Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing E-Government Coursework through the NASPAA Competencies Framework

Information technology (IT) is often less emphasized in coursework related to public administration education, despite the growing need for technological capabilities in those joining the public sector workforce. This coupled with a lesser emphasis on e-government/IT skills by accreditation standards adds to the widening gap between theory and practice in the field. This study examines the emphasis placed on e-government/IT concepts in Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Public Policy (MPP) programs, either through complete course offerings or through related courses such as public management, strategic planning, performance measurement and organization theory. Based on a content analysis of their syllabi, the paper analyzes the extent to which the IT/e-government courses in MPA/Master of Public Policy programs address the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration competency standards, and further discuss the orientation of the courses with two of the competencies: management and policy. Specifically, are e-government/IT courses more management-oriented or policy-oriented? Do public management, strategic planning, performance measurement, and organization theory courses address IT concerns?
Plant cues for aphid navigation in vascular tissues

SUMMARY The ability of aphids to detect and find sieve tubes suggests that aphids receive cues for sieve-tube recognition by taking samples. Specific natural conditions such as pH value, sugar species and concentration, viscosity, and oxygen pressure may enable sieve-tube detection. We tested the preference of Megoura viciae and Myzus persicae for potential plant-borne orientation parameters in artificial choice-chamber systems. Both species preferred sucrose (in comparison with fructose, glucose, raffinose or sorbitol) at concentrations of 15–22.5% (over a tested range of 0–22.5%) and at approximately pH 7 (over a tested range of pH 5–8). This preference matches the composition of the sieve-tube sap of their host plants. Likewise, Rhopalosiphum padi (normally found on barley plants with sucrose in the phloem sap) and Macrosiphum euphorbiae (normally found on pumpkin plants with raffinose-family oligosaccharides in the phloem sap) showed a significant preference for sucrose. In the absence of sucrose, however, M. euphorbiae strongly preferred raffinose. No clear preference for any carbohydrate was observed for Macrosiphum rosae and Aphis pomi (both normally found on plants with various amounts of sorbitol in the phloem sap). Electrical penetration graph (EPG) measurements of M. persicae feeding on artificial diets confirmed that sieve tubes are recognized solely by a combination of carbohydrate abundance and a neutral to slightly alkaline pH.
A Framework for Joint Network Coding and Transmission Rate Control in Wireless Networks

Network coding has been proposed as a technique that can potentially increase the transport capacity of a wireless network via processing and mixing of data packets at intermediate routers. However, most previous studies either assume a fixed transmission rate or do not consider the impact of using diverse rates on the network coding gain. Since in many cases, network coding implicitly relies on overhearing, the choice of the transmission rate has a big impact on the achievable gains. The use of higher rates works in favor of increasing the native throughput; however, it may in many cases work against effective overhearing. In other words, there is a tension between the achievable network coding gain and the inherent rate gain possible on a link. In this paper our goal is to drive the network towards achieving the best trade-off between these two contradictory effects. Towards this, we design a distributed framework that (a) facilitates the choice of the best rate on each link while considering the need for overhearing and (b) dictates the choice of which decoding recipient will acknowledge the reception of an encoded packet. We demonstrate that both of these features contribute significantly towards gains in throughput. We extensively simulate our framework in a variety of topological settings. We also fully implement it on real hardware and demonstrate its applicability and performance gains via proof-of-concept experiments on our wireless testbed. We show that our framework yields throughput gains of up to 390% as compared to what is achieved in a rate-unaware network coding framework.
Studies on exercise physiology and performance testing of racehorses performed in Japan during the 1930s using recovery rate as an index

ABSTRACT The history of research on the exercise physiology of racehorses in Japan dates back to the 1930s. A research report entitled “Studies on exercise physiology and performance testing of the racehorse”, published in 1933 by Shigeo Matsuba and Torao Shimamura of The University of Tokyo, was epoch-making and the most important study in the history of equine exercise physiology in Japan. Research results were reported from 92 Thoroughbred racehorses in a large-scale project during the period of 1928 to 1932 at the Shimofusa Imperial Farm and the Koiwai Farm, which were the two greatest racehorse farms at that time. A total of 20 physiological variables were measured to evaluate the fitness of Thoroughbred racehorses before exercise (Pre), just after exercise (Post), 1 hr after exercise (1 hr), 2 hr after exercise (2 hr), and 3 hr after exercise (3 hr) in order to calculate their recovery rates as an index of fitness and performance. The percentage of the Pre value at 1 hr, 2 hr, and 3 hr was calculated. When the percentage of a variable reached 95–105% of the Pre value, the variable was considered to be recovered. The percentage of the total number of variables that were recovered for each time period was calculated, and an overall average was calculated from them; Matsuba and Shimamura proposed calling this overall average the “recovery rate”, which could then be applied to evaluate each horse. The effects of training on racehorses were subsequently evaluated by measuring the various physiological variables and the recovery rate.
Salmonella type III secretion‐associated chaperones confer secretion‐pathway specificity

Type III protein secretion systems (TTSSs) are ancestrally related to the flagellar export system and are essential for the virulence of many bacteria pathogenic for humans, animals and plants. Most proteins destined to travel the TTSS pathway possess at least two domains that specifically target them to the secretion apparatus. One of the domains is located within the amino terminal first ∼20 amino acids and the second domain, located within the first ∼140 amino acids, serves as a binding site for specific chaperones. It has been previously proposed that these two secretion signals are capable of operating independently of one another to facilitate secretion into the extracellular environment. We have found that in the absence of their chaperone‐binding domains, the Salmonella typhimurium TTSS‐secreted proteins SptP and SopE are no longer targeted for secretion through their cognate TTSS and, instead, are secreted through the flagellar export pathway. These results indicate the existence of an ‘ancestral’ flagellar secretion signal within TTSS‐exported proteins that is revealed in the absence of the chaperone‐binding domain. Furthermore, we found that secretion into culture supernatants as well as translocation into host cells by the cognate TTSS require both, the amino terminal and chaperone‐binding domains. We conclude from these studies that a critical function for the TTSS‐associated chaperones is to confer secretion‐pathway specificity to their cognate secreted proteins.
Do Ethical, Authentic, and Servant Leadership Explain Variance Above and Beyond Transformational Leadership? A Meta-Analysis

This study compares three emerging forms of positive leadership that emphasize ethical and moral behavior (i.e., authentic leadership, ethical leadership, and servant leadership) with transformational leadership in their associations with a wide range of organizationally relevant measures. While scholars have noted conceptual overlap between transformational leadership and these newer leadership forms, there has been inadequate investigation of the empirical relationships with transformational leadership and the ability (or lack thereof) of these leadership forms to explain incremental variance beyond transformational leadership. In response, we conducted a series of meta-analyses to provide a comprehensive assessment of these emerging leadership forms’ relationships with variables evaluated in the extant literature. Second, we tested the relative performance of each of these leadership forms in explaining incremental variance, beyond transformational leadership, in nine outcomes. We also provide relative weights analyses to further evaluate the relative contributions of the emerging leadership forms versus transformational leadership. The high correlations between both authentic leadership and ethical leadership with transformational leadership coupled with their low amounts of incremental variance suggest that their utility is low unless they are being used to explore very specific outcomes. Servant leadership, however, showed more promise as a stand-alone leadership approach that is capable of helping leadership researchers and practitioners better explain a wide range of outcomes. Guidance regarding future research and the utility of these three ethical/moral values–based leadership forms is provided.
Pollen tetrad-based visual assay for meiotic recombination in Arabidopsis

Recombination, in the form of cross-overs (COs) and gene conversion (GC), is a highly conserved feature of meiosis from fungi to mammals. Recombination helps ensure chromosome segregation and promotes allelic diversity. Lesions in the recombination machinery are often catastrophic for meiosis, resulting in sterility. We have developed a visual assay capable of detecting Cos and GCs and measuring CO interference in Arabidopsis thaliana. This flexible assay utilizes transgene constructs encoding pollen-expressed fluorescent proteins of three different colors in the qrt1 mutant background. By observing the segregation of the fluorescent alleles in 92,489 pollen tetrads, we demonstrate (i) a correlation between developmental position and CO frequency, (ii) a temperature dependence for CO frequency, (iii) the ability to detect meiotic GC events, and (iv) the ability to rapidly assess CO interference.
Elderly Subjects Have a Delayed Antibody Response and Prolonged Viraemia following Yellow Fever Vaccination: A Prospective Controlled Cohort Study

Background Yellow fever vaccination (YF-17D) can cause serious adverse events (SAEs). The mechanism of these SAEs is poorly understood. Older age has been identified as a risk factor. We tested the hypothesis that the humoral immune response to yellow fever vaccine develops more slowly in elderly than in younger subjects. Method We vaccinated young volunteers (18–28 yrs, N = 30) and elderly travelers (60–81 yrs, N = 28) with YF-17D and measured their neutralizing antibody titers and plasma YF-17D RNA copy numbers before vaccination and 3, 5, 10, 14 and 28 days after vaccination. Results Ten days after vaccination seroprotection was attained by 77% (23/30) of the young participants and by 50% (14/28) of the elderly participants (p = 0.03). Accordingly, the Geometric Mean Titer of younger participants was higher than the GMT of the elderly participants. At day 10 the difference was +2.9 IU/ml (95% CI 1.8–4.7, p = 0.00004) and at day 14 +1.8 IU/ml (95% CI 1.1–2.9, p = 0.02, using a mixed linear model. Viraemia was more common in the elderly (86%, 24/28) than in the younger participants (60%, 14/30) (p = 0.03) with higher YF-17D RNA copy numbers in the elderly participants. Conclusions We found that elderly subjects had a delayed antibody response and higher viraemia levels after yellow fever primovaccination. We postulate that with older age, a weaker immune response to yellow fever vaccine allows the attenuated virus to cause higher viraemia levels which may increase the risk of developing SAEs. This may be one piece in the puzzle of the pathophysiology of YEL-AVD. Trial Registration Trialregitser.nl NTR1040
Biological Activity and Photostability of Biflorin Micellar Nanostructures

Capraria biflora L. is a shrub from the Scrophulariaceae family which produces in its roots a compound named biflorin, an o-naphthoquinone that shows activity against Gram-positive bacteria and fungi and also presents antitumor and antimetastatic activities. However, biflorin is hydrophobic and photosensitive. These properties make its application difficult. In this work we prepared biflorin micellar nanostructures looking for a more effective vehiculation and better preservation of the biological activity. Biflorin was obtained, purified and characterized by UV-Vis, infrared (IR) and 1H- and 13C-NMR. Micellar nanostructures of biflorin were then assembled with Tween 80®, Tween 20® and saline (0.9%) and characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results showed that the micellar nanostructures were stable and presented an average size of 8.3 nm. Biflorin micellar nanostructures’ photodegradation was evaluated in comparison with biflorin in ethanol. Results showed that the biflorin in micellar nanostructures was better protected from light than biflorin dissolved in ethanol, and also indicated that biflorin in micelles were efficient against Gram-positive bacteria and yeast species. In conclusion, the results showed that the micellar nanostructures could ensure the maintenance of the biological activity of biflorin, conferring photoprotection. Moreover, biflorin vehiculation in aqueous media was improved, favoring its applicability in biological systems.
Making the Emperor's New Clothes Visible in Anti-Racist Teacher Education: Enacting a Pedagogy of Discomfort with White Preservice Teachers

ABSTRACT The failures of university-based teacher education programs in the United States with regard to the preparation of White preservice teachers for engagement with students who embody marginalized racial identities in public schools are well documented. One such shortcoming is the inadequate attention paid to the unholy trinity of race, racism, and White supremacy. This article details how I, a Black teacher educator, performed a self-study on my utilization of a pedagogy of discomfort (Boler, 1999) in a course housed in a social justice-oriented program that enrolled primarily White preservice teachers. Using critical theories on race and affect in my analysis of a racialized, affectively-charged classroom incident, I find that enacting discomfort as pedagogy provoked both the preservice teachers and me to individually and collectively make meaning of the contours of racial oppression by noticing and listening to the interactions between our bodies and emotions. Additionally, employing a pedagogy of discomfort cultivated White preservice teachers' emotional openness to supporting each other in a learning community premised on political relationships as vessels for deepening critical consciousness (Freire, 1968/2000) specific to race, racism, and White supremacy. These findings illuminate the radical affordances of discomfort vis-à-vis pedagogical subversion in learning spaces, particularly those designed to trouble the tight yet seemingly invisible hold that White supremacy maintains on teacher education.
A Study of Taxpayers' Intention in Using E-Filing System: A Case in Labuan F.T s

This study used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to examine taxpayersâ€™ intention in using e-Filing system. Data are collected from three higher learning institutionsâ€™ staffs particularly in Labuan F.T. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between taxpayersâ€™ intention to use e-Filing towards attitude, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, information system quality, information quality and perceived credibility of the system. Further, this study also examines critical determinant (attitude, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, information system quality, information quality and perceived credibility of the system) in TAM that influence most taxpayersâ€™ intention. This study has replicated few methods from previous studies. i.e (Davis., et al. (1989), DeLone and Mclean (1992), Wang. ,Y.S. (2002) and Chang. , I.C. , et.al.(2005)). This study is analyzed with reliability analysis, correlation analysis and Standardized Regression Weight (using Structural Equation Modelling). The result confirms a strong relationship between TAM determinants and taxpayersâ€™ intention. Consequently, this paper will assist Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to improve their Internet e-Filing system. This in turn, will be useful for them to educate Malaysian taxpayers in order to improve their attitude using e-Filing as their mode to file tax return undoubtedly.
Cognitive Aging as Interplay between Hebbian Learning and Criticality

Cognitive ageing seems to be a story of global degradation. As one ages there are a number of physical, chemical and biological changes that take place. Therefore it is logical to assume that the brain is no exception to this phenomenon. The principle purpose of this project is to use models of neural dynamics and learning based on the underlying principle of self-organised criticality, to account for the age related cognitive effects. In this regard learning in neural networks can serve as a model for the acquisition of skills and knowledge in early development stages i.e. the ageing process and criticality in the network serves as the optimum state of cognitive abilities. Possible candidate mechanisms for ageing in a neural network are loss of connectivity and neurons, increase in the level of noise, reduction in white matter or more interestingly longer learning history and the competition among several optimization objectives. In this paper we are primarily interested in the affect of the longer learning history on memory and thus the optimality in the brain. Hence it is hypothesized that prolonged learning in the form of associative memory patterns can destroy the state of criticality in the network. We base our model on Tsodyks and Markrams [49] model of dynamic synapses, in the process to explore the effect of combining standard Hebbian learning with the phenomenon of Self-organised criticality. The project mainly consists of evaluations and simulations of networks of integrate and fire-neurons that have been subjected to various combinations of neural-level ageing effects, with the aim of establishing the primary hypothesis and understanding the decline of cognitive abilities due to ageing, using one of its important characteristics, a longer learning history.
Strategies for Establishing Service Oriented Design in Organizations

Service orientation is a broadly discussed design paradigm for information systems engineering. Only recently there have been several contributions to individual dimensions of service orientation like service definition, service modeling, service management or service governance. However, a combination of useful solutions for partial problems might not constitute an effective overall approach to service orientation. We argue that the establishment of service orientation is a wicked [design] problem, i.e. poorly formulated, confusing, and permeated with conflicting values of many decision makers or other stakeholders. Therefore this paper focuses on understanding the design problem of establishing service orientation in organizations in its design dimensions. The paper identifies four strategies for establishing service orientation and derives four propositions on the development paths which may connect these strategies.
Hard Information Sharing and Soft Information Acquisition : Theory and Evidence

Since information asymmetries have been identified as an important source of bank profits, it may seem that the establishment of information sharing will lead to lower investment in acquiring information. However, banks base their decisions on both hard and soft information, and it is only the former type of data that can be communicated credibly. We identify strategic complementarity between hard and soft information, and show that when hard information is shared, banks will invest more in soft information. These can potentially lead to more accurate lending decisions and favor small, informationally opaque borrowers. Higher investment in soft technology offers important implications for borrower switching. We test our theory using firm-level data from 24 countries. 1
A Dynamic Ordering Rule Based on Size Matches for the Rectangular Packing Problems

The packing problem is derived from practices that occur in industrial production and in real life, and the solution could rely on experience from these environments. In real life, people often place a pair of items or a set of pieces with the same size together. This action makes the remaining packing region simple and regular and benefits later layouts. Based on experience, we have designed a dynamic ordering rule that is based on size matching; the algorithm is presented in this paper. The ordering rule selects a rectangular piece by the match level of the rectangular piece and the sizes of the remaining packing region. Throughout a series of experiments, we prove that the ordering rule can obtain better packing results compared to previous approaches.
Distributed Agile Software Development: A Review

Distribution of software development is becoming more and more common in order to save the production cost and reduce the time to market. Large geographical distance, different time zones and cultural differences in distributed software development (DSD) leads to weak communication which adversely affects the project. Using agile practices for distributed development is also gaining momentum in various organizations to increase the quality and performance of the project. This paper explores the intersection of these two significant trends for software development i.e. DSD and agile. We discuss the challenges faced by geographically distributed agile teams and proven practices to address these issues, which will help in building a successful distributed team.
Hierarchy in Cognitive Maps and the Simplicity Principle

The aim of this paper is to relate the research on cognitive maps, mental representations of the external world, which are thought to be organized hierarchically, with the simplicity principle, a formal version of Occam’s Razor inductive bias, which states that short hypotheses are to be preferred over longer ones. First, I will describe some important properties of hierarchical structures and define what is meant by simplicity. Next, I will review some results supporting the view that cognitive maps are structured hierarchically, not following Euclidean metrics, and that some cognitive functions seem to prefer simpler representations over complex ones. This hints at the possibility that the hierarchical organization of cognitive maps may also follow the simplicity principle. Finally, I will suggest an experiment in which such hypothesis could be tested and discuss the implications and limitations of integrating both approaches.