Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Education in the Chinese national sport system: experiences of professional wushu athletes

Abstract Within the Chinese national sport system, the government provides resources and funding to train athletes from a young age to become high-performance competitors. Though athletes are well supported to excel in their sport, during their years of intense physical training, athletes generally receive little to no formal education to prepare them for life outside of sport. The sacrifice of forgoing formal education to compete in elite level sport is not uncommon for athletes within centralized sporting systems and has been widely documented; however, there is little research that focuses on the impact of the team’s educational systems from the perspective of the athletes. To add to the growing body of research in this area, the authors utilized in-depth interviews to examine professional wushu athletes’ education experiences whilst training on their team. Thematic analysis of the findings revealed that athletes who committed themselves to sport training in the Chinese national system had to negotiate a number of factors related to time, motivation, social influences, and resources when it came to education and academia. Findings highlight the ways in which these athletes experience and come to terms with limited academic opportunities, preparation and support from their team and the training environment.
Hires and Separations as Two Sides of the Same Coin

Hiring largely reflects churn, where workers separate and are replaced by an equal number of others. Hiring occurs to fill vacant slots or, equivalently, separation occurs to move workers to better alternatives. A model of efficient separations yields several testable predictions. Churn is most likely when wages are low and the variance in wages is high. Additionally, churn, which accounts for the majority of hiring, decreases during recessions, hires and separations are correlated over time, and hires fall at the beginning of recessions, with separations declining later to match hiring. These predictions are borne out in the LEHD microdata.
Direct quantitative detection for cell-free miR-155 in urine: a potential role in diagnosis and prognosis for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

High recurrence rates of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) in patients require lifelong testing and monitoring. The aim of this study is to develop a simplified RT-qPCR method (RT-qPCR-D) which directly quantifies cell-free miR-155 in urine without RNA extraction, and assess it as a potential tool in NMIBC detection. A pilot study including 60 urine samples was used to investigate the feasibility of RT-qPCR-D in detecting cell-free miR-155. Then, miR-155 levels were quantified in a large independent cohort of urine from 162 NIMBC patients, 76 cystitis patients, and 86 healthy donors using the RT-qPCR-D method. Changes of cell-free miR-155 before and after operation were also analyzed in 32 NIMBC patients. In pilot study, we found a significant linear association between RT-qPCR and RT-qPCR-D in urinary miR-155 detection. Both methods showed cell-free miR-155 were significantly increased in NMIBC patients, and could reflect their expression in tissues. Then, the increased expression of cell-free miR-155 was successfully validated in 162 NIMBC patients when compared with cystitis patients and healthy donors. Moreover, it distinguished NMIBC patients from others with 80.2% sensitivity and 84.6% specificity, which was superior to urine cytology. Cell-free miR-155 correlated with NMIBC stage and grade, and was an independent factor for predicting recurrence and progression to muscle invasion. In addition, cell-free miR-155 was significantly decreased after NMIBC patients underwent transurethral bladder resection. In conclusion, detection of cell-free miR-155 in urine using RT-qPCR-D is a simple and noninvasive approach which may be used for NMIBC diagnosis and prognosis prediction.
MULTIFRACTAL INTERNET TRAFFIC MODEL AND ACTIVE QUEUE MANAGEMENT

Abstract : We propose a multilevel (hierarchical) ON/OFF model to simultaneously capture the mono/multifractal behavior of Internet traffic. Parameter estimation methods are developed and applied to estimate the model parameters from real traces. Wavelet analysis and simulation results show that the synthetic traffic (using this new model with estimated parameters) and real traffic share the same statistical properties and queuing behaviors. Based on this model and its statistical properties, as described by the Logscale diagram of traces, we propose an efficient method to predict the queuing behavior of FIFO and RED queues. In order to satisfy a given delay and jitter requirement for real time connections, and to provide high goodput and low packet loss for non-real time connections, we also propose a parallel virtual queue control structure to offer differential quality of services. This new queue control structure is modeled and analyzed as a regular nonlinear dynamic system. The conditions for system stability and optimization are found (under certain simplifying assumptions) and discussed. The theoretical stationary distribution of queue length is validated by simulation.
Coarse-to-Fine Construction for High-Resolution Representation in Visual Working Memory

Background This study explored whether the high-resolution representations created by visual working memory (VWM) are constructed in a coarse-to-fine or all-or-none manner. The coarse-to-fine hypothesis suggests that coarse information precedes detailed information in entering VWM and that its resolution increases along with the processing time of the memory array, whereas the all-or-none hypothesis claims that either both enter into VWM simultaneously, or neither does. Methodology/Principal Findings We tested the two hypotheses by asking participants to remember two or four complex objects. An ERP component, contralateral delay activity (CDA), was used as the neural marker. CDA is higher for four objects than for two objects when coarse information is primarily extracted; yet, this CDA difference vanishes when detailed information is encoded. Experiment 1 manipulated the comparison difficulty of the task under a 500-ms exposure time to determine a condition in which the detailed information was maintained. No CDA difference was found between two and four objects, even in an easy-comparison condition. Thus, Experiment 2 manipulated the memory array’s exposure time under the easy-comparison condition and found a significant CDA difference at 100 ms while replicating Experiment 1′s results at 500 ms. In Experiment 3, the 500-ms memory array was blurred to block the detailed information; this manipulation reestablished a significant CDA difference. Conclusions/Significance These findings suggest that the creation of high-resolution representations in VWM is a coarse-to-fine process.
Predictors of Metabolic Syndrome in Participants of a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular events in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study assessed the predictors of metabolic syndrome, both its incidence and resolution in a cohort of cardiac rehabilitation program graduates. Methods. A total of 154 and 80 participants without and with metabolic syndrome respectively were followed for 48 months. Anthropometric measurements, metabolic risk factors, and quality of life were assessed at baseline and at 48 months. Logistic regression models were used to assess the predictors of metabolic syndrome onset and resolution. Results. Increasing waist circumference (OR 1.175, P ≤ 0.001) was an independent predictor for incident metabolic syndrome (R 2 for model = 0.46). Increasing waist circumference (OR 1.234, P ≤ 0.001), decreasing HDL-C (OR 0.027, P = 0.005), and increasing triglycerides (OR 3.005, P = 0.003) were predictors of metabolic syndrome resolution. Conclusion. Patients with CVD that further develop metabolic syndrome are particularly susceptible for the cascade of cardiovascular events and mortality. Increasing waist circumference confers a higher risk for future onset of metabolic syndrome in this group of patients. They will require closer follow-up and should be targeted for further prevention strategies after cardiac rehabilitation program completion.
A Secure and Robust Compressed Domain Video Steganography for Intra- and Inter-Frames Using Embedding-Based Byte Differencing (EBBD) Scheme

This paper presents a novel secure and robust steganographic technique in the compressed video domain namely embedding-based byte differencing (EBBD). Unlike most of the current video steganographic techniques which take into account only the intra frames for data embedding, the proposed EBBD technique aims to hide information in both intra and inter frames. The information is embedded into a compressed video by simultaneously manipulating the quantized AC coefficients (AC-QTCs) of luminance components of the frames during MPEG-2 encoding process. Later, during the decoding process, the embedded information can be detected and extracted completely. Furthermore, the EBBD basically deals with two security concepts: data encryption and data concealing. Hence, during the embedding process, secret data is encrypted using the simplified data encryption standard (S-DES) algorithm to provide better security to the implemented system. The security of the method lies in selecting candidate AC-QTCs within each non-overlapping 8 × 8 sub-block using a pseudo random key. Basic performance of this steganographic technique verified through experiments on various existing MPEG-2 encoded videos over a wide range of embedded payload rates. Overall, the experimental results verify the excellent performance of the proposed EBBD with a better trade-off in terms of imperceptibility and payload, as compared with previous techniques while at the same time ensuring minimal bitrate increase and negligible degradation of PSNR values.
Understanding Festival-Goers and Their Experience at UK Music Festivals

This article explores the influence of sociodemographic characteristics in determining the perceived importance of attributes of the UK music festival experience to festival-goers. Quantitative data were collected through an online survey using a cluster, snowball sampling technique and 586 respondents completed the survey. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to identify factors of the festival experience, whereas linear regression and structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed the relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics of festival-goers and the resulting experience constructs against the overall evaluated experience. From eight major factors, seven hypotheses were identified. The results revealed the most important factors to the overall experience to be entertainment, added value, and music, whereas the remaining factors did not have a direct impact. Conversely, the sociodemographic characteristics contributing to the dependent constructs were primarily age and gender, followed by education and marital status. The location where festival-goers grew up and their employment status had minimal impact. The practical implications of this study provide the opportunity for festival organizers to direct their strategic management efforts towards the elements of the festival experience that are most important to their targeted or typical festival-goers. This article also addresses a notable gap in the literature by evaluating the importance of specific experience attributes in the context of popular UK music festivals. Moreover, it examines the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics of festival-goers and the importance of experience attributes to the overall UK music festival experience.
Design and performance analysis of permanent magnet flux-switching motors using segmental permanent magnets

This paper proposes a structure of permanent magnet flux- switching motors (PMFSM) using “mixed” segmental permanent magnets, which is based on analysis of the structure and the operational principle of PMFSM. The paper researches the influence of tangential and radial segmental permanent magnets on motor’s electromagnetic torque, torque ripple and cogging torque respectively, which is based on the finite element analysis of a 12/10 three phase permanent magnet flux-switching motor. The research shows that the motors using this new structure can reduce torque ripple and cogging torque by comparing with the conventional permanent magnet flux-switching motor, and the motors have negligible influence on the other performances, such as the flux linkage and the induced voltage.
The impact of an introduction to community psychology course on refugee sense of empowerment

This study examines the impact of an Introduction to Community Psychology course on the empowerment of adult refugees living in Egypt. The course was designed and implemented at a refugee center located in downtown Cairo. For a period of 10 weeks, refugees enrolled in the course conducted a community needs assessment (CNA) to identify the resources and needs of a community in Cairo. The refugee students then designed and implemented a community intervention to help meet the needs of their chosen community. The course sought to empower adult refugees by 1) increasing their knowledge and skill level of the CNA process, 2) building their knowledge of community intervention skills, 3) imparting to them practical and applicable skills in working with communities and groups, 4) giving them the opportunity to effect change in their own communities, and 5) providing them with an opportunity to build relationships across refugee communities. To assess the impact of the course, students completed pretest and posttest scales measuring optimism, self-esteem and self-efficacy along with a retrospective survey assessing learning. Reflective journals kept by students during the course were also analyzed for themes related to learning and empowerment. Results revealed that, overall, the Introduction to Community Psychology course had a meaningful impact on students learning experience but did not significantly impact levels of optimism, self-esteem or self-efficacy. Sixty percent of participants reported a large increase in their knowledge of the steps of conducting a CNA. In addition, a thematic analysis identified four key themes: (a) improved understanding of how to conduct a CNA, (b) key content knowledge of the field of community psychology, (c) empowering learning environment, and (d) greater understanding of how to plan and design a community intervention. The results provide insight into the strengths and challenges of using a community psychology approach to empower refugees. REFUGEE SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT 9
Unsupervised authorship attribution

We describe a technique for attributing parts of a written text to a set of unknown authors. Nothing is assumed to be known a priori about the writing styles of potential authors. We use multiple independent clusterings of an input text to identify parts that are similar and dissimilar to one another. We describe algorithms necessary to combine the multiple clusterings into a meaningful output. We show results of the application of the technique on texts having multiple writing styles.
Isometric registration of ambiguous and partial data

This paper introduces a new shape matching algorithm for computing correspondences between 3D surfaces that have undergone (approximately) isometric deformations. The new approach makes two main contributions: First, the algorithm is, unlike previous work, robust to “topological noise” such as large holes or “false connections”, which is both observed frequently in real-world scanner data. Second, our algorithm samples the space of feasible solutions such that uncertainty in matching can be detected explicitly. We employ a novel randomized feature matching algorithm in order to find robust subsets of geodesics to verify isometric consistency. The paper shows shape matching results for real world and synthetic data sets that could not be handled using previous deformable matching algorithms.
A Conceptual modelling of QOS’ Web Service Framework

The evolution of web service technologies is well known in many organizations. When many organizations want to develop our business, they will add new services in their businesses policy, these additions may help the organization to increase some policy but it is difficult to implement some requirements. To solve this problem, we present the new paradigm of QOS for develop web service that is the procedure to implement web service and help developer to create service appropriate each business process. This conceptual of modelling based on LSS and BWW framework and under business practice guideline the example is Cobit and ITIL for approximate each of business process. In success, we illustrate our approach by class diagram that design under conceptual of modelling quality of service for web service and implement web service for test this idea. Then we choose 2 scenarios in different combination of QoS requirements for test, the results show that this technique is satisfy for choose and we think this paper can be guideline for researcher in the future.
Deafness in mice lacking the T-box transcription factor Tbx18 in otic fibrocytes

In the cochlea, fibrocytes play important physiological roles, including the maintenance of the ionic composition of the endolymph. Human deafness upon fibrocyte alterations witnesses their crucial role for hearing. We demonstrate that differentiation of otic fibrocytes requires the T-box transcription factor gene Tbx18. Tbx18 expression during inner ear development is restricted to the sub-region of otic mesenchyme that is fated to differentiate into fibrocytes. We rescued the somitic defect that underlies the perinatal lethality of Tbx18-mutant mice by a transgenic approach, and measured auditory brainstem responses. Adult Tbx18-deficient mice showed profound deafness and a complete disruption of the endocochlear potential that is essential for the transduction of sound by sensory hair cells. The differentiation of otic fibrocytes of the spiral ligament was severely compromised. Tissue architecture of the stria vascularis of the lateral wall was disrupted, exhibiting an almost complete absence of the basal cell layer, and a reduction and changes of intermediate and marginal cells, respectively. Stria vascularis defects resulted from the failure of Tbx18-mutant otic fibrocytes to generate the basal cell layer by a mesenchymal-epithelial transition. Defects in otic fibrocyte differentiation may be subordinate to a primary role of Tbx18 in early compartmentalization of the otic mesenchyme, as lineage restriction and boundary formation between otic fibrocytes and the surrounding otic capsule were severely affected in the mutant. Our study sheds light on the genetic control of patterning and differentiation of the otic mesenchyme, uncovers distinct steps of stria vascularis formation and illuminates the importance of non-epithelially-derived otic cell types for normal hearing and the etiology of deafness.
Multi-Microphone Noise Reduction Technique based on Upsampling and IIR-RLS Filter

In this paper, a multi-microphone technique that uses upsampling and IIR-RLS filter to achieve noise reduction in speech degraded by additive noise in the reverberant environment is proposed. One of the main unique features of the proposed technique is that it does not require any statistics about the desired signal. In addition, it does not rely on voice activity detection (VAD), thus avoids the performance degradation due to effects of speech detection errors which are permanent with GSC technique. The good performance of the proposed multi-microphone technique over GSC technique for additive noise reduction has been verified via computer simulations.
Functions of internal temporal dialogues

ABSTRACT Psychological literature in the field of internal dialogical activity assumes that internal temporal dialogues perform several important functions, namely: support, redefining the past, balancing, distancing, advising, making decisions, acquiring wisdom and managing the future. The article is an attempt to verify this proposal through qualitative analyses of temporal dialogues conducted by three persons, who participate in the wider research project on functions of internal temporal dialogues (N = 200). Dialogical Temporal Chair Technique was used. Presented qualitative analyses of internal temporal dialogues seem to confirm most of the functions listed in the theoretical proposition. The results are also discussed with reference to well-being and happiness as well as the theory of the dialogical self (the role of metaposition) and time perspective.
Set-Granular Regional Distributed Cooperative Caching

The last level cache (LLC) in private configurations offer lower latency and isolation but extinguishes the possibility of sharing underutilized cache resources. Cooperative Caching (CC) provides capacity sharing by spilling a line evicted from one cache to another. Current studies focus on efficient capacity sharing, while the adaptability of CC to manycore environment deserves more attentions. In this paper, we present Set-granular Regional Distributed Cooperative Caching to optimize CC in manycore CMPs with private LLCs. We achieve efficient capacity sharing by a low-traffic global receiver tracking mechanism and provide a method to manage set-grain cache state transitions for exclusive LLCs. Experiment results show that SRDCC performs better than baseline system, running different workloads varying in receiver-spiller number and distribution, in execution time up to 15.55 percent and memory access up to 40.25 percent, at a negligible cost of network traffics (6.21 percent more than baseline system at worst).
Concurrent Multipath Transfer Using SCTP: Modelling and Congestion Window Management

Concurrent multipath transfer (CMT) using the stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) can exploit multihomed devices to enhance data communications. While SCTP is a new transport layer protocol supporting multihomed end-points, CMT provides a framework so that transport layer resources are used efficiently and effectively when sending to the same destination with multiple IP addresses. In this paper, we present two techniques for modelling the expected throughput of a CMT session; while one is based on renewal theory, the other uses a Markov chain. As far as we know, ours is the first paper to model CMT whilst considering practical transport layer resources like a shared receive buffer (RBUF). A comparison of the models showed the Markov chain to be more accurate, but suffered from scalability issues. Alternatively, the renewal model was more cost effective, but also less accurate. We also applied our models to a new problem called congestion window management, where the size of each congestion window is reconfigured for optimal performance. Again, we compared two approaches: a dynamic method that makes decisions based on instantaneous throughput, and a static method that uses an integer linear program (ILP) to generate a global solution. Results showed the static method outperforming the dynamic approach by as much as 12 percent.
Adaptive tracking of maneuvering targets using two-stage Kalman filter

This paper presents a novel approach to the adaptive tracking of maneuvering targets using Kalman filter. The adaptation technique is achieved by constructing a pursuing system of two stages. The first stage comprises a vector Kalman filter of three states undergoes some biasing drift or mismodeling during a target evasive maneuver. While the second stage consists of a scalar Kalman filter basically developed to estimate the biasing term and then feeds back correction factors to the main processor to enhance its performance. This innovative adaptation technique will be called as bias removal (BR). Comparison and simulation exercises are presented against the interacting multiple model (IMM) adaptation technique showed that the target state estimates is improved by employing this BR adaptation policy.