Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING AND SUSTAINING MATHEMATICS AS AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The world of today is predominantly shaped and controlled by the overwhelming influence of science and technology with the study of mathematics as a pivot. This is perhaps in recognition of the indispensable role of mathematics in realizing the nation’s dream of rapid scientific and technological development. This also portends the fact that the triangle of science, technology and mathematics should be vigorously pursued by the Nigerian government. However, Nigeria’s effort to promote scientific and technological literacy are not yet yielding the required dividends because basic strategies for teaching mathematics have been down-played by various government agencies. Despite the bare fact that Nigerian children still shy away from the study of mathematics, issues in mathematics teaching strategies such the use of qualified teachers, teacher motivation by incentives and computer aided instructions should be adequately implemented. This paper addressed the issues of strategies for teaching and sustaining mathematics as an indispensable tool for technological development in Nigeria. Some innovative teaching strategies were suggested for demystifying mathematics in the Nigerian classroom. They include the strategy of constructivism, groupings into students’ ability and the use of instructional aids and games. The paper concluded that if the various strategies of stimulating the interest of students in the teaching and learning of mathematics are put to use in any country, including Nigeria, a great deal of change may be seen.
Urban Poverty Dynamics in Peru and Madagascar, 1997–99: A Panel Data Analysis1

Abstract Despite the increasing awareness concerning the importance of distinguishing chronic and transient poverty for policy making, cross-country comparative studies of poverty dynamics in developing countries are virtually non-existent. The small, though increasing, number of existing studies makes it difficult to draw general conclusions because of the methodological differences among them. Crucial questions are still unanswered. Are the factors associated with chronic poverty and vulnerability the same from one country to the other? What are the features that characterize exits from poverty? Based on a large three-wave panel sample of Peruvian and Madagascan urban households (1997–99), the importance of poverty transitions is examined, as well as the characteristics of the temporarily and the chronically poor, with respect to those of non-poor households. Then, we highlight through a multinomial logit model, the specific contributions of household characteristics (demographics, human and physical capital), but also of shocks experienced by these households (related to demographics and the job market) in explaining chronic poverty as well as poverty entries and exits. In this analysis, the impact of location variables linked to neighbourhoods (provision of public goods, income levels, human capital and employment structure, among others) on poverty transitions is also considered. One of the main findings is that the factors associated with permanent poverty amply cover the characteristics generally identified in analyses on static poverty correlates. Nevertheless, these results do not confirm the idea that only shocks are relevant to temporary forms of poverty. The type and quality of entry in the job market, as well as the features of the neighbourhood, turn out to be equally relevant in the analysis of poverty dynamics. These results suggest that the spatial inequality dimension should be added to analyses of income and poverty transition dynamics.
Contextual Difference and Intention to Perform Information Security Behaviours Against Malware in a BYOD Environment: a Protection Motivation Theory Approach

The research domain of end-user's information security behaviours has been gaining much attention over the recent years. While the nature of intention to perform information security behaviours are being revealed, there are still gaps in this area. In particular, few studies have addressed whether such intention remains across contexts, especially from home to public places. Secondly, the amount of the cyber-threats swells with the increase of personal devices with the rapid adoption of the BYOD trend. This research employed MSEM methods to develop a conceptual model based on Protection Motivation Theory by using data collected from 252 higher education students in a BYOD Australian university. Our findings confirmed and explored in details how intention to perform information security behaviours varied due to the change of context. Academics and practitioners could mitigate the security gap by focusing on the intention's differences discussed in our findings.
Impact of the Surface Morphology on the Combustion of Simulated Solid Rocket Motor

An advanced and intensive computational solution development is integrated with an asymptotic technique, to examine the impact of the combustion surface morphology on the generated rotational flow field in a solid rocket chamber with wide ranges of forcing frequencies. The simulated rectangular chamber is closed at one end and is open at the aft end. The upper and lower walls are permeable to allow steady and unsteady injected air to generate internal flow mimicking the flow field of the combustion gases in real rocket chamber. The frequencies of the unsteady injected flow are chosen to be very close or away from the resonance frequencies of the adapted chamber. The current study accounts for a wide range of wave numbers that reflect the complexity of real burning processes. Detailed derivation for Navier-Stokes equations at the four boundaries of the chamber is introduced in the current study. Qualitative comparison is performed with recent experimental work carried out on a two-inch hybrid rocket motor using a mixture of polyethylene and aluminum powder. The higher the percentage of aluminum powder in the mixture, the more the corrugations of the combustion surface. This trend is almost similar to the computational and analytical results of a simulated solid rocket chamber.
Partially Linear Panel Data Models with Cross-Sectional Dependence and Nonstationarity

In this paper, we consider a partially linear panel data model with cross-sectional dependence and non-stationarity. Meanwhile, we allow fixed effects to be correlated with the regressors to capture unobservable heterogeneity. Under a general spatial error dependence structure, we then established some consistent closed-form estimates for both the unknown parameters and the unknown function for the case where N and T go jointly to infinity. Rates of convergence and asymptotic normality results are established for the proposed estimators. Both the finite-sample performance and the empirical applications show that the proposed estimation method works well when the cross-sectional dependence exists in the data set.
Translation as an Ecological Tool for Instrument Development

In this paper the authors outline the translation process involved in Macro International's evaluation of the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. IVLP is a long-running program in which professionals and prospective leaders from around the world participate in funded short-term visits to the United States to learn first-hand professional practices and values of American society and democracy. The authors highlight the importance of attending to the theoretical issues in, discuss contextual factors inherent in, and outline specific phases of the translation process, and present the modified decentering translation technique adapted for the project. They describe the types of translation equivalencies that were addressed and present findings that attest to the quality of the translation. They underscore the importance of the translation process as a qualitative tool for the instrument development that maps the contexts of people's lives, documents emic-etic aspects of cross-cultural research, and fosters collaborations with all stakeholders of the research project.
Presented at: Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program Technical Seminar (June 2000) Worldwide Analysis of Marine Oil Spill Cleanup Cost Factors

Contingency planners, response officials, government agencies, and oil transporters share a keen interest in being able to anticipate oil spill response costs for planning purposes. Oil spill cleanup response costs depend on a variety of factors, most notably, location, oil type, spill size, and cleanup strategy, making it difficult to develop a universal per-unit cost factor. This study analyzes marine oil spill cleanup costs on the basis of country, proximity to shoreline, spill size, oil type, degree of shoreline oiling, and cleanup methodology to determine how each of these factors impacts per-unit cleanup costs. The results show that oil spill responses in different countries and regions of the world vary considerably in their costs most likely due to differences in cultural values, socio-economic factors, and labor costs. Location, oil type, and spill size also factor heavily in determining cleanup costs. Nearshore spills and in-port spills are 4-5 times as expensive to clean up as offshore spills. Responses to spills of heavy fuels are more than ten times as expensive as spill responses for lighter crudes and diesel fuels. Spill responses for spills under 30 tonnes are more than ten times as expensive, on a per-unit basis, as for spills of 300 tonnes. The paper describes a cleanup cost estimation modeling technique that can be applied to marine spills of different types. The model is developed from updated cost data collected from case studies of over 300 spills in 40 nations. The model takes into account oil type, location, spill size, cleanup methodology and shoreline oiling to deduce a per-unit cleanup cost figure.
Possible involvement of glucocorticoids in mycotoxin-induced neuroinflammation

The mycotoxins are commonly encountered in human cereal foods and animal feed throughout the world as a result of infestation of grains in the field and in storage by the fungi including genus Aspergillus, Penicillum and Fusarium. Modulation of the inflammatory responses in the central nervous system (CNS) appears particularly critical role of some relevance mycotoxins such as T-2 toxin, fumonisin B1 and ochratoxin A. Specifically, mentioned mycotoxins disturbed mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) as well as nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) which mediate robust induction of pro- inflammatory gene expression in both in vitro and in vivo. In CNS, glucocorticoids are powerful endogenous and therapeutic modulators of inflammation though both MAPKs and NF-κB signaling. In addition, toxicity of mycotoxins also was altered with glucocorticoid. Taken together, glucocorticoids may possibly involve in the action of mycotoxins on neuroinflammatory responses. Therefore, factors disturbing glucocorticoid regulation in CNS such as stress, infection, and xenobiotics may enhance response to mycotoxin toxicity. It is anticipated that these investigations will be applicable to identify the therapeutic intervention or prevention.
Correlation of EMG activity and kinematics in case of ergometer rowing

This paper deals with the correlation of muscle activity represented by EMG signals and kinematic data recorded during indoor rowing. Experiment included simultaneous measurement of EMG activity of Vastus Medialis, Biceps and Gastrocnemius muscles and kinematic data acquisition by using the video motion tracking system. Video camera - PC system records positions of markers attached to 8 body points, in sagital plane. Four rowers with five, or more years rowing experience participated in the study. Processing of collected kinematics and EMG data were done in Matlab program package.
Entrepreneurs’ Exploratory Perseverance in Learning Settings

We introduce “exploratory perseverance” as a novel construct that captures perseverant behavior in settings in which several alternatives can be explored and evaluated. We suggest that entrepreneurs display exploratory perseverance reflected by a tendency to keep exploring broader sets of alternatives, to adopt a parallel rather than sequential approach to trial‐and‐error learning, and, after negative experiences with some alternatives, to be more inclined to give them a second chance. The results from an experimental study of 449 individuals participating in the Iowa Gambling Task indicate that more entrepreneurially experienced individuals display greater exploratory perseverance than those with little to no entrepreneurial experience.
Evaluation of automated flow‐through time‐resolved analysis of foraminifera for Mg/Ca paleothermometry

[1] The primary Mg/Ca ratio of foraminiferal shells is a potentially valuable paleoproxy for sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions. However, the reliable extraction of this ratio from sedimentary calcite assumes that we can overcome artifacts related to foraminiferal ecology and partial dissolution, as well as contamination by secondary calcite and clay. The standard batch method for Mg/Ca analysis involves cracking, sonicating, and rinsing the tests to remove clay, followed by chemical cleaning, and finally acid-digestion and single-point measurement. This laborious procedure often results in substantial loss of sample (typically 30–60%). We find that even the earliest steps of this procedure can fractionate Mg from Ca, thus biasing the result toward a more variable and often anomalously low Mg/Ca ratio. Moreover, the more rigorous the cleaning, the more calcite is lost, and the more likely it becomes that any residual clay that has not been removed by physical cleaning will increase the ratio. These potentially significant sources of error can be overcome with a flow-through (FT) sequential leaching method that makes time- and labor-intensive pretreatments unnecessary. When combined with time-resolved analysis (FT-TRA) flow-through, performed with a gradually increasing and highly regulated acid strength, produces continuous records of Mg, Sr, Al, and Ca concentrations in the leachate sorted by dissolution susceptibility of the reacting material. Flow-through separates secondary calcite from less susceptible biogenic calcite and clay, and further resolves the biogenic component into primary and more resistant fractions. FT-TRA reliably separates secondary calcite (which is not representative of original life habitats) from the more resistant biogenic calcite (the desired signal) and clay (a contaminant of high Mg/Ca, which also contains Al), and further resolves the biogenic component into primary and more resistant fractions that may reflect habitat or other changes during ontogeny. We find that the most susceptible fraction of biogenic calcite in surface dwelling foraminifera gives the most accurate value for SST and therefore best represents primary calcite. Sequential dissolution curves can be used to correct the primary Mg/Ca ratio for clay, if necessary. However, the temporal separation of calcite from clay in FT-TRA is so complete that this correction is typically ≤2%, even in clay-rich sediments. Unlike hands-on batch methods, that are difficult to reproduce exactly, flow-through lends itself to automation, providing precise replication of treatment for every sample. Our automated flow-through system can process 22 samples, two system blanks, and 48 mixed standards in <12 hours of unattended operation. FT-TRA thus represents a faster, cheaper, and better way to determine Mg/Ca ratios in foraminiferal calcite.
An Integrated Score and Nomogram Combining Clinical and Immunohistochemistry Factors to Predict High ISUP Grade Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Objective: The International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) has proposed a grading system to classify renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, classification using biopsy specimens remains problematic and, consequently, the accuracy of a biopsy-based diagnosis is relatively poor. This study aims to combine clinical and immunohistochemical (IHC) factors for the prediction of high ISUP grade clear cell RCC (ccRCC) in an attempt to complement and improve the accuracy of a biopsy-based diagnosis. Methods: A total of 362 ccRCC patients were enrolled in this study and used for the training set. We performed IHC analysis of 18 protein markers on standard tissue sections using an automated stainer. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to evaluate independent predictors for high ISUP grade. We evaluated different prediction models using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC curve (AUC) analysis. A nomogram for the derivation of an integrated score for predicting high ISUP grade ccRCC and a calibration curve were also plotted. Finally, an internal validation cohort was examined to evaluate the performance of our integrated scoring system and nomogram. Results: Multivariate logistic analyses revealed seven credible candidates for predicting high grade ISUP. These were age, tumor diameter, surgery, and CK7, Ki-67, PTEN, and MTOR protein expression. The ROC curves for the clinical, IHC and integrated models were compared in the training set, and the AUC for each was 0.731, 0.744, and 0.801, respectively. DeLong's test showed that the integrated model was significantly better at predicting high ISUP grade, when compared with the other models. Internal validation confirmed the good performance of the integrated score in predicting ISUP grade. Conclusion: We have developed a nomogram integrating clinical and immunohistochemical parameters to predict high ISUP grade for M0 ccRCC patients. This nomogram may offer potentially useful information during preoperative individualized patient risk assessment, and consequently may help urologists when planning personalized management regimens.
The ability of Zea mays ears (Young Corn) powder in enhancing nutritional composition and changing textural properties and sensory acceptability of yeast bread

Consumption of dietary fibre-rich food has been associated with various beneficial physiological properties and health effects. Presently, different types of natural fibre-rich ingredients are added into variety of bakery-based products to improve it fibre content for health promotional purposes. However, majority of these products are frequently added with imported dietary fibre ingredients. In the present study, bread samples were prepared with Zea mays ear (young corn) powder at the levels of either 2%, 4% or 6%. The bread samples were analyzed for nutritional composition, textural properties and sensory acceptance. Addition of young corn powder (YCP) at the level of 6% increases total dietary fibre (from 3.48% to 5.26%), moisture (from 25.64% to 26.55%), fat (from 4.35% to 4.61%) and protein content (from 9.13% to 9.51%) significantly. However, with the increasing of YCP levels in the bread, the carbohydrate content was decreased significantly (from 59.93% to 58.34%) while the ash content (from 0.95% to 0.99%) was not significantly affected. Results of texture profile analysis indicated that addition of YCP up to 6% not significantly affected the springiness (1.01-1.00) but significantly decreased cohesiveness (0.95-0.82). However, the addition of YCP up to 6% has increased hardness (0.18kg-0.57kg), gumminess (0.17kg-0.47kg) and chewiness (0.18kg0.47kg) attributes of bread samples. On the other result, the sensory evaluation shows that the flavour score was not significantly affected by addition of YCP up to 4% (4.82-4.52) while the tenderness (4.53-4.42), elasticity (4.75-4.58), aroma (4.40-4.47), colour (4.93-4.55) and overall acceptance (4.80-4.35) scores were not significant affected up to 6%. In summary, breads with 4% addition of YCP were considered to be acceptable and potentially used in improving nutritional composition without changing sensory score.
Field response of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to N2-fixers Bacillus circulans and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation through accelerating rock phosphate and feldspar weathering.

2 Abstract: This study was conducted in two successive seasons of 2006-2007 in a private farm at Kafr Dawood, Menoufiya, Egypt. It aimed to investigate the effect of inoculation of snap bean plants with 2 2 biofertilizers (AM- mycorrhizal fungi, symbiotic N -fixers (Rhizobium sp.) and asymbiotic N -fixers (Azospirillum sp. and Azotobacter sp.) in addition to B. circulans on soil amended with natural alternatives of fertilizers like rock phosphate and feldspar and their effect on growth parameters, physiological and microbiolgical parameters. In addition, snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) fresh yield and its components. The obtained results indicated that the treatment No. 9 (mixture of AM- fungi, symbiotic and asymbiotic 2 N -fixers and Bacillus circulans + rock phosphate + feldspar) was superior in plant height, number of branches, number of nodules per plant and fresh yield (ton/fed) when compared with control and the 2 uninoculated plants. Inoculation with produced also the highest values of N -fixers and B. circulans populations in the rhizosphere of snap bean plants cultivated in soil amended with rock phosphate and feldspar and produced the highest infection percentage of AM- fungi. The interaction among the studied factors had significant effects on most studied characters. So, our study supports the new trend of using biofertilizers and natural alternatives as beneficial cheap sources of fertilization for sustainable agriculture.
Dimension of Experience: Metadiscourse in the Texts of Novice Non-Native, Novice Native and Expert Native Speaker

Metadiscourse is essential in establishing pragmatically effective academic written communication. However, little is known about how metadiscourse is used in written texts produced by tertiary level second language learners. This corpus-based linguistic research study aims to explore the frequencies and usages of metadiscourse markers in student essays written by Turkish learners of English and investigate the divergences from native speaker norms. As reference corpora, British Academic Written English (BAWE) and British National Corpus (BNC) were used. We found that in academic discourse, regardless of experience in writing (novice or expert) and L1 language background, interpersonal metadiscourse markers are used more frequently than textual metadiscourse markers. The commonalities between novice non-native and expert native writers together with differences between two native speaker groups suggest that pragmatic competence, particularly metadiscourse use, develops by experience regardless of L1 background.
Micronutrients Distribution in Soybean Plant with Zn , Fe , and Mn Application

In order to investigate the effect of some of micronutrients application on micronutrient distribution, partitioning, and their ratio in different parts of soybean plant; we conducted an experiment in field conditions at Kermanshah, Iran, 2010 and 2011. Three levels of zinc (0, 20, 40 kg.ha from ZnSo4 source); iron (0, 25, 50 kg.ha from FeSo4 source) and manganese (0, 25, 40 kg.ha from MnSo4 source) were applied. Based on results, it was found that Zn and Mn concentrations increased within the plant with micronutrient fertilizers application. The highest Zn concentration was observed in pod, but Maximum Fe and Mn concentrations recorded in leaves. With increases in soybean old and reach to full maturity stage, the Zn, Fe, and Mn content in tissue plant were decreased. The results indicated that with Zn application [Zn]/[Fe] and [Zn]/[Mn] ratios in seed increased. With Fe fertilizer application [Zn]/[Fe] ratio was decreased, but had no effect on [Zn]/[Mn] ratio.