Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A contemporary tale of participatory action research in Aotearoa/New Zealand: applying a power–culture lens to support participatory action research as a diverse and evolving practice

This article represents an attempt at ‘truth‐telling’ or problematizing the practice of Participatory Action Research (PAR); specifically as this relates to the ways in which particular sets of knowledge, institutional and identity–power relations privilege particular worldviews and cultural systems over others within the research process. To date, much of the literature available to researchers on PAR remains grounded in Western assumptions and cultural values. However, the internationalization of development work and increasing migration patterns of people’s from to less economically developed countries to largely Western, wealthier countries, means the practice of PAR must become increasingly context‐specific. The intent of this paper, therefore, is to illuminate PAR as an evolving practice whose ongoing development must be informed by the entirety of contexts and participants that, in reality, make up any one PAR project. It tells the story of an 18‐month PAR project in Aotearoa/New Zealand with migrant, low‐income, Tongan and Samoan women living in state‐owned houses in the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes. This project evolved through several phases of development that culminated in these women undertaking a child health and safety survey of state‐owned houses in their neighborhood and engaging in public policy advocacy. Throughout each phase, the author and the other research participants had to successfully negotiate a number of power–culture dynamics and associated tensions located in the cultural assumptions of PAR, working cross‐culturally, and the challenges of attempting PAR within the context of a university–community partnership. It draws on several key examples to illustrate these dynamics and invites the audience to reflect on PAR as a diverse and changing practice.
Energy transfer from ZnO nanocrystals to Terbium (3+) ions: A spectral overlap study

In recent years, nanocrystals of the wide bandgap semiconductor zinc oxide (ZnO) have been widely studied due to its potential application in optoelectronics devices such as light source and detectors. ZnO nanocrystals (ZnO-nc) have a bandgp of 3.37eV and a large exciton binding energy of 60meV, which make them attractive material for devices which operate in the ultraviolet (UV)-blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum [1]. Consequently, ZnO-nc have also been used as sensitizers to excite the rare-earth(RE) ions such as Ce<sup>3+</sup>, Er<sup>3+</sup>, Ho<sup>3+</sup>, Nd<sup>3+</sup>, Tm<sup>3+</sup>, Dy<sup>3+</sup>, Eu<sup>3+</sup> and Tb<sup>3+</sup> [2–9] which absorb the UV-blue emission from the ZnO-nc and in turn emits their own light in the visible or infra-red wavelengths. ZnO-nc have been used as sensitizer mainly due to its large absorption cross-section and broad excitation spectrum [10] compared to the RE ions. Recently, our group has published a detailed study on the energy transfer mechanism from ZnO-nc to Eu<sup>3+</sup> ions [11], which results in strong red emission from Eu<sup>3</sup>+ at 614nm. In the above mentioned study, the contribution of the various ZnO-nc emission centres, which has been identified to consist of seven de-excitation centres [12], in the energy transfer process to the Eu<sup>3+</sup> ions was investigated. In this work, we continue to study the energy transfer contribution from the various ZnO-nc emission centres to the Tb<sup>3+</sup> ions embedded in SiO2, based on the spectral overlap of ZnO-nc emission and Tb<sup>3+</sup> ions excitation. The results from this study, along with our previous results on the energy transfer contribution from the various ZnO-nc emission centres to the Eu<sup>3+</sup> embedded in SiO<inf>2</inf> matrix [11], will help in fabricating proficient red, blue, green and even white light sources by combining the blue, green and red emissions from ZnO-nc, Tb<sup>3+</sup> and Eu<sup>3+</sup>, respectively which can be used in various photonic applications.
Finding answers to biological control methods using modulated patterns: An application to bio-inspired robotic fish

This paper presents a bio-inspired robotic fish undulatory swimming behaviour modeling and control using modulated pattern generators (MPG). Carangiform fish locomotion pattern is closely mimicked using a LH body wave (with its parameters: Tail-beat frequency (TBF) and Caudal amplitude (CA)) modulated by rhythmic central pattern generator (CPG) signal. A Matsuoka based non-linear oscillator CPG structure is used to generate desired rhythmic pattern preserving control properties like system stability (limit cycle behaviour) and synchronization. A two level locomotion control architecture based on vertebrate fish biology is proposed. Higher level controller generates desired trajectory as encoded patterns MPGs. Synchronization of the desired trajectories at each joint with the robotic fish dynamics generates desired fishlike locomotion behavior. Lower level control scheme uses an inverse dynamics model based policy for tracking this locomotion pattern (joint positions). It is shown that MPGs can represent the shape (amplitude) and phase (frequency) patterns of high-dimensional periodic inputs using simple kinematic parameters. Proposed inverse dynamics model based tracking control strategy is found to perform in a stable operating margin.
A Low-Overhead Rate Control Algorithm for Maximizing Aggregate Receiver Utility for Multirate Multicast Sessions

In multirate multicasting, different users (receivers) within the same multicast group could receive service at different rates, depending on user requirements and network congestion level. Compared to unirate multicasting, this provides more flexibility to the user, and allows more efficient usage of network resources. In this paper, we address the rate control problem for multirate multicast sessions, with the objective of maximizing the total receiver utility. This aggregate utility maximization problem not only takes into account the heterogeneity in user requirements, but also provides a unified framework for diverse fairness objectives. We propose an algorithm for this problem and show, through analysis and simulation, that it converges to the optimal rates. In spite of the non-separability of the problem, the solution that we develop is completely decentralized, scalable and does not require the network to know the receiver utilities. Moreover, the algorithm requires very simple computations both for the user and the network, and also has very low overhead of network congestion feedback.
Moderating influence of organizational justice on the relationship between job insecurity and its outcomes: A multilevel analysis

A great amount of research has illustrated the evident prevalence of job insecurity in working life and its harmful outcomes for employees and organizations. Some authors have identified factors that can reduce this negative influence. However, up until now, most of these factors have only been studied at an individual level, without taking into account the fact that contextual conditions can play a moderating role in organizations. Following this perspective, this article analyses the moderator role of organizational justice and organizational justice climate in the relationship between job insecurity and its outcomes. The study was carried out with a sample of 942 employees from 47 Spanish organizations and a subsample composed of 597 employees from 29 of these organizations. The results showed that both organizational justice and organizational justice climate moderated the relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction and intention to leave the organization.
Road-Network Aware Trajectory Clustering: Integrating Locality, Flow, and Density

Mining trajectory data has been gaining significant interest in recent years. However, existing approaches to trajectory clustering are mainly based on density and Euclidean distance measures. We argue that when the utility of spatial clustering of mobile object trajectories is targeted at road-network aware location-based applications, density and Euclidean distance are no longer the effective measures. This is because traffic flows in a road network and the flow-based density characterization become important factors for finding interesting trajectory clusters. We propose NEAT-a road-network aware approach for fast and effective clustering of trajectories of mobile objects traveling in road networks. Our approach carefully considers the traffic locality characterized by the physical constraints of the road network, the traffic flow among consecutive road segments, and the flow-based density to organize trajectories into spatial clusters in a comprehensive three-phase clustering framework. NEAT discovers spatial clusters as groups of sub-trajectories which describe both dense and highly continuous flows of mobile objects. We perform extensive experiments with mobility traces generated using different scales of real road networks. Experimental results demonstrate the flexibility of the NEAT system and show that NEAT is highly accurate and runs orders of magnitude faster than existing density-based trajectory clustering approaches.
An Optimized CD8+ T-Cell Response Controls Productive and Latent Gammaherpesvirus Infection

ABSTRACT Strategies to prime CD8+ T cells against Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68; MHV68) latency have, to date, resulted in only limited effects. While early forms of latency (<21 days) were significantly reduced, effects were not seen at later times, indicating loss of control by the primed CD8+ T cells. In the present study, we evaluated CD8+ T cells in an optimized system, consisting of OTI T-cell-receptor (TCR) transgenic mice, which generate clonal CD8+ T cells specific for Kb-SIINFEKL of OVA, and a recombinant γHV68 that expresses OVA (γHV68.OVA). Our aim was to test whether this optimized system would result in more effective control not only of acute infection but also of later forms of latent infection than was seen with previous strategies. First, we show that OTI CD8+ T cells effectively controlled acute replication of γHV68. OVA in liver, lung, and spleen at 8 and 16 days after infection of OTI/RAG mice, which lack expression of B and CD4+ T cells. However, we found that, despite eliminating detectable acute replication, the OTI CD8+ T cells did not prevent the establishment of latency in the OTI/RAG mice. We next evaluated the effectiveness of OTI T cells in OTI/B6 animals, which express B cells—a major site of latency in wild-type mice—and CD4+ T cells. In OTI/B6 mice OTI CD8+ T cells not only reduced the frequency of cells that reactivate from latency and the frequency of cells bearing the viral genome at 16 days after infection (similar to what has been reported before) but also were effective at reducing latency at 42 days after infection. Together, these data show that CD8+ T cells are sufficient, in the absence of B cells and CD4+ T cells, for effective control of acute replication. The data also demonstrate for the first time that a strong CD8+ T-cell response can limit long-term latent infection.
Meta-analysis of Comparative Therapy Outcome Research: a Critical Appraisal

Meta-analysis is a systematic and quantitative approach to reviewing empirical literature. Its claimed benefits of superior objectivity and dependability arise from its adoption of the methodological principles and methods of primary empirical research. This paper offers a critical appraisal of these claims, with special reference to the application of meta-analysis to the therapy outcome literature. Features examined include the numerical combination of results obtained in independent studies; search procedures and inclusion criteria; and the coding of objective and qualitative features of the source studies, which are then used to study the correlates of outcome via disaggregation and multiple regression analysis. The major criticisms reviewed include allegations of overgeneralization, indiscriminate inclusion of low quality data, and idiosyncratic and unacceptable conclusions. It is concluded that the continued application and refinement of meta-analysis in the field of therapy outcomes has an important contribution to make, although not to the exclusion of other methods of integrating data. It is predicted that methods and principles currently associated with meta-analysis will increasingly find a place in all reviews of extensive tracts of empirical literature.
The relationship between ACE gene ID polymorphism and aerobic capacity in Asian rugby players.

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to analyse the association between the ACE ID polymorphism and aerobic capacity in a homogeneous cohort of national Asian rugby players. METHODS 17 subjects recruited during active training had their maximal oxygen uptake (V0 2 max) and ventilatory threshold (VT) measured during maximal exercise testing. ACE genotyping was performed for all players. RESULTS The likelihood of having a V0 2 max above the 80th percentile of a gender-specific reference range for a normal population was 14.3-fold greater among subjects with the II genotype as compared to the ID genotype (p-value is 0.030). Similarly, subjects with the II genotype were 29.4 times more likely to have a VT above the gender-specific median value compared to the ID genotype (p-value is 0.019). The results suggest that the I allele confers an advantage in aerobic capacity as measured by the V0 2 max and VT. CONCLUSION It is likely that the same physiological mechanisms mediated by the ACE gene are responsible for aerobic capacity in both Asians and Caucasians.
Learning Agency: The Interactional Negotiation of Difference and Identity in Group Work.

The paper draws on mediative research analysing interaction between home, European and international students in a London university through observations, interviews, and workshops. It argues for an integrative approach to mediative research into student interaction combining insights from interactional discourse approaches with consideration of world-system and postcolonial contexts as they articulate with subject area ‐ here fashion ‐ as a means to transformative intervention. Internationalisation for home students is seen to mean moving from Eurocentric to inter-/transnational frames of reference but also interactional styles, and for institutions, to include developing the outlook, practices and curricula to mediate that.
Silencing in Classroom Interaction: Producing and Relating Social Spaces

Researchers have studied silencing practices in a number of ways, including focusing on turn taking and temporal dynamics, documenting specific interactional strategies, and analyzing the types of discourses expelled from a given context. The article forwards an alternate approach, arguing that silencing is an interactional achievement that involves producing, dividing, and relating social spaces such that participants are positioned as more or less privileged or silenced. In the production of social space for silencing, I argue that 2 key processes are active: narrating social "scenes" through talk and producing embodied spaces. The production of social space in the service of silencing is traced diachronically (as a joint, dialogic accomplishment over time) and synchronically (as the articulation of multiple social spaces in a single moment). The argument is developed from an analysis of a segment of interaction concerning women's rights within a high school history classroom, in which a girl is silenced by a group of boys. Methodologically, the article also develops alternate means of representing silencing within interaction, including maps of embodied spaces and an initial means of transcribing the shifting and nuanced participation status of a silenced participant.
The Social Behaviors and Emotional Characteristics of Individuals Elevated on Social Anhedonia

Title of Document: THE SOCIAL BEHAVIORS AND EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUALS ELEVATED ON SOCIAL ANHEDONIA Katiah Llerena, Master of Science, 2010 Directed By: Professor Jack J. Blanchard, Ph.D., Department of Psychology Research suggests that social anhedonia (SocAnh) is a promising indicator for the vulnerability towards developing schizophrenia-spectrum disorders as well as an important determinant of the social impairment associated within these disorders. In this study we sought to examine the hypothesis that, within social affiliative interactions, individuals with SocAnh demonstrate problematic behavioral skills and experiential deficits. The current study compared controls (n=54) to individuals elevated on SocAnh (n=42) within a videotaped social interaction focusing on an initial affiliative interaction. Compared to controls, participants with SocAnh were rated as less behaviorally affiliative and they were rated as having overall lower social skills. There were no group differences on ratings of facial affect. SocAnh participants reported experiencing less positive affect in response to the social interaction, were less willing to engage in future social interactions with their interaction partner, and had less affiliative reactions toward the interaction partner. Results converge with prior findings in that individuals with SocAnh may experience less positive and affiliative reactions in response to social interactions. They may also be less apt in interacting with social partners in affiliative ways. Notably, results of the current study also demonstrate that the simulated live social interaction developed for the current study may better elicit social affiliative behaviors and experiences than previous stimuli. THE SOCIAL BEHAVIORS AND EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUALS ELEVATED ON SOCIAL ANHEDONIA
Assessment of Downy mildew Resistance (Peronospora farinosa) in a Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Germplasm

In the present study, seventy-nine accessions, including two local wild species (Chenopodium album and C. murale) and several cultivated quinoa lines developed through recurrent selection in Morocco were screened for their resistance against Peronospora farinosa that is the causal agent of downy mildew disease. The method of artificial inoculation on detached leaves taken from the middle stage of the plant before the natural infection was used. Screened accessions showed different levels of resistances to downy mildew as they were scored through the calculation of their area under diseases progress curve and their two resistance components, the incubation period and the latent period. Significant differences were found between accessions regarding the three criteria (Incubation Period, Latent Period and area under diseases progress curve). Accessions M2a and S938/1 were ranked resistant as they showed the longest Incubation Period (7 days) and Latent Period (12 days) and the lowest area under diseases progress curve (4). Therefore, M24 is the most susceptible accessions as it has presented the highest area under diseases progress curve (34.5) and the shortest Incubation Period (1 day) and Latent Period (3 days). In parallel to this evaluation approach, the accession resistance was confirmed under the field conditions through natural infection by using the tree-leaf method. The high correlation found between detached leaf inoculation method and field screening under natural infection allows us to use this laboratory technique with sureness in further selection works.
EFL Teachers’ Beliefs toward Using Computer Technology in English Language Teaching

Computers have made many of our everyday tasks easier and faster and made our society more productive. Some important variables such as the classroom teacher and the teacher’s beliefs towards the effective uses of computers have been overlooked in EFL classrooms. The impact of teachers’ beliefs on classroom instruction specifically in English Language Teaching (ELT) has been paid enough attention by previous researchers, but little research has been conducted to establish a similar relation between teachers’ beliefs and uses of computer technology. The goals this paper are to define teacher beliefs, explain the process of forming beliefs, discuss the relationship between beliefs and integration of computer technology, review teachers’ beliefs and computer knowledge, elaborate teachers’ beliefs and computer technology training, examine Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and state the contribution of computer technology to English language teaching. It is expected that by gaining a better understanding of knowledge of EFL teachers’ beliefs about teaching, learning, and computers, we might gain a greater understanding for why more EFL teachers aren’t using computer technology in their EFL instruction.
Young learner perspectives on four focus-on-form tasks

Recent studies suggest that focus-on-form (FonF) instruction has a positive effect on the second language proficiency of young learners. However, few have looked at learner perspectives on different FonF tasks, particularly in those young learners. This study investigates children's attitudes towards four FonF task-types in three Primary 5 English classes in Brunei Darussalam. The four task-types selected are consciousness-raising, dictogloss, grammar interpretation and grammaring. Specifically, the study addresses children's perceived task enjoyment, ease, performance and motivation. Findings show that while there was a general trend of positive attitudes among children towards FonF tasks, variations in task preference existed, particularly with respect to three main sources of influence: cognitive demands, production demands, and pair/group-work opportunities. This research has implications for both the implementation of FonF instruction at primary school level, and the manipulation of task features to suit learners at this level.
Cholesterol Efflux Capacity, Carotid Atherosclerosis, and Cerebrovascular Symptomatology

Objective—To investigate the association of cholesterol efflux capacity with carotid atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular disease. Approach and Results—Patients with high-grade carotid stenosis (n=154) were recruited from Vascular Surgery clinics and 9 healthy controls from the McGill University Health Network, Montreal, Canada. Cerebrovascular symptomatology history was obtained. Stenosis was assessed by carotid ultrasound. Fasting blood samples were collected and depleted of apolipoprotein B particles by polyethylene glycol precipitation from serum. Cholesterol efflux was determined by incubating apolipoprotein B–depleted serum in cAMP-stimulated J774 cells for 6 hours. Carotid specimens were classified by 2 vascular pathologists using the American Heart Association atheromatous plaque classification. Differences in efflux were assessed according to (1) stenosis, (2) American Heart Association classification, and (3) cerebrovascular symptomatology. Normalized efflux was significantly lower in patients with carotid atherosclerosis compared with controls (0.97±0.16 versus 1.5±0.46; P<0.0001). Efflux was inversely associated with stenosis; the odds ratio for 80% to 99% versus 50% to 79% stenosis of tertile 1 (lowest) versus tertile 3 (highest) of efflux was 3.78 (95% confidence interval, 1.18–12.06) after adjusting for age, sex, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein. There were significant differences in cholesterol efflux between American Heart Association fibroatheroma (Va, 0.91±0.13), mainly calcific (Vb, 0.97±0.15), and mainly fibrotic (Vc, 1.03±0.21; P=0.05). There were no significant differences in efflux according to symptomatology. Conclusions—Cholesterol efflux capacity is inversely associated with increasing carotid stenosis and is associated with more advanced carotid plaque morphology, suggesting that cholesterol efflux capacity may be a biomarker for severity of carotid atherosclerotic burden. Whether therapies targeting high-density lipoprotein quality could be useful for stabilizing carotid atherosclerosis needs to be assessed.