Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multimodal Modeling Activities with Special Needs Students in an Informal Learning Context: Vygotsky Revisited.

Background:In light of the challenges facing science educators and special education teachers in Singapore, this study entails design-based research to develop participatory learning environments.Material and methods:Drawing upon Vygotskian perspectives, this case study was situated in an informal workshop around the theme of “day and night” working for Special Needs Children (aged from 7 to 14 years old) in Singapore. Moving away from traditional astronomy teaching, we aim to explore interdisciplinary multimodal modeling activities towards developing a participatory learning environment.Results:As the main finings of this case study, the central benefits of interdisciplinary multimodal modeling activities are twofold: (1) promoting multiliteracies development using digital and multimodal resources for supporting the emotional and social experiences in developing learners’ astronomical understanding; and (2) integrating learners’ everyday experiences with scientific astronomical understanding for the development of higher cognitive functions.Conclusions:These findings emphasize the need for the cultural development of Special Needs Children.
EXPORT: Spectral classification and projected rotational velocities of Vega-type and pre-main sequence stars

In this paper we present the rst comprehensive results extracted from the spectroscopic campaigns car- ried out by the EXPORT (EXoPlanetary Observational Research Team) consortium. During 1998{1999, EXPORT carried out an intensive observational eort in the framework of the origin and evolution of protoplanetary sys- tems in order to obtain clues on the evolutionary path from the early stages of the pre-main sequence to stars with planets already formed. The spectral types of 70 stars, and the projected rotational velocities, v sini ,o f 45 stars, mainly Vega-type and pre-main sequence, have been determined from intermediate- and high-resolution spectroscopy, respectively. The rst part of the work is of fundamental importance in order to accurately place the stars in the HR diagram and determine the evolutionary sequences; the second part provides information on the kinematics and dynamics of the stars and the evolution of their angular momentum. The advantage of using the same observational conguration and methodology for all the stars is the homogeneity of the set of pa- rameters obtained. Results from previous work are revised, leading in some cases to completely new determinations of spectral types and projected rotational velocities; for some stars no previous studies were available.
An evaluation of maximum likelihood estimators of non-additive genetic variances.

In animal breeding, genetic evaluation and estimation of genetic parameters have centered primarily on normally distributed traits and linear additive genetic models. The present study examined the feasibility of estimating additive, dominance and additive x additive type epistatic genetic variances in linkage equilibrium when these types of effects exist. Computer simulation was used for this purpose. Pseudo-normal records were the sum of a stochastic genetic component and a pseudo-normal environmental deviation. Non-additive genetic components of variance are difficult to estimate due to "confounding" between additive and non-additive genetic effects. However, given an appropriate pedigree, likelihood procedure can extract the information available on these components although it is reasonable to expect that non-additive components are more difficult to estimate well than additive ones. Univariate mixed linear models were used to describe and analyze the data. With normally distributed records, likelihood procedure was used for estimation of the variance components. An average of 7 iterations were required to converge at the fifth decimal point with the Newton-Raphson algorithm for maximum likelihood (ML) in design 4 (the "most efficient" one) for all combinations of genetic parameters considered in the study. Asymptotic theory indicated that in a genetic model with additive, dominance and additive x additive effects, the most difficult parameter to estimate was the variance "due to" epistasis, and that several thousand families were required to obtain reliable estimates of this parameter. In the presence of additive x additive effects, biases, mean squared errors and empirical variances of additive and dominance variance estimators were larger; further, sampling properties mentioned above of the additive and additive x additive variance estimators were affected by linkage.
Measuring Students’ Abilities to Study Academic Subjects Taught in English at Postgraduate Level in the Republic of Kazakhstan

This article presents the results of research conducted among first-year students enrolled in a two-year, full-time Master's degree programmes at Pavlodar State University, Republic of Kazakhstan. The aim was to evaluate their readiness to study academic subjects taught in English. Based on the analysis of the research results, it was concluded that transition to teaching and learning in English should be carried out in a gradual manner. It is proposed to use Content and Language Integrated Learning as the most appropriate methodology for the identified level.
Comparison of REIT Dividend Performance in Nigeria and Malaysia

The global survey of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) has indicated a high performance nature of REIT as an investment vehicle for the real estate sector. Studies have been conducted across the REIT markets of America, Europe and Asia-Pacific with similar result of high income yield to the investors. However, there have been no report of the Africa REIT except South Africa Property Unit Trust and Property Loans Stock that features in the EPRA Global REIT survey. In an attempt to assess performance of Nigeria REIT and bring it to global awareness, this paper investigates the performance of Nigeria REIT (N-REIT) in its 7 years of existence (2007 to 2014) using Malaysia REIT (M-REIT) as a benchmark and possible improvement. The study adopted risk adjustment return analysis of the dividend distribution over the period of the REITs establishment. The study found that Nigeria REIT underperforms the benchmark, Malaysia REIT, both in terms of average return 4.8% and risk adjusted return -6.77% per annum against the Malaysia REIT 7.5% and 2.47% respectively. There is no significant differences in the risk return ratio for the two REITs. The underperformance of the Nigeria REIT suggest that the superior performance of REIT does not apply across all REIT markets, suggesting that differences in REIT structure and features can be a determining factor(s) in investment performance. The study recommends an increased capitalisation, market transparency and external management option for N-REITs performance enhancement. The non-evaluation of multivariate effect of these factors in this study is considered to be a limiting factor. Such study could be a future research focus. Key words: Dividend return, Malaysia, Nigeria, REIT performance, risk adjusted return.
INTRODUCTIONS ACROSS FOUR DISCIPLINES

This study investigates the types and discourse functions of grammatical subjects in research article introductions across four disciplines, namely: Applied Linguistics and Psychology, representing soft sciences, and Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, representing hard sciences. This study was carried out on a corpus of 40 research article introductions (10 from each discipline). The research article introductions were sourced from twelve ISI journals published from 2008 to 2012. The corpus was analysed based on the modified model in relation to grammatical subject types and discourse functions suggested by Ebrahimi (2014). The results revealed that the grammatical subject type selections were guided by the nature of the research article introduction. However, the frequency of use of the grammatical subject types was constrained by the nature of the discipline. Discourse functions of grammatical subject types were predominantly determined by the divisions of the hard and soft sciences, and the specific disciplines within and the internal structure of the research article introductions. In addition, the results of this study manifest a new framework for the analysis of discourse functions of grammatical subject types in research article introductions.
Update of the Scientific Evidence for Specifying Lower Limit Relative Humidity Levels for Comfort , Health and IEQ in Occupied Spaces ( RP-1630 )

Nearly 600 papers were located in citation and keyword searches regarding the effects of humidity on comfort, health, and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Of these, around 70 papers reported the effects of low humidity (RH≤40%) and were analyzed in detail. Information in some categories was well chronicled, while other categories had significant knowledge gaps. Low humidity decreased house dust mite allergens. Due to different envelopes, generalizations could not be made for all bacteria and viruses. However, lower humidity increased virus survival for influenza. For comfort, low humidity had little effect on thermal comfort, but skin dryness, eye irritation, and static electricity increased as humidity decreased. For IEQ, low humidity had non-uniform effects on volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and perceived indoor air quality. Across many low humidity studies, ventilation rates and exposure times were noted as confounding variables. A majority of studies that used human subjects utilized exposure times of three hours or less with adult subjects; few studies used children, adolescents, or elderly subjects.
The Introduction of Works Councils in German Establishments - Rent Seeking or Rent Protection?

Some recent empirical studies seem to suggest that German works councils engage in rent-seeking activities rather than in the creation of joint establishment surplus. However, those cross-sectional studies do not address the issue of causation. We address this issue by investigating the factors that influence the employees' decision to introduce a works council in their establishment. Councils are more likely to be adopted in establishments with a very poor sales situation and poor employment growth. They are also more likely to be adopted in establishments where management does not pursue an expansive market strategy. Altogether, our results support the hypothesis that employees introduce works councils to protect the quasi-rents they have created by their efforts and human capital investments.
Model Uncertainty and Delegation: A Case for Friedman's "k"-Percent Money Growth Rule?

Model uncertainty affects the monetary policy delegation problem. If there is uncertainty with regards to the determination of the delegated objective variables, the central bank will want robustness against potential model misspecifications. We show that with plausible degree of model uncertainty, delegation of the Friedman rule of increasing the money stock by "k" percent to the central bank will outperform commitment to the social loss function (flexible inflation targeting). The reason is that the price paid for robustness under flexible inflation targeting outweighs the inefficiency of money growth targeting. Imperfect control of money growth does not change this conclusion. Copyright (c)2008 The Ohio State University.
Effect of cardio karate on some of tension and psychological security indications and its relationship with the aspiration level to the orphans.

This study aims to Construct a psychological security measure for the orphan children (unknown parents or loss of father or mother) for the age group of (12-14) years, Knowing the effect of Cardio Karate on Some physical variables of Karate sport, some tension indications, Psychological security and the level of aspiration and its relationship between the psychological security and the level of aspiration of the orphan children in the orphans' houses, This study includes (46) children of orphans (unknown parents or loss of father or mother), the physical variables Which Were measured (agility, coordination, balance, muscular power), the physiological variables Which Were measured (pulsation, diastolic, systolic blood pressure and Vanillymandelic Acid),The psychological variables Which were measured to know the level of aspiration and constructing the measure of Psychological security Its axes are (body security social security – emotional security),According to the results of analyzing, There are statistical significant differences between the pre and the post measure in some of the physical variables, the tension indications, the axes of the psychological security in the favor of the post measure and all of the aspiration level axes except the axis of satisfaction status and deciding aims of the orphan children in the orphans' houses and There is a statistical significant relationship between achieving psychological security and the aspiration level of the orphan children in the orphans' houses.
Status-quo and Development of Cutting-tool Industry in Taiwan and China

Cutting plays a very important role in the manufacturing industry. The global industries of general machinery, automobile, aviation and aerospace, energy, medical, rail transit, mold and machine tools, etc. cannot do without cutting-tool equipment. Modern efficient cutting-tools focus on high accuracy, high efficiency, high reliability and customization. The type numbers and varieties of cutting-tools produced in Taiwan and China are becoming rich day by day. Therefore, this research explored the cutting-tool industry in Taiwan and China, and employed expert interview, five forces analysis, and PEST analysis to analyze the industry. This study offered conclusions based on the research results and provide specific, substantial business improvement, policy formulation and other related recommendations for relevant industry, government-related units and academic research.
Assessing Financial Integration in the European Union Equity Markets: Panel Unit Root and Multivariate Cointegration and Causality Evidence

This paper measures financial integration among selected European Union equity markets over the period July 1990 to June 2006 using daily data. Eleven markets (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom) are included in the analysis. Panel unit root tests are used to test for non-stationarity, and multivariate cointegration, Granger causality and level VAR procedures and variance decompositions are conducted to examine the equilibrium and causal relationships among these markets. The results indicate that there is a stationary long-run equilibrium relationship among and significant and substantial short and long run causal linkages between these markets. The findings offer complementary evidence that a high level of financial integration now prevails in the region.
Diversity of planetary systems in low-mass disks - Terrestrial-type planet formation and water delivery

Context. Several studies, observational and theoretical, suggest t hat planetary systems with only rocky planets should be the most common in the Universe. Aims. We study the diversity of planetary systems that could form around Sun-like stars in low-mass disks without gas giants planets. Especially we focus on the formation process of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone and analyze their water contents with the goal to determine systems of astrobiological interest. Besides , we study the formation of planets on wide orbits because they are sensitive to be detected with the microlensing technique. Methods. N-body simulations of high resolution are developed for a wide range of surface density profiles. A bimodal distribution of planetesimals and planetary embryos with different physical and orbital configurations is used in order to perform the planetary accretion process. The surface density profile combines a po wer law to the inside of the disk of the form r − , with an exponential
Proprioceptive and Kinematic Profiles for Customized Human‐ Robot Interaction for People Suffering from Autism

In this chapter, we presented a method to define individual profiles in order to develop a new personalized robot‐based social interaction for individual with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) with the hypothesis that hyporeactivity to visual motion and an overreliance on proprioceptive information would be linked to difficulties in integrating social cues and in engaging in successful interactions. We succeed to form three groups among our 19 participants (children, teenagers, and adults with ASD), describing each participant's response to visual and proprioceptive inputs. We conducted a first experiment to present the robot Nao as a social companion and to avoid fear or stress toward the robot in future experiment. No direct link between the behavior of the participants toward the robot and their proprioceptive and visual profiles was observed. Still, we found encouraging results going in the direction of our hypothesis. In addition, almost all of our participants showed great interest to Nao. Defining such individual profiles prior to social interactions with a robot could provide promising strategies for designing successful and adapted human‐robot interaction (HRI) for individuals with ASD.
Accounting for Stakeholders or Shareholders? The Case of R&D Reporting

Accounting numbers (and especially net income, equity or total assets) are based on conventions that are shaped by accounting standard setters. Elected choices result from a trade-off between the information needs of various stakeholders. This paper investigates how accounting choices meet the information needs of various stakeholders. Analyzing the R&D policy of Renault, one of the largest carmakers in Europe, over ten years (from 2002 to 2011), the paper illustrates how Renault modifies its R&D accounting policy from total expensing (a static convention) to capitalization (a dynamic convention), coping with the shift from State capitalism dominance to professional shareholder emphasis. Our findings are based on a content analysis of analysts' reactions to Renault accounting choices as well an extensive analysis of the documentation related to Renault (annual reports, presentations to analysts, conference call transcripts). Interestingly, while the R&D capitalization, promoted by the international accounting standard setter (the International Accounting Standards Board - IASB) in line with its advocacy of investors' interest as the principal recipient of accounting information, is supposed to help investors better understand the firm future cash flow, Renault's choice has been constantly challenged, even doubted by analysts. Our findings contradict the conventional wisdom in which shareholders should prefer dynamic conventions of accounting over static conventions while from its inception, the IASB purposely decided to favor investors over other stakeholders and promoted dynamic options of accounting choices.
A method for deriving stellar space densities

The fundamental integral equation of stellar statistics represents a direct, model-independent approach to calculating stellar densities. Many techniques exist for its solution, but some of these require assumptions, such as a Gaussian luminosity function or a specific form for the density function, that may be unrealistic. To solve the equation as an undeterdetermined total least squares system with Tikhanov regularization recognizes that the problem is ill-posed and generally ill-conditioned as well and oers decided advantages: it is unnecessary to assume a Gaussian luminosity function nor a specific form for the density function; discretization error in the kernel of the integral equation as well as the Poisson error in the star counts are accounted for; mean errors for the densities are calculated; the densities are constrained to be both continuous and positive. The greatest drawback to the method comes from the selection of the ridge parameter, but the drawback becomes surmountable. The method is first applied to three examples, general star counts, the distribution of K0 giants, and the distribution of M 2-M 4 dwarfs, and compared with densities calculated from methods such as Malmquist's and the ( m ,l og) table. Regularized total least squares competes well with these methods. Then the method is applied to a new data set from the AC2000.2 catalog to calculate the densities of M giants and supergiants in the directions of the north and south galactic poles. The densities decrease exponentially to near zero at 2000 pc, with half-density points near 550 pc: No evidence for asymmetry between the two hemispheres can be seen.
Argentine Media and Journalists Enhancing and Polluting of Communication on Twitter

Nowadays, there’s practically no news media without an online presence or content distribution through social networking sites. However, this virtual presence of the traditional media outlets on these newly formed, opinion-exchanging digital places does not necessarily seem to involve innovating their modes of interacting with the audience. On the other hand, personal users (individuals) are communicating in several networks with each other. In fact, we are a long way from stating that the coexistence of both institutional and personal users within the same virtual space can lead to the production of authentic conversations or a culture of sharing consolidation. In this research, we look into the behavior of Twitter users in Argentina, both corporate ones (media outlets) and personal ones (journalists), with the aim of establishing the tendency of the first group to work under the traditional ways of communication (one-way, asymmetrical, on a massive scale, underlining the act of saying), and if, on the other hand, the latter tends to adopt innovative ways to express themselves (conversational, symmetrical, personalized, balancing the act of saying and listening). We seek to stipulate how the media and its journalists use Twitter: as a suggestion to engage into a more participative way of communication or as yet another channel of massive distribution of information. An indicator of enhancing/polluting of communication (here understood as a public conversation) has been designed based on the distinction between the concepts of communication and information, and also of the conventional linguistic and pragmatic structure of conversation.
Redlining in Residential Mortgages in Johannesburg, South Africa

The aim of the research in the paper was to study redlining practice within the greater Johannesburg area. The aim can be summarised by the following objectives: firstly, to investigate the evidence of redlining in the Greater Johannesburg area and to test its existence; secondly, to investigate the reasons why the areas were redlined; thirdly, to understand what the South Africa government and society did to combat the redlining practice. The research methodology was based on a questionnaire and interviews. A pool of respondents from the Greater Johannesburg suburbs that had interest or were affected by the practice of redlining was sought and interviewed. Analysis of the responses was made and conclusions were drawn from the responses. Secondary data was also sought from publications on the redlining practice to support the primary interviews data. From the interview responses and the secondary data, it was established that redlining existed in Greater Johannesburg and that the areas where redlining was practised could be marked on a map.