Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF USING WEEKLY PODCASTS ON STUDENTS' LEARNING

In this project, the effect of flipping the classroom by the use of videocasts was studied to measure its effectiveness on student learning outcomes compared to the traditional classroom. Also the effect of increasing the number of videos per week on students’ learning was studied. To accomplish the objectives of the project, the class was divided into three periods: no video period, one video a week period and two videos a week period. The data revealed that students scored higher in the one video period in both teacher-made assessments and weekly online quizzes. Also, increasing the number of the videos to two did not show any increase either in the teacher made neither assessments nor the online quiz result. Overall, students reported positive feedback regarding the flipped classroom approach and the results showed that they preferred it to the no videos period, traditional approach.
Increased F2‐isoprostanes in Alzheimer's disease: evidence for enhanced lipid peroxidation in vivo

Alzheimer's disease (AD) includes a group of dementing neurodegenerative disorders that have diverse etiologies but the same hallmark brain lesions. Since oxidative stress may play a role in the pathogenesis of AD and isoprostanes are chemically stable peroxidation products of arachidonic acid, we measured both iPF2α‐III and iPF2α ‐VI using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry in AD and control brains. The levels of both isoprostanes, but not of 6‐keto PGF1α, an index of prostaglandin production, were markedly elevated in both frontal and temporal poles of AD brains compared to the corresponding cerebella. Levels were also elevated compared to corresponding areas of brains from patients who had died with schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease or from nonneuropsychiatric disorders. iPF2α ‐ IV, but not iPF2α‐III, levels were higher in ventricular CSF of AD brains relative to the non‐AD brains. These data suggest that specific isoprostane analysis may reflect increased oxidative stress in AD. —Praticò, D. , Lee, V. M. ‐Y. , Trojanowski, J. Q. , Rokach, J., FitzGerald, G. A. Increased F2‐isoprostanes in Alzheimer's disease: evidence for enhanced lipid peroxidation in vivo. FASEB J. 12, 1777–1783 (1998)
Analysis of human-body blockage in urban millimeter-wave cellular communications

The use of extremely high frequency (EHF) or millimeter-wave (mmWave) band has attracted significant attention for the next generation wireless access networks. As demonstrated by recent measurements, mmWave frequencies render themselves quite sensitive to “blocking” caused by obstacles like foliage, humans, vehicles, etc. However, there is a dearth of analytical models for characterizing such blocking and the consequent effect on the signal reliability. In this paper, we propose a novel, general, and tractable model for characterizing the blocking caused by humans (assuming them to be randomly located in the environment) to mmWave propagation as a function of system parameters like transmitter-receiver locations and dimensions, as well as density and dimensions of humans. Moreover, the proposed model is validated using a ray-launcher tool. Utilizing the proposed model, the blockage probability is shown to increase with human density and separation between the transmitter-receiver pair. Furthermore, the developed analysis is shown to demonstrate the existence of a transmitter antenna height that maximizes the received signal strength, which in turn is a function of the transmitter-receiver distance and their dimensions.
Parallel RNA sequence-structure alignment

Summary form only given. With the growing number of known RNA genes efficient and accurate computational analysis of RNA sequences is becoming increasingly important. Stochastic context-free grammars (SCFGs) are used as a popular tool to model RNA secondary structures. However, algorithms for aligning an RNA sequence to an SCFG are highly compute-intensive. This has so far limited applications of SCFGs to relatively small problem sizes. We present the design of a parallel RNA sequence-structure alignment algorithm. Its implementation on a PC cluster leads to significant runtime savings. This makes it possible to compute sequence-structure alignments of even the largest RNAs such as SSU rRNAs and LSU rRNAs in reasonable time.
Critical advances in reminiscence work : from theory to application

Reminiscence work continues to develop in exciting and productive ways. In this volume, Webster and Haight point out ways of improving the quality of life through the processes of reminiscence. They present examples of cutting-edge treatments in reminiscence work. Organized into sections, the book sets the stage with a review of the literature and then focuses on conceptual issues, development/sociocultural contexts, special populations and clinical applications. Topics addressed include: reminiscence and development in late life; personal identity/social discontinuity; spiritual reminiscence, story-telling, integrating reminiscence and life review techniques with therapy; and reminiscence groups for people with dementia.
A Head Pose-free Approach for Appearance-based Gaze Estimation

T o infer human gaze from eye appearance, various methods have been proposed. However, most of them assume a fixed head pose because allowing free head motion adds 6 degrees of freedom to the problem and requires a prohibitively large number of training samples. In this paper, we aim at solving the appearance-based gaze estimation problem under free head motion without significantly increasing the cost of training. The idea is to decompose the problem into subproblems, including initial estimation under fixed head pose and subsequent compensations for estimation biases caused by head rotation and eye appearance distortion. Then each subproblem is solved by either learning-based method or geometric-based calculation. Specifically, the gaze estimation bias caused by eye appearance distortion is learnt effectively from a 5-seconds video clip. Extensive experiments were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Localization of monoclonal antibody epitopes and functional domains in the hemagglutinin protein of measles virus

The expression of chimeric proteins was performed for the localization of monoclonal antibody (MAb) epitopes and functional domains in the hemagglutinin (H) protein of measles virus. The fusion helper function of the H protein was ablated by a single amino acid substitution at residue 98. Loss of reactivity to MAb 79-XV-V17 and to MAbs 16-CD-11 and 80-II-B2 was attributed to substitutions between residues 211 and 291 and between 451 and 505, respectively. The 80-II-B2 MAb epitope also seemed to be within a domain required for hemadsorption and hemagglutination activities.
Wildlife Conservation in China: Preserving the Habitat of China's Wild West

Wildlife Conservation in China: Preserving the Habitat of China's Wild West, by Richard B. Harris. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 2008. xxiv + 341 pp. US$74.95 (hardcover). The book is based on 4 years of fieldwork in western China by a western wildlife biologist over a period of 20 years. The title is self-explanatory, and the matters discussed range from biological and geographical topics to politico-economic issues of wildlife conservation. The Preface and Chapter 1 argue that Chinese wildlife management suffers from an inability to value wildlife for its own sake, more than from habitat destruction. The failure to value wildlife presumably leads to the failure to manage the relationship between consumption and production/harvest and protection of wildlife resources. In Chapter 2, Harris examines geographical factors such as aridity, remoteness and the sparseness of human population of China's west. He examines ethnicity and culture, then jumps to the question of whether western China is getting drier. He follows with a section on the land tenure system of grasslands, and highlights the Chinese penchant for "scientific" fixes such as the privatization of pastoral lands. Chapter 3 presents the argument that Chinese views on wildlife are utilitarian: the Chinese value wildlife only to the extent that it is of use to humankind, rather than valuing wildlife for its own sake. When conservation initiatives are finally taken, they are couched in terms that deny any conflict between the interests of nature and the requirements of civilized humanity. Such "Confucian optimism", he argues, is paradoxically counterproductive to the aims of conservation. Chapter 4 shows that most demands for wildlife resources in China are fulfilled by captive breeding, and asks whether such breeding has any discernible negative effects on wildlife populations. The conclusion is that there is insufficient data either way. Chapter 5 is the best argued and most coherent section of the book, and looks at the legal institutions behind the protection of wildlife, in particular the 1988 Wildlife Protection Law. Here Harris highlights a tendency in Chinese legislation to issue draconian and overly-simplistic laws which are too difficult to implement. Quoting Peter Ho, William Alford and Shen Yuanyuan, he states that, because the law is so strict, it only expresses an ideal, rather than reflecting the realities of enforcement. Chapter 6 also looks at one institutional arrangement for the protection of wildlife habitat: nature reserves. As with the 1998 Wildlife Protection Law, the gap between the stated ideal of nature reserves and their reality is evident. Once again, he sees the Chinese government's penchant for simplistic solutions, such as equating the designation of nature reserves with conservation (p. 119), as counterproductive. He argues, correctly, that quick legislative fixes and the bare designation of reserves do nothing for real conservation. …
Wide-supply-range all-digital leakage variation sensor for on-chip process and temperature monitoring

Variation in process, voltage and temperature is a major obstacle in achieving energy-efficient operation of LSI. This paper proposes an all-digital on-chip circuit to monitor leakage current variations of both of the nMOSFET and pMOSFET independently. As leakage current is highly sensitive to threshold voltage and temperature, the circuit is suitable for tracking process and temperature. The circuit uses reconfigurable inhomogeneity to obtain statistical properties from a single monitor instance. An estimation method of threshold voltage variation is then developed. Cell-base design approach is taken so that design cost is minimized. Measurement results from a 65-nm test chip show the validity of the proposed circuit. Total area is 4500 μm2 and active power consumption is 50 nW at 1.0 V operation. The proposed technique enables area-efficient and low-cost implementation thus can be used in product chips for applications such as testing and post-silicon tuning.
This item is the archived peer-reviewed author-version of: Peripheral blood collection : the first step towards gene expression profiling

A crucial challenge for gene expression analysis in human biomonitoring studies on whole blood samples is rapid sample handling and mRNA stabilization. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of short bench times (less than 30min) on yield, quality and gene expression of mRNA in the presence of different stabilization buffers (Tempus TM Blood RNA tube and RNAlater V R Stabilization Reagent). Microarray analyzes showed significant changes over short periods of time in expression of a consider-ate part of the transcriptome (2356 genes) with a prominent role for NF r B, cancer-and glucocorticoid-mediated networks, and specifically interleukin-8 ( IL-8 ). These findings suggest that even short bench times affect gene expression, requiring to carry out blood collection in a strictly standardized way.
Analyzing Visual Cryptography with Watermark Hiding Technique

In this paper, a watermark hiding scheme based on Visual Cryptography and Discrete Wavelet Transform is proposed. The proposed method modifies the codebook of related works, and utilizes statistical average to offer better security. The proposed method also reduces the size of the codebook and probability of false positives when compared to the existing works. Experimental results prove that the scheme is also robust to wide range of attacks
Learning at the site of work

This chapter elaborates and discusses learning at the site of work. That is, explaining how learning arises through work activities and interactions, including those in workplaces. It does so because there are key personal and societal goals that arise from understanding the workplace as a site in which learning occurs. It is proposed here that, in many ways, the process and outcomes of learning through and for work are no different than that which occurs in and arises from other kinds of settings. However, the way that learning is mediated at the site of work is likely to be distinct in some ways from that in other kinds of settings, because the activities and interactions that constitute key mediating contributions to that learning are likely to be peculiar to paid employment, the particular occupation and the qualities of the particular workplace setting. Consequently, the mediations and contributions of sites of work are likely to be qualitatively different in some ways than other kinds of settings, including the particular pedagogic and curriculum qualities of those settings.
Matching and anatomical labeling of human airway tree

Matching of corresponding branchpoints between two human airway trees, as well as assigning anatomical names to the segments and branchpoints of the human airway tree, are of significant interest for clinical applications and physiological studies. In the past, these tasks were often performed manually due to the lack of automated algorithms that can tolerate false branches and anatomical variability typical for in vivo trees. In this paper, we present algorithms that perform both matching of branchpoints and anatomical labeling of in vivo trees without any human intervention and within a short computing time. No hand-pruning of false branches is required. The results from the automated methods show a high degree of accuracy when validated against reference data provided by human experts. 92.9% of the verifiable branchpoint matches found by the computer agree with experts' results. For anatomical labeling, 97.1% of the automatically assigned segment labels were found to be correct.
Evaluating the Role of Attention in the Context of Unconscious Thought Theory: Differential Impact of Attentional Scope and Load on Preference and Memory

Attention is a key process used to conceptualize and define modes of thought, but we lack information about the role of specific attentional processes on preferential choice and memory in multi-attribute decision making. In this study, we examine the role of attention based on two dimensions, attentional scope and load on choice preference strength and memory using a paradigm that arguably elicits unconscious thought. Scope of attention was manipulated by using global or local processing during distraction (Experiment 1) and before the information-encoding stage (Experiment 2). Load was manipulated by using the n-back task in Experiment 1. Results from Experiment 1 show that global processing or distributed attention during distraction results in stronger preference irrespective of load but better memory only at low cognitive load. Task difficulty or load did not have any effect on preference or memory. In Experiment 2, distributed attention before attribute encoding facilitated only memory but did not influence preference. Results show that attentional processes at different stages of processing like distraction and information-encoding influence decision making processes. Scope of attention not only influences preference and memory but the manner in which attentional scope influences them depends on both load and stage of information processing. The results indicate the important role of attention in processes critical for decision making and calls for a re-evaluation of the unconscious thought theory (UTT) and the need for reconceptualizing the role of attention.
Managing Knowledge through Experimentation and Socialisation

This paper reports results of an empirical examination of the facilitating role of experimentation and socialisation in enhancing individual knowledge and performance in decision making. A laboratory experiment was conducted using 28 graduate students as voluntary subjects. Performance of actual subjects was compared with that of their nominal naive and optimal counterparts. Results indicate that both opportunities for independent experimentation and socialisation among subjects significantly facilitated individual knowledge enhancement and led to improved decision performance. Subjects encouraged to interact with others tended to make better quality decisions than those who individually experimented with the decision task. Both performed better than notional naive subjects who applied random walk decision strategy. However, the results indicate room for further improvement. Subjects failed to reach performance of notional optimal counterparts who used linear decision strategy. The results also suggest the need for a holistic approach to managing knowledge by combining and integrating various initiatives to create even higher levels of knowledge and performance.
Multiloop stringlike formulas for QED.

Multiloop gauge-theory amplitudes written in the Feynman-parameter representation are poised to take advantage of two important developments of the past decade: the spinor-helicity technique and the superstring reorganization. The former has been considered in a previous paper; the latter will be elaborated in this paper. We show here how to write multiloop stringlike formulas in the Feynman-parameter representation for any diagram in QED, including those involving other nonelectromagnetic interactions, provided the internal photon lines are not adjacent to any external photon line. The general connection between the Feynman-parameter approach and the superstring and/or first-quantized approach is discussed. In the special case of a one-loop multiphoton amplitude, these formulas reduce to the ones obtained by the superstring and the first-quantized methods. The stringlike formulas exhibit a simple gauge structure which makes the Ward-Takahashi identity apparent, and enables the integration-by-parts technique of Bern and Kosower to be applied, so that gauge-invariant parts can be extracted diagram by diagram with the seagull vertex neglected.
Gender-related differences in adolescent hypertension and in target organ effects.

AIMS To assess whether a gender difference exists in adolescent hypertension and its target organ damage and to compare potential confounding factors and target organ damage in hypertensive and normotensive adolescent girls. METHODS From the Debrecen Hypertension Study, the anthropometric, blood pressure, and laboratory data as well as intima-media thickness (IMT) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) of 58 hypertensive boys, 56 hypertensive girls, and 30 normotensive girls were analyzed. RESULTS Both systolic and mean blood pressure values were higher in adolescent hypertensive boys than in girls. This difference was also present when comparing 24-hour average blood pressure values. Plasma concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 were not different in the two gender groups. IMT of the carotid arteries were similar in hypertensive boys and girls, but a significantly higher LVMI was detected in boys. A significant difference was detected in anthropometric data (height, weight, and body mass index [BMI]), plasma concentration of NO (lower levels in hypertensives), and IMT in hypertensive and normotensive girls (higher IMT in hypertensive girls). CONCLUSIONS There is a difference between the severity of hypertension between hypertensive adolescent girls and boys. Hypertensive girls differ from normotensive girls not only in blood pressure values but also in risk factors and subclinical target organ effects. Further studies are needed to explain the gender differences in adolescent hypertension. The potential role of sex hormones in hypertensive teenagers also needs to be clarified in future works.
Antioxidant, antimicrobial activities of flavonoids glycoside from Leucaena leucocephala leaves -

The study aimed to identify the chemical constituents of Leucaeana leucocephala leaves and evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the extract and compounds. An acylated flavanol glycoside, quercetin -3-O-(2''-trans-p-coumaryl)-α-rhamnopyranosyl-(1'''→6'')-β-glucopyranoside (1) in addition to quercetin-3-O-α �rhamnopyranosyl-(1'''→2'')-β�glucopyranoside(2), quercetin-7-O-α�rhamnopyranosyl-(1'''→2'')-β�glucopyranoside(3),quercetin-3-O-α- rhamnopyranoside(4), quercetin-3-O-β�glucopyranoside(5) vitexin(6) isovitexin (7) and quercetin(8) were isolated for the first time from the Leucaeana leucocephala. The antioxidant activity of the extract and the isolated compounds 1, 3 & 4 were evaluated by Reducing Power, FRAP, DPPH, Metal chelating and ABTS assays. Compound (3) recorded the highest antioxidant activity in comparison with the extract and other compounds. The extract and compound 1, 2, 3 and 5 were studied for their antimicrobial activity. Both the extract and compound 1 have significant activity against gm-ve bacteria, moderate to gm +ve and Candida and inactive towards fungi. The structures of compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis. L. leucocephala possess good antioxidant, antibacterial properties and could serve as free radical inhibitors or scavengers, acting possibly as primary antioxidants and have to be investigated for anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities.
Decentralized event-triggering for control of LTI systems

This paper considers Linear Time Invariant (LTI) control systems with full state feedback, a central controller and distributed sensors not co-located with the central controller. We present a methodology for designing decentralized asynchronous event-triggers, which utilize only locally available information, for determining the time instants of transmission from the sensors to the central controller. The proposed design guarantees a positive lower bound for the inter-transmission times of each sensor, while ensuring global asymptotic stability of the origin of the system. Additionally, the proposed decentralized asynchronous event-triggers are shown to preserve scale invariance of inter-transmission times. The proposed method is illustrated through simulations of a linear example.
A geometric approach to determine association and coherence of the activation times of cell-cycling genes under differing experimental conditions

Differing arresting agents and protocols can be used to synchronize cells in cultures to specific phases of the cell when studying cell-cycle gene expressions. Often, data derived from individual experiments are analyzed separately, since no appropriate statistical methodology is available at the moment to analyze the data from all such experiments simultaneously. The focus of this paper is to determine the association and coherence of the relative activation times of cell-cycling genes under different experimental conditions. Using a circular-circular regression model, we define two parameters, a rotation parameter for the angular difference between cells' arresting times (phases) in two cell-cycle experiments, and an association parameter to describe the correspondence between the cycle times of maximal expression (phase angles) for a set of genes studied in two experiments. Further, we propose a procedure to assess coherence across multiple experiments, i.e. to what extent the circular ordering of the phase angles of genes is maintained across multiple experiments. Coherence of genes across experiments suggests that functionally these genes tend to respond in a stereotypically sequenced way under different experimental conditions. Our proposed methodology is illustrated by applying it to a HeLa cell-cycle gene-expression data.