Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Analysis of the Biological Parts of the National Curricula in Lower Secondary Education in the Czech Republic and Selected Post-Communist Countries

In the Czech Republic, a revision of the national curricular documents for primary and secondary education is being prepared and intensively discussed. The aim of this paper is therefore to contribute to the ongoing professional discussion and to select the key aspects of foreign curricular documents that may be inspiring for the Czech curricular reform.In our study, we compare the concept of the biological part of the valid national curricular documents for lower secondary education (from the 6th to the 9th grades), the second stage of basic school in the Czech Republic, with five selected post-communist European countries, namely Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. We focused on the following key aspects: a) the major characteristics of biology as a school subject (or the biological part of the subject “science”); b) specification and arrangement of subject matter; c) biology as a scientific discipline; d) didactic recommendations and requirements; e) the way of treating crucial biological disciplines; f) other criteria, such as emphasis on local regions or public engagement.We consider the Estonian and Slovenian educational programmes to be the most inspiring ones, since they elaborate general educational objectives to the level of particular learning content and standards of knowledge. We also find the links to practical work and ICT and connections between biology and general competences very useful when using the documents in classroom practice. The Slovenian document offers an inspiring holistic approach to teaching of biological issues. The Estonian curriculum is a good example of incorporating local aspects, such as typical local ecosystems. The national curricula of both countries recognise biological knowledge and scientific literacy as being very important for the lives of the individual as well as for society.
Exploring the formaldehyde reactivity of tannins with different molecular weight distributions: bayberry tannins and larch tannins

Abstract In recent years, tannin degradation has been used to obtain tannin materials with an optimal molecular weight distribution (MWD) for synthesizing tannin-formaldehyde (TF) resin with high performance, but the optimal MWD of tannins is still unknown. The excellent formaldehyde reactivity of tannins is the basis for the synthesis of high-performance TF resin. Based on the formaldehyde reactivity of tannins, bayberry tannins and larch tannins were used to explore the optimal MWD of tannins for TF resin synthesis. Progressive solvent precipitation (PSP) was used to obtain tannin fractions with different MWDs. The formaldehyde reactivity of tannins was determined using the modified Stiansy method combined with the standard curve method (GB/T 17657-2013). The bayberry tannin fraction [weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of acetylated tannin: 4115, mean degree of polymerization (mDP): 6.64] and the larch tannin fraction (Mw of acetylated tannin: 3906, mDP: 5.84) had the best formaldehyde reactivity. Furthermore, significant differences in the formaldehyde reactivity of condensed tannins (CTs) with different MWDs were observed. The obtained results can be used to purposefully degrade tannins to achieve an optimal MWD, which is beneficial for the production of TF adhesives with high performance.
A rare case of variation of the cords of brachial plexus

Variations of the brachial plexus and communication between its branches are commonly reported in literature. The present case report describes a rare unilateral variation of the trunks forming two cords of the brachial plexus, which was observed during routine dissection of a male cadaver in the Department of Anatomy, A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore, India. These variations are of clinical significance to surgeons and anaesthetists as they are prone to injury during surgical and anaesthetic approaches in the region of the axilla and arm.
A qualitative and quantitative study of the reasons of attrition in an Indian hospital

Background: The study attempts to evaluate the reasons of attrition in the organization from the perspective of the existing as well as the leaving employees; compare and identify the gaps, if any between the perspectives of these two employees groups. The study also aims to critically analyze the utility of ′exit interviews′ for analyzing the reasons of attrition. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a 150-bedded hospital in Ahmedabad, India, during May-July 2015. Exit interview data of forty leaving employees were collected and reviewed. One hundred existing employees were interviewed through quantitative and qualitative methods to understand their perceptions about attrition in the organization. Results: Attrition rate of 26% was observed in the study and 57% leaving employees were nurses. 70% leaving employees cite "blanket reasons" such as better opportunity and personal reasons during exit interviews. 72.5% leaving employees believed that exit interview is largely for record purpose and 11% were unsure of its utility. However, when existing employees were probed qualitatively, a variety of responses were received. 65% existing employees quoted salary issues, partiality/poor recognition, improper assignment of tasks, and monotonous work as reasons for attrition in the organization. Conclusion: Exit interviews somewhere fail to probe into the real reasons of attrition. To improve retention, organizations must monitor their existing employee′s intention to continue working in the organization and any sign indicating a poor intention to continue must be addressed immediately to avoid ripple effects. Moreover, to use exit interview as a tool to improve employee retention, leaving employees must be interviewed in-depth to uncover the actual reasons for quitting the job.
Can Difficulties in Language Acquisition and Specific Learning Disabilities Be Separated Among English Learners?

This study investigated the prevalence of latent classes at risk for reading or math disabilities in elementary-age children whose first language is Spanish. To this end, children (N = 394) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 were administered a battery of vocabulary, reading, math, and cognitive measures in both Spanish and English. Three important findings occurred. First, five latent classes emerged (average achievers, poor achievers, reading disabled, English language learners, Spanish-dominant achievers) that varied in language and achievement scores. Second, probability estimates indicated that 10% of the total sample was at risk for learning disabilities (below cutoff score), and approximately 40% of the sample reflected a language acquisition group not at risk for academic difficulties. Finally, the best model for correctly predicting the odds of latent classes differing from average achievers included English measures of short-term memory, naming speed, and the executive component of working memory. The results support the notion that statistically distinct latent classes emerge under the umbrella of children identified as English learners and that children at risk for specific learning disabilities can be separated among a heterogeneous sample of children who are acquiring English as a second language.
English medium instruction in South Asia’s multilingual schools: unpacking the dynamics of ideological orientations, policy/practices, and democratic questions

ABSTRACT This article provides a critical review of English medium instruction (EMI) policy/practices in the K-12 multilingual schools in South Asia, especially in Nepal, India, and Pakistan. Employing Bourdieu’s (1993) lens of ‘linguistic capital’ and ‘linguistic marketplace,’ the article takes stock of (a) the development of EMI and its ideological and pedagogic motivations, (b) the models of EMI policy in relation to mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) and their practices, and (c) social justice concerns that arise from such policies/practices. As the review of research and policy/practices reveals, EMI is ideologically perceived as a means of acquiring the linguistic capital, often believed to provide access to the global economy; and, therefore, a liberating tool for socioeconomically minoritized groups. Such ideology has, then, oriented the concerned bodies to position EMI within the framework of MTB-MLE in South Asian countries, creating the discourse of inequality and injustice for different social groups. The article continues the argument that the language policies, which are being developed/practiced in the lure of economic globalization, ignoring the local realities, become a source of marginalization along the lines of class, ethnicity, gender, and regions.
A STEM Achievement Motivation Program: Perspectives of Elementary School Students

Researchers explored the perspectives of third-grade students attending a 6-week science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievement motivation pilot program at a university’s early childhood development center serving a Hispanic population. Researchers obtained data from interviews, observations, and a focus group. Four major themes emerged from this phenomenological qualitative investigation. Findings support the implementation by school counselors of STEM achievement motivation programs with young students, who in this study reported an understanding of concepts presented and their application to math and science projects. The findings have implications for counselors employed in school settings.
High Bulk and Shear Attenuation Due to Partial Melt in the Tonga‐Lau Back‐arc Mantle

Seismic attenuation measures energy loss during seismic wave propagation and quantifies the relaxation of rocks' elastic moduli. Abundant seismic studies have observed shear attenuation, but few have quantified bulk attenuation (bulk modulus relaxation), and these studies controversially locate finite bulk attenuation in different parts of the Earth, from the asthenosphere to the inner core. Here we present conclusive evidence localizing bulk attenuation to a specific region of the uppermost mantle. By analyzing amplitude spectral decay of P and S waves from Tonga earthquakes recorded at local seismic stations, we observe unusually low QP/QS ratios (<1.5) in the Tonga‐Lau mantle wedge. All seismic raypaths with significant path‐average bulk attenuation (Qκ−1 > 0.01 or Qκ < 100) are confined to the region immediately beneath the Lau back‐arc spreading centers west of the Tonga Arc. Tomography results show that the highest bulk attenuation (Qκ−1 = 0.037 ± 0.008 or Qκ = 27.0 ± 0.2) is about 75% of the in situ shear attenuation. The observed high bulk attenuation anomalies coincide with an inferred zone of partial melting, suggesting that the causative mechanism involves either infinitesimal movement of melt through pores or changes in melt fraction in response to seismic waves.
Charge Transfer in Mixed-Phase TiO2 Photoelectrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells

In mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) the recombination processes within the TiO 2 photoelectrode and at the TiO 2 /perovskite interface limit power conversion efficiency. To overcome this challenge, we investigated the effect of TiO 2 phase composition on the electronic structure of TiO 2 photoelectrodes, as well as on PSCs performance. For this, a set of PSCs based on TiO 2 thin films with different content of anatase and rutile particles was fabricated under ambient conditions. X-ray diffraction, optical spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structural, morphological and optical characteristics of TiO 2 powders and TiO 2 -based thin films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of anatase revealed a cliff conduction band alignment of 0.2 eV with respect to the rutile. Energy band alignment at the anatase/rutile/perovskite interfaces deduced from the XPS data provides the possibility for interparticle electron transport from the rutile to anatase phase and the efficient blocking of electron recombination at the TiO 2 /perovskite interface, leading to efficient electron-hole separation in PSCs based on mixed-phase TiO 2 photoelectrodes. PSCs based on TiO 2 layers with 60/40 anatase/rutile ratio were characterized by optimized charge extraction and low level of recombination at the perovskite/TiO 2 interface and showed the best energy conversion efficiency of 13.4% among the studied PSCs. Obtained results provide a simple and effective approach towards the development of the next generation high efficiency PSCs.
Water retention in different types of protective gel compositions for plant rhizosphere

The research investigates thermodynamic characteristics of water-retention capacity in different types of high swelling polymer hydrogels mixed with mineral soil substrates. The use of a combination of methods of equilibrium centrifugation and thermodesorption of soil moisture allowed for the first time to estimate the water-retaining curves and dispersion of gel compositions in the range of absolute values of thermodynamic potentials from 0 to 1 million J/kg. The introduction of hydrogels in concentrations of 0.1-0.3% total weight of the enclosing mineral material leads to a 5-15 fold increase in the total energy of water retention, 3-8 fold increase in water capacity and available moisture range, bringing investigated hydrophysical characteristics of the original sandy substrate at the level of the fertile loamy soils. The new types of acrylic hydrogels with amphiphilic fillers obtained by the author’s technology had a greater water-holding capacity and a better structuring effect in comparison with the “Aquasorb” European trade mark. The incorporation of the electrolyte additives in the form of trace elements and ionic silver into the polymer matrix practically does not change the swelling capacity, allowing adding elicitor and antimicrobial properties to these compositions without compromising the effect of water retention.
Book Review: Control of Cardiovascular Diseases in Developing Countries — Research, Development and Institutional Strengthening

To the uninitiated, communicable diseases have been and remain by far the most important causes of death in the developing world. While not unaware of the rising tide of cardiovascular disease (CYD) (in this book taken to encompass not just conditions of the heart but also hypertension and cerebral, carotid and peripheral artery disease), it came as a surprise to me that, of the 52 million deaths reported world wide in 1990, 15 million were attributable to CYD. This constitutes about 10% of the global burden of disease measured by a combination of death and disability. The book, which is a report prepared by the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Sciences, for the Global Forum for Health Research, certainly serves to bring this subject to our attention. As the subtitle Research, Development, And Institutional Strengthening implies, there is a strong emphasis throughout the book concerning 'Research And Development Opportunities in CYD that offer effective, affordable and widely acquirable responses in developing countries'. I find this aspect of the report, perhaps, too dominant. The first three chapters deal with the current burden, the future burden and the present status as regards the prevention and treatment of cardio-
Cystoscopy Image Classification Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

In the past three decades, the use of smart methods in medical diagnostic systems has attracted the attention of many researchers. However, no smart activity has been provided in the field of medical image processing for diagnosis of bladder cancer through cystoscopy images despite the high prevalence in the world. In this paper, two well-known convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and a multilayer neural network was applied to classify bladder cystoscopy images. One of the most important issues in training phase of neural networks is determining the learning rate because selecting too small or large learning rate leads to slow convergence, volatility and divergence, respectively. Therefore, an algorithm is required to dynamically change the convergence rate. In this respect, an adaptive method was presented for determining the learning rate so that the multilayer neural network could be improved. In this method, the learning rate is determined using a coefficient based on the difference between the accuracy of training and validation according to the output error. In addition, the rate of changes is updated according to the level of weight changes and output error. The proposed method was evaluated on 720 bladder cystoscopy images in four classes of blood in urine, benign and malignant masses. Based on the simulated results, the second proposed method (CNNs) achieved at least 17% decrease in error and increased the convergence speed of the proposed method in the classification of cystoscopy images, compared to the other competing methods.
Multicentre validation of a EUCAST method for the antifungal susceptibility testing of microconidia-forming dermatophytes.

OBJECTIVES Terbinafine resistance is increasingly reported in Trichophyton, rendering susceptibility testing particularly important in non-responding cases. We performed a multicentre evaluation of six EUCAST-based methods. METHODS Ten laboratories susceptibility tested terbinafine, itraconazole, voriconazole and amorolfine against a blinded panel of 38 terbinafine WT and target gene mutant isolates. E.Def 9.3. 1 modifications included: medium with/without addition of chloramphenicol and cycloheximide (CC), incubation at 25°C to 28°C for 5-7 days and three MIC endpoints [visually and spectrophotometrically (90%/50% inhibition)], generating 7829 MICs. Quality control (QC) strains were Aspergillus flavus ATCC 204304 and CNM-CM1813. Eyeball, ECOFFinder (where ECOFF stands for epidemiological cut-off) and derivatization WT upper limits (WT-ULs), very major errors (VMEs; mutants with MICs ≤WT-ULs) and major errors (MEs; WT isolates with MICs >WT-ULs) were determined. RESULTS MICs fell within the QC ranges for ATCC 204304/CNM-CM1813 for 100%/96% (voriconazole) and 84%/84% (itraconazole), respectively. Terbinafine MICs fell within 0.25-1 mg/L for 96%/92%, suggesting high reproducibility. Across the six methods, the number of terbinafine MEs varied from 2 to 4 (2.6%-5.2%) for Trichophyton rubrum and from 0 to 2 (0%-2.0%) for Trichophyton interdigitale. Modes for WT and mutant populations were at least seven 2-fold dilutions apart in all cases. Excluding one I121M/V237I T. rubrum mutant and two mixed WT/mutant T. interdigitale specimens, the numbers of VMEs were as follows: T. rubrum: CC visual, 1/67 (1.5%); CC spectrophotometric 90% inhibition, 3/59 (5.1%); and CC spectrophotometric 50% inhibition, 1/67 (1.5%); and T. interdigitale: none. Voriconazole and amorolfine MICs were quite uniform, but trailing growth complicated determination of itraconazole visual and spectrophotometric 90% inhibition MIC. CONCLUSIONS Although none of the laboratories was experienced in dermatophyte testing, error rates were low. We recommend the CC spectrophotometric 50% inhibition method and provide QC ranges and WT-ULs for WT/non-WT classification.
Exploiting Randomized Continuous Wave in Secure Backscatter Communications

To enable the low-cost ubiquitous Internet of Things, passive backscatter communication is envisioned as one of the most prominent and promising techniques; however, the underlying security issues associated with practical finite-alphabet signaling from the perspective of physical-layer security (PLS) have not been well studied. Despite several preliminary efforts on improving the eavesdropper’s decoding error probability through PLS approaches, this article comprehensively investigates the secrecy rate performance of a secure multiantenna radio-frequency identification (RFID) system with a finite-alphabet input at the RFID tag. Unlike conventional noise-injection schemes, a randomized continuous wave (CW) signal is exploited at the RFID reader for security enhancement, and an analytical framework is proposed to evaluate the impact of exploiting either full or only statistical knowledge of the randomized CW signal at the reader and the eavesdropper, respectively. The secrecy rate is maximized by designing the transmitted randomized CW signal to tackle the stability–variance tradeoff between balancing legitimate signal reception and eavesdropper mitigation. In particular, we show that the proposed scheme also poses a tradeoff between the received additive and multiplicative noise at the eavesdropper for the special case of a single-antenna eavesdropper. Moreover, the more practical case where the eavesdropper’s instantaneous channel state information is unavailable is studied under different fading conditions. The numerical results verify the accuracy of the proposed approximations and show that introducing a small variance into the CW signal can greatly improve the system secrecy.
Hearts and minds: goal-orientation and intercultural communicative competence of ROTC cadets learning critical languages

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study investigates the development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) of US Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets and their goals in learning critical languages. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were examined through inductive, thematic analysis. Findings indicate that goals appeared in clusters, with mutually reinforcing goals of military application and personal pleasure. This process affected perceived ICC and gains in sociolinguistic competence, leading to change in attitudes and critical cultural awareness.
Evaluation of Growth and Fruit Quality of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Irrigated with African Catfish Cultured Wastewater

This paper reports findings of an experiment carried out in a greenhouse to evaluate the growth and fruits quality of cucumber grown in plots irrigated with African catfish cultured wastewater compared with those irrigated with ordinary well water. Six circular African catfish culture tanks and six cucumber planter boxes were used for this experiment, three each for the fish cum cucumber integrated system and the control system of cucumber irrigated with ordinary well water. The results of the research indicated that fish cultured wastewater had a better influence on the plant height, the number, length, and diameter of leaves, as well as the diameter and length of the fruits. Six experts, each independently assessed fruits from the two treatments for juiciness, sweetness, taste and crispiness. The fruits were assessed by experts who though were aware of the purpose of the evaluation, did not know the identity of fruits they were assessing. The fish effluent fertigated cucumber fruits had a higher mean score in juiciness, sweetness, taste and crispiness. Wastewater from the African catfish production system thus exhibits the potential for reuse in the production of cucumber plants as it had no negative effect on the organoleptic quality of cucumber fruit produced.