Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring urban segregation based on individuals’ daily activity patterns: A multidimensional approach

This paper develops a methodology to measure urban segregation based on individuals’ sociospatial experience of daily life. Since segregation can be considered as the isolation of people from those unlike themselves, its degree increases with the similarity in ethnicity, economic status, or other sociodemographic dimensions of interest between individuals and people who they are exposed to in their daily usage of urban space. Based on this perspective, we propose a regression estimator that measures segregation by assessing similarity or likeness between people and the social environments they experience in daily activity spaces. Compared to traditional segregation measures, the proposed estimator is not restricted to measuring residential segregation, but recognizes and assesses segregation as a dynamic process that unfolds in the daily life routines of individuals in a society and depends on the different ways individuals or social groups use urban space. It can be applied to various segregation factors, categorical or continuous, as well as to examine their interactions in a society. An empirical study in Hong Kong is used to demonstrate the proposed approach.
Personal journeys: Teaching teachers to teach literacy

Abstract This study is a description of a teacher research project. The purpose of the project was two‐fold. First, I wanted to use it to help me carefully reflect and examine my own teaching, so that I could move past the “naïve” label. Second, I wanted to understand how my instruction impacted my preservice teachers. Results from this teacher research project suggest this reading methods course was effective in adding some strategies to the students’ understandings of reading. Students seemed more willing to add reading strategies in areas where they lacked prior knowledge and experiences, such as fluency and assessment, while demonstrating more reluctance to change in areas familiar to them, such as word identification and comprehension. Results imply a need for educators to do more teacher research at the university level and further research into the role prior knowledge plays in the preservice teachers’ willingness to adapt new instructional strategies.
How Large Are the Bars in Barred Galaxies

I present a study of the sizes (semimajor axes) of bars in disc galaxies, combining a detailed R-band study of 65 S0‐Sb galaxies with the B-band measurements of 70 Sb‐Sd galaxies from Martin (1995). As has been noted before with smaller samples, bars in early-type (S0‐ Sb) galaxies are clearly larger than bars in late-type (Sc‐Sd) galaxies; this is true both for relative sizes (bar length as fraction of isophotal radius R25 or exponential disc scalelength h) and absolute sizes (kpc). S0‐Sab bars extend to ∼1‐10 kpc (mean ∼ 3.3 kpc), ∼0.2‐0.8R 25 (mean ∼ 0.38R 25) and ∼0.5‐2.5h (mean ∼ 1.4h). Late-type bars extend to only ∼0.5‐3.5 kpc, ∼0.05‐0.35R 25 and 0.2‐1.5h; their mean sizes are ∼1.5 kpc, ∼ 0.14R 25 and ∼0.6h . S bg alaxies resemble earlier-type galaxies in terms of bar size relative to h; their smaller R25-relative sizes may be a side effect of higher star formation, which increases R25 but not h. Sbc galaxies form a transition between the early- and late-type regimes. For S0‐Sbc galaxies, bar size correlates well with disc size (both R25 and h); these correlations are stronger than the known correlation with MB. All correlations appear to be weaker or absent for late-type galaxies; in particular, there seems to be no correlation between bar size and either h or MB for Sc‐Sd galaxies. Because bar size scales with disc size and galaxy magnitude for most Hubble types, studies of bar evolution with redshift should select samples with similar distributions of disc size or magnitude (extrapolated to present-day values); otherwise, bar frequencies and sizes could be mis-estimated. Because early-type galaxies tend to have larger bars, resolution-limited studies will preferentially find bars in early-type galaxies (assuming no significant differential evolution in bar sizes). I show that the bars detected in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) nearinfrared(IR) images at z ∼ 1b ySheth et al. have absolute sizes consistent with those in bright, nearby S0‐Sb galaxies. I also compare the sizes of real bars with those produced in simulations and discuss some possible implications for scenarios of secular evolution along the Hubble sequence. Simulations often produce bars as large as (or larger than) those seen in S0‐Sb galaxies, but rarely any as small as those in Sc‐Sd galaxies. Ke yw ords: galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD ‐ galaxies: evolution ‐ galaxies: spiral ‐ galaxies: structure.
Student satisfaction in higher education: a meta-analytic study

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the results of a meta-analysis performed to identify key antecedent and consequent constructs of satisfaction in higher education. We offer an integrated model to achieve a better understanding of satisfaction in the context of higher education. To accomplish this objective, we identified 83 studies that were valid and relevant to the research objective of the current study, generating a total of 469 observations. We identified studies published from 1986 to 2016 and analyzed six antecedent dimensions (perceived value of educational services, resources provided to the student, service quality perception, marketing orientation, identity of the higher education institution, university environment) and one consequent dimension related to satisfaction. The 7 dimensions exhibited a total of 51 relationships. We believe that the originality of the findings clearly contributes to future academic research in higher education.
Unrelated hematopoietic stem cell registry and the role of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank

Background The hematopoietic stem cell bank has been actively recruiting registrants since 1994. This study systematically reviews its operations and outcomes over the last 20 years. Methods Retrospective data on a total of 47,711 registrants were reviewed. Relevant data were processed using PASW Statistics for Windows, version 18.0. Results As of 2013, the Korean Network for Organ Sharing database contained 265,307 registrants. Of these, 49,037 (18%) registrants committed to hematopoietic cell donation from 1994 to 2013. Fifty-seven percent of the registrants were men, and 43% were women. The reasons for opting out of the registry included refusal to donate (70%), family refusal (28%), and others (2%). The donation willingness of registrants was significantly higher than those who refused to receive a mail to confirm their continued enrollment (χ2=6.103, P=0.013). The bank successfully coordinated a total of 512 donors among newly matched donors from 1995 to 2013, of which the bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell accounted for 40.8% and 59.2% of the total donations, respectively. Conclusion Our recruitment activities focus on promoting voluntary registration and the importance of updating personal contact information. We expect that these data may be useful for diverse studies and demonstrate the positive impacts on the donation program.
An Integrated Model of Health and Happiness Among Post-9/11 Military Veterans

ABSTRACT The authors developed an integrated model of well-being, defined by happiness and physical health, among post-9/11 veterans, by examining associations of religious attendance, trauma, appreciation in life, and ease of readjustment to civilian life with well-being. Data on 712 post-9/11 military veterans (81.0% male) were drawn from the Pew Research Center's 2011 Veterans Study. The authors conducted multiple regression analyses to identify predictors of health and happiness and used structural equation modeling to develop an integrated model of veteran well-being. The authors' findings indicate that ease of readjustment to civilian life is a critical contributor to the health and happiness of veterans.
Skew products, quantitative recurrence, shrinking targets and decay of correlations

We consider toral extensions of hyperbolic dynamical systems. We prove that its quantitative recurrence (also with respect to given observables) and hitting time scale behavior depend on the arithmetical properties of the extension. By this we show that those systems have a polynomial decay of correlations with respect to $C^{r}$ observables, and give estimations for its exponent, which depend on $r$ and on the arithmetical properties of the system. We also show examples of systems of this kind having no shrinking target property, and having a trivial limit distribution of return time statistics.
Whole-genome bisulfite DNA sequencing of a DNMT3B mutant patient

The immunodeficiency, centromere instability and facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome is associated to mutations of the DNA methyl-transferase DNMT3B, resulting in a reduction of enzyme activity. Aberrant expression of immune system genes and hypomethylation of pericentromeric regions accompanied by chromosomal instability were determined as alterations driving the disease phenotype. However, so far only technologies capable to analyze single loci were applied to determine epigenetic alterations in ICF patients. In the current study, we performed whole-genome bisulphite sequencing to assess alteration in DNA methylation at base pair resolution. Genome-wide we detected a decrease of methylation level of 42%, with the most profound changes occurring in inactive heterochromatic regions, satellite repeats and transposons. Interestingly, transcriptional active loci and ribosomal RNA repeats escaped global hypomethylation. Despite a genome-wide loss of DNA methylation the epigenetic landscape and crucial regulatory structures were conserved. Remarkably, we revealed a mislocated activity of mutant DNMT3B to H3K4me1 loci resulting in hypermethylation of active promoters. Functionally, we could associate alterations in promoter methylation with the ICF syndrome immunodeficient phenotype by detecting changes in genes related to the B-cell receptor mediated maturation pathway.
Artificial speech synthesizer control by brain-computer interface

We developed and tested a brain-computer interface for control of an artificial speech synthesizer by an individual with near complete paralysis. This neural prosthesis for speech restoration is currently capable of predicting vowel formant frequencies based on neural activity recorded from an intracortical microelectrode implanted in the left hemisphere speech motor cortex. Using instantaneous auditory feedback (< 50 ms) of predicted formant frequencies, the study participant has been able to correctly perform a vowel production task at a maximum rate of 80-90% correct. Index Terms: speech synthesis, brain computer interface
Developing Reliable Measures of Privacy Management within Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites and other examples of online social spaces have greatly expanded their members' opportunities for self expression and social interaction, while creating significant challenges for online privacy management. Within offline social spaces, privacy management is an active part of everyday life, influencing where, when and to whom we decide to reveal private information. Just as technology mediation changes the nature of communication, so will technology mediation of social interaction change the nature of privacy management. This paper describes work done to establish reliable measures of online privacy management based on Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST). AST provides a framework for modeling the use of technology in a social setting, includes a way to measure appropriation, the process by which users adapt and adopt technology. These measures have been used to examine appropriation patterns within two US based social networking sites (Facebook and MySpace), and StudiVZ, a site based in Germany. The measures demonstrated an acceptable level of reliability, and the results exposed differences in the privacy management strategies employed by the members of these sites. The result of this research is the establishment of theory based measures that can be used to capture the structure of online privacy management.
Gastroschisis: Antenatal Sonographic Predictors of Adverse Neonatal Outcome

Objectives. The aim of this review was to identify clinically significant ultrasound predictors of adverse neonatal outcome in fetal gastroschisis. Methods. A quasi-systematic review was conducted in PubMed and Ovid using the key terms “gastroschisis,” “predictors,” “outcome,” and “ultrasound. ” Results. A total of 18 papers were included. The most common sonographic predictors were intra-abdominal bowel dilatation (IABD), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), and bowel dilatation not otherwise specified (NOS). Three ultrasound markers were consistently found to be statistically insignificant with respect to predicting adverse outcome including abdominal circumference, stomach herniation and dilatation, and extra-abdominal bowel dilatation (EABD). Conclusions. Gastroschisis is associated with several comorbidities, yet there is much discrepancy in the literature regarding which specific ultrasound markers best predict adverse neonatal outcomes. Future research should include prospective trials with larger sample sizes and use well-defined and consistent definitions of the adverse outcomes investigated with consideration given to IABD.
Towards linked open data enabled ontology learning from text

The artifacts produced by current (semi-)automatic methods of ontology learning from text have yet to be improved so that they can provide significant support in creating rich and expressive ontologies. Hence, it is our goal in this study to explore ways to create much more enriched ontologies. In this short paper, we discuss the hypotheses of a PhD work, which addresses the problem of how to reuse the freely available knowledge in Linked Open Data as background knowledge beside text in order to extract new ontological or assertional knowledge for creating a more enriched ontology. In other words, we hypothesize that by using the extra knowledge in large RDF datasets in Linked Open Data cloud, the functions associated with the layers of Ontology Learning Stack could be improved, resulting in more enriched ontologies.
SOME NEW AND EASY WAYS TO DESCRIBE, COMPARE, AND EVALUATE PRODUCTS AND ASSESSORS

Recently, in response to industrial demand to develop faster and cheaper methods of descriptive analysis, several methods have been offered as alternatives to conventional profiling. We present three of these methods: sorting tasks, projective mapping, and flash profiling along with a new statistical method to analyze them. This new statistical method, called DISTATIS is a generalization of classical multidimensional scaling (MDS) and takes into account individual differences. DISTATIS provides two MDS-like maps: one map for the assessors, and one (compromise) map for the products. The attributes used by the assessors can also be represented on the product map as well as the specific pattern of evaluation of each assessor. Using the same statistical method to analyze different methods of descriptive analysis will facilitate their comparison.
A Comparison of Different Approaches for Assigning Geographic Scopes to Documents

In this paper, we compare different methods for the automatic assignment of geographic scopes to Web pages, based on placenames mentioned in the text. The methods under study are the Yahoo! Placemaker Web service, the hierarchy-based method originally proposed for the Web-a-Where system, the spatial overlap-based method originally proposed in the GIPSY project, the graph-based method originally proposed in the GREASE project, and three simple baseline methods corresponding to using the most frequently occurring place, the spatial area that covers all mentioned places, or the spatial area that covers all mentioned non-outlier places. The task under study may be included into the broader problem of Geographic Information Retrieval. Experiments were carried out on Web pages from the Regional Section of the Open Directory Project, comparing the automatically assigned scopes against those assigned by human editors. The results show that the Web-a-Where method gives the best results, closely followed by the GraphRank method and by the baseline based on to the most frequent occurring place. Sumário Este artigo compara diferentes métodos para atribuir automaticamente âmbitos geográficos a páginas Web, com base nos nomes de locais mencionados no texto. Os métodos avaliados são o do serviço Web Yahoo! Placemaker, o método proposto para o sistema Web-a-Where baseado em hierarquias, o método proposto no projecto GIPSY baseado na sobreposição espacial, o método proposto no projecto GREASE com base em grafos, e três baselines correspondentes a atribuir o lugar mais frequentemente mencionado, a região que cobre todos os locais mencionados, e a região que cobre todos os locais mencionados que não são outliers. A tarefa de atribuir âmbitos geográficos pode ser inclúıda no problema mais abrangente da Recuperação de Informação Geográfica. As experiências utilizaram as páginas Web presentes na secção Regional do Open Directory Project, comparando-se os âmbitos atribúıdos automaticamente com os atribúıdos por humanos. Os resultados mostram que o método Web-a-Where produz os melhores resultados, seguido de perto pelo GraphRank e pela baseline com base no local mais frequente.
Dense and continuous depth estimation using a sliding camera

3D information of real-world scenes provides important clues for many computer vision tasks. We present a simple but effective sliding camera system as well as a corresponding stereo reconstruction framework to retrieve 3D information of static scenes. By fusing geometric properties of the sliding camera system, our reconstruction algorithm achieves higher accuracy than conventional methods in quantitative experiments. Besides, the practicality of our system is validated on real world scenes.
Effect of exercise training on long-term potentiation and NMDA receptor channels in rats with cerebral infarction

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of exercise training on the characteristics of long-term potentiation (LTP) and N-methyl-D aspartate (NMDA) receptor channels in the hippocampal CA3 neurons of rats with cerebral infarction. Wistar rats were randomly allocated into the model without any training and rehabilitation with exercise training. A model of cerebral infarction was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion. Using chronically embedded electrodes combined with an electrophysiological method, the population spike (PS) amplitude and latency, as well as changes in the NMDA single channel current in the hippocampal neurons were determined prior to and following Y-maze discrimination learning 60 times in the two groups. The formation of learning-dependent LTP and synaptic efficacy in the hippocampal CA3 area after exercise training in the rehabilitation group was significantly faster compared with that in the model group without any training (P<0.05). The incubation period of the PS in the CA3 area of the rats in the rehabilitation group was significantly shorter compared with that in the model group. The PS amplitude in the rehabilitation group was significantly higher compared with that in the model group. Furthermore, the opening probability of the NMDA receptor channel in the rehabilitation group was significantly higher compared with that in the model group. In conclusion, exercise training improved the opening conductance level, time and probability of NMDA receptor channels and accelerated the formation of learning-dependent LTP in the contralateral hippocampal CA3 area.
On Determining the Separability of Sources for Second-order Statistics Based Blind Source Separation

The separability conditions imposed on mixing matrices and sources, which form the basis for blind source separation, are usually supposed to be satisfied when an algorithm is proposed or used. However, in practice, we only have the observations at hand, and if an algorithm fails to separate sources in a given scenario, it is especially interesting to know why this could happen. In this paper, we propose a method to determine, on the basis of the observed mixture statistics, whether the conditions for SOS-based BSS are satisfied. The proposed method not only tells us when separation should be possible, given the correlation matrices at hand, but also guides us toward selecting a suitable set of correlation matrices to be jointly diagonalized. Further, only when we know the basic characteristics of the sources well such as speech signals, can we recognize if the sources have been separated or partly separated, so we discussed how can we tell if the sources have been separated completely or not by the separated signals themselves.
Sparse CCA: Adaptive Estimation and Computational Barriers

Canonical correlation analysis is a classical technique for exploring the relationship between two sets of variables. It has important applications in analyzing high dimensional datasets originated from genomics, imaging and other fields. This paper considers adaptive minimax and computationally tractable estimation of leading sparse canonical coefficient vectors in high dimensions. First, we establish separate minimax estimation rates for canonical coefficient vectors of each set of random variables under no structural assumption on marginal covariance matrices. Second, we propose a computationally feasible estimator to attain the optimal rates adaptively under an additional sample size condition. Finally, we show that a sample size condition of this kind is needed for any randomized polynomial-time estimator to be consistent, assuming hardness of certain instances of the Planted Clique detection problem. The result is faithful to the Gaussian models used in the paper. As a byproduct, we obtain the first computational lower bounds for sparse PCA under the Gaussian single spiked covariance model.
Determinants of Agricultural Pesticide Concentrations in Carpet Dust

Background: Residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications has been used as a surrogate for exposure in epidemiologic studies, although little is known about the relationship with levels of pesticides in homes. Objective: We identified determinants of concentrations of agricultural pesticides in dust. Methods: We collected samples of carpet dust and mapped crops within 1,250 m of 89 residences in California. We measured concentrations of seven pesticides used extensively in agriculture (carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, chlorthal-dimethyl, diazinon, iprodione, phosmet, and simazine). We estimated use of agricultural pesticides near residences from a statewide database alone and by linking the database with crop maps. We calculated the density of pesticide use within 500 and 1,250 m of residences for 180, 365, and 730 days before collection of dust and evaluated relationships between agricultural pesticide use estimates and pesticide concentrations in carpet dust. Results: For five of the seven pesticides evaluated, residences with use of agricultural pesticides within 1,250 m during the previous 365 days had significantly higher concentrations of pesticides than did residences with no nearby use. The highest correlation with concentrations of pesticides was generally for use reported within 1,250 m of the residence and 730 days before sample collection. Regression models that also accounted for occupational and home use of pesticides explained only a modest amount of the variability in pesticide concentrations (4–28%). Conclusions: Agricultural pesticide use near residences was a significant determinant of concentrations of pesticides in carpet dust for five of seven pesticides evaluated.