Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementation Considerations of Emirate Student Teachers Regarding Online Math

This paper reports on an exploratory study concerning the integration of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) and Mathematics as it supports the effective implementation of outcome-based curriculum practice in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It demonstrates a commitment among undergraduate students on an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programme in Emirates College of Advanced Education (ECAE), in creating progressive curricular provision in ICT /Mathematics. In particular, attention is given to the development of pedagogical approach supporting innovative transformative, self-regulated student approach in preference to more traditional transmission style teaching forms in elementary schools in Abu Dhabi. This approach to immersion activity in student-engaged learning behaviors is believed to better deliver outcome-based approaches and so is directly in keeping with the principles of Abu Dhabi’s New School Model (NSM) curriculum. As such the study outlines a consideration of how ICT may be best placed to support Math provision in forward thinking schools within the emirate and wider UAE elementary provision. Crucially, the study can also be seen to have evidenced a pragmatic style of integration of ICT and Math by offering an approach dealing with the proliferation of online Math resources that often leave students and practitioners in a quandary as to where to begin in terms of fostering self-regulated learning styles, how to monitor educational worth of websites and how to engage child learners in independent learning tasks online without losing rigor of curricular content.
In Search of South Africa's Second Economy: Chronic Poverty, Economic Marginalisation and Adverse Incorporation in Mt. Frere and Khayelitsha

Since 2003, South African policy discourse about persistent poverty has been dominated by the notion that poor people stay poor because they are trapped in a ‘second economy’, disconnected from the mainstream ‘first world economy. ’ This paper considers the adequacy of this notion in the light of research conducted in 2002 and 2005-2006 in Mount Frere in the rural Eastern Cape, and in Cape Town’s African suburbs. It argues that a process of simultaneous monetisation, de-agrarianisation and de-industrialisation has created a heavy reliance on a formal sector in which employment is becoming increasingly elusive and fragile. Fieldwork suggested high levels of economic integration, corporate penetration and monetisation even in the remote rural Eastern Cape. Rather than being structurally disconnected from the ‘formal economy,’ formal and informal, ‘mainstream’ and marginal activities are often thoroughly interdependent, supplementing or subsidising one another in complex ways. The dynamics of these diverge significantly from those imagined both in ‘second economy’ discourse and in ‘SMME’ policy. Instead of imagining a separate economic realm, ‘structurally disconnected’ from the ‘first economy,’ it is more helpful to grasp that the South African economy is both unitary and heterogeneous, and that people’s prospects are determined by the specific ways in which their activities are caught up in the complex networks and circuits of social and economic power. Rather than ‘bringing people into’ the mainstream economy policymakers would do better to strengthen existing measures to reduce vulnerability, and to consider ways of counteracting disadvantageous power relations within which they are caught, and supporting the livelihood strategies that are found at the margins of the formal economy.
Amplification Effects and Unconventional Monetary Policies

Global financial crises trigger off amplification effects, which allow relatively small shocks to propagate through the whole financial system. For this reason, the range of Central banks policies is now widening beyond conventional monetary policies and lending of last resort. The aim of this paper is to establish a rule for this practice. The model is based on the formalization of funding conditions in various types of markets. We conduct a comprehensive analysis of the “unconventional monetary policies”, and especially quantify government bonds purchases by the Central bank.
An in vitro study of Sanchi (Panax pseudoginseng) for its DNA protective effect

Panax pseudoginseng (Shachi) are well known for their antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to explore Sanchi extracts, potential protection of human cellular DNA from oxidative challenge induced by hydrogen peroxide in vitro. Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Shachi were incubated with human lymphocytes from 1×10−2% to 1×10−7% (w/v) for 30 mins. Pre-treated cells were then stressed with 50 µM hydrogen peroxide. Washed cells were subjected to the standard and the lysed cell comet assays. Results showed that water extracts of Sanchi at specific concentrations were able to diminish human DNA damage induced by hydrogen peroxide in both standard and lysed cell comet assays. No effect was observed in ethanolic extract. More pronounced protective effect in lysed cell comet assay model implied cell membrane limited the availability of active ingredients of Sanchi to nucleus.
DISPERSAL AND EXTRATERRITORIAL MOVEMENTS OF SWIFT FOXES (VULPES VELOX) IN NORTHWESTERN TEXAS

Abstract Dispersal plays an important role in the population dynamics of many carnivores, yet little information exists about the dispersal and movement patterns of swift foxes (Vulpes velox). We radio-collared and monitored 68 swift foxes for dispersal at 2 study sites in northwestern Texas from January 2002 to April 2004. Dispersal distance for juveniles (13.1 ±0.3 km, s), adults (10 ±4.7 km) and transients (25.4 ±9.1 km) did not differ by age class (F = 1.49, df = 2, P = 0.24) or sex (F = 0.23, df = 1, P = 0.63) but differed by study site (F = 4.72, df = 1, P = 0.04). Mean dispersal distance from private ranches (PR) was greater than from National Grasslands (NG). Peak dispersal occurred during October–November (13 individuals) and January–February (7 individuals). Dispersal direction was influenced by land-use practices (i.e., toward rangelands and away from anthropogenic features). Direction of dispersal among foxes that occupied the NG was uniform (n = 16, P = 0.08), whereas foxes from PR dispersed in a northwesterly direction (n = 18, P ≤0.001) away from a town and croplands. Three resident adult foxes made extraterritorial movements. Distances of these movements ranged from 0.2 km to 11.4 km. Distance of extraterritorial movements did not differ by sex (F = 0.05, P = 0.83), nor by duration of movement (F = 1.11, P = 0.32). Knowledge of movement distances and patterns is important for conservation and protection of swift foxes and their habitats.
An Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Hyphal Tip Isolates of Promising Mycoherbicide Alternaria alternata for Control of Amaranthus retroflexus

The potential mycoherbicide Alternaria alternata was isolated from one lesion on a leaf of Amaranthus retroflexus which had been inoculated with conidia of the fungus. The isolate was cultured on V-8 agar medium. Hyphal tip isolates (HTI) were derived from young germ tubes of single spores and cultured on a semidefined culture medium with a C:N ratio of 15:1. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis detected genetic variation in four HTIs and revealed 29% polymorphism. Selected HTIs that were different in at least one DNA fragment pattern varied in degree of sporulation, length of conidial germ tube, virulence and desiccation tolerance. The results indicated that the original culture of A. alternata is heterogeneous and, thus, cannot be considered as a suitable candidate for development as a commercial biocontrol agent.
The interplay between governments and courts in justice and home affairs

This paper deals with an important part of the puzzle of internal security integration: the role of courts at both the domestic and the European level. They are strategic actors and conditional veto players. The paper examines how governments’ JHA integration is influenced by the courts. It argues that governments which are confronted with strong courts’ decisions concerning internal security are more interested in integrating policy matters covered by these decisions or are anticipated to become matters of potential proceedings. However, such multi-level games may have negative externalities: new political restrictions and more severe judicial judgments. Therefore, the research must include the long-term interplay between politics and courts.
AdS/QHE: towards a holographic description of quantum Hall experiments

Transitions among quantum Hall plateaux share a suite of remarkable experimental features, such as semicircle laws and duality relations, whose accuracy and robustness are difficult to explain directly in terms of the detailed dynamics of the microscopic electrons. They would naturally follow if the low-energy transport properties were governed by an emergent discrete duality group relating the different plateaux, but no explicit examples of interacting systems having such a group are known. Recent progress using the AdS/CFT correspondence has identified examples with similar duality groups, but without the dc ohmic conductivity characteristic of quantum Hall experiments. We use this to propose a simple holographic model for low-energy quantum Hall systems, with a nonzero dc conductivity that automatically exhibits all of the observed consequences of duality, including the existence of the plateaux and the semicircle transitions between them. The model can be regarded as a strongly coupled analogue of the old ‘composite boson’ picture of quantum Hall systems. Non-universal features of the model can be used to test whether it describes actual materials, and we comment on some of these in our proposed model. In particular, the model indicates the value for low-temperature scaling exponents for transitions among quantum Hall plateaux, in agreement with the measured value 0.42±0.01.
Estimating Non-Ideal Effects within a Top-Down Methodology for the Design of Continuous-Time Delta-Sigma Modulators

High-level design aids are mandatory for design of a continuous-time delta-sigma modulator (CTDSM). This paper proposes a top-down methodology design to generate a noise transfer function (NTF) which is compensated for excess loop delay (ELD). This method is applicable to low pass loop-filter topologies. Non-ideal effects including ELD, integrator scaling issue, finite op-amp performance, clock jitter and DAC inaccuracies are explicitly represented in a behavioral simulation of a CTDSM. Mathematical modeling using MATLAB is supplemented with circuit-level simulation using Verilog-A blocks. Behavioral simulation and circuit-level simulation using Verilog-A blocks are used to validate our approach.
Cytotoxicity effect of ethanolic extract of Mikania glomerata against A549 human lung cancer cell line

The genus Mikania is the largest of its kind in the family Eupatorieae (Asteraceae), with more than 430 species concentrated mainly in the tropical regions, among which, Mikania glomerata is a most common herb generally employed in the treatment of respiratory disorders. The Milania glomerata plant leaf extracts were used for anticancer study against A549 human lung cancer cell line. The solid – liquid extraction method has been employed to prepare the ethanol extract of Mikania glomerata through soxhelt apparatus method. To check the anti-proliferative effect of this extract, the extract chosen was tested for cell viability on the lung cancer cells A549 in different concentrations. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay for 24 hour and 48 hours. The LD50 value was calculated for the level of cell death and its effectiveness. The dose-dependent manner plays an important role in the treatment of lung cancer cell lines. The present study suggests that Mikania glomerata may be used as an alternative anticancer agent and further research is needed to improve the effectiveness.
Lothagam : the dawn of humanity in eastern Africa

Introduction, by Meave G. LeakeyGeology, Paleosols, and Dating, by Craig S. Feibel, Jonathan G. Wynn, and Ian McDougallCrustacea and Pisces, by Joel W. Martin, Sandra Trautwein, and Kathlyn M. StewartReptilia and Aves, by Roger C. Wood, Glenn W. Storrs, John M. Harris, and Meave G. LeakeyLagomorpha and Rodentia, by Alisa J. WinklerPrimates, by Meave G. Leakey, Mark F. Teaford, Carol V. Ward, and Alan C. WalkerCarnivora, by Lars WerdelinProboscidea and Tubulidentata, by Pascal Tassy, John M. Harris, and Simon A. H. MilledgePerissodactyla, by John M. Harris, Meave G. Leakey, and Raymond L. BernorHippopotamidae and Suidae, by Eleanor M. Weston, John M. Harris, and Meave G. LeakeyRuminantia, by John M. HarrisIsotopes, by Thure E. Cerling, John M. Harris, Meave G. Leakey, and Nina MudidaLothagam: Its Significance and Contributions, by Meave G. Leakey and John M. Harris
ClusTheDroid : Clustering Android

The volume of new Android malware is growing at an exponential pace. This cries for automated tools that can aid the malware analyst in dissecting the behaviours of new malicious applications. In this paper, we present ClusTheDroid, a system for clustering Android malware so as to identify malicious applications that exhibit similar behaviours. For this, ClusTheDroid extracts feature sets from profiles of reconstructed malicious Android behaviours. These feature sets serve as input to a clustering algorithm that allows for volumes larger than demanded by the anti-malware industry today. We implemented ClusTheDroid and evaluated it on real-world malware. Our results show that ClusTheDroid is competitive with existing solutions targeting similar problems on Android malware, but lacks accuracy to similar solutions that focus on PC malware. We furthermore evaluate the use of the cluster-validity measure C-index, which suggest for a more flexible approach to identifying near-optimal clusters than that of previous literature.
Soil quality of first rotation Eucalyptus stands growing on an Andisol using soil microbial indicators

The potential soil biological change due to the establishment of Eucalyptus plantations in volcanic soils has not been reported. The objective of this research was to assess the soil quality of Eucalyptus stands growing on a volcanic ash derived soil, compared with a natural forest (Nat-forest, control) and a Pinus radiata stand, previously established to the Eucalyptus stand. A complete randomised design was established (n=4) within Nat-forest and commercial plantations. Soil samples (10 cm) were taken in autumn, to measure soil microbial biomass (Cbiom) by soil fumigation-extraction, and CO2-C respiration (Cmin) from soil microorganisms by soil incubation. Metabolic quotient (qmet) was calculated to compare (p ≤ 0.05) the microbial efficiency of the soil biomass between treatments. As expected, Nat- forest showed the largest Cbiom and Cmin (p ≤ 0.05). However, no differences were found between E. globulus, E. nitens and P. radiata (p ≤ 0.05). The low Cbiom and Cmic in Eucalyptus stands might be attributed to the effect of recalcitrant inputs of C from the previous pine plantation, although the efficiency of the soil microbial population (qmet) was not affected (p ≤ 0.05) by the C quality of the plantations. Thus, it seems that Eucalyptus stands are not entirely detrimental to the soil quality of volcanic soils of temperate forest ecosystems.
Efficiency Wages in Heterogenous Labour Markets

In this paper we tackle two shortcomings of present efficiency wage models. Firstly, they do not fully account for labour heterogeneity, thus implying that high-effort and low-effort units of labour are interchangeable. Secondly, building on this assumed homogeneity of labour, the models derive involuntary unemployment from effort decisions of workers, which are patently voluntary. We offer a consistent reformulation of the theory: Each of the effort or quality levels is regarded as a separate market which has its own clearing quantity and price. As such unemployment is a result of workers' reluctance to adjust to the prevailing market conditions on the respective labour sub-market. To further clarify heterogeneity in labour markets, we propose to employ the demand for workers' characteristics instead of the demand for workers. This microeconomic approach shows that in standard equilibrium employers will not choose among all workers but only select specific characteristic-types. Therefore to become attractive, an unemployed worker has to significantly alter either his wage or the bundle of offered characteristics. Both these modifications reinforce our central claim that free market interaction cannot lead to unemployment other than voluntary.
Synchronization via scheduling: techniques for efficiently managing concurrent shared memory accesses

The recent shift to multi-core computing has meant more programmers are required to write parallel programs. This is a daunting task even for experienced programmers due to the complexity and challenges involved in parallel programming. Key among these issues is managing concurrent accesses to shared memory. Unfortunately, most existing approaches rely on synchronization primitives that leave the complexity of protecting shared memory to the programmer and those that have attempted to automatically protect shared memory have achieved limited success. To address the issue of shared memory management while mitigating the limitations of existing approaches, we introduce a new technique called Synchronization via Scheduling (SvS). SvS provides efficient and automatic protection of shared memory by combining static and dynamic analysis to determine the set of possible memory accesses a block of code makes before it is executed and schedules these blocks such that no two blocks concurrently access the same memory.
Analysis of ERS-1/2 synthetic aperture radar wave mode imagettes

The European Space Agency (ESA) ERS-1 and ERS-2 C band VV polarization active microwave instrument (AMI) offers the unique ability to combine interlaced wind scatterometer and high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) wave mode imagettes. In this study, more than 2000 imagettes were considered. Eadi imagette has been statistically analyzed in comparison with normalized radar cross-section (NRCS) measurements from the scatterometer mode. During the ERS-1 AMI wave mode mission the incidence angle of the imagette center was modified from roughly 19.9° to 23.5°. Using ERS-1 and ERS-2 NRCS, calibration has thus been completed for both configurations, which allows a better characterization of some signal data saturation effects. However, since a SAR relies on platform displacement to achieve fine resolution, surface motions reduce its nominal resolution. As the wind speed increases, scatterer motion occurring during the SAR integration time also increases, causing the characteristic large azimuth cutoff wavelength. Acknowledging the strong dependence between sea state conditions and azimuth smearing effects, our results are highlighted by the global comparison with wind estimates derived from the scatterometer. The results demonstrate the ability to define a SAR wind algorithm from a kinematic point of view. Finally, a higher-order statistical analysis shows evidence of deviation from standard Rayleigh statistics, leading to a balance between K law and lognormal distributions. This deviation is mainly due to the SAR's high-resolution properties.
Information aggregation for timing decision making

In this paper I consider the issue of optimal information aggregation for timing decision making. In each period, a decision maker may choose an action which delivers an uncertain payoff, or wait until the next period, in when new information will arrive. The information is provided by a committee of experts. Each member in each period receives a signal correlated to the state. I obtain an optimal rule for aggregating information for each period.
Small-Size Folded Monopole Antenna with Switchable Matching Circuit for Ultra-Thin Mobile Applications

A small-size ultra-thin and narrow frame antenna with a switchable matching network to achieve LTE dual-wide band operation in the 700–980 and 1710–2500 MHz bands is presented for mobile phone applications. The highlight of the antenna is that it has a low profile of only 2 mm and occupies a small ground clearance of 45 × 4.5 mm2, which are very attractive for ultra-thin mobile antenna applications. A folded monopole is used as a radiator fed via a switchable two-state matching circuit controlled by a PIN diode. The PIN type switchable matching network is mainly designed to tune the low band (700–980 MHz). By combining the two working states of the PIN diode, the proposed antenna can cover GSM850/GSM900/DCS1800/PCS1900/UMTS2100 and two LTE bands, LTE700/LTE2300. Details of the antenna are described in this study.
Measuring Skepticism to Cause Related Marketing: Preliminary Norwegian Results

Summary This paper looks at the subject of corporate social responsibility and how companies use it in their marketing communication activities, a practice known as cause related marketing (CRM). Norwegian consumers were asked their feelings toward company’s claims regarding their support of non-profit organizations in their advertising and on their packaging. According to the definition of Angelidis and Ibrahim (1993), corporate social responsibility is “corporate social actions whose purpose is to satisfy social needs”. Corporate social responsibility requires investment and it yields measurable outcomes. It is commonly accepted that cause related marketing is a communications tool for increasing customer loyalty and building reputation. The expected change in company's image because of CRM campaigns appears to depend a great deal upon how customers perceive the reasons for company's involvement in cause related programs and the amount of help given to the cause through a company's involvement (Webb & Mohr 1998). Questions measuring skepticism in this study are adapted from Mohr et al. 1998, who suggest that consumers with a high level of skepticism will be less likely to respond positively to CRM campaigns as opposed to consumers with a low level of skepticism. This is one of the first studies to test their methodology. The authors are indebted to Ringnes Breweries in Norway for their support of the project through their mineral water brand Farris, a supporter of Red Cross Norway.