Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing intercultural understanding for study abroad: students’ and teachers’ perspectives on pre-departure intercultural learning

This study reports on students’ and teachers’ perspectives on a programme designed to develop Erasmus students’ intercultural understanding prior to going abroad. We aimed to understand how students and their teachers perceived pre-departure materials in promoting their awareness of key concepts related to interculturality (e.g., essentialism, stereotyping, otherising) during an intercultural education course for mobile students. Twenty pre-departure Erasmus undergraduate students from an Italian university, four teachers and one observer participated in the study. Seven hours of audio/video recordings of classroom discussions and teachers’ retrospective narratives were analysed thematically. Although students initially subverted the goals of one of the tasks, they demonstrated foundations of intercultural thinking; followed by movement from self-interest to intercultural awareness of the other; and finally, developing intercultural awareness, supported through opportunities to express emotions/feelings and discussion and application of key concepts of interculturality. Teachers’/observer’s perspectives confirmed the quality and flexibility of the materials in developing students’ intercultural awareness. The findings suggest that pre-departure materials can help students to recognise variety and complexity in self and others in intercultural encounters. But students’ primary needs for practical information should first be satisfied; interactive spaces for expressing emotion and feelings are important for understanding self and others; and scaffolding activities help students to understand intercultural concepts.
The Validity of the Beery Test of Visual-Motor Integration in Predicting Achievement in Kindergarten, First, and Second Grades

The ability of the Visual-Motor Integration Test (VMI) to predict academic achievement was assessed by using three samples of pre-kindergarten pupils from three successive years in a large midwest school district. At the beginning of the kindergarten year, the Screening Test of Academic Readiness (STAR) was administered to all three samples. Obtained VMI-STAR correlations ranged from . 102 to . 595. At the beginning of the first grade, the Stanford Early School Achievement Test (SESAT), Primary Battery II, was administered to two samples of pupils. The VMI-SESAT correlations ranged from . 271 to . 498. At the beginning of the second grade, the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), Primary Battery I, was administered to one sample of pupils. The VMI-SAT correlations ranged from . 251 to . 402. All of the 61 correlations were statistically significant. The VMI appeared to be most predictive of STAR Total and Numbers scores. SESAT Mathematics and Word Reading scores, and SAT Total Mathematics scores. Test-retest realiability, obtained on one sample over a time period of seven months, was . 630.
“SURELY YOU'RE NOT IN THIS JUST TO BE HELPFUL”

Starting from a premise that greater knowledge about elites will facilitate a challenge to their position, and based on three distinct research projects that include or focus entirely on elites, this article lays out a range of strategies and techniques for gaining access, establishing rapport, and conducting successful interviewing. The author suggests that the difficulties of gaining access and rapport have been exaggerated, whereas issues of how to protect the integrity of the research have been rarely discussed. She shows how the special concerns of interviewing elites arise from the social positions they occupy and from the way in which elites—especially upper-class elites—are typically raised to privilege. She urges researchers not to be overly deferential, to be straightforward (as elite subjects most often are), and not to be so concerned about rapport that challenging questions are avoided.
Towards a typology of standard negation

Standard negation is the basic sentential negation in a language. This article proposes a typology of standard negation that takes into account the whole negative construction and allows explanation of different negation types by different semantico-pragmatic background phenomena. There is semantic and pragmatic asymmetry between affirmation and negation, and this asymmetry is manifested in different ways in the morphosyntax of negative constructions. The primary division in the classification is between symmetric and asymmetric negation. The asymmetric type can be divided into subtypes according to which aspects of the semantico-pragmatic asymmetry are grammaticalized in the negative constructions. Symmetric and asymmetric negative constructions are analogous to the affirmative structure and to the background semantics and pragmatics of negation, respectively.
Dimensions of Sociolinguistics

In his arrangement of articles representing the first decade or so of Gumperz's work, A. S. Dil distinguishes two strands: language and dialect diversity and language usage and social interaction (Gumperz 1971). The present book is a continuation of the second strand. It focuses on Gumperz's unique blend of interactional and core linguistic analyses, applied contrastively to social groups and situations at the same time. Unlike the earlier volume, which was content with an implicit point of view, the present volume makes the evolution of Gumperz's perspective explicit. With a clarity characteristic of the book as a whole, Gumperz states the book's intention in the first sentence: "This book seeks to develop interpretive sociolinguistic approaches to the analysis of real time processes in face to face encounters. " The book demonstrates that interpretive approaches use in-depth case analyses of particular situations as a primary vehicle for developing a sociolinguistic theory. The virtue inherent in the case analysis approach is the richness of detail available for developing a coordinated description of linguistic and nonlinguistic processes. The preface is followed by a note on phonetic and prosodic conventions used in the book. There follow ten chapters focusing on themes developing the application of the interpretive approach, ending with a summary postscript (20410). Finally come the bibliography and author and subject indexes. As Gumperz notes in the preface, many of the chapters are revisions of articles published independently between 1977 and 1981. Nevertheless, the revisions and new material are integrated into a focused whole. Chapter 1, the introduction, discusses communication as a social activity. It ends with a brief characterization of each of the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2, "The Sociolinguistics of Interpersonal Communication," discusses some of the evolution of thought on that topic, with particular focus on the work of the early and mid-1970s. A section devoted to "discourse strategies" (29-37) begins with the point: "There is need for a sociolinguistic theory which accounts for the communicative functions of linguistic variability and for its relation to speaker's goals without reference to untestable functionalist assumptions about conformity or nonconformance to closed systems of norms. " Although this may be construed as an attack on uncritical use of Saussurian structuralist principles, my impression is that it is more generally directed against a focus on social groups as
Do Ecological Niche Model Predictions Reflect the Adaptive Landscape of Species?: A Test Using Myristica malabarica Lam., an Endemic Tree in the Western Ghats, India

Ecological niche models (ENM) have become a popular tool to define and predict the “ecological niche” of a species. An implicit assumption of the ENMs is that the predicted ecological niche of a species actually reflects the adaptive landscape of the species. Thus in sites predicted to be highly suitable, species would have maximum fitness compared to in sites predicted to be poorly suitable. As yet there are very few attempts to address this assumption. Here we evaluate this assumption. We used Bioclim (DIVA GIS version 7.3) and Maxent (version 3.3.2) to predict the habitat suitability of Myristica malabarica Lam. , an economically important tree occurring in the Western Ghats, India. We located populations of the trees naturally occurring in different habitat suitability regimes (from highly suitable to poorly suitable) and evaluated them for their regeneration ability and genetic diversity. We also evaluated them for two plant functional traits, fluctuating asymmetry – an index of genetic homeostasis, and specific leaf weight – an index of primary productivity, often assumed to be good surrogates of fitness. We show a significant positive correlation between the predicted habitat quality and plant functional traits, regeneration index and genetic diversity of populations. Populations at sites predicted to be highly suitable had a higher regeneration and gene diversity compared to populations in sites predicted to be poor or unsuitable. Further, individuals in the highly suitable sites exhibited significantly less fluctuating asymmetry and significantly higher specific leaf weight compared to individuals in the poorly suitable habitats. These results for the first time provide an explicit test of the ENM with respect to the plant functional traits, regeneration ability and genetic diversity of populations along a habitat suitability gradient. We discuss the implication of these resultsfor designing viable species conservation and restoration programs.
The Effects of Parental Altruism on the Governance of Family-Managed Firms

The research regarding the characteristics of family firm governance are mixed, with some studies suggesting the presence of benefits of concentrated ownership and others suggesting increased conflict among family employees.To better understand the functioning of family businesses, both the positive and negative aspects of family firm governance must be explored. Initially, the background information on the characteristics of public firms is discussed, as is the agency of private owner-managed firms.The agency issues of these firms are then compared and contrasted to the agency issues at controlling-owner family firms.Both the negative aspects and the positive aspects of parental altruism are discussed.The impact of the stage of ownership is also examined, including the effects of sibling ownership and cousin consortium. Based on this information, several propositions are presented.The main thesis focuses upon the distinctive governing characteristics of family firms--i.e., family firms are a combination of the characteristics of private ownership, owner-management, and altruism. The implications of the propositions are discussed, limitations, and areas for future research are presented. (AKP)
Security Governance and Sport Mega-events: Toward an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda

In the post-9/11 context, security issues have become increasingly central to the hosting of sport mega-event (SMEs). Security budgets for events like the Olympic Games now run into billions of dollars. This article seeks to advance the emerging field of SME security research in substantive and analytical terms. We identify three sets of issues and problems that are taking shape within this field: first, comparative issues in relationship to the Global North and Global South, notably given the growing number of SMEs set to be staged in the Global South; second, various risks and security strategies that are specific to different SMEs, including perceived terrorist threats, spectator violence, and broader risks associated with poverty, social divisions, and urban crime; and third, the security legacies that follow from SMEs, such as new surveillance technologies, new security-focused social policies, and security-influenced urban redevelopment. We argue that future research into SME security governance should be underpinned by a synthetic theoretical framework. This framework brings together three particular strands: first, a sociological approach that explores the _security field,_ drawing in part on Bourdieu; second, critical urban geographical theory, which contextualizes security strategies in relationship to new architectures of social control and consumption in urban settings; and third, different strands of risk theory, notably in regard to reflexive modernization, governmentality, and cultural sociological questions.
The impact of mothers’ perception of child care services and utilization

To examine the impact of mothers’ perception of the roles of pre‐primary institutions and what motivates them to choose a particular child care service, 138 working mothers and 20 proprietors of nursery schools and day care centers were interviewed. The facilities available to children in the centers studied was also assessed. The results suggested that these mothers’ expected these institutions to play custodial functions as well as to provide early childhood education. This knowledge could guide proprietors and other interested organizations in the provision of appropriate child care programmes to meet the needs of mothers and their children. The demand for nursery/day care services in Nigeria has become very high due to the increasing number of women in the workforce.
The Shift to the Classical Theory of Foreign Investment: Opening up the Nigerian Market

It hardly needs to be said that the EU is still a long way from a traditional "federal" union: a "United States of Europe". At the same time, it is equally clear that the States of the EU are "united" for some—if only some—purposes. It must be remembered, though, that the States of the American union are also united for some, but not all, purposes. In the final analysis, the emergence—if it ever occurs—of a "United States of Europe" may be a question more of psychology than of law. There will be a "United States of Europe" if—but only if—it comes to pass that the people of Europe think of themselves primarily as Europeans, and only secondarily as nationals of France, Britain, and so forth.
Reduced Dynamic Models in Epithelial Transport

Most models developed to represent transport across epithelia assume that the cell interior constitutes a homogeneous compartment, characterized by a single concentration value of the transported species. This conception differs significantly from the current view, in which the cellular compartment is regarded as a highly crowded media of marked structural heterogeneity. Can the finding of relatively simple dynamic properties of transport processes in epithelia be compatible with this complex structural conception of the cell interior? The purpose of this work is to contribute with one simple theoretical approach to answer this question. For this, the techniques of model reduction are utilized to obtain a two-state reduced model from more complex linear models of transcellular transport with a larger number of intermediate states. In these complex models, each state corresponds to the solute concentration in an intermediate intracellular compartment. In addition, the numerical studies reveal that it is possible to approximate a general two-state model under conditions where strict reduction of the complex models cannot be performed. These results contribute with arguments to reconcile the current conception of the cell interior as a highly complex medium with the finding of relatively simple dynamic properties of transport across epithelial cells.
Exploring Receivers' Criteria for Perception of Print and Online News

This study investigates the factor structure underlying receivers' perceptions of news content. Exploratory analyses of readers' ratings of a wide variety of news stories reveals that receivers implicitly use at least four key variables in their perception of printed and online news stimuli. This article explicates the four criteria used by news receivers—Credibility, Liking, Quality, and Representativeness—and offers measures for future empirical research on news perception.
An Analysis of Communication and Use of Military Terms in Navy Team Training

Efficient communication is essential to effective team coordination. In particu- lar, the use of specialized military terms with specific meanings is essential to accurate communications and also helps keep messages short. Internal Combat Information Center communications were recorded during Navy team training. Communication behavior was classified by speech turns, with emphasis on the use of military terms. Even though the purpose of military terms is to promote brevity and accuracy, speech turns with military terms were wordier and had more format violations than did those without military terms. Military terms were used as officially defined only 57% of the time, and little change was found over training. Subjective comments made during debriefing sessions did not reflect actual measured behavior. The results suggest areas of communica- tion behavior where specific training might be useful, including the accurate use of military terms.
The religious path toward forgiveness

Researchers designing forgiveness interventions often ignore religious contributions to the forgiveness process, even though many individuals draw upon their religious faith when trying to forgive. This article describes some of the similarities and differences between secular and religious forgiveness interventions, using a group intervention for divorced individuals as an example. Research findings comparing secular and religious forgiveness interventions are briefly examined. This article also examines ways in which religion might impede the forgiveness process. Finally, suggestions are provided for addressing religious issues in group interventions.
Validation of automated scores of TOEFL iBT tasks against non-test indicators of writing ability

Automated scoring has the potential to dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with the assessment of complex skills such as writing, but its use must be validated against a variety of criteria for it to be accepted by test users and stakeholders. This study approaches validity by comparing human and automated scores on responses to TOEFL® iBT Independent writing tasks with several non-test indicators of writing ability: student self-assessment, instructor assessment, and independent ratings of non-test writing samples. Automated scores were produced using e-rater ®, developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS). Correlations between both human and e-rater scores and non-test indicators were moderate but consistent, providing criterion-related validity evidence for the use of e-rater along with human scores. The implications of the findings for the validity of automated scores are discussed.
Influence of biomaterial surface chemistry on the apoptosis of adherent cells.

A common component of the foreign-body response to implanted materials is the presence of adherent macrophages that fuse to form foreign-body giant cells (FBGCs). These multinucleated cells have been shown to concentrate the phagocytic and degradative properties of macrophages at the implant surface and are responsible for the damage and failure of the implant. Therefore, the modulation of the presence or actions of macrophages and FBGCs at the material-tissue interface is an extensive area of recent investigations. A possible mechanism to achieve this is through the induction of the apoptosis of adherent macrophages, which results in no inflammatory consequence. We hypothesize that the induction of the apoptosis of biomaterial adherent cells can be influenced by the chemistry of the surface of adhesion. Herein, we demonstrate that surfaces displaying hydrophilic and anionic chemistries induce apoptosis of adherent macrophages at a higher magnitude than hydrophobic or cationic surfaces. Additionally, the level of apoptosis for a given surface is inversely related to that surface's ability to promote the fusion of macrophages into FBGCs. This suggests that macrophages fuse into FBGCs to escape apoptosis.
A novel SVD-based image quality assessment metric

Image distortion can be categorized into two aspects: content-dependent degradation and content-independent one. An existing full-reference image quality assessment (IQA) metric cannot deal with these two different impacts well. Singular value decomposition (SVD) as a useful mathematical tool has been used in various image processing applications. In this paper, SVD is employed to separate the structural (content-dependent) and the content-independent components. For each portion, we design a specific assessment model to tailor for its corresponding distortion properties. The proposed models are then fused to obtain the final quality score. Experimental results with the TID database demonstrate that the proposed metric achieves better performance in comparison with the relevant state-of-the-art quality metrics.
Genetic Interaction of Flavivirus Nonstructural Proteins NS1 and NS4A as a Determinant of Replicase Function

ABSTRACT Nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) of yellow fever virus (YF) is a glycoprotein localized to extracytoplasmic compartments within infected cells. We have previously shown that NS1 can be supplied intrans and is required for viral RNA replication, a process thought to occur in membrane-bound cytoplasmic complexes. Here we report that the NS1 gene from a related virus, dengue virus (DEN), is unable to function in the process of YF RNA replication. This virus-specific incompatibility leads to a lack of initial minus-strand accumulation, suggesting that DEN NS1 is unable to productively interact with the YF replicase. Based on a YF deletion mutant that requires NS1 in trans, a genetic screen for suppressor mutants was used to select virus variants able to utilize DEN NS1. In three independent selections, a single mutation was mapped to the NS4A gene, which encodes a putative transmembrane replicase component. This mutation, as well as several additional mutations, was engineered into the NS1-deficient genome and confirmed a genetic interaction between NS1 and NS4A. These findings suggest a potential mechanism for integrating NS1 into the cytoplasmic process of RNA replication.
THE MENTAL REPRESENTATION OF FAMILIAR, LONG-DISTANCE JOURNEYS

The memory of a familiar, long-distance journey was compared to the memory of the previous day's events by rating the clearness or vividness of memories retrieved from four equal-sized segments on the distance or time dimension. Across five experiments, the results showed stable primacy and recency effects on the spatial distance task, and recency-only on the time-of-the-day task. The serial position effects of both tasks were robust and resistant to task manipulations. The results are interpreted in terms of different mental representation formats for everyday memories of familiar journeys and for chronological memories.
Dead men working: time and space in London's ('illegal') migrant economy

This article explores human smuggling's consequences through a study of London's Pakistani immigrant economy, paying particular attention to the labour process and its experiential dimensions.The latter are unpacked in empirical context with due reference to literatures on illegal migration, as well as more recent writings on employment and `precariousness' that seek to make sense of the changing nature of work patterns under post-Fordist `flexible' regimes in the new global economy. All newly migrated (and some British born) Pakistanis working in ethnic economies endure long hours, poor working conditions, low pay and a general context of insecurity that is distinct from the unionized labour process that prevailed under Fordism. Smuggled migrants tend to deal with a specific set of constraints, however, including added material and psychological burdens stemming from the higher cost of migration and an inability to achieve `structural' embeddedness.