Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Designing and Evaluating Digital Game-Based Learning with the ARCS Motivation Model, Humor, and Animation

Multimedia teaching applications have been widely utilized in various subjects. The presentation of teaching materials with animations and games helps to stimulate the visual sense and enhance the learning motivation of learners. Successful learning, however, requires the stimulation of learning motivation that can inspire learners to achieve the desired learning objectives. This study combines the ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) motivation model, and humor to design a set of multimedia applications that include teaching animations and games for sixth graders' natural science and technology course, called the Cat's Cradle Multimedia Learning System (CCMLS). The scenario stories of anthropomorphic characters introduce four units of natural science: levers, axles, pulleys and gears. Additionally, games are designed to impress learners even more. After the applications were prepared, tests for learning effectiveness, learning motivation and perceived fun associated with teaching materials were conducted with 106 students at the Qishan Elementary School in Kaohsiung. The experimental group used CCMLS, while the control group used videos of the textbook as the applications. A pre-test and post-test, ARCS Learning Motivation Questionnaire, Smileyometer and interviews were conducted with both groups. According to the statistical analysis, significance was detected in regard to learning effectiveness between the experimental group and the control group. Significance was also found in ARCS learning motivation and perceived fun of teaching materials. Moreover, there is a significant positive correlation between the perceived fun related to the teaching materials and learning motivation. The contribution of this study lies in the proposal of the digital game-based learning (DGBL) from the design perspective: to enhance students' learning motivation and use willingness regarding the teaching materials of the drama and the cartoon characters in humorous dialogues. The proper sound and light effects and examples that are close to daily life will also be taken into consideration in the design of the multimedia applications.
Meeting the Closed-Loop Challenge: The Case of Remanufacturing

This article examines the experiences of a major European car manufacturer in developing a dedicated car engine remanufacturing operation and a reverse logistics operation to support it. The company's efforts demonstrate that achieving reverse logistics flows through existing logistics channels is feasible and can prove relatively unproblematic. The real challenges involved in closing the loop were in managing the remanufacturing process in the face of external competition for old engines, internal competition for spare parts, and a lack of consideration from new engine designers. The case provides general lessons for successful remanufacturing and shows the importance of including reverse logistics and remanufacturing operations in an integrated approach to product management.
Facial Nerve Reconstruction With Concurrent Masseteric Nerve Transfer and Cable Grafting.

IMPORTANCE Reconstruction of the facial nerve after radical parotidectomy is commonly performed with cable grafting, which is associated with slow recovery of nerve function and synkinesis. OBJECTIVE To describe facial nerve reconstruction after radical parotidectomy using concurrent masseteric nerve transfer and cable grafting. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective medical record review at a tertiary referral hospital included 9 patients who underwent concurrent masseteric nerve transfer and cable grafting for facial nerve reconstruction performed by a single surgeon from January 1, 2014, to October 31, 2015. Final follow-up was completed on March 14, 2016. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Improvement in resting facial symmetry and oral commissure excursion and synkinesis. RESULTS Nine patients (6 women; mean age, 62.6 years; age range, 51-73 years) underwent immediate facial nerve reconstruction after radical parotidectomy using concurrent cable grafting and masseteric nerve transposition. All patients had return of oral commissure motion within 2 to 7 months after surgery with good excursion and minimal synkinesis. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Masseteric nerve transposition can be combined with cable grafting to improve outcomes in facial rehabilitation after radical parotidectomy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4.
Ovarian hormone level alterations during rat post-reproductive life-span influence CD8 + T-cell homeostasis

The study examined the putative role of ovarian hormones in shaping of rat peripheral T-cell compartment during post-reproductive period. In 20-month-old rats ovariectomized (Ox) at the very end of reproductive period, thymic output, cellularity and composition of major TCRαβ + peripheral blood lymphocyte and splenocyte subsets were analyzed. Ovariectomy led to the enlargement of CD8 + peripheral blood lymphocyte and splenocyte subpopulations. This reflected: (i) a more efficient thymic generation of CD8 + cells as indicated by increased number of CD4+CD8 + double positive and the most mature CD4-CD8+TCRαβhigh thymocytes and CD8 + recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) in peripheral blood, but not in the spleen of Ox rats, and (ii) the expansion of CD8 + memory/activated peripheral blood lymphocytes and splenocytes. The latter was consistent with a greater frequency of proliferating cells among freshly isolated memory/activated CD8 + peripheral blood lymphocytes and splenocytes and increased proliferative response of CD8 + splenocytes to stimulation with plate-bound anti-CD3 antibody. The former could be related to the rise in splenic IL-7 and IL-15 mRNA expression. Although ovariectomy affected the overall number of CD4 + T cells in none of the examined compartments, it increased CD4+FoxP3 + peripheral blood lymphocyte and splenocyte counts by enhancing their generation in periphery. Collectively, the results suggest that ovariectomy-induced long-lasting disturbances in ovarian hormone levels (mirrored in diminished progesterone serum level in 20-month-old rats) affects both thymic CD8 + cell generation and peripheral homeostasis and leads to the expansion of CD4+FoxP3 + cells in the periphery, thereby enhancing autoreactive cell control on account of immune system efficacy to combat infections and tumors.
The Minimum Wage as a Redistributive Tool

Most analyses of the minimum wage focus on its unintended employment consequences. The goal of a minimum wage is not, of course, to reduce employment, but to redistribute earnings to low-paid workers. Under what conditions can a minimum accomplish this? Are those conditions met in economies which otherwise rely extensively on markets to set wages, such as the United States (which in I994 rejected mandating health benefits that would have effectively raised the minimum) or the United Kingdom (where in I995 the Labour Party promised a national minimum upon election)? Who pays for the redistribution? Who benefits? The redistributive effects of a minimum wage depend on the labour market and redistributive system in which it operates, on the level of the minimum, and on its enforcement. At best, an effective minimum wage will shift the earnings distribution in favour of the low-paid and buttress the bottom tiers of the distribution from erosion. At worst, minimum wages reduce the share of earnings going to the low-paid by displacing many from employment. Neither outcome is certain, so that enacting a minimum is a risky but potentially 'profitable' investment in redistribution. It is the balancing of risk against gain that makes a minimum so controversial. Until the I980s-I99Os, competitive labour markets in the United States and United Kingdom produced rising real earnings for the low paid, and falling earnings inequality, so the risk of enacting a national minimum (United Kingdom) or of raising substantially the national minimum (United States) seemed unnecessary. Why interfere with the competitive market when it produces socially desirable trends in earnings, albeit a bit slower than one might accomplish with a legislated minimum? Two decades of falling real wages for lower decile workers in the United States and of rising earnings inequality in the United Kingdom1 have, however, put the minimum back in play. The job market is not doing much for lower-paid workers. In the United Kingdom virtually all social groups accept the need for some redistribution, though they differ on the best way to accomplish such. In the United States pressures for tax cuts can be interpreted as a way for employees to gain real wage increases unavailable through the market. The consensus favouring redistribution through the Earned Income Tax Credit disappeared in the midI 990S rush to reduce federal budget deficits. This paper takes as its operating premise the goal of redistributing earnings
Comparing the Point Predictions and Subjective Probability Distributions of Professional Forecasters

We use data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) to compare point predictions of gross domestic product (GDP) growth and inflation with the subjective probability distributions held by forecasters. We find that most SPF point predictions are quite close to the central tendencies of forecasters subjective distributions tend to be asymmetric, with SPF forecasters tending to report point predictions that give a more favorable view of the economy than do their subjective means/medians/modes.
Institutional, Macro Economic Policy Factors and Foreign Direct Investment: South Asian Countries Case

Recent economic literature suggests that institutional quality factors exert positive effect on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. The main focus of this study is to examine the role of institutional factors and macro economic policy factors on FDI inflows in a panel data of seven South Asian countries over the period of 12 years since 1996 to 2007. This study implies that a good institutional quality plays a key role in attractiveness of FDI inflows. A poor macroeconomic policy situation produces negative impact on FDI. Good Institutional quality and poor macroeconomic policy generate negative effect in a combined form on FDI. This study further implies that poor macro economic policy deteriorates institutional quality and creates negative effect on FDI inflows. Incredibility in trade liberalization policy may be a part of poor macro economic policy.
Performance Enhancement of the Multi-Modulus Algorithm Based Adaptive Antenna Arrays Using Additional Constraints

The linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) algorithm fails to capture the signal if coherent copies (multipath signals) impinge on the array at the same time with the signal. The constant modulus algorithm (CMA) and the multi-modulus algorithm (MMA) techniques solved this problem with the disadvantage of more complicated behavior and the violation of some constraints about null directions staled by the initial weights. This is the main point of interest of the new algorithms proposed in this paper. The proposed algorithms in this paper, namely, the linearly constrained CMA (LCCMA) and linearly constrained MMA (LCMMA) solved this problem and arc able to hold the initial constraints about deep nulls until the adaptation is finished. This property has been successfully used to improve the performance of the MMA algorithm to capture very high signal constellations in multipath and interference environment without having to use the more complicated generalized MMA (GMMA).
Changes in Visitor Demand: Inter-year Comparisons of Swedish Hikers' Characteristics, Preferences and Experiences

The focus of this study is a comparison over time between two visitor surveys (1980 and 2003) conducted in northern Sweden. The aim is to analyze possible changes and similarities over time in what attracts hikers to visit protected areas and if the type of visitor has changed. Since comparisons over time are rare in tourism and outdoor recreation research, this paper contributes to valuable empirical insights. Long-term data on tourism and recreation is essential to assess visitor experiences and visitor impacts on the resource, and for nature conservation management. The results reveal several variables that have been stable over time. However, many changes have also occurred. For the visitors, it has become more important with adventure and perils, services, marked hiking trails and accessibility, and the average age among the hikers has become higher and they have reduced their length of stay. In the second study, the hikers also accepted infrastructure to a greater extent. The paper discusses possible implications of the changes found.
Work–Life Balance Support in the Public Sector in Europe

This article examines the level of support for the integration of paid work and personal life (work–life balance [WLB] support) in public sector organizations in Europe. Data of the Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance 2004-2005 (ESWT) is used to analyze the supportiveness of public sector organizations within and between countries. So far, little attention has been paid to variation within the public sector and whether and to what degree this is related to institutional and economic drivers. The results suggest that institutional pressure is the most important driver for public sector organizations to offer WLB support to their employees: State support in a country has a positive relationship with WLB support in public organizations, in particular for public administration organizations. Little evidence for the relevance of economic drivers was found despite the introduction of new public management (NPM)-style reforms in the public sector.
Carabidae Population Dynamics and Temporal Partitioning: Response to Coupled Neonicotinoid-transgenic Technologies in Maize

ABSTRACT Insecticidal Bt crops and seed treatments represent additional pest management tools for growers, prompting ecological studies comparing their impact on farm system inputs and effects to nontarget organisms compared with conventional practices. Using high taxonomic and temporal resolution, we contrast the dominance structure of carabids and dynamics of the most abundant species in maize (both sweet and field corn) agroecosystems using pest management tactics determined by the purchase of seed and application of pyrethroid insecticides. In the seed-based treatments, sweet corn contained Cry1Ab/c proteins, whereas field corn contained the coupled technology of Cry3Bb1 proteins for control of corn rootworm and neonicotinoid seed treatments aimed at secondary soil-borne pests. The insecticide treatments involved foliar pyrethroids in sweet corn and at-planting pyrethroids in field corn. The carabid community, comprised of 49 species, was dominated by four species, Scarites quadriceps Chaudoir, Poecilus chalcites Say, Pterostichus melanarius Illiger, and Harpalus pensylvanicus DeGeer, that each occupied a distinct temporal niche during the growing season. Two species, Pt. melanarius and H. pensylvanicus, exhibited differences between treatments over time. Only H. pensylvanicus had consistent results in both years, in which activity densities in field corn were significantly higher in the control in July and/or August. These results, along with laboratory bioassays, led us to hypothesize that lower adult captures resulted from decrease in prey availability or exposure of H. pensylvanicus larvae to soil-directed insecticides—either the neonicotinoid seed treatment in the transgenic field corn or an at-planting soil insecticide in the conventional field corn.
Bridging the Gap between Western and Chinese Evidence in the International Education Market

Using a sample of 1674 international students in China, the present study explores sociocultural adaptation and its determinants. The results indicate that sociocultural adaptation among international students in China is largely shaped by the nature of the interaction with host nationals. In particular, among international students, those who experienced higher levels of social interaction with host nationals and received more social support were better poised for sociocultural adaptation. Rather contrary to similar research in the Western context, the study finds that international students from East Asia actually experienced more sociocultural difficulties in China than their counterparts from Western countries. These findings suggest the possibility of China and other oriental countries with sound higher education systems playing more active roles in the global higher education market.
The Public Market Equivalent and Private Equity Performance

The authors show that the public market equivalent approach is equivalent to assessing the performance of private equity (PE) investments using Rubinstein’s dynamic version of the CAPM. They developed two insights: (1) one need not compute betas of PE investments, and any changes in PE cash flow betas due to changes in financial leverage, operating leverage, or the nature of the business are automatically taken into account; (2) the public market index used in evaluations should be the one that best approximates the wealth portfolio of the investor considering the PE investment opportunity.
The governance of localized knowledge externalities

This paper articulates the hypothesis that there is an optimal size of knowledge pools. Too little a density of innovation activities reduces the accessibility of external knowledge. Too large a density enhances congestion and reduces appropriateness. Firms can benefit from actual increasing returns stemming from the indivisibility, replicability and non‐exhaustibility of knowledge only when the size of innovation networks is comprised between the two extremes. The empirical evidence confirms that the output elasticity of knowledge, included in a typical Griliches production function, is itself a quadratic function of the size of innovation networks. Knowledge externalities do trigger increasing returns that are external to each firm, only within a well defined interval. Knowledge externalities are a property of the system into which firms are embedded. As such they are endogenous to the system and likely to exhibit specific properties related to the changing characteristics of the system itself. The quality of knowledge governance mechanisms in place plays a key role in assessing the actual size of the net positive effects of knowledge externalities.
Initiation of deoxyribonucleic acid replication in Escherichia coli B: uncoupling from mass/deoxyribonucleic acid ratio

In Escherichia coli growing at different rates, the ratio of cell mass to the number of chromosome origins tended to be constant at the time of the initiation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication. This observation led to the assumption that the initiation event is controlled in some way by cell mass, e.g., by a growth-dependent synthesis of an initiator or dilution of a repressor. We have now found that the initiation of DNA synthesis can be uncoupled from cell mass. We used a synchronous culture of newly divided cells of E. coli B which was obtained by the membrane elution technique (C.E. Helmstetter, J. Mol. Biol. 24: 417-427, 1967) and was starved for an amino acid. Upon restoration of the amino acid, the cells not only divided at a size that was smaller than normal, but also initiated DNA replication long before they could increase their masses to reach the expected ratio of mass/DNA presumably required for initiation.
Demystifying Multitask Deep Neural Networks for Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships

Deep neural networks (DNNs) are complex computational models that have found great success in many artificial intelligence applications, such as computer vision1,2 and natural language processing.3,4 In the past four years, DNNs have also generated promising results for quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) tasks.5,6 Previous work showed that DNNs can routinely make better predictions than traditional methods, such as random forests, on a diverse collection of QSAR data sets. It was also found that multitask DNN models-those trained on and predicting multiple QSAR properties simultaneously-outperform DNNs trained separately on the individual data sets in many, but not all, tasks. To date there has been no satisfactory explanation of why the QSAR of one task embedded in a multitask DNN can borrow information from other unrelated QSAR tasks. Thus, using multitask DNNs in a way that consistently provides a predictive advantage becomes a challenge. In this work, we explored why multitask DNNs make a difference in predictive performance. Our results show that during prediction a multitask DNN does borrow "signal" from molecules with similar structures in the training sets of the other tasks. However, whether this borrowing leads to better or worse predictive performance depends on whether the activities are correlated. On the basis of this, we have developed a strategy to use multitask DNNs that incorporate prior domain knowledge to select training sets with correlated activities, and we demonstrate its effectiveness on several examples.
NPD frameworks: a holistic examination

Modern organisations have approached the challenge of innovation by attempting to develop frameworks for new product development. Whilst many organisations have attempted some degree of customisation of these innovation frameworks, most of them retain features of a common skeleton. Indeed in generic terms innovation methodologies exhibit a high degree of similarity. In this paper, presented is an overview of a generic framework that serves to highlight the essential components to make such a system work. The paper goes on to indicate the types of benefits that can be derived from such a system, as well as the limitations and shortcomings of such approaches in practice.
Reforming Budget ritual and Budget practice: The Case of Performance Management Implementation in Virginia

Abstract Virginia is accepted as one of the leading examples of performance-based reform among US states. This article reports on some of the key factors that have helped to ensure that these reforms have established performance as a basis for both budget ritual and budget practice. Virginia's strong record of implementation is explained as the result of a consistent legislative basis for reform, effective reform leadership by a core agency, the integration of results-oriented activities into all facets of the financial management process, a focus on high levels of citizen engagement, and an emphasis on ensuring that performance management systems are tailored to be useful. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions or perspectives of the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget or the World Bank.
The Changing Roles of the Internal Auditor

Marks the 50th anniversary in 1991 of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). Established in 1941 by a group of forward‐looking internal auditors, the IIA has given great impetus to the professional upgrading of internal auditors. Provides an overview of the evolving role of the internal auditor: tracing the ancient roots of the internal audit function; examining in detail the role played by the IIA in advancing the interests of the profession, and providing an outlook for the future. Concludes by observing that the role of the internal auditor will continue to expand at a rapid pace in the coming decades and beyond.