Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adult English Language Learners with Limited Literacy.

Reddy served as the contracting officer's representative. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the National Institute for Literacy. No official endorsement by the National Institute for Literacy of any product, commodity, or enterprise in this publication is intended or should be inferred. For quality assurance purposes, drafts of publications commissioned by the National Institute for Literacy are subjected to a rigorous external peer review process by independent experts. This review process seeks to ensure that each report is impartial and objective and that the findings are supported by scientific research. The National Institute for Literacy, a Federal government agency, is a catalyst for advancing a comprehensive literacy agenda. The Institute bridges policy, research and practice to prompt action and deepen public understanding of literacy as a national asset. Adult English language learners who lack print literacy or experience with formal education encounter a unique set of challenges in their lives and their efforts to learn English. Educators and policymakers are similarly challenged by how best to help these adults acquire English literacy. This paper reviews a variety of research, including that on language acquisition, literacy development in adults and children, cognition and brain functioning, adult education, and professional development. Though research on this specific group of adult learners is sparse, available findings suggest that they need programs and classes separate from those for other beginning-level English language learners, with particular attention paid to cultural influences and their experiences (or lack thereof) with formal education. Those who teach these adults can benefit from professional development opportunities that focus closely on the specific backgrounds, strengths and needs of these learners.
An effective multi-classifier strategy for attributes matching in heterogeneous databases

Attributes matching is crucial to implement data sharing and interoperability across heterogeneous databases. In order to lay a theoretical foundation for our multi-classifier strategy, we analyze the limitations that use a single trained neural network to determine the corresponding attributes. The analyzed result demonstrates the theoretical possibility that different input vectors map the same output vector by a single-trained neural network. This could result in mismatching and consequently decrease the matching accuracy. Based on the theoretical result and instance analysis, an effective multi-classifier algorithm for attributes matching is proposed in this paper. We verify the correctness of our analysis and proposed multi-classifier strategy by using our previous experimental results.
We’d better watch out

There is a lot of loose talk about the “deindustrialization” of the United States economy. We are losing our manufacturing industry to foreigners and becoming a “service economy” (if you like the idea) or a “nation of hamburger stands and insurance companies” (if you don’t like the idea). Stephen S. Cohen and John Zysman begin their book, “Manufacturing Matters: The Myth of the PostIndustrial Economy,” by insisting, quite correctly, that no such thing can happen. The orders of magnitude are such that the United States could not hope to pay for its manufacturing imports by selling services abroad. We need too many goods, and there are not enough services. One way or another we will continue to be producers of goods, including manufactures, and probably net exporters of goods in order to pay interest on the debts we have incurred during the consumption binge of the 1980’s.
On the Nature of Health: An Action-Theoretic Approach

Foreword to Second Edition. Introduction. 1: Some Basic Issues in the Philosophy of Health. 2: An Analytic Theory of Health: the Biostatistical Theory (BST). 3: Towards a Holistic Theory of Health. 4: On the Factors which Compromise Health. 5: On Some Societal and Scientific Consequences of the Welfare Notion of Health. 6: Conclusions and Summary of the Welfare Theory of Health. Appendix: On the Ontology of Diseases. Notes. Supplementary Bibliography. Bibliography. Postscript 1994. Index.
Optimization and stabilization of composite service processing in a cloud system

With virtual machines (VM), we design a cloud system aiming to optimize the overall performance, in processing user requests made up of composite services. We address three contributions. (1) We optimize VM resource allocation with a minimized processing overhead subject to task's payment budget. (2) For maximizing the fairness of treatment in a competitive situation, we investigate the best-suited scheduling policy. (3) We devise a resource sharing scheme adjusted based on Proportional-Share model, further mitigating the resource contention. Experiments confirm two points: (1) mean task response time approaches the theoretically optimal value in non-competitive situation; (2) as system runs in short supply, each request could still be processed efficiently as compared to their ideal results. Combining Lightest Workload First (LWF) policy with Adjusted Proportional-Share Model (LWF+APSM) exhibits the best performance. It outperforms others in a competitive situation, by 38% w.r. t. worst-case response time and by 12% w.r. t. fairness of treatment.
Hypothetical explanation for the role of proprioception in the damping of infantile nystagmus by tenotomy surgery: The small-signal gain hypothesis

We report the results of our study of the effects of four-muscle tenotomy on saccadic characteristics in infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) and acquired pendular nystagmus (APN). Eye movements of ten subjects with INS and one with APN were recorded using infrared reflection, magnetic search coil, or highspeed digital video. The eXpanded Nystagmus Acuity Function (NAFX) quantified tenotomy-induced foveation changes in the INS. Saccadic characteristics and peak-to-peak nystagmus amplitudes were measured. Novel statistical tests were performed on the saccadic data. Six out of the 10 INS subjects showed no changes in saccadic duration, peak velocity, acceleration, or trajectory. In the other 4, the differences were less than in peak-to-peak amplitudes (from 14.6% to 39.5%) and NAFX (from 22.2% to 162.4%). The APN subject also showed no changes despite a 50% decrease in peak-to-peak amplitude and a 34% increase in NAFX. The “small-signal” changes (peak-to-peak nystagmus amplitude and NAFX) were found to far exceed any “large-signal” changes (saccadic). Tenotomy successfully reduced INS and APN, enabling higher visual acuity without adversely affecting saccadic characteristics. These findings support the peripheral, smallsignal gain reduction (via proprioceptive tension control) hypothesis. Current linear plant models, limited to normal steady-state muscle tension levels, cannot explain the effects of the tenotomy.
Evaluation of the health effects of the new driving penalty point system in the Lazio Region, Italy, 2001–4

Objective: The penalty point system was introduced in Italy in June 2003. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health effects of this legislation in the Lazio region. Methods: Poisson models were used to compare emergency department visits, hospitalizations and death between the pre-law and post-law periods (July 2001–June 2003; July 2003–June 2004). Results: The emergency department visit rate ratio (RR) of the two periods was 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.86 to 0.88); the corresponding hospital admission RR was 0.87 (95% CI 0.84 to 0.9). The death RR was 0.93 (95% CI 0.82 to 1.05). Conclusion: After the legislation was introduced, there were fewer visits to the emergency department, hospitalizations and death from road traffic injuries. However, the effect was lower than expected, and it decreased over time.
Immunoelectron Microscopic Characterization of Human Dermal Lymphatic Microvascular Endothelial Cells: Differential Expression of CD31, CD34, and Type IV Collagen with Lymphatic Endothelial Cells vs Blood Capillary Endothelial Cells in Normal Human Skin, Lymphangioma, and Hemangioma In Situ

We performed a comparative investigation of the immunomorphological characteristics of lymphatic and blood microvascular endothelial cells in normal human skin, cutaneous lymphangiomas, and hemangiomas, employing a pre-embedding immunogold electron microscopic technique. We stained for cell membrane proteins that are commonly used for light microscopic characterization of blood endothelial cells. With blood microvascular endothelial cells, we observed uniform labeling of the luminal cell membranes with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) JC70 (CD31), EN-4 (CD31), BMA120, PAL-E, and QBEND-10 (CD34), and strong staining of the vascular basal lamina for Type IV collagen under normal and pathological conditions. In contrast, lymphatic microvascular endothelial cells in normal human skin and in lymphangiomas displayed, in addition to a luminal labeling, pronounced expression of CD31 and CD34 along the abluminal cell membranes. Moreover, CD31 was preferentially detected within intercellular junctions. The expression of CD34 was mostly confined to abluminal endothelial microprocesses and was upregulated in lymphangiomas and hemangiomas. Type IV collagen partially formed the luminal lining of initial lymphatics and occasionally formed bridges over interendothelial gaps. Our findings suggest a function of transmigration protein CD31 in recruitment of dendritic cells into the lymphatic vasculature. CD34 labeling may indicate early endothelial cell sprouting. The distribution of Type IV collagen also supports its role as a signal for migration and tube formation for lymphatic endothelial cells.
Is Surgery for Displaced, Midshaft Clavicle Fractures in Adults Cost-Effective? Results Based on a Multicenter Randomized, Controlled Trial

Objectives: To determine the cost-effectiveness of open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) of displaced, midshaft clavicle fractures in adults. Design: Formal cost-effectiveness analysis based on a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Setting: Eight hospitals in Canada (seven university-affiliated and one community hospital). Patients/Participants: One hundred thirty-two adults with acute, completely displaced, midshaft clavicle fractures. Intervention: Clavicle ORIF versus nonoperative treatment. Main Outcome Measurements: Utilities derived from SF-6D. Results: The base case cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained for ORIF was $65,000. Cost-effectiveness improved to $28,150/QALY gained when the functional benefit from ORIF was assumed to be permanent with cost per QALY gained falling below $50,000 when the functional advantage persisted for 9.3 years or more. In other sensitivity analyses, the cost per QALY gained for ORIF fell below $50,000 when ORIF cost less than $10,465 (base case cost $13,668) or the long-term utility difference between nonoperative treatment and ORIF was greater than 0.034 (base case difference 0.014). Short-term disutility associated with fracture healing also affected cost-effectiveness with the cost per QALY gained for ORIF falling below $50,000 when the utility of a fracture treated nonoperatively before union was less than 0.617 (base case utility 0.706) or when nonoperative treatment increased the time to union by 20 weeks (base case difference 12 weeks). Conclusions: The cost-effectiveness of ORIF after acute clavicle fracture depended on the durability of functional advantage for ORIF compared with nonoperative treatment. When functional benefits persisted for more than 9 years, ORIF had a favorable value compared with many accepted health interventions.
Risk Aversion is Associated with Decision Making among Community-Based Older Persons

Background: Risk aversion is associated with many important decisions among younger and middle aged persons, but the association of risk aversion with decision making has not been well studied among older persons who face some of the most significant decisions of their lives. Method: Using data from 606 community-dwelling older persons without dementia from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, an ongoing longitudinal epidemiologic study of aging, we examined the association of risk aversion with decision making. Risk aversion was measured using standard behavioral economics questions in which participants were asked to choose between a certain monetary payment ($15) versus a gamble in which they could gain more than $15 or gain nothing; potential gamble gains ranged from $20 to $300 with the gain amounts varied randomly over questions. Decision making was measured using a 12 item version of the Decision Making Competence Assessment Tool. Findings: In a linear regression model adjusted for age, sex, education, and income, greater risk aversion was associated with poorer decision making [estimate = −1.03, standard error (SE) = 0.35, p = 0.003]. Subsequent analyses showed that the association of risk aversion with decision making persisted after adjustment for global cognitive function as well as executive and non-executive cognitive abilities. Conclusion: Similar to findings from studies of younger persons, risk aversion is associated with poorer decision making among older persons who face a myriad of complex and influential decisions.
Heterogeneous reaction rates in an ionic liquid: quantitative results from two-dimensional multiple population-period transient spectroscopy.

The hypotheses that ionic liquids are structurally heterogeneous at the molecular level and, even further, that this heterogeneity can transfer to the rates of reactions run in ionic liquids is being actively debated. Here, this hypothesis is tested using multiple population-period transient spectroscopy (MUPPETS), an emerging type of multidimensional measurement that resolves the kinetics of subensembles within a heterogeneous sample. A previous MUPPETS study of the excited-state twisting and electronic relaxation of auramine indicated that an ionic-liquid solvent induces rate dispersion due to a combination of heterogeneous and homogeneous processes, but those data could not quantitatively separate these contributions [Khurmi, C. ; Berg, M. A. J. Phys. Chem. Lett.2010, 1, 161]. New MUPPETS data that include phase resolution and subtraction of thermal gratings are presented here and are successfully modeled. The total range of reaction rates (10--90%) is a factor of 70. If the solvent effect is viewed as a set of local viscosities, the viscosity distribution is broad and highly asymmetric. However, if the solvent is viewed as changing a reaction barrier, the data correspond to a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights. The relaxation of each subensemble is nonexponential with an initial induction period, but the shape of the decay is invariant across the rate distribution. A small (2%), long-lived component is identified as a part of the homogeneous kinetic scheme and thus as a secondary channel for excited-state relaxation, not as an impurity or alternative ground-state form of auramine. On the basis of these results, we suggest that the primary cause of rate heterogeneity is a long-lived local electric field acting on the charge redistribution during the reaction.
Spectral properties and function of two lumazine proteins from Photobacterium.

The spectral properties are compared for two 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine proteins from marine bioluminescent bacteria, one from a psychrophile, Photobacterium phosphoreum, and the other from a thermophile, Photobacterium leiognathi. The visible spectral properties, which are the ones by which the protein performs its biological function of bioluminescence emission, are almost the same for the two proteins: at 2 degrees C and 50 mM Pi, pH 7, fluorescence quantum yield phi F = 0.59 and 0.54, respectively; fluorescence lifetime tau = 14.4 and 14.8 ns, respectively; fluorescence maxima, both 475 nm; absorption maximum, 417 and 420 nm, respectively; circular dichroism minima at around 420 nm, both -41 X 10(3) deg cm2 dmol-1. The ligand binding sites therefore must provide very similar environments, and arguments are presented that the bound ligand is relatively exposed to solvent. The dissociation equilibrium was studied by steady-state fluorescence polarization. The thermophilic protein binds the ligand with Kd (20 degrees C) = 0.016 microM, 10 times more tightly than the other protein [Kd (20 degrees C) = 0.16 microM]. The origin of the binding difference probably resides in differences in secondary structure. The tryptophan fluorescence spectra of the two proteins are different, but more significant is an observation of the decay of the tryptophan emission anisotropy. For the psychrophilic lumazine protein this anisotropy decays to zero in 1 ns, implying that its single tryptophan residue lies in a very "floppy" region of the protein. For the other protein, the anisotropy exhibits both a fast component and a slow one corresponding to rotation of the protein as a whole. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
SketchStory: Telling More Engaging Stories with Data through Freeform Sketching

Presenting and communicating insights to an audience-telling a story-is one of the main goals of data exploration. Even though visualization as a storytelling medium has recently begun to gain attention, storytelling is still underexplored in information visualization and little research has been done to help people tell their stories with data. To create a new, more engaging form of storytelling with data, we leverage and extend the narrative storytelling attributes of whiteboard animation with pen and touch interactions. We present SketchStory, a data-enabled digital whiteboard that facilitates the creation of personalized and expressive data charts quickly and easily. SketchStory recognizes a small set of sketch gestures for chart invocation, and automatically completes charts by synthesizing the visuals from the presenter-provided example icon and binding them to the underlying data. Furthermore, SketchStory allows the presenter to move and resize the completed data charts with touch, and filter the underlying data to facilitate interactive exploration. We conducted a controlled experiment for both audiences and presenters to compare SketchStory with a traditional presentation system, Microsoft PowerPoint. Results show that the audience is more engaged by presentations done with SketchStory than PowerPoint. Eighteen out of 24 audience participants preferred SketchStory to PowerPoint. Four out of five presenter participants also favored SketchStory despite the extra effort required for presentation.
The role of training in decreasing anxiety among experienced computer users

The purpose of our paper is twofold: on one hand we draw on the team climate literature to understand how IT knowledge integration capability can be promoted within team-based structures; on the other hand we rely on resource-based view framework for understanding how IT knowledge integration capability affects teams performance, in terms of effectiveness, and efficiency. We tested our research model on a sample of 410 members and leaders of 69 organizational work teams. Results show the critical role played by team climate for favouring IT knowledge integration capability, which in turn affects team outcomes.
Conversion of CTLA-4 from Inhibitor to Activator of T Cells with a Bispecific Tandem Single-Chain Fv Ligand1

Abs or their recombinant fragments against surface receptors of the Ig superfamily can induce or block the receptors’ native function depending on whether they induce or prevent the assembly of signalosomes on their cytoplasmic tails. In this study, we introduce a novel paradigm based on the observation that a bispecific tandem single-chain variable region fragment ligand of CTLA-4 by itself converts this inhibitory receptor into an activating receptor for primary human T lymphocytes. This reversal of function results from increased recruitment of the serine/threonine phosphatase 2A to the cytoplasmic tail of CTLA-4, consistent with a role of this phosphatase in the regulation of CTLA-4 function, and assembly of a distinct signalosome that activates an lck-dependent signaling cascade and induces IL-2 production. Our data demonstrate that the cytoplasmic domain of CTLA-4 has an inherent plasticity for signaling that can be exploited therapeutically with recombinant ligands for this receptor.
The Genetic Structure of Pacific Islanders

Human genetic diversity in the Pacific has not been adequately sampled, particularly in Melanesia. As a result, population relationships there have been open to debate. A genome scan of autosomal markers (687 microsatellites and 203 insertions/deletions) on 952 individuals from 41 Pacific populations now provides the basis for understanding the remarkable nature of Melanesian variation, and for a more accurate comparison of these Pacific populations with previously studied groups from other regions. It also shows how textured human population variation can be in particular circumstances. Genetic diversity within individual Pacific populations is shown to be very low, while differentiation among Melanesian groups is high. Melanesian differentiation varies not only between islands, but also by island size and topographical complexity. The greatest distinctions are among the isolated groups in large island interiors, which are also the most internally homogeneous. The pattern loosely tracks language distinctions. Papuan-speaking groups are the most differentiated, and Austronesian or Oceanic-speaking groups, which tend to live along the coastlines, are more intermixed. A small “Austronesian” genetic signature (always <20%) was detected in less than half the Melanesian groups that speak Austronesian languages, and is entirely lacking in Papuan-speaking groups. Although the Polynesians are also distinctive, they tend to cluster with Micronesians, Taiwan Aborigines, and East Asians, and not Melanesians. These findings contribute to a resolution to the debates over Polynesian origins and their past interactions with Melanesians. With regard to genetics, the earlier studies had heavily relied on the evidence from single locus mitochondrial DNA or Y chromosome variation. Neither of these provided an unequivocal signal of phylogenetic relations or population intermixture proportions in the Pacific. Our analysis indicates the ancestors of Polynesians moved through Melanesia relatively rapidly and only intermixed to a very modest degree with the indigenous populations there.