Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teacher Educators' Appropriation of TPACK-SAMR Models for 21st Century Pre-Service Teacher Preparation

The study examined how teacher educators are appropriating technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) and substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition (SAMR) frameworks in their pre-service teacher preparation programmes. To ensure rigor, quality, and preparedness of pre-service teachers, there is a need to articulate expectations around effective use of these frameworks together with contemporary teaching and learning theories at the pre-service teacher preparation level. One-on-one in-depth interviews and participant observations were conducted with eight (8) teacher educators. The findings revealed that teacher educators are appropriating technology in ways harmonious with their prevalent traditional teacher-centred teaching strategies at enhancement levels. The researchers recommend the adoption of technology integration frameworks and teaching and learning theory at policy making levels in pre-service teacher training institutions.
Shaping Ability, Cyclic Fatigue Resistance and Fractographic Analysis of Hybrid and Reciprocating Nickel Titanium Endodontic Instruments

The aim of this study was to investigate the shaping ability and cyclic fatigue resistance of Genius (GN) and WaveOne (WO) nickel-titanium (NiTi) instruments. Forty mesial root canals of mandibular molars were randomly divided into two groups, according to the instrument system used for root canal preparation (n = 20): GN and WO. Root canals were prepared to the full working length using the crown-down technique, with up to 40.04 instruments for GN group and 40.08 instruments for WO group. Specimens were scanned with a µCT before and after instrumentation. The changes in 3D parameters and degree of canal transportation were evaluated in the apical, middle and coronal thirds of root canals. Size 25, taper 0.04 (GN) and 0.08 (WO) instruments (n = 20) were used in simulated root canals until fracturing, and the number of cycles to failure (NCF) was recorded. The fractured files were investigated under a scanning electron microscope to characterize fractured surfaces. Data were analyzed using ANOVA post hoc Tuckey’s tests with the significance level set at 5%. The GN system was able to prepare the higher percentage of the canal surface with less canal transportation in all root canal thirds and displayed the higher resistance to cyclic fatigue in comparison to WO instruments (p < 0.05). However, the length of the fractured segments was not significantly different among the groups; meanwhile, SEM investigations revealed the typical topographic characteristics of fractured surfaces. Hybrid GN instruments demonstrated superior shaping ability and resistance to cyclic fatigue. However, both NiTi instrument systems prepared the root canals with no significant shaping errors, considerable changes in 3D parameters and no significant differences in the topographic appearances of the instrument surfaces after fractures.
The Role of Pentraxin 3 in Aspergillosis: Reality and Prospects

Abstract Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a soluble pattern recognition receptor (PRR), which is produced by several kinds of cells, such as neutrophils, dendritic cells, macrophages, and epithelial cells. PTX3 is known to play an important protective effect against Aspergillus. Genetic linkage in gene-targeted mice and human PTX3 plays a non-redundant role in the immune protection against specific pathogens, especially Aspergillus. Recent studies have shown that the polymorphism of PTX3 is associated with increased susceptibility to invasive aspergillosis (IA). In this review, we provide an overview of these studies that underline the potential of PTX3 in diagnosis and therapy of IA.
The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Customer Loyalty in Mobile Telephone Companies

Purpose: The present study aims at developing and empirically testing a research model that presents the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on corporate image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, demonstrating the direct and indirect effects among these structures. Design/Methodology/Approach: The examination of the proposed research model was carried out using a structured questionnaire completed by 358 mobile users in the city of Kavala. The validity and the reliability of the questionnaire were examined, while for the data analysis the Structural Equation Modeling Technique was used with LISREL 8.80. Findings: The findings of this study indicate that Corporate Social Responsibility have not a significant direct effect on customer loyalty, while corporate image and customer satisfaction have a significant positive effect on customer loyalty. Moreover, the findings provide practical new insights in understanding how a mobile company’s CSR policy could be developed and implemented to help enhance customer loyalty through the mediating effects of customer satisfaction. Practical Implications: The companies would like to understand the implications of its CSR policy implementation, especially in enhancing its corporate image and customer satisfaction in terms of reputation and impression. Originality/Value: This study is a pioneer research in addressing the mediating role played by customer satisfaction for strengthening the relationship between CSR and customer loyalty in mobile phone companies.
A Structural Equation Model for the Evaluation of the Switching Costs of Information Communication Technology in SMEs

Most evaluation methods for purchasing newer and enticing information and communication technology (ICT) in organisations are based on financial models, or are premised on the presumption that the new ICT is not replacing an existing ICT. However, the availability and constant proliferation of more powerful and functional ICT in most organisations today means that the models may need to recognise already existing ICTs in use. There is therefore a need for such a tool that can assist decision makers, particularly in Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Using the Information Systems Success Model as the base model, the study developed a conceptual framework using financial and non‑financial models. Data collected from 222 SME owners using an online survey was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The key findings suggest that the psychological views of SME owners and the performance of the existing ICTs are important in the evaluation of existing ICTs. The study found that some features of the existing ICTs and SME surroundings do not matter, but the contentment of the SME owner with the existing ICTs does. This study is expected to assist SME owners with the creation of a handy tool to evaluate existing ICTs before considering newer enticing ICTs. The study recommends that SME owners should not base their decisions to continue using the existing ICTs on their personal experiences only. Future research, however, should consider other factors which may be relevant in the evaluation of existing ICTs.
Macroprudential Policy in a Heterogeneous Environment—An Application of Agent-Based Approach in Systemic Risk Modelling

Assessment of welfare effects of macroprudential policy seems the most important application of the Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) framework of macro-modelling. In particular, the DSGE-3D model, with three layers of default (3D), was developed and used by the European Systemic Risk Board and European Central Bank as a reference tool to formally model the financial cycle as well as to analyze effects of macroprudential policies. Despite the extreme importance of incorporating financial constraints in Real Business Cycle (RBC) models, the resulting DSGE-3D construct still embraces the representative agent idea, making serious analyses of diversity of economic entities impossible. In this paper, we present an alternative to DSGE modelling that seriously departs from the assumption of the representativeness of agents. Within an Agent Based Modelling (ABM) framework, we build an environment suitable for performing counterfactual simulations of the impact of macroprudential policy on the economy, financial system and society. We contribute to the existing literature by presenting an ABM model with broad insight into heterogeneity of agents. We show the stabilizing effects of macroprudential policies in the case of economic or financial distress.
Running Head: MORAL VALUES & CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION 1 The Malleable Morality of Conspicuous Consumption

Conspicuous consumption has often been decried as immoral by many philosophers and scholars, yet it is ubiquitous and widely embraced. This research sheds light on the apparent paradox by proposing that the perceived morality of conspicuous consumption is malleable, contingent upon how different moral lenses highlight the different characteristics embedded in the behavior. Utilizing the Moral Foundations Theory, we demonstrate that the individualizing values (i.e., equality and welfare) make people focus on the self-enhancing characteristics of conspicuous consumption, making it seem morally objectionable. However, the binding values (i.e., deference to authority, in-group loyalty, and purity) make people focus on the social identity signaling characteristic of conspicuous consumption, making it seem morally permissible. First, an archival dataset shows that the prevalence of the different moral values predicts per-capita spending on luxury goods across different countries. Then, six studies (N = 2903) show that the trait endorsement and the momentary salience of the different moral foundations can influence the moral judgment of conspicuous consumption as well as the propensity to engage in conspicuous consumption. Further, analyses show that the effect of the binding values (individualizing values) is mediated by heightened sensitivity to the social identity signaling (self-enhancing) aspects of conspicuous consumption. Finally, the studies demonstrate that the effect is moderated by the extent of social visibility during consumption. Thus, this research suggests that some moral values can, somewhat paradoxically, increase conspicuous consumption.
SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND CO(II) AND NI(II) COMPLEXES WITH SCHIFF BASE DERIVED FROM 4 CHLOROANILINE AND SALICYLALDEHYDE

Transition Metal Complexes of Mn(II),Co(II) and Ni(II) with Schiff base derived from 4 chloroaniline and Salicylaldehyde were synthesized and characterized by conductivity measurement, magnetic susceptibility, infrared spectra, metal solubility test. The Schiff base and its metal complexes were tested for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and fungal activity against A and Mucor species. The low molar conductance values range (16 that all the complexes are non electrolytes. The magnetic susceptibility revealed that all the complexes are paramagnetic in nature. The complexes. The infrared spectra suggested that the Schiff base behaves as a bidentate ligand. The antimicrobial studies revealed moderate activity against the tested organism when compared with the standards (Ciprofloxacin and Ketoconazole), and this activity increases by increasing concentration. And also the Metal Complexes showed higher activity than free Ligand due to chelation.
Combination of Haemoglobinopathy and Haemopathy

Authors report a case of beta thalassemia combined with hematological malignant (ATLL) in a 40-year-old female, cashier screened HTLV-1 positive; followed since her 10 years old for the account of thalasso-sickle cell disease at the adult referal center of sickle cell disease in Martinique. Therapeutic management consisted of systemic chemotherapy, intrathecally-administered preventive chemotherapy combined with a treatment based on bisphosphonate and corticosteroid.
Gameplay as Learning: The Use of Game Design to Explain Human Evolution

Video games are one of the most engaging media at our disposal to communicate knowledge. They offer a unique combination of interaction and storytelling that allows players not only to observe virtual worlds but also to experiment with these imagined universes in ways that cannot simply be matched by any other media. This potential is explained by the fact that the player needs to take an active role inside the recreated world. The world should always be crafted to strengthen game mechanics and this requirement presents a challenge to anyone that wants to use games for archaeological outreach; the most scientifically accurate version of the past will be meaningless if the story, characters and dynamics of the game cannot capture the interest of the player. The need for engaging experiences suggests that educational video games should never forget the basic requirement that any game needs to be fun. However, the dialogue between these two parallel goals poses some unique questions: what are the best approaches to combine learning with engagement? How does the goal of scientific dissemination affect gameplay? Can an educational game even compete with high-budget projects while seeking for players’ interests? We explore here how game design provides tools to overcome these challenges exemplified by the case of Ancestors: Stories of Atapuerca. This project aimed at presenting recent discoveries at the UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site of Atapuerca (Spain). The discussion on the game design principles used for this initiative highlights possible ways to improve the design of video games purposely created for scientific communication on human evolution.
Snow Microbiome Functional Analyses Reveal Novel Microbial Metabolism of Complex Organic Compounds

Microbes active in extremely cold environments are not as well explored as those of other extreme environments. Studies have revealed a substantial microbial diversity and identified cold-specific microbiome molecular functions. We analyzed the metagenomes and metatranscriptomes of twenty snow samples collected during early and late spring in Svalbard, Norway using our computational read-based microbiome function annotation tool, mi-faser. Our results revealed a more diverse microbiome functional capacity and activity in the early compared to in the late spring samples. The dissimilarity between the metagenomes and metatranscriptomes of the same samples was also significantly higher in the early spring. These findings suggest that early spring samples may contain a larger fraction of DNA of dormant organisms, while late spring samples reflect a new community that is metabolically active. We additionally showed that the abundance of the sequencing reads mapping to the fatty acid synthesis-related microbial pathways was significantly positively correlated with organic acid levels, in both our late spring metagenomes and metatranscriptomes. Moreover, the geraniol degradation pathway and the styrene degradation pathway read abundances correlated and inversely correlated, respectively, with the organic acid levels. These results suggest a possible nutrient switch. Our study thus highlights the activity of microbial degradation pathways of complex organic compounds previously unreported at low temperatures.
Evaluation of the critical level of mangrove ecosystems using Spatial Technology in East Aceh Coastal Areas

Coastal zones are areas that are vulnerable to ecological damage. One type of ecosystem that is vulnerable to damage in coastal zones is mangroves. The coastal area of East Aceh is one of the areas where the existence of mangrove ecosystems has a high level of criticality. The level of criticality of mangroves in the area is caused by various factors such as exploitation of natural resources, physical development such as residential areas, and conversion of land to other designation areas without considering to the sustainability of mangrove ecosystems. By utilization of Landsat 8 and Bing Map Imagery satellite image data using the concept of geographic information systems, the extent of mangrove forest and its critical level can be inventoried. Determination of the critical level of mangrove forests was carried out by referring to the mangrove inventory guidelines issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry in 2005. The results of data processing showed that the critical level of mangrove forests reached 4,200.02 hectares in severely damaged conditions, 7,286.93 hectares in damaged condition, and 9.704, 01 hectares are not damaged. Based on these results, forest management efforts are needed through the method of rehabilitating mangrove forests toimprove the condition of heavily damaged mangrove forests.
Effects and Mechanisms of Interaction of Electromagnetic Fields on Cells

Modern life implies a constant exposure of living organisms to electromagnetic fields generated by human made technology. The question of whether or not electromagnetic fields in the non-ionizing frequency range can affect cellular functions, increasing the risk of cancer or another pathologies is currently a subject of interest for scientific community of several disciplines of physics, biology, chemistry and medicine. The first part of this short review presents briefly the possible mechanism of interaction of electromagnetic fields in cellular level based in theoretical models and experimental results. The second part refers to experimental observations published by several authors about the potential cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of electromagnetic fields. Results of researches are no yet conclusive enough to accept or reject the genotoxic, carcinogenic or cytotoxic potential of these fields. Up to date the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified the X, gamma and ultraviolet radiation as carcinogenic and the fields generated by radio frequencies as possibly carcinogenic.
Experimental Assessment of the Effects of Low-Emissivity Paints as Interior Radiation Control Coatings

Radiation Control Coatings (RCC) are commonly recognised as paints, in which the long-wave radiation emissivity can be dramatically reduced from 0.9 to below 0.25 due to the dispersion of aluminium flakes inside the base paint. The low emissivity (Low-E) feature makes these materials particularly suitable for reducing the radiative heat exchange in building components and worthy of being used in roof attics, pipes, heat storage tank, etc. However, in the last few years, the application to the indoor surfaces of the building envelope has become quite popular, because the reflective properties can be exploited to increase the thermal comfort and reduce the winter heat losses. Except for aluminium based paint, that, for their strong metallized effect, suffer from some aesthetical limitation, the claimed performance of most of the other commercially available reflective paints are not universally recognized and in most of the cases their properties are misled, referring to visible and short wave infrared reflectivity. In this paper, a new methodology for assessing the long-wave thermal emissivity by using a heat flow meter apparatus is proposed. Moreover, the thermal emissivity of different paint mixtures with reduced metallised effect is assessed. The results allow for affirming that paints with acceptable aesthetic value (limited metallized effect) can reach an emissivity of ~0.60 instead of a typical emissivity of paint between 0.85–0.90. Furthermore, the partition wall of a double climatic chamber apparatus was painted with different low-E paints to evaluate whether an increase of the indoor operative temperature would have been observed. A slight, but not negligible, increase was shown of up to 0.3 °C and 0.6 °C for paint with an emissivity of ~0.6 and ~0.4, respectively.
Compulsory Schooling Reforms in Sweden #733

We evaluate the impact on earnings, pensions, and further labor market outcomes of two parallel educational reforms increasing instructional time in Swedish primary school. The reforms extended the annual term length and compulsory schooling by comparable amounts. We find striking differences in the effects of the two reforms: at 5%, the returns to the term length extension were at least half as high as OLS returns to education and benefited broad ranges of the population. The compulsory schooling extension had small (2%) albeit significant effects, which were possibly driven by an increase in post-compulsory schooling. Both reforms led to increased sorting into occupations with heavy reliance on basic skills. JEL Classification: J24, J31, I28
Economic Analysis of Information Network Use : Organizational and Productivity Impacts on Japanese Firms

This paper shows firm level micro analysis of information network use and its impact on firm’s organization and productivity. New evidences on economic impacts of IT by type of its application are provided, based on MITI’s firm level data of Japanese manufacturers and distributors. It is found that there are two types of application (direct business operation networks and back office supporting networks), which have distinct implications. A firm with business operation networks is likely to have higher share of white-collar workers, to outsource its production activities and to achieve higher productivity level. In contrast, back office supporting networks have relatively weak relationship with these variables. Differences in economic consequences of IT by its application types shed new light on mixed empirical evidences on economic impacts of IT investments, as is mentioned like Solow’s Paradox.
Towards a Natural Perspective of Smart Homes for Practical Security and Safety Analyses

Designing practical security systems for the smart home is challenging without the knowledge of realistic home usage. This paper describes the design and implementation of Hεlion, a framework that generates natural home automation scenarios by identifying the regularities in user-driven home automation sequences, which are in turn generated from routines created by end-users. Our key hypothesis is that smart home event sequences created by users exhibit inherent semantic patterns, or naturalness that can be modeled and used to generate valid and useful scenarios. To evaluate our approach, we first empirically demonstrate that this naturalness hypothesis holds, with a corpus of 30,518 home automation events, constructed from 273 routines collected from 40 users. We then demonstrate that the scenarios generated by Hεlion seem valid to end-users, through two studies with 16 external evaluators. We further demonstrate the usefulness of Hεlion’s scenarios by addressing the challenge of policy specification, and using Hεlion to generate 17 security/safety policies with minimal effort. We distill 16 key findings from our results that demonstrate the strengths of our approach, surprising aspects of home automation, as well as challenges and opportunities in this rapidly growing domain.