Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Students’ perspectives on e-portfolio development and implementation: A case study in Taiwanese higher education

This study explores students’ perceptions related to the implementation of e-portfolios in the context of Taiwanese higher education. Thirty Taiwanese university students were interviewed, and data analysis includes 14 interviewees’ e-portfolios and responses to 281 valid surveys from non-interviewed students. The study presents students’ perspectives using textual descriptions and visual presentations related to developing e-portfolios. A three-stage model developed by the first author links five critical success factors for implementing e-portfolios in Taiwan. Overall, the students’ perceived usefulness, university support, and e-portfolio audiences (i.e., educators, employers, and friends) as well as intentions to visit e-portfolios are the major components used to promote e-portfolios in Taiwanese higher education. The findings of the study indicate that the value of developing an e-portfolio can be enhanced by using incentives such as design contests or encouragement through various other activities (e.g., class activities, team projects, and extracurricular activities). Accessibility, interactivity, and ownership are university students’ concerns when they are deciding to develop e-portfolios. For implementing a system of e-portfolios, the study suggests guidelines that can become important references for countries with similar cultural backgrounds in higher education. New insights relevant for scholars from Western countries also appear at the end.
iversity of Trypanosomatids Kinetoplastea : Trypanosomatidae ) arasitizing Fleas ( Insecta : Siphonaptera ) nd Description of a New Genus lechomonas gen .

Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 44 Prague, Czech Republic Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Sciences, University of Ostrava, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
Hard X-ray timing and spectral characteristics of the energetic pulsar PSR J0205+6449 in supernova remnant 3C 58: An RXTE PCA/HEXTE and XMM-Newton view on the 0.5–250 keV band

Context. PSR J0205+6449 is a young rotation-powered pulsar in SNR 3C 58. It is one of only three young ( 100 MeV) γ-rays. The other two young pulsars are the Crab and PSR B1509-58. Aims. Our aim is to derive the timing and spectral characteristics of PSR J0205+6449 over the broad X-ray band from ∼0.5 to ∼270 keV. Methods. We used all publicly available RXTE observations of PSR J0205+6449 to first generate accurate ephemerides over the period September 30, 2000–March 18, 2006. We then employed phase-folding procedures yielded pulse profiles using data from RXTE PCA and HEXTE, and XMM-Newton EPIC PN. All profiles were phase aligned with a radio profile derived from the Jodrell Bank Observatory data, and the time-averaged timing and spectral characteristics of the pulsed X-ray emission were derived. Results. Our timing solutions are consistent with earlier results, but we detect sharper structures in the PCA X-ray profile. The X-ray pulse profile consists of two sharp pulses, separated in phase by 0.488 ± 0.002, that can be described by 2 asymmetric Lorentzians, each with the rising wing steeper than the trailing wing, and full-width-half-maximum 1.41± 0.05 ms and 2.35± 0.22 ms, respectively. For the second, weaker pulse we find an indication of a flux increase by a factor ∼2, about 3. 5σ above the time-averaged value, over a two-week interval, during which its pulse shape did not change. The spectrum of the pulsed X-ray emission is non-thermal in origin, exhibiting a power-law shape with photon index Γ= 1.03 ± 0.02 over the energy band ∼0.5 to ∼270 keV. In the energy band covered with the PCA (∼3–30 keV), the spectra of the two pulses have the same photon index, namely, 1.04±0.03 and 1.10±0.08, respectively. Comparisons of the detailed timing and spectral characteristics of PSR J0205+6449 in the radio, hard X-ray, and gamma-ray bands with those of the Crab pulsar, PSR B1509-58 and the middle-aged Vela pulsar uncover more differences than similarities.
Criticality features in ultra-low frequency magnetic fields prior to the 2013 M6.3 Kobe earthquake

The nonlinear criticality of ultra-low frequency (ULF) magnetic variations is investigated before a particular earthquake (EQ) occurred in Kobe on April 12, 2013, by applying the “natural time” analysis on a few ULF parameters: F h , F z and D h . The first two refer to radiation from the lithosphere, and the last parameter corresponds to depression of horizontal component as a signature of ionospheric perturbation. A recent paper of our team has indicated, using the same data as in this paper but by means of conventional statistical analysis, a clear effect of depression in the horizontal component as an ionospheric signature. But there seems to be no convincing signature of lithospheric ULF radiation according to the specific analysis, so this paper aims at extending our study on the electromagnetic data recorded prior to the specific EQ by trying to find any significant phenomenon in ULF effects (both lithospheric radiation and the depression of horizontal component) using the critical, natural time analysis. The natural time analysis has yielded that criticality at Shigaraki (SGA), as the station closest to the EQ epicenter, is reached on March 27-29 for F h and March 27 to April 1 for F z (about two weeks before the EQ). But, the criticality for D h was not observed at SGA probably due to high noise, on the other hand such criticality was observed at Kanoya (KNY) because of its known property of a wider range of detection of ULF depression.
Model-Based MCDC Testing of Complex Decisions for the Java Card Applet Firewall

Certification processes require the generation of models of a design. Using Model-Based Testing, these models can double as guides for test case generation. In this paper, we consider Boolean formulas that model a decision to be taken by a part of the software. We show how to use an SMT-solver to generate test cases that fulfill the MCDC coverage criteria on these models, in the presence of strong coupling. We show that the approach can improve test coverage, and finds a bug in an implementation of the Java Card Applet Firewall. Keywords—automatic test case generation; common criteria; java card applet firewall.
Chicken Husbandry in Late-Medieval Eastern England: c. 1250–1400

Slavin Ph. 2009. — Chicken Husbandry in Late-Medieval Eastern England: c. 1250-1400. Anthropozoologica 44(2): 35-56. ABSTRACT The present article studies the place of the chicken within the changing environment of late-medieval England. First, it looks at the seigniorial sector of chicken farming, in terms of size of stocks, patterns of disposal and scale of consumption. It then explores the patchy data regarding the peasant sector. The study shows that overall patterns differed between the pre- and post-Black Death periods. After the pestilence, chicken husbandry started shifting from the demesne to the peasant sector of agriculture. The post-1350 changes reflect larger processes, which occurred in late-medieval society, economy and environment.
Nutritional assessment, polyphenols evaluation and antioxidant activity of food resource plant Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn

The most important objective of this study was to estimate the nutritional contents like total carbohydrate, lipids, protein, fiber, phenol, flavonoids and moisture content and to evaluate the properties of antioxidant activity. The content of total phenols in the extract was determined spectrometrically according to the Folin-Ciocalteu procedure and calculated as gallic acid equivalent. The achievable antioxidant activity of 2,2-diphenylpicryl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, 2,2’azinobis (3ethyl-benzothiozoline-6-sulphonic acid) disodium salt (ABTS·+) assay, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, metal chelating activity, superoxide radical scavenging activity was investigated and the result suggested that this freshly harvested plant tubers have more nutritionally potential constituent and antioxidant ability to restore the cell wall damage, mortify and malnutrition.
Nutrient content in selected commercial rice in Malaysia: an update of Malaysian food composition database.

There is an increase need and demand to update Malaysian Food Composition Database (FCD) which was last updated in 1997. The current FCD program was designed to expand the quantity and improve the quality of the existing database. The present work was aimed to determine the nutrient content of commercial rice products from three rice varieties classified as raw and processed foods, namely Basmati, Siam, and Fragrant rice. A total of six brands from each type of rice were sampled from a local supermarket within Klang Valley. Analyses were carried out for 27 nutrients that include proximate (Energy, Water, Protein, Fat, Carbohydrate, Total Dietary Fibre, and Ash), minerals (Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, Iron, Zinc, and Copper), water soluble vitamins (C, B1, B2, B3, B6 and B9), fat soluble vitamins (A and E), total sugar, fatty acids (total saturated fat, total monounsaturated fat and total polyunsaturated), trans fatty acids, and cholesterol. The three rice varieties were found to contain comparable nutrient levels except for vitamin C, B1, A, E and total sugar which were not detected in all samples. The fatty acid (total saturated, total monounsaturated, and total polyunsaturated) as well as transfatty acid were detected at very low levels. Cholesterol was not detected in all samples. These findings can be utilised in raising public awareness and assistance to better estimate nutrient contents and intake depending on the varieties of rice.
Post-thyroidectomy Hypocalcemia and Pre-operative Vitamin D Levels

Background: Post-operative transient hypocalcemia is a common event after total thyroidectomy. It may reveal permanent hypoparathyroidism following total or subtotal thyroidectomy. It has been hypothesized that there is a relationship between underlying vitamin D deficiency and the risk of post-operative hypocalcemia. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional review on 100 thyroidectomies from 2016 at an academic teaching hospital. Pre-operative vitamin D levels and post-operative calcium level were obtained. The incidence of hypocalcemic symptoms was studied. Biochemical hypocalcemia was defined as any single post-operative corrected calcium level < 8.0 mg/dl (to convert to millimoles per liter, multiply by 0.25). Results: Post-operative calcemia < 8.0 mg/dl was observed in 19 patients (19%). We found that the patients carried a high risk for post-operative transient biochemical hypocalcemia if the pre-operative serum vitamin D levels ˂ 35 nmol/L. There was a significant differentiation between mean of vitamin D levels in hypocalcemic group and normocalcemic group. Conclusions: Pre-operative vitamin D levels appear to have a significant effect on the risk of post-thyroidectomy hypocalcemia.
EVALUATION OF FORAMEN MAGNUM IN DRY HUMAN SKULLS OF DAKSHINA KANNADA DISTRICT

Address for Correspondence: Dr Pretty Rathnakar, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India. E-Mail: prettyshrinath@gmail.com Background: Foramen magnum is situated in the posterior cranial fossa in anteromedian position. It is of great importance in anthropology, forensic medicine and skull base surgeries. Objective: Calculate anteroposterior (AP), transverse diameter(TD), area of foramen magnum and to observe its various shapes. Materials and Methods: 50 dry human skull bones of unknown sex was obtained from anatomy department. Measurements were taken by vernier calipers . SPSS 16 was used to calculate mean and standard deviation. Results: Mean AP diameter was found to be 33.64±0.228 mm, mean TD was 27.040±0.214 mm and Mean area was 714.99±0.844 mm2. Oval shaped foramen magnum was the most common variety (46%). 20% was tetrahedral,16% round ,14% egg shaped 2% hexagonal and 2% irregular . Conclusion: Present study focuses on morphometric and morphological variation in foramen magnum. This will be useful for anatomists , forensic experts , radiologists and neurosurgeons .
Current guidelines on the diagnosis and management of lobular carcinoma in situ

© Medical Communications Sp. z o.o. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (CC BY-NC-ND). Reproduction is permitted for personal, educational, non-commercial use, provided that the original article is in whole, unmodified, and properly cited. Current guidelines on the diagnosis and management of lobular carcinoma in situ Aktualne zalecenia dotyczące diagnostyki i leczenia chorych z rozpoznaniem raka zrazikowego piersi in situ
Constraints on the viscosity of the Earth's mantle beneath the South Pacific

The South Pacific Superswell contains a disproportionate number of volcanic islands and is characterized by a long-wavelength topographic swell, a negative geoid anomaly, and slower than average seismic velocities within the upper mantle. Assuming that these regions of slow seismic velocity correspond to hot, buoyant material deriving convection in a viscous mantle, the requirement that they produce a positive depth anomaly but a negative geoid anomaly places strong constraints on the viscosity structure of the mantle beneath the South Pacific. We examine viscosity profiles which have been previously determined using global long-wavelength geoid data, but none adequately satisfies the geoid and topography in the Superswell. The presence of slow seismic velocities in the uppermost mantle suggests that hot, and therefore less viscous material lies beneath the lithosphere. To explore the possibility that the uppermost mantle is less viscous beneath the Superswell, we search for variants of global viscosity models which satisfy the data. We have developed an algorithm for inverting seismic velocity, depth anomalies, and geoid directly for the radial viscosity structure of the mantle for a limited spatial region. We form an iterative scheme to determine the viscosity solution which minimizes the misfit to the data, yet is closest in a least-squares sense to a reference viscosity model, such as that derived from global modeling of long wavelength geoid. This technique performs well in tests using synthetic data; in most cases, the procedure determines a known viscosity profiles to within 15%. We perform inversions with the observed geoid and topography data for the Superswell for eleven different reference viscosity models. Seventeen viscosity solutions are obtained and grouped into five classes of viscosity models. Although these models predict similar misfits to the data, they predict substantially different geoid fields and only two solutions are consistent with both sets of data. One solution possesses a low viscosity zone between 100 and 400 km depth, with a factor of 12 increase in viscosity at the top of the transition zone, and again at 670 km. The other model contains a low viscosity layer between 670 and 1000 km depth. Although both models satisfy the geoid and topography data equally well, we prefer the first model because the depth of the low viscosity layer coincides with the depth of the strongest seismically-inferred temperature variations, providing a physical explanation for the lower viscosities.
Compensation of Time Delay Effect in Active Controlled MDOF Structures Using Neural Networks

During last few decades, Active control of civil structures has grown to an incredible limit that attracted a big deal of researchers in civil engineering. The problem of time delay effect is standing in the way of real world and wide spread of the active control application as it drives most of stable control strategies to an unstable case when its effect increases. This paper introduces a new technique in compensating the time delay in active control of structures. This technique uses an Artificial Neural Network to estimate the future earthquake record for a number of ahead steps online. By estimating the coming forces for few steps, and starting from the current state of the controlled structure, the future response is calculated and the required control force can be estimated. In this way the control force will be applied at nearly the same state from which it was calculated. This algorithm can be joined with any control law and any control device to overcome its inherent time delay. In this paper, optimal control with tendon controller is used. Different MDOF structures and different earthquakes were used to study the effect of time delay and to investigate the efficiency of the proposed technique in compensating it. (S. Abdel Salam, H. Soliman, A.E. Bakeri and M. Galal. Compensation of Time Delay Effect in Active Controlled MDOF Structures Using Neural Networks. J Am Sci 2012; 8(7):717-724). (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.americanscience. org . 106
On rates in mean ergodic theorems

We create a general framework for the study of rates of decay in mean ergodic theorems. As a result, we unify and generalize results due to Assani, Cohen, Cuny, Derriennic, and Lin dealing with rates in mean ergodic theorems in a number of cases. In particular, we prove that the Cesaro means of a power-bounded operator applied to elements from the domain of its abstract one-sided ergodic Hilbert transform decay logarithmically, and this decay is best possible under natural spectral assumptions.
Tests For Market Integration and the Law of One Price: The Market For Whitefish in France

This paper examines the relationship between causality models and cointegration models in testing for price integration and the Law of One Price (LOP). In our review, we show that cointegration models, which allow for nonstationarity in prices, are a natural extension of the traditional causality methods and not an alternative approach. Hence, the two approaches investigate the same economic hypotheses; however, the choice of modeling method depends on the time series properties of the data. An empirical analysis is provided using prices from the whitefish market in France. With nonstationary price data, the causality approach over rejects the hypothesis of the LOP, whereas conintegration models provide evidence for a well-integrated whitefish market. A generalized version of the composite commodity theorem holds, and prices of most whitefish species can be aggregated into a single commodity price index.
Molecular characterisation of two cichlids populations (Tilapia guineensis and Sarotherodon melanotheron) from different water bodies in Lagos State, Nigeria

This study used random amplified polymerase DNA technique (RAPD) to characterize two populations of cichlids species Tilapia guineensis and Sarotherodon melanotheron from selected two water bodies in Lagos using molecular approach. Ten samples of each S. melanotheron and T. guineensis with standard length value ranging between 8.4 and 17.2 cm and their weight ranging between 26.1 to 133 g were collected from Lagos Lagoon, Badagry, Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research and Akinsateru fish farm, respectively. The DNA of the fish samples were extracted using salt-out method. RAPD analysis was carried out using RAPD primers (OPC 04, 05, 10, OPR 02 and OPI 05). Depending on the similarity coefficient through the used primers, the similarity between T. guineensis and S. melanotheron from the wild was 78%; between T. guineensis and S. melanotheron from the culture was 80%; and 100% of both wild and culture of samples; 82 and 88% of T. guineensis and S. melanotheron from wild and culture, respectively. The description of this similarity coefficient is not simple, especially when more than one character is involved in the same cluster. The values of the genetic distances obtained were utilized to generate a distance matrix to construct a dendrogram which linked the studied species DNA for possible variation in their genetic makeup. This generated banding pattern populations of T. guineensis and S. melanotheron from the wild and cultured environment have similar DNA profile, which indicated that there were similarities among the fish species from these environments which can lead to high probability of hybridization between the very closed species to improve the genetic characters; also, high quality and quantity of DNA can be gotten in using salt-out method for extraction and pure strain of the samples can be gotten from wild and culture. Key words: Molecular characterization, DNA, RAPD primers, PCR, tilapia, water bodies.
Kinematic signatures of AGN feedback in moderately powerful radio galaxies at z ~ 2 observed with SINFONI

Most successful galaxy formation scenarios now postulate that the intense star formation in massive, high-redshift galaxies during their major growth period was truncated when powerful AGNs launched galaxy-wide outflows of gas that removed large parts of the interstellar medium. SINFONI imaging spectroscopy of the most powerful radio galaxies at z ~ 2 show clear signatures of such winds, but are too rare to be good representatives of a generic phase in the evolution of all massive galaxies at high redshift. Here we present SINFONI imaging spectroscopy of the rest-frame optical emission-line gas in 12 radio galaxies at redshifts ~2. Our sample spans a range in radio power that is intermediate between the most powerful radio galaxies with known wind signatures at these redshifts and vigorous starburst galaxies, and are about two orders of magnitude more common than the most powerful radio galaxies. Thus, if AGN feedback is a generic phase of massive galaxy evolution for reasonable values of the AGN duty cycle, these are just the sources where AGN feedback should be most important. Our sources show a diverse set of gas kinematics ranging from regular velocity gradients with amplitudes of Δv = 200−400 km s-1 consistent with rotating disks to very irregular kinematics with multiple velocity jumps of a few 100 km s-1. Line widths are generally high, typically around FWHM = 800 km s-1, more similar to the more powerful high-z radio galaxies than mass-selected samples of massive high-z galaxies without bright AGNs, and consistent with the velocity range expected from recent hydrodynamic models. A broad Hα line in one target implies a black hole mass of a few 109 M⊙. Velocity offsets of putative satellite galaxies near a few targets suggest dynamical masses of a few 1011 M⊙ for our sources, akin to the most powerful high-z radio galaxies. Ionized gas masses are 1−2 orders of magnitude lower than in the most powerful radio galaxies, and the extinction in the gas is relatively low, up to AV ~ 2 mag. The ratio of line widths, σ, to bulk velocity, v, is so large that even the gas in galaxies with regular velocity fields is unlikely to be gravitationally bound. It is unclear, however, whether the large line widths are due to turbulence or unresolved, local outflows as are sometimes observed at low redshifts. We compare our sources with sets of radio galaxies at low and high redshift, finding that they may have more in common with gas-rich nearby radio galaxies with similar jet power than with the most powerful high-z radio galaxies. Comparison of the kinetic energy with the energy supply from the AGNs through jet and radiation pressure suggests that the radio source still plays a dominant role for feedback, consistent with low-redshift radio-loud quasars.