Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Concurrent scheduling in the Active Bat location system

This paper looks at the scalability problems inherent in the Active Bat system: an outside-in ultrasonic location system. Such systems are typically associated with higher positioning accuracies and longer tag battery lifetimes relative to comparable inside-out systems. However, they are often criticised for a lack of scalability since multiple tags must be addressed in series to prevent interference within the positioning medium. Multiple radio zones have previously been used to address this problem. We show that this approach is sub-optimal both in terms of system complexity and in terms of the location update rates that can be achieved. We propose a general solution to the scalability problem based on the computation of dynamic bounding regions within which corresponding tags are almost certainly located. These regions are used to determine when tags are sufficiently well separated to be queried concurrently without the risk of interference. We test this approach using real data, concluding that bounding regions permit more concurrency than is possible using multiple radio zones whilst at the same time reducing the complexity of the system.
Associations between Arsenic in Drinking Water and Pterygium in Southwestern Taiwan

Background Pterygium is a fibrovascular growth of the bulbar conjunctiva and underlying subconjunctival tissue that may cause blindness. The mechanism of pterygium formation is not yet fully understood, but pterygium has some tumorlike features. Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between arsenic exposure through drinking water and the occurrence of pterygium in southwestern Taiwan. Methods We recruited participants > 40 years of age from three villages in the arseniasis-endemic area in southwestern Taiwan (exposure villages) and four neighboring nonendemic villages (comparison villages). Each participant received an eye examination and a questionnaire interview. Photographs taken of both eyes were later graded by an ophthalmologist to determine pterygium status. Results We included 223 participants from the exposure villages and 160 from the comparison villages. The prevalence of pterygium was higher in the exposure villages across all age groups in both sexes and increased with cumulative arsenic exposure. We found a significant association between cumulative arsenic exposure and the prevalence of pterygium. After adjusting for age, sex, working under sunlight, and working in sandy environments, we found that cumulative arsenic exposure of 0.1–15.0 mg/L-year and ≥ 15.1 mg/L-year were associated with increased risks of developing pterygium. The adjusted odds ratios were 2.04 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04–3.99] and 2.88 (95% CI, 1.42–5.83), respectively. Conclusions Chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water was related to the occurrence of pterygium, and the association was still observed after adjusting for exposures to sunlight and sandy environments.
Two Potential Mechanisms of Spatial Attention in Early Visual Areas

We investigate theoretically the effect of spatial attention on the contrast-response function (CRF) and orientation-tuning curves in early visual areas.We look at a model of a hypercolumn developed recently (Persi et al., 2008), that accounts for both the contrast response and tuning properties in the primary visual cortex, and extend it to two visual areas. The effect of spatial attention is studied in a model of two inter-connected visual areas, under two hypothesis that do not necessarily contradict. The first hypothesis is that attention alters inter-areal feedback synaptic strength, as has been proposed by many previous studies. A second new hypothesis is that attention effectively alters single neuron input-output properties. We show that with both mechanisms it is possible to achieve attentional effects similarly to those observed in experiments, namely contrast-gain and response-gain effects, while keeping the orientation-tuning curves width approximately contrast-invariant and attention-invariant. Nevertheless, some differences occur and are discussed. We propose a simple test on existing data based on the second hypothesis.
Comparison of playtesting and expert review methods in mobile game evaluation

Selecting an evaluation method for product evaluations depends on many issues, such as the development stage of the product, time schedule, resources, and money that can be invested on the evaluation. The user testing and expert review methods are probably the most common ones when productivity software is being evaluated. Conducting a playtesting with players is commonly used by game designers, but the expert review method has not received that much attention, although it has proven to be an efficient and useful method. In this paper, we present a comparison study of the playtesting and expert review methods in mobile game evaluation. Our objective is to compare the effectiveness of the expert review method with playtesting. Results indicate that the expert review method is able to identify playability problems as accurately as playtesting, but in addition, it identifies problems that are crucial for the playability of the game.
Documenting the Effects of Transformational Leadership Behavior on Teacher Efficacy.

Principals play a unique role in school and student outcomes. This paper presents findings of a study that explored how principals' leadership behaviors influenced teachers' sense of efficacy. Specifically, the paper describes how principals in three middle schools influenced teachers' sense of efficacy and affected instructional and school improvement from a teacher perspective. Bandura's (1977, 1986) social cognitive learning theory of self-efficacy provided the theoretical framework. The first phase of the study surveyed 280 teachers in 10 schools to determine the level of personal teaching efficacy (PTE) and general teaching efficacy (GTE). Three middle schools were selected: one with the highest reported GTE, one with the highest reported PTE, and one with the lowest combined GTE and PTE. Data for the second phase were gathered through observation and interviews with 34 teachers. The study identified 10 leadership behaviors: models behavior, believes in teacher capacity, inspires group purpose, promotes teacher empowerment and shared decision making, recognizes teacher efforts, provides personal and professional support, manages student behavior, promotes a sense of community, fosters teamwork and collaboration; and encourages innovation and continual growth. In summary, the study showed that principals' direct behaviors, as well as indirect symbolic forms of instructional leadership, influence teachers' work and its outcomes. Three tables and one figure are included. (Contains 52 references.) (LMI) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** DOCUMENTING THE EFFECTS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR ON TEACHER EFFICACY Kristine A. Hipp Ball State University Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association
Exploring constraints to efficiently mine emerging patterns from large high-dimensional datasets

Emerging patterns (EPs) were proposed recently to capture changes or di erences betw een datasets: an EP is a multivariate feature whose support increases sharply from a background dataset to a target dataset, and the support ratio is called its gro wth rate. Interesting long EPs often have low support; mining such EPs from high-dimensional datasets is a great challenge due to the combinatorial explosion of the number of candidates. We propose a Constraint-based EP Miner, ConsEPMiner, that utilizes tw o types of constraints for e ectively pruning the search space: External constrain tsare user-giv enminimums on support, growth rate, and growth-rate improvement to con ne the resulting EP set. Inheren t constrain ts | same subset support, top growth rate, and same origin | are deriv ed from the propertiesof EPs and datasets, and are solely for pruning the search space and saving computation. ConsEPMiner can eÆciently mine all EPs at low support on large highdimensional datasets, with low minimums on growth rate and growth-rate improvement. In comparison, the widely known Apriori-like approach is ine ective on high-dimensional data. While ConsEPMiner adopts several ideas from DenseMiner [4], a recent constrain t-based association rule miner, its main new contributions are the introduction of inherent constrain ts and the ways to use them together with externalconstrain ts for eÆcient EP mining from dense datasets. Experiments on dense data show that, at low support, ConsEPMiner outperforms the Apriori-like approach by orders of magnitude and is more than twice as fast as the DenseMiner approach.
Stimulus relevance modulates contrast adaptation in visual cortex

A general principle of sensory processing is that neurons adapt to sustained stimuli by reducing their response over time. Most of our knowledge on adaptation in single cells is based on experiments in anesthetized animals. How responses adapt in awake animals, when stimuli may be behaviorally relevant or not, remains unclear. Here we show that contrast adaptation in mouse primary visual cortex depends on the behavioral relevance of the stimulus. Cells that adapted to contrast under anesthesia maintained or even increased their activity in awake naïve mice. When engaged in a visually guided task, contrast adaptation re-occurred for stimuli that were irrelevant for solving the task. However, contrast adaptation was reversed when stimuli acquired behavioral relevance. Regulation of cortical adaptation by task demand may allow dynamic control of sensory-evoked signal flow in the neocortex. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.21589. 001
Mechanisms of long-term potentiation: EPSP/spike dissociation, intradendritic recordings, and glutamate sensitivity

Synaptic efficacy is modified following a brief train of high-frequency stimulation (HFS) to a cell's afferent fibers (long-term potentiation; LTP). An alteration in the postsynaptic response to endogenous neurotransmitter, as a result of an increase in the number of postsynaptic receptors, has been proposed (Baudry and Lynch, 1980). We tested this hypothesis in the CA1 hippocampus by intracellularly recording the postsynaptic response to localized application of glutamate before and after induction of LTP. When LTP was produced, there was no corresponding change in neuronal sensitivity to glutamate application. These findings are not consistent with the hypothesis that HFS of fibers in CA1 stratum radiatum induces an increase in the number of postsynaptic glutamate receptors in CA1 pyramidal cells. Previous reports concerning LTP have indicated a dissociation between the degree of potentiation in the population EPSP and population spike. Simultaneous recordings of the CA 1 population EPSP and population spike in hippocampal slices confirmed that the degree of potentiation of the population spike was not predicted by the degree of potentiation in the population EPSP. Intradendritic impalements were obtained to more accurately assess changes in the intracellular EPSP following HFS. When the population EPSP was potentiated, there was also a potentiated intradendritic EPSP. When the population spike was potentiated following HFS, however, the intradendritic EPSP was often unchanged; in the same cell, there was an increased probability of action potential discharge to stimulation which was originally (i.e., pre-HFS) subthreshold for spike initiation. These results indicate that the EPSP (intracellular or extracellular) may be potentiated following HFS, but this potentiation is not a prerequisite for, or a correlation of, potentiation in the population spike. Furthermore, these findings suggest that LTP is composed of 2 independent components--a synaptic component and an EPSP-to-spike coupling component.
Sexual function in older women with pelvic floor symptoms: a cross-sectional study in general practice.

BACKGROUND Pelvic floor symptoms are common and are negatively associated with sexual function which, in turn, is an important aspect of quality of life. The majority of older women with pelvic floor symptoms are treated in general practice but evidence from studies in general practice on the sexual functioning of these women is scarce. AIM This study examined predictors of sexual inactivity in older women with pelvic floor symptoms in general practice and of sexual functioning in those women who are sexually active. DESIGN AND SETTING Cross-sectional study in women (aged ≥55 years) from 20 general practices who screened positive on a pelvic floor symptom questionnaire. METHOD Logistic and linear regression analyses were used to determine predictors of sexual inactivity and sexual functioning (PISQ-12) by assessing their association with patient characteristics, symptoms (PFDI-20) and degree of prolapse (POP-Q). RESULTS A total of 639 women were included (sexually active n = 393, sexually inactive n = 246). Predictors of sexual inactivity were increasing age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10 to 1.17) and lower education (OR = 2.31; 95% CI = 1.50 to 3.54; Nagelkerke R(2) = 0.208). In sexually active women, sexual functioning was associated with pelvic floor symptom distress (P<0.001) and pelvic floor surgery (P = 0.018; R(2) = 0.138). CONCLUSION In older women with pelvic floor symptoms, increasing age and lower educational level are predictors of sexual inactivity. Many of these older women are sexually active and pelvic floor symptom distress is negatively associated with sexual functioning. These results may encourage GPs to ask about sexual problems in women with pelvic floor symptoms.
The Influence of Scientific Independence towards Students’ Content Analysis and Science Process Skills on Cell Metabolism Topic

Students commonly judge that cell metabolism topic is arduous since they only listen to their teacher and memorizing concept without a deep comprehension. Other than that, a direct explanation could not enhance the students’ science process skills. Thus, this research intended to analyze the differences of the content-analysis and science process skills between the students experiencing a learning that oriented to scientific independence (experimental class) and those joining a direct learning (control class). The materials taught in both classes were cell metabolism. This study employed the quantitative of the quasi-experimental method. The research object was the students learning Biology. The students joining a scientific independence-based class were able to answer questions requiring analytical thinking. The relationship of the students’ scientific independence towards the content analysis and science process skills was seen on the test. Based upon the statistical data analysis, the correlation significance was 0,038<0,05. Therefore, it concluded that there was a very significant correlation between the students’ scientific independence towards the content analysis and science process skills.
Uniform symplicity of groups with proximal action

We prove that groups acting boundedly and order-primitively on linear orders or acting extremly proximality on a Cantor set (the class including various Higman-Thomson groups and Neretin groups of almost automorphisms of regular trees, also called groups of spheromorphisms) are uniformly simple. Explicit bounds are provided.
Investigating Leadership in Charter Schools: An Examination of the Leadership Traits of Executive Directors in Successful Charter Schools

Title of Document: INVESTIGATING LEADERSHIP IN CHARTER SCHOOLS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE LEADERSHIP TRAITS OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS IN SUCCESSFUL CHARTER SCHOOLS Brian D. Bloomfield, Doctor of Philosophy. , 2013 Directed By: Dr. Carol Parham, Professor of Practice, Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education This study was a qualitative exploration of educational leadership within charter schools in an attempt to identify traits demonstrated by executive directors of successful charter schools. Because much research has been conducted to identify trends in educational leadership, but comparable little within the unique context of charter schools, and because the charter school movement is growing, it is imperative that Boards, CMOs, and advocates of charter schooling understand more clearly what constitutes successful leadership within this sphere. Two research questions were created for this study, and qualitative methods were used to collect and analyze data. Data were collected through personal interviews with four charter school executive directors, document review, field observations, and follow-up interviews. The conceptual framework used to interpret the collected data was based on Leithwood and Duke’s six dimensions of educational leadership: instructional, transformational, moral, participative, managerial, and contingent leadership. Data were gathered and analyzed against these six leadership dimensions. A thick description of the experiences and perspectives of the four participants was created. The data provided insight into successful charter school leadership. Some of the findings supported extant research about leadership in other educational contexts, while some indicated some unique characteristics of leadership within a charter school. Participants indicated that the largest demands in their jobs were the quantity of needs as well as the necessary practice of affecting change through systems rather than directly with students. Participants further identified a sense of personal accountability, a change management process, as well as working within all six dimensions of leadership as essential to their successes. These findings and conclusions are reported in Chapters 4 and 5. This study was an exploration of traits and behaviors exhibited by executive directors of successful charter schools. The findings indicate a gap between current understandings of educational leadership in general and that within a charter school. It is expected that this research will help to create a clearer understanding of charter school leadership and provide insight for stakeholders to move forward in locating and training future charter school leaders. INVESTIGATING LEADERSHIP IN CHARTER SCHOOLS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE LEADERSHIP TRAITS OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS IN SUCCESSFUL CHARTER SCHOOLS
Observed Instances of Speciation

I have divided this FAQ into several sections. Part 2 discusses several definitions of what a species is. Part 3 explains the context in which observations of speciation are made. Part 4 looks at the question, "How can we tell when a speciation event has occurred? " Part 5 describes a number of observed speciation events and several experiments which (IMO) failed to produce speciation. Part 6 is a list of references.
L1 arrest, daf-16/FoxO and nonautonomous control of post-embryonic development

ABSTRACT Post-embryonic development is governed by nutrient availability. L1 arrest, dauer formation and aging illustrate how starvation, anticipation of starvation and caloric restriction have profound influence on C. elegans development, respectively. Insulin-like signaling through the Forkhead box O transcription factor daf-16/FoxO regulates each of these processes. We recently reported that ins-4, ins-6 and daf-28 promote L1 development from the intestine and chemosensory neurons, similar to their role in dauer development. daf-16 functions cell-nonautonomously in regulation of L1 arrest, dauer development and aging. Discrepancies in daf-16 sites of action have been reported in each context, but the consensus implicates epidermis, intestine and nervous system. We suggest technical limitations of the experimental approach responsible for discrepant results. Steroid hormone signaling through daf-12/NHR is known to function downstream of daf-16 in control of dauer development, but signaling pathways mediating cell-nonautonomous effects of daf-16 in aging and L1 arrest had not been identified. We recently showed that daf-16 promotes L1 arrest by inhibiting daf-12/NHR and dbl-1/TGF-β Sma/Mab signaling, two pathways that promote L1 development in fed larvae. We will review these results on L1 arrest and speculate on why there are so many signals and signaling centers regulating post-embryonic development.
Solving Part Type Selection and Loading Problem in Flexible Manufacturing System Using Real Coded Genetic Algorithms - Part I: Modeling

This paper and its companion (Part 2) deal with modeling and optimization of two NP-hard problems in production planning of flexible manufacturing system (FMS), part type selection problem and loading problem. The part type selection problem and the loading problem are strongly related and heavily influence the system's efficiency and productivity. The complexity of the problems is harder when flexibilities of operations such as the possibility of operation processed on alternative machines with alternative tools are considered. These problems have been modeled and solved simultaneously by using real coded genetic algorithms (RCGA) which uses an array of real numbers as chromosome representation. These real numbers can be converted into part type sequence and machines that are used to process the part types. This first part of the papers focuses on the modeling of the problems and discussing how the novel chromosome representation can be applied to solve the problems. The second part will discuss the effectiveness of the RCGA to solve various test bed problems.
Post Traumatic Reactions as Individual Differences: Latent Structure Analysis of the International Trauma Questionnaire in Italian Trauma-Exposed and Non-Trauma Exposed Adults

To evaluate the internal consistency and factor structure of the Italian translation of the 12-item International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ), 382 trauma-exposed and 366 non-trauma exposed Italian community-dwelling Italian adults from a total group of 748 volunteers completed the ITQ. The ITQ Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Disorder of Self-Organization scales showed adequate Cronbach’s a s in both trauma-exposed and non-trauma-exposed participants. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the a priori model of item-to-scale assignment of the ITQ items was consistently reproduced in both trauma-exposed and non-trauma-exposed participants, even when measurement invariance was formally assessed. Finally, taxometric analyses showed that the latent distribution of the six ITQ PTSD symptom items should be conceived as a latent dimension rather than a categorical latent construct. As a whole, our findings supported to the cross-cultural validity of the ITQ while extending its clinical usefulness.
An Enhanced Resilient Backpropagation Artificial Neural Network for Intrusion Detection System

Summary The potential threats and attacks that can be caused by intrusions have been increased rapidly due to the dependence on network and internet connectivity. In order to prevent such attacks, Intrusion Detection Systems were designed. Different soft computing based methods have been proposed for the development of Intrusion Detection Systems. In this paper a multilayer perceptron is trained using an enhanced resilient backpropagation training algorithm for intrusion detection. In order to increase the convergence speed an optimal or ideal learning factor was added to the weight update equation. The performance and evaluations were performed using the NSLKDD anomaly intrusion detection dataset. The experiments results demonstrate that the system has promising results in terms of accuracy, storage and time; the designed system was capable to classify records with a detection rate about 94.7%.