Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Edge Reduction Lemma for linear network coding and an application to two-unicast networks

In this paper, we study linear network coding over a wireline network of orthogonal capacitated links represented by a directed acyclic graph. Applying the algebraic framework for linear network coding over Koetter-Medard, we recover an Edge Reduction Lemma - a fundamental connection between edge deletion and the network transfer matrix in the context of the algebraic framework. We study the two-unicast network capacity problem where there are two independent sources and two independent destinations. Using the Edge Reduction Lemma, we make a connection between the linear transfer matrices in the two-unicast setting and the Generalized Network Sharing edge cut bound. Finally, using random linear network coding, we also derive an achievable rate region for the two-unicast problem that is computable purely from the various min-cuts in the graph.
The neural basis of mentalizing deficits experienced by adults with autism spectrum disorder

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are widely regarded to exhibit difficulties inferring the internal states of others; known as ‘mentalizing’. However, the existing literature is inconsistent regarding the nature of the mentalizing difficulties experienced by adults with ASD. Two neural systems; the mirror neuron system (MNS) and the mentalizing system, are both thought to play important roles in inferring others’ internal states from their actions but the precise roles of these systems and the nature of the interaction between them are unknown. The aim of this thesis was to explore the nature of mentalizing deficits associated with ASD, delineate between existing models of MNS involvement in mentalizing and identify the neural basis of mentalizing difficulties associated with ASD. The first empirical chapter presents two behavioural experiments which found adults with ASD were impaired at explicitly inferring the intentions of others from their actions. The second empirical chapter presents a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) experiment which identified mentalizing-induced modulation of MNS activity, at the end of observed actions, in typically developing participants. The third empirical chapter presents an experiment which used TMS and electroencephalography (EEG) to measure MNS activation in adults with ASD when mentalizing and found higher levels of autistic traits predicted lower right-lateralised MNS activity. The final empirical chapter presents a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment which identified higher levels of autistic traits predicted reduced functional connectivity between the MNS and the mentalizing system. Collectively, these data suggest that connectivity between the MNS and the mentalizing system is higher when inferring intentions of others from their actions, the interaction between the two systems may be best conceptualised within a predictive coding framework and reduced connectivity between these systems may underlie the mentalizing difficulties adults with ASD experience.
Aircraft Detection from VHR Images Based on Circle-Frequency Filter and Multilevel Features

Aircraft automatic detection from very high-resolution (VHR) images plays an important role in a wide variety of applications. This paper proposes a novel detector for aircraft detection from very high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing images. To accurately distinguish aircrafts from background, a circle-frequency filter (CF-filter) is used to extract the candidate locations of aircrafts from a large size image. A multi-level feature model is then employed to represent both local appearance and spatial layout of aircrafts by means of Robust Hue Descriptor and Histogram of Oriented Gradients. The experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method.
Gene transcript profiling in sea otters post- Exxon Valdez oil spill: A tool for marine ecosystem health assessment

Using a panel of genes stimulated by oil exposure in a laboratory study, we evaluated gene transcription in blood leukocytes sampled from sea otters captured from 2006–2012 in western Prince William Sound (WPWS), Alaska, 17–23 years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS). We compared WPWS sea otters to reference populations (not affected by the EVOS) from the Alaska Peninsula (2009), Katmai National Park and Preserve (2009), Clam Lagoon at Adak Island (2012), Kodiak Island (2005) and captive sea otters in aquaria. Statistically, sea otter gene transcript profiles separated into three distinct clusters: Cluster 1, Kodiak and WPWS 2006–2008 (higher relative transcription); Cluster 2, Clam Lagoon and WPWS 2010–2012 (lower relative transcription); and Cluster 3, Alaska Peninsula, Katmai and captive sea otters (intermediate relative transcription). The lower transcription of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), an established biomarker for hydrocarbon exposure, in WPWS 2010–2012 compared to earlier samples from WPWS is consistent with declining hydrocarbon exposure, but the pattern of overall low levels of transcription seen in WPWS 2010–2012 could be related to other factors, such as food limitation, pathogens or injury, and may indicate an inability to mount effective responses to stressors. Decreased transcriptional response across the entire gene panel precludes the evaluation of whether or not individual sea otters show signs of exposure to lingering oil. However, related studies on sea otter demographics indicate that by 2012, the sea otter population in WPWS had recovered, which indicates diminishing oil exposure.
Structural change in German chemical manufacturing industry during the 1990 ’ s . An analysis at the micro-level

This version of September 3, 2006. German chemical manufacturing industry is marked by two major structural changes during 1992–2004. Firstly, number of firms was ranging extensively: from 676 to 901, while only 96 firms represented balanced panel. Secondly, size of the firm dropped considerably—by 88%. This paper is intended to shed light on both phenomena. Based on reliable census data analysis suggests the former evidence be explained (i) by persistent poor performance of firms and (ii) by so called “general purpose technology” argument. The latter phenomenon was found to be a rational behaviour because numerous firms continually operated under decreasing returns to scale. (JEL: D21, L23, L25, L65
Observable effects of dust formation in dynamic atmospheres of M-type Mira variables

The formation of dust with temperature-dependent non-grey opacity is considered in a series of self-consistent model atmospheres at different phases of an O-rich Mira variable of mass 1.2 M_⊙. Photometric and interferometric properties of these models are predicted under different physical assumptions regarding the dust formation. The iron content of the initial silicate that forms and the availability of grain nuclei are found to be critical parameters that affect the observable properties. For certain plausible parameter values, dust would form at 2–3 times the average continuum photospheric radius. This work provides a consistent physical explanation for the larger apparent size of Mira variables at wavelengths shorter than 1 μm than that predicted by dust-free fundamental-mode pulsation models.
Preventing useless checkpoints in distributed computations

A useless checkpoint is a local checkpoint that cannot be part of a consistent global checkpoint. The paper addresses the following important problem. Given a set of processes that take (basic) local checkpoints in an independent and unknown way, the problem is to design a communication induced checkpointing protocol that directs processes to take additional local (forced) checkpoints to ensure that no local checkpoint is useless. A general and efficient protocol answering this problem is proposed. It is shown that several existing protocols that solve the same problem are particular instances of it. The design of this general protocol is motivated by the use of communication induced checkpointing protocols in "consistent global checkpoint" based distributed applications. Detection of stable or unstable properties, rollback recovery and determination of distributed breakpoints are examples of such applications.
Cucumber Rhizosphere Microbial Community Response to Biocontrol Agent Bacillus subtilis B068150

Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis B068150 has been used as a biocontrol agent against the pathogen Fusarium oxysporum cucumerinum. Cucumber was grown in three soils with strain B068150 inoculated in a greenhouse for 90 days, and the colonization ability of strain B068150 in cucumber rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils was determined. Changes in total bacteria and fungi community composition and structures using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing were determined. Colony counts showed that B068150 colonization in the rhizosphere was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in non-rhizosphere soils. Based on our data, the introduction of B. bacillus B068150 did not change the diversity of microbial communities significantly in the rhizosphere of three soils. Our data showed that population density of B068150 in clay soil had a significant negative correlation on bacterial diversity in cucumber rhizosphere in comparison to loam and sandy soils, suggesting that the impact of B068150 might be soil specific.
Partners’ attachment insecurity predicts greater physiological threat in anticipation of attachment-relevant interactions

This study examined whether anticipating interacting with a partner higher in attachment insecurity predicted greater physiological threat in an emotion regulation context. Eighty-eight couples watched an emotionally negative film clip, prepared to discuss the video with their partner, and then engaged in a conversation. One dyad member (regulator) was randomly assigned to express versus suppress affective displays while his/ her partner (target) was given no additional instructions. Greater partner avoidance was associated with stronger physiological responses consistent with the experience of threat—sympathetic arousal coupled with increased vascular resistance—when regulators anticipated suppressing versus expressing affective displays. Greater partner anxiety was associated with greater physiological threat responses regardless of the emotion regulation context. Threat responses also manifested during the conversation: Regulators and targets with highly avoidant partners exhibited greater threat responses when suppressing versus expressing affective displays. Additionally, more insecure partners found the conversation more difficult. These data are the first to show that anticipating attachment-relevant interactions with more insecure partners elicit cardiovascular responses diagnostic of threat.
Beat Gestures and Syntactic Parsing: An ERP Study

We tested the prosodic hypothesis that the temporal alignment of a speaker's beat gestures in a sentence influences syntactic parsing by driving the listener's attention. Participants chose between two possible interpretations of relative-clause (RC) ambiguous sentences, while their electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. We manipulated the alignment of the beat within sentences where auditory prosody was removed. Behavioral performance showed no effect of beat placement on the sentences’ interpretation, while event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed a positive shift of the signal in the windows corresponding to N100 and P200 components. Additionally, post hoc analyses of the ERPs time locked to the RC revealed a modulation of the P600 component as a function of gesture. These results suggest that beats modulate early processing of affiliate words in continuous speech and potentially have a global impact at the level of sentence-parsing components. We speculate that beats must be synergistic with auditory prosody to be fully consequential in behavior.
Are Caecilians Rare? An East African Perspective

ABSTRACT Despite increasing reports to the contrary, caecilians are often considered to be unusual components of tropical ecosystems, where they predate largely on soil ecosystem engineers. The status of two East African Boulengerula species is assessed using a quantitative randomised survey method and timed searches, in low-intensity agriculture and natural forested settings. Mean density of B. boulengeri was found to be greater in forest than agriculture (0.43 and 0.11 m−2, respectively), but not significantly. B. taitanus were significantly more dense in agriculture (0.21 m−2) than in forest (0.02 m−2). Forest B. taitanus were found to be significantly longer (x̄ 285.9 mm) than those found in agricultural settings (x̄ 219.3 mm), and possible causes of this size bimodality is discussed. Results from quantitative surveys are found to be remarkably consistent, and significantly correlated with timed searches in the same habitats. Possible causes of over- and under-representation are identified. It is concluded that not all members of the order Gymnophiona in East Africa are rare, although more field studies are needed to redress herpetology's subterranean blind spot.
A cross‐sectional study of stressors and coping mechanisms used by radiation therapists and oncology nurses: Resilience in Cancer Care Study

Occupational stress and burnout are well‐recognised experiences reported by cancer care workers. The aim was to describe the frequency and severity of potential stressors as well as the effectiveness of coping skills of radiation therapists (RTs) and oncology nurses (ONs), which make up the two largest occupational groups in cancer care.
Students’ conceptualisations of critical reflection

Abstract Critical reflection involves the identification of deeply seated assumptions about the social world and the individual’s connection with it; however, its scope and practice are contested. While ambivalence about its definition remains, critical reflection is described as a threshold concept in social welfare and social work education. This study investigated students’ conceptualisations of critical reflection by analysing the ‘learned’ critical reflection curricula of five core units in an Australian University. A content analysis of 162 assignments submitted by 86 students in 2013 and 2014 was conducted. Findings revealed students conceptualised critical reflection as a process that raised self-awareness, supported the application of theory in practice and, reinforced aspects of their professional identity. However, students adapted the process to fit their purpose and, when personal views clashed with professional practice, rather than examining the tensions that emerged, students privileged professional practice and silenced their personal views. Students did not engage with critical reflection to foster social change; rather their utilitarian approach positioned them to demonstrate competence in professional procedures. These findings highlight the influence of the contexts within which critical reflection is practised and informs the further development of the authors’ pedagogy.
A pretend play group intervention for elementary school children

xiii Literature Review.10 Introduction. 10 Play in Schools. 11 Pretend Play and Development. 13 Play Intervention Research. 20 Summary. 28 Method. 29 Pilot Phase. 29 Participants. 31 Procedure. 32 Measures. 38 Specific Hypotheses. 46 Results. 47 Data Analysis. 47 Interrater Reliability. 48 Intervention Fidelity.49 Changes in Pretend Play. 51 Changes in Creativity. 52 Changes in Affect and School Satisfaction. 53 Correlations among Play, Creativity and Well-Being Variables at Baseline. 53 Individual Differences. 56
The longevity of broadleaf deciduous trees in Northern Hemisphere temperate forests: insights from tree-ring series

Understanding the factors controlling the expression of longevity in trees is still an outstanding challenge for tree biologists and forest ecologists. We gathered tree-ring data and literature for broadleaf deciduous (BD) temperate trees growing in closed-canopy old-growth forests in the Northern Hemisphere to explore the role of geographic patterns, climate variability, and growth rates on longevity. Our pan-continental analysis, covering 32 species from 12 genera, showed that 300-400 years can be considered a baseline threshold for maximum tree lifespan in many temperate deciduous forests. Maximum age varies greatly in relation to environmental features, even within the same species. Tree longevity is generally promoted by reduced growth rates across large genetic differences and environmental gradients. We argue that slower growth rates, and the associated smaller size, provide trees with an advantage against biotic and abiotic disturbance agents, supporting the idea that size, not age, is the main constraint to tree longevity. The oldest trees were living most of their life in subordinate canopy conditions and/or within primary forests in cool temperate environments and outside major storm tracks. Very old trees are thus characterized by slow growth and often live in forests with harsh site conditions and infrequent disturbance events that kill much of the trees. Temperature inversely controls the expression of longevity in mesophilous species (Fagus spp.), but its role in Quercus spp. is more complex and warrants further research in disturbance ecology. Biological, ecological and historical drivers must be considered to understand the constraints imposed to longevity within different forest landscapes.
An Exact A* Method for Solving Letter Substitution Ciphers

An Exact A* Method for Solving Letter Substitution Ciphers Eric Corlett Master of Science Graduate Department of Computer Science University of Toronto 2011 Letter-substitution ciphers encode a document from a known or hypothesized language into an unknown writing system or an unknown encoding of a known writing system. The process of solving these ciphers is a problem that can occur in a number of practical applications, such as in the problem of determining the encodings of electronic documents in which the language is known, but the encoding standard is not. It has also been used in OCR applications. In this paper, we introduce a novel method for deciphering letter-substitution ciphers. We do this by formulating a variant of the Viterbi algorithm for use as an A* heuristic over partial solutions of a given cipher. This heuristic can then be used as a guide in an A* search for the correct solution. We give an overview of the classical Viterbi and A* search algorithms, go on to describe of our proposed algorithm, and prove its correctness. We then test our algorithm on a selection of ciphers formed from Wikipedia articles, and show that our algorithm has the potential to be a viable, practical method for efficiently solving decipherment problems. We also find, however, that it does have a number of shortcomings, most notably a high variation in running time between similar ciphers. In response to this, we describe potential sources of information to offset this variability and use this information to improve our original algorithm. We test this improved algorithm on both the original ciphers and a selection of newly collected ciphers and find an average improvement in time and an across-the-board im-
Relationship of Temperament and Character in Remitted Depressed Patients with Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts—Results from the CRESCEND Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) scores of a sample of Korean patients with remitted depression who had attempted suicide and reported suicidal ideation and to compare their scores with those of remitted depressed patients without suicidal ideation. Adult depression patients who had completed 12 weeks of follow-up (N = 138) were divided into three groups: patients with a history of suicide attempts (N = 23); patients with current suicidal ideation (N = 59); and patients without current suicidal ideation (N = 56). After controlling for covariates, no significant differences were found among the three groups on any measure of temperament or character except self-directedness and self-transcendence. The self-transcendence scores of the lifetime suicide-attempt group were significantly higher compared with those of the suicidal-ideation group; post hoc analysis revealed that self-directedness was significantly lower in the suicide-attempt group compared with the non-suicidal group. The results from the present study suggest that remitted depression patients with a history of suicide attempts do not differ from non-attempters in temperament, but do differ in certain character traits.
A cluster-based multipath delivery scheme for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of a large number of nodes with limited battery power. Thus, the communication must be designed to conserve the limited energy resources of the nodes. In this paper, we propose a cluster-based multipath delivery scheme, called CMDS, which uses cluster and multipath to improve the capability of load balance, and thus prolonging the network lifetime. Firstly, CMDS organizes the nodes into clusters so that nodes communicate information only with clusterheads and clusterheads take the task of data aggregation. Then, clusterheads transmit information to base station (sink) along multiple paths. When clusterheads or intermediate nodes choose the next hop node for forwarding data, they will use some parameters, such as the residual energy and the number of hops to sink among the neighbors, that are helpful to distribute traffic among all nodes. Simulation results show that the CMDS has great potential in efficiently distributing energy consumption and extending the network lifetime.
Technological literacy for teachers

Abstract Ongoing developments in educational technologies place increasing demands on teachers who have to make decisions on a daily basis concerning how, when, and where to make use of technologies in classrooms. Building on results from the Danish project Technucation, this paper argues that there is a marked need for a teacher-specific version of the technological literacy developed by the International Technology Education Association (ITEA). ITEA defines technological literacy as the ability to ‘use, manage, assess, and understand technology’. The Technucation project found that teachers were not simply in need of knowledge about how to manage technical challenges, they would also benefit from awareness of how new technologies change relations, identities, and complex power structures. The paper explicitly addresses this issue of the new skills and analytic capabilities that teachers need in order to engage effectively with technological development. The type of enhanced technological literacy teachers may benefit from is represented in the paper through its presentation of the TECS-model, developed in the course of the Technucation project: hands-on skills in handling Technology (T); capability to analyse changes in Engaged relationships (E); capability to analyse Complex power-informed pathways (C); and capability to analyse long-term Shifts in professional identities (S). The paper argues that attention to all of these areas should be included in the education of technological literacy to pre-service teachers.