Foreign language anxiety and fear of negative evaluation in the Greek university classroom

This study aims to investigate the major reported sources provoking language anxiety and fear of negative evaluation in a group of Greek university students. Language performance was taken into consideration in the analysis of the data. The data were submitted to factor analysis and the results indicated that the main stressors include communication apprehension felt toward teachers, peers and native speakers, fear of tests and of speaking in class and also teachers’ questions and corrections. The findings also pointed to a negative correlation among language anxiety, fear of negative evaluation and language performance. Additionally, the results revealed a significant effect for language anxiety and fear of negative evaluation attributable to gender

Decision-Directed Detector For Overlapping PCM/NRZ Signals

A decision-directed (DD) technique for the detection of overlapping PCM/NRZ signals in the presence of white Gaussian noise is investigated. The performance of the DD detector is represented by probability of error PE versus input signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). To examine how much improvement in performance can be achieved with this technique, PE\u27s with and without DD feedback are evaluated in parallel. Further, analytical results are compared with those found by Monte Carlo simulations. The results are shown in good agreement. © 1973, IEEE. All rights reserved

Still Using the Wrong Yardstick: Measuring Quality by the Proxies of Bias, Conformity, and Rumor

It is well overdue to confront the three main ill-advised measurements that perpetuate persistent discrimination in legal academia: bias, conformity, and rumor. When proxies for quality are measured by benchmarks of innuendo, it does a disservice to the legal academy, the individual faculty, the student body, and the legal profession that is shaped by that culture and set of practices. Furthermore, what is valued as noteworthy contributions to service, teaching, and scholarship remains a rigged and biased system of evaluation that is detrimental to the educational process. Finally, conformity to the majority may also operate as a disservice by marginalizing divergent voices in a way that is harmful to academic freedom and the intellectual robustness of the academy. When non-conformity is admirable in raising student awareness or introducing alternative effective models of pedagogy or perspective, it should be rewarded rather than penalized. Yet penalization is too often precisely what happens, and many in legal academia are caught in a perfect storm trifecta of bias, rumor, and the sanctions imposed for non-conformity. The machinery of maligning rumor, once initiated, is difficult to cease or reverse course. How much of one’s reputation lies in the hands of close friends in a close-knit, so-called “old buddy” network, in the criticism of avowed colleagues or students with an axe to grind, or in institutional affiliation is quite disturbing, and even more so when it indelibly shapes decisions of appointment, tenure, promotion, retention, recognition, and pedagogy. Rumor is processed as truth—spread, repeated, perpetuated, and never questioned

Constructing the Exercising Self: Social Media Identity Work and Exercise Behavior

Far too few Americans meet the minimum recommended level of physical activity, an important component of a healthy lifestyle. This dissertation explores the motivational potential of social media as a tool in the development and maintenance of healthy exercise behaviors. The three studies contained herein develop and validate an instrument to measure exercise self-presentation in social media, the SPEQ-SM; use the instrument to assess self-presentation among a sample of exercisers; and explore the relationship between self-presentation, as measured by the instrument, and exercise behavior, using cross-sectional data. Interviews with CrossFit athletes and coaches, along with content analysis of social media profiles and fitness websites, were conducted to determine the types of exercise-related content that individuals generate and consume, as well as their motivations for creating and engaging with such content. The findings of these initial inquiries were leveraged to create surveys, administered online to samples consisting of men and women ages 18-45, most of whom were regular exercisers. Participants answered questions about their social media use, including posting and interacting with fitness-related content; their exercise behavior; their identity as an exerciser; and other psychographic characteristics. The SPEQ-SM was determined to be a good measure of exercise self-presentation in the social media environment, with convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the instrument and its two subscales, impression motivation (IM) and impression construction (IC), adequately demonstrated through correlational and factor analyses. The sentiments, beliefs, and behaviors measured by the SPEQ-SM were found to be prevalent in the sample of exercisers. A small but statistically significant relationship emerged between impression construction and exercise volume, and between impression motivation and exercise intensity, both of which appeared to be mediated by identity. Causal claims cannot be made due to the cross-sectional nature of the data; however, this dissertation lays some initial groundwork for future research into the motivational potential of social media-based presentation of the self as exerciser in order to drive healthy exercise behavior

Mathematical analysis of plasmonic resonances for nanoparticles: the full Maxwell equations

In this paper we use the full Maxwell equations for light propagation in order to analyze plasmonic resonances for nanoparticles. We mathematically define the notion of plasmonic resonance and analyze its shift and broadening with respect to changes in size, shape, and arrangement of the nanoparticles, using the layer potential techniques associated with the full Maxwell equations. We present an effective medium theory for resonant plasmonic systems and derive a condition on the volume fraction under which the Maxwell-Garnett theory is valid at plasmonic resonances

Shared RNA-binding sites for interacting members of the Drosophila ELAV family of neuronal proteins

The product of the Drosophila embryonic lethal abnormal visual system is a conserved protein (ELAV) necessary for normal neuronal differentiation and maintenance. It possesses three RNA-binding domains and is involved in the regulation of RNA metabolism. The long elav 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) is necessary for autoregulation. We used RNA-binding assays and in vitro selection to identify the ELAV best binding site in the elav 3′-UTR. This site resembles ELAV-binding sites identified previously in heterologous targets, both for its nucleotide sequence and its significant affinity for ELAV (K(d) 40 nM). This finding supports our model that elav autoregulation depends upon direct interaction between ELAV and elav RNA. We narrowed down the best binding site to a 20 nt long sequence A(U(5))A(U(3))G(U(2))A(U(6)) in an alternative 3′ exon. We propose and test a model in which the regulated use of this alternative 3′ exon is involved in normal elav regulation. Found in NEurons (FNE), another neuronal RNA-binding protein paralogous to ELAV, also binds this site. These observations provide a molecular basis for the in vivo interactions reported previously between elav and fne

Foreign language anxiety among Japanese language learners in IIUM Pagoh

This quantitative research investigated the level of foreign language anxiety (FLA) between different genders of Japanese foreign language learners in the higher education context in Malaysia considering that studies specifically focusing on gender differences in the foreign language anxiety among Japanese language learners is not actively explored in Malaysia. The three factors of foreign language anxiety which are communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety are the foundation of this study. The overall sample of this study consisted of 40 students who had taken the Japanese language course offered in a Malaysian higher education institution. The mean scores of the female and male learners were compared to determine if there was a great difference between male and female students in their level of foreign language anxiety based on the three factors. An independent sample t-test was also used to investigate if there were statistically significant differences between the three factors in relation to gender. The findings indicated that there were differences between male and female Japanese language learners in their level of foreign language anxiety for the factors of communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety. However, the findings revealed that the differences were not statistically significant and that there was not a great difference for each of the factors between male and female students. The results of the study also revealed that all the respondents regardless of different genders had a moderate level of foreign language anxiety for all the factors which indicated that they were slightly anxiou

Estudios de factibilidad para la creación de una empresa productora y comercializadora de yogurt y queso PROLACVAR ubicada en la parroquia de Huachi Chico, barrio La Victoria, provincia de Tungurahua.

En la presente investigación se realizaron Estudios de Factibilidad para la Creación de una Empresa Productora y Comercializadora de Yogurt y Queso, en la Parroquia de Huachi Chico, Barrio La Victoria, Provincia de Tungurahua. A través del estudio de mercado, estudio técnico, estudio económico, evaluación económica e impacto ambiental, se ha determinado la factibilidad para la creación de la empresa. Por lo que el proyecto investigativo se considera viable por cuanto se cuenta con los recursos económicos necesarios para la fabricación, y el personal técnicamente capacitado. Se recomienda tomar en cuenta esta investigación, para crear esta empresa, por ser una fuente de empleo para la población e ingresos para los accionistas, al tratarse de productos de primera necesidadThe research project is a feasibility study in order to star a business to produce and market yogurt and cheese in La Victoria neighborhood, Huachi parish, Ambato city, Tungurahua province. From the market analysis, technical a economic studies, economic evaluation and environmental impact; the feasibility to star a business has been determined. Due to the existence of the necessary economic resources needed for the production and the staff is technically trained; the project is considered feasible. The author recommends to take into account this research in order to star this staple-food business since, it is a source of the employment for the population and a source of income for the shareholders

Estudio de prefactibilidad para la construcción de unas salas cinematográficas en el municipio de Boaco

Presenta un estudio de prefactibilidad para la construcción de unas salas cinematográficas en el municipio de Boaco. Muestra un estudio de mercado, estudio técnico, estudio financiero y una evaluación financiera que incluye el análisis de sensibilidad que sirva de base para determinar la viabilidad financiera del proyecto