Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Barriers to College Students Learning How Rocks Form

Students do not have a good understanding of how rocks form. Instead, they have many non-scientific alternative conceptions to explain different aspects of rock formation. Using 10 interviews and nearly 200 questionnaires filled out by students at four different colleges, we identified many alternative conceptions students have about rock formation. We then used themes within those alternative conceptions to identify the underlying conceptual barriers that cause them. Conceptual barriers are deeply-held conceptions that prevent students from understanding scientific explanations. One conceptual barrier can cause many alternative conceptions, and alternative conceptions can be the result of more than one conceptual barrier. The seven conceptual barriers identified in the study that prevent students from understanding rock formation are Deep Time, Changing Earth, Large Spatial Scale, Bedrock, Materials, Atomic Scale, and Pressure. Because of these conceptual barriers, students cannot form scientifically correct mental models of how rocks form, resulting in alternative conceptions, so the conceptual barriers need to be overcome before students truly learn the scientific explanations of how rocks form. The results of this study can be applied to other areas of geology in addition to rock formation.
“We’re people who don’t touch”: Exploring clinical psychologists’ perspectives on their use of touch in therapy

There is a paucity of research that explores the use of touch within psychotherapy from therapists’ perspectives. This qualitative study explored clinical psychologists’ accounts of offering or excluding touch within therapeutic practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six clinical psychologists working within adult mental health services. The interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Five superordinate themes emerged from the data: (1) the touch instinct; (2) touch and professional boundaries; (3) individual clients and contexts; (4) the value of touch in therapy and (5) the cost of touch in therapy. It is suggested that the perspectives of professionals and clients be given greater consideration in the future as such open discussion may serve to challenge the taboo status often surrounding the issue of touch, and highlight its potential roles in therapy.
Regulation of the NK Cell Alloreactivity to Bone Marrow Cells by the Combination of the Host NK Gene Complex and MHC Haplotypes1

Host NK cells can reject MHC-incompatible (allogeneic) bone marrow cells (BMCs), suggesting their effective role for graft-vs leukemia effects in the clinical setting of bone marrow transplantation. NK cell-mediated rejection of allogeneic BMCs is dependent on donor and recipient MHC alleles and other factors that are not yet fully characterized. Whereas the molecular mechanisms of allogeneic MHC recognition by NK receptors have been well studied in vitro, guidelines to understand NK cell allogeneic reactivity under the control of multiple genetic components in vivo remain less well understood. In this study, we use congenic mice to show that BMC rejection is regulated by haplotypes of the NK gene complex (NKC) that encodes multiple NK cell receptors. Most importantly, host MHC differences modulated the NKC effect. Moreover, the NKC allelic differences also affected the outcome of hybrid resistance whereby F1 hybrid mice reject parental BMCs. Therefore, these data indicate that NK cell alloreactivity in vivo is dependent on the combination of the host NKC and MHC haplotypes. These data suggest that the NK cell self-tolerance process dynamically modulates the NK cell alloreactivity in vivo.
They’re my words – I’ll talk how I like! Examining social class and linguistic practice among primary-school children

The central role played by language in mediating school experience and the prestige accorded to standard language varieties within the field of education provide the broad rationale for this paper. This qualitative study, based on a friendship focus-group design, was conducted in two groups of 12-year-old children from contrasting ‘ideal type’, socioeconomic groups over a period of one school year. The study examines the children's use of and attitude to language variation. A six-point typology of linguistic styles is identified based on specific patterns of usage among the participants. The study provides an insight into the levels of stratification that exist with respect to language use among children and the complex interdependence of a range of factors contributing to the persistence of linguistic continuity and discontinuity between schools and different social/gender groups.
Prediction and Intervention in Health-Related Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of Protection Motivation Theory

Protection motivation theory (PMT) was introduced by Rogers in 1975 and has since been widely adopted as a framework for the prediction of and intervention in health-related behavior. However. PMT remains the only major cognitive model of behavior not to have been the subject of a meta-analytic review. A quantitative review of PMT is important to assess its overall utility as a predictive model and to establish which of its variables would be most useful to address health-education interventions. The present paper provides a comprehensive introduction to PMT and its application to health-related behavior, together with a quantitative review of the applications of PMT to health-related intentions and behavior. The associations between threat- and coping-appraisal variables and intentions, and all components of the model and behavior were assessed both by meta-analysis and by vote-count procedures. Threat- and coping-appraisal components of PMT were found to be useful in the prediction of health-related intentions. The model was found to be useful in predicting concurrent behavior, but of less utility in predicting future behavior. The coping-appraisal component of the model was found to have greater predictive validity than was the threat-appraisal component. The main findings are discussed in relation to theory and research on social cognition models. The importance of the main findings to health education is also discussed, and future research directions are suggested.
Psychological Aspects of Geographical Moves: Homesickness and Acculturation Stress

Mobility of mankind has increased enormously in the past few decades. People leave their homes and native countries for business and study, for vacation or to flee from unsafe conditions like wars and natural disasters. In all cases the sojourner faces a dual challenge of breaking with the familiar home environment and adjusting to new surroundings. This book deals with the psychological and health consequences of leaving the familiar home and the process of creating a new one. The focus is mainly on acculturation stress and homesickness, which both are relevant to those who travel. Acculturation refers to the process and outcome of a person's encounter with, and adaptation to, a culturally new and different environment. Homesickness is defined as a depression-like reaction to leaving one's home. The contributions in this book present empirical data as well as theoretical and conceptual discussions. Causes, consequences, moderating variables, and theoretical explanations are discussed. Both short-term (e.g., vacations) and long-term (e.g. immigration) separations from home receive attention. By combining these different but related topics, this book provides a valuable overview for researchers, teachers, students and professionals working with people who present with problems related to migration or traveling.
‘We Beat ’em’: Nationalism and the Hegemony of Homogeneity in the British Press Reportage of Germany versus England during Euro 2000

This article analyses the press reportage (written texts and visual images) of the football game between Germany and England during Euro 2000. We examine how the press construct the nation as a homogeneous collective within which the (implied) reader is positioned as belonging. The article also examines the press coverage of civic disturbances involving England supporters. We demonstrate how the ‘football hooligans’ undergo ‘othering’ in the press through de-authentication, pejoration, homogenization, and minoritization and universalization. In doing so, the press are able to police the moral boundaries of what is considered normative in terms of membership within the national collective. We argue that the formulation of nationalism and the homogeneity and unity of the nation in the British press in relation to the England–Germany football game takes the form of three main strategies: separation, conflict and typification. Separation is predominantly realized in the rhetoric of ‘us’ and ‘them’, whereas conflict is largely made manifest through the useof military metaphors and war imagery. Finally, typification is achieved by the use of stereotypes, representing the nation as ‘timeless’ and ‘homogeneous’, with those who do not conform being instantly ‘othered’. It is postulated that in adopting the above stances with regard to the nation, the press reproduce and maintain hegemonic social relations, and in- and outgroup distinctions on both inter- and intranational lines. In other words, the papers support and uphold a hegemonic world order of sovereign nation states, who areresponsible for the behaviour of their citizens.
Effect of video self‐monitoring on procedural integrity

A video self-monitoring treatment package was used to evaluate the procedural integrity of staff implementing behavioral guidelines for one child with autism. Staff members with low procedural integrity scores were asked to participate. The treatment package incorporated an implementation video which reviewed the relevant behavioral guidelines and a procedural integrity monitoring system. Each participant was taught to score a pre-training video, which highlighted components of implementing behavioral guidelines, with a procedural integrity tool denoting correct implementation of the procedures. The participant then scored their own baseline video using a similar tool constructed to highlight the target student's behavior plan. Participant scores were compared to experimenter scores and verbal feedback was given by the experimenter if the scores varied. Results showed increased procedural integrity implementing the behavior guidelines from baseline to 100% implementation for two out of three participants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Consequences of Transfer of Training for Service Quality and Job Satisfaction: An Empirical Study in the Malaysian Public Sector

The significance of transfer of training to organizations has been acknowledged by many studies. However, the consequences of transfer of training, particularly for employees, have still not been adequately explored. The present study was conducted to address this gap. Specifically, it explores the relationship among transfer of training, service quality and job satisfaction. Data for this study were collected through surveys of employees, their supervisors and their colleagues. Data were analysed using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that transfer of training is positively and significantly associated with both service quality and job satisfaction.
Cadmium chloride exposure modifies amino acid daily pattern in the mediobasal hypothalamus in adult male rat

The present study was conducted to investigate the possible effects of cadmium exposure on the daily pattern of aspartate, glutamate, glutamine, gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and taurine levels in the mediobasal hypothalamus of adult male rats. For this purpose, animals were treated with cadmium at two different exposure doses (25 and 50 mg l−1 of cadmium chloride, CdCl2) in the drinking water for 30 days. Control age‐matched rats received CdCl2‐free water. After the treatment, rats were killed at six different time intervals throughout a 24 h cycle. CdCl2 exposure modified the amino acid daily pattern, as it decreased aspartate, glutamate, GABA and taurine levels at 12:00 h with both exposure doses employed. In addition, the treatment with 25 mg l−1 of CdCl2 induced the appearance of minimal values at 16:00 h and maximal values between 04:00 and 08:00 h for glutamate, and a peak of glutamine content at 20:00 h. The heavy metal also decreased GABA medium levels around the clock in the mediobasal hypothalamus. However, CdCl2 did not alter the metabolic correlation between glutamate, aspartate, glutamine and GABA observed in control animals. These results suggest that CdCl2 induced several alterations in aspartate, glutamate, glutamine, GABA and taurine daily pattern in the mediobasal hypothalamus and those changes may be related to alterations in hypothalamic function. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Do multiple dimensions of self-concept become more differentiated with age? The differential distinctiveness hypothesis

A French version of the Self Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I) was completed by 1,103 students in Grades 2-6. Strong psychometric properties, a well-defined multidimensional structure, factorial invariance over age, small stereotypic gender differences, largely linear declines in mean levels of self-concept with age, and modest differentiation between academic competence and affect replicate and extend previous research. The authors critically evaluated theory and methodology underlying previous tests of the developmental proposal that self-concept becomes increasingly multidimensional with age. The authors developed and provided strong support for a new differential distinctiveness hypothesis, demonstrating that increasing distinctiveness--substantial age-related declines in correlations among latent factors--varied systematically depending on the extent of association between first-order factors in hierarchical models. Overall, correlations decreased with age, but correlations in the last category of the 3-category a priori classification showed little decline and some increased with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
DADOS NORMATIVOS PARA O TESTE DE FLUENCIA VERBAL CATEGORIA ANIMAIS EM NOSSO MEIO

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the performance on verbal fluency (VF) in our population in a Brazilian sample checking the influence of age and literacy. METHODS: 336 people without neurological or psychiatric complaints evaluated through Mini-Mental State Examination and VF (animals). For comparison, and to determine cut-off points, 65 people with cognitive loss followed at our clinic were also evaluated. RESULTS: We found a mean of 13.8 animals in 1 minute, with the following distribution: illiterates, 11.9; up 4 years of education, 12.8; 4 to 7 years, 13.4; 8 years or more, 15.8 (p= 0.0001). In relation to age the means were: up to 64 years, 13.7; 65 years or more, 13.9. There was no difference between the two groups. The cut-off points were 9 for people under 8 years of education with a sensitivity of 75% for illiterates, 100% for low educational level (up 4 years),and 87% for middle level (4 to 7 years). The specificity was respectively 79%, 84%, and 88%. For the high educational level the mean was 13 with a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 67%. CONCLUSIONS: In the VF (animals) there is a significant influence of schooling and different cut-off points should be used.
PERCEIVED JOB CHARACTERISTICS AND JOB SATISFACTION: AN EXAMINATION OF RECIPROCAL CAUSATION

The following four assumptions were tested (a) satisfaction with job/task events and perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, and importance are direct, reciprocal causes of each other; (b) job perceptions are also caused directly by situation attributes, although perceptual distortions resulting for individual dispositions must also be considered; (c) job satisfaction is also cognitively consistent with (i.e., caused by) individual dispositions, although these individual dispositions are generally different from those associated with job perceptions; and (d) individuals reply on job perceptions, and not situational attributes, for information in formulating job satisfaction attitudes. The assumptions are tested on a sample of nonsupervisory subjects (n= 642) from divergent work environments (e.g., production-lines and a computer software department). A nonrecursive, structural equation analysis, combined with tests of logical consistency, supported the assumptions above. The results were employed to recommend changes in current perspectives regarding perceptual/affective dichotomies and unidirectional causal models and moderator models that link job perceptions to job satisfaction.
The Cationic Properties of SEVI Underlie Its Ability To Enhance Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

ABSTRACT Human semen contains peptides capable of forming amyloid fibrils termed semen-derived enhancer of viral infection (SEVI) that can greatly increase human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. While SEVI appears to enhance virion attachment to target cells, its underlying mechanism of action is unknown. We now demonstrate that the intrinsic positive charges of SEVI (pI = 10.21) facilitate virion attachment to and fusion with target cells. A mutant form of SEVI in which lysines and arginines are replaced with alanines retains the ability to form amyloid fibrils but is defective in binding virions and enhancing infection. In addition, the interaction of wild-type SEVI with virions and the ability of these fibrils to increase infection are abrogated in the presence of various polyanionic compounds. These anionic polymers also decrease the enhancement of HIV infection mediated by semen. These findings suggest that SEVI enhances viral infection by serving as a polycationic bridge that neutralizes the negative charge repulsion that exists between HIV virions and target cells. Combinations of agents that neutrale SEVI action and produce HIV virucidal effects are an attractive future direction for microbicide development.
Effects of an Electronic Meeting System Group Writing Tool on the Quality of Written Documents

Electronic meeting systems (EMS) technology can effectively support groups in a diverse set of meeting functions. The introduction of the Groupwriter tool allows group composition of documents in a highly efficient environment. To test this tool, we conducted an experiment to compare the quality of policy and procedure docu ments written by groups in three face-to-face treatments: (a) those using the EMS Groupwriter tool with a planning guide; (b) those using pen and paper with a planningguide; and (c) those using only pen and paper. The dependent variables were planning quality, document length, document quality, and member satisfac tion with document quality. We found that EMS technology significantly improved planning quality over manual support. EMS groups wrote longer documents and, in comparison to manual groups with imposed planning, better documents. Mem ber satisfaction with document quality was not statistically different for all three treatments.
Children's text messaging: abbreviations, input methods and links with literacy

This study investigated the effects of mobile phone text-messaging method (predictive and multi-press) and experience (in texters and non-texters) on children's textism use and understanding. It also examined popular claims that the use of text-message abbreviations, or textese spelling, is associated with poor literacy skills. A sample of 86 children aged 10 to 12 years read and wrote text messages in conventional English and in textese, and completed tests of spelling, reading and non-word reading. Children took significantly longer and made more errors when reading messages written in textese than in conventional English. Further, they were no faster at writing messages in textese than in conventional English, regardless of texting method or experience. Predictive texters were faster at reading and writing messages than multi-press texters, and texting experience increased writing, but not reading, speed. General spelling and reading scores did not differ significantly with usual texting method. However, better literacy skills were associated with greater textese reading speed and accuracy. These findings add to the growing evidence for a positive relationship between texting proficiency and traditional literacy skills.
Use of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers and cancer risk: a meta-analysis of observational studies

Background: Epidemiologic studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the association between the use of angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers and the risk of cancer. We performed a meta-analysis of observational studies to assess the association. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library to identify studies through January 2011. Two evaluators independently reviewed and selected articles of cohort and case–control studies on the basis of predetermined selection criteria. Results: Of 3970 screened articles, 12 cohort studies and 16 case–control studies were selected for analysis. We found no significant association between the use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers and the overall risk of cancer (relative risk [RR] 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.90–1.03). We found a decreased risk of cancer associated with use of either medication when we restricted the analyses to cohort and nested case–control studies (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83–0.97) or to studies with long-term follow-up of more than five years (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.83–0.96). In the subgroup meta-analyses by cancer site, a decreased risk was identified for esophageal cancer, whereas an increased risk was found for melanoma and kidney cancer. Interpretation: No significant association was found between the use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers and overall risk of cancer. A possible beneficial effect associated with use of either medication was suggested in sensitivity analyses, including those of studies with long-term follow-up. Large randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-up are needed to specifically test the effect of each of these medications on the risk of cancer.
Planning vs. Dynamic Control: Resource Allocation in Corporate Clouds

Nowadays corporate data centers leverage virtualization technology to cut operational and management costs. Virtualization allows splitting and assigning physical servers to virtual machines (VM) that run particular business applications. This has led to a new stream in the capacity planning literature dealing with the problem of assigning VMs with volatile demands to physical servers in a static way such that energy costs are minimized. Live migration technology allows for dynamic resource allocation, where a controller responds to overload or underload on a server during runtime and reallocates VMs in order to maximize energy efficiency. Dynamic resource allocation is often seen as the most efficient means to allocate hardware resources in a data center. Unfortunately, there is hardly any experimental evidence for this claim. In this paper, we provide the results of an extensive experimental analysis of both capacity management approaches on a data center infrastructure. We show that with typical workloads of transactional business applications dynamic resource allocation does not increase energy efficiency over the static allocation of VMs to servers and can even come at a cost, because migrations lead to overheads and service disruptions.