Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of group problem-solving tasks in a geometry course for teachers using computer-mediated conferencing

During spring semester 1999, the researcher conducted a study at Montana State University in the undergraduate course Modern Geometry and the concurrent graduate course, Geometry for Teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine if students participating in on-line problem-solving activities communicate differently depending upon location of the student (on campus or off campus) and whether differences in communication are related to differences in achievement. The eighteen students were placed into four collaborative work groups consisting of four or five students each. Groups were formed heterogeneously, to help eliminate extraneous variables, and help diminish the variability among those groups caused by factors other than the treatment. For eleven weeks, groups were assigned problem-solving tasks. These tasks were addressed collaboratively, with each student contributing ideas, responding to ideas, proposing strategies, demonstrating solutions, and summarizing and reporting their groups' findings, all on-line. Each message sent was analyzed and ranked according to the Interaction Analysis Model developed by Gunawardena, Lowe, and Anderson (1997). It was found that the communication phase levels were independent of whether the students were on campus or off campus, and that the communication phase levels were independent of group membership. Positive correlations were found between group task rankings and number of messages sent, number of high level message's sent, and highest phase level message attained in each group task. Total messages per task decreased during the semester, and while two of the four groups significantly decreased in average communication score, only four of the eighteen individuals in the study showed a significant decrease in average communication score. The researcher concluded that the amount and level of communication between on-line problem-solving groups were important factors in group academic achievement, and that students communication phase level was dependent upon whether the students were on campus or off campus.
Investigating ontology based query expansion using a probabilistic retrieval model

This research briefly outlines the problems of traditional information retrieval systems and discusses the different approaches to inferring context in document retrieval. By context we mean word disambiguation which is achieved by exploring the generalisation-specialisation hierarchies within a given ontology. Specifically, we examine the use of ontology based query expansion for defining query context. Query expansion can be done in many ways and in this work we consider the use of relevance feedback and pseudo-relevance feedback for query expansion. We examine relevance feedback and pseudo-relevance to ascertain the existence of performance differences between relevance feedback and pseudo-relevance feedback. The information retrieval system used is based on the probabilistic retrieval model and the query expansion method is extended using information from a news domain ontology. The aim of this project is to assess the impact of the use of the ontology on the query expansion results. Our results show that ontology based query expansion has resulted in a higher number of relevant documents being retrieved compared to the standard relevance feedback process. Overall, ontology based query expansion improves recall but does not produce any significant improvements for the precision results. Pseudo-relevance feedback has achieved better results than relevance feedback. We also found that reducing or increasing the relevance feedback parameters (number of terms or number of documents) does not correlate with the results. When comparing the effect of varying the number of terms parameter with the number of documents parameter, the former benefits the pseudo-relevance feedback results but the latter has an additional effect on the relevance feedback results. There are many factors which influence the success of ontology based query expansion. The thesis discusses these factors and gives some guidelines on using ontologies for the purpose of query expansion.
Automatic tuning of the op-1 synthesizer using a multi-objective genetic algorithm

Calibrating a sound synthesizer to replicate or approximate a given target sound is a complex and time consuming task for musicians and sound designers. In the case of the OP1, a commercial synthesizer developed by Teenage Engineering, the difficulty is multiple. The OP-1 contains several synthesis engines, effects and low frequency oscillators, which make the parameters search space very large and discontinuous. Furthermore, interactions between parameters are common and the OP-1 is not fully deterministic. We address the problem of automatically calibrating the parameters of the OP-1 to approximate a given target sound. We propose and evaluate a solution to this problem using a multi-objective Non-dominated-Sorting-GeneticAlgorithm-II. We show that our approach makes it possible to handle the problem complexity, and returns a small set of presets that best approximate the target sound while covering the Pareto front of this multi-objective optimization problem.
Aporte e decomposição de serapilheira em um fragmento de cerrado sensu stricto

Considerando a importância da ciclagem de nutrientes como indicador na manutencao da produtividade do ecossistema, o presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a dinâmica sazonal de producao e taxa de decomposicao de serapilheira em um fragmento de Cerrado sensu stricto. Para avaliacao de aporte de serapilheira foram utilizados 50 coletores circulares com 112,8 cm de diâmetro, distribuidos sistematicamente. As coletas de serapilheira foram realizadas mensalmente de junho de 2016 a maio 2017 e o material coletado foi acondicionado em sacos plasticos, posteriormente levados para o laboratorio onde foi realizada a separacao nas fracoes folhas, galhos e material reprodutivo. Posteriormente, o material foi embalado em sacos de papel e levado a estufa a temperatura de 70 oC, para a determinacao do peso seco. A decomposicao da serapilheira foi avaliada utilizando-se o metodo de litter bags, com distribuicao aleatoria de 288 litter bags que continham 20 gramas de folhas e 24 litter bags que continham 20 gramas de galhos. A producao anual de serapilheira foi quantificada em 6.042,50 kg.ha-1.a-1, em que a fracao foliar foi predominante apresentando uma producao de 4.644,40 kg.ha-1.a-1, seguida da fracao galhos (1.084,10 kg.ha-1.a-1) e material reprodutivo (329,90 kg.ha-1.a-1). A producao de serapilheira obteve maior producao no mes de julho com 1.464,00 kg.ha-1 e menor producao no mes de dezembro (138,70 kg.ha-1). Foi observada correlacao negativa significativa entre a producao de serapilheira e suas fracoes com a precipitacao pluviometrica e umidade relativa do ar. A decomposicao da massa foliar atingiu 49% e a de galhos 50%, durante o periodo de nove meses, em que a constante de decomposicao (k) para massa foliar e para galhos foi de 0,0030 g g-1dia-1. Por esta constante, a estimativa para o desaparecimento de massa total foi estimada em 1.000 dias (29 meses). E possivel concluir que a producao de serapilheira apresentou sazonalidade bem marcada, com maior producao durante a epoca seca e menor na epoca chuvosa, com forte influencia de precipitacao e umidade relativa do ar na deposicao das folhas. A decomposicao se mostrou lenta tanto para folhas como para galhos obtendo assim o valor da constante de decomposicao 0,0030 g g-1dia-1 para ambos.
How to Read Superhero Comics and Why

Melancholy and the Infinite Earths The Bat and the Watchmen - Introducing the Revisionary Superhero Narrative 'It is with considerable difficulty ' - The Revisionary Superhero Narrative, Phase Two America's Best Comics - Tracing the (Re)visionary Company Pumping up the Volume - The Revisionary Superhero Narrative Approaches the New Age The Superhero as Critic - The Birth of the Modern Age Epilogue - Pop Comics, Harold Bloom at Harvard, and the Oedipal Fallacy.
Computer reading machines for poor readers

Computer reading machines that convert printed material into speech can provide substantial assistance to many people with learning disabilities who have poor reading skills. They can enhance their reading rate and comprehension and increase the length of time that reading can be sustained. A new generation of computer reading machines now have become available that provide a substantial improvement in the way in which printed material is displayed. They allow user to see an accurate image of the page being read including illustrations, layout, and formatting in addition to the text. The quality of the synthesized speech is improved and facilities for enhancing comprehension and critical reading are provided. We have studied the efficacy of one of these reading machines, the Kurzweil 3000, in enhancing reading performance of a group of community college students. The results of this study presented in this article include models that can be used to predict the enhancement in reading performance that individuals can expect based upon tests of unaided reading and oral language skills.
The Ambient Actor Model

Today mobile devices can interact with their environment through wireless communication. Wireless communication has a limited communication range; which introduces two major problems, currently not captured in distributed middleware. First, they are less reliable than their wired variants and secondly they are extremely dynamic. Both problems complicate the development of mobile software. In this paper we extend the operational semantics of the actor model to capture these two properties. We do this by adding a signle new concept to the model: the mailbox. This paper provides a foundation for new implementations of the actor language and frameworks that are usable in the context of wireless network environments. Refering: DVB04] Werner Van Belle, Jessie Dedecker; The Ambient Actor Model; Programming Technology Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Computer Science Department University of Tromso; Published by online publications, Malmvegen 206, 9022 Tromso; Online at
Position and Force-direction Detection for Multi-finger Electrostatic Haptic System Using a Vision-based Touch Panel

This article proposes a method of detecting position and force-direction for multi-finger electrostatic haptic system using a vision-based touch panel. The system consists of a vision-based touch panel, a transparent ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) electrode on the panel, and multiple stimulators with markers. Analyzing positions of the markers with the vision-based touch panel, the proposed method can detect position and force-direction of each stimulator. Detection of applied force direction is imperative to reduce undesired stickiness of virtual walls in passive haptic rendering systems. The developed system could successfully reduced the stickiness, but its performance was limited due to the limited tracking performance of the touch panel.
Que reste-t-il de la gestion privée de l'eau en Argentine ? Retour sur l'échec des délégations à des consortiums internationaux

Face a un champ de l'eau traditionnellement fragmente en de multiples thematiques rivales - reseau, ressource, service public, marchandise, bien collectif, droit a l'eau -, le present ouvrage, faconne au sein d'un veritable atelier pluridisciplinaire, le " res-eau-ville " du CNRS, rassemblant des specialistes venus des divers horizons des sciences humaines et sociales, entend contribuer a une indispensable " reunification ". Au fil d'exemples nationaux, regionaux ou locaux et sur quatre continents (Europe, Amerique latine, Afrique, Asie), se dessine avec force le fil conducteur qui rattache la gestion de l'eau au processus de la mondialisation. L'eau mondialisee apparait comme un laboratoire global ou s'elaborent des gouvernances aussi diverses qu'originales. Les modeles anciens sont bouscules par la dynamique des forces sociales : usagers, collectivites territoriales, ONG, technocraties nationales et internationales. Des experiences sont engagees, des conflits eclatent, des compromis se nouent, des pratiques recoivent valeur juridique, des institutions sont mises en place : par-dela ce bouillonnement d'idees et d'initiatives se profile l'un des enjeux majeurs du XXIe siecle, a savoir la prise en charge collective d'un acces a l'eau du plus grand nombre.
Measurement Theory and Practice in Kinesiology

This is a text for post graduate students, researchers and professionals in sport and exercise science. It provides readers with a good grounding of the basics of measurement techniques in physical activity, by focusing on understanding the concept behind techniques. Material covered in the book takes a broad look at measurement issues in the physical domain, including reliability, ethical and technical issues and bias. It also takes an in-depth look at the advanced statistical techniques in measurement, such as structural equation modelling, hierarchical linear modelling and dealing with large and small data sets.
Seminarieboken : att skriva, presentera och opponera. 2. uppl.

En undervisningsform som blir allt vanligare vid hogskolor och universitet ar seminariet. Dar deltar de studerande aktivt genom att skriva uppsatser, rapporter eller pm och sedan presentera och diskutera dessa. Detta kursmoment skiljer sig pa manga satt fran de kursmoment dar tyngdpunkten ligger pa inlasning med kunskaps¬kontroll i form av skriftliga tentamina dar studenterna besvarar stallda fragor. Genom seminarieformen ges en mojlighet for den studerande att samla in, analysera och presentera information med ett bredare innehall. Studenterna far aven mojlighet att skapa nagonting nytt genom att kombinera ihop olika ideer och att vardera olika losningsalternativ och handlingsvagar. De tranas aven i vetenskapligt tankesatt och vetenskapliga metoder. Vid betygssattningen tas hansyn till det skrivna, hur detta presenterats och forsvarats samt hur oppositionen genomforts. Ibland tar man vid betygssattning aven hansyn till hur processen sett ut dar aspekter sasom hallande av tidplaner, delinlamningar och aktivt deltagande vid handledningstillfallen vags in. Vanligtvis behandlas dessa delar i separata bocker. Denna seminariebok tacker dock alla de delar som normalt ingar i seminariemomentet. En grundlaggande ide for boken ar namligen att den ska vara heltackande i meningen att alla de olika komponenter som ar relevanta for seminarier med rapport- eller uppsatsskrivande ska finnas i boken. En annan grundlaggande ide ar att boken ska vara kortfattad. Trots att den spanner over manga olika omraden vill vi att den ska ha ett begransat sidantal. Slutligen vill vi att boken ska vara enkel. Darfor har vi lagt in olika figurer och exempel samt forsokt skriva lattfattligt och rakt pa sak. Boken ar tankt att anvandas pa hogskolor, universitet och inom annan eftergymnasial utbildning. Pa lagre nivaer eller mindre utbildningsmoment kan den utgora den enda metodboken, pa hogre nivaer eller storre utbildningsmoment kan den kompletteras med andra mer specialiserade och djupgaende metodbocker. I boken ges allman, praktisk information om hur ett uppsatsarbete lampligen kan laggas upp, genomforas och avslutas. Boken vander sig framst till studerande, men det ar var forhoppning att aven handledare och andra ska finna den givande. I boken behandlas de traditionella metodfragorna. Fokus i metod-avsnittet ligger pa att medvetandegora och kritiskt reflektera kring hur val av tillvagagangssatt vid insamlande och bearbetning av information/material paverkar studien pa olika satt. Vetenskaps¬teori behandlas endast perifert. Boken ger ocksa rad och praktiska tips om hur en uppsats kan presenteras. Aven layoutfragor behand¬las. Dessutom tas fragorna om opposition och uppsatsbedomning upp. I anslutning till bedomningsavsnittet behandlas aven fragan om fusk. I den lopande texten finns exempel insprangda som illustrerar den forda diskussionen. Dessa exempel ar konstruerade, men baseras pa vara erfarenheter som handledare och examinatorer. (Less)
Application of Bradford's and Lotka's distribution to bio-energy literature: A study based on ten abstracting services

Attempts to apply Bradford's Law of scattering and Lotka's Law of productivity to bio-energy literature and to verify if the law holds good for ten abstracting services (eight international and two Indian). It has been verified that literature related to bio-energy conforms to Bradford's law of scattering and that grouping of services (all services together) also yields a Bradford distribution. The new model developed in this study fits the data very satisfactorily - r value ranged from 0.952 to 0.998 (for papers from journal titles) and 0.989 to 0.998 (for papers from conference proceedings). The value of p (multiplication factor) for bio-energy literature ranged from 2.19 to 4.09 (except for IEA and ISA) for articles from journal titles and from 2.02 to 4.59 for papers from conference titles. Results of linear regression showed that Lotka's distribution holds good for bio-energy literature and the value of n ranged between 2.5 and 4.5. The K-S test confirmed these findings.
The roles of signed language interpreters in post-secondary education settings in South Africa

Signed language interpreting in South Africa has not received much academic attention, despite the profession having undergone major transformation since the advent of democracy. This study aims to create a better understanding of signed language interpreters’ behaviour in one specific setting in South Africa – post-secondary education. During the researcher’s own practice as an educational interpreter at a post-secondary institution, she experienced role conflict and found little information available to assist her in making professional decisions on which direction to take. This provided the impetus to embark on this research. The study begins by outlining the field of liaison interpreting and educational interpreting, and examining the existing literature regarding the interpreter’s role and norms in interpreting. It then goes on to examine authentic interpreted texts, filmed in actual lectures in post-secondary settings. These texts are analysed with reference to interpreter shifts and deviations from the source text, with particular focus on interpreter-generated utterances (additions), borrowing (fingerspelling), omissions (both errors and conscious choice) and various types of collaboration between the interpreter and primary participants. These shifts are examined in more detail to explore whether they indicate any change in the interpreter’s role. Further, interpreters’ own views about their practice, elicited from individual interviews, enable the reader to understand how the interpreters view the role(s) that they fulfil. The research will provide information for interpreter trainers about the roles assumed by SASL interpreters in higher education and provide a platform from which to scaffold future educational interpreter research and training.
Microarray-based gene set analysis in cancer studies.

This work addresses the development and application of gene set analysis methods to problems in microarray-based data sets. The work consists of three parts. In the first part a gene set analysis method (PCOT2) is developed. It utilizes inter-gene correlation to detect significant alteration in gene sets across experimental conditions. The second part is focused on the exploration of correlation-based gene sets in conjunction with the application of the PCOT2 testing method in the investigation of biological mechanisms underlying breast cancer recurrence. In the third part, statistical models for analyzing combined microarray-based expression and genomic copy number data are developed. In addition, an analysis which incorporates tumour subgroups is shown to provide more accurate prognosis assessment for breast cancer patients.
Applying Wikipedia to Interactive Information Retrieval

There are many opportunities to improve the interactivity of information retrieval systems beyond the ubiquitous search box. One idea is to use knowledge bases—e.g. controlled vocabularies, classification schemes, thesauri and ontologies—to organize, describe and navigate the information space. These resources are popular in libraries and specialist collections, but have proven too expensive and narrow to be applied to everyday webscale search. Wikipedia has the potential to bring structured knowledge into more widespread use. This online, collaboratively generated encyclopaedia is one of the largest and most consulted reference works in existence. It is broader, deeper and more agile than the knowledge bases put forward to assist retrieval in the past. Rendering this resource machine-readable is a challenging task that has captured the interest of many researchers. Many see it as a key step required to break the knowledge acquisition bottleneck that crippled previous efforts. This thesis claims that the roadblock can be sidestepped: Wikipedia can be applied effectively to open-domain information retrieval with minimal natural language processing or information extraction. The key is to focus on gathering and applying human-readable rather than machine-readable knowledge. To demonstrate this claim, the thesis tackles three separate problems: extracting knowledge from Wikipedia; connecting it to textual documents; and applying it to the retrieval process. First, we demonstrate that a large thesaurus-like structure can be obtained directly from Wikipedia, and that accurate measures of semantic relatedness can be efficiently mined from it. Second, we show that Wikipedia provides the necessary features and training data for existing data mining techniques to accurately detect and disambiguate topics when they are mentioned in plain text. Third, we provide two systems and user studies that demonstrate the utility of the Wikipedia-derived knowledge base for interactive information retrieval.
Advanced BASIC meta-analysis

Contents: Preface. Meta-Analysis: An Introduction. Defining the Hypothesis Test. Retrieving the Studies. Retrieving Statistical Tests of the Hypothesis. Retrieving Predictors of Study Outcomes. Combinations of Significance Levels and Effect Sizes. Diffuse Comparisons of Significance Levels and Effect Sizes. Focused Comparisons of Significance Levels and Effect Sizes (Complex Effects). Focused Comparisons of Significance Levels and Effect Sizes (Simple Effects). The Most Commonly Asked Questions About Meta-Analysis. Advanced BASIC Meta-Analysis: An Integrated Database Management System and Statistical Package.
ANIMATED MESH SIMPLIFICATION BASED ON SALIENCY METRICS

ANIMATED MESH SIMPLIFICATION BASED ON SALIENCY METRICS Ahmet Tolgay M.S. in Computer Engineering Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ugur Gudukbay and Asst. Prof. Dr. Tolga K. Capin July, 2008 Mesh saliency identifies the visually important parts of a mesh. Mesh simplification algorithms using mesh saliency as simplification criterion preserve the salient features of a static 3D model. In this thesis, we propose a saliency measure that will be used to simplify animated 3D models. This saliency measure uses the acceleration and deceleration information about a dynamic 3D mesh in addition to the saliency information for static meshes. This provides the preservation of sharp features and visually important cues during animation. Since oscillating motions are also important in determining saliency, we propose a technique to detect oscillating motions and incorporate it into the saliency based animated model simplification algorithm. The proposed technique is experimented on animated models making oscillating motions and promising visual results are obtained.