Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The attitudes of IELTS stakeholders: Student and staff perceptions of IELTS in Australian, UK and Chinese tertiary institutions

This report presents the findings of a three-nation study which examined stakeholder attitudes to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). With research undertaken in Australia, the People's Republic of Chins and the United Kingdom, the perceptions and perspectives of university staff and students were measured via quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Staff and student surveys were distributed, culminating in a total respondent group of 624. To triangulate the data, 37 qualitative interviews were conducted. The student group consisted of currently enrolled tertiary degree students who had provided an IELTS score in partial fulfilment of university admissions. The staff group consisted of persons in academic and administrative positions at the focal institutions. As an inductive stu4y, various themes were highlighted in the research instruments. These included: knowledge areas; perceptual/attitudinal areas; beliefs regarding the predictive nature of IELTS vis-a-vis university demands; the appropriateness of entry levels; and perceptions of unprincipled activity. In general, the greatest areas of difference existed between the staff and student groups, irrespective of institutional location. Students were, on the whole, more knowledgeable than staff on a wide range of themes related to the IELTS test. Both staff and students indicated that the purpose of the IELTS test is primarily functional (ie. university entry), with a secondary learning/skill improvement role. Overall, respondents perceived the IELTS test to have high validity, but staff and student respondents differed over the predictive nature of the IELTS test score in relation to English levels required for university study. Students were generally satisfied with the IELTS entry scores used by their institutions and were, on the whole, positive regarding the relationship between English language skills demonstrated by an IELTS score and language abilities necessary to succeed in a university environment. In contrast, staff respondents generally wished for an increase in their institution's minimum IELTS entry score, and were on the whole less satisfied with English language abilities. There were some perceptions of unprincipled uses of the IELTS test. This related particularly to the admission of students with IELTS scores below the institutional minimum entry cut-off value. Among the general conclusions, it is suggested that past IELTS participants should be included in policy reviews of institutional English language standards. Greater effort should be made to educate tertiary staff about the form and function of the IELTS test, and about the meaning of IELTS scores. Research into the evolving nature of authentic classroom genres is suggested and it is proposed that the washback effects of IELTS might be used to better prepare students for the complex 'real-world' academic language tasks they will encounter.
Betaine content in buckwheat enriched wholegrain wheat pasta

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the addition of buckwheat flour, as well as the influence of buckwheat grain pretreatment, on betaine content in wholegrain wheat pasta. The buckwheat is traditionally used in the human diet for centuries due to its nutritional benefits and positive effect on health such as plasma cholesterol level reduction, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity. On the other side, betaine is a bioactive compound naturally present in cereals and pseudocereals, important for demethylation of homocysteine to methionine which mainly occurs in the liver. The single screw extruder was used for the production of wholegrain wheat pasta as a control sample and pasta in which wholegrain wheat flour was substituted with one of two types of wholegrain buckwheat flour (autoclaved wholegrain buckwheat flour and flour without treatment), with a level of substitution from 10 to 30%. High-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) was used to analyze betaine content in different pasta samples. Betaine content in wholegrain wheat pasta was 30.07 mg/100 g f.w. (i.e. 34.92 mg/100 g d.w.) and the highest content of betaine in pasta enriched with wholegrain buckwheat flour was detected in a sample with 10% flour substitution (21.63 mg/100 g, apropos 24.22 mg/100 g d.w.) compared to other levels of substitution. Following the presented results, autoclaving pretreatment of buckwheat grain prior to buckwheat flour production did not show important differences in betaine content when pasta made with this type of flour was compared with pasta made with untreated buckwheat flour.
Predicting and Explaining the Acceptance of Social Video Platforms for Learning: The Case of Brazilian YouTube Users

This study aims to predict and explain the acceptance of social video platforms for learning. A research model is proposed that explains that the intention of using these platforms is based on the perception of performance, social influence, and hedonic motivation. To validate the model, 568 Brazilian YouTube users were surveyed. The data were analyzed with partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM). In particular, the predictive power of the model was assessed using the PLSpredict procedure. The results of this study can help to understand and forecast the use of these platforms for learning in developing countries.
The Role of CSR to Influence the Relationship between Institutional Ownership and Managerial Ownership on Firm Value

The goal of this study is to figure out whether institutional ownership and managerial ownership influence the company’s value in moderating corporate social responsibility. The study uses data from 43 companies based on the Indonesia Stock Exchange around 2014-2018. The findings show that institutional ownership has a positive effect on firm value while managerial ownership has a negative and significant effect on firm value. Corporate social responsibility can not moderate institutional ownership on firm value. Corporate social responsibility can moderate managerial ownership of company value. As a control variables profitability and leverage have a positive and significant influence on firm value. However, company size as a control variable do not influence on firm value. The observation period is limited to only five years. Keywords : Institutional Ownership, Managerial Ownership, Firm Value, Corporate Social Responsibility. DOI : 10.7176/RJFA/10-22-18 Publication date: November 30 th 2019
Accuracy of Diagnosis of Distal Radial Fractures by Ultrasound

Background: although distal radial fracture account up to 20% of all fractures, it forms the most common fracture in upper extremities. Distal radial fracture has six types the most common one is Colle's fracture. The gold standard for diagnosis of distal radial fracture is conventional radiograph. Despite using ultrasound in tendon rupture, localizing foreign bodies, ultrasound started to be used for diagnosing bone fracture especially distal radius. Aim of the work: this study aimed to detect the accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of distal radial fracture. Patients and methods: this was a selective prospective case series study in the Emergency Department, Al-Jumhoori Teaching Hospital,78 patients were included in this study, their age ranged between 6-45 years with mean age 17.1. 59 were males and 19 females. Duration of the study was one year (January2013 - January 2014). Results: by analyzing data of 78 patients for distal radial fracture ultrasound and comparing the results with the gold standard conventional radiograph we found that sensitivity of ultrasound in detecting fracture was 95.5%, specificity 100%, accuracy 96.15%, positive predictive value 100% and negative predictive value 80%. Conclusion: results of the current work demonstrated that ultrasound can be considered as a promising alternative to routine radiograph in diagnosis of the distal radial fractures and the horizon still open for further studies of use of ultrasound in diagnosis of other types of fractures.
Different salicylic and jasmonic acids imbalances are involved in the oxidative stress-mediated cell death, induced by fumonisin B1 in maize seedlings with contrasting resistance to Fusarium verticillioides ear rot in the field

Background and aim Fungal and plant secondary metabolites modulate the plant-pathogen interactions. However, the participation of fumonisins in the Fusarium verticillioides-maize pathosystem is unclear. In this work was studied the cell death, and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) - phytohormone imbalance interplay underlying the phytotoxicity of fumonisin B1 (FB1) in maize germplasms with contrasting resistance to Fusarium ear rot in the field. Methods Resistant (RH) and susceptible hybrid (SH) maize seedlings, grown from uninoculated seeds irrigated with FB1 (1 and 20 ppm), were harvested at 7, 14 and 21 days after planting, and were examined for electrolyte leakage (aerial parts); and for oxidative stress biomarkers (aerial parts and roots). The phytohormone (salicylic and jasmonic acids) imbalance interplay underlying the FB1-induced cell death were further explored in seedlings exposed 24 h to the mycotoxin (1 ppm) in hydroponics. Results Cell death increased in RH and SH watered with 1 and 20 ppm of mycotoxin, respectively. Both toxin concentrations were pro-oxidant, and the major perturbations were found in roots. An Integrated Biomarker Response index was calculated suggesting that phytotoxicity occurs in a redox context more efficiently controlled by RH. Conclusion The pre-treatment with the antioxidant ascorbic acid led to the conclusion that cell death in RH was related to a salicylic acid increase mediated by ROS. Nevertheless, FB1 induced two different phytohormonal regulatory mechanisms mediated by oxidative stress in both maize hybrids.
Effects of liver abscess severity and quality grade on meat tenderness and sensory attributes in commercially finished beef cattle fed without tylosin phosphate1

Abstract Strip loin steaks (n = 119) were used to evaluate the association between liver abscess severity and USDA quality grade and meat tenderness and sensory attributes of steaks from finished feedlot cattle. Steaks were used in a 3 × 2 factorial treatment structure using a completely randomized design and were collected at a commercial abattoir located in northwest Texas. All cattle were sourced from a single feedlot and fed a common diet that did not include tylosin phosphate. Treatments were USDA quality grades of Select (SEL) and Low Choice (LC) and liver abscess scores of normal (NORM; healthy liver, no abscesses), mild (M; 1 abscess less than 2 cm in diameter to 4 abscesses less than 4 cm in diameter), and severe (SV; 1 abscess greater than 4 cm in diameter or greater than 4 small abscesses). All steak samples were collected on the same day, approximately 36-h post-mortem and were cut from the left side of the carcass at the 13th rib by a trained abattoir employee. Steaks were vacuum-packaged, and aged at 3 ± 1°C for 14-d post-mortem. Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) and Slice Shear Force (SSF) analyses were conducted and cook-loss percentage was measured. A trained sensory panel analyzed samples for juiciness, tenderness, and flavor attributes. There were no differences among liver abscess scores for WBSF or SSF (P > 0.52). Warner-Bratzler Shear Force was lower for LC-SV than SEL-SV (P = 0.04). Sensory attributes of initial and sustained juiciness, and overall tenderness were all greater for LC than for SEL steaks (P < 0.04) and connective tissue amount was less for LC steaks when compared to SEL (P = 0.03). Liver abscess score had no effect on any sensory attributes (P > 0.70); however, there was an interaction between quality grade and liver score for myofibillar tenderness (P = 0.03). Within LC steaks, liver abscess score had no effect on myofibrillar tenderness (P > 0.05), however, in SEL steaks, M steaks were more tender than SV steaks (P < 0.03). These results indicate that within quality grades, meat tenderness or sensory attributes were not influenced by liver abscess score but that mild liver abscesses may affect the myofibrillar tenderness of SEL steaks.
Synergistic Effects of Nanoemulsion and Deferiprone (1, 2 Dimethyl-3-Hydroxypyrid-4-One) on Multi-Drug Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Nosocomial infections caused by Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) are exceedingly difficult to treat, particularly in immune-compromised patients. Nanoemulsions (NEs) are a distinctive category of disinfectants that have wide range of bactericidal, fungicidal and antiviral properties by damaging their outer membranes. The inhibiting potential of iron chelators such as deferiprone (DF) used as remedial agent for different microbial groups. Combining new generation disinfectant NEs and the iron chelator DF is a logical approach to control of A. baumannii planktonic and biofilm infections. Present studies investigated the bactericidal efficacy of NE with DF by testing their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against four strains of A. baumannii. We analyzed adherence of the planktonic form both with and without deferiprone to determine possible enhancement effects. The mechanism of nanoemulsion with deferiprone (NE/DF) was quantified by LIVE/DEAD staining biofilm assay and scanning electron microscopy. DF does not affect the stability of the nanoemulsion and the combined forms show high stability. From MBC, NE/DF showed enhanced activity up to 2to 3.3-fold compared to nanoemulsion and deferiprone alone. Combined nanoemulsion with deferiprone showed higher adherence inhibition compared to the individual forms. From confocal imaging, the level of dead cell intensity was 84.9% to 96.6% in NE/DF treated groups. Bacteria treated with NE, DF and NE/DF confirms morphological variations when compared to pili-bonded integrated control cells. We propose that biofilm destruction starts from pili removal followed by membrane destruction. These results leave a concrete evidence for the employment of nanoemulsion with deferiprone for the treatment of against drug resistant A. baumannii.
Essays in matching and information acquisition

Consider a housing problem in which each agent arrives at the market with an endowment but is unsure of the value of others’ objects and is unwilling to exchange without learning more. An individually rational, Pareto optimal and strategyproof exchange requires Gale’s Top Trading Cycles but the ability to investigate others’ endowments must also be introduced. For the instance in which each agent has only the resources to learn about one other object, I show how agents’ decisions over what to learn about restricts the size of the trading cycles. Large cycles are risky and so no cycle containing more than two agents can exist in equilibrium. I then give the conditions under which stability and ex-ante welfare maximisation are mutually compatible objectives. If objects are ‘well ranked’ in the sense that the objects of highest value are also more likely to be acceptable, then any profile of agents’ learning decisions which is stable is also an ex-ante welfare maximising equilibrium. Introducing a time dimension which allows agents to choose not only what to learn about, but when, does not rule out equilibria in which all agents learn quickly and at the same time. The same learning pattern as observed when agents are forced to make the decision simultaneously, remains an equilibrium when this restriction is removed. Even o↵ering the agents the opportunity to learn carefully, one by one, making decisions with the most information they can does not prevent the rush to learn at the same time as others in equilibrium. The information acquisition problem is by no means unique to unilateral matches and so I also consider the particular allocation mechanism used for university entry in the UK. The combination of allowing applications to be submitted to only two institutions and students only being able to acquire information on their grades after submission results in poorly assortative allocations where the best students are unable to attend higher-ranked instiutions.
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES THE RETURNS TO COLLEGE(S): RELATIVE VALUE-ADDED AND MATCH EFFECTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Students who attend different colleges in the U.S. end up with vastly different economic outcomes. We study the role of relative value-added across colleges within student choice sets in producing these outcome disparities. Linking high school, college, and earnings registries spanning the state of Texas, we identify relative college value-added by comparing the outcomes of students who apply to and are admitted by the same set of institutions, as this approach strikingly balances observable student potential across college treatments and renders our extensive set of covariates irrelevant as controls. Methodologically, we develop a framework for identifying and interpreting value-added under varying assumptions about match effects and sorting gains. Empirically, we estimate a relatively tight, though non-degenerate, distribution of relative value-added across the wide diversity of Texas public universities. Selectivity poorly predicts value-added within student choice sets, with only a fleeting selectivity earnings premium fading to zero after a few years in the labor market. Non-peer college inputs like instructional spending more strongly predict value-added, especially conditional on selectivity. Colleges that boost BA completion, especially in STEM majors, also tend to boost earnings. Finally, we probe the potential for (mis)match effects by allowing value-added schedules to vary by student characteristics. Jack Mountjoy Booth School of Business University of Chicago 5807 South Woodlawn Avenue Chicago, IL 60637 and NBER jack.mountjoy@chicagobooth.edu Brent R. Hickman Olin Business School Washington University in Saint Louis One Brookings Drive, Campus Box #1133 Saint Louis, MO 63130 USA hickmanbr@wustl.edu
Performance analysis of recycled aggregate concrete with chemical admixture

Rapid growth in construction has resulted in usage of large quantity of natural resources leading to the degradation of environment. Also, the demolition waste is on the rise year by year due to ending of service of the building and modifications to meet latest requirements. Adoption of technology for recycling the construction and demolition (C and D) waste provides a better way of resolving this issue and it will lead to environmental sustainability. Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) is one such environment‐friendly material. RCA usually possess greater porosity and lower density and strength when compared to natural aggregate. Most of the experiments proved that the reduction in the strength of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is not appreciable up to 40% replacement of natural aggregate with RCA. In the case of RAC, there will be two layers of interfacial transition zone (ITZ). ITZ due to old mortar adhered with aggregate will have greater porosity. Increase in the replacement of natural aggregate with RCA will increase the porosity in the given mass of concrete. This experimental investigation aims at improving the impermeability of RAC by adding chemical admixture which enhances the strength and durability performance.
New Eighteen-sector Direct Torque Control Based on Duty Ratio Modulation

In the traditional direct torque control (DTC) of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) system, the ripple of stator flux linkage amplitude and electromagnetic torque at the steady state is large. The unbalanced effect of active voltage vectors on stator flux linkage and torque control is analysed. Based on the idea of sector subdivision, combined with the six new active voltage vectors added by the three-level inverter, a new eighteen-sector DTC method is proposed to improve the control effect of voltage vectors. For the overcompensation problem caused by the voltage vector acting in a whole sampling period in DTC, the duty ratio modulation (DRM) method is used to reduce the torque ripple. Compared with the traditional DTC, the effectiveness of the proposed new control strategy for reducing the ripple of stator flux linkage and electromagnetic torque is verified.
Micro/nanoparticle melting with spherical symmetry and surface tension

The process of melting a small spherical particle is treated by setting up a two-phase Stefan problem. Surface tension is included through the Gibbs-Thomson condition, the effect of which is to decrease the melting temperature as the particle radius decreases. Analytical results are derived via a small-time expansion and also through large Stefan number asymptotics. Numerical solutions are computed with a front-fixing scheme, and these results suggest that the model exhibits finite-time blow-up, in the sense that both the interface speed and the temperature gradient in the solid phase (at the interface) will become unbounded at some time before complete melting. The near blow-up behaviour appears to be similar to that encountered in the ill-posed problem of melting a superheated solid (without surface tension), and may help explain the onset of abrupt melting observed in some experiments with nanoscaled particles.
Fostering Collective Knowledge Advancement Through Idea-Friend Maps in a Large Knowledge Building Community

: This study designed and examined a knowledge-building environment that combined a learning analytics tool for creating “Idea-Friend Maps” with Knowledge Forum for Primary Five students. Students in the experimental class (n=53) used the Idea-Friend Map tool, whereas those in the comparison class (n=54) conducted the same knowledge-building activities without the use of analytics tools. Results showed that students in the experimental class showed better conceptual understanding, higher levels of social participation, and more advanced collective knowledge. Analyses were conducted on how students used analytics to support their knowledge building inquiry. These findings suggested that learning analytics can be used to promote knowledge building in large communities.
A review of biochar influences on crop outputs and soil assets

Biochar used in soils aims at intensifying the properties of soil and the transfer of amounts of conservative remnant energy centred fertilizers as well as the restoration of rich carbons. Biochar steadiness is vital to reckoning the effect of biochar modifications on atmospheric green gas (GHG) which remains unsatisfactory. The making and mixture of biochar in soils has a vital role in the mitigation of climate change. The objective of this paper was to review the influences of biochar on crop outputs and soil assets. It is needful for additional clarification on the improvement of biochar application to several crop yields to advance general recognition as a soil modification. The biochar feedstock used for production and pyrolysis condition and the application rate of biochar for crop productivity is described in the discussion. Furthermore, agronomic benefits and the strategies as well as the recommendations for the use of biochar is discussed. It is concluded that the use of biochar increases the physical assets and crop output. Biochar can potentially, workably and sustainably sequester in excess of 1 Pg of CO 2 -carbon equals yearly when used. Keywords: Biochar, water holding capacity, soil microbes, sequestration of carbon, soil properties