Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influences on US middle school teachers’ use of environment‐based education

The term environment‐based education (EBE) describes a form of school‐based environmental education in which an instructor uses the environment as a context for integrating subjects and a source of real world learning experiences. Despite the growing body of evidence that supports the educational efficacy of this instructional approach and its grounding in high‐quality environmental education, relatively few US teachers seem to practice EBE (University of Maryland Survey Research Center 2000). In the context of encouraging more widespread adoption of this formal instructional approach, the author used survey research with a random sample of fifth–eighth grade teachers in US public schools to investigate influences on their decisions to use EBE and barriers to EBE implementation. The study also investigated how perceived influences on and barriers to EBE teachers differed from perceptions of teachers using other forms of environmental education and teachers using neither approach. Results suggest the importance of the following in teachers’ decisions to use EBE: positive environmental attitudes; environmental sensitivity; receptiveness to EBE; teaching context; and environmental literacy knowledge and skills. The influence that best discriminated between EBE teachers and teachers using other forms of environmental education was evidence of positive outcomes. The barrier that best discriminated among EBE teachers, teachers using other forms of environmental education, and teachers not using any form of environmental education was lack of training.
School Punishment in the US and England: Divergent Frames and Responses

In an effort to better understand the roots of contemporary school punishment practices, this study compares policy discourse and practice of school punishment and security in the United States and England. American policy discourse is predominantly punitive, harsh punishment strategies are favored, and policy makers have centralized decision-making power outside of the classroom. Contrastingly, English policy discourse about and policy responses to student misbehaviour focus more on reducing social exclusion, improving student behaviour, and returning the locus of control over rule enforcement to teachers. However, despite these substantial differences, suspension and expulsion rates are fairly similar in the US and England. Several hypotheses to explain these findings are offered.
A positive psychological viewpoint for success at school – 10 characteristic strengths of the Finnish high-achieving students

People who exploit their strengths flourish; they are not only engaged with their goals, but also to their well-being and the content of life. In this study, interest focused on the high-achieving students in the Finnish general upper secondary education, in other words, on straight-A graduates’ characteristic strengths. This was a narrative study in which the data were obtained through written narratives and narrative interviews among 14 Finnish straight-A graduates. The data were analyzed with narrative analyzing methods. Ten typical strengths found and further categorized into three key dimensions were: (1) the thirst of knowledge and passion for learning, (2) fortitude and authenticity, and (3) love. This study implied that the youth’s school paths and well-being actively increased their own characteristic strengths.
Reliability of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test: A Review of 32 Selected Research Studies Published Between 1965 and 1974.

This report is a review of reliability data on the PPVT obtained from 32 research studies published between 1965 and 1974. Much of the research was done on Head Start children. Overall, the median of reliability coefficients reported here (0.72) has remained remarkably close to the original median of 0.77 found in standardizing the test. Unexpectedly, elapsed time between test and retest had only a slight effect on the reliability coefficients. However, as expected, the greater range in ages and ability levels of subjects, the higher were the reliabilities. For average children in the elementary grades, and for retarded people of all ages, PPVT scores remained relatively stable over time and there was close equivalence between alternate forms. Scores were least stable for preschool children, especially from minority groups. Black preschool girls were more variable in their performance on the PPVT than boys, and preschool girls generally were more responsive than boys to play periods conducted before testing was begun. A number of variables associated with examiners and setting affected the scores on the test. As expected, raw scores tended to yield slightly higher reliabilities than MA and considerably higher reliabilities than IQ scores.
Automated versus Manual Sample Inoculations in Routine Clinical Microbiology: a Performance Evaluation of the Fully Automated InoqulA Instrument

ABSTRACT The process of plate streaking has been automated to improve the culture readings, isolation quality, and workflow of microbiology laboratories. However, instruments have not been well evaluated under routine conditions. We aimed to evaluate the performance of the fully automated InoqulA instrument (BD Kiestra B.V., The Netherlands) in the automated seeding of liquid specimens and samples collected using swabs with transport medium. We compared manual and automated methods according to the (i) within-run reproducibility using Escherichia coli-calibrated suspensions, (ii) intersample contamination using a series of alternating sterile broths and broths with >105 CFU/ml of either E. coli or Proteus mirabilis, (iii) isolation quality with standardized mixed bacterial suspensions of diverse complexity and a 4-category standardized scale (very poor, poor, fair to good, or excellent), and (iv) agreement of the results obtained from 244 clinical specimens. By involving 15 technicians in the latter part of the comparative study, we estimated the variability in the culture quality at the level of the laboratory team. The instrument produced satisfactory reproducibility with no sample cross-contamination, and it performed better than the manual method, with more colony types recovered and isolated (up to 11% and 17%, respectively). Finally, we showed that the instrument did not shorten the seeding time over short periods of work compared to that for the manual method. Altogether, the instrument improved the quality and standardization of the isolation, thereby contributing to a better overall workflow, shortened the time to results, and provided more accurate results for polymicrobial specimens.
Foetal safety of old and new antiepileptic drugs

Introduction: Drugs teratogenicity has been studied for many years, especially teratogenic effects of antiepileptic drugs, because of the important impact that epilepsy has always had for young women, but data from literature are often conflicting. Areas covered: We have carried out a critical review of all human studies about the antiepileptic drugs teratogenicity. A systematic search was performed in Medline and PubMed up to May 1, 2015. The use of older antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of fetus malformations; in particular, Valproate can determine neural-tube-like defects; in Phenytoin and Phenobarbital-exposed pregnancies, orofacial clefts, cardiac and genitourinary malformations are the major anomalies described. Spina bifida is the only specific major congenital malformation significantly associated with exposure to Carbamazepine monotherapy Despite the small number of studies on the teratogenic effects of new antiepileptic drugs, the analysis of the literature shows that exposure of the fetus to the new antiepileptic drugs is associated with a lower risk of major congenital malformations compared to the use of older drugs. Expert opinion: Where possible, Valproate should be avoided in women of childbearing potential. Results about the safety of newer antiepileptic drugs require validation and further investigation.
Participation, Deliberation, and Decision Making

This paper explores the mechanisms, processes, and dynamics of participation and deliberation in three newly created, mixed-income communities being built on the footprint of former public housing developments in Chicago. Our findings reflect enduring dilemmas about the challenge of democratic participation and representation for low-income citizens in the context of urban revitalization efforts. In the current case, a fundamental tension exists between two orientations to organizing participation, one (dominant) orientation that privileges “mainstreaming” public housing resident participation into collaborative governance structures and existing market and civil society mechanisms, and another that suggests the continuing need for dedicated mechanisms that maximize public housing representation. In this paper, we frame the theoretical debates over the potential for establishing effective mechanisms to promote deliberative democracy at a neighborhood-level. We then provide an overview of the participatory landscape in these communities, explore how key stakeholders view participation, and examine how the organization of opportunities for deliberation and emerging patterns of participation shape dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in these contexts. Based on these findings, we suggest implications for policy and practice.
Assessment of the heart-rate method for determining energy expenditure in man, using a whole-body calorimeter

1. The heart-rate (HR) method for determining the energy expenditure of free-living subjects has been evaluated using a whole-body calorimete in which individuals lived continuously for 27 h while carrying out normal daily activities. Eight male volunteers each occupied the calorimeter on at least two occasions when HR and energy expenditure were measured continously. 2. After each session in the calorimeter a calibration was obtained using standard techniques by determining HR and heat production (HP) over periods of 10–15 min at several levels of activity. Energy expenditure in the calorimeter was then predicted, by each of five methods, from the mean HR in the calorimeter. Additionally, one session in the calorimeter was used to obtain a calibration and was used for predicting the subject's energy expenditure while in the calorimeter on other occasions. 3. Standard methods of prediction using one calibration point at rest and several points during activity were unreliable for predicting the energy expenditure of an individual. The 24 h HR was at the lower end of the calibration scale and there were considerable over-estimates or underestimates of energy expenditure, particularly during the night when the mean (±SD) difference between the actual and predicted HP was −66±38±6%. A linear regression fitted to points at the lower levels of activity improved the prediction of 24 h HP while a logistic plot reduced the error even further. The best estimate of energy expenditure was that obtained from a calibration over 24 h within the calorimeter; the mean (±SD) difference between the actual and predicted 24 h HP was +3+10.5% for light activity and −3±6.7% for moderate activity. Thus current procedures for calibrating subjects may lead to large errors which could be reduced by using a respiratory chamber.
Ectopic prostate presenting as a mass in bladder

A 24-year-old man presented with dysuria and voiding frequency. Cystoscopy revealed a smooth surfaced nodular mass in the trigonal region. Transurethral insisional biopsy of the mass was done. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examination revealed benign prostatic tissue situated ectopically.
Intergenerational Transmission of Resilience? Sense of Coherence Is Associated between Lithuanian Survivors of Political Violence and Their Adult Offspring

Little is known about intergeneration effects on mental health in the families of survivors of political oppression of communist regime in Central and Eastern Europe. We aimed to explore post-traumatic stress in the second generation of the Lithuanian survivors of political violence, and analyze links between parental and adult offsprings’ sense of coherence in the families exposed to political violence during the oppressive communist regime in Lithuania. A total of 110 matched pairs of communist regime political violence survivors (mean age = 73.22 years) and their adult offspring (mean age = 44.65 years) participated in this study. Life-time traumatic experiences and sense of coherence were measured in both parents and their offspring. Post-traumatic stress symptoms were assessed in the second generation of survivors. We found a high vulnerability in the second generation of the Lithuanian families of political violence survivors, with a 29% of probable PTSD in the second generation based on self-report measures. A significant positive correlation between parental and adult offsprings’ sense of coherence was found. Post-traumatic stress symptoms were associated negatively with a sense of coherence in the second generation. Our study indicates the links between parental and the second generation’s sense of coherence in the families of survivors of political violence. The study raises broader questions about the intergenerational aspects of resilience. Further studies are needed to explore the links between parental and child sense of coherence in other samples.
Further Improvement of Free-Weighting Matrices Technique for Systems With Time-Varying Delay

A novel method is proposed in this note for stability analysis of systems with a time-varying delay. Appropriate Lyapunov functional and augmented Lyapunov functional are introduced to establish some improved delay-dependent stability criteria. Less conservative results are obtained by considering the additional useful terms (which are ignored in previous methods) when estimating the upper bound of the derivative of Lyapunov functionals and introducing the new free-weighting matrices. The resulting criteria are extended to the stability analysis for uncertain systems with time-varying structured uncertainties and polytopic-type uncertainties. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness and the benefits of the proposed method
Using Knowledge within Small and Medium-Sized Firms: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

This paper provides a systematic review of the literature on how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use and acquire knowledge. The review was undertaken as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's Evolution of Business Knowledge Programme. The paper describes the systematic review protocol and provides a detailed explanation of the methods used. From the review, it is evident that SME knowledge research concentrates primarily on the acquisition and use of knowledge, treating it as an asset that is transferred by routines. The findings suggest that research is focused in three main areas. First, on the influence and abilities of the entrepreneur to extract, use and develop knowledge resources. Secondly, on firm-wide systems and the social capital that facilitates knowledge exploration and exploitation. Thirdly, on the provision of knowledge and learning experiences through government policy. From a practical perspective, the review concludes that policies encouraging entrepreneurship and economic regeneration need to be more flexible and sensitive to the often complex contexts within which knowledge is used by SMEs. From a research perspective, and given the flexible, opportunity-oriented and often novel nature of SMEs identified in these studies, there is a need to consider the relational and embedded qualities of knowledge by which these characteristics are framed; qualities that resist conceptualization as some form of separable, material asset.
A Contingency Approach to Laboratory Learning: Psychological Types Versus Experiential Norms

This study investigated the psychological dynamics and situational factors that determine whether an individual will experience support and/or confrontation in a laboratory setting. The psychological dynamics were represented by C. G. Jung's psychological types and the situational factors were the experiential norms that manifest these psychic functions. A Contingency framework was derived to suggest the conditions that will lead to the acceptance or rejection of the laboratory experience, or to self-awareness and personal growth. The research data give reasonable evidence to this framework, and the implications of the study are given for: (1) the identification of the rejectors of particular laboratory experiences, (2) the design of different laboratories via alternative experiential norms, and (3) the intervention strategies for staff and trainers according to the laboratory setting and goals.
Sentencing Juvenile Offenders: Comparing Public Preferences and Judicial Practice

The juvenile justice systems of most Western nations have been under considerable pressure to impose harsher penalties on juvenile offenders. Much of this pressure has come from politicians who argue that the public and juvenile courts are out of step, with the latter being more lenient than the public desire. This article reports findings from a representative national survey of the public, which permitted comparisons between the sentencing preferences of the public and the actual practice of youth courts. Respondents were asked to sentence offenders described in vignettes. The sentencing component employed a 2 × 2 × 2 design. The variables manipulated were age of offender (juvenile or adult), criminal history (first offender or recidivist), and nature of offence (burglary or assault). Results indicated concordance between the incarceration rates favored by members of the public and the practice of the courts. In addition, respondents were also asked questions about criminal victimization within the previous 12 months. Consistent with the findings of previous research, crime victims were no more punitive than respondents who did not report having been victimized.
Gender, context and leadership styles: A field study

In a field study in department stores it was investigated whether the gender-typing of the organizational context influences leadership behaviour of male and female managers. Shop assistants in masculine- to feminine-typed departments described their manager in terms of task-oriented, people-oriented, and transformational leadership styles. As predicted, no gender differences in leadership styles were found. The gender-typing of departments did not affect perceived leadership styles. Another contextual variable, the site of the department store, unexpectedly influenced leader behaviour.
The dynamics of visual adaptation to faces

Several recent demonstrations using visual adaptation have revealed high-level aftereffects for complex patterns including faces. While traditional aftereffects involve perceptual distortion of simple attributes such as orientation or colour that are processed early in the visual cortical hierarchy, face adaptation affects perceived identity and expression, which are thought to be products of higher-order processing. And, unlike most simple aftereffects, those involving faces are robust to changes in scale, position and orientation between the adapting and test stimuli. These differences raise the question of how closely related face aftereffects are to traditional ones. Little is known about the build-up and decay of the face aftereffect, and the similarity of these dynamic processes to traditional aftereffects might provide insight into this relationship. We examined the effect of varying the duration of both the adapting and test stimuli on the magnitude of perceived distortions in face identity. We found that, just as with traditional aftereffects, the identity aftereffect grew logarithmically stronger as a function of adaptation time and exponentially weaker as a function of test duration. Even the subtle aspects of these dynamics, such as the power-law relationship between the adapting and test durations, closely resembled that of other aftereffects. These results were obtained with two different sets of face stimuli that differed greatly in their low-level properties. We postulate that the mechanisms governing these shared dynamics may be dissociable from the responses of feature-selective neurons in the early visual cortex.
Enablers and Mechanisms of Value Cocreation in Knowledge-Intensive Business Service Engagements: A Research Synthesis

Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) such as management consulting, research and development, and IT outsourcing, have become a key component of most industrialized economies. As such, there has been a growing number of empirical studies investigating the way in which KIBS providers, clients, and partners collaboratively create value. These studies provide an important opportunity to improve our understanding of how value cocreation unfolds in the specific context of KIBS engagements. However, their results remain dispersed across the literature and can be difficult to compare. We present an integrated framework of value cocreation enablers and mechanisms developed through a research synthesis integrating the empirical results of 24 articles on this topic. The framework can serve as a basis to guide the design of KIBS engagements. The method of research synthesis is also shown to be a promising means of strengthening the collective knowledge base on service systems.
Volatile Substances in Polymer Toys Made from Butadiene and Styrene

The residual levels and migration behavior of volatile substances were detected using HS-GC/MS for acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) toys, thermoplastic elastomer toys, and rubber toys made from 1,3-butadiene and styrene found on the Japanese market. The maximum residual level of these volatile substances was 2600 μg/g of styrene in ABS toys. In particular, the levels of known carcinogens 1,3-butadiene, benzene, and acrylonitrile are 5.3, 2.5 and 55 μg/g, which are much lower than the EU limit of 0.1%. Furthermore, some volatile substances migrated from ABS toys into water in amounts of 3 -40 ng/mL. Thermoplastic elastomer toys and rubber toys contained these volatile substances at significantly lower levels than ABS toys.
OBJECT PERMANENCE IN ORANGUTANS, GORILLAS, AND BLACK-AND-WHITE RUFFED LEMURS

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee members, Drs. for their invaluable advice and guidance over the past few years. Special thanks are due to my advisor, Terry Maple, who has always encouraged, inspired, and given me confidence in myself. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Bonnie Perdue, for helping in the data collection, for her patience in answering the countless questions that I had regarding the statistical analysis of the data, and for the time she made for our many talks which improved this project tremendously. Special thanks are due to Zoo Atlanta's primate care-staff, for making this project possible, and the Georgia Tech Center for Conservation and Behavior for providing excellent resources and opportunities for research and education. I would like to recognize the financial support that made this work possible. My primary source of funding over the past few years has come from the Elizabeth Smithgall Watts Fellowship established at Zoo Atlanta, and from a Dissertation Year Award granted by the Southern Regional Education Board's Doctoral Scholars Program. A dissertation award awarded by the American Psychological Association also made this project possible. Last, but not least, I thank my family and friends, especially my husband and my parents…this work would not have been possible without their constant love and support.