Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ASSESSING TPACK INTEGRATION IN SENIOR PHASE SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING AT SOUTH AFRICAN TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS

As a complex dichotomy, the advent of the fourth industrial revolution poses enormous challenges while providing practical pedagogical benefits for science teaching and learning within the broader South African educational context. While the need to integrate technology as a catalyst for pedagogic innovation in science teaching and learning is paramount, considerable attention ought to be devoted to meaningful teacher professional development on the effective utilization of appropriate information and communication technology tools. In view of this key strategic imperative, this study primarily examined the effectiveness of the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) integration in Senior Phase science teaching and learning at selected South African township schools. The study adopted a generic qualitative design located within the interpretive research paradigm. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and lesson observations involving three purposively selected Natural Sciences teachers at South African township schools. The study demonstrated that general lack of essential resources and appropriate technological skills hampered teachers’ ability to meaningfully integrate TPACK in Senior Phase science teaching and learning at the selected South African township schools. In addition, teachers’ lack of topic specific pedagogical content knowledge served as an impediment to effective integration of TPACK in Senior Phase science teaching and learning. Moreover, teachers’ inability to identify and deploy appropriate information and communication technology tools reflected inadequate understanding of the TPACK framework. Implications for technology-enhanced learning are discussed.
A Conceptual Review on Using Consequential Life Cycle Assessment Methodology for the Energy Sector

Energy is engaged in the supply chain of many economic sectors; therefore, the environmental impacts of the energy sector are indirectly linked to those of other sectors. Consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) is an appropriate methodology to examine the direct and indirect environmental impacts of a product due to technological, economic or social changes. To date, different methodological approaches are proposed, combining economic and environmental models. This paper reviews the basic concept of CLCA and the coupling of economic and environmental models for performing CLCA in the energy sector during the period 2006–2020, with the aim to provide a description of the different tools, highlighting their strengths and limitations. From the review, it emerges that economic modelling tools are frequently used in combination with environmental data for CLCA in the energy sector, including equilibrium, input-output, and dynamic models. Out of these, the equilibrium model is the most widely used, showing some strengths in availability of data and energy system modelling tools. The input-output model allows for describing both direct and indirect effects due to changes in the energy sector, by using publicly available data. The dynamic model is less frequently applied due to its limitation in availability of data and modelling tools, but has recently attracted more attention due to the ability in modelling quantitative and qualitative indicators of sustainability.
Geographically and temporally neural network weighted regression for modeling spatiotemporal non-stationary relationships

ABSTRACT Geographically weighted regression (GWR) and geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) are classic methods for estimating non-stationary relationships. Although these methods have been widely used in geographical modeling and spatiotemporal analysis, they face challenges in adequately expressing space-time proximity and constructing a kernel with optimal weights. This probably results in an insufficient estimation of spatiotemporal non-stationarity. To address complex non-linear interactions between time and space, a spatiotemporal proximity neural network (STPNN) is proposed in this paper to accurately generate space-time distance. A geographically and temporally neural network weighted regression (GTNNWR) model that extends geographically neural network weighted regression (GNNWR) with the proposed STPNN is then developed to effectively model spatiotemporal non-stationary relationships. To examine its performance, we conducted two case studies of simulated datasets and environmental modeling in coastal areas of Zhejiang, China. The GTNNWR model was fully evaluated by comparing with ordinary linear regression (OLR), GWR, GNNWR, and GTWR models. The results demonstrated that GTNNWR not only achieved the best fitting and prediction performance but also exactly quantified spatiotemporal non-stationary relationships. Further, GTNNWR has the potential to handle complex spatiotemporal non-stationarity in various geographical processes and environmental phenomena.
Potential anti-viral compounds from Malaysian Plant Natural Product Repository and Database (MyNature50000) for DENV2

Abstract Dengue virus (DENV) is a globally significant human pathogen that annually infects more than ∼300 million of the Earth’s population. While the clinically approved anti-dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia is available for treating such infection, its treatment is limited to those infected with DENV of serotypes 3 and 4 only. However, the vaccine is no longer available to treat dengue infections following the suspended use of Dengvaxia after several discoveries on the side effects of the vaccine on humans. In view of this recent development, a collection of plant extracts in the MyNature50000 library showing potential anti-dengue activities were explored. In this work, the DENV2 NS2B-NS3 bioassay was setup and optimized to evaluate the potential inhibitory activity of plant extracts stored in the MyNature50000 natural product collections. A total of 150 plants were examined using the high-throughput screening assay, among which four candidate plants showed potential as inhibitors of the DENV2 NS2B-NS3 protease, with exceptional inhibition activity >95% with corresponding IC50 values ranging within 2 − 5 µg/mL. Two local plants, Syzygium campanulatum (‘Kelat Paya’) and Syzygium grande (‘Keriang Batu’), were phytochemically analyzed and the data revealed existence of cyclododecane, n-hexadecanoic acid and caryophyllene, all of which are compounds well-known for their inhibitory activity against DENV2 NS2B-NS3. Additionally, MTT assays showed that both plants were mildly cytotoxic on mammalian cell lines, with IC50 values >20 µg/mL, indicating their prospective use as drugs to combat DENV.
Living Mulch Management Spatially Localizes Nutrient Cycling in Organic Corn Production

Kura clover ( Trifolium ambiguum ) is a perennial living mulch species that can be used in conjunction with zone tillage to reduce nitrogen pollution, maintain ground cover, and provide nitrogen to crops. In such systems, kura clover is maintained between crop rows by limiting tillage only to within-row areas. However, the effect of zone-tilled living mulches on soil quality and nutrient cycling in these distinct regions is relatively unexplored. We examined three pools of labile soil organic matter (SOM): microbial biomass, particulate organic matter (POM), and permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC). Soil samples were collected from both within-row and between-row locations of a zone-tilled kura clover living mulch at three time points per year: before spring zone tillage, approximately ten days after spring zone tillage and corn ( Zea mays ) planting, and at corn harvest in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, POM and POXC decreased within rows relative to between-row regions after tillage, suggesting that zone till management stimulated decomposition of readily available SOM to effectively localize nutrient cycling in this region and slow mineralization between rows where living kura clover remained. This work shows that zone-tilled living mulches may be a promising avenue for enhancing the synchrony of nutrient mineralization specifically within crop rows, while maintaining year-round ground cover between rows.
Impact of sewage water on the changes in behaviour and bodyweight of a freshwater fish, Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus)

The aquatic environment is subjected to heavy and diverse pollutants load, particularly in the highly industrialized and urbanized regions. There is much concern over possible effects of these pollutants on aquatic life. This sewage water was procured from the local area, nearby Ammanikere pond, Tumakuru, Karnataka, India. Short term definitive test by static renewal bioassay method was conducted to determine the acute toxicity (LC50) of sewage water and freshwater fish fingerlings were exposed to different concentrations of sewage water 15ml/L for 96hrs, 30ml/L for 96hrs, 60ml/L for 96hrs and 120ml/L for 96hrs were selected for acute study on fish, Cyprinus carpio procured from Fisheries Research and Information Centre (Inland) Hebbal, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The size of the fish will be (3  0.21 g; 3 ± 0.25 cm) and duration of the study will be 1, 5, 10 & 15 days respectively. The present study shows that behaviour condition of the fishes were varies and symptoms dictated like irregular, erratic and darting swimming movements, hyper excitability, capsizing, attaching to the surface, restlessness, difficulty in breathing, loss of equilibrium and gathering around the ventilation filter and the bodyweight of the fishes also decreases slowly up to 15 days of time period. This present investigation shows that impact of sewage water on the changes in behaviour and bodyweight of a freshwater fish, Cyprinus carpio. For this study the treatment of toxic effects of sewage water on the desired fish species that is Cyprinus carpio was found suitable for the exposure based on the available literature survey. The results of the study evidenced that sewage is toxic and thus, it has led to the altered fish physiology. However the exact mechanism through which this is achieved needs to be studied further.
Examination of Sustainability Strategies of Enterprises that Operate in the Sports Industry

The concept of sustainable production/consumption is one of the key points that need to be addressed in terms of measures and alternatives. As one of the most important industries today, the sports industry appeals to a wide range of consumers through various goods and services offered to consumers. The present view is that it is important to look out for sustainable production/consumption and to implement sustainability strategies both in terms of enterprises and of products and services offered to consumers. In this context, the main purpose of this study is to describe and examine the sustainability strategies of enterprises that produce goods and services in the sports sector. Within the scope of this inquiry, this study utilized the qualitative research technique of semi-structured interviewing. The interviews with senior managers in the sports sector were conducted in the Turkish city of Eskisehir. The results showed that the awareness levels of the companies regarding sustainability are lacking and that the corresponding strategies implemented were also insufficient.
Are the World’s National Cultures Becoming More Similar?

Globalization is highlighting existing cultural differences between nations, but what is the future of these differences? We attempt to answer this question by analyzing the evolution of cultural convergence-divergence across 18 select countries representing the existing cross-national cultural diversity across the globe in a balanced way. Using World Values Survey data (28,051 respondents in 18 countries from 1995 to 1998 and 30,453 from the same 18 countries in 2010–2014), we find evidence for a global shift in the direction of cultural traits typical of the rich Western individualist countries. However, different types of traits evolve differently and different national cultures change at different speeds. Thus, we find evidence of global convergence in terms of qualities that parents would like to see in their children (especially a shift away from religion and obedience toward independence and responsibility), divergence in terms of moral ideologies (such as homosexuality, abortion, divorce, and suicide, despite the growing acceptance of these, especially homosexuality), and distance stability in terms of key personal values (such as religion, work, family, friends, and leisure, despite the falling importance of the first two and the growing importance of the last three). Thus, there is no simple single answer to the convergence-divergence question and no evidence allowing us to predict full cultural convergence across the world in the foreseeable future.
Generating Market Comments from Stock Prices

本稿では,日経平均株価の市況コメントを生成するタスクを例として,時系列数値 データの多様な特徴を抽出してテキスト化する手法を提案する. 日経平均株価の市 況コメントでは価格の変動の特徴だけが表出されるわけではなく,価格の履歴を参 照する表現,時系列データの変化を示す表現,テキストが書かれる時間帯に依存す る表現が見られる. また,数値に言及する場合は,価格が直接言及されることもあ れば,前日からの増減幅や それらを切り上げ・切り捨てした値などが用いられるこ ともある. 本研究では,エンコーダ・デコーダモデルをベースラインとし,上記の ような多様な特徴を自動抽出してテキスト化するためのエンコード/デコード手法 を探求する. まず,株価の短期的・長期的な変化を捉えるために,エンコーダへの 入力として短期的および長期的な時系列株価データを与える. デコード時には,テ キストが書かれる時間帯に依存する表現を生成するために,時間帯情報を導入する. また,デコーダが数値に言及する際,数値の演算操作を推定して計算することで株 価の数値表現を生成する. 実験では,自動評価および情報性・流暢性に関する人手 評価を行い,提案手法によって上記の特徴を捉えた質の高い株価の市況コメントの 生成が可能になることを示した. キーワード:Data-to-Text, 自然言語生成,ニューラルネットワーク
Leveraging Demand Flexibility by Exploiting Prosumer Response to Price Signals in Microgrids

The diffusion of distributed energy resources in distribution networks requires new approaches to exploit the users’ capabilities of providing ancillary services. Of particular interest will be the coordination of microgrids operating as an aggregate of demand and supply units. This work reports a model predictive control (MPC) application in microgrids for the efficient energy management of energy storage systems and photovoltaic units. The MPC minimizes the economic cost of aggregate prosumers into a prediction horizon by forecasting generation and absorption profiles. The MPC is compared in realistic conditions with a heuristic strategy that acts in a instant manner, without taking into account signals prediction. The work aims at investigating the effect that different types of energy tariffs have in enhancing the end-users’ flexibility, based on three examples of currently applied tariffs, comparing the two storage control modes. The MPC always achieves a better solution than the heuristic approach in all considered scenarios from the cost minimization point of view, with an improvement that is amplified by increasing the energy price variations between peak and off-peak periods. Furthermore, the MPC approach provides a cost saving when compared to the case considering a microgrid endowed with only photovoltaic units, in which no storage is installed. Findings in this work confirm that storage units better perform when some knowledge of future demand and supply trends is provided, ensuring an economic cost saving and an important service for the overall community.
Resenha de Music, informal learning and the school: a new classroom pedagogy, de Lucy Green

Destacando uma decada do lancamento do livro, a resenha traz a descricao dos procedimentos metodologicos utilizados na pesquisa de Green (2008). A partir de analise do seu livro, sao descritos a problematizacao, a metodologia empregada, bem como os resultados obtidos. Acredito que tal descricao pode servir como ilustracao e, assim, auxiliar estudantes de musica em seu aprendizado referente a estruturacao de projetos de pesquisa na area de Musica e educacao musical.
Indirect Effect of Economic, Social, and Cultural Status on Immigrant Students’ Science Performance Through Science Dispositions: A Multilevel Analysis

Determining the ethnic differences in academic performance among immigrant students is important in terms of adapting them into the system they live in. Examining the variables related to students’ performance will be a guide in overcoming the issue. The purpose of this study is to examine the direct effect of economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) on science performance and the indirect effect of ESCS on the relationship between science dispositions and science literacy in Canadian immigrant students using hierarchical linear modeling. Data were obtained from Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 science literacy test and student questionnaire and data sets were provided from the official website of PISA. The results of the research show that ESCS had a direct and indirect effect through science dispositions with medium to large on science performance of immigrant students. The impacts of significant variables were discussed and implications for further research were provided.
Macroeconomic implications of insolvency regimes

The impact of creditor and debtor rights following firm insolvency are studied in a firm dynamics model where defaulting firms choose between restructuring or exit. The model accounts for differing effects of productivity shocks across economies that differ in the credit/debtor rights. Following a negative shock labour productivity falls sharply in a creditor-friendly regime such as the UK while in a debtor-friendly regime such as the US, there is a larger employment response. This paper suggests a possible explanation for the different employment and labour productivity response in the UK and US since the financial crisis.
Production of functional products using grape processing residuals

The viticulture – winemaking of Azerbaijan has a rich history and traditions. Grapes have been cultivated and wine made in these places since the ancient times. On the 1980s, the field was in a boom period and provided economic benefits at a level comparable to the country’s oil industry revenues. Although the area is currently experiencing a recession period, its development has been prioritized. During the processing of the grapes, a large amount of residues are formed, with the major proportion of the seedy pomaces. According to the weight of the grape bunch 3-7% of comb, according to the weight of the seeds 15-20% peel, and 3-6% seeds have been originated during the grape processing. Due to its rich content, these residuals are called secondary raw materials and their recycling can have significant economic benefits. Sometimes these residues are disposed of near processing facilities, polluting the environment and creating anti-sanitary situation. Therefore, the rational use of such residues have economic, environmental and other advantages. The peel, seeds and pulp of pomace from the grape varieties of Osabella and Bayanshira cultivated in the western region of Azerbaijan were studied. Spectra of the peel extract and chromatograms of peel hydrolysis were obtained from Osabella grape variety. Anthocyanidins of delphinidin, cyanide, peonidin and malvidin were found in the hydrolysis of peel extracts. Search-based studies have shown that the pomace of the Osabella variety is not only rich in biologically active substances but also has a high muscat aroma. With this in mind, the Osabella pomace was used for further research. Osabella grape variety is distinguished by the rich composition and organoleptic properties during the pomace processing. Dne of the best ways to bring it back to production is to use functional products with great perspectives in the modern world. To this end, the powder of Osabella pomace was extracted and have been applied in the production of functional products. The optimum variants have been determined in providing the best possible products with the addition to the yoghurt made from cow’s milk with different amounts of pomace powder. The yoghurt which was made with the addition of 4% pomace powder was superior due to other trial samples for their content and quality. Although some changes were happened during storage, they were not negatively reflected in the composition and quality of the yoghurt samples and the product was selected with high organoleptic values even after 20 days of storage. The results of the study be in
Clustering Consumers Through their Consumption Behavior: Analysis on the Fashion Industry

The actual paper aimed to confirm the validity of the consumer styles inventory scale, developed by Sproles and Kendall (1986) on people aged 18-45 years based on their consumption behaviour when it comes to the clothing industry. In this respect, I applied the consumer styles inventory scale on individuals from the Romanian space aged 18-45 years, the responses being collected via online platforms. To the gathered data were applied, in the first part, an exploratory analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis. In the second part, the K-means cluster analysis was used to segment individuals in distinct groups based on their demographic characteristics and their financial involvement in purchasing fashion items. The output of the k-means cluster analysis distinguished eight segments of consumers defined as: „casual consumer”, „quality-seeker consumer”, „irrational consumer”, „indifferent consumer”, „habitual consumer”, „occasional consumer”, „fashion consciousness consumer” and „passive consumer”.
Access to arts education in America: the availability of visual art, music, dance, and theater courses in U.S. high schools

Abstract The purpose of this study was to understand the contextual, school-level factors associated with the availability of arts education courses in the high schools of the United States. In the study, course offerings for a nationally representative sample of N = 940 high schools that were part of the National Center for Education Statistics High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS) were analyzed to understand whether there were common school characteristics linked to the availability of visual art, music, dance, or theater courses. Results suggest that the strongest and most consistent school factor related to arts course availability was school size. As enrollment increased, so did the likelihood of offering any arts course or more than one of the arts disciplines. Traditional public schools had the greatest likelihood of offering arts education, followed by Catholic schools, and non-Catholic private schools. Public charter high schools were the least likely to offer courses in the arts. Proportion of students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch was also associated with the probability of offering arts courses, with decreased arts availability at schools serving greater proportions of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program. Neither urbanicity nor region of the country were significantly associated with arts availability. The analyses reported in the article are both aggregated across all disciplines and disaggregated for each art form.