Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Ideology And Pedagogy Impact Technology Adoption In The Classroom, A Causal-Comparative Study

As the world changes from an industrial driven society to one more focused on services and knowledge, the drive for change within higher education is mounting from both students and employers. With the availability of the vast majority of the world’s knowledge available to an ever-increasing populace via the Internet, students and employers alike are no longer satisfied with the three r’s – reading, writing, and arithmetic. Instead, employers are expecting graduates to be knowledgeable of the three C’s – collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving to negotiate a progressively complex global market. Through advances in cognitive science, we now have a better understanding of how individual learners construct and retain new knowledge. At odds with this understanding of how individuals learn is the continued use of the lecture class format where an instructor is the center of the classroom. The lecture class format or Socratic Method has not only demonstrated a lack of effectiveness compared to other methods such as active-learning which places the student at the center of the classroom but may even disenfranchise students leading to lower test scores and retention issues. Yet, when higher education institutions attempt more productive methods of learning based on the ideas of constructivism such as active-learning or student-centered learning the efforts fail as instructors naturally revert back to the lecture method for a variety of reasons. Where technology has enabled change in other areas of our lives such as social media, entertainment, and retail it has yet to make as profound of an effect in higher education. Understanding to what extent certain curricular ideologies may predict the adoption of technology in the classroom may be beneficial in emboldening change from the Socratic Method to a more student-centered learning experience. Other benefits may include improvements in the return on investments made by higher education institutions as well as shortened technology deployment timelines improving opportunities to keep up with rapidly changing technology trends. Using a combination of two survey instruments, the Schiro Curriculum Ideology Instrument (2013) and the iTEaCH Instrument (Choy, 2013), this causal-comparative research study analyzed data collected from both full-time and part-time faculty at a private liberal arts institution. Through the application of a one-way ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer post hoc test, the results identified statistically significant differences among several of the curriculum ideology types and the adoption of technology in the classroom. Insight into the relationship between curriculum ideology and technology adoption can be used both by technologists and pedagogical specialists as part of technology deployments to improve not only the use of technology in the classroom but also enabling faculty seeking opportunities to change the classroom dynamic focusing more on students and opportunities for individual learning.
Confounding and confounders

Confounding should always be addressed in studies concerned with causality. When present, it results in a biased estimate of the effect of exposure on disease. The bias can be negative—resulting in underestimation of the exposure effect—or positive, and can even reverse the apparent direction of effect. It is a concern no matter what the design of the study or what statistic is used to measure the effect of exposure. The potential for confounding can be reduced by good study design, but in non-randomised studies this is unlikely to resolve the problem fully. Hence statistical adjustment methods, to reduce the bias caused by measured confounders, are also frequently considered. Such adjustment presupposes that one knows which factors are confounders. However, recent literature on methods for identifying confounders suggest that these are not always obvious. Indeed, in pursuit of guidelines, authors have had to reexamine the meanings of confounding and confounders with some ambiguity and conflict emerging. This literature is reviewed and a recent modification to the traditional definition of a confounder, which emphasises causal rather than statistical relationships, is described and illustrated. Some well known problems in occupational epidemiology, arising from health related selection, are considered in the light of recent ideas. Control of confounding through study design is not addressed, nor is the article concerned with details of statistical methods for adjustment. An overview of design and analysis in relation to confounding by age may be useful additional reading.1 It is assumed that the reader has at least a basic knowledge of epidemiological methods. Unless otherwise stated, definitions and comments apply to all causal study designs including case–control studies. ### Example Consider a study of the relationship between exposure to silica dust and lung cancer where the rate of lung cancer in exposed workers is twice that in unexposed subjects, giving …
Dropping out in Scandinavia Social Exclusion and Labour Market Attachment among Upper Secondary School Dropouts in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden

The Nordic countries share many features as far as welfare state and labour market institutions are concerned. However, the upper secondary school systems differ significantly in how the vocational tracks are organized. In Denmark and Norway vocational tracks are dual, i.e. they combine school based education and work place apprenticeships, whereas in Finland and Sweden they are primarily school based. We explore the claim that the organization of vocational tracks can provide one important explanation to between country variations in school-to-work transition success rates. By answering the questions “Do dropout rates both in general and in different educational tracks differ between the Nordic countries? ” and “Is the labour market effect of dropping out from a vocational track different in Finland and Sweden as compared to Norway and Denmark? ” we try to evaluate this claim. We use annual longitudinal data from public records in the four countries. In Norway and Sweden the data cover the total populations whereas in Finland and Denmark we use large samples of the populations. To measure labour market outcomes we utilise a model prepared particularly for use on public income records and which has been calibrated to enhance comparability across the Nordic countries. We find the highest dropout rates in vocational tracks in Norway and the lowest in Finland. The results also indicate that the relative effect of dropping out from a vocational track is least detrimental in Sweden and most detrimental in Norway, as far as labour market exclusion is concerned. For those with diplomas from vocational tracks the results confirm previous findings indicating that apprenticeship based systems provides a smoother school-to-work transition process than school based systems. The smaller risk among Swedish vocational school dropouts is to a large extent explained by the system for adult education in Sweden which seems to be better equipped to embrace dropouts and provide them a second chance than the systems in the other countries.
Circuit Design and Configuration for Low Power FPGAs

Today, current technology is moving towards the idea of ubiquitous computing (UbiComp), where sensors and other integrated circuits (ICs) are ever present in daily life, creating a smart environment for people to constantly monitor and react to their environments. For UbiComp to be fully realized, a host of requirements are necessary for the ICs deployed in this vast network. These requirements include low cost, low power consumption, flexibility, and adequate computation power. Current IC design methodologies do not quite meet all UbiComp requirements. Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) are low power and have the necessary computing power for UbiComp applications, but they are prohibitively inflexible. Ultra-Low Power (ULP) General Purpose Processors (GPPs) have the necessary flexibility, but are prohibitively high power (by multiple orders of magnitude). Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are another IC implementation that could potentially be used for UbiComp applications, because it bridges the gap between the high efficiency of the ASIC and the high flexibility of the GPP. However, FPGAs have historically been targeted for high performance applications, where performance (or speed) is the main metric. As a result, commercial FPGAs are too power hungry for ULP applications (like UbiComp). Relatively little research has been done to bring reconfigurable logic into the ULP application space. However, if FPGAs can be retargeted for ULP applications, then they will intrinsically bridge that same gap, this time between ULP ASICs and ULP GPPs, by providing energy efficiency than ULP GPPs, but also have the flexibility to update or re-target their applications (a necessary requirement for UbiComp) without the expensive, time-consuming respins that ULP ASICs require. This document proposes a dissertation that will explore the steps necessary to both build and configure Ultra-Low Power FPGAs. These steps include: 1. revisiting circuit design of FPGA-building blocks and re-designing them for low power operation 2. re-assessing FPGA architectural parameters to determine architectures most suitable for ULP operation for FPGAs as opposed to high-performance operation 3. developing a toolflow that will not only allow researchers to quickly co-optimize FPGA fabrics for different circuit and architectural parameters, but also users in the future to quickly be able to generate FPGA fabrics with the necessary configurations for a given benchmark circuit 4. exploring the integration of the ULP FPGA fabric into a SoC designed for wireless sensing applications
An alternative site for entropy sensor placement.

1033–9. 10. Corne S, Webster K, Younes M. Hypoxic respiratory response during acute stable hypocapnia. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2003;167:1193–9. 11. Miller RD. Anesthesia, 5th ed. San Francisco: Churchill Livingstone, 2000:296. 12. Cooper HE, Clutton-Brock TH, Parkes MJ. Contribution of the respiratory rhythm to sinus arrhythmia in normal unanesthetized subjects during positive-pressure mechanical hyperventilation. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2004;286:H402–11. 13. Laffey JG, Englelberts D, Duggan M, et al. Carbon dioxide attenuates pulmonary impairment resulting from hyperventilation. Crit Care Med 2003;31:2634–40. 14. Lovering AT, Fraigne JJ, Dunin-Barkowski WL, et al. Hypocapnia decreases the amount of rapid eye movement sleep in cats. Sleep 2003;26:961–7. 15. Shahar E, Postovsky S, Bennett O. Central neurogenic hyperventilation in a conscious child associated with glioblastoma multiforme. Pediatr Neurol 2004;30:287–90.
Sticky IT Workers: Discovering Why Information Technology Professionals Retain Their Employers

Sticky IT Workers: Discovering why Information Technology professionals retain their employers Phillip (Mike) Lewis George Fox University In the current business climate and social technologies expansion era, Information Technology (IT) workers are important organization contributors that connect organizations into today’s data-driven, highly social, and always-on global economy. Thus, organizations need IT workers. Unfortunately, as a class, IT workers have developed a reputation that includes short organization tenures. However, not all IT workers suffer this stigma, some IT workers stick with one organization for a long time. Discovering why these Sticky IT workers retain their employers provides insights and direction for organization leaders and architects to help them shape their organizations into those that IT workers choose to stick with. In this phenomenology, Sticky IT workers were interviewed to discover and describe organization qualities that are important them. That is, the research investigated,” Why do you stay? ” which distinguishes it from research that asks, “Why did you leave? ” or “Why do you intend to leave? ” Seven themes emerged from the investigations learning, people, pay, career, opportunity, environment, and organization to collectively provide organization leaders and architects a priority-ranked map of organization qualities that lead to increased IT worker tenures. STICKY IT WORKERS iii
The pattern of food hypersensitivity in patients with onset after 10 years of age

One hundred and twelve patients with a history of immediate adverse reaction after food ingestion and positive skin test to food are presented with the result of food challenge. In all patients the symptoms started after 10 years of age; most presented with recurrent short‐lasting urticarial rash, often accompanied by rhinitis. In the majority of the patients, skin tests were positive to multiple food allergens, but 67% of these responded to oral provocation by only one allergen. One‐third of the patients had a history of allergic symptoms following exercise after meals, but in only one‐third of these symptoms were reproducible in the laboratory. Fruit and vegetables were the main allergens responsible for food hypersensitivity. Food allergy can develop after the first 10 years of life. Fruit and vegetables are the main cause of food allergy in these patients, while milk and egg are the least common. These findings differ from those in early childhood where milk and eggs are the main allergens.
Dynamic segmentation and linear prediction for maternal ECG removal in antenatal abdominal recordings

Monitoring the fetal heart rate (fHR) and fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) during pregnancy is important to support medical decision making. Before labor, the fHR is usually monitored using Doppler ultrasound. This method is inaccurate and therefore of limited clinical value. During labor, the fHR can be monitored more accurately using an invasive electrode; this method also enables monitoring of the fECG. Antenatally, the fECG and fHR can also be monitored using electrodes on the maternal abdomen. The signal-to-noise ratio of these recordings is, however, low, the maternal electrocardiogram (mECG) being the main interference. Existing techniques to remove the mECG from these non-invasive recordings are insufficiently accurate or do not provide all spatial information of the fECG. In this paper a new technique for mECG removal in antenatal abdominal recordings is presented. This technique operates by the linear prediction of each separate wave in the mECG. Its performance in mECG removal and fHR detection is evaluated by comparison with spatial filtering, adaptive filtering, template subtraction and independent component analysis techniques. The new technique outperforms the other techniques in both mECG removal and fHR detection (by more than 3%).
Pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients: no diagnostic and prognostic value of different quantitative tracheal aspirates thresholds

Abstract Background: Diagnosis of pneumonia in ventilated patients is challenging due to the lack of specific and definitive clinical symptoms, laboratory data or radiological abnormalities. Methods: Based on quantitative tracheal aspirate (QTA) results, three groups of patients were compared: <105 cfu/ml, ≥105 cfu/ml and <106 cfu/ml, and ≥106 cfu/ml. We recorded demographic variables, underlying diseases and severity of illness at ICU admission. On the day of pneumonia diagnosis, we registered temperature, leukocyte count, C-reactive protein, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS) and adequacy of empirical antimicrobial therapy. Results: In 231 episodes, clinical presentation, laboratory data, severity of illness, CPIS, the presence of bacteremia and radiological score did not differ among the three groups. ICU and hospital mortalities were also similar in the three groups. Factors independently associated with in-hospital mortality were age, SOFA score and inappropriate antimicrobial therapy. The bacterial burden in the QTA was not included in the model. Conclusions: Quantification of tracheal aspirate samples may not be necessary in ventilated patients clinically suspected of having nosocomial pneumonia
Effect of a Mobile Safety Alarm on Going Outside, Feeling Safe, Fear of Falling, and Quality of Life in Community‐Living Older Persons: A Randomized Controlled Trial

health consequences. Am J Clin Nutr 2008;87:1080S–1086S. 4. Hanley DA, Cranney A, Jones G et al., for the Guidelines Committee of the Scientific Advisory Council of Osteoporosis Canada Vitamin D in adult health and disease: A review and guideline statement from osteoporosis Canada. Can Med Assoc J 2010;182:E610–E618. 5. National Osteoporosis Foundation. Clinician’s Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis. Washington, DC: National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2010. Available at: http://www.nof. org/professionals/clinical-guidelines Accessed September 8, 2011. 6. Dawson-Hughes B, Heaney RP, Holick MF et al. Estimates of optimal vitamin D status. Osteoporos Int 2005;16:713–716. 7. Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Willett WC, Wong JB et al. Prevention of nonvertebral fractures with oral vitamin D and dose dependency: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med 2009;169:551–561. 8. Mastaglia SR, Pellegrini GG, Mandalunis PM et al. Vitamin D insufficiency reduces the protective effect of bisphosphonate on ovariectomy-induced bone loss in rats. Bone 2006;39:837–844. 9. Adami S, Giannini S, Bianchi G et al. Vitamin D status and response to treatment in post-menopausal osteoporosis. Osteoporos Int 2009;20:239– 244.
Primary leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava: A case report and review of the literature

Sixty‐six cases of leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava (TVC) have been reported. We present another case and review the characteristics and treatment of this rare tumor. IVC leiomyosarcomas spread by extension into adjacent tissue planes. Direct extension into the heart is known, but not into the kidneys, adrenals, or bowel. IVC leiomyosarcomas arising below the renal vein cause pain in the right‐lower quadrant, back, and flank, and varying degrees of lower extremity edema; those arising in the middle caval segment cause right‐upper‐quadrant pain and sometimes renovascular hypertension; those arising above the hepatic vein cause varying manifestations of the Budd‐Chiari syndrome. A reasonable approach to early diagnosis involves oral and intravenous contrast studies followed by computed tomography, angiography, and vena cavography. Aggressive surgical treatment is optimal in light of the tumor's slow growth pattern and relatively low malignant potential. (Metastases have been reported in fewer than 50% of cases.) Tumors involving the lower IVC are most amenable to surgery; extensive collateral venous drainage of the left kidney preserves renal function during resection of middle caval tumors. Upper caval leiomyosarcomas are the least amenable to complete removal. Postoperative survival of all patients has ranged from a few weeks to eight years.
Effects of Temperature and Light Conditions on Growth of Current-Year Seedlings of Warm-Temperate Evergreen Tree Species and Cool-Temperate Deciduous Tree Species

It is suggested that global warming affects plant distribution along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients because vegetation changes with thermal conditions. Simulation studies predicted that global warming largely affects plant distribution (e.g., Morin et al., 2008). Actually, vegetation change during several decades has been observed (Penuelas et al., 2007; Lenoir et al., 2008). By contrast, some other studies did not observe vegetation changes (Holtmeier & Broll, 2007; Harsch et al., 2009). Interpretation of results of simulation models also needs caution because simulation results are different according to modeling methods even for same species (Thuiller, 2003). Therefore, there is still uncertainty of effects of global warming on plant distribution. Plant distribution is determined by integrated demographic processes such as seed dispersal, seed germination, growth and survival of individual plants. Since early demographic phase such as seedling establishment is more susceptible to environmental conditions than the adult phase (Kullman, 2002), it is important to clarify effects of temperature on seedling growth to predict effects of global warming on plant distribution. There are many experimental studies that examined effects of temperature on growth of tree seedlings (Danby & Hik, 2007; Hoch & Korner, 2009; Munier et al., 2010). For example, Yin et al. (2008) reported that seedling growth of Betula albo-sinensis increased in the warm condition with 0.51oC higher than the ambient air condition. Many experimental studies that examined effects of temperature were conducted at bright conditions (e.g. Danby & Hik, 2007; Way & Sage, 2008). However, most seedlings distribute in dark closed-canopy conditions in forests. Therefore, it is necessary to examine effects of temperature on seedling growth not only in bright conditions but also in dark conditions. Plants plastically change morphology according to light conditions. For example, relative biomass allocation to leaves is greater in dark conditions than in bright conditions,
Confidence and Career Choices: An Experiment

Confidence is often seen as the key to success. Empirical evidence about how such beliefs about one\'s abilities causally map into actions is, however, sparse. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the causal effect of an increase in confidence about one\'s own ability on two central choices made by workers in the labor market: choosing between jobs with different incentive schemes, and the subsequent choice of how much effort to exert within the job. An exogenous increase in confidence leads to an increase in subjects\' propensity to choose payment schemes that depend heavily on ability. This is detrimental for low ability workers. Policy implications are discussed.
Connecting standards and assessment through literacy

I. HIGH STANDARDS AND HIGH-STAKES ASSESSMENT: THE LITERACY CONNECTION. 1. Higher Educational Standards. 2. High-Stakes Assessment. II. CONNECTING STANDARDS, ASSESSMENT WITH DAILY PRACTICE. 3. Clarifying and Communicating About Standards. 4. Clarifying and Communicating About Testing. 5. Making Standards Work for You. 6. When Teaching to the Test is Just Good Curriculum. 7. Building Lessons Around Test-Taking Skills that Matter. 8. Integrating Standards and Assessment through Daily Practice. 9. Promoting Reading Fluency. III. CONNECTING CLASSROOM PRACTICE TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. 10. Making Sense of Large-scale Assessment Information. 11. Selecting, Designing and Using Classroom Assessments. 12. Communicating Assessment Information.