Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nomophobia Prevalence among Pre-service Teachers: A case of Trakya University

Mobile phones has become an indispensable tool for modern society. Although usage of cellular and smart phones make individual’s life easier, they may also create some negative consequences such as addiction, anxiety, fear or unrest due to overuse. Nomophobia, which is called as phobia of modern era, is defined as fear and anxiety feelings that an individual feels while he/she cannot access or reach to mobile devices. Especially, with the prevalence of smart phones, it is thought that increased interaction with mobile communication technologies also boots nomophobia of individuals in the society. Nomophobia impair individuals focusing on their works in every part of their lives. Nomophobic behaviors may change daily habits such as sleeping habits and concentration on lessons, especially nomophobia affects students in a negative way in terms of school life and academic achievement. The purpose of this study is to investigate nomophobia prevalence among 818 pre-service teachers who are students in different departments at a state university in Turkey during the 2015-2016 fall semester. In this causal-comparative study, descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA analyses were used. Results showed that according to mean score of the instrument, pre-service teachers’ nomophobia levels are higher than the mean and they feel anxious about not being able to communicate and not being able to access information. In addition to this, although there is not a significant different in terms of mobile phone usage hours, female pre-service teachers were found more nomophobic than males. Moreover, it is seen that when age increases nomophobia decreases, however in terms of smart phone usage frequency it is different: as usage frequency of smart phones increases, nomophobia increases as well.
Constraining melt geometries beneath the Afar Depression, Ethiopia from teleseismic receiver functions: The anisotropic H‐κ stacking technique

Understanding the nature of the crust has long been a goal for seismologists when imaging the Earth. This is particularly true in volcanic regions where imaging melt storage and migration can have important implications for the size and nature of an eruption. Receiver functions and the H‐κ stacking (Hκ) technique are often used to constrain crustal thickness (H) and the ratio of P to S wave velocities (κ). In this paper, I show that it is essential to consider anisotropy when performing Hκ. I show that in a medium with horizontally transverse isotropy a strong variation in κ with back azimuth is present, which characterizes the anisotropic medium. In a vertically transverse isotropic medium, no variation in κ with back azimuth is observed, but κ is increased across all back azimuths. Thus, estimates of κ are more difficult to relate to composition than previously thought. I extend these models to melt‐induced anisotropy and show that similar patterns are observed, but with more significant variations and increases in κ. Based on these observations, I develop a new anisotropic H‐κ stacking technique which inverts Hκ data for melt fraction, aspect ratio, and orientation of melt inclusions. I apply this to data for the Afar Depression and show that melt is stored in interconnected stacked sills in the lower crust, which likely supply the recent volcanic eruptions and dike intrusions. This new technique can be applied to any anisotropic medium where it can provide constraints on the average crustal anisotropy.
Health and safety in the Malawian construction industry

Construction Health and Safety (HS and perceptions relative to H&S in Malawi. Therefore, for objectivity purposes, a quantitative survey was conducted among key construction industry stakeholders such as clients, architects, engineers, project managers, and contractors. Selected findings include that the status of H&S in Malawian construction is sub-optimal, and that the contributions of clients, project managers, architects, engineers, building and civil engineering contractors have been sporadic, rather than significant. Notably, poor H&S recurs in construction, and H&S is perceived to be the duty of site managers. Keywords: Construction, health and safety, Malawi Gesondheid en veiligheid binne die konstruksie-industrie is baie belangrik vir die verbetering en volhoubaarheid van die konstruksieproses. Dit is waarom daar by verskeie vlakke van die konstruksieproses, kliente, projekbestuurders, argitekte, ingenieurs, projekbestuurders, kontrakteurs, sub-kontrakteurs, verskaffers, en vervaardigers gepoog word om gesondheid- en veiligheidsbestuurspraktyke in konstruksie te verbeter. Nietemin, die implementering van veiligheid en gesondheid in konstruksie het nie eweredig verbeter in die industrie nie. Die kruks van die saak is die assessering van die vlak van kennis oor wetgewing deur die oorgang van verantwoordelikhede van aandeelhouers, en persepsies oor veiligheid en gesonheid in Malawi. Daarom, vir doeleindes om objektief te wees, is ’n kwantitatiewe opname gedoen onder sleutel konstruksieaandeelhouers soos kliente, argitekte, ingenieurs, projekbestuurders, en kontrakteurs. Bevindinge sluit in dat die status van veiligheid en gesondheid in die Malawiese konstruksie-industrie sub-optimaal is, en dat die bydrae van kliente, projekbestuurders, argitekte, ingenieurs, bouers en siviele ingenieurskontrakteurs sporadies, eerder as merkwaardig is. Dit is belangrik om waar te neem dat daar swak veiligheid en gesondheid in konstruksie is, en dat veiligheid en gesondheid gesien word as die plig van terreinbestuurders. Sleutelwoorde: Konstruksie, gesondheid en veiligheid, Malawi
Life Cycle Price Trends and Product Replacement: Implications for the Measurement of Inflation

The paper explores the extent to which products follow systematic pricing patterns over their life cycle and the impact this has on the measurement of inflation. Using a large U.S. scanner data set on supermarket products and applying flexible regression methods, we find that on average prices decline as items age. This life cycle price change is often attributed to quality difference in the construction of CPI as items are replaced due to disappearance or during sample rotations. This introduces a systematic bias in the measurement of inflation. For our data we find that the life cycle bias leads to the underestimation of inflation by around 0.30 percentage points each year for the products examined.
Reconnecting Here and There

This article examines the reactivation of dormant ties in Japan and the United States. Using the institutional approach to culture developed by Yamagishi et al., it is hypothesized that respondents living in Japan will be less likely to reconnect with dormant ties when prompted than respondents living in the United States. It is further hypothesized that interaction with kin and work ties will help to explain lower levels of reconnection in Japan than in the United States. To examine these hypotheses, we developed a field experiment in which 95 adults living in Japan and 68 adults living in the United States were prompted by a smartphone application to reconnect with dormant ties. The results of this study show strong support for the hypothesis that respondents living in Japan are less likely to reconnect with dormant ties than respondents living in the United States when prompted. There is also mixed support for the hypothesis that interaction with kin and work ties helps to explain lower levels of reconnection in Japan than in the United States.
Life history and demography of three populations of Ophryotrocha japonica (Polychaeta: Dorvilleidae)

This paper examines the life history and demography of 3 populations of the polychaete Ophryotrocha japonica, an alien species that until 2001 had only been reported in harbour environ- ments along the Asian and American coasts of the Pacific. The populations analysed came from the Italian harbours of Leghorn and Ravenna, and from the brackish Mar Piccolo of Taranto. The 3 strains are inter-fertile, both with one another and with their Pacific counterparts, but were nevertheless found to have morphological, reproductive and demographic differences. In the Leghorn and Taranto populations there is a sort of sexual dimorphism based on body size that is not present in the Ravenna strain, while the most important differences concern their reproductive characteristics, with great variations being observed in their respective fecundity, egg size and reproductive investment. The differences in life history have very important consequences for the demography and fitness of each population. In particular, morphometric, reproductive and demographic characteristics set the Leghorn population apart from the other 2; it reaches sexual maturity more rapidly, lives longer, is decidedly larger and its population growth rate λ is 2.26 wk -1 . The Ravenna and Taranto populations appear to be more alike; their eggs are the same size, they are equally fecund, make a similar repro- ductive investment and have λ-values of 1.82 and 1.83 wk -1 , respectively. The marked differences observed among the 3 populations may depend on the species' adaptation to different environmen- tal situations, but could also be the result of independent introductions from different localities or at different times.
GRADE R TEACHERS’ AWARENESS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS IN CHILDREN

This paper takes the position that young children can benefit from early advancement of their science knowledge and that teachers need to be aware that children are ready to learn science in Grade R by way of developing their skills in thinking about and of ‘doing’ and experiencing science. We propose that teachers can do much to help children to change their naïve concepts and begin to form more advanced scientific concepts. The proviso is, however, that teachers have to be aware of children’s skillfulness at this age – their emergent, developmental ability to see and to experience the world scientifically. The findings showed that grade R is fundamental and develops the foundation for future learning, yet no form of formal science teaching occurs during daily activities or preparation to develop science process skills for future schooling was identified in the sample of six grade R teachers. Furthermore, effective teaching of concepts are inhibited by classroom management and learning challenges.
Dimensions of Tourists’ Emotional Experiences Towards Hedonic Holiday Destinations

Destinations are more likely to be successful if they recognize the experiential qualities of their offerings. However, with some exceptions, research into the emotional content of the destination experience remains largely underexplored. This current research addresses this lacuna and empirically investigates the dimensions of tourists’ emotional experiences towards hedonic holiday destinations. Adopting a rigorous scale development procedure, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identify three salient dimensions to represent the destination emotion scale (DES) namely: joy, love and positive surprise. Additionally, tourists’ emotional experiences were related to satisfaction, which in turn has a significant influence on behavioural intentions. Findings offer important implications for destination marketers in relation to branding and emotional experience management.
Effectiveness of a Solution-Based Counseling on Students' Self-Perception.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of solution-based counseling to increase students` self-conception. Method of research was semi-experimental with pretest and posttest design with a control group. The study sample consisted of all high school students in Dashtestan city, Bushkan district for which 30 subjects were randomly selected and were replaced in the experimental and control­­ groups. The experimental group received 30 sessions of solution-based group counseling. To collect data, the questionnaire of self-perception was used. Data were analyzed by covariance test. The results showed that solution-based group counseling increased students` self-perception and its components such as self-esteem and self- admission. Key words: Solution-based group counseling, self-perception.
Investigation of Data Modeling Strategies for Quantiﬁcation of CT Image Quality

Computed Tomography (CT) is a widely used medical imaging technology that plays a crucial role in pathology diagnosis and treatment management. The growing use of CT imaging raises the risk of undue radiation exposure, particularly for patients imaged multiple times. Thus, there is a need to maintain radiation exposure As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) while ensuring diagnostic quality images. In this study, we investigate data modeling strategies to quantify CT image quality (IQ), in order to guide protocol selection and attain ALARA. Specifically, we present a novel, Windowed Fourier-domain Distance Metric (WFDM) that is used to select regions-of-interest (ROI) by their degree of spatial variability. By selecting regions of low variation (ROI-LV), an estimate of the noise in that region can be made. CT IQ is defined as the inverse of this additive noise. Against the phantom CT images, the WFDM model is shown to correlate strongly to image noise (r > 0.76 (p 0.001)). As a CT IQ classifier, this model is comparatively analyzed against a fixed-size ROI (baseline) model and a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), using phantom and patient CT images. The WFDM model and the CNN are shown to classify the phantom images accurately, with a mean accuracy of αWFDM ≤ 100%, and αCNN = 93.8%, respectively. The baseline model manages a mean accuracy of αB = 73.6% on the same phantom images. With the patient CT images, the baseline and WFDM accuracies drop to αB ≤ 49.5% and αWFDM ≤ 66.1%, respectively. The CNN, however, performs at 100% accuracy when tested with images from the same CT stack as the training set, but below 1.9% otherwise. This indicates the CNN focus on structural rather than textural features. Finally, the WFDM model is used to predict high/low trends in 84 pairs of patient CT images. These trends are set against the trends in x-ray flux at the time of acquisition, CTDIvol, which, for the same patient, directly correspond to CT IQ. The total percentage of image pairs with inverse trends is defined as the total percent error, which is found to be 30.95% and 21.43% for the baseline and WFDM models, respectively. However, this error drops to 0% for CTDIvol changes of at least 40.0% for the baseline model and 27.5% for the WFDM model, respectively. Thus, for every patient that has been previously imaged, the WFDM model can be used to predict optimal parameters for adequate CT image acquisition. Future work will investigate the impact of WFDM parameters, such as the window sizes and transformation technique, on CT image quality assessment. In addition, the WFDM model can also be applied to pre-process CT images followed by CNN data models for CT image texture identification.
Analytical framework on credit risks for financing small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for the major share of employment and dominate the Asian economies. These economies are often characterized as having bank-dominated financial systems and underdeveloped capital markets, in particular venture capital. Hence, offering new methods for financing SMEs is crucial. Hometown investment trust funds are a form of financial intermediation that was started recently and has since been adopted as a national strategy in Japan. In the present paper, the authors explain the importance of SMEs in Asia and describe hometown investment trust funds. They then provide a scheme for credit rating of SMEs, employing two statistical analysis techniques, principal component analysis and cluster analysis to analyse the credit risks of a sample of Asian SMEs by using their financial variables. This comprehensive and efficient method would enable banks, to group their SME customers based on their financial health, adjust interest rates on loans and set lending ceilings for each group. Moreover, this method is applicable to hometown investment trust funds around the world.
Development Zones in China: Are STIPs a Substitute for or a Complement to ETDZs?

This paper examines the relationships between two types of development zones in China, namely, the Economic Technological Development Zones (ETDZs) and Science and Technology Industrial Parks (STIPs), during the period 2001 to 2005. After controlling for regional characteristics, the results show that an ETDZ with a STIP located in the same region (city) attracts significantly more foreign direct investment (FDI), an indication of a complementary relationship between ETDZs and STIPs. This complementary relationship is reinforced by the fact that more exports, sales, or employment on the part of STIPs induces greater FDI to the ETDZs within the same region. However, the spillovers fall unevenly across regions. The ETDZs in the coastal regions benefit more from the presence of STIPs than those in the inland regions, which may lead to greater regional development disparities in China.
The Examination of Factors Relating to the Leadership Style of Nursing Leaders in Hospitals

Abstract Theories often describe leadership with different classifications, based on personality and behaviour, and have been used to establish the traits and behaviours that determine an effective leadership style. We used the quantitative methodology to investigate the determinants of the leadership style among nursing leaders in Slovene hospitals. Based on the results, we determined that demographic characteristics such as gender, age, length of employment, and level of education do not affect the choice of the leadership style. Internal organizational characteristics such as job position, emotional intelligence, communication, personal characteristics, and the decision-making process are positively associated with the leadership style. Personal characteristics are considered important when it comes to using specific leadership styles, regardless of the choice of the leadership style, which also depends on the situation and external influences.
On $G$-Sequential Continuity

Let $X$ be a first countable Hausdorff topological group. The limit of a sequence in $X$ defines a function denoted by $\lim$ from the set of all convergence sequences to $X$. This notion has been modified by Connor and Grosse-Erdmann for real functions by replacing $\lim$ with an arbitrary linear functional $G$ defined on a linear subspace of the vector space of all real sequences. Recently \c{C}akall{\i} has extended the concept to topological group setting and introduced the concepts of $G$-sequential compactness, $G$-sequential continuity and sequential connectedness. In this paper we give a further investigation of $G$-sequential continuity in topological groups.
Geographic neighborhood and agricultural cluster formation : Evidence from states of India

In this study we trace how number and members of income clusters have changed in Indian agriculture over the last four and a half decades. Two features which stand out in our results are that not all geographical neighbors belong to the same cluster and clusters include both geographical neighbors and non-neighbors. To identify the factors driving a pair of states to common cluster we then use a logit model and find that smaller is the relative difference between them in terms of mechanization, infrastructural support, deviations from normal rainfall and price differences, higher are the chances that they will be in the same income cluster. Between contiguous and non-contiguous state pairs we find that apart from the common factors, smaller relative differences in irrigation support, rainfall and price differences additionally brings non-contiguous states together.
External Finance Constraints and the Timing of Investment Spikes

Is the timing of a firm's large-scale investment (investment spike) affected by external finance constraints? We use firm-level quarterly data including those on unlisted firms, and estimate the investment hazard rate, i.e., the probability of undertaking a new investment spike today as a function of the time elapsed since the last spike, and examine how external finance constraints affect the hazard rate. Our results show that the firms which fall under industries heavily dependent on external finance, those which fall under industries with low tangible fixed asset ratios, and those firms with a large amount of outstanding debt compared with cash flow, have lower hazard rates than other firms. This suggests that external finance constraints delay the timing of investment spikes. Further, the estimated hazard rate is an increasing function of time, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction. Our results suggest that a policy of alleviating companies' external finance constraints will be helpful if fiscal and monetary policies are to be effective quickly.
Doubts and Variability

We examine the asset pricing properties of an endowment economy featuring stochastic volatility and an agent who fears his model is misspecified. Due to the nonlinearities inherent in our stochastic volatility model, we are forced to expand the toolkit of the robust control literature. We propose novel algorithms to characterize and simulate the robust agent’s worst case model. Using US consumption data, we estimate the parameters of the endowment process and find evidence of stochastic volatility. Introducing stochastic volatility helps the model generate a more plausible unconditional market price of risk and increases the measured welfare costs of business cycles by about 15%. These asset pricing and welfare results are the result of an agent valuing consumption streams as if a worst case model has generated the data. In our stochastic volatility set up, the robust agent’s worst case consumption growth process contains both disasters and a long run risk component.
Community based assessment on household management of waste and hygiene practices in Kersa Woreda, Eastern Ethiopia

Background: Improper waste management may have health and environmental hazards. Studies showed the relationship of many diseases to improper waste management. Objective: This study aimed to assess the status of waste management and hygiene practices in Kersa Woreda, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Kersa Demographic Surveillance and Health Research Centre (KDS-HRC) project site in April 2008. The study subjects were randomly selected 444 households. Data were collected through interview and observation. Results: The majority of the households, (66%) disposed solid wastes in open dumps and only 6.9% of the households had temporary storage means for solid waste. About 98.4 % of the respondents revealed that the responsibility of waste management is left for women and girls. Only 36.4% households had latrines and almost all were simple unsanitary traditional pits. From those households with latrine the habit of hand-washing after defecation was reported to be only about 5.1%. The habit of hand washing after defecation is significantly associated with the educational status of the respondents (P<0.01) Conclusion: in the study community household management of waste is in poor condition. Health-workers and local authorities must pay special emphasis to improve these conditions. Further in-depth studies should also be encouraged to look for improved interventions. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2010;24(2):103-109]