Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FreeHear: A New Sound-Field Speech-in-Babble Hearing Assessment Tool

Pure-tone threshold audiometry is currently the standard test of hearing. However, in everyday life, we are more concerned with listening to speech of moderate loudness and, specifically, listening to a particular talker against a background of other talkers. FreeHear delivers strings of three spoken digits (0–9, not 7) against a background babble via three loudspeakers placed in front and to either side of a listener. FreeHear is designed as a rapid, quantitative initial assessment of hearing using an adaptive algorithm. It is designed especially for children and for testing listeners who are using hearing devices. In this first report on FreeHear, we present developmental considerations and protocols and results of testing 100 children (4–13 years old) and 23 adults (18–30 years old). Two of the six 4 year olds and 91% of all older children completed full testing. Speech reception threshold (SRT) for digits and noise colocated at 0° or separated by 90° both improved linearly across 4 to 12 years old by 6 to 7 dB, with a further 2 dB improvement for the adults. These data suggested full maturation at approximately 15 years old SRTs at 90° digits/noise separation were better by approximately 6 dB than SRTs colocated at 0°. This spatial release from masking did not change significantly across age. Test–retest reliability was similar for children and adults (standard deviation of 2.05–2.91 dB SRT), with a mean practice improvement of 0.04–0.98 dB. FreeHear shows promise as a clinical test for both children and adults. Further trials in people with hearing impairment are ongoing.
Problem-Based Learning An Adult-education-oriented Training Approach For SH&E Practitioners

THE EDUCATIONAL PREPARATION of undergraduate safety students has concerned safety educators for many years. A major debate involves safety program content as well as student outcomes/competencies. These concerns are expressed by Brauer (2005), Freeman and Field (1999) and Sorrell (2003), as well as in documents published by ABET Inc. (2006)—“Program Criteria for Safety and Similarly Named Applied Science Programs”—and ASSE’s Educational Standards Committee (2006). While there is a rich literature that convincingly argues the many sides of this issue, little to no research has addressed the process of safety program curriculum delivery. Currently, definitive evidence cannot be provided allowing one to generalize about curriculum delivery methods used by safety educators; however, one can postulate that the process used to educate safety students is consistent with traditional teaching strategies (e.g., lecture methods) used throughout the U.S. educational system. The traditional lecture is one of the oldest and predominantly used teaching methods in U.S. colleges and universities (McKeachie, 1994). This format in higher education often represents an exercise in one-way communication that places students in a passive rather than an active role—and that ultimately minimizes the learner’s ability to develop higher-order skills such as analysis, evaluation and synthesis of ideas and concepts. Butler (1992), Beers and Bowden (2005) and McKeachie (1994) have shown that the “pure” lecture method is not the most effective teaching strategy to stimulate thought and enhance problem-solving skills. At the same time, an abundance of literature challenges professionals who train adults to consider moving beyond the lecture method to active learning models that require adult learners to take greater responsibility in their own learning (Butler, 1992). [Note: In this article, students and learners can refer to either undergraduate or graduate students in traditional higher-education settings since most are over 18 and, thus, adults. However, at the worksite, employees who receive education and training from an SH&E practitioner also are considered adult learners of SH&E training and education programs. ] In general, professionals who train adults, including SH&E practitioners, might agree that an important goal of training and education is to develop in their “students” a desire for self-reliance and effective problem-solving (critical thinking) skills. Therefore, SH&E practitioners and educators alike should consider minimizing the use of pure lecture methods to train employees or students, and instead begin to incorporate active teaching strategies that better prepare employees/students for the complex and dynamic challenges they will encounter in the workplace.
Feminist education for university staff responding to disclosures of sexual violence: a critique of the dominant model of staff development

ABSTRACT Programmes for sexual violence prevention have focussed historically on university, school or college students rather than staff working at these institutions. The Universities Supporting Victims of Sexual Violence project (USVreact), co-funded by the European Commission, worked across universities in Europe to address this gap in the provision and knowledge of programmes aimed at staff. Each institutional partner in the project designed a programme to enable staff to respond appropriately to disclosures of sexual violence. This paper focuses on one UK university to explore the use of and reception to education principles and feminist pedagogy with staff from across the institution. These diverse pedagogical approaches were significant to the design of the university’s innovative programme. The findings demonstrate the importance of a process of sexual violence pedagogy, as opposed to training, and highlight its positive implications for the whole university community.
Metabolic Imaging of Early Radiation-Induced Lung Injury Using Hyperpolarized 13C-Pyruvate in Rodent Lungs

ii Co-Authorship Statement . iii Acknowledgments . v Table of Contents . vii List of Tables . xi List of Figures . xii List of Appendices . xvii List of Abbreviations . xviii Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Overview and Motivation . 1 1.2 Healthy Lung Physiology . 2 1.3 Lung Function Tests . 2 1.4 Radiation Therapy of Lung Cancer . 3 1.4. 1 Lung Cancer . 3 1.4. 2 Treatment of Lung Cancer . 3 1.4. 3 Radiation-Induced Lung Injury (RILI) . 4 1.4. 4 Radiopathology of Irradiated Lung Tissue . 5 1.5 Clinical Diagnosis of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury . 7 1.5. 1 Epidemiology and Risk Factors . 7 1.5. 2 Dose Volume Histogram Parameters . 8 1.5. 3 Signs, Symptoms and Radiographic Findings . 10 1.6 Functional Imaging of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury . 11 1.6. 1 Nuclear Medicine Imaging Methods . 11 1.6. 2 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods . 11
The use and meanings of prayer by recreational marathon runners

Abstract Leisure time has been shown to be conducive to many aspects of well-being, including spiritual well-being. Furthermore, prayer may be one behavior performed during leisure that enhances spiritual wellness. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the use and meanings of prayer by recreational marathon runners. Interviews were conducted with 10 marathoners representing 3 religions. Results revealed 5 themes: long-distance running as a space for the use of prayer, prayer to change one’s thoughts or outlook, requests to aid in physical performances, prayer for appreciation and thanks, and the effects of prayer on interactions with others in a running setting. These findings expand upon existing research, support previous suggestions regarding the spiritual aspect of leisure activities, and provide new directions for future research regarding prayer and leisure activities.
Professional reports for sentencing courts: recommendations for reporting on child exploitation material offenders’ risk of recidivism and prospects for rehabilitation

Denunciation and general deterrence are major objectives of sentencing those who are convicted of possessing or distributing child exploitation material in Australia (CEM offenders), but courts also strive to achieve specific deterrence. To this end, courts tend to rely on professional reports as evidence of risk of reoffending and prospects for rehabilitation. After outlining matters that courts consider when sentencing CEM offenders, we discuss key empirical findings concerning CEM offenders’ risk of recidivism, and then evaluate two approaches for assessing this risk: actuarial assessments; and structured professional judgment. We recommend that professional reports prepared for sentencing reflect current research findings regarding risk of recidivism amongst CEM offenders and that the structured professional judgment approach is used. We also recommend that matters which inform offenders’ risk of recidivism and their prospects for rehabilitation be reported separately.
Using mimicking gestures to improve observational learning from instructional videos

Abstract This study, generated from considerations of embodied cognition, observational learning, and cognitive load theory, investigated the effect of mimicking gestures on learning to play piano tasks. Fifty university students from an Australian University, with two different levels of piano-playing experience, were randomly assigned to one of the two different gesturing conditions in a 2 (gestures vs. no-gestures) × 2 (novice vs. more expertise) design. All groups viewed an animated video presentation of four musical scores being played on a piano with the hand motions visible, accompanied by the sounds of the notes played. Participants in the gesturing condition were required to gesture while watching the presentations, but in the no-gesturing condition, gesturing was prohibited. Test results indicated a significant learning advantage to gesturing with reduced cognitive load. It was also evident that the efficacy of gesturing was influenced by learner expertise and task complexity.
Examining Factors that Support Continued Use of Assistive Technology by Postsecondary Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities are attending postsecondary institutions in growing numbers. As such, disability service providers on campuses are providing more accommodations, including assistive technology (AT). AT can help students with a variety of learning needs; however, many students discontinue use despite the benefits that this technology can provide. To increase our understanding of discontinued use of AT, we collected both quantitative questionnaire data and open-ended written qualitative data. First, we examined three factors theorized to relate to continued use of AT and found that individual factors were more important than the environment or characteristics of the technology itself. Second, we investigated students’ experiences with AT training and determined that the quality of the training experience and not simply attending training, was related to continued use of AT. Furthermore, we provide recommendations for individuals providing training to students. Collectively, the results provide the basis for suggestions concerning support and services offered to students utilizing AT.
Persistence of Adult Students

Abstract What makes one adult student persistent? What makes another student bound for failure? In this article, we will explore the literature available since 2000 on the subject of adult student persistence. This study is in several sections. One deals with the factors that students bring with them into college, i.e., the background or internal factors. The second deals with the factors that affect them while in college, the external factors. Financial aid comprises the third section. The fourth section deals with interventions that support persistence that colleges can implement. Our final section deals with the critical role of encouragement and support.
A Framework and Survey for Measuring Students’ Motivational Attitudes toward Statistics

The Survey of Motivational Attitudes toward Statistics (SOMAS) for Students is part of a family of instruments designed to assess attitudes toward statistics. In the SOMAS project, attitudes toward statistics are conceptualized broadly, and the instruments are designed drawing from ExpectancyValue Theory (EVT) (Eccles, 1983). In this way, the SOMAS project aims to build upon and extend the work of other attitude measures, e.g. the SATS-36. This paper describes the EVT model for students' motivational attitudes, the constructs to be assessed by the student SOMAS instrument, and future directions for the project.
THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN TRAIT FORGIVENESS AND MENTAL HEALTH: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF RUMINATION

Trait forgiveness is a tendency to forgive others across a wide range of interpersonal circumstances. Though there is growing evidence to suggest that failure to forgive is closely related to indicators of poor mental health as depression, anxiety and anger, less attention has been paid to the relationship between trait forgiveness and mental health. In order to study the mechanism of the relationship of these two variables, we introduce rumination as a third variable, which has been proved to correlate negatively with state forgiveness and positively with mental health problems. We hypothesized that an individual’s mental health could be predicted by his/her trait forgiveness and rumination. We tested this hypothesis using a survey, in which five hundred and thirty-seven college students (175 males and 362 females) from five universities in China were investigated with Trait Forgiveness Scale (TFS), Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Trait Anger Scale (TAS). Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were adopted to analyse the data of survey with SPSS 21. Results indicate that (a) significant gender difference exists in trait forgiveness, that is, trait forgiveness of female students is significantly higher than that of male students ( t = -2.06, p < 0.05); (b) students in Low Forgiveness Group (the Lower 27%) have higher scores of depression, anxiety and anger than those in High Forgiveness Group (the Upper 27%)( t = -5.86, -6.07 and -7.48 ， respectively, ps < 0.001); (c) trait forgiveness negatively correlates with rumination ( r = -0.21, p < 0.001), depression ( r = -0.30, p < 0.001), anxiety ( r = -0.31, p < 0.001) and anger ( r = -0.34, p < 0.001), while rumination positively correlates with depression ( r = 0.61, p < 0.001), anxiety ( r = 0.55, p < 0.001) and anger ( r = 0.36, p < 0.001); (d) among the predictive variables, trait forgiveness is the best one, which accounts for 8.7% ， 9.5% and 11.6% of the variation in depression, anxiety and anger; (e) rumination serves as a partial mediator variable between trait forgiveness and mental health. These results imply that although trait forgiveness and rumination both affect mental health, the affecting paths were different. Trait forgiveness may affect mental health directly, or indirectly through rumination.
A Research of Construction Method for Autonomous Tomato Harvesting Robot focusing on Harvesting Device and Visual Recognition

本論文ではトマト自動収穫ロボットに関する取り組みについ て述べる. そのためにはまずトマトについて論じる必要がある. 第一に,トマトの栽培がどのように行われているのかを述べ る. トマト栽培においてはオランダにおける取り組みを参考と すると,池田 [1] によればトマトを生産する一連の工程をシス テム化し高い生産性を達成している. この実現のためには計算 機によるデータ分析と温度,湿度,日照量などの環境制御やロ ボットによる搬送の自動化といった技術も利用されている. 耕 作地の少ない日本においてもこのような取り組みに追随し,収 量を増やす取り組みが行われている [2]. 第二に,なぜトマトを収穫するのかについて述べる. 先に述 べたような生育の自動化,機械化がなされるのであれば収穫も その流れで自動化できるのではないか,と考えられる向きもあ るかも知れないが,現在収穫作業は人手で行われている. これ は果実が規格化された工業製品ではなく,果実の形状や生え方 が一つ一つ異なり,熟度や傷などを考慮した収穫判定などその 場で個別対応すべきことが多いからである.
Social, emotional, and behavioral strengths and difficulties among sixth grade students: comparing student and teacher ratings in Finland and Estonia

ABSTRACT This study explores the level of congruency between students’ ratings of their own emotional and behavioral strengths and difficulties, and their teachers’ ratings of these factors, when compared amongst two neighboring countries, Estonia and Finland. Secondly, it investigates the level of agreement between sixth grade students’ ratings and their teachers’ ratings of their emotional and behavioral strengths and difficulties, within each country. Both the students’ version (aimed at 11–17-year-olds) and teachers’ versions of the Estonian and Finnish Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used in the study to measure these issues. No gender differences were found between the students’ overall SDQ scores. However, girls experienced a greater number of emotional problems than boys did. In general, Estonian teachers reported more externalized problems among their students compared to Finnish teachers. Finnish teachers, however, reported more emotional problems among their students. The findings suggest that, in both countries, estimations by teachers and students regarding existing emotional and behavioral difficulties are mismatched. These findings extend the findings of earlier research and provide indications for future teacher training.
Examining Social Service Providers’ Representation of Trafficking Victims: A Feminist Postcolonial Lens

As anti-trafficking social service providers (SSPs) facilitate the process of victim recovery and empowerment, they also participate in the dissemination of trafficking-related knowledge to the general public. Drawing on a feminist postcolonial framework, this study sought to examine how anti-trafficking SSPs represent trafficking victims in written narratives published on their organizational websites. Thirty-three narratives were drawn from the websites of 10 New York–based anti-trafficking SSPs. Despite the widespread adoption of a strength-based term, “survivor,” the narratives were found to reinforce a gendered and racialized representation of trafficking victims as sex trafficked women from the “global South” and to (re)produce many “ideal” trafficking victim stereotypes that have been dominating the current discourses of trafficking. A “life transformation” discourse was pervasive, discursively foregrounding the positive impact of the SSPs on trafficking survivors. The findings suggested a need for anti-trafficking SSPs to engage with critical reflection on their positionality and intentionality in representing trafficking victims/survivors and to adopt a survivor-led storytelling paradigm. This study also provided a timely reminder for social work practitioners and researchers to continue to challenge the dominant narratives embedded in their fields of practice, to exercise critical self-reflexivity, and to provide a discursive space for those who have been deprived of voices.
"If HTTPS Were Secure, I Wouldn't Need 2FA" - End User and Administrator Mental Models of HTTPS

HTTPS is one of the most important protocols used to secure communication and is, fortunately, becoming more pervasive. However, especially the long tail of websites is still not sufficiently secured. HTTPS involves different types of users, e.g., end users who are forced to make critical security decisions when faced with warnings or administrators who are required to deal with cryptographic fundamentals and complex decisions concerning compatibility. In this work, we present the first qualitative study of both end user and administrator mental models of HTTPS. We interviewed 18 end users and 12 administrators; our findings reveal misconceptions about security benefits and threat models from both groups. We identify protocol components that interfere with secure configurations and usage behavior and reveal differences between administrator and end user mental models. Our results suggest that end user mental models are more conceptual while administrator models are more protocol-based. We also found that end users often confuse encryption with authentication, significantly underestimate the security benefits of HTTPS, and ignore and distrust security indicators while administrators often do not understand the interplay of functional protocol components. Based on the different mental models, we discuss implications and provide actionable recommendations for future designs of user interfaces and protocols.
Moving on, Switching Gear or Staying Put: Tracking Social Inequality in Secondary School Pathways in Three European Cities

Abstract It is commonly known that education reproduces, rather than diminishes, social inequality, but how this takes place may vary between educational systems. This paper uses data from a unique longitudinal cross-national project to analyze differences in pathways through the upper years of secondary education between Bergen (Norway), Ghent (Flanders, Belgium) and Barcelona (Spain). Analyses show that social background has the greatest impact on destination in both Years 11 and 12 of upper secondary education, and engagement does not mediate this relationship. Further, we find more commonalities than differences between the cities, despite them representing different types of educational systems.
Students´ perceptions about verbal aggression at the university level

Violence produced in academic spaces has received attention in the last three decades. However, when talking about the existence and perceptions that students have about verbal aggressions within the University, there is evidence of a lack of research on this content, which generates a limited attention by researchers, students and educators in this field. This research project sought to determine and point out the different perceptions that university students have about their experiences to what verbal aggression refers to within academic spaces at the university level. This qualitative study was carried out with 45 participants, students of different semesters belonging to the BA program in Spanish, English and French languages of the Universidad de la Salle. It used a questionnaire with open-ended and closedended sections designed to collect information about verbal aggression, perceptions, and university students. Results suggest that students are not fully aware of verbal aggression, as they have interiorized as part of their academic contexts. This is a call for awareness-raising activities and experiences so that they can face it and overcome it successfully.
Effect of beta-blockade on symptomatic dexamethasone-induced hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy in premature infants: three case reports and literature review.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of beta-blockade on clinically significant left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in premature infants treated with dexamethasone because of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. STUDY DESIGN Case reports are presented of three premature infants (mean gestational age 27 weeks) cared for in the intensive care nursery in whom clinically significant septal hypertrophy and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction developed during dexamethasone treatment for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The infants were treated with oral propranolol. Serial physiologic and echocardiographic parameters were followed. Physiologic data were analyzed with an analysis of variance, with the Kruskal-Wallis test used for nonparametric data. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Oral administration of the beta-blocker propranolol resulted in clinical and echocardiographic improvement of the left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. One patient had a lower average heart rate and two patients had lower average mean blood pressure values during propranolol treatment, none of which was clinically significant. None of the patients had worsening of the respiratory status. CONCLUSION beta-blockade treatment was well tolerated and may be beneficial in relieving symptomatic steroid-induced left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in premature infants.