Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Application of Total Physical Response to Primary English Teaching—A Case Study of Qingtong Primary School

Total Physical Response (TPR) method put forward by American psychology professor Asher advocates linking language and behavior, teaching the foreign language through body movements, and emphasizing teaching in real situations. Based on TPR method, this paper uses empirical research, literature reference, and questionnaire survey to explore problems of teachers and pupils in the traditional English teaching classroom. Compared to the traditional teaching method, TPR method in primary school English classroom greatly improves both teachers and students whether in teaching or in learning. In this research, 60 pupils from Class 3 and Class 4 in Qingtong Primary School in Huzhou City are taken as subjects, who are taught respectively by TPR method and the traditional teaching method. By contrast, the paper pinpoints advantages of TPR method and disadvantages of the traditional teaching method; by interviewing questionnaire and observation, it analyzes problems existing in English teaching from the perspectives of teachers and pupils and proposes some advice based on TPR method, meantime, stresses the combination of TPR method and other teaching methods according to different teaching situations and teaching objectives, in order to enhance the efficiency of teachers’ teaching and pupils’ learning in primary English teaching.
A FUNDAMENTAL PROGNOSTIC FACTOR IN BREAST CARCINOMA

Prognostic factors allow one to evaluate the risk of relapse or progression of the disease leading to a fatal outcome assuming no systemic adjuvant therapy has been employed [1-8]. Prognostic factors are associated with the tumour biology, the patient and environmental exposure. The best understood and defined prognosticators are those associated with selected carcinoma features; among them there are those evaluated by pathomorphologists, referred to as pathomorphological prognostic factors [2, 3, 5, 7-9]. The introduction of new techniques to pathomorphology, and especially the advent of immunohistochemistry, molecular biology and cytometry, has made a contribution to our discovering and describing several new factors that characterize tumours and to recognizing these factors as prognostic or predictive [3, 4, 6, 9-11]. In 2000, the College of American Pathologists reviewed prognostic and predictive factors based on the body of information on their clinical value and on results of research [11-13], dividing the factors into three groups: I – tumour size, lymph node status, pTNM, histological type, grade of histological malignancy, assessment of ER and PR receptors, II – proliferation markers (MIB1, S phase of the cell cycle, HER2/c-erb-B2, PT53, invasion of lymphatic and blood vessels), III – angiogenesis, epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor α (TGF-α), BCL-2, PS2, cathepsin D. POL J PATHOL 2009; 2: 67-75
ATRAZINE REDUCES THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF WEED INTERFERENCE ON NARROW ROW CORN

The objective was to determine whether a change occurs in the critical period of weed interference prevention in narrow row corn with the use of atrazine and whether there is influence of the herbicide on crop yield components. The treatments consisted of periods without or with an initial weed control (0, 21, 35, 49, 63, 77, and 91 days after emergence), with or without application of atrazine in spikely post-emergence. The experiment was carried out in a 2 x 7 randomized blocks design (with and without weed control and seven periods with three replications). The use or not of atrazine was arranged in a split plot design. The most important weed species were Senecio brasiliensis, Urochloa plantaginea, Conyza bonariensis, Sida rhombifolia, and Solanum spp. Corn yield reduced by 15% and 18% with and without application of atrazine, respectively. The number of grains per spike and corn yield were negatively influenced by coexistence with weeds, while the number of rows per spike, the diameter and length of spike were not affected. Corn yield components were not affected by the use of atrazine. The critical period of weed interference prevention was 35 days without atrazine and 23 days with application of atrazine. There is a reduction of the critical period of weed interference prevention on narrow row corn by using atrazine, with no influence of the herbicide on crop yield.
DO GRANT CUTS INDUCE FISCAL DISCIPLINE? EVIDENCE FROM 14 OECD COUNTRIES Julia Darby University of Strathclyde & Centre for Public Policy for Regions

In this paper we examine sub-central government fiscal policy during periods when their grant allocations are cut. Existing empirical studies of sub-central fiscal policy tend to be restricted to analysis of individual countries. In this paper we examine a cross-country dataset spanning 14 OECD countries. We employ event study analysis to obtain a description of the behavior of sub-central fiscal policy during periods of fiscal squeeze instigated by central government. We show that the dominant sub-central response is to adjust expenditure rather than to offset grant cuts by raising ‘own’ revenues. We are able to demonstrate that these spending cuts tend to be focused on the sub-central governements' wage bill, social transfers and, disproportionately, on capital expenditure. Even in countries that in principle have greater flexibility to offset the centrally imposed cuts through a relatively high degree of revenue autonomy we show that they tend not to exercise the option. In summary, centrally imposed grant cuts result in expenditure restraint at the sub-central level, but the adjustment appears to be focused disproportionately on capital spending and hence we argue that the induced adjustment suffers from short-termism. JEL Codes: E62, E63, H62, H77 Some of the results in this paper were presented at an NBER/CESifo TAPES Conference held in Munich and we are grateful to our discussants Thiess Buettner, Denis Epple and other participants for helpful comments. We are also grateful to John Bradley and colleagues at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. Julia Darby acknowledges ESRC funding under the Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme, Award no. L2192102 and Graeme Roy acknowledges funding from the ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme, Award no. PTA-026-27-1059.
Biodiversity and nutrient enrichment in pond plankton communities

There are at least four mathematically developed models that predict unimodal diversity– productivity relations in local communities. I attempt to distinguish among these theories using data from surveys of planktonic organisms in 31 fishless ponds in southern Michigan by relating plant and herbivore diversity and composition to pond nutrient levels. The density of plants (phytoplankton) was positively correlated with nutrient levels and the density of herbivores (zooplankton) was positively correlated with the density of plants. Species richness of plants and of herbivores were declining or unimodal functions of nutrient levels. The composition of each trophic level changed significantly with eutrophication as indicated by significant correlations between nutrient levels and site scores (obtained by reciprocal averaging ordination on occurrences). A concomitant lack of correlation between site scores and species richness for both trophic levels further shows that the patterns of species distributions form gradients of species replacements rather than nested subsets. Taxonomic ordination scores also showed that the algae found at low nutrient levels consisted disproportionately of small, unprotected forms (thought to be fast-growing but grazer-susceptible), whereas the algae found at high nutrient levels were larger and often sheathed or gelatinous (thought to be slow-growing but more resistant to grazers). The results of this analysis of changes in the patterns of distribution of planktonic organisms are consistent with a hypothesis of productivity-dependent ‘keystone-predation’ causing the unimodal relation between diversity and productivity.
EDRMS implementation in the Australian public sector

Sad stories about EDRMS implementation failure are often told among records managers. An EDRMS project, like any other IS implementation, will need key ingredients to be successful. This paper reveals these components of a successful EDRMS implementation from the findings of a Web-based survey on the perspectives of records managers in the three levels of the Australian public sector. It also uncovers these organisations’ attitudes towards digital recordkeeping initiatives and an insight on their EDRMS projects.
A blessing or a double-edged sword? Politicians’ perceptions of newspapers’ impact on the functioning of democracy

Abstract This study investigated the interplay of politicians’ perceptions regarding the political influence of leading newspapers and the mass media’s general impact on democracy. The scope of the study was restricted to democratic-corporatist media systems. We used comparative data of political elites (N = 392; countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland) and assessed direct and indirect effects of their perceptions about national broadsheets’ political influence on the mass media’s perceived general impact on democracy. As expected, we found a positive direct effect regarding perceptions of the media’s role in democracy that corresponds with theories stressing the ‘guard-dog role’ of the quality press for political elites. However, we also found a negative indirect effect of perceived newspaper influence through perceptions of the media’s agenda-setting and career-controlling power. We argue that this effect can be explained by feelings of disempowerment among politicians. Arguably, perceived disempowerment causes criticism from political actors towards the media inasmuch as they feel constrained in the full exercise of their democratic functions.
Antimicrobial Activity of Earthworm Extracts

Earthworm plays a major role in the proper functioning of the soil ecosystem. It acts as scavenger and helps in recycling of dead and decayed plant material by feeding on them. Earthworm increases the soil fertility and is often referred to as a farmer’s friend. Earthworms have been used in medicine for various remedies. In the present investigation, various solvent extracts of an earthworm, Eudrilus eugeniae were prepared and antimicrobial activity of these extracts were determined by well diffusion method. It was found that 95% ethanol extract of earthworm was potent antibacterial agent against Streptococcus pyogens and antifungal agent against Candida albicans. Petroleum ether extract showed maximum potency against Staphylococcus aureus in comparison to Streptococcus pyogens. Petroleum ether extract was found to possess maximum antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger in comparison to Candida albicans. Against E. coli, ethanol and petroleum ether extract possessed least antibacterial activity. Phosphate buffer extract of earthworm possessed no potency against bacterial and fungal cultures. These studies may lead to the formulation of new antimicrobial drug.
The share of tissues in pig carcass sides of autochthonous breeds depending on the body mass and sex

Objective of this paper was to determine the distribution of tissues in four major carcass side parts from fatteners of Swallow-Belly Mangalitsa and Moravka breeds. The study included 42 animals (male castrated and female pigs) of Swallow-Belly Mangalitsa strain (LM, n=19) and Moravka (M, n=23). Animals were kept and reared in the same farm conditions with free ranges. During fattening, animals were fed two complete mixtures containing 15 and 13% crude proteins. Dissection of left carcass sides and calculation of the meat percentage were carried out according to EU reference method (EC, No.3127/94). Obtained data was processed using GLM procedure of the software package SAS 9.1. 3 (SAS Inst.Inc., 2002-2003). Pre-slaughter body mass influenced variation of the mass of warm and cooled carcass sides (P<.0001). Pre-slaughter body mass of SBM and M had impact on variation of the subcutaneous fat tissue and skin in the thigh and shoulder, and on bone tissue in the shoulder. Fatteners of Moravka breed had higher average mass of back-loin part of the carcass sides (P<0.01) and mass of subcutaneous fat tissue including the skin (P<0.05) compared to Swallow-Belly Mangalitsa. Share of muscle tissue of this carcass part in total mass of muscle tissue in all four carcass side parts was higher in Moravka breed pigs (+2.18%, P<0.01). Male castrated pigs had lower values of average mass of the thigh/leg (P<0.05), lower values of muscle tissue mass in the thigh/leg (P<0.01) and higher share of bone tissue (P<0.05) compared to female pigs. In the belly-rib part, castrates had less intermuscular fat tissue (P<0.05) and bone tissue (P<0.05) than female pigs.
Incentives and Job Satisfaction: Its Implications for Competitive Positioning and Organizational Survival in Nigerian Manufacturing Industries

This paper assessed the attitude of workers towards incentive and their satisfaction to work. A sample of 127 valid respondents selected from the managerial and non-managerial staff and data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) through descriptive statistics and regression. The findings revealed that financial rewards encourage workers externally; while nonfinancial rewards can satisfy employees internally by making them feel like a valued part of an organization. Also, it was indicated that some employees seem to be satisfied and content with their job not because they derive pleasure from the work itself but because there are no other alternatives. The manufacturing industry needs to embark on the restructuring of jobs and responsibilities in ways that would facilitate competitive advantage without sacrificing the basic objective of the organization.
Biometrics and identity management for homeland security applications in Saudi Arabia

Identity is the collection of all characteristics related to an entity, be it a person, enterprise or an object. Identities allow entities to be distinguished from each other. This is what makes an identity a key component in several administrative, social and economic transactions. Identity management is important for government, communication, commerce and just about any significant societal activity. Government identity management systems are not usually static and are frequently changed with the change of time and situation. A flexible approach is needed towards the addition of new features in identity management systems. This paper analyzes different identity cards used for different purposes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a case study followed by their deficiencies. Finally, a biometric based identity management system is proposed referring to the successful and extendible identity management system of developed countries. Key words: Biometrics, security, privacy, identity management, e-ID
Dynamic R&D Incentives with Network Externalities

This dissertation analyzes the impact of network externalities on R&D competition in an oligopolistic industry. It focuses on the level of R&D investments, the social efficiency of those efforts and the role of networks compatibility. The analysis is taken under different specifications and assumptions to check the robustness of the results. It is concluded that network externalities provide an important incentive to invest in R&D but this incentive is inefficient from a social welfare point of view. These R&D investments represent a powerful mechanism to deter entry, avoid commitment problems, improve market position and affect consumers' expectations in network markets.
Stylized Facts of Macroeconomics: the Polish Experience

The aim of this paper is to provide detailed analysis of quarterly frequency dynamics in macroeconomic aggregates in Poland. The following areas of concern have been included: the balanced growth theory, the comparison of empirical performance of the New Classical, New Keynesian and Hybrid Philips curve specifications and the changes of macroeconomic stylized facts across the monetary regimes. Thorough analysis of those, as well as other facts, may contribute significantly to the development of macromodelling of Poland. Analysis of other facts has also been conducted, however due to limited space is not provided. The main result of the presented analysis is to give overwhelming evidence that the standard textbook stylized facts of macroeconomics present a reasonably good approximation to the behaviour of Polish economy, providing that this analysis takes into account that the Polish time series are contaminated with outliers.
Central limit theorems for directional and linear random variables with applications

A central limit theorem for the integrated squared error of the directional-linear kernel density estimator is established. The result enables the construction and analysis of two testing procedures based on squared loss: a nonparametric independence test for directional and linear random variables and a goodness-of-fit test for parametric families of directional-linear densities. Limit distributions for both test statistics, and a consistent bootstrap strategy for the goodness-of-fit test, are developed for the directional-linear case and adapted to the directional-directional setting. Finite sample performance for the goodness-of-fit test is illustrated in a simulation study. This test is also applied to datasets from biology and environmental sciences.
Some Schiff bases as corrosion inhibitors for zinc in sulphuric acid

The inhibition of corrosion of zinc in sulphuric acid by Schiff bases aniline-N-benzylidene(ANB), aniline-Nsalicylidene(ANS), aniline-N-p-methoxybenzylidene(ANPMB), p-methoxybenzylidene-4,4′-dimorpholine(p-MBDM) and salicylidene-4-4′-dimorpholine(SDM) has been studied with respect to inhibitor concentration, exposure period, and temperature. More than 99% inhibition is achieved with 0.5% concentration of inhibitor except in case of ANB whose efficiency is found to decrease with time and rise in temperature. The activation energies in inhibited acid are higher than that in plain acid. For all the inhibitors, the heats of adsorption and free energies of adsorption are negative, while the entropies of adsorption are positive. The free energies are more negative in the case of inhibitors like ANS, SDM, ANPMB and p-MBDM. It appears that an efficient inhibitor is characterized by a relatively greater decrease in free energy of adsorption and less negative entropies of adsorption. Galvanostatic polarization data suggest that these are mixed type inhibitors with preferential action on local cathodes. Cathodic protection studies suggest that the protection is achieved at current densities much lower than that in plain acid. The conjoint effect of external cathodic current and the inhibitor is observed to be synergistic in most of the cases. The inhibitors appear to function through adsorption following Langmuir isotherm.
Inheritance of okra leaf type in different genetic backgrounds and its effects on fibre and agronomic traits in cotton

Okra leaf (L 0 L 0 ) cottons confer resistance/non-preference against insect pests. The inheritance of this trait was studied in three cross combinations involving a common okra leaf parent (HRVO-1) with three normal leaf (l 0 l 0 ) parents (FH-1000, CIM-446 and Acala 63-74). The non-significant χ 2 in F 2 for leaf shapes in all the crosses fit well against the theoretical monohybrid ratio of 1:2:1 showing incomplete dominance. Observations of 1 okra leaf (L 0 L 0 ) : 2 an intermediate class of sub-okra (L 0 l 0 ) : 1 normal leaf (l 0 l 0 ) were observed in the F 2 populations of the three crosses. In the backcross generations with parent- I, ratios of 1 okra leaf : 1 sub-okra, leaf morphologies were obtained. Similarly, in the backcrosses with parent-II, ratios of 1 normal leaf : 1 sub-okra, an intermediate class of leaf shape were observed. The discontinuous variation for leaf shape in F 2 generations of three crosses observed in the frequency distribution confirmed the qualitative inheritance for this trait. The incorporation of the gene for okra leaf type had no significant effect on the major fibre quality attributes like fibre length, fibre strength, lint percentage, fibre uniformity ratio and fibre fineness. Number of sympodial branches/plant, number of bolls/plant, boll weight and seed cotton yield/plant principal yield assuring traits showed improvement, with the incorporation of the gene for okra leaf type. The gene for okra leaf type can be incorporated in a genotype that covers the insect non-preference and yield enhancements without increasing number of monopodial branches. The justification for the increase in yield and its components is due to the okra leaf morphology conferring resistance/non-preference against insect pests with reduced leaf area allowing better air flow and maximum sunlight penetration through the leaves of the plant. Key words: Gossypium hirsutum L, trichomes, inheritance, fibre traits, agronomic traits.
Barriers in health care access faced by children with intellectual disabilities living in rural Uttar Pradesh

Purpose: People with disability in rural India face multiple barriers accessing healthcare; our hypothesis is that children with intellectual disability suffer the same but little is known about the barriers faced by them. The objectives of the study were to identify the health seeking behaviours of families with children with intellectual disabilities and the barriers they faced accessing healthcare.Methods: This qualitative study involved interviewing caregivers of children with intellectual disability from a pre-existing community development project in the Sahadoli Kadim block of rural Uttar Pradesh. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the local practitioners frequented by these caregivers.Results: Barriers identified were grouped under cognitive, structural and financial barriers which were found to be consistent with the Health Care Access Barrier Model (Carrillo, et al., 2011; WHO, 2011). Cognitive barriers included caregivers being unable to identify the complex health needs of their children. Caregivers lacked appropriate knowledge of intellectual disability, with doctors failing to educate them. Structural and financial barriers encompassed poor availability of healthcare providers and contributed to poor access to specialists. Caregivers had no information about government financial aid and healthcare providers did not refer them to these.Conclusion: Children with intellectual disabilities are forced to live with a poor quality of life because of cognitive, structural and financial barriers they face in accessing health care. Results are specific to children with intellectual disability in rural Sahadoli Kadim and could be used to inform policies and strategies to reduce disparities in health care access for these children.
Response of the XENON100 Dark Matter Detector to Nuclear Recoils

Results from the nuclear recoil calibration of the XENON100 dark matter detector installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy are presented. Data from measurements with an external AmB(241)e neutron source are compared with a detailed Monte Carlo simulation which is used to extract the energy-dependent charge-yield Q(y) and relative scintillation efficiency L-eff. A very good level of absolute spectral matching is achieved in both observable signal channels-scintillation S1 and ionization S2-along with agreement in the two-dimensional particle discrimination space. The results confirm the validity of the derived signal acceptance in earlier reported dark matter searches of the XENON100 experiment.