Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimising access in an integrated wireless network environment

Some of the important advantages of having an integrated mobile network environment would be seamless communications, joint resource management and adaptive quality of service. In such environment, operators would not need to reject the user requests, but redirect them to appropriate networks. However, the sought aims of an integrated network system still have many pending issues. One of them is the selection of the most appropriate radio access network (RAN) according to the requested service and the context information about the user and the networks. We aim to develop efficient RAN selection algorithms inside a realistic internetworking system architecture. Also, as part of our research, we developed models for UMTS and WiFi networks which facilitate the evaluation of the network resource availability in these networks, which provide a more realistic input of network context information into RAN selection algorithms. The simulation results show that our RAN selection algorithms can improve the network performance.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS AT SECONDARY LEVEL

The study was aimed to explore the effects of Socio-economic Status (SES) on learning achievement of students. The population was the secondary school students enrolled in four districts of Pakistan. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 1580 students. The SES questionnaire was delivered to sampled students. It was filled by their parents. The five class SES structure was used to categories the students Socio-economic Status. The obtained scores on Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination were used as students learning achievement. By the Pearson’s correlation data was analyzed. The findings showed that upper class students are A and B grade achievers. The middle class students showed significant positive relationship with D grade. The lower class students remained low achievers. In this way the study verify the results of different studies in other countries that SES effects learning achievement.
Good vibrations: a vibration damping setpoint controller for continuum robots

We focus on a class of robotic manipulators that utilize continuous backbone structures. Such manipulators, known as "continuum" robots, exhibit behavior similar to tentacles, trunks, and snakes. Specifically, we have previously discussed some of the mechanical and kinematic details of the Clemson -Tentacle Manipulator. " This work examines the dynamic characteristics of this manipulator, proposing a vibration damping control strategy for configurations with the worst vibration characteristics. We begin by formulating the dynamics for one section of the Tentacle Manipulator. We then proceed to develop a vibration control strategy which incorporates a setpoint regulator. We supplement the theoretical developments with experimental results.
Is the Sequenced Bordetella pertussis Strain Tohama I Representative of the Species?

ABSTRACT Subtractive hybridization was carried out to identify differences between the sequenced genome of Bordetella pertussis Tohama I and those of two recently collected isolates. We identified genetic regions specific to recent isolates, old isolates, and isolates of B. parapertussis and B. bronchiseptica species. We conclude that Tohama I strain is not representative of the B. pertussis species.
Analysis of usage of information systems and technology: Cloud computing

The objective of the paper was to determine the effect of performance expectancy on the learners’ intention to adopt and use Cloud computing.The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model is used as the basis of this paper, and the data was collected using questionnaires. The questionnaires were analysed for correlation, significance and variance, to study Cloud computing adoption and use based on performance expectancy.The results of the paper revealed that, out of the ten sub-variables, ‘Mobile devices are also mediums for learning’ made the largest contribution, with 62.1 percent agreeing to the statement.There was a relatively strong positive correlation between the feeling of increased interest in studying using internet devices, and Cloud computing adoption and use.All the sub variables for performance expectancy contributed positively, and they reached the statistical significance of p<0.01 in terms of contribution.
Spatial big data and anxieties of control

Kate Crawford has recently suggested that the everyday lived experience of big data is one of “surveillant anxiety”: the fear that the personal information that individuals disclose about themselves and that others generate about them is intercepted and analyzed by the intelligence services within emergent praxes of pervasive dataveillance. I empirically assess this notion of “surveillant anxiety” in the context of spatial big data. Drawing on the results of a small-scale survey of understandings of location data collection and dissemination via mobile devices and their contextualization against other available data, I demonstrate that individuals are seemingly more concerned with transparency in data collection and in controlling flows of personal spatial information about themselves than they are with practices of data capture or their eventual use(s). Rather than a generalizable societal condition of “surveillant anxiety,” I argue that the realities of living in a (spatial) big data present are better characterized in terms of what I designate as “anxieties of control”: the desire to discern (be aware of) and direct (determine the disclosure of) personal spatial big data flows about oneself while feeling that any attempt at exerting such control is effectively futile.
Identification of Drought Tolerance Determinants by Genetic Analysis of Root Response to Drought Stress and Abscisic Acid1

Drought stress is a common adverse environmental condition that seriously affects crop productivity worldwide. Due to the complexity of drought as a stress signal, deciphering drought tolerance mechanisms has remained a major challenge to plant biologists. To develop new approaches to study plant drought tolerance, we searched for phenotypes conferred by drought stress and identified the inhibition of lateral root development by drought stress as an adaptive response to the stress. This drought response is partly mediated by the phytohormone abscisic acid. Genetic screens using Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) were devised, and drought inhibition of lateral root growth (dig) mutants with altered responses to drought or abscisic acid in lateral root development were isolated. Characterization of these dig mutants revealed that they also exhibit altered drought stress tolerance, indicating that this root response to drought stress is intimately linked to drought adaptation of the entire plant and can be used as a trait to access the elusive drought tolerance machinery. Our study also revealed that multiple mechanisms coexist and together contribute to whole-plant drought tolerance.
The reliability and validity of a Chinese-version Short Health Anxiety Inventory: an investigation of university students

Background The Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) is widely used in English-speaking populations, with good reliability and validity. For further research needs in the Chinese population, it was translated into a Chinese version (CSHAI). Furthermore, the reliability, validity, and cutoff score were examined in a nonclinical population in the People’s Republic of China. Methods Three hundred and sixteen undergraduates were evaluated by a set of questionnaires including CSHAI, Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Fifty-eight students completed CSHAI again after 30 days. Results The two-factor model had satisfactory fit indices. The correlation coefficients between each item with the CSHAI total and each subscale were between 0.386 and 0.779. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of CSHAI total and its subscales were 0.742, 0.743, and 0.788, respectively, and the split-half coefficients were 0.757, 0.788, and 0.912. The test–retest correlation coefficients were, respectively, 0.598 (P<0.001), 0.539 (P<0.001), and 0.691 (P<0.001). Convergent validities were respectively 0.389–0.453, 0.389–0.410, and 0.250–0.401, and discriminant validities were −5.689 (P<0.001), −5.614 (P<0.001), and −3.709 (P<0.001). The cutoff score was 15. Conclusion CSHAI showed good factor structure, reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity, and 15 was determined to be the appropriate cutoff score for screening health anxiety.
Clinical Features of a Dutch Cohort of Critically Ill Children Due to the 2009 New Influenza A H1N1 Pandemic

Objective: This study describes the clinical course, treatment, and outcome of 13 critically ill children due to infection with new influenza A H1N1, admitted to 2 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the northwestern part of the Netherlands. Methods: Retrospective case series, conducted in 2 PICUs in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Results: A total of 13 children with a new influenza A H1N1 infection were admitted at 2 Dutch PICUs. The majority of these children were 12 to 16 years old and had an underlying disease. All children required mechanical ventilatory support. Shock was present in 7 of 13 (54%) children. Two children were transferred to a supraregional PICU with facilities for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Conclusions: In a Dutch cohort of 13 critically ill children due to infection with new influenza (H1N1), respiratory (100%) and circulatory (54%) failure characterized the course of this infection in most of these children. All children survived.
Left ventricular dysfunction induced by chronic alcohol ingestion in rats.

To determine whether moderate ingestion of alcohol for protracted periods of time affects normal cardiac performance and produces myocyte damage, male Fischer 344 rats at 4 mo of age were given 30% ethanol in their drinking water every day for a period of 8 mo. Experimental animals and age-matched controls were examined hemodynamically and morphometrically at 12 mo of age. Body and cardiac growth were depressed in alcoholic animals by 15 and 12%, respectively. Although left ventricular (LV) weight was reduced by 14% in alcoholic rats, no difference in right ventricular (RV) weight was noted, and consequently the ratio of RV weight to body weight increased by 12%. Systemic arterial pressures as well as LV peak systolic pressure decreased in alcoholic rats despite an unchanged heart rate. Myocardial contractility in alcoholic rats was further depressed as revealed by a significant decrease in the peak rate of ventricular pressure decay. Importantly, end-diastolic pressure was elevated 5.2-fold in the left ventricle and 2.9-fold in the right ventricle after 8 mo of ethanol consumption. LV diastolic chamber volume increased through myocardial remodeling as the longitudinal axis and transverse diameters from the base to the apex increased in experimental animals while the thickness of the LV diminished. Structural and hemodynamic alterations resulted in a 571% increase in the volume of diastolic circumferential wall stress on the left ventricle. Damage to the myocardium was increased in alcoholic animals with the volume percent of myocardial lesions increasing 342% in the wall of the left ventricle. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
“Neo-Sultanistic Tendencies:” The Trajectory of Civil-Military Relations in Cambodia

Abstract This study examines the evolution of civilian control in Cambodia and its impact upon that country’s security sector reform efforts. It argues that Cambodia has witnessed a historically entrenched path dependence of civil-military relations, whereby ruling personalities and parties have consecutively dominated subservient, authoritarian militaries. Today security forces appear as a partisan, corporate arm of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). While this has ensured civilian control, it is not an institutionalized form of control. Instead Prime Minister Hun Sen has personalized supremacy over security forces through what might be termed “neo-sultanistic tendencies. ” Yet how have Cambodia’s civil-military relations evolved? What is the current state of civilian control and security sector reform efforts? What is the future of civil-military relations? This analysis addresses these questions.
Knowledge and attitudes in Puerto Rico concerning dengue prevention.

OBJECTIVE Dengue has been endemic in Puerto Rico for three decades. Multiple educational and community-based efforts have been developed to inform the population about dengue prevention. We undertook this study to understand the community members' knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to dengue prevention and to elicit their ideas for future prevention campaigns. METHODS A qualitative study based on grounded theory analysis was conducted between February and May of 2001. The study involved a total of 34 participants in four group interviews who had been identified through the Puerto Rico dengue surveillance system. RESULTS In general, participants had correct knowledge about dengue prevention, but they did not associate the mosquitoes inside their houses with Aedes aegypti. Participants insisted that "neighbors" needed to control larval habitats, and the participants also asked the Government to fumigate. CONCLUSIONS The patterns of knowledge and opinion that emerged in the discussions can be arranged along an axis going from high levels of correct knowledge to low levels of correct knowledge about dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever and related practices. There were few participants at either extreme. Three themes explained these patterns: misconceptions about dengue (based on previously delivered information), the "invisibility" of dengue (as compared to other diseases), and responsibility (individual and Government). Four strategies for preventive behaviors were recommended: developing community groups to identify community priorities on prevention, developing volunteer groups to deliver prevention messages, making house visits to demonstrate specific control measures, and conducting a complementary media campaign to support these strategies.
The Art and Politics of Peer Review

The publication of research and scholarly papers plays an integral role in advancing our understanding of and ability to act on issues related to workforce preparation and career development. At its very foundation, scholarly publication, regardless of field, rests on the editorial and peer review system. It is ". an inevitable part of the process of getting published" (Hawkey, 2001, p. 65).
Academic and emotional functioning in early adolescence: Longitudinal relations, patterns, and prediction by experience in middle school

Adopting a motivational perspective on adolescent development, these two companion studies examined the longitudinal relations between early adolescents' school motivation (competence beliefs and values), achievement, emotional functioning (depressive symptoms and anger), and middle school perceptions using both variable- and person-centered analytic techniques. Data were collected from 1041 adolescents and their parents at the beginning of seventh and the end of eighth grade in middle school. Controlling for demographic factors, regression analyses in Study 1 showed reciprocal relations between school motivation and positive emotional functioning over time. Furthermore, adolescents' perceptions of the middle school learning environment (support for competence and autonomy, quality of relationships with teachers) predicted their eighth grade motivation, achievement, and emotional functioning after accounting for demographic and prior adjustment measures. Cluster analyses in Study 2 revealed several different patterns of school functioning and emotional functioning during seventh grade that were stable over 2 years and that were predictably related to adolescents' reports of their middle school environment. Discussion focuses on the developmental significance of schooling for multiple adjustment outcomes during adolescence.
Effects of pool-based exercise in fibromyalgia symptomatology and sleep quality: a prospective randomised comparison between stretching and Ai Chi.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of two pool-based physical therapies, stretching and Ai Chi, in fibromyalgia symptomatology and sleep quality. METHODS Eighty-one patients, randomly assigned to stretching (n=39) or Ai Chi (n=42), received 18 physiotherapy sessions and were evaluated at baseline, at treatment termination, and after 4 and 12 weeks of follow-up. Main outcome measures were the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Secondary outcome measures included the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the SF-12 Health Survey (SF-12). Data analysis was done with repeated measures ANOVA and effect size estimation. RESULTS No differences were found between groups but significant reduction in the FIQ and the PSQI scores were observed in Ai Chi but not in stretching group, with larger effect sizes and longer effect duration on sleep measures. BDI scores decreased in stretching but not in Ai Chi group with small effect sizes. Trait-anxiety scores decreased in both groups also with small effect sizes. The mental component summary of the SF-12 increased only in stretching group with effect sizes moderate to large. CONCLUSIONS Although no global differences were found between groups, Ai Chi significantly improved fibromyalgia symptomatology and sleep quality, whereas stretching only improved subjects' psychological well-being.
Prognostic Value of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measurements Corrected for Age and Sex in Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Background—There are limited data on the prognostic value of cardiovascular magnetic resonance measurements in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, with no studies investigating the impact of correction of cardiovascular magnetic resonance indices for age and sex on prognostic value. Methods and Results—Consecutive patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5T. Steady-state free precession cardiac volumes and mass measurements were corrected for age, sex, and body surface area according to reference data and prognostic significance assessed. A total of 80 patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension were identified, and 23 patients died during the mean follow-up of 32±14 months. Corrected for age, sex, and body surface area, right ventricular end-systolic volume (P=0.004) strongly predicted mortality, independent of World Health Organization functional class, mean right atrial pressure, cardiac index, and mixed venous oxygen saturations. Conclusions—Consideration should be given to correcting cardiovascular magnetic resonance measures for age, sex, and body surface area, particularly given the changing demographics of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. Corrected right ventricular end-systolic volume is a strong prognostic marker in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, independent of invasively derived measurements, mean right atrial pressure cardiac index, and mixed venous oxygen saturations.
Debt, Debt Structure and Corporate Performance after Unsuccessful Takeovers: Evidence from Targets that Remain Independent

Significant increases in the level of target leverage have been previously documented, following unsuccessful takeover attempts. This increased leverage may signal managerial commitment to improved performance, suggesting that corporate performance and leverage should be positively related. If, however, the increased leverage leads to further managerial entrenchment, then corporate performance and leverage should be negatively related. In this paper, we reexamine both motivations for the observed increase in leverage. Furthermore, we argue that changes in the composition of debt are also important, besides changes in the level of leverage. In particular, bank debt has frequently been assigned a proactive, beneficial monitoring role in the literature. Besides confirming the increase in the level of leverage, we also document increases in bank debt surrounding cancelled takeovers. As a result, we find a more complex relation between corporate performance and debt use: Overall, the relation between corporate performance and leverage is negative, as predicted by a dominant entrenchment effect. However, increases in bank debt reduce the adverse effect of the increase in the level of leverage.
Evaluation of Evaluation Studies Using Qualitative Research Methods in the Social Work Literature (1990-2003): Evidence That Constitutes a Wake-Up Call

Objective: This study examines the quality of evaluation studies using qualitative research methods in the social work literature in terms of a number of criteria commonly adopted in the field of qualitative research. Method: Using qualitative and evaluation as search terms, relevant qualitative evaluation studies from 1990 to 2003 indexed by Social Work Abstracts were examined, and their quality was evaluated. Results: The review shows that the quality of published evaluation studies using qualitative research methods in the social work field is not high and that many of the reviewed studies are not sensitive to the following issues: philosophical base of the study, auditability, bias, truth value, consistency, and critical interpretations of the data. Conclusions: Social workers using findings arising from published evaluation studies using qualitative research methods in social work should be cautious and social workers conducting qualitative evaluation studies should be sensitive to the issue of quality. Adequate training for social workers on qualitative evaluation should also be carried out.
[Results of Iodine-125 radiotherapy in the treatment of uveal melanoma].

PURPOSE To evaluate our experience in the treatment of uveal melanoma by means of Iodine-125 brachytherapy. A reprospective case series study. MATERIAL AND METHOD Patients diagnosed of uveal melanoma and treated with Iodine-125 brachytherapy in the Ciudad Sanitaria y Universitaria de Bellvitge (CDUV), from September 1996 to December 2000 and follow up of more than one year. RESULTS During the period of study, 145 patients were diagnosed of uveal melanoma, of which, 77 were treated with Iodine-125 COMS type plaques; among these, 58 were elegible for this study. After a mean of 2.4 year follow up period (878 days) a mean reduction in height of 53.84% and a mean reduction in volume of 75.88% was observed. As for visual acuity, 32.7% of patients presented a vision of 0.1 or better in last follow up check; 13.5% presented low vision at the moment of diagnosis and continued the same up to last follow up check. The rest of patients experienced loss which conditioned vision to less than 0.1. As for complications, we have observed transient diplopia (8.6%), cataract (3.4%), vitreous bleeding (10.3%), neovascular glaucoma (6.8%), radiation retinopathy (17.24%), radiation neuropathy (6.8%), posterior scleritis (2%), pigmental scattering (2%), tumor progression (2%), endophtalmitis (2). Secondary enucleations were carried out in 6.8% of patients. Metastatic disease was observed in 15.5% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS Brachytherapy with Iodine-125 may induce significant regression in most of patients affected of uveal melanoma, with good preservation of visual acuity and a low rate of complications.