Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Home educational resources, out of school factors, and foreign language achievement: An Example from Turkey

This study examines the potential relationship between home educational resources, out of school factors, and foreign language student achievement in the Turkish context. Participants of the study include 6804 seventh grade students (3173 female and 3631 male) who took OBBS in 2008. The researchers used two level hierarchical linear modeling for data analysis. According to the results of the study, home educational resources such as having a study room, computer, a person who could speak English, high number of books and out of school factors such as educational development of city where the school is located and school district have relationship with foreign language achievement. On the whole, the study results suggest that foreign language achievement is related to out of school characteristics and home educational resources that need to be considered by foreign language practitioners and policy makers. Keywords. Home educational resources, out of school factors, foreign language achievement, Evaluation of Student Achievement Test, hierarchical linear modeling. OZ. Bu arastirma evdeki egitimsel kaynaklar ve okul disi etmenler ile yabanci dil basarisi arasindaki olasi iliskiyi incelemektedir. Arastirmanin katilimcilarini 2008 yilinda Ogrenci Basarilarinin Belirlenmesi Sinavina katilmis olan 6804 (3173 kiz ve 3631 erkek) yedinci sinif ogrencisi olusturmaktadir. Calismaya ait veriler iki duzeyli hiyerarsik lineer modelleme ile cozumlenmistir. Arastirma bulgularina gore, evinde kendine ait bir calisma odasinin, bilgisayarin ve yabanci dil konusan kisinin olmasi, evdeki kitap sayisi ve okulun bulundugu bolge ve sehir degiskenleri ile yabanci dil basarisi iliskilidir. Genel olarak calisma bulgulari, yabanci dil egitimcileri ve dil egitim politikacilarinin evdeki egitimsel kaynaklar ve okul disi etmenler ile yabanci dil basarisi arasindaki iliskiye dikkat etmeleri konusunda oneriler getirmektedir. Anahtar sozcukler. Evdeki egitimsel kaynaklar, okul disi etmenler, yabanci dil basarisi, Ogrenci Basarilarinin Belirlenmesi Sinavi, hiyerarsik lineer modelleme.
Contextualization in Practice: The Clemson experience

Dynamic virtual organization clusters with user-supplied virtual machines (VMs) have advantages over generic computing environments. These advantages include the ability for the user to have a priori knowledge of the scientific tools and libraries available to programs executing in the virtualized environment as well as the other details of the environment. The user can also perform small-scale testing locally, thus saving time and conserving computational resources. However, user-supplied VMs require contextualization in order to operate properly in a given cluster environment. Two types of contextualization are necessary: image-level and instance-level. Examples of image-level contextualization include one-time configuration tasks such as ensuring availability of ephemeral storage, mounting of a cluster-provided shared filesystem, and integration with the cluster’s batch scheduler. Also necessary is instance-level contextualization such as the assignment of MAC and IP addresses. This paper discusses the challenges and techniques used to overcome those challenges in the contextualization of the STAR VM for use with the Clemson University cluster environment that is exposed to OSG. Also included are suggestions to VM authors to allow for efficient contextualization of their VMs and recommendations for future virtualized grids.
Cultural Intelligence, Psychological Well-Being, and Employability of Taiwan’s Indigenous College Students

The purpose of this survey is to explore the relationship among cultural intelligence, psychological well-being, and employability using a questionnaire. The research used survey sampling to target aboriginal college students and collected 268 effective samples from among public and private universities. The study then adopted structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the models for study and the tenability of the hypothesis. The data indicated that (1) cultural intelligence positively influences psychological well-being; (2) cultural intelligence positively influences employability; (3) psychological well-being positively influences employability; and (4) psychological well-being’s influence on employability is greater than cultural intelligence’s influence on employability. Finally, the meanings and implications of this study are offered in terms of both practical and academic aspects.
Assessing supply chain flexibility: a conceptual framework and case study

Flexibility has been considered as a major determinant of competitiveness in an increasingly intense competition in the marketplace. A large body of literature has been addressing various issues of flexibility in the last two decades. However, the discussions have mainly been from the viewpoint of a manufacturing company as a single entity in a supply chain. The flexibility related to machine, process, routing, part, worker and the like are all associated with a manufacturing or a production system. With the advent of the supply chain management concepts, business communities have been realising that being flexible in a production system only is insufficient. Thus, flexibility concepts should be broadened from the perspective of a production system into a supply chain system. However, the study addressing supply chain flexibility is still limited. This paper presents a framework for assessing flexibility of a supply chain. Four main parts of flexibility are identified including flexibility of the product delivery system, production system, product development, and supply system. In each of these parts, a number of pertinent elements are defined. A general guideline for conducting flexibility assessment is also presented. In an attempt to assess the model validity, a case study also forms a part of the paper.
Effects of a Purified Saponin Mixture from Alfalfa on Plasma Lipid Metabolism in Hyperlipidemic Mice

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a genus distributed widely throughout the world and considered as the richest land source of nature products. In this study, we obtained a purified saponin mixture (PSM) through a simple, repeatable and controllable separation method from alfalfa. The compounds of the saponin mixture were identified as Azukisaponin V and Soyasaponin I, which was determined as 79.26 and 20.74% respectively by HPLC-evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) method. The effects of PSM on plasma lipid metabolism were studied in hyperlipidemic mice induced by Triton WR-1339. Results showed that PSM could significantly inhibit the increase of total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, and the decrease of plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level in plasma of hyperlipidemic mice induced by Triton WR-1339. Further study demonstrated that PSM not only enhanced the activities of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic triglyceride lipase (HTGL) in liver, but also increased their mRNA levels in hyperlipidemic mice. The results above indicate that PSM from alfalfa exerts effects on plasma lipid metabolism through elevating the activity of liver lipases in hyperlipidemic mice. The obtained data would be a good contribution to the development and utilization of alfalfa in the world.
Actual Evapotranspiration in Suli Alpine Meadow in Northeastern Edge of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

Actual evapotranspiration was observed by using eddy covariance (EC) technique, calculated by micrometeorological method the Bowen ratio energy balance (BREB) and measured by micro-lysimeter (ML) in the Suli alpine meadow which located in the northeastern edge of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau noted for its high elevation and cold environment during the growing season in 2011. Results showed that the energy balance ratio for half-hour data was 0.74. Without consideration of uncertainty, the evapotranspiration values estimated by BREB, ML, and EC were 270.6 mm, 238.9 mm, and 236.1 mm, respectively. Significant correlation existed between the evapotranspiration results by the three methods. Uncertainties of the evapotranspiration estimation by BREB, ML, and EC were 19.6 mm, 15.6 mm, and 15.1 mm, respectively. Deduced by facts on the natural and vegetation conditions, the value of evapotranspiration should be equal to that of precipitation, that is, about 252 mm. From this point, the evapotranspiration values estimated by the three methods were within a reliable range. The EC method has larger advantage and wider scope for the estimation of evapotranspiration in alpine meadow area.
Soil moisture spatio-temporal behavior of Pinus pinaster stands on sandy flatlands of central Spain.

Pinus pinaster stands in the center of the Iberian Peninsula frequently grow in a unique hydrological system characterized by a variable groundwater table near the soil surface and highly permeable soils (arenosols). Over the last few decades, this superficial aquifer has been overused as a water resource, especially for irrigated crops. Overuse has reached a critical level and has caused various environmental impacts and a water sustainability crisis wherein rainfall variability does not allow for a sufficient level of aquifer recharge by natural means. Within this changing scenario, soil water significantly affects the spatio-temporal ecological response, necessitating more extensive characterization of the complex soil-tree water relationship. The primary goal of the present work was to evaluate the influence of root zone soil moisture on the observed spatial response of Pinus pinaster stands. Volumetric soil moisture content was measured at eleven forest sites, using time-domain reflectometry (TDR), over a two-year observation period. The results demonstrate that the combined effect of groundwater table proximity and dune morphology associated with this area are the main factors driving very different water availability conditions among the monitored hydrological response units, which modulate maritime pine installation and development. Topographically lower areas are more heterogeneous in terms of soil moisture behavior. In these areas, the conifer forests that are connected to the water table may be the most sensitive to land use changes within current environmental change scenarios. Consequently, in these pine ecosystems, the combined influences of geomorphology and water table proximity on variations in root zone soil moisture are essential and must be considered to develop adequate adaptive management models.
The association between the regular use of risk-based term IOL and improved birth outcomes in an Italian hospital: A retrospective cohort study

Objective: Associations have been recently reported between the regular use of risk-based term labor induction and improvements in birth outcomes. We wanted to study the use of this approach in an Italian hospital. Design: Retrospective Cohort Study Setting: The Mandic Hospital, in Merate, Italy, from March 2009 through July 2010. Population: All pregnant women delivering at term who met study inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methods: The “exposed” group was comprised of women cared for and delivered by providers who regularly offered risk-based term labor induction. The “nonexposed” group was comprised of women cared for and delivered by providers who followed the “expectant management” approach to risk. Prenatal, intrapartum and outcome data for the two cohorts were collected and compared. Main outcome measures: Cesarean delivery rate and weighted Adverse Outcome Index (AOI) Score. Results: The exposed group (n=120), as compared to the non-exposed group (n=159), had a higher induction rate, a lower cesarean rate (1.7% vs. 43.4%, aOR 0.04, CI [0.01-0.22]), and a numerically lower weighted Adverse Outcome Index Score (0.4 vs. 6.1, p=0.61). Two cases of term stillbirth occurred in the non-exposed group. No adverse birth outcome occurred with greater frequency in the exposed group. Conclusion: In this Italian hospital, and consistent with previous studies, exposure to the regular use of risk-based term labor induction was associated with a more favorable set of birth outcomes. Randomised clinical trials are needed to further explore this alternative approach. Correspondence to: James M. Nicholson, MD, MSCE, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of Pennsylvania State University, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA, Tel: 484-8027782/ 717-531-8182, Fax: 717-531-5024, E-mail: jnicholson@hmc.psu. edu, jnicholson@hmc.psu. edu
Articles of faith and mystic matrices: Marketing textbooks and the misrepresentation of reality

Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to show that theories of marketing, as evident in a range of key textbooks, represent a set of reified articles of faith, which are unreflective of the reality of the practitioner's world.Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on some interpretative research findings into the nature of marketing practice. A series of phenomenological interviews were carried out with senior marketing managers. Their views were compared with existing representations of marketing as it appears in a range of textbooks.Findings – Marketing textbooks were found to be highly alike drawing as they do on an implicit systems based paradigm. The findings from the interviews show that marketing is a locally defined, highly contextualised activity that is dissimilar in many ways to the generalised prescriptions of mainstream textbooks.Research limitations/implications – Scholarship in the form of textbooks should attempt to move away from the dictates of the dominant articles of faith as.
figuur tekstvak A case-control study of acute respiratory tract infections in general practice patients in the Netherlands

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) are responsible for considerable morbidity in the community, but little is known about the presence of respiratory pathogens in asymptomatic individuals. We hypothesized that asymptomatic persons could have a subclinical infection, and thus act as a source of transmission. Methods: During the period of 2000–2003, all patients with ARTI who visited their sentinel general practitioner had their data reported to estimate the incidence of ARTI in Dutch general practices. A random selection of these patients (case patients), and an equal number of asymptomatic persons visiting for other complaints (control subjects) were included in a case-control study. Nose and throat swabs of participants were tested for a broad range of pathogens. Results: The overall incidence of ARTI was 545 cases per 10,000 person-years, suggesting that, in the Dutch population, an estimated 900,000 persons annually consult their general practitioner for respiratory complaints. Viruses were detected in 58% of the case patients, β-haemolytic streptococci group A were detected in 11%, and mixed infections were detected in 3%. Rhinovirus was the most commonly detected virus in case patients (24%), followed by influenza virus type A (11%), and coronavirus (7%). Pathogens were detected in approximately 30% of control subjects, particularly in the youngest age groups. Discussion: This study confirms that most ARTI are viral, and supports the reserved policy of prescribing antibiotics. In both case and control subjects, rhinovirus was the most common pathogen. Of bacterial infections, only group A β-haemolytic streptococci were more common in case patients than in control subjects. Furthermore, we demonstrated that asymptomatic persons might be a neglected source of transmission.
HIPASS High-Velocity Clouds: Properties of the Compact and Extended Populations

A catalog of southern anomalous-velocity H I clouds at decl. < +2° is presented. This catalog is based on data from the H I Parkes All-Sky Survey (HIPASS) reprocessed with the MINMED5 procedure and searched with a new high-velocity cloud-finding algorithm. The improved sensitivity (5 σ: ΔTB = 0.04 K), resolution (15.′5), and velocity range (-500 km s-1 < VLSR < +500 km s-1) of the HIPASS data result in a substantial increase in the number of individual clouds (1956, as well as 41 galaxies) compared with what was known from earlier southern data. The method of cataloging the anomalous-velocity objects is described, and a catalog of key cloud parameters, including velocity, angular size, peak column density, total flux, position angle, and degree of isolation, is presented. The data are characterized into several classes of anomalous-velocity H I emission. Most high-velocity emission features are HVCs and have a filamentary morphology and are loosely organized into large complexes extending over tens of degrees. In addition, 179 compact and isolated anomalous-velocity objects, CHVCs, are identified based on their size and degree of isolation. Of the CHVCs originally classified by Braun & Burton, 25% are reclassified based on the HIPASS data. The properties of all the high-velocity emission features and only the CHVCs are investigated, and distinct similarities and differences are found. Both populations have typical H I masses of ∼4.5D2kpc M⊙ and have similar slopes for their column density and flux distributions. On the other hand, the CHVCs appear to be clustered and the population can be broken up into three spatially distinct groups, while the entire population of clouds is more uniformly distributed with a significant percentage aligned with the Magellanic Stream. The median velocities are VGSR = -38 km s-1 for the CHVCs and -30 km s-1 for all the anomalous-velocity clouds. Based on the catalog sizes, high-velocity features cover 19% of the southern sky, and CHVCs cover 1%.
Assessment of streetcar transit priority options using microsimulation modelling

The thrust of a recently published transportation vision for Toronto is focused largely on reducing automobile dependence via a number of interacting strategies, including the wide application of transit priority policies to improve transit competitiveness. This paper reports on quantifying the impacts of several transit priority schemes, with the streetcar operation along King Street in the heart of Toronto as a case study. Four scenarios were modelled in a micro simulation framework. They include the status quo (involving unconditional transit signal priority, already in operation), turning off existing transit signal priority, prohibiting all left turns, and finally prohibiting traffic from King Street. To quantify the impacts of any of the above scenarios, a set of common measures of effectiveness was used, including transit travel time and speed, effective headway, service frequency and person throughput, bunching, fleet size implications, and overall traffic and transit average speeds. The results show the relative merits of the four scenarios and two strategies for improving streetcar service along the King route are recommended. The first is to prohibit all left turns along the route, while the second, admittedly more aggressive, is to potentially transform the arterial into a transit mall accessible only to streetcars.Key words: transit signal priority, transit priority, signal control, microsimulation, streetcars.
Analyzing customer profitability in hotels using activity based costing

This paper investigates the use of customer profitability analysis (CPA) in four and five star hotels located in Algarve (Portugal). Traditional accounting systems have been criticized for focusing on product, service or department profitability, and not on customer profitability, thus failing to provide effective information to marketing-related decisions. Results are reported by operating departments, whilst marketing activities focus on customer market segments. Recognizing the growing emphasis on customer value creation, and to overcome the mismatch between the provision and use of information in hotels, CPA techniques have been suggested. Notwithstanding their benefits, namely a strategic focus, hotels still apply traditional techniques. A structured questionnaire collected through personal interviews showed that CPA is far from widespread in hotel management; instead, hotels accumulate costs in profit centers and in cost centers. None of the surveyed hotels had adopted activity based costing, despite this technique being viewed as the most appropriate to calculate individual customer profitability.
Chandra X-Ray Observatory Observations of the Globular Cluster M28 and Its Millisecond Pulsar PSR B1821–24

We report here the results of the first Chandra X-Ray Observatory observations of the globular cluster M28 (NGC 6626). We detect 46 X-ray sources, of which 12 lie within 1 core radius of the center. We show that the apparently extended X-ray core emission seen with the ROSAT HRI is due to the superposition of multiple discrete sources, for which we determine the X-ray luminosity function down to a limit of about 6 × 1030 ergs s-1. We measure the radial distribution of the X-ray sources and fit it to a King profile finding a core radius of rc,X ≈ 11′′. We measure for the first time the unconfused phase-averaged X-ray spectrum of the 3.05 ms pulsar B1821-24 and find that it is best described by a power law with photon index Γ ≃ 1.2. We find marginal evidence of an emission line centered at 3.3 keV in the pulsar spectrum, which could be interpreted as cyclotron emission from a corona above the pulsar's polar cap if the magnetic field is strongly different from a centered dipole. The unabsorbed pulsar flux in the 0.5-8.0 keV band is ≈3.5 × 10-13 ergs s-1 cm-2. We present spectral analyses of the five brightest unidentified sources. Based on the spectral parameters of the brightest of these sources, we suggest that it is a transiently accreting neutron star in a low-mass X-ray binary, in quiescence. Fitting its spectrum with a hydrogen neutron star atmosphere model yields the effective temperature T = 90 eV and the radius R = 14.5 km. In addition to the resolved sources, we detect fainter, unresolved X-ray emission from the central core. Using the Chandra-derived positions, we also report on the result of searching archival Hubble Space Telescope data for possible optical counterparts.