Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preliminary evidence of mindsets and training satisfaction in Malaysia

Dweck (2008) argues that individuals have a fixed or a growth mindset, which influences individuals’ effort, commitment, resilience, and learning. A critical aspect of Dweck’s work is that changing people’s mindset is a straightforward process. It can often be achieved with a 15 minutes briefing at the beginning of a workshop. This paper hypothesises that the mindset will influence the perceived satisfaction with training and development programmes. Through a survey of 100 employees, the study found a positive relationship between mindset and training satisfaction (r=0.435**).
BLOOD BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH ACUTE TREATMENT OF ORCHIS ANATOLICA PLANT ROOTS ETHANOL EXTRACT IN ADULT ALBINO RATS.

We explore through this study blood parameters changes after 7 days treatment with Orchis anatolica (O. anatolica) plant roots ethanol extract in Albino rats. An intra-peritoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT) was carried on to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of the extract on blood glucose and insulin titer using Albino rats fasting for 18 hours. Blood glucose and serum insulin levels where determined throughout one hour period prior to a single treatment dose of 400mg/kg/BW O. anatolica extract. Oral treatment with O. anatolica was then performed using another group of 10 Albin rats treated with 400mg/kg/BW/day for 7 days and where compared with a control group. Using UV/Visible spectrophotometer, glucose, cardiac and lever serum blood biochemical markers were investigated in addition to blood total protein urea. Significant reduction in cardiac markers namely serum cholesterol (LDL) and Creatinin Kinase (KC) titers were detected after the treatment. Alanine AminoTransferase (ALT), Aspartate Amino Transferase (AST and) ad, triglycerides representing hepatic markers were normal concomitant with normalized values of bilirubin, total protein and blood urea when compared with the control. Blood glucose levels were reduced to significant levels after 7 days treatment with the plant extract an observation that was further demonstrated by IPGTT. Concomitant, an increase in serum insulin level was observed also when IPGTT was performed. We can conclude that O. anatolica root extract induces hypoglycemia, insulin-releasing and cholesterol lowering effects in rats. Together, a normal biochemical marker indicates an organ protective ability of the plant.
From the Editors: On Writing Up Qualitative Research in Management Learning and Education

In this editorial, I want to put a specific focus on how to write up qualitative work for submission to AMLE. My motivation comes from two observations. Since our team started our editorial role in July 2014, we have held a number of workshops around the world on publishing in AMLE. Many times, the discussions in the workshops I gave revolved around questions about qualitative work and, more specifically, around composing qualitative manuscripts for submission to AMLE. In addition, I noticed that authors of qualitative manuscripts submitted to the journal seem to be struggling with a number of specific issues related to writing and to making decisions about what should and should not go into the manuscript. As a result, we feel it is time to provide some guidelines for writing qualitative papers for AMLE as well as some insights into what reviewers and readers alike are looking for in a qualitative manuscript on a management learning and education-(MLE) related topic.
Skewness and Kurtosis in Large-Scale Cosmic Fields

In this paper, I present the calculation of the third and fourth moments of both the distribution function of the large--scale density and the large--scale divergence of the velocity field, $\theta$. These calculations are made by the mean of perturbative calculations assuming Gaussian initial conditions and are expected to be valid in the linear or quasi linear regime. The moments are derived for a top--hat window function and for any cosmological parameters $\Omega$ and $\Lambda$. It turns out that the dependence with $\Lambda$ is always very weak whereas the moments of the distribution function of the divergence are strongly dependent on $\Omega$. A method to measure $\Omega$ using the skewness of this field has already been presented by Bernardeau et al. (1993). I show here that the simultaneous measurement of the skewness and the kurtosis allows to test the validity of the gravitational instability scenario hypothesis. Indeed there is a combination of the first three moments of $\theta$ that is almost independent of the cosmological parameters $\Omega$ and $\Lambda$, $${( -3 ^2) \over ^2}\approx 1.5,$$ (the value quoted is valid when the index of the power spectrum at the filtering scale is close to -1) so that any cosmic velocity field created by gravitational instabilities should verify such a property.
Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and autism spectrum disorders

ASDs (autism spectrum disorders) are a complex group of neurodevelopment disorders, still poorly understood, steadily rising in frequency and treatment refractory. Extensive research has been so far unable to explain the aetiology of this condition, whereas a growing body of evidence suggests the involvement of environmental factors. Phthalates, given their extensive use and their persistence, are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. They are EDs (endocrine disruptors) suspected to interfere with neurodevelopment. Therefore they represent interesting candidate risk factors for ASD pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of the primary and secondary metabolites of DEHP [di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate] in children with ASD. A total of 48 children with ASD (male: 36, female: 12; mean age: 11±5 years) and age- and sex-comparable 45 HCs (healthy controls; male: 25, female: 20; mean age: 12±5 years) were enrolled. A diagnostic methodology, based on the determination of urinary concentrations of DEHP metabolites by HPLC-ESI-MS (HPLC electrospray ionization MS), was applied to urine spot samples. MEHP [mono-(2-ethylhexenyl) 1,2-benzenedicarboxylate], 6-OH-MEHP [mono-(2-ethyl-6-hydroxyhexyl) 1,2-benzenedicarboxylate], 5-OH-MEHP [mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) 1,2-benzenedicarboxylate] and 5-oxo-MEHP [mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) 1,2-benzenedicarboxylate] were measured and compared with unequivocally characterized, pure synthetic compounds (>98%) taken as standard. In ASD patients, significant increase in 5-OH-MEHP (52.1%, median 0.18) and 5-oxo-MEHP (46.0%, median 0.096) urinary concentrations were detected, with a significant positive correlation between 5-OH-MEHP and 5-oxo-MEHP (rs = 0.668, P<0.0001). The fully oxidized form 5-oxo-MEHP showed 91.1% specificity in identifying patients with ASDs. Our findings demonstrate for the first time an association between phthalates exposure and ASDs, thus suggesting a previously unrecognized role for these ubiquitous environmental contaminants in the pathogenesis of autism.
Early Experience With a Partial Stapled Hemorrhoidopexy for Treating Patients With Grades III–IV Prolapsing Hemorrhoids

Purpose Circular stapled hemorrhoidopexy (CSH) is widely used to treat patients with grades III–IV hemorrhoids because of less pain and short hospital stay. However, this procedure is associated with some complications, such as urge to defecate, anal stenosis, staple line dehiscence, abscess and sepsis. To avoid these complications, surgeons perform a partial stapled hemorrhoidopexy (PSH). The aim of this study is to present our early experience with the PSH. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 58 patients with hemorrhoids who were treated with a PSH at Busan Hang-Un Hospital from January 2016 to June 2016. A specially designed tri-window anoscope was used, and a purse string suture was made at the mucosae of the protruding hemorrhoids through the window of the anoscope. The hemorrhoidopexy was done by using a circular stapler. Results Of the 58 patients included in this study, 34 were male and 24 were female patients (mean age, 50.4 years). The mean operation time was 12.4 minutes, and the mean postoperative hospital stay was 3.8 days. Three patients experienced bleeding (5.1%) 5 urinary retention (8.6%) and 5 skin tags (8.6%). Urge to defecate, tenesmus, abscess, rectovaginal fistula, anal stricture, incontinence, and recurrence did not occur. Conclusion PSH is a minimally invasive, feasible, and safe technique for treating patients with grades III–IV hemorrhoids. A PSH, instead of a CSH, can be used to treat certain patients with hemorrhoids.
Merging percolation and classical random graphs: Phase transition in dimension 1

We study a random graph model which combines properties of the edge percolation model on Z^d and a classical random graph G(n,c/n). We show that this model, being a homogeneous random graph, has a natural relation to the so-called "rank 1 case" of inhomogeneous random graphs. This allows us to use the newly developed theory of inhomogeneous random graphs to describe completely the phase diagram in the case d=1. The phase transition is similar to the classical random graph, it is of the second order. We also find the scaled size of the largest connected component above the phase transition.
Nutrigenetics and Metabolic Disease: Current Status and Implications for Personalised Nutrition

Obesity, particularly central adiposity, is the primary causal factor in the development of insulin resistance, the hallmark of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), a common condition characterized by dyslipidaemia and hypertension, which is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Interactions between genetic and environmental factors such as diet and lifestyle, particularly over-nutrition and sedentary behavior, promote the progression and pathogenesis of these polygenic diet-related diseases. Their current prevalence is increasing dramatically to epidemic proportions. Nutrition is probably the most important environmental factor that modulates expression of genes involved in metabolic pathways and the variety of phenotypes associated with obesity, the MetS and T2DM. Furthermore, the health effects of nutrients may be modulated by genetic variants. Nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics require an understanding of nutrition, genetics, biochemistry and a range of “omic” technologies to investigate the complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors relevant to metabolic health and disease. These rapidly developing fields of nutritional science hold much promise in improving nutrition for optimal personal and public health. This review presents the current state of the art in nutrigenetic research illustrating the significance of gene-nutrient interactions in the context of metabolic disease.
Intonational variation in Hong Kong English: a pilot study

Abstract Research into intonation of non-native varieties of English in the World Englishes paradigm often has a strong focus on typical features at the expense of variation. The present study employs a unified approach to analyse intonational variation in Hong Kong English (HKE), involving two distinct accents: HKE with global orientations (HKE-gl) and HKE with local orientations (HKE-lo). A closer look at HKE-lo has contributed to the revision of the existing phonological rules of HKE intonation. The study also examines how speakers of HKE style-shift between the two accents. The results show that only speakers of advanced L2 intonation aptitude (not proficiency) have access to both accents. However, the stigmatised status of HKE-lo is linked to its indexical functions. The decision-making process involves factors including polycentricity. The study of intonational variation in HKE has immense implications as speakers of HKE may employ intonational variation to perform social marking and construct identity.
Geographic differences in clinical characteristics and management of COPD: the EPOCA study

Aims Data on differences in clinical characteristics and management of COPD in different countries and settings are limited. We aimed to characterize the profile of patients with COPD in a number of countries and their treatment in order to evaluate adherence to recommendations of international guidelines. Method This was an observational, international, cross-sectional study on patients with physician-diagnosed COPD. Demographic and clinical characteristics, risk factors, and treatment were collected by their physician via an internet web-based questionnaire developed for the study. Results A total of 77 investigators from 17 countries provided data on 833 patients. The countries with the highest number of patients included were: Argentina (128), Ecuador (134), Spain (162), and Hong Kong (153). Overall, 79.3% were men and 81% former smokers, with a mean FEV1 = 42.7%, ranging from 34.3% in Hong Kong to 58.8% in Ecuador. Patients reported a mean of 1.6 exacerbations the previous year, with this frequency being significantly and negatively correlated with FEV1(%) (r = −0.256; p < 0.0001). Treatment with short-acting bronchodilators and theophyllines was more frequent in Ecuador and Hong Kong compared with Spain and Argentina, and in patients belonging to lower socioeconomic levels (p < 0.0001 for all comparisons). Inadequacy of treatment with inhaled corticosteroids and theophyllines was high, with significant differences among countries. Conclusions Differences in the clinical characteristics and management of COPD were significant across countries. Adherence to international guidelines appears to be low. Efforts should be made to disseminate and adapt guidelines to the socioeconomic reality of different settings.
Visual Presentation Style 2: Influences on Perceptions of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Based on Visual Presentation Style During the Third 2016 Presidential Debate

A field experiment was conducted to analyze the third and final 2016 presidential debate. Randomly assigned participants watched the debate in the format of mainly solo camera shots that alternate between the candidates (i.e., switched feed), or with both candidates framed side-by-side on screen (i.e., split screen feed). Though viewer feelings of positivity toward the candidates did not differ, visual presentation style had a significant effect on trait judgments for Donald Trump overall. Participants watching Trump on the switched camera feed perceived him as significantly more Sophisticated, Honest, Attractive, Sincere, Strong, Active, Intelligent, Trustworthy, and Generous. There was not an effect for Hillary Clinton’s trait ratings overall, though she was perceived as significantly more Strong, Competent, and Intelligent by those watching the switched feed. This suggests that visual presentation style significantly influenced viewer perceptions. Political ideology was a significant predictor of all but one of the traits for each candidate.
Social Media and Their Use in Learning: A Comparative Analysis between Australia and Malaysia from the Learners' Perspectives.

This study is an investigation into factors that encourage and/or inhibit the use of social media in the academic learning process between Australian and Malaysian students at higher learning institutions. Push-pull-mooring theory was used as a guide, resulting in seven independent variables ( convenience , social influence , academic reasons , ease of use , social networking , barriers , and e-learning perception ), and one dependent variable ( teaching and learning benefit ). The study included a survey of 524 respondents (N Australia = 214; N Malaysia = 310). Path modeling analysis revealed three common factors between students from both countries: academic reasons, barriers, and social networking. However Malaysian students revealed a significant greater emphasis on academic reasons and barriers compared to their Australian counterparts. No significant difference was noted for social networking, suggesting that the use of social media as a means to maintain social interaction is popular regardless of cultural differences. Alternatively, significant effects were observed for convenience and e-learning perception among Australian students, while ease of use was found to have significant impact on Malaysian students. The findings suggest that cultural differences and the education system will impact the use of social media as an online learning tool.
Scratch vs. Karel: impact on learning outcomes and motivation

This paper presents the results of an experiment regarding the effects of using one of two different programming environments in secondary schools. Both "Scratch" and "Karel the Robot" have been successfully used in these settings previously. These two environments are also representative for two classes of programming environments for beginners. One is more graphically oriented and may therefore alleviate the steep learning curve of programming while the other is text-based and therefore more akin to "real" programming. Also, one places more emphasis on the visualization of program structure and the other emphasizes visualizing program flow. The experiment has been conducted in parallel in two school classes, each using one of the two approaches. The abilities of the students were tested before and after the experiment as well as their intrinsic motivation and the perceived self-regulation. The results show, that the class using Scratch has higher intrinsic motivation and performs better, however the Karel class shows a higher identified regulation.
Asymptotic Properties of Likelihood Based Linear Modulation Classification Systems

The problem of linear modulation classification using likelihood based methods is considered. Asymptotic properties of most commonly used classifiers in the literature are derived. These classifiers are based on hybrid likelihood ratio test (HLRT) and average likelihood ratio test (ALRT), respectively. Both a single-sensor setting and a multi-sensor setting that uses a distributed decision fusion approach are analyzed. For a modulation classification system using a single sensor, it is shown that HLRT achieves asymptotically vanishing probability of error (Pe) whereas the same result cannot be proven for ALRT. In a multi-sensor setting using soft decision fusion, conditions are derived under which Pe vanishes asymptotically. Furthermore, the asymptotic analysis of the fusion rule that assumes independent sensor decisions is carried out.
ANALISIS DESAIN PEMBELAJARAN UNTUK MENINGKATKAN LITERASI SAINS BERDASARKAN PROFIL PENALARAN ILMIAH

Mendesain suatu pembelajaran merupakan suatu kewajiban seorang pendidik. Desain pembelajaran harus disesuaikan dengan keadaan peserta didik.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan desain pembelajaran Elektronika Dasar 1 yang sesuai dengan kemampuan penalaran ilmiah peserta didik di Program Studi Pendidikan Fisika Universitas Jambi dalam rangka melatihkan kemampuan literasi sain mahasiswa.Desain yang digunakan adalah desain campuran dengan menggunakan instrumen Lawson’s classroom test of scientific reasoning pada subjek penelitian sebanyak 93 mahasiswa yangakan mengontrak matakuliah elektronika dasar 1 tahun depan. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa 95,7% mahasiswa dalam kategori konkret, 4,3% mahasiswa dengan kategori tansisi, dan 0% dalam kategori formal. Persentase kemampuan penalaran Conservation thinking41%, proportional thinking 8%, control of variable 11%, probabilistic thinking 12%, correlational thinking 19%, dan hypothetivo-deductive reasoning 13%. Dari data kuantitatif ini dilanjutkan penentuan desain secara kualitatif yang menyimpulkan bahwa desain pembelajaran yang cocok adalah pembelajaran berbasis inkuiri terstruktur, pembelajaran inkuiri terbimbing atau dengan pembelajaran proyek yang dibimbing serta kegiatan lab haruslah bersifat real lab.
Discovering Multivariate Motifs using Subsequence Density Estimation and Greedy Mixture Learning

The problem of locating motifs in real-valued, multivariate time series data involves the discovery of sets of recurring patterns embedded in the time series. Each set is composed of several non-overlapping subsequences and constitutes a motif because all of the included subsequences are similar. The ability to automatically discover such motifs allows intelligent systems to form endogenously meaningful representations of their environment through unsupervised sensor analysis. In this paper, we formulate a unifying view of motif discovery as a problem of locating regions of high density in the space of all time series subsequences. Our approach is efficient (sub-quadratic in the length of the data), requires fewer user-specified parameters than previous methods, and naturally allows variable length motif occurrences and non-linear temporal warping. We evaluate the performance of our approach using four data sets from different domains including on-body inertial sensors and speech.
Heavy-Traffic Optimality of a Stochastic Network Under Utility-Maximizing Resource Allocation

We study a stochastic network that consists of a set of servers processing multiple classes of jobs. Each class of jobs requires a concurrent occupancy of several servers while being processed, and each server is shared among the job classes in a head-of-the-line processor-sharing mechanism. The allocation of the service capacities is a real-time control mechanism: in each network state, the resource allocation is the solution to an optimization problem that maximizes a general utility function. Whereas this resource allocation optimizes in a “greedy” fashion with respect to each state, we establish its asymptotic optimality in terms of (a) deriving the fluid and diffusion limits of the network under this allocation scheme, and (b) identifying a cost function that is minimized in the diffusion limit, along with a characterization of the so-called fixed-point state of the network.
Critical Temperature of Bose-Einstein Condensation of Hard-Sphere Gases

We determine the critical temperature of a 3D homogeneous system of hard-sphere bosons by path-integral Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling. In the low density limit, we find that the critical temperature is increased by the repulsive interactions, as {Delta}T{sub C}/T{sub 0}{approximately}(na{sup 3} ){sup {gamma}} , where {gamma}=0.34{plus_minus}0.03 . At high densities the result for liquid helium, namely, a lower critical temperature than in the noninteracting case, is recovered. We give a microscopic explanation for the observed behavior. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
Functional connectivity in in vitro neuronal assemblies

Complex network topologies represent the necessary substrate to support complex brain functions. In this work, we reviewed in vitro neuronal networks coupled to Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs) as biological substrate. Networks of dissociated neurons developing in vitro and coupled to MEAs, represent a valid experimental model for studying the mechanisms governing the formation, organization and conservation of neuronal cell assemblies. In this review, we present some examples of the use of statistical Cluster Coefficients and Small World indices to infer topological rules underlying the dynamics exhibited by homogeneous and engineered neuronal networks.
Channel-dependent GMM and Multi-class Logistic Regression models for language recognition

This paper describes two new approaches to spoken language recognition. These were both successfully applied in the NIST 2005 Language Recognition Evaluation. The first approach extends the Gaussian Mixture Model technique with channel dependency, which results in actual detection costs (CDET) of 0.095 in NIST LRE-2005, and which should be compared to a traditional 2-gender dependency of GMM language models achieving 0.120. The second approach is a Multi-class Logistic Regression system, which operates similarly to a Support Vector Machine (SVM), but can be trained for all languages simultaneously. This new approach resulted in a CDET of 0.198. The joint TNO-Spescom Datavoice (TNO-SDV) submission to NIST LRE-2005 contained two more systems and obtained a result of 0.0958.