Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-learning recursive neural networks for structured data classification

Automatic classification of structured data is a challenging task and its relevance to many domains is evident. However, collecting labeled data may turn to be a quite expensive task and sometimes even prone to mislabeling. A technical solution to this problem consists in combining few labeled data samples and a significant amount of unlabeled data samples to train a classifier. Likewise, the present paper deals with the classification of partially labeled tree-like structured data. To carry on this task, we suggest an adapted variant of recursive neural networks (RNNs) that is equipped with semi-supervision mechanisms capable of learning from labeled and unlabeled tree-like data. Accordingly RNNs rely on self-learning to actively pre-label data which will be combined with originally labeled one during the learning process. The semi-supervised RNNs approach is presented and evaluated on real-world extensible Markup Language (XML) collection of documents in the context of digital libraries. The initial empirical experiments show high quality results.
Self-Efficacy and Teaching Effectiveness

Interpreting changing levels of self-efficacy while improving effective teaching behaviors can be one goal of teacher education programs. Undergraduate education majors often begin their teacher education programs with high levels of self-efficacy (a belief in one's capabilities). These levels of self-efficacy frequently decline as preservice teachers progress through their curriculum and make the transition to in-service teaching. A slight decline in these levels can be interpreted as a novice teacher's greater understanding of the complexity of the teaching process. Eighteen preservice string teachers evaluated their levels of self-efficacy with the Teacher Efficacy Scale (Guskey and Passaro, 1994) three times during an academic year. The preservice teachers were videotaped three times during regular teaching assignments at a community music program. They self-evaluated the teaching episodes by the means of a Music Teaching Observation Form (Kelly, 1984). Experienced educators also evaluated the tapes. Group and individual means indicated that ratings of teaching effectiveness by both preservice teachers and experienced educators increased while levels of self-efficacy decreased slightly. Several specific items from the Teacher Efficacy Scale and Music Teaching Teaching Observation Form had significant changes. Changing levels in self-efficacy did not have an influence on increased teaching effectiveness scores for this specific group of preservice teachers.
Part-of-Speech Tagging using Conditional Random Fields: Exploiting Sub-Label Dependencies for Improved Accuracy

We discuss part-of-speech (POS) tagging in presence of large, fine-grained label sets using conditional random fields (CRFs). We propose improving tagging accuracy by utilizing dependencies within sub-components of the fine-grained labels. These sub-label dependencies are incorporated into the CRF model via a (relatively) straightforward feature extraction scheme. Experiments on five languages show that the approach can yield significant improvement in tagging accuracy in case the labels have sufficiently rich inner structure.
Outage probability analysis of cooperative transmission protocols without and with network coding: inter-user channels based comparison

In wireless networks, cooperative transmission is used as a means to combat channel fading. In this system, a source and a relay transmit each others' messages to a common destination using either amplify-and-forward or decode-and-forward strategies; the protocols in cooperative transmission can also broadly be categorized as static and adaptive. The idea in a network-coding-based cooperative transmission protocol is to allow the source and relay to combine messages by a network coding operation; a modulo-2 sum operation implements this network coding. In this work, the performance of various decode-and-forward-based cooperative transmission protocols without and with additional network coding is investigated. Outage probability is used as a measure of performance, and results for symmetrical source-relay and source/relay-destination channels are presented; also a source-relay-channels-based comparison is made. Based on these outage results, network-coding-based protocols are found to be suitable when the source-relay channels are unreliable; when the source-relay channels are good, protocols without network coding perform better. Moreover, to improve the performance of static protocols, we have introduced a sequence of decoding at the destination, and the corresponding outage results show that these protocols can achieve full diversity.
Ultra--Low-Frequency Gravitational Radiation from Massive Black Hole Binaries

For massive black hole binaries produced in galactic mergers, we examine the possibility of inspiral induced by interaction with field stars. We model the evolution of such binaries for a range of galaxy core and binary parameters, using numerical results from the literature to compute the binary's energy and angular momentum loss rates due to stellar encounters and including the effect of back-action on the field stars. We find that only a small fraction of binary systems can merge within a Hubble time via unassisted stellar dynamics. External perturbations may, however, cause efficient inspiral. Averaging over a population of central black holes and galaxy mergers, we compute the expected background of gravitational radiation with periods Pw ~ 1-10 yr. Comparison with sensitivities from millisecond pulsar timing suggests that the strongest sources may be detectable with modest improvements to present experiments.
Harmonic Mode-Locked Fiber Laser based on Photonic Crystal Fiber Filled with Topological Insulator Solution

We reported that the photonic crystal fiber (PCF) filled with TI:Bi2Te3 nanosheets solution could act as an effective saturable absorber (SA). Employing this TI-PCF SA device; we constructed an ytterbium-doped all-fiber laser oscillator and achieved the evanescent wave mode-locking operation. Due to the large cavity dispersion; the fundamental mode-locking pulse had the large full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 2.33 ns with the repetition rate of ~1.11 MHz; and the radio frequency (RF) spectrum with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 61 dB. In addition; the transition dynamics from a bunched state of pulses to harmonic mode-locking (HML) was also observed; which was up to 26th order.
Global-Scale Evaluation of Roughness Effects on C-Band AMSR-E Observations

Quantifying roughness effects on ground surface emissivity is an important step in obtaining high-quality soil moisture products from large-scale passive microwave sensors. In this study, we used a semi-empirical method to evaluate roughness effects (parameterized here by the parameter) on a global scale from AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS) observations. AMSR-E brightness temperatures at 6.9 GHz obtained from January 2009 to September 2011, together with estimations of soil moisture from the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) L3 products and of soil temperature from ECMWF’s (European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting) were used as inputs in a retrieval process. In the first step, we retrieved a parameter (referred to as the parameter) accounting for the combined effects of roughness and vegetation. Then, global MODIS NDVI data were used to decouple the effects of vegetation from those of surface roughness. Finally, global maps of the Hr parameters were produced and discussed. Initial results showed that some spatial patterns in the values could be associated with the main vegetation types (higher values of were retrieved generally in forested regions, intermediate values were obtained over crops and grasslands, and lower values were obtained over shrubs and desert) and topography. For instance, over the USA, lower values of were retrieved in relatively flat regions while relatively higher values were retrieved in hilly regions.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonists Sensitize, and Resensitize, Prostate Cancer Cells to Docetaxel in a p53-Dependent Manner

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors are expressed in prostate cancer, specifically in the most aggressive stage of the tumor (castration-resistant prostate cancer, CRPC) for which the standard treatment, docetaxel-based chemotherapy, can only improve the median survival time by few months. We previously showed that GnRH agonists exert an antitumor activity in CRPC cells; however, a link between GnRH receptors and the apoptotic machinery remains to be defined. Aim of this study was to evaluate whether, in CRPC cells, GnRH agonists might affect the expression/activity of apoptosis-related proteins and might sensitize, or resensitize, cancer cells to chemotherapeutics. We demonstrated that, in p53-positive DU145 cells, GnRH agonists: a) increase the expression of the proapoptotic protein Bax; this effect is mediated by the phosphorylation (activation) of p53, triggered by the p38 MAPK; b) potentiate the antiproliferative/proapoptotic activity of docetaxel; c) resensitize docetaxel-resistant cells to the antitumor activity of the cytotoxic drug. These data indicate that GnRH agonists sensitize and, more importantly, resensitize DU145 CRPC cells to chemotherapy in a p53-dependent manner. To confirm the crucial role of p53 in the activity of GnRH agonists, experiments were performed in p53-null PC3 cells. We found that GnRH agonists fail to increase Bax expression and do not potentiate the cytotoxic activity of docetaxel. These results may provide a rationale for novel combination treatment strategies, especially for docetaxel-resistant CRPC patients expressing a functional p53 protein.
Hard-thermal-loop Resummation of the Free Energy of a Hot Quark-Gluon Plasma

The quark contribution to the free energy of a hot quark-gluon plasma is calculated to leading order in hard-thermal-loop (HTL) perturbation theory. This method selectively resums higher order corrections associated with plasma eﬀects, such as screening, quasiparticles, and Landau damping. Comparing to the weak-coupling expansion of QCD, the error in the one-loop HTL free energy is of order α s , but the large α 3 / 2 s correction from QCD plasma ef-fects is included exactly.
Hand hygiene knowledge and attitude of medical students in western Saudi Arabia

Background The practice of hand hygiene (HH) has prime importance among Health Care Professionals (HCPs) and non-compliance could cause adverse consequences. By keeping the importance of HH in mind, this study aims at investigating the knowledge and attitudes towards HH among medical students and interns at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (SA). Methods The study includes 453 medical students and interns (189 males & 264 females). This study was completed in three months; from September to November 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) HH questionnaire was used and data were analyzed on SPSS-21. Results Two-third of the participants 292 (64.2%) had formal training in HH in the last three years. Almost half of the participants 254 (56.1%) had correct knowledge regarding the major course of transmission of potentially detrimental microbes among patients in the healthcare premises. Just 124 (27.4%) of the respondents had the correct knowledge about the most common basis of germs accountable for healthcare-related infections. Females had significantly better knowledge than males regarding the type of HH technique needed before palpation of the abdomen (177(54%) Vs. 151(46%); P < 0.002), before an injection (175(54.5%) Vs. 146(45.5%); P < 0.007), after emptying a bedpan (207(64.7%) Vs. 113(35.3%); P < 0.001), following discarding examination gloves (256(60.4% Vs. 168(39.6%); P < 0.001] and after exposure to blood (200(64.1%) Vs. 112(35.%); P < 0.001). Female participants had better knowledge than males regarding the type of HH actions. Females also had a significantly better attitude towards the importance of HH than males (240(62.5%) Vs. 144(37.5%); P < 0.001). Conclusion The majority of the participants’ knowledge regarding HH was not up to the mark; however, female students had better knowledge compared to male students. The medical students and interns’ knowledge and positive attitude towards HH can play a pivotal role in preventing HCPs associated infections and it would overall decrease the infection-related burden on the hospital and governmental budgets. It is suggested that multi-dimensional plans are required to change this low compliance to a higher rate.
Implementing the State Duty to Consult in Land and Resource Decisions: Perspectives from Sami Communities and Swedish State Officials

The duty of states to consult indigenous communities is a well-established legal principle, but its implications for practice remain uncertain. Sweden is finding itself at a particularly critical juncture as it prepares to legislate a duty to consult the Sami people in line with its international obligations. This paper explores the ability of Swedish state actors to implement the duty to consult, based on lessons from an already existing duty set out in Swedish minority law, namely to ensure the effective participation of minorities in land and resource decisions. Presenting novel empirical material on the views of Sami communities and state officials in ministries and agencies, we demonstrate the existence of considerable implementation gaps linked to practice, sectoral legislation, and political discourse. We argue that if state duties are to promote the intended intercultural reconciliation, then new measures are needed to ensure enforcement, e.g. via mechanisms of appeal and rules of nullification. In addition, sectoral resource regulations should be amended to refer to the duties set out in minority law and/or a potential new bill on consultation duty in a consistent manner. In the near-term, the state should ensure that Sami communities are adequately resourced to engage in consultation and should invest in state authorities’ own ability to implement, i.e. through competence development, staffing, intersectoral coordination, and independent evaluation. Much could also be gained if state agencies and Sami communities worked together to develop detailed consultation routines for relevant resource sectors. Responsible Editor: Øyvind Ravna, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Robo1 Modulates Proliferation and Neurogenesis in the Developing Neocortex

The elaborate cytoarchitecture of the mammalian neocortex requires the timely production of its constituent pyramidal neurons and interneurons and their disposition in appropriate layers. Numerous chemotropic factors present in the forebrain throughout cortical development play important roles in the orchestration of these events. The Roundabout (Robo) family of receptors and their ligands, the Slit proteins, are expressed in the developing forebrain, and are known to play important roles in the generation and migration of cortical interneurons. However, few studies have investigated their function(s) in the development of pyramidal cells. Here, we observed expression of Robo1 and Slit genes (Slit1, Slit2) in cells lining the telencephalic ventricles, and found significant increases in progenitor cells (basal and apical) at embryonic day (E)12.5 and E14.5 in the developing cortex of Robo1−/−, Slit1−/−, and Slit1−/−/Slit2−/−, but not in mice lacking the other Robo or Slit genes. Using layer-specific markers, we found that both early- and late-born pyramidal neuron populations were significantly increased in the cortices of Robo1−/− mice at the end of corticogenesis (E18.5). The excess number of cortical pyramidal neurons generated prenatally appears to die in early postnatal life. The observed increase in pyramidal neurons was due to prolonged proliferative activity of their progenitors and not due to changes in cell cycle events. This finding, confirmed by in utero electroporation with Robo1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) or control constructs into progenitors along the ventricular zone as well as in dissociated cortical cell cultures, points to a novel role for Robo1 in regulating the proliferation and generation of pyramidal neurons.
Design and engineering aspects of a high resolution positron tomograph for small animal imaging

Describes the Sherbrooke positron emission tomograph, a very high resolution device dedicated to dynamic imaging of small laboratory animals. Its distinctive features are: small discrete scintillation detectors based on avalanche photodiodes (APD) to achieve uniform, isotropic, very high spatial resolution; parallel processing for low deadtime and high count rate capability; multispectral data acquisition hardware to improve sensitivity and scatter correction; modularity to allow design flexibility and upgradability. The system implements the "clam-shell" sampling scheme and a rotating rod transmission source. All acquisition parameters can be adjusted under computer control. Temperature stability at the detector site is ensured by the use of thermoelectric modules. The initial system consists of one layer of 256 modules (two rings of detectors) defining 3 image slices in a 118 mm diameter by 10.5 mm thick field. The axial field can be extended to 50 mm using 4 layers of modules (8 rings of detectors). The design constraints and engineering aspects of an APD-based PET scanner are reviewed and preliminary results are reported. >
Image-driven view management for augmented reality browsers

In this paper, we introduce a novel view management technique for placing labels in Augmented Reality systems. A common issue in many Augmented Reality applications is the absence of knowledge of the real environment, limiting the efficient representation and optimal layout of the digital information augmented onto the real world. To overcome this problem, we introduce an image-based approach, which combines a visual saliency algorithm with edge analysis to identify potentially important image regions and geometric constraints for placing labels. Our proposed solution also includes adaptive rendering techniques that allow a designer to control the appearance of depth cues. We describe the results obtained from a user study considering different scenarios, which we performed for validating our approach. Our technique will provide special benefits to Augmented Reality browsers that usually lack scene knowledge, but also to many other applications in the domain of Augmented Reality such as cultural heritage and maintenance applications.
“S/he’s Taken”: Effects of Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism on Responses to Relationship Threats From Rivals

Narcissists’ threat reactivity can be differentiated into cognitive, emotional, and tactical-behavioral responses, and these dimensions of reactivity are presumed to vary as a function of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. The present research applied this conceptual model to situations involving a relationship threat from a rival. A college sample completed measures of vulnerable narcissism, pathological and non-pathological measures of grandiose narcissism, and then indicated anticipated cognitive, emotional, and tactical responses to situations involving high and low levels of rival threat. All narcissism forms generally converged on similar tactical responses – specifically, enhanced coercive and mate-value-enhancement tactics. Yet, both pathological and non-pathological expressions of grandiose narcissism diverged from vulnerable narcissism on cognitive and emotional outcomes, such that only vulnerable narcissism related to enhanced worrying and negative emotionality. Furthermore, all narcissism forms were more strongly related to coercive tactics against the rival following high (vs. low) rival threat.
Image super-resolution with facet improvement and detail enhancement based on local self examples

In this paper, an algorithm named ILSE (Improved Local Self Examples) is proposed to improve the facet phenomenon based on [1]. The algorithm divides the high frequency component into two orthogonal spaces by analyzing the covariance matrix of a single image. Moreover, the high resolution image can be further improved by using the IWLS (Improved Weighted Least Square) filter, in which we add one more regulation term to balance the gradient field and 2-order holomorphic complete differential form of the image. The algorithm can preserve the edge sharpness and enhance the details at the same time. Analysis is given on the relations and the differences between the proposed approach and some other state-of-the-art interpolation methods. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve better image quality as compared to other competitors.
Introduction to Special Issue: The Practice, Politics and Possibilities for Globally Engaged Experiential Learning in Diverse Contexts

This special issue features eight articles all exploring globally-engaged experiential learning opportunities available to youth and/or students in diverse contexts such as transnational learning/volunteer abroad programs and locally-based global engagement. The collection brings together academics and practitioners to consider the efficacy, assumptions and stakes of the rise of volunteer abroad programming, and the implications for student learning outcomes.
A modeling approach to design a software sensor and analyze agronomical features - Application to sap flow and grape quality relationship

This work proposes a framework using temporal data and domain knowledge in order to analyze complex agronomical features. The expertise is first formalized in an ontology, under the form of concepts and relationships between them, and then used in conjunction with raw data and mathematical models to design a software sensor. Next the software sensor outputs are put in relation to product quality, assessed by quantitative measurements. This requires the use of advanced data analysis methods, such as functional regression. The methodology is applied to a case study involving an experimental design in French vineyards. The temporal data consist of sap flow measurements, and the goal is to explain fruit quality (sugar concentration and weight), using vine's water courses through the various vine phenological stages. The results are discussed, as well as the method genericity and robustness.
Preoperative physical performance predictors of self-reported physical function and quality of life in patients scheduled for total knee arthroplasty

[Purpose] To determine the preoperative self-reported and performance-based physical function of patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis who awaited total knee arthroplasty. The preoperative physical performance factors that predicted self-reported physical function and quality of life were also identified. [Subjects and Methods] All adults with end-stage knee osteoarthritis awaiting surgery were enrolled. Before surgery, self-reported disease-specific physical function and self-reported pain were measured using the Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, self-reported quality of life was measured using the EuroQOL five dimensions questionnaire, and physical performance tests were performed, the 6 minute walk test, the timed up-and-go test, instrumental gait analysis, and measurement of isometric knee flexor and extensor strength of the surgical and nonsurgical knees. [Results] In total, 55 adults (49 females; 73.3 ± 6.1 years) were included. This study showed that several preoperative self-reported and physical performance factors were predictive of self-reported physical function and quality of life. [Conclusion] In patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis, preoperative pain and dynamic balance ability were the most powerful predictors of self-reported physical function. Preoperative pain and exercise tolerance were the most powerful predictors of quality of life. Preoperative rehabilitation strategies that focus on dynamic balance, aerobic, and resistance exercises may improve surgical outcomes.