Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Language Proficiency, Writing Ability, and Composing Strategies: A Study of ESL College Student Writers†

This study was designed to examine ESL student writers at different levels of instruction, to describe their writing strategies as shown in think-aloud protocols, and to compare their composing behaviors with what we know about native speaker student writers. Eight ESL students, four in remedial ESL writing courses and four in college-level writing courses, were given two different writing tasks for think-aloud composing. The resulting protocols were coded and analyzed. The data were examined in relation to course placement, holistic evaluation of the students' writing, and scores on a language proficiency test. The study showed that: (1) L1 basic writers and L2 writers had many strategies in common, the main difference being that the L2 writers did not appear to be inhibited by attempts to correct their work; (2) the students in nonremedial courses consistently engaged in more interaction with the emerging texts; (3) there was little correspondence demonstrated among proficiency, writing ability, and the students' composing strategies; and (4) a specified purpose and audience had almost no observable effect on composing strategies.
O uso da vibração como método auxiliar no treinamento de capacidades físicas: uma revisão da literatura

The effects of vibration on the human body have been documented for many years. Recently, the use of vibration is an auxiliary method of physical training in the young, elderly and athletes. Recent studies indicate an increase in gain of strength, flexibility, endurance and power of individuals trained with vibrating equipments. Despite the fairly widespread use, the physiological effects of vibration are still poorly understood, and there is great variability in the training protocols used in the literature. Future studies should be conducted as a way to better understand the physiological effects of vibration and also the affects of different protocols on physical training as strength, flexibility, endurance and power.
LLMs Are Few-Shot In-Context Low-Resource Language Learners

In-context learning (ICL) empowers large language models (LLMs) to perform diverse tasks in underrepresented languages using only short in-context information, offering a crucial avenue for narrowing the gap between high-resource and low-resource languages. Nonetheless, there is only a handful of works explored ICL for low-resource languages with most of them focusing on relatively high-resource languages, such as French and Spanish. In this work, we extensively study ICL and its cross-lingual variation (X-ICL) on 25 low-resource and 7 relatively higher-resource languages. Our study not only assesses the effectiveness of ICL with LLMs in low-resource languages but also identifies the shortcomings of in-context label alignment, and introduces a more effective alternative: query alignment. Moreover, we provide valuable insights into various facets of ICL for low-resource languages. Our study concludes the significance of few-shot in-context information on enhancing the low-resource understanding quality of LLMs through semantically relevant information by closing the language gap in the target language and aligning the semantics between the targeted low-resource and the high-resource language that the model is proficient in. Our work highlights the importance of advancing ICL research, particularly for low-resource languages.
Cross-dialectal variation in Arabic: Competing prestigious forms

ABSTRACT Most researchers of Arabic sociolinguistics assume the existence of a sociolinguistic continuum with a local vernacular at the bottom and the standard variety at the top. Those researchers seem to equate the terms “prestige” and “standard”; consequently, they tend to consider Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as the only prestige variety in all settings. This article presents evidence showing that if an adequate description of sociolinguistic variation of spoken Arabic is to be met, it is necessary to posit not only one standard speech variety, MSA, but also other prestigious local or regional varieties which act as local spoken standards competing with MSA in informal settings. It will be shown in the reported cases that in certain contexts speakers tend to switch from their local forms – though these latter may be identical to MSA – to other local features characteristic of other dominant social groups and that happen to be marked [–MSA], These local prestigious norms act like the standard spoken norms in informal settings. (Diglossic model, prestigious varieties, stereotypes, dominant social groups, competing standards, spoken Arabic).
Explanations without causes and causes without reasons

Action is a central category in the social sciences. It is also commonplace to assume that the social world has a causal structure. Yet standard ways of specifying causal relations in social science lack explanatory force when the subject matter is intentional action. The present article considers this problem. The metaphysics of action are distinguished from the metaphysics of intentional action, and it is argued that the former forces an implausible unity on the actions of inanimate nature and of rational agents. Agency in the metaphysics of action adds nothing to state-variable causation. Agency in the metaphysics of intentional action, in contrast, is argued to have a different structure, not reducible to state-variable causation. Work on endogenous choice in social science suggests that the concept of agency that is on view in literature on selection effects and social generation implies the metaphysics of intentional action. Recent research in the philosophy of action is considered in order to specify the structure of intentional action and the force of intentional explanations. L’action est une catégorie centrale en sciences sociales. De même on a coutume d’admettre que le monde social a une structure causale. Pourtant les spécifications usuelles des relations causales en science sociale manquent de force explicative lorsqu’il s’agit de l’action intentionnelle. C’est à cela que s’intéresse cet article. La métaphysique de l’action y est distinguée de la métaphysique de l’action intentionnelle, et l’auteur soutient que la première impose une unité peu plausible aux actions de la nature inanimée et à celles des agents rationnels. L’action en métaphysique de l’action n’ajoute rien à la causalité des variables d’état. L’action en métaphysique de l’action intentionnelle, au contraire, est présentée comme ayant une structure différente, qui ne peut être réduite à la causalité des variables d’état. Les travaux sur le choix endogène en science sociale suggèrent que le concept d’action que donne à voir la littérature sur les effets de sélection et la production sociale implique la métaphysique de l’action intentionnelle. Les recherches récentes en philosophie de l’action sont prises en compte pour spécifier la structure de l’action intentionnelle et la force des explications intentionnelles.
Sharing Books and Learning Language: What do Latina Mothers and Their Young Children Do?

This study examined low-income, Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latina mothers' book sharing behaviors in relation to their children's vocabulary. Participants were 47 3-year-old children and their mothers. We addressed two research questions: (a) What interactive behaviors are evident when low-income immigrant Latina mothers and their 3-year-old children look at books together? (b) For these children and their mothers, which book-sharing behaviors are related to children's expressive language? Overall, our results indicated that mothers were involved in several kinds of interactions with the books. They enhanced their children's attention to the printed text, promoted interaction or conversation with their children about what was in the books, and somewhat less often, used more complex literacy strategies. Mothers who did these things most had children with the largest vocabularies even when mothers' vocabulary was taken into account. Implications for designing interventions for similar families are discussed.
Visualizing the fourth dimension using geometry and light

Techniques for visualizing mathematical objects in four-dimensional (4D) space that exploit four-dimensional lighting effects are explored. The geometry of image production, stereography, and shadows in 4D is analyzed. Alternatives for smooth and specular shaded rendering of curves, surfaces, and solids in 4D are examined and a new approach that systematically converts curves or surfaces into uniquely renderable solids in 4D space by attaching spheres or circles to each point is proposed. Analogs of 3D shading methods are used to produce volume renderings that distinguish objects whose 3D projections from 4D are identical. Analyzing the procedures needed to justify and evaluate a system as this for teaching humans to 'see' in four dimensions leads to the proposal of a generally applicable four-step visualization paradigm. <<ETX>>
Treating Operant Vomiting With Visual Screening

The authors present a case study of an 8-year-old boy with autism who engaged in operant vomiting. Functional assessment indicated that vomiting persisted in the absence of social reinforcement. After interventions involving noncontingent access to preferred items, differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), and DRO plus time out failed to produce clinically significant decreases in vomiting, we implemented a contingent mouthwash procedure and a contingent visual screen (VS) procedure. The results show that the contingent mouthwash produced only temporary decreases in vomiting whereas the VS procedure gradually decreased the boy’s vomiting to zero levels over the course of 23 weeks. In addition, a 4-month follow-up assessment showed that ongoing implementation of the VS procedure produced zero levels of vomiting. The gradual reduction in the boy’s vomiting following the introduction of the VS procedure suggests that the intervention extinguished one or more of the sensory consequences that were formerly produced by vomiting.
Blockade of neurotensin receptors suppresses the dopamine D1/D2 synergism on immediate early gene expression in the rat brain

A remarkable feature of dopamine functioning is that the concomitant activation of D1‐like and D2‐like receptors acts to intensify the expression of various dopamine‐dependent effects, in particular the expression of the immediate‐early genes, c‐fos and zif268. Using non‐peptide neurotensin receptor antagonists, including SR48692, we have determined that blockade of neurotensin receptors reduced the cooperative responses of direct acting D2‐like (quinpirole) and partial D1‐like (SKF38393) dopamine agonists on the expression of Fos‐like antigens and zif268 mRNA. Pretreatment with SR48692 (3 and 10 mg/kg) reduced the number of Fos‐like immunoreactive cells produced by the combined administration of SKF38393 (20 mg/kg) and quinpirole (1 mg/kg) in the caudate‐putamen, nucleus accumbens, globus pallidus and ventral pallidum. High‐affinity neurotensin receptors are likely to be involved in these D1‐like/D2‐like cooperative responses, as compounds structurally related to SR48692, SR48527 (3 mg/kg) and its (–)antipode, SR49711 (3 mg/kg), exerted a stereospecific antagonism in all selected brain regions. Pretreatment with SR48692 (10 mg/kg) also diminished Fos induction by the indirect dopamine agonist, cocaine (25 mg/kg), particularly at the rostral level of the caudate‐putamen. In situ hybridization experiments in the caudate‐putamen indicated that SR48692 (10 mg/kg) markedly reduced zif268 mRNA labelling produced by SKF38393 plus quinpirole in cells not expressing enkephalin mRNA, but was unable to affect the concomitant decrease of zif268 mRNA labelling in enkephalin‐positive cells. Taken together, the results of the present study indicate that neurotensin is a key element for the occurrence of cooperative responses of D2‐like and partial D1‐like agonists on immediate‐early gene expression.
The Location of Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Injury in Adolescents and Children

Background: The location of medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) tears has been well documented in the adult population, with most occurring at the insertion of the ligament on the adductor tubercle. It is not clear whether a difference exists in the pediatric and adolescent populations. The location of the injury has implications for treatment recommendations and planning surgical approaches. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the location of MPFL injury differs among the adult and younger populations. Our hypothesis is that the location of MPFL tears in adolescents and children is not predominantly at the adductor tubercle. Methods: At our institution, we retrospectively reviewed 113 children aged 5 to 17, who were surgically treated for a patellar dislocation. All patients had confirmation of a patellar dislocation or severe subluxation. Imaging studies, clinic notes, and operative notes were used to determine the location of the MPFL injury. Results: Proportion of MPFL injuries found intraoperatively at the adductor tubercle was larger than 0.5 (z test=2.97). Percentage of MPFL tears at the adductor tubercle was 73% of the cases studied. Conclusions: The location of MPFL injuries found intraoperatively at the adductor tubercle was 73% in our series. This is slightly lower than MPFL tear location in the adult population, which has been reported to be between 80% and 100%. Our hypothesis that the location of MPFL tears in adolescents and children is not predominantly at the adductor tubercle was proven false. This study has clinical applications for treatment recommendations and planning surgical approaches for the pediatric patient with a tear of the MPFL. Level of Evidence: Level II—prognostic.
The impact of the sexually abused child's pain on the worker and the team

In the process of working with sexually abused children, the worker needs to be able to hear, respond to and in some ways experience the pain of the child. Individual workers develop their own ways of responding and adapting to the potentially overwhelming distress of the child. Creating a strong boundary between their work and personal life seems especially useful. However, when this boundary is transgressed, the worker can feel anxious, insecure and sometimes 'contaminated' by their knowledge and experience of working with child sexual abuse. The worker can sometimes feel bad about their work and the outside world and may 'scan' themselves and their environment for the potential of abuse in the same way that the child may 'scan' the worker for any possible evidence that they are not safe. In the course of the worker's relationship with the child, he/she can often feel that they have been emotionally abusive in some way to the child. At other times they may have feelings of being victimised, abused and useless or alternatively of being the child's idealised rescuer. Whilst these dynamics remain unprocessed they can be passed on from child to worker and then into the wider professional system. These roles do indeed seem to 'volley' between the child, the worker and the outside world as the worker consciously and unconsciously adapts to the pain he/she experiences.
A review of technology acceptance by older adults

We present a review of empirical research on technology acceptance by older people based on 19 published studies, analyze the results, and evaluate findings and limitations. Research on technology usage and acceptance by older people has not yet given sufficient consideration to age-specific or age-related factors. We conclude that the technology acceptance model (TAM) is a useful model, but to better understand technology acceptance behavior of older people, additional variables are to be included, related to biophysical and psychosocial characteristics, abilities and problems experienced by older people.
S-Nitrosohemoglobin Is Unstable in the Reductive Erythrocyte Environment and Lacks O2/NO-linked Allosteric Function*

Our previous results run counter to the hypothesis that S-nitrosohemoglobin (SNO-Hb) serves as anin vivo reservoir for NO from which NO release is allosterically linked to oxygen release. We show here that SNO-Hb undergoes reductive decomposition in erythrocytes, whereas it is stable in purified solutions and in erythrocyte lysates treated with an oxidant such as ferricyanide. Using an extensively validated methodology that eliminates background nitrite and stabilizes erythrocyte S-nitrosothiols, we find the levels of SNO-Hb in the basal human circulation, including red cell membrane fractions, were 46 ± 17 nm in human arterial erythrocytes and 69 ± 11 nm in venous erythrocytes, incompatible with the postulated reservoir function of SNO-Hb. Moreover, we performed experiments on human red blood cells in which we elevated the levels of SNO-Hb to 10,000 times the normal in vivo levels. The elevated levels of intra-erythrocytic SNO-Hb fell rapidly, independent of oxygen tension and hemoglobin saturation. Most of the NO released during this process was oxidized to nitrate. A fraction (25%) was exported as S-nitrosothiol, but this fraction was not increased at low oxygen tensions that favor the deoxy (T-state) conformation of Hb. Results of these studies show that, within the redox-active erythrocyte environment, the β-globin cysteine 93 is maintained in a reduced state, necessary for normal oxygen affinity, and incapable of oxygen-linked NO storage and delivery.
Impostor tendencies and academic dishonesty: Do they cheat their way to success?

College students ( N = 124) completed self-reported measures of impostor tendencies and academic dishonesty (tendency to engage in plagiarism in written assignments and cheating in examinations), as well as social desirability. Based on extreme scores on the impostor measure and independent of social desirability responding, nonimpostors (20 women, 11 men) reported a greater tendency to engage in plagiarism in papers and cheating in examinations, compared to impostors (22 women, 10 men). Results indicated that students who report impostor tendencies claim lower rates of cheating and plagiarism to obtain academic success than do nonimpostors.
Bubble columns for condensation at high concentrations of noncondensable gas: Heat‐transfer model and experiments

Carrier gas based thermodynamic cycles are common in water desalination applications. These cycles often require condensation of water vapor out of the carrier gas stream. As the carrier gas is most likely a noncondensable gas present in very high concentrations (60–95%), a large additional resistance to heat transfer is present. It is proposed to reduce the aforementioned thermal resistance by condensing the vapor–gas mixture in a column of cold liquid rather than on a cold surface using a bubble column heat exchanger. A theoretical predictive model for estimating the heat-transfer rates and new experimental data to validate this model are described. The model is purely physics based without the need for any adjustable parameters, and it is shown to predict heat rates within 0 to −20% of the experimental values. The experiments demonstrate that heat-transfer rates in the proposed device are up to an order magnitude higher than those achieved in existing state-of-the-art dehumidifiers. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 1780–1790, 2013
Design of optimum Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithm for solar panel

It is important to track the maximum power point of the Photovoltaic panel, as the electrical power supplied by solar array depends on insolation, temperature and load. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is an Power electronic system that operates the photovoltaic modules to produce maximum power. MPPT varies the electrical operating point of the modules and enables them to deliver maximum available power. Normally Pulse width modulation type dc to dc conveters are used as the impedence matching between the PV arrays and loads. A new modified perturb and observation MPPT control algorithm is proposed to track the maximum power point. Unlike the control of PV voltage or current in normal P&O method the duty ratio of the dc to dc boost converter is directly controlled in the proposed algorithm. The proposed MPPT has the advantages of simplicity and high convergence speed. The algorithm is tested under various operating conditions. The obtained results have proven that the MPP is tracked even under sudden change of irradiation and loading level.
Constructing socially situated learning experiences in human resource development: an activity theory perspective

Today's work environment is becoming increasingly volatile, and is characterized by contingent strategies and the distributed nature of expertise. These conditions necessitate the development of new types of learning interventions that would integrate learning more fully with working and account for the distributed nature of learning, knowledge and expertise. In this paper, I propose to use the activity theory to conceptualize and develop socially situated learning experiences in a variety of human resource development situations. A conceptual model and a specific example of the application of this model in a management education setting are provided.
Algebra readiness for students with learning difficulties in grades 4–8: Support through the study of number

Developing proficiency in algebra is the focus of instruction in high school mathematics courses and is a minimum expectation for high school completion for all students including those with learning difficulties. However, the foundation for success is laid in grades 4–8 (aged 9–14). In this paper, we assert that students' development of algebraic reasoning skills and knowledge is influenced by their understanding of numeracy. We propose that students in grades 4–8 need targeted instruction on three interconnected numeracy concepts. First, we propose that students need a strong conceptual foundation of number and number systems to facilitate computation, estimation and problem solving across number systems. Second, we identify students' understanding of basic number properties as foundational to lawful application of operations. Finally, we note that procedural proficiency, including computational fluency and conceptual understanding, provides a foundation for generalised application of algorithms for solving arithmetic and algebraic problems. Combined, these skills and knowledge enable students to employ algebraic reasoning by generalising their knowledge for solving abstract problems.
Perception of Emotion in Sounded and Imagined Music

WE STUDIED THE EMOTIONAL RESPONSES BY MUSICIANS to familiar classical music excerpts both when the music was sounded, and when it was imagined.We used continuous response methodology to record response profiles for the dimensions of valence and arousal simultaneously and then on the single dimension of emotionality . The response profiles were compared using cross-correlation analysis, and an analysis of responses to musical feature turning points, which isolate instances of change in musical features thought to influence valence and arousal responses. We found strong similarity between the use of an emotionality arousal scale across the stimuli, regardless of condition (imagined or sounded). A majority of participants were able to create emotional response profiles while imagining the music, which were similar in timing to the response profiles created while listening to the sounded music.We conclude that similar mechanisms may be involved in the processing of emotion in music when the music is sounded and when imagined.