Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mathematical learning attributes impacting students' performance in Sarawak

The purpose of the study is to examine the mathematics learning attributes in mathematics classroom at the secondary school level in Malaysia. Students’ responses related to mathematics learning attributes were sought. A survey was conducted using a set of questionnaire (62 items) among rural secondary school students in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. Four hundred and fifteen responses were collected. Self-reported students’ achievement in school based assessment was used as the measurement of mathematics performance which later was collapsed into categorical variables. Logistics Regressions was used to examine the significant predictors contributed to mathematics performance. The study indicates Learning Styles and Teaching Practices are predictors of students’ higher achievement in mathematics while other learning attributes are in place. This finding concurred with other studies which stressed the importance of teaching strategies and practices in mathematics learning class. Mathematics teacher must adapt their teaching technique according to their students’ learning style preferences and beliefs on mathematics to improve learning. This study will contribute to rural school educational research. The findings in this study would expand the current body of knowledge and data about the importance of learning attributes in pedagogical context. The study provides valuable information to teachers and school administrative to create effective learning program matching the needs of the students.
Phenol composition, DPPH radical scavenging and antimicrobial activity of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) fruit and leaf extracts

Fruit is rich in different phenolic compounds which are recognized as potential natural medicaments and have been used in folk medicine for centuries. In order to evaluate phenol composition, cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) fruit and leaf extracts were subjected to the spectrophotometric and HPLC analysis. The radical scavenging activity was estimated using DPPH test and antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion and microwell dilution tests. All extracts showed high phenol content from 89.89 ± 0.45 to 117.34 ± 1.40 mg f gallic acid equivalents GAE/g extract dry matter DM but different composition of phenol compounds. Flavonols, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols and phenolic acids were the main phenol classes found in the investigated fruit and leaf extracts. All extracts showed significant radical scavenging activity and a correlation with total phenol content (R2 = 0.9832). Significant antimicrobial activity was found against Gram-positive, followed by Gram-negative strains, and yeast in all tested extracts. Cornelian cherry fruit and leaf extracts, rich in phenolic content, with significant antiradical and antimicrobial activity, can be used as additives in food and medicaments. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 34012, br. 31020 and br 176006 and EU, FP7 - Regpot - 2007- 3-01, the project «Chromlab-Antioxidant», No. 204756]
Role of Estrogen Receptor Expression in Estrogen ( E-2 )-Induced Modulation of Th 1 and Th 2 Cytokine Responses

Previous studies have demonstrated that repeated administration of 17βestradiol (E-2) at a dose of 1mg/kg to both (SWR x NZB)F1 (SNF1) mice and (DBA x BALB/c)F1(DBF1) mice resulted in significantly decreased survival and increased appearance of lupus nephritis pathology. However, the ways in which estrogen modulates immune responses has yet to be fully understood, specifically in regard to modulations in TH1 and TH2 cytokine profile. Various studies have reported the presence of two estrogen receptors (ER), α and β, which have been found to be constitutively expressed in many immune cells. In the present project, ER chimeric alpha knockout (αERKO), beta knockout (βERKO) and double knockout (αβERKO) as well as wild type(WT) mice were injected monthly with β-estradiol 17-valerate (E-2) at 1mg/kg. Control mice of each type received oil vehicle only. Results showed that TH1 cytokine production by cells from WT mice was suppressed by E-2 administration, although IFN-γ production was increased in cells from βERKO mice treated with estrogen compared to those treated with oil vehicle. TH2 cytokine production was increased in cells from WT mice treated with estrogen compared to controls. Increases in the production of anti-double stranded DNA antibodies were also observed in cells from αERKO mice. These observations suggest a role for differences in ER-α and ER-β expression in E-2 induced modulation of immune responses, including autoimmune diseases like Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).
NEW CONSTRAINTS ON COSMIC POLARIZATION ROTATION FROM THE ACTPol COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND B-MODE POLARIZATION OBSERVATION AND THE BICEP2 CONSTRAINT UPDATE

Recently, ACTPol measured the cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode and E-mode polarizations and obtained TE, EE, BB, TB, and EB power spectra in the multipole range 225–8725. In our previous paper (Paper I), we jointly analyzed the results of three experiments on the CMB B-mode polarization—SPTpol, POLARBEAR, and BICEP2—to include in the model, in addition to the gravitational lensing and inflationary gravitational waves components, the fluctuation effects induced by cosmic polarization rotation (CPR) if it exists within the upper limits at the time. In this paper, we fit both the mean CPR angle ⟨ &agr; ⟩ ? > and its fluctuation ⟨ δ &agr; 2 ⟩ ? > from the new ACTPol data, and update our fitting of CPR fluctuations using the BICEP2 data taking the new Planck dust measurement results into consideration. We follow the same method used in Paper I. The mean CPR angle is constrained from the EB correlation power spectra to ∣ ⟨ &agr; ⟩ ∣ < 14 ? > mrad (0.°8) and the fluctuation (rms) is constrained from the BB correlation power spectra to ⟨ δ &agr; 2 ⟩ 1 / 2 < 29.3 ? > mrad (1.°68). Assuming that the polarization angle of Tau A does not change from 89.2 to 146 GHz, the ACTPol data give ⟨ &agr; ⟩ = 1.0 ± 0 &fdg; 63 . > These results suggest that the inclusion of the present ACTPol data is consistent with no CPR detection. Using the new Planck dust measurement, we update our fits of the BICEP2 CPR fluctuation constraint to be 32.8 mrad (1.°88). The joint ACTPol-BICEP2-POLARBEAR CPR fluctuation constraint is 23.7 mrad (1.°36).
Periodic points and transitivity on dendrites

We study relations between transitivity, mixing and periodic points on dendrites. We prove that, when there is a point with dense orbit which is a cutpoint, periodic points are dense and there is a terminal periodic decomposition. We also show that it is possible that all periodic points except one (and points with dense orbit) are contained in the (dense) set of endpoints. It is also possible that a dynamical system is transitive but there is a unique periodic point which, in fact, is the unique fixed point. We also prove that on almost meshed continua (a class of continua containing topological graphs and dendrites with closed or countable set of endpoints), periodic points are dense if and only if they are dense for the map induced on the hyperspace of all non-empty compact subsets.
Growth rates of Haliotis rufescens and Haliotis discus hannai in tank culture systems in southern Chile (41.5ºS)

The increased activity of aquaculture in Chile involves cultivation of salmonids, oysters mussels and other species such, and to a lesser extent species such as red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) and Japanese abalone (Haliotis discus hannai). The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth rate of Haliotis rufescens and Haliotis discus hannai fed with different pellet based diets with Macrocystis sp. and Ulva sp. , grown in ponds for 13 months. The results for both species denoted that there was an increase in length and biomass during experimental period, existing low growth rates during the austral winter (July-September) and increase during the austral summer (December-January). Results are consistent with descriptions of literature that there is high rate of growth during the summer and using diet of brown algae. From the economic standpoint abalone farming would be an economically viable activity for local aquaculture, considering the water quality and food requirements.
The Influence of Authentic Leadership on the Learning Organization at the Organizational Level: The Mediating Role of Employees' Affective Commitment *

This study examines the impact of authentic leadership capabilities on the learning organization at the organizational level through employee affective commitment in Serbian organizations. Although these indirect interrelations are very important for improving the conditions for building the learning climate and culture, previous research has not usually explored them. The analysis of a survey of 502 employees in the manufacturing and service companies in the Republic of Serbia confirms these influences empirically. The results reveal that perceived authentic leadership capabilities moderately and positively influence employee affective commitment, which in turn partly affects the learning organization at the organizational level.
Scenario use for fostered adaptation to the future landscape changes

Article presents the review of the theoretical framework for a specific question that arose from the use of the scenario technique in the field of landscape planning. This specific issue is: does the use of scenarios influence the perception of the cultural landscape changes and actions the individuals take to change the cultural landscape? Review includes research articles aiming to approve the influence of scenarios and also case studies of scenario use in the field of landscape planning that perceived possible influence of scenario use on stakeholders. The decision for the review was stimulated by the growing popularity of the scenario-based studies connected with landscape planning and environmental issues. Scenarios are also an important incentive for public participation. The question is whether we can influence relations between individuals and cultural landscape by showing them evidently with scenarios, how the future landscape will look like.
The extensive and intensive trade-creation effects of business and social networks: evidence from Spanish industry-level data

This paper analyzes the effect of business and social networks on the extensive and intensive margins of trade. Using industry-level bilateral trade data for Spanish regions in the period 2004-2008, we show that both social and business networks have a very large trade-creating effect. We find that networks have a much stronger effect on the extensive than on the intensive margin of trade. This result points out that migrant and business ties mitigate particularly the fixed costs that firms have to incur when starting to trade with a new region. We show as well that migrants do not have to participate actively in the labor market to smooth the informal barriers to trade. However, when migrants participate in the labor market they help to mitigate particularly the information barriers in the industries they are employed. We also show that business groups created to diversify risks have a much lower trade-creation effect.
Sustainable Livestock Production in the Perspective of Food Security, Policy, Genetic Resources, and Climate Change

Indonesia has a very large number of indigenous and local animal genetic resources (AnGR) for food and agriculture. AnGR have strategic roles in National Agriculture Development as sources of animal protein and other important roles for the community. As many other countries in the world, currently Indonesia has faced many challenges in managing and utilization of AnGR owned of which under certain circumstances leading into a tendency to decline these AnGR. Indonesia has adopted and committed to the Interlaken Declaration (FAO, 2007) emphasizing the world’s agreement of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for Animal Genetic Resources. Four main priority areas of GPA for AnGR consist of : 1. Characterization, inventory and monitoring AnGR; 2. Sustainable utilization; 3. Conservation; and 4. Policy, institutional and capacity building. It is necessary for Indonesia to set policies and programs of our national livestock subsector development into a draft of National Plan of Action (NPA) of AnGR. Relative weights of consideration should be given to put priorities of NPA providing the existences of indigenous and local AnGR, production systems, environmental managements, farmers’ welfare as well as integration of livestock subsector development into national agricultural sector development and also any possible external strategic changes that can affect national AnGR sustainable use. This paper will focuse discussion on two priority areas of NPA, namely Conservation and Sustainable use of national AnGR.
J ournal of A rts & H umanities The Visual Representation of the Physical Space through Stereoscopic S 3 D Documentary 1

In 1987 I began my academic activities as a film researcher and documentary filmmaker. Since 2003 I have been researching the subject of stereoscopic film (S3D ), as much from a technological point of view and from the point of view of the audiovisual language. The interest in documentary films led the author to experiment with various techniques of stereoscopic filming, as well as analyze various documentary films in both 2D and S3D. The S3D film technology that uses two synchronized cameras has been competing with technology that uses a single camera with two lenses and two sensors. The heavy weight and large size of the two-camera technology complicates the mobility and agility of the documentary film language. This paper intends to investigate theoretical issues related to the use of these technologies in filming S3D documentaries and its immersive function. The current stage of the two-camera technology implies a setback in the film methods that have been enhanced from the experience of the American Direct Cinema and French Cinémà Vérité , with strong implications on the film language.
Simulation of electrical characteristics in negative capacitance surrounding-gate ferroelectric field-effect transistors

The electrical characteristics of surrounding-gate (SG) metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) field-effect transistors (FETs) were theoretically investigated by considering the ferroelectric negative capacitance (NC) effect. The derived results demonstrated that the NC-SG-MFS-FET displays superior electrical properties compared with that of the traditional SG-MIS-FET, in terms of better electrostatic control of the gate electrode over the channel, smaller subthreshold swing (S < 60 mV/dec), and bigger value of ION. It is expected that this investigation may provide some insight into the design and performance improvement for the fast switching and low power dissipation applications of ferroelectric FETs.
Near-IR search for lensed supernovae behind galaxy clusters. I. Observations and transient detection efficiency

Context: Massive galaxy clusters at intermediate redshift can magnify the flux of distant background sources by several magnitudes. Aims: We exploit this effect to search for lensed distant supernovae that may otherwise be too faint to be detected. Methods: A supernova search was conducted at near infrared wavelengths using the ISAAC instrument at the VLT. The massive galaxy clusters Abell 1689, Abell 1835, and AC114 were observed for a total of 20 h to search for supernovae in gravitationally magnified background galaxies. The observations were split into individual epochs of 2 h of exposure time, separated by approximately one month. Image-subtraction techniques were used to search for transient objects with light curve properties consistent with supernovae, both in our new and archival ISAAC/VLT data. The limiting magnitude of the individual epochs was estimated by adding artificial stars to the subtracted images. Most of the epochs reach 90% detection efficiency at SZ(J) ≃ 23.8-24.0 mag (Vega). Results: Two transient objects, both in archival images of Abell 1689 and AC114, were detected. The transient in AC114 coincides - within the position uncertainty - with an X-ray source and is likely to be a variable AGN at the cluster redshift. The transient in Abell 1689 was found at SZ = 23.24 mag, ~0.5''away from a galaxy with photometric redshift z_gal = 0.6 ± 0.15. The light curves and the colors of the transient are consistent with a reddened type IIP supernova at redshift z = 0.59 ± 0.05. The lensing model of Abell 1689 predicts ~1.4 mag of magnification at the position of the transient, making it the most magnified supernova ever found and only the second supernova found behind a galaxy cluster. Conclusions: Our pilot survey has demonstrated the feasibility to find distant gravitationally magnified supernovae behind massive galaxy clusters. One likely supernova was found behind Abell 1689, in accordance with the expectations for this survey, as shown in an accompanying analysis paper. Based on observations made with ESO telescopes at the Paranal Observatory under program IDs 079.A-0192 and 081.A-0734.
Polymorphism in silica studied in the local density and generalized-gradient approximations

The crystal structures of a large number of silica polytypes (- and -quartz, - and -cristobalite, -tridymite, keatite, coesite and stishovite) have been studied using density functional theory, both in the local density approximation and including generalized-gradient corrections to the exchange-correlation functional. All crystal structures have been optimized by minimizing the total energy with respect to all lattice parameters and to the atomic coordinates within the unit cell (up to 40 structural parameters in the case of coesite). The transitions in quartz and cristobalite have been studied in detail, including different variants proposed for the structure of -cristobalite. The tetragonal (I2d) and simple cubic (P213) structures are found to be energetically almost degenerate near the equilibrium volume. On volume expansion both structures converge towards the idealized highly symmetric Fd3m structure. A similar continuous transition from a more compact orthorhombic (C2221) to a highly symmetric hexagonal (P63/mmc) variant is also proposed for -tridymite. For coesite two monoclinic variants (with C2/c and P21/c space-group symmetries, respectively) have been examined and found to be energetically degenerate to within 1 meV per SiO2 unit. It is shown that within the local density approximation (LDA) the equilibrium atomic volume of all polytypes is predicted with an accuracy better than one per cent. The LDA also leads to excellent structural predictions and to accurate values of the bulk modulus. Corrections in the framework of the generalized-gradient approximation (GGA) lead to substantially larger equilibrium volumes, although at fixed volume the LDA and GGA lead to identical crystal structures. The increased volume also leads to less accurate structural parameters. However, we find that gradient corrections are essential for achieving accurate structural energy differences between the tetrahedrally coordinated phases found at larger atomic volumes (all polytypes except stishovite) and the octahedrally coordinated high-pressure polymorphs (stishovite and post-stishovite phases).
Italian breed-specific legislation on potentially dangerous dogs (2003): assessment of its effects in the city of Florence (Italy)

Canine aggression is a very discussed topic, especially when a person is injured. The problem of dog bites towards human beings must be tackled and scientifically analysed, in order to address the policy makers to effective measures. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of Italian breed-specific legislation on potentially dangerous dogs (Sirchia’s Ordinance issued on the 9th September 2003 called “Protection of the public safety against the risk of aggressions by potentially dangerous dogs”) on the trend of dog bites towards people in the city of Florence (Italy). Data for the current study were collected by the Veterinary and Urban Health, Local Sanitary Enterprise 10 in the city of Florence (Italy). Reports drew from the certifications of medical reports coming from different Hospital Emergency Departments in Florence, from the denunciation done at the canine registry office, and from the observational reports carried out at the observatory for the prophylaxis of the rabies. Reports referred to dog bites occurred in the city of Florence from September 2002 to August 2005. In total, 556 cases were gathered. The characteristics of injuries, dogs, owners and victims involved in dog bites in the year preceding the Sirchia’s Ordinance were compared to the same characteristics in the two years after the issue of such Ordinance (short and long-term effects) using the c 2 test (p<0.05). The findings suggest that the above-mentioned ordinance has not caused any significant change on the trend of dog bites in the taken sample, nor in the short-term neither in the long-term. In fact, even if a numerical decrease has been observed in the period following the ordinance, a trend of reduction was already in progress since 1986. In addition, the characteristics of owners, injured people and dogs involved in the aggressive episodes remained unvaried, apart from a decrease in minor injuries. Finally, after the Ordinance the number of dog owners whose personal details were unknown increased. These findings suggest that restrictive legislative measures regarding potentially dangerous dogs are not effective for the control of canine aggression towards people.
Constraints on Type Ib/c Supernovae and Gamma‐Ray Burst Progenitors

Although there is strong support for the collapsar engine as the power source of long‐duration gamma‐ray bursts (GRBs), we still do not definitively know the progenitor of these explosions. Here we review the current set of progenitor scenarios for long‐duration GRBs and the observational constraints on these scenarios. Examining these models, we find that single stars cannot be the only progenitor for long‐duration GRBs. Several binary progenitors can match the solid observational constraints and also have the potential to match the trends that we are currently seeing in the observations. Type Ib/c supernovae are also likely to be produced primarily in binaries; we discuss the relationship between the progenitors of these explosions and those of the long‐duration GRBs.
Micro-optical design of photochemical upconverters for thin-film solar cells

Abstract. All presently available types of solar cells transmit light with energies below their band gaps, foregoing energy. An elegant way toward overcoming these subbandgap losses and using a larger fraction of the incident light is the re‐shaping of the solar spectrum by upconversion (UC) of photons. Recently, first results on solar cells augmented by either lanthanide-based UC or triplet-triplet-annihilation UC in organic chromophores were presented. Both of these UC strategies are characterized by a nonlinear response on the illumination density under conditions relevant to solar energy conversion, opening a route for increasing the UC yield by concentrating the light. While operation of the whole cell under concentrated sunlight is in most cases undesirable, application of micro-optical focusing of the transmitted light in the upconverting layer is a promising strategy. In the present work, a more than two-fold enhancement of the current gain by UC behind an amorphous silicon solar cell through optimization of the upconverter optical design is demonstrated, including employing a focusing microstructured back reflector. The experimental data is rationalized using a simple ray tracing modeling approach, highlighting a further enhancement potential of a microstructured UC unit.