Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incorporating Collaborative Learning Into xMOOCs: A Proposal of Future Research Directions

Facilitating collaborative learning in Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) has been a key research interest in recent years. Studies so far have shown promising signs of improving learners’ retention and engagement in MOOCs by incorporating collaborative learning and social interaction onto the platform. While a few works have found improvements in certain aspects of learning with existing collaborative features in MOOCs, further investigation is needed on how they should be designed and incorporated. In this paper, we provide a brief literature review of peer learning on MOOCs, propose research gaps in this area, suggest future directions on this topic based on previous literature and reports
Photosynthesis and Nitrogen Metabolism of Nepenthes alata in Response to Inorganic and Organic Prey N in the Greenhouse

This study investigates the relative importance of leaf carnivory on Nepenthes alata by studying the effect of different nitrogen (N) sources on its photosynthesis and N metabolism in the greenhouse. Plants were given either inorganic , organic N derived from meal worms, Tenebrio molitor, or both and organic N for a period of four weeks. Leaf lamina (defined as leaves) had significant higher photosynthetic pigments and light saturation for photosynthesis compared to that of modified leaves (defined as pitchers). Maximal light saturated photosynthetic rates () were higher in leaves than in pitchers. Leaves also had a higher light utilization than that of pitchers. Both leaves and pitchers of plants that were supplied with both inorganic and organic prey N had a similar photosynthetic capacity and N metabolism compared to plants that were given only inorganic . However, adding organic prey N to the pitchers enhanced both photosynthetic capacity and N metabolism when plants were grown under deprivation condition. These findings suggest that organic prey N is essential for N. alata to achieve higher photosynthetic capacity and N metabolism only when plants are subjected to an environment where inorganic N is scarce.
Time Budget and Pair-bond Dynamics in the Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacea: A Test of Hypotheses

Summary The mating system and time budgets of colour banded Comb-crested Jacanas were studied at two sites near Townsville, Queensland, Australia. These Comb-crested Jacanas were polyandrous. Females copulated with an average of 2.6 males and produced clutches for an average of 1.8 males during a breeding season. The pair bonds of Comb-crested Jacana displayed some flexibility. Males with which a female copulated might be chased off territories before receiving a clutch; males who lost a clutch might change mates after the loss; and females might be replaced by another who took over all her males. The female time budget of activity did not change substantially with the onset of breeding except for the inclusion of reproductive behaviours. Males significantly decreased the time spent foraging and significantly increased the time spent in other somatic behaviours with the start of breeding. As breeding progressed, males significantly decreased the amount of time spent in non-foraging somatic behaviours and further reduced the amount of time spent foraging once they had a clutch. Males incubated for an average of 54% of their time when clutches were complete, and females almost never incubated. Hatching success rate was very low; 80% of nests were lost before hatching. The observations and time-budget data best support the replacement-clutch hypothesis for the adaptiveness of polyandry in the Comb-crested Jacana, although the female-energetic hypothesis can not be rejected completely.
Plant species and nitrogen effects on soil biological properties of temperate upland grasslands

1. The aim was to assess the extent to which the microbial biomass and activity, and community structure of fertilized upland grasslands are directly related to changes in soil N availability or indirectly related to individual plant species effects caused by changes in plant species composition and dominance. We investigated the short-term interactive effects of dominant plant species (Lolium perenne, Agrostis capillaris, Holcus lanatus and Festuca rubra) and nitrogen (N) amendment using an N-limited upland grassland soil. 2. In soils planted with different grass species, soil microbial biomass, and to some extent microbial activity, were determined by temporal changes in plant productivity. Variations in the way that individual plants influenced soil microbial biomass and activity were highly inconsistent over time, and largely independent of N-additions and differences in plant productivity. At the final sample date, those grass species which co-dominate the total plant biomass of intermediate fertility (H. lanatus) and semi-improved grasslands (A. capillaris and F. rubra) had a beneficial effect on the soil microbial biomass. In contrast, the dominant plant species of improved grasslands, L. perenne, had zero or a negative effect on soil microbial biomass. Two plant species (A. capillaris and H. lanatus) increased the proportion of fungi relative to bacteria in the soil microbial community, relative to the unplanted control soil and the other plant species. Lolium perenne and A. capillaris reduced the evenness of microbial PLFAs, suggesting negative effects of these plant species on the diversity of the soil microbial community. 3. The addition of N had no consistent effect on measures of soil microbial biomass or activity, but significantly altered the structure of the microbial community in favour of fungi. The lack of effects of N-addition on microbial biomass and activity were despite the finding that nitrogen addition reduced root biomass in all plant species and increased rhizosphere acidity. 4. The results suggest that in the short term, the abundance and activity of soil micro-organisms in upland grasslands are regulated more by plant species traits than by a direct effect of nitrogen. These effects are likely to be related to variations amongst plant species in root exudation patterns and/or efficiency of nutrient aquisition. 5. Our study provides evidence that the functional characteristics of dominant plant species are important determinants of soil biological properties, and hence ecosystem functioning in temperate upland grasslands.
Timing is Everything: An Overview of Phenological Changes to Plants and Their Pollinators

ABSTRACT: Plant-pollinator interactions are a critical component of a healthy plant community and a healthy ecosystem. However, these interactions are at risk due to many factors, including potential phenological mismatches that may disrupt the timing of successful pollination. Environmental variables influence both when plants flower and when insects pollinate, and if those variables change, so might the timing of each species. If those changes do not track each other, plants and pollinators may not be active at the same time, potentially causing substantial problems to both groups. Yet, there is little consensus thus far about how the timing of plants and pollinators has been changing and how that might ultimately influence this important ecological interaction. Here, we review the evidence for phenological shifts in both species and find that there is evidence of change, but that it is extremely species-specific with some species advancing their activities, some delaying, and some staying about the same. We also provide some management guidelines to help promote healthy plant-pollinator relationships in light of the potential variability in phenological shifts and the other threats these species face in natural areas.
Evidence from the Housing Market

Do homeowners know about flood risk? When does this knowledge translate into beliefs, as measured by flood risk discounts on real estate prices? To answer these questions, I built a new dataset of articles from local US newspapers, from which I derive an index of flood riskrelated local media pressure in North and South Carolina. This paper proposes a two-step empirical strategy to disentangle the impact of flood risk information shocks on risk awareness and on beliefs. In a first step, I study the impact of local flood-related information shocks on flood risk awareness and, in a second step, on real estate prices. I recover the geographical and temporal heterogeneity awareness using Google Trends. I show that upward flood riskreclassification induces a discount in real estate prices (1) when properties are valued above $250,000, which is the maximum deductible under the National Flood Insurance Program, and (2) in high awareness regions. Besides, I show that awareness increases when flood risk-related media pressure is substantial. The more dramatic the insurance-related articles published around flood map updates, the larger the impact on both awareness and real estate
Preferential distribution of the parasitic mite, Varroa jacobsoni Oud. on overwintering honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) workers and changes in the level of parasitism

The distribution of Varroa jacobsoni on clustered, overwintering workers of Apis mellifera was investigated. The majority of mites were found between the 3rd and 4th ventro-lateral tergites of the abdomen with a significant preference for the left side of the host. This position would enable the mites to place their mouthparts in close proximity to the central portion of the bees' ventriculus. This may allow the mites access to nutrients at higher concentrations than would occur elsewhere in the haemolymph. At the start of winter, most infested bees carried only a single mite but towards the end increasing numbers of bees carried 2 or more mites. There was also an increase in the mite : bee ratio and more mobile mites (i.e. those moving about on the bees) were recorded. These results suggest that the mites suffer a lower overwinter mortality than the bees and are capable of transferring to a new host either before the original host dies or before it falls to the floor of the hive. This will have consequences for the transfer of diseases by Varroa within the hive.
Cross-National Comparability of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

A growing interest in the measurement of constructs in international settings and the comparison of people in different countries and cultures on these measures has led to greater sensitivity to issues of conceptual equivalence and differences in cultural norms. Such issues are relevant not only when languages and cultures appear to be very different, but also when individuals from different countries share the same language. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem (RSE) scale was chosen as the measure of interest in the present study because it is one of the most widely used measures of self-esteem worldwide. A total of 543 American, 1443 Canadian, and 300 New Zealand university students completed the RSE. Results indicated that the factor structure of the RSE was essentially unidimensional for each country. All items showed factor loadings greater than . 40 in each country. Item-level analyses only revealed the presence of significant differential item functioning (DIF) for one item. Overall, these findings suggest that the RSE can be used to to make comparisons of selfesteem across American, Canadian and New Zealand students. Introduction The Rosenberg Self-Esteem (RSE) Scale is one of the most widely used measures of selfesteem worldwide so it is surprising that relatively little research has explored cross-national differences on this measure. To date, only two studies appear to have compared English versions of the RSE across different countries (Feather, 1998; Lennon, Rudd, Sloan, & Kim, 1999). Feather (1998) found that American students had significantly higher self-esteem scores when compared to Canadian and Australian students. Lennon and colleagues (1999) found that Caucasian American female students had significantly higher scores on the RSE than Korean and Singaporean female students, and African American students had significantly higher self-esteem scores when compared to all three other groups. These findings from previous research must be interpreted with caution because there has been no psychometric evidence to support the cross-national generalizability of the RSE. Heine, Lehman, Markus, and Kitayama (1991) have argued that self-concept research has been largely based on a North American perspective and one cannot assume that our ideas about self-concept will generalize to other social and cultural settings. Whether an instrument is cross-nationally invariant is a key concern when extending theories and their associated constructs to other countries (Hui & Triandis, 1985). Assuming that a measure is functioning equally for all groups without supporting empirical evidence
Heterosis studies in sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

An investigation was carried out in Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] to evaluate 18 new hybrids developed by using 3 lines and 6 testers for heterosis in respect of ethanol yield and its attributing characters. Analysis of variance for the genotypes including parents and hybrids differed significantly for all the characters studied. Similarly, significant differences were observed among the parents and hybrids for all the characters except brix per cent. The mean squares of hybrids Vs parents were significant for most of the characters except juice pH and ethanol yield. Among the seven characters studied, cane height, stem girth, cane weight, juice volume, ethanol yield exhibited significant heterosis over mid parent as well as better parent in majority of the crosses indicating predominance of non-additive gene action in the genetic control of these traits. The standard heterosis was significant in desirable direction only in two hybrids in respects of juice pH and brix per cent, while 5 to 13 hybrids exhibited significant standard heterosis in respect of other five characters. Out of 18 hybrids, eight exhibited high overall (H) heterotic status across the characters. The hybrids RSSV 76 x ICSV 93046, RSSV 104 x ICSV 700, ICSR 93034 x ICSV 93046, RSSV 76 x ICSV 700, ICSR 93034 x ICSV 700 and RSSV 76 x NSSV 254 were the top five promising high ethanol yielding hybrids identified from the study.
Genetic Variation in Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) Populations Based on Seed Storage Protein Polymorphism

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) is one of the main perennial forage grasses that naturally grows in temperate pasture and rangelands in northern and western Iran. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic variability among 15 populations of tall fescue via SDS-PAGE analysis of seed storage proteins. This technique generated a total of 46 protein patterns that showed two types of polymorphism: presence or absence of patterns and their intensities. Populations G15 and G24 with average values of 41 and 28 had higher and lower band numbers, respectively. Cluster analysis using UPGMA method was performed on resultant data obtained from SDS-PAGE for seed proteins. Three distinct groups were identified from the cluster analysis at the similarity coefficient level of 0.75. The bands of 65 and 70 kDa can be used as protein markers to identify populations. We concluded that seed storage protein polymorphism could be a useful marker in population identification, study of genetic diversity and improving the efficiency of grass breeding programs.
SS-CAM: Smoothed Score-CAM for Sharper Visual Feature Localization

Interpretation of the underlying mechanisms of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks has become an important aspect of research in the field of deep learning due to their applications in high-risk environments. To explain these black-box architectures there have been many methods applied so the internal decisions can be analyzed and understood. In this paper, built on the top of Score-CAM, we introduce an enhanced visual explanation in terms of visual sharpness called SS-CAM, which produces centralized localization of object features within an image through a smooth operation. We evaluate our method on the ILSVRC 2012 Validation dataset, which outperforms Score-CAM on both faithfulness and localization tasks.
Intervention Scenarios to Enhance Knowledge Transfer in a Network of Firms

We investigate a multi-agent model of firms in a Research & Development (R&D) network. Each firm is characterized by its knowledge stock xi(t), which follows a non-linear dynamics. xi(t) grows with the input from other firms, i.e., by knowledge transfer, and decays otherwise. However, maintaining the interactions that increase knowledge stock is costly for all partners involved. Because of this, firms leave the network whenever their expected knowledge growth is not realized. This, in turn, may cause other firms also to leave the network. The paper discusses two bottom-up intervention scenarios to prevent, reduce, or delay such cascades of firms leaving. The first one is based on the formalism of network controllability, in which driver nodes are identified and subsequently incentivized, by reducing their costs. The second one combines node interventions and network interventions. It proposes the controlled removal of a single firm and the random replacement of firms leaving. This allows to generate small cascades, which prevents the occurrence of large cascades. We find that both approaches successfully mitigate cascades and thus improve the resilience of the R&D network.
Scalable Spectral Clustering With Nyström Approximation: Practical and Theoretical Aspects

Spectral clustering techniques are valuable tools in signal processing and machine learning for partitioning complex data sets. The effectiveness of spectral clustering stems from constructing a non-linear embedding based on creating a similarity graph and computing the spectral decomposition of the Laplacian matrix. However, spectral clustering methods fail to scale to large data sets because of high computational cost and memory usage. A popular approach for addressing these problems utilizes the Nyström method, an efficient sampling-based algorithm for computing low-rank approximations to large positive semi-definite matrices. This paper demonstrates how the previously popular approach of Nyström-based spectral clustering has severe limitations. Existing time-efficient methods ignore critical information by prematurely reducing the rank of the similarity matrix associated with sampled points. Also, current understanding is limited regarding how utilizing the Nyström approximation will affect the quality of spectral embedding approximations. To address the limitations, this work presents a principled spectral clustering algorithm that exploits spectral properties of the similarity matrix associated with sampled points to regulate accuracy-efficiency trade-offs. We provide theoretical results to reduce the current gap and present numerical experiments with real and synthetic data. Empirical results demonstrate the efficacy and efficiency of the proposed method compared to existing spectral clustering techniques based on the Nyström method and other efficient methods. The overarching goal of this work is to provide an improved baseline for future research directions to accelerate spectral clustering.
The effects of forage supplements on the ingestive behaviour and production of dairy cows grazing ryegrass only or mixed ryegrass and white clover pastures.

The effects on milk yield and feeding behaviour of offering ryegrass silage ( r ), ryegrass and white clover silage ( c ), or grass hay ( h ) supplements were examined for cows grazing a ryegrass pasture (R) or a ryegrass and white clover pasture ( C ). The chemical composition of the two silages was similar but the hay contained less crude protein. Cows grazing R pasture spent longer feeding on c than r silages, and those consuming the c silage spent less time grazing than those consuming r silage. The cows grazing the C pasture spent longer feeding on r than c silages, and those consuming the r silage spent less time grazing than those consuming c silage. The cows’ intake of hay dry matter (DM) was less than silage DM and it was taken into the mouth at a slower rate, masticated more ana swallowed less frequently than silage. Milk yield and composition were not affected by the type of supplementary forage or pasture type. Thus cows grazing pastures of the two sward types spent longer feeding on forages with dissimilar botanical composition if given the option. However, as this reduced the time that they spend grazing, there was no effect on milk production.
Fast General Distributed Transactions with Opacity using Global Time

Transactions can simplify distributed applications by hiding data distribution, concurrency, and failures from the application developer. Ideally the developer would see the abstraction of a single large machine that runs transactions sequentially and never fails. This requires the transactional subsystem to provide opacity (strict serializability for both committed and aborted transactions), as well as transparent fault tolerance with high availability. As even the best abstractions are unlikely to be used if they perform poorly, the system must also provide high performance. Existing distributed transactional designs either weaken this abstraction or are not designed for the best performance within a data center. This paper extends the design of FaRM - which provides strict serializability only for committed transactions - to provide opacity while maintaining FaRM's high throughput, low latency, and high availability within a modern data center. It uses timestamp ordering based on real time with clocks synchronized to within tens of microseconds across a cluster, and a failover protocol to ensure correctness across clock master failures. FaRM with opacity can commit 5.4 million neworder transactions per second when running the TPC-C transaction mix on 90 machines with 3-way replication.