Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Designing and Scaling Level-Specific Writing Tasks in Alignment With the CEFR: A Test-Centered Approach

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) provides a competency model that is increasingly used as a point of reference to compare language examinations. Nevertheless, aligning examinations to the CEFR proficiency levels remains a challenge. In this article, we propose a new, level-centered approach to designing and aligning writing tasks in line with the CEFR levels. Much work has been done on assessing writing via tasks spanning over several levels of proficiency but little research on a level-specific approach, where one task targets one specific proficiency level. In our study, situated in a large-scale assessment project where such a level-specific approach was employed, we investigate the influence of the design factors tasks, assessment criteria, raters, and student proficiency on the variability of ratings, using descriptive statistics, generalizability theory, and multifaceted Rasch modeling. Results show that the level-specific approach yields plausible inferences about task difficulty, rater harshness, rating criteria difficulty, and student distribution. Moreover, Rasch analyses show a high level of consistency between a priori task classifications in terms of CEFR levels and empirical task difficulty estimates. This allows for a test-centered approach to standard setting by suggesting empirically grounded cut-scores in line with the CEFR proficiency levels targeted by the tasks.
The Medium and the Matrix Unconscious Information and the Therapeutic Dyad

Pioneers in psychology discovered, then repudiated, the traumatic origins of dissociation. Recent scientific research is show- ing how genetic predisposition plus trauma cause dissociation along with observable changes in the brain. EEG and PET scans have dem- onstrated that distinct neural networks lie at the base of dissociative states, with differences as striking as blindness vs. sight. Research is pointing as well to the role of the right hemisphere in developing a core sense of self through the mother-infant bond and dividing it in response to childhood trauma and later stressors. Analysts from the nineteenth through the twenty-first century have witnessed frequent paranormal claims, such as telepathy, in mediums and dissociative patients, and wondered at the knowledge they displayed. This paper reports case studies of an empathic therapeutic matrix where uncon- scious transfers of information occurred with surprising revelations and imaginative constructs that both healed the patient and changed the therapist's own beliefs.
Calcium Channel Blockers, More than Diuretics, Enhance Vascular Protective Effects of Angiotensin Receptor Blockers in Salt-Loaded Hypertensive Rats

The combination therapy of an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) with a calcium channel blocker (CCB) or with a diuretic is favorably recommended for the treatment of hypertension. However, the difference between these two combination therapies is unclear. The present work was undertaken to examine the possible difference between the two combination therapies in vascular protection. Salt-loaded stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) were divided into 6 groups, and they were orally administered (1) vehicle, (2) olmesartan, an ARB, (3) azelnidipine, a CCB, (4) hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic, (5) olmesartan combined with azelnidipine, or (6) olmesartan combined with hydrochlorothiazide. Olmesartan combined with either azelnidipine or hydrochlorothiazide ameliorated vascular endothelial dysfunction and remodeling in SHRSP more than did monotherapy with either agent. However, despite a comparable blood pressure lowering effect between the two treatments, azelnidipine enhanced the amelioration of vascular endothelial dysfunction and remodeling by olmesartan to a greater extent than did hydrochlorothiazide in salt-loaded SHRSP. The increased enhancement by azelnidipine of olmesartan-induced vascular protection than by hydrochlorothiazide was associated with a greater amelioration of vascular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activation, superoxide, mitogen-activated protein kinase activation, and with a greater activation of the Akt/endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) pathway. These results provided the first evidence that a CCB potentiates the vascular protective effects of an ARB in salt-sensitive hypertension, compared with a diuretic, and provided a novel rationale explaining the benefit of the combination therapy with an ARB and a CCB.
A VLT/FORS2 spectroscopic survey in the HDF-S ?

We report on low-resolution multi-object spectroscopy of 65 objects from I(AB) ~= 20 to I(AB) ~= 25 in the HDF-S obtained with the VLT Focal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2). 18 objects belong to the HDF-S proper, i.e. the WFPC2 deep area. 15 high-redshift galaxies with 2.0 < z < 3.5 (10 in the HDF-S proper) have been identified. The spectroscopic redshifts are in good agreement with the photometric ones derived from a chi^{2} minimization technique comparing the observed spectral energy distribution with synthetic libraries and with a new neural network (NN) approach. The dispersion with the former method is sigma_z=0.16 whereas the latter provides sigma_z=0.13. No \"catastrophic\" difference is encountered. The inferred star formation rates of the individual objects range from tens to a few hundreds of M_{\\odot} yr^{-1} and the global star formation rate of the Universe at =~2.4 is estimated to be 0.15 M_{\\odot} yr^{-1} Mpc^{-3} with a statistical error of 0.04. Evidence for large scale structure is found with two groups\' redshifts observed at z ~= 2.1 and z ~= 2.7 and a pronounced low redshift peak around z ~= 0.58. An elliptical galaxy lensing a background object turns out to be at a redshift z=0.577.
Software Development Methods and Tools: a New Zealand study

This study is a more detailed follow-up to a preliminary investigation of the practices of software engineers in New Zealand. The focus of this study is on the methods and tools used by software developers in their current organisation. The project involved detailed questionnaires being piloted and sent out to several hundred software developers. A central part of the research involved the identification of factors affecting the use and take-up of existing software development tools in the workplace. The full spectrum of tools from fully integrated I-CASE tools to individual software applications, such as drawing tools was investigated. This paper describes the project and presents the findings.
Open-loop control for 2DOF robot manipulators with antagonistic bi-articular muscles

This paper investigates open-loop control, which does not need the joint angles and velocities, for two degree of freedom(2DOF) robot manipulators with antagonistic bi-articular muscles which are passing over adjacent two joints and acting the both joints simultaneously. The manipulator dynamics of three muscle torques, we call the bi-articular manipulator dynamics, is constructed in order to design the control input. Stability analysis with respect to our proposed control law is discussed based on the Lyapunov method. Our approach is inspired by the fact that humans do not measure the joint angles and velocities explicitly, Finally, simulation results are shown in order to confirm the proposed method and given a design procedure in order to assign the tuning parameter.
Responsibility for Raw Data.

Recently a colleague presented some data from his research and I asked him what he thought about a particular interpretation of his results which I suggested His response was to the effect that my interpretation was an interesting idea but that we did not really know the facts. My point is that he acted as if what he has thought about his extensive experience with the problem under discussion had no value because it was subjective. I believe this is a widespread attitude among psychologists. I am not saying that subjective functions are sufficient to the scientific process, but rather that they are very important to it, and even necessary except in the relatively few instances in which a deduction from a theory becomes the hypothesis. Much recent psychological research has been unproductive, I believe, not for lack of methodological sophistication or objectivity, but because of poorly reasoned hypotheses. It is the subjective process, the thinking about relevant data and our own relevant experiences, which is so important to framing hypotheses which are more likely to stand up under objective testing. Has the dominant point of view in psychology gone so far in the emphasis on objectivity that we have lost sight of the value of thinking, and further, have so much come to distrust any subjectivity that we are restricted, inhibited, unfree in the thinking process, afraid to trust our minds? EMANUEL M. BERGER Student Counseling Bureau University of Minnesota
Eye-tracking Film Music

Film music scholars, composers, directors and audiences have always implicitly believed that music can help determine the focus of an audience’s visual attention, but researchers have not as yet been able to prove this empirically. Eye-tracking research—the process of measuring either the point of gaze or the motion of the eyes—has grown exponentially in recent years. This paper reports on a foundational, empirical eye-tracking study that examined the effects of contextual musical attributes on visual attention, emotion and user experience during exploration tasks in moving images. Our results show that music is able to direct how we see by switching attention to target foci more quickly as well as lengthening fixations, and that music can also encourage greater exploration of visual scenes outside targets. Our work contributes the first step in understanding how music shapes visual attention using eye-tracking techniques. We encourage wider adoption of this approach which has the potential to enhance understanding of the complex processes of audiovisual perception in action.
Cochlear Implantation in Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

With the implementation of newborn hearing screening programs, permanent congenital hearing loss is typically diagnosed in babies within six weeks of age (JCIH, 2007). Many hearing screening programs use a two-stage transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) screen because of the ease-of-use and timeand cost-effectiveness (Hayes, 2003). Because infants are unable to provide reliable behavioural responses to sound stimuli, hearing thresholds are estimated using the auditory brainstem response (ABR), a measure of synchronous neural activity that correlates well with behavioural thresholds in infants with normal hearing and conductive and sensorineural hearing loss (Hyde et al., 1990). As a result, early intervention is targeted, resulting in spoken language development that is similar to normally hearing peers and significantly better than later identified peers, irrespective of the magnitude of loss (Yoshinaga-Itano et al., 1998).
Analysis of parallel algorithms for finding a maximal independent set in a random hypergraph

It is well known 9] that nding a maximal independent set in a graph is in class N C, and 10] that nding a maximal independent set in a hypergraph with xed dimension is in RN C. It is not known whether this latter problem remains in N C when the dimension is part of the input. We will study the problem when the problem instances are randomly chosen. It was shown in 6] that the expected running time of a simple parallel algorithm for nding the lexicographically rst maximal independent set (lfmis) in a random simple graph is logarithmic in the input size. In this paper, we will prove a generalization of this result. We show that if a random k-uniform hypergraph has vertex set f1; 2; : : : ; ng and its edges are chosen independently with probability p from the set of ? n k possible edges, then our algorithm nds the lfmis
Psychological Predictors of Injury among Professional Soccer Players

Psychological Predictors of Injury among Professional Soccer Players Objectives: Numerous empirical studies suggest that specific psychological factors influence the frequency and severity of sport injuries. The main purpose of the present study is to outline the psychological factors, which predict increased injury vulnerability among professional male soccer players in Denmark. Based on the Stress-Injury Model by Williams & Anderson (1998) it is hypothesized that low coping resources, high competitive trait anxiety, and history of previous injuries would be positively related to an increased risk of injury occurrence and severity. Methods: The soccer players (N = 87) were asked to report history of previous injuries within the last 12 months. Furthermore, 2 questionnaires were used; Competitive Trait Anxiety Test, and Athletic Coping Skills Inventory - 28 (ACSI-28). Injuries were prospectively recorded throughout a period of approximately 3 months by the team's medical staff (doctors and physiotherapists). Results: Study findings clearly suggest that history of previous injury and coping with adversity are the best predictors of injury occurrence. These factors explained between 7 % and 11 % of the total variance of injury occurrence and days lost due to injury respectively. Furthermore, the same variables were found very successful in prediction injury occurrence. Conclusions: The findings support the suggestions that psychological factors can be utilized as a predictive measurement to sport injuries, which should be considered by coaches and medical staff in order to reduce vulnerability to injury.
Trends in alcohol consumption and drinking patterns: sociological and economic explanations and alcohol policies

When we aim to explain variation between countries in the prevalence of alcohol-related harm, what are the factors that matter? The favourite explanatory factor has been per capita alcohol consumption (e.g. Edwards et al. 1994), but more and more voices are heard to insist that drinking patterns could matter more than the mere level of consumption (e.g. Rehm 1999). Beyond this basic dispute, a number of others lurk behind and require attention. What can actually be known about changes in alcohol consumption and variation therein between countries? How exactly can we establish the level of alcohol consumption, JUSSI SIMPURA
Identification of asthma phenotypes using cluster analysis in the Severe Asthma Research Program.

RATIONALE The Severe Asthma Research Program cohort includes subjects with persistent asthma who have undergone detailed phenotypic characterization. Previous univariate methods compared features of mild, moderate, and severe asthma. OBJECTIVES To identify novel asthma phenotypes using an unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis. METHODS Reduction of the initial 628 variables to 34 core variables was achieved by elimination of redundant data and transformation of categorical variables into ranked ordinal composite variables. Cluster analysis was performed on 726 subjects. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Five groups were identified. Subjects in Cluster 1 (n = 110) have early onset atopic asthma with normal lung function treated with two or fewer controller medications (82%) and minimal health care utilization. Cluster 2 (n = 321) consists of subjects with early-onset atopic asthma and preserved lung function but increased medication requirements (29% on three or more medications) and health care utilization. Cluster 3 (n = 59) is a unique group of mostly older obese women with late-onset nonatopic asthma, moderate reductions in FEV(1), and frequent oral corticosteroid use to manage exacerbations. Subjects in Clusters 4 (n = 120) and 5 (n = 116) have severe airflow obstruction with bronchodilator responsiveness but differ in to their ability to attain normal lung function, age of asthma onset, atopic status, and use of oral corticosteroids. CONCLUSIONS Five distinct clinical phenotypes of asthma have been identified using unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis. All clusters contain subjects who meet the American Thoracic Society definition of severe asthma, which supports clinical heterogeneity in asthma and the need for new approaches for the classification of disease severity in asthma.
Ethernet FSO Communications Link Performance Study Under a Controlled Fog Environment

In this letter the performance of a free space optical (FSO) communication link in the presence of fog is experimentally investigated in an indoor environment. A dedicated indoor atmospheric chamber, replicating the outdoor environment, is being used to evaluate the FSO link performance under the fog condition. Theoretical analysis supported by the experimental evaluation has been carried out for the intensity modulation/direct detection on-off keying non-return-to-zero (OOK-NRZ), OOK return-to-zero (OOK-RZ) and four pulse position modulation (4-PPM) modulation formats at the Ethernet baseline data-rate. The results shown indicate that the 4-PPM signalling scheme is the most robust to the fog attenuation due to its high peak-to-average power ratio. Moreover, results also show the potential of the indoor atmospheric chamber to replicate outdoor atmospheric effects (such as fog) and be able to quickly characterise and assess the FSO system under a controlled environment.
Reduplication as a Quantifier in Salish

Les As. examinent le processus morphologique de reduplication dans les langues salish et montrent comment il sert a marquer la quantification des adverbes et des affixes, en faisant le point sur les differents traits semantiques quantificationnels identifies par plusieurs specialistes des langues salish (Kinkade, Hess, Kuipers, Efrat, Thompson & Thompson, van Eijk, Galloway, Montler, Kroeber, Mattina, Carlson & Bates, Baghemil, Watanabe)
CASCADE OF GREGORY-LAFLAMME TRANSITIONS AND U(1) BREAKDOWN IN SUPER YANG-MILLS

We consider black p-branes on square torus. We find an indication of a cascade of Gregory-Laflamme transitions between black p-brane and (p - 1)-brane. Through AdS/CFT correspondence, these transitions are related to the breakdown of the U(1) symmetry in super Yang-Mills on square torus. We argue a relationship between the cascade and recent Monte-Carlo data. This talk is based on Ref. 1.
Proteasome inhibitor bortezomib increases PTEN expression and enhances trastuzumab-induced growth inhibition in trastuzumab-resistant cells

PTEN (phosphatase and tension homolog deleted on chromosome 10) has been shown to be inactivated in a wide range of cancers and the role of this gene product is associated with the suppression of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway in many cancers. Recently, some reports demonstrated that the degree of PTEN expression could predict trastuzumab chemosensitivity in ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancer. Here, we demonstrate the possible involvement of a proteasome inhibitor (PS341) in PTEN expression and elucidate the influence of PI3K/Akt, one of the main cascades of the ErbB2 downstream pathway, and discuss the role of the proteasome inhibitors in trastuzumab resistance. ErbB2-overexpressing SKBR3 human breast cancer cells and trastuzumab-resistant SKBR3/R cells were analyzed in this study. We show that the expression of phosphorylated Akt was highly increased in trastuzumab-resistant cells, although the expression of PI3K, phosphorylated PI3K and non-phosphorylated Akt was unchanged in comparison with wild-type SKBR3 cells. However, following treatment with PS341, the level of phosphorylated Akt was decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Conversely, the level of PTEN was increased in the same fashion. PS341 showed sufficient cytotoxicity in resistant cells in combination with trastuzumab and the efficacy of trastuzumab was inclined to be better in resistant cells under PS341 treatment. Remarkable activity of Akt was observed in trastuzumab-resistant SKBR3 breast cancer cells and this phenomenon could be associated with the decreased expression of PTEN. The proteasome inhibitor PS341 could increase the level of PTEN and inhibit the downstream pathway of ErbB2, interfering with phosphorylation of Akt.
Stimulation of epidermal calcium gradient loss and increase in TNF‐α and IL‐1α expressions by glycolic acid in murine epidermis

Abstract: In a previous study, we reported that α‐hydroxy acids (AHA), such as glycolic acid and lactic acid, did not induce any significant changes in transepidermal water loss for normal murine skin. The ultrastructural observations, however, showed that the extent of lamellar body exocytosis significantly increased. Because AHA can theoretically decrease the calcium ion concentration by chelation, topical AHA may induce the loss of epidermal calcium gradient by lowering the calcium ion concentration in the granulocytes and, subsequently, induce lamellar body secretion. The aim of this study is to verify that glycolic acid could modulate the epidermal calcium gradient and increase lamellar body exocytosis. Seventy per cent of glycolic acid aqueous solution was applied to the normal skin of hairless mice and biochemical and morphological studies were performed. The loss of epidermal calcium gradient was observed in glycolic‐acid‐applied skin of hairless mice and subsequent barrier function recovery processes, such as an increase in lamellar body secretion, were observed. The extracellular glycolic acid was found to inhibit the change in intracellular calcium ion concentration in response to extracellular calcium ion concentration changes in the cultured mouse keratinocyte in vitro. The protein and mRNA expressions of tumour necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐1α in the murine epidermis were significantly increased after glycolic acid application. An in vitro study using cultured keratinocytes suggested that glycolic acid could lower the calcium ion concentration, at least in part, through the chelating effects of the glycolic acid on the cationic ions.
Turnover in the Child Welfare Workforce: A Different Perspective

ABSTRACT Child welfare agencies across the country are experiencing a workforce crisis involving high staff turnover rates. The purpose of this study was to determine which of the organizational, personal, and supervisory variables identified in prior research on this topic are most associated with intent to leave among employees in urban and rural child welfare settings. Four-hundred-and-forty-seven employees in 13 child welfare agencies participated in a survey addressing organizational, personal, and supervisory factors related to turnover. ANOVA, logistical regression, and structural equation modeling were used in the data analysis. The organizational and supervisory variables identified as significant in the logistic regression, as in earlier research, were not significant when the data were subjected to structural equation modeling. Instead, findings suggest that career satisfaction and satisfaction with paperwork are the key determinants of workers' intention to stay.