Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Instruments for Measuring Pre-service Mathematics Teachers‘ TPACK Skill in Integrating Technology: A Systematic Literature Review

A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was undertaken by many researchers to examine studies that examined Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers’ technology integration skills in the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. However, there has been little SLR research that analyzes the tools employed by earlier studies to measure these skills. As a result, this SLR investigates the instruments used to assess Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers’ (PSMTs) TPACK skills in integrating technology during teaching practice by addressing three issues: 1) what instruments have previous studies used to assess PSMTs’ TPACK skills in integrating technology? 2) what instruments are frequently used as references? and 3) what other frameworks are combined with TPACK in the measurement? This study adhered to the PRISMA guidelines based on the Scopus and Web of Science databases. This study filtered out 17 papers in total. According to the findings of this study, the TPACK questionnaire is the most commonly utilized instrument by researchers in the examined studies. The best appropriate instrument is the TPACK questionnaire created by Schmidt et al. Finally, attitude and perception are heavily incorporated into studies testing the TPACK skills of PSMTs. Future studies can use this study to determine the best instrument for testing PSMTs’ TPACK skills.
ScisummNet: A Large Annotated Corpus and Content-Impact Models for Scientiﬁc Paper Summarization with Citation Networks

Scientiﬁc article summarization is challenging: large, annotated corpora are not available, and the summary should ideally include the article’s impacts on research community. This paper provides novel solutions to these two challenges. We 1) develop and release the ﬁrst large-scale manually-annotated corpus for scientiﬁc papers (on computational linguistics) by enabling faster annotation, and 2) propose summarization methods that integrate the authors’ original highlights (abstract) and the article’s actual impacts on the community (citations), to create comprehensive, hybrid summaries. We conduct experiments to demonstrate the efﬁcacy of our corpus in training data-driven models for scientiﬁc paper summarization and the advantage of our hybrid summaries over abstracts and traditional citation-based summaries. Our large annotated corpus and hybrid methods provide a new framework for sci-entiﬁc paper summarization research.
Evidence that a common arbuscular mycorrhizal network alleviates phosphate shortage in interconnected walnut sapling and maize plants

Under agroforestry practices, inter-specific facilitation between tree rows and cultivated alleys occurs when plants increase the growth of their neighbors especially under nutrient limitation. Owing to a coarse root architecture limiting soil inorganic phosphate (Pi) uptake, walnut trees (Juglans spp.) exhibit dependency on soil-borne symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that extend extra-radical hyphae beyond the root Pi depletion zone. To investigate the benefits of mycorrhizal walnuts in alley cropping, we experimentally simulated an agroforestry system in which walnut rootstocks RX1 (J. regia x J. microcarpa) were connected or not by a common mycelial network (CMN) to maize plants grown under two contrasting Pi levels. Mycorrhizal colonization parameters showed that the inoculum reservoir formed by inoculated walnut donor saplings allowed the mycorrhization of maize recipient roots. Relative to non-mycorrhizal plants and whatever the Pi supply, CMN enabled walnut saplings to access maize Pi fertilization residues according to significant increases in biomass, stem diameter, and expression of JrPHT1;1 and JrPHT1;2, two mycorrhiza-inducible phosphate transporter candidates here identified by phylogenic inference of orthologs. In the lowest Pi supply, stem height, leaf Pi concentration, and biomass of RX1 were significantly higher than in non-mycorrhizal controls, showing that mycorrhizal connections between walnut and maize roots alleviated Pi deficiency in the mycorrhizal RX1 donor plant. Under Pi limitation, maize recipient plants also benefited from mycorrhization relative to controls, as inferred from larger stem diameter and height, biomass, leaf number, N content, and Pi concentration. Mycorrhization-induced Pi uptake generated a higher carbon cost for donor walnut plants than for maize plants by increasing walnut plant photosynthesis to provide the AM fungus with carbon assimilate. Here, we show that CMN alleviates Pi deficiency in co-cultivated walnut and maize plants, and may therefore contribute to limit the use of chemical P fertilizers in agroforestry systems.
Visualization of the entire process of rice spikelet infection by Ustilaginoidea virens through nondestructive inoculation

Introduction Rice false smut caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, is a destructive fungal disease encountered in many rice-producing areas worldwide. To determine the process by which U. virens infects rice spikelets in the field. Methods The green fluorescent protein-labeled U. virens was used as an inoculum to conduct artificial inoculation on rice at the booting stage via non-destructive panicle sheath instillation inoculation. Results The results showed that the conidia of U. virens germinated on the surface of rice glumes and produced hyphae, which clustered at the mouth of rice glumes and entered the glumes through the gap between the palea and lemma. The conidia of U. virens colonized in rice floral organs, which led to pollen abortion of rice. U. virens wrapped the whole rice floral organ, and the floral organ-hyphae complex gradually expanded to open the glumes to form a rice false smut ball, which was two to three times larger than that observed in normal rice. Discussion Panicle sheath instillation inoculation was shown to be a non-destructive inoculation method that could simulate the natural infection of U. virens in the field. The entire infection process of U. virens was visualized, providing a theoretical reference for formulating strategies to control rice false smut in the field.
Investigating the interactions between individuals and music technologies within contemporary modes of music consumption | Nowak | First Monday

This paper investigates the missing link between music and material studies in analyses of everyday music reception. In light of the increasing material fragmentation and heterogeneity of contemporary modes of music consumption, I interrogate how to theorize the materiality of music technologies within everyday interactions with music. Thus, I review accounts on ‘music and everyday life’ before discussing contemporary modes of music consumption. Then I proceed to look at how recent technological changes have contributed in re-configuring questions of materiality in analyses of music reception. Ultimately, the article explores the relationship between individuals and the technologies they use to listen to music. The multiplicity of material options at individuals’ disposal accounts for both the presence and diffusion of music within everyday life.
Progranulin Maintains Blood Pressure and Vascular Tone Dependent on EphrinA2 and Sortilin1 Receptors and Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Activation

Background The mechanisms determining vascular tone are still not completely understood, even though it is a significant factor in blood pressure management. Many circulating proteins have a significant impact on controlling vascular tone. Progranulin displays anti‐inflammatory effects and has been extensively studied in neurodegenerative illnesses. We investigated whether progranulin sustains the vascular tone that helps regulate blood pressure. Methods and Results We used male and female C57BL6/J wild type (progranulin+/+) and B6(Cg)‐Grntm1.1Aidi/J (progranulin−/−) to understand the impact of progranulin on vascular contractility and blood pressure. We found that progranulin−/− mice display elevated blood pressure followed by hypercontractility to noradrenaline in mesenteric arteries, which is restored by supplementing the mice with recombinant progranulin. In ex vivo experiments, recombinant progranulin attenuated the vascular contractility to noradrenaline in male and female progranulin+/+ arteries, which was blunted by blocking EphrinA2 or Sortilin1. To understand the mechanisms whereby progranulin evokes anticontractile effects, we inhibited endothelial factors. N(gamma)‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) prevented the progranulin effects, whereas indomethacin (cyclooxygenase inhibitor) affected only the contractility in arteries incubated with vehicle, indicating that progranulin increases nitric oxide and decreases contractile prostanoids. Finally, recombinant progranulin induced endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation and nitric oxide production in isolated mesenteric endothelial cells. Conclusions Circulating progranulin regulates vascular tone and blood pressure via EphrinA2 and Sortilin1 receptors and endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation. Collectively, our data suggest that deficiency in progranulin is a cardiovascular risk factor and that progranulin might be a new therapeutic avenue to treat high blood pressure.
DEVELOPMENT OF A SYNTHETIC MATERIALS MIMIC FOR VULTURE OLFACTION RESEARCH

Since the early 1990's, an increase in damage associated with the activities of black (Coragyps atratus) and turkey (Cathartes aura) vultures has been observed. These activities include extensive damage to real and personal property. Vultures display an affinity for objects made of synthetic materials such as vinyl or plastic, and frequently damage items such as seat cushions, roof shingles, and caulking sealant. To explore whether this behavior in vultures is olfactorily driven, volatile compounds emitted by 21 vulture-damaged objects were collected and analyzed using purge-and-trap gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Results from these analyses were tabulated and the 27 most commonly occurring compounds were identified. Six of the vulture-damaged samples contained at least 23 of the 27 identified compounds, and hexanal, octanal, undecane, and nonanal were found in all 21 vulture-damaged samples. Using these data, a water-based emulsion containing the 27 most frequently observed compounds in the vulture-damaged samples was formulated to serve as a synthetic materials mimic (SMM). A sustained volatile release delivery system utilizing cellulose sponges was also developed, and used to deliver the SMM for bioassay trials examining the response of captive vultures to the SMM.
Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation: A synthesis report for REDD+ policymakers

The Government of the UK and Norway have supported the production of an independent report to help inform the decision-making process on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) at the upcoming United Nations climate change negotiations in Doha in December 2012.The long-term viability of REDD+ depends on altering business-as-usual activity in sectors currently driving greenhouse gas emissions from forests. This synthesis report investigates activities (drivers) that lead to deforestation and forest degradation. It explores the relevance of drivers in REDD+ policy development and implementation, key interventions to address driver activity, the role of drivers for national forest monitoring and for developing REDD+ forest reference (emission) levels. It concludes with recommendations intended to support the on-going international climate negotiations, as well as country-level plans and interventions to affect drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.
Smaller syntax for English stative passives: A first report

One of the basic questions in the theory of morphology concerns the nature of word formation: how morphemes are assembled into larger objects, and—crucially—whether there are distinct systems in which this occurs (lexicon versus syntax), or just one. Stative (a.k.a. “adjectival”) passives like opened in the opened door, or flattened in the metal is flattened, have provided an interesting testing ground for questions of this type. Following a period in which such passives were argued to be formed lexically, much subsequent work has developed the idea that they are derived syntactically, in fully phrasal structures. This paper examines a number of properties of English stative passives which raise problems for a fully phrasal treatment. These include (but are not limited to) (i) modification asymmetries relative to eventive passives; and (ii) interactions with un-prefixation. The generalizations that are revealed suggest that stative passives are built syntactically, but without phrasal internal structure: what I call small(er) syntax. Importantly, small structures are not tantamount to a lexical analysis; I provide a direct comparison that argues that the evidence favors the smaller type of approach. The argument for small structures has implications for the syntax of Roots that are introduced throughout the discussion.
New Trends in Emotion Recognition Using Image Analysis by Neural Networks, A Systematic Review

Facial emotion recognition (FER) is a computer vision process aimed at detecting and classifying human emotional expressions. FER systems are currently used in a vast range of applications from areas such as education, healthcare, or public safety; therefore, detection and recognition accuracies are very important. Similar to any computer vision task based on image analyses, FER solutions are also suitable for integration with artificial intelligence solutions represented by different neural network varieties, especially deep neural networks that have shown great potential in the last years due to their feature extraction capabilities and computational efficiency over large datasets. In this context, this paper reviews the latest developments in the FER area, with a focus on recent neural network models that implement specific facial image analysis algorithms to detect and recognize facial emotions. This paper’s scope is to present from historical and conceptual perspectives the evolution of the neural network architectures that proved significant results in the FER area. This paper endorses convolutional neural network (CNN)-based architectures against other neural network architectures, such as recurrent neural networks or generative adversarial networks, highlighting the key elements and performance of each architecture, and the advantages and limitations of the proposed models in the analyzed papers. Additionally, this paper presents the available datasets that are currently used for emotion recognition from facial expressions and micro-expressions. The usage of FER systems is also highlighted in various domains such as healthcare, education, security, or social IoT. Finally, open issues and future possible developments in the FER area are identified.
Ske2Grid: Skeleton-to-Grid Representation Learning for Action Recognition

This paper presents Ske2Grid, a new representation learning framework for improved skeleton-based action recognition. In Ske2Grid, we define a regular convolution operation upon a novel grid representation of human skeleton, which is a compact image-like grid patch constructed and learned through three novel designs. Specifically, we propose a graph-node index transform (GIT) to construct a regular grid patch through assigning the nodes in the skeleton graph one by one to the desired grid cells. To ensure that GIT is a bijection and enrich the expressiveness of the grid representation, an up-sampling transform (UPT) is learned to interpolate the skeleton graph nodes for filling the grid patch to the full. To resolve the problem when the one-step UPT is aggressive and further exploit the representation capability of the grid patch with increasing spatial size, a progressive learning strategy (PLS) is proposed which decouples the UPT into multiple steps and aligns them to multiple paired GITs through a compact cascaded design learned progressively. We construct networks upon prevailing graph convolution networks and conduct experiments on six mainstream skeleton-based action recognition datasets. Experiments show that our Ske2Grid significantly outperforms existing GCN-based solutions under different benchmark settings, without bells and whistles. Code and models are available at https://github.com/OSVAI/Ske2Grid
Soil Physical and Chemical Properties in Relation to Conservation of Natural Resources

The natural resources of any country are the national treasure and there is need for proper planning to make best use of them. The most important and basic natural resource is soil. It is evident that the production of food, fodder, fuel and feed to meet the requirement of human beings and animals is primarily dependent upon agriculture and allied areas which are dependent on soil resources. Soil resources of the world are finite, easily degraded by misuse and mismanagement, nonrenewable over the human time frame, and shrinking because of degradation and conversion to nonagricultural uses (Lal, 1998). Soil degradation is a severe global issue, and predominant degradative processes are accelerated soil erosion, depletion of soil organic matter and plant nutrients, decline of soil structure, and salinization. Most of these degradative processes are more severe in the tropics than in the temperate climate, in marginal rather than prime agricultural lands, and in resource-based and subsistence agriculture rather than science-based or commercial farming. There is need of judicious and scientific management of soil resources. Degraded soils and ecosystems must be ameliorated, and the depleted organic carbon pool restored so that soil can respond to the use of yield –enhancing input (e.g., fertilizers, improved varieties) and can meet the current and future food demand.
Application of microbial antagonists as alternatives to chemical pesticides: A novel approach for enhancing plant growth and resilience of agricultural land

Microbial inoculants for controlling soil pathogens are an environmentally sustainable approach for attaining agricultural intensification. Charcoal root rot pathogens might threaten global food security and degrade prime agricultural lands. Microbial antagonists to control charcoal root disease were not properly studied with reference to physiological and photochemical basis. This research was aimed to examine the impact of newly isolated microbial biocontrol agents (MBCAs) on growth and photosynthetic efficiency (photosystem II) in pathogen (Macrophomina phaseolina)‐infected plants. The MBCAs (Purpureocillium lilacinum and Aspergillus terreus) were isolated and seeds were coated to improve soil fertility and resilience of agricultural lands. Both MBCAs inhibited the colonization of pathogenic fungus around the roots of host plants. Decline in growth traits was observed due to the detrimental impacts of root rot disease on growth parameters compared with plants treated with M. phaseolina. However, the growth of corn plants in both soils with and without M. phaseolina infestations was substantially improved by treating corn seeds with P. lilacinum and A. terreus. The pathogen drastically reduced the distinct parameters of photosystem II of photosynthesis. However, applying P. lilacinum and A. terreus significantly improved the total performance index (PItot), size, and the number of active reaction centers of photosystem II (Fv/Fo), electron transport rate, electron trapping per absorption (TRO/ABS), electron transport per absorption (ETO/ABS), electron transport per trapping (ETO/TRO), and the efficiency of light reaction (φEo) but downregulates nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). Our study demonstrates that microbial antagonists offer a more effective, ecofriendly alternative to improve the land to sustainable agriculture.
D-Band Flip-Chip Packaging with Wafer-Level Cu-pillar Bumps

The transmission loss of a Cu pillar microstrip-microstrip transition in a flip-chip package is characterized. The used components are fabricated in the back-end layers of a standard BiCMOS process, with Cu pillars deposited on top as the flipped die and UBM coating on pad as the substrate. Four variations with different pitches and openings on the ground plane are all characterized and compared using both measurement and FEM simulation. It is found that a small pitch with a de-coupling aperture are the keys to minimize the transition losses. The de-embedded insertion loss of a single Cu-pillar transition is between 0.3-0.5 dB over 110-170 GHz (D-band). Such a wafer-level bumping approach greatly improves the throughput and uniformity, and meanwhile, demonstrates comparable transition losses with other flip-chip packages using similar sized bumps.
Wheel Abrasion Experiment Conducted on Mars

Sojourner rover showing Lewis' wheel abrasion experiment. The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft soft-landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. Among the many experiments on its small Sojourner rover are three technology experiments from the NASA Lewis Research Center, including the Wheel Abrasion Experiment (WAE). The WAE was designed, built, delivered, and operated on Mars by a team of engineers and scientists from Lewis' Photovoltaics and Space Environments Branch. This experiment collected data to assess wheel surface wear on the Sojourner. It used a specially designed rover wheel, with thin films (200 to 1000 angstroms) of aluminum, nickel, and platinum deposited on black, anodized aluminum strips attached to the rover's right center wheel. As the wheel spun in the Martian soil, a photovoltaic sensor monitored changes in film reflectivity. These changes indicated abrasion of the metal films by Martian surface material. Rolling wear data were accumulated by the WAE. Also, at frequent intervals, all the rover wheels, except the WAE test wheel, were locked to hold the rover stationary while the test wheel alone was spun and dug into the Martian regolith. These tests created wear conditions more severe than simple rolling. The WAE will contribute substantially to our knowledge of Martian surface characteristics. Marked abrasion would indicate a surface composed of hard, possibly sharply edged grains, whereas lack of abrasion would suggest a somewhat softer surface. WAE results will be correlated with ground simulations to determine which terrestrial materials behave most like those on Mars. This knowledge will enable a deeper understanding of erosion processes on Mars and the role they play in Martian surface evolution. Preliminary results show that electrostatic charging of the rover wheels sometimes caused dust to accumulate on the WAE wheel, making interpretation of the reflectance data problematic. If electrostatic charging is the mechanism for dust attraction, this indicates that the Martian dust has a size somewhat smaller than 40 microns in diameter. The WAE experiment has detected electrostatic charging in the Martian environment for the first time; however, under conditions when the wheel is relatively clean of Martian dust, flight data now indicate that abrasion has also been detected. Crude limits so far place the hardness of the Martian dust at harder than aluminum but softer than nickel, and place the grain size at somewhat smaller than 40 microns.