Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neoliberalism, education and the integration of ICT in schools. A critical reading

This article explores a contemporary perspective of education that aims to radically re-construct schools through the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT). Through the analysis of key texts produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, leading ICT industries, and international educational researchers, the article looks at the apparently neutral and desirable regime of truth surrounding education, where concrete problems are created and certain solutions provided. The findings discuss how the integration of ICT in schools is embedded in a perspective of education based on: new modalities of soft government, the centrality of a self-regulated and entrepreneur learner, and the representation of schools as flexible, autonomous and non-hierarchical environments organised around non-standardised modalities of public ‘accountability’.
Design of adaptive regulator for lower extremity rehabilitation robot

For patients with hemiplegia or stroke and other limb locomotion dysfunction due to problems such as neurological, an important therapy is Rehabilitation training. Repetitively task-directed exercise can increase the motion performance of patients with nerve problems. In this paper, an adaptive controller for the lower limb rehabilitation robot (LERR) is proposed to take control of the robot's gait by using the auxiliary training force to track the patient's unknown joint trajectory in order to take into account the patient's demand. The regulator contains a set of stable controllers that are parameterized by Youla-Kucera and an adaptive algorithm has been developed for the best parameters in the online search controller to produce the required auxiliary training force to track the patient's unknown joints gait. The designed controller is validated in Adams-Matlab co-simulation environment. The results show that the adaptive regulator can provide effective training force for the unknown joint trajectory of the patient.
Accelerated and Inexact Forward-Backward Algorithms

We propose a convergence analysis of accelerated forward-backward splitting methods for composite function minimization, when the proximity operator is not available in closed form, and can only be computed up to a certain precision. We prove that the $1/k^2$ convergence rate for the function values can be achieved if the admissible errors are of a certain type and satisfy a sufficiently fast decay condition. Our analysis is based on the machinery of estimate sequences first introduced by Nesterov for the study of accelerated gradient descent algorithms. Furthermore, we give a global complexity analysis, taking into account the cost of computing admissible approximations of the proximal point. An experimental analysis is also presented.
Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Measurement Skills Assessment

This article introduces the Measurement Skills Assessment (MeSA), which was designed to evaluate the mastery of measurement in elementary school students. The primary objectives for the MeSA include covering a broad range of measurement concepts, distinguishing between major subtypes of measurement, and constructing a continuum of items varying in complexity. This article investigates the psychometric properties of scores from this new test. A series of principal components analyses helps distinguish between two major categories of measurement items—those tapping formula-based/ analytical skills and those tapping spatial/conceptual skills. Rasch analysis provides evidence for the existence of a unidimensional structure of item complexity within each measurement category. The MeSA can be used by psychologists and educators to determine which aspects of measurement present the greatest difficulties for individuals as well as groups of children and to evaluate the effectiveness of different instructional approaches.
A Survey of Faceted Search

Faceted Search is an exploratory search mechanism, which provides an iterative way to refine search results by a faceted taxonomy. With the benefit of search results diversification, no need for a priori knowledge, and never leading to zero result, it can significantly reduce information overload. Faceted Search has witnessed a booming interest in the last ten years. In this paper, we first analyze the representative facet search models. Next, we present a general faceted search framework, and survey the related methods and techniques, including facet term extraction, hierarchy construction, compound term generation and facet ranking. Then we discuss the metrics for faceted search evaluation, and also highlight the main characteristics of a number of existing faceted search systems. Some directions for future research are finally presented.
Capacity With Energy Constraint in Coherent State Channel

In this paper, we consider two kinds of energy constraints when the output state is a coherent state. Conventional constraint is a constraint on the total energy per a single communication mode. This paper proposes another energy constraints, which is a constraint on the total energy during a fixed period. The first setting can be easily dealt with by using the conventional capacity formula. This paper analyzes the second setting when the number of communication modes is or is not limited.
Self-Evaluations, Psychological Well-Being, and Cultural Context: The Changing Greek Society

In the context of Greece, the authors examined psychological correlates of individualization. In Study 1, the Greek context was compared to the Netherlands, and Study 2 focused on Greece and examined individual differences in self-descriptions. In Study 1, a distinction between Greek “neo-collectivist” and “collectivist” participants could be made. For both subsamples, the collective self played a key role in psychological well-being. In addition, for the “neo-collectivist” participants, it was the combination of high personal and high collective self-evaluation that predicted psychological well-being. The second study examined individualism in Greek society at the level of self-descriptions. The results were in agreement with the first study. Only for participants relatively high on individualism was higher personal self-evaluation related to higher collective self-evaluation and to global self-esteem. Taken together, the findings indicate that individualization in the Greek context increases personal self-evaluation but without changing the positive evaluation of the collective self and its central role in well-being.
Family and Asian Students' Educational Performance

Although researchers have illustrated the fallacy of the model minority image affixed to Asian Americans (e.g., occupational attainment), few have investigated the specific variations that exist across Asian ethnic groups and how such differences may affect both personal and family outcomes. Using a sample of Asian American students from the 1992 wave of the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS), the authors examine variation in educational performance among students of Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Southeast Asian, and Japanese ethnicities. Overall, they find significant differences in educational performance across these five Asian American groups. Religion, use of a non-English language at home, levels of parental education, number of siblings, family income, and the availability of educational materials in the home differentiately affected student performance. The authors' contention that grouped analyses of Asian students may provide misleading results is validated in the comparison of the resultant regression models.
Local Compactness and Number Theory

Fourier Analysis In his thesis, John Tate used Fourier analysis on the adeles in order to reprove the analytic continuation and functional equation of Hecke L-functions, first proven by Hecke himself. In doing so, he gave in a very elegant and unified theory which turned out to be instrumental for many later advances in number theory, including the Langlands program. In this lecture we describe the basic tools necessary to develop the material in Tate’s Thesis, i.e., the Fourier analysis. Let G be a locally compact abelian group. A character on G is a continuous homomorphism χ : G → S1 where S1 is the unit circle in C×. As functions, characters can be multiplied, and as such, they form a group Ĝ = {characters on G}. The group Ĝ is called the Pontryagin dual of G. We give it a topology as follows. Let B be the collection of sets of the form {ψ ∈ Ĝ | ψ(K) ⊂ U} for compacts K ⊂ G and open sets U ⊂ S1. We declare B to be a subbase for the topology on Ĝ, i.e., a base is generated by finite intersections in B. Theorem 10.1. The Pontryagin dual Ĝ of G is a locally compact abelian group. The proof is not easy; one way, carried out in Folland [2], is to study representations of locally compact groups on infinite dimensional Hilbert spaces. Let G be a locally compact abelian group. We can define a map G → ̂̂ G as follows. If x ∈ G, we map x to the character ψ 7→ ψ(x). This is a continuous homomorphism, and in fact: Theorem 10.2 (Pontryagin Duality). The map G → ̂̂ G given by x 7→ (ψ 7→ ψ(x)) is an isomorphism of topological groups. Example 10.3. Let k be a local field. The duality theory for k is very easy. Let ψ be any nontrivial character. It is easy enough to see that one must exist, otherwise if not, then by duality, k itself would have to be trivial. Then for any x ∈ k, we can define the character ψx by ψx(y) = ψ(xy). It turns out that the map x 7→ ψx is an isomorphism of topological groups, so k ∼= k̂! Now we can also construct explicitly a nontrivial character ψ. For k = R we let ψ(x) =
Individual and Gender Differences in Sexual Self-Perceptions

Abstract A study was conducted to explore the perceptions that individuals have about the sexual component of their self-concept while paying particular attention to gender differences. A list of sexual traits was created that described various components of an individual's sexuality. As predicted, we found that males rate themselves higher on explicitly sexual dimensions (e.g., sexually responsive, experienced) and females perceive themselves to be more romantic and sexually attractive. We also examined how some individual difference variables (masculinity-femininity, erotopho-bia-erotophilia, and sexual experience) may be associated with people's perceptions of their sexuality. For males, masculinity was associated with higher self-ratings on sexual traits related to sexual experience and responsiveness, whereas for females, femininity was associated with higher self-ratings of romanticism and attractiveness. Also, we found that erotophiles and sexually experienced individuals perceive themselves as mor.
Representations of unramified U(2,2) over a p-adic field I: representations of non-integral level

Let F_0 be a non-archimedean local field of odd residual characteristic and let G be the unramified unitary group U(2,2) defined over F_0. In this paper, we give a classification of the irreducible smooth representations of G of non-integral level using the Hecke algebraic method developed by Allen Moy for GSp(4).
Editorial: Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)—Advancing Understanding of Design, Application, Impact, and Evaluation of CQI Approaches

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) approaches are increasingly used to bridge gaps between the evidence base for best practice, what actually happens in practice, and achievement of better population health outcomes. Among a range of quality improvement strategies, CQI is characterized by iterative use of processes to identify quality problems, develop solutions, and implement and evaluate changes. Application of CQI in health care is evolving and evidence of their success continues to emerge (1–3).
An efficient CDMA core for indoor acoustic position sensing

We present an efficient CDMA detection core suited for multiuser indoor acoustic positioning. An ultrasonic multi-code despreader is proposed, allowing simultaneous broadband acoustic ranging signals to be processed in real time by embedded sensors. The ranging performance is characterised using a dataset gathered from a real deployment of ultrasonic devices and is shown to be favourable. The proposed core can be used as a basis for more sophisticated receivers, such as those capable of detecting heavily Doppler-shifted signals.
Predicting Antisocial Behavior in High-Risk Male Adolescents

The study of the downward extension of psychopathy to adolescents is limited by a lack of research focusing on its predictive validity in high-risk samples. The current study presents data on a sample of 120 ethnically diverse male offenders released from a maximum-security correctional treatment facility and followed for an average of 5 years. Dichotomized follow-up criminal charges consisted of both misdemeanor and felony charges. Structural equation modeling results found that the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version accounted for a modest, but significant, amount of variance. Adding a measure that assessed previous instrumental violence increased variance accounted for in the criminal charges outcome factor, but the relationship was in an unexpected direction. Implications for predicting violent behavior with psychopathy and criminal conduct in adolescent male offenders are discussed.
Accomplishing Change in Treatment Strategies

&NA; Using the well‐known work of Kurt Lewin and William Bridges and the newer work of Spencer Johnson, the authors explore the change process. They discuss some of these experts' concepts and their application to the process of organizational change, especially as they relate to the health care system. The transition from an unstructured approach in the treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome (AWS) to the use of an AWS Practice Guideline is given as a specific example delineating the change process.
A sketch-based method to control deformation in a skeletal implicit surface modeler

Skeletal implicit surfaces offer many advantages for sketch-based modeling systems, such as blending, CSG, and a procedural object hierarchy. Free-form deformation (FFD) is also extremely useful in this context, however existing FFD approaches do not support implicit surface representations, and FFD lattice manipulation is timeconsuming compared to sketch-based techniques. In this paper, we describe an FFD technique suitable for implicit surface representations. To enhance real-time feedback, we split the problem into an approximate formulation used during interactive deformation, and a more robust variational technique which preserves desirable scalar field properties. As an interface to manipulate the deformation, we introduce a sketch-based volumetric peeling interface. The designer's task is to draw a curve on the surface, and pull or push the surface to the desirable position via the curve. Subsequently, the deformation is automatically defined. Results show that a desirable deformation can be easily achieved while preserving implicit properties.
BENEFÍCIOS DA ATIVIDADE FÍSICA EM PESSOAS COM TRANSTORNOS MENTAIS

Saúde e doença mental são processos particulares de expressão das condições de vida e do estilo de vida de uma sociedade, representando as diferentes qualidades do processo vital e as diferentes competências para enfrentar desafios, agressões, conflitos e mudanças, numa dupla e contraditória natureza: biológica e psicológica. Fatores biológicos, psicológicos e sociais, aliados à predisposição genéti­ca, são agentes causadores das doenças mentais. Qualidade de vida no contexto da saúde mental, significa algo mais do que a melhora dos sintomas. Consiste na estruturação de um conjunto de fatores necessários, como resgate das habilidades sociais, moradia, trabalho, educação, apoio comunitário, lazer e bem estar psicoló­gico. A medicina e as ciências do movimento vem aperfeiçoando-se na experi­mentação da atividade física, como procedimento eficaz tanto na prevenção quanto no tratamento e reabilitação das pessoas com transtornos mentais. A participação em um programa de exercício regular é uma modalidade de intervenção efetiva para reduzir e prevenir um número de declínios funcionais associados à doença. Quanto aos fatores psicológicos, os maiores benefícios citados na literatura incluem aumen­to da auto estima, da percepção de controle, da eficácia e da percepção da imagem corporal, combate ao distress e redução de estados de depressão e ansiedade.
Lens proteomics: analysis of rat crystallin sequences and two-dimensional electrophoresis map.

PURPOSE To determine the sequence of four rat beta-crystallins, confirm the sequences by mass spectrometry, and produce a two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) map of soluble crystallins in young rat lens. METHODS New or additional sequences were determined for betaB1, betaB3, betaA3, and betaA4-crystallin cDNAs from Sprague-Dawley rats, and the deduced protein sequences confirmed by mass spectrometry. The identity and relative abundance of each crystallin was then determined by 2-DE of soluble protein from whole lenses of 12-day-old rats, image analysis, and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) spectra of peptides from in-gel digests. RESULTS The previously unreported sequence of rat betaA4 cDNA encoded a 195-amino-acid protein. Additional cDNA sequencing provided the previously unknown N-terminal sequence of rat betaA3, found two differences from the previous amino acid sequences of both rat betaB1 and betaB3, and detected a polymorphism at residue 54 in rat betaB3. These new sequences were then confirmed by whole protein masses and MS/MS spectra of proteolytic digests. 2-DE analysis provided a more detailed map of rat crystallins than previously available and allowed the composition of crystallins in young rat lens to be compared with that in young human lens. CONCLUSIONS This report provides baseline data that will facilitate the analysis of posttranslational modifications in rat crystallins during cataract. Detection of a polymorphism in the sequence of rat betaB3 suggests that crystallins in humans could also exhibit polymorphisms. The unusual abundance of rat betaB3 and low abundance of betaB2 may account for the increased susceptibility of rat crystallins to insolubilization during aging and cataract.
The Final Bullet in the Body of the More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis

In 1997, John Lott and David Mustard launched what has come to be one of the most remarkable tales in the history of public policy evaluation when they announced that laws permitting citizens to carry concealed handguns - so-called right-to-carry (RTC) laws - caused crime to fall. Hailed as heroes by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its supporters, while derided as scoundrels by their staunchest critics, Lott and Mustard precipitated a scholarly and political odyssey that can teach us much about the techniques and limitations of sophisticated empirical research and the divergent norms of the scholarly and political realms. The bottom line is that recent work by Kovandzic and Marvell confirms the growing consensus that the best evidence does not support the thesis that adoption of RTC laws reduces crime. Nonetheless, this now discredited thesis continues to influence public policy as John Lott continues to try to persuade state legislators that RTC laws will lower violent crime despite the great weight of the evidence to the contrary.
Robust facial expression tracking based on composite constraints AAM

Facial expression tracking is a challenging task because the head pose may change in a large range and the expression is highly non-rigid. It can be formulized as an energy minimization problem. The two most important issues are the construction of the cost function and the selection of the initial value. In this paper, we present a fast and robust expression tracking algorithm called Composite Constraints AAM. Firstly, a novel cost function is proposed to enhance the convergence by combining multiple constraints in a unified framework. Secondly, widely used local features are strictly tested with face videos, and an efficient motion estimation method is presented to provide a good initial value to the iterative optimization process. Experimental result demonstrates that our system can track the head pose and facial expression with very high stability in real time speed.
Global incorporation of norleucine in place of methionine in cytochrome P450 BM‐3 heme domain increases peroxygenase activity

In this study we have replaced all 13 methionine residues in the cytochrome P450 BM‐3 heme domain (463 amino acids) with the isosteric methionine analog norleucine. This experiment has provided a means of testing the functional limits of globally incorporating into an enzyme an unnatural amino acid in place of its natural analog, and also an efficient way to test whether inactivation during peroxide‐driven P450 catalysis involves methionine oxidation. Although there was no increase in the stability of the P450 under standard reaction conditions (in 10 mM hydrogen peroxide), complete substitution with norleucine resulted in nearly two‐fold‐increased peroxygenase activity. Thermostability was significantly reduced. The fact that the enzyme can tolerate such extensive amino acid replacement suggests that we can engineer enzymes with unique chemical properties via incorporation of unnatural amino acids while retaining or improving catalytic properties. This system also provides a platform for directing enzyme evolution using an extended set of protein building blocks. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 83: 729–734, 2003.
Governance: A code of multiple colours

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of some of the major theoretical perspectives on governance developed within the field of business and management. We critically review conceptualizations of governance in the mainstream literature, and contrast this with the relevant literature from the governmentality and institutionalist perspectives. This article emphasizes the diversity of conceptions of governance promoted by these different theories, and argues that this rich multiplicity offers genuine scope for gaining a more rounded understanding of the inherent complexities of contemporary governance forms and practices.
Multilevel Risk Models for Retrospective Age-Of-Onset Data

Survival analysis provides a natural conceptual framework for considering risk.However, survey data on age of onset typically possess measurement error and sample design complexities that are absent from the usual settings in which survival analysis is applied.The authors describe a random effects discrete time survival model that addresses these problems.They illustrate its use by an analysis of retrospective report data on the age of onset of smoking from two cross-sectional school-based studies.
A Survey of Chaos-Based Cryptography

As an offshoot of dynamical systems, chaos is highly sensitive to initial conditions and exhibits seemingly random behavior. From the perspective of cryptography and information security, randomness generated from entirely deterministic systems is a very appealing property. Chaotic cryptography has experienced significant developments since its birth in the early 90's. During these years, numerous research achievements have been obtained. This paper will present an overview about chaos-based cryptography and relevant progress that covers the main techniques used in this field.