Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temporality in Hillier and Hanson's Theory of Spatial Description: Some Implications Of Historical Research For Space Syntax

This paper proposes that Hillier and Hanson’s thought on society and space has wider implications for social theory in general and for applied historical research in particular than has previously been acknowledged. This epistemological isolation can, to an extent, be explained pragmatically by the inevitable difficulties of inter-disciplinary translation of historical research conducted in space syntax mode. However, the principle concern of this paper is to explore a more fundamental, theoretical, reason why researchers in the historical disciplines can struggle to engage with Hillier and Hanson’s work: namely the marginalization of temporality in the ‘theory of spatial description’ that is the conceptual foundation of the space syntax theory. The claim is not that time has been altogether ignored; on the contrary the temporal nature of reality figures largely in the theory. Rather, the argument here is that this aspect of the theory has, in practice, been deliberately subordinated to the overriding task of articulating a formal morphological grammar of social organization. Perhaps inevitably this emphasis has focused attention on the synchronic structure of space, to which notions of temporality remained essentially external. However, it is equally clear that this emphasis has come at the cost of introducing some inconsistencies in the underlying theoretical proposition of spatial description. The consequence, it is claimed, has been to amplify the difficulty in using Hillier and Hanson to articulate temporality in space. This difficulty raises issues not only for those with a particular concern in built environment history but, more generally, with anyone concerned to understand the complex relationship of architectural space to how people live. Through a critical review of space syntax theory and its intellectual antecedents in the light of what could be termed the ‘temporal turn’ in the physical sciences, this paper makes the case for time-space descriptions as a natural development of Hillier and Hanson’s theory of spatial description that is necessary if space syntax research wishes to extend its engagement with the historical disciplines
Small pitch 3 D devices

3D sensors are a promising option for the innermost pixel layers at the High Luminosity LHC. However, the required very high hit-rate capabilities, increased pixel granularity, extreme radiation hardness, and reduced material budget call for a device downscale as compared to existing 3D sensors, involving smaller pitch (e.g., 50×50 or 25×100 μm), shorter inter-electrode spacing (~30 μm), narrower electrodes (~5 μm), and reduced active thickness (~100 μm). The development of a new generation of 3D pixel sensors with these challenging features is under way by many research groups, in collaboration with processing facilities like FBK, CNM, and SINTEF. This paper talk will review the lessons learned from existing 3D detectors, and will address the main design and technological issues for small pitch 3D devices. Preliminary results from the electrical and functional characterization of the first prototypes will be reported and compared to TCAD simulations.
Distributed algorithms for interacting autonomous agents

Dit proefschrift betreft gedistribueerde algoritmes voor interacterende autonome agenten. We heroverwegen een subklasse van stochastische matrices, de Sarymsakov klasse van stochastische matrices, en verkennen de relatie met andere bekende klassen van stochastische matrices. De klassieke voorwaarden aangaande de convergentie van producten van stochastische matrices zijn heroverwogen en een nieuwe noodzakelijke en voldoende voorwaarde zijn voorgesteld door gebruik te maken van de Sarymsakov matrices. De voorwaarden zijn toegepast om een asynchroon implementatie probleem voor een gedistribueerd coordinatie algoritme op te lossen, wat ervoor zorgt dat een groep agenten overeenstemming bereikt. Gebruik makend van de theorie van structurele balans, welke zijn oorsprong vindt in de studie van sociale netwerken, onderzoeken we gedistribueerde algoritmes in aanwezigheid van positieve en negatieve koppelingen. Aangetoond is dat de toestand van het systeem polariseert of convergeert naar een afgesproken waarde van nul. Naast het bestuderen van het systeem dan overeenstemming bereikt of polariseert, hebben we drie mechanismes onderscheiden die kunnen leiden tot clustering gedrag in gedistribueerde gekoppelde netwerken. Meer inzicht is verkregen door het beheersbaarheid probleem en het cluster synchronisatie problemen van meerdere- agent systemen gezamenlijk te bestuderen. Die meerdere-agent systemen die niet beheersbaar zijn in eindige tijd, realiseren cluster synchronisatie wanneer de tijd naar oneindig gaat. Bovendien onderzoeken we het klok synchronisatie probleem in gedistribueerde netwerken met communicatie tijdsvertragingen en leiden we voorwaarden af voor de asymptotische synchronisatie fouten.
Kepler observations of a roAp star: delta Scuti and gamma Doradus pulsations in Ap stars

Observations of the A5p star KIC 8677585 obtained during the Kepler 10-d commissioning run with 1-min time resolution show that it is a roAp star with several frequencies with periods near 10 min. In addition, a low frequency at 3.142 cycles/day is also clearly present. Multiperiodic gamma Doradus and delta Scuti pulsations, never before seen in any Ap star, are present in Kepler observations of at least three other Ap stars. Since gamma Doradus pulsations are seen in Ap stars, it is likely that the low-frequency in KIC 8677585 is also a gamma Doradus pulsation. The simultaneous presence of both gamma Doradus and roAp pulsations and the unexpected detection of delta Scuti and gamma Doradus pulsations in Ap stars present new opportunities and challenges for the interpretation of these stars.
Lipid profile in psoriasis patients

Objective: To compare the lipid profile values of psoriatic patients with those of age and sexmatched nonpsoriatic controls, while providing a review of the literature. Methods: A total of 20 consecutive patients with chronic plaque psoriasis (18 males and two females) and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals without psoriasis were included as controls in this study. Serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein were measured after 12 hours of overnight fasting. Results: The serum levels of total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were found to be higher in both the psoriatic and the control group; thus there were no statistically significant difference between both groups of individuals. Conclusion: Psoriasis is now emerging as an important systemic disease associated with various comorbid conditions that include diabetes, hypertension, and an abnormal lipid profile as reviewed by various studies. Such comorbid conditions that are linked with psoriasis have been associated with increasing rates of morbidity and mortality. Our study indicated that there was an increase in total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in both patients and controls, indicating that there is an overall increase of these levels in the general population. Therefore, it is important that the lipid profiles of these patients continue to be studied.
“Sending the Wrong Message”: Did Medical Marijuana Legalization in California Change Attitudes about and use of Marijuana?

This study was designed to assess the affect of legalization of medical marijuana on drug-related attitudes and use among youths and young adults in selected communities in California and other states. Telephone survey data, collected as part of a study of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Fighting Back initiative, was utilized to examine reported attitudes about and use of drugs in California and other states before and after Californians passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Descriptive, bivariate, and logistic regression analyses were used to examine attitudes and use among 16 to 25 year olds in California and 10 other states. This study found that although some marijuana-related attitudes changed between 1995 and 1999, use did not increase. These findings suggest that recent policy changes have had little impact on marijuana-related behavior.
An Approach to Encouraging and Evaluating Learner's Knowledge Contribution in Web-Based Collaborative Learning

Although previous research has demonstrated learning benefits for both instructors and students in the web-based collaborative learning environments, one of the major difficulties is the lack of a practical approach to assist teachers in evaluating the knowledge contribution of learners. A novel method of merging multi-modes of assessment and reward mechanism in a collaborative learning system was examined in this study. The developed system has been applied to a learning activity of a web programming and design course and 102 2nd-year college students from two classes were invited to participate in this research. The system logs and assessment results were analyzed through system use over 6 weeks. The experimental results showed not only could the proposed approach provide instructors with feedback, it could also evaluate and improve learning. In addition, learners could easily and efficiently manage their learning outcomes, share knowledge with one another, reflect on and notify others of learning outcomes and learning status, and engage in high-level reflective practices.
Inhibitory priming in auditory word recognition: Is it really the product of response biases?

Les etudes en amorcage phonologique ont revele des temps de reponse plus lents lorsque des mots cibles sont precedes d’une amorce partageant avec eux les premiers phonemes. Cependant, l’interpretation de l’effet d’amorcage inhibiteur est source de controverses. Alors que certains auteurs ont interprete l’effet comme refletant des processus lexicaux, Pitt et Shoaf (2002) ont emis l’hypothese que l’effet resulterait d’une surprise des participants lorsqu’ils rencontrent le premier essai relie. Pour eviter un tel biais de reponse, nous avons inclus des amorces et des cibles reliees dans la session d’entrainement, et nous avons compare comme l’ont fait Pitt et Shoaf, l’amplitude de l’effet sur le meme item a differents points durant le decours temporel de l’experience. Aucun changement dans la taille de l’effet entre le debut et la fin de l’experience n’a ete observe. De plus, une analyse additionnelle a montre que la taille de l’effet correle avec la densite du voisinage phonologique. Cette observation indique que l’origine de l’effet est lexicale et qu’il n’est pas exclusivement le reflet de processus strategiques.
A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis and Hospital Hemodialysis

A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed to compare a hemodialysis (HD) program to a continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) program for the fiscal year 1980-81 and expressed in 1980 Canadian dollars. The viewpoint is that of the Provincial Department of Health. Direct costs included physician fees and all hospital costs. Overhead costs were allocated to all relevant cost centres. Support costs were allocated to service and patient care cost centres using a simultaneous equation method. A fully allocated unit cost for each service was calculated, and the utilization of each service was extracted from records for each patient. The cost per life year gained was CA$48,700 for HD and CA$33,400 for CAPD. Sensitivity analysis for the level of nursing care changes these costs to CA$47,000 for HD and CA$41,000 for CAPD. Despite having older patients in the CAPD program, a smaller program scale, and an assumption of high-level nursing care, CAPD remains more cost-effective than hospital hemodialysis. (Med Decis Making 4:489-500, 1984)
List Viterbi algorithms for wireless systems

The conventional list Viterbi algorithm (LVA) produces a list of the L best output sequences over a certain block length in decoding a terminated convolutional code. We show in this paper that the list Viterbi algorithm with a sufficiently long list is the optimum maximum likelihood decoder for the concatenated pair of a convolutional code and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) block code with error detection. The CRC is used to select the output. New LVAs for continuous transmission are proposed and evaluated, where no termination bits are required for the convolutional code for every CRC block. For broadcasting high quality digital audio signals it is beneficial to use error concealment/error mitigation techniques to avoid the worst type of channel errors. We demonstrate how the LVA can significantly reduce the error mitigation flag rate compared to the regular VA for the same transmission parameters. A receiver optional LVA can reduce the flag rate by more than an order of magnitude.
Contrasting appraisals of quality and value of beef carcasses in Spain and the United States

SUMMARY The objective of the current paper was to compare those parameters used in the European Union and United States beef grading system, in typical carcasses of each market (Spain in the case of Europe), and their influence in the economic value of beef. To achieve these objectives, twenty Spanish intact bulls of the Pirenaica breed (Southern Europe) were slaughtered at 351 days of age and 330 kg of carcass weight on average. These carcasses could be considered the typical Spanish yearling bull. Twenty US beef steers carcasses were randomly selected at Tyson Fresh Meats, Joslin (Illlinois) which have been designated as “Angus influenced” . Spaniard bulls produced carcasses with superior conformation scores, higher carcass yield , and greater longissimus dorsi area; the US carcasses, were heavier because they were significantly older than the Pirenaica bulls carcasses, (18 vs 12 months), although both type of carcasses had the same maturity grade (A). Beside, US carcasses were fatter because they showed higher marbling grades, thinker dorsal fat and a higher proportion of pelvic, kidney and hearth fat. The Spaniard beef had a higher economic value than the US beef with regard to pricing based on the European beef carcass grading system (21% higher per kilogram basis and 11% higher per carcass basis). However, the Spaniard beef had a lower value than the US beef when using the USDA beef grading system (27% higher per kilogram basis and 35% higher per carcass basis). These results show that each beef market values different characteristics when pricing beef and a highly valuated product in a market not necessary have to be highly evaluated in other market.
PERCUTANEOUS RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION OF OSTEOID OSTEOMA

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a relatively new technique to produce cell death by radiowaves (460– 480 kHz) caused by an alternating current emitted from the tip of a needle electrode and causing local ions vibration producing heat. In orthopaedic fields RFA has been proposed for the treatment of osteoid osteoma and painful metastases. Methods: 121 patients with a clinical and radiographic accerted osteoid osteoma have been treated with percutaneous radiofrequency ablation at our institutions from 1998 till December 2005. Average age of the patients was 23 years. Preoperative symptoms lasted 10 months on average. The osteoid osteoma was localized at the limbs in 111 cases, at the pelvis in 4 cases and at the spine in 6 cases. Results: At follow up we had 3 cases of recurrences and 2 fair results with a total of 5 unsuccessful cases. The fair results were due to a mistake of radiological indication and one case of ineffectively ablation. We observed 3 cases of skin burns in tibia with superficial infections: 2 cases resolved without treatment while the latter case showed initial bone infection and needed surgical revision. Conclusion: Percutaneous RFA of osteoid osteoma proved to be a successful treatment in more than 95% of the cases with a low complication rate.
Using interactive digital media to engage children on the autistic spectrum

The incidence of autism is increasing in the U.K., with as many as 1% of children now thought to be affected by an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). This research explores the potential of emerging interactive digital media to engage children affected by an ASD, and the development of design strategies for future professional work in this field. This is accomplished through a literature and state of the art review, and by working alongside families and professionals involved in the provision of care for children with an ASD. As a a result of this process new artefacts have been created, alongside a design methodology for future work. The research reveals the need for tailorable low arousal sensory environments within mainstream schools to meet the needs of certain members of the pupil population and demonstrates how interactive digital media can be incorporated into such spaces as part of an holistic approach to a child’s school experience. Using digital media modules trained professionals can work with the child, using the media as a point of engagement. The need to take a holistic approach to the design and understanding of such interventions is examined in the light of the Hexagon Spindle model of educational ergonomics developed by Benedyk et al. (2009). The action research and reflective practice approaches adopted have led to a recognition that design in this field has a number of influences beyond purely user centred design. To account for this a new model of community centred design has been developed.
Transport of short-lived halocarbons to the stratosphere over the Pacific Ocean

Abstract. The effectiveness of transport of short-lived halocarbons to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere remains an important uncertainty in quantifying the supply of ozone-depleting substances to the stratosphere. In early 2014, a major field campaign in Guam in the western Pacific, involving UK and US research aircraft, sampled the tropical troposphere and lower stratosphere. The resulting measurements of CH3I, CHBr3 and CH2Br2 are compared here with calculations from a Lagrangian model. This methodology benefits from an updated convection scheme that improves simulation of the effect of deep convective motions on particle distribution within the tropical troposphere. We find that the observed CH3I, CHBr3 and CH2Br2 mixing ratios in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) are consistent with those in the boundary layer when the new convection scheme is used to account for convective transport. More specifically, comparisons between modelled estimates and observations of short-lived CH3I indicate that the updated convection scheme is realistic up to the lower TTL but is less good at reproducing the small number of extreme convective events in the upper TTL. This study consolidates our understanding of the transport of short-lived halocarbons to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by using improved model calculations to confirm consistency between observations in the boundary layer, observations in the TTL and atmospheric transport processes. Our results support recent estimates of the contribution of short-lived bromocarbons to the stratospheric bromine budget.
Achieving the MDGs – A Note

The material and symbolic importance of these targets make it vital to assess the analytical coherence of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) “project”. In this spirit, this paper highlights complexities and difficulties of the MDG approach. Specifically, it outlines a framework for analysing the MDGs and subsequently discusses measuring progress; achieving and valuing multi-dimensional outcomes; sustainability; devising policies during structural transformation; and implementing policies in a decentralised policy system. These discussions draw attention to limitations of current methods of analysing the MDGs. Indeed, the history of today’s rich countries shows that development is a drawn out, uneven and contradictory process full of reversals and discontinuity. The MDGs, with their ambitious, linear, broad, and essentially ahistorical set of socio-economic goals belie this complexity; contemporary developed countries measured yesterday with today’s MDG yardstick might well have been branded “failures”.
Assessing health worker performance of IMCI in Kenya.

Quality assessment is the measurement of the quality of healthcare services. A quality assessment measures the difference between expected and actual performance to identify opportunities for improvement. Performance standards can be established for most dimensions of quality such as technical competence effectiveness efficiency safety and coverage. Where standards are established a quality assessment measures the level of compliance with standards. For dimensions of quality where standards are more difficult to identify such as continuity of care or accessibility a quality assessment describes the current level of performance with the objective of improving it. A quality assessment frequently combines various data collection methods to overcome the intrinsic biases of each method alone. These methods include direct observation of patient-provider encounters staff interview patient focus group record review and facility inspection among others. The assessment is often the initial step in a larger process which may include providing feedback to health workers on performance training and motivating staff to undertake quality improvements and designing solutions to bridge the quality gap. This case study describes how five Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMOI) trainers and supervisors conducted an assessment of provider knowledge and skill to carry out IMCI at 38 facilities in two districts in Kenya. (excerpt)
Social support and emotions in students from 2 nd and 3 rd cycles of education

This research analyses achievement emotions and their relationship to perceived classroom support (teacher and peers) as well as the effects of grade, achievement and gender on emotions in a specific subject domain: mathematics. The participants were 1.494 Portuguese students from the sixth and eighth grades who were asked about their perceptions of teacher and peer support and their achievement emotions towards mathematics (Boredom, Hopelessness, Anger, Anxiety, Enjoyment, Pride and Relief) in two different settings (classroom and test). Results provide empirical evidence that student perceptions of classroom support were positively related to positive activating emotions and negatively related to negative emotions. Furthermore students with higher mathematics grades were found to have higher scores in positive emotions and lower scores in negative emotions in both classroom and test situations. A decrease in positive emotions and an increase of negative emotions in older students were also found. In regard to gender the analysis highlighted that positive class emotions were not significantly different, and show a significant effect on Anxiety with girls achieving higher scores than boys. In the test situation gender had a significant effect on Hopelessness, Anxiety and Relief, with girls showing higher scores than boys. For positive test emotions boys reported more Enjoyment and Pride than girls.