Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An educational ethnography of teacher-developed science curriculum implementation: Enacting conceptual change-based science inquiry with Hispanic students

An achievement gap exists between White and Hispanic students in the United States. Research has shown that improving the quality of instruction for minority students is an effective way to narrow this gap. Science education reform movements emphasize that science should be taught using a science inquiry approach. Extensive research in teaching and learning science also shows that a conceptual change model of teaching is effective in helping students learn science. Finally, research into how Hispanic students learn best has provided a number of suggestions for science instruction. The Inquiry for Conceptual Change model merges these three research strands into a comprehensive yet accessible model for instruction. This study investigates two questions. First, what are teachers’ perceptions of science inquiry and its implementation in the classroom? Second, how does the use of the Inquiry for Conceptual Change model affect the learning of students in a predominantly Hispanic, urban neighborhood. Five teachers participated in a professional development project where they developed and implemented a science unit based on the Inquiry for Conceptual Change model. Three units were developed and implemented for this study. This is a qualitative study that included data from interviews, participant reflections and journals, student preand postassessments, and researcher observations. This study provides an in-depth description of the role of professional development in helping teachers understand how science inquiry can be used to improve instructional quality for students in a predominantly Hispanic, urban neighborhood. These teachers demonstrated that it is important for professional development to be collaborative and provide opportunities for teachers to enact and reflect on new teaching paradigms. This study also shows promising results for the ability of the Inquiry for Conceptual Change model to improve student learning.
Liberalising the German Model: Institutional Change, Organisational Restructuring and Workplace Effects

Institutional change at supranational, European Union level affects national and firm level institutions in various ways. This article traces effects of liberalisation measures in the airport industry enacted in two airport firms in Germany. The study, based on qualitative empirical research, found that EU liberalisation facilitated company creation of subsidiaries (subsidiarisation) and elevated shareholder interest in corporate governance. These factors affected institutional practices and cultural norms within the German industrial context that in turn influenced significant alterations in employment and workplace relations. Considerable disruption of the German social partnership model of corporate governance and industrial relations was observed. However, in addition to patterns of convergence towards neoliberal practices and outcomes frequently observed in Anglo-Saxon systems, the study found some elements of effective retention of cultural institutional resources of the German model. Both ‘path departure’ and social embeddedness appear to coexist.
Foreign Capital Flows and Economic Growth in Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis

Pakistan economy has received large inflows of foreign capital, in shape of foreign debt, FDI and worker's remittances, over the years. The present study is focused on the examination of effects of these flows on economic growth in Pakistan. Johansen cointegration technique and Granger causality test has been used for the analysis for the sample period of 1972-2013. The results reveal negative impacts of these flows on economic growth of the economy in long run. Short run analysis confirmed unidirectional causality running from debt service, FDI, inflation and literacy rate to growth. Causality from domestic investment is not concluded but it run from growth to domestic investment. Bidirectional causality between remittances and growth has been found. The analysis suggests some policy recommendations such as domestic resource mobilization, building of physical infrastructure, financial development, suitable macroeconomic framework for price stability and improvement in human capital for the long run growth of the economy.
Low Hemoglobin Level a Risk Factor for Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (ALRTI) in Children.

BACKGROUND Acute lower respiratory tract infection is a major cause of death in under five years of age, and anemia is the commonest co-factor in pediatric patients seeking medical advice especially in developing countries. AIM To analyze whether a low hemoglobin level is a risk factor for acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTI) in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS Prospective case control study on 220 children (110 cases and controls each) was carried out in our children's hospital (G.B. Pant Hospital), an associated hospital of Government Medical College Srinagar, of Kashmir Northern India. All patients between the age of 1 month to 5 years of age who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included. We used WHO criteria to diagnose ALRTI among the cases, and age and sex matched patients who did not have respiratory complaints were kept as controls. Patients who had congenital heart diseases, tuberculosis, malignancies, or dysmorphic features were excluded from the study. All patients were subjected to detailed history and through clinical examination followed by investigations like complete blood count (CBC), peripheral blood film (PBF) smear, blood culture and sensitivity test, X-ray chest, serum iron and iron binding capacity were done in all cases. RESULTS Our study had slightly male preponderance 57.3% in study group and 59.1% in control group. Maximum number of children were between 3 months and 23 months both in the study (80.9%) as well as in the control (81.8%) group. In this study hemoglobin level <11 gm/dl was considered low. Mean Hb level was 8.8 gm/dl in the study group and 11.6 gm/dl in the control group. Anemia was found in 71 (64.5%) cases in the study group and in 31 (28.2%) cases in the control group. Anemic patients were found to be 4.6 times more susceptible to ALRTI in our study (Odds Ratio was 4.63), p-value <0.01. Iron deficiency was found in 78.9% of total anemic cases in the study group, p-value <0.01. In the study group, the mean serum iron level was 35.3 mcg/dl in the anemic cases and 57.1 mcg/dl in the non-anemic cases. while in the control group, these values were 52.4 mcg/dl and 62.6% mcg/dl respectively, (p-value ,<0.01). CONCLUSION Anemia, predominantly iron deficiency anemia, was significantly found in ALTRI patients, and these patients were found to be 4.6 times more susceptible to ALRTI. Early and accurate diagnosis of anemia in children suffering from various ailments in particular to ALRTI will serve the mankind in a better way.
A Quantitative Study of Hong Kong's Fiscal Policy

Given the adoption of the linked exchange rate since October 1983, fiscal policy becomes the only measurement for stabilizing the Hong Kong economy. This paper attempts to establish a framework for evaluating the fiscal effect to prevent the abuse of fiscal measures. The empirical study of Jha et al. (2010) revealed the significant negative impact of fiscal effect in Hong Kong, which violates the classical view of fiscal policy. A similar result has been found by adopting another structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model proposed by Ravn et al. (2007). An omission of control variables in the quantitative model is possible. The MSCI AC (All countries) Pacific Index has been introduced as an international block in the SVAR model proposed by Ravn et al. (2007). The fiscal effect becomes positive and standardizes with the previous fiscal studies. The replacement of investment variable in the modified model suggests that positive fiscal innovation does not encounter with the crowding out effect on investment. The estimations for the decomposition policy expenditures indicate that compositional effect exists, and it undermines the fiscal multiplier. The estimations also reveal that the innovation in recurrent expenditure contributes mainly to the fiscal effect. With the persistence and significant impact on output, concentrating on infrastructure expenditure is the recommendation on Hong Kong fiscal policy to maximize the expansionary effect in the short run.
Financial conventions in Keynes's theory: the stock exchange

This paper examines Keynes's treatment of financial conventions, focusing on the stock exchange. It shows that Keynes's approach was unclear but insightful. Some elements are combined here to clarify his implicit concept, which incorporated features of a general concept (social sharing, conformity with the conformity of others, and arbitrariness) with specific characteristics in financial contexts. The paper identifies a peculiar sense in which the speculator is unconventional. It contrasts the potentially short duration of Keynes's financial convention with the widespread idea that informal institutions change very slowly. Finally, it discusses the relation between convention, self-interest, and decision-theoretic and social norms.
SOME TIME SERIES PROPERTIES OF ACCOUNTING INCOME

This article applies different methods from those of previous researchers, but the conclusion is unchanged. We conclude that, in general, measured annual accounting incomes for U.S. corporations follow either a submartingale or some very similar process.1 Because of small sample problems this conclusion is based on mean and median results; no attempt has been made to determine whether specific' firms are systematic outliers. The conclusion that corporate incomes are submartingales has important implications for forecasters and researchers in accounting and finance. For example, it implies that attempts to smooth corporate incomes in the manner suggested in the accounting and finance literatures are not successful. It also affects the interpretation of the growth and decline of firms. II. THE SMOOTHING OF INCOME The accounting and finance literatures are replete with the suggestion that accountants smooth the incomes of firms. That is, it is commonly hypothesized that accountants manipulate their income-measuring techniques in order to soften the effect of hard times upon income and, conversely, in order to diminish the extent to which good times are contemporaneously reflected in income. The hypothesis that accountants do smooth income and the belief that they should smooth income have existed for decades. Hepworth [25], Gordon [21, 223, Gordon et al. [23], Schiff [36], Dopuch and Drake [14], Copeland [10], Copeland and Licastro [11], and Gagnon [20] all investigate income
Changes in Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 19A Invasive Infections in Children from 1993 to 2011

ABSTRACT Among 594 Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) isolates collected from 1993 to 2011, we identified 85 sequence types by multilocus sequence typing. CC320 was associated with multidrug resistance and reduced susceptibility to penicillin and ceftriaxone and still predominated among declining serotype 19A IPD isolates following PCV13 introduction.
Finding the invisible hand: an objective model of financial markets

A learning model is presented which resolves the ambiguity in the efficient markets concept because it is consistent with rational expectations. Heterogeneous least squares learning alone is sufficient to construct a price which contains all information. Contrary to intuition, there is no need for costly fundamental analysis; instead price is the product of interlocking expectations, and the continual revision of expectations causes price to gravitate to the efficient point. Price bubbles are not an aberration but an intrinsic part of a two phase process (normal / bubble) driven by the proportion of investors who consider price in their decisions. This behaviour can be understood in terms of a hidden substrate in which price is an information storing object, analogous to a set of genes in biology.
The Evolutionary Path to Extraintestinal Pathogenic, Drug-Resistant Escherichia coli Is Marked by Drastic Reduction in Detectable Recombination within the Core Genome

Escherichia coli is a highly diverse group of pathogens ranging from commensal of the intestinal tract, through to intestinal pathogen, and extraintestinal pathogen. Here, we present data on the population diversity of E. coli, using Bayesian analysis to identify 13 distinct clusters within the population from multilocus sequence typing data, which map onto a whole-genome-derived phylogeny based on 62 genome sequences. Bayesian analysis of recombination within the core genome identified reduction in detectable core genome recombination as one moves from the commensals, through the intestinal pathogens down to the multidrug-resistant extraintestinal pathogenic clone E. coli ST131. Our data show that the emergence of a multidrug-resistant, extraintestinal pathogenic lineage of E. coli is marked by substantial reduction in detectable core genome recombination, resulting in a lineage which is phylogenetically distinct and sexually isolated in terms of core genome recombination.
CHARTING HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA: GROWTH, TRANSFORMATIONS, AND CHALLENGES

Abstract Tertiary education in Ghana has seen rapid advancement over the past two decades. This growth is the result of transformative policy reforms such as upgrading polytechnics into higher education status; the establishment of the University of Development Studies (UDS) in the northern part of the country; the amalgamation of existing Colleges of Education into degree awarding institutions; the creation of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to provide supplementary financial support for infrastructure, faculty research and development; expansion of distance education programs; modification of the student loan scheme; and a conducive regulatory environment that encourages private sector participation in higher education provision. In spite of these developments, the system continues to face several challenges such as limited funding to support academic programs; limited participation rates for low-income students, females, and minorities; difficulty recruiting and retaining young academic and research faculty; inadequate research capacities; limited ICT infrastructure to enhance instruction and curriculum delivery and inadequate facilities to support science and technology education; etc. This chapter focuses on the state of public higher education in Ghana with emphasis on current growth and challenges. The chapter offers descriptive analysis based on government policy reports and documents, enrollment data from universities in Ghana, and data from the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Tertiary Education in Ghana.
Transient Combustion Modeling of an Oscillating Lean Premixed Methane/Air Flame

The main objective of the present study is to demonstrate accurate low frequency transient turbulent combustion modeling. For accurate flame dynamics some improvements were made to the standard TFC combustion model for lean premixed combustion. With use of a 1D laminar flamelet code, predictions have been made for the laminar flame speed and the critical strain rate to improve the TFC (Turbulent Flame Speed Closure) combustion model. The computational fluid dynamics program CFX is used to perform transient simulations. These results were compared with experimental data of Weigand et al [1]. Two different turbulence models have been used for predictions of the turbulent flow.
Barriers to micro, small and medium enterprise growth in the Fiji Islands: an empirical estimation using OLS regression model

The primary aim of this research is to compare the problems faced by the MSMEs in the Fiji Islands with the MSMEs in the UK. In order to achieve this aim, Cromie (1991) research framework was used to collect data from the Fiji Islands and later the research findings were compared to Cromie's (1991) study titled 'The problems experienced by young firms'. Using cross sectional data of 247 MSMEs from the Fiji Islands, this study outlines the severity of the problems faced by the MSMEs and the impact of these problems on the profitability of the MSMEs. Similar to the Cromie's (1991) study, this study configured that financial problems are the most severe problem faced by the MSMEs in both the retailing and the manufacturing sector.
Effect of Calcium Channel Blockers on Platelet GPIIb-IIIa as a Calcium Channel in Liposomes: Comparison with Effects on the Intact Platelet

Summary The platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb-IIIa complex is essential for platelet aggregation and functions as a fibrinogen receptor on the activated platelet. When incorporated into phospholipid vesicles, this glycoprotein complex can function as an apparent calcium channel which facilitates the transit of calcium across a phospholipid barrier. In order to further evaluate this calcium channel, the effect of calcium channel blockers of the dihydropyridine (nifedipine and nicardipine), arylalkylamine (verapamil) and benzothiazipine (diltiazem) classes were evaluated on GPIIb-Illa liposomes with encapsulated fura-2 (a fluorescent calcium indicator). Nicardipine, verapamil, and nifedipine significantly inhibited calcium influx into GPIIb-IIIa liposomes; however, this required 190 μM, 400 μM, and 140 μM drug, respectively. These concentrations are 10-1,000 fold greater than those clinically obtainable. In contrast, diltiazem at concentrations >220 μM and amiloride at concentrations >800 μM showed no inhibitory effects. When aspirinized platelets were activated with 30 μg/ml bovine fibrillar collagen, both nicardipine and diltiazem produced a decrease in both the initial rise and maximum cytoplasmic calcium concentration. Parallel experiments were performed to assess the effects of verapamil, nicardipine, and diltiazem on platelet aggregation in platelet rich plasma. Nicardipine, 190-380 μM, induced a prolongation of the lag phase, but no effect on the final degree of platelet aggregation to collagen. Similar inhibition of platelet aggregation was seen with diltiazem and verapamil although the effect of diltiazem was less pronounced particularly at higher concentrations of collagen. No effect was seen on aggregation with 32 μM ADP which is release independent, or on the primary wave of low dose ADP induced platelet aggregation. Verapamil (200 μM) and nicardipine (>190 μM) partially inhibited the secondary wave of 3.2 μM ADP aggregation. In contrast, diltiazem (400 μM) had limited effect on ADP induced aggregation. Similarly, both nicardipine and verapamil markedly inhibited platelet aggregation to 6 μM epinephrine; however, diltiazem had no effect. These data demonstrate that the GPIIb-IIIa calcium channel is selectively inhibited by different classes of calcium channel blockers. This inhibition requires concentrations much higher than that to inhibit classic voltage gated calcium channels and may be by a different mechanism. Further evaluation will determine whether this differential inhibition of the GPIIb-IIIa calcium channel is related to differences observed in platelet aggregation.
Green Governance: Boards of Directors’ Composition and Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility

This study contributes to the work on board composition and firm corporate social responsibility by extending it to the environmental domain. It evaluates the relationship between boards of directors’ composition and environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) by integrating literatures on board composition, firm corporate social responsibility, and individual differences in attitudes toward and information about environmental issues. Using disclosed company data and the natural environment ratings data from Kinder Lydenberg Domini (KLD) Inc. for 78 Fortune 1000 companies, the study finds that a higher proportion of outside board directors is associated with more favorable ECSR and higher KLD strengths scores. Firms with boards composed of three or more female directors received higher KLD strengths scores. And, boards whose directors average closer to 56 years in age and those with a higher proportion of Western European directors are more likely to implement environmental governance structures or processes. Our results also reinforce growing concerns around unidimensional KLD measures.
Anandamide Regulates Keratinocyte Differentiation by Inducing DNA Methylation in a CB1 Receptor-dependent Manner*

Anandamide (arachidonoylethanolamide, AEA) belongs to an important class of endogenous lipids including amides and esters of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, collectively termed “endocannabinoids. ” Recently we have shown that AEA inhibits differentiation of human keratinocytes, by binding to type-1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1R). To further characterize the molecular mechanisms responsible for this effect, we investigated the expression of epidermal differentiation-related genes after AEA treatment. We observed that keratin 1 and 10, transglutaminase 5 and involucrin are transcriptionally down-regulated by AEA. Most importantly, we found that AEA is able to decrease differentiating gene expression by increasing DNA methylation in human keratinocytes, through a p38, and to a lesser extent p42/44, mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent pathway triggered by CB1R. An effect of AEA on DNA methylation because of CB1R-mediated increase of methyltransferase activity is described here for the first time, and we believe that the importance of this effect clearly extends beyond the regulation of skin differentiation. In fact, the modulation of DNA methylation by endocannabinoids may affect the expression of a number of genes that regulate many cell functions in response to these substances.
Employee Stock Options and Investment

Exercises of employee stock options generate substantial cash inflows to the firm. These cash inflows substitute for costly external finance in those states of the world in which the demand for investment is high. Using the fact that the proceeds from option exercises exhibit a distinct nonlinearity around the point where options fall out of the money, we estimate that firms increase investment by $0.34 for each dollar received from the exercise of stock options. Firms that face higher external financing costs allocate more of the proceeds from option exercises to investment.
Soybean Production and Conversion of Tropical Forest in the Brazilian Amazon: The Case of Vilhena, Rondônia

Abstract The recent rise in Brazilian soybean production has generated concern among the environmental community and some authors that natural tropical environments of the Amazon Basin are being converted to soybean fields. Proponents of soybean production counter that soybeans represent a viable agricultural commodity for the region; environmental concern is unwarranted, because new soybean fields are replacing already deforested or otherwise transformed lands. Both arguments have been made without comprehensive study and measure of land-use/land-cover (LULC) in areas undergoing expansion of soybean production. This case study, conducted in the municipality of Vilhena, Rondônia, Brazil, in the southwestern Amazon Basin, uses remote sensing to evaluate the LULC accompanying this municipality's large growth in soybean production from 1996 to 2001. Forests are being converted for soybean production, but most of the production increase appears attributable to slight expansion of already existing fields, conversion of already deforested land, and higher yields.