Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring the Influence of Comment Tone and Content in Response to Misinformation in Social Media News

ABSTRACT This study examined whether tone (uncivil vs. civil) of online comments that correct subtle misinformation in a news story would be perceived differently than comments that reinforce the misinformation. A 2 (tone of comment: civil vs. uncivil) × (content of comment: reinforcing or correcting misinformation) online experiment (N = 416) demonstrated that participants perceived civil comments as more credible than uncivil comments. Furthermore, participants perceived comments as more credible if they corrected misinformation in a news story, rather than reinforced the misinformation. However, no significant interaction was found between the tone and content of comments, suggesting participants considered those factors separately when evaluating credibility of comments. Unlike previous findings, results of this study showed that the tone of comments did not influence participants’ perceptions of the credibility of the news story.
The influence of GABAergic signaling on dendritic processing

GABAergic (? -aminobutyric acid-releasing) signaling plays a crucial role in integration processes of pyramidal neurons. Specific subtypes of GABA releasing interneurons innervate different compartments of pyramidal neurons; thereby modulating the summation of excitatory synaptic input in space and time to generate neuronal output. The intrinsic signaling capabilities of neuronal compartments have been extensively studied and many results about the local processes have been elucidated. However, the functional role of the specific GABAergic innervation in dependence of the location is largely unknown. At the beginning of my thesis we studied the effects of GABAergic signals on dendritic excitability of layer V pyramidal cells. While hyperpolarization through activation of dendritic GABAA receptors lowered the threshold for dendritic sodium-calcium spikes, somatic hyperpolarization increased the threshold to initiate dendritic spikes. Blockade of low-voltage activated calcium channels abolished the excitatory effect of dendritic GABAA receptors. The results show that specific pattern of GABAergic pyramidal cell innervation can lead to distinct effects on neuronal function, highly dependent on the site of innervation and local intrinsic signaling mechanisms. Measurements of this study were restricted to somatic whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and its spatial information had to be obtained indirectly. To overcome these limitations we developed a novel approach to record inhibitory postsynaptic potentials by voltage-sensitive dye imaging. Using an improved voltage-imaging technique, the origin and the spread of physiological GABAergic signals as small as 1 mV could be optically resolved from multiple sites in neuronal dendrites. Hence, recordings of specific dendritic GABAergic innervation patterns are able to be performed locally and the GABAergic impact on neuronal integration processes can be evaluated. Finally, we designed experiments that reveal clearly the shaping effects of GABAA receptor activation of different interneuron classes on subcellular dendritic excitatory postsynaptic potentials. Using voltage-sensitive dye imaging we studied the transmembrane voltage patterns in CA1 pyramidal neurons after Schaffer collateral stimulation. The observed excitation/inhibition ratio showed a high variability degree between different branches of the apical-basal dendritic tree, tending to more inhibitory innervation in the apical dendrite close to the soma. Application of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline revealed an excitatory signal in all dendritic segments studied, indicating that the original patterns were indeed due to inhibitory synaptic transmission. We show that GABAergic inhibition shapes synaptic integration in a dendrite-specific manner, with a large fraction of the dendritic arborization receiving predominantly or exclusively inhibitory signals after stimulation of CA1 inputs. In summary, my thesis demonstrates that the location of specific GABAergic innervation is of fundamental relevance for neuronal integration processes.
Mortality rates and life expectancy improvements among malaysian elderlies

This paper presents a study on mortality rates and life expectancy improvements among elderly people in Malaysia. The central age-specific mortality rates will be analyzed according to genders. The expectation of future lifetime of these old age people will be estimated using the actuarial life table approach. Two different types of life table will be developed, including life table for males and females--- to compare the results of mortality rates and life expectancies between genders. Results show that, mortality rates of Malaysian elderly, for both males and females are increasing almost in linear pattern by age, and this trend is consistent from 1950 to 2015. Comparison between genders shows that mortality of elderly females is generally lower than males at almost all ages. Nonetheless, mortality rates of Malaysian elderly males are declining faster than Malaysian elderly females. Life expentancies of females are higher than males for age groups 60 to 70, and lower than males for age 75 and above. Results also indicate that Malaysian elderly popultion is aging faster from previous generation in which elderly males age 85+ in 2010-2015 can live longer by 123% than thise in 1950-1955.
Industrial trainees learning experiences of English related tasks at the workplace

This study aims to examine (a) the needs and usage of English language by Industrial Trainees at their workplace, (b) the challenges they faced, and (c) the relevance of Diploma in English courses in a public university in Malaysia to their language and communication needs at the workplace. The sample consists of 55 final year Diploma in English students who had just completed their three months of industrial training at various organisations. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study indicated that English was widely used in the organisations and all the four language skills were required in conducting various tasks at the workplace. However, most of the trainees experienced difficulty in making online ticketing and online hotel reservations, holding briefings, attending to clients’ concerns and complaints, negotiating with clients to make a deal, making oral presentations, contacting with other firms, preparing the filing system, preparing flyers/brochures/posters/advertisements and preparing accounts. It is thus suggested that the essential courses especially concerning public speaking and interpersonal communication skills to be taught before the students underwent their internship. The findings of the study have some pedagogical implications. Higher education institutions that offer similar courses can make use of these findings in revising the program in line with current demands of education and the workforce. Besides, the lecturers can also rethink the way how specific courses should be taught to meet the students’ needs and allow them to explore meaningful learning through experiential learning.
Ecological guilds of fishes in streams of an arid subtropical drainage in western Mexico

Knowledge of ecological guilds of river fish communities can be useful for stream conservation and management. We determined trophic and ecological guilds for 17 fish species in three rivers of the Balsas basin, western Mexico: Cupatitzio, La Parota, and El Marqués. First, for the nine most common species, we analyzed diet content information, niche breadth, and overlap. We relied on published literature for the eight least common species. The food resources used by all these fishes were mostly insects and detritus. Most species were deemed generalists with a significant overlap among carnivorous species. There were three trophic guilds: insectivores, detritivore-herbivores, and omnivores. Second, 14 ecological guilds were defined, combining the trophic groupings with direct observations on size and position in the water column, as well as information from the literature on reproductive mode. The most frequent ecological guild was viviparous/mid-sized/detritivorous/mid-water, which was present at all sampled sites, followed by the viviparous/small/detritivorous/surface guild, present in 9 out of 10 sites. Four guilds were exclusive to the depositional section of the system: oviparous-complex (i.e., nest builders or with parental care)/large-bodied/detritivorous-herbivorous/benthic, oviparous-complex/mid-sized/omnivorous/mid-water, oviparous-simple/small/insectivorous/mid-water, and viviparous/small/omnivorous/mid-water. No guild was exclusive to the erosive section of the rivers. In spite of using similar resources, the conformation of ecological guilds suggests segregation, both by distribution and by differential use of the habitat, facilitating the coexistence of species in the fish community of this basin.
Spring phenology, latitude, and the timing of breeding in two migratory ducks: implications of climate change impacts

We studied whether the timing of hatching in the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and the common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is associated with the timing of lake ice break-up (a local climate index) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO, a largescale climate index), and if the strength of these associations differ between southern and northern populations of the species. In both species, the date of hatching was associated with the date of ice break-up; more clearly so in northern Finland than in southern Finland. The date of hatching was neither associated with the winter NAO (December–March) nor with the spring NAO (March–May). There was no difference between southern and northern populations in terms of the annual differences (in days) between the timing of ice break-up and the timing of hatching. However, in both species, this difference decreased with increasing lateness of the spring in the north, the corresponding trend being less clear in the south.
The role of predisposing factors in experimental fungus infections.

Among other factors, the influence of ionizing radiations on susceptibility to fungus diseases is reviewed. X irradiation singly or in combination with cortisone administration has been employed in the study of experimental fungus diseases, and it has been shown that total-body radiation enhaaced infection with Candida albicans, Blastomyces dermatididis, and Cryptococcus neoformans in mice. Enhanced susceptibility to fungus infections following radiation therapy has also been reported, the mechanism resulting in lowered host resistance being presumably the same as in other infections. (BBB)
Reinventing Innovation Management: The Impact of Self-Innovating Artificial Intelligence

Through recent leaps in application, artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most promising digital technologies, attracting significant attention from scholars and practitioners alike. Prior innovation research has mainly focused on the opportunities for and challenges to infusing digital technologies into the innovation process. However, understanding the general effects of digital technologies is insufficient as their specific fields of application differ. AI is distinct from other digital technologies, given its potential to evolve into both a general-purpose technology and a method of inventing, and several firms are beginning to integrate AI into their innovation processes. We capture this phenomenon by introducing a concept we term self-innovating artificial intelligence (SAI), defined as the organizational utilization of AI with the aim of incrementally advancing existing or developing new products, based on insights from continuously combining and analyzing multiple data sources. As SAI is about to fundamentally change how innovations are created, this article describes the underlying AI technology; conceptualizes and outlines how firms may incorporate SAI into their innovation processes with the aim of developing increasingly complex products; and offers potential avenues for further research in this intriguing domain.
Creativity: A key concept in guidance and career counselling

Creativity can be considered a key resource in human development, education and adaptation. It is often defined as the ability to generate novel productions (ideas or work) that are valuable in their context and are also frequently surprising. In the context of the 21st century skills movement, creativity is systematically cited as a life skill, together with critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills. In this article, we explore the role of creativity in vocational guidance and suggest how it may be further integrated into discussions of career counselling. The article first offers a collection of perspectives from the French guidance counselling literature, educational guidance and training perspectives. This material illustrates the pivotally important modern expansion of the field’s mission from helping students making career choices to that of providing individuals of all kinds with the skills and perspective necessary to begin the lifelong process of building their own ‘life project’. In this expanded vision of career counselling, we argue that the understanding and development of an individuals’ creativity becomes even more centrally important.
Evaluation of Long-Term Results of Two Different Calcium Silicate Based Materials in Primary Molar Teeth Vital Pulpotomies: An Invivo Study

Aim: Pulpotomy is one of the pulp therapy for cariously exposed pulps in primary molar teeth. There are several materials that allows regeneration of the residual pulp. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two different calcium silicate based materials (ProRoot MTA, BIOfactor MTA) in primary molar teeth vital pulpotomies. Materials and Methods: A total of 12 children (24 human mandibulary primary second molar teeth) aged between 6 and 9 years were selected in this randomized clinical study. The patients were randomly assigned to receive the pulpotomy medicaments. All pulpotomized teeth were restored with stainless steel crowns and evaluated clinically and radiologically at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. Statistical analysis using chi-square test was performed to determine the significant differences between two materials. Results: Neither clinical nor radiographical differences were seen in 1st, 3rd and 6th months but in 12th month ProRoot MTA showed statistically better results in clinical evaluation (p=0,047). Conclusion: Both two calcium silicate based materials s howed similar clinical and radiographical results by the end of 6th month but ProRoot MTA showed better results at the end of 12th month.
Improved SMA-based SCS-CN method incorporating storm duration for runoff prediction on the Loess Plateau, China

In the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method for estimating runoff, three antecedent moisture condition (AMC) levels produce a discrete relation between the curve number (CN) and soil water content, which results in corresponding sudden jumps in estimated runoff. An improved soil moisture accounting (SMA)-based SCS-CN method that incorporates a continuous function for the AMC was developed to obviate sudden jumps in estimated runoff. However, this method ignores the effect of storm duration on surface runoff, yet this is an important component of rainfall-runoff processes. In this study, the SMA-based method for runoff estimation was modified by incorporating storm duration and a revised SMA procedure. Then, the performance of the proposed method was compared to both the original SCS-CN and SMA-based methods by applying them in three experimental watersheds located on the Loess Plateau, China. The results indicate that the SCS-CN method underestimates large runoff events and overestimates small runoff events, yielding an efficiency of 0.626 in calibration and 0.051 in validation; the SMA-based method has improved runoff estimation in both calibration (efficiency1⁄4 0.702) and validation (efficiency1⁄4 0.481). However, the proposed method performed significantly better than both, yielding model efficiencies of 0.810 and 0.779 in calibration and validation, respectively. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits copying and redistribution for non-commercial purposes with no derivatives, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). doi: 10.2166/nh.2020. 140 ://iwaponline.com/hr/article-pdf/51/3/443/698119/nh0510443.pdf Wenhai Shi (corresponding author) Ni Wang School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an, China and Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an, China E-mail: shiwenhai2015@163.com
Does PhD qualification improve pedagogical competence? A study on teaching and training in higher education

Purpose: There has been much debate in recent times about the factors that improve the quality of teaching in higher education (HE) institutions. This has been especially fuelled by the increasing importance attached to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) qualification. To fill the existing gap in the current literature in this regard, this study aims to investigate whether HE teachers (lecturers) who undergo pedagogical training (PT) in addition to obtaining PhD qualification possess higher knowledge and pedagogical competencies (PCs) than those that relied only on having PhD qualification without further teaching qualifications. Design/Methodology/Approach: Drawing upon data collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 1174 Nigerian HE teachers in various disciplines from 39 HE institutions, in addition to two focus groups; the study adopts a mixed methods research. The quantitative data were analyzed descriptively while qualitatively data were coded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Findings – This article proposes that teachers who undergo PT in addition to obtaining PhD tend to have more PCs and perform better than those that have not undergone any form of PT. Also, it found a statistically significant difference between PCs of HE teachers who have undergone PT in addition to PhD qualification from those without PT. The implication is that teachers who have undergone PT are more effective in facilitating teaching and learning than those who have not completed PT. Research Limitations/Implications: Despite the merits of the mixed research method, a major limitation of this study is the failure to compare students’ achievements or successes based on the two distinct samples. However, the limitations create opportunities for further studies into the subject matter. Originality/Value – This study is timely, given that Nigeria (like many African countries) has a low quality HE system and low graduate outcomes (related to knowledge, employability, and skills). More so, research into pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and practices are rare or non-existent in the literature related to Nigeria and other African countries’ HE system.
Assessing the effectiveness of a long‐standing rocky intertidal protected area and its contribution to the regional conservation of species, habitats and assemblages

The acceptance of reserves as a useful management strategy relies on evidence of their effectiveness in preserving stocks of harvested species and conserving biodiversity. A history of ad hoc decisions in terrestrial and marine protected area planning has meant that many of these areas are contributing inefficiently to conservation goals. The conservation value of existing protected areas should be assessed when planning the placement of additional areas in a reserve network. 2. This study tested (1) the effectiveness of protection for intertidal molluscs of a marine reserve (Bouddi Marine Extension, NSW, Australia) established in 1971, and (2) the contribution of the protected area to the conservation of regional species, assemblages, and habitats. 3. The shell length and population density of one harvested (Cellana tramoserica), and three non-harvested species (Bembicium nanum, Morula marginalba, Nerita atramentosa) of intertidal molluscs were examined in the protected area and two reference locations over two seasons. 4. The heavily collected limpet C. tramoserica was significantly larger in the protected area and was the only species to exhibit a significant difference. No species significantly differed in population density between the protected area and reference locations. 5. Temporally replicated surveys of macro-molluscs at 21 locations over 75km of coastline identified that the existing protected area included 50% of species, two of five assemblage types and 19 of 20 intertidal rocky shore habitats surveyed in the study region. Reservation of a further three rocky reefs would protect a large proportion of species (71%), a representative of each assemblage and all habitat types. 6. Despite originally being selected in the absence of information on regional biodiversity, the protected area is today an effective starting point for expansion to a regional network of intertidal protected areas. Copyright # 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modeling the spatial variation of urban land surface temperature in relation to environmental and anthropogenic factors: a case study of Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT Spatial variation of Urban Land Surface Temperature (ULST) is a complex function of environmental, climatic, and anthropogenic factors. It thus requires specific techniques to quantify this phenomenon and its influencing factors. In this study, four models, Random Forest (RF), Generalized Additive Model (GAM), Boosted Regression Tree (BRT), and Support Vector Machine (SVM), are calibrated to simulate the ULST based on independent factors, i.e., land use/land cover (LULC), solar radiation, altitude, aspect, distance to major roads, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Additionally, the spatial influence and the main interactions among the influential factors of the ULST are explored. Landsat-8 is the main source for data extraction and Tehran metropolitan area in Iran is selected as the study area. Results show that NDVI, LULC, and altitude explained 86% of the ULST °C variation. Unexpectedly, lower LST is observed near the major roads, which was due to the presence of vegetation along the streets and highways in Tehran. The results also revealed that variation in the ULST was influenced by the interaction between altitude – NDVI, altitude – road, and LULC – altitude. This indicates that the individual examination of the underlying factors of the ULST variation might be unilluminating. Performance evaluation of the four models reveals a close performance in which their R2 and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) fall between 60.6–62.1% and 2.56–2.60 °C, respectively. However, the difference between the models is not statistically significant. This study evaluated the predictive performance of several models for ULST simulation and enhanced our understanding of the spatial influence and interactions among the underlying driving forces of the ULST variations.