Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
l'enseignement de l'espace et de la géométrie dans la scolarité obligatoire

L'apprentissage des connaissances spatiales ne figure pas dans les curriculum d'enseignement, au dela du cycle 2. Il est remplace par celui de la geometrie des figures elementaires. Cette absence laisse enfants et adultes demunis dans de nombreuses situations necessitant l'usage ou la production de representations spatiales de la vie courante ou professionnelle. Par ailleurs, l'enseignement de la geometrie au college constitue pour un trop grand nombre d'eleves un obstacle a l'apprentissage des mathematiques. La these est une etude des liens entre ces deux phenomenes et une tentative pour ouvrir des voies de solution a ce probleme. L'etude montre comment le contrat didactique de l'enseignement de la geometrie repose sur la fiction culturelle de la transparence des rapports spatiaux dans l'apprentissage de la geometrie elementaire ; il appartient a l'eleve seul de se constituer et de mettre en oeuvre les connaissances necessaires a la comprehension de la geometrie enseignee; or ces connaissances ne sont pas « naturellement » acquises dans notre societe par les interactions usuelles avec l'environnement spatial ; en cas d'echec cette fiction ne permet a l'enseignant que des remediations inefficaces et/ou le conduit a en rejeter la responsabilite sur l'eleve. L'etude theorique s'appuie sur la theorie des situations didactiques developpee par G Brousseau. Les auteurs proposent de distinguer trois principaux types de rapports a l'espace appeles problematiques : la problematique pratique, la problematique de modelisation « spatio-geometrique », la problematique geometrique (deductive ou theorique). Ils montrent par de nombreux exemples comment l'absence de prise en compte ou d'articulation de ces problematiques dans l'enseignement les constitue en obstacles a l'apprentissage. Pour construire des situations d'enseignement permettant le depassement de la problematique pratique, les auteurs reprennent et etendent l'analyse des representations de l'espace introduites par G. Galvez et G. Brousseau, micro, meso, et macro-espaces. Ils developpent a cet effet plusieurs processus experimentaux, sur l'enseignement des plans, sur l'enseignement des angles et de leur mesure, sur l'introduction des raisonnements sur les figures elementaires, et une analyse comparee de plusieurs situations d'introduction a la demonstration au college.
The effect of different concentrations of pre-harvest gibberellic acid on the quality and durability of ‘Obilnaja’ and ‘Black Star’ plum varieties

The research work aimed at investigating the effect of pre-harvest gibberellic acid (GA3) treatment on the quality of ‘Obilnaja’ and ‘Black Star’ Japanese plum varieties. GA3 was sprayed onto the trees during the fruit color break at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 ppm concentrations. After pre-cooling, the plums were placed in modified atmosphere packages and exposed to the following conditions as follows: short storage-transportation (ST) [20 days at 2 °C and 90% relative humidity (RH)]; distribution center (DC) (5 days at 6 °C and 80% RH), and shelf life conditions (SL) (2 days at 20 °C and 70% RH). Pre-harvest GA3 treatments increased the fruit weight and size. Treatment of GA3 at 50, 75, and 100 ppm increased the fruit flesh firmness and total soluble substances (TSS) values in both the plum varieties during storage, transport, and marketing; it also limited the weight loss during the marketing process. Treatment of GA3 had no significant effects on the color, titratable acidity (TA), and the total phenolic and antioxidant activity values of plums. Pre-harvest GA3 treatment at 50 ppm GA3 can be thus recommended for both the plum varieties due to its effect on the fruit quality.
Sustainable Biodiversity: Evaluation Lessons From Past Economic Research

Biodiversity has received much attention in environmental research and public policy in recent years. There is a world-wide interest in its relevance for the carrying capacity of rich but fragile ecosystems. Voices suggesting building up proper protection mechanisms for unique and scarce diversity become louder. The question emerges whether – and which combination of – ecological and economic insights can help us to identify meaningful policy options to map out proper roads towards a sustainable future. This paper surveys and highlights the potential and limitations of an ecological-economics perspective on biodiversity. Such a perspective on complex biodiversity issues, if firmly supported by modern ecological insights, can help to clarify the processes, functions and values associated with biodiversity. This study aims to offer a historical review of key ecological and economic concepts that are essential in building bridges between ecology and economics, and discusses ways to integrate them. In addition to such issues as biodiversity indices or ecosystem management principles, particular attention is given to various monetary valuation approaches and methods from the perspective of preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Furthermore, the use of ecological and value indicators in integrated economic-ecological modelling and analysis is addressed as well. Throughout the paper, several illustrative applications are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the various approaches discussed. Finally, the paper offers principles for public decision-making regarding biodiversity protection.
New Radiocarbon Dates of the North Asian Steppe Zone and its Consequences for the Chronology

The chronological problems of the Steppe zone have been under intensive investigation during the last years but no generally accepted chronological system existed up to now. We present new radiocarbon dates of samples from several excavation sites. The dates allow a comparison of the Bronze Age development in the Siberian Steppe Zone with other neighboring regions.
Competition in Supply Chain Network: Retailers’ Risk Averseness Approach

This paper formulates a competitive supply chain network throughout a mixed integer linear programming problem, considering demand uncertainty and retailers risk averseness. That is, makes the model more realistic in comparison with the others. Employed conditional value at risk method through the data-driven approach, makes the model to be convex and sensitive to the risk averseness level. Finally, the model outputs and its results are illustrated through a numerical example.
Constraining the Physical State of the Hot Gas Halos in NGC 4649 and NGC 5846

We present results of a joint Chandra/XMM-Newton analysis of the early-type galaxies NGC 4649 and NGC 5846 aimed at investigating differences between mass profiles derived from X-ray data and those from optical data, to probe the state of the hot interstellar medium (ISM) in these galaxies. If the hot ISM is at a given radius in hydrostatic equilibrium (HE), the X-ray data can be used to measure the total enclosed mass of the galaxy. Differences from optically derived mass distributions therefore yield information about departures from HE in the hot halos. The X-ray mass profiles in different angular sectors of NGC 4649 are generally smooth with no significant azimuthal asymmetries within 12 kpc. Extrapolation of these profiles beyond this scale yields results consistent with the optical estimate. However, in the central region ( kpc) the X-ray data underpredict the enclosed mass, when compared with the optical mass profiles. Consistent with previous results, we estimate a nonthermal pressure component accounting for 30% of the gas pressure, likely linked to nuclear activity. In NGC 5846 the X-ray mass profiles show significant azimuthal asymmetries, especially in the NE direction. Comparison with optical mass profiles in this direction suggests significant departures from HE, consistent with bulk gas compression and decompression due to sloshing on ∼15 kpc scales; this effect disappears in the NW direction, where the emission is smooth and extended. In this sector we find consistent X-ray and optical mass profiles, suggesting that the hot halo is not responding to strong nongravitational forces.
Systematics and Evolution of the Tropical Monocot Family Costaceae (Zingiberales): A Multiple Dataset Approach

Abstract A phylogenetic analysis of molecular (ITS, trnL-F, trnK including the matK coding region) and morphological data is presented for the pantropical monocot family Costaceae (Zingiberales), including 65 Costaceae taxa and two species of the outgroup genus Siphonochilus (Zingiberaceae). Taxon sampling included all four currently described genera in order to test the monophyly of previously proposed taxonomic groups. Sampling was further designed to encompass geographical and morphological diversity of the family to identify trends in biogeographic patterns and morphological character evolution. Phylogenetic analysis of the combined data reveals three major clades with discrete biogeographic distribution: (1) South American, (2) Asian, and (3) African-neotropical. The nominal genus Costus is not monophyletic and its species are found in all three major clades. The Melanesian genus Tapeinochilos is monophyletic and included within the Asian clade. Monocostus and Dimerocostus are sister taxa and form part of the South American clade. The African-neotropical clade is composed entirely of the genus Costus; moreover, there is support for previously recognized subgeneric groupings within the Costus clade. Evolutionary trends in floral morphology show that close associations with pollinators have evolved several times from an ancestral generalist pollinator floral form. Bee pollination has evolved once in the family, arising in Africa from an open-flowered (generalist) ancestor. Bird pollination has evolved multiple times: once from an open-flowered ancestor in Southeast Asia and multiple times from a bee-pollinated ancestor in the neotropics. Additional morphological characters not traditionally used to define taxonomic groups, but having high consistency in the current phylogenetic analysis, are discussed.
Applying Quantile Regression to Industry Default Risk in Europe

The problems experienced by banks worldwide during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), including bank failures and capital shortages, demonstrated the importance of understanding extreme credit risk in dynamic economic circumstances. We apply a novel Quantile Monte Carlo (QMC) model to measure extreme risk of various European industrial sectors both prior to and during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The QMC model involves an application of Monte Carlo Simulation and Quantile Regression techniques to the Merton structural credit model. Two research questions are addressed in this study. The first question is whether there is a significant difference in distance to default (DD) between the 50% and 95% quantiles as measured by the QMC model. A highly significant difference in DD between the two quantiles was found. The second research question is whether relative industry risk changes between the pre-GFC and GFC periods at the extreme quantile. Changes were found with the worst deterioration experienced by Energy, Utilities, Consumer Discretionary and Financials; and the strongest improvement shown by Telecommunication, IT and Consumer goods. As a robustness check the QMC model is compared to a published Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) based model. Overall, we find a significant increase in credit risk for all sectors using the QMC model as compared to the traditional Merton approach. These findings could be important to banks and regulators in measuring and providing for credit risk in extreme circumstances.
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE BLENDED VALUE APPROACH: A GOVERNANCE ANSWER FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES

This paper predicts and examines social entrepreneurial ventures’ pursuit of a blended value approach by looking at the mindsets of their senior decision-makers. We discuss those mindsets theoretically by using agency and stewardship theories. We expect social entrepreneurs’ agency and stewardship mindsets to lead to different types of organizational goals. Using discriminant analysis, we find that social entrepreneurs having an agency-oriented mindset tend to pursue a single goal (either social or financial). Conversely, social entrepreneurs who have a stewardship-oriented mindset tend to pursue a blended value approach.
Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oils of Stachytarpheta indica (Linn.) Vahl and Mariscus alternifolius Vahl.

Essential oils obtained from hydrodistilled Stachytarpheta indica and Mariscus alternifolius plants were characterized by GC-MS. The extracted oil from S. indica contained 61 identified constituents, representing 99.2% of the oil, and the extracted oil from M. alternifolius contained 45 identified constituents, representing 94.3% of the oil Palmitic acid (39.2%), linoleic acid (13.7%), pcymene (6.7%) and 1,8-cineole (4.1%) were the main components of S. indica oil, while M. alternifolius oil was dominated by β-turmerone (14.3%), arturmerone (9.9%), (E)-phytol (8.5%), α-turmerone (7.9%) and 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-penta-decanone (7.9%). The essential oils demonstrated potent invitro antimicrobial activity (39-625 μg/mL) against the pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger) employ-ed in the assay. No appreciable cytotoxic activity, however, was observed on human breast (Hs 578T) or prostate carcinoma cells (PC-3). The volatile oil constituents of S. indica and M. alternifolius and biological activities are reported for the first time.
Metabolism analysis in mice with reduced citrate synthase activity

Background. Citrate synthase (CS) plays an important role in the regulation of carbohydrate oxidation. Variation in citrate synthase activity has an influence on metabolic changes. We tested the hypothesis that reduced mitochondrial CS activity could affect energy expenditure (EE) and respiratory quotient (RQ) in mouse model with an emphasizing on gender differences between tested strains. Methods. 16-week of age wild-type C57Bl/6J (B6) mouse strain, B6.A-(rs3676616-D10Utsw1)/Kjn (B6.A) and C57BL/6J-Chr 10A/J/NaJ (B6.A10) strains with reduced CS activity were studied in physiocage by the “Panlab” metabolism analysing equipment. The following parameters were calculated: EE (ml/min/kg^0.75), RQ, physical activity and rearing. Results. In female mice EE values were lower in B6.A10 strain compared to wild-type B6 strain. RQ values were similar in all tested mouse strains. In B6 mice EE was higher in females compared to males. Rearing was elevated in females of B6 mice compared to males. Conclusions . EE was lower in B6.A10 compared to B6 mice. Gender differences were noticed only in B6 mice: EE and rearing were significantly higher in female compared to male mice. Current study did not reveal any other association between reduced CS activity and EE or RQ variation in male and female mice.
Extracting expectations from currency option prices: a comparison of methods

This paper compares the goodness-of-fit and the stability of six methods used to extract risk-neutral probability density functions from currency option prices. We first compare five existing methods commonly employed to recover risk-neutral density functions from option prices. Specifically, we compare the methods introduced by Shimko (1993), Madan and Milne (1994), Malz (1996), Melick and Thomas (1997) and Bliss and Panigirtzoglou (2002). In addition, we propose a new method based on the piecewise cubic Hermite interpolation of the implied volatility function. We use data on 12 emerging market currencies against the US dollar and find that the piecewise cubic Hermite interpolation method is by far the method with the best accuracy in fitting observed option prices. We also find that there is a relative tradeoff between the goodness-of-fit and the stability of the methods. Thus, methods which have a better accuracy in fitting observed option prices appear to be more sensitive to option pricing errors, while the most stable methods have a fairly disappointing fitting. However, for the first two PDF moments as well as the quartiles of the risk-neutral distributions we find that the estimates do not differ significantly across methods. This suggests that there is a large scope for selection between these methods without essentially sacrificing the accuracy of the analysis. Nonetheless, depending on the particular use of these PDFs, some methods may be more suitable than others
Sharing the Cloudlet: Impression Management and Designing for Colocated Mobile Sharing

This article explores how designing for impression management affects the design of cloudlet and other mobile colocated sharing services. We demonstrate how colocated concepts and experimentation led to the conceptualization and design of a sharing interface that provides users with control over their shared content. We uncover usage behaviors and privacy concerns through the use of a technology probe and use those discoveries to develop a prototype designed with the principles of impression management to give sharers control over their content and identity. Our designs and results indicate users of cloudlets and other colocated sharing systems require visual control and privacy over shared content.
Prevalence of Postpartum Mental Health Problem in Siriraj Hospital

Objective: To study the prevalence of postpartum mental health problem (postpartum MHP). Study design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Materials and Methods: The 260 women in the first 48 hrs postpartum of > 24 weeks of gestation who were admitted at the postpartum ward, Siriraj Hospital during May 8 th to August 2 nd , 2008 were enrolled. After consent forms were done, they were asked to complete self-administered questionnaire including Thai GHQ-30 (mental health problem screening tool) and frequent psychosocial stressor forms. Main outcome measurement: Percentage of the positive Thai GHQ-30/ or probable of mental health problem. Results: The prevalence of postpartum mental health problem was 28.8%. There were statistic significances in some demographic and socioeconomic status: worrying about baby care, quantity of breast milk, number of marriage and postpartum complications, with adjusted OR 3.24 (95%CI 1.68, 6.25), 2.62 (95%CI 1.37, 5.01), 3.68 (95%CI 1.46, 9.27), 3.38 (95%CI 1.29, 8.85), respectively (P<0.05). The prognostic factors of psychosocial stressors were worrying about pregnancy and delivery, financial problem and bad events in life, with adjusted OR 5.91 (95%CI 2.00, 17.51), 3.57 (95%CI 1.49, 8.56), 2.23 (95%CI 1.01, 4.90), respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of probable postpartum MHP was 28.8%. The prognostic factors of psychosocial stressors were worrying about pregnancy and delivery, financial problem and bad events in life.
Comparison between Two Methodological Paradigms of Conditioned Place Preference with Methlyphenidate.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the mechanisms of Methylphenidate (MPH) on Conditioned Place Preference (CPP), a behavioral test of reward. The psychostimulant MPH is therapeutically used in the treatment of ADHD, but has been implicated in many pharmacological actions related to drug addiction and is considered to have abuse potential. Past work in our lab and others have shown substantial sex-differences in the neuropharmacological profile of MPH. Here a discussion of the relevant mechanisms of action of MPH and its relationship to neurotrophins and CPP are reviewed. Furthermore, previous work is reviewed and a rationale for two experiments are presented. The study resulted in two experiments conducted earlier this year. Each experiment is presented, examining sex differences in CPP in two different methodological paradigms as well as the effects of MPH on levels of the dopamine transporter (DAT) in striatal and accumbal neurons.
IMPACT INDICATORS FOR STOCK MARKETS RETURN

Th e paper examines the infl uence of impact indicators on stock market returns. Th e authors analyse various theoretical and empirical studies in order to form a set of impact criteria for stock market selection. Th e diff erent examinations aimed to identify the co-integrating relationship between stock market return and such impact indicators as money supply, exchange rate, short and long-term interest rates and others. It is oft en observed that stock prices tend to fl uctuate with economic indicators that have positive and negative eff ects on stock market returns. A detailed analysis of the selected topic has shown that there is no unifi ed or general method for the selection of the mentioned criteria; therefore, the authors propose a set of criteria that should be used for stock market selection in order to generate sustainable market return in the long term.
of in Chinese Cities

: Electric bikes have captured a large share of trips in many Chinese cities. They provide high levels of mobility and use little energy, two things that Chinese cities need to optimize. However, these benefits come at a cost, particularly emissions from primarily coal power plants and increased lead waste from battery use. Chinese policy makers are struggling with developing appropriate policy that maximizes modal options and mobility and minimizes environmental impacts. Electric bikes use very little electricity and, as a result, emit low levels of pollution per vehicle (passenger) kilometer traveled, even compared to fully occupied buses. The most problematic issue with electric bikes is the use of lead acid batteries that have high lead loss rates during the production, manufacturing and recycling processes. Most other motorized modes also use lead acid batteries, but their rate of use is lower and thus they have lower lead emission rates per kilometer. This research investigates and quantifies the environmental implications of electric bike use in China; particularly energy use, air pollution, solid waste and water use. A framework for policy analysis is presented and potential regulatory mechanisms are discussed. This investigation can inform policy by quantifying environmental impacts so that problematic parts of the life cycle can be addressed, rather than banning electric bikes all together. Abstract Electric bikes have captured a large share of trips in many Chinese cities. They provide high levels of mobility and use little energy, two things that Chinese cities need to optimize. However, these benefits come at a cost, particularly emissions from primarily coal power plants and increased lead waste from battery use. Chinese policy makers are struggling with developing appropriate policy that maximizes modal options and mobility and minimizes environmental impacts. Electric bikes use very little electricity and, as a result, emit low levels of pollution per vehicle (passenger) kilometer traveled, even compared to fully occupied buses. The most problematic issue with electric bikes is the use of lead acid batteries that have high lead loss rates during the production, manufacturing and recycling processes. Most other motorized modes also use lead acid batteries, but their rate of use is lower and thus they have lower lead emission rates per kilometer. This research investigates and quantifies the environmental implications of electric bike use in China; particularly energy use, air pollution, solid waste and water use. A framework for policy analysis is presented and potential regulatory mechanisms are discussed. This investigation can inform policy by quantifying environmental impacts so that problematic parts of the life cycle can be addressed, rather than banning electric bikes all together.