Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring the drivers of teacher professionalism in Ghana

This research aimed to explore the working conditions teachers in the Ghana Education Service perceived as motivators in their professional practice. The research used mainly a qualitative approach and three focus groups of five members: each were organised with teacher participants drawn from the Ashanti Region purposively selected. The research revealed that the sources of motivation in the participants’ professional practice related to selfless and internal factors rather than external factors. The research concluded that since not all teachers were selflessly and internally motivated, there was the need for the government to do more to improve teachers’ working conditions so as to motivate those that were externally motivated.
The relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between transformational leadership of government secondary school principals and teachers’ job satisfaction. A random sample of 320 teachers responded to a three-part instrument (the transformational leadership questionnaire, the teachers’ job satisfaction questionnaire and a demographic section). Means, standard deviations, Pearson correlations and stepwise regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that a moderate, positive and significant relationship exists between transformational leadership (overall) and overall teachers’ job satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between each component of transformational leadership and teachers’ job satisfaction was found to be moderate, positive and significant. Finally, it is suggested that principals of government secondary schools in Ethiopia should pay more attention to developing efficient teamwork and the expression of warm concern and trust to co-workers through transformational leadership behaviours.
Enabling high data rate VLC via MIMO-LEDs PPM

Visible light communication is a new frontier of communication allowing high data-rate Internet access specially in indoor environment. One of the key challenges is the limited modulation bandwidth of sources, that is typically around several MHz. As a room or coverage space would typically be illuminated by an array of Light Emitting Diode devices, there exists the potential for parallel data transmission. In this paper we investigate the use of multiple LEDs to perform a space-time block coding. By exploiting optical MIMO techniques, jointly with Pulse Position Modulation, we can achieve data rates of the order of hundreds of Mb/s (i.e., around 600 Mb/s) in indoor VLC systems, with no reduction of link reliability. Finally, the proposed approach has been compared to similar techniques, highlighting its effectiveness and robustness.
CRANIAL MORPHOLOGY AND ANATOMY OF TWO ADULT FEMALES OF PILIOCOLOBUS GORDONORUM (UDZUNGWA RED COLOBUS) (MAMMALIA, PRIMATES: COLOBIDAE)

Taxonomy of the African Red Colobus group is currently unresolved. The single species Procolobus badius has been split into different taxa, but the relationships between the morphotypes are poorly understood, often due to a lack of specimens. One of these taxa, the endangered Piliocolobus gordonorum (Udzungwa Red Colobus) is restricted to the Udzungwa Mountains of southern Tanzania. In this paper, two adult female skulls of P. gordonorum are described comparing morphological features and metrics available from the literature. The two crania are extremely similar, showing very limited differences. The general morphology and metrics show a clear phenotypic affinity to P. badius, with some specific characters (e.g. shape of the occipital foramen, and shape of the mandibular notch) that must be further investigated. Size is only slightly larger than the P. badius mean, and metrics and general anatomy are comparable with this taxon. In contrast, the two skulls display a shorter anterior muzzle and larger neurocranium. Although these data are preliminary and descriptive, they represent a further step in the analysis of this endangered taxon.
A Characteristic Planetary Feature in Double-Peaked, High-Magnification Microlensing Events

A significant fraction of microlensing planets have been discovered in high-magnification events, and a significant fraction of these events exhibit a double-peak structure at their peak. However, very wide or very close binaries can also produce double-peaked high-magnification events, with the same gross properties as those produced by planets. Traditionally, distinguishing between these two interpretations has relied on detailed modeling, which is both time-consuming and generally does not provide insight into the observable properties that allow discrimination between these two classes of models. We study the morphologies of these two classes of double-peaked, high-magnification events and identify a simple diagnostic that can be used to immediately distinguish between perturbations caused by planetary and binary companions, without detailed modeling. This diagnostic is based on the difference in the shape of the interpeak region of the light curves. The shape is smooth and concave for binary lensing, while it tends to be either boxy or convex for planetary lensing. In planetary lensing this interpeak morphology is due to the small, weak cusp of the planetary central caustic located between the two stronger cusps. We apply this diagnostic to five observed double-peaked, high-magnification events to infer their underlying nature. A corollary of our study is that good coverage of the interpeak region of double-peaked, high-magnification events is likely to be important for their unique interpretation.
When Selection Ratios Are High: Predicting the Expatriation Willingness of Prospective Domestic Entry-Level Job Applicants

High expatriate selection ratios thwart the ability of multinational organizations to select expatriates. Reducing the selection ratio may be accomplished by selecting those applicants for entry level domestic positions who have expatriate aspirations. Regression analyses conducted on data from a sample of 299 Dutch students about to enter the job market indicated that 20 predictors subsumed under the Five Factor Model, core self-evaluations, expatriate specific predictors, and biodata account for 50% of the variance in expatriation willingness. The predictors were ordered relative to their increasing alignment with expatriation willingness in terms of the action, target, context, and time elements reflected in Ajzen's (1988, 1991) principle of correspondence. Dominance and relative weights analysis provided strong support for the hypothesis that greater alignment on these elements translates into greater predictive power, with biodata emerging as the most powerful predictor set, followed by expatriate specific predictors, the Five Factor Model, and finally core self-evaluations.
Optimised transmission of H.264 scalable video streams over multiple paths in mobile networks

Consumer demand for portable wireless devices such as smartphones or tablets capable of receiving high quality video content has risen sharply in recent years. This paper considers the real-time delivery of streamed H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) content to users of such devices within mobile networks (e.g. situations where they are part of a group moving together on a bus or a train). We propose a novel scheme for the multipath delivery of H.264 SVC content to users in multihomed mobile networks . By implementing our scheme on a realistic testbed, we show that it offers a significant improvement in received video quality over previously proposed alternative schemes.
Supporting Graduate Students of Color in Educational Administration Preparation Programs: Faculty Perspectives on Best Practices, Possibilities, and Problems

Overview: This article presents findings from a study that examined faculty perspectives on how individual faculty members and institutions support graduate students of color in educational administration preparation programs. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify strategies that faculty members and institutions employ to support graduate students of color. The authors were also interested in understanding challenges that face individuals and institutions as they seek to provide such support. Data Sources: Data were collected through a series of focus group sessions and from individual interviews conducted with a diverse sample of faculty members during a 3-year period. Findings: Findings suggested that effective support for graduate students of color in educational administration preparation programs entails proactive yet thoughtful, individual, and institutional work in four areas: (a) recognizing and engaging issues of race in educational administration preparation programs, (b) effective and race-sensitive mentorship, (c) creation and sustenance of multi-tiered and multi-purpose support networks, and (d) establishment of formal and informal support structures.
Post‐adoption reunion sibling relationships: factors facilitating and hindering the development of sensitive relationships following reunion in adulthood

This paper explores findings from an exploratory study on sibling relationships following adoption reunion in adulthood. The qualitative data was gathered through in-depth interviews with 33 adopted adults who were reunited with their birth sibling(s) through an adoption agency in the Republic of Ireland. The findings throw light upon the development of the emotional, often complex, relationships which may emerge when siblings meet for the first time in adult life. Factors influential in facilitating or hindering these post-reunion relationships are discussed. The important insights are then considered in the context of the wider international literature on adoption, search and reunion.
Improvement of olfactory display using solenoid valves

The research on olfactory sense in virtual reality has gradually expanded even though the technology is still premature. We have developed an olfactory display composed of multiple solenoid valves. In the present study, an extended olfactory display, where 32 component odors can be blended in any recipe, is described; the previous version has only 8 odor components. The size was unchanged even though the number of odor components was four times larger than that in the previous display. The complexity of blending was greatly reduced because of algorithm improvement. The blending method and the fundamental experiment using a QCM (quartz crystal microbalance) sensor are described here
Components of Gender Stereotypes

This study is a partial replication and extension of research by Deaux and Lewis (1983, 1984) in which a multicomponent view of gender stereotypes was described. Information about gender label, gender role behaviors and one aspect of physical appearance, attractiveness, was provided. Ratings of stimulus persons (SPs) on the gender stereotypic trait dimensions of instrumentality and expressivity and on the nonstereotypic dimensions of likability and adjustment were examined. Results indicated that gender label and gender role behavior information interacted to influence ratings on three of the four dimensions. SPs who endorsed gender role behaviors incongruent with their gender were more unfavorably evaluated, whereas SPs who endorsed both male and female role behaviors were rated as most likable and well adjusted. The importance of considering both the type of information provided and the nature of the linkage between that information and the required judgment in understanding the effects of gender stereotypes is discussed.
HHV Predicting Correlations for Torrefied Biomass Using Proximate and Ultimate Analyses

Many correlations are available in the literature to predict the higher heating value (HHV) of raw biomass using the proximate and ultimate analyses. Studies on biomass torrefaction are growing tremendously, which suggest that the fuel characteristics, such as HHV, proximate analysis and ultimate analysis, have changed significantly after torrefaction. Such changes may cause high estimation errors if the existing HHV correlations were to be used in predicting the HHV of torrefied biomass. No study has been carried out so far to verify this. Therefore, this study seeks answers to the question: “Can the existing correlations be used to determine the HHV of the torrefied biomass”? To answer this, the existing HHV predicting correlations were tested using torrefied biomass data points. Estimation errors were found to be significantly high for the existing HHV correlations, and thus, they are not suitable for predicting the HHV of the torrefied biomass. New correlations were then developed using data points of torrefied biomass. The ranges of reported data for HHV, volatile matter (VM), fixed carbon (FC), ash (ASH), carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) contents were 14.90 MJ/kg–33.30 MJ/kg, 13.30%–88.57%, 11.25%–82.74%, 0.08%–47.62%, 35.08%–86.28%, 0.53%–7.46% and 4.31%–44.70%, respectively. Correlations with the minimum mean absolute errors and having all components of proximate and ultimate analyses were selected for future use. The selected new correlations have a good accuracy of prediction when they are validated using another set of data (26 samples). Thus, these new and more accurate correlations can be useful in modeling different thermochemical processes, including combustion, pyrolysis and gasification processes of torrefied biomass.
Inputs to combination‐sensitive neurons of the inferior colliculus

In the mustached bat, combination‐sensitive neurons display integrative responses to combinations of acoustic elements in biosonar or social vocalizations. One type of combination‐sensitive neuron responds to multiple harmonics of the frequency‐modulated (FM) components in the sonar pulse and echo of the bat. These neurons, termed FM‐FM neurons, are sensitive to the pulse–echo delay and may encode the distance of sonar targets. FM‐FM neurons are common in high‐frequency regions of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) and may be created there. If so, they must receive low‐frequency inputs in addition to the expected high‐frequency inputs. We placed single deposits of a tracer at FM‐FM recording sites in the ICC and then analyzed retrograde labeling in the brainstem and midbrain. We were particularly interested in labeling patterns suggestive of low‐frequency input to these FM‐FM neurons. In most nuclei containing labeled cells, there was a single focus of labeling in regions thought to be responsive to high‐frequency sounds. More complex labeling patterns were observed in three nuclei. In the anteroventral cochlear nucleus, labeling in the anterior and marginal cell divisions occurred in regions thought to respond to low‐frequency sounds. This labeling comprised 6% of total brainstem labeled cells. Labeling in the intermediate nucleus of the lateral lemniscus and the magnocellular part of the ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus together comprised nearly 40% of all labeled cells. In both nuclei, multiple foci of labeling occurred. These different foci may represent groups of cells tuned to different frequency bands. Thus, one or more of these three nuclei may provide low‐frequency input to high‐frequency‐sensitive cells in the ICC, creating FM‐FM responses. We also examined whether ICC neurons responsive to lower frequencies project to high‐frequency‐sensitive ICC regions; only 0.15% of labeling originated from these lower frequency representations. If the spectral integration of FM‐FM neurons is created at the level of the ICC, these results suggest that neurons of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus or monaural nuclei of the lateral lemniscus may provide the essential low‐frequency input. In contrast, there is little evidence that the low‐frequency representation of the ICC contributes to these integrative responses. J. Comp. Neurol. 409:509–528, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A radioautographic study of the migration and fate of cranial neural crest cells in the chick embryo

The migration and fate of cranial neural fold cells of the chick embryo (White Leghorn strain) were followed radioautographically after replacing crestcontaining fold segments with comparable segments from donor embryos labeled with tritiated thymidine. The behavior of the neural crest cells was found to be remarkably similar to that of their amphibian counterparts. The movements of labeled crest cells into the upper facial region of the chick embryo, in conjunction with their proliferative activity, apparently gave rise to the embryonic facial (medial and lateral nasal, and maxillary) processes. As the cells moved into the visceral arches, they surrounded the core‐ like mescdermal muscle plates.
Self-Perception Theory and the Reduction of Heterosocial Anxiety

A series of studies employed self-perception theory (Bern, 1972) to reduce anxiety in heterosocially anxious or shy college students. As a result of unobtrusive, positively biased interactions with members of the opposite sex, subjects managed to overcome their shyness by attributing their successful outcome to themselves and their own behavior, rather than to the situation in which it occurred. Results indicate that (1) the treatment is highly effective with both males and females; (2) its effect is fairly permanent; (3) the treatment is not susceptible to expectancy-of-treatment-outcome effects; and (4) subjects find it highly enjoyable.
From Text Revision To Text Improvement: a Story of Secondary School Composition

The relationship between revision and text improvement was explored as part of a study investigating the effect of systematic revision instruction on L2 writing. Students in two Form Four/Five classes in a Hong Kong secondary school were taught to revise their first drafts for six writing tasks completed over one academic year. A selection of 30% of student original and revised texts were analysed for revision changes. This analysis showed that all revised texts were longer containing more elaboration. Six student writers were then interviewed to examine how they interpret the influence of their revisions on their texts. These interviews indicated a common belief that text 'improvement' was beyond the writers' capabilities as it entailed 'more' accurate texts.
Learning to teach Sport Education in Russia: factors affecting model understanding and intentions to teach

While remarkably positive findings have been presented in research focusing on Sport Education in school settings, investigations on how preservice teachers learn to teach a new curriculum in physical education have been described as ‘the missing link’ in curriculum research. The purpose of this study was to introduce Sport Education to students in a Russian physical education pedagogical college, and to track their understanding of the model through a series of learning experiences. An action research methodology was employed as the main design of this study, which included four experience steps: lecturing, participating, planning and teaching. The most significant finding related to the knowledge that preservice teachers received during their intensive participation. In particular, this cohort of preservice teachers began with the misconception that Sport Education is a model where the teacher is essentially substituted by the students in terms of the operation of the class. However, by the end of the experience, the preservice teachers held the belief that Sport Education is more like a completely different teaching style where the teacher becomes a facilitator of class events. Nonetheless, their previous histories with physical education and their apprenticeships of observation strongly shaped their future intentions to teach the model.
Percutaneously drained intra-abdominal infections do not require longer duration of antimicrobial therapy

BACKGROUND The length of antimicrobial therapy in complicated intra-abdominal infections (CIAIs) is controversial. A recent prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial found that 4 days of antimicrobial therapy after source control of CIAI resulted in similar outcomes when compared with longer duration. We sought to examine whether outcomes remain similar in the subpopulation who received percutaneous drainage for source control of CIAI. METHODS With the use of the STOP-IT database, patients with a CIAI who received percutaneous drainage were analyzed. Patients were randomized to receive antibiotics until 2 days after the resolution of fever, leukocytosis, and ileus, with a maximum of 10 days of therapy or to receive a fixed course of antibiotics for 4 ± 1 days. Outcomes included incidence of and time to recurrent intra-abdominal infection, Clostridium difficile infection, and extra-abdominal infections as well as hospital days and mortality. RESULTS Of 518 enrolled patients, 129 met inclusion criteria. Baseline characteristics, including demographics, comorbidities, and severity of illness, were similar. When comparing outcomes of the 4-day group (n = 72) with those of the longer group (n = 57), rates of recurrent intra-abdominal infection (9.7% vs. 10.5%, p = 1.00), C. difficile infection (0% vs. 1.8%, p = 0.442), and hospital days (4.0 [2.0–7.5] vs. 4.0 [3.0–8.0], p = 0.91) were similar. Time to recurrent infection was shorter in the 4-day group (12.7 [6.2] days vs. 21.3 [4.2] days, p = 0.015). There was no mortality. CONCLUSION In this post hoc analysis of a prospective, multicenter, randomized trial, there was no difference in outcome between a shorter and longer duration of antimicrobial therapy in those with percutaneously drained source control of CIAI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic/care management study, level IV.
MRI Correlates of Disability in African-Americans with Multiple Sclerosis

Objectives Multiple sclerosis (MS) in African-Americans (AAs) is characterized by more rapid disease progression and poorer response to treatment than in Caucasian-Americans (CAs). MRI provides useful and non-invasive tools to investigate the pathological substrate of clinical progression. The aim of our study was to compare MRI measures of brain damage between AAs and CAs with MS. Methods Retrospective analysis of 97 AAs and 97 CAs with MS matched for age, gender, disease duration and age at MRI examination. Results AA patients had significantly greater T2- (p = 0.001) and T1-weighted (p = 0.0003) lesion volumes compared to CA patients. In contrast, measurements of global and regional brain volume did not significantly differ between the two ethnic groups (p>0.1). Conclusions By studying a quite large sample of well demographically and clinically matched CA and AA patients with a homogeneous MRI protocol we showed that higher lesion accumulation, rather than pronounced brain volume decrease might explain the early progress to ambulatory assistance of AAs with MS.