Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comprehension Strategy Instruction and Iranian High School EFL Learners' Reading Anxiety and Reading Comprehension

The present study was conducted to examine empirically and systematically the effect of explicit instruction of comprehension strategies on EFL learners’ reading anxiety and reading comprehension in Iranian high schools. To this end, two intact classes (65 students) participated in this study as members of control and experimental groups. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of reading strategies training based on McNamara, Ozuro, Best, and O’Reilly's (2007) 4-pronged Comprehension Strategy Framework. Data were collected through the employment of Saito, Garza, and Horwitz's (1999) Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and Preliminary English Test (PET) multiple-choice reading comprehension tests. All the students filled the FLRAS questionnaire and took the reading comprehension test two times, once as a pre-test one week before the beginning of instruction and the other as a post-test one week after the instructional treatment. After the post-test, a group of 7 students who received instruction participated in the focus group interview. T-tests were used to analyze the obtained statistical data. It was revealed that explicit reading strategy instruction was quite beneficial in improving EFL high school students' comprehension and reducing their anxiety level, while reading anxiety and reading comprehension were negatively correlated. The results of the interview with the focus group revealed the positive effect of strategy training on learners' reading comprehension and alleviating reading anxiety. This study rendered some educational implications for materials developers and instructors to invest on reading as a fundamental skill in education.
Learning As It Happens: A Decade of Analyzing and Shaping a Large-Scale Online Learning System

With the advent of computers in education, and the ample availability of online learning and practice environments, enormous amounts of data on learning become available. The purpose of this paper is to present a decade of experience with analyzing and improving an online practice environment for math, which has thus far recorded over a billion responses. We present the methods we use to both steer and analyze this system in real-time, using scoring rules on accuracy and response times, a tailored rating system to provide both learners and items with current ability and difficulty ratings, and an adaptive engine that matches learners to items. Moreover, we explore the quality of fit by means of prediction accuracy and parallel item reliability. Limitations and pitfalls are discussed by diagnosing sources of misfit, like violations of unidimensionality and unforeseen dynamics. Finally, directions for development are discussed, including embedded learning analytics and a focus on online experimentation to evaluate both the system itself and the users’ learning gains. Though many challenges remain open, we believe that large steps have been made in providing methods to efficiently manage and research educational big data from a massive online learning system.
Expulsion of zooxanthellae ( Symbiodinium ) from several species of scleractinian corals: comparison under non-stress conditions and thermal stress conditions

Corals expel zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium) not only under thermal stress conditions, but also under nonstress conditions. To better understand the significance of this, we compared cell numbers, morphologies and photosynthetic activities of the expelled Symbiodinium under different temperatures for six species of scleractinian corals; Acropora selago, Acropora muricata, Heliofungia actiniformis, Ctenactis echinata, Oxypora lacera and Pocil­ lopora eydouxi, kept in aquariua. During the eight day aquarium experiment, every coral expelled two types of Symbiodinium morphologies, normal and degraded form, and the ratios of these forms differed depending on the temperature. Under a non-stress, initial temperature condition of 27°C, mainly degraded cells were expelled. In contrast, when the water temperature was increased and reached to 32°C, the expulsion rates drastically increased, except P. eydouxi, and almost all the expelled populations exhibited normal cell morphology. Under this thermal stress conditions, photosystem II maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm) of expelled Symbiodinium from two Acroporidae and two Fungiidae was 35% lower than those retained in the tissue, but was not significantly different in the cases of O. lacera and P. eydouxi. These results indicate that, under the non-stress conditions, the corals functionally regulate Symbiodinium density by expelling degraded cells. This function may collapse under hightemperature stress, resulting in the extensive loss of healthy-looking but photosynthetically damaged Symbio­ dinium, probably because of host cell detachment. Moreover, susceptibilities toward temperature increase might be different in coral species or symbiont types and result in the differences of expulsion amounts or photosynthesis damages.
Synthesis and Spectroscopic Characterization of Undoped Nanocrytalline ZnO Particles Prepared by Co-Precipitation

A series of undoped nanocrystalline ZnO particles were successfully synthesized at various dry temperatures (100? C - 600? C) using coprecipitation method. The samples were characterized using a variety of experimental methods such as x-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), thermal analysis TG-DTA, UV-vis spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). According to XRD analysis, all of our ZnO samples posses the hexagonal wurzite structure with average crystallite size increased ranging from 19 - 23 nm as dry temperature increased. Optical absorption spectra show that the band gap shifted to the lower energy with increasing crystallite size. ESR measurements showed the resonance of electron centers with the g values of about 1.96. With increasing dry temperature we observed the decrease of the g values and the increase of the intensities of the ESR signal. In addition an increase in dry temperature results in a pronounce decrease of OH local vibrational modes. The results from ESR measurements are well supported by the results obtained from Infrared absorption spectroscopy and thermal analysis measurements.
Lower and upper bounds of returns to schooling : An exercise in IV estimation with di ! erent instruments

Several recent studies based on &exogenous' sources of variation in educational outcomes show IV estimates of returns to schooling that are substantially higher than the corresponding OLS estimates. Card (1995a, Earnings, schooling, and ability revisited. Research in Labor Economics 14, 23}48) suggests that these results are explained by the existence of heterogenity in individual returns and by the fact that these studies are based on instruments that in#uence only the educational decision of individuals with high marginal returns due to either liquidity constraints or to high ability. This conclusion is consistent with the local average treatment e! ect (LATE) interpretation of IV (Imbens and Angrist, 1994, Identi"cation and estimation of local average treatment e! ects. Econometrica 62, 467}475) according to which IV identi"es only the average returns of those who comply with the assignment-to-treatment mechanism implied by the instrument. We show evidence for Germany suggesting that returns to schooling are heterogeneous, instruments matter and the LATE interpretation of IV makes sense. With an appropriate choice of instruments we also show how IV can be used to approximate the range of variations of returns to schooling in Germany. ( 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. *Corresponding author. E-mail: ichino@datacomm.iue.it. 0014-2921/99/$ } see front matter ( 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 1 4 2 9 2 1 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 0 2 0 JEL classixcation: J31; I21; J24; C25
Influence of PMMA-Chain-End Tethered Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes on the Miscibility and Specific Interaction with Phenolic Blends

Two different molecular weights of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and PMMA containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (PMMA-POSS) homopolymers have been prepared via the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. The miscibility and specific interaction behaviors of PMMA-POSS and PMMA with phenolic resin were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR results reveal that at least three competing equilibriums are present in the phenolic/PMMA-POSS blend: self-association of phenolic (hydroxyl-hydroxyl), hydroxyl-siloxane inter- association between phenolic and POSS, and hydroxyl-carbonyl interassociation between phenolic and PMMA. Among these blends, single and higher Tgs of these phenolic/PMMA-POSS blends were observed than the corresponding phenolic/PMMA blends at same composition, revealing that a stronger interassociation interaction of hydroxyl-siloxane than the hydroxyl-carbonyl interaction. Furthermore, we also found the screening effect in phenolic/LPMMA-POSS blends that tends to significantly decrease the hydrogen bond formation of the hydroxyl-carbonyl interassociation.
Winter roost habitat use by Eurasian Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus in and around Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India

Roosts of Eurasian Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus were studied for four winters between 1996 and 2000 in and around Keoladeo National Park (KNP), eastern Rajasthan, India. Fourteen communal roosts were found, in which harriers gathered in loose aggregations of 11–132 birds. Roosts were situated in tall grasses and wetlands with floating vegetation in KNP, and in tall grasses, sedges, crops and bare ground in areas adjoining KNP. Birds shifted to roosts in wetlands and peripheral sites when grassland roosts in KNP were disturbed during the grass-cutting season. A comparison of roost sites with randomly selected non-roost sites in grassland indicated that birds preferred sites in tall grasses and further from the nearest trees and road.
Understanding Workplace Adoption of Social Networking Sites: Employers’ perspective

Studies on social networking sites (SNSs) rarely touched on the acceptance of SNS use in theworkplace. This study, in turn, attempts to fill this gap by explaining the acceptance of SNSuse in the workplace by proposing a research model for the acceptance of SNS use, based onthe technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), in orderto explain the intention of employers to adopt SNS use in the workplace. Structural equationmodeling (SEM) was used to examine the extent to which the perception of employers on thebenefits/usefulness, subjective norm, risks, and the ease of use of SNSs affect the intention toadopt the use of SNSs in the workplace. Data was collected from 81 employers in the U.S.The findings show that both perceived usefulness and perceived subjective norm are the maindeterminants of the intention to adopt social networking site use in the workplace.
Influence of the elevation-storage curve in the optimization of hydroplants

One of the most important physical characteristics of a reservoir is the elevation-storage curve. In most cases, linear simpliflcation is applied to this curve, which is approximated as a linear relationship. However, this simpliflcation can produce serious errors in the optimal solution. In this paper we consider a non-linear elevation-storage curve to be applied to the reservoir and therefore consider a non-linear problem. To obtain the optimal solution, the problem is formulated within the framework of optimal control theory using Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle. The advantage of this technique with respect to previous methods lies in the possibility of obtaining theoretical results whose implementation (and computational complexity) is feasible regardless of the non-linear characteristics of the problem. Results of the application of the method to a numerical example are presented and we show the difierences between the two approaches.
Response of Passerine Birds to an Irruption of a Pine Processionary Moth Thaumetopoea Pityocampa Population with a Shifted Phenology

Response of passerine birds to an irruption of a pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa population with a shifted phenology The main purpose of the present work was to investigate if the passerine community was able to respond to it localized irruption of a temporally shifted population of the pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa, the larval development of which takes place during the summer, called summer population (SP) The work wits conducted in the National Pine Forest of Leiria, a highly organised production forest, essentially consisting of maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, and located tit the central west coast of Portugal (39 degrees 50' N, 8 degrees 57' W, 30 - 50 m a.s.l.). The SP irrupted in a homogeneous area consisting of young pines Bird abundances and richness were estimated by point counts in the infested area and tit two similar non-infested areas The counts were made during all four seasons, covering all stages of the moth annual cycle and were repeated during two years The overall abundance of birds was similar tit both infested and non-infested areas However, the richness of canopy gleaners was higher in the SP area than tit a nearby non-infested area. Only two bird species responded numerically to the increased insect abundance the blackbird Turdus merula, and the great tit Pat-us major Thus the passerine community responded only to it limited degree to the irruption of the SP. Three factors might have accounted for the results. (i) the bird community consists mostly of territorial residents or short distance migrants and their low range of dispersal may decrease the probability of a response to a localized insect outbreak (it) The larvae of the pine processionary moth has urticating hairs which are considered to be an effective repellent defence against vertebrate predators, thus reducing (tic number of species that could react to the high caterpillar densities (iii) The simple vegetation structure of the forest, homogeneous stands of small Young trees, precludes the establishment of cavity nesters that constitute a large part of the canopy gleaners and most of the species which have been reported as potential T pityocampa predators However, results indicate that this important Mediterranean defoliator may have a positive effect on the canopy gleaners and on some species that are able to act as its predators. (Less)
Visions of Charity: Volunteer Workers and Moral Community

In the United States, public talk about charity for the poor is highly moralistic, even in our era of welfare reform. But how do we understand the actual experience of caring for the poor? This study looks at the front lines of volunteer involvement with the poor and homeless to assess what volunteer work means for those who do it. Rebecca Allahyari profiles volunteers at two charities - Loaves & Fishes and The Salvation Army - to show how they think about themselves and their work, providing new ways for discussing charity and morality. Allahyari explores these agencies' differing ideological orientations and the raced, classed, and gendered contexts they provide volunteers for doing charitable work. Drawing on participant observation, intensive interviewing, and content analysis of organizational publications, she looks in particular at the process of self-improvement for these volunteers. The competing visions of charity Allahyari finds at these two organizations reveal the complicated and contradictory politics of caring for the poor in the United States today.
Knowledge flows through patent collaborations: The effect of regional trade agreements. An empirical approach

This thesis analyzes the effect of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on international patent collaborations, as a measure of knowledge flows. Patent collaboration generate knowledge flows between inventors through interactions and learning opportunities. By the use of the European Patent Office’s Patstat database on patent applications and the gravity dataset from the french research institute CEPII, I estimate the effect of RTAs on international patent collaboration between inventors. The panel consists of 209 countries over the time period 1965 2006. The amount of patent collaboration between inventors residing in different countries will be estimated using the gravity model, which is a highly successful empirical model. Within my work, I extend the gravity equation with the outcome of international patent collaborations, as a measure of knowledge flow. Furthermore, I estimate this equation using OLS and Poisson regressions with countryyear specific fixed effects. To secure robustness, I use different estimation methods and subsamples of the data. I also investigate the effect of highand lowincome countries as well as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on international patent collaboration. From this, my findings suggest, positive, significant and robust effect of RTA on knowledge flow, measured by international patent collaboration. In particular, I find that joining a RTA increase international patent collaboration by 55%. Patent collaboration is also positively affected by the presence of a common language, a common border, colonial link and a common legal origin. While being negatively affected by distance. Additionally, I find that the effects are larger when RTAs include stronger rules for intellectual property rights. In total, the estimated effects on international patent collaborations are similar to the effects characterizing international trade, within the gravity framework.
Sovereign risk contagion in the Eurozone: a time-varying coefficient approach

This paper analyzes sovereign risk contagion in the Eurozone using an extension to the canonical model for contagion proposed by Pesaran and Pick (2007) and Metiu (2012) to allow for time-varying coefficients. This becomes necessary due to changes in the risk pricing of sovereign bonds since the onset of the recent crisis period and due to the presence of contagion in typically bounded time intervals. Controlling for changes in the risk pricing by investors, we detect several channels of pure contagion between 2008 and 2012. Further, we find that the bailout-programs for Greece, Ireland and Portugal led to a disruption in contagion of sovereign risk from these countries to Spain, Italy, France and Belgium as was desired by policymakers. For all countries considered, we observe an increase in the relevance of general risk aversion towards sovereign debt since May 2010. This development partially replaced the significance of country-specific credit risk factors in explaining bond yield spreads. Our model extension yields a device that is suitable to determine whether policy interventions are required and to judge their success ex-post.
GAMMA-RAY BURST REVERSE SHOCK EMISSION IN EARLY RADIO AFTERGLOWS

Reverse shock (RS) emission from gamma-ray bursts is an important tool in investigating the nature of the ejecta from the central engine. If the magnetization of the ejecta is not high enough to suppress the RS, a strong RS emission component, usually peaking in the optical/IR band early on, would provide an important contribution to early afterglow light curve. In the radio band, synchrotron self-absorption may suppress early RS emission and also delay the RS peak time. In this paper, we calculate the self-absorbed RS emission in the radio band under different dynamical conditions. In particular, we stress that the RS radio emission is subject to self-absorption in both RSs and forward shocks (FSs). We calculate the ratio between the RS to FS flux at the RS peak time for different frequencies, which is a measure of the detectability of the RS emission component. We then constrain the range of physical parameters for a detectable RS, in particular the role of magnetization. We notice that unlike optical RS emission which is enhanced by moderate magnetization, moderately magnetized ejecta do not necessarily produce a brighter radio RS due to the self-absorption effect. For typical parameters, the RS emission component would not be detectable below 1 GHz unless the medium density is very low (e.g., n < 10−3 cm−3 for the interstellar medium and A* < 5 × 10−4 for wind). These predictions can be tested using the afterglow observations from current and upcoming radio facilities such as the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the Low-Frequency Array, the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, and the Square Kilometer Array.
Commissioning experience and beam physics measurements at the SwissFEL Injector Test Facility

The SwissFEL Injector Test Facility operated at the Paul Scherrer Institute between 2010 and 2014, serving as a pilot plant and testbed for the development and realization of SwissFEL, the X-ray Free-Electron Laser facility under construction at the same institute. The test facility consisted of a laser-driven rf electron gun followed by an S-band booster linac, a magnetic bunch compression chicane and a diagnostic section including a transverse deflecting rf cavity. It delivered electron bunches of up to 200 pC charge and up to 250 MeV beam energy at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The measurements performed at the test facility not only demonstrated the beam parameters required to drive the first stage of an FEL facility, but also led to significant advances in instrumentation technologies, beam characterization methods and the generation, transport and compression of ultra-low-emittance beams. We give a comprehensive overview of the commissioning experience of the principal subsystems and the beam physics measurements performed during the operation of the test facility, including the results of the test of an in-vacuum undulator prototype generating radiation in the vacuum ultraviolet and optical range.
Matrix representations of Artin groups

We define matrix representations of Artin groups over a 2-variable Laurent-polynomial ring and show that in the rank 2 case, the representations are faithful. In the special case of Artin's braid group, our representation is a version of the Burau representation and our faithfulness theorem is a general- ization of the well-known fact that the Burau representation of Bi is faithful. In (4), Brieskorn and Saito coined the phrase "Artin groups" to denote a certain class of groups, defined by generators and relations, which stand in relationship to arbitrary Coxeter groups much as Artin's braid group Bn (1) stands in relationship to the symmetric group Sn. One of the nice features of Coxeter groups is that they have "standard" representations (6) as groups of matrices over the real numbers preserving a suitably defined bilinear form and that, moreover, these representations are faithful (see (3)). Our purpose here is to show the existence of analogous matrix representations of Artin groups over Laurent-polynomial rings preserving similarly defined sequilinear forms. Unfortunately, except in the simplest cases, the question of faithfulness of these Artin group representations remains open. In §1, we define Artin groups G m (by representation), a Hermitian form J, and unitary reflections for each given generator of G m ', these are defined using a given Coxeter matrix M. In §2, we show that the reflections associated to generators of G m define a matrix representation of G m (Theorem 1) and that when the pre- sentation of G m involves 2 generators, this representation is faithful (Theorem 2). We note that in the special case of the braid groups our representation is a version of the Burau representation ((5) or see (2)). The results below are first, a general- ization to arbitrary Artin groups of the author's observation (10) that the Burau representation of Bn is unitary and second, a generalization to arbitrary rank 2 Artin groups of the well-known fact (see (9 or 2) ) that the Burau representation of B3 is faithful.