Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimizing visually-assisted listening comprehension

The fact that visual aids such as pictures or graphs can lead to greater comprehension by language learners has been well established. Nonetheless, the order of presenting visuals to listeners is left unattended. This study examined listening comprehension from a strategy of introducing visual information, either prior to or during an audio activity, and also looked at listening comprehension without visuals present. The aim was to find out under what presentation conditions visual annotations would optimize listening comprehension of language learners. A linguistically homogeneous group of EFL learners took a number of listening comprehension tests under three different conditions. In the first condition, the test takers first looked at a number of pictures related to the listening materials and then, putting the pictures aside, listened to the relevant audiocassettes. In the second condition, the test takers looked at the pictures and listened to the audiocassettes simultaneously. In the pictures-free condition, the test takers merely listened to the audiocassettes in their conventional form. The listening texts were counterbalanced in presentation. According to the results, test takers' performance varied significantly across the three conditions, with the pictures-before-listening condition manifesting the best scores while taking the least time, the pictures-during-listening condition the second best scores and the pictures-free-listening condition the lowest scores but taking the longest time. The inclusion of visuals prior to audio materials was the sole condition that significantly optimized comprehension.
Consumer Trust in Electronic Commerce: Social & Technical Antecedents

This paper describes a study in which a previously validated measurement instrument is used to investigate the existence and importance of specific factors that are thought to predict the generation of consumer trust in Internet shopping in Ireland. A sample of 858 individuals was surveyed using a previously validated measurement instrument that focused on a number of key constructs identified in the literature as potential trust predictors. The study results provide evidence that Irish consumers' trust in Internet shopping is the result of specific factors, the first of which relates to the vendor's perceived integrity, and the second of which relates to the vendor's perceived competence. The former encompasses social antecedents of trust, while the latter encompasses the technical antecedents of trust. The insights provided by this research make a valuable contribution not only to information systems research, but also to the overall body of marketing, trust and diffusion research. The findings of this research are of potential benefit to on-line vendors of all types who seek to engender consumer trust in their websites.
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 the Use of Neuralgia Medications to Treat Sensory Neuropathic Cough: Our Experience in a Retrospective Cohort of Thirty-two Patients

Objective. This study sought to: (1) quantify response rate and efficacy of amitriptyline, desipramine, and gabapentin in treating sensory neuropathic cough; and (2) describe an efficient treatment protocol. Study Design. This study is a retrospective case series. Methods. Persons diagnosed with sensory neuropathic cough during a one-year period were potential study candidates. To bolster the diagnosis credibility, only persons who had been treated elsewhere for gastroesophageal reflux disease, asthma, and allergy with no reduction of cough were included. Upon diagnosis of sensory neuropathic cough, each person was treated with either amitriptyline, desipramine, or gabapentin, titrating the dose upward to desired benefit or the dose limit. If the benefit was insufficient, another of the medications was used next, using a similar dose escalation strategy. Data points included patient demographics, initial and final medication, final dose, and degree of improvement. Results. 32 patients met the diagnostic and inclusion criteria and had a complete data set. 94% (30 of 32) of the patients responded to at least one of the medications. The 32 patients undertook a total of 45 single-medication trials. Patients reported symptom relief during 78% (14 of 18) of amitriptyline trials, 73% (11 of 15) of desipramine trials, and 83% (10 of 12) of gabapentin trials. At final dosage, symptom reduction averaged 77% on amitriptyline, 73% on desipramine, and 69% on gabapentin. Conclusion. Amitriptyline, desipramine, and gabapentin appear to vary in their effectiveness for individual cases of sensory neuropathic cough; across a whole cohort, symptom relief was similar in frequency and degree on any of the three medications. More evidence is needed to demonstrate more convincingly the effectiveness of these medications, but this data set suggests that each of these three medications deserves consideration in the codified treatment protocol presented here. How to cite this article Bastian and Bastian (2015), The use of neuralgia medications to treat sensory neuropathic cough: our experience in a retrospective cohort of thirty-two patients.
Hepatitis antigen and -fetoprotein in neonatal hepatitis.

Ladd, W. E. (1932). Congenital obstruction of the duodenum in children. New England Journal of Medicine, 206, 277. Rowe, M. I. , Buckner, D. , and Clatworthy, H. W. , Jr. (1968). Wind sock web of the duodenum. AmericanJournal of Surgery, 116,444. Snyder, W. H. , and Chafflin, L. (1954). Embryology and pathology of the intestinal tract: presentation of 40 cases of malrotation. Annals of Surgery, 140, 368.
Towards an Understanding of the Barriers to Good Nutrition for Elite Athletes

The objective of this study was to describe barriers influencing dietary practices of elite-level athletes using a focus-group design involving discussions with elite-level athletes, coaches and sports dietitians. The participants were sixteen male and thirty female elite athletes from an Australian State Institute of Sport, representing diving, netball, basketball and lawn bowls; twelve elite coaches representing swimming, diving, soccer, sailing, cycling and golf; and sixteen sports dietitians who consulted to state institutes/academies of sport with various sports. Focus groups were audio-taped and transcribed with in-depth notes also recorded during the groups. Thematic coding of transcripts and notes were undertaken by the primary coder and these themes were subsequently evaluated by the research team. A number of barriers to healthy eating were described. Lack of time for food preparation was a significant barrier raised by all groups. Financial limitations, inadequate cooking skills and difficulty with living arrangements also rated high among all three groups. Coaches were concerned with excess body weight and fat levels and perceived an impact on sports performance. Athletes reported concern about body shape due to societal pressures. Sports dietitians and coaches were concerned with issues relating to optimal dietary provision surrounding travel to and from training and competition. A range of barriers influence the diet of athletes, in particular time and financial constraints in addition to specific physique requirements. Health professionals working with elite athletes need to be aware of these barriers when assessing dietary intake, or designing nutrition interventions. Dietitians may need to advocate on behalf of athletes to facilitate increased financial or professional support to assist athletes to choose and then maintain healthy diet practices.
The impact of behavioural parent training on fathers' parenting: a meta-analysis of the Triple-P Positive Parenting Program

Behavioural parent training programs have been developed to address child behaviour problems through improvement in parenting practices. Ideally, programs would demonstrate effectiveness with all parents. The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program is widely reported as an effective, evidence-based program for parents. However, in this meta-analysis we demonstrate that there are significant differences in program effectiveness for mothers and fathers. We show that while Triple P has a large positive effect on mothers’ parenting practices, it has a smaller effect on fathers’ parenting practices. Considering that fathers make a significant and unique contribution to child development, we argue that it is important for parenting programs to assess their effectiveness with fathers as well as mothers.
Rate of Return

The object of public valuation for rate making should be to establish a just amount which should earn returns and to determine the amount of those returns by means of a percentage factor called the rate of return. If it is granted that the result is to be just both to the investor and to the consumer it is seen that the ultimate object of all the investigation and regulation is to establish a proper return in money. The amount of capital upon which the returns
The intention-superiority effect for naturally occurring activities: The role of intention accessibility in everyday prospective remembering in young and older adults

This study examined age differences in the accessibility of a single pool of naturally occurring intentions both before and after completion. Following Maylor, Darby, and Della Sala (2000), accessibility was measured in terms of the number of activities generated in a 4‐minute activity fluency task. Each participant undertook two such tasks. A prospective task in which they generated activities intended for completion during the following week and a retrospective task, 1 week later, in which they generated activities carried out over the previous week. In a partial replication of Maylor et al.'s findings, young, but not healthy older, adults generated more to‐be‐completed intentions than completed ones, demonstrating an intention‐superiority effect (ISE) for everyday activities. The absence of an ISE for older adults appeared to reflect the reduced accessibility of intentions prior to completion, rather than the impaired inhibition of fulfilled intentions. Moreover, both groups showed greater inaccessibil.
Relation of Sex and Sex Role to Adults' Ability to Decode Infants' Emotions

The present study examined the relative contributions of sex and sex role to subjects' ability to recognize infants' emotional expressions. Men and women were classified into traditional, androgynous, and undifferentiated sex-role categories based upon their Bern Sex-role Inventory scores; women with a cross-sex orientation were also included. Subjects judged infants' emotions from a set of slides. Analysis indicated an effect for sex, with women outperforming men. A sex-role effect was also found, with cross-sex women and traditional men exhibiting the best decoding performance; androgynous subjects achieved the lowest decoding scores. Findings support recent ideas regarding the role of masculinity, at least when combined with low femininity scores, in decoding.
College Choice

Choice in education has become a key issue for educational debate. In Further Education, especially since 1992, where recruitment has been linked to funding, interest in markets and choice mechanisms has understandably increased. This paper summarizes the findings of a longitudinal multi-site study which examined the reasons and motives of 16 year olds choosing among post-16 colleges and school sixth forms in one local area. It analyses decision-making processes and strategies, and reveals subjective and objective approaches in students’ handling of marketing information. The paper concludes that although students initially base their choices on ‘pre-dispositions’ and work within social and cultural frames of reference, young people also rely on the marketing information provided by colleges to justify their choices, and to announce their decisions to others.
Rational modulation of the innate immune system for neuroprotection in ischemic stroke

The innate immune system plays a dualistic role in the evolution of ischemic brain damage and has also been implicated in ischemic tolerance produced by different conditioning stimuli. Early after ischemia, perivascular astrocytes release cytokines and activate metalloproteases (MMPs) that contribute to blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption and vasogenic oedema; whereas at later stages, they provide extracellular glutamate uptake, BBB regeneration and neurotrophic factors release. Similarly, early activation of microglia contributes to ischemic brain injury via the production of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL)-1, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and proteases. Nevertheless, microglia also contributes to the resolution of inflammation, by releasing IL-10 and tumor growth factor (TGF)-β, and to the late reparative processes by phagocytic activity and growth factors production. Indeed, after ischemia, microglia/macrophages differentiate toward several phenotypes: the M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype is classically activated via toll-like receptors or interferon-γ, whereas M2 phenotypes are alternatively activated by regulatory mediators, such as ILs 4, 10, 13, or TGF-β. Thus, immune cells exert a dualistic role on the evolution of ischemic brain damage, since the classic phenotypes promote injury, whereas alternatively activated M2 macrophages or N2 neutrophils prompt tissue remodeling and repair. Moreover, a subdued activation of the immune system has been involved in ischemic tolerance, since different preconditioning stimuli act via modulation of inflammatory mediators, including toll-like receptors and cytokine signaling pathways. This further underscores that the immuno-modulatory approach for the treatment of ischemic stroke should be aimed at blocking the detrimental effects, while promoting the beneficial responses of the immune reaction.
Social-Role versus Structural Models of Gender and Influence Use in Organizations

We adopted a strong inference epistemological approach and confronted predictions derived from 2 competing paradigms that attempt to explain poor evaluations and slow organizational advancement of female managers as compared to male managers. Participants viewed a video tape of a manager (female, male) occupying identical roles in the organizational structure and using 1 of 2 forms of influence behaviors (direct or indirect). The prediction of the social-role model was that female managers would receive more negative evaluations than did male managers when using (sex-role incongruent) direct influence behaviors. The prediction of the structural model was that there would be no gender-based differences and there would be a main effect for influence use (because direct influence is more congruent with the managerial position than is indirect influence). Supporting the structural model, ratings of managerial power, leadership effectiveness, managerial attributes, and reactions to an influence attempt were affected by the type of influence used and not by gender.
An Underwater Autonomous Robot Based on Multi-sensor Data Fusion

A kind of new autonomous robot can excavate hole in the mud underwater, which is called move-in-mud robot. It can be used in sunken wreck salvage to improve the efficienty of excavating the hole. In this paper, analyse the working principle of move-in-mud robot according to planned trajectory. The kinematics modelling of move-in-mud robot is established. Data fusion can combine multi-sources information from one object, and form a more precise and complete estimate than the sole sensor. The paper analyse several methods of multi-sensor data fusion such as Bayesian estimate, Kalman filter, Dempster-Shafer evidence theory etc, and discuss general structure of multi-sensor data fusion. Location system of move-in-mud robot is designed in the paper and location principle of move-in-mud robot is analyzed. Kalman filter is applied to fuse redundant information of the robot. The data fusion method is simulated in location system of move-in-mud robot, the effect of simulation of data fusion shows the data fusion method can improve location accuracy
National Identity and Political Trust

Abstract This article set out to test the almost taken for granted assumption that a minimum form of cohesion amongst the members of society is needed in order for political institutions to exist over time. The problem is that it is rare to find any specifications of the content of the national cohesion to be effective. The debate goes from thin to thick forms of cohesion. We aim to test this idea by examining how two forms of collective national identity (ethnic and civic) affect individual political trust in 18 European countries. We conclude that a strong civic national identity has a positive impact on political trust whereas a strong ethnic national identity has a negative impact on political trust. Individual data comes from the European Social Survey 2004 (ESSII).
Comparative studies on the growth of the cerebral cortex. VIII. General review of data for the thickness of the cerebral cortex and the size of the cortical cells in several mammals, together with some postnatal growth changes in these structures

Years ago Schwalbe ('81) pointed out as characteristic somatic expressions, which might be taken to indicate the grade of intelligence of a species of animals, the following four measurements on the brain: 1) total weight of the brain; 2) total number of nerve cells in the brain; 3) total area of the surface of the hemispheres of the brain, and 4) the thickness of the cerebral cortex. Since then he and many other neurologists have endeavored to gather data on the morphological evidence for the development of mental ability. Donaldson and Hatai ( 'The Rat, ' Donaldson, 'IS) have made systematic observations on the growth changes in the central nervous system as well as in other organs and systems, using exclusively the albino rat. As a result of their investigations, the postnatal growth of the brain and the spinal cord, in gross measurements, and the relations of these to the other systems during growth have been determined. In line with these studies, I also made further researches on the growth in the thickness of the cerebral cortex, the size and shape of the cortical nerve cells and the relative number of the cortical cells in both the Norway and albino rats. The results of these researches have been already presented (Sugita, '17, '17 a, '18, '18 a, '18 b, '18 c, '18 d), with references
A Test of the Validity of the Work Environment Inventory

The validity of the Work Environment Inventory (WEI) was tested by examining the relationship between mean ratings of WEI obstacles and stimulants to creativity scales, and perceptions of organizational creativity. The results show that those who rated their work environments as highly creative had significantly different mean scale scores on the WEI than those who rated their work environment as low in creativity. These results are consistent with the assertion that the WEI discriminates between different levels of perceived creativity in the work environment.
Model Formulation: A Design Model for Computer-based Guideline Implementation Based on Information Management Services

Clinical practice guidelines must be implemented effectively if they are to influence the behavior of clinicians. The authors describe a model for computer-based guideline implementation that identifies eight information management services needed to integrate guideline-based decision support with clinical workflow. Recommendation services determine appropriate activities in specific clinical circumstances. Documentation services involve data capture. Registration services integrate demographic and administrative data. Explanation services enhance the credibility of automated recommendations by providing supportive evidence and rating the quality of evidence. Calculation services measure time intervals, suggest medication dosages, and perform other computational tasks. Communication services employ standards for information transfer and provide data security. Effective presentation services facilitate understanding of complex data, clarify trends, and format written materials (including prescriptions) for patients. Aggregation services associate outcomes with specific guideline interventions. The authors provide examples of the eight services that make up the model from five evidence-based practice parameters developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Task synchronization in reservation-based real-time systems

In this paper, we present the BandWidth Inheritance (BWI) protocol, a new strategy for scheduling real-time tasks in dynamic systems, which extends the resource reservation framework to systems where tasks can interact through shared resources. The proposed protocol provides temporal isolation between independent groups of tasks and enables a schedulability analysis for guaranteeing the performance of hard real-time tasks. We show that BWI is the natural extension of the well-known priority inheritance protocol to dynamic reservation systems. A formal analysis of the protocol is presented and a guarantee test for hard real-time tasks is proposed that takes into account the case in which hard real-time tasks interact with soft real-time tasks.
COMBINING MARS DATA IN GRASS GIS FOR GEOLOGICAL MAPPING

Geo Information Systems (GIS) are standard tools in the Earth sciences whenever different geographic data sets must be combined. GIS became increasingly popular in the field of planetary research as well, due to the increasing amount of data from recent planetary missions, in particular to Mars. However, as the available GIS packages are designed for the standard terrestrial coordinate systems, several obstacles have to be overcome to implement a geodetic accurate and consistent database for other solar system bodies. In the past decade, parameters describing the rotation and shape of Mars have changed several times. Therefore, today, the digital data products available to the science community incorporate several different reference surfaces and map projections. In this paper we describe the required steps to integrate Digital terrain Models (DTMs) and images of Mars Global Surveyor, Viking mosaics, and supplementary geologic information in a single database under the open source GIS GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) environment. The different possible reference frames are discussed. The derived GIS database is currently being used to map the global distribution of tectonic faults on Mars. Finally, there are excellent prospects to use GRASS GIS for the analysis and geologic interpretation of image data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard Mars Express. As the software and its source code are released under a free license, scientists may take the opportunity to gather work experience with a planetary GIS at no costs and with the opportunity to modify the software to their specific needs. * Corresponding author