Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining Science Teacher's Understandings of the NOS Aspects through the Use of Knowledge Test and Open-Ended Questions.

The nature of science aspects (NOS) are the most emphasized theme in many curriculum and reform attempts. Teachers as a curriculum implementer in the classroom play important role for policy, arrangements and classroom experiences on NOS understandings of students. Researchers generally assessed the teachers’ NOS conceptions using open-ended questions plus interview in limited samples. However, in the literature, there have been some critics on this way of assessment. For that reason, this study aims to assess elementary science teachers’ (N=47) NOS conceptions by using “Open-ended questions” and “Knowledge test”. The results showed existence of some misunderstandings on NOS and the participants’ responses to knowledge test and open-ended questions gave similar pattern in terms of ten aspects of NOS, except for three aspects.
Beta Estimation in Indian Stock Markets - Some Issues

This study examines the reliability of the OLS beta estimates in Indian stock markets by considering the residual characteristics of the market model regressions. The statistics used include the coefficient of determination (R 2 ), the F-test for significance of the regression coefficient, the Durbin-Watson test for serial autocorrelation, the residual autocorrelation function, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests for normality of the residuals, the presence of outliers, and White’s test for heteroskedasticity. The results of the study indicate some serious issues afflicting beta estimation in Indian stock markets, including: non-normality of stock returns and of residuals, extreme standardized residual values, heteroskedasticity, residual autocorrelation, and low R 2 . Thus, the simple market model is likely to result in biased estimates for beta in Indian stock markets.
New Politics and Class Politics in the Context of Austerity and Globalization: Welfare State Regress in 18 Countries, 1975–95

The relevance of socioeconomic class and of class-related parties for policymaking is a recurring issue in the social sciences. The “new politics” perspective holds that in the present era of austerity, class-based parties once driving welfare state expansion have been superseded by powerful new interest groups of welfare-state clients capable of largely resisting retrenchment pressures emanating from postindustrial forces. We argue that retrenchment can fruitfully be analyzed as distributive conflict involving a remaking of the early postwar social contract based on the full employment welfare state, a conflict in which partisan politics and welfare-state institutions are likely to matter. Pointing to problems of conceptualization and measurement of the dependent variable in previous research, we bring in new data on the extent of retrenchment in social citizenship rights and show that the long increase in social rights has been turned into a decline and that significant retrenchment has taken place in several countries. Our analyses demonstrate that partisan politics remains significant for retrenchment also when we take account of contextual indictors, such as constitutional veto points, economic factors, and globalization.Author names are in alphabetical order and they share equal responsibility for the manuscript. Early versions of this paper were presented at annual meetings of the Nordic Political Science Association in Aalborg, 2002, and the American Political Science Association in San Francisco, 2001, the International Sociological Association RC 28 meeting in Mannheim, 2001, the International Sociological Association RC 19 meeting in Tilburg 2000, and the American Sociological Association in Washington, DC, 2000, as well as at various seminars. For constructive comments on different versions of the manuscript we thank Rainer Lepsius, Anders Lindbom, Ingalill Montanari, John Myles, Michael Shalev, Sheila Shaver, and Robin Stryker, as well as other participants in these meetings. We want to thank Olof Bäckman, Stefan Englund, Ingrid Esser, Helena Höög, and Annita Näsström for very valuable help and Dennis Quinn for providing us his data on international financial deregulation. Our thanks are also due to three anonymous referees for careful reading. This research has been supported by grants from the Bank of Sweden Tercentennial Foundation and the Swedish Council for Social Research.
Evaluating Outside the Box: An Alternative Framework for Analysing Social Protection Programmes

Summary The evidence base on social protection programmes is expanding rapidly, largely pointing towards their positive impacts. Most evaluations rely heavily on quantitative techniques and experimental methods to allow for attribution of impacts. In this paper, we argue that new ways of investigation and analysis are needed to expand and deepen the evidence base in support of improved design and implementation of social protection. Greater emphasis on qualitative research, mixed methods and participatory evaluation is crucial, given current evidence gaps about programme dynamics and impacts. This paper proposes a new evaluation framework that goes beyond conventional approaches, by highlighting relatively neglected aspects related to programme processes, social dynamics and feedback loops in programme evaluations.
Ownership Concentration and Going Concern: Evidence from Jordanian Listed Firms

This study aims to investigate whether ownership concentration affects the going concern. The study depends on a panel data set drawn from 100 non-financial firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) for the period from 2013 to 2016. Ownership concentration was characterized by family ownership and board of directors' ownership. Going concern was measured using Altman’s Z-Scores Model (1968). The outcomes report that the family ownership and directors' ownership are positively associated with going concern. This study presents worthy insights to the understanding of ownership types that may influence going concern evaluation among Jordanian companies. Thus, the results of this article introduce substantial conclusions for investors, policymakers and academics to shed the light on the ownership types that enhance the continuity of firms.
Anatomic and Physiological Disorder After Intoxication with Heavy Metals in Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum L.)

ABSTRACT Continuous intoxication with heavy metals seems to be the major problem of the modern societies, which results most of the morphologic-physiological, as well as genetic anomaly in plants. The aim of this study is to analyze intoxicated tobacco material (Nicotiana tabacum L.) with heavy metals (copper, cadmium, lead) and overdoses of fungicide (Ridomil gold) for enzymatic (catalase activity) and biopigment activity (chloroplast pigments) and to make morpho-anatomic examinations (lateral cut of stem and leaf). The plants were from the crop 2008 of two oriental (half oriental) types: PRILEP (P-156) and JAKA (Jv-125/3). They were cultivated in controlled experimental conditions in the Botanical Garden by the Department of Botany, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics-Skopje. Analysis material was taken from leaves in the first insertion or lower leaves (I phase).
Development of a green bipropellant hydrogen peroxide thruster for attitude control on satellites

document describes the selection assessment of propellants for a 1N bi-propellant thruster for attitude control on satellites. The development of this thruster is conducted in the frame of the project GRASP (Green Advanced Space Propellants) within the European FP7 research programme. The green propellant combinations H2O2 (87.5%wt) with Kerosene or H2O2 (87.5%wt) with Ethanol have been identified as interesting candidates and have been investigated in detail with the help of experimental combustion chambers at Fotec. Based on the obtained results a final assessment for one of the propellant combinations was performed.
EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF XENODIAGNOSIS TO DETECT TRYPANOSOMES AT LOW PARASITAEMIA LEVELS IN INFECTED

In Human African Trypanosomosis (HAT) endemic areas, there are a number of subjects that are positive to serological tests but in whom trypanosomes are difficult to detect with the available parasitological tests. In most cases and particularly in West Africa, these subjects remain untreated, thus posing a fundamental problem both at the individual level (because of a possible lethal evolution of the disease) and at the epidemiological level (since they are potential reservoirs of trypanosomes). Xenodiagnosis may constitute an alternative for this type of cases. The objective of this study was to update the use of xenodiagnosis to detect trypanosomes in infected host characterized by low parasitaemia levels. This was carried out experimentally by infecting cattle and pigs with Trypanosoma congolense and T. brucei gambiense respectively, and by feeding tsetse flies (Glossina morsitans submorsitans and G. palpalis gambiensis, from the CIRDES colonies) on these animals at a time when the observed blood parasitaemia were low or undetectable by the classical microscopic parasitological tests used for the monitoring of infected animals. Our results showed that: i) the G. p. gambiensis colony at CIRDES could not be infected with the T. b. gambiense stocks used; ii) midgut infections of G. m. submorsitans were observed with both T. congolense and T. b. gambiense; iii) xenodiagnosis remains positive even at very low blood parasitaemia for both T. congolense and T. b. gambiense; and iv) to implement T. b. gambiense xenodiagnosis, batches of 20 G. m. submorsitans should be dissected two days after the infective meal. These results constitute a first step toward a possible implementation of xenodiagnosis to better characterize the parasitological status of seropositive individuals and the modalities of parasite transmission in HAT foci.
Evolución de las jugadoras en las selecciones españolas de baloncesto

La deteccion, seleccion y formacion del talento deportivo es uno de los aspectos mas investigados en diferentes deportes. Mediante un diseno longitudinal y una metodologia cuantitativa descriptiva, el objetivo de este estudio es conocer como ha sido la participacion y evolucion de las jugadoras en las distintas categorias de las selecciones espanolas de baloncesto (n = 163) y analizar las relaciones existentes en el tipo de participacion cualitativa en cada nivel. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto una relacion negativa estadisticamente significativa entre la participacion en competicion oficial en la seleccion cadete y las categorias superiores, es decir, las jugadoras que participan a alto nivel en las categorias de base no suelen llegar a participar en la seleccion nacional absoluta en competiciones oficiales de alto nivel.
Predictors of Grade Retention in Children and Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease

This study examined the predictive value of sex socioeconomic status (SES) disease severity family achievement-orientation and family relationship quality for predicting grade retention in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD). Additionally this study investigated the extent to which family achievement-orientation and family relationship quality moderated relationships between the other predictor variables and grade retention. Data were extracted from a nationally representative database the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease. Participants included 185 children and adolescents with SCD ranging in age from 7-16 years old. Older age and poorer reading achievement were significant predictors of grade retention. In addition it was found that family achievement-orientation moderated the relationship between age and grade retention such that high family achievement-orientation buffered against the negative effects of older age on grade retention. Additional research should study the influence of other dimensions of family functioning on grade retention and as a protective factor against other factors. Clinical implications include the identified need for psychosocial interventions that promote achievement-orientation in family members of children and adolescents with SCD.
An ethno-botanical study of medicinal plants in Jigjiga town, capital city of Somali regional state of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a country characterized by a variety of cultures and diversity of medicinal plants. The objective of this study was to assess the indigenous knowledge system for medicinal plant use and cultural practices associated with the healing process of these plants by traditional healers in Jigjiga town, Somali region of Ethiopia. An ethnobotanical survey was employed to collect information from traditional healers during March and May 2016. Semi-structured interviewees, observation and guided field walks with informants were employed to obtain ethnobotanical data in the study area. Forty seven medicinal plant species belonging to 23 families were reported by the traditional healers for the treatment of various human ailments in the study area. Family Fabaceae and Solanaceae were represented by 8 and 6 species respectively. Among various medicinal plant preparation methods reported, chewing (26.5%), homogenizing in water (20.4%) and Crushing (16.3%) were most commonly used. The most frequently employed methods of applications were drinking (27.8%), chewing (25.9%) and smearing (20.4%) whereas mostly used routes of administrations were oral (55.6%) and dermal (27.8%). Leaves (32.7%) and roots (30.8%) were plant parts predominantly used for herbal preparations. Shrubs (18 species) were found to be the most used plants followed by trees (16 species). The majority (30.4 %) of the reported medicinal plant’s habitat was semi-desert bush land followed by 13.0 % grass land. In the area, a total of 33 human ailments were recorded and treated with various plant species and preparations. Therein, wound is the most prevalent health problem and was treated with 7 plant species. Euphorbia abyssinica followed by Opoilia campestris were most preferred plants in this regard. Strict management and conservation of medicinal plants to exploit their medicinal value is pivotal in the area.
Accounting education in the institution known as the university: alibis of social relevance

The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes, if any, that have taken place in terms of the social relevance of accounting education in Australian Universities. In order to comment on the notion of social relevance, this paper examines the notion of alibis as put forward by Simon (2001). The past is reviewed in terms of the roles that accounting education has played in the Australian community. It is concluded that university education, and specifically accounting education, in an Australian context has never entirely been what Simon (2001) would label as ‘traditional scholarly’ (his first alibi). A second alibi, ‘economic utilitarian’, is found to be dominant for accounting education, in line with most university education today. A final section of the paper briefly reviews the way forward for accounting education which would fall under the alibi of ‘modernist liberal’. The paper is largely historical and adds to the debate on change in accounting education, by exploring the social relevance of accounting education.
INFLUENCE OF PERCEIVED VALUE AND ATTITUDE TOWARD CONSUMER PURCHASE INTENTION TO BILLY COFFE HOUSE CUSTOMER AT MEGA SMART AREA MANADO

ABSTRACT Drinks industry in Indonesia is growing rapidly . Cafes/bars or coffee house industries continued to expand by opening more new outlets towards the end of the review period. Purpose of this study are to determine the i nfluence o f Perceived Value And Attitudes Toward Consumer Purchase Intention t o Billy Coffe House c ustomer at Mega Smart a rea Manado . This research has conducted on June 2015. The results shows perceived value and attitude has a positive and significant influence on purchase intention on Billy Coffee House at Mega Smart Area in Manado City. Attitude has the first dominant variable that impact to purchase intention. Perceived value has the second dominant variable that impact to purchase intention. Suggestions , Billy Coffee House must improve the marketing strategy faced coffee house competition in Manado City. Billy Coffee House in Mega Smart Manado must focus on internal customer to increase purchase intention in Billy Coffee House business. Keywords: perceived value , attitude , purchase intention
Attribute agenda-setting in an open primary: an examination of press coverage and political ad effects

Creating a favorable candidate image is one of the more difficult tasks a political consultant faces. Besides researching which issues their client will address, the consultant must analyze what attributes voters find most appealing in a candidate. Then, through a complex process, a candidate image is finally packaged and presented to the public. This thesis looks at the end result of the packaging process for a Mayoral candidate in East Baton Rouge parish. By examining the press coverage and campaign ads in a local election in a mid-size city, this study expands on previous second level agenda-setting research. Literature in this area has mostly focused on national and international campaigns where there is heavy and extended media coverage. In addition to examining the media effects, the electorate, media habits, and campaign interest are studied to see whether there are any predictors to attribute agenda-setting. Also, this analysis focuses on one candidate in a multi-candidate open primary. The multitude of candidates waging multimedia campaigns in a short time span may produce too much clutter and confusion for any real second level effects to take place, but this a worthwhile study as it could lead to future studies in multi-candidate presidential primaries. A public opinion survey was conducted over the last three days of the open primary in an effort to capture the strongest media effects. Over a seven-week period the media coverage and ads in this campaign were analyzed for content to determine whether there is a significant display of attributes.
First record of Polydora cornuta Bosc, 1802 (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from the Sea of Marmara, Turkey basin.

The present study reports the first occurrence of an alien spionid polychaete Polydora cornuta Bosc, 1802, in Izmit Bay, Sea of Marmara, Turkey. A dense population of P. cornuta (up to 170 ind.m-2) found at 7 sampling stations in the bay on 18 August 2006. Our findings show that currently this alien polychaete is a key species of polluted soft bottom benthic assemblages in Izmit Bay.
Finance and the Business Cycle: International, Inter-Industry Evidence

By considering yearly production growth rates for several manufacturing industries in more than one hundred countries during (roughly) the last forty years, we show that industries that are more dependent on external finance are hit harder during recessions. The observed difference in the behavior of industries is larger when financial frictions are thought to be more prevalent, linking the result more directly to the financial mechanism hypothesis. In particular, more dependent industries are more strongly affected in recessions when located in countries with poor financial contractibility, and when their assets are softer or less protective of financiers.
Analysing the Problem of Procurement in Construction

In solving the prevalent problems of construction industry, clients have an integral role to play. By its procurement procedures, the client influences the way a construction project is executed, as the procedures affect the form of the project delivery system. What kind of procurement procedures are perceived rational, for one, depends on the underlying assumptions about the function of procurement. This research studies the current conceptualizations of the problem of procurement stemming from the fields of economics as well as engineering and construction management. A recognized tenet in Lean Construction (LC) is that production should be conceived consisting of transformations (T), flow (F), and value generation (V). Therefore, this research exploits the TFV theory in analysing the assumptions underlying procurement. On the basis of the analysis it is suggested that the main function of procurement should not be seen merely as overcoming the problem of exante information asymmetry in the moment of awarding the contract nor tackling the problem of ex-post adaptation just by contractual structures. Instead, it is seen necessary to recognize and address the danger of value loss with an equal diligence as the other problems have been to date. To be more in line with the thinking in LC, the mindset within procurement should be set towards procuring the best possible project production system that is fit for its purpose.
Development of fuel models for fire behaviour prediction in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) stands

A dataset of 42 experimental fires in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) stands was used to develop fuel models to describe pine litter and understorey surface fuel complexes. A backtracking calibration procedure quantified the surface fuel bed characteristics that best explained the observed rate of fire spread. The study suggested the need for two distinct fuel models to adequately characterise the variability in fire behaviour in this fuel type. In these heterogeneous fuel beds the fuel models do not necessarily represent the inventoried average fuel conditions. Evaluation against the modelling data produced mean absolute errors of 0.8 and 0.6 m min–1 in rate of spread, respectively, for the litter and understorey fuel models, with little evidence of bias. The fuel models predicted the rate of spread of a validation dataset with comparable error. Comparison of the behaviour and evaluation statistics produced by the study fuel models with fuel models developed from inventoried fuel data alone revealed an improvement on model performance for the current study approach for the litter fuel model and comparable behaviour for the understorey one. We examined model behaviour through comparative analysis with models used operationally to predict fire spread in pine stands. Large departures from model behaviour essentially occur when the models are exercised outside the range of the model development dataset. The discrepancies in predicted fire behaviour were hypothesised to arise not from differences in fuel complex structure but from the selected functional relationships that determine the effect of wind and fuel moisture on rate of spread.