Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Logical Time Models to Study Cyber-Physical Systems

The paper is devoted to problems caused by the nonlinearity of logical time in distributed, especially cyber-physical, systems. Two approaches to the modelling of such systems are considered in the paper. The operational approach is based on the traditional model that defines the admissible system behaviour as a set of acceptable schedules of the system. The paper argues in favour of restricting possible sets of schedules by that sets of schedules that satisfy certain safety properties. The denotational approach is stated in the language of category theory. This abstraction level clarifies concepts used in the models. In particular, it is explained the feature of linear models as terminal objects with respect to some natural class of morphisms. Further, the interrelation between these two approaches is represented as a formal relation and discuss some properties of the relation that need to be studied.
Exploring students' learning challenges in environmental education

There is growing recognition of the significance of learning within debates about sustainable development. Within the field of environmental education research, however, there has been insufficient attention given to questions of learners and learning. In the light of this situation, this paper reports findings from two studies (one in England, the other in Sweden) that focused specifically on learners' experiences of and responses to environmental curricula in secondary school and higher education. Three kinds of learning challenges that can be experienced by students on environmental education courses are outlined and discussed. The main purpose of the paper is to highlight the complexity of the learning experience within environmental education and to draw attention to the need for improved research‐based understandings of environmental learning processes.
Deciphering spousal intentions: An fMRI study of couple communication

Several relational theories suggest that advice, particularly advice in areas important to the self, may be cognitively processed differently than other types of support (e.g., nondirective support) or low importance advice. Little is known, however, about the neurocognitive substrates of such complex social behaviors. We hypothesized that the Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS) and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC), cortical regions previously linked to Theory of Mind (ToM), would be more active for high than low importance advice. Results indicated that high importance advice was associated with greater activation in the left MPFC and bilaterally in the STS. Similar results were obtained when compared to positive comments. These findings indicate that when given advice individuals may be attempting to infer motivation.
Web-based 3D planning tool for radiation therapy treatment

One of the biggest concerns in external treatment planning is the collision avoidance of the treatment Linear Accelerator (LINAC®) components such as gantry (G), table (T), collimator (C), and any other auxiliary components such as fixation devices etc, with the patient. Some external treatment plans require complex components of the above GTC combinations.We are presenting a preliminary design and implementation of a 3D-graphical tool for the detection of potential gantry-collimator-couch collisions in external treatment planning. The graphical tool uses the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) to model the exact geometry of any treatment machine by reading its manufacturer's CAD design files. Unlike other anti-collision methods developed so far in the literature, our tool would be able to model the details of the treatment linac and add-on devices for patient-specific setups. Hence, the tool will create patient-specific realistic collision map for any external treatment scenario. The tool can be used as a stand-alone program or embedded in the Eclipse treatment planning system.
Multilevel Modeling of Longitudinal Growth and Change: Substantive Effects or Regression Toward the Mean Artifacts?

Regression toward the mean artifacts (RTMAs) are ubiquitous phenomena, seducing researchers, policy makers, and practitioners down the path of offering substantive interpretations of statistical artifacts. The use of highly sophisticated statistical tools can mislead otherwise knowledgeable researchers into thinking that this well-known problem is no longer relevant. Here we evaluated multilevel models of growth and change in relation to RMTAs, using simulated data to represent students nested within schools for which there were initial school differences due to selection based on T1 (pretest) achievement scores, but no school differences in achievement growth over four years. In the unconditional multilevel growth modeling approach (i.e., a multilevel repeated measures analysis), there were substantial RTMAs; apparent growth over time was more positive for schools with initially lower T1 school-average achievement and the sizes of these RTMAs varied inversely with the simulated reliability and stability of the measures. In the conditional multilevel covariance approach (i.e., multilevel path models with adjustment for pretest covariates) there were no RTMAs, but some advantages of the growth modeling approach were lost. In a hybrid approach (growth models of residualized change scores) in which T1 achievement was considered as a covariate and growth model components were constructed from T2, T3, and T4 achievement, RTMAs associated with initial achievement differences were eliminated. Because assignment to schools in this example was completely determined by a known T1 (pretest) achievement score, both the conditional and hybrid approaches eliminated RTMAs, but none of the approaches would be generally effective if selection was based on unmeasured variables. The results demonstrate that multilevel growth models provide no protection from RTMAs that can easily be misinterpreted as substantively meaningful results rather than statistical artifacts.
Samurai of Gentle Power: An Exploration of Aikido in the Lives of Women Aikidoka

Abstract This exploratory study examined the many realities of women’s experiences in the maledominated domain of martial arts. It focussed on twelve aikidoka, women who participate in the modern Japanese martial art of aikido. The study was situated within a postmodern feminist framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposefully selected aikidoka from two Australian cities. The interviews were analysed and arranged under meta-themes that reflect the principles of aikido: mind, body and spirit. The participants had learned to enjoy the full expression of physicality and to redefine and reconstruct behaviours that were once confined to the limited territories of the male or female genders. The martial art of aikido gave them a framework to connect their own individual intellectual, physical and spiritual spheres and, through their empowerment, connect in a positive way to their communities.
Cigarette smoking and perceived health in school dropouts: a comparison of Mexican American and non-Hispanic white adolescents.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relations between educational attainment and health (cigarette smoking and perceived health) in Hispanic adolescents. METHOD Participants included 3,360 Mexican American and non-Hispanic white adolescents ranging in age from 12 to 21 years. The sample included school dropouts, academically at-risk students, and control students. RESULTS School dropouts were 6.46 times more likely and academically at-risk students were 2.80 times more likely to smoke heavily than were control students. In addition, school dropouts reported poorer health than did their peers. Results suggest that the relation between educational attainment and perceived health is mediated by cigarette smoking. CONCLUSIONS Increased awareness of educational attainment as a significant risk factor for smoking in Hispanic adolescents will enable smoking cessation services to be targeted more effectively.
Graph Orientation Algorithms to minimize the Maximum Outdegree

This paper studies the problem of orienting all edges of a weighted graph such that the maximum weighted outdegree of vertices is minimized. This problem, which has applications in the guard arrangement for example, can be shown to be [Formula: see text]-hard generally. In this paper we first give optimal orientation algorithms which run in polynomial time for the following special cases: (i) the input is an unweighted graph, and (ii) the input graph is a tree. Then, by using those algorithms as sub-procedures, we provide a simple, combinatorial, [Formula: see text]-approximation algorithm for the general case, where wmax and wmin are the maximum and the minimum weights of edges, respectively, and ε is some small positive real number that depends on the input.
MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT CENTER DIMENSIONS?

The construct validity of traditional assessment center dimensions was compared with that of a set of alternative constructs based on the functional structure of managerial work. Subjects were 75 middle-level managers in state government who participated in two developmental assessment centers as part of a centralized management development program. One assessment center measured performance in terms of traditional attribute dimensions and the other in terms of functions performed in managerial work. Results show that evidence for construct validity is weak for both sets of constructs.
Integration of an In Situ MALDI-Based High-Throughput Screening Process: A Case Study with Receptor Tyrosine Kinase c-MET

Mass spectrometry (MS) is known for its label-free detection of substrates and products from a variety of enzyme reactions. Recent hardware improvements have increased interest in the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS for high-throughput drug discovery. Despite interest in this technology, several challenges remain and must be overcome before MALDI-MS can be integrated as an automated “in-line reader” for high-throughput drug discovery. Two such hurdles include in situ sample processing and deposition, as well as integration of MALDI-MS for enzymatic screening assays that usually contain high levels of MS-incompatible components. Here we adapt our c-MET kinase assay to optimize for MALDI-MS compatibility and test its feasibility for compound screening. The pros and cons of the Echo (Labcyte) as a transfer system for in situ MALDI-MS sample preparation are discussed. We demonstrate that this method generates robust data in a 1536-grid format. We use the MALDI-MS to directly measure the ratio of c-MET substrate and phosphorylated product to acquire IC50 curves and demonstrate that the pharmacology is unaffected. The resulting IC50 values correlate well between the common label-based capillary electrophoresis and the label-free MALDI-MS detection method. We predict that label-free MALDI-MS-based high-throughput screening will become increasingly important and more widely used for drug discovery.
Insights into Mad2 Regulation in the Spindle Checkpoint Revealed by the Crystal Structure of the Symmetric Mad2 Dimer

In response to misaligned sister chromatids during mitosis, the spindle checkpoint protein Mad2 inhibits the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome (APC/C) through binding to its mitotic activator Cdc20, thus delaying anaphase onset. Mad1, an upstream regulator of Mad2, forms a tight core complex with Mad2 and facilitates Mad2 binding to Cdc20. In the absence of its binding proteins, free Mad2 has two natively folded conformers, termed N1-Mad2/open-Mad2 (O-Mad2) and N2-Mad2/closed Mad2 (C-Mad2), with C-Mad2 being more active in APC/CCdc20 inhibition. Here, we show that whereas O-Mad2 is monomeric, C-Mad2 forms either symmetric C-Mad2–C-Mad2 (C–C) or asymmetric O-Mad2–C-Mad2 (O–C) dimers. We also report the crystal structure of the symmetric C–C Mad2 dimer, revealing the basis for the ability of unliganded C-Mad2, but not O-Mad2 or liganded C-Mad2, to form symmetric dimers. A Mad2 mutant that predominantly forms the C–C dimer is functional in vitro and in living cells. Finally, the Mad1–Mad2 core complex facilitates the conversion of O-Mad2 to C-Mad2 in vitro. Collectively, our results establish the existence of a symmetric Mad2 dimer and provide insights into Mad1-assisted conformational activation of Mad2 in the spindle checkpoint.
ADVISE: Advanced Digital Video Information Segmentation Engine

This paper describes the design of ADVISE, Advanced Digital Video Information Segmentation Engine, which is a web-based video retrieval system. The system aims at providing a visual summarization of video contents, such that users can efficiently determine whether they are interested in the video before they have downloaded it from the Internet. ADVISE consists of three major modules. The first module is responsible for automatic structuring of videos. The second module stores the structure as a Video Table-Of-
The reform of national geography standards in South Korea – trends, challenges and responses

The purpose of this article is to examine recent changes in the geography national curriculum in South Korea through the lenses of three curriculum components that often find themselves in competition – subject content, educational processes and national/social purposes. In recent years, the prevailing national and social aims outlined for the school curriculum, coupled with newly introduced educational processes, have dominated debate about curriculum development in South Korea. These trends have created an essentially unhealthy environment for geography education – the number of students opting for geography courses has declined; the geography curriculum is in danger of being restructured around new axes of competency; and only certain aspects of geographical subject content (such as territorial issues) are selectively promoted. We conclude that with South Korean education policies being strongly influenced by neoliberal and market forces, geography teachers may need to adopt a more proactive stance with regard to curriculum change. The grassroots reform movement ‘Sipsiilban’, initiated by a handful of Korean geography teachers, has recently taken geography curriculum matters into their own hands and developed alternative geography curricula and textbooks.
Cognitive and Normative Determinants of State Policymaking Behavior: Lessons from the Sociological Institutionalism

Although comparative state policy frameworks consider the role of societal norms, few account for cognitive and normative imperatives that originate outside a state's boundaries and are specific to promoting or impeding the adoption of particular policies. One approach that does so is the new institutionalism in sociology, which emphasizes legitimacy-seeking actors who face pressures to conform to cultural rules, norms, and expectations, regardless of outcomes. This article introduces comparative state policy researchers to the sociological institutionalism, emphasizing basic concepts and arguments and suggesting how reliance on this framework can enable researchers to better integrate rational-actor and cultural-based views for understanding why states choose particular public policies. Interviews with national and state experts in Medicaid nursing-facility reimbursement illustrate the utility of the sociological institutionalism for comparative state policy research. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.
Huntington's disease : Psychological aspects of predictive testing

Predictive testing for Huntington's disease appears to have long lasting psychological effects. The predictive test for Huntington's disease (HD), a hereditary disease of the nervous system, was introduced in the Netherlands in the late eighties. As adverse consequences of the test were anticipated, the effects of testing were studied conscientiously. The general conclusions of these studies were that the negative effects of testing were limited and temporary. The positive consequences of testing seemed to outweigh the negative ones. Knowing if one carried the gene put an end to the unbearable uncertainty of becoming diseased in the future. Testing made it possible to make important decisions, such as concerning having children, pursuing further studies or buying a house. However, long-term investigation at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) now demonstrates that ten years after the test, when the first symptoms are likely to occur in the near future, the distress of carriers increases again. Strikingly, the current findings are based on a selection of psychologically more stable participants. Individuals who withdrew from the study directly after receiving an unfavourable test result reported (pre-test) considerably less well-being, a worse view of the future, and more evasive behaviour. It is expected that the psychological distress of these dropouts is even greater than that of the retained individuals. It is worrisome that these dropouts stay out of reach of further psychological counselling. Reinier Timman LUMC Centre for Human and Clinical Genetics, and dept. of Neurology
Human HMG box transcription factor HBP1: a role in hCD2 LCR function

The locus control region (LCR) of the human CD2 gene (hCD2) confers T cell‐specific, copy‐dependent and position‐independent gene expression in transgenic mice. This LCR consists of a strong T cell‐specific enhancer and an element without enhancer activity (designated HSS3), which is required for prevention of position effect variegation (PEV) in transgenic mice. Here, we identified the HMG box containing protein‐1 (HBP1) as a factor binding to HSS3 of the hCD2 LCR. Within the LCR, HBP1 binds to a novel TTCATTCATTCA sequence that is higher in affinity than other recently reported HBP1‐binding sites. Mice transgenic for a hCD2 LCR construct carrying a deletion of the HBP1‐binding sequences show a propensity for PEV if the transgene integrates in a heterochromatic region of the chromosome such as the centromere or telomere. We propose that HBP1 plays an important role in chromatin opening and remodelling activities by binding to and bending the DNA, thus allowing DNA–protein and/or protein–protein interactions, which increase the probability of establishing an active locus.
What Goes into a Medal: Women's Inclusion and Success at the Olympic Games

This paper examines determinants of women's participation and performance in the Olympics. Female inclusion and success are not merely functions of size, wealth, and host advantage, but a more complex process involving the socioeconomic status of women and, more weakly, broad societal attitudes on gender issues. Female labor force participation and educational attainment in particular are tightly correlated with both participation and outcomes, even controlling for per capita income. Female educational attainment is strongly correlated with both the breadth of participation across sporting events and success in those events. Host countries and socialist states also are associated with unusually high levels of participation and medaling by female athletes. Medal performance is affected by large-scale boycotts. Opening competition to professionals may have leveled the playing field for poorer countries. But the historical record for women's medal achievement is utterly distorted by the doping program in the former East Germany, which specifically targeted women. At its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, the program was responsible for 17 percent of the medals awarded to women, equivalent to the medal hauls of the Soviet or American team in 1972, the last Olympics not marred by widespread abuse of performance-enhancing drugs.
Approximate near neighbors for general symmetric norms

We show that every symmetric normed space admits an efficient nearest neighbor search data structure with doubly-logarithmic approximation. Specifically, for every n, d = no(1), and every d-dimensional symmetric norm ||·||, there exists a data structure for (loglogn)-approximate nearest neighbor search over ||·|| for n-point datasets achieving no(1) query time and n1+o(1) space. The main technical ingredient of the algorithm is a low-distortion embedding of a symmetric norm into a low-dimensional iterated product of top-k norms. We also show that our techniques cannot be extended to general norms.
A 2D histogram representation of images for pooling

Designing a suitable image representation is one of the most fundamental issues of computer vision. There are three steps in the popular Bag of Words based image representation: feature extraction, coding and pooling. In the final step, current methods make an M x K encoded feature matrix degraded to a K-dimensional vector (histogram), where M is the number of features, and K is the size of the codebook: information is lost dramatically here. In this paper, a novel pooling method, based on 2-D histogram representation, is proposed to retain more information from the encoded image features. This pooling method can be easily incorporated into state-of- the-art computer vision system frameworks. Experiments show that our approach improves current pooling methods, and can achieve satisfactory performance of image classification and image reranking even when using a small codebook and costless linear SVM.
Shiny Happy People Holding Guns: 21st-Century Images of War

When U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan filter their war experiences through visual aesthetics characteristic of contemporary mobile messaging culture, they produce a new visual discourse for war in the Internet age. A critical reading of 250 Facebook photos reveals an emphasis on colloquial representations of young adult life: hanging out, goofing off, playing games, and wearing costumes. For example, one image depicts two Marines in full desert camouflage posing for a picture while wearing skeleton masks. The Marine on the left looks down at his digital camera, either reviewing a photo or getting ready to hand it off to the “shooter. ” The gear in the photo (masks aside) suggests that they are prepared for a combat scenario. Mortars and rockets could hit their base at any moment. The silliness and nonchalance captured in the photo seems antithetical to their physical locale, especially a condition of imminent danger. Most audiences would not recognize this as a combat scenario. Photos like this reflect the ways in which our shifting visual repertoire—with emphases on friendship, domesticity, and spontaneity—modifies visual discourses for contemporary war.
Applying Western-Developed Family Therapy Models in China

Couple and family therapy increasingly are practiced around the world, using theoretical models developed primarily in Western countries. The degree to which these models are culturally relevant for “importing” into diverse cultures has received limited attention to date. This article describes an analysis of the degrees to which a diverse sample of models (Satir's experiential therapy, solution-focused therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and structural therapy) are relevant for application with families in China, as well as what adaptations would make them more palatable and relevant for Chinese families. The analysis is based on a graduate seminar conducted at a university in Beijing, combining faculty and students from a U.S. and a Chinese couple and family therapy training program. The participants read professional literature, had class discussions, engaged in cross-cultural small group discussions, conducted role-play therapy sessions from a culturally sensitive perspective, and shared personal experiences in their own families and in conducting family therapy in their own country. In this article for each model examined we describe (1) core concepts of the model, (2) advantages and compatibility for working with Chinese families, (3) challenges and cautions for working with Chinese families, and (4) implications for adapting the model. The analysis suggests that Western-derived therapy models have considerable relevance for application with Chinese families but should be adapted to meet the characteristics of Chinese culture.