Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GENDER, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, MATH ATTITUDES, AND MATH ACHIEVEMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION

Investigations into the factors related to math achievement have traditionally been studied within individual countries, despite the existence of large international data sets available for analysis. This dissertation investigated the relationships among gender, socioeconomic status, math attitudes, and math achievement based on information from 50 participating countries in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Countries were grouped into clusters using hierarchical cluster analysis. Six cluster solutions were investigated based on average mathematics scores, average science scores, and average math attitude. The clusters were then validated on a separate sample using discriminant function analysis. The validation process utilized several country-level indicator variables, such as the Human Development Index, to ascertain the external validity of the cluster solutions. Multiple-group latent variable modeling was employed between-clusters and within-clusters to assess the nature and strength of the relationships between gender, socioeconomic status, math attitudes, and math achievement. The findings suggest that math self-confidence has a particularly strong relationship with math achievement, and that value of math has a particularly weak relationship with math achievement. Additionally, gender differences in math achievement appear to have disappeared or now favor female students, but male students report generally higher levels of math self-confidence. Among the implications discussed is the need to promote math selfconfidence in education curricula and in teacher education.
Audio Scene Classification with Deep Recurrent Neural Networks

We introduce in this work an efficient approach for audio scene classification using deep recurrent neural networks. An audio scene is firstly transformed into a sequence of high-level label tree embedding feature vectors. The vector sequence is then divided into multiple subsequences on which a deep GRU-based recurrent neural network is trained for sequence-to-label classification. The global predicted label for the entire sequence is finally obtained via aggregation of subsequence classification outputs. We will show that our approach obtains an F1-score of 97.7% on the LITIS Rouen dataset, which is the largest dataset publicly available for the task. Compared to the best previously reported result on the dataset, our approach is able to reduce the relative classification error by 35.3%.
Social inclusion, graduate attributes and higher education curriculum

Drawing on data from 39 Australian universities over the past 15 years, this paper examines the social inclusion curriculum in higher education through an analysis of university statements of graduate attributes. Graduate attributes articulate an institution’s vision of students they seek to develop, and the knowledge, values and dispositions they wish to impart. Such statements and their justifications represent an aspect of the intended curriculum, but may not reflect the enacted or experienced curriculum. In the context of the Bradley review of Australian higher education, social inclusion discussions have focussed on access to opportunities and the social and economic dimensions of participation. Curriculum and pedagogical issues have, to date, received less critical attention. Australian graduate attribute policies and statements frequently articulate social inclusion in terms of respect for and appreciation of diversity; possessing a global or international perspective; commitment to equity and social justice; having a sense of social responsibility; and participating in the community. These outcomes reflect key themes found in most definitions of social inclusion. This paper examines the influencing factors for graduate attributes, and discusses two dimensions in detail: diversity and global perspectives.
Thrombopoietin protects H9C2 cells from excessive autophagy and apoptosis in doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity

Cardiac toxicity has been the major concern when using doxorubicin (DOX) in cancer therapy. Thrombopoietin (TPO) protects cardiac cells from DOX-induced cell damage; however, its molecular mechanism remains exclusive. The anti-autophagic and anti-apoptotic effects of TPO upon DOX treatment were studied in the cardiac H9C2 cell line, with bafilomycin A1 treatment as a positive control for autophagy inhibition. Cell viability was measured by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay in different treatment groups. The mRNA and/or protein levels of apoptotic markers and autophagy-associated factors were detected. The mean number of microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3) puncta per cell was quantified to indicate autophagosomes and autolysosomes, of which the ones co-stained with lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 were considered as autolysosomes. DOX treatment (5 µg/ml, 24 h) significantly impaired H9C2 cell viability compared with the control, while TPO pretreatment (10 ng/ml, 36 h) improved cell viability upon DOX treatment. DOX exposure markedly increased LC3 puncta in H9C2 cells, and TPO pretreatment reduced the number of autophagosomes, but showed no significant inhibitory effect on autolysosome formation. The autophagy inhibition by TPO upon DOX treatment was confirmed according to protein quantification of LC3-II and nucleoporin 62. TPO also suppressed autophagy-promoting protein Beclin-1, and elevated the anti-autophagic factors GATA-binding protein-4 and B cell lymphoma-2. Furthermore, TPO reduced DOX-induced apoptosis in H9C2 cells, as reflected by the amount changes of caspase-3. Taken together, these results revealed that TPO has a protective role in H9C2 cells from DOX-induced autophagy as well as apoptosis, and indicated that TPO may act as a cardioprotective drug in DOX-treated patients.
Young Women's Leadership Alliance: Youth–adult partnerships in an all‐female after‐school program

This article describes program strategies and adult practices that can build youth–adult partnerships. In particular, it focuses on strategies to empower girls in all-female after-school programs. The Young Women's Leadership Alliance has involved 164 girl leaders and five adult women leaders over three years. To build the partnerships, adults made two key contributions: provided guidance rather than instruction, and created a place where girls can know and speak their minds. We describe specific practices and draw on analyses of the qualitative data to provide evidence of the utility of the practices for creating youth–adult partnerships that empower and engage girls. Three program practices may be particularly relevant for all-female programs: legitimizing a range of leadership styles, creating a way for all voices to be heard, and creating a norm of respectful disagreement. This article also highlights the importance of peer relationships in building effective youth–adult partnerships. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 33: 87–100, 2005.
From Certification to Supply Chain Strategy

Created as a market-based instrument to deter tropical deforestation, the certification program of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has experienced tremendous growth over the past two decades. We argue that using a comprehensive conceptual framework is needed to assess the successes and limitations of FSC certification. We introduce a supply chain strategy framework to address three questions: (a) What are the requisite supply chain conditions for certification programs to be successful? (b) How well does the tropical timber sector meet these conditions? (c) What actions could make FSC certification efforts more effective? We conclude that some conditions necessary for a successful supply chain strategy are not found in the tropical timber industry. As a result, FSC certification faces severe limitations as a governance tool for tropical forest conservation. We suggest that a collaborative approach to creating markets for certified timber will improve FSC certificate program effectiveness.
Inmates’ perspectives on prison drug treatment

The purpose of this article is to employ a user-perspective on prison drug treatment. Based on data from 32 in-depth qualitative interviews with inmates and three months of observational studies in three Danish prisons, the article examines how drug treatment in prison is experienced and strategically approached by enrolled inmates. The analysis shows the broad range of reasons for entering as well as staying in treatment during imprisonment, including how the prison setting influences and constrains inmates’ experiences in different ways. By employing a user-perspective the article follows the research tradition, beginning in the 1990s, of including drug users’ perspectives on treatment. It adds important information to the drug treatment literature on issues such as organization, social relations and output of drug treatment. Including a user-perspective, we were able to uncover aspects and experiences of treatment services that differ from other actors in the field, e.g. counsellors, medical doctors, nurses, politicians, and officers. A user-perspective also challenges our understanding of what is at play in drug treatment as well as treatment in prisons.
From Courtship Into Marriage: A New Developmental Model and Methodological Critique

This article presents a conceptual, time-ordered, and developmental framework, centered on courtship processes, to study the premarital roots of marital success and failure. In this model, we assume that partners bring relatively stable qualities to their courtship that independently and in combination affect the course of the courtship and, in turn, shape how well couples fare in marriage. We argue that to appreciate the courtship features that predict marital success or failure, social scientists must understand the importance of moving beyond static variable-centered approaches to more developmental ones (both conceptually and analytically) that emphasize the interplay among premarital partners' qualities, the dynamics of their courtships, including the social and cultural contexts within which they are embedded, and the stability and satisfactoriness of the marriages they establish.
Words of the world: The global language system

Abram De Swaan, Words of the world: The global language system. Cambridge: Polity Press and Blackwell, 2001. Pp. xi, 253. Hb. $33.95. There is a global language system that is a neglected part of the overall international system, according to Abram de Swaan, chairman of the Amsterdam School of Social Science Research at the University of Amsterdam. This book analyzes the nature of that global system in the first three chapters, followed by five chapters of case studies and ending with a chapter of “Conclusions and considerations. ” The concept of a global language system has been articulated by the author in some previous articles, but the treatment here is much more systematic and complete, and as a result more impressive. In a word, this book is important and deserves very careful attention.
Shox2 influences mesenchymal stem cell fate in a co-culture model in vitro

Sinoatrial node (SAN) dysfunction is a common cardiovascular problem, and the development of a cell sourced biological pacemaker has been the focus of cardiac electrophysiology research. The aim of biological pacemaker therapy is to produce SAN-like cells, which exhibit spontaneous activity characteristic of the SAN. Short stature homeobox 2 (Shox2) is an early cardiac transcription factor and is crucial in the formation and differentiation of the sinoatrial node (SAN). The present study aimed to improve pacemaker function by overexpression of Shox2 in canine mesenchymal stem cells (cMSCs) to induce a phenotype similar to native pacemaker cells. To achieve this objective, the cMSCs were transfected with lentiviral pLentis-mShox2-red fluorescent protein, and then co-cultured with rat neonatal cardiomyocytes (RNCMs) in vitro for 5–7 days. The feasibility of regulating the differentiation of cMSCs into pacemaker-like cells by Shox2 overexpression was investigated. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting showed that Shox2-transfected cMSCs expressed high levels of T box 3, hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel and Connexin 45 genes, which participate in SAN development, and low levels of working myocardium genes, Nkx2.5 and Connexin 43. In addition, Shox2-transfected cMSCs were able to pace RNCMs with a rate faster than the control cells. In conclusion, these data indicate that overexpression of Shox2 in cMSCs can greatly enhance the pacemaker phenotype in a co-culture model in vitro.
Drug Treatment during Pregnancy and Isolated Orofacial Clefts in Hungary

Objective: To evaluate the possible association between all kinds of drug treatments during pregnancy and isolated cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) and posterior cleft palate (PCP) in the offspring. Setting: The dataset of the large population-based Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980–1996, was evaluated. Participants: One thousand three hundred seventy-four cases with isolated CL/P and 601 with PCP, plus 38,151 population controls (without birth defects) and 20,868 malformed controls with other defects. Intervention: In this observation case-control study the data collection was based on prospective medical records particularly prenatal logbook, retrospective maternal data via a self-reported questionnaire, and home visits of nonresponding mothers. Main outcome measures: Isolated CL/P and PCP associated with drug treatments during pregnancy. Results: An increased risk for isolated CL/P was found in cases born to mothers treated with amoxicillin, phenytoin, oxprenolol, and thiethylperazine during the second and third month of pregnancy, i.e., the critical period of isolated CL/P. Risk of isolated PCP was increased in mothers with oxytetracycline and carbamazepine treatment during the third and fourth month of pregnancy, i.e., the critical period of PCP. Conclusions: This study confirmed the orofacial cleft (OFC) inducing effect of phenytoin, carbamazepine, oxytetracycline, and thiethylperazine and suggested a possible association between OFCs and oxprenolol and amoxicillin. However, drugs may have only a limited role in the origin of isolated OFCs.
Revisiting Baby Boomers and Alcohol Use: Emerging Treatment Trends

With the aging of the “Baby Boom” generation, it is anticipated that there will be a greater frequency of alcohol misuse among older adults. Clinicians often overlook signs of alcohol abuse in older adults or misdiagnose these problems. The purpose of this article is to examine some of the problems with alcohol use in older adults to further create awareness of the importance of appropriate strategies to reduce incidence. We consider the severity of alcohol abuse, factors that can aggravate alcohol use, and methods of implementing treatment in this population.
Abstracts/Résumés

THE STUDY of collective violence has generally reinforced national stereotypes that Canada is a "Peaceable Kingdom" and that the United States is extraordinarily violent. This article assesses the historiography of collective violence since the 1960s and offers specific suggestions for further exploration into Canada's riotous experiences. Scholars often assume that Canada's collective violence has been infrequent and less destructive than American episodes. Future research — with a focus on nativism, the social legitimacy of the crowd, religious and ethnic conflict, the entrenchment of powerful state institutions
Minimizing the Pervasiveness of Women's Personal Experiences of Gender Discrimination 1

Given the Rejection-Identification Model (Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999), which shows that perceiving discrimination to be pervasive is a negative experience, it was suggested that there would be conditions under which women would instead minimize the pervasiveness of discrimination. Study 1 (N = 91) showed that when women envisioned themselves in a situation of academic discrimination, they defined it as pervasive, but when they experienced a similar laboratory simulation of academic discrimination, its pervasiveness was minimized. Study 2 (N = 159) showed that women who envisioned themselves experiencing discrimination minimized its pervasiveness more so than women reading about discrimination happening to someone else. Further, mediation analysis showed that minimizing the pervasiveness enhanced positive affect about personal discrimination. Implications for minimizing on both an individual and social level are discussed.
Integrated face detection, tracking, and pose estimation

This paper presents a proposal of an integrated method for face detection, tracking, and head pose estimation. We use the de-facto Viola-Jones method for face and face part detection. We adopt affine motion model estimation as a tracking method. The combination enables efficient detection around the search area limited by tracking. Moreover, it reduces false detection because of the consistent processing with earlier results. In addition, the method re-initializes the position and size of the face and face parts in every frame. That initialization immediately corrects tracking jitter. The head pose is estimated using coordinates of both eyes and a mouth relative to the nose as the origin in the coordinate system. The computational cost is low because it uses only those three points. Experimental results show accurate estimation of the head pose. The average error is 6.50 deg in yaw angle, and 7.65 deg in pitch angle.
Adiposity and low‐grade systemic inflammation modulate matrix metalloproteinase‐9 levels in Greek children with sleep apnea

Matrix metalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9) plasma levels correlate with C‐reactive protein (CRP) concentrations and they are both increased in adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). No studies have evaluated MMP‐9 levels in children with sleep apnea and CRP is not consistently elevated in pediatric OSA. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the association of severity of OSA, adiposity, and CRP with MMP‐9 plasma levels in Greek children.
The Interrelationship of Beliefs, Context, and Learning: The Case of a Teacher Reacting to Language Policy

In this article, I trace the complex ways that literacy and language policy are translated into classroom practice through the examination of a single telling case.1 I demonstrate that the role teachers play in the process can best be understood by considering a variety of factors which have been advanced in policy research to explain variations in policy implementation. These include the nature of the local school context, the beliefs and experience of the teacher, and ways in which the teacher might learn from the new policy context. I underscore these claims with empirical data related to a teacher's role in the enactment of Proposition 227-the California initiative designed to end bilingual education. The article presents select findings from a 11/2-year-long ethnographic study of a California district that allowed individual schools to develop their own Proposition 227 implementation plans. Through detailed examinations of the classroom literacy practice of a former bilingual teacher, this article illustrates how the individual qualities of a teacher played a significant role in the enactment of literacy practice.
PCR amplification introduces errors into mononucleotide and dinucleotide repeat sequences

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used universally for accurate exponential amplification of DNA. We describe a high error rate at mononucleotide and dinucleotide repeat sequence motifs. Subcloning of PCR products allowed sequence analysis of individual DNA molecules from the product pool and revealed that: (1) monothymidine repeats longer than 11 bp are amplified with decreasing accuracy, (2) repeats generally contract during PCR because of the loss of repeat units, (3) Taq and proofreading polymerase Pfu generate similar errors at mononucleotide and dinucleotide repeats, and (4) unlike the parent PCR product pool, individual clones containing a single repeat length produce no “shadow bands”. These data demonstrate that routine PCR amplification alters mononucleotide and dinucleotide repeat lengths. Such sequences are common components of genetic markers, disease genes, and intronic splicing motifs, and the amplification errors described here can be mistaken for polymorphisms or mutations.
Hearing levels and hearing handicap in Cantonese-speaking Australians

Abstract Thirty monolingual Cantonese-speaking older adult Australians (CSOA-A) and 30 monolingual English-speaking older adult Australians (ESOA-A) completed questionnaires on hearing handicap and were assessed with pure tone threshold audiometry. Responses to self-perceived handicap questions showed that CSOA-A subjects apparently experienced less difficulty in communication than ESOA-A subjects despite having slightly poorer hearing levels. CSOA-A subjects reported difficulty hearing conversation when the average hearing levels reached 39.4 dB HTL, a figure close to the 40–45 dB HTL level proposed in previous studies of Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong as being an indicative divide between those Cantonese speakers who will report hearing problems and those who will report no problems. It appears that aspects of the Cantonese dialect and/or culture may act to reduce the impact of hearing loss on communication and/or increase the likelihood of denial of problems. In particular the tonal character of the Cantonese dialect, which carries significant information via low-frequency pitch changes, may be an advantage to older adults with hearing loss.
Self-Complexity: An Assessment of Construct Validity

Abstract We used a standardized data collection method for assessing the complexity of an individual's cognitions about self and other people. To assess the construct validity of self-complexity, 472 college undergraduates were assessed using this method and concurrently assessed for depression, anxiety, social desirability, and positive/negative affectivity. Evidence for the validity of the self-complexity construct was adduced. Self-complexity could be distinguished from complexity of others, positive/negative affectivity, and social desirability in that self-complexity predicted depressive symptomatology independently of the influence of those factors. We discuss methodological issues in the assessment of cognitive structure in light of our findings and those of other investigators.
Combination of piezoelectric printing and E-jet for microfabrication

A novel method of nano-patterning, based on combining the principles of piezoelectric inkjet printing and E-jetting to form free-standing biopolymer fibers, is proposed. Large electric fields have been utilized in the formation of continuous fibers through E-jetting but forming discontinuous, positioned fibers is new to the field. Piezoelectric inkjet printing offers clean break-offs and reproducible positioning, which E-jetting in micro-drip mode lacks. Experimental setups are designed consisting of a charging plate-electrode ring setup, piezoelectric inkjet printing and an Einzel lens component. The experiments conducted to investigate the viability of this method using polyethylene oxide (PEO). Experiments were conducted to optimize parameters such as the Einzel lens' dimensions, the solution concentration and piezoelectric printhead driver parameters. It is recommended that a smaller ring radius, larger ring length and smaller separation distance between rings for the Einzel lens should be strived for within the boundaries of the limitations.