Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Using Grade-related Criteria: A single currency for universities?

The main focus of this paper is assessment. It raises questions concerning the aims and purposes of testing and the means by which it is done. Assessment has four main roles: formative, to provide support for future learning; summative, to provide information about performance at the end of a course; certification, selecting by means of qualification; evaluative, a means by which stakeholders can judge the effectiveness of the system as a whole. For universities, the different roles of assessment can create tensions: awarding more first class degrees may indicate rising standards of teaching and learning or precisely the opposite. In the UK, universities have been criticised for not having marking and grading systems that are robust, whilst evidence from the Higher Education Statistics Agency revealed the number of first class honours degrees awarded in UK universities ranged from 21.1% in mathematical sciences to 4.1% in business and administrative studies and 3.7% in law. Even within institutions there is also a considerable variation in degree classification, which appears to have little relationship to any measure of input. Furthermore, evidence based on analysis of modular degree schemes in the UK indicates that there is considerable variation in the formulae that are used to award honours degrees even within a single university. This paper will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a grade-related criterion common grading scheme using data obtained from staff and students at one UK university and examine the implications of such a scheme for the maintenance and enhancement of standards.
Mycobacterium haemophilum infection in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Mycobacterium haemophilum was isolated from wrist and ankle aspirates as the organism responsible for tenosynovitis in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Mycobacterium isolates recovered from synovial fluid were identified as hemin requiring by their failure to grow on subculture unless the medium was supplemented with hemin. M. haemophilum is of low virulence and rarely associated with infections in humans. This is the first documented case of M. haemophilum infection in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Calculate or wait: Is man an eager or a lazy intuitive statistician?

Research on people's ability to act as intuitive statisticians has mainly focused on the accuracy of estimates of central tendency and variability. In this paper, we investigate two hypothesised cognitive processes by which people make judgements of distribution shape. The first claims that people spontaneously induce abstract representations of distribution properties from experience, including about distribution shape. The second process claims that people construct beliefs about distribution properties post hoc by retrieval from long-term memory of small samples from the distribution, implying format dependence with accuracy that differs depending on judgement format. Results from two experiments confirm the predicted format dependence, suggesting that people are often constrained by the post hoc assessment of distribution properties by sampling from long-term memory. The results, however, also suggest that, although post hoc sampling from memory seems to be the default process, under certain predictable circumstances people do induce abstract representations of distribution shape.
Diverging Pathways: Social Structure and Career Deflections

List of tables and figures Foreword James S. Coleman Preface 1. Institutional structure and achievement 2. Tracing a British birth cohort 3. Elementary school: the opening wedge 4. Secondary school: increased dispersion 5. Alternative pathways after secondary school 6. Randomization and consolidation in the labour force 7. Structural linkages, careers and career lines 8. The cumulative effects of structure 9. Structural differentiation: necessary evil or policy instrument? Appendix: description of variables Notes References Subject index.
Disordered personalities at work

Current categorical classification systems of personality disorders (PDs) remain widely used amid growing evidence that argues against the conceptualisation of PDs as independent, discrete entities. Adopting the dimensional perspective of Morey et al. (Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 245–251, 1985), this study compared PD traits across forensic, psychiatric and “normal” senior business manager samples. There was particular interest in the relative representations of elements of PD closely associated with psychopathic PD because of research suggesting that some “psychopaths” operate within mainstream society, and links that have been made between elements of these so-called “successful” psychopaths, and characteristics associated with success in senior business management roles. The dimensional Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Scales for DSM III Personality Disorders (MMPI-PD) were shown to be internally consistent for the “normal” sample. Evidence for the qualitative equivalence of the four PD profiles emerged. The PD profile of the senior business manager sample was found to contain significant elements of PD, particularly those that have been referred to as the “emotional components” of psychopathic PD. The findings provide strong support for the continuous distribution of personality disordered traits.
Expert Knowledge, Distinctiveness, and Levels of Processing in Language Learning.

The foreign language vocabulary learning research literature often attributes strong mnemonic potency to the cognitive processing of meaning when learning words. Routinely cited as support for this idea are experiments by Craik and Tulving (C&T) demonstrating superior recognition and recall of studied words following semantic tasks (“deep” encoding) compared to structure-related tasks (“shallow” encoding). However, participants in C&T were not language learners but native speakers of English studying known English nouns. These experiments have never been directly replicated using nonnatives to establish the relevance of the findings to nonnatives and learners. The present study replicated C&T Experiment 5, comparing effects of shallow and deep encoding tasks on subsequent recognition of target words by native and nonnative speakers of English with equivalent short-term memory function. The results showed depth effects similar to C&T for all participants, indicating that C&T's results do generalize to less proficient speakers of the target language. It is crucial, however, that nonnative speakers of English benefited less from semantic encoding than native speakers, suggesting an effect of preexisting knowledge representations on mnemonic effects derived from semantic processing, and hence, a limit to the relevance of C&T for learners. Results are discussed in terms of the constructs of the mental lexicon, expert knowledge, distinctiveness and levels of processing in memory research and language learning.
Anisotropic Diffusion Descriptors

Spectral methods have recently gained popularity in many domains of computer graphics and geometry processing, especially shape processing, computation of shape descriptors, distances, and correspondence. Spectral geometric structures are intrinsic and thus invariant to isometric deformations, are efficiently computed, and can be constructed on shapes in different representations. A notable drawback of these constructions, however, is that they are isotropic, i.e., insensitive to direction. In this paper, we show how to construct direction‐sensitive spectral feature descriptors using anisotropic diffusion on meshes and point clouds. The core of our construction are directed local kernels acting similarly to steerable filters, which are learned in a task‐specific manner. Remarkably, while being intrinsic, our descriptors allow to disambiguate reflection symmetries. We show the application of anisotropic descriptors for problems of shape correspondence on meshes and point clouds, achieving results significantly better than state‐of‐the‐art methods.
The Perpetration of School Violence in Taiwan

Using a nationally representative sample in Taiwan, this study aims to describe the prevalence of perpetration of school violence in Taiwan. The study explores how gender, age and school type relate to students’ perpetration of violence in an Asian culture context. The sample included 14,022 students from elementary to high schools in grades 4 to 12. Students were given an anonymous questionnaire to report their violent behaviour in schools. The findings presented in this study provide insight on why perpetrators commit violent acts against their peers. Findings suggest the prevalence of perpetration may vary from setting to setting but the influences of age, gender and school type on violence tend to be similar in Taiwan to what theories expect based on studies done in Western cultures. A majority of perpetrators reported engaging in violence stemming from rough and tumble play or from situations where they were initially having fun. Findings suggest that promoting the quality of peer interactions could be a major violence prevention strategy.
The Secret Life of Mundane Transaction Costs

Transaction costs, one often hears, are ‘the economic equivalent of friction in physical systems’. Like physicists, economists can sometimes neglect friction in formulating theories; but like engineers, they can never neglect friction in studying how the system actually does — let alone should — work. Interestingly, however, the present-day economics of organization also ignores friction. That is, almost single-mindedly, the literature analyzes transactions from the point of view of misaligned incentives and (especially) transaction-specific assets. The costs involved are certainly costs of running the economic system in some sense, but they are not obviously ‘frictions’. Stories about frictions in trade are not nearly as intriguing as stories about guileful trading partners and expensive assets placed at risk. But I will argue that these seemingly dull categories of cost — what Baldwin and Clark call mundane transaction costs — actually have a secret life. They are at least as important as, and quite probably far more important than, the more glamorous costs of asset specificity in explaining the partition between firm and market. These costs also have a secret life in another sense: they have a secret life cycle. I will argue that these mundane transaction costs provide much better material for helping us understand how the boundaries among firms, markets, and hybrid forms change over time.
Expectations, Aspirations, and Achievement Among Latino Students of Immigrant Families

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between various measures of parental and student expectations and aspirations and math achievement among Latino 12th graders of immigrant parents in the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS): 2002 database. Findings indicate parental expectations and aspirations were not significant predictors of student achievement after controlling for an index of covariates. Moreover, neither were student expectations, agreement between student and parent expectations, nor student perceptions of parental aspirations. The analyses of the secondary questions likewise indicated only one strong relationship between aspirations, expectations, and parents' time in the United States – parental aspirations and expectations.
Sibling Behaviours and Relationships Following Mild to Moderate Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury: Preliminary Findings

Abstract Recent attention has begun to focus on the impact of childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the family. This study examined the impact of mild to moderate childhood TBI on parental ratings of well and injured siblings' behaviours in relation to well siblings' ratings of the impact of injury and the sibling relationship. Parents of 10 children with TBI and 10 children with orthopaedic injury rated both injured and well siblings' behaviours using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Well siblings completed the Sibling Impact Questionnaire (SIQ) and Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (SRQ). Results indicated that children with TBI exhibited significantly more externalising and total behaviours than children with orthopaedic injury, while well siblings of children with TBI exhibited more internalising behaviours than siblings of children with orthopaedic injury. Well siblings' ratings of the impact of the injury and sibling relationship did not differ significantly across groups. The behaviours of well siblings and their ratings of injury impact and sibling relationship are examined in relation to the behaviours of the injured siblings for the two groups. The implications of the findings are examined in terms of the need to involve siblings in the rehabilitation process.
Cultivar improvement and environmental variability in yield removed nitrogen of spring cereals and rapeseed in northern growing conditions according to a long-term dataset

The balance between applied and harvested nitrogen (yield removed nitrogen, YRN %) is a recognized indicator of the risk of N leaching. In this study we monitored the genetic improvements and environmental variability as well as differences among crop species (spring cereals and rapeseed) in YRN in order to characterize changes that have occurred and environmental constraints associated with reducing N leaching into the environment. MTT long-term multi-location field experiments for spring cereals ( Hordeum vulgare L., Avena sativa L. and Triticum aestivum L.), turnip rape (Brassica rapa L.), and oilseed rape (B. napus L.) were conducted in 1988–2008, covering each crop’s main production regions. Yield (kg ha -1 ) was recorded and grain/seed nitrogen content (N grain , g kg -1 ) analyzed. Total yield N (N yield , kg ha -1 ) was determined and YRN (%) was calculated as a ratio between applied and harvested N. A mixed model was used to separate genetic and environmental effects. Year and location had marked effects on YRN and N yield . Average early and/or late season precipitation was often most advantageous for N yield in cereals, while in dry seasons N uptake is likely restricted and in rainy seasons N leaching is often severe. Elevated temperatures during early and/or late growth phases had more consistent, negative impacts on YRN and/or N yield for all crops, except oilseed rape. In addition to substantial variability caused by the environment, it was evident that genetic improvements in YRN have taken place. Hence, YRN can be improved by cultivar selection and through favouring crops with high YRN such as oat in crop rotations.
Accounting for unsafe sex: Interviews with men who have sex with men

Semi‐structured one‐on‐one interviews with 102 gay and bisexual men were conducted to examine the reasoning processes men use to exempt themselves from practicing safe sex. Qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed the following recurring themes: (a) Many men who were in couple relationships avoided condom use for reasons involving intimacy or trust, or because both partners were HIV‐negative; (b) unsafe sex sometimes occurred inadvertently or involuntarily; (c) negative moods and self‐images were associated with unsafe sex; (d) by “intuiting” that their partner was HIV‐negative, participants exempted themselves from the need for safe sex; and (e) when the boundary between safe and unsafe was unclear, participants used a combination of unofficial and official guidelines to determine what is safe.
Functionally Diverse NK-Like T Cells Are Effectors and Predictors of Successful Aging

The fundamental challenge of aging and long-term survivorship is maintenance of functional independence and compression of morbidity despite a life history of disease. Inasmuch as immunity is a determinant of individual health and fitness, unraveling novel mechanisms of immune homeostasis in late life is of paramount interest. Comparative studies of young and old persons have documented age-related atrophy of the thymus, the contraction of diversity of the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, and the intrinsic inefficiency of classical TCR signaling in aged T cells. However, the elderly have highly heterogeneous health phenotypes. Studies of defined populations of persons aged 75 and older have led to the recognition of successful aging, a distinct physiologic construct characterized by high physical and cognitive functioning without measurable disability. Significantly, successful agers have a unique T cell repertoire; namely, the dominance of highly oligoclonal αβT cells expressing a diverse array of receptors normally expressed by NK cells. Despite their properties of cell senescence, these unusual NK-like T cells are functionally active effectors that do not require engagement of their clonotypic TCR. Thus, NK-like T cells represent a beneficial remodeling of the immune repertoire with advancing age, consistent with the concept of immune plasticity. Significantly, certain subsets are predictors of physical/cognitive performance among older adults. Further understanding of the roles of these NK-like T cells to host defense, and how they integrate with other physiologic domains of function are new frontiers for investigation in Aging Biology. Such pursuits will require a research paradigm shift from the usual young-versus-old comparison to the analysis of defined elderly populations. These endeavors may also pave way to age-appropriate, group-targeted immune interventions for the growing elderly population.
CD86 Regulates IgG1 Production via a CD19-Dependent Mechanism1

CD86 signals directly in a B cell to activate PI3K and increase the rate of IgG1 production, without affecting germline transcription. However, the mechanism by which CD86 activates PI3K in a B cell and the relevance of CD86 stimulation in vivo remains unknown. We show that the addition of CD28/Ig to CD40 ligand/IL-4-activated wild-type, but not CD86- or CD19-deficient, B cells increased the level of phosphorylation for Lyn and CD19, as well as the amount of Lyn, Vav, and PI3K that immunoprecipitated with CD19. Adoptive transfer of CD86-deficient B cells and wild-type CD4+ T cells into RAG2-deficient mice and immunization with trinitrophenylated keyhole limpet hemocyanin resulted in an IL-4 and germline IgG1 response equivalent to control mice, but a decrease in serum IgG1. Thus, our findings suggest that CD86 plays a key role in regulating the level of IgG1 produced in vitro and in vivo, and that Lyn and CD19 may be the signaling intermediates activated by CD86 proximal to PI3K.
Recognition and Renown: The Survival of Artistic Reputation

This inquiry into one aspect of collective memory-the differential survival of reputation-distinguishes between two components of reputation: recognition by peers and more universal renown. Before their style of working went out of fashion in the 1930s, all the artists studied had been recognized as painter-etchers, but few had achieved a level of renown that guaranteed the preservation of their original oeuvres, a condition that, in the instance of visual artists, is a sine qua non for being remembered. Where such preservation was not assured, the posthumous durability of reputation depended on the artist's own lifetime efforts to protect or project that reputation, survivors with a stake in preserving or enhancing the artist's reputation, linkages to networks facilitating entry into the cultural archives, and retrospective interest leading to the rediscovery of the artist as the symbolic representative of emerging cultural or political identities. Similar conditions for remembering exist in other areas of culture production; these are affected by the rate at which "old" work loses relevance, the nature of the creative achievement, and the medium in which it is preserved.
Grandir entre pairs à l'école: Ségrégation ethnique et reproduction sociale dans le système éducatif français

Cet article defend l’idee d’une complexification des modes de reproduction sociale par l’ecole en montrant le poids des groupes de pairs dans les processus de socialisation des adolescents. L’enjeu est aujourd’hui le controle, par les familles, de ce processus et l’un des moyens de mettre en œuvre ce controle, toujours relatif, est le choix de l’etablissement de scolarisation. Les reformes successives du systeme educatif francais, et la massification scolaire qui en a resulte, ont entraine l’emergence d’un « college democratise » dans lequel les parcours se diversifient principalement en fonction des etablissements. Ce processus se concretise par une specialisation ethnique et sociale des colleges. Cette segregation scolaire transforme l’ensemble des modalites de la reproduction sociale par l’Ecole. D’abord par son ampleur, elle produit une segmentation de l’offre educative qui participe de la reproduction sociale. Celle-ci prend deux voies. Tout d’abord, les conditions de reproduction du capital scolaire passent en partie par l’etablissement qui tend a jouer le role que jouaient precedemment les filieres. La reproduction sociale passe ensuite par les habitus sociaux dont l’ecole est devenue un des modes privilegies de conservation et de reproduction. Dans un tel contexte, la reproduction des habitus passe en partie par les etablissements scolaires qui jouent un role central dans la constitution des groupes de pairs, des rencontres et des relations d’adolescents eux-memes au principe de la formation et de la reproduction des habitus sociaux.
vasa and nanos expression patterns in a sea anemone and the evolution of bilaterian germ cell specification mechanisms

Summary Most bilaterians specify primordial germ cells (PGCs) during early embryogenesis using either inherited cytoplasmic germ line determinants (preformation) or induction of germ cell fate through signaling pathways (epigenesis). However, data from nonbilaterian animals suggest that ancestral metazoans may have specified germ cells very differently from most extant bilaterians. Cnidarians and sponges have been reported to generate germ cells continuously throughout reproductive life, but previous studies on members of these basal phyla have not examined embryonic germ cell origin. To try to define the embryonic origin of PGCs in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, we examined the expression of members of the vasa and nanos gene families, which are critical genes in bilaterian germ cell specification and development. We found that vasa and nanos family genes are expressed not only in presumptive PGCs late in embryonic development, but also in multiple somatic cell types during early embryogenesis. These results suggest one way in which preformation in germ cell development might have evolved from the ancestral epigenetic mechanism that was probably used by a metazoan ancestor.
Learning about research: exploring the learning and teaching/research relationship amongst educational practitioners studying in higher education

The paper examines aspects of the relationship between teaching and research in higher education in social science research methods, with particular reference to the subject area of Education. There are three main themes: reflections on how social science research methods should be (or are) taught; a review of current debates about the relationship between teaching and research, both in higher education and for school teachers; and finally, reporting how a group of educational practitioners (mainly school teachers) studying at Masters level experience learned about research methods. The paper is illustrated by qualitative data from a case study of student experiences of research methods teaching on a Masters degree in Education in a research-intensive UK university. It is suggested that studying the journey embarked upon by taught postgraduate students inexperienced in research is helpful in understanding how learning about research methods takes place, which in turn can assist future research methods teaching.