Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison on Critical Thinking Skill and Cognitive Learning Outcome Among Students of X Grade with High and Low Academic Ability in Ternate Through Reading Questioning Answering (RQA) Strategy

Abstract : Equity of education can be attained by the implementation of Reading Questioning Answering (RQA) learning strategy. RQA has potential to optimize the critical thinking skills and cognitive learning outcome of students. The aim of this study is to compare the critical thinking skills and cognitive learning outcome among students with different academic ability through RQA strategy. The subjects are students in X grade of SMA Al-Khairat and SMAN 5 Ternate. The result showed that the critical thinking skills percentage of low academic ability students is higher 5.691% than high academic ability students, and the cognitive learning outcome percentage of low academic students is higher 7.067% than high academic students. Therefore, RQA able to empower the critical thinking skills and cognitive learning outcomes of low academic ability students Key Words : Critical Thinking Skills, Cognitive learning Outcome, Academic Ability, RQA strategy Abstrak : Upaya pemerataan pendidikan dapat dilakukan melalui penerapan strategi pembelajaran Reading Questioning Answering (RQA). RQA diketahui berpotensi untuk mengoptimalkan keterampilan berpikir kritis dan hasil belajar kognitif siswa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat perbandingan keterampilan berpikir kritis dan hasil belajar kognitif antara siswa berkemampuan akademik berbeda melalui strategi RQA. Subjek penelitian adalah siswa kelas X SMA AL-Khairaat dan SMA N 5 Kota Ternate.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa rata-rata presentase peningkatan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa berkemampuan akademik rendah lebih tinggi 5,691% dibandingkan siswa berkemampuan akademik tinggi sedangkan rata-rata presentase peningkatan hasil belajar kognitif siswa berkemampuan akademik rendah lebih tinggi 7,067% dibandingkan siswa berkemampuan akademik tinggi. Jadi, RQA mampu memberdayakan keterampilan berpikir kritis dan hasil belajar kognitif siswa pada kemampuan akademik rendah Kata kunc i: keterampilan berpikir kritis, hasil belajar kognitif, kemampuan akademik, strategi Pembelajaran RQA
Immediate Impact of Fast/Slow Paced Television on Pre-schoolers Executive Function

Research has provided evidence to suggest that television viewing can have negative consequences on children’s cognition. In particular research has suggested the pacing of television may be a fundamental factor which undermines executive functioning (EF). A recent study which used a between groups design showed that a short exposure to a fast paced show had an immediate negative impact upon pre-schoolers EF. This study investigated this further using a within groups design. A total of 21 4 year old children participated, and undertook 3 EF tasks after watching a slow paced and fast paced television clip of the same programme on separate visits. No significant difference was found in children’s performance on all 3 EF tasks and suggests that pace may not be the sole factor contributing factor to negative effects on EF. This is an under researched area and requires further investigation into possible immediate negative effects of television.
A study on the customer's acceptance towards Islamic banking products among non-Muslim in dual banking system

Islamic Bank gives the optional for customers either Muslim or non-Muslim to choose what type of products that made them convenience to have. According to the reports provided, the percentage of non-Muslim that prefers Islamic banking products is increasing every year. How non-Muslim communities can is thought to select banking products? This study will analyze the level of customers acceptance towards the IBP among non-Muslim that offered by IBS and the relationship with four factors including knowledge, understanding, awareness, and perception. Malaysia is a multicultural country but the percentage of Muslims is higher compare to other races (Chinese and Indian). Although, they have option to conventional banking products, but they still choosing IBP as their choices. At last of study, readers could be determining the relationship between few factors that drives non-Muslim customers with their acceptance on IBP. The factors are including customer's knowledge, customer's understanding, customer's positive perception, and the level of awareness perceived among non-Muslim customers. Researchers have carried out some analysis on information collected from 140 non-Muslim customers who have engaged with the Islamic banking products in Dual Banking System offered by conventional banks around Changlun, Jitra, and Alor Setar. The selection of samples was based on convenience and these customers were randomly picked. The data were collected through self-administered questionnaires distributed by researcher. A series of interview with banks personnel and customers were also conducted. The data was analyzed by SPSS system. Then, the finding of this study showed that there are significance relationship between customer's knowledge, customer's understanding, customer's positive perception, and the level of awareness perceived among non-Muslim customers and acceptance towards of IBP and services among non-Muslim.
Middlemen, Non-Profits, and Poverty

In many markets in developing countries, especially in remote areas, middlemen are thought to earn excessive profits. Non-profits come in to counter what is seen as middlemen's market power, and rich country consumers pay a "fair-trade" premium for products marketed by such non-profits. This paper provides answers to the following five questions. How exactly do middlemen and non-profits divide up the market? How do the price mark up and price pass-through differ between middleman and non-profits? What is the impact of non-profits entry on the wellbeing of the poor? Should the government subsidize the entry of non-profits, or the entry of middlemen? Should wealthy consumers in the North pay a premium for fair trade products, or should they support fair trade non-profits directly?
First language attrition and reversion among older migrants

Abstract Emigration usually requires speakers to become bilingual, and eventually they may even become dominant in their second language. This can lead to a gradual loss of proficiency in the first language, a phenomenon referred to as first language attrition. As migrants become elderly, however, they sometimes report a “reversion” in language dominance, whereby the second language, which they have used in their daily lives for years or decades, recedes and the first language becomes stronger again. There are largely anecdotal cases of communication between such speakers and their children who were not brought up to speak their parents' first language becoming impossible. It is, however, very difficult to separate fact from fiction in such reports. This article will give an overview of changes in lexical access and fluency in the first language of adult migrants. It will assess simplistic predictions for a linear development of first and second languages against a more complex perspective which takes into account psycholinguistic aspects of activation, inhibition, and cognitive ageing. The predictions made on this basis will be tested on a large-scale quantitative investigation of language proficiency among migrants of German and Dutch descent in the Netherlands and Canada.
Post-Den Emergence Behavior of Polar Bears ( Ursus maritimus ) in Northern Alaska

We observed polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) maternity den sites on Alaska’s North Slope in March 2002 and 2003 in an effort to describe bears’ post-den emergence behavior. During 40 sessions spanning 459 h, we observed 8 adults and 14 dependent cubs outside dens for 37.5 h (8.2% of total observation time). There was no significant difference between den emergence dates in 2002 (mean = 15 Mar ± 4.1 d) and 2003 (mean = 21 Mar ± 2.1 d). Following initial den breakout, polar bears remained at their den sites for 1.5 to 14 days (mean = 8.1 ± 5.1 d). The average length of stay in dens between emergent periods was significantly shorter in 2002 (1.79 h) than in 2003 (4.82 h). While outside, adult bears were inactive 49.5% of the time, whereas cubs were inactive 13.4% of the time. We found no significant relationships between den emergence activity and weather. Adult polar bears at den sites subjected to industrial activity exhibited significantly fewer bouts of vigilance than denned bears in undisturbed areas (t = -5.5164, df = 4, p = 0.00). However, the duration of vigilance behaviors at sites near industrial activity was not significantly shorter than at the other sites studied (t = -1.8902, df = 4, p = 0.07). Results for these bears were within the range of findings in other studies of denned polar bears.
Does corporate social responsibility matter to consumers in Indonesia

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and to explore the impact of CSR on consumers’ support in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach – A convenience sample of respondents in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, was collected. The final sample consisted of 254 surveys. Findings – The findings confirmed the applicability of Carroll’s (1979) categorization of CSRs to consumers in Indonesia but challenged the order of importance of these responsibilities. In addition, the results clearly indicated that perceptions of legal and philanthropic responsibilities significantly explained consumers’ support for responsible businesses. The results will assist managers operating in the developing countries, especially Indonesia. Research limitations/implications – The sample was taken from one city (i.e. Yogyakarta) in Indonesia and may not represent all Indonesians, as it is a culturally diverse country. Thus, this limits the generalizability of the fi.
Collateral Spread and Financial Development

We show that institutions that promote financial development ease borrowing constraints by lowering the collateral spread and shifting the composition of acceptable collateral towards firm‐specific assets. Collateral spread is defined as the difference in collateralization rates between high‐ and low‐risk borrowers. The average collateral spread is large but declines rapidly with improvements in financial development driven by stronger institutions. We also show that the composition of collateralizable assets shifts towards non‐specific assets (e.g., land) with borrower risk. However, the shift is considerably smaller in developed financial markets, enabling risky borrowers to use a larger variety of assets as collateral.
Simultaneous detection of cagA and cagE of Helicobacter pylori strains recovered from Iranian patients with different gastroduodenal diseases.

To asses the status of two representative genes of cag PAI i.e cagA and cagE of Helicobacter pylori strains infecting Iranian patients suffered from various clinical outcomes using one-step PCR. Methods: A total of 120 H. pylori infected patients including non-ulcer dyspepsia, NUD (n=81), peptic ulcer disease, PUD (n=17), and gastric carcinoma, GC (n= 22) referred for endoscopy or gastric resection to AmirAlam Hospital or Cancer Institute from 2005 to 2008 were assessed. The status of cagA and cagE genes was determined by gene specific PCR. Results: 84.2% and 90.8% of the tested strains were positive for cagA and cage, respectively. 81.7% strains were positive for both cagA and cagE genes, whereas 8 (6.7%) were found double negative. The prevalence of cagA in GC patients (100%) was slightly higher than PUD patients (94.1%). All of GC cases were infected with cagA-positive strains. The same distribution pattern was indicated for cagE gene in GC and PUD patients. The cagA-positive strains were significantly associated with GC as compared with NUD (P< 0.05) but this association did not gain statistical significance when cagE gene was assessed. Conclusion: The concurrent detection of cagA/cagE genes allowed rapid and specific clarification of cag PAI status. The strains with cagA/cagE genotype are predominant in Iran regardless of clinical outcome and create a distinct cluster pattern from those in the West and similar to those of East Asian countries. The current study also demonstrated that cagE gene can be explored as a better indication of cag-PAI in Iranian H. pylori strains.
Sequential eigen-assignment technique for structural damage identification

This research proposed an eigen-assignment technique for locating and identifying structural damages using an incomplete measurement set. The sequential method is computationally efficient and requires no sensitivity calculations. Established by the finite element method, the mass and stiffness matrices are partitioned and measured partial eigenvectors are expanded to full modes. By matching calculated eigen-pairs with their measured counterparts as the termination criterion, the procedure solves for the stiffness reduction coefficients sequentially using a nonnegative least-squares solution scheme. The proposed approach can still find the damaged locations and the extent of the damage in a structure with much less measured degrees of freedom and even less measured modes than the finite element analysis degrees of freedom. The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated by solving two cases based on a structure built for a benchmark study by the Group for Aeronautical Research and Technology in Europe (GARTEUR SM-AG19 structure).
Constructing Matrix Exponential Distributions by Moments and Behavior around Zero

This paper deals with moment matching of matrix exponential (ME) distributions used to approximate general probability density functions (pdf). A simple and elegant approach to this problem is applying Pade approximation to the moment generating function of the ME distribution. This approach may, however, fail if the resulting ME function is not a proper probability density function; that is, it assumes negative values. As there is no known, numerically stable method to check the nonnegativity of general ME functions, the applicability of Pade approximation is limited to low-order ME distributions or special cases. In this paper, we show that the Pade approximation can be extended to capture the behavior of the original pdf around zero and this can help to avoid representations with negative values and to have a better approximation of the shape of the original pdf. We show that there exist cases when this extension leads to ME function whose nonnegativity can be verified, while the classical approach results in improper pdf. We apply the ME distributions resulting from the proposed approach in stochastic models and show that they can yield more accurate results.
Reciprocal Instruction Improves Standardized Reading Comprehension Performance in Poor Grade-School Comprehenders.

A study hypothesized that if prediction, clarification, question-generation, and summarization strategies were taught using scaffolded instruction, then poor comprehenders might be able to learn the strategies so that they could apply them to text on their vwn and thereby improve their performance on standardized comprehension measures. Subjects were 36 fourth grade and 36 seventh grade poor comprehenders (all were English-speaking Canadians) who participated in 13 sessions of reading strategy instruction or reading practice (control condition). Students were instructed to make predictions when reading, to generate questions about text, to suwmarize what was read, and to clarify points that were hard to understand. The strategies were first taught using the reciprocal instruction approach developed by A. S. Palincsar and A. L. Brown, which involves providing support to students as they need it and peer teaching of strategies. Control subjects were exposed to the same materials as reciprocally trained students, but were given no strategy instructions. The most important finding was that a greater increase from before to after training on standardized reading comprehension occurred in the subjects who were reciprocally trained than in the control groups. This effect is important, given that standardized comprehension measures tap important reading skills and are used extensively in making curriculum and instruction decisions. Additional research in reciprocal instruction would be useful. (Five tables of data and one figure are included, and 43 references are attached.) (RAE) *************************g******************************************g** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. *************************g******************************************g** "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). " Reciprocal Instruction
Growth of Norway spruce seedlings after transplanting into silty soil amended with biochar: a bioassay in a growth chamber

Biochar (BC), the carbon-rich by-product resulting from pyrolysis of biomass, is used for bioenergy and increasingly as a soil additive for carbon sequestration and soil improvement. However, information about the effects of BC on forest productivity and reforestation success, especially on boreal and temperate forest soils, is scant. We examined the effects of two BC types (Canadian and Finnish) added in proportions up to 60 vol.% into a common alluvial silty soil on the growth of transplanted Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) seedlings in a growth chamber. We found no marked differences in seedling growth among the binary growing media mixes used. Seedling growth attributes (seedling height, terminal shoot growth, root volume) differed consistently only between the BC types in the highest proportion used. The terminal shoot growth differed overall among the two BC types. These results suggest that BC may be applied into mineral soils without detrimental chemical effects on tree plantation success. Our results provide foundation for further field research on the longer-term impacts of adding BCs to boreal forest soils.
The convergence hypothesis after 10 years

The convergence hypothesis has been at the forefront of empirical growth research for over a decade. This paper provides a critical overview of this literature. I argue that statistical tests for convergence have failed to address the notion of convergence in an economically interesting sense. I propose some new directions for empirical research that, by focusing more explicitly on cross-country heterogeneity in the growth process, have the potential to provide a better understanding of convergence as an economic phenomenon. 1 Please send all correspondence to Department of Economics, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison WI, 53706-1393. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and University of Wisconsin Graduate School have provided financial support.
Intersection form for quasi-homogeneous singularities

We consider quasi-homogeneous polynomials with an isolated singular point at the origin. We calculate the mixed Hodge structure of the cohomology of the Milnor fiber and give a proof for a conjecture of V. I. Arnol’d concerning the intersection form on its homology. AMS (MOS) subject classification scheme (1970) 14 B O5,14 C 30,14 F 10, 32 C 40. Introduction Let f : C"" ---> C be a quasi-homogeneous polynomial of type
Monthly mean rainfall frequency model for the central Chilean coast: some climatic inferences

A simple empirical model giving the annual evolution of monthly mean rainfall frequency for any location along the central Chilean coast is proposed. Model hypotheses are discussed with reference to a climatic scenario, which has been found of value in developing simple empirical climatic models for coastal stations in Chile. Equations giving monthly mean rainfall frequency for any latitude as a function of the latitude of the location of maximum monthly mean pressure in Chile are presented. It is concluded that the proposed model adequately describes the observed annual evolution. Moreover, the model allows qualitative inferences to be made regarding the interaction mechanisms between the main meteorological centres of action on a regional scale, which may prove of value in identifying trends of regional climatic change. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society.
Direct determination of yarn snarliness

The formation of snarls that takes pl ace in the yarns in post-spinning processes, such as winding, warpin g, weaving and knitting, has been studied. This de fect is due to the excessive yarn twist liveli ness (torsional buckling) and causes g re at trouble to thc manufacture rs of yarns and fabric s. Biased test in g techniques are used for the measurement of this defect. A snarlin g testing apparatus PRIANIC and an unbiased testing technique have been developed and are reported. The investigati on of factors such as yarn package form, yarn twist factor, tim e elapsed between production and processing stages of yarns and yarn condi ti oning show the s ignificant role th ey play in the reduction of yarn snarliness.
Climate Networks Based on Phase Synchronization Analysis Track El-Nino(Complex Networks,Econophysics-Physical Approach to Social and Economic Phenomena-)

Eight networks, based on temperature records from four different geographical regions in two pressure levels, are created in resolute snapshots of time for the last 28 years. The links represent the level of robust phase synchronization between places in the interior of each regime. The number of links appears to be a sensitive measure of the El-Nino influence even on regimes far away from the El-Nino basin. A comparison between the statistical information of the phase synchronization network and the similar information obtained previously using cross correlation technique is provided.
The multimorbidity interaction severity index (MISI)

Abstract Therapeutic decision-making for patients with multimorbidity (MM) is challenging. Clinical practice guidelines inadequately address harmful interactions and resulting therapeutic conflicts within and among diseases. A patient-specific measure of MM severity that takes account of this conflict is needed. As a proof of concept, we evaluated whether the new Multimorbidity Interaction Severity Index (MISI) could be used to reliably differentiate patients in terms of lower versus higher potential for harmful interactions. Two hypothetical patient cases were generated, each with 6 concurrent morbidities. One case had a low (i.e., low conflict case) and the other a high (i.e., high conflict case) potential for harmful interactions. All possible interactions between conditions and treatments were extracted from each case's record into a multimorbidity interaction matrix. Experienced general internists (N = 18) judged each interaction in the matrix in terms of likely resource utilization needed to manage the interaction. Based on these judgements, a composite index of MM interaction severity, that is, the MISI, was generated for each physician and case. The difference between each physician's MISI score for the 2 cases (MISIdiff) was computed. Based on MISIdiff, the high conflict case was judged to be of significantly greater MM severity than was the low conflict case. The positive values of the inter-quartile range, a measure of variation (or disagreement) between the 2 cases, indicated general consistency of individual physicians in judging MM severity. The data indicate that the MISI can be used to reliably differentiate hypothetical multimorbid patients in terms of lesser versus greater severity of potentially harmful interactive effects. On this basis, the MISI will be further developed for use in patient-specific assessment and management of MM. The clinical relevance of the MISI as an alternative approach to defining MM severity is discussed.