Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Research on Multimodal Self-Directed English Listening Teaching Model

This article takes listening teaching of a university in Inner Mongolian as an example, compares traditional listening teaching mode, which only uses audio resources with multimodal self-directed teaching mode, examines learners’ acceptance to the new teaching mode and its teaching effect through questionnaires and tests, and discusses what effects multimodal self-directed listening teaching has on learners’ listening level and multi-literacy ability. It has been found that this new teaching mode is popular with most of the students, can help effectively improve learners self-directed learning and effectively enhance listeners’ listening level and multi-literacy ability.
Comparison of secondary organic aerosol formation from toluene on initially wet and dry ammonium sulfate particles at moderate relative humidity

Abstract. The formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) has been widely studied in the presence of dry seed particles at low relative humidity (RH). At higher RH, initially dry seed particles can exist as wet particles due to water uptake by the seeds as well as the SOA. Here, we investigated the formation of SOA from the photooxidation of toluene using an oxidation flow reactor in the absence of NOx under a range of OH exposures on initially wet or dry ammonium sulfate (AS) seed particles at an RH of 68 %. The ratio of the SOA yield on wet AS seeds to that on dry AS seeds, the relative SOA yield, decreased from 1.31 ± 0.02 at an OH exposure of 4.66 × 1010 molecules cm−3 s to 1.01 ± 0.01 at an OH exposure of 5.28 × 1011 molecules cm−3 s. This decrease may be due to the early deliquescence of initially dry AS seeds after being coated by highly oxidized toluene-derived SOA. SOA formation lowered the deliquescence RH of AS and resulted in the uptake of water by both AS and SOA. Hence the initially dry AS seeds contained aerosol liquid water (ALW) soon after SOA formed, and the SOA yield and ALW approached those of the initially wet AS seeds as OH exposure and ALW increased, especially at high OH exposure. However, a higher oxidation state of the SOA on initially wet AS seeds than that on dry AS seeds was observed at all levels of OH exposure. The difference in mass fractions of m ∕ z 29, 43 and 44 of SOA mass spectra, obtained using an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), indicated that SOA formed on initially wet seeds may be enriched in earlier-generation products containing carbonyl functional groups at low OH exposures and later-generation products containing acidic functional groups at high exposures. Our results suggest that inorganic dry seeds become at least partially deliquesced particles during SOA formation and hence that ALW is inevitably involved in the SOA formation at moderate RH. More laboratory experiments conducted with a wide variety of SOA precursors and inorganic seeds under different NOx and RH conditions are warranted.
A Measurement of Gas Temperatures in Galaxy Clusters using the Relativistic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

The hot gas in clusters of galaxies creates a distinctive spectral distortion in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. To first order, the shape of the spectral distortion is fixed, but relativistic corrections (rSZ) introduce a dependence on the gas temperature. In this paper, we extract fluxes from a sample of 47 clusters in the Planck maps and make a ~5$\sigma$ detection of the rSZ effect by measuring the scaling relation between the SZ amplitude (a proxy for cluster mass) and the cluster temperature. Our measurement requires no prior knowledge of the clusters' gas temperatures and hence is an example of how the rSZ can be used to probe fundamental astrophysics. We find excellent agreement between our measurement and temperatures obtained with X-ray measurements.
Family relationships in childhood, pubertal timing, and subsequent reproductive strategies among adolescents

The evolutionary theory of socialization of Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper was investigated on the empirical basis of a longitudinal sample of 26 adolescent girls and boys who were born in Berlin during German reunification, as well as their mothers. Consistent with the theory, pubertal timing of the girls (but not of the boys) was predicted by the quality of parental relations in childhood, and pubertal timing of the girls (but not of the boys) was a significant predictor of the age at first intercourse. The results suggest that there are different developmental pathways for girls and boys with respect to the predictions of the evolutionary theory of socialization of Belsky et al. The findings also support the hypothesis that early onset of reproduction and frequent reproduction may be two different aspects of a quantitative reproductive strategy.
On the valuation of psychic returns to art market investments

Investing in art objects yields financial and psychic returns. The psychic returns arise since art has a superior consumption good aspect as well. The question is whether it is possible to measure the psychic returns. One valuation method for estimating the psychic returns to investing in artworks is their rental price. Here, we make use of the prices charged by a Canadian fine art company for its art rental services and calculate the implied psychic returns to be about 28 percent. Next, we review the finance-theoretic approaches to measuring the psychic returns to investing in artworks. We follow Hodgson and Vorkink's (2004, Canadian Journal of Economics) suggestion that the alpha parameter in the CAPM captures the extent of net psychic returns. The evidence on alpha from the art market applications of the CAPM coupled with the transaction cost data from international art auctions also suggests that the psychic returns to investing in artworks might amount to about 28 per cent.
Action Research for Quality Development in Rural Education in Scotland

The professional development ofteaching staff is a critical issue for all educational institutions. In the UK, the focus ofquality assurance and assessment has been articulating the criteria of excellent performance, collecting appropriate data, and producing a self-judgement. This has beenchallenging, particularly in the context ofdistance educati~n. Rural . tutors in the UK Open University, working in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, feel that their isolation from colleagues makes it very difficult for them to be certain ofthe benchmarks ofgood work. Their uncertainty has made them all the more interested in exploring ways of assessing their work in terms of insights into the learning experience of their students. This article describes the Action Research Programme thai the Open University in Scotlcmd has been running to provide tutors with the tools ofsuch evaluation.
Locating and tracking objects by efficient comparison of real and predicted synthetic video imagery

A mobile robot moving in an environment in which there are other moving objects and active agents, some of which may represent threats and some of which may represent collaborators, needs to be able to reason about the potential future behaviors of those objects and agents. In this paper we present an approach to tracking targets with complex behavior, leveraging a 3D simulation engine to generate predicted imagery and comparing that against real imagery. We introduce an approach to compare real and simulated imagery and present results using this approach to locate and track objects with complex behaviors. In this approach, the salient points in real and imaged images are identified and an affine image transformation that maps the real scene to the synthetic scene is generated. An image difference operation is developed that ensures that the matched points in both images produce a zero difference. In this way, synchronization differences are reduced and content differences enhanced. A number of image pairs are processed and presented to illustrate the approach.
Spatially explicit micro-level modelling of land use change at the rural–urban interface

This paper describes micro-economic models of land use change applicable to the rural-urban interface in the US. Use of a spatially explicit micro-level modelling approach permits the analysis of regional patterns of land use as the aggregate outcomes of many, disparate individual land use decisions distributed across space. In contrast to the models featured by Nelson and Geoghegan, we focus on models that require spatially articulated data on parcel-levelland use changes through time. In characterising the spatially disaggregated models, we highlight issues uniquely related to the management and generation of spatial data and the estimation of micro-level spatial models. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Functional changes as indicators of trawling disturbance on a benthic community located in a fishing ground (NW Mediterranean Sea)

Trawling disturbs benthic communities, eliminating the most vulnerable organisms and modifying habitat structure. While the cumulative effects of disturbance resulting from commercial trawling activities are poorly understood, several studies suggest that chronically disturbed commu- nities are dominated by opportunistic organisms. This study focuses on changes in functional compo- nents of the benthic community occurring in muddy sediments in a NW Mediterranean trawling ground, including an area that has not been fished for 20 yr. In both disturbed and undisturbed areas, the overall benthic community from the fishing ground was dominated by burrowing epifaunal deposit feeders and predators, and deep burrowing infaunal deposit feeders. The fished area had a higher abundance of burrowing epifaunal scavengers and motile burrowing infauna, while the undisturbed area was characterised by higher abundance of surface infauna, epifaunal suspension feeders and predatory fish. This study clearly demonstrates that changes in the functional compo- nents of a benthic community can result from fishing in areas dominated by organisms not considered especially vulnerable to trawling activities. Thus, fisheries managers aiming to reduce ecosystem dis- turbance must consider the implications of trawling on the structure and functioning of all types of benthic communities.
Organizational Justice Perceptions and Employee Attitudes among Irish Blue Collar Employees: An Empirical Test of the Main and Moderating Roles of Individualism/Collectivism **

Prior research indicates that individualism - collectivism orientations (I/C) of employees, as well as organizational justice perceptions - procedural and distributive justice perceptions - influence the following employee attitudes: affective/normative commitments, pro-social behaviour, team loyalty, and tenure intent. Research also suggests that I/C orientations are related to justice perceptions with individualism orientation favouring equity principle and collectivism orientation favouring equality principles. Under the assumption that individualism orientation favours equity and procedural justice principles, we empirically test the main effects of I/C orientations and justice principles on employee attitudes. In addition, we also test whether I/C orientations moderate the relationships between justice perceptions and these employee attitudes. We tested these hypotheses using a survey methodology consisting of a sample of two-hundred and four employees from Ireland. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Fast-moving object tracking in air hockey

Object tracking is a frequent research topic in the field of computer vision. In this paper, it was found that computer vision technology could instantly determine the position of a hockey puck, and predict its trajectory within a certain period of time. This paper developed an experimental method as follows: Initially, puck images and environmental parameters were studied offline, and the position of the puck was then quickly extracted online. The original RGB image was imported into CIELAB, where the lightness ‘L’ values were changed to 50. A tabletop was then divided into multiple blocks, and the current average brightness of each block analyzed and assigned adaptive puck identification parameters. The experimental results demonstrate that this method can successfully identify a puck in an environment with very uneven light distribution. For this paper, noise was classified into clustered noise, and dispersed noise. Because clustered noise appears very similar to the puck, a rectangular area was set to frame the initial center of mass; the best-fitting center of mass could then be found by constantly updating the rectangle and center-of-mass positions. In the case of dispersed noise, the position of the puck could be analyzed and found within 20 ms, based on the area and shape characteristics of the puck. This is considerably faster than the image capture speed of a video recorder, and thus allows the tracking of fast moving objects in real time.
Purification and partial characterization of p = glucosidase from plasmodia 1 membrane and culture medium of Physarum polycephalum

&Glucosidase activity was detected in the plasma-membrane fraction of plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum. The enzyme activity was also found in the extracellular (medium) fraction after maximal growth had been attained, though the activity in this fraction was negligible during the exponential growth phase. The specific activities in both fractions were increased appreciably when the plasmodia were cultured in a glucose-free medium. The pglucosidase was purified from the culture fluid by gel-filtration, ion-exchange and hydrophobic chromatographies. The purified enzyme appeared homogeneous on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, and the molecular mass was estimated to be about 65 kDa. The enzyme showed highest activity at pH 4.5 and at 55 OC. The /t-Glucosidase from the membrane fraction showed very similar properties to that from the culture medium, suggesting that the extracellular enzyme was derived from the membrane. The enzyme was active on laminarin and lichenan as well as on p-nitrophenyl-B-D-glucoside ; it was strongly inhibited by ~-glucono-l,5-lactone, N-bromosuccinimide and Hg2+.
Financial Constraints, Debt Overhang And Corporate Investment: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression Approach

This paper provides new evidence on the impacts of financial constraints, growth opportunities and debt overhang on firm-level investments in 12 Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand over the period 1990â€“2010. Using Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) models that overcome the shortcomings of linear investment models, we show that the PSTR models have greater explanatory power than linear models. The empirical results show that for firms with growth opportunities, (1) investment is sensitive to the availability of internal finance and (2) debt overhang reduces investment by firms with higher leverage through a 'liquidity' effect. Our findings imply that the managers of financially constrained firms in developed countries in the Asian region respond differently to productivity shocks and growth opportunities than financially constrained firms in emerging markets and developing countries. In addition, in emerging Asian economies, higher equity valuations increased firm-level investment after the stock markets opened to foreign investors. Accordingly, policy makers should review their liberalisation measures and seek to understand the mechanisms at work in order to bolster international investors' confidence and stimulate foreign investment.
Pd and Ag metal‐silicate partitioning applied to Earth differentiation and core‐mantle exchange

Abstract– Pd and Ag partitioning between liquid Fe metallic sulfide and liquid silicate under plausible magma ocean conditions constrains potential core 107Ag content and the origin of observed Pd and Ag mantle abundances. DPdmetallic sulfide/silicate (element concentration in metallic liquid/concentration in silicate liquid) in our experiments is insensitive to S content and temperature, but increases with total Pd content. DPdmetallic sulfide/silicate at low Pd concentration ranges from approximately 150–650. Metallic sulfide Pd content and silicate Pd content anticorrelate in our study. A curved silicate saturation surface in the Fe sulfide–silicate Pd ternary can explain both the metallic sulfide–silicate Pd anticorrelation and interstudy differences in DPdmetallic sulfide/silicate behavior. The size and shape of the curved silicate phase volume may respond to physical and chemical conditions, reducing the general applicability of D calculations. Ag becomes decreasingly siderophile as S increases: DAgmetallic sulfide/silicate decreases from 144 at 0 wt% S to 2.5 at 28 wt% S added to the starting metal sulfide liquid. Model calculations indicate that 1% core material incorporated into the Hawai’ian plume would yield a 107Ag signature on the surface smaller than detectable by current analytical techniques. Observed Pd and Ag mantle depletions relative to bulk Earth are consistent with depletions calculated with the data from this study for a magma ocean scenario without additional accretionary input after core formation.
Design of a Method for Disassembly Works on Recycle Products

This study proposes a new framework for designing disassembly methods. In recent years, environmental problems have become global issues. Recycling of used products or resources is recognized as a matter of significance since it may help reduce the risk of exhausting natural resources. Considering possible exhaustion of limited natural resources in the near future, reuse of products would gain more environmental significance. As yet, it relies hugely on manual disassembly, which labor cost places burden on the total recycling cost. The purpose of this study is to propose a methodology designing for manual disassembly works, and a creation method of a jig. By focusing on parts’ connection and attachment relationship, parts are categorized in 5 categories (parent part, joint key part, attaching key part, child part, and independent part) according to the features that parts possess, and 3 kinds of connection relationships (parent part-joint key part connection, parent part-independent part connection and child part-child part connection) are clarified. Connection relationship and attachment relationship charts have also been created, and utilizing them, disassembly orders are settled, and a disassembly jig is devised. The proposed methodology is also applied to a real product and its work time is improved 42% form 31 to 13 seconds.
OUTI SOIKKELI UPDATING AND IMPLEMENTING QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ACCORDING TO ISO 9001:2015 AND IATF 16949:2016 STANDARDS

OUTI SOIKKELI: Updating and Implementing Quality Management Systems according to ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949:2016 Standards Tampere University of Technology Master of Science Thesis, 55 pages May 2017 Master’s Degree Program in Materials Technology Major: Materials Technology Examiners: professor Jurkka Kuusipalo, postdoctoral researcher Ulla Saari
AN ANALYSIS OF THE PRICE/BOOK RATIO OF TWO MALTESE LISTED COMPANIES §

This paper analyses the relationship between the share prices of two locally listed companies and their respective book values by making use of the Price/Book (P/B) Ratio. This ratio is useful for identifying the extent to which the locally listed companies were overvalued or undervalued in terms of their book values during the period 1992 to 2005. In order to be able to carry out the analysis, a weighted P/B Index had to be constructed. The index was used to compare each company's P/B ratio with that of the market and to compute a theoretical price in order to show what a company's market price would be if, given its book value, it were to have the same P/B value as the whole market. This study demonstrates that the P/B ratio enables the investor to keep track of how the market is valuing a company when compared to its actual book value. When the share prices rise, the investor can check whether the company's market value is appreciating as a result of the company's performance or increased investment in the company or else as a result of the so-called "investor euphoria. "
The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy and Group Logotherapy in Reducing Perceived Stress among MS Patients

Article type: Original Article Background: Previous studies suggest that group therapies, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and logotherapy, successfully reduce stress in patients. Objectives: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy and group logotherapy in reducing perceived stress among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Materials and Methods: This research was a pretest-posttest controlled quasiexperimental study. Research population was comprised of all (n=3000) MS patients who were members of Mashhad MS Society, Iran. From among 198 patients, 33 who met the inclusion criteria and scored above 45 on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were selected through convenience sampling, homogenized based on their scores on PSS as well as demographic characteristics, and then assigned to three groups of 11. The first group received 12 ACT sessions and the second group received 8 sessions of group logotherapy, while no intervention was provided for the control group. Afterwards, the PSS was re-administered to all the groups. Data were analyzed using one-way ANCOVA in SPSS software version 20. Results: The results demonstrated that both group therapies reduced perceived stress among patients (p=0.001). However, ACT had a higher effect than logotherapy in reducing perceived stress (p=0.04). Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment group therapy and group logotherapy are effective in reducing perceived stress among MS patients.
"Determinants of Individuals’ Willingness to use EconomicInstruments for Solid Waste Management in Dar es Salaam:The case of Mwananyamala and Mikocheni wards"

The existing solid waste management (SWM) systems in many cities particularly of the developing countries suffer from the lack of appropriate plans and approaches for implementation. For sustainable solid waste and general environmental management, application of both Economic Instruments (EIs) and Command and Control (CACs) regulations are inevitable Kaseva 2013. In Tanzania, CACs regulations have been used with little or without any EIs; resulting into unsustainable SWM. The threat of solid waste to the health and general livelihood has been recognised in both Abidjan, 1984 and Nairobi, 2010 conventions which indicated that, the haphazardly dumped solid waste (SW) leads to the degradation of both inland and coastal habitats. The conventions propose various strategies and measures to combat this problem. The proposed measures and strategies include, inter alia, ensuring that SW are not dumped on or around these sensitive habitats and installing adequate SW disposal facilities. These are to be facilitated by introducing different economic instruments (EIs) that encourage the 3R (recovery, reuse and recycle); the way for sustainable SWM. However, in all these strategies there have been a number of challenges limiting their implementation. These include the fact that, many urban areas lack adequate waste collection and disposal facilities Omololu and Lawal [1]. As the results, quite often waste are dumped in open spaces, along and across streets, in drains, water bodies and such similar places; causing mortality to marine biodiversity, poor aesthetic on recreation and tourism potential areas and hazardous environments for navigation hence direct and/ or indirectly health problems in different ways Ntakamulenga [2].