Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Individual Differences in Annoyance by Noise

This paper discusses correlations found in a number of investigations of noise annoyance, with special reference to the question whether those who are most annoyed show neurotic tendencies. In the past, this last association has been suggested because neurotic individuals give more affirmative answers when asked under quiet conditions how much they are annoyed by a variety of circumstances, including noise. Such a questionnaire of annoyances was therefore correlated with(1) the average rating of a number of real aircraft(2) the increase in rated annoyance as a function of physical intensity for a variety of sounds(3) various other measures of personality.While it was confirmed that a questionnaire of this kind tends to be answered more affirmatively by people with neurotic tendencies, it did not predict satisfactorily the amount of annoyance produced by real aircraft or other sounds. Thus it may indeed be that people who complain when noise levels are relatively low have neurotic tendencies: but it does n.
Time-Domain Large-Signal Modeling of Traveling-Wave Modulators on SOI

Silicon photonic modulators have strong nonlinear behavior in phase modulation and frequency response, which needs to be carefully addressed when they are used in high-capacity transmission systems. We demonstrate a comprehensive model for depletion-mode Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) on silicon-on-insulator, which provides a bridge between device design and system performance optimization. Our methodology involves physical models of p-n-junction phase-shifters and traveling-wave electrodes, as well as circuit models for the dynamic microwave-light interactions and time-domain analysis. Critical aspects in the transmission line design for high-frequency operation are numerically studied for a case of p-n-junction loaded coplanar-strip electrode. The dynamic interaction between light and microwave is simulated using a distributed circuit model solved by the finite-difference time-domain method, allowing for accurate prediction of both small-signal and large-signal responses. The validity of the model is confirmed by the comparison with experimental results for a series push-pull MZM with a 6 mm phase shifter. The simulation shows excellent agreement with experiment for high-speed operation up to 46 Gb/s. We show that this time-domain model can well predict the impact of the nonlinear behavior on the large-signal response, in contrast to the poor prediction from linear models in the frequency domain.
The Free Energy Landscape of Small Molecule Unbinding

The spontaneous dissociation of six small ligands from the active site of FKBP (the FK506 binding protein) is investigated by explicit water molecular dynamics simulations and network analysis. The ligands have between four (dimethylsulphoxide) and eleven (5-diethylamino-2-pentanone) non-hydrogen atoms, and an affinity for FKBP ranging from 20 to 0.2 mM. The conformations of the FKBP/ligand complex saved along multiple trajectories (50 runs at 310 K for each ligand) are grouped according to a set of intermolecular distances into nodes of a network, and the direct transitions between them are the links. The network analysis reveals that the bound state consists of several subbasins, i.e., binding modes characterized by distinct intermolecular hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic contacts. The dissociation kinetics show a simple (i.e., single-exponential) time dependence because the unbinding barrier is much higher than the barriers between subbasins in the bound state. The unbinding transition state is made up of heterogeneous positions and orientations of the ligand in the FKBP active site, which correspond to multiple pathways of dissociation. For the six small ligands of FKBP, the weaker the binding affinity the closer to the bound state (along the intermolecular distance) are the transition state structures, which is a new manifestation of Hammond behavior. Experimental approaches to the study of fragment binding to proteins have limitations in temporal and spatial resolution. Our network analysis of the unbinding simulations of small inhibitors from an enzyme paints a clear picture of the free energy landscape (both thermodynamics and kinetics) of ligand unbinding.
‘Invest in your children's education the way you invest in your goats’: systemic educational intervention in a traditional bedouin community – from theory into practice

Abstract Effective plans for educational change in a heterogeneous and culturally diverse society are still debatable. This study describes the author's experience, success and pitfalls, in applying a systemic and holistic intervention plan to the education system of a large Bedouin village in northern Israel. The village was included in the Ministry of Education project because of its pupils' low achievement level and high dropout rate. The villagers differed from the intervention group–in ethnic origin, culture, religion (Moslems) and worldview. The Project's intervention model established a dynamic continuous dialogue between the academic world, local teachers, parents and formal community leaders, by delegating responsibilities, creating a specific curricula constructed for a the Bedouin population to be couched in intelligible language and concepts. The article highlights the village's micro/macro-politics, and the ethical issues the Project team encountered regarding the conflict between the modern, democratic, western society aims for progress and equality versus the traditional forces striving to preserve the traditions of a community in the throes of an acute culture conflict.
Flicker and pattern detection: a comparison of thresholds.

Threshold amounts of light variation needed to see flicker and to see a flickering line, as functions of frequency of variation, are significantly different. Sensitivity to flicker increases between 0.4 and approximately 10 Hz, and shows a subsequent decrease at higher frequencies; sensitivity to spatial contrast decreases gradually between 3 and 30 Hz.
THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF GUN OWNERSHIP: SELF-PROTECTION IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT*

Based on a survey of 539 residents of Cincinnati, this study assesses various explanations of gun ownership. The analysis reveals that gender and childhood socialization into a gun culture are significantly related to protective and general (or ''sport'') firearm possession. In contrast, only protective gun ownership appears to be linked to crime-related factors. Conservative crime ideology and concern about the relative level of crime in one's neighborhood increase armament for defensive purposes, while informal collective security-the belief that neighbors will provide assistance against criminal victimization-reduces protective gun ownership.
Spreading the Word: Geography, Policy and University Knowledge Diffusion

Using new data on citations to university patents and scientific publications, and measures of distance based on Google maps, we study how geography affects university knowledge diffusion. We show that knowledge flows from patents are localized in two respects: they decline sharply with distance up to about 100 miles, and they are strongly constrained by state borders, controlling for distance. While distance also constrains knowledge spillovers from publications, the state border does not. We investigate how the strength of the state border effect varies with university and state characteristics. It is larger for patents from public, as compared to private, universities and this is partly explained by the local development policies of universities. The border effect is larger in states with stronger non-compete laws that affect intra-state labor mobility, and those with greater reliance on in-state educated scientists and engineers. We confirm the impact of non-compete statutes by studying a policy reform in Michigan that introduced such restrictions.
Eyewitnesses under influence: How feedback affects the realism in confidence judgements

Abstract This study investigated the effect of two types of feedback (confirmatory and disconfirmatory) on the accuracy in witnesses’ confidence judgements of their event memory. Overall, the witnesses evidenced overconfidence both when they received feedback and in the Control condition (no feedback). The results showed that confirmatory feedback caused higher overconfidence, compared both with when receiving disconfirmatory and no feedback. These results suggest that the impact of feedback on the accuracy of confidence judgements show the same pattern of results for event memory as for line-up identification tasks. Finally, when the witnesses rated the total number of questions that they had answered correctly they gave fairly correct estimates compared with their actual number of correct answers.
The Bias in the Conventional Test of the Expectations Theory: Resolving the Anomalies at the Very Short End of the Term Structure

While the expectations theory of the term structure of interest rates plays an important role in economics and finance, it has received relatively little empirical support. The most frequently used test, which I call the conventional test, has provided some hope for the expectations theory. When the conventional test is used, the slope of the yield curve predicts the correct direction of long-term changes in the short-term rate and explains a significant proportion of such changes. The failure of the conventional test to accept the expectations hypothesis is usually attributed to the potential for bias from several sources. Rather than explaining the failure of the conventional test; however, this paper accounts for it relative success. Motivated by research indicating that the conventional test yields results that are more favorable to the expectations hypothesis when it is less likely to hold and less favorable when it is more likely to hold, I show that the conventional test is generally biased in favor of the expectations theory. Indeed, I show that this bias led Hardouvelis (1988), Simon (1990) and Roberds, Runkle and Whiteman (1996) to accept the expectations theory in circumstances when it is unlikely to hold. Monte Carlo experiments confirm the low power and bias of the conventional test of the expectations theory.
The spring-loaded genome: Nucleosome redistributions are widespread, transient, and DNA-directed

Nucleosome occupancy plays a key role in regulating access to eukaryotic genomes. Although various chromatin regulatory complexes are known to regulate nucleosome occupancy, the role of DNA sequence in this regulation remains unclear, particularly in mammals. To address this problem, we measured nucleosome distribution at high temporal resolution in human cells at hundreds of genes during the reactivation of Kaposi's sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV). We show that nucleosome redistribution peaks at 24 h post-KSHV reactivation and that the nucleosomal redistributions are widespread and transient. To clarify the role of DNA sequence in these nucleosomal redistributions, we compared the genes with altered nucleosome distribution to a sequence-based computer model and in vitro–assembled nucleosomes. We demonstrate that both the predicted model and the assembled nucleosome distributions are concordant with the majority of nucleosome redistributions at 24 h post-KSHV reactivation. We suggest a model in which loci are held in an unfavorable chromatin architecture and “spring” to a transient intermediate state directed by DNA sequence information. We propose that DNA sequence plays a more considerable role in the regulation of nucleosome positions than was previously appreciated. The surprising findings that nucleosome redistributions are widespread, transient, and DNA-directed shift the current perspective regarding regulation of nucleosome distribution in humans.
Accelerated Inexact Soft-Impute for Fast Large-Scale Matrix Completion

Matrix factorization tries to recover a low-rank matrix from limited observations. A state-of-theart algorithm is the Soft-Impute, which exploits a special "sparse plus low-rank" structure of the matrix iterates to allow efficient SVD in each iteration. Though Soft-Impute is also a proximal gradient algorithm, it is generally believed that acceleration techniques are not useful and will destroy the special structure. In this paper, we show that Soft-Impute can indeed be accelerated without compromising the "sparse plus low-rank" structure. To further reduce the per-iteration time complexity, we propose an approximate singular value thresholding scheme based on the power method. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed algorithm enjoys the fast O(1=T2) convergence rate of accelerated proximal gradient algorithms. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and large recommendation data sets show that the proposed algorithm is much faster than Soft-Impute and other state-of-the-art matrix completion algorithms.
A test of the relationship between affective and continuance commitment using non-recursive models

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the factor structure of Meyer & Allen's (1984) commitment scales. Results supported a three-factor solution which included a bidimensional continuance commitment construct. Causal links between affective commitment and the two emergent dimensions of continuance commitment (personal sacrifices and low alternatives) were then studied with non-recursive models. Only one significant relationship emerged—the sacrifice component of continuance commitment had a positive effect on affective commitment. This finding was interpreted from a self-justification perspective.
Fruit Respiration and Ethylene Production.

2. Hinsvark, ? N. , Wittwer, S. H. , and Tukey, H. The metabolism of foliar-applied urea. I. Relative rates of C1402 production by certain vegetable plants treated with labelled urea. Plant Physiol. 28: 70-76. 1953. 3. Mathews, M. B. and Vennesland, Birgit. Enzymic oxidation of formic acid. Jour. Biol. Chem. 186: 667-682. 1950. 4. Mosbach, E. H. , Phares, E. F. , and Carson, S. F. The role of one-carbon compounds in citric acid biosynthesis. Archiv. Biochem. and Biophys. 35: 435-442. 1952. 5. Skipper, H. E. , Bryan, C E. , White, L. , Jr., and Hutchison, O. S. Techniques for in vivo tracer studies with radioactive carbon. Jour. Biol. Chem. 173: 371-381. 1948. 6. Walker, J. B. Arginosuccinic acid from Chlorelh. Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. 38: 561-566. 1952.
Variance aware optimization of parameterized queries

Parameterized queries are commonly used in database applications. In a parameterized query, the same SQL statement is potentially executed multiple times with different parameter values. In today's DBMSs the query optimizer typically chooses a single execution plan that is reused for multiple instances of the same query. A key problem is that even if a plan with low average cost across instances is chosen, its variance can be high, which is undesirable in many production settings. In this paper, we describe techniques for selecting a plan that can better address the trade-off between the average and variance of cost across instances of a parameterized query. We show how to efficiently compute the skyline in the average-variance cost space. We have implemented our techniques on top of a commercial DBMS. We present experimental results on benchmark and real-world decision support queries.
The theory of heroic defeats: a mixed motivation approach

The category of heroic action is important in both everyday life and the wider social context. This article argues that interest in the notion of heroic actions and heroic defeats also brings out an important set of sociological problems, such as disagreements on identity, norms, and rational choice explanations. Illustrations are provided from recent analyses of union militancy in Britain and Italy, and of the student movement in Beijing. Different versions of the critique of rational choice theory often take norm-guided action as a point of departure. Another version of this critique is represented by theories of new social movements and identity maintenance. The article suggests that rational choice theory is more useful than some of its opponents would have it; yet the general argument favors a mixed motivation approach. The discussion points out some of the strengths and limitations of different explanatory perspectives, and some of the links between them.
Seasonal changes in epiphytic dinoflagellate assemblages near the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Gulf of Mexico.

Epiphytic dinoflagellates were studied in 250 samples from 10 sites in Chelem (a semi-enclosed mangrove lagoon) and Dzilam de Bravo (an exposed coastal locality), on the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, during five surveys in 2008-2009. Temperature, salinity, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, silicates, urea, extractable water column chlorophyll-a, precipitation, and wind speed and direction were measured. The Chelem lagoon system showed minor variability in physical-chemical characteristics compared to the exposed site at Dzilam de Bravo. Dinoflagellates were associated with all the host macrophytes examined including four seagrass species and 33 macroalgal species representing 24 genera. A total of 20 dinoflagellate taxa from 12 genera were recovered from these substrates. The genus Prorocentrum contained the largest number of individual species. The variation in mean epiphytic dinoflagellate abundance over both localities ranged from ~200 to 3500 cells g -1 substrate wet weight. Cell abundances at individual sites, in contrast, ranged from ~100 to >25 000 cells g -1 substrate wet weight. This variation is typical of the patchy distribution of these species in time and space.
Force control of a robot for wrist rehabilitation: Towards coping with human intrinsic constraints

This work proposes a mechatronic solution to increase the back-drivability of a state-of-the art robot for wrist neurorehabilitation. The final goal is to reduce robot mechanical impedance in order to cope with intrinsic kinematic constraints, which are adopted by the human brain to solve redundancy during pointing tasks with the wrist. The handle of the robot has been provided with a load cell and a direct force control scheme has been implemented to minimize the interaction forces/torques between the user and the robot. To this aim gravity, inertia and friction of the more proximal DOF of the robot (relative to Pronation/Supination (PS) movements) have been estimated and compensated for. The proposed solution resulted in a 70% reduction of the end-point perceived inertia in PS DOF as well as in a decrease of torques exerted by the user during both 1-DOF and 3-DOFs tasks. The average reduction of interaction torques is around 81% and 78% respectively. This work constitutes an important starting point for the analysis of the effect that different levels of robot transparency could have on the human neural constraints adopted during redundant tasks, such as pointing movements with the wrist.
Leisure and health: why is leisure therapeutic?

The purpose of this article is to examine the empirical evidence and describe theoretical perspectives that address under what conditions and why leisure can be therapeutic and contribute to health and well-being. This review of the literature provides empirical evidence that leisure can contribute to physical, social, emotional and cognitive health through prevention, coping (adjustment, remediation, diversion), and transcendence. After examining this empirical evidence, the article addresses why leisure is therapeutic and concludes by presenting two concepts useful to practitioners who desire to provide leisure guidance to help people avoid risk and maximise the therapeutic possibilities of leisure.
Separation of p300 sources and their subcomponents to study the impact of numeration on visual attention; using constrained blind source separation

Attention and numeration are two phenomena in cognitive sciences of brain. As the effect and interaction that these two activities have on each other, the importance of detecting differences between two phenomena is shown more than ever. Someone believes that the relation between two brain cognitive activities (i.e. attention and numeration) is close to the extent that they are considered as one. In most of past works, the qualitative effect of numeration or extra mental task on attention is surveyed. The aim of this article is to clarify differences between two phenomena and the effect of extra mental activity (numeration) on visual top-down attention. For this purpose we separate P300 sources signal and their subcomponents to divide two classes (attention with numeration and pure attention). To do this, constrained blind source separation (CBSS) is used. The main method is to use Infomax algorithm that beside it, minimizing the difference between reference and estimated signal P300 and also subcomponents, P3a and P3b, are used as constrained term. The obtained result indicates that time of appearance and amplitude of estimated signal P300 and their subcomponent for two class are different. By doing paired t-test, best result for divided two cognitive activities, were obtained by amplitude of estimated p300 with P-value 0.01. To our knowledge, Seen from this aspect to this subject, is a new effort.
School Psychologists' Views and Management of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Over the past decade, an increasing body of research has been conducted on evidence-based psychological and psychiatric treatment for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Despite this improved understanding, however, these treatments are not being performed. This study descriptively examined the practices and views of school psychologists on the management of pediatric OCD. Two hundred twenty-seven clinicians responded to a survey adapted from previous work by Valderhaug, Gotestam, and Larsson. Results suggested that school psychologists preferred cognitive-behavioral, medical, and family/systemic orientations relative to psychodynamic and humanistic approaches. Although respondents reported an adherence to evidence-based treatment, only 7% reported using behavioral exposure. Many respondents reported only moderate treatment success and expressed an overwhelming need for further training in both the assessment and treatment of pediatric OCD. Our results suggest that school psychologists are not adequately trained to assess and provide evidence-based treatment of pediatric OCD.