Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Byoung-tak Zhang and Dong-yeon Cho 18.1 Introduction

Genetic programming provides a useful paradigm for develop ing multiagent systems in the domains where human programming alone is not sufficient to take into a ccount all the details of possible situations. However, existing GP methods attempt to evolve collective behavior immediately from primitive actions. More realistic tasks require several em ergent behaviors and a proper coordination of these is essential for success. We have recently proposed a framework, calledfitness switching , to facilitate learning to coordinate composite emergent be haviors using genetic programming. Coevolutionary fitness switching described in this chapter extends our previous work by intro ducing the concept of coevolution for more effective implementation o f fitness switching. Performance of the presented method is evaluated on the table transport proble m and a simple version of simulated robot soccer problem. Simulation results show that coevolutiona ry fitness switching provides an effective mechanism for learning complex collective behaviors which may not be evolved by simple genetic programming.
Cultural identity and heritage language maintenance In Embera Chamí university´s students

This research project explores different aspects related to the Embera Chami community and some factors affecting the participant’s culture due to the migration of some members to a majority context. This is a qualitative research that explores different aspects concerning this migration of this community. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to observe this phenomenon, and thus see the impact that migration has over the participants within the new context, the researchers of this study focused this research project on the participants’ language after the being exposed to a majority group and a second language, in this case, the context is a public University in Pereira where they are enrolled in the Ethno-education program. Therefore, the researchers implemented different data collection methods, such as: observations, interviews, and students artifacts. After the data collection, the researchers triangulated the information gathered in order to find the answers to the research questions postulated at the beginning of the study. These research questions were: first, what are the of the teachers and Embera Chami students’ perception about their immersion in a majority culture? Second, what can be observed in the relation of the exposure to a majority culture language and the maintenance of Embera Chami students’ heritage language? And finally, what are the participants’ background experiences with their second language and what is the participant’s Spanish proficiency? The results of this study evidence different factors that affected the participant’s culture identity, also the participant’s writing skill development through the exposure of the target language Spanish, as well as the participants’ development writing skill during this immersion process, having in mind that the Embera Chami only possess spoken language and they need to learn how to communicate their ideas in a written form and in the target language.
Web prefetching using partial match prediction

Web traffic is now one of the major components of Internet traffic, which corresponds t o the explosive growth that this medium is experiencing. One of the main directions of research in this area is t o reduce the time latencies users experience when navigating through Web sites. Caching is already being used in that direction, yet, the characteristics of the Web cause caching in this medium to have poor performance. Therefore, peletching is now being studied in the Web context. When prefetching is employed, Web pages that the user is likely to access in the near future are transfered without being requested. Thus, when prefetching is appropriately employed, the performance of the cache can be significantly improved, which will in turn have a direct impact on the delays perceived by the users. This study investigates the use of partial match prediction, a technique taken from the d a t a compression literature, for prefetching in the Web. The main concern when employing prefetching is t o predict as many future requests as possible, while limiting the false predictions to a minimum. The simulation results suggest that a high fraction of the predictions are accurate, so tha t additional network traffic is kept low. Furthermore, the simulations show that prefetching can substantially increase cache hi t rates.
Compact Modeling and Comparative Analysis of Silicon-Chip Slow-Wave Transmission Lines With Slotted Bottom Metal Ground Planes

A compact modeling approach for silicon-chip slow-wave transmission lines with slotted bottom metal ground planes is studied and its limitations are presented. The modeling approach facilitates the calculation of the slow-wave transmission line parameters based upon the corresponding coplanar and grounded coplanar transmission-line parameters. The described analysis method is used for a comparative study of the slow-wave structures versus their coplanar and grounded coplanar reference structures. Floating bottom shield slow-wave transmission lines are then compared with their grounded bottom shield counterparts. The theoretical results are supported by electromagnetic simulations and by measurements up to 30 and 50 GHz.
Huntington and His Critics: The West and Islam

L'A. propose quelques reflexions a propos des nombreuses (non ou fausses) lectures et des critiques de la these de Samuel H. Huntington sur le conflit entre les civilisations. Il soutient que les idees exprimees par Huntington rejoignent en fait ceux qui, a travers le slogan du dialogue entre les civilisations, l'accusent d'appeler a une croisade occidentale contre le monde islamique, sa religion et sa culture. Selon l'A. , beaucoup de lecteurs de Huntington ne vont jamais au-dela du message evoque par le titre sensationnel de sa these. Ils ne comprennent pas que Huntington demande la reconnaissance d'une place legitime pour chaque civilisation dans le monde contemporain, apres des siecles de domination occidentale. Affirmant sa loyaute envers l'Occident, dont il demande une revitalisation, Huntington souhaite non seulement que le monde islamique puisse s'affirmer dans ce qu'il considere etre son authenticite, mais qu'il puisse egalement a nouveau occuper une place importante dans la structure de pouvoir mondiale contemporaine. Selon l'A. , au-dela de quelques lacunes dans son argumentation, l'approche de Huntington constitue une contribution eclairante de la part de l'establishment americain contemporain.
Neural Implementation of Bayesian Inference in Population Codes

This study investigates a population decoding paradigm, in which the estimation of stimulus in the previous step is used as prior knowledge for consecutive decoding. We analyze the decoding accuracy of such a Bayesian decoder (Maximum a Posteriori Estimate), and show that it can be implemented by a biologically plausible recurrent network, where the prior knowledge of stimulus is conveyed by the change in recurrent interactions as a result of Hebbian learning.
Biogeosciences Atmospheric CO 2 modeling at the regional scale : an intercomparison of 5 mesoscale atmospheric models

Atmospheric CO2 modeling in interaction with the surface fluxes, at the regional scale is developed within the frame of the European project CarboEurope-IP and its Regional Experiment component. In this context, five mesoscale meteorological models at 2 km resolution participate in an intercomparison exercise. Using a common experimental protocol that imposes a large number of rules, two days of the CarboEurope Regional Experiment Strategy (CERES) campaign are simulated. A systematic evaluation of the models is done in confrontation with the observations, using statistical tools and direct comparisons. Thus, temperature and relative humidity at 2 m, wind direction, surface energy and CO2 fluxes, vertical profiles of potential temperature as well as in-situ CO2 concentrations comparisons between observations and simulations are examined. These comparisons reveal a cold bias in the simulated temperature at 2 m, the latent heat flux is often underestimated. Nevertheless, the CO 2 concentrations heterogeneities are well captured by most of the models. This intercomparison exercise shows also the models ability to represent the meteorology and carbon cycling at the synoptic and regional scale in the boundary layer, but also points out some of the major shortcomings of the models.
Cardiovascular Effects of Angiotensin Mediated by the Central Nervous System

• During recent years the nature of the considerable contribution of the sympathetic nervous system to renal hypertension has become somewhat more clear, due in part to the unexpected discoveries that angiotensin is not simply a direct vasoconstrictor agent but is almost ubiquitous in its actions. Among these actions are several on the sympathetic nervous system that appear to intensify its effects on the peripheral vascular system. It stimulates release of catechols from the adrenal medulla (1); at certain dose levels it facilitates ganglionic transmission (2); and it sensitizes the neurovascular effector so that the effects of sympathetic vasomotor discharge are augmented (3). This latter effect may depend in part on prevention of reuptake of released norepinephrine (4). For a long time it was considered unlikely that angiotensin had any effect on the central nervous system since theoretically it does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Then Bickerton and Buckley (5), in 1961, cross-perfused the head of a recipient dog, isolated from its own circulation and connected to the body only by the spinal cord, with blood from a donor animal. When angiotensin was injected into the circulation of the donor animal it raised the systemic arterial pressure in the recipient's trunk as well as in the donor animal. Because
Robust K-means based active contours for fast inhomogeneity image segmentation

A novel robust K-means based active contours model is proposed to segment medical images with various noise and intensity inhomogeneities. Relying on the correntropy-based image features, the model uses the local adaptive weights to be robust to various noises. Moreover, the combination of information in the global and the local regions ensures that our approach is extremely hard to trap into a local minimum. To avoid the reinitialization and shorten the computational time, we use the signed distance functions to regularize the level set functions, and adopt the iteratively re-weighted method to accelerate our algorithm during the contour evolution. Experimental results show that our algorithm can fast achieve the robust segmentation results in the presence of the intensity inhomogeneities, various noise and blur.
Strategies for improving early detection of glaucoma: the combined structure–function index

The early detection of glaucoma is important in order to enable appropriate monitoring and treatment, and to minimize the risk of irreversible visual field loss. Although advances in ocular imaging offer the potential for earlier diagnosis, the best method is likely to involve a combination of information from structural and functional tests. Recent studies have shown it is possible to estimate the number of retinal ganglion cells from optical coherence tomography and standard automated perimetry, and to then pool the results to produce a combined structure–function index (CSFI). The CSFI represents the estimated percentage of retinal ganglion cells lost compared to an age-matched healthy eye. Previous studies have suggested that the CSFI is better able to detect glaucoma than isolated measures of structure and function, and that it performs well even in preperimetric glaucoma. The purpose of this review is to describe new strategies, such as the CSFI, that have the potential to improve the early detection of glaucoma. We also describe how our ability to detect early glaucoma may be further enhanced by incorporating demographic risk factors, clinical examination findings, and imaging and functional test results into intuitive models that provide estimates of disease probability.
Considering Learning Styles in Learning Management Systems: Investigating the Behavior of Students in an Online Course

Many researchers agree that considering learning styles increases the learning progress and makes learning easier for students. Learning management systems (LMS) are very successful in e-education but do not incorporate learning styles. As a requirement for taking learning styles into consideration in LMS, the behavior of students in online courses needs to be investigated. In this paper, we analyze the behavior of 43 students based on their learning styles and predefined patterns of behavior. Firstly, we concentrated on whether students with different learning style preferences act differently in the course. This information can be used to create courses that include features for each learning style. Secondly, we investigated correlations between the learning style preferences and the behavior of students during the course. These correlations can be use to develop an approach for identifying learning styles in LMS based on students¿ behavior.
Physical Activity and Pattern of Blood Pressure in Postmenopausal Women With Hypertension in Nigeria

Background Hormonal changes during menopause have been attributed to hypertension-a common public health concern. This study investigated physical activity (PA) and pattern of blood pressure (BP) in postmenopausal women newly diagnosed with hypertension and referred for treatment at the medicine outpatient clinic of a tertiary health facility in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. It compared BP pattern and adiposity variables [body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR)] between two PA groups. Methods Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 220 participants in this cross-sectional survey after obtaining their informed consent. International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess PA level, while a 16-item questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic and clinical profiles of the women. BP, BMI and WHR were assessed using standard measurement procedures. Descriptive statistics of mean ± standard deviation were used for data summarization and independent t-test was used to compare variables between low level and moderate to vigorous level PA groups. Results Participants' mean values include: age 61.6 ± 8.5 years, years since menopause 12.75± 8.15, BMI 28.63±4.99kg/m2, WHR 1.11±0.08, SBP and DBP 145.9±17.9; 93.7±11.4 mmHg respectively. Mean values of SBP, DBP, BMI and WHR were higher among participants with low PA compared to those with moderate to vigorous even though the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion Involvement in moderate to vigorous physical activities among menopausal women in Nigeria should be encouraged. This may reduce hypertension and adiposity with a possible control of cardiovascular disease risk.
The Distribution of the Stress Protein HSP70 in the Cerebellum of Patients with Schizophrenia

Data accumulated from neuro-imaging, clinical and morphological studies suggest that the cerebellum is involved in cognitive functions and thus may be important in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia, since patients show cognitive abnormalities. In the present study, we have attempted to localize cellular metabolic dysfunctions applying the immunohistochemical and Western blot method to demonstrate the expression of the stress protein HSP70, which is a marker of cellular metabolic dysfunction in the brain. We studied the post mortem brains’ cerebellum of 12 normal controls and 10 schizophrenics. We have used the polyclonal antibody rabbit anti-HSP70 on paraffin sections as well as on nitrocellulose membranes. Bound antibody was detected using the indirect method of streptavidin-peroxidase-DAB. The results in the cerebellum of controls showed intense HSP70 immunoreaction in the synaptic glomeruli of the granular cell layer, in the cytoplasm and dendrites of Purkinje cells. In the same areas of the cerebellum of schizophrenics the HSP70 immunoreactivity was minimal. These results suggest that the reduced levels of HSP70 in the cerebellum are likely to contribute synergistically to the cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. This may suggest abnormality of protective neural mechanisms in such pathological conditions.
Developing computational supports for frame reflection

As the number and variety of sources for political information increase, it can become difficult to attend to the complexities of political issues. This difficulty lies not only in understanding what is being said, i.e. the content of an issue, but also how it is being said, i.e., the framing of the issue. This paper presents a prototype visualization tool designed to encourage attention to, and critical reflection about, the ways in which a political issue is framed. The tool visually presents linguistic analysis of documents about the issue of cap and trade. Results show that tool use interacted with participants' prior views in affecting their ability to suggest novel framings of the issue, one potential indicator of frame reflection. Tool use also mediated participants' exposure to different viewpoints. These findings help provide insights on how the design of tools for civic participation can help promote thoughtful, reflective political engagement.
Interplay of the Serine/Threonine-Kinase StkP and the Paralogs DivIVA and GpsB in Pneumococcal Cell Elongation and Division

Despite years of intensive research, much remains to be discovered to understand the regulatory networks coordinating bacterial cell growth and division. The mechanisms by which Streptococcus pneumoniae achieves its characteristic ellipsoid-cell shape remain largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed the interplay of the cell division paralogs DivIVA and GpsB with the ser/thr kinase StkP. We observed that the deletion of divIVA hindered cell elongation and resulted in cell shortening and rounding. By contrast, the absence of GpsB resulted in hampered cell division and triggered cell elongation. Remarkably, ΔgpsB elongated cells exhibited a helical FtsZ pattern instead of a Z-ring, accompanied by helical patterns for DivIVA and peptidoglycan synthesis. Strikingly, divIVA deletion suppressed the elongated phenotype of ΔgpsB cells. These data suggest that DivIVA promotes cell elongation and that GpsB counteracts it. Analysis of protein-protein interactions revealed that GpsB and DivIVA do not interact with FtsZ but with the cell division protein EzrA, which itself interacts with FtsZ. In addition, GpsB interacts directly with DivIVA. These results are consistent with DivIVA and GpsB acting as a molecular switch to orchestrate peripheral and septal PG synthesis and connecting them with the Z-ring via EzrA. The cellular co-localization of the transpeptidases PBP2x and PBP2b as well as the lipid-flippases FtsW and RodA in ΔgpsB cells further suggest the existence of a single large PG assembly complex. Finally, we show that GpsB is required for septal localization and kinase activity of StkP, and therefore for StkP-dependent phosphorylation of DivIVA. Altogether, we propose that the StkP/DivIVA/GpsB triad finely tunes the two modes of peptidoglycan (peripheral and septal) synthesis responsible for the pneumococcal ellipsoid cell shape.
Examining the antecedents of Facebook acceptance via structural equation modeling: A case of CEGEP students

Although the last decade has witnessed social networking sites of varied flavors, Facebook’s user growth continues to balloon, and relatedly, Facebook remains popular among the college populace. While there has been a growing body of work on ascertaining antecedents of Facebook use among college students, College d'enseignement general et professionnel (CEGEP) students’ acceptance of Facebook remains underexplored. The purpose of this study was to analyze CEGEP students’ acceptance of Facebook using the technology acceptance model (TAM). Structural equation modeling was conducted on data from a survey of 214 CEGEP students. We find that Facebook use is motivated by the core TAM constructs as well as the added factors of peer influence, perceived enjoyment, perceived self-efficacy, relative advantage, risk, and trust. https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel. 2017.09. 005
Alexithymia, impulsiveness, and psychopathology in nonsuicidal self-injured adolescents

Introduction Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a multifaceted phenomenon and a major health issue among adolescents. A better understanding of self-injury comorbidities is crucial to improve our ability to assess, treat, and prevent NSSI. Purpose This study aimed at analyzing some of the psychobehavioral correlates of NSSI: psychological problems, alexithymia, impulsiveness, and sociorelational aspects. Patients and methods This was a case–control study. The clinical sample (n=33) included adolescents attending our unit for NSSI and other issues; the controls (n=79) were high-school students. Data were collected using six questionnaires: Youth Self-Report, Barratt’s Impulsiveness Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Children’s Depression Inventory, Symptom Checklist-90-R, and Child Behavior Checklist. Results Cases scored significantly higher in all questionnaires. Habitual self-injurers scored higher on impulsiveness and alexithymia. The gesture’s repetition seems relevant to the global clinical picture: habitual self-injurers appear more likely to seek help from the sociosanitary services. We found a difference between the self-injurers’ and their parents’ awareness of the disorder. Conclusion Habitual self-injurers show signs of having difficulty with assessing the consequences of their actions (nonplanning impulsiveness) and the inability to manage their feelings. Given the significantly higher scores found for cases than for controls on all the psychopathological scales, NSSI can be seen as a cross-category psychiatric disorder, supporting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders decision to include it as a pathological entity in its own right.
Fabrication of Te and Te-Au Nanowires-Based Carbon Fiber Fabrics for Antibacterial Applications

Pathogenic bacteria that give rise to diseases every year remain a major health concern. In recent years, tellurium-based nanomaterials have been approved as new and efficient antibacterial agents. In this paper, we developed the approach to directly grow tellurium nanowires (Te NWs) onto commercial carbon fiber fabrics and demonstrated their antibacterial activity. Those Te NWs can serve as templates and reducing agents for gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) to deposit. Three different Te-Au NWs with varied concentration of Au NPs were synthesized and showed superior antibacterial activity and biocompability. These results indicate that the as-prepared carbon fiber fabrics with Te and Te-Au NWs can become antimicrobial clothing products in the near future.