Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Listen to the Voices of Gifted Chinese Students in New Zealand: A Culturally Responsive Framework

New Zealand is known as a nation of immigrants with increasing cultural diversity. Currently, in Auckland, almost a quarter of residents identify with an Asian ethnicity, the largest subgroup of which is Chinese. In the field of gifted and talented education, providing access to a culturally diverse environment is an important aspect of meeting gifted students’ special needs. Although the New Zealand educational context has placed added emphasis on culturally differentiated instruction for Māori and Pasifika gifted students, New Zealand primary schools’ implementation of approaches to address the learning needs of Chinese students has been largely unexplored. In this article, we present a summary of research which explored the beliefs and perceptions of Chinese gifted and talented students, their parents, and teachers of gifted and talented students within New Zealand using interviews and Q methodology. Our Q methodology consisted of 48 statements which were sorted by 10 Chinese students, their parents, and 10 New Zealand teachers. The data were analyzed using factor analysis. By drawing on the voice of the participants and on the results of the Q methodology, a culturally responsive theoretical framework was developed. This framework aims to contribute to our understanding of the learning needs of gifted Chinese students in New Zealand and to promote an ongoing partnership between Chinese families and the school. We also explain how these elements can be translated into partnership practices within the school context. The importance of listening to voices of minority groups and immigrant families is emphasized.
Novel MoM-Based Approaches for Generating Wire-Grid Sparse Antenna Structures

Nowadays, it is imperative to continually explore and improve antenna manufacturing technologies to meet the growing demands of the market. By leveraging the benefits of numerical methods, researchers can push the boundaries of antenna engineering, creating novel and highly effective antenna designs. In this paper, two approaches to effectively model and design sparse wire grid antennas are proposed. Their main idea is to create an optimal wire structure that closely matches the current paths in the antenna while maintaining its integrity with minimal mass. In additions, this structure can be used in further simulations with less resources and controlled characteristic accuracy. A parabolic reflector antenna was used to explain the algorithms of the proposed approaches. Measured and calculated results for equivalent wire-grid structure of this antenna were used for verification. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the algorithms, their results were compared with those for other approaches proposed in earlier work. The proposed approaches showed better advantages than others, and the optimal one is revealed. Recommendations on their use with the future prospects are briefly summarized.
Washback Effects of IELTS Test on Teachers’ Adoption of Teaching Materials in the Classroom in China

This study investigates washback effects of IELTS test on university teachers’ adoption of teaching materials in the classroom in China and see how a high-stake language exam affects their teaching practices and how they and their students perceive the effectiveness of the pedagogic adjustments. To this end, individual interview to five teacher participants was carried out and a questionnaire was administered to over 100 students. The results show a positive washback effect as, influenced by IETLS test and students’ needs to achieve high scores in IELTS test, teachers sought to focus more on IELTS-related content in the textbooks and adopt extra IELTS-related teaching materials to help improve students’ test performance. Also, students recognized teachers’ arrangements on class practices and believed such practices were useful in enhancing their IELTS scores. Moreover, teachers’ choices and modifications of teaching materials were not determined by washback effects of IELTS tests only but rather a result of coaction between various factors including the state’s educational policies, personal research areas, teaching rationale and abilities to modify teaching materials.
Spatial information systems for wildlife conservation management: Taiaroa Head royal albatross colony

The breeding colony of Northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) at Taiaroa Head is the only mainland breeding colony of any albatross species. Although it represents only a small proportion of the total population of the species, the ease of access to the colony has led to it becoming an important scientific and tourist resource. Breeding records for the colony date back more than 60 years, and since 1968 daily observation records have been collected. The purpose of this thesis is to present a design for a spatial information system (SIS) for the collection and management of breeding and environmental data, and demonstrate the advantages of such a system. This design is implemented in the form of a prototype SIS for evaluation purposes. What sets this research apart from other studies that have used geographic information system (GIS) software to assist wildlife management is the amount and complexity of data and the time span over which it has been collected. It is proposed that for these data to have maximum utility for wildlife managers at Taiaroa Head, established structured system design and development methodologies are required to ensure data are efficiently stored and important relationships between data are retained. Three experiments are carried out to evaluate the prototype SIS and demonstrate the range of analyses that are possible. The first experiment inductively explores the spatial relationship between nest site locations and the slope of the terrain at Taiaroa Head—a type of analysis that is commonly used in habitat requirement studies. The second explores the visibility of nest sites with the aim of assessing proposed sites for the installation of video surveillance cameras. The aim of this experiment was to show how the prototype SIS could be used to evaluate proposed management actions in a manner that has no impact on the colony itself. The final experiment explores spatial and temporal relationships that are implicitly present in breeding data by extracting and describing nest dispersal patterns exhibited by the progeny of one Northern royal albatross over five generations. Finally the design and the implementation of the prototype SIS are critically reviewed. It was found that the prototype was subject to two major problems; it did not implement the relational data model according to the system design specification and hard-copy output from analyses were difficult to obtain. These problems arose from the GIS software used to implement the prototype but they are not insurmountable and need not be an issue in an operational implementation. Despite these problems, the prototype SIS did demonstrate that a spatial information system provided significant improvements in the way data are collected, managed, analysed and used in producing useful management information.
Effect of baseline cancer pain on the efficacy of immunotherapy in lung cancer patients

Background Cancer pain is a common symptom in cancer patients. However, few reports have evaluated the effect of baseline cancer pain on the efficacy of immunotherapy in lung cancer patients. The aim of this retrospective study is to reveal the effect of baseline cancer pain on the prognosis of lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of lung cancer patients who received immunotherapy at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and were included 280 patients with or without baseline cancer pain. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to minimize potential selection bias. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using Kaplan-Meier estimation and log-rank tests. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with survival independence. Results The median PFS and OS of the patients with baseline cancer pain were significantly shorter than that of patients without baseline cancer pain (PFS: 3.1 vs. 6.5 months, P=0.001; OS: 16.5 vs. 31.2 months, P<0.001). PSM also included 27 patients with or without breakthrough pain. Patients with breakthrough pain had significantly shorter median PFS and OS than those without breakthrough pain (PFS: 1.9 vs. 4.2 months, P=0.001; OS: 9.9 vs. 18.7 months, P=0.012). Cox analysis results implicated breakthrough pain as an independent prognostic factor for immunotherapy. Conclusions Baseline cancer pain is a negative prognostic factor for lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy. Patients with baseline cancer pain may have a worse survival prognosis if they develop breakthrough pain.
Role of combined clinical-radiomics model based on contrast-enhanced MRI in predicting the malignancy of breast non-mass enhancements without an additional diffusion-weighted imaging sequence

Background In our previous study, we developed a combined diagnostic model based on time-intensity curve (TIC) types and radiomics signature on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) for non-mass enhancement (NME). The model had a high diagnostic ability for differentiation without the additional diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequence. In this study, we aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of the combined clinical-radiomics model based on CE-MRI and DWI in discriminating Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) 4 NME breast lesions, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and invasive carcinoma. Methods This retrospective study enrolled 364 NME lesions (343 patients). Of these, 183 malignant and 84 benign breast lesions classified as BI-RADS 4 NMEs by the initial diagnosis were reclassified based on the combined clinical–radiomics model and DWI, respectively. The nomogram score (NS) values for malignancy risk derived from the combined clinical-radiomics model and the minimal apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values from DWI were calculated and compared. The percentage of false positives were estimated in comparison with the original classification. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the diagnostic value of the NS and minimal ADC values in distinguishing benign and malignant lesions, DCIS, and invasive breast carcinoma. An ablation experiment was used to test the value of the additional DWI sequence. Results The diagnostic value of the NS values [area under curve (AUC) =0.843; 95% CI: 0.789–0.896] for discriminating the 267 NME breast lesions categorized as BI-RADS 4 was significantly higher than the minimal ADC values (AUC =0.662; 95% CI: 0.590–0.735). The NS values showed higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy compared with the minimal ADC values (sensitivity: 80.3% vs. 65.6%; specificity: 79.8% vs. 65.5%; accuracy: 80.1% vs. 65.5%). The NS values and minimal ADC values did not achieve high diagnostic accuracy in discriminating between DCIS and invasive cancer. However, the diagnostic performance of the combined NS-ADC model (AUC =0.731; 95% CI: 0.655–0.806) was higher than that of the NS values alone (P=0.008) and comparable to that of the minimal ADC values (P=0.440). Conclusions The combined clinical-radiomics model based on CE-MRI could improve the diagnostic performance in discriminating the BI-RADS 4 NME lesions without an additional DWI sequence. However, DWI may improve the diagnostic performance in discriminating DCIS from invasive cancer.
Ethnobotanical Study of Plants Used in the Management of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia in Ilorin, Nigeria

Background: Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) is a prevalent illness in older men. It is a condition where the prostate becomes enlarged and blocks the ease of urine passage out of the bladder. Around 50% of the male population develops symptoms of BPH around 51- 60 years of age. Current therapeutic management options come with undesirable side effects like weight gain, dizziness, and impotence, hence, the need to source for safer alternatives initiated by the acquisition, recording, and preservation of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. Objective: This study aims to preserve indigenous knowledge by documenting medicinal herbs in use as therapy for BPH. Materials & method: Ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the study areas through interviews using a semistructured questionnaire. Respondents included elderly members of the communities, herbalists, and practitioners of traditional medicine. Quantitative ethnobotany index (Use value index) and descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. Results: 50 respondents were interviewed, 64% were Herb sellers, 22% TMPs, Others 14%. 37 plants belonging to 24 plant families were mentioned in the survey. Methods of preparation of recipes mentioned includes: maceration (37%), decoctions (52%), juice (7%), infusions and paste/powder (4%). Method of administration were majorly oral route. The plant family Fabaceae (19%) had the highest representation. This was followed by the families Annonaceae (8%), Euphorbiaceae (6%), Curcubitaceae, Menispermaceae, Combretaceae, Apocynaceae and Rutaceae with 5% each. Other plant families represented 42% of the total number of plants mentioned. Conclusion: The study areas are endowed with abundant flora which serves as a repository for researchers in the quest to develop less toxic drugs with little or no side-effect for the management of BPH
Reflection of Secondary School Management Key Competencies in the Slovak Republic

The study deals with the identification of problematic areas within the management of general education high schools in the Slovak Republic and analyses the dependence between the most problematic areas of school management with regard to the length of management practice and the types of managerial training. The questionnaire method was used as part of the research investigation. The research sample consisted of leading pedagogical staff (106 respondents) working at state grammar schools in Slovakia.The analysis of the results has showed that for employees in management positions the area of legal management of the school is primarily problematic. The second most problematic area is economic management.The authors expect that the results of the research will not only contribute to raising awareness of the areas of school management but will also provide additional information about director’s competencies and further encourage the responsible authorities to consider other options for methodical support.
Scaling Generative Pre-training for User Ad Activity Sequences

User activity sequence modeling has significantly improved performance across a range tasks in advertising spanning across supervised learning tasks like ad response prediction to unsupervised tasks like robot and ad fraud detection. Self-supervised learning using autoregressive generative models has garnered interest due to performance improvements on time series and natural language data. In this paper, we present a scalable autoregressive generative pre-training framework to model user ad activity sequences and inspect its scaling properties with respect to model size, dataset size and compute. We show that test loss on pre-training task follows power law scaling with respect to model size, with larger models being more data and compute efficient than smaller models. We also demonstrate that improvement in pre-training test loss translates into better downstream task performance by benchmarking the models on conversion prediction and robot detection tasks in advertising.
Mixing strategy and tensile strength characterization of WTR-PP composite

Abstract As vehicles are on the rise globally, so is tire disposal when out of service. One potential recycling process is turning the waste tire into a useful composite by incorporating it with thermoplastic materials. In the present work, composite based on waste tire rubber (WTR) and polypropylene (PP) were developed using a single screw filament extruder for various concentrations of WTR (20, 40, 60, and 80% wt.). Physical and morphological characterization of WTR (425 µm) and WTR-PP composite was performed; furthermore, mechanical characterization of WTR-PP composites was also carried out under the tensile load. Morphological observation reveals that WTR-PP with low WTR content shows comparatively better distribution, maintaining the necessary strength and thermoplasticity of the composite compared to the higher WTR content in the composite. The tensile study shows that incorporating WTR with polypropylene decreased tensile strength but improved elongation at break. The macrofractography is carried out to study the failure origin and crack propagation in the WTR-PP composite.
The correlation between metabolic syndrome and calcium urolithiasis

Background: Urolithiasis affects about 12% of the global population. This study helps us to find the correlation between metabolic syndrome, its components and the risk of calcium stone urolithiasis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 140 patients who underwent surgery for urolithiasis and whose stones were calcium-containing. A group of subjects who never had a history of urolithiasis was taken as control. Various anthropometric and biochemical parameters were studied to estimate and compare the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in both the groups. Results: The study showed that the central obesity of the study population was higher. However, even though prevalence of hypertension was more in the stone group compared to the control population, this difference was not statistically significant. On analysis of biochemical parameters like fasting blood sugar, triglycerides and HDL, abnormal triglycerides and HDL were significantly higher in the stone group when compared to the control. On consideration of all parameters as per international diabetes federation (IDF) definition, prevalence of metabolic syndrome in stone group was 40% which was higher than the control group with 25% and the difference was statistically significant. While summing up the number of parameters of metabolic syndrome an individual has in each group it is evident that the proportion of patients in the stone group had a greater number of parameters compared to the control group. Conclusions: This study could conclude that there is a significant correlation between calcium urolithiasis and metabolic syndrome.
Diurnal behaviour of mother-young pairs of Plains zebras (Equus burchelli) in Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

The aim of the study was to investigate the diurnal behaviour of plains zebras (Equus burchelli). Data of 100 mother-young pairs were collected in Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya to record time budgets for grazing, walking, lying and standing behavior. Mares and their offspring where observed in 1-min intervals. Suckling behaviour of the foals and weather conditions was also recorded. The non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used for statistical analysis and Pearson test for correlation. My results shows that the zebras (mares and foals) were grazing significantly more in the afternoon then during the rest of the day, which could be the reason why they were walking significantly less in the afternoon. The adult zebras were standing least in the afternoon and the foals were standing most during midday. Almost no lying was observed in the adults but the foals had a peak in the morning and a absence of lying in the midday, but again at some extent in the afternoon. The temperature rose during the day while the humidity decreased. More sun was present in the morning, while the afternoons were more cloudy. By the results I can conclude that that the zebras is grazing all over the day but with a significant peak in the afternoon, which makes the other behaviours to be more concentrated at the earlier hours of the day. In the literature review for the study I found scientists that write about mares and foals which, to a great extent synchronized their behaviours. When I tested correlation it showed that the mares and foals synchronized the walking and grazing. I learned that there are a lot of factors that can affect the diurnal behaviours of the zebras, such as predator distribution, weather conditions, social behaviours and nutrient requirements. In my study I believe that the temperature and predation distribution had an influence on the zebras’ behaviours. There is also some adaptions, namely to the habitat they live in which affects the diurnal behaviours.
House Price Expectations and Inflation Expectations: Evidence from Survey Data∗

We find that households tend to overweight house price expectations when forming their inflation expectations. The finding is robust across several specifications and two survey data sets for the United States. We also find that there is a significant effect of the cognitive abilities of households as more sophisticated households don’t overweight house price inflation as much. We model this household behaviour in a two-sector New Keynesian model with an overweighted and a non-overweighted sector and analytically derive a welfare loss function consistent with the micro-foundations of the model. In this setup, we show that to gauge the correct interest rate response, the central bank needs to be aware that some sectors are overweighted and that movements in expected inflation in such sectors are important for monetary policy. JEL classification: D10, E12, E31, E52, E58.
Lateralization of temporal lobe epilepsy using resting functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity of hippocampal networks

Purpose: Early surgical intervention can be advantageous in the treatment of refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The success of TLE surgery relies on accurate lateralization of the seizure onset. The purpose of this study was to determine whether resting functional MRI (fMRI) connectivity mapping of the hippocampus has the potential to complement conventional presurgical evaluations in distinguishing left from right TLE. In addition, we sought to determine whether this same network might separate patients with favorable from unfavorable postoperative outcomes.
Content and its vehicles in connectionist systems

: This paper advocates explicitness about the type of entity to be considered as content-bearing in connectionist systems; it makes a positive proposal about how vehicles of content should be individuated; and it deploys that proposal to argue in favour of representation in connectionist systems. The proposal is that the vehicles of content in some connectionist systems are clusters in the state space of a hidden layer. Attributing content to such vehicles is required to vindicate the standard explanation for some classificatory networks’ ability to generalise to novel samples their correct classification of the samples on which they were trained.