Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A peer victimisation scale based on a behavioural consequences measurement strategy.

INTRODUCTION An accurate assessment of peer victimisation (i.e. bullying) is a necessary precondition for research and intervention. Most assessment instruments use the 'list of acts' measurement strategy, which does not account for the actual physical and psychological damage inflicted by bullying. To resolve this limitation, this study developed a peer victimisation scale (PVS) that includes harmful consequences for judgement and measurement of peer victimisation. METHODS The PVS is a 40-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess the four aspects of peer victimisation: physical, verbal, relational, and interference and control. A total of 1,469 Grade 3-8 students (49.9% male) were recruited to test the psychometric properties of the PVS. Another 420 Grade 3-8 students were examined by a modified PVS supplemented with a semi-structured interview for scale validation and establishment of the cut-off points for severe bullying. Incidence, age and gender distribution of peer victimisation were also analysed. RESULTS The PVS demonstrated good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.73-0.83) and test-retest reliability two weeks later (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.71-0.80). The scores for each dimension were significantly and positively correlated with the scores from the questionnaire-interview sample (r = 0.73-0.78), and modestly correlated with the scores for symptoms of anxiety and depression (r = 0.36-0.54). CONCLUSION The results were consistent with the measurement constructs, demonstrating that the PVS is a reliable and effective instrument for assessing peer victimisation in children. It may enable more reliable longitudinal studies assessing the impact of peer victimisation to be conducted.
Workshop on large-scale distributed systems for information retrieval

The Workshop on Large-Scale Distributed Systems for Information Retrieval was a venue for seminal ideas on the design of systems for search. The workshop focused mainly on mechanisms for P2P IR, which is currently a highly popular research area, but it also had fruitful discussions and presentations on other architectures for large-scale systems. Given the attendance and the good level of discussion, we conclude that systems for information retrieval is a growing and promising area of research.
Scheduling Banner Advertisements on the Web

Despite the slowdown in the economy, advertisement revenue remains a significant source of income for many Internet-based organizations. Banner advertisements form a critical component of this income, accounting for 40 to 50% of the total revenue. There are considerable gains to be realized through the efficient scheduling of banner advertisements. This problem has received only limited attention in the literature. This paper introduces formulations for an important version of the banner advertisement scheduling problem. Two solution approaches, one based on Lagrangean decomposition and the other based on column generation, are presented, along with extensive results based on 1,500 randomly generated data sets. These results suggest that, while both approaches do very well in general, column generation consistently performs better than Lagrangean decomposition, giving gaps of 0.0004% or better in 4.4 seconds or less, even on relatively large problem instances.
Recruitment, selection and alignment of spatial language strategies

All languages of the world have a way to talk about space and spatial relations of objects. Cross-culturally, immense variation in how people conceptualize space for language has been attested. Different spatial conceptualization strategies such as proximal, projective and absolute have been identified to underlie peoples conception of spatial reality. This paper argues that spatial conceptualization strategies are negotiated in a cultural process of linguistic selection. Conceptualization strategies originate in the cognitive capabilities of agents. The ecological conditions and the structure of the environment influence the conceptualization strategy agents invent and which corresponding system of lexicon and ontology of spatial relations is selected for. The validity of these claims is explored using populations of humanoid robots.
The epistemological status of second language acquisition

In this paper I argue for the necessity of recognizing the epistemological basis of language (and hence of linguistic theory) for research in and theories of second language acquisition. In particular, I review the arguments for a generative approach to linguistic theory (e.g. Chomsky, 1965, 1975, 1981) and for why language as a system of knowledge must be distinct from other sorts of know ledge (Fodor, 1983), with the purpose of clarifying many misconceptions that seem to have arisen with respect to the work in generative grammar over the last 20 years. After doing this I argue that the null hypothesis for second language acquisition is, as concerns its mental representation of linguistic knowledge, that its epistemological status should be assumed to be the same as that of L 1 until proven otherwise. I then demonstrate how SLA theory (e.g. Krashen, 1981) can be elucidated by subsuming (parts of) L2 under linguistic theory with its firm epistemological basis, and how, in particular, one could empirically test Krashen's theory as well as any other theory of SLA that assumes L 1 and L2 to be epistemologically equivalent. In addition I discuss the need for researchers to consider the special epistemological status of linguistic knowledge before prescribing L2 pedagogy. In sum this is a paper that takes a step back into the philosophical debate concerning the mental status of language in general in order for us to be able to take a step forward in second language research in particular.
Responses to organizational harm: Mechanism of blaming managers as proxies for a culpable organization

Recent research has shown that perceivers who are culturally oriented to focus on the causal influence of groups tend to assign blame to an organization and extend the blame to an individual representing it (i.e. proxy blaming). The present research investigates the mechanism of this blame extension. Results show that it occurs when punishing the organization is impossible rather than possible (Study 1) and that this blaming is brought about by the perception that the target individual is in the role to represent the organization, not by the perception that he/she is the typical member of the culpable organization (Study 2). Implications of these findings in the responsibility literature are discussed.
New physics in spin entanglement

We propose a theory that preserves spin-summed scattering and decay rates at tree level while affecting particle spins. This is achieved by breaking the Lorentz group in a non-local way that tries avoiding stringent constraints, for example leaving unbroken the maximal sub-group SIM(2). As a phenomenological application, this new physics can alter the spins of top-antitop pairs (and consequently their entanglement) produced in $pp$ collisions without impacting their rates. Some observables affected by loops involving top quarks with modified entanglement receive corrections.
Debugging programs that use atomic blocks and transactional memory

With the emergence of research prototypes, programming using atomic blocks and transactional memory (TM) is becoming more attractive. This paper describes our experience building and using a debugger for programs written with these abstractions. We introduce three approaches: (i) debugging at the level of atomic blocks, where the programmer is shielded from implementation details (such as exactly what kind of TM is used, or indeed whether lock inference is used instead), (ii) debugging at the level of transactions, where conflict rates, read sets, write sets, and other TM internals are visible, and (iii) debug-time transactions, which let the programmer manipulate synchronization from within the debugger - e.g., enlarging the scope of an atomic block to try to identify a bug. In this paper we explain the rationale behind the new debugging approaches that we propose. We describe the design and implementation of an extension to the WinDbg debugger, enabling support for C# programs using atomic blocks and TM. We also demonstrate the design of a "conflict point discovery" technique for identifying program statements that introduce contention between transactions. We illustrate how these techniques can be used by optimizing a C# version of the Genome application from STAMP TM benchmark suite.
Unified analysis of glottal source spectrum

The spectral study of the glottal excitation has traditionally been based on a single time-domain mathematical model of the signal, and the spectral dependence on its time domain parameters. Opposite to this approach, in this work the two most widely used time domain models have been studied jointly, namely the KLGLOTT88 and the LF models. Their spectra are analyzed in terms of their dependence on the general glottal source parameters: Open quotient, asymmetry coefficient and spectral tilt. As a result, it has been proved that even though the mathematical expressions for both models are quite different, they can be made to converge. The main difference found is that in the KLGLOTT88 model the asymmetry coefficient is not independent of the open quotient and the spectral tilt. Once this relationship has been identified and translated to LF model, both models are shown to be equivalent in both time and frequency domains.
The first record and distribution of the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora in Syria

A survey of all major pome fruit growing regions was conducted during 2005 and 2006 to establish whether Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight, was present in Syria. Samples were collected from quince (Cydonia oblonga), pear (Pyrus communis) and apple (Malus domestica) trees suspected of being infected with E. amylovora. Seventy-five isolates of E. amylovora were recovered, mainly from quince and some from pear but none from apple. All isolates produced typical symptoms of fire blight when tested on immature pear fruit. Two isolates were shown to induce a delayed hypersensitivity reaction on tobacco. All the isolates were confirmed to be E. amylovora by PCR using primers specific for this bacterium. One set of primers amplifies a fragment of the native plasmid (pEA29) and a second set amplifies a fragment involved in the synthesis of amylovoran, the structurally unique exopolysaccharide of this bacterium. Fire blight was found to prevail in the Al-Zabadani region (Rif Damascus), an area with a moderate temperature range (10–29°C) and high relative humidity (above 70%) during the blossom period. However, the diseasewas found to be restricted within Syria and observed only in isolated foci near the Lebanese border. This is the first isolation and identification of E. amylovora from Syria
Promotions and Employees' Perceived Mobility Channels: The Effects of Employee Sex, Employee Group, and Initial Placement

Information from questionnaires and personnel records (perceived and actual promotions in previous 5 years, hierarchical level, and perceptions of ways of obtaining promotions-mobility channels) was gathered on 14 administrative/professional and supervisory/technical university employees to determine how mobility patterns and employee perceptions of them vary as a result of employees' sex and different starting points in the organization. Two 2 x 2 MANCOVAs (employee sex x employee group and employee sex x starting level), with age and education held constant, showed main effects for employee group and starting level, a marginal main effect for employee sex, and an employee sex x starting level interaction. Employees'sex and their positions in the organization, whether initial vertical placement or the (bargaining) group in which the employee works, are important in promotions and employees' perceptions of the promotion process.
Does culture tame the bunny? A content analysis of a global adult magazine

Purpose – Few empirical studies have probed the effects of culture on the standardization/adaptation decision in the context of controversial products. This study aims to investigate the relationship between sociosexuality and the adaptation decision for editorial images and advertisements in Playboy magazine through content analysis. Design/methodology/approach – This study is a qualitative research using content analysis as the research approach. The content analysis is done for Playboy magazines from four culturally diverse countries conducted for this study. Findings – The result shows that editions of the magazine across four culturally diverse countries reveal that sociosexuality is positively correlated to the degree of nudity in photographs and to the usage of advertising for controversial products. Moreover, the paper uses the concept of sociosexuality to gain a better understanding of the empirical discrepancies concerning nudity or sex appeal. Originality/value – This research is an empirical s.
What are the factors that influence parental stress when caring for a child with an intellectual disability? A critical literature review

Abstract Objectives: This article critically reviewed empirical studies identifying factors that may influence parental stress when caring for a child with an intellectual disability. Understanding the factors influencing parental stress is important for several reasons, which include improving parental/child quality of life, supporting parental needs, and thus reducing potential economic burden in the long term. This review is also imperative for ensuring high quality research within this field. Methods: AMED, CINAHL Plus (EBSCOhost), EMBASE, Medline and PsycINFO were accessed to conduct a critical literature review. A total of 17 articles were reviewed. A bespoke quality assessment tool was developed to examine the susceptibility to bias for each of the included studies. Results: The review outlined a range of child, parent and socio-environmental factors that may influence parental stress. More specifically, factors associated with greater parental stress included child behavioral difficulties (e.g. challenging behavior), ineffective parental coping strategies (including avoidance and self-blame), and poor family environment (e.g. lack of cohesion amongst family members). These factors are critically discussed alongside contrasting evidence that was illuminated within this review. Conclusions: Parents of a child with an intellectual disability are not a homogenous group and are likely to show variability in the factors that affect their stress levels. Future clinical and research implications are proposed in light of the methodological limitations identified within the studies reviewed. For example, future research could investigate the bi-directional effects that occur between variables; how specific factors influence parental stress; and potential mediating/moderating factors of parenting stress.
Characterization of truncated hantavirus nucleocapsid proteins and their application for serotyping

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a fulminant infectious disease characterized by fever, hemorrhage, renal impairment, and thrombocytopenia. Hantaviruses associated with this belong to different serotypes: Hantaan (HTN), Seoul (SEO), Dobrava/Belgrade (DOB), and Puumala (PUU). The first two, HTN and SEO, are endemic in China. To investigate the epidemiology of HFRS and virus transmission in China, we constructed prokaryotic plasmids encoding truncated recombinant HTN and SEO nucleocapsid proteins (NPs), which lacked 154 amino acid (aa), 99 aa, or 49 aa in the N‐terminal region, respectively. After expression, the truncated rNPs were tested as serotyping antigens, particularly for use in the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, 68 acute and 52 convalescent sera were collected from HFRS patients from Harbin, Lantian, and Kaifeng regions in China in 2004, which had hantavirus specific antibodies by IFA. A neutralization test was used to differentiate these, which showed that 73 were due to HTN infection, 33 to SEO infection, and 14 undetermined. By ELISA, the truncated rNPs, that lacked 99 (rNP100) or 49 (rNP50) N‐terminal amino acids of the NPs of HTN and SEO, were able to differentiate HTNV and SEOV‐specific immune sera, but the rNP155 could not. Particularly, the ELISAs based on the rNP50s had a result comparable to PRNT. Thus, the rNP50 is recommended as efficient serotyping antigen for hantavirus infection diagnosis by ELISA. J. Med. Virol. 78:926–932, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Opening the « black box » of electrodermal activity in consumer neuroscience research

For 30 years, the study of emotional reactions of consumers has been a topic of research based on electrophysiological indices. To date, more than 20 studies using the measurement of electrodermal activity (EDA) have been published in marketing. This recording method is experiencing a renewed interest with the emergence of consumer neuroscience and participates in investigative techniques of brain functions. Although the implementation of EDA measurement is an attainable technique, its signal analysis is nonetheless complex. Recently, researchers in psychophysiology have developed a new digital tool for EDA signal processing, thus optimizing the evaluation of the “activation” component of an emotional episode. A careful reading of the literature has identified several methods of collecting and processing the EDA signal which are discussed. Recommendations are proposed and illustrated in an exploratory study using seven TV commercials. The results show that the application of standards for signal processing by means of nonnegative deconvolution improves the robustness of measures thus contributing to the enhancement of consumer neuroscience research.
Targeted Deletion of a Single Sca8 Ataxia Locus Allele in Mice Causes Abnormal Gait, Progressive Loss of Motor Coordination, and Purkinje Cell Dendritic Deficits

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (SCA8) patients typically have a slowly progressive, adult-onset ataxia. SCA8 is dominantly inherited and is caused by large CTG repeat expansions in the untranslated antisense RNA of the Kelch-like 1 gene (KLHL1), but the molecular mechanism through which this expansion leads to disease is still unknown. To more fully characterize the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in SCA8, we developed a mouse model in which Klhl1 is deleted in either all tissues or is deleted specifically in Purkinje cells only. We found that mice that are either homozygous or heterozygous for the Klhl1 deletion have significant gait abnormalities at an early age and develop a significant loss of motor coordination by 24 weeks of age. This loss progresses more rapidly in homozygous knock-outs. Mice with Klhl1 specifically deleted in only Purkinje cells had a loss of motor coordination that was almost identical to the total-tissue deletion mice. Finally, we found significant Purkinje cell dendritic deficits, as measured by the thickness of the molecular layer, in all mice in which Klhl1 was deleted (both total and Purkinje cell-specific deletions) and an intermediate reduction in molecular layer thickness in mice with reduced levels of Klhl1 expression (heterozygous deletions). The results from this mouse model show that even a partial loss of Klhl1 function leads to degeneration of Purkinje cell function and indicates that loss of KLHL1 activity is likely to play a significant part in the underlying pathophysiology of SCA8.
Experience, theory, and practical wisdom in teaching and teacher education

In this contribution, we discuss what it means to be a professional teacher with practical wisdom, and how practical wisdom is related to theory and experience. These questions are especially relevant as nowadays, in many countries, teacher education becomes more school‐based. Building on theories on the functioning of the human mind in general, and teacher behavior in particular, the notions of practical wisdom, theory, and experience are connected in a triangular model. We elaborate on the idea that each element can be an entry point for practices in teacher education, which brings discussion on the relationship between theory and practice in teacher education into a broader perspective. Several pedagogical approaches are discussed which help to link practical wisdom, theory, and experience within teacher education programs.
Heterarchical versus Hierarchical Modes of Imageless Thinking

In this factor-analytic study of imaging and thinking, measures of vivid visual and auditory imaging loaded onto a unitary “vivid imaging” factor, on which no measures of thinking loaded. This first factor-analytic finding, like previous findings of no correlation between vivid imaging and productive thinking, is consistent with Külpe's classic argument and Kunzendorf's contemporary argument that visually and auditorily imaged sensations are not building blocks for “spatial” and “temporal” thinking, respectively, but are sensory representations which vivid imagers construct from their imageless thoughts. Moving beyond individual differences in vivid imaging to individual differences in imageless thinking, this factor-analytic study found, in addition, that radically different measures of styles of thought load onto a unitary “heterarchical versus hierarchical thinking” factor. These differing measures of thinking styles instructed research participants to find embedded spatial and temporal patterns, to organize two unstructured data sets into matrices or outlines, and to rank their preferences for 12 competitive events—6 events defined by “how close, “how high,” or “how far” competitors can perform on a heterarchical measure, and 6 events defined by “how well synchronized,” “how long,” or “how fast” competitors can perform on a hierarchical measure. Engineering students in this research exhibited significantly more heterarchical thinking and significantly less hierarchical thinking; management students exhibited significantly less heterarchical thinking and significantly more hierarchical thinking; and male students and female students exhibited, on average, no significant differences in their modes of thinking. Based on these findings, the authors conclude that people's “imageless thinking” can be characterized in terms of two orthogonal modes of thinking: heterarchical thinking and hierarchical thinking.