Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Equity in Science at South African Schools: A pious platitude or an achievable goal?

The apartheid policies in South Africa had a marked influence on the accessibility and quality of school science experienced by the different race groups. African learners in particular were seriously disadvantaged in this regard. The issues of equity and redress were foremost in transformation of the education system, and the accompanying curriculum reform. This paper reports on equity in terms of equality of outputs and equality of inputs in South African school science, with a particular focus on the implementation of practical science investigations. This was a qualitative case study of two teachers on their implementation of science investigations at two schools, one a township school, previously designated for black children, and the other a former Model C school, previously reserved for white children. My study was guided by the curriculum implementation framework by Rogan and Grayson in trying to understand the practice of these teachers at schools located in contextually diverse communities. The framework helped profile the implementation of science investigations and also enabled me to explore the factors which are able to support or hinder this implementation.
Intelligent database caching through the use of page-answers and page-traces

In this paper a new method to improve the utilization of main memory systems is presented. The new method is based on prestoring in main memory a number of query answers, each evaluated out of a single memory page. To this end, the ideas of page-answers and page-traces are formally described and their properties analyzed. The query model used here allows for selection, projection, join, recursive queries as well as arbitrary combinations. We also show how to apply the approach under update traffic. This concept is especially useful in managing the main memories of an important class of applications. This class includes the evaluation of triggers and alerters, performance improvement of rule-based systems, integrity constraint checking, and materialized views. These applications are characterized by the existence at compile time of a predetermined set of queries, by a slow but persistent update traffic, and by their need to repetitively reevaluate the query set. The new approach represents a new type of intelligent database caching, which contrasts with traditional caching primarily in that the cache elements are derived data and as a consequence, they overlap arbitrarily and do not have a fixed length. The contents of the main memory cache are selected based on the data distribution within the database, the set of fixed queries to preprocess, and the paging characteristics. Page-answers and page-traces are used as the smallest indivisible units in the cache. An efficient heuristic to select a near optimal set of page-answers and page-traces to populate the main memory has been developed, implemented, and tested. Finally, quantitative measurements of performance benefits are reported.
Real Politics in Occupy: Transcending the Rules of the Day

Abstract This paper analyses the Occupy movement in order to explore the mode of its participants' engagement with radical change. It also sketches the framework of real politics within which they were acting. It is a politics that accepts the constitutive lack of the political sphere, irreducibility of social antagonisms and alterity. First, by utilising Lacan and Derrida's theoretical constructions, the article examines ways in which Occupy aimed to transcend the ‘rules of the day’. It then describes the challenges of non-hierarchical organising and radical inclusion that the movement faced. Subsequently, I briefly analyse 2 aporias that were endured in Occupy: between the ideal and non-ideal as well as between unity and singularity. These aporias did not mark a stalemate that paralysed the movement but pointed to the limits that had to be negotiated by Occupy's participants. Occupy demonstrated that, in reality, direct democracy does not work like an ideal of a self-transparent and completely non-alienated form of decision-making; this is perhaps the most important lesson that has to be borne in mind when considering the question of whether it is inevitable that the lacks in the system and in subjects continually re-emerge, and when asking what this can mean for the potential of universalising direct democracy and the future of radical activism. This paper draws on ‘militant ethnographic’ and participatory action research within Occupy in Dublin and semi-structured interviews with participants from Ireland and the USA.
A global multiscale mathematical model for the human circulation with emphasis on the venous system

We present a global, closed‐loop, multiscale mathematical model for the human circulation including the arterial system, the venous system, the heart, the pulmonary circulation and the microcirculation. A distinctive feature of our model is the detailed description of the venous system, particularly for intracranial and extracranial veins. Medium to large vessels are described by one‐dimensional hyperbolic systems while the rest of the components are described by zero‐dimensional models represented by differential‐algebraic equations. Robust, high‐order accurate numerical methodology is implemented for solving the hyperbolic equations, which are adopted from a recent reformulation that includes variable material properties. Because of the large intersubject variability of the venous system, we perform a patient‐specific characterization of major veins of the head and neck using MRI data. Computational results are carefully validated using published data for the arterial system and most regions of the venous system. For head and neck veins, validation is carried out through a detailed comparison of simulation results against patient‐specific phase‐contrast MRI flow quantification data. A merit of our model is its global, closed‐loop character; the imposition of highly artificial boundary conditions is avoided. Applications in mind include a vast range of medical conditions. Of particular interest is the study of some neurodegenerative diseases, whose venous haemodynamic connection has recently been identified by medical researchers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Work-Related Negative Experience

This cross-sectional study examines the relationship between poor employee well-being (PEWB) and work-related mental ill-health and substance consumption (MIH). It is proposed as a unification model that links both work-related negative consequences on the basis of the experiences of threat, loss, and frustration at work. PEWB contains the following elements: emotional discomfort, bodily uneasiness, organizational distance, task impairment, and dragging workday; and MIH includes work-related anxiety, depression, irritability, cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug consumption, and physical illness. Six hundred ninety-seven participants, working in a wide range of jobs and occupations, completed the survey. Results indicated that PEWB and MIH are significantly associated, after controlling for demographic and personal factors. Sense sharing between PEWB-MIH and PEWB element combination explained the relationships between both constructs. These findings could be helpful for organizations interested in preserving and improving worker mental health.
Challenges in Moving to “Health Information for Action”: An Infrastructural Perspective From a Case Study in Tajikistan

Health information systems (HIS) in developing countries are mainly characterized as being “data led,” with vast amounts of data being routinely collected, but with limited evidence of them being used “for action. ” While past research and practice have made significant progress in understanding issues contributing to this situation, limited advancement has been made as to how to redress the situation. Further, infrastructure issues impeding data use have also not been significantly highlighted in existing research. Drawing on a longitudinal case of the design, development and implementation of HIS in Tajikistan, we argue that a reason for this weak progress has been the rather narrow focus on technology, ignoring the broader issues that influence its uptake and use. We explore this through an “infrastructure” lens to enable a more holistic perspective to understand complex socio-technical networks with a multiplicity of interests, actors and technologies in play which need to be aligned. A key contribution of this paper is the identification of facets of a health information infrastructure which helps to identify both the constraints and opportunities in making a transition from a data-led to an action-led system.
Organization of Octopus Arm Movements: A Model System for Studying the Control of Flexible Arms

Octopus arm movements provide an extreme example of controlled movements of a flexible arm with virtually unlimited degrees of freedom. This study aims to identify general principles in the organization of these movements. Video records of the movements ofOctopus vulgaris performing the task of reaching toward a target were studied. The octopus extends its arm toward the target by a wave-like propagation of a bend that travels from the base of the arm toward the tip. Similar bend propagation is seen in other octopus arm movements, such as locomotion and searching. The kinematics (position and velocity) of the midpoint of the bend in three-dimensional space were extracted using the direct linear transformation algorithm. This showed that the bend tends to move within a single linear plane in a simple, slightly curved path connecting the center of the animal’s body with the target location. Approximately 70% of the reaching movements demonstrated a stereotyped tangential velocity profile. An invariant profile was observed when movements were normalized for velocity and distance. Two arms, extended together in the same behavioral context, demonstrated identical velocity profiles. The stereotyped features of the movements were also observed in spontaneous arm extensions (not toward an external target). The simple and stereotypic appearance of the bend trajectory suggests that the position of the bend in space and time is the controlled variable. We propose that this strategy reduces the immense redundancy of the octopus arm movements and hence simplifies motor control.
A Survey on SQL Injection Attack Countermeasures Techniques

: As users of internet is increasing day by day. The demands for web services and mobile web application are also increased. The probability of a system being attacked is also increased. All the web applications maintain information at the backend database from which results are retrieved. As these services or web application, can be accessed from anywhere around the world which needs to be always available to all the clients, partners employees, and for different users located at different parts of world. SQL Injection Attack is nowadays one of the topmost threats for web application security as it is the easier than other attacks. Using SQL Injection attackers can steal confidential information. In this paper has reviewed most of the SQL injection attacks detection systems proposed by different authors. This paper can be useful to other researchers for their work who plans to work in security of the database from SQL Injection attacks.
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 Multiple-file vs. Single-file Endodontics in Dental Practice: a Study in Routine Care

Background. Little is known about the differences of rotary multiple file endodon-tic therapy and single-file reciprocating endodontic treatment under routine care conditions in dental practice. This multicenter study was performed to compare the outcome of multiple-file (MF) and single-file (SF) systems for primary root canal treatment under conditions of general dental practice regarding reduction of pain with a visual analogue scale (VAS 100), improvement of oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) with the german short version of the oral health impact profile (OHIP-G-14) and the speed of root canal preparation. Materials and Methods. Ten general dental practitioners (GDPs) participated in the study as practitioner-investigators (PI). In the first five-month period of the study, the GDPs treated patients with MF systems. After that, the GDPs treated the patients in the second five-month period with a SF system (WaveOne). The GDPs documented the clinical findings at the beginning and on completion of treatment. The patients documented their pain and OHRQoL before the beginning and before completion of treatment. Results. A total of 599 patients were included in the evaluation. 280 patients were in the MF group, 319 were in the SF WaveOne group. In terms of pain reduction and improvement in OHIP-G-14, the improvement in both study groups (MF and SF) was very similar based on univariate analysis methods. Discussion. Regarding improvement of endodontic pain and OHRQoL measure with OHIP-G-14, there were no statistical significant differences between the SF und the MF systems. WaveOne-prepared root canals significantly faster than MF systems.
The 9+-Intersection for Topological Relations between a Directed Line Segment and a Region

This paper develops a formal model of topological relations between a directed line segment (DLine) and a region in a two-dimensional space. Such model forms a foundation for characterizing movement patterns of an agent with respect to a region. The DLine-region relations are captured by the 9intersection for line-region relations with further distinction of the line’s boundary into two subparts (starting and ending points). This 9-intersection distinguishes 26 topological DLine-region relations. The relations’ conceptual neighborhood graph takes the shape of a V-shaped tube, whose upper and lower halves are isomorphic to the conceptual neighborhood graph of 19 topological line-region relations. The conceptual neighborhood graph of the 26 DLineregion relations is applied to the iconic representation of movement patterns that satisfy a qualitative condition. By manipulating such iconic representations, the movement patterns that satisfy complex conditions are easily deduced.
First-Year Teacher Knowledge of Phonemic Awareness and Its Instruction

Converging evidence has identified phonemic awareness (PA) as one of five essential components of beginning reading instruction. Evidence suggests that many teachers do not have the recommended knowledge or skills sufficient to provide effective PA instruction within the context of scientifically validated reading education. This study examines the knowledge of PA instruction of 223 first-year teachers initially certified in special education, early childhood education, and elementary education. Results indicate that significant numbers of beginning special and general education teachers in this sample appear to be inadequately prepared with respect to PA instruction. They have limited knowledge of PA, confuse PA with phonics, are generally unable to select task-appropriate materials or activities, and lack skill in analyzing written words into phonemes. Special educators did not have significantly more knowledge or skills than their general education counterparts. These findings suggest that university teacher education programs may not be providing future teachers with sufficient content or practice with respect to PA instruction.
Mining Informal Language from Chinese Microtext: Joint Word Recognition and Segmentation

We address the problem of informal word recognition in Chinese microblogs. A key problem is the lack of word delimiters in Chinese. We exploit this reliance as an opportunity: recognizing the relation between informal word recognition and Chinese word segmentation, we propose to model the two tasks jointly. Our joint inference method significantly outperforms baseline systems that conduct the tasks individually or sequentially.
An Experimental Evaluation of the Adaptive Replica-assisted Migration for Parallel Storage Systems

We have proposed a method replica-assisted migration that use temporally replica data in other storage nodes during executing data migration to keep both qualities of service accesses and data migration duration. However, we have not evaluated the method with real workload including update operations. In this paper, we first improve the method and evaluate an efficiency of the method under file server workloads. Base on the result of it, we also propose adaptive replica-assisted migration for reduce migration duration.
Situational Outlook Questionnaire: A Measure of the Climate for Creativity and Change

The foundations of a multidimensional measure designed to assess creativity and change are presented. The reliability and construct validity of the Situational Outlook Questionnaire were tested using a sample of 1,111 subjects. Cronbach alpha and exploratory factor analysis supported reliability and construct validity. The study identified areas where the Situational Outlook Questionnaire can be improved and areas for further study with the questionnaire.
A Comparison between Two Simulation Models for Spread of Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Two widely used simulation models of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) were used in order to compare the models’ predictions in term of disease spread, consequence, and the ranking of the applied control strategies, and to discuss the effect of the way disease spread is modeled on the predicted outcomes of each model. The DTU-DADS (version 0.100), and ISP (version 2.001.11) were used to simulate a hypothetical spread of FMD in Denmark. Actual herd type, movements, and location data in the period 1st October 2006 and 30th September 2007 was used. The models simulated the spread of FMD using 3 different control scenarios: 1) A basic scenario representing EU and Danish control strategies, 2) pre-emptive depopulation of susceptible herds within a 500 meters radius around the detected herds, and 3) suppressive vaccination of susceptible herds within a 1,000 meters radius around the detected herds. Depopulation and vaccination started 14 days following the detection of the first infected herd. Five thousand index herds were selected randomly, of which there were 1,000 cattle herds located in high density cattle areas and 1,000 in low density cattle areas, 1,000 swine herds located in high density swine areas and 1,000 in low density swine areas, and 1,000 sheep herds. Generally, DTU-DADS predicted larger, longer duration and costlier epidemics than ISP, except when epidemics started in cattle herds located in high density cattle areas. ISP supported suppressive vaccination rather than pre-emptive depopulation, while DTU-DADS was indifferent to the alternative control strategies. Nonetheless, the absolute differences between control strategies were small making the choice of control strategy during an outbreak to be most likely based on practical reasons.
Validation of a Brief Sense of Community Scale: Confirmation of the Principal Theory of Sense of Community.

First-order and second-order models of sense of community (SOC) were tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of data gathered from a random sample of community residents (n=293) located in the midwestern United States. An 8-item Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS) was developed to represent the SOC dimensions of needs fulfillment, group membership, influence, and shared emotional connection. The CFA results for the BSCS supported both the scale's hypothesized first-order and second-order factor structure. The overall BSCS scale and its subscales were also found to be correlated as expected with community participation, psychological empowerment, mental health, and depression. Findings provide empirical support for the BSCS and its underlying multidimensional theory of SOC. Implications of the study are described and directions for future research discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multivariate Model of Antisocial Behavior and Substance Use in Spanish Adolescents

This study was designed to examine the causal paths that predict antisocial behavior and the consumption of legal and illegal substances (drugs) in adolescents. The sample comprised 1,629 adolescents, 786 males and 843 females, between 14 and 18 years old. All participants provided reports of family, school, personality, and peer-group factors related to substance consumption and antisocial behavior in adolescence. A biopsychosocial multivariate model was used to predict both legal and illegal substance use, and an adequate match was obtained for both. However, much more variance was accounted for in legal compared to illegal substance use. The major predictors of alcohol and marijuana use were personality factors (aggression and impulsivity) and scholarly factors (adaptation to school and good grades) whereas the major predictor of illegal drug use was negative peer relations (violence and non-conformity). Identification of associated risk factors serves as a basis for appropriate prevention programs to reduce antisocial behaviors and substance use in adolescents.
Regional unemployment patterns: a cluster analysis approach to the portuguese economy

The data mining methodology, in particular the cluster analysis technique, is an important ally in the study of economic patterns in a multivariate framework. Aware of its analytical importance this paper adopts such method of study to identify groups of Portuguese administrative regions that share similar patterns regarding some characteristics of unemployed registered individuals. The regional distribution of the unemployed individual characteristics is of core importance for the development of public policies directed to fight the unemployment phenomenon, especially in times of crisis. The research is based on annual cross-section data, from the Portuguese public employment service, for the period before and after the finance crisis. The analysis over time tries to find out if there are persistent regional trends especially when the aggregate unemployment rate rises. Preliminary results show a clear division of the territory into four regions – north and south and urban and rural areas that stresses the importance of designing well-directed public labour policies.
Differential evolution and particle swarm optimization algorithms with two stage initialization for PID controller tuning in coupled tank liquid level system

In this paper, a different type of initialization technique called the two stage initialization (TSI) is used for initializing the population vectors of differential evolution (DE) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). These two stage initialized optimization algorithms are then used to tune the PID controller for a coupled tank liquid level control system. In TSI, the population vector is randomly generated in two stages which would then go through the various phases involved in the algorithms. The PID controller is the most preferred controller in almost all process control industries due to its robustness and dynamic behavior. Hence it has been chosen for controlling the coupled tank liquid level system in this paper. Comparison of the application of four optimization algorithms out of which two are already existing ones and the other two are their TSI versions to PID-coupled tank liquid level system is also done. It can be found that TSI not only helps the existing optimization algorithms to start at a better optima but also to converge at a lesser minimum value of the objective function, which is often desirable.