Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring Oral Proficiency in Distance, Face-to-Face, and Blended Classrooms

Robert Blake, University of California – Davis Nicole L. Wilson, Pearson & University of California – Santa Cruz Maria Cetto, University of California – Davis Cristina Pardo-Ballester, Iowa State University Although the foreign-language profession routinely stresses the importance of technology for the curriculum, many teachers still harbor deep-seated doubts as to whether or not a hybrid course, much less a completely distance-learning class, could provide L2 learners with a way to reach linguistic proficiency, especially with respect to oral language skills. In this study, we examine the case of Spanish Without Walls (SWW), a first-year language course offered at the University of California Davis in both hybrid and distance-learning formats. The SWW curriculum includes materials delivered via CD-ROM/DVD programs, online content-based web pages, and synchronous bimodal chat that includes sound and text. The contribution of each of these components is evaluated in the context of a successful technologically assisted course. To address the issue of oral proficiency, we compare the results from both classroom and distance-learning students who took the 20minute Versant for Spanish test, delivered by phone and automatically graded. The data generated by this instrument shows that classroom, hybrid, and distance L2 learners reach comparable levels of oral proficiency during their first year of study. Reference is also made to two other ongoing efforts to provide distance-learning courses in Arabic and Punjabi, two languages where special difficulties in their writing systems have an impact on the design of the distant-learning format. The rationale for offering language courses in either a hybrid or distance-learning format is examined in light of increasing societal pressures to help L2 learners reach advanced proficiency, especially in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs).
A Highly Sensitive Assay for Detection and Quantitation of Human Cytomegalovirus DNA in Serum and Plasma by PCR and Electrochemiluminescence

ABSTRACT We describe a diagnostic PCR assay (D-PCR) and a quantitative PCR assay (Q-PCR) for the detection of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) in plasma and serum. In the D-PCR, DNA was purified from plasma or serum together with internal control (IC) DNA, which monitored both DNA extraction efficiency and PCR efficiency. DNA was subjected to PCR with a single primer pair, and the amount of PCR products was determined by electrochemiluminescence (ECL) in the QPCR System 5000 (Perkin-Elmer) after hybridization with Tris (2,2′-bipyridine) ruthenium (II) chelate-labeled probes. The lower limit of sensitivity of the D-PCR was reached at about 25 CMV particles/ml. Even with extremely low DNA inputs (four molecules of IC DNA/200 μl of plasma), very high yields (near 100%) were reached. DNA extracted from specimens that were CMV positive by the D-PCR was subsequently used in the Q-PCR, which was similar to the D-PCR. The viral load was calculated directly from the ratio of CMV and IC signals obtained by ECL. The Q-PCR assay is quantitative in the range of 100 to 150,000 copies of CMV/ml, independent of the anticoagulant. Interassay variation, intra-assay variation, and interspecimen variation were about 25%, suggesting that the Q-PCR will reliably detect fourfold differences in viral load. Comparison of paired serum and plasma specimens from CMV-infected individuals showed that serum CMV loads were frequently more than 10-fold lower than plasma CMV loads.
Frequency Function in Atomic Force Microscopy Applied to a Liquid Environment

Scanning specimens in liquids using commercial atomic force microscopy (AFM) is very time-consuming due to the necessary try-and-error iteration for determining appropriate triggering frequencies and probes. In addition, the iteration easily contaminates the AFM tip and damages the samples, which consumes probes. One reason for this could be inaccuracy in the resonant frequency in the feedback system setup. This paper proposes a frequency function which varies with the tip-sample separation, and it helps to improve the frequency shift in the current feedback system of commercial AFMs. The frequency function is a closed-form equation, which allows for easy calculation, as confirmed by experimental data. It comprises three physical effects: the quasi-static equilibrium condition, the atomic forces gradient effect, and hydrodynamic load effect. While each of these has previously been developed in separate studies, this is the first time their combination has been used to represent the complete frequency phenomenon. To avoid “jump to contact” issues, experiments often use probes with relatively stiffer cantilevers, which inevitably reduce the force sensitivity in sensing low atomic forces. The proposed frequency function can also predict jump to contact behavior and, thus, the probe sensitivity could be increased and soft probes could be widely used. Additionally, various tip height behaviors coupling with the atomic forces gradient and hydrodynamic effects are discussed in the context of carbon nanotube probes.
Our Current Understanding of Fungal Biofilms

Fungal biofilms are an escalating clinical problem associated with significant rates of mortality. Candida albicans is the most notorious of all fungal biofilm formers. However, non-Candida species, yeasts such as Cryptococcus neoformans, and filamentous moulds such as Aspergillus fumigatus, have been shown to be implicated in biofilm-associated infections. Fungal biofilms have distinct developmental phases, including adhesion, colonisation, maturation and dispersal, which are governed by complex molecular events. Recalcitrance to antifungal therapy remains the greatest threat to patients with fungal biofilms. This review discusses our current understanding of the basic biology and clinical implications associated with fungal biofilms.
Comparative skeletogenesis of the forearm of the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the norway rat (Rattus norvegicus)

This study describes, quantifies, and compares the growth and development of the volant forelimb morphology of Myotis lucifugus with that of the terretrial forelimb morphology of Rattus norvegicus. In M. lucifugus there is (1) accelerated growth in forearm length after parturition, (2) cessation in growth of the midshaft diameter of the ulna just after the onset of osteogenesis, (3) proximal fusion of the radius and ulna, which results in the radius occupying 97% of the articular surface of the elbow joint in adults, (4) fusion between the cartilaginous distal epiphyses of the radius and ulna which results in formation of a radioulnar bridge that becomes fully ossified in adults, and (5) incomplete ossification of the ulna with a section of the diaphysis becoming ligamentous. None of these events occurs during development in R. norvegicus. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Nitric Oxide Signaling Exerts Bidirectional Effects on Plasticity Inductions in Amygdala

It has been well known that long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic transmission in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) constitutes an essential cellular mechanism contributing to encoding of conditioned fear. Nitric oxide (NO), produced by activation of the postsynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) in thalamic input to the LA, has been thought to promote LTP, contributing to the establishment of conditioned fear. However, it is not known whether and how NO, released from cortical input to the LA, plays the role on the plasticity induction and fear memory. Here we report that the diffusion of NO, released in response to activation of presynaptic NMDAR on cortical afferent fibers in the LA, could suppress heterosynaptically a form of presynaptic kainate receptor (KAR) dependent LTP (pre-LTP) in thalamic input, which was induced by low-frequency presynaptic stimuli without postsynaptic depolarization. We also confirmed that NO, produced by activation of postsynaptic NMDAR in thalamic input, can promote postsynaptic NMDAR-dependent LTP (post-LTP), which was induced by pairing protocol. These LTPs were occluded following fear conditioning, indicating that they could contribute to encoding of conditioned fear memory. However, their time courses are different; Post-LTP was more rapidly formed than pre-LTP in the course of fear conditioning. NO, produced by activation of presynaptic NMDAR in cortical input and postsynaptic NMDAR in thalamic input, may control conditioned fear by suppressing pre-LTP and promoting post-LTP, respectively, in thalamic input to the LA.
How Close Is Close Enough? Evaluating Propensity Score Matching Using Data From A Class Size Reduction Experiment

In recent years, propensity score matching (PSM) has gained attention as a potential method for estimating the impact of public policy programs in the absence of experimental evaluations. In this study, we evaluate the usefulness of PSM for estimating the impact of a program change in an educational context (Tennessee's Student Teacher Achievement Ratio Project lProject STARr). Because Tennessee's Project STAR experiment involved an effective random assignment procedure, the experimental results from this policy intervention can be used as a benchmark, to which we compare the impact estimates produced using propensity score matching methods. We use several different methods to assess these nonexperimental estimates of the impact of the program. We try to determine “how close is close enough,” putting greatest emphasis on the question: Would the nonexperimental estimate have led to the wrong decision when compared to the experimental estimate of the program? We find that propensity score methods perform poorly with respect to measuring the impact of a reduction in class size on achievement test scores. We conclude that further research is needed before policymakers rely on PSM as an evaluation tool. © 2007 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
An Improved Three-Phase AMB Distribution System State Estimator

State estimators (SEs) are required to enable the evolving and increasingly important role of communications and control in smart distribution systems. In this context, this paper presents an improved three-phase admittance matrix-based (AMB) SE for medium voltage systems to tackle issues related to zero injections, consistency, and the inclusion of voltage measurements. Here, the state variables are the real and imaginary parts of the complex bus voltages, while power and voltage measurements are converted into equivalent currents and voltages, respectively. The key improvements include: 1) considering zero injections through a linear nonweighted procedure, 2) using phasor rotation for calculation of the equivalent voltage measurements, and 3) including the covariance between real and imaginary parts of equivalent current measurements. Despite these new characteristics, the proposed improved AMB SE (ISE) features constant coefficient matrices, thus resulting in reduced computational times. The performance of the ISE is assessed considering a real UK medium voltage system. Its consistency is assessed via a Monte Carlo analysis. Comparisons with other AMB SEs demonstrate that the proposed three-phase ISE is more robust, statistically more consistent, and computationally very competitive.
International Repercussions of Direct Taxes

Models of capital tax competition typically assume that countries have identical per-capita endowments. This paper presents a model with endogenous capital and labor supply where countries are unequal, and shows that countries do not necessarily engage in wasteful tax competition, in the sense that public goods are underprovided. We identify situations in which public goods are overprovided depending (i) on the set of distortionary taxes available for governments and (ii) on endowment differences. Numerical simulations indicate that public goods supply is inefficient in the asymmetric Nash equilibrium, even in the presence of residence-based capital taxation.
Actor-Mimic: Deep Multitask and Transfer Reinforcement Learning

The ability to act in multiple environments and transfer previous knowledge to new situations can be considered a critical aspect of any intelligent agent. Towards this goal, we define a novel method of multitask and transfer learning that enables an autonomous agent to learn how to behave in multiple tasks simultaneously, and then generalize its knowledge to new domains. This method, termed "Actor-Mimic", exploits the use of deep reinforcement learning and model compression techniques to train a single policy network that learns how to act in a set of distinct tasks by using the guidance of several expert teachers. We then show that the representations learnt by the deep policy network are capable of generalizing to new tasks with no prior expert guidance, speeding up learning in novel environments. Although our method can in general be applied to a wide range of problems, we use Atari games as a testing environment to demonstrate these methods.
Compensatory Rationalizations and the Resolution of Everyday Undeserved Outcomes

People prefer to perceive the world as just; however, the everyday experience of undeserved events challenges this perception.The authors suggest that one way people rationalize these daily experiences of unfairness is by means of a compensatory bias. People make undeserved events more palatable by endorsing the notion that outcomes naturally balance out in the end—good, yet undeserved, outcomes will balance out bad outcomes, and bad undeserved outcomes will balance out good outcomes.The authors propose that compensatory biases manifest in people’s interpretive processes (Study 1) and memory (Study 2). Furthermore, they provide evidence that people have a natural tendency to anticipate compensatory outcomes in the future, which, ironically, might lead them to perceive a current situation as relatively more fair (Study 3). These studies highlight an understudied means of justifying unfairness and elucidate the justice motive’s power to affect people’s construal of their social world.
Large-amplitude capillary waves in electrified fluid sheets

Large-amplitude capillary waves on fluid sheets are computed in the presence of a uniform electric field acting in a direction parallel to the undisturbed configuration. The fluid is taken to be inviscid, incompressible and non-conducting. Travelling waves of arbitrary amplitudes and wavelengths are calculated and the effect of the electric field is studied. The solutions found generalize the exact symmetric solutions of Kinnersley (1976) to include electric fields, for which no exact solutions have been found. Long-wave nonlinear waves are also constructed using asymptotic methods. The asymptotic solutions are compared with the full computations as the wavelength increases, and agreement is found to be excellent.
Extending the Horizons: Environmental Excellence as Key to Improving Operations

The view that adopting an environmental perspective on operations can lead to improved operations is in itself not novel; phrases such as lean is green are increasingly commonplace. The implication is that any operational system that has minimized inefficiencies is also more environmentally sustainable. However, in this paper we argue that the underlying mechanism is one of extending the horizons of analysis and that this applies to both theory and practice of operations management. We illustrate this through two principal areas of lean operations, where we identify how successive extensions of the prevailing research horizon in each area have led to major advances in theory and practice. First, in quality management, the initial emphasis on statistical quality control of individual operations was extended through total quality management to include a broader process encompassing customer requirements and suppliers operations. More recently, the environmental perspective extended the definition of customers to stakeholders and defects to any form of waste. Second, in supply chain management, the horizon first expanded from the initial focus on optimizing inventory control with a single planner to including multiple organizations with conflicting objectives and private information. The environmental perspective draws attention to aspects such as reverse flows and end-of-life product disposal, again potentially improving the performance of the overall supply chain. In both cases, these developments were initially driven by practice, where many of the benefits of adopting an environmental perspective were unexpected. Given that these unexpected side benefits seem to recur so frequently, we refer to this phenomenon as the law of the expected unexpected side benefits. We conclude by extrapolating from the developmental paths of total quality management and supply chain management to speculate about the future of environmental research in operations management.
Design constraints of disturbance observer in the presence of time delay

The design of disturbance observer (DOB) requires a low pass filter (LPF) to satisfy the causality and prevent the inner-loop from algebraic loop. The bandwidth of the LPF is desired to be as high as possible to estimate the disturbances in a wide frequency range. However, it is very-well known that the bandwidth of DOB is limited by noise and robustness. This paper shows that the bandwidth limitation of DOB becomes more severe if the plant includes time delay. Furthermore, a new design constraint on the parameters of the LPF of DOB is proposed to obtain predefined performance and robustness criteria. A second order plant model that includes time delay is analyzed and simulation results are given to show the validity of the proposed method.
Power to the People! But How? the Different Uses of Referendums around the World

Are the voters capable of making complex decisions and informed choices in referendums? Do referendums and other forms of direct democracy provide mechanisms for citizen deliberation? Why do dictators like Hitler and Pinochet use referendums? Are referendum campaigns ultimately decided by who has got the deepest pockets and the best campaign advisors? These are the questions discussed and investigated in the books under review. The conclusion that emerges is that voters are able to make informed choices which broadly reflect their political preferences and they are generally not swayed by spin and campaigns. In the light of these findings, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic as regards the deliberative potential of referendums.
Boosting the performance of Web search engines: Caching and prefetching query results by exploiting historical usage data

This article discusses efficiency and effectiveness issues in caching the results of queries submitted to a Web search engine (WSE). We propose SDC (Static Dynamic Cache), a new caching strategy aimed to efficiently exploit the temporal and spatial locality present in the stream of processed queries. SDC extracts from historical usage data the results of the most frequently submitted queries and stores them in a static, read-only portion of the cache. The remaining entries of the cache are dynamically managed according to a given replacement policy and are used for those queries that cannot be satisfied by the static portion. Moreover, we improve the hit ratio of SDC by using an adaptive prefetching strategy, which anticipates future requests by introducing a limited overhead over the back-end WSE. We experimentally demonstrate the superiority of SDC over purely static and dynamic policies by measuring the hit ratio achieved on three large query logs by varying the cache parameters and the replacement policy used for managing the dynamic part of the cache. Finally, we deploy and measure the throughput achieved by a concurrent version of our caching system. Our tests show how the SDC cache can be efficiently exploited by many threads that concurrently serve the queries of different users.
Evaluation of Patient and Proxy Responses on the Activity Measure for Postacute Care

Background and Purpose— Our objective was to examine the agreement between adult patients with stroke and family member or clinician proxies in activity measure for postacute care (AM-PAC) summary scores for daily activity, basic mobility, and applied cognitive function. Methods— This study involved 67 patients with stroke admitted to a hospital within the Kaiser Permanente of Northern California system and were participants in a parent study on stroke outcomes. Each participant and proxy respondent completed the AM-PAC by personal or telephone interview at the point of hospital discharge or during ≥1 transitions to different postacute care settings. Results— The results suggest that for patients with a stroke proxy, AM-PAC data are robust for family or clinician proxy assessment of basic mobility function and clinician proxy assessment of daily activity function, but less robust for family proxy assessment of daily activity function and for all proxy groups' assessments of applied cognitive function. The pattern of disagreement between patient and proxy was, on average, relatively small and random. There was little evidence of systematic bias between proxy and patient reports of their functional status. The degree of concordance between patient and proxy was similar for those with moderate to severe strokes compared with mild strokes. Conclusions— Patient and proxy ratings on the AM-PAC achieved adequate agreement for use in stroke research when using proxy respondents could reduce sample selection bias. The AM-PAC data can be implemented across institutional as well as community care settings while achieving precision and reducing respondent burden.
Gender and emotion: Engendering gender differences in shame and guilt: Stereotypes, socialization, and situational pressures

Characteristics of shame and guilt During the past decade, shame and guilt have increasingly captured the attention of many social scientists. One sign of this growing interest is the proliferation of instruments available to measure the two constructs (see table 12.1 for a brief overview of the instruments most widely used to measure adults' self-reports of guilt and shame). Although the instruments differ greatly, they reflect a growing consensus regarding fundamental differences between the two emotions in terms of their situational antecedents, appraisals, experiential aspects, and action tendencies. Shame involves a focus on one's global self – who I am and who I do not want to be – with its source being an unwanted identity . Because of the focus on one's own or others' (imagined) evaluation of the self as inferior or deficient, the ashamed person feels exposed, small, passive, and unable. We frequently hide or privately manage shame, because of its painful nature. At the same time, “being” ashamed communicates an awareness that we are somehow inadequate and need to defer or change lest someone launch further attacks on our identity and bases for our mutual relationships. While shame involves the global self, some construe guilt as a reaction to a specific act of omission or commission that violates moral standards. We prefer to view guilt as arising from people's belief that their behavior somehow disadvantages a valued other. Immoral deeds (e.g., infidelity) can provoke guilt in some people, some of the time. But many guilt-inducing events do not necessarily involve unethical behaviors (e.g., outperforming your best friend on an exam; getting invited to a party when your friend did not).