Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Converting Italian Treebanks: Towards an Italian Stanford Dependency Treebank

The paper addresses the challenge of converting MIDT, an existing dependency– based Italian treebank resulting from the harmonization and merging of smaller resources, into the Stanford Dependencies annotation formalism, with the final aim of constructing a standard–compliant resource for the Italian language. Achieved results include a methodology for converting treebank annotations belonging to the same dependency–based family, the Italian Stanford Dependency Treebank (ISDT), and an Italian localization of the Stanford Dependency scheme.
Design A Redundant Binary Multiplier Using Dual Logic Level Technique

This paper presents the design redundant Binary multiplier for 32*32bit number multiplication. Modern computer system is a dedicated and very high speed unique multiplier. Therefore, this paper presents the design a Redundant Binary multiplier. The proposed system generates M, N and interconnected blocks. By extending bit of the operands and generating an additional product the proposed system multiplier is obtained. Multiplication operation is performed by the Proposed system is efficient with the less area and it reduces delay i.e., speed is increased.
Empirical–analytical methodological research in environmental education: response to a negative trend in methodological and ideological discussions

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to methodological discourse about research approaches to environmental education. More specifically, the paper explores the current status of the ‘empirical–analytical methodology’ and its ‘positivist’ (traditional‐ and post‐positivist) ideologies, in environmental education research through the critical analysis of three criticisms outlined in Robottom & Hart (1995). Their negative discussion of this methodology relates to its ideology and assumptions it makes about the purpose and role of the environmental education curriculum and goals, teachers, students, learning, teaching content and environmental action(s). It is suggested that their critiques misrepresent empirical–analytical methodology in their dismissal of it as behaviourist and/or traditional positivist in nature and, consequent undesirability in research in environmental education. Such discussions of the perversity of ‘positivist’ empirical–analytical methodology are not constructive. This paper seeks to reorient the debate by providing a critical analysis of the arguments proffered by Robottom & Hart as a way of opening opportunities for diverse pathways of research in environmental education.
Ex-Offenders Need Not Apply

Many legal barriers exist that prevent ex-offenders from obtaining lawful employment, a principle means for reintegration. This article explores the scope and utility of these laws, which aim ostensibly to reduce the prospective employee’s likelihood of engaging in workplace crime. Irrelevance of the provisions to the effective assessment of job applicants’ risks of offending, shortcomings of criminal background checks, lack of empirical evidence linking ex-offenders to workplace crime, and the availability of viable alternatives underscore the need to scale back these significant obstacles to ex-offender reentry. The article concludes with recommendations for reasonable uses of risk assessment in employment screening laws.
Neutralizing VEGF decreases tortuosity and alters endothelial cell division orientation in arterioles and veins in a rat model of ROP: relevance to plus disease.

PURPOSE To study the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on endothelial nitric oxide synthetase (eNOS) and retinal vascular tortuosity and cleavage planes in a rat model of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS Within 4 hours of birth, pups and mothers were cycled between 50% and 10% oxygen daily. At postnatal day (p)12, pups received either intravitreous anti-rat neutralizing antibody to VEGF or control nonimmune rat IgG in one eye and returned to oxygen cycling until p14 when they were placed in room air (RA) for 4 days (50/10 oxygen-induced retinopathy [50/10 OIR]). Tortuosity indices and endothelial cleavage plane angles relative to the long axes of the major retinal vessels during anaphase were calculated from phosphohistone- and Alexa-isolectin-stained retinal flatmounts. Some retinas were processed for eNOS protein or phosphorylated/total eNOS. RESULTS Retinas from 50/10 OIR had increased tortuosity over time with peaks at p12 and p14 (P < 0.001 vs. RA) before the development of intravitreous neovascularization, which peaked at p18. Compared with RA, eNOS/actin in 50/10 OIR retinas was increased at p12 (P = 0.0003) and p14 (P = 0.047). Inhibition of VEGF with a neutralizing antibody decreased tortuosity and caused endothelial mitosis cleavage planes to orient in favor of vessel elongation but did not affect eNOS protein or activation. CONCLUSIONS In the 50/10 OIR model, a model with relevance to ROP, arteriolar tortuosity, and venous dilation are increased through VEGF, which influences the orientation of endothelial cell cleavage in major arterioles and veins, independent of eNOS.
Instance-sensitive robustness guarantees for sequencing with unknown packing and covering constraints

Sequencing problems with an unknown covering or packing constraint appear in various applications, e.g., in real-time computing environments with uncertain run-time availability. A sequence is called α-robust when, for any possible constraint, the maximal or minimal prefix of the sequence that satisfies the constraint is at most a factor α from an optimal packing or covering. It is known that the covering problem always admits a 4-robust solution, and there are instances for which this factor is tight. For the packing variant no such constant robustness factor is possible in general. In this work we address the fact that many problem instances may allow for a much better robustness guarantee than the pathological worst case instances. We aim for more meaningful, instance-sensitive performance guarantees. We present an algorithm that constructs for each instance a solution with a robustness factor arbitrarily close to optimal. This implies nearly optimal solutions for previously studied problems such as the universal knapsack problem and for universal scheduling on an unreliable machine. The crucial ingredient and main result is a nearly exact feasibility test for dual-value sequencing with a given target function. We show that deciding exact feasibility is strongly NP-hard, and thus, our test is best possible, unless P=NP. We hope that the idea of instance-sensitive performance guarantees inspires to revisit other optimization problems and design algorithm tailored to perform well for each individual instance.
Mothers' Early Mind-Mindedness Predicts Educational Attainment in Socially and Economically Disadvantaged British Children.

Relations between mothers' mind-mindedness (appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments) at 8 months (N = 206), and children's educational attainment at ages 7 (n = 158) and 11 (n = 156) were investigated in a British sample. Appropriate mind-related comments were positively correlated with reading and mathematics performance at both ages but only in the low-socioeconomic status (SES) group. Path analyses showed that in the low-SES group, appropriate mind-related comments directly predicted age-11 reading performance, with age-4 verbal ability mediating the relation between appropriate mind-related comments and age-7 reading. In contrast, maternal sensitivity and infant-mother attachment security did not predict children's educational attainment. These findings are discussed in terms of genetic and environmental contributions to reading and mathematics performance.
Pieri Homotopies for Problems in Enumerative Geometry Applied to Pole Placement in Linear Systems Control

Huber, Sottile, and Sturmfels [ J. Symbolic Comput. , 26 (1998), pp. 767--788] proposed Pieri homotopies to enumerate all p-planes in %$c^{m+p}$ ${\mathbb{C}}^{m+p}$ that meet n given (m+1-ki)-planes in general position, with k1+k2+ . + kn = mp as a condition to have a finite number of solution p-planes. Pieri homotopies turn the deformation arguments of classical Schubert calculus into effective numerical methods by expressing the deformations algebraically and applying numerical path-following techniques. We describe the Pieri homotopy algorithm in terms of a poset of simpler problems. This approach is more intuitive and more suitable for computer implementation than the original chain-oriented description and provides also a self-contained proof of correctness. We extend the Pieri homotopies to the quantum Schubert calculus problem of enumerating all polynomial maps of degree q into the Grassmannian of p-planes in ${\mathbb{C}}^{m+p}$ that meet mp + q(m+p) given m-planes in general position sampled at mp + q(m+p) interpolation points. Our approach mirrors existing counting methods for this problem and yields a numerical implementation for the dynamic pole placement problem in the control of linear systems.
Enhanced clinical utility of gamma-CDT in a general population.

BACKGROUND The use of a combination of markers to detect excessive alcohol consumption has been reported to provide better sensitivity in the diagnosis of alcohol abuse than single markers. However, the optimal combination of markers for the diagnosis of alcohol abuse has not yet been found. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) to discriminate among heavy drinkers (>280 g/week), moderate drinkers (105-280 g/week), and light drinkers (<105 g/week). Their mathematical combination, named gamma-CDT, which has been found to be a strong marker of alcohol abuse in a former study, was also evaluated. METHODS The study was conducted in a group of 6962 subjects (3974 males and 2988 females), between the ages of 25 and 74 years, who participated in a large cross-sectional risk factor survey carried out in five geographic areas in Finland. In each study area, an age- and gender-stratified random sample was drawn from the general population. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the performance of CDT, GGT, and gamma-CDT. RESULTS For both sexes, the combined marker had the highest specificity (95%) and sensitivity in detecting heavy drinkers. In all cases, gamma-CDT had the highest area under ROC plots. Our results also showed that GGT and CDT have similar, and rather low, sensitivity but high specificity in a general population. CONCLUSIONS Compared with single markers, a significant improvement of sensitivity was obtained when the combination of both markers was used, especially in females.
Comparing the Applicability of Complexity Measurements for Simulink Models during Integration Testing -- An Industrial Case Study

Context: Simulink models are used during software integration testing in the automotive domain on hardware in the loop (HIL) rigs. As the amount of software in cars is increasing continuously, the number of Simulink models for control logic and plant models is growing at the same time. Objective: The study aims for investigating the applicability of three approaches for evaluating model complexity in an industrial setting. Additionally, insights on the understanding of maintainability in industry are gathered. Method: Simulink models from two vehicle projects at a German premium car manufacturer are evaluated by applying the following three approaches: Assessing a model's (a) size, (b) structure, and (c) signal routing. Afterwards, an interview study is conducted followed by an on-site workshop in order to validate the findings. Results: The measurements of 65 models resulted in comparable data for the three measurement approaches. Together with the interview studies, conclusions were drawn on how well each approach reflects the experts' opinions. Additionally, it was possible to get insights on maintainability in an industrial setting. Conclusion: By analyzing the results, differences between the three measurement approaches were revealed. The interviews showed that the expert opinion tends to favor the results of the simple size measurements over the measurement including the signal routing.
Reactive Virtual Position-Based Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks

Virtual position-based routing protocols have many attractive characteristics for wireless sensor networks. Typically, such protocols use a proactive scheme for updating routing tables. Because sensor networks can have very low data rate, sending periodic beacons to update routing tables can be very expensive. Instead, reactive approaches might be more appropriate in such scenarios. MANET-inspired reactive routing protocols do not scale well because of the effort in the order of O(n) for each routing information update. In this paper, we present Reactive Virtual Cord Protocol (RVCP), a data-centric reactive virtual position based routing protocol for use in sensor networks. Route discovery is directed towards the destination and hence there is no need to flood the entire network to discover a route. Our approach is based on Virtual Cord Protocol (VCP), an efficient, virtual relative position based routing protocol that also provides support for data management as known from typical Distributed Hash Table (DHT) services. To minimize the end-to-end delay and energy consumption, we used adaptive techniques for the development of RVCP.
Helical microtubule arrays in a collection of twisting tubulin mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana

Anisotropic expansion of plant cells requires organized arrays of cortical microtubules. Mutations in microtubule-associated proteins and a particular mutation in α-tubulins were reported to cause abnormal microtubule arrays and result in helical growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. However, the way in which these mutations affect the organization of microtubules remains unknown. We here identified 32 Arabidopsis twisting mutants that have either missense or amino acid deletion mutations in α- or β-tubulins. Mutations were mapped to the GTPase-activating region in α-tubulin, intra- and interdimer interfaces of tubulin heterodimers, and lateral contact regions among adjacent protofilaments. These dominant-negative tubulin mutants were incorporated into the microtubule polymer and formed shallow helical arrays of distinct handedness along the long axis of the root epidermal cells. A striking correlation exists between the direction in which cortical helical arrays are skewed and the growth direction of elongating roots. The GTPase-activating-region mutant had left-handed helical arrays composed of highly stabilized microtubules, which could be decorated along the entire microtubule lattices with the otherwise tip-localized End Binding 1 protein. A mutation at the intradimer interface, on the other hand, generated highly dynamic microtubules and right-handed helical arrays. Cortical microtubules in wild type and these two tubulin mutants were composed mainly of 13 protofilaments. This comprehensive analysis of tubulin mutations provides insights into the mechanism by which tubulin structures influence microtubule dynamics and organization.
Language of Instruction and Approach to Learning: A Nepalese Investigation

The possible influence of the use of English as the language of instruction on the approach of 342 Nepalese university students to learning is investigated. English was little used outside the formal classroom. However, analysis indicated no significant relationship between these students' confidence in use of English for academic purposes and the approach to learning which they adopt.
Maximising compensation: organisational level and industry gender composition effects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in compensation related to gender concentrations among industries at different organisation levels of management to identify gender‐based patterns of compensation at the macro level not investigated in previous studies that simply suggest industry or occupational differences. Findings provide guidance for selection processes, career path management for maximising compensation and policy‐making.Design/methodology/approach – Data from the Current Population Surveys and the Standard and Poor's ExecuComp database were used to examine differences in compensation of managers and top executives.Findings – Findings suggest that men and women must seek different paths and endpoints to optimize compensation. Maximising compensation for women requires working as a minority and changing industries. Men, on the other hand, may work in male‐dominated industries at every level or may move to female‐dominated industries at the managerial and executive leve.
BIOPHYSJ 303585 SUPPORTING MATERIAL TO CROWDING ACTIVATES ClpB AND ENHANCES ITS ASOCIATION WITH DnaK FOR EFFICIENT PROTEIN AGGREGATE REACTIVATION

Tracer sedimentation equilibrium (TSE): Data analysis. The magnitude of the signal (S; absorbance at 650 nm) was followed as a function of the radial position (r). Sr is proportional to the total amount of protein and independent of the concentrations of all unlabeled species; this is particularly important in experiments done with Ficoll 70. For each solution composition, the radial dependence of the signal at sedimentation equilibrium was fitted to eqn. 1 to determine the wholecell apparent signal-average buoyant molecular weight of wtand ΔN-ClpB (Mi,app):
What Happens After the Law is Passed? Marketing to Parent Demands in a Canadian Francophone School

ABSTRACT Language rights embedded in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Department of Justice, 1982) and implemented in the provincial education system have allowed parents to choose French language schools over their English alternative. But creation established by law does not fully protect the continuation of such a school. The image that it presents to its school community and the wider community within which it sits is equally important because it establishes economic, as well as legal, viability. This paper addresses the marketing that a legally mandated minority-language school in Canada developed in order to foster survival in its own particular cultural and educational community. The relationship between school, parents and public at large is analyzed to illustrate the balance that the school maintained between inclusive-ness and exclusivity. Document analysis, interviews and observation, as part of a larger case study, revealed the creation of an image that addressed several different parent stakeholder groups simultaneously. This paper reports the explicit and implicit messages that a school sends its community, while it adapts to suit client needs in a legal environment of growing school choice. doi:10.1300/J467v01n03_10
Desirability and Feasibility in Evaluating Fieldwork Performance: Tensions between Supervisors and Students

Fieldwork placement constitutes an indispensable part of professional social work education. Valid and accurate evaluation of the placement performance of students is pivotal in ensuring they attain their educational objectives in their professional training. This study used a questionnaire survey of students and fieldwork supervisors to examine their respective evaluations of the ‘desirability’ and ‘feasibility’ of assessment criteria on a fieldwork placement evaluation form. Students and supervisors returned a total of 44 and 34 questionnaires, respectively. A four-fold typology was derived from combining the positive and negative aspects of these two dimensions. Focus groups were also conducted with students and supervisors to explore possible reasons for the divergence in views between the two sets of actors in the supervisor–supervisee dyadic relationship. Discrepancies were also found between the students and supervisors in assessing the nature of the assessment criteria. Such discrepancies may point to pedagogical and practical problems, as well as to the power dynamics between students and supervisors, inherent in the nature and process of educational assessment in fieldwork education.
Within-language attention control in second language processing

This study investigated attention control in tasks involving the processing of relational terms (more highly grammaticized linguistic stimuli: spatial prepositions) and non-relational terms (less highly grammaticized lexical stimuli: nouns) in a first (L1) and second language (L2). Participants were adult bilinguals with greater proficiency in their L1 (English) than in their L2 (French) as determined by self-report and performance on a speeded word classification task. Attention control was operationalized in terms of shift costs obtained in an alternating runs experimental design (Rogers and Monsell, 1995). As hypothesized from consideration of the attention-directing functions of language, participants displayed significantly greater shift costs (lower attention control) for relational terms when performing in the L2 as compared to the L1, but no difference in shift costs for non-relational terms between the two languages. The results are discussed from a cognitive linguistic perspective and in relation to second language proficiency development.
ESTIMATING THE NUMBER OF FALSE NULL HYPOTHESES WHEN CONDUCTING MANY TESTS

Mosig et al. (2001) propose an intuitively appealing method for estimating the number of null hypotheses that are false in a multiple test situation. They present an iterative algorithm that relies on the distribution of observed -values to obtain their estimator. We characterize the limit of their iterative algorithm and show that their estimator can be computed directly without iteration from the observed distribution of -values.
Low grade inflammation and coronary heart disease: prospective study and updated meta-analyses

Abstract Objective: To assess associations between baseline values of four different circulating markers of inflammation and future risk of coronary heart disease, potential triggers of systemic inflammation (such as persistent infection), and other markers of inflammation. Design: Nested case-control comparisons in a prospective, population based cohort. Setting: General practices in 18 towns in Britain. Participants: 506 men who died from coronary heart disease or had a non-fatal myocardial infarction and 1025 men who remained free of such disease until 1996 selected from 5661 men aged 40–59 years who provided blood samples in 1978-1980. Main outcome measures: Plasma concentrations of C reactive protein, serum amyloid A protein, and serum albumin and leucocyte count. Information on fatal and non-fatal coronary heart disease was obtained from medical records and death certificates. Results: Compared with men in the bottom third of baseline measurements of C reactive protein, men in the top third had an odds ratio for coronary heart disease of 2.13 (95% confidence interval 1.38 to 3.28) after age, town, smoking, vascular risk factors, and indicators of socioeconomic status were adjusted for. Similar adjusted odds ratios were 1.65 (1.07 to 2.55) for serum amyloid A protein; 1.12 (0.71 to 1.77) for leucocyte count; and 0.67 (0.43 to 1.04) for albumin. No strong associations were observed of these factors with Helicobacter pylori seropositivity, Chlamydia pneumoniae IgG titres, or plasma total homocysteine concentrations. Baseline values of the acute phase reactants were significantly associated with one another (P<0.0001), although the association between low serum albumin concentration and leucocyte count was weaker (P=0.08). Conclusion: In the context of results from other relevant studies these findings suggest that some inflammatory processes, unrelated to the chronic infections studied here, are likely to be involved in coronary heart disease.