. Design: A constructivist Grounded Theory was used to understand assessment from different perspectives. Setting and subjects: Patients without cognitive impairment admitted to and professionals working on one ward for older people in an NHS University Hospital in England, UK. Methods: Data were collected between February 2015 and January 2016, including 37 interviews (15 patients, 22 professionals), a focus group (6 professionals), and 45 hours of fieldwork including observation and review of 18 sets of patient notes. Findings: The core category was ‘Navigating’, conveyed through three themes: ‘Containing complexity’, ‘Networking’, and ‘Situating the process’. Key findings were: (1) Navigating assessment is a complex, flexible, context dependent, and social process, (2) Health professionals use a combination of formal, informal, visible and invisible ways of working, (3) Registered nurses are at the centre of networking, spending most their time gathering and sharing information within the multi-disciplinary team, (4) Patients seemed to have a passive role, whilst expressing a variety of decision-making involvement preferences. Conclusions: Navigating the assessment of older people is contextually situated and involves less standardised, less visible and less formalised approaches to assessment than suggested in the guidelines. Awareness of all these aspects of navigating may result in their further utilisation and development. Nurses’ focussed on gathering and sharing information, but to move from “chasing” to “coordinating” patient care they need support from the multi-disciplinary team. Patients have limited participation within the navigating process, and their decision-making involvement preferences are not always elicited and facilitated.
Frataxin Silencing Inactivates Mitochondrial Complex I in NSC34 Motoneuronal Cells and Alters Glutathione Homeostasis

Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease characterized by a reduced synthesis of the mitochondrial iron chaperon protein frataxin as a result of a large GAA triplet-repeat expansion within the first intron of the frataxin gene. Despite neurodegeneration being the prominent feature of this pathology involving both the central and the peripheral nervous system, information on the impact of frataxin deficiency in neurons is scant. Here, we describe a neuronal model displaying some major biochemical and morphological features of FRDA. By silencing the mouse NSC34 motor neurons for the frataxin gene with shRNA lentiviral vectors, we generated two cell lines with 40% and 70% residual amounts of frataxin, respectively. Frataxin-deficient cells showed a specific inhibition of mitochondrial Complex I (CI) activity already at 70% residual frataxin levels, whereas the glutathione imbalance progressively increased after silencing. These biochemical defects were associated with the inhibition of cell proliferation and morphological changes at the axonal compartment, both depending on the frataxin amount. Interestingly, at 70% residual frataxin levels, the in vivo treatment with the reduced glutathione revealed a partial rescue of cell proliferation. Thus, NSC34 frataxin silenced cells could be a suitable model to study the effect of frataxin deficiency in neurons and highlight glutathione as a potential beneficial therapeutic target for FRDA.
Coma revealed as an extended hard X-rays source by INTEGRAL IBIS/ISGRI

Aims. We report the INTEGRAL/IBIS observations of the Coma Cluster in the hard X-ray/soft -ray domain. Methods. Since the Coma Cluster appears as an extended source, its global intensity and significance cannot be directly extracted with standard coded mask analysis. We used the method of imaging the extended sources with a coded mask telescope developed by Renaud et al. (2006). Results. The imaging capabilities and the sensitivity of the IBIS/ISGRI coded mask instrument allows us to identify for the firs t time the site of the emission above∼ 15 keV. We have studied the Coma Cluster morphology in the 18-30 keV band and found that it follows the prediction based on X-ray observations. We also bring constraints on the non-thermal mechanism contribution at higher energies.