Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Ownership Structure: A Comparison of Common and Civil Law Countries

The aim of this paper is to identify factors that explain ownership structure. Our empirical study uses two sample firms of two countries: Germany, characterized by a concentrated ownership structure, and the United Kingdom, characterized by diffused ownership structure. Our results show differences in the determinants of ownership structure between the two countries. Differences relate to size and research and development variables. Furthermore, profitability has no effect on the ownership structure for the two countries.
Host and host-site specificity of bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) on Neotropical bats (Chiroptera)

Ectoparasite host specificity can be influenced by factors such as the degree of host isolation and ectoparasite mobility. Host-site specificity can result from factors such as proximity to mates, competition, and host grooming behaviour. Ectoparasitic bat flies on bats from the Lamanai area of Belize were collected from hosts captured in mist nets to determine host specificity and host-site specificity. Bat grooming behaviour was also recorded and quantified. From 455 bats (25 species in five families), 773 bat flies (32 species in two families) were collected. Of 32 bat fly species, 25 were only found on 1 bat species, 6 were found on 2 species of the same genus, and 1 was found on 2 species of different genera (the latter appearing to be an accidental association). Specificity of the bat flies tended to follow the taxonomy of the bat hosts, not the ecological isolation of the host species, since bat species that often roost in polyspecific groups did not share bat fly species. Mobility of the bat flies.
Effects of Some Machining Parameters on Noise Level in Planing of Some Wood Materials

Effects of type of wood, number of blades, and depth and width of cutting were evaluated relative to the noise level during the machining of wooden materials in a spindle moulder. Lombardy poplar, Oriental beech, and medium density fibreboard (MDF) materials, at the thickness levels of 6 mm, 12 mm, 18 mm, 25 mm, or 30 mm, were planed for 20 min for each variable at the feed rate of 5 meters per min and at the cutting depth of 1 mm, 2 mm, or 3 mm with one or four blades. During machining of the samples, the noise levels were measured using a noise level meter. According to the data obtained, the highest noise level connected to the type of materials was measured in the machining of poplar wood, followed by that of beech wood and MDF. As the thicknesses of the materials were increased, increases up to 9 dBA of the noise level were measured. Moreover, machining the materials with one blade instead of four and with a cutting width of 1 mm instead of 3 mm increased the noise level by 2 dBA and 6 dBA, respectively.
A Computational Approach to the Modeling and Employment of Cognitive Units of Folk Song Melodies Using Audio Recordings

We present a method to classify audio recordings of folk songs into tune families. For this, we segment both the query recording and the recordings in the collection. The segments can be used to relate recordings to each other by evaluating the recurrence of similar melodic patterns. We compare a segmentation that results in what can be considered cognitive units to a segmentation into segments of fixed length. It appears that the use of ‘cognitive’ segments results in higher classification accuracy. 1. BACKGROUND Large collections of monophonic folk song recordings are interesting from a music cognition perspective since they represent musical performances of common people. Most people share a ‘common core of musical knowledge’ (Peretz 2006: section 2). Since recorded folk songs were sung from memory, knowledge about the process of remembering and reproducing melodies can be used to employ these recordings in the context of folk song research, music information retrieval or music cognition studies. This study combines ideas and approaches from etnomusicology, music cognition and computer science. One of the research questions of etnomusicology is how melodies in an oral tradition relate to each other (Nettl 2005, chapter 9; Van Kranenburg et al. 2009a). Samuel Bayard (1950) developed the concept tune family to denote a group of melodies that share a common origin, which, in the most simple case, is a single tune. The idea that melodies from the same tune family are related by shared melodic motifs has a long history in folk song research. Nettl (2005: p. 117f) discusses the relative independence of shorter units of musical thought. These might ‘wander’ from melody to melody and from country to country (Tappert 1890). Marcello Keller (1988) explains the relations between Trentino folk music compositions by means of a repertoire of ‘segments’ that is used in the act of composing. To cope with specific relations between melodies he encountered in Irish folk music, James Cowdery (1984) extended Bronson’s concept of tune family by including melodies that are related by sharing melodic material from the same ‘pool of motives’. Finally, one of the conclusions from a previous study on the same corpus of songs that we use in this paper is that recurring motifs are more important than contour and rhythm for recognizing a song (Volk et al. 2008).
Development and validation of a computer instructional package on electrochemistry for secondary schools in Nigeria.

The computer has witnessed a wide range of applications in virtually all human endeavours. It has also found its way into the classroom, and educators now look in its way as a panacea to prevalent pedagogical challenges. Researches have indicated that appropriate use of the computer for science instruction facilitates teaching and learning. This research work was carried out to develop and validate a computer instructional package on electrochemistry for secondary schools in Nigeria. Several researches have indicated electrochemistry to be one of the topics responsible for students’ poor performance in School Certificate Chemistry examinations in Nigeria. The package was produced in an html format using Macromedia Dreamweaver as the overall platform. Other computer programs utilized during the development process are: CorelDraw suit 12, Microsoft Word 2003, Macromedia Fireworks 8, and Macromedia Flash 8. The validation of the package was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of Dick, Carey, & Carey (2005). In the end, the package was found to produce a very good performance level in the students when used for electrochemistry instruction.
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN KENYA

With the widespread use of English across the world, it has become essential to raise English language teachers’ awareness and sensitivity with regard to the strategies they need to deploy in designing their activities and adjusting their teaching so as to take into consideration the current status of English as a world language. Although many of these strategies can be learnt through teacher reflection, others such as subject knowledge matter, pedagogical expertise and understanding of curriculum and materials cannot. Professional development should therefore go beyond individual reflection to include new trends and theories in language teaching; familiarization with development in subject matter knowledge; and critical examinations of the way the schools and languages programme are organised and managed. This article discusses the views of teachers regarding the teaching of English in Kenya, what they consider as their CPD needs, challenges and suggestions for improvement. It makes use of data collected from interviews with teachers of English, policy documents as well as interviews with CPD providers who had direct influence on the teachers’ work.
The Arctic Oscillation predicts effects of climate change in two trophic levels in a high-arctic ecosystem

During recent decades there has been a change in the circulation of atmospheric pressure throughout the Northern Hemisphere. These variations are expressed in the recently described Arctic Oscillation (AO), which has shown an upward trend (associated with winter warming in the eastern Arctic) during the last three decades. We analysed a 12-year time series on growth of Cassiope tetragona (Lapland Cassiope) and a 21-year time series on abundance of a Svalbard reindeer population. High values of the AO index were associated with reduced plant growth and reindeer population growth rate. The North Atlantic Oscillation index was not able to explain a significant proportion of the variance in either plant growth or reindeer population fluctuations. Thus, the AO index may be a better predictor for ecosystem effects of climate change in certain high-arctic areas compared to the NAO index.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recent Work Title Fabrication of single crystal architecture in SbSI glass : Transition from dot to line Permalink

We have investigated the occurrence of the sometimes observed grain boundaries, as initial seed is extended to form line in laser-fabricated single-crystal architecture in glass (SCAG). In particular, for Sb2S3 SCAG in Sb-S-I glass as a model system, grain boundaries are formed during the transition from laser-written initial seed dot to crystal line. Such grain boundaries during the growth of Sb2S3 crystals occur in 16SbI3–84Sb2S3 glass, whereas they are absent in Sb2S3 glass. We correlate this difference in tendency to form multiple grains with the relative glass forming ability i.e. the dynamics of nucleation and crystal growth as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). On the basis of this understanding, methods to minimize the appearance of grain boundaries in the transition region are suggested.
Palaeoproductivity changes and upwelling variability in the Galicia Mud Patch during the last 5000 years: geochemical and microfloral evidence

The Holocene palaeoclimatic history of the Galician continental shelf has been investigated through the analyses of diatom remains, other siliceous compounds, biogenic silica (BSi) and metals content in a multiproxy approach to a gravity core recovered from the Galicia Mud Patch, NW Iberian Peninsula, covering the last 5000 years. Downcore changes in diatom assemblages composition and abundance reflect changes in diatom production related to long-/short-term variations in climate, regional oceanography, upwelling strength and river influx off the coast of NW Spain and Portugal. Palaeoclimatic variability was related to the relative strengths and position of the Azores High and Iceland Low pressure cells. Metals and microflora fluctuations are interpreted as changes in the riverine influence and upwelling intensity paced by oceanographic, atmospheric and climatic changes. Lack of diatoms between 4700—3300 and 1800—1200 cal. yr BP could be linked to early diagenetic processes taking place in the sediment after burial. Biogenic barium (Baexcess), metals and excess diatom assemblages, show a general increase of marine productivity for the last 1200 cal. yr BP. Between 800 and 500 cal. yr BP high production of the microflora is triggered by influx of river-derived nutrients under conditions of SW winds and storms resulting from a NAO negative-like phase. The biosiliceous and geochemical signatures of sediments from the last 500 cal. yr BP indicate conditions of enhanced upwelling and increased phytoplanktonic production associated with the intensification of northerly winds. Upwelling strengthening in this area, attributed to recent global warming, could provoke an increase in phytoplankton biomass with consequent biological, climatological and socioeconomical impacts. The imprint of anthropic activities has been recorded by the increasing Pb/Al ratios for the last 400 cal. yr BP.
Participatory monitoring of changes in coastal and marine biodiversity

This study reports results obtained from participatory monitoring conducted in Tanzania in two types of keystone ecosystems, mangrove forests and coral reefs. The report also analyses participatory monitoring as an effective tool in environmental conservation and management. Participatory monitoring data collected from three mangrove areas subjected to different levels of human impacts, low, moderate and high, clearly indicated the effects on mangrove basal area and species diversity. Participatory coral reef monitoring clearly showed degradation due to human impacts in one are and definite positive trends over time due to management interventions in another area. Participatory monitoring produces large amounts of informative data in a short time at low cost. Moreover, it has profound positive impact on the participants in terms of enhancing their environmental awareness, creating a feeling of “ownership” of the environment and motivating them to protect and restore the ecosystems they monitor. However, in order for participatory monitoring to be successful, there should be proper selection of participants, adequate training and on-going supervision by experts.
Influence of fine sediment on macroinvertebrate colonization of surface and hyporheic stream substrates

--Coloni:tation of macroinvertebrates was assessed in a stream impacted by inputs of fine sediments. Colonization was examined at lhe stream surface and within the hyporheos with Whitlock·Vibert (W-V) boxes. Hyporheic areas accumulated much greater amounts of all size categories of sediment. No significant difference was observed in the amounts of organic mutter accumulated at either depth. Only 150-,um sediment had significant effects on macroinvertebrate total numbers and number of taxa. Total numbers of invertebrates at 30 cm were only 20% of those at the sur· face. Canonical Correspondence Analysis indicated that the strongest influence on macroinvertebrates colonizing W·V boxes at the surface was stream size and secondarily fine sediments. Within the hyporheos, abundance of fine . ~ediment was the dominant influence on macroinvertebmte assemblages. Impacts of sedimentation on h~'porheic environments can have significant and persistent impad's on streams.
Fractions in teaching practice with fifth graders

Studies of learning processes about fractions are mostly based in individual responses to standardized tests. From the results, supposedly replicable, researchers statistically establish tendencies in the evolution of students’ thinking. However students learn in different environments compared to those designed by researchers. While researching inside classrooms for instance it seems that the findings cannot be replicated given the environmental unique features. Contrasting the findings from researches focused on classroom events to others based on tests, one can ask if it is possible to build a bridge between the two perspectives, which seem mutually excludable. We propose an answer to this question giving to each perspective its value for teaching. Therefore we propose an approach that depicts the differences in schooling between what can be generalized and what cannot. We present an episode about teaching and learning fractions and decimals to illustrate our attempt to reconcile the two perspectives.
Promoting Functional Outcome of Stroke Patients: The Effect of Regulatory Focus, Therapy Frequency and Message Framing

The purpose of this study was to find out how stroke patients' chronic regulatory focus interacted with message framing had impact on the therapy frequency and functional outcome. A one factor (chronic regulatory focus) x 2 (message framing: gain vs. loss) between-subject design was employed with questionnaire and evaluation form. Ninety-six stroke patients recruited from different medical units in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan were randomly assigned to read one of two messages. Therapy frequency and functional outcome, Barthel Index were used as dependent variables. One way ANOVA repeated measure, regression analyses and simple slope analysis were used to examine the effects. The results indicated that chronic regulatory focus had long term effects on the therapy frequency, and Barthel Index. The mediating effect of therapy frequency and the interaction effect between chronic regulatory focus and message framing were not supported, but the simple slope analysis showed that gain-framed message was more likely to prompt therapy frequency on patients with stroke. This study provided the practitioners guidelines to design the persuasive message to facilitate therapy and sustain the behavior.
2-D non-periodic homogenization to upscale elastic media for P–SV waves

SUMMARY The purpose of this paper is to give an upscaling tool valid for the wave equation in general elastic media. This paper is focused on P–SV wave propagation in 2-D, but the methodology can be extended without any theoretical difficulty to the general 3-D case. No assumption on the heterogeneity spectrum is made and the medium can show rapid variations of its elastic properties in all spatial directions. The method used is based on the two-scale homogenization expansion, but extended to the non-periodic case. The scale separation is made using a spatial low-pass filter. The ratio of the filter wavelength cut-off and the minimum wavelength of the propagating wavefield defines a parameter e0 with which the wavefield propagating in the homogenized medium converges to the reference wavefield. In the general case, this nonperiodic extension of the homogenization technique is only valid up to the leading order and for the so-called first-order corrector. We apply this non-periodic homogenization procedure to two kinds of heterogeneous media: a randomly generated, highly heterogeneous medium and the Marmousi2 geological model. The method is tested with the Spectral Element Method as a solver to the wave equation. Comparing computations in the homogenized media with those obtained in the original ones shows that convergence with e0 is even better than expected. The effects of the leading order correction to the source and first correction at the receivers’ location are shown.
Attitudes Toward Bisexuality According to Sexual Orientation and Gender

ABSTRACT Despite increasing support for lesbian and gay individuals, the same degree of tolerance has not extended to bisexual individuals, and bisexual invisibility and biphobia are continuing problems that affect the mental health and well-being of people who are bisexual. There is evidence that attitudes toward people who are bisexual may vary by one's own sexual orientation or gender. In the present study, the authors examined differences in attitudes toward people who are bisexual by sexual orientation and gender. The authors also asked participants who were bisexual to describe their experiences of being stigmatized. This study found significant effects for sexual orientation but not for gender; specifically, heterosexual participants reported significantly more biphobia and negative bisexual attitudes than participants who were gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Further, participants who were bisexuals reported feeling most stigmatized by individuals who were heterosexual. The results of this study indicate that attitudes toward bisexuality differ by sexual orientation but not by gender. The authors suggest implications for the mental health and well-being of people who are bisexual as well as possible interventions.
A model intercomparison of CCN-limited tenuous clouds in the high Arctic

Abstract. We perform a model intercomparison of summertime high Arctic (> 80∘ N) clouds observed during the 2008 Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS) campaign, when observed cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations fell below 1 cm−3. Previous analyses have suggested that at these low CCN concentrations the liquid water content (LWC) and radiative properties of the clouds are determined primarily by the CCN concentrations, conditions that have previously been referred to as the tenuous cloud regime. The intercomparison includes results from three large eddy simulation models (UCLALES-SALSA, COSMO-LES, and MIMICA) and three numerical weather prediction models (COSMO-NWP, WRF, and UM-CASIM). We test the sensitivities of the model results to different treatments of cloud droplet activation, including prescribed cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNCs) and diagnostic CCN activation based on either fixed aerosol concentrations or prognostic aerosol with in-cloud processing. There remains considerable diversity even in experiments with prescribed CDNCs and prescribed ice crystal number concentrations (ICNC). The sensitivity of mixed-phase Arctic cloud properties to changes in CDNC depends on the representation of the cloud droplet size distribution within each model, which impacts autoconversion rates. Our results therefore suggest that properly estimating aerosol–cloud interactions requires an appropriate treatment of the cloud droplet size distribution within models, as well as in situ observations of hydrometeor size distributions to constrain them. The results strongly support the hypothesis that the liquid water content of these clouds is CCN limited. For the observed meteorological conditions, the cloud generally did not collapse when the CCN concentration was held constant at the relatively high CCN concentrations measured during the cloudy period, but the cloud thins or collapses as the CCN concentration is reduced. The CCN concentration at which collapse occurs varies substantially between models. Only one model predicts complete dissipation of the cloud due to glaciation, and this occurs only for the largest prescribed ICNC tested in this study. Global and regional models with either prescribed CDNCs or prescribed aerosol concentrations would not reproduce these dissipation events. Additionally, future increases in Arctic aerosol concentrations would be expected to decrease the frequency of occurrence of such cloud dissipation events, with implications for the radiative balance at the surface. Our results also show that cooling of the sea-ice surface following cloud dissipation increases atmospheric stability near the surface, further suppressing cloud formation. Therefore, this suggests that linkages between aerosol and clouds, as well as linkages between clouds, surface temperatures, and atmospheric stability need to be considered for weather and climate predictions in this region.
Determination of free amino acids in blood plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A high-performance liquid chromatography method with pre-column derivatization for separation and quantification of free amino acids in blood plasma samples is described. Plasma samples after deproteinization with 5-sulphosalicylic acid are used for derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA) in the presence 2-mercaptoethanol (reagent 1) or ethanethiol (reagent 2). Primary amino acid derivatives were separated on a C-18 Nova-Pak column (4 um, 250 x 4.6 mm I.D., Waters) by gradient elution and fluorescence detection. Cystine, cysteine and proline are oxidized with sodium hypochlorite prior to derivatization with OPA in the presence of ethanethiol. Separations of derivatives of oxidized amino acids are carried out using a C-18 Symmetry column (5 um, 250 x 4.6 mm I.D., Waters) by gradient elution and fluorescence detection. A l l OPA amino acid derivatives are detected with a monochromator set at 338 nm with a 425 nm cut-off filter. Clear resolution of at least seventeen amino acids and taurine was obtained in about 42 min. Low values of within and between run coefficients of variation, rapid derivatization and high sensitivity (in femtomole range) render this HPLC method suitable for routine free amino acid determinations in a large number of blood plasma samples.