Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Career Professionals’ Perceptions of Higher Education and Student Affairs Graduate Programs: Preparation to Work With International Students

Abstract:The purpose of this study was to explore early career professionals’ perceptions of how their higher education or student affairs (HESA) graduate program prepared them to work with international students in their postgraduation student affairs work. The following themes emerged: HESA curricula lack formalized coursework about international students, although this topic occasionally surfaces through general conversations related to social justice, through flexibility in course projects, and through faculty specialization. Out-of-class opportunities—including graduate assistantships (GAs), self-selected internships and practicums, and involvement in campus programs—helped prepare participants to work with international students. These findings lead to implications for graduate preparation programs to cultivate globally competent graduates.
Flow cytometry-based enrichment for cell shape mutants identifies multiple genes that influence Helicobacter pylori morphology

The helical cell shape of Helicobacter pylori is highly conserved and contributes to its ability to swim through and colonize the viscous gastric mucus layer. A multi‐faceted peptidoglycan (PG) modification programme involving four recently characterized peptidases and two accessory proteins is essential for maintaining H. pylori's helicity. To expedite identification of additional shape‐determining genes, we employed flow cytometry with fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS) to enrich a transposon library for bacterial cells with altered light scattering profiles that correlate with perturbed cell morphology. After a single round of sorting, 15% of our clones exhibited a stable cell shape defect, reflecting 37‐fold enrichment. Sorted clones with straight rod morphology contained insertions in known PG peptidases, as well as an insertion in csd6, which we demonstrated has ld‐carboxypeptidase activity and cleaves monomeric tetrapeptides in the PG sacculus, yielding tripeptides. Other mutants had only slight changes in helicity due to insertions in genes encoding MviN/MurJ, a protein possibly involved in initiating PG synthesis, and the hypothetical protein HPG27_782. Our findings demonstrate FACS robustly detects perturbations of bacterial cell shape and identify additional PG peptide modifications associated with helical cell shape in H. pylori.
Nonlinear Fracture Properties from Size Effect Tests

The previously derived size effect law for blunt fracture is exploited for determining the parameters of the R-curve of the crack band model, and of Hillerborg’s fictitious crack model. No measurements of the crack length or of the unloading compliance are needed. It suffices to measure only the maximum load values for a set of geometrically similar specimens of different sizes. The parameters of the size effect law can then be identified by linear regression. The inverse slope of the regression line yields the fracture energy. The regression also has a twofold benefit: it smoothes statistically scattered data, and it extends the range of the data, so that one can do with fewer tests. From the experimentally calibrated size effect law, the R-curve may then be obtained as the envelope of the family of fracture equilibrium curves for different specimen sizes. A simple algebraic formula for this envelope is presented. The size effect regression plot makes it also possible to determine crack band model parameters, particularly the fracture energy, the crack band width, and the strait-softening modulus. The same is made possible for Hillerborg’s model.
European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS ) 2008 Usability in Open Source Software Development : An Interpretive Case Study

This paper analyzes usability in open source software (OSS) development. OSS development is a current phenomenon both in Information Systems (IS) research and practice. Also the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community has started to acknowledge OSS development as an interesting object of study. The importance of usability is accepted within the both fields of IS and HCI. Usability of the OSS tends to be poor, but usability is becoming a relevant topic of research also in the OSS context, even though, to date, it has not been examined much. Therefore, an interpretive case study is carried out to examine how usability is understood and dealt with in an OSS project. The results show that different kinds of meanings have been attached to usability in the project, and some action has also been taken to ensure it in the development. However, clear targets for improvement can also be identified. Implications both for theory and practice are discussed.
Cumulative Radiation Exposure during Follow-Up after Curative Surgery for Gastric Cancer

Objective To quantify the cumulative effective dose (cED) of radiation due to repeated CT and PET/CT examinations after curative resection of gastric cancer and to assess the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) estimates based on Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII models. Subjects and Methods Patients who underwent a curative resection for gastric cancer between January 2006 and December 2006 and were followed-up until May 2010 were included in this study. The cED was calculated by using the dose-length product values and conversion factors for quantitative risk assessment of radiation exposure. cED and LAR were compared between early and advanced gastric cancer patients and among American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM stage groups (stage I, II, and III). The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests, followed by a post-hoc analysis with Bonferroni adjustment, were employed as part of the statistical analysis. Results The overall median cED was 57.8 mSv (interquartile range [IQR], 43.9-74.7). The cED was significantly higher in the advanced (median, 67.0; IQR, 49.1-102.3) than in the early gastric cancer group (median, 52.3; IQR, 41.5-67.9) (p < 0.001), and increased as the TNM stage increased. For radiation exposure, 62% of all patients received an estimated cED of over 50 mSv, while 11% of patients received over 100 mSv. The median LAR of cancer incidence was 0.28% (IQR, 0.20-0.40) and there were significant differences between the early gastric cancer and advanced gastric cancer group (p < 0.001) as well as among the three TNM stage groups (p = 0.015). The LAR of cancer incidence exceeded 1% in 2.4% of the patients. Conclusion The cED increases proportionally along with tumor stage and, even in early gastric cancer or stage I patients, cED is much higher than that found among the general population. Considering the very good prognosis of early gastric cancer after curative surgery, the cED should be considered when designing a postoperative follow-up CT protocol.
Perception of risk and the future of nuclear power

Public support for nuclear power has declined greatly, driven by a number of powerful forces and events. Numerous studies have demonstrated the public`s extreme perceptions of risk and negative attitudes regarding nuclear power. This negativity is remarkable in light of the confidence most technical analysts have regarding the safety of this technology. Public fears and opposition to nuclear power can be seen as a crisis in confidence, a profound breakdown in trust in the scientific, governmental, and industrial managers of nuclear technologies. The problem is not due to public ignorance or irrationality, but is deeply rooted in individual psychology and the adversarial nature of our social, institutional, legal, and political systems of risk management. In the absence of revolutionary changes in the ways that risks are managed in our society, it is unlikely that public trust, confidence, and acceptance of nuclear power can be regained.
Is Online Trading Gambling with Peanuts

If individuals derive a small utility from gambling, we should observe high turnover in portfolios that are of only marginal importance to them. By the use of detailed individual financial data, as well as trades from a Swedish online broker, I measure the frequency and cost of online trading in the cross-section, and find the opposite relation. Those who have online portfolios that constitute a large share of risky assets trade more aggressively, but have lower trading performance. These results can be explained by a simple Treynor-Black portfolio model where investors suffer from biased self-assessment, rather than possessing true investment skill. The overall result suggests that the cost of online trading can be substantial. The top quintile of investors who have the highest share of their total financial assets in stocks invested at the brokerage firm under study loose 3.70% of their financial wealth annually, which corresponds to 1.38% of aggregate income within this group. These investors do not only hve lower overall wealth and income, but also have the highest aggregate trading losses. Therefore, trading losses are mainly carried by those who can afford them the least. Across individuals, annual losses for 36% of investors exceed 1% of their financial wealth, and 17% lose more than 5%.
Commonly used types of postmenopausal estrogen for treatment of hot flashes: scientific review.

CONTEXT Recommendations for postmenopausal hormone therapy have changed since the Women's Health Initiative indicated that estrogen was harmful for use in disease prevention; however, treatment of menopausal symptoms with low-dose estrogen remains an approved indication for use. OBJECTIVE To compare the short-term efficacy and adverse effects of 2 commonly used estrogens, conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) and 17beta-estradiol, for reducing menopausal hot flashes by systematically reviewing randomized controlled trials. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry were searched from the database start dates to July 2003 using database-specific key words. Reference lists of published articles, experts, and pharmaceutical manufacturers were also consulted. STUDY SELECTION English-language abstracts of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials and systematic evidence reviews of oral CEE and oral and transdermal 17beta-estradiol, and treatment of menopausal hot flashes and their adverse effects. DATA EXTRACTION Study design, population characteristics, eligibility criteria, interventions, withdrawals, adverse effects, and results for each outcome. Study quality was assessed using predefined criteria based on parameters developed with the US Preventive Services Task Force and the UK National Health Services Centre. DATA SYNTHESIS A total of 32 trials including 4 head-to-head comparisons met inclusion criteria; 14 trials met criteria for meta-analysis. All estrogen agents significantly reduced the weekly number of hot flashes compared with placebo (CEE, 1 trial: mean change, -19.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], -33.0 to -5.1; oral 17beta-estradiol, 5 trials: pooled weighted mean difference, -16.8; 95% CI, -23.4 to -10.2; transdermal 17beta-estradiol, 6 trials: pooled weighted mean difference, -22.4; 95% CI, -35.9 to -10.4); differences between agents were not significant. Breast tenderness and atypical vaginal bleeding were the most frequently reported adverse effects among estrogen users. The influence of progestin or progesterone use, cyclic and continuous regimens, and differences in adverse effects could not be determined. CONCLUSION Conjugated equine estrogen and 17beta-estradiol have consistent and comparable effects on treatment of menopausal hot flashes and may have similar short-term adverse effects.
Semi-supervised Learning for Natural Language Processing Proceedings of the Workshop Introduction Welcome to the Naacl Hlt Workshop on Semi-supervised Learning for Natural Language Processing!

Will semi-supervised learning (SSL) become the next de-facto standard for building natural language processing (NLP) systems, just as supervised learning has transformed the field in the last decade? Or will it remain as a nice idea that doesn't always work in practice? Semi-supervised learning has become an important topic due to the promise that high-quality labeled data and abundant unlabeled data, if leveraged appropriately, can achieve superior performance at lower cost. As researchers in semi-supervised learning reach critical mass, we believe it is time to take a step back and think broadly about whether we can discover general insights from the various techniques developed for different NLP tasks. The goal of this workshop is to help build a community of SSL-NLP researchers and foster discussions about insights, speculations, and results (both positive and negative) that may otherwise not appear in a technical paper at a major conference. In our call-for-paper, we posed some open questions: 1. Problem Structure: What are the different classes of NLP problem structures (e.g. sequences, trees, N-best lists) and what algorithms are best suited for each class? For instance, can graph-based algorithms be successfully applied to sequence-to-sequence problems like machine translation, or are self-training and feature-based methods the only reasonable choices for these problems?
Alignment of the IS organization: the special case of corporate acquisitions

A key information systems (IS) management issue since the late 1980s is how best to align the IS function within an enterprise. One critical alignment decision is the degree to which the IS function is centralized or decentralized. Essentially unresearched is the alignment solution for the IS organization of a newly acquired business unit that is, a corporate acquisition. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize recent findings on IS governance solutions in the MIS literature, with selected research on mergers and acquisitions by organization scientists, in order to develop a predictive model for future research.
Engagement in science through citizen science: Moving beyond data collection

"To date, most studies of citizen science engagement focus on quantifiable measures related to the contribution of data or other output measures. Few studies have attempted to qualitatively characterize citizen science engagement across multiple projects and from the perspective of the participants. Building on pertinent literature and sociocultural learning theories, this study operationalizes engagement in citizen science through an analysis of interviews of 72 participants from six different environmentally based projects. We document engagement in citizen science through an examination of cognitive, affective, social, behavioral, and motivational dimensions. We assert that engagement in citizen science is enhanced by acknowledging these multiple dimensions and creating opportunities for volunteers to find personal relevance in their work with scientists. A Dimensions of Engagement framework is presented that can facilitate the innovation of new questions and methodologies for studying engagement in citizen science and other forms of informal science education. "
Cardiomyocyte MEA Data Analysis (CardioMDA) – A Novel Field Potential Data Analysis Software for Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes

Cardiac safety pharmacology requires in-vitro testing of all drug candidates before clinical trials in order to ensure they are screened for cardio-toxic effects which may result in severe arrhythmias. Micro-electrode arrays (MEA) serve as a complement to current in-vitro methods for drug safety testing. However, MEA recordings produce huge volumes of data and manual analysis forms a bottleneck for high-throughput screening. To overcome this issue, we have developed an offline, semi-automatic data analysis software, ‘Cardiomyocyte MEA Data Analysis (CardioMDA)’, equipped with correlation analysis and ensemble averaging techniques to improve the accuracy, reliability and throughput rate of analysing human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocyte (CM) field potentials. With the program, true field potential and arrhythmogenic complexes can be distinguished from one another. The averaged field potential complexes, analysed using our software to determine the field potential duration, were compared with the analogous values obtained from manual analysis. The reliability of the correlation analysis algorithm, evaluated using various arrhythmogenic and morphology changing signals, revealed a mean sensitivity and specificity of 99.27% and 94.49% respectively, in determining true field potential complexes. The field potential duration of the averaged waveforms corresponded well to the manually analysed data, thus demonstrating the reliability of the software. The software has also the capability to create overlay plots for signals recorded under different drug concentrations in order to visualize and compare the magnitude of response on different ion channels as a result of drug treatment. Our novel field potential analysis platform will facilitate the analysis of CM MEA signals in semi-automated way and provide a reliable means of efficient and swift analysis for cardiomyocyte drug or disease model studies.
Remembering in tool-use tasks in children and apes: The role of the information at encoding

Providing adults with relevant information (knowledge that they will be tested at some future time) increases motivation to remember. Research has shown that it is more effective to have this information prior to, rather than after, an encoding phase. We investigated this effect in apes and children in the context of tool-use tasks. In Experiment 1 we presented chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos with two tool-use tasks and three different two-tool sets. We had two conditions: prospective (PP) and retrospective (RP). In the PP subjects were shown the task that they would have to solve before they were shown the tools with which they could solve it. In the RP this order was reversed. Apes remembered the location of the useful tool better in the PP than in the RP. In Experiment 2 we presented 3- and 4-year-olds with the same conditions. Both age groups remembered the location of the correct tool in the PP, but only the 4-year-olds did so in the RP. Thus providing apes and preschool children with relevant information prior to, rather than after, the encoding phase enhances memory. These results have important implications for the understanding of the evolution of memory in general, and encoding mechanisms in particular.
Optimization of process parameters of cryogenic treated D-3 in WEDM by Taguchi Approach

Cryogenic treated high carbon high chromium alloy cold tool steels (D-3) are used in production of high performance dies, punches, blanking and punching tools, extrusion tools, etc. cryogenic treatment is a process of keeping the specimen in cold environment to increase its wear resistance and relieving its residual stresses. Due to its high hardness Wire Electric Discharge Machine (WEDM) seems a good option for machine hard material. In this paper, the effects of various process parameters of WEDM as pulse width, time between two pulses, maximum feed rate, servo reference mean voltage, short pulse time and wire mechanical tension, have been experimented for optimizing surface roughness (sr) while machining cryogenic treated D-3 material. Experimental observations are based on Taguchi’s L-27 orthogonal array has been done. Signalto-Noise (S/N) ratio, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and various plots are used to find the optimum process parameter with a least surface roughness. The confirmation experiments has been done for validate the results calculated by using taguchi method.
Optimal limits on f_{NL}^{local} from WMAP 5-year data

We have applied the optimal estimator for f_{NL}^{local} to the 5 year WMAP data. Marginalizing over the amplitude of foreground templates we get -4 < f_{NL}^{local} < 80 at 95% CL. Error bars of previous (sub-optimal) analyses are roughly 40% larger than these. The probability that a Gaussian simulation, analyzed using our estimator, gives a result larger in magnitude than the one we find is 7%. Our pipeline gives consistent results when applied to the three and five year WMAP data releases and agrees well with the results from our own sub-optimal pipeline. We find no evidence of any residual foreground contamination.
Exactly soluble model for self-gravitating D-particles with the wormhole

We consider D-particles coupled to the CGHS dilaton gravity and obtain the exact wormhole geometry and trajectories of D-particles by introducing the exotic matter. The initial static wormhole background is not stable after infalling D-particles due to the classical backreaction of the geometry so that the additional exotic matter source should be introduced for the stability. Then, the traversable wormhole geometry naturally appears and the D-particles can travel through it safely. Finally, we discuss the dynamical evolution of the wormhole throat and the massless limit of D-particles.
Integrated Cubic Phase Function for Linear FM Signal Analysis

In this paper, an integrated cubic phase function (ICPF) is introduced for the estimation and detection of linear frequency-modulated (LFM) signals. The ICPF extends the standard cubic phase function (CPF) to handle cases involving low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and multi-component LFM signals. The asymptotic mean squared error (MSE) of an ICPF-based estimator as well as the output SNR of an ICPF-based detector are derived in closed form and verified by computer simulation. Comparison with several existing approaches is also included, which shows that the ICPF serves as a good candidate for LFM signal analysis.
Coherence Between Cortical and Muscular Activities After Subcortical Stroke

Background and Purpose— Functional connection between the motor cortex and muscle can be measured by electroencephalogram-electromyogram (EEG-EMG) coherence. To evaluate the functional connection to muscle between contralateral and ipsilateral motor cortices after pyramidal tract lesions, we investigated 6 patients with chronic subcortical stroke. Methods— High-resolution EEG and EMG of the hand, forearm, and biceps muscles were recorded during 3 tonic contraction tasks: (1) elbow flexion, (2) wrist extension, and (3) power grip. To evaluate the cortical control of EMG, EEG-EMG coherence was computed. Results— EEG-EMG coherence was localized over the contralateral sensorimotor area in all circumstances, and there was no significant coherence at the ipsilateral side. EEG-EMG coherence was significantly smaller on the affected side for the hand and forearm muscles but not for the biceps muscle. Conclusions— All direct functional connections to muscle after recovered subcortical stroke come from the contralateral motor cortex. The different effects of the lesion on the proximal and distal muscles appear to be associated with the strength of the corticospinal pathway.
State-of-the-Art Performance in Text-Independent Speaker Verification Through Open-Source Software

This paper illustrates an evolution in state-of-the-art speaker verification by highlighting the contribution from newly developed techniques. Starting from a baseline system based on Gaussian mixture models that reached state-of-the-art performances during the NIST'04 SRE, final systems with new intersession compensation techniques show a relative gain of around 50%. This work highlights that a key element in recent improvements is still the classical maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation, while the latest compensation methods have a crucial impact on overall performances. Nuisance attribute projection (NAP) and factor analysis (FA) are examined and shown to provide significant improvements. For FA, a new symmetrical scoring (SFA) approach is proposed. We also show further improvement with an original combination between a support vector machine and SFA. This work is undertaken through the open-source ALIZE toolkit.