Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assurance of Learning in a Writing-Intensive Business Course.

Writing intensive courses provide a means of addressing declining student writing proficiency. Programmatic learning goals accomplished through a writing-intensive course can be used to develop students’ writing skills. For business communication faculty members to maximize the value of their courses to business programs, they should demonstrate the important relationship between achieving learning goals for a degree program and the student learning objectives for a business writing-intensive class. Multiple assessment measures should be used including those of the instructor, students, and external evaluators. The results of these assessments should be used to tweak the course and make course revisions that will improve students’ writing skills and enhance their performance in the workplace.
Orthogonal design for scale invariant feature transform optimization

Abstract. To improve object recognition capabilities in applications, we used orthogonal design (OD) to choose a group of optimal parameters in the parameter space of scale invariant feature transform (SIFT). In the case of global optimization (GOP) and local optimization (LOP) objectives, our aim is to show the operation of OD on the SIFT method. The GOP aims to increase the number of correctly detected true matches (NoCDTM) and the ratio of NoCDTM to all matches. In contrast, the LOP mainly aims to increase the performance of recall–precision. In detail, we first abstracted the SIFT method to a 9-way fixed-effect model with an interaction. Second, we designed a mixed orthogonal array, MA(64,23420,2), and its header table to optimize the SIFT parameters. Finally, two groups of parameters were obtained for GOP and LOP after orthogonal experiments and statistical analyses were implemented. Our experiments on four groups of data demonstrate that compared with the state-of-the-art methods, GOP can access more correct matches and is more effective against object recognition. In addition, LOP is favorable in terms of the recall–precision.
Paths towards coalition defection: Democracies and withdrawal from the Iraq War

Abstract Despite widespread public opposition to the Iraq War, numerous democracies joined the US-led multinational force. However, while some stayed until the end of coalition operations, and several increased their deployments over time, others left unilaterally. How to explain this variation? While some studies suggest that democratic defection from security commitments is primarily motivated by electoral incentives or leadership change, scholars have not reached a consensus on this issue. To account for the complex interplay between causal factors, this article develops an integrative theoretical framework, using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) on original data on the Iraq War involvement of 51 leaders from 29 democracies. The findings document the existence of multiple paths towards coalition defection. Among others, the results show that: (1) leadership change led to early withdrawal only when combined with leftist partisanship and the absence of upcoming elections; (2) casualties and coalition commitment played a larger role than previously assumed; and (3) coalition defection often occurred under the same leaders who had made the initial decision to deploy to Iraq, and who did not face elections when they made their withdrawal announcements.
Extreme Uncertainty and Forward-Looking Disclosure Properties

This study investigates the effect of extreme uncertainty on disclosure behavior by analyzing the quality and quantity of forward-looking disclosures during the global financial crisis and pre-crisis periods, controlling for other determinants of disclosure behavior. Prior research has struggled to distinguish between the quality and quantity dimensions of forward-looking disclosures. Also, the impact of the recent financial crisis on these forward-looking disclosure attributes has not yet been examined systematically. We address this gap by exploiting the unique setting of German publicly traded firms. These firms must provide forward-looking information within their audited financial statements, although relevant regulation is sufficiently vague to allow great variation in the quality, scope and quantity of forward-looking disclosures actually observed. Using hand-collected data from 2005 to 2009, we provide evidence of a significantly negative association between crisis and disclosure quality. This finding is robust to several different disclosure quality proxies and regression specifications. In contrast, we find no negative significant relation between crisis and disclosure quantity; rather, there is evidence that reported volume increases during the crisis. Our results are consistent with extreme uncertainty, as occurring during times of crisis, negatively affecting the quality of voluntary disclosures, while firms maintain or increase disclosure quantity, ultimately diluting the information density of forward-looking disclosures.
AT LAST: Recent Applications of New Literacy Studies in Educational Contexts

I would like to set out some principles on which application of the New Literacy Studies (NLS) to education could be based (Street 1997, 1999). Firstly, what is NLS, and how might it be relevant to schooling? NLS represents a shift in perspective on the study and acquisition of literacy, from the dominant cognitive model, with its emphasis on reading, to a broader understanding of literacy practices in their social and cultural contexts (Gee, 1996; Street, 1993). This approach has been particularly influenced by those who have advocated an ethnographic perspective, in contrast to the experimental and often individualistic character of psychological studies of reading (Barton 8c Hamilton, 2000; Collins, 1995; Heath, 1993). NLS approaches focus on the everyday meanings and uses of literacy in specific cultural contexts and link directly to how we understand the work of literacy in educational contexts.
A moderate reduction in irrigation and nitrogen improves water-nitrogen use efficiency, productivity, and profit under new type of drip irrigated spring wheat system

Rational irrigation and nitrogen management strategies are crucial for wheat growth. However, the optimal amount of water and nitrogen for the newly developed drip irrigated spring wheat system (TR6S, one drip tube service for six rows of wheat, with a row spacing of 10 cm and an inter-block space of 25 cm, saves drip tubes and obtains higher profits) in dry and semi-arid areas remains unclear. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted with four nitrogen levels (300, 270, 240, and 0 kg ha−1 referred N300, N270, N240, and N0) and four irrigation levels (4500, 4200, 3900, and 3600 m3 ha−1 referred I4500, I4200, I3900, and I3600) during the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 spring wheat seasons to analyze the effects of irrigation (I) and nitrogen (N) levels on grain yield, water-nitrogen use efficiency, profit, biomass accumulation, and nitrogen nutrient absorption status under TR6S. Compared with the traditional irrigation and nitrogen management strategy (N300–I4500, as control), lesser irrigation and nitrogen supply (I<3979 m3 ha−1 and N<273 kg ha−1) saved cost but led to lower grain yield, water use efficiency (WUE), agronomic efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer (AEN), and profit. However, a moderate reduction in irrigation and nitrogen supply (4500 m3 ha−1>I>3979 m3 ha−1 and 300 kg ha−1 >N>273 kg ha−1) improved grain yield, WUE, AEN, and profit. The increase in grain yield was mainly related to the rise in 1000-grain weight and kernels per spike. Although the moderate reduction in irrigation lowered soil moisture status, the dry matter pre-stored in the vegetative organs before anthesis that gets redistributed into grains during grain filling was improved. Moreover, the moderate reduction in nitrogen supply resulted in a more reasonable nitrogen nutrition index (NNI) of wheat plant, which improved flag leaf area and chlorophyll relative content (SPAD) at the anthesis stage. This also played a positive role in biomass accumulation and redistributed, yield structure optimization. Considering comprehensively yield, WUE, AEN and profit, combination of 285 kg ha−1 N and 4170 m3 ha−1 I was optimal irrigation and nitrogen application pattern for TR6S. This strategy can be applied to other arid and semi-arid regions.
Heart fatty acid-binding protein is associated with phosphorylated tau and longitudinal cognitive changes

Background Perturbation of lipid metabolism is associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Heart fatty acid-binding protein (HFABP) is an adipokine playing an important role in lipid metabolism regulation. Materials and methods Two datasets separately enrolled 303 and 197 participants. First, we examine the associations of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) HFABP levels with cognitive measures [including Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes (CDRSB), and the cognitive section of Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale] and AD biomarkers (CSF amyloid beta and tau levels). Second, we examine the longitudinal associations of baseline CSF HFABP levels and the variability of HFABP with cognitive measures and AD biomarkers. Structural equation models explored the mediation effects of AD pathologies on cognition. Results We found a significant relationship between CSF HFABP level and P-tau (dataset 1: β = 2.04, p < 0.001; dataset 2: β = 1.51, p < 0.001). We found significant associations of CSF HFABP with longitudinal cognitive measures (dataset 1: ADAS13, β = 0.09, p = 0.008; CDRSB, β = 0.10, p = 0.003; MMSE, β = −0.15, p < 0.001; dataset 2: ADAS13, β = 0.07, p = 0.004; CDRSB, β = 0.07, p = 0.005; MMSE, β = −0.09, p < 0.001) in longitudinal analysis. The variability of HFABP was associated with CSF P-tau (dataset 2: β = 3.62, p = 0.003). Structural equation modeling indicated that tau pathology mediated the relationship between HFABP and cognition. Conclusion Our findings demonstrated that HFABP was significantly associated with longitudinal cognitive changes, which might be partially mediated by tau pathology.
Detection of anti-M. leprae antibodies in healthy children in China: A systematic review of Chinese literature

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) that mainly involves the skin and peripheral nerves, causing lifelong deformities and social stigma. As evident from the practically stable number of new cases reported worldwide during the past decade, transmission is still ongoing. On route to leprosy elimination, an appropriate tool is needed to monitor M. leprae transmission. M. leprae-specific antibodies indicate infection with M. leprae, but do not differentiate between present and past infection. Nevertheless, detection of M. leprae infection in young children per definition indicates recent infection. Hence, seroprevalence in young children can be used to monitor recent M. leprae transmission. Despite having eliminated leprosy in most parts of the country, studies on transmission conducted in China are not sufficiently reported in the English literature. Therefore, we performed a systematic review of Chinese literature describing serological studies in healthy children in (former) leprosy endemic areas in China, available in the Chinese databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and Wanfang Database. From the 710 articles identified in these three Chinese databases, only four full-text articles fulfilled all inclusion criteria regarding sufficiently detailed descriptions of anti-M. leprae antibodies in healthy children. Two additional papers were identified through snowballing, resulting in a total of six articles considered for this review reporting quantitative serological data from three Chinese provinces between 1987 and 2003. All studies used ELISAs to quantify antibody levels. Seroprevalence in healthy children ranged from 7.93% (Yunnan) to 32.35% (Jiangsu). If the same method was used (in Jiangsu), direct comparison of studies at different time points indicated that decrease in disease prevalence (0.28 to 0.16 per 100,000) or new case detection rate (2.6 to 1.0 per 100,000) from 1987-1991 corresponded to decrease in anti-M. leprae antibody seroprevalence (30.86% to 22.61%) in healthy children. Thus, these findings are consistent with the previous finding that anti-M. leprae antibody seroprevalence in young children represents a surrogate indicator to monitor transmission.
Therapeutic drug monitoring practices of anti-infectives: An Asia-wide cross-sectional survey

Objectives: The current practice of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in Asia is poorly documented. Our aim was to capture and describe TDM services delivered in hospitals across Asia, including aspects such as assay availability, interpretation of results and clinical decision-making. Methods: An online survey about anti-infective TDM practices, available in English and involving 50 questions, was promoted to people involved in TDM in Asia. The survey was open for responses from September to November 2021. Results: Of 207 responses from participants working in 14 Asian countries, 150 responses from 10 countries could be included. TDM services are available for many anti-infectives, providing assays based on chromatographic assays (100.0%) or immunoassays (39.3%). Clinicians (82.6%) and pharmacists (86.8%) were responsible for ordering and interpreting TDM. Most services provided reference targets and dose recommendations. Interpretative support was available to a varying degree. Assay results were available and clinical decision-making could be completed within 24 h in most hospitals (87.9% and 88.9% respectively). As the turnaround time of assay results decreased, the proportion of clinical decision-making completed within 8 h increased. Barriers to implementation of TDM included lack of funding or equipment (71.1%), lack of clinician interest or cooperation (47.0%), and lack of expertise (42.3%). Lack of expertise was the primary barrier for using precision dosing software (50.5%). Conclusion: There are significant differences and challenges in the development and practice of anti-infective TDM in Asian countries.
Spoken word recognition of accented and unaccented speech: Lexical factors affecting native and non-native listeners

We examined the effect of a “mismatch” between a listener’s phonological representations and speech input on spoken word recognition. Native Spanish (NS) and native English (NE) listeners were asked to write down 80 English words that were presented in noise. The words differed in neighborhood density (ND: dense versus sparse); half were Spanish-accented (produced by a NS talker), the other half were unaccented (i.e., produced by a NE talker). We hypothesized that phonological mismatches would occur when NS listeners responded to unaccented words and when NE listeners responded to Spanish-accented words. Further, the effect of the mismatch was expected to be greater for words from dense versus sparse neighborhoods because these words can be confused with many minimally-paired neighbors. The results supported the mismatch hypothesis. NS listeners showed a larger ND effect for unaccented than Spanish-accented stimuli, whereas NE listeners showed a larger ND effect for Spanish-accented than unaccented stimuli.
Empathy development from adolescence to adulthood and its consistency across targets

This research was conducted with two main goals—to contribute to knowledge on the development of empathy from early adolescence to adulthood, including its contribution to decoding emotion expression, and to improve the understanding of the nature of empathy by simultaneously assessing empathy toward two different targets—humans and animals. It unfolded into two cross-sectional studies: One (S1) obtaining measures of empathy toward humans and animals as targets across five age groups (from pre-adolescents to adults); and another (S2) where a subset of the adolescents who participated in S1 were assessed in emotion expression decoding and subjective and physiological responses to emotional video clips. The results of S1 showed that empathy toward animals and most dimensions of empathy toward humans increase toward adulthood, with important gender differences in empathy to animals and humans, and empathy levels in girls starting off in the age trajectory at higher levels, A moderate correlation between empathy toward human and toward animal targets was also found. S2 showed that the expression of positive emotion is better recognized than that of negative emotion, surprise, or neutral expression, and that the measure of human-directed empathy predicts successful decoding of negative emotion, whereas skin conductance responses (SCRs) and subjective valence ratings predicted successful identification of positive emotion. Gender differences emerged but not across all age groups nor all subscales. Results yield keys to the developmental “pace” and trajectory of the various dimensions of empathy and to how empathy relates to emotion decoding.
Evaluation of feedback methods for improved detection of hindlimb lameness in horses among riding instructors and trainers

Lameness, a wellknown issue in sport horses, impedes performance and impairs welfare. Early detection of lameness is essential for horses to receive needed treatment, but detection of hindlimb lameness is challenging. Riding instructors and trainers observe horses in motion in their daily work and could contribute to more efficient lameness detection. In this cross-sectional and prospective study, we evaluated the ability of riding instructors and trainers to assess hindlimb lameness. We also evaluated different feedback methods for improved lameness detection. For the cross-sectional part, n = 64 riding instructors and trainers of varying level and n = 23 high-level trainers were shown 13 videos of trotting horses, lameness degree: 0–3.5 (test 1) and tasked with classifying the horses as sound, left hindlimb lame, or right hindlimb lame. For the prospective part, the riding instructors and trainers of varying levels were randomly allocated to three different groups (a, b, c) and given 14 days of feedback-based, computer-aided training in identifying hindlimb lameness, where they assessed 13 videos (of which three were repeated from test 1) of horses trotting in a straight line. Participants in groups a-c received different feedback after each video (group a: correct answer and re-viewing of video at full and 65% speed; group b: correct answer, re-viewing of video at full and 65% speed, narrator providing explanations; group c: correct answer and re-viewing of video at full speed). After computer-aided training, the participants were again subjected to the video test (test 2). Participants also provided background information regarding level of training etcetera. Effects of participants' background on results were analyzed using analysis of variance, and effects of the different feedback methods were analyzed using generalized estimation equations. On test 1, 44% (group a), 48% (b), 46% (c), and 47% (high-level trainers) of horses were correctly classified. Group a participants significantly improved their test score, both with (p < 0.0001) and without (p = 0.0086) inclusion of repeated videos. For group c, significant improvement was only seen with inclusion of repeated videos (p = 0.041). For group b, no significant improvement was seen (p = 0.51). Although test 2 scores were low, computer-aided training may be useful for improving hindlimb lameness detection.
Presenting features of neuroblastoma with spinal canal invasion. A prospective study of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology Europe - Neuroblastoma (SIOPEN)

Introduction Between 5 and 15% of children with neuroblastoma (NB) present with or develop spinal canal invasion (SCI). The majority of these children have symptoms of epidural compression of spinal cord and/or spinal nerves. Treatment of NB-SCI is considered an emergency but its modalities are not yet well-established. Independently of treatment, NB-SCI may result in significant long-term disabilities. We report on the first prospective study of NB-SCI focused on presenting characteristics of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients and correlation between SCI-related symptoms and imaging features. Materials and methods This SIOPEN prospective NB-SCI study opened in June 2014. Patient data including SCI symptoms evaluated by standardized measures and spinal cord imaging studies were collected for each patient. For the purpose of this study data entry was locked on July 2021. Results Of the 208 NB-SCI patients registered, 196 were evaluable for this analysis of whom 67% were symptomatic and 33% asymptomatic. Median age was 11 months. The thorax was the commonest primary tumor site. The median intervals between initial symptoms and diagnosis and between first medical visit and diagnosis were 14 and 3 days, respectively. The was no statistical difference in frequency of presenting characteristics between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Presenting features of NB-SCI patients differed from other NBs for older median age, prevalence of thoracic vs. abdominal primary site, prevalence of localized vs. metastatic disease and lower incidence of MYCN gene amplification. The most common SCI features were motor deficit in the younger and pain in the older patients that correlated on imaging with both transverse and longitudinal extent but not with the level of intraspinal tumor. Spinal cord T2-hyperintensity was more frequently detected in symptomatic patients (not significant). Conclusion This prospective study confirms that children with NB-SCI differ from NBs without SCI. Compared to previous studies, it provides more detailed information regarding presenting symptoms, time intervals between SCI symptoms, medical visit and diagnosis, and correlations between symptoms and imaging features.
Women’s Right of Inheritance: Choices and Challenges in Punjab

Women‟s right of inheritance is an indispensable right which assures their socioeconomic and political empowerment. Although the Shari„ah law and the constitution of Pakistan safeguard this right, its denial is pervasive in Punjab. This paper explores the possible choices for women and subsequent challenges they confront in independently exercising these choices. The chosen methodology is qualitative in nature. The ontological stance of interpretive school and epistemological stance of social constructionist school of thought have been followed. Through theoretical sampling technique, thirty women were recruited as sample from Mianwali, Rahim Yar Khan and Lahore. Data was collected through an in-depth interview guide and the results have been derived through thematic analysis. The findings of the study portray the contemporary trend among women in Punjab to surrender their right of inheritance in favor of the male agnatic heirs. Among the socio-cultural determinants influencing the choices of women, patriarchal set-up, misinterpretation of divine commands, lack of awareness, stringent legal procedures and lower educational levels are the most significant. The study recommends effective awareness about inheritance rights both through accessible legal procedures and with the promotion of female education so that females be able to make informed choices
A Comparison of Instructional Strategies: Does How You Teach Mathematics Matter?

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