Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toward sustainable ecosystem services from the Aleutian Archipelago

The new research reported in this special issue of Fisheries Oceanography expands our understanding of the Aleutian Archipelago ecosystem. Yet our knowledge remains very limited, while the use of this ecosystem for commercial activities, recreation and other purposes expands. Given this situation, how can we sustain the ecosystem services (food, fuel, fibers as well as spiritual, recreational, educational and other nonmaterial benefits to society) of this region? The region has a mixed history; healthy populations of many species exist, but so do species extinctions (e.g. Steller sea cow, Hydrodamalis gigas) and population depletions, including the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), whiskered auklets (Aethia pygmaea), Pacific ocean perch (Sebastes alutus), and red king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus), associated with human impacts. The solution to our limited knowledge in this poorly studied region is increased funding for ecosystem research, including its responses to climate change and human impacts. Knowledge is not sufficient, however; a change in management approach is also needed. We emphasize the need to maintain a broader set of ecosystem services objectives rather than the traditional narrower focus on commercial fishery yields. To do so, we recommend the development of an integrated ecosystem services management plan for the Aleutian Islands. Such a plan requires that state and federal regulatory agencies
3D Densely Convolutional Networks for Volumetric Segmentation

In the isointense stage, the accurate volumetric image segmentation is a challenging task due to the low contrast between tissues. In this paper, we propose a novel very deep network architecture based on a densely convolutional network for volumetric brain segmentation. The proposed network architecture provides a dense connection between layers that aims to improve the information flow in the network. By concatenating features map of fine and coarse dense blocks, it allows capturing multi-scale contextual information. Experimental results demonstrate significant advantages of the proposed method over existing methods, in terms of both segmentation accuracy and parameter efficiency in MICCAI grand challenge on 6-month infant brain MRI segmentation.
Residência de Medicina de Família e Comunidade: uma estratégia de qualificação

Este artigo mostra os resultados de uma pesquisa sobre a avaliacao do curso de Residencia de Medicina de Familia e Comunidade da Secretaria Municipal de Saude de Fortaleza, uma estrategia de qualificacao para os profissionais do Programa Saude da Familia, com base na opiniao dos alunos/residentes concluintes do segundo ano do curso. O processo avaliativo teve como foco a estrutura e o conteudo das aulas teoricas, e, principalmente, os ganhos obtidos pelos alunos em conhecimentos, habilidades e atitudes, numa perspectiva de correcao de rumos. Utilizou-se uma abordagem qualitativa, na modalidade estudo de caso, e o instrumento de coleta de dados foi um questionario com questoes abertas. Os sujeitos totalizaram 20 alunos/residentes. Para a analise dos dados utilizou-se a tecnica de analise de conteudo, modalidade tematica. Os resultados mostraram que os alunos estavam conseguindo adquirir as principais competencias necessarias a um medico de familia, mas e preciso realizar ajustes em termos de conteudo do programa e das condicoes das unidades de saude, campos de pratica dos alunos/residentes.
Social learning: a new perspective on learning in participatory systems

Abstract In many cases experiential learning is located in individuals. Sometimes it is agreed that experiential learning can also be located in groups or social systems. Yet, little effort has been made to conceptualise these processes of “social learning”. In this contribution the authors point out the importance of social learning against the backdrop of changing circumstances in times of reflexive modernisation. Drawing on research, they develop an overall picture of four basic axes of social learning: action, reflection, cooperation and communication. They argue that social learning is all about balancing between various tensions which influence the decisions and directions of the learning systems. They also outline how power, responsibility and creativity hereby play a role. Finally, they formulate some insights about how these processes of social learning can be influenced by external or internal partners of participatory systems.
An Experimental Examination of the Impact of Choice of Treatment Components on Treatment Integrity

Although there is a growing body of research on the use of performance feedback to improve treatment integrity, antecedent interventions have received little attention. Antecedent interventions are simple to use and have a strong research base. This study examined the effects of offering teachers choice of treatment components. A choice condition was compared with a no-choice condition in which an expert-derived treatment was used. An A/B/C/A/C/B design with counterbalancing was combined with a simultaneous-treatments design to examine treatment integrity and student problem behavior for 3 teacher–student dyads. The results indicated that, although both treatments improved student behavior, higher levels of treatment integrity and better behavioral outcomes were associated with the choice condition. The results are discussed in terms of the merits of simple antecedent strategies for improving treatment integrity and the benefit of adding experimental design elements that provide a more direct measure of teacher preference.
Initial Codes for Order in Memory

The roles of positional and associative information in preserving the order of short sequences of items were investigated either by presenting an item in the same serial position on successive trials (position transfer), or by presenting the same pair of items in adjacent but shifted positions on successive trials (association transfer). While Experiment I found that positive transfer of position information occurred after just one repetition of an item in the same serial position, Experiment II found no evidence for association transfer after a single trial. If an item is presented in the same position, or if a pair of items are presented in adjacent positions on several successive trials, position transfer effects built up more rapidly than association transfer effects (Experiments III and IV). However, the rate at which association transfer effects are established depends on the type of item used, with lists of concrete words showing rapid establishment of associations (Experiment V) but lists of digits showing only slow development of associations (Experiment IV). It was concluded that serial order may be preserved both by positional and associative codes, but the establishment of an associative code is linked to the extraction of information about the items themselves.
Managerialism and professionalism in the ‘cinderella service’

Abstract As a result of the process of incorporation following the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992, Cityshire College, a large further education college left the jurisdiction of the local authority and gained greater responsibility for managing its own affairs. Arising from a case study based on interviews and questionnaires the paper considers the impact of changes within the College which took place between 1991 and 1994. Of particular interest is the development of a “new managerialism”, a management style which spread throughout public sector organizations during the 1980s. The evidence from the lecturer questionnaire suggests that staff reject the values represented by this development and are opposed to the threat they perceive to the professional culture of further education. In considering new modes of learning, notions of quality in education and the intrusion of the market into the college, the deprofessionalisation and, indeed, “proletarianisation” of the FE lecturer is suggested as a .
Arabidopsis MSI1 is a component of the MEA/FIE Polycomb group complex and required for seed development

Seed development in angiosperms initiates after double fertilization, leading to the formation of a diploid embryo and a triploid endosperm. The active repression of precocious initiation of certain aspects of seed development in the absence of fertilization requires the Polycomb group proteins MEDEA (MEA), FERTILIZATION‐INDEPENDENT ENDOSPERM (FIE) and FERTILIZATION‐INDEPENDENT SEED2. Here we show that the Arabidopsis WD‐40 domain protein MSI1 is present together with MEA and FIE in a 600 kDa complex and interacts directly with FIE. Mutant plants heterozygous for msi1 show a seed abortion ratio of 50% with seeds aborting when the mutant allele is maternally inherited, irrespective of a paternal wild‐type or mutant MSI1 allele. Further more, msi1 mutant gametophytes initiate endosperm development in the absence of fertilization at a high penetrance. After pollination, only the egg cell becomes fertilized, the central cell starts dividing prior to fertilization, resulting in the formation of seeds containing embryos surrounded by diploid endosperm. Our results establish that MSI1 has an essential function in the correct initiation and progression of seed development.
Longitudinal Study of Direct Instruction Effects From First Through Third Grades

ABSTRACT In a 3-year longitudinal study, the authors examined the effect of Direct Instruction (DI) on students' reading achievement, teacher perceptions, nature of the classroom, and special education referral rate. Urban and suburban students completed the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests in the fall of Grade 1 and spring of Grades 1, 2, and 3. Teachers completed interviews and questionnaires and were observed in their classrooms. We determined effects of reading instruction by covariate and correlation analyses. Results indicate that suburban low-skilled readers significantly benefited from the combination of DI and non-DI; urban students benefited from non-DI. Specific teacher characteristics significantly affected class reading achievement; DI did not decrease special education referral rates.
Latino Adolescents' Participation in Extracurricular Activities: How Important Are Family Resources and Cultural Orientation?

Latino adolescents often are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities compared to youth from other ethnic groups. This descriptive study examined the differences in activity participation by family resources and markers of cultural orientation for the four largest Latino ethnic groups in the U.S. Findings were based on secondary data analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 11,689 Latino youth). Family resources were not strong predictors of participation, but the markers of cultural orientation did predict activity participation. Surprisingly, foreign-born youth had higher participation than native-born youth. The proportion of their friendship network that was non-Hispanic friends positively predicted activity participation, whereas the proportion of co-ethnic and foreign-born Hispanic friends negatively predicted activity participation. Findings from this investigation highlight that there were few differences in participation by Latino ethnic group affiliation but great variability within each Latino ethnic group.
Studies on the Toxicity and Antiviral Activity of Various Polynucleotides

Various polynucleotides were examined for antiviral activity and toxicity in mice. Although the antiviral potency of the various interferon inducers varied, there was a concomitant variation in toxicity. This was reflected by a fivefold range in therapeutic ratio for the various compounds. In addition, no polynucleotide proved to be a more potent interferon inducer than polyinosinic·polycytidylic acid [(poly rI)·(poly rC)]. Our results suggest that there may be intrinsic limitations to the development of polynucleotide interferon inducers having improved therapeutic ratios.
Evaluation of i-vector Speaker Recognition Systems for Forensic Application

This paper contributes a study on i-vector based speaker recognition systems and their application to forensics. The sensitivity of i-vector based speaker recognition is analyzed with respect to the effects of speech duration. This approach is motivated by the potentially limited speech available in a recording for a forensic case. In this context, the classification performance and calibration costs of the i-vector system are analyzed along with the role of normalization in the cosine kernel. Evaluated on the NIST SRE-2010 dataset, results highlight that normalization of the cosine kernel provided improved performance across all speech durations compared to the use of an unnormalized kernel. The normalized kernel was also found to play an important role in reducing miscalibration costs and providing wellcalibrated likelihood ratios with limited speech duration.
Waste of Effort? International Environmental Agreements

Most evidence suggests that the 1,000 or so different International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) operating today are ineffectual, merely ratifying business-as-usual outcomes. But much of that empirical analysis faces two obstacles: (1) limited data from before the IEAs were enacted and thus an inability to make before-and-after comparisons and (2) difficulty estimating the counterfactual outcomes—what would have happened absent the agreements. We study one particular IEA—the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. In this special case we do have data prior to the agreement, enabling us to identify the treaty’s effects using annual bilateral waste shipments among countries before and after one of the trading partners ratifies the agreement. Despite the strengths of this approach, we find almost no evidence that the Convention has resulted in less waste being shipped among countries.
Old Wine in New Bottles: The Effect of Previous Co-Worker Experience on the Survival of New Firms

The aim of the paper is to investigate the effect of previous co-worker experience on the survival of new established firms. For the empirical analysis I use the Danish Integrated Database of Labor Market Research (IDA). This longitudinal employer-employee database allows me to identify co-worker experience among all members of the firm. In addition, I will make a distinction between ordinary start-ups and entrepreneurial spin-offs. The results show that previous co-worker experience has a positive effect on new firm survival. This effect appears to be valid predominantly for ordinary start-ups then for spin-offs.
Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: a meta-analysis.

This study reports results of a meta-analysis linking traits from the 5-factor model of personality to overall job satisfaction. Using the model as an organizing framework, 334 correlations from 163 independent samples were classified according to the model. The estimated true score correlations with job satisfaction were -. 29 for Neuroticism, . 25 for Extraversion, . 02 for Openness to Experience, . 17 for Agreeableness, and . 26 for Conscientiousness. Results further indicated that only the relations of Neuroticism and Extraversion with job satisfaction generalized across studies. As a set, the Big Five traits had a multiple correlation of . 41 with job satisfaction, indicating support for the validity of the dispositional source of job satisfaction when traits are organized according to the 5-factor model.
A Modified High Order FDTD Method Based on Wave Equation

A modified (2M, 4) scheme of the high-order two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method based on wave equation is proposed. It has the fourth-order accuracy in the time domain using the symplectic integrator propagator, and the 2M-order accuracy in the space domain using the discrete singular convolution method. The distinctive features between the modified scheme and the traditional (2M, 4) FDTD based on Yee algorithm are listed as follows. First, the modified scheme is based on the wave equation. Second, the computational region is discretized by uniform mesh rather than the Yee mesh. Third, the modified scheme costs less memory than the Yee algorithm because fewer field elements are involved in computation. Numerical examples are provided to validate its accuracy and effectiveness
Evolution of drug resistance in Salmonella panama isolates in Chile

In a search for Salmonella isolates in the environment in Chile in 1975, drug-susceptible strains of Salmonella panama were recovered for the first time from river water and vegetables in the vicinity of Santiago. Two to 3 years later, antibiotic-resistant S. panama began to appear in a variety of sources (meat, animals, vegetables, etc.), giving rise to a human epidemic that involved the entire nation. Of 139 clinical isolates studied, 7 were drug susceptible, 11 were resistant only to nitrofurans, and 3 were streptomycin, spectinomycin, and nitrofuran resistant; none of these 21 isolates harbored plasmid DNA. Most isolates (n = 107) were resistant to nitrofurans (chromosomal) and to streptomycin, spectinomycin, sulfonamides, tetracycline, and mercuric and tellurite salts; this multidrug resistance was encoded on a 218-kb plasmid classified in a number of strains as being in the IncHI2 group. From 1982 to 1993, 11 isolates acquired an additional self-transferable plasmid coding for resistance to any one of ampicillin (61 kb), ampicillin and trimethoprim (65 kb), ampicillin, trimethoprim, streptomycin, and sulfonamides (71 kb), ampicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, and tetracycline (120 kb), or a nontransferable plasmid of approximately 6 kb encoding resistance to ampicillin or kanamycin. With the exception of ampicillin or ampicillin and trimethoprim resistance, S. panama isolates from foodstuffs, mainly pork meat products, and animals had resistance patterns that were the same as those found in clinical specimens. Remarkably, strains from goats and goat cheese and from shellfish isolated in particular rural regions were either drug susceptible or resistant only to streptomycin-spectinomycin encoded on a mobile genetic element and to nitrofurans. The report describes the arrival of a susceptible S. panama strain, its spread all over the country, and the evolution of progressively complex resistance patterns.
Disintegration of Multisensory Signals from the Real Hand Reduces Default Limb Self-Attribution: An fMRI Study

The perception of our limbs in space is built upon the integration of visual, tactile, and proprioceptive signals. Accumulating evidence suggests that these signals are combined in areas of premotor, parietal, and cerebellar cortices. However, it remains to be determined whether neuronal populations in these areas integrate hand signals according to basic temporal and spatial congruence principles of multisensory integration. Here, we developed a setup based on advanced 3D video technology that allowed us to manipulate the spatiotemporal relationships of visuotactile (VT) stimuli delivered on a healthy human participant's real hand during fMRI and investigate the ensuing neural and perceptual correlates. Our experiments revealed two novel findings. First, we found responses in premotor, parietal, and cerebellar regions that were dependent upon the spatial and temporal congruence of VT stimuli. This multisensory integration effect required a simultaneous match between the seen and felt postures of the hand, which suggests that congruent visuoproprioceptive signals from the upper limb are essential for successful VT integration. Second, we observed that multisensory conflicts significantly disrupted the default feeling of ownership of the seen real limb, as indexed by complementary subjective, psychophysiological, and BOLD measures. The degree to which self-attribution was impaired could be predicted from the attenuation of neural responses in key multisensory areas. These results elucidate the neural bases of the integration of multisensory hand signals according to basic spatiotemporal principles and demonstrate that the disintegration of these signals leads to “disownership” of the seen real hand.
Multi-pathway excited state relaxation of adenine oligomers in aqueous solution: a joint theoretical and experimental study.

The singlet excited states of adenine oligomers, model systems widely used for the understanding of the interaction of ultraviolet radiation with DNA, are investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy and time-dependent (TD) DFT calculations. Fluorescence decays, fluorescence anisotropy decays, and time-resolved fluorescence spectra are recorded from the femtosecond to the nanosecond timescales for single strand (dA)20 in aqueous solution. These experimental observations and, in particular, the comparison of the fluorescence behavior upon UVC and UVA excitation allow the identification of various types of electronic transitions with different energy and polarization. Calculations performed for up to five stacked 9-methyladenines, taking into account the solvent, show that different excited states are responsible for the absorption in the UVC and UVA spectral domains. Independently of the number of bases, bright excitons may evolve toward two types of excited dimers having π-π* or charge-transfer character, each one distinguished by its own geometry and spectroscopic signature. According to the picture arising from the joint experimental and theoretical investigation, UVC-induced fluorescence contains contribution from 1) exciton states with a different degree of localization, decaying within a few ps, 2) "neutral" excited dimers decaying on the sub-nanosecond timescale, being the dominant species, and 3) charge-transfer states decaying on the nanosecond timescale. The majority of the photons emitted upon UVA excitation are related to charge-transfer states.
Evaluation of a Guideline by Formal Modelling of Cruise Control System in Event-B

Recently a set of guidelines, or cookbook, has been developed for modelling and refinement of control problems in Event-B. The Event-B formal method is used for system-level modelling by defining states of a system and events which act on these states. It also supports refinement of models. This cookbook is intended to systematise the process of modelling and refining a control problem system by distinguishing environment, controller and command phenomena. Our main objective in this paper is to investigate and evaluate the usefulness and effectiveness of this cookbook by following it throughout the formal modelling of cruise control system found in cars. The outcomes are identifying the benefits of the cookbook and also giving guidance to its future users.
Assessment Centre Observation Procedures: An Experimental Comparison of Traditional, Checklist and Coding Methods

Concern about the construct validity of assessment centre judgements has led to calls for research into observers’ cognitive processes. In an experiment comparing the Traditional observation procedure against use of a Behavioural Checklist and of Behavioural Coding, six outcome variables were examined. The methods were found to yield similar outcomes in terms of accuracy of judgement, accuracy of written evidence, correlation between dimension ratings, and attitude toward the method employed. However, significant between-method differences were observed in variability between observers and in their willingness to recommend a procedure. It is argued that Behavioural Coding has special merit in assessment centres; the method reduces the cognitive demands placed on assessors, and valuably structures their information-processing. Traditional objections to simultaneous observation and classification are shown to be inappropriate.