Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between self-efficacy, motivation, and academic performance among students from various gender and generational groups

Many students find the first year of university challenging. In South Africa, this situation is complicated further by the transformation in higher education, such as the changing profile of the student population and new access and success policies. Many factors affecting academic performance have been highlighted in research. This particular research study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy, motivation, and academic performance among students from various gender and generational groups in the South African context. A non-experimental, quantitative approach with a correlational, criterion group design was used. Non-probability, convenience sampling was used to select 271 first-year students in the Faculty of the Humanities at the University of the Free State. Data were gathered by using a research survey consisting of a biographic questionnaire and two standardised questionnaires, namely the College Self-Efficacy Instrument (CSEI) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Academic performance was calculated by obtaining an average of students’ marks in core modules during the first year. Statistically significant differences were found in the academic performance and academic motivation between males and females. There was no significant statistical difference with regard to the different generational groups. Academic motivation and self-efficacy explained only 0.06 % of the variance in academic performance, which is not significant. There were, however, a significant correlation between academic motivation and self-efficacy.
Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Pulmonary Embolism of the European Society of Cardiology ( ESC )

Authors/Task Force Members: Adam Torbicki, Chairperson (Poland)*, Arnaud Perrier (Switzerland), Stavros Konstantinides (Germany), Giancarlo Agnelli (Italy), Nazzareno Galiè (Italy), Piotr Pruszczyk (Poland), Frank Bengel (USA), Adrian J.B. Brady (UK), Daniel Ferreira (Portugal), Uwe Janssens (Germany), Walter Klepetko (Austria), Eckhard Mayer (Germany), Martine Remy-Jardin (France), and Jean-Pierre Bassand (France)
Host‐associated variation in sexual size dimorphism and fitness effects of adult feeding in a bruchid beetle

We studied the effect of larval host (two Convolvulus L. species, Convolvulaceae) on sexual size dimorphism and on the fitness consequences of adult feeding in the bruchid beetle Megacerus eulophus (Erichson) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). Whereas Convolvulus chilensis Pers. occurs in low density in semiarid habitats, Convolvulus bonariensis Cav. occurs in less stressful environments and exhibits higher population density. Host plants neither differ in seed mass nor in seed nitrogen content, and there were no consistent host‐associated differences in female fitness. Consequently, host quality was considered to be similar. Sexual size dimorphism, expressed as the female:male ratio of body size, was significantly greater in C. chilensis than in C. bonariensis. A greater female size in the C. chilensis population could be selectively advantageous due to higher survival during host‐plant search in stressful environments. Female longevity was affected by food availability (starvation vs. honey‐pollen solution) and by the interaction between food availability and larval host. Fed females lived longer than starved females. This trend was found in both hosts, but it was of greater magnitude in C. chilensis than in C. bonariensis. Fecundity was significantly affected by adult feeding and larval host, and marginally affected by their interaction. Fed females laid more eggs than starved females. However, the increase in fitness of fed females was greater in C. chilensis. Results might be explained by differential selection on plasticity in life‐history traits in contrasting environments. Females in stressful environments should take a greater advantage of the transient availability of resources.
Miktoarm Star Micelles Containing Curcumin Reduce Cell Viability of Sensitized Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary intracranial tumor in humans. Monotherapeutic interventions have not been successful. The objective of the current studies was to establish the effective combination therapy consisting of pifitrin as a sensitizer, and curcumin as therapeutic incorporated into miktoarm micelles. A2B type miktoarm stars were prepared using a combination of click chemistry with ring opening polymerization on a core with orthogonal functionalities. These self-assemble into spherical micelles with hydrophobic core and hydrophilic corona structure. Micellar delivery systems for curcumin based on these miktoarm star polymers were prepared, characterized and tested on cultures sensitized with pifitrin. The results show that: (1) pifitrin and temozolamide in combination with curcumin cause significant cell death compared with the individual therapeutics (incorporated or not in micelles), and (2) repeated exposure to the same treatments is necessary to fully prevent a re-growth of glioblastoma cells both in 2D and 3D cultures. Although the incorporation of curcumin into A2B star polymer micelles did not increase the extent of cell death compared with curcumin alone, the advantage of micelles is that they significantly increase the aqueous solubility of curcumin and sustain its release; this will likely reduce the frequency of its administration required to be effective in vivo. A2B miktoarm polymers could be a new viable delivery system for curcumin and other anticancer drugs with similar limitations.
Australasian Conference on Information Systems Sterrenberg & Keating 2016 , Wollongong Measuring IS success of e-government 1 Measuring IS success of e-government : A Case Study on the Disability Sector in Australia

Despite unprecedented investments in e-government annually, the degree to which these initiatives are successful in delivering government outcomes varies widely. It is posited that traditional means of evaluating these systems overlook important measures needed to support the ultimate success of e-government. To address this gap, this study will: (1) identify the critical features of e-government that influence success; (2) investigate how public value is created through the use of e-government; and (3) propose and test a public value based success model to explain the creation of value within the disability sector. This study extends the DeLone and McLean IS Success Model (2003) using a theoretically based framework grounded from Public Value Theory to provide a perspective for evaluating e-government success. The contribution of the model is to assist governments in making complex information system portfolio investment decisions.
An Empirical Examination of the Relationship between Government Spending and Economic Growth in South Africa, from 1980 to 2011

The paper empirically examines the relationship between government expenditure and economic growth in South Africa, for the period 1980 to 2011. Econometric techniques are applied to test the hypothesis that an increase in government expenditure has increased economic growth. The study examines the causal relationship that exists between government spending and economic growth in South Africa using OLS regression techniques. Secondary data obtained from the SARB is used for data analysis. The results confirm a long-run positive relationship which exists between the two variables under study, and further shows that gross capital formation granger causes economic growth. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013. v4n3p235
New species of Deinogalerix (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla)from the late Miocene of Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy)

Deinogalerix is a typical component of the late Miocene insular fauna of Gargano (south-eastern Italy). Remains of this taxon had also been found over the last 20 years at the early Tortonian site of Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy), but they had never been described in detail. Two new species are introduced. One of them, D. samniticus sp. nov., is larger sized and better documented, and received a formal description. The other entity is clearly distinct from D. samniticus sp. nov., but it is merely represented by a single mandible. It is therefore presented here as a different, but undetermined species, Deinogalerix sp. Comparative analyses show that the new species have exclusive dental proportions that distinguish them from all the other species of Deinogalerix and seem to exclude them from the direct ancestry of the Gargano clade. Consistent with its early stratigraphic age, D. samniticus sp. nov. bears a suite of primitive characters of the genus. Besides these, however, it also bears the autapomorphic relative proportion between p3 and p4. The analysis of the erinaceids from Scontrone supports the assumption that Deinogalerix presumably descended from a hypothetical early – middle Miocene ‘Parasorex-like’ galericine. On the other hand, it seems to rule out the supposed common ancestry of the giant Deinogalerix and the small gymnure Apulogalerix from Gargano. Because the presumed ancestor of Deinogalerix dates back to the early – middle Miocene, the study corroborates the asynchronous colonization of the Apulia Platform. Andrea Savorelli. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, via La Pira 4, Florence 50121, Italy; andrea_savorelli@yahoo.it Federico Masini. Department of Earth and Marine Sciences (DISTEM), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 22, Palermo 90123, Italy; federico.masini@unipa.it Paul P. A. Mazza. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, via La Pira 4, Florence 50121, Italy; paul.mazza@unifi.it Maria Adelaide Rossi. Archaeological Superintendency of Abruzzo, via degli Agostiniani 14, Chieti 66100, Italy; mariaadelaide.rossi@beniculturali.it Silvano Agostini. Archaeological Superintendency of Abruzzo, via degli Agostiniani 14, Chieti 66100, Italy; silvano.agostini@beniculturali.it http://zoobank.org/D8F74203-4822-422E-8CFF-4D339722145A Savorelli, Andrea, Masini, Federico, Mazza, Paul P. A. , Rossi, Maria Adelaide, and Agostini, Silvano. 2017. New species of Deinogalerix (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla) from the late Miocene of Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy). Palaeontologia Electronica
Variational asymptotics for rotating shallow water near geostrophy: a transformational approach

We introduce a unified variational framework in which the classical balance models for nearly geostrophic shallow water as well as several new models can be derived. Our approach is based on consistently truncating an asymptotic expansion of a near-identity transformation of the rotating shallow-water Lagrangian. Model reduction is achieved by imposing either degeneracy (for models in a semi-geostrophic scaling) or incompressibility (for models in a quasi-geostrophic scaling) with respect to the new coordinates. At first order, we recover the classical semi-geostrophic and quasi-geostrophic equations, Salmon's $L_1$ and large-scale semi-geostrophic equations, as well as a one-parameter family of models that interpolate between the two. We identify one member of this family, different from previously known models, that promises better regularity – hence consistency with large-scale vortical motion – than all other first-order models. Moreover, we explicitly derive second-order models for all cases considered. While these second-order models involve nonlinear potential vorticity inversion and do not obviously share the good properties or their first-order counterparts, we offer an explicit survey of second-order models and point out several avenues for exploration.
The Effect of National Culture on Strategic Behavior and Financial Performance: Evidence from the Cement Industry in Morocco and the United States of America

This study investigates the effect of national culture on strategic behavior and financial performance in the cement industry of both Morocco and the United States of America. Based on the data gathered from cement manufacturers of these two countries, the study found a significant relationship between certain characteristics of national culture of Hofstede (uncertainty avoidance, long- and short-term orientation, collectivism and individualism) and
CALCULATIONS OF (,n) REACTION CROSS SECTION AND GAMMA RAY INCINERATION FOR MEDIUM MASS RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES

The total -n reaction cross section for radioactive fission products have been evaluated in the region of energy near the giant dipole resonance, from the threshold energy up to around 30 MeV. The selected fission products lay in the range of medium mass number, namely: 87 90 93 106 123 Rb, Sr, Zr, Ru, Sn, 127 129 Te, I and 137 Cs. These radioactive isotopes were chosen as part of the radioactive waste from 235 U fission. Total cross section results were used to calculate the number of incinerated nuclei, and this method shows efficiency in reducing the radioactivity of these isotopes. The obtained results show that the incineration rate of radioactive nuclei increases with the flux of the incident -rays, whereas the required irradiation time was found to be shortened and inversely proportional to the incident -ray flux. These results are consistent with those given by earlier researches.
Resistance of Subtype CHIV-1 Strains to Anti-V 3 Loop Antibodies

HIV-1’s subtype C V3 loop consensus sequence exhibits increased resistance to anti-V3 antibody-mediated neutralization as compared to the subtype B consensus sequence. The dynamic 3D structure of the consensus C V3 loop crown, visualized by ab initio folding, suggested that the resistance derives from structural rigidity and non-β-strand secondary protein structure in the N-terminal strand of the β-hairpin of the V3 loop crown, which is where most known anti-V3 loop antibodies bind. The observation of either rigidity or non-β-strand structure in this region correlated with observed resistance to antibody-mediated neutralization in a series of chimeric pseudovirus (psV) mutants. The results suggest the presence of an epitope-independent, neutralization-relevant structural difference in the antibody-targeted region of the V3 loop crown between subtype C and subtype B, a difference that we hypothesize may contribute to the divergent pattern of global spread between these subtypes. As antibodies to a variable loop were recently identified as an inverse correlate of risk for HIV infection, the structure-function relationships discussed in this study may have relevance to HIV vaccine research.
Randomized trials should draw their conclusions on treatment effects by comparing intervention with passive control or standard care , similar to the trial

1. Ryan DH, Johnson WD, Myers VH, et al. Nonsurgical weight loss for extreme obesity in primary care settings: results of the Louisiana Obese Subjects Study. Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(2):146-154. 2. Sjöström L, Narbro K, Sjöström CD, et al; Swedish Obese Subjects Study. Effects of bariatric surgery on mortality in Swedish obese subjects. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(8):741-752. 3. Goodpaster BH, Delany JP, Otto AD, et al. Effects of diet and physical activity interventions on weight loss and cardiometabolic risk factors in severely obese adults: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2010;304(16):1795-1802. 4. Curioni CC, Lourenço PM. Long-term weight loss after diet and exercise: a systematic review. Int J Obes (Lond). 2005;29(10):1168-1174.
Diversification Strategies and Firm Performance in Vietnam

This paper is based upon the assumption that a firm's profitability is determined by its degree of diversification which is, in turn, strongly related to the antecedent decision to carry out diversification activities. This calls for an empirical approach that permits the joint analysis of the three interrelated and consecutive stages of the overall diversification process: diversification decision, degree of diversification and outcome of diversification. We apply parametric and semi‐parametric approaches to control for sample selection and the endogeneity of the diversification decision in both static and dynamic models. For the analysis, we use the census dataset on the whole firm population in Vietnam, as a representative of transition countries. After controlling for industry fixed‐effects, the empirical evidence from the firm‐level data shows that diversification has a curvilinear effect on profitability: it improves firms' profit up to a point, after which a further increase in diversification is associated with declining performance. This implies that firms should consider optimal levels of product diversification when they expand their product offerings beyond their core business. Other noteworthy findings include the following: (i) the factors that stimulate firms to diversify do not necessarily encourage them to extend their diversification strategy; (ii) firms that are endowed with highly technological resources and innovation investment are likely to successfully exploit diversification as an engine of growth; and (iii) while industry performance does not have a strong influence on the profitability of firms, it impacts their diversification decision as well as the degree of diversification.
17 Prediction and Rational Design of Antimicrobial Peptides

In recent decades the activity of conventional antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria has decreased due to the development of resistance. This phenomenon has generated the socalled ‘superbugs’, which are multi-resistant bacteria. In this context, antimicrobial peptides (AMP) appear as an alternative to control them. AMPs have been found in several sources, including animals, plants and fungi, constituting the first line of host defence against pathogens. However, the use of AMPs as therapeutic agents has some limitations, such as stability, cytotoxicity and mainly their amino acid length, since amino acids are expensive building blocks. Despite these limitations they have compensatory properties, including secondary activities such as immunomodulation or antitumor ones. Several methods have been applied since the 1990s for rational AMPs design, in order to generate analogues with improved activity, looking to reduce limitations and increase advantages. Computer-aided identification and design of AMPs play a crucial role in this area. The discovery of AMP properties, through the first rational design studies, will allow the development of methods for prediction of AMPs, which in turn, should lead to identification prior to synthesis of novel analogues. Thus, this chapter will be dedicated to describing important techniques in prediction and rational design of AMPs and their applications for drug development.
LEADERSHIP ROLES IN INTERNET BANKING ADOPTION

In this study, questions were asked about what leadership roles has been significant in the implementation of Internet banking in Ghana. Also questions are asked about what competencies, skill sets and implementation experiences are expected from leaders to meet customer’s need for Internet banking. A convenience sampling technique was used to sample customers and staff from the Agricultural Development Bank, Ghana who knew about Internet banking. Data was gathered primarily from respondents using a paper-based questionnaire. Majority of the respondents remarked that using the banks Internet is financially secure and also the bank’s Internet banking is safe. These responses as compared to the responses to questions raised about the protection of the customers’ private information were at variance. Whereas in one way the respondents’ demonstrated some level of insecurity about their private information they were on the other hand confident in the financial security and safety of the banks internet service. To address insecurity in the protection of customers’ private information, and to entrust confidence in the customers, it is observed the knowledge gap between customers and the Internet banking leadership team should be resolved. This meant appointing Internet leaders with implementation experience and those who provide responsibility for selfsufficiency. The Internet leaders should also provide project responsibility and must be able to provide technical supervision too.
Leadership effectiveness in Higher Education: Managerial self-perceptions versus perceptions of others

Orientation: The study reported here explores the relationship between managerial selfperceptions and perceptions of others (the manager’s direct supervisor, peers and subordinates) with regard to leadership effectiveness (LE) in a group of managers in the context of a South African university undergoing a merging process. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of selfperception accuracy amongst the managers and to explore the patterns of interaction between self-perception accuracy (regarding their leadership behaviour) and perceived transformational leadership behaviour (as measured by composite ‘other’-ratings). Motivation of the study: Research has shown that managers in various work environments typically overestimate their own level of competence and that this could impact on the effectiveness of their leadership behaviour. This phenomenon has however not yet been researched in the context of South African higher education institutions. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative cross-sectional study of the relationship between self-perception accuracy and leadership effectiveness was conducted amongst the total population ( N = 204) of staff members in management positions. The response rate was 67% and the realised sample consisted of 137 managers. Leadership behaviour was measured by means of behavioural ratings on the following five dimensions of the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI): ‘Challenging the process’, ‘Inspiring a shared vision’, ‘Enabling others to act’, ‘Modelling the way’ and ‘Encouraging the heart’. Main findings: Statistically significant discrepancies were found between self- and observer ratings on all five leadership dimensions, indicating a probable overestimation of their own capabilities. Results further provide evidence that perceived leadership effectiveness on three of the five transformational leadership practices varied as a function of the self-perceptions of managers. Practical/managerial implications: Managerial development practices should sensitise managers to what is essentially introspective and provide opportunities for them to reflect upon and question their leadership practices. Contribution/value-add: A challenge for higher education is to embark on feedback intensive leadership development processes that provide participants with comprehensive feedback in a supportive environment.