cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF BANKING REFORMS ON THE SOUNDNESS OF NIGERIAN BANKING SYSTEM AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE BANKING INDUSTRY TO THE NIGERIA ECONOMY
Creators: name: Seybold Report Journal
Publisher: name: Seybold Report Journal
Year: 2024
Subjects: Banking Reforms; commercial banks' performance;NigeriaEconomy Growth; Credits; private sector lending.

description: Abstract

This study looked at how banking reforms affected Nigeria's economic growth. The banking industry is one of Nigeria's most heavily regulated industries. It contributes significantly to the country's economic progress. The nature of  growth and the system's efficiency both have an impact on economic growth.  Data for the study were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria's Statistical Bulletins, National Bureau of Statistics publications, and Deposit Money Bank annual reports. Methodology: Time Serial Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Several relapses were used in the study. The data show that bank reform boosts economic growth in Nigeria.  Results: Business banks' presentation influences monetary development utilizing information from Nigeria. Also, Bank Credit exerts positive and significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria.    Recommendation: The monetary authorities should constantly examine the Minimum Capital Base of banks when implementing banking reforms because it has the potential to stimulate Nigerian economic growth. He also proposed that credit to the private sector be guided to ensure proper implementation. According to the studies, credits to the private sector should be targeted at need groups in order to have an impact on the economy.  

 Keywords: Banking Reforms; commercial banks’ performance;NigeriaEconomy Growth; Credits; private sector lending.
Searching for Odderon in Central Exclusive Processes at the LHC
Creators: name: Lebiedowicz, Piotr
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: There seem to be recently an evidence for $C = -1$ odderon exchange in proton-proton elastic scattering at high energies. Here we discuss three different central-exclusive-production processes $pp \to pp (ϕ\to K^{+}K^{-})$, $pp \to pp (ϕ\to μ^{+}μ^{-})$, and $pp \to pp ϕϕ\to pp K^{+}K^{-}K^{+}K^{-}$, as a possible source of information for soft odderon exchange. The theoretical results are calculated within the tensor-pomeron and vector-odderon model for soft reactions. We include absorptive corrections at the amplitude level. To describe the low-energy data measured in the past by the WA102 collaboration we consider also subleading processes with reggeized vector-meson exchanges and reggeons. We discuss possible evidences for odderon exchange at the low energies and try to make predictions at the LHC.
description: 12 pages, 8 figures, a talk presented at the XXVI Cracow EPIPHANY Conference, LHC Physics: Standard Model and Beyond, 7-10 January 2020
Ab initio Molecular Dynamics Study of Glycine Intramolecular Proton Transfer in Water
Creators: name: Leung, Kevin
name: Rempe, Susan B.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We use ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to quantify structural and thermodynamic properties of a model proton transfer reaction that converts a neutral glycine molecule, stable in the gas phase, to the zwitterion that predominates in aqueous solution. We compute the potential of mean force associated with the direct intramolecular proton transfer event in glycine. Structural analyses show that the average hydration number Nw of glycine is not constant along the reaction coordinate, but rather progresses from Nw=5 in the neutral molecule to Nw=8 for the zwitterion. We report the free energy difference between the neutral and charged glycine molecules, and the free energy barrier to proton transfer. Finally, we identify approximations inherent in our method and estimate corresponding corrections to our reported thermodynamic predictions.
description: 14 pages, 10 figures, to appear in J. Chem. Phys
Modeling unconventional superconductivity at the crossover between strong and weak electronic interactions
Creators: name: Christensen, Morten H.
name: Wang, Xiaoyu
name: Schattner, Yoni
name: Berg, Erez
name: Fernandes, Rafael M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: High-temperature superconductivity emerges in a host of different quantum materials, often in a region of the phase diagram where the electronic kinetic energy is comparable in magnitude with the electron-electron Coulomb repulsion. Describing such an intermediate-coupling regime has proven challenging, as standard perturbative approaches are inapplicable. Hence, it is of enormous interest to find models that are amenable to be solved using exact methods. While important advances have been made in elucidating the properties of one such minimal model -- the Hubbard model -- via numerical simulations, the infamous fermionic sign-problem significantly limits the accessible parameter space. Here, we employ Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods to solve a multi-band version of the Hubbard model that does not suffer from the sign-problem and in which only repulsive interband interactions are present. In contrast to previous sign-problem-free QMC studies, this model does not have pre-existing fine-tuned magnetic order, and thus treats superconducting, magnetic, and charge degrees of freedom on an equal footing. We find that, as the electron-electron repulsion increases, a dome of antiferromagnetic order emerges in the intermediate-coupling regime, accompanied by a metal-to-insulator crossover line. Superconductivity is found only near the antiferromagnetic quantum phase transition located on the metallic side of the magnetic dome. Across the antiferromagnetic quantum phase transition we find a change in the dynamical character of the magnetic fluctuations, from slow and overdamped in the metallic side to fast and propagating in the insulating side. Our findings shed new light on the intertwining between superconductivity, magnetism, and charge correlations in quantum materials.
description: 6 pages + 9 page supplementary. Published version
title: Digital literacy practices of Saudi Female university students
Creators: name: Albawardi, Areej Hammad
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2018

description: This study examines the way young Saudi women use language and other communicative resources in their digitally mediated interactions. It is motivated by the debate in Saudi Arabia on the impact of digital media on the way people use language, especially Arabic, the way they manage their social relationships, and the way they enact their cultural identities. The study was conducted at a women’s university in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. A hundred and three participants were asked to complete a questionnaire on their online language use. Forty-seven of those participants were asked to keep a detailed literacy log of their digital practices over a period of four days and to submit samples of their interactions for closer analysis. The theoretical framework used to analyze the data combines concepts from new literacy studies (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Gee & Hayes, 2010; Street, 2003), multimodal discourse analysis (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006; Jewitt, Bezemer, & O'Halloran, 2016), and mediated discourse analysis (Jones & Norris, 2005; Scollon, 2001). The framework sees people’s language use in terms of social practices and explores how those practices are affected by the different media people use to communicate, and how mediated communication is linked to broader issues of culture and identity. The analysis reveals that the participants’ digital practices are multimodal and multilingual, and the choices they make about the codes and modes they use take place in the context of a complex nexus of practice, involving the interaction among (i) the affordances and constrains of the different technologies they use, (ii) the demands of their social relationships, and (iii) their individual experiences and socialization into different ways of communicating. By appropriating different codes and modes in different ways in social media, young Saudi women are able to strategically situate themselves in different cultural ‘worlds’, maintaining traditional identities and cultural practices while at the same time enacting new kinds of identities. The study contributes to the debate on the effect of digital media on language use by adopting a sociocultural approach which links language use to social practices, social relationships and social identities.
Additional file 1 of Analysis of structural variants in four African cichlids highlights an association with developmental and immune related genes
Creators: name: Penso-Dolfin, Luca
name: Man, Angela
name: Tarang Mehta
name: Haerty, Wilfried
name: Palma, Federica Di
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Additional file 1: Supplementary Figure S1. Schematic of the SV detection pipeline. Supplementary Figure S2. Association of different enriched GO terms across the phylogenetic tree, considering the genes found inside inverted regions (up to 5 Mb). For each node, selected GO terms are shown for the inversion events specific to (and conserved across) the M.zebra + P.nyererei lineage (top right), M.zebra + P.nyererei + H.burtoni lineage (top-centre) and conserved across all species (bottom left). Numbers on the top of each bar indicate the number of observed genes. Supplementary Figure S3. Association of different enriched GO terms across the phylogenetic tree, considering the genes found inside duplicated regions. For each node, selected GO terms are shown for the duplication events specific to (and conserved across) the M.zebra + P.nyererei lineage (top right), the M.zebra + P.nyererei + H.burtoni lineage (top-centre) and conserved across all four species (bottom left). Numbers on the top of each bar indicate the number of observed genes. Supplementary Figure S4. A) Experimental design for the PCR validation of deletion events. Arrows represent primer sequences mapped to the genomic sequence (in blue and red). Primer couple AF1 + AR1 is used to test for the presence or absence of the deletion event (expected to differ by about N bp in the amplification product). Primer couples BF1 + BR1 and CF1 + CR1 are used as a control (expected product:300-400 bp). B-E gel images of PCR run 1, used for the validation of 10 deletion events. See Fig. 7 for a detailed explanation of the figure labels. Supplementary Figure S5. Venn diagram depicting the intersection between filtered SV calls of all three tools (Breakdancer, Delly and Pindel). In the case of insertions, no intersection was found between Breakdancer and the other two tools.
Self-enforcing Agreements on Water Allocation
Creators: name: Ansink, Erik
name: Ansink, Erik
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Environmental Economics and Policy
subject: Self-Enforcing Agreement
subject: Repeated Extensive-Form Game
subject: Water Allocation
subject: Renegotiation-Proofness

description: Many water allocation agreements in transboundary river basins are inherently unstable. Due to stochastic river flow, agreements may be broken in case of drought. The objective of this paper is to analyse whether water allocation agreements can be self-enforcing. An agreement is modelled as the outcome of bargaining game on river water allocation. Given this agreement, the bargaining game is followed by a repeated extensive-form game in which countries decide whether or not to comply with the agreement. I assess under what conditions such agreements are self-enforcing, given stochastic river flow. The results show that, for sufficiently low discounting, every efficient agreement can be sustained in subgame perfect equilibrium. Requiring renegotiation-proofness may shrink the set of possible agreements to a unique self-enforcing agreement. The solution induced by this particular agreement implements the “downstream incremental distribution”, an axiomatic solution to water allocation that assigns all gains from cooperation to downstream countries.
title: The perceptions of classroom teachers, heads of department and head teachers of the effectiveness of recent policy reforms in middle schools in Kuwait (2005-2015)
Creators: name: Alazemi, Jassim
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2018

description: This study aims to investigate the perceptions of classroom teachers, heads of department and head teachers of the effectiveness of recent reforms of education policy implemented in middle schools in a school district in Kuwait between 2005 and 2015. It focuses on three aspects of the reforms: teachers' professional development, curriculum design and ICT implementation in schools. This project is of particular importance, as it contributes to an understanding of the various challenges faced by schools in implementing reforms and of how practitioners cope with such challenges when translating the policies into practice. This research took a mixed methods approach, using quantitative questionnaires and qualitative interviews to collect data from five case study schools. It was found that implementation of the reforms had little or no effect on schools. The results indicate that policymakers lacked clarity of purpose, had not involved teachers and schools in the change process or in decision making when developing the curriculum and had not provided adequate support to schools. Moreover, there was no effective framework for planned and continuous professional development for teachers, nor an appropriate ICT infrastructure. Some of the factors that participants considered to have affected implementation of the reforms were lack of autonomy, external intervention and increased dissatisfaction with the policymakers, who were perceived as having disempowered schools and their stakeholders by exercising control too tightly and as having adopted strategies that did not meet the needs of the schools. Participants suggested that improved communication and coordination were necessary for effective implementation of the reforms. A significant finding is that schools were taking their own initiatives for providing teachers with opportunities for professional development.
Mapping the Evolution of "Clusters": A Meta-analysis
Creators: name: Maggioni, Mario A.
name: Gambarotto, Francesca
name: Uberti, Teodora Erika
name: Maggioni, Mario A.
name: Gambarotto, Francesca
name: Uberti, Teodora Erika
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Community/Rural/Urban Development
subject: Cluster
subject: Life-Cycle
subject: Cluster Literature
subject: Textual Analysis
subject: Agglomeration
subject: Co-Authorship

description: This paper presents a meta-analysis of the “cluster literature” contained in scientific journals from 1969 to 2007. Thanks to an original database we study the evolution of a stream of literature which focuses on a research object which is both a theoretical puzzle and an empirical widespread evidence. We identify different growth stages, from take-off to development and maturity. We test the existence of a life-cycle within the authorships and we discover the existence of a substitutability relation between different collaborative behaviours. We study the relationships between a “spatial” and an “industrial” approach within the textual corpus of cluster literature and we show the existence of a “predatory” interaction. We detect the relevance of clustering behaviours in the location of authors working on clusters and in measuring the influence of geographical distance in co-authorship. We measure the extent of a convergence process of the vocabulary of scientists working on clusters.
Projected gradient descent for non-convex sparse spike estimation
Creators: name: Traonmilin, Yann
name: Aujol, Jean-François
name: Leclaire, Arthur
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Signal Processing (eess.SP)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: We propose a new algorithm for sparse spike estimation from Fourier measurements. Based on theoretical results on non-convex optimization techniques for off-the-grid sparse spike estimation, we present a projected gradient descent algorithm coupled with a spectral initialization procedure. Our algorithm permits to estimate the positions of large numbers of Diracs in 2d from random Fourier measurements. We present, along with the algorithm, theoretical qualitative insights explaining the success of our algorithm. This opens a new direction for practical off-the-grid spike estimation with theoretical guarantees in imaging applications.
The strangeness form factors of the proton
Creators: name: Riska, D. O.
name: Zou, B. S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The present empirical information on the strangeness form factors indicates that the corresponding $uuds\bar s$ component in the proton is such that the $uuds$ subsystem has the flavor spin symmetry $[4]_{FS}[22]_F[22]_S$ and mixed orbital symmetry $[31]_X$. This $uuds\bar s$ configuration leads to the empirical signs of all the form factors $G_E^s$, $G_M^s$ and $G_A^s$. An analysis with simple quark model wave functions for the preferred configuration shows that the qualitative features of the empirical strangeness form factors may be described with a $\sim$ 15% admixture of $uuds\bar s$ with a compact wave function in the proton. Transition matrix elements between the $uud$ and the $uuds\bar s$ components give significant contributions.
COMPREHENSION OF JOKES IN B2-LEVEL ENGLISH TO FOSTER CRITICAL CULTURAL AWARENESS IN THE ENGLISH CLASS
Creators: name: Ulzhan, S.
Publisher: name: Sciences of Europe
Year: 2021
Subjects: joke
intercultural competence
listening comprehension
intensive reading.

description: Jokes can often be used as an effective communication strategy in intercultural situations. Considering a thorough understanding of what sort of jokes are appropriate for pedagogical purposes in ELT classes and specific situations in authentic communication is essential for a teacher. This study aims to describe some principles of selection, preparation and inclusion of jokes of different types for various communicative functions to develop EFL learners’ critical cultural awareness. Naturally, there are opportunities and risks in bringing jokes to the English class, as there has to be an element of ambiguity at a certain degree that challenges the comprehension but promotes the ‘fun’ that emerges out of the same ambiguity. Jokes in students’ first language incorporating intensive cultural codes may be rather difficult to translate into the target language, and the language teacher has to make quick decisions and strategies to employ a pragmatic competence. The findings may be useful to help develop skills of distinguishing jokes for their usefulness in the classroom discourse, particularly when teaching listening and reading comprehension skills in English.
Additional file 1 of Bevacizumab dose adjustment to improve clinical outcomes of glioblastoma
Creators: name: N. García-Romero
name: I. Palacín-Aliana
name: R. Madurga
name: J. Carrión-Navarro
name: S. Esteban-Rubio
name: B. Jiménez
name: A. Collazo
name: F. Pérez-Rodríguez
name: A. Ortiz De Mendivil
name: C. Fernández-Carballal
name: S. García-Duque
name: J. Diamantopoulos-Fernández
name: C. Belda-Iniesta
name: R. Prat-Acín
name: P. Sánchez-Gómez
name: E. Calvo
name: Ayuso-Sacido, A.
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Cancer

description: Additional file 1:. Supplementary tables, figures, and methods.
title: Autism in Saudi Arabia: perspectives of parents and educational professionals
Creators: name: Alarfaj, Manar
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2018

description: This study aimed to investigate the views of parents and educational professionals regarding the awareness of and the school provision for children with autism in Saudi Arabia. This study was also conducted to fill the gap in the literature concerning the awareness of and school provision for children with autism. A mixed method was utilised in this study as data was collected both qualitatively and quantitatively. For the qualitative approach, semistructured interviews were conducted with a total of 15 participants, specifically 10 parents and 5 senior educators. Furthermore, data was collected online from a Twitter account, where a total of 50 tweets that were relevant to the study were retrieved for research purposes. The qualitative data was analysed using coding themes. On the other hand, quantitative data was collected using a survey that was handed out to 242 educational professionals. This data was analysed using the SPSS statistical package. The results confirm that a lack of awareness exists regarding children with autism in Saudi Arabia. Participants reported that this is a result of a variety of barriers that should be overcome in order to integrate children with autism in mainstream Saudi schools. These barriers include late or incorrect ASD diagnosis, lack of expertise in autism, lack of experience among mainstream schoolteachers and a lack of training programme for teachers and parents alike. It is evident from the study findings that much can be done to improve the lives of ASD children and provide them with proper diagnostic services and school provision. Perhaps the most important finding of this study concerns improving societal awareness of children with autism, which was confirmed by both parents and educational professionals. In addition to this investigation, recommendations for future research were identified, such as increasing sample sizes or directly asking children with autism about their views.
Toward Understanding Environmental Effects in SDSS Clusters
Creators: name: Einasto, J.
name: Tago, E.
name: Einasto, M.
name: Saar, E.
name: Suhhonenko, I.
name: Hein"am"aki, P.
name: Huetsi, G.
name: Tucker, D. L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We find clusters and superclusters of galaxies using the Data Release 1 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We determine the luminosity function of clusters and find that clusters in a high-density environment have a luminosity a factor of ~5 higher than in a low-density environment. We also study clusters and superclusters in numerical simulations. Simulated clusters in a high-density environment are also more massive than those in a low-density environment. Comparison of the density distribution at various epochs in simulations shows that in large low-density regions (voids) dynamical evolution is very slow and stops at an early epoch. In contrast, in large regions of higher density (superclusters) dynamical evolution starts early and continues until the present; here particles cluster early, and by merging of smaller groups very rich systems of galaxies form.
description: 12 pages, 8 figures, submitted for Astronomy and Astrophysics
title: Challenges and opportunities facing emerging real estate markets: an empirical examination of the Kuwait residential real estate market
Creators: name: Alfalah, Abdullah Adel
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2018

description: This thesis examines emerging real estate markets using Kuwait as an example. It is structured as a combination of three self-contained papers that complement each other. The first paper overcomes data limitations by using the limited existing data and different methodologies to improve the constructed indices. Because of data limitations, parametric methods could not be used. Instead, the central tendency method, with improvements, was applied and produced satisfactory indices. Approaches to improve performance included using the mean and median as central tendency, the type of property, monthly and quarterly observations, different weighting techniques, subsamples versus full samples, and stratification based on cities versus stratification based on long-term mean prices. As a result, 74 indices were constructed and their performance compared using out-of-sample forecasting methods. This paper overcame data limitations and constructed the first housing indices for Kuwait. This paper constructed the first housing indices for Kuwait. The second paper uses the indices constructed in the first paper to evaluate and study influences on the dynamics of the Kuwaiti housing market using Error Correction Model. The housing market seems highly driven by the shortage of housing supply, strong housing demand, the price of oil, and signs from investors and speculators. Furthermore, the market seems to be sensitive to tax regulations and terrorist events, but less sensitive to local and regional political events. The third paper considers an alternative source of funding for real estate development, called sukuk. Using the Dynamic Conditional CorrelationGeneralised Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (DCC-GARCH) model to test the correlation between sukuk and bonds, it has been found that sukuk are highly similar to bonds and are not expected to provide much of a diversification advantage if included in a portfolio with other assets. Furthermore, their relationship to bonds increases in volatile times. Also found that different types of sukuk perform similarly
DIGITALIZATION IN THE VALUES SYSTEM OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: NATIONAL SECURITY ASPECT
Creators: name: Bondarchuk, P.
Publisher: name: Sciences of Europe
Year: 2021
Subjects: public administration in the field of national security
values
value-oriented public administration
digitalization

description: The urgency of the scientific task of improving public governance of national security in the context of overcoming the challenges associated with the pandemic and the trends of accelerated digitalization are underlined. The analysis of the challenges facing public administration in the field of national security are conducted. The necessity of developing approaches of public administration based on the value approach is proved. Prerequisites for the formation of a value-oriented management of national security management are identified. Identified value system. New tasks of public administration in the field of national security within the developed approach are defined. The creation of a working group aimed at the implementation of value-oriented management of national security with the use of digitalization is substantiated, the structure and main functions of the members of the working group are proposed. It is concluded that the proposed developments have an impact on the value of flexible public security management, which can be embodied in the rapid and effective response to new challenges, including those related to pandemics.
Experimental Full-field Analysis of Size Effects in Miniaturized Cellular Elastomeric Metamaterials
Creators: name: Maraghechi, S.
name: Hoefnagels, J. P. M.
name: Peerlings, R. H. J.
name: Rokoš, O.
name: Geers, M. G. D.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: Applied Physics (physics.app-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Cellular elastomeric metamaterials are interesting for various applications, e.g. soft robotics, as they may exhibit multiple microstructural pattern transformations, each with its characteristic mechanical behavior. Numerical literature studies revealed that pattern formation is restricted in (thick) boundary layers causing significant mechanical size effects. This paper aims to experimentally validate these findings on miniaturized specimens, relevant for real applications, and to investigate the effect of increased geometrical and material imperfections resulting from specimen miniaturization. To this end, miniaturized cellular metamaterial specimens are manufactured with different scale ratios, subjected to in-situ micro-compression tests combined with digital image correlation yielding full-field kinematics, and compared to complementary numerical simulations. The specimens' global behavior agrees well with the numerical predictions, in terms of pre-buckling stiffness, buckling strain and post-buckling stress. Their local behavior, i.e. pattern transformation and boundary layer formation, is also consistent between experiments and simulations. Comparison of these results with idealized numerical studies from literature reveals the influence of the boundary conditions in real cellular metamaterial applications, e.g. lateral confinement, on the mechanical response in terms of size effects and boundary layer formation.
description: 20 pages, 6 figures, Materials & Design, 11 May 2020
Large magnetoresistance in low temperature metallic region of manganite compounds (La0.7-2xEux)(Ca0.3Srx)MnO3 (0.05
Creators: name: Rana, D. S.
name: Thaker, C. M.
name: Mavani, K. R.
name: Kuberkar, D. G.
name: Malik, S. K.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Magnetoresistance (MR) and magnetization (d.c and a.c) measurements have been carried out on the manganites, (La0.7-2xEux)(Ca0.3Srx)MnO3 (0.05
description: Total 10 pages of text and figures
title: Intentional and incidental learning of vocabulary among L1 Arabic learners of English using word cards and graded readers
Creators: name: Alghamdi, Sally Abdullah
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2023

description: Intentional learning can result in higher retention rates than incidental learning (Elgort, 2011; Horst, Cobb, & Nicolae, 2005; Hulstijn, 2001; Laufer, 2005; Nation, 2013; Prince, 1996). The current study explored the proportion of target words learned by L1 Arabic learners of English intentionally by using word cards and compared it with the proportion of the same target words learned incidentally by participants using graded readers and a control group who received no vocabulary guidance. Word cards techniques have the intentional learning advantages and are more effective than other vocabulary-learning techniques because of their distinctive characteristics such as learning the form and meaning of many vocabulary items in a short time (Hung, 2015; Mondria, 2007; Mondria & Mondria-De Vries, 1994; Nakata, 2008; Nation, 2001; Waring, 2004). Conversely, graded readers, despite the limited number of vocabulary items that can be retained through their use, provide an effective way to learn vocabulary (Day, Omura, & Hiramatsu, 1991; Dupuy & Krashen, 1993; Horst, Cobb, & Meara, 1998; Mason & Krashen, 1997; Pitts, White, & Krashen, 1989). Very few studies have investigated the characteristics of vocabulary retention one to two weeks after the experimental phase, in order to measure longer-term retention or ‘long-term’ recall of vocabulary (Godwin- Jones, 2010; Pellicer-Sánchez & Schmitt 2010). The current study investigated the effect of spaced repetition techniques, on the retention of the forms and meanings of forty-five low frequency target words (i.e. 6000 onwards according to British National Corpus (BNC)) immediately after each learning session and after a two-week delay. To evaluate learners’ vocabulary knowledge, it is important to use different vocabulary measures to investigate the different dimensions and degrees of knowing a word (Daller, Milton, & Treffers-Daller, 2007; Hulstijn, 2010; Milton, 2009; Nation, 2013; Schmitt, 2010). Three tests administrated during the learning phase and a delayed post-test were used to measure vocabulary receptive knowledge by using a Lexical Decision Task (LDT), and productive vocabulary knowledge using a gap-fill test. The overall performance of the word card group was superior to the graded readers and control group in the three testing phases and in the post-test.
Thermodynamics of DNA-RNA renaturation
Creators: name: Rozikov, U. A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 92D20, 82B20, 60J10

description: We consider a new model which consists of a DNA together with a RNA. Here we assume that DNA is from a mammal or bird but RNA comes from a virus. To study thermodynamic properties of this model we use methods of statistical mechanics, namely, the theory of Gibbs measures. We use these measures to describe phases (states) of the DNA-RNA system. Using a Markov chain (corresponding to Gibbs measure) we give conditions (on temperature) of DNA-RNA renaturation.
description: 11 pages. 3 figures
All-or-none switching of transcriptional activity on single DNA molecules caused by a discrete conformational transition
Creators: name: Yamada, Ayako
name: Kubo, Koji
name: Nakai, Tonau
name: Tsumoto, Kanta
name: Yoshikawa, Kenichi
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Biomolecules (q-bio.BM)
subject: Subcellular Processes (q-bio.SC)
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Recently, it has been confirmed that long duplex DNA molecules with sizes larger than several tens of kilo-base pairs (kbp), exhibit a discrete conformational transition from an elongated coil state to a compact globule state upon the addition of various kinds of chemical species that usually induce DNA condensation. In this study, we performed a single-molecule observation on a large DNA, Lambda ZAP II DNA (ca. 41 kbp), in a solution containing RNA polymerase and substrates along with spermine, a tetravalent cation, at different concentrations, by use of fluorescence staining of both DNA and RNA. We found that transcription, or RNA production, is completely inhibited in the compact state, but is actively performed in the unfolded coil state. Such an all-or-none effect on transcriptional activity induced by the discrete conformational transition of single DNA molecules is discussed in relation to the mechanism of the regulation of large-scale genetic activity.
description: 14 pages, 2 figures
Morphology and biomechanical characteristics of the proximal femur after impaction allografting
Creators: name: Frei, Hanspeter
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2009

description: For millions of patients world-wide, primary total hip replacement (THR) is an effective way to improve quality of life. Failed THRs are often associated with extensive bone loss which makes the revision difficult. An established technique uses impacted morsellized allograft bone to reconstruct the proximal femur and ensure a rigid accommodation of the cemented revision component. There remains a fundamental lack of understanding of the impaction allografting procedure and its complications, particularly with its morphology and biomechanical characteristics. The objectives of this thesis were to i) describe the morphology after impaction allografting in the femur, ii) incorporate a computer simulation that should help the orthopaedic surgeon to control the morphology during surgery, iii) determine how the morphology affects the immediate strength of the host bone interface, and iv) develop an animal model to investigate the changes in composite morphology and strength with postoperative healing. Around the middle third of the stem, virtually the entire femoral canal was filled with cement, thereby forming a cement-allograft composite, whereas in other locations a pure allograft-host bone interface was found. The computer simulation suggested that cement penetration could be controlled by varying graft impaction and limiting cement volume injection. Cement penetration up to the endosteal surface significantly enhanced the host bone interface strength. In the animal study, the strength of the composite-host bone interface increased significantly at 3 weeks and was higher than the pure allograft construct. In contrast to the composite, the pure allograft construct failed at the cement-allograft interface. At 6 weeks the interface strength of the composite decreased, presumably due to cortical cancellation caused by damaged endosteal circulation. Cement penetration to the endosteal surface appears to be important for immediate postoperative clinical stability. However, the presence of the cement does not allow reconstitution of the host bone stock. Cortical cancellisation and medullary canal widening caused by a damaged endosteal circulation may be responsible for clinically unstable implants postoperatively. These findings suggest that the optimal reconstruction provide clinical stability without the , cement reaching the endosteal surface, thereby enabling revascularisation and subsequent bone remodelling.
Collective Oscillations of Strongly Correlated One-Dimensional Bosons on a Lattice
Creators: name: Rigol, M.
name: Rousseau, V.
name: Scalettar, R. T.
name: Singh, R. R. P.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other)
subject: Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the dipole oscillations of strongly correlated 1D bosons, in the hard-core limit, on a lattice, by an exact numerical approach. We show that far from the regime where a Mott insulator appears in the system, damping is always present and increases for larger initial displacements of the trap, causing dramatic changes in the momentum distribution, $n_k$. When a Mott insulator sets in the middle of the trap, the center of mass barely moves after an initial displacement, and $n_k$ remains very similar to the one in the ground state. We also study changes introduced by the damping in the natural orbital occupations, and the revival of the center of mass oscillations after long times.
description: 4 pages, 5 figures, published version
Declining Orange Consumption in Japan: Generational Changes or Something Else?
Creators: name: Mori, Hiroshi
name: Clason, Dennis L.
name: Ishibashi, Kimiko
name: Gorman, William D.
name: Dyck, John H.
name: Mori, Hiroshi
name: Clason, Dennis L.
name: Ishibashi, Kimiko
name: Gorman, William D.
name: Dyck, John H.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Agricultural and Food Policy
subject: Consumer/Household Economics
subject: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety
subject: Institutional and Behavioral Economics
subject: Japan
subject: oranges
subject: consumption
subject: age/period/cohort analysis

description: Japan is a leading market for U.S. oranges. Since 1995, orange consumption in Japan has declined. This report summarizes an analysis of household survey data to assess various factors that may be related to the decline. Consumption of oranges in Japan differs markedly across generations, with younger generations (cohorts) eating fewer oranges than older generations. However, within generations, as individuals in Japan grow older, they eat more oranges. On balance, the effects on consumption associated with aging and birth cohort membership are mostly offsetting. Orange prices affect consumption levels, but household income does not. Even after the analysis accounts for price and demographic variables, a strong downward trend is evident in orange consumption in Japan. Results suggest that orange consumption could decline even more in the future.
E-JUSTICE IN UKRAINE AND THE WORLD
Creators: name: Vdovina, O.
name: Derevianko, L.
Publisher: name: Sciences of Europe
Year: 2021
Subjects: electronic court
information technologies
court
judicial system

description: Ukraine, as well as the whole world, promptly moves in the direction of creation of new information society forward, one of signs of which is the translation of the maximum number of communications of usual activity of the person in electronic, information, a form. One of such spheres are legal proceedings. The purpose of article is the question E-justice research (electronic legal proceedings) and practice of his realization in the conditions of information society in the USA and the countries of Europe [1].
The extreme colliding-wind system Apep: resolved imagery of the central binary and dust plume in the infrared
Creators: name: Han, Y.
name: Tuthill, P. G.
name: Lau, R. M.
name: Soulain, A.
name: Callingham, J. R.
name: Williams, P. M.
name: Crowther, P. A.
name: Pope, B. J. S.
name: Marcote, B.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The recent discovery of a spectacular dust plume in the system 2XMM J160050.7-514245 (referred to as "Apep") suggested a physical origin in a colliding-wind binary by way of the "Pinwheel" mechanism. Observational data pointed to a hierarchical triple-star system, however several extreme and unexpected physical properties seem to defy the established physics of such objects. Most notably, a stark discrepancy was found in the observed outflow speed of the gas as measured spectroscopically in the line-of-sight direction compared to the proper motion expansion of the dust in the sky plane. This enigmatic behaviour arises at the wind base within the central Wolf-Rayet binary: a system that has so far remained spatially unresolved. Here we present an updated proper motion study deriving the expansion speed of Apep's dust plume over a two-year baseline that is four times slower than the spectroscopic wind speed, confirming and strengthening the previous finding. We also present the results from high-angular-resolution near-infrared imaging studies of the heart of the system, revealing a close binary with properties matching a Wolf-Rayet colliding-wind system. Based on these new observational constraints, an improved geometric model is presented yielding a close match to the data, constraining the orbital parameters of the Wolf-Rayet binary and lending further support to the anisotropic wind model.
description: This article has been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 17 pages, 9 figures, 6 tables
Friction Reduction in a Revolute Joint by the Use of Axial High-Frequency Excitation
Creators: name: Keller, Simon
name: Fidlin, Alexander
Publisher: name: NEGI-Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Gestão Industrial
Year: 2023

description: While downscaling gains importance in many technical components, accuracy must increase as well. This is a challenge especially for dry bearings with small tolerances. To suppress friction induced phenomena like stick-slip-motions or break-away-effects, superposed oscillations can be used to specifically influence the friction characteristic. In this context, the present contribution deals with a friction revolute joint with axial high-frequency excitation to reduce friction torque. There is a special focus on the heat generation and its interaction with the system dynamics.
Statistical Mechanics of Self-Avoiding Manifolds (Part II)
Creators: name: Duplantier, Bertrand
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: Probability (math.PR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: We consider a model of a D-dimensional tethered manifold interacting by excluded volume in R^d with a single point. Use of intrinsic distance geometry provides a rigorous definition of the analytic continuation of the perturbative expansion for arbitrary D, 0 < D < 2. Its one-loop renormalizability is first established by direct resummation. A renormalization operation R is then described, which ensures renormalizability to all orders. The similar question of the renormalizability of the self-avoiding manifold (SAM) Edwards model is then considered, first at one-loop, then to all orders. We describe a short-distance multi-local operator product expansion, which extends methods of local field theories to a large class of models with non-local singular interactions. It vindicates the direct renormalization method used earlier in part I of these lectures, as well as the corresponding scaling laws.
description: 32 pages, 9 figures, Second Part and extensive update of Lecture Notes originally given in ``Statistical Mechanics of Membranes and Surfaces'', Fifth Jerusalem Winter School for Theoretical Physics (1987), D. R. Nelson, T. Piran,and S. Weinberg eds
Transport and disassembly of adhesion junctions in the testis
Creators: name: Guttman, Julian Andrew
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2009

description: The cytoskeleton and its associated proteins are involved with numerous cellular activities including intracellular transport, maintenance of cell integrity, and strengthening intercellular junctional attachment. During sperm production, the seminiferous epithelium of the mammalian testis undergoes numerous cyclical changes, which involve cytoskeletal events. This epithelium is composed of the spermatogenic cells and their nurse cells, the Sertoli cells. Intercellular attachment between adjacent Sertoli cells as well as Sertoli cells and the maturing spermatids occurs through specialized actin-rich adhesion junction plaques found within Sertoli cells, termed ectoplasmic specializations. Throughout spermatid maturation, dynamic cytoskeletalrelated processes lead to the transport of Sertoli/spermatid associated ectoplasmic specializations along Sertoli cell microtubules. This is followed by junction disassembly at Sertoli/spermatid regions during sperm release and junction turnover at Sertoli/Sertoli sites to allow the next generation of spermatogenic cells into the adluminal compartment of the epithelium. Studying the mechanisms by which these junction plaques are transported and disassembled will increase our knowledge of the processes occurring during spermatid transport within the seminiferous epithelium and spermatid release. In chapter 2, of this thesis I present the first evidence that a kinesin is associated with ectoplasmic specializations and identify two kinesin isoforms potentially involved in the entrenchment of spermatids within the seminiferous epithelium. In chapter 3, I demonstrate that the actin severing and capping protein, gelsolin, is a component of ectoplasmic specializations and show the first evidence that gelsolin may play a role in actin plaque disassembly. In chapter 4, I show that gelsolin and the small GTPase upstream regulator of gelsolin, Racl , are both present at ectoplasmic specialization locations throughout spermiogenesis. In chapter 5, I demonstrate that ectoplasmic specialization components are present at tubulobulbar complexes and give the first evidence that tubulobulbar complexes are involved in the internalization of ectoplasmic specialization membrane associated components. In chapter 6, I show that the actin disassembly factor, non-muscle cofilin, is found at tubulobulbar complexes and not at ectoplasmic specializations. These findings, united around the theme of adhesion junction transport and disassembly in the testis, significantly increase our understanding of the molecular events occurring during spermatid entrenchment and release in the seminiferous epithelium.