Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Place-people-practice-process: Using sociomateriality in university physical spaces research

Abstract Pedagogy is an inherently spatial practice. Implicit in much of the rhetoric of physical space designed for teaching and learning is an ontological position that assumes material space as distinct from human practice, often conceptualising space as causally (and simplistically) impacting upon people’s behaviours. An alternative, and growing, perspective instead theorises infrastructure as a sociomaterial assemblage, an entanglement, with scholarly learning, teaching, institutional agendas, architectural intent, technology, staff, students, pedagogic outcomes, and built form all participants in an active symbiosis of becoming. This article synthesises and works with spatial theories to elaborate on the emergent literature and illustrates a sociomaterial understanding through narratives of self and staff, teaching and learning in a university context. The terms sociomaterial, assemblage and entanglement allude to a relational ontology underlying spatial-social being-becoming. This understanding can support the realisation of the intent underlying transformations of material spaces to create collaborative and inclusive university environments, where staff and students can learn, belong, and become as part of a scholarly community. I argue that sociomaterial theory is valuable to make meaning of the inseparable mélange of people, place, technologies, interaction, discourse, feeling, value and power that is teaching and learning.
Differential effects of hyaluronan and its fragments on fibroblasts: Relation to wound healing

Hyaluronan (HA) is involved in wound healing and its biological properties depend on its molecular size. The effects of native HA and HA‐12 and HA‐880 saccharide fragments on human fibroblast proliferation and expression of matrix‐related genes were studied. The three HA forms promoted cell adhesion and proliferation. Matrix metalloproteinase‐1 and ‐3 mRNA were increased by all HA forms, whereas only HA‐12 stimulated the expression of the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1. HA‐12 enhanced type I collagen and transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) 1 expression. Interestingly, HA‐12 and native HA stimulated type III collagen and TGF‐β3. HA and its fragments activated Akt and extracellular‐regulated kinases 1/2 and p38. Inhibition of these signaling pathways suggested their implication in most of the effects. Only native HA activated nuclear factor‐κB and activating protein 1. Use of CD44 siRNA suggests that this HA receptor is partly implicated in the effects, although it does not rule out the involvement of other receptors. Depending on its size, HA may exert differential regulation on the wound‐healing process. Furthermore, the HA up‐regulation of type III collagen and TGF‐β3 expression suggests that it may promote a fetal‐like cell environment that favors scarless healing.
Studying Conceptions of Reality A Metatheoretical Note1

Abstract:Marton, F. 1981. Studying Conceptions of Reality ‐ A Metatheoretical Note. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 25,159‐169. In accordance with a line of thought developed by Smedslund, it is argued that there are two distinctively different approaches to the study of thinking: either we take logicality for granted and study understanding, or we assume understanding and make logicality an object of investigation. In terms of this dichotomy we can conclude that a major shift has taken place during Piaget's scientific career, from the first to the second approach. In this paper the case is made for the first approach and it is argued that descriptions of the qualitatively different ways in which people experience and understand various aspects of reality make up an autonomous field of inquiry.
Actors vs Shared Memory: two models at work on Big Data application frameworks

This work aims at analyzing how two different concurrency models, namely the shared memory model and the actor model, can influence the development of applications that manage huge masses of data, distinctive of Big Data applications. The paper compares the two models by analyzing a couple of concrete projects based on the MapReduce and Bulk Synchronous Parallel algorithmic schemes. Both projects are doubly implemented on two concrete platforms: Akka Cluster and Managed X10. The result is both a conceptual comparison of models in the Big Data Analytics scenario, and an experimental analysis based on concrete executions on a cluster platform.
The Effects of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Clinical Symptom Presentations

Preliminary evidence suggests that the effects of regulating emotion may be moderated by both individual differences in trait emotional responding and symptoms of psychopathology. However, more knowledge of how the effects of emotion regulation strategies are moderated by specific symptoms of psychopathology is needed to better diagnose and treat individuals with psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to experimentally test how the effects of emotion suppression (a commonly used emotion regulation strategy) are moderated by individual differences in psychopathology (in this case, depressive symptoms and comorbid clinical worry predictive of generalized anxiety disorder). Results indicated no effect of suppression on self-reported sadness compared to control condition for any participants, and all participants recovered from sadness equally after a delay in time. Suppressing anxiety led to a reduction in self-reported anxiety compared to control condition for nonclinical participants, but this difference was not observed for those showing depressive symptoms, regardless of level of comorbid clinical worry. Results reveal that normative individuals may be able to mitigate state anxiety compared to other emotions like sadness, thus demonstrating the potential of a unique relationship between emotion suppression and anxious responding. However, the lack of ability for those with elevated depression and any level of comorbid worry to mitigate state anxiety indicates the potential for a shared emotion regulatory factor among depressive and anxiety pathology. Implications for theoretical understanding, assessment of psychopathology, and clinical practice are discussed.
Modeling and estimation of internal friction in cloth

Force-deformation measurements of cloth exhibit significant hysteresis, and many researchers have identified internal friction as the source of this effect. However, it has not been incorporated into computer animation models of cloth. In this paper, we propose a model of internal friction based on an augmented reparameterization of Dahl's model, and we show that this model provides a good match to several important features of cloth hysteresis even with a minimal set of parameters. We also propose novel parameter estimation procedures that are based on simple and inexpensive setups and need only sparse data, as opposed to the complex hardware and dense data acquisition of previous methods. Finally, we provide an algorithm for the efficient simulation of internal friction, and we demonstrate it on simulation examples that show disparate behavior with and without internal friction.
INSECURITY AND GIRL-CHILD EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Insecurity is on the hot plate globally as ease of transportation and community facilitate movement of persons and ideas across national boundaries sometimes in real time. It is a phenomenon which spans the physical, psychologically, economic, and other aspects of the individual and extends to the community. Nigeria has had a large dose of it in recent time, from insurgency to kidnapping, robbery, social media, and so on. The girl-child, the path to the next generation, is particularly vulnerable, reason measures are needed for her protection. Official action is required now, particularly in the area of social media and electronic communication before the menace grows out of proportion. Article visualizations:
“Everything is so relaxed and personal” – The construction of helpful relationships in individual placement and support

ABSTRACT The relationship with professionals is an important factor in relation to the outcome of interventions directed to persons with severe mental problems. However, the current knowledge regarding the development of helpful relationships within Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services is limited. The aim of the study was to investigate how participants in IPS services described their relationship with their IPS coach. The article is based on interviews from a Swedish government evaluation of IPS services, thematically analyzed. The results showed that the relationship with the coach is central for the participants’ success in the service. The main theme, “something different - as a human being” highlighted that the conditions for the relationship are different within IPS as compared to traditional services. The other themes were “here and now action,” “closer to wish-fulfilment – impact on the self,” and “from role to person. ” The principles of IPS parallel the results from research about helpful relationships and offers good preconditions for the occurrence of such relationships. This can represent a bridge between evidence based methods and research on helpful relationships, and should be possible to implement in the development of evidence based methods as well as of treatment as usual.
Preliminary evidence for the role of newsprint media in encouraging males to make contact with helplines

Abstract This study explored the preliminary evidence for a relationship between constructive and affirming newsprint stories about depression or anxiety in males and use of helpline services by males. With the help of a Consumer Reference Group, we identified ten positive newsprint stories about males and depression or anxiety. We then obtained phone contact data from four national helplines in Australia: Lifeline, MensLine Australia, SANE Australia, and beyondblue. For each contact, we extracted the date, location and gender of the caller. Poisson regression analysis was used to determine the change in contact volume in the two weeks following each story, as compared to the two weeks prior to the story. Contact volume from males increased significantly in the two weeks after four of the ten stories, decreased after one story with no change after five of the stories. The stories that were associated with increased contacts were about men (including publicly revered role models) that male readers could identify with and tended to be stories of hope and recovery. The findings suggest newsprint media can positively influence male help-seeking and point to a need for articles to provide accurate representations of depression and anxiety, whilst maintaining an optimistic focus on recovery.
Taking the initiative: determinants of parental self-referral to the Norwegian Child Welfare Services*

Abstract This study investigates determinants of self-referral to the Child Welfare Services (CWS) among parents in Norway. Increasing the rates of self-referral can ensure earlier intervention and assistance to more children and parents in need. Despite this, few studies have investigated such rates. The present study uses registry data, consisting of everyone receiving assistance from the CWS between 2008 and 2010. Of particular interest is migration background and poverty, as recent literature find that these are factors pertinent to the interaction between, and perceptions of, the CWS and parents. The main finding is that Norwegian-born parents who receive measures more often self-refer. One explanation discussed is whether this difference is due to different levels of trust in the CWS.
A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF FALLS IN OLD AGE

OF DISSERTATION A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF FALLS IN OLD AGE The problem of falls in old age is enormously costly and disruptive for the older individual, others, and society, and its severity is likely to intensify as our population ages. This dissertation takes a systems-oriented approach toward the falls problem and is presented in two parts. The first part critically develops a new approach to the problem of falls. The second part describes an empirical study that applies this new approach in a pragmatic manner. Conventional fall prevention strategies employ a reductionist approach to the problem of falls. This approach is questioned because it corresponds poorly to the holistic nature of postural control. A systems-oriented conceptual framework explains postural instability in old age as the gradual decline of a postural control system’s ability to adapt. Realizing that falls arise from a complex system of interacting components of various levels and domains makes it imperative to investigate interventions aimed toward systemically fostering robust postural control. A dynamic systems theoretical framework is outlined that views postural control to be the result of synergies which function to control myriad inherent degrees of freedom. Complexity-based measures of postural sway are suggested as indicators of postural control system robustness. This new approach to the problem of falls is applied in an empirical study in which Tai Chi serves as a systems-oriented intervention. Using a dynamic systems perspective, motor imagery, along with other Tai Chi principles, are hypothesized to provide interacting physical and cognitive constraints on motor behavior that form synergies which enable robust postural stability into old age. This hypothesis was tested in a quasi-experiment comparing effects of Tai Chi motor imagery in Tai Chi experts and non-experts. The expected significant effects on postural sway complexity were not found, but significant main effects and interactions on sway variability and ease of imagery were discovered with respect to expertise and imagery type. Findings, results, innovations, implications and future directions are presented, and discussed as they pertain to four specific aims, and to ameliorating the problem of falls in old age.
A model of intercultural communication competence

chology Today, March. Sherif, C. W. , Sherif, W. , and Nebergall, R. (1965). Attitude and Altitude Change. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. Stewart, E. C. , and Bennett, M. J. (1991). American Cultural Patterns. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press. Tai, E. (1986). Modification of the Western Approach to Intercultural Communication for the Japanese Context. Unpublished master's thesis, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon. Thaler, A. (1970). Future Shock. New York: Bantam. Ursin, H. (1978). "Activation, Coping and Psychosomatics. " In E. Baade, S. Levine, and H. Ursin (Eds ) Psychobiology of Stress: A Study of Coping Men. New York: Academic Press. A Model of Intercultural Communication Competence
Incremental Heuristic Search in AI

Incremental search reuses information from previous searches to find solutions to a series of similar search problems potentially faster than is possible by solving each search problem from scratch. This is important because many AI systems have to adapt their plans continuously to changes in (their knowledge of) the world. In this article, we give an overview of incremental search, focusing on LIFELONG PLANNING A*, and outline some of its possible applications in AI.
Neural Taylor Approximations: Convergence and Exploration in Rectifier Networks

Modern convolutional networks, incorporating rectifiers and max-pooling, are neither smooth nor convex; standard guarantees therefore do not apply. Nevertheless, methods from convex optimization such as gradient descent and Adam are widely used as building blocks for deep learning algorithms. This paper provides the first convergence guarantee applicable to modern convnets, which furthermore matches a lower bound for convex nonsmooth functions. The key technical tool is the neural Taylor approximation -- a straightforward application of Taylor expansions to neural networks -- and the associated Taylor loss. Experiments on a range of optimizers, layers, and tasks provide evidence that the analysis accurately captures the dynamics of neural optimization. The second half of the paper applies the Taylor approximation to isolate the main difficulty in training rectifier nets -- that gradients are shattered -- and investigates the hypothesis that, by exploring the space of activation configurations more thoroughly, adaptive optimizers such as RMSProp and Adam are able to converge to better solutions.
Double Dissociation of Basolateral and Central Amygdala Lesions on the General and Outcome-Specific Forms of Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer

This series of experiments compared the effects of lesions of the basolateral complex (BLA) and the central nucleus (CN) of the amygdala on a number of tests of instrumental learning and performance and particularly on the contribution of these structures to the specific and general forms of pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT). In experiment 1, groups of BLA-, CN-, and sham-lesioned rats were first trained to press two levers, each earning a unique food outcome (pellets or sucrose), after which they were given training in which two auditory stimuli (tone and white noise) were paired with these same outcomes. Tests of specific satiety induced outcome devaluation, and tests of PIT revealed that, although the rats in all of the groups performed similarly during both the instrumental and pavlovian acquisition phases, BLA, but not CN, lesions abolished selective sensitivity to a change in the reward value of the instrumental outcome as well as to the selective excitatory effects of reward-related cues in PIT. In experiment 2, we developed a procedure in which both the general motivational and the specific excitatory effects of pavlovian cues could be assessed in the same animal and found that BLA lesions abolished the outcome-specific but spared the general motivational effects of pavlovian cues. In contrast, lesions of CN abolished the general motivational but spared the specific effects of these cues. Together, these results suggest that the BLA mediates outcome-specific incentive processes, whereas CN is involved in controlling the general motivational influence of reward-related events.
A comparison of the transition from first words to grammar in English and Italian

Cross-linguistic similarities and differences in early lexical and grammatical development are reported for 1001 English-speaking children and 386 Italian-speaking children between 1;6 and 2;6. Parents completed the English or Italian versions of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences, a parent report instrument that provides information about vocabulary size, vocabulary composition and grammatical complexity across this age range. The onset and subsequent growth of nouns, predicates, function words and social terms proved to be quite similar in both languages. No support was found for the prediction that verbs would emerge earlier in Italian, although Italians did produce a higher proportion of social terms, and there were small but intriguing differences in the shape of the growth curve for grammatical function words. A strikingly similar nonlinear relationship between grammatical complexity and vocabulary size was observed in both languages, and examination of the order in which function words are acquired also yielded more similarities than differences. However, a comparison of the longest sentences reported for a subset of children demonstrates large cross-linguistic differences in the amount of morphology that has been acquired in children matched for vocabulary size. Discussion revolves around the interplay between language-specific variations in the input to young children, and universal cognitive and social constraints on language development.
Energy-Efficient Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Probabilistic Strategies

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are being used in many applications in order to gather sensitive information and forward it to an analysis center. Since a WSN consists of resource- impoverished sensor nodes, the packet forwarding process should be energy efficient. Therefore, resource limitations should be taken into consideration when designing a WSN infrastructure. This paper proposes a random routing strategy for WSNs. The approach relies on the flooding technique, which has the advantage to possess minimal routing overhead (in the sense that no routing table information is exchanged) and maximal delivery rate. We introduce an enhancement that allows reducing energy consumption and extending network lifetime by randomly forwarding packets at every node. The forward probability is a decreasing function of the number of hops made by the packet. An analytical model is developed in order to illustrate the functionalities of the proposed strategy. Finally, simulations are conducted to assess the performance of the probabilistic routing protocols.
Patients´ Experiences of Pain Following Day Surgery - At 48 Hours, Seven Days and Three Months

Recent studies indicate that patients experience pain after day surgery for a longer period than previously known. This requires verification. This was a prospective, descriptive correlational study. A convenience sample of 298 day surgery patients undergoing various surgical procedures was asked to report pain intensity and its interference with daily function 48 hours, seven days and three months after day surgery. Correlation and regression analyses were performed. On a NRS, 55% (n=230) reported pain (≥4) 48 hours after surgery, as did 43% (n=213) at seven days. Pain interfered with normal activities at ≥4 NRS at 48 hours and at seven days, after which it decreased.
Differential Proteomic Analysis of Nuclear Matrix in Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: Potential to Improve Diagnosis and Prognosis

Introduction: Although several molecular markers for bladder cancer have been identified, at present little information on prognostic biomarkers is available in the literature. Prognostication of this tumor is largely based on clinicopathological characteristics. Our aim was to identify nuclear matrix (NM) proteins that might serve to better characterize the phenotype of the invasive bladder cancer and to investigate their diagnostic and prognostic roles. Methods: NM proteins expressed in normal (n=3) or non-tumoral (n=9) tissue specimens and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (n=21) specimens were analyzed by two dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis. PDQuest image analysis software was used to generate a comparative NM proteome analysis. Selected spots were characterized by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry and Western blot. Results: We detected over 800 protein spots in each 2D map and 43 spots were identified. 30 proteins were differentially expressed by bladder tumor cells; among these, 19 proteins were detected in bladder tumoral tissues but not in normal and non-tumoral tissues and seven proteins correlated with tumor stage. One protein (p54nrb) was strongly correlated with vascular invasions and appeared to be also significantly (P <0.0001) associated with a decreased probability of survival. Conclusion: Important alterations in NM proteins occur in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The differentially expressed proteins include biomarkers potentially useful for disease diagnosis, progression and prognosis. Our findings beyond improving the understanding of the biology of bladder cancer, could help to stratify patients into different prognostic subgroups and to select those who might be better candidate to multimodal therapeutic approaches.