Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Silent Reading and Discussion of Self-Selected Books in the Contemporary Classroom.

Silent reading and book discussion about books read for pleasure can increase reading frequency and support the strengthening of student engagement in the beneficial practice of recreational reading. However, little is known about children's attitudes toward and experiences of these pedagogical activities. Qualitative findings from 47 children aged eight to 11 across 24 elementary schools in Western Australia provide insight into this area of research. Silent reading is typically enjoyable, though dependent on the book, choice, access and reading environment, and it is vulnerable to inconsistent delivery. Very few children had the opportunity to discuss self-selected reading material in the classroom context, though the potential of this discussion for promoting a shared social experience and book recommendations was recognised. These mutually supportive strategies are best delivered separately, and greater consideration and value should be given to them, despite the current assessment-focused, high-stakes learning contexts of contemporary Australian schools.
As the states turned: Implications of the changing legal context of same-sex marriage on well-being

Using a minority stress framework, we examined changes in personal well-being among individuals in same-sex relationships during the transition to federal marriage recognition. Longitudinal panel data from 279 individuals were collected once before and at three time points after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Obergefell vs. Hodges case that resulted in federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Prior to the ruling, levels of internalized homonegativity, isolation, and vicarious trauma were positively associated with psychological distress. Levels of felt stigma and vicarious trauma were negatively associated with life satisfaction. Following the ruling, trajectories of psychological distress decreased over time for individuals who experienced higher (vs. lower) initial levels of internalized homonegativity, isolation, and vicarious trauma. Trajectories of life satisfaction increased over time for individuals who experienced higher (vs. lower) initial levels of vicarious trauma. These changes occurred over and above the effects of state and local recognition and marital status.
Dynamical consequences of lesions in cortical networks

To understand the effects of a cortical lesion it is necessary to consider not only the loss of local neural function, but also the lesion‐induced changes in the larger network of endogenous oscillatory interactions in the brain. To investigate how network embedding influences a region's functional role, and the consequences of its being damaged, we implement two models of oscillatory cortical interactions, both of which inherit their coupling architecture from the available anatomical connection data for macaque cerebral cortex. In the first model, node dynamics are governed by Kuramoto phase oscillator equations, and we investigate the sequence in which areas entrain one another in the transition to global synchrony. In the second model, node dynamics are governed by a more realistic neural mass model, and we assess long‐run inter‐regional interactions using a measure of directed information flow. Highly connected parietal and frontal areas are found to synchronize most rapidly, more so than equally highly connected visual and somatosensory areas, and this difference can be explained in terms of the network's clustered architecture. For both models, lesion effects extend beyond the immediate neighbors of the lesioned site, and the amplitude and dispersal of nonlocal effects are again influenced by cluster patterns in the network. Although the consequences of in vivo lesions will always depend on circuitry local to the damaged site, we conclude that lesions of parietal regions (especially areas 5 and 7a) and frontal regions (especially areas 46 and FEF) have the greatest potential to disrupt the integrative aspects of neocortical function. Hum Brain Mapp, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Role of Team Learning in Enabling Shared Leadership in ISD Teams

IS Leadership is distinctive from leadership in general because of the special interface between Information Technology and business. As the increasing complexity and interdependence in the Information Systems Development (ISD) context, this study proposes to examine the IS leadership from a distributed team level. Based upon Social Interdependence Theory, we argue that the inherent high level of positive interdependence in the ISD context determines the team members’ interaction patterns which result in team leadership and team learning. The empirical evidence will be collected to test the model. The study results will benefit the understanding of team leadership in ISD context and explore the relationship between team leadership and team learning.
The Changing Performance of the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity Hypothesis and Monetary Policy

This paper test for multiple unknown breaks in UIP regressions for seven major currencies and the years 1980-98. For periods of EMS turbulence and crises we observe a switch from the “usual” negatively signed OLS slope coefficient to high positive values. This result can be nicely explained in the framework of McCallum’s (1994) monetary policy reaction model as a consequence of a decrease in the degree of interest rate smoothing and an increased persistence of the risk premium in turbulent or crises episodes. A similar explanation can be given for the good performance of UIP for the DM/French Franc rate in most of the sample period, whereas the same finding for the French Franc/Swiss Franc rate probably simply reflects no policy response to this exchange rate.
The 3D Model Acquisition Pipeline

Three‐dimensional (3D) image acquisition systems are rapidly becoming more affordable, especially systems based on commodity electronic cameras. At the same time, personal computers with graphics hardware capable of displaying complex 3D models are also becoming inexpensive enough to be available to a large population. As a result, there is potentially an opportunity to consider new virtual reality applications as diverse as cultural heritage and retail sales that will allow people to view realistic 3D objects on home computers.
Object-Based Classification of Urban Areas Using VHR Imagery and Height Points Ancillary Data

Land cover classification of very high resolution (VHR) imagery over urban areas is an extremely challenging task. Impervious land covers such as buildings, roads, and parking lots are spectrally too similar to be separated using only the spectral information of VHR imagery. Additional information, therefore, is required for separating such land covers by the classifier. One source of additional information is the vector data, which are available in archives for many urban areas. Further, the object-based approach provides a more effective way to incorporate vector data into the classification process as the misregistration between different layers is less problematic in object-based compared to pixel-based image analysis. In this research, a hierarchical rule-based object-based classification framework was developed based on a small subset of QuickBird (QB) imagery coupled with a layer of height points called Spot Height (SH) to classify a complex urban environment. In the rule-set, different spectral, morphological, contextual, class-related, and thematic layer features were employed. To assess the general applicability of the rule-set, the same classification framework and a similar one using slightly different thresholds applied to larger subsets of QB and IKONOS (IK), respectively. Results show an overall accuracy of 92% and 86% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.88 and 0.80 for the QB and IK Test image, respectively. The average producers’ accuracies for impervious land cover types were also 82% and 74.5% for QB and IK.
Phylogenetic relationships of species of the genus Brachyrhaphis (Poeciliidae) inferred from partial mitochondrial DNA sequences

Phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed using partial mitochondrial DNA sequence data for the cytochrome b gene among all nine described species of Bra&flaphis and several members of the tribe Gambusiini. We included three of the more than 40 members of the genus Gambusia and Belonesox belimnus, the third, monotypic genus of the tribe Gambusiini. Xiphophorus malinche served as the outgroup. Phylogenetic trees were generated using maximum-parsimony, maximumlikelihood, and neighbor-joining analyses. Hypotheses of relationships withii the tribe and genus Brachyrhaphis made by previous authors were tested. The existence of a slim- and a deep-bodied clade within the monophyletic genus BraFhflaphis was supported. Bmchyrhaphis hariwegi is the basal member of the deep-bodied clade, whereas B. punctifer is the basal member of the slim-bodied clade.
On the Superconformal Flatness of AdS Superspaces

The superconformal structure of coset superspaces with AdSm × Sn geometry of bosonic subspaces is studied. It is shown, in particular, that the conventional superspace extensions of the coset manifolds AdS2 × S2, AdS3 × S3 and AdS5 × S5, which arise as solutions of corresponding D = 4,6,10 supergravities and have been extensively studied in connection with AdS/CFT correspondence, are not superconformally flat, though their bosonic submanifolds are conformally flat. We give a group-theoretical reasoning for this fact. We find that in the AdS2 × S2 and AdS3 × S3 cases there exist different supercosets based on the supergroup OSp(4*|2) which are superconformally flat. We also argue that in D = 2,3,4 and 5 there exist superconformally flat ``pure'' AdSD supercosets. Two methods of checking the superconformal flatness are proposed. One of them consists in solving the Maurer-Cartan structure equations and the other is based on embedding the isometry supergroup of the AdSm × Sn superspace into a superconformal group in (m+n)-dimensional Minkowski space. Finally, we discuss some applications of the above results to the description of supersymmetric dynamical systems.
Pulsed laser deposition of thin films : applications-led growth of functional materials

SECTION I. 1. Pulsed Laser Deposition of Complex Materials: Progress Towards Applications (D. Norton). SECTION II. 2. Resonant Infrared Pulsed Laser Ablation and Deposition of Thin Polymer Films (D. Bubb & R. Haglund). 3. Deposition of Polymers and Biomaterials Using the Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Eveporation (MAPLE) Process (A. Pique). 4. In situ Diagnostics by High Pressure RHEED during PLD (G. Rijnders & D. Blank). 5. Ultra-fast laser Ablation and Film Deposition (E. Gamaly, et al.). 6. Cross-beam PLD: Metastable Film Structures from Intersecting Plumes (A. Gorbunoff). 7. Combinatorial Pulsed Laser Deposition (I. Takeuchi). 8. Growth Kinetics During Pulsed Laser Deposition (G. Rijnders & D. Blank). 9. Large Area Commercial Pulsed Laser Deposition (J. Greer). SECTION III. 10. Coating Powders for Drug Delivery Systems Using Pulsed Laser Deposition (J. Talton, et al.). 11. Transparent Conducting Oxide Films (H. Kim). 12. ZnO and ZnO-related Compounds (J. Perriere, et al.). 13. Group III Nitride Growth (D. O'Mahony & J. Lunney). 14. Pulsed Laser Deposition of High-Temperature Superconducting Thin Films and Their Applications (B. Schey). 15. DLC: Medical and Mechanical Applications (R. Narayan). 16. Pulsed Laser Deposition of Metals (H. Krebs). SECTION IV. 17. Optical Waveguide Growth and Applications (R. Eason, et al.). 18. Biomaterials: New issues and Breakthroughs for Biomedical Applications (V. Nelea, et al.). 19. Thermoelectric Materials (A. Dauscher & B. Lenoir). 20. Piezoelectrics (F. Cracium & M. Dinescu). 21. Ferroelectric Thin Films for Microwave Device Applications (C. Chen & J. Horwitz). 22. Films for Electrochemical Applications (M. Montenegro & T. Lippert). 23. Pulsed Laser Deposition of Tribological Coatings (A. Voevodin, et al.). SECTION V. 24. Laser Ablation Synthesis of Single-wall Carbon Nanotubes: The SLS Model (A. Gorbunoff & O. Jost). 25. Quasicrystalline Thin Films (P. Willmott).
A Case Report of Propofol Dependence in a Physician

Abstract Propofol is a widely used general anaesthetic with multisite mechanisms and especially ultrashort activation of certain central GABA-A receptors. Since its introduction into the market in the mid 1980s this is the seventh report on propofol dependence in the literature. The present case shows for the first time that craving for propofol can be quite intense and able to induce addictive behaviour.
Improved drive-train and blade fatigue mitigation in flexible wind turbines using disturbance utilization control

Modern wind turbines are experiencing rapid growth in both physical size and rated capacity. As wind turbines grow larger with necessarily lighter construction materials, dampening flexible modes with active control becomes more critical. In this paper we apply the theory of “disturbance utilization control” (DUC) to a 600 kW upwind machine to dampen drive-train torsion and blade flap while regulating generator speed. We show that positive “utility” exists in turbulent wind inflow, and we demonstrate that the optimal DUC controller achieves decreased pitch actuator demand and improved drive-train and blade fatigue life through dampening of torsion oscillation and blade flap.
Fault Recovery Routing in Wide Area Packet

We consider the problem of routing for traac restoration after a failure in virtual circuit based packet switched wide area networks utilizing source node routing. A major factor on network performance after a failure in such networks is the transient congestion period that results from restored virtual circuits attempting to send out the backlog of packets accumulated for retransmission since the failure. Here we study how various routing schemes control the congestion after a failure and give an optimization based formulation of the fault recovery routing problem. The implementation of traac restoration routing algorithms is discussed and the results of a simulation study comparing the performance of diierent routing algorithms is presented.
A Tale of Two Policies- Prudential Regulation and Monetary Policy with Fragile Banks

We introduce banks, modeled as in Diamond and Rajan (JoF 2000 or JPE 2001), into a standard DSGE model and use this framework to study the role of banks in the transmission of shocks, the effects of monetary policy when banks are exposed to runs, and the interplay between monetary policy and Basel-like capital ratios. In equilibrium, bank leverage depends positively on the uncertainty of projects and on the bank’s "relationship lender" skills, and negatively on short term interest rates. A monetary restriction reduces leverage, while a productivity or asset price boom increases it. Procyclical capital ratios are destabilising; monetary policy can only partly offset this effect. The best policy combination includes mildly anticyclical capital ratios and a response of monetary policy to asset prices or leverage.
Debêntures de projetos de infraestrutura: uma comparação entre as experiências brasileira e internacional

This article aims to compare national and international experiences about the use of project bonds, to verify, on one hand, in what aspects the use of this instrument in the domestic context is aligned with what occurs in developed markets, or, on the other hand, to what extent Brazil has been using the instrument differently from mature markets. It is understood that the comparison with the international practice can lead to reflections on the adequacy of public policies and current practices in the use of this instrument. Regarding the international market, project bonds in Brazil: (i) were issued by sectors that are also issuers in international markets, although a greater sector diversification is observed in the last ones; (ii) had lower issue volumes; (iii) had showed shorter term payments; (iv) also played a supplementary role, however, when issued, the bonds had smaller funding share; (v) were subscribed by a diverse investor base; (vi) unlike the international context, they were not followed by credit enhancement mechanisms.
Computational Prediction of Alanine Scanning and Ligand Binding Energetics in G-Protein Coupled Receptors

Site-directed mutagenesis combined with binding affinity measurements is widely used to probe the nature of ligand interactions with GPCRs. Such experiments, as well as structure-activity relationships for series of ligands, are usually interpreted with computationally derived models of ligand binding modes. However, systematic approaches for accurate calculations of the corresponding binding free energies are still lacking. Here, we report a computational strategy to quantitatively predict the effects of alanine scanning and ligand modifications based on molecular dynamics free energy simulations. A smooth stepwise scheme for free energy perturbation calculations is derived and applied to a series of thirteen alanine mutations of the human neuropeptide Y1 receptor and series of eight analogous antagonists. The robustness and accuracy of the method enables univocal interpretation of existing mutagenesis and binding data. We show how these calculations can be used to validate structural models and demonstrate their ability to discriminate against suboptimal ones.
Biochemical, Ultrastructural, and Reversibility Studies on Huntingtin Filaments Isolated from Mouse and Human Brain

Huntington's disease (HD) and eight additional inherited neurological disorders are caused by CAG triplet-repeat expansions leading to expanded polyglutamine-sequences in their respective proteins. These triplet-CAG repeat disorders have in common the formation of aberrant intraneuronal proteinaceous inclusions containing the expanded polyglutamine sequences. These aggregates have been postulated to contribute to pathogenesis caused by conformational toxicity, sequestration of other polyglutamine-containing proteins, or by interfering with certain enzymatic activities. Testing these hypotheses has been hampered by the difficulty to isolate these aggregates from brain. Here we report that polyglutamine aggregates can be isolated from the brain of the Tet/HD94 conditional mouse model of HD, by following a method based on high salt buffer homogenization, nonionic detergent extraction, and gradient fractionation. We then verified that the method can be successfully applied to postmortem HD brains. Immunoelectron microscopy, both in human and mouse samples, revealed that the stable component of the inclusions are mutant huntingtin-containing and ubiquitin-containing fibrils. Atomic-force microscopy revealed that these fibrils have a “beads on a string” morphology. Thus, they resemble the in vitro assembled filaments made of recombinant mutant-huntingtin, as well as the Aβ and α-synuclein amyloid protofibrils. Finally, by shutting down transgene expression in the Tet/HD94 conditional mouse model of HD, we were able to demonstrate that these filaments, although stable in vitro, are susceptible to revert in vivo, thus demonstrating that the previously reported reversal of ubiquitin-immunoreactive inclusions does not simply reflect disassembling of the inclusions into their constituent fibrils and suggesting that any associated conformational or protein-sequestration toxicity is also likely to revert.
State-Based Testing of Ajax Web Applications

Ajax supports the development of rich-client Web applications, by providing primitives for the execution of asynchronous requests and for the dynamic update of the page structure and content. Often, Ajax Web applications consist of a single page whose elements are updated in response to callbacks activated asynchronously by the user or by a server message. These features give rise to new kinds of faults that are hardly revealed by existing Web testing approaches. In this paper, we propose a novel state-based testing approach, specifically designed to exercise Ajax Web applications. The document object model (DOM) of the page manipulated by the Ajax code is abstracted into a state model. Callback executions triggered by asynchronous messages received from the Web server are associated with state transitions. Test cases are derived from the state model based on the notion of semantically interacting events. We evaluate the approach on a case study in terms of fault revealing capability. We also measure the amount of manual interventions involved in constructing and refining the model required by this approach.
HSPRO Controls Early Nicotiana attenuata Seedling Growth during Interaction with the Fungus Piriformospora indica1[C][W][OA]

In a previous study aimed at identifying regulators of Nicotiana attenuata responses against chewing insects, a 26-nucleotide tag matching the HSPRO (ORTHOLOG OF SUGAR BEET Hs1pro-1) gene was found to be strongly induced after simulated herbivory (Gilardoni et al., 2010). Here we characterized the function of HSPRO during biotic interactions in transgenic N. attenuata plants silenced in its expression (ir-hspro). In wild-type plants, HSPRO expression was not only induced during simulated herbivory but also when leaves were inoculated with Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 and roots with the growth-promoting fungus Piriformospora indica. Reduced HSPRO expression did not affect the regulation of direct defenses against Manduca sexta herbivory or P. syringae pv tomato DC3000 infection rates. However, reduced HSPRO expression positively influenced early seedling growth during interaction with P. indica; fungus-colonized ir-hspro seedlings increased their fresh biomass by 30% compared with the wild type. Grafting experiments demonstrated that reduced HSPRO expression in roots was sufficient to induce differential growth promotion in both roots and shoots. This effect was accompanied by changes in the expression of 417 genes in colonized roots, most of which were metabolic genes. The lack of major differences in the metabolic profiles of ir-hspro and wild-type colonized roots (as analyzed by liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry) suggested that accelerated metabolic rates were involved. We conclude that HSPRO participates in a whole-plant change in growth physiology when seedlings interact with P. indica.