Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The European eLearning Programme(s): Between rhetoric and reality

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study conducted by the author on the implications of e-learning programmes for the higher education systems of the member states of the European Union. The study takes a look behind the scenes of the eLearning Programme and other e-learning actions within other European programmes by tapping into the perceptions of academics at universities in the European Union (in three principal countries — Germany, Portugal and Sweden — and six secondary countries — Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom) who have participated in or have knowledge of the logistical and administrative burdens of European e-learning projects. Through a series of in-depth open-ended interviews conducted on location, via the telephone or over the Internet, the study investigates the interactions of academics and researchers with the European-funded programmes in e-learning. Several interviews with members of the European Commission offer an inside look at the dynamics of the programmes and confer a ‘humanistic’ perspective to the stern letter of the legal documentation. The personal accounts are used to build a ‘composite picture’ of common themes related to the processes involved in developing and conducting e-learning projects under the eLearning Programme and other European programmes, shedding new light on the levels of initiative that go into the actual preparation of e-learning projects.
Offshore Wind Resources Assessment from Multiple Satellite Data and WRF Modeling over South China Sea

Using accurate inputs of wind speed is crucial in wind resource assessment, as predicted power is proportional to the wind speed cubed. This study outlines a methodology for combining multiple ocean satellite winds and winds from WRF simulations in order to acquire the accurate reconstructed offshore winds which can be used for offshore wind resource assessment. First, wind speeds retrieved from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Scatterometer ASCAT images were validated against in situ measurements from seven coastal meteorological stations in South China Sea (SCS). The wind roses from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) and ASCAT agree well with these observations from the corresponding in situ measurements. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based (ASCAT-based) wind speed for the whole co-located samples show a standard deviation (SD) of 2.09 m/s (1.83 m/s) and correlation coefficient of R 0.75 (0.80). When the offshore winds (i.e., winds directed from land to sea) are excluded, the comparison results for wind speeds show an improvement of SD and R, indicating that the satellite data are more credible over the open ocean. Meanwhile, the validation of satellite winds against the same co-located mast observations shows a satisfactory level of accuracy which was similar for SAR and ASCAT winds. These satellite winds are then assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model by WRF Data Assimilation (WRFDA) system. Finally, the wind resource statistics at 100 m height based on the reconstructed winds have been achieved over the study area, which fully combines the offshore wind information from multiple satellite data and numerical model. The findings presented here may be useful in future wind resource assessment based on satellite data.
Chronic neonicotinoid pesticide exposure and parasite stress differentially affects learning in honeybees and bumblebees

Learning and memory are crucial functions which enable insect pollinators to efficiently locate and extract floral rewards. Exposure to pesticides or infection by parasites may cause subtle but ecologically important changes in cognitive functions of pollinators. The potential interactive effects of these stressors on learning and memory have not yet been explored. Furthermore, sensitivity to stressors may differ between species, but few studies have compared responses in different species. Here, we show that chronic exposure to field-realistic levels of the neonicotinoid clothianidin impaired olfactory learning acquisition in honeybees, leading to potential impacts on colony fitness, but not in bumblebees. Infection by the microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae slightly impaired learning in honeybees, but no interactive effects were observed. Nosema did not infect bumblebees (3% infection success). Nevertheless, Nosema-treated bumblebees had a slightly lower rate of learning than controls, but faster learning in combination with neonicotinoid exposure. This highlights the potential for complex interactive effects of stressors on learning. Our results underline that one cannot readily extrapolate findings from one bee species to others. This has important implications for regulatory risk assessments which generally use honeybees as a model for all bees.
Responsible tourism and sustainability: the case of Kumarakom in Kerala, India

This paper discusses the notion of ‘responsible tourism’ and its current use within the tourism literature. We argue that the concept as used currently means everything and therefore adds nothing to the conceptual terrain of tourism trends and nomenclatures. We then introduce our own understanding of the concept arguing that while responsible tourism is linked to sustainability initiatives such as alternative tourism, ecotourism, ethical tourism, green tourism, soft tourism, pro-poor tourism, geo-tourism, integrated tourism, community-based tourism, etc it also demarcates an analytical realm of its own. We suggest that the practical use of the term in areas where it has been adopted (such as South Africa and Kerala for instance) suggests a rather restricted use. We identified this realm as the tourism sector-specific manifestation of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda. Following Flyvberg's [(2006). Five misunderstandings about case-study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219–245] call for exemplars and paradigmatic case studies to advance knowledge in a particular domain, the responsible tourism initiative in Kumarakon, Kerala, is presented. Discussion of the case study traces the particular governance context of Kerala and the position of tourism in the state economy. The responsible tourism initiatives at the state level and local level are then described highlighting the ‘how’ of the implementation and the impact that it has produced. Generic, non-prescriptive principles that could be said to be necessary in some form for the successful translation of responsible tourism principles to practices are then identified. Such an approach is contrasted with one that places faith in the voluntary adoption of ‘responsible’ practices by the private sector on its own. It is argued that responsible tourism can make a contribution to practice provided the conceptual terrain is delineated against other forms of tourism and if research within the terrain can unpack the particular forms of challenges that are thrown up by the delineation itself.
Predicting Political Orientation of News Articles Based on User Behavior Analysis in Social Network

SUMMARY News articles usually represent a biased viewpoint on contentious issues, potentially causing social problems. To mitigate this media bias, we propose a novel framework for predicting orientation of a news article by analyzing social user behaviors in Twitter. Highly active users tend to have consistent behavior patterns in social network by retweeting behavior among users with the same viewpoints for contentious issues. The bias ratio of highly active users is measured to predict orientation of users. Then political orientation of a news article is predicted based on the bias ratio of users, mutual retweeting and opinion analysis of tweet documents. The analysis of user behavior shows that users with the value of 1 in bias ratio are 88.82%. It indicates that most of users have distinctive orientation. Our prediction method based on orientation of users achieved 88.6% performance in accuracy. Experimental results show significant improvements over the SVM classification. These results show that proposed detection
Optimal Implementation of Watched Literals and More General Techniques

I prove that an implementation technique for scanning lists in backtracking search algorithms is optimal. The result applies to a simple general framework, which I present: applications include watched literal unit propagation in SAT and a number of examples in constraint satisfaction. Techniques like watched literals are known to be highly space efficient and effective in practice. When implemented in the 'circular' approach described here, these techniques also have optimal run time per branch in big-O terms when amortized across a search tree. This also applies when multiple list elements must be found. The constant factor overhead of the worst case is only 2. Replacing the existing nonoptimal implementation of unit propagation in MiniSat speeds up propagation by 29%, though this is not enough to improve overall run time significantly.
Microwave and Magnetostatic Characterization of Ferrite LTCC for Tunable and Reconfigurable SiP Applications

The material property extraction techniques for an emerging commercial ferrite LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramic) tape are presented. These properties are evaluated in the context of tunable and reconfigurable microwave components for wireless communications. Relevant parameters for microwave design, including relative permittivity epsivr, relative permeability mur and loss tangent tandelta, are presented. Measurements performed at 9.86 GHz and 27.2 GHz yield an epsivr of 13.6 and tandelta values of 0.004 and 0.001 respectively. For the first time, a completely embedded LTCC toroid transformer is utilized to extract the magnetostatic properties with greater accuracy than a solenoid transformer. These measurements reveal a saturation flux density of nearly 400 mT, a remanence of 250 mT, and a coercivity of 430 A/m. The peak relative linear permeability of the ferrite is 370. The low loss tangent and the high degree of variability of the ferrite properties with bias indicate its suitability for tunable and reconfigurable microwave SiP (system in package) applications.
An oscillatory interference model of grid cell firing

We expand upon our proposal that the oscillatory interference mechanism proposed for the phase precession effect in place cells underlies the grid‐like firing pattern of dorsomedial entorhinal grid cells (O'Keefe and Burgess ( 2005 ) Hippocampus 15:853–866). The original one‐dimensional interference model is generalized to an appropriate two‐dimensional mechanism. Specifically, dendritic subunits of layer II medial entorhinal stellate cells provide multiple linear interference patterns along different directions, with their product determining the firing of the cell. Connection of appropriate speed‐ and direction‐ dependent inputs onto dendritic subunits could result from an unsupervised learning rule which maximizes postsynaptic firing (e.g. competitive learning). These inputs cause the intrinsic oscillation of subunit membrane potential to increase above theta frequency by an amount proportional to the animal's speed of running in the “preferred” direction. The phase difference between this oscillation and a somatic input at theta‐frequency essentially integrates velocity so that the interference of the two oscillations reflects distance traveled in the preferred direction. The overall grid pattern is maintained in environmental location by phase reset of the grid cell by place cells receiving sensory input from the environment, and environmental boundaries in particular. We also outline possible variations on the basic model, including the generation of grid‐like firing via the interaction of multiple cells rather than via multiple dendritic subunits. Predictions of the interference model are given for the frequency composition of EEG power spectra and temporal autocorrelograms of grid cell firing as functions of the speed and direction of running and the novelty of the environment. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dmrt5, a Novel Neurogenic Factor, Reciprocally Regulates Lhx2 to Control the Neuron–Glia Cell-Fate Switch in the Developing Hippocampus

Regulation of the neuron–glia cell-fate switch is a critical step in the development of the CNS. Previously, we demonstrated that Lhx2 is a necessary and sufficient regulator of this process in the mouse hippocampal primordium, such that Lhx2 overexpression promotes neurogenesis and suppresses gliogenesis, whereas loss of Lhx2 has the opposite effect. We tested a series of transcription factors for their ability to mimic Lhx2 overexpression and suppress baseline gliogenesis, and also to compensate for loss of Lhx2 and suppress the resulting enhanced level of gliogenesis in the hippocampus. Here, we demonstrate a novel function of Dmrt5/Dmrta2 as a neurogenic factor in the developing hippocampus. We show that Dmrt5, as well as known neurogenic factors Neurog2 and Pax6, can each not only mimic Lhx2 overexpression, but also can compensate for loss of Lhx2 to different extents. We further uncover a reciprocal regulatory relationship between Dmrt5 and Lhx2, such that each can compensate for loss of the other. Dmrt5 and Lhx2 also have opposing regulatory control on Pax6 and Neurog2, indicating a complex bidirectionally regulated network that controls the neuron–glia cell-fate switch. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We identify Dmrt5 as a novel regulator of the neuron–glia cell-fate switch in the developing hippocampus. We demonstrate Dmrt5 to be neurogenic, and reciprocally regulated by Lhx2: loss of either factor promotes gliogenesis; overexpression of either factor suppresses gliogenesis and promotes neurogenesis; each can substitute for loss of the other. Furthermore, each factor has opposing effects on established neurogenic genes Neurog2 and Pax6. Dmrt5 is known to suppress their expression, and we show that Lhx2 is required to maintain it. Our study reveals a complex regulatory network with bidirectional control of a fundamental feature of CNS development, the control of the production of neurons versus astroglia in the developing hippocampus. Finally, we confirm that Lhx2 binds a highly conserved putative enhancer of Dmrt5, suggesting an evolutionarily conserved regulatory relationship between these factors. Our findings uncover a complex network that involves Lhx2, Dmrt5, Neurog2, and Pax6, and that ensures the appropriate amount and timing of neurogenesis and gliogenesis in the developing hippocampus.
Incident Response Probabilistic Cognitive Maps

Security incident response is a major activity to guarantee the protection of information systems. We develop in this paper a methodology for automatically determining responses to security incidents based on a new category of cognitive maps, referred to as incident response probabilistic cognitive map. The main issue addressed in this paper is the development of a methodology using mathematical tools for reasoning about the constructed cognitive map to identify the attack, to reduce its complexity, and to search for the decision responding to the detected attack. The main features have been highlighted showing the complexity of the incident response team role.
Estimation of Position and Orientation for Non-Rigid Robots Control Using Motion Capture Techniques

Robots are well established in science and technique. They are used in different environments and they have different structures. Typical robot movements are rapid and steepy when the movement direction changes occurs. It is not necessary to replicate a biological nature based solution for most tasks, so such movements are acceptable and simpler to obtain. Control algorithms are simpler for such cases, development and settings of such controllers are more straightforward. Robots are also based on a set of joins and serial or parallel configurations. Different configurations are usefully for selected task and may be not based on biological nature references. Replication of biological nature are not necessary, and for example a wheels that are simple to design have not biological references. Join based approach of robot design is well established and there are many technical advantages of such structure (Fig. 1). Mechanic of the robots is based mostly on a kind of the skeleton. The endoskeletons design uses a mechanical parts located inside light–weight casing. The exoskeletons design uses a mechanical parts that is casing also. Some robots uses mixed design, where the ’bones’ are in endosceleton design and only joints uses exosceleton design. Exosceletons design are used in hostile environments typically.
Differential Roles of Viral RNA and cRNA in Functional Modulation of the Influenza Virus RNA Polymerase*

The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of influenza virus is composed of three viral P proteins (PB1, PB2, and PA) and involved in both transcription and replication of the RNA genome. For the molecular anatomy of this multifunctional enzyme, we have established a simultaneous expression of three P proteins in cultured insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses. For purification of P protein complexes, the PA protein was expressed as a fusion with a histidine tag added at its N terminus. By using affinity chromatography, a complex consisting of the three P proteins was isolated from nuclear extracts of virus-infected cells. The affinity-purified 3P complex showed the activities of capped RNA binding, capped RNA cleavage, viral model RNA binding, model RNA-directed RNA synthesis, and polyadenylation of newly synthesized RNA. We conclude that a functional form of the viral RNA polymerase with the catalytic specificity of transcriptase is formed in recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells. Using the viral RNA-free 3P complex, we found that the capped RNA cleavage takes place in the presence of vRNA but not of cRNA, indicating that the vRNA functions as a regulatory factor for the specificity control of viral RNA polymerase as well as a template for transcription. The structural elements of RNA directing the expression of RNA polymerase functions were analyzed using variant forms of the model RNA templates.
Breakthrough Technologies Virus-Based MicroRNA Silencing in Plants 1 [ C ] [ W ] [ OPEN ]

MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (A.S., J.Z., K.Y., Y.T., Y.W., X.W., Y.L.); Institute of Oil Crops Research, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Wuhan 430062, China (A.S.); and Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (Y.H.)
LANGUAGE AND POLITICS IN ALGERIA

Since independence, Algerian authorities have used a number of ideological processes to gain political legitimacy. One of these processes is the language policy known as Arabization. The present article shows how this policy aims at providing the regime with political legtimacy, and serves as a means of social control (Arabization/Islamization). We argue that, far from bringing about reconciliation between various groups and between these and the authorities, Arabization has led to serious problems and major conflicts that have undermined both social cohesion and the authority of the regime.
Team building: a 3‐dimensional teamwork model

Purpose – The purpose is to introduce an innovative team model explaining the context and process of teamwork in an organization.Design/methodology/approach – The paper illustrates a unique structure of teamwork as a transforming process in the organization.Findings – The 3‐dimensional teamwork model is adapted from the Belbin Team Role model, Andia's team pyramid model, Thompson et al.'s team process evolution model, and original works of the authors as a doctoral learning team with the University of Phoenix.Research limitations/implications – The team model is supported with a narrative explanation in four research areas: relevant literature on the concept of team models; model qualities; model application; and a benchmark outline for leadership to adapt the 3‐dimensional teamwork model according to their organization need.Originality/value – Introduces an innovative teamwork model.
Exposure of the human population to BSE infectivity over the course of the BSE epidemic in Great Britain and the impact of changes to the Over Thirty Month Rule

The Over Thirty Month Rule (OTMR) was introduced in 1996 as a measure to reduce the exposure of the population to the BSE agent by limiting the age of animals that could be slaughtered for food. This study was carried out as part of the process of reviewing the OTMR that is currently being carried out by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA). Data on the infectivity of bovine tissues, the development of infectivity through the incubation period and the cattle to human species barrier are reviewed. All the possible routes by which infective material could be included in food for human consumption, including contamination with infected tissues in the abattoir, embolism following slaughter, dorsal root ganglia in meat, mechanically recovered meat and failure of SRM controls are evaluated over the period of the BSE epidemic. It is estimated that the exposure from one fully infected animal slaughtered for food at the present time would be about 27 bovine oral ID50 units, this compares to a peak value of about 1900 early in the epidemic. At present the exposure is primarily due to dorsal root ganglia, but over the course of the epidemic the main contributor to total infectivity is estimated to have been mechanically recovered meat (MRM). However, it is also shown that the potential exposure to infectivity due to MRM in any one meal would have been very small, casting doubt on whether this could have been an effective source of infection. By combining these estimates with estimates of numbers of infected animals by incubation period and year it is estimated that a total of some 54 million bovine oral ID50 units would have been consumed from 1980 to date, reaching a peak of about 11 million units in 1993, but falling rapidly following the introduction of SBO ban and the OTMR. In 2001 it is estimated that the exposure for the whole UK population is only 2.5 bovine oral ID50 units. The study has helped demonstrate that current exposure to BSE infective material in the UK is very low, and would remain very low if the OTMR was amended or abolished.
Coherent view-dependent streamline selection for importance-driven flow visualization

Streamline visualization can be formulated as the problem of streamline placement or streamline selection. In this paper, we present an importance-driven approach to view-dependent streamline selection that guarantees coherent streamline update when the view changes gradually. Given a large number of randomly or uniformly seeded and traced streamlines and sample viewpoints, our approach evaluates, for each streamline, the view-dependent importance by considering the amount of information shared by the 3D streamline and its 2D projection as well as how stereoscopic the streamline’s shape is reflected under each viewpoint. We achieve coherent view-dependent streamline selection following a two-pass solution that considers i) the relationships between local viewpoints and the global streamline set selected in a view-independent manner and ii) the continuity between adjacent viewpoints. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach with several synthesized and simulated flow fields and compare our view-dependent streamline selection algorithm with a naïve algorithm that selects streamlines solely based on the information at the current viewpoint.