Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iran's Nuclear Deception: 'Taqiyya' and 'Kitman' (Part I)

A key Islamic deception concept is kitman, which comes from the Arabic verb katama, meaning 'to hide' or 'to conceal', and includes the practice of taqiyya, dissimulation and the principle that 'a promise made to a non-Muslim can be broken whenever necessary'. Amir Taheri, an Iranian contemporary historian of the rise of Islamic 'Holy Terror' has described kitman as a tactic that the Iranian mullahs have practised to perfection and one that is the political version of taqiyya, which Taheri defines as 'hiding one's true beliefs to confuse adversaries'.
Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending

The distance between small firms and their lenders in the United States is increasing. Not only are firms choosing more distant lenders, they are also communicating with them in more impersonal ways. After documenting these systematic changes, we demonstrate that they do not stem from small firms locating differently, from simple consolidation in the banking industry, or from biases in the sample. Instead, they seem correlated with improvements in bank productivity. We conjecture that greater, and more timely, availability of borrower credit records, as well as the greater ease of processing these may explain the increased lending at a distance. Consistent with such an explanation, distant firms no longer have to be observably the highest quality credits, suggesting that a wider cross-section of firms can now obtain funding from a particular lender. These findings, we believe, are direct evidence that there has been substantial development of the financial sector in the United States, even in areas such as small business lending that have not been directly influenced by the growth in public markets. From a policy perspective, that small firms now obtain wider access to financing suggests the consolidation of banking services may not raise as strong anti-trust concerns as in the past.
An Accuracy-Oriented Divide-and-Conquer Strategy for Recognizing Textual Entailment

The Two-Way Task: Run1: TAC-M, TS-M, and Tri-BM Run2: TAC-M, TS-M, and BoW-BM Run3: TAC-M, TS-M, NE-M, & Tri-BM, BoW-BM The Three-Way Task: Run1: TAC-M, TS-M, and Tri-BM, BoWBM Run2: TAC-M, TS-M, NE-M (partial), and Tri-BM, BoW-BM Run3: TAC-M, TS-M, NE-M, and Tri-BM, BoW-BM From Two-Way to Three-Way: If BoW-BM=YES & Tri-BM=NO then CONTRADICTION If BoW-BM=YES & Tri-BM=YES then ENTAILMENT Others UNKNOWN Tasks TAC-M TS-M NE-M BoW-BM Tri-BM Run1 Run2 Run3 IR(300) 75.0%/4 76.5%/85 61.0%/164 63.3% 54.3% 66.0% 72.3% 71.7% QA(200) 90.0%/10 73.2%/82 54.8%/93 49.0% 53.5% 73.0% 72.0% 74.0% SUM(200) 83.3%/6 74.5%/51 55.2%/67 63.5% 54.0% 64.0% 69.5% 71.5%
DNN Online with iVectors Acoustic Modeling and Doc2Vec Distributed Representations for Improving Automated Speech Scoring

When applying automated speech-scoring technology to the rating of globally administered real assessments, there are several practical challenges: (a) ASR accuracy on non-native spontaneous speech is generally low; (b) due to the data mismatch between an ASR systems training stage and its final usage, the recognition accuracy obtained in practice is even lower; (c) content-relevance was not widely used in the scoring models in operation due to various technical and logistical issues. For this paper, an ASR in a deep neural network (DNN) architecture of multi-splice with iVectors was trained and resulted in a performance at 19.1% word error rate (WER). Secondly, we applied language model (LM) adaptation for the prompts that were not covered in ASR training by using the spoken responses acquired from previous operational tests, and we were able to reduce the relative WER by more than 8%. The boosted ASR performance improves the scoring performance without any extra human annotation cost. Finally, the developed ASR system allowed us to apply content features in practice. Besides the conventional frequency-based approach, content vector analysis (CVA), we also explored distributed representations with Doc2Vec and found an improvement on content measurement.
BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE: AN EXPLORATION INTO DATING VIOLENCE PREVENTION CURRICULUM

In 2004 the Ontario Ministry of Education created the Safe Schools Action Team (SSAT) to advise on the development of a comprehensive approach to bullying prevention. When four years later in 2008 the SSAT re-engaged in order to review the issues of gender-based violence, homophobia, sexual harassment, and inappropriate sexual behaviour, recommendations were made for addressing these issues (Ministry of Education, 2008). One of the most significant dimensions of the SSAT report was their statement that the most effective method to learn about healthy relationships is through school curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2008). Taking the SSAT recommendation that the most effective method for educating adolescents on healthy relationships is through curriculum, the current study seeks to describe, from the teacher’s perspective, experiences with and motivations for using curriculum advocating healthy relationships, specifically dating violence prevention programming. The purpose of this thesis is to examine four female Ontario Physical and Health Education teachers’ personal and professional experience with teen dating violence and their knowledge about and use of dating violence prevention curriculum that has been approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education. The participants related their experiences with dating violence within their school communities and discussed how they approached these issues within their own classroom. The results of this study indicate that dating violence continues to be a prevalent issue for Ontario secondary schools, and there is a need for continued research into how to teach dating violence prevention in meaningful ways.
Predictors of changes in students’ motivational resilience over the school year

Students perform better in school to the extent they are able to engage fully, cope adaptively, and bounce back from obstacles and setbacks in their academic work. These three processes, which studies suggest are positively inter-connected, may comprise a self-sustaining system that enables motivational resilience. Using self-determination theory to frame hypotheses about such a motivational system, this study examined (1) whether a set of personal factors (self-perceptions of relatedness, competence, and autonomy), interpersonal resources (perceptions of teacher warmth, structure, and autonomy support), and emotional reactivity predicted changes in motivational resilience over the school year; (2) whether motivational resilience in turn predicted improvements in students’ achievement and also fed back to increases in their personal and interpersonal resources; and (3) whether teacher support could shift established motivational patterns. A latent path model depicting these processes showed a good fit with self-report data from 1020 students in Grades 3 through 6 collected in fall and spring of the same school year (including achievement data from a random subset, n = 365). Multiple regressions predicting changes from fall to spring refined the proposed model. Moreover, teacher support was crucial: Students who began the year with at-risk profiles, but also experienced high teacher support, ended the year on par with low-risk students; whereas students who began with resilient profiles but experienced low levels of teacher support ended the year at-risk. Discussion focused on identifying levers for intervention and the essential role teacher support plays in these dynamics.
Developments on Balanced Scorecard: A Historical Review

Balanced Scorecard is considered as the world widely used Performance Management System by organizations. Around 57% organizations of the world are using the Balanced Scorecard tool for improving their Organizational Performance (1). This technique of performance evaluation and management was coined by the Kaplan and Norton in 1992. From that date to 2012 a lot of work has been done by the academicians and practitioner on the Balanced Scorecard. This study is summarizing the major studies conducted on Balanced Scorecard from 1992 to 2012. Summing up all the criticism and appreciations on Balanced Scorecard, the study is suggesting some guidelines for improving the Balanced Scorecard in the light of previous researches conducted on Balanced Scorecard.
Is Knowledge Power? An Investigation of Mock Jurors’ Perceptions of CSA Victim Credibility

In the present study, I investigated the effects of child complainant’s age (5 years, 15 years, a “minor”), the child’s level of sexual knowledge (low, high), and the presence of jury instructions on mock jurors’ perceptions of the child’s credibility and legal decisions regarding a child sexual abuse (CSA) case. Participants read one of 12 trial transcriptions describing an ambiguous CSA case involving a summer camp doctor and female camper. Perceptions of the child complainant and frequency of convictions were also analyzed in relation to mock jurors’ knowledge concerning CSA victims, as measured by the Child Sexual Abuse Misconceptions Questionnaire (Goodman-Delahunty, Cossins, & O’Brien, 2010). Results indicated significant effects for child age, the presence of jury instructions, mock juror gender, and CSA misconception endorsement on mock jurors’ credibility ratings for the child complainant. Conviction decisions were also influenced by child age, the presence of jury instructions, and mock jurors’ endorsements of CSA misconceptions. Additionally, perceptions of the child’s credibility were found to significantly predict mock jurors’ decisions to convict the defendant. Implications for legal professionals and future directions are discussed in terms of these research findings.
Safety, tolerance, and pharmacokinetic evaluation of cefepime after administration of single intravenous doses

In this double-blind, single-dose phase I study, the safety and tolerance of cefepime were assessed in 24 healthy male subjects, with ceftazidime as the control drug. Four subjects in each of the six dose groups (62.5, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, or 2,000 mg as a 30-min intravenous infusion) received each antibiotic, according to a crossover design, with a 2-day washout period between treatments. Blood and urine samples were obtained to characterize the pharmacokinetics of cefepime. Plasma and urine samples were assayed for intact cefepime. Samples containing ceftazidime were discarded. The adverse effects observed in the study were mild and infrequent, with prompt recovery from adverse experiences and abnormal laboratory values. The cefepime pharmacokinetic parameters for the therapeutically significant doses of 250 to 2,000 mg appeared to be proportional to dose and similar to literature values for ceftazidime. The elimination half-life of about 2 h was independent of the dose. Urinary recovery of intact cefepime was invariant with respect to dose; an overall mean value of 82% of dose was obtained for the four highest levels. Mean renal clearance was 105 ml/min and suggestive of glomerular filtration as the primary excretion mechanism. In normal humans, the safety and pharmacokinetic profiles of cefepime are very similar to those of ceftazidime.
Cytotoxic activity of some lichen extracts on murine and human cancer cell lines.

Eight lichens were extracted successively with n-hexane, diethyl ether and methanol using a Soxhlet process. The cytotoxic activity of the 24 lichen extracts was evaluated in vitro using two murine (the L1210: lymphocytic leukaemia, and the 3LL: Lewis lung carcinoma) and four human (the K-562: chronic myelogenous leukaemia, the U251: glioblastoma, the DU145: prostate carcinoma, and the MCF7: breast adenocarcinoma) cancer cell lines and non-cancerous cells, the Vero cell line (African green monkey kidney cell line). The MTT assay revealed significant cytotoxicity (IC50 < or = 20 microg/ml) on one of the tested cancer cell lines for at least one extract of each lichen species. Some extracts of Cladonia convoluta, Cladonia rangiformis, Parmelia caperata, Platismatia glauca and Ramalina cuspidata demonstrated interesting activities particularly on human cancer cell lines as good selectivity indices were recorded (SI > 3).
Distributed eXtreme Programming

One of the key requirements of eXtreme Programming (XP) is strong and effective communication between the team members. To enable this strong level of communication among team members, XP emphasizes the need to have the team members physically located close to each other. However, for various reasons, that may not be feasible. To address these situations, we propose a crosscutting idea called “Distributed eXtreme Programming” (DXP), which inherits the merits of XP and applies it in a distributed team environment. Our experiences show that DXP can be both effective and rewarding in projects whose teams are geographically distributed.
Improving neuroplasticity and motor learning by brain stimulation techniques

s and Posters presentations Rroji O. , Leenus D. , van Kuyck K. , Nuttin B. , Hellings N. , Meesen R. , Swinnen S. , Wenderoth N. “Interhemispheric transfer of motor skill tested in a rat model”. Poster presented at the annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience, 13 – 17 October 2012 in New Orleans, USA Rroji O. , Hebbelinck A. , Wynants K. , Ceulemans E. , Wenderoth N. “Reward modulates changes of corticomotor excitability by motor skills”. Poster presented at 8 FENS forum of Neuroscience conference, 14 – 18 July 2012 Barcelona, Spain Rroji O. , Bekkers E. , Pauwels L. , Wenderoth N. “Does tDCS over the primary motor cortex have an effect on the consolidation of motor memories”. Poster presented at ECSS 17 annual Congress, 4 – 7 July 2012 Brugges, Belgium
ON THE INCLUSION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL EFFECTS IN SIMULATIONS OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL BLUFF-BODY WAKE FLOWS

Unsteady flow past a circular cylinder at a Reynolds number of 300 has been simulated. The spanwise extent of the computational domain has been systematically varied from zero (2-D) to a large value of 12&, where 4 is the spanwise wavelength of the fundamental mode-B 3-D instability (Williamson, 1996). Simulations with intermediate spanwise extent of 4 and U, have also been performed so as to isolate the role of mode-B instability, its spanwise subharmonic instability and other longer wavelength instabilities. The results suggest that while imprints of mode-B and its subhatmonic instability can be observed in the near wake region, further subharmonic instabilities of larger wavelength are feasible downstream, leading to a rearrangement of the vertical structure and its spectral content. Furthermore, the prediction of global quantities such as lift and drag improves as the spanwise domain size is
Dysgammaglobulinemia Associated With Glu349del, a Hypomorphic XIAP Mutation.

BACKGROUND X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome type 2 is a rare hereditary immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the XIAP gene. This immunodeficiency frequently results in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, although hypogammaglobulinemia and dysgammaglobulinemia are also common. OBJECTIVE We identified 17 patients from 12 Japanese families with mutations in XIAP. The Glu349del mutation was observed in 3 patients, each from a different family. Interestingly, these patients exhibited dysgammaglobulinemia but not hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. We conducted an immunological study of patients carrying Glu349del and other mutations to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms of dysgammaglobulinemia in patients with mutations in the XIAP gene. PATIENTS AND METHODS We performed an immunological study of 2 patients carrying the Glu349del mutation and 8 patients with other mutations. RESULTS Flow cytometry showed that the percentage of memory B cells in patients with a mutation in XIAP was lower than that observed in the healthy controls. The patients with the Glu349del mutation had a lower percentage of memory B cells than those with other mutations. Ig production was reduced in patients with the Glu349del mutation. Increased susceptibility to apoptosis was observed in the patients with other mutations. Susceptibility to apoptosis was normal in patients with Glu349del. Microarray analysis indicated that expression of Ig-related genes was reduced in patients with the Glu349del mutation and that the pattern was different from that observed in the healthy controls or patients with other mutations in XIAP. CONCLUSIONS Patients carrying the Glu349del mutation in the XIAP gene may have a clinically and immunologically distinct phenotype from patients with other XIAP mutations. The Glu349del mutation may be associated with dysgammaglobulinemia.
Bilateral amygdala damage impairs the acquisition and use of common ground in social interaction.

OBJECTIVE The development of "common ground," or mutual knowledge of shared information, is believed to require the ability to update a mental representation of another person's thoughts and knowledge based on verbal information and nonverbal social and emotional signals, to facilitate economical communication. As in other forms of everyday social communication, the development of common ground likely requires the orchestration of multiple cognitive processes supported by various neural systems. Here, we investigate the contribution of the amygdala to these processes. METHOD SM, a patient with complete, focal, bilateral amygdala damage, and deficits in social and emotional processing, and five healthy comparison participants, each interacted with a familiar partner. We investigated the participants' ability to develop and use referential labels across 24 dynamic, collaborative interactions. Participants verbally directed their partner how to arrange a set of 12 abstract tangrams while separated by a low barrier, allowing them to see each other but hiding their tangrams. RESULTS In contrast to comparison participants, SM exhibited an impaired rate of learning across trials and did not show the typical simplification in the labels generated during the interactions. Detailed analyses of SM's interactional discourse and social behavior suggested that she has impaired perspective-taking or what can be interpreted as deficient "theory of mind," manifested in abnormal "language-in-use. " CONCLUSIONS These results support the conclusion that the amygdala, a structure critical for social and emotional processing, plays an important role in the acquisition and use of common ground and in social communication more broadly.
Standardized Assessment of Strategy Use and Working Memory in Early Mental Arithmetic Performance

Although children's use of a variety of strategies to solve arithmetic problems has been well documented, there is no agreed on standardized and validated method for assessing this mix. We examined the convergent validity of typically achieving (TA, N = 39) and low achieving (LA, N = 20) second and third grade children's strategy choices in simple addition using three different methods: child self-report, observer-report, and response time (RT). The high concordance between child and observer reports (Kappa = .948) in both groups suggests that the participants were aware of, and could accurately report, the strategies they used. The Receiver-Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that RT accurately differentiated between retrieval and counting (AUC = 82%). The specificity and sensitivity of the ROC profiles were significantly greater for the TA group than for LA group, even though the groups did not differ in the overall strategy mix. Our findings suggest that ROC analysis is more sensitive to group differences in the mechanisms governing strategy choice than observation or child report. Children's use of retrieval strategies as well as accuracy during both retrieval and counting trials were all related to the central executive, but not the phonological and visuospatial sketchpad, component of working memory. We discuss the implication of these findings for early mathematical learning.
A classification scheme for open government data: towards linking decentralised data

Open government data (OGD) refers to making public sector information freely available in open formats and ways that enable public access and facilitate exploitation. Lately, a large number of OGD initiatives launched worldwide aiming to implement one-stop portals acting as single points of access to governmental data. At the same time, the so-called linked data technologies emerged aiming at publishing structured data on the web in such a way that enables semantically enriching data, uniform access to data, and linking of data. In this paper, we first propose a classification scheme for OGD initiatives based on the relevant literature. We thereafter, review and analyse OGD initiatives based on the proposed scheme. We finally present an architecture and prototype implementation for the most advanced OGD class in our scheme, which enables linking decentralised data.
Low bone mineral density and impaired bone metabolism in young alcoholic patients without liver cirrhosis: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND Osteoporosis is regularly mentioned as a consequence of alcoholism. Ethanol's direct effect on bone-modeling cells as well as alcoholism-related "life-style factors" such as malnutrition, lack of exercise, hormonal changes, and liver cirrhosis are discussed as potential causative factors. METHODS In a cross-sectional study, we have examined 57 noncirrhotic alcoholic patients (37 male, 20 female) aged 27 to 50 years. Patients suffering from comorbid somatic diseases and with co-medication known to have an influence on bone mineral density (e.g., glucocorticoids, heparin, anticonvulsant agents, oral contraceptives) were excluded. We determined bone mineral density (BMD) by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and the proximal right femur (femoral neck, total hip) as well as parameters of bone metabolism. RESULTS In males but not females, BMD was significantly reduced in the lumbar region, as well as in the proximal femur (femoral neck, total hip). Nine male patients (24.3% of men) and 1 female patient (5% of women) had low BMD (defined as Z-score < or = -2.0). As expected, there was a positive correlation between body mass index (BMI) and BMD. Alcohol-related factors (e.g., duration of abuse, consumed amount of alcohol per day) as well as smoking were not associated with a significant effect on BMD. All of the 20 women examined showed elevated estradiol levels, which may have served as a protective factor. In this study, 75.7% of the men and 90% of the women had vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency (plasma levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D < 30 ng/ml). CONCLUSIONS Our study indicates that younger alcoholic patients without other diseases may suffer from an increased risk to develop low BMD and a disturbance of vitamin D metabolism. Nutritional factors or less exposure to sunlight may play an important role in bone loss in young alcoholic patients. BMD measurement and assessment of bone metabolism should be considered in all patients with chronic alcoholism.