Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From troublesome materials to fluid technologies: making and playing with plastic-bag footballs

The material recalcitrance of plastic bags – evident in their refusal to decompose and their capacity to evade neat disposal – is a widespread source of environmental concern and frustration. Yet throughout the Majority (developing) World, the incessant materiality of plastic affords boys and young men an opportunity to make footballs (soccer balls) out of waste. Made in situ, plastic-bag footballs are uniquely suited to local contexts and landscapes – a resourceful technology assembled from otherwise troublesome materials. Plastic-bag footballs are also fluid: perpetually in-the-making and characterized by diverse states of working order. Insights garnered from discussions with young Tanzanian football-makers and players position plastic-bag footballs against neocolonial discourses of poverty and precarity. Meanwhile attentiveness to the socio-material relations of plastic-bag footballs makes plain that they are not inferior technologies. Plastic-bag footballs invite consideration of how humans live, materially, in the Anthropocene. Plastic bags typify the ecological crises of throwaway consumerism and malignant toxicity. Yet, we ask: could it be that plastic-bag footballs exemplify the material resourcefulness, skill, care for things – and even playfulness – needed to cope with these very crises?
Increasing Winter Precipitation over Arid Central Asia under Global Warming

Precipitation has been considered to be a critical water source for both human livelihoods and ecosystems in Central Asia. Using observational data and gridded datasets, we studied the regional and seasonal differences of precipitation climate characteristics and variations in precipitation over Central Asia. Using observational data obtained from the China Meteorological Administration, Global Historical Climatology Network (V3.02), we divided Central Asia into four subregions (North, Center, Southwest, and Southeast) based on the differences in seasonal cycles of precipitation. ‘Single peaks’ were detected as types of seasonal cycles over the North and the Southeast, while ‘two peaks’ was the type that occurred in the Southwest. For the Center, the zone of transition between the North and the Southwest, each monthly precipitation value was higher than the Southwest’s and less than the North’s. GPCC (R2 of 0.89, RMSE of 64.5 mm/year) was proven to be the most suitable dataset of the four datasets (CRU, GPCC, MERRA, and TRMM) to describe precipitation in Central Asia, based on validation against observational data, and used to detect the spatial and temporal trend of precipitation in Central Asia and four subregions during 1960–2013. No significant trends were observed for annual precipitation in Central Asia, while precipitation in winter displayed a significant increase (0.11 mm/year). Additionally, significantly increasing trends (0.16, 0.27, 0.13, and 0.13 mm/year) were detected in spring, summer, autumn, and winter over the Southeast during 1960–2013.
The Perception of Daily Temperatures as Evidence of Global Warming

AbstractUnlike the scientific definition of global warming (GW), public discussion often links the existence of GW to daily temperatures rather than long-term averages. Previous research found that daily weather is perceived as personal experiences with GW. Additionally, prior beliefs about GW can affect interpretations of such experiences as evidence for the existence of GW. However, previous studies demonstrating that beliefs affect interpretations of experiences were based on correlational designs—limiting causal inferences—and relied only on self-reports of remembered personal experiences instead of direct interpretations of weather. The authors present the first randomized experiment investigating how people interpret daily temperatures in terms of the evidence that it provides about GW, clarifying the psychological causes for different interpretations of the same experiences across individuals. They test the influence of knowledge about (and beliefs in) GW on the interpretation of daily temperatures.
International Conference on Information Systems ( ICIS ) 1-1-2009 Understanding Net Benefits : A Citizen-Based Perspective on eGovernment Success

eGovernment promises more efficient services and a more responsive government. Despite substantial investment, increasing failure rates have prompted critics to argue that policy makers are not achieving this vision. Surprisingly, there is very little research on what citizens define as important in eGovernment services and how aspects of government web sites affect that perception. The inclusion of the citizen perspective has largely been absent, denying a deeper understanding of the factors that drive usage. This research proposes an important and unique development of the D&M IS Success Model. By combining elements from public administration research and eGovernment success, this study constructs a comprehensive model of Net Benefits centred on the perspective of the citizen. The novel paradigm of Public Value is used to create a balanced success model, tailored for the public sector and is situated within the D&M IS Success Model. This research therefore aims to understand what citizens regard as important in the success of eGovernment services and what aspects of IT Quality affect eGovernment success.
Working Out with F.I.D.O. (Frequency, Intensity, Duration, & Outcomes): A Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: Dog owners walk more per week compared to non-dog owners; however, 60% of dog owners are still not walking their dogs at intensities sufficient to reap optimal health benefits. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a 9-week randomized controlled trial involving a program of six weekly scheduled instructor-led group dog walks supplemented with theory-based strategies to encourage increased dog walking among dog owners in Greater Victoria, BC. Methods: Participants were 17 adults aged 18+, who owned at least one healthy and friendly dog aged six months+, who were not meeting recommended moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guidelines. Data were collected using pedometers, self-report measures, and a program evaluation survey. Results: Feasibility outcomes included 74 interested responses, 23% recruitment rate ( n = 17), 94% retention rate ( n = 16), and 94% adherence rate ( n = 15). Program participants were overall (very) satisfied with the program. Total weekly step counts and average daily step counts, MVPA dog walking, and MVPA with dog (i.e., all leisure time physical activity with dog - e.g., hiking, swimming, biking, playing Frisbee) increased at the end of the program and at follow-up, resulting in large effect sizes when compared to the waitlist-control group. Conclusions: This six-week group dog walking program was feasible, acceptable, and efficacious in encouraging increased dog walking and MVPA among dog owners. It is recommended for future studies to refine initial recruitment strategies, reimburse medical/veterinarian clearance costs to reduce cost-related barriers to participation, and offer a variety of options for program delivery (e.g., different locations/schedules/seasons, online programs, multi-site study) to accommodate more participants.
Validation of Reference Genes for Gene Expression by Quantitative Real-Time RT-PCR in Stem Segments Spanning Primary to Secondary Growth in Populus tomentosa

The vertical segments of Populus stems are an ideal experimental system for analyzing the gene expression patterns involved in primary and secondary growth during wood formation. Suitable internal control genes are indispensable to quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays of gene expression. In this study, the expression stability of eight candidate reference genes was evaluated in a series of vertical stem segments of Populus tomentosa. Analysis through software packages geNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper showed that genes ribosomal protein (RP) and tubulin beta (TUBB) were the most unstable across the developmental stages of P. tomentosa stems, and the combination of the three reference genes, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A), Actin (ACT6) and elongation factor 1-beta (EF1-beta) can provide accurate and reliable normalization of qRT–PCR analysis for target gene expression in stem segments undergoing primary and secondary growth in P. tomentosa. These results provide crucial information for transcriptional analysis in the P. tomentosa stem, which may help to improve the quality of gene expression data in these vertical stem segments, which constitute an excellent plant system for the study of wood formation.
Providing support for decision making to adults with intellectual disability: Perspectives of family members and workers in disability support services

ABSTRACT Background: Supporting people with intellectual disability to make decisions is an important issue for policy implementation yet there is little evidence about the practice of providing support. Method: This study aimed to understand the experiences of family members and disability support workers in providing support to adults with intellectual disability in Victoria, Australia. Twenty-three people drawn from these two groups participated in individual or focus group interviews. Results: Three major themes emerged from inductive thematic analysis: their ideas about decision support, approaches to support, and challenges they faced. Overall these revolved around juggling rights, practicalities, and risks Conclusions: This study identified some of the challenges and practical strategies for providing decision support that can be used to inform practice and capacity building resources for supporters.
APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD METHOD FOR FREQUENCY ESTIMATION

A frequency can be estimated by few Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) coefficients, see Rife and Vincent (1970), Quinn (1994, 1997). This approach is computationally efficient. However, the statistical efficiency of the estimator de- pends on the location of the frequency. In this paper, we explain this approach from a point of view of an Approximate Maximum Likelihood (AML) method. Then we enhance the efficiency of this method by using more DFT coefficients. Compared to 30% and 61% efficiency in the worst cases in Quinn (1994) and Quinn (1997), respectively, we show that if 13 or 25 DFT coefficients are used, AML will achieve at least 90% or 95% efficiency for all frequency locations.
The unheard voices of nurture : exploring children's experiences of a secondary school nurture group

The first Nurture Group (NG) was established by Marjorie Boxall in 1969 to improve the emotional wellbeing of children in schools (Kirkbride, 2014). They aim to provide support to meet the individual needs of children with a focus on social and emotional growth away from the mainstream classroom in a safe and secure environment. There has been substantial evidence on the effectiveness of NGs (O’Connor & Colwell, 2002; Cooper & Whitebread, 2007 and Griffiths, Stenner & Hicks, 2014), but little research to attain the views of the children who attend NGs, this research aimed to do this. The two research questions aimed to explore the experiences of children attending a secondary school NG and whether these experiences were helpful, and if they were similar to or different from their mainstream classroom experiences. Participants were six children who were attending a secondary school NG in one Local Authority in the North of England, who took part in individual semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009). Five superordinate themes emerged from the interpretative analysis; control, systems, structural and physical elements, purpose of the NG and inter-relationships. The children’s experiences supported previous findings in that NGs provide a secure base where children can form positive relationships with their peers and adults whom they can trust and rely upon, something which they did not experience in the mainstream classroom. They also attributed an improvement in academic skills and feelings of confidence to their NG experience. However, the NG does not appear to be seen by the children or by their peers and mainstream teachers as an inclusive part of school with participants expressing a desire to return to their “normal” classrooms due to feeling different by being in the NG. Lack of power and choice over entering the NG and when they could leave was experienced by the children with no involvement from mainstream staff. Confusion over the purpose of the intervention is also apparent. These findings are discussed in relation to implications for Educational Psychologists supporting children and schools as well as making a set of recommendations for further research.
On efficient communication and service agent discovery in multi-agent systems

The paper studies two closely related problems: how to support efficient message passing in large-scale agent systems given that agents are mobile, and how to facilitate the discovery of service agents in an open environment where agents may enter and leave. The Actor Architecture has been designed to study simulations of large-scale agent systems where agents obey the operational semantics of actors. We describe the solutions to these two problems that have been adopted in the Actor Architecture. The problem of efficient message-passing is partially addressed by using dynamic names for agents. Specifically, a part of the name of a mobile agent changes continuously as a function of the agent platform that it is currently hosted by. This enables the agent platform of a sender to use location information about the receiver agent in order to optimize message delivery. The problem of agent discovery is addressed by using a broker agent. Moreover, the sender agent may reduce the communication that is required between the sender itself and a broker agent by sending the broker an agent to localize the search for the appropriate service agents. In order to mitigate security problems, this search agent is very restricted in what operations it is allowed to perform and is transmitted in the form of a passive object. A description of the Actor Architecture is given, focusing on these two ideas and their preliminary evaluation.
A Review on Bioactivities of Perilla: Progress in Research on the Functions of Perilla as Medicine and Food

Perilla is a useful pharmaceutical and food product and is empirically consumed by humans. However, its properties have not been evaluated extensively. In this review, we summarize the progress made in research, focusing on the bioactivities of perilla. There are many in vitro and animal studies on the cytostatic activity and antiallergic effects, respectively, of perilla and its constituents. However, its influence on humans remains unclear. Hence, investigating and clarifying the physiological effects of perilla and its constituents on humans are imperative in the future to adhere to the ideals of evidence-based medicine.
MuACOsm: a new mutation-based ant colony optimization algorithm for learning finite-state machines

In this paper we present MuACOsm - a new method of learning Finite-State Machines (FSM) based on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and a graph representation of the search space. The input data is a set of events, a set of actions and the number of states in the target FSM. The goal is to maximize the given fitness function, which is defined on the set of all FSMs with given parameters. The new algorithm is compared with evolutionary algorithms and a genetic programming related approach on the well-known Artificial Ant problem.
A methodology to investigate pre-service teachers’ content-related instructional decisions and teaching actions

ABSTRACT Teacher educators need to better understand how pre-service teachers make decisions that lead them to enact particular content knowledge in their lessons. Lesson observations can be used to examine the content knowledge manifesting in teaching actions and stimulated recall interviews can offer insights into teaching decisions. However, methodological approaches are needed that use strategic combinations of data collection and analysis techniques to illuminate connections between teaching actions and decisions. This paper describes one such methodological approach that investigates (i) pre-service teachers’ content knowledge that manifests in their live teaching actions and (ii) the decisions that lie behind those actions including the influences on those decisions. The approach is illustrated using data from a study of secondary mathematics pre-service teachers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the analytical approach described and the potential for findings produced using this approach to inform the design of teacher education experiences.
Turning Groups Inside Out: A Social Network Perspective

Most research related to learning in groups focuses on the unit of the group and/or group members. However, students may benefit from crossing the boundaries of their own group, as students in different groups may provide access to new, nonredundant knowledge and opportunities for learning. Whether boundary crossing between groups is beneficial for learning and academic performance has received limited conceptual and empirical attention. Using social network analysis and structural equation modeling, we contrasted pre/post network developments among 693 students (132 groups) across 4 modules at a UK business school. We examined whether it is better for students to invest in social relations in groups to learn and enhance academic performance or to (continue to) invest in social relations outside groups. Our findings indicated that students seemed to learn more from learning relations outside their group than from their own group members. Students with more intergroup relative to intragroup learning relations performed better on module assessments and throughout the academic year than students with more intragroup learning relations. Boundary crossing and intergroup learning deserves more empirical attention and experimentation on how to balance boundary crossing and effective group learning strategies.
A concentration inequality for interval maps with an indifferent fixed point

Abstract For a map of the unit interval with an indifferent fixed point, we prove an upper bound for the variance of all observables of n variables, K:[0,1]n→ℝ, which are separately Lipschitz. The proof is based on coupling and decay of correlation properties of the map. We also present applications of this inequality to the almost-sure central limit theorem, the kernel density estimation, the empirical measure and the periodogram.
U.S. Trade and Inventory Dynamics

The authors examine the source of the large fall and rebound in U.S. trade in the recent recession. While trade fell and rebounded more than expenditures or production of traded goods, they find that relative to the magnitude of the downturn, these trade fluctuations were in line with those in previous business cycle fluctuations. The authors argue that the high volatility of trade is attributed to more severe inventory management considerations of firms involved in international trade. They present empirical evidence for autos as well as at the aggregate level that the adjustment of inventory holdings helps explain these fluctuations in trade.
The intersection of cisgenderism and hate crime: learning from trans people's narratives

Whilst trans people are gaining recognition and positive attention in some respects, many continue to experience discrimination and social exclusion in everyday life. This paper will illuminate violence outside of the home – in the form of hate crime – and the interplay with transphobia (the irrational dislike of trans people) and cisgenderism (a prejudicial ideology based on notions of gender normativity). To-date, there is a rather limited body of work detailing trans people’s experiences of hate crime, with the tendency to subsume trans people’s narratives under the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) umbrella. This invisibility results in problems with detailing and examining the specificity of trans people’s hate crime experiences. Findings from a qualitative study that explored trans people’s experiences of domestic abuse, using narrative interviewing, will be presented. A total of twenty-four interviews were undertaken with trans people (n = 15) and domestic abuse practitioners (n = 9). Data was examined using a voice-centred relational technique. Whilst trans people were asked about domestic abuse, each participant provided narratives about their experience of abuse in public; with each constituting hate crime. Four narratives have been purposively selected and these are presented here to illuminate the workings of cisgenderism in relation to hate crime. This paper adds new insight and problematizes the entrenched nature of normative and dominant discourses about gender identity and practice.
The role of leisure in integrated community sustainability plans within Canada

ABSTRACT Given the preoccupation that all levels of government have been giving to sustainability, those advocating for the role of leisure must be able to clearly articulate how leisure intersects with and supports sustainability. Within Canada, federal and provincial governments have encouraged the development of Integrated Community Sustainability Plans (ICSP) at the municipal level to advance sustainability initiatives. The aim of this study was to determine to what extent ICSPs indicate a role for leisure in achieving sustainability. Using a sample of 18 ICSPs, the analysis revealed that leisure plays a strong and integrated role in sustainability planning suggesting that communities view leisure as a valuable contributor to sustainable communities. Leisure emerged as a potential solution to a broad range of social, environmental and economic issues and strategies transcended sectoral boundaries. The findings highlight the importance of collaborative planning and encourage leisure practitioners to actively engage in sustainability initiatives.
Mobility Increases the Connectivity of Wireless Networks

In this paper, we investigate the connectivity for large-scale clustered wireless sensor and ad hoc networks. We study the effect of mobility on the critical transmission range for asymptotic connectivity in k-hop clustered networks and compare to existing results on nonclustered stationary networks. By introducing k -hop clustering, any packet from a cluster member can reach a cluster head within k hops, and thus the transmission delay is bounded as Θ(1) for any finite k. We first characterize the critical transmission range for connectivity in mobile k-hop clustered networks where all nodes move under either the random walk mobility model with nontrivial velocity or the i.i. d. mobility model. By the term nontrivial velocity, we mean that the velocity of a node v is ω(r(n)), where r(n) is the transmission range of the node. We then compare with the critical transmission range for stationary k-hop clustered networks. In addition, the critical number of neighbors is studied in a parallel manner for both stationary and mobile networks. We also study the transmission power versus delay tradeoff and the average energy consumption per flow among different types of networks. We show that random walk mobility with nontrivial velocities increases connectivity in k-hop clustered networks, and thus significantly decreases the energy consumption and improves the power-delay tradeoff. The decrease of energy consumption per flow is shown to be Θ([(logn)/(nd)]) in clustered networks. These results provide insights on network design and fundamental guidelines on building a large-scale wireless network.