Affecting Factors of Foreign Direct Investment: Export and Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development in Human Capital Concept (a Study in Indonesia Period 2009-2016)

This study attempts to relate the linkage between economic growth, foreign direct investment (FDI), and between export and gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) in representing human capital. The comparison based on the data of the economy activities in Asia and Indonesia is used to see further a more wide evidence, perpective and the exact interpretation of the test result. This study is using multiple regression analysis to find evidence to prove the hyphothesis with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) techniques. The data is focusing to the relation of FDI, export and GERD variables in particular and including supportive reviews and evidence. The result of this study is expected to have the practical implementation to the economy and human capital enhancement activities. Export as subtitution of productivity and GERD as subtitution of science and technological progress in Indonesia explained in human capital concept

Principals’ Definition and Identification Of Critical Thinking In Teacher Practices

Principals are teacher evaluators and, therefore, need a clear definition and identification of critical thinking in teacher practices to increase their impact on teacher effectiveness and student critical thinking outcomes. Beyond teacher evaluations, principals are responsible for supporting and developing teachers in their instructional practices (Davis et al., 2005) and for enhancing teachers’ pedagogical skills (Marzano et al., 2011). This instrumental case study explored how 12 principals, who use the Colorado State Model Evaluation System (CSMES) to evaluate critical thinking teacher practices, define critical thinking, and identify critical thinking utilized in teacher practices. Participants were purposefully selected from this Colorado district due to the district strategic action plan that focuses on the traits of a graduate that includes being a critical thinker as one of the top five competencies. Two research questions guided this inquiry: Q1 How do Colorado principals who use the Colorado State Model Evaluation System define critical thinking? Q2 How do Colorado principals who use the Colorado State Model Evaluation System identify the use of critical thinking in teacher practices in the general education classroom? The data collection process included semi-structured interviews that ranged from 15 minutes to 1 hour. Overall, three themes emerged from Research Question Q1. Theme one was critical thinking has many interpretations. Next, theme two was critical thinking includes a wide variety of skills. Lastly, theme three was critical thinking is embedded in education programs. Two themes emerged from Research Question Q2. Theme one was principals identify critical thinking through student engagement; in other words, the level at which students are engaged in student-talk, academic discourse, and critical thinking processes was key to the identification of critical thinking in teacher practices. The second theme in relation to Research Question Q2 was principals identify critical thinking through the teacher’s intentional instructional design of learning. An expanded discussion of the findings, recommendations for practice, policy, and recommendations for further research offer insight unique to this inquiry

Teaching Turkish‐Dutch kindergartners Dutch vocabulary with a social robot:Does the robot's use of Turkish translations benefit children's Dutch vocabulary learning?

Providing first language (L1) translations in L2 vocabulary interventions may be beneficial for L2 vocabulary learning. However, in linguistically diverse L2 classrooms, teachers cannot provide L1 translations to all children. Social robots do offer such opportunities, as they can be programmed to speak any combination of languages. This study investigates whether providing L1 translations in a robot-assisted L2 vocabulary training facilitates children's learning. Participants were Turkish-Dutch kindergartners (n = 67) who were taught six Dutch (L2) words for which they knew the L1 (Turkish), but not the L2 Dutch form. Half of these words were taught by a Turkish-Dutch bilingual robot, alongside their Turkish translations; the other half by a monolingual Dutch robot. Children also completed Dutch and Turkish receptive vocabulary tests. Results of generalized linear regression models indicated better performance in the Dutch-only condition than in the Turkish-Dutch condition. Children with well-developed Turkish and Dutch vocabulary knowledge outperformed children with less well-developed vocabulary knowledge. The majority of children preferred working with the bilingual robot, but children's preference did not affect word learning. Thus, contrary to our prediction, we found no evidence for a facilitating effect of providing L1 translations through a robot on bilingual children's L2 word learning

Energy and Nutrient Intake Monitoring

A passive system to determine the in-flight intake of nutrients is developed. Nonabsorbed markers placed in all foods in proportion to the nutrients selected for study are analyzed by neutron activation analysis. Fecal analysis for each market indicates how much of the nutrients were eaten and apparent digestibility. Results of feasibility tests in rats, mice, and monkeys indicate the diurnal variation of several markers, the transit time for markers in the alimentary tract, the recovery of several markers, and satisfactory use of selected markers to provide indirect measurement of apparent digestibility. Recommendations are provided for human feasibility studies

Olfactory mechanisms of host selection in phytophagous insects

The most challenging tasks for phytophagous insects are the location and selection of mates, food sources, and oviposition sites, all crucial for survival and reproduction. To perform these tasks insects rely largely on their sense of smell (olfaction). I address how the insect olfactory system discriminates between components of complex odor mixtures, modulating behavior and fitness. I have studied modulation of attraction in the moth Spodoptera littoralis and the bark beetle Ips typographus by separation of pheromone (Ph) and anti-attractants, and of Ph components alone. An antagonist reduced male moth attraction towards the female sex Ph, and a blend of non-host volatiles (NHV) reduced attraction of both sexes of I. typographus towards their Ph, insect catches decreased with decreasing odor-source distance. Conversely, increasing distance between Ph components decreased attraction in both insect species. However, moths were more sensitive to small-scale spacing. Reproductive behaviors as well as fecundity and longevity of S. littoralis moths were negatively affected in the presence of volatiles from leaves of non-host plants, Picea abies or Adhatoda vasica. The presence of non-host plants strongly modulated male moths’ behavior, reducing their attraction towards the Ph source in flight assays. Gas chromatography-electroantenno-graphic detection (GC-EAD) by female S. littoralis antennae with headspace volatile collections from P. abies and A. vasica revealed eight active compounds, with seven new actives. Single sensillum recordings (SSR) created a functional-morphological map of 49 olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) functional types in six morphological sensillum types in female S. littoralis. Proximally located OSNs showed a higher sensitivity, shorter latency, and displayed more phasic responses than distally located OSNs of the same class. GC-SSRs with volatiles from a larval host, cotton plants, and the adult nectar source, lilac flowers, revealed 38 active compounds for female OSNs, including 12 new actives. The odor response specificities of four olfactory receptor (OR) genes of S. littoralis were deorphanized by expression in the Empty Neuron System (ENS) of Drosophila melanogaster using SSR and GC-SSR (GC-SSR-ENS). Two of the ORs responded specifically to single odorants, while the other two responded similarly to the same 9 compounds, but dose-response experiments with new compounds, identified by GC-SSR, revealed specific odor-response profiles

Noncognitive Attributes as a Measure for College Admission: Exploring the Relationship Between Cognitive and Noncognitive Factors in First-Year College Student Success

Cognitive factors, such as standardized test scores and high school grade point average, have historically been used to predict college success. Many colleges and universities place great importance on these cognitive factors when making admissions decisions. However, enrollment leaders question the predictive validity of these factors due to recent studies advocating for the use of noncognitive assessments. The purpose of this study was to examine the role that noncognitive attributes have in predicting college student success and whether their predictive power is greater than that of standardized test scores and high school grade point average. This study employed a quantitative methodology using a correlational predictive research design. The study investigated the Student Strengths Inventory (SSI) assessment results on 1,104 first-year students at a mid-sized public regional comprehensive university in the southeast United States. The SSI results were analyzed to determine if the SSI noncognitive subscales (educational commitment, academic engagement, academic self-efficacy, resiliency, social comfort, and campus engagement) predict first-year grade point average and retention better than standardized test scores and high school grade point average. The study’s findings showed that academic self-efficacy, academic engagement, resiliency, campus engagement, high school GPA, and SAT score were statistically significant in predicting first-year GPA. The study’s second finding showed that the only significant predictor of retention was high school GPA. Implications of this study are to quantify the role that noncognitive attributes have in predicting student success and how higher education institutions might assess these variables as part of the admissions process