Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of a reminiscence-based treatment for psychiatric patients with an intellectual disability

There is a deficit in validated treatments for psychiatric patients with an intellectual disability. “Who am I? An expedition to myself” is a new reminiscence-based treatment for patients with a mild to borderline intellectual disability. This study is one of the first pilot-tests to evaluate this treatment. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design without a control-group was used. Nine participants took part in the current study. Psychopathology, positive mental health and satisfaction with life were utilized as outcome-measures. Mastery and purpose in life were included as process-measures. Correlations were examined, to evaluate whether there is evidence for mediating properties of mastery and purpose in life. The treatment was evaluated qualitatively, by means of holistic-content-analysis conducted on three in-depth interviews. Positive mental health, satisfaction with life and mastery were significantly enhanced after the treatment. Correlations were found between the variance in outcome-measures and process-measures. The qualitative data suggested that patients experienced the treatment, and especially being confronted with hurtful past experiences, as difficult. Participants reported that they were able to reprocess the past and gain future perspective. The aid of the caretakers was praised by the participants. Some described insights and re-evaluations of their identity and some felt empowered through the treatment. The group left positive as well as negative impressions. Some participants felt not always understood or considered the words used by the treatment to be difficult. The treatment seemed effective in enhancing positive mental health, satisfaction with life and feelings of mastery. Correlations gave an indication for possible mediating properties of purpose in life and mastery on the outcome-measures. The treatment may strengthen personal identity, self-esteem and feelings of mastery. Purpose in life could be fostered through a gain of future perspective. It was recommended for future research to investigate the social effects of the group and the moderating properties of different syndromes further. Caretakers seemed to be a supportive factor and the necessity to connecting to the perspective of the participants was underlined.
Caractérisation et classification de textures par mesures de coefficients de corrélation multiple

On s’intéresse ici au problème de la caractérisation de la texture dans le but de discriminer différentes classes d’images texturées. L’approche présentée repose sur une nouvelle description et une nouvelle mesure des caractéristiques locales de la texture. Cette description fait appel, plus précisément, à un calcul de coefficient de corrélation multiple entre deux blocs de pixels. De nombreuses études comparatives ont montré que les paramètres de co-occurrence étaient, dans la majorité des cas, les plus performants pour la caractérisation de la texture. Pour cette raison, nous avons comparé nos résultats de classification avec ceux obtenus à l’aide des paramètres de co-occurrence, sur la base des taux de bonne classification sur un ensemble d’apprentissage et de test. ABSTRACT
Curriculum Materials Designing and Delivery Practices versus Quality in Higher Education Institutions of Ethiopia

The main intent of this article was to explore the procedures of curriculum designing and delivery practices in higher education institutions (HEIs) and its implication to the provision of quality education. The study took Bahir Dar University as a case in order to explore the issue via qualitative research. Data were secured through interview, personal reflection and observation. Thirteen interviewees (10 teachers and 3 students), who have deep and relevant information about the problem under study, have identified purposively. The study found that establishing an institution (university), faculty and program/department is accomplished with more of social, political and economical based decisions. But there are intellectual endeavours that deal about the soft ware (curriculum designing and delivery practices) dimensions of HEIs. This implies that courses within the department and the detail curriculum materials (contents, learning experiences and assessment techniques) within the course are mainly designed and delivered by teachers and students of the HEIs. This practice is critically important to ensure the healthy life of the whole system of the HEIs. It is because contents and learning experiences are the corner stone for student’s behavioural change which can be taken as the major consequences to explain quality in education. The study further explained that due to the assumption that HE teachers are excellent academia, independent, responsible and researchers with plenty of resources and library facilities, content selections and implementations are left for them. This sort of academic freedom and autonomy, for some newly employed teachers, serve as a shelter, to manage the teaching learning practices depending only with their own minimal experiences and scope. Therefore, the selection and delivery practices of HEIs’ lesson might be remained below the standard. This could be taken as significant barrier for moving towards quality education provision in HEIs. Other teachers, on the other hand, have used this sort of freedom to maximize innovative and active engagement of their students and themselves in doing the lesson at the expected standard. This initiated good teaching and learning practices which in turn calls quality in education. In general, this article recommended that university teachers have to recognize the given freedom (to select and deliver the detail contents and learning experiences of courses) to manipulate the assigned courses need to be taken as an opportunity in offering HEIs’ learning experiences beyond the available knowledge which are indicated in the syllabi. The article advised HEIs are better to appreciate group lesson designing (and if possible team teaching/delivery of courses) and the applications of friendly supervision, which of course instruction based, particularly for novice teachers. Keywords : Curriculum materials, Higher education, Teaching-learning, quality education
Lithium and sodium in the globular cluster M4. Detection of a Li-rich dwarf star: preservation or pollution?

Context. The abundance inhomogeneities of light elements observed in Globular Clusters (GCs), and notably the ubiquitous Na-O anti-correlation, are generally interpreted as evidence that GCs comprise several generations of stars. There is an on-going debate as to the nature of the stars which produce the inhomogeneous elements, and investigating the behavior of several elements is a way to shed new light on this problem. Aims. We aim at investigating the Li and Na content of the GC M 4, that is known to have a well defined Na-O anti-correlation. Methods. We obtained moderate resolution (R=17 000-18 700) spectra for 91 main sequence (MS)/sub-giant branch stars of M 4 with the Giraffe spectrograph at the FLAMES/VLT ESO facility. Using model atmospheres analysis we measured lithium and sodium abundances. Results. We detect a weak Li-Na anti-correlation among un-evolved MS stars. One star in the sample, # 37934, shows the remarkably high lithium abundance A(Li)=2.87, compatible with current estimates of the primordial lithium abundance. Conclusions. The shallow slope found for the Li-Na anti-correlation suggests that lithium is produced in parallel to sodium. This evidence, coupled with its sodium-rich nature, suggests that the high lithium abundance of star # 37934 may originate by pollution from a previous generations of stars. The recent detection of a Li-rich dwarf of pollution origin in the globular cluster NGC 6397 may also point in this direction. Still, no clear cut evidence is available against a possible preservation of the primordial lithium abundance for star # 37934.
Removal of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Soil by Washing CaCI2 and Effect of pH

Introduction Surveys of the concentrations of heavy metals in river Yamuna water, aquatic plants and soils showed that contain elevated concentration of heavy metals upstream to down stream Okhla to Wazirabad [1]. The remediation/ or immobilization of heavy metals in contaminated soil to compost [2] washing with mineral acids, this effect being frequently associated with soil pH in increase in acidic soil (e.g., HCl, HNO3), chelate [e.g., ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acide (DTPA) determine their efficacy for removal of heavy metals from soils [2]. The river Yamuna covers a 22 km stretch between Wazirabad and Okhla barrage in Delhi which is only 2% of its catchment area, but it contributes about 80% of the river’s total pollution load. The 19 major drains from Delhi dispose untreated municipal wastewater, approximately 2 270 million litres per day, into the Yamuna, in which approximately 355million litres per day are from the industrial effluents [3]. This contamination in the Yamuna water might be due to untreated sewage and industrial waste. The toxic components and heavy metals in river Yamuna are a major cause of extinction of its fauna and flora [4]. In recent years pollution of freshwaters in third world countries has reached an alarming point where it might extend to a point of irreparable damage with implicating consequences [5]. The concentration levels are relatively low in areas of high pH and low organic matter content concentration. The limiting pH level and the release edge for all heavy metal contaminants are characterized to facilitate the selection of appropriate acid strength for remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils. Because of the difference in the affinities of heavy metals with soil and soil constituents [6], the effective pH level is likely to vary depending on the type of heavy metal and its bonding strengths with soil. The current information for some coarse-textured soils shows minor variation in the threshold pH value among Zn (pH = 4.6 ± 0.4), Pb (pH = 4.1 ± 0.1) and Cu (pH = 4.1 ± 0.1) [7]. The information will enable the selection of appropriate acid strength for remediating heavy metal-contaminated soils [8]. The objectives of this research were to determine: (1) This study has its importance for determining and fluxes of heavy metals in river Yamuna to aquatic plants and bed soils (2) the effective threshold pH values for the release and fraction of several metals including Cd, Zn, Ni, Pb from river Yamuna contaminated soils (3) if soil washing with 0.1 M HCl reduces the heavy metal concentrations of the soils below the trigger levels.
Eenhancement of solubility and dissolution rate of Furosemide by ternary solid dispersion technique

Purpose: This investigation was carried out to determine if a solid dispersion of furosemide in different carrier such as poloxamer 407P, PEG 6000, and PVPK30 would enhance the dissolution properties of the drug.Method: Solid dispersion of drug Furosemide, PEG 6000 & Poloxamer 407 and PVP K30 were prepared with a view to study the influence of polymer on solubility and dissolution of this poorly soluble drug furosemide. Solid dispersions of furosemide were prepared using different ratios of furosemide, PEG 6000, Poloxamer 407, pvpk30 as carrier by, solvent evaporation method. They were evaluated for percentage yield, drug content, FTIR spectral studies, DSC, XRD, solubility, and in-vitro dissolution. The dissolution studies were performed at 37 0.5oC and 50 rpm in simulated gastric fluid (0.1 N HCl). Result: The solubility profile indicated that there is increase in solubility of furosemide when polymer concentration is increased. The solid dispersion complex of drug (1:4:4 ratios) of drug: poloxamer 407: pvpk30 was giving better dissolution profile as compared to pure drug and other solid dispersions. This in turn can improve the bioavailability. FT-IR, DSC shows the compatibility of drug and carrier.Conclusion: Solid dispersion technique can be used to improve the dissolution of furosemide.
Quail (Coturnixcoturnix japonica) welfare in two confinement systems

The intensification of animal production systems presents a potential impact on the welfare of animals. The objective of this work was to assess the welfare of quail Coturnixcoturnix japonicain two maintenance systems: battery cages (BC),and enriched aviary (EA),with saw-dust bedding, sand-bathing area and nests. The experiment procedure involved eight animals per holding area and four repetitions per treatment, an overall of 64 quails. Welfare was assessed through behavioral freedom, sanitary freedom (feather condition and injuries), blood analyses and glicocorticoid metabolites measurement in droppings. Results are presented in the BC order, followed by EA. Water drinking behavior and agonistic behavior were different between treatments (P<0.05). Feather condition was adequate in both treatments, except for the head in BC quails. Blood data were statistically different forred blood cells, hematocrit, hemoglobin, blood proteins, eosinophils, heterophils, lymphocytes and heterophil: lymphocyte ratio. Glicocorticoid metabolites levels were significantly different between maintenance systems. The behavioral and physiological welfare indicators showed higher welfare degree for quails in enriched aviary as compared to battery cages system.
Besser verzahnt: Berufs- und Hochschulbildung in Österreich und der Schweiz

Deutschlands Nachbarn verbinden erfolgreich berufliche und akademische Bildung. Osterreichs Berufsbildende Hohere Schulen bereiten auf Hochschule und Arbeitswelt vor. Die Schweizer Berufsmaturitat fuhrt aus der Lehre zum Fachhochschulstudium.
Model-based Measures of Output Gap: Application to the Thai Economy

In this paper we compare two model-based measures of the output gap. The first measure, as proposed by Gali (2011), defines output gap as the difference between actual output and the output level that would be if the economy operates under a perfectly competitive market without price or wage stickiness. We used annual data of relevant variables for Thailand and computed the output gap under this approach. The calculated output gap for Thailand shows that the Thai economy performs consistently above the potential level, which is hard to rationalize especially during the period of recession. We then proposed a different model-based measure of the output gap, which is based on the method of “business cycle accounting” (Chari et al., 2007). The approach built on the prototype real business cycle models, which incorporate time-varying wedges that resemble productivity, labor and investment taxes, and government consumption shocks. As a result, the sources of business cycle fluctuation can be classified into efficiency, labor, investment, and government consumption wedges. We carried out a decomposition of real fluctuation in Thailand and then removed those wedges from the real output series to obtain the “potential output”, i.e. an output level when all the inefficiencies are removed. The analysis provides the estimated result of potential output and output gap for the Thai economy. Under this approach we found a negative output gap, which is opposite to the finding under Gali’s approach.
Effect of DC Link Fluctuations on Harmonic Spreading Effect in Voltage Source Inverter Fed Three Phase Induction Motor Drives

The aim of the study is to analyze the effect of DC link fluctuations on the output voltage of the inverter. Voltage Source Inverters (VSI) plays a dominant role in the industrial world. Most of the industries use rectifiers to convert single phase AC supply to DC supply. DC supply is fed to the Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) through a DC link capacitor. The capacitor decides the quality of output fed to the Voltage Source Inverter. Six pulses are given to the Voltage Source Inverter by means of MCBRCPWM (Multiple Carrier Based Random Carrier Pulse Width Modulation) technique. The output of Voltage Source Inverter is fed to a three phase squirrel cage induction motor. The investigation of MCBRCPWM with different capacitor values provided in the DC link has been effectively discussed. The results of harmonic spectra and Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) are given in the paper. Simulation results prove that as the value of capacitor increases, the evaluation parameters such as Total Harmonic distortion, Fundamental Voltage and Harmonic Spread Factor (HSF) are improved.
Contribution of Self-Esteem and Collective Self-Esteem in Predicting Depression

This research was conducted with the purpose to examine the relationship among self-esteem, collective self-esteem and depression. Another objective was to study the contribution of self-esteem and collective self-esteem in predicting depression. Beck Depression Inventory (1996), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory (1985) and Collective Self-Esteem Inventory by Luhtanen and Crocker (1992) were used to measure depression, self-esteem and collective self-esteem respectively. Study was carried out on 200 subjects in the age range of 17-23 years, selected from Agra city. The results of the research showed that there was significant positive relationship between self-esteem and collective self-esteem (p < .01), significant negative relationship between self-esteem and depression (p < .01). It was also found that collective self-esteem was a significant predictor of depression. This research implies that an optimum level of self-esteem and high collective self-esteem not only prevents depression but also enhances the positive aspects of personality.
The Modelling and Analysis of Shock Absorbers with Stroke-Dependent Damping

Abstract In order to obtain the characteristics of a damping force which depends on the amplitude and frequency of the excitation, a modification to the vehicle shock absorber is proposed in this paper. Within the range of small amplitudes, the ‘soft’ characteristics improve riding comfort, while within the resonance ranges, the increased damping force provides a higher level of ride safety. A nonlinear model of the system is introduced, taking into account various strategies of oil-flow control. Utilising numerical integration methods, the influence of excitation parameters and constructional parameters on the characteristics of the damper is investigated.
Combining operational models and data into a dynamic vessel risk assessment tool for coastal regions

Abstract. The technological evolution in terms of computational capacity, data acquisition systems, numerical modelling and operational oceanography is supplying opportunities for designing and building holistic approaches and complex tools for newer and more efficient management (planning, prevention and response) of coastal water pollution risk events. A combined methodology to dynamically estimate time and space variable individual vessel accident risk levels and shoreline contamination risk from ships has been developed, integrating numerical metocean forecasts and oil spill simulations with vessel tracking automatic identification systems (AIS). The risk rating combines the likelihood of an oil spill occurring from a vessel navigating in a study area – the Portuguese continental shelf – with the assessed consequences to the shoreline. The spill likelihood is based on dynamic marine weather conditions and statistical information from previous accidents. The shoreline consequences reflect the virtual spilled oil amount reaching shoreline and its environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities. The oil reaching shoreline is quantified with an oil spill fate and behaviour model running multiple virtual spills from vessels along time, or as an alternative, a correction factor based on vessel distance from coast. Shoreline risks can be computed in real time or from previously obtained data. Results show the ability of the proposed methodology to estimate the risk properly sensitive to dynamic metocean conditions and to oil transport behaviour. The integration of meteo-oceanic + oil spill models with coastal vulnerability and AIS data in the quantification of risk enhances the maritime situational awareness and the decision support model, providing a more realistic approach in the assessment of shoreline impacts. The risk assessment from historical data can help finding typical risk patterns (“hot spots”) or developing sensitivity analysis to specific conditions, whereas real-time risk levels can be used in the prioritization of individual ships, geographical areas, strategic tug positioning and implementation of dynamic risk-based vessel traffic monitoring.
Uncertainty and business cycles

The paper develops a vector autoregressive model with autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity in mean effects to decompose the effect of a stock market crash on industrial production into two components, the effect of negative returns and the effect of higher volatility. Our special attention is on the effect of volatility as it is our proxy for business cycle effects of uncertainty. We estimate the model with US data from 1919 to the mid 2013 and find uncertainty significantly countercyclical. Impulse response analysis shows that a monthly drop of ten percent in stock market prices is followed by a cumulative decline of three percent in the industrial production. Of this decline, around two thirds are explained by higher uncertainty. JEL Classification: C32, E32
Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxial growth of a high quality GaN film using an AlN buffer layer

Atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxial growth and characterization of high quality GaN on sapphire (0001) substrates are reported. Using AlN buffer layers, GaN thin films with optically flat surfaces free from cracks are successfully grown. The narrowest x‐ray rocking curve from the (0006) plane is 2.70’ and from the (2024) plane is 1.86’. Photoluminescence spectra show strong near band edge emission. The growth condition dependence of crystalline quality is also studied.
Minors trapped in the magical world of augmented reality, advergaming and social networks

Augmented Reality (AR) provides new opportunities to create attractive settings for minors, as it immerses them in magical interactive worlds, recreates fantastic situations and makes them experience surprising events. Publicity enriched with AR enables virtual and playful interaction with 3D objects, involving consumers and increasing the flow effect. This phenomenon provokes suspicion in the educational environment, as its immersive power increases the uncritical assimilation of advertising discourse. This research analyses the strategies and persuasive resources used in several publicity campaigns with AR, addressed to the Smartphone generation, which is used to advergames and social networks. Finally, some keys are proposed, aimed at training young people in the critical analysis and promoting models of intelligent consumption. Menores atrapados en el magico mundo de la realidad aumentada, el advergaming y las redes socialesResumenLa Realidad Aumentada (RA) ofrece nuevas oportunidades para crear escenarios publicitarios atractivos para los menores al sumergirlos en mundos magicos interactivos, recrear situaciones fantasticas y convertirlos en protagonistas de hechos sorprendentes. La publicidad enriquecida con RA posibilita la interaccion virtual y ludica con objetos 3D, logrando involucrar a los consumidores emocionalmente e incrementando el efecto flow. Este fenomeno suscita recelos en el ambito educativo pues su poder inmersivo aumenta la asimilacion acritica del discurso publicitario. Esta investigacion analiza las estrategias y recursos persuasivos adoptados por diferentes campanas publicitarias que integran RA, dirigidas a la generacion Smartphone, familiarizada con los advergames e instalada en redes sociales. Finalmente, se proponen pautas para formarlos en el analisis critico, promoviendo modelos de consumo inteligente.