Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mathematics Achievement Motivation in a Collectivist Culture: The Role of Gender Differences and Self-Efficacy

We live in a computerized and technologically advanced age where mathematics-related disciplines represent the future. However, students from many collectivist cultures are underachieving in mathematics. Literature suggests that mathematics achievement and motivation are impacted by self-efficacy, yet the relationship between these variables in most collectivist cultures remains unclear. Also, empirical evidences of gender differences in mathematics self-efficacy and motivation studies exist, albeit, with generally inconsistent findings. This study examined the gender differences and the relationship between mathematics self-efficacy and motivation of students in a collectivist culture. Three hundred and forty three sixth grade students aged 9 -13 were randomly selected from 10 public and private elementary schools in Southwestern Nigeria. The participants consisted of 175 girls and 168 boys with mean age of 10.82. The mathematic self-efficacy and motivation measures were adapted from Pintrich et al’s al.’s (1991) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Collected data was analyzed using independent t-test and Pearson’s correlation analyses. Results revealed no significant gender differences in mathematics motivation and self-efficacy but showed that mathematics self-efficacy was positively correlated with motivation. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations suggested. Keywords: mathematics, self-efficacy, motivation, gender, collectivist culture DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-3-11
TRANSGENIC TOBACCO WITH RICE FAE GENE SHOWS ENHANCED RESISTANCE TO DROUGHT STRESS

Plants have evolved various adaptative traits to cope successfully with the stresses. Among them, cuticular waxy coating layer may serve as protecting barrier to diminish water loss, which consequently imparts drought resistance in plants. In order to characterize the role of rice FAE in drought tolerance, the OsFAE transgene was incorporated into tobacco via Agrobacterium–mediated leaflets transformation with sense sequence orientation under control of constitutive promoter CaMV35S. PCR and RT-PCR assays suggest that the OsFAE transgene has incorporated in tobacco genome and overexpressed in the transformed tobacco leaves. The characterization assay revealed some correlation between OsFAE transgene expression and drought tolerance in transgenic tobacco. The drought parameters data reveal that the transformed tobacco lines exhibit relatively less wilting on withheld-water stress, early recovery from the stress, containing higher relative water contents. Additionally, the transgenic tobacco lines exhibit more protein contents after exposure to sub-lethal drought stress and relatively higher contents were measured in them as compared to control on re-watering after 48 hours. Proline contents were found higher in the transgenic lines as compared to control under drought on 6 th day of with-held water stress. Data shows that leaf water potential was less negative in the selected transgenic lines as compared to control on both; 10 th day of with-held water stress and after 24 hours rehydration. It is concluded form present study that the selected OsFAE transgenic tobacco lines showed enhanced resistance against drought stress conditions.
Shepherds in the gym: employing a pastoral power analytic on caring teaching in HPE

Drawing on research conducted in Australian Health' and Physical Education (HPE) and Swedish Physical Education and Health (PEH), this paper demonstrates the analytic possibilities of Foucault's notion of pastoral power to reveal the moral and ethical work conducted by HPE/PEH teachers in producing healthy active citizens. We use the pastoral power analytic to make visible the consequences of caring HPE/PEH teaching practices which appear unassailable as producing a general ‘good’ for all students. In so doing we undertake the challenge posed by Nealon to be attuned to those social practices that appear beyond reproach as ‘power becomes more effective while offering less obvious potential for resistance’. From this Foucauldian perspective we argue that caring HPE/PEH teachers employ a wide range of normalization tools to interpellate young people into a specific model of ‘normal’ healthy living, simultaneously determining those who represent problematic deviations from the norm. We further argue that instead of discarding or ignoring these students, such deviations call upon the HPE/PEH teacher to care more fervently, to employ more intense strategies of individualization such as togetherness, encouragement and familiarity. In conclusion, we highlight the tensions and implications that may result for HPE/PEH teachers and their students.
Reconstrucción de estrategias de explotación de recursos animales por el ser humano

Los criterios que actualmente encontramos para reconstruir determinadas actividades de subsistencia llevadas a cabo por los seres humanos sobre carcasas adquiridas en actividades cinegeticas no son suficientes para saber con la mayor certeza posible que estaba ocurriendo en algunos yacimientos. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es dar respuesta a aquellas cuestiones difusas que hacen que no podamos ver mas alla de lo que realmente esta ocurriendo. Este estudio se centra en dos vertientes, por una lado la tafonomica, a traves de la experimentacion, con el objetivo de crear solidos criterios que permitan distinguir a traves de las marcas de corte halladas en las epifisis y metadiafisis de los huesos largos (habitualmente son las partes oseas mejor conservadas), que tipo de actividades, bien descarnado o desarticulado, eran realizadas por los seres humanos y de que manera o que herramientas resultaban mas efectivas para dichas tareas. Hasta el momento, tan solo dos estudios se han centrado en esta cuestion, Binford (1981) y Nilssen (2000). En el primero, los experimentos se realizaron sin ningun tipo de control y con cuchillos de metal, y en el caso del segundo, aunque se establecio un exhaustivo control en los experimentos, fue realizado en su totalidad con herramientas de metal. Estos motivos cuestionan su fiabilidad si queremos crear marcos referenciales que sean aplicados a contextos prehistoricos. Asi, surge la necesidad de crear dichos marcos referenciales bajo rigor absoluto, como es la utilizacion de herramientas liticas que nos permitan establecer patrones con el objetivo de discernir las actividades de aprovechamiento de los recursos animales. Por otro lado, tambien se va a basar en un estudio osteometrico, con el objetivo de sexar individuos, debido a que sabemos que algunos carnivoros depredan sobre edades y sexos determinados en funcion de una presa u otra, por lo que el objetivo es conocer si el ser humano tambien muestra algun tipo de preferencia a la hora de acceder a los recursos carnicos.
The HIX galaxy survey I: Study of the most gas rich galaxies from HIPASS

We present the HI eXtreme (HIX) galaxy survey targeting some of the most HI rich galaxies in the southern hemisphere. The 13 HIX galaxies have been selected to host the most massive HI discs at a given stellar luminosity. We compare these galaxies to a control sample of average galaxies detected in the HI Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS, Barnes et al. 2001). As the control sample is matched in stellar luminosity, we find that the stellar properties of HIX galaxies are similar to the control sample. Furthermore, the specific star formation rate and optical morphology do not differ between HIX and control galaxies. We find, however, the HIX galaxies to be less efficient in forming stars. For the most HI massive galaxy in our sample (ESO075-G006, $\rm log\ M_{HI}\ [M_{\odot}] = 10.8$) the kinematic properties are the reason for inefficient star formation and HI excess. Examining the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) HI imaging and Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) optical spectra of ESO075-G006 reveals an undisturbed galaxy without evidence for recent major, violent accretion events. A tilted-ring fit to the HI disc together with the gas-phase oxygen abundance distribution supports the scenario that gas has been constantly accreted onto ESO07-G006 but the high specific angular momentum makes ESO075-G006 very inefficient in forming stars. Thus a massive HI disc has been built up.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOB SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF AFFECTIVE AND NORMATIVE COMMITMENT

The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of affective and normative commitment in the relationship between job satisfaction (JS) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This descriptive study has been undertaken on a sample of 165 faculty members working in private universities around Chandigarh. The study found that affective commitment partially mediates the relationship between JS and OCB; and normative commitment fully mediates the relationship between JS and OCB. This study will help educational institutions to understand the importance of satisfied and committed faculty in order to ensure citizenship behavior.
Emerging Adults' Psychosocial Adjustment: Does a Best Friend's Gender Matter?

COPYRIGHT 2013 BY PSI CHI, THE INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY (VOL. 18, NO. 3/ISSN 2164-8204) *Faculty mentor Friendships are advantageous to psychosocial development throughout the lifespan, but may become increasingly important during the third decade of life as individuals turn to friends instead of parents for support, advice, and companionship (Fehr, 2000). Indeed, due to demographic shifts that have delayed marital and parenthood timing and increased the pursuit of higher education, Arnett (2011) contended that the years from 18 to 29 are characterized by identity explorations, instability (e.g., changing roommates, love partners, jobs, educational directions), self-focus, feeling in-between adolescence and adulthood, and possibilities. As emerging adults experiment with romantic partners, they simultaneously forge close friendships in support of what Erikson (1968) called the young adulthood psychosocial crisis of emotional intimacy versus isolation. Because the majority of best friendships are with members of the same gender1 (Demir & Özdemir, 2010), much of this research on friendships has focused on these relationships and their contribution to psychosocial adjustment; consequently, less is known about the association of other-gender friendships with well-being (c.f., Monsour, 2002). Other-gender friendships provide opportunities for intimacy, companionship, perspective into the world of the other gender, and sexual exploration (among heterosexuals). Significant gender differences exist in emerging adults’ same-gender friendships, such that women tend to focus more on the intimacy aspects of friendships, although men focus mainly on agency (Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum, 2006). Thus, othergender friendships might impact adjustment differentially for men and women. In this study, we examined emerging adults’ gender and the role of their friends’ gender on psychosocial adjustment (i.e., self-worth, identity, friendship quality, and social physique anxiety). ABSTRACT. Friendship quality has been associated with psychosocial adjustment throughout the lifespan. Although emerging adults’ friendships differ by gender, little is known about how the gender of emerging adults and their friends are related to their psychosocial adjustment. Undergraduate students from 4 U.S. universities (N = 792) completed an online study. Women reported higher levels of self-worth, identity commitment, social physique anxiety, and friendship quality than did men, F(5, 779) = 10.12, p < . 001, η2 = . 06. A gender x friend’s gender interaction was found, F(5, 779) = 3.22, p = . 007, η2 = . 02, such that women with male friends reported lower levels of self-worth and more social physique anxiety compared to those with female friends, and men with female friends reported lower levels of self-worth compared to those with male friends. Thus, gender differences existed in emerging adults’ psychosocial adjustment, but the gender of friends also aided in explaining that adjustment. Emerging Adults’ Psychosocial Adjustment: Does a Best Friend’s Gender Matter?
Conspicuous Demographic and Individual Changes in a Population of the Common Vole in a Set-Aside Alfalfa Field

The termination of agricultural production in intensively managed fields leads to the succession of weed communities and to changes in the vegetation cover and food supply for animals. We studied a population of the common vole on a regularly managed alfalfa field in southern Moravia (Czech Republic) during two and a half consecutive years. When the field was set aside, the vegetation cover transformed significantly and we studied the same vole population for the next three years. Multi-annual variation in population size disappeared; maximal abundances decreased, and mean body size tended to be lower in the weed-filled habitat. We observed conspicuous seasonal patterns in the proportion of breeding females, sex ratio and in litter size variation; however these patterns did not depend on the field management regime. The set-aside field had a strong effect on vole population dynamics; however, other well-designed studies are needed to distinguish between the possible causal processes (immigration, natality or survival) of the observed changes.
Reforming the EU Budget: A Time Series Analysis of Institutional and Partisan Effects

The marginal involvement of the EU in redistributive policies and its limited fiscal resources have led to a lack of attention to the EU budget and its determinants. In this paper I analyse an original dataset containing yearly data on the main macro-categories of expenditure and how they have changed over the last three decades (1984-2013). Using time series analysis, I find that the ability to form winning coalitions in the Council, the ideological position of the co-legislators, and some ‘structuring events’ - like the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework and the accession of the cohesion countries - have a significant role in driving the process of budgetary reform.
MSc Thesis

In the age of information our society generates data at an increasing and already alarming rate. To keep up with the rapid increase in the amount of available data, the academics have shown strong interests in the emerging research field of Big Data Processing (BDP), which explores technologies aiming at efficient processing of enormous amounts of data. As a result, many different types of BDP systems, for example systems specialized in large-scale graph processing, have been added into the Big Data ecosystem in the past decade. The performance of BDP systems impacts both efficiency and direct operational costs significantly, and may be the primary driving force behind the development of these systems. Performance evaluation aims at providing better understanding of BDP systems, which is proven to be challenging. The coarse-grained "blackbox" evaluation is commonly used by performance analysts, which considers a BDP system as a black-box and only observes the overall execution time taken by the jobs of the BDP systems. Such coarse-grained evaluation method fails to provide much insight of the internal operations of the BDP systems. In contrast, fine-grained performance evaluation can be challenging and time-consuming, as it requires in-depth knowledge of the BDP systems on the implementation level, and can involve much repetitive work to process large amounts of performance statistics. Moreover, it is under question how efficiently the users can make use of the results of performance studies, as many studies are often out-dated, have a limited scope, and are difficult to reproduce. This thesis work consists of three main chapters. First, we propose Granula, a fine-grained performance evaluation framework which facilitates performance modeling, performance archiving and performance visualizing of Big Data Processing jobs. This framework is designed to extract fine-grained, comprehensive performance results from BDP systems and to facilitate performance-related knowledge exchanges between system developers, researchers, and end users. Second, using the Granula framework, we build comprehensive performance models for two graph processing systems i.e., Giraph and GraphX. The evaluation method used for the purpose of building these performance models can be reused by others for their custom workload, and these models can be extended by other performance analysts for more in-depth studies. Third, we conduct fine-grained performance evaluation on these two graph processing systems and validate the performance models we built. Among the important achievement of this study, we investigate and quantify the performance overhead and the performance bottleneck of these systems. Overall, we hope to have provided better understanding of the performance of BDP systems by improving on the process of performance evaluation, and by defining a method to integrate performance evaluation into the Big Data ecosystem.
Influence of cotyledon removal on early seedling growth in Quercus robur L.

On a etudie le mecanisme de transfert des reserves de glands de Quercus robur L. vers le semis, evalue par le poids sec et la teneur en azote. Dans une experimentation factorielle, apres la germination, les cotyledons ont ete enleves et les semis places sous ombrage. Dans une deuxieme experimentation, les cotyledons ont ete supprimes a differentes periodes : a la germination, 7, 14 et 21 jours apres. Le transfert des reserves des cotyledons vers le semis semble etre termine tres tot. L'excision des cotyledons juste apres la germination reduit significativement la croissance initiale des semis ; par contre, l'effet de l'ombrage durant cette periode est plus faible. Neanmoins, l'influence des cotyledons sur la croissance des semis diminue tres tot. Sa suppression artificielle n'a pas d'effet significatif au-dela de deux semaines apres la germination. Les consequences de ce fait sur la relation entre les geais, principaux disperseurs des glands, et les chenes sont discutees.
The fraction of AGNs in major merger galaxies and its luminosity dependence

We use a phenomenological model which connects the galaxy and AGN populations to investigate the process of AGN triggering through major galaxy mergers at z~0. The model uses stellar mass functions as input and allows the prediction of AGN luminosity functions based on assumed Eddington ratio distribution functions (ERDFs). We show that the number of AGN hosted by merger galaxies relative to the total number of AGN increases as a function of AGN luminosity. This is due to more massive galaxies being more likely to undergo a merger and does not require the assumption that mergers lead to higher Eddington ratios than secular processes. Our qualitative analysis also shows that to match the observations, the probability of a merger galaxy hosting an AGN and accreting at a given Eddington value has to be increased by a factor ~10 relative to the general AGN population. An additional significant increase of the fraction of high Eddington ratio AGN among merger host galaxies leads to inconsistency with the observed X-ray luminosity function. Physically our results imply that, compared to the general galaxy population, the AGN fraction among merger galaxies is ~10 times higher. On average, merger triggering does however not lead to significantly higher Eddington ratios.
Identification and Detection of Salmonella Risk Assessment from Frozen Buffalo Meat Exported from India

Salmonella found in worldwide in cattle and buffalo meat when even it is in frozen condition and even considered among the most important animal related zoonotic disease. Salmonella is a leading cause of foodborne illness. In this paper the focus given to, whether the frozen buffalo meat contain Salmonella or absent in India when it exported to other countries and the sanitary level in abattoir during practicing food safety conditions are up to the mark or not. In the present investigation 56 frozen buffalo meat samples from different cuts like offals, silverside, knuckle, ramstick, tenderline, stripline, topside, thick flam, blade, shoulder, neck etc tested from slaughter houses. The samples were transported to the laboratory where they were examined bacteriologically for determination of their sanitary status. Among the data of 56 samples it is observed that 12 samples are exhibiting absent or negative for Salmonella and 44 samples found positive for Salmonella. The presence of invasiveness and enterotoxicity of Salmonella in frozen buffalo meat showed their ability to cause systemic infections and which may appear to be threat to the public and a health concern. The public health hazards of these microorganisms as well as the recommended measures to improve sanitary quality status of frozen buffalo meat here is discussed.
DENTAL ANOMALIES AND ORAL HYGIENE STATUS OF DOWN SYNDROME CHILDREN

ABSTRACT Background: Down syndrome (DS) children were found to have dental anomalies and lack of manual dexterity that compromised their effective tooth brushing practice. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental anomalies, facial profile abnormality and oral hygiene (OH) status in DS compared to normal children. Materials and Methods: A comparative cross sectional study was conducted on 32 DS children from special class as a case and 40 normal children from primary schools in Kota Bharu, Kelantan as a comparative group. Children aged 7 to 12 years old were included. Those on crown or orthodontic treatment and had impaired manual dexterity were excluded. Demographic data and examination for dental anomalies (morphology, number, alignment), facial profile and OH status were done. Data were analysed using PASW version 18.0. Result: The prevalence of anomalies (morphology, number, alignment) and facial profile abnormality was higher in DS [6.3% (95% CI: -2.12 - , 14.7); p=0.581, 50% (95% CI: 32.7, 67.3); p=0.001, 71.9% (95% CI: 56.3, 87.5); p=0.04] and 21.9% (95% CI: 7.6, 36.2); p=0.199] respectively compared to normal children. The prevalence of poor OH in DS was higher, 87.5% (95% CI: 76.0, 99.0) compared to normal children; p=0.002. The mean (SD) of OHI-S was significantly more in DS, 1.64 (0.11) compared to normal children, 1.12 (0.07); p= <0.001. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of DS children having dental anomalies, facial profile abnormality and poor OH compared to normal children. Parents and healthcare workers should play effective role in providing oral health care especially for DS children. Keywords: Down syndrome, dental anomalies, oral hygiene, mal-alignment
Which Firms Invest Less Under Uncertainty? Evidence from Ethiopian Manufacturing

This paper uses firm level panel data from Ethiopian manufacturing to investigate the investment behavior of firms under uncertainty. The paper focuses on the heterogeneity of firm level investment responses to both demand and supply side sources of uncertainty. Accordingly, the investment-uncertainty relationship is examined across groups of firms with varying degrees of investment irreversibility defined on the basis of market structures and access to secondary markets for capital goods. Consistent with theories of irreversible investment, we find evidence that uncertainty undermines the investment responses of firms in less competitive markets and in industries with limited access to secondary markets for capital goods. In comparison with small firms, investment by large firms is more responsive to changes in demand and more in-line with models of partial irreversibility.