Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auto Correction Feedback for ripple suppression in a chopper amplifier

This paper proposes a local feedback, named Auto Correction Feedback (ACFB), used in a chopper amplifier to suppress its offset related ripple. It nulls out amplifier's offset in DC domain which would otherwise become modulated ripple at the chopper amplifier's output, instead of filtering the ripple by a post filter. The proposed chopper amplifier with the ACFB achieves 45dB ripple attenuation without introducing noise penalty, which has been proved by both simulation and measurement.
Quantile regression and variable selection for single-index varying-coefficient models

ABSTRACT In this article, a new efficient iteration procedure based on quantile regression is developed for single-index varying-coefficient models. The proposed estimation scheme is an extension of the full iteration procedure proposed by Carroll et al., which is different with the method adopted by Wu et al. for single-index models that a double-weighted summation is used therein. This distinguish not only be the reason that undersmoothing should be a necessary condition in our proposed procedure, but also may reduce the computational burden especially for large-sample size. The resulting estimators are shown to be robust with regardless of outliers as well as varying errors. Moreover, to achieve sparsity when there exist irrelevant variables in the index parameters, a variable selection procedure combined with adaptive LASSO penalty is developed to simultaneously select and estimate significant parameters. Theoretical properties of the obtained estimators are established under some regular conditions, and some simulation studies with various distributed errors are conducted to assess the finite sample performance of our proposed method.
The Structure and Properties of the Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence Scale in Two Immigrant Populations in the U.S.

Abstract The structure, psychometric properties and mean levels of the “Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence” scale (Bearden, Netemeyer and Teel 1989) are assessed in samples chosen from two groups of immigrants that have each recently arrived in the U.S., namely Chinese Americans and Armenian Americans. First, the structure and properties of the susceptibility to interpersonal influence trait in each group is noted and compared with that reported in the original study (Bearden et al. 1989) for Anglo-American consumers. Second, similarities in susceptibility to interpersonal influence between the two immigrant groups of this study are noted and attributed to the fact that both of these groups are comprised of first generation immigrants. Finally, differences in susceptibility to interpersonal influence between the two immigrant groups of this study are noted and attributed to the fact that each of these groups are comprised of immigrants from two very different sets of countries/cultures-of-origin. Domestic and international marketing implications of these findings are pointed out for both theoreticians and practitioners.
Teaching Poetry: the rhetoric and the reality

Good poetry does undoubtedly tend to form the soul and character; it tends to beget a love of beauty and of truth in alliance together; it suggests, however indirectly, high and noble principles of action, and it inspires the emotion so helpful in making principles operative. Hence its extreme importance to all of us; but in our elementary schools its importance seems to me at present quite extraordinary. (Matthew Arnold, Report, 1880)
A Validation and Psychometric Examination of the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS) in German Adolescents1

Summary: The present study examines the reliability (internal consistency) and the the factorial validity, as well as the construct validity and the criterion-oriented validity (criterion: Delinquent behavior) of the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS; Arnett, 1994). The study analyzed a sample of German adolescents aged 14 to 16 years (N = 1236) who, in addition to the AISS, also completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the subscale Delinquent Behavior of the Youth Self-Report (YSR). The results, indeed, confirm the hypothesized two-factor structure of the AISS (novelty vs. intensity of stimulation), however, as indicated by modification indices and standardized expected parameter chances, some items had to be excluded from the model to provide an adequate fit for the data. Nevertheless, the internal consistencies of the shortened two-factor scale are considerably low, ranging from . 46 to . 58. As an index of construct validity, males scored higher than females on both the Intensity .
Rheological Predictions of Network Systems Swollen with Entangled Solvent

Abstract : The mechanical properties of a cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) network swollen with nonreactive entangled PDMS solvent was previously studied experimentally. In this article, we use the discrete slip-link model to predict its linear and nonlinear rheology. Model parameters are obtained from the dynamic modulus data of pure solvent. Network rheology predictions also require an estimate of the fraction and architecture of dangling or inactive strands in the network, which is not directly measurable. The active strand fraction is estimated from dynamic modulus measurements, and the molecular weight is adjusted to fit the dynamic modulus data. Then, the nonlinear rheology can be predicted without adjustments. These successful predictions strongly suggest that the observed rheological modification in the swollen blend arises from the constraint dynamics between the network chains and the dangling ends.
Profoundly Reduced Neovascularization Capacity of Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells Derived From Patients With Chronic Ischemic Heart Disease

Background—Cell therapy with bone marrow–derived stem/progenitor cells is a novel option for improving neovascularization and cardiac function in ischemic heart disease. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with coronary heart disease are impaired with respect to number and functional activity. However, whether this impairment also extends to bone marrow–derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) in patients with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICMP) is unclear. Methods and Results—BM-MNCs were isolated from bone marrow aspirates in 18 patients with ICMP (ejection fraction, 38±11%) and 8 healthy control subjects (controls). The number of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (CD34+/CD133+), CD49d+ (VLA-4) cells, and CXCR4+ cells did not differ between the 2 groups. However, the colony-forming capacity of BM-MNCs from patients with ICMP was significantly lower compared with BM-MNCs from healthy controls (37.3±25.0 versus 113.8±70.4 granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units; P =0.009). Likewise, the migratory response to stromal cell–derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was significantly reduced in BM-MNCs derived from patients with ICMP compared with BM-MNCs from healthy controls (SDF-1, 46.3±26.2 versus 108.6±40.4 cells/microscopic field, P <0.001; VEGF, 34±24.2 versus 54.8±29.3 cells/microscopic field, P =0.027). To assess the in vivo relevance of these findings, we tested the functional activity of BM-MNCs to improve neovascularization in a hindlimb animal model using nude mice. Two weeks after ligation of the femoral artery and intravenous injection of 5×105 BM-MNCs, laser Doppler–derived relative limb blood flow in mice treated with BM-MNCs from patients with ICMP was significantly lower compared with mice treated with BM-MNCs from healthy controls (0.45±0.14 versus 0.68±0.15; P <0.001). The in vivo neovascularization capacity of BM-MNCs closely correlated with the in vitro assessment of SDF-1–induced migration (r =0.78; P <0.001) and colony-forming capacity (r =0.74; P <0.001). Conclusions—BM-MNCs isolated from patients with ICMP have a significantly reduced migratory and colony-forming activity in vitro and a reduced neovascularization capacity in vivo despite similar content of hematopoietic stem cells. This functional impairment of BM-MNCs from patients with ICMP may limit their therapeutic potential for clinical cell therapy.
Organizational factors and absenteeism or intent to leave: A comparison between young and old age workers

Purpose The aim of this paper is to explore organizational factors which are responsible for sickness absence and intent to leave from juniors and to compare these results with those on old age workers. Design/methodology/approach The approach taken is a quantitative analysis on a total of 5239 young age workers with a multinomial logit model. Findings Compared to old age workers, some organizational factors (monotony, autonomy, skill variety, time pressure, working hours, tension with the public and thermal pollutions) have a strong impact on absenteeism and intent to leave of young age workers. Furthermore, the links between some of this organizational factors and absenteeism-intent to leave is mediated by job satisfaction and health at work. Practical implications We emphasize the importance of Human Resources Practices differentiated for old age and young age workers. Originality/value The interest of the study is to examine the relations between a large set of organizational factors (including bullying, tension with the public, aggression from the public) and absenteeism or intent to leave after controlling for many variables (size of the organization, work sector, gender, age, tenure, work status, social and occupation group, and position) and to compare the results on young age workers with those on old age workers
On the role of feedback in network coding

Network coding has emerged as a new approach to operating communication networks, with a promise of improved efficiency in the form of higher throughput, especially in lossy conditions. In order to realize this promise in practice, the interfacing of network coding with existing network protocols must be understood well. Most current protocols make use of feedback in the form of acknowledgments (ACKs) for reliability, rate control and/or delay control. In this work, we propose a way to incorporate network coding within such a feedback-based framework, and study the various benefits of using feedback in a networkcoded system. More specifically, we propose a mechanism that provides a clean interface between network coding and TCP with only minor changes to the protocol stack, thereby allowing incremental deployment. In our scheme, the source transmits random linear combinations of packets currently in the TCP congestion window. At the heart of our scheme is a new interpretation of ACKs – the receiver acknowledges every degree of freedom (i.e., a linear combination that reveals one unit of new information) even if it does not reveal an original packet immediately. Such ACKs enable a TCP-compatible sliding-window implementation of network coding. Thus, with feedback, network coding can be performed in a completely online manner, without the need for batches or generations. Our scheme has the nice feature that packet losses on the link can be essentially masked from the congestion control algorithm by adding enough redundancy in the encoding process. This results in a novel and effective approach for congestion control over networks involving lossy links such as wireless links. Our scheme also allows intermediate nodes to perform re-encoding of the data packets. This in turn leads to a natural way of running TCP flows over networks that use multipath opportunistic routing along with network coding. We use the new type of ACKs to develop queue management algorithms for coded networks, which allow the queue size at nodes to track the true backlog in information with respect to the destination. We also propose feedback-based adaptive coding techniques that are aimed at reducing the decoding delay at the receivers. Different notions of decoding delay are considered, including an order-sensitive notion which assumes that packets are useful only when delivered in order. We study the asymptotic behavior of the expected queue size and delay, in the limit of heavy traffic. Thesis Supervisor: Muriel Medard Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Thesis Supervisor: Devavrat Shah Title: Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Specific Staining of Wall Mannan in Yeast Cells with Fluorescein-Conjugated Concanavalin A

A procedure is given for the coupling of fluorescein isothiocyanate to concanavalin A, a protein which specifically combines with a variety of polysaccharides, and for the subsequent isolation of the reactive conjugate. This fluorescent conjugate stains Saccharomyces cerevisiae but not Schizosaccharomyces pombe or Rhodotorula glutinis. The cell walls of the latter two organisms do not contain branched homopolymers of α-linked mannose. Furthermore, the staining of S. cerevisiae is competitively inhibited by either unlabeled concanavalin A or methyl-α-d-manno-pyranoside. On the basis of this evidence, it is concluded that the staining of S. cerevisiae results from the specific interaction of the fluorescein-concanavalin A conjugate with the α-mannan present in the cell wall of this yeast.
Online humour as a community-building cushioning glue

This article examines the uses and functions of humour in an online community of gamers and nonprofessional game designers who present and critique user-generated artefacts created with the popular game series LittleBigPlanet . Findings show that participants use humour and “good humour” to achieve a variety of social goals: to veil statements of ability and effort, alleviate negative comments, present user-generated content, attract new players, support other participants, and overall engender a smiling atmosphere that incentives collaboration, peer feedback, and social cohesion. Far from being a trivial ornament, humour emerges as a community building “cushioning glue” that connects, seals, and buffers different gears of computer-mediated interaction, contributing to defining the boundaries and the identity of the analysed online space.
Environmental education: The development of a curriculum through 'grass roots' reconstructive action

The case study reported in this paper started as a research and development initiative to improve environmental education and ecology fieldwork activities. A package of resource materials and activities was developed and pilot tested with teachers. Despite highly commended workshops, however, follow-up evaluation revealed that the curriculum packages were not widely used. The paper discusses a two year action research investigation of conceptual, evaluation and adoption tensions that led to a revised approach to environmental education and curriculum innovation. The rational and centre-to-periphery orientation of the initial research and development project was replaced by a teacher support network to facilitate 'grass roots' reconstructive action. This orientation was then investigated with two groups of science teachers in rural schools. The study revealed how external support services and a sustained dialogue around the prevailing science curriculum, local environmental issues and everyday classroom activities fostered reconstructive change at a local level. The transition from an external and rational strategy of curriculum development to a networking service in support of local reconstructive action is described. Some of the emerging management and design considerations for a revised political economy (policy and action framework) of environmental education curriculum change are discussed.
Is there a Palestinian civil war? The concept and the impact

The article begins by discussing various criteria considered by different authors as indicators of the onset of a civil war, such as the number of combat deaths and the duration of the war. It then examines whether the Hamas-Fatah conflict can be considered a civil war, before assessing the impact of this conflict on the Palestinians and exploring its implications for the wider Arab–Israeli conflict. The article further investigates the reverberations of this conflict at the regional level and appraises its future course in terms of optimistic versus pessimistic views.
A Nonlinear Process Monitoring Approach With Locally Weighted Learning of Available Data

This paper proposes a data-driven approach for nonlinear process monitoring under the framework of locally weighted learning. Based on available process measurements, the locally weighted projection regression is used in the offline learning scheme to provide a series of locally weighted linear models, in which the algorithms of traditional projection to latent structures (PLS) and total PLS could be applied to establish improved test statistics suitable for complicated process monitoring. By using the weights of local models obtained from measurement learning, the developed test statistics are further online utilized to monitor potential abnormalities related or unrelated to process quality. The effectiveness of the proposed locally weighted total PLS monitoring approach is finally demonstrated by the comparisons with other relevant methods via simulations based on the wastewater treatment process benchmark under different abnormal conditions.
DNA Microarrays: a Powerful Genomic Tool for Biomedical and Clinical Research

Among the many benefits of the Human Genome Project are new and powerful tools such as the genome-wide hybridization devices referred to as microarrays. Initially designed to measure gene transcriptional levels, microarray technologies are now used for comparing other genome features among individuals and their tissues and cells. Results provide valuable information on disease subcategories, disease prognosis, and treatment outcome. Likewise, they reveal differences in genetic makeup, regulatory mechanisms, and subtle variations and move us closer to the era of personalized medicine. To understand this powerful tool, its versatility, and how dramatically it is changing the molecular approach to biomedical and clinical research, this review describes the technology, its applications, a didactic step-by-step review of a typical microarray protocol, and a real experiment. Finally, it calls the attention of the medical community to the importance of integrating multidisciplinary teams to take advantage of this technology and its expanding applications that, in a slide, reveals our genetic inheritance and destiny.
Dissonance Detected by Cluster Analysis of Responses to the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students

The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory was completed during 1999-2000 by 4138 students variously at an ancient university, a post-1992 university and a teacher training college in Scotland. Responses were analysed by k-means cluster analysis. In stable clusters, members of which were collectively located close to (but not at) the lower end of the academic standing spectrum, relatively high scores occurred for responses on conceptually mutually incompatible deep and surface/apathetic subscales. Similar stable, conceptually problematic cluster subscale scores were seen when learners were grouped into subsets on the basis of discipline of study. The results suggest that small numbers of poorly attaining learners using dissonant study methods occur in a variety of educational settings. These learners are distinct from those lowly attaining ones who unabashedly use surface methods of studying and have low academic aspirations.
2 0 N ov 2 00 4 Incomplete information in scale-free networks

I investigate the effect of incomplete information on the growth process of scale-free networks-a situation that occurs frequently in real existing citation networks. I propose two mathematical models and solve those analytically for the scaling behavior of the connectivity distribution. These models show a varying scaling exponent with respect to the model parameters but no breakdown of scaling thus introducing the first models that are scale-free networks in an environment of incomplete information. I compare to results from computer simulations and discuss the relevance for known data of real networks.
Plastic trees

We present a dynamic tree modeling and representation technique that allows complex tree models to interact with their environment. Our method uses changes in the light distribution and proximity to solid obstacles and other trees as approximations of biologically motivated transformations on a skeletal representation of the tree's main branches and its procedurally generated foliage. Parts of the tree are transformed only when required, thus our approach is much faster than common algorithms such as Open L-Systems or space colonization methods. Input is a skeleton-based tree geometry that can be computed from common tree production systems or from reconstructed laser scanning models. Our approach enables content creators to directly interact with trees and to create visually convincing ecosystems interactively. We present different interaction types and evaluate our method by comparing our transformations to biologically based growth simulation techniques.
MAA*: A Heuristic Search Algorithm for Solving Decentralized POMDPs

We present multi-agent A* (MAA*), the first complete and optimal heuristic search algorithm for solving decentralized partially-observable Markov decision problems (DECPOMDPs) with finite horizon. The algorithm is suitable for computing optimal plans for a cooperative group of agents that operate in a stochastic environment such as multi-robot coordination, network traffic control, or distributed resource allocation. Solving such problems effectively is a major challenge in the area of planning under uncertainty. Our solution is based on a synthesis of classical heuristic search and decentralized control theory. Experimental results show that MAA* has significant advantages. We introduce an anytime variant of MAA* and conclude with a discussion of promising extensions such as an approach to solving infinite horizon problems.
Police–youth relationships: A qualitative analysis of Flemish adolescents’ attitudes toward the police

This article reports on focus group interview-based research conducted to improve knowledge of European adolescents’ Attitudes Toward the Police (ATP). The study explores Flemish Belgian youths’ perceptions of three main aspects of policing (performance, procedural justice and distributive justice) and how much importance they attach to those perceptions. The 106 13–19 year olds who participated in 12 focus group interviews proved to have nuanced and mature conceptions of police work. They stated that proclaiming a negative ATP is ‘part of the deal’ of being young rather than a reflection of negative perceptions of police functioning. This study shows the importance of complementing the largely survey-based research on adolescents’ ATP with qualitative research.
Social Cognition Training for Individuals with Schizophrenia: Emerging Evidence

Growing evidence indicates that social cognitive deficits are important, unique determinants of poor functional outcome in schizophrenia. These findings have generated considerable interest in the possibility of intervening at the level of social cognition as a means of improving functional outcome. In this review article, we first briefly describe the major domains of social cognition that have been studied in schizophrenia and their functional relevance for people with this disorder. We then review and critically evaluate recent studies that examined the modifiability of social cognition in schizophrenia through psychosocial interventions, including brief experimental manipulations, longer-term studies that embed social cognitive training in broad, multicomponent treatment packages, and longer-term treatment studies that specifically target social cognitive skills. Emerging evidence indicates that performance on social cognitive tasks is amenable to commonly used intervention techniques and that broad and targeted treatments can lead to improvements across multiple domains of social cognition. We conclude by discussing remaining challenges for this promising line of research.