Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mail Questionnaires in Survey Research: A Review of Response Inducement Techniques

The mail questionnaire is one of the most frequently used and controversial techniques in applied social science research. Much of the controversy relates to the difficulty involved in achieving response rates high enough to ensure representativeness. This paper surveys the recent literature on response inducement techniques in mail survey research. This review examined 12 of the most frequently researched techniques for increasing response rates. Five were found to consistently produce higher responses. These were prenotification, personalization, the inclusion of monetary incentives, follow-up, and higher class return postage. Two, source sponsorship and the type of appeal in the cover letter, appeared to increase response rates but in a situation specific manner. Four of the factors examined had no effect on response rates. These were the address location or social setting in which the questionnaire was received; specification of a deadline; the color, length, form, or preceding of the instrument; and the interaction of multiple factors. One item, the class of outgoing postage remained inconclusive.
Planning for Rural Development in Scotland: A New Role for Local Landscape Designations?

This article assesses the potential for non-statutory planning tools, Local Landscape Designations (LLDs), to deliver rural development in Scotland. This research is motivated by new Scottish guidance which encourages designations in general, and LLDs in particular, to be more positive, strategic tools for rural development activities. LLDs were originally conceived to protect and enhance significant areas of valued countryside yet they remain neglected in contemporary planning research and policy. A critical assessment of LLDs across Scotland was undertaken using both primary and secondary data. The results reveal a significant mismatch between positive national guidance and local authority policy and planner attitudes, the latter characterised by more protectionist positions and limited strategic planning. Although case study findings in Aberdeenshire reveal that more planning applications in LLDs have conditional approvals as opposed to the wider countryside, key differences have more to do with the subjective views and priorities of planning committees rather than the efficacy of LLDs per se. The article concludes that the current conceptualisation, operation and performance of LLDs needs to be more robust, and better aligned to reflect a positive focus on community and rural development matters in order to differentiate them from wider countryside policies. However, augmenting resources to reflect the increased attention to the landscape agenda in Scotland is a core prerequisite.
Physical Interaction of CcmC with Heme and the Heme Chaperone CcmE during Cytochrome c Maturation*

Biogenesis of c-type cytochromes requires the covalent attachment of heme to the apoprotein. InEscherichia coli, this process involves eight membrane proteins encoded by the ccmABCDEFGH operon. CcmE binds heme covalently and transfers it to apocytochromes c in the presence of other Ccm proteins. CcmC is necessary and sufficient to incorporate heme into CcmE. Here, we report that the CcmC protein directly interacts with heme. We further show that CcmC co-immunoprecipitates with CcmE. CcmC contains two conserved histidines and a signature sequence, the so-called tryptophan-rich motif, which is the only element common to cytochrome c maturation proteins of bacteria, archae, plant mitochondria, and chloroplasts. We report that mutational changes of these motifs affecting the function of CcmC in cytochrome c maturation do not influence heme binding of CcmC. However, the mutants are defective in the CcmC-CcmE interaction, suggesting that these motifs are involved in the formation of a CcmC-CcmE complex. We propose that CcmC, CcmE, and heme interact directly with each other, establishing a periplasmic heme delivery pathway for cytochrome c maturation.
Artificial-Molecule-Based Chemical Reaction Optimization for Flow Shop Scheduling Problem With Deteriorating and Learning Effects

Industry 4.0 is widely accepted to guide a novel and promising production paradigm where many advanced intelligent machines and latest technologies are utilized. The self-optimization and self-training behaviors of advanced intelligent machines make them more and more proficient when processing jobs; while the abrasion of their components reduces their work efficiency in the manufacturing process. Therefore, we address a flow shop scheduling problem with deteriorating and learning effects, where the processing time of jobs is a function of their starting time and positions in a schedule. In order to solve it efficiently, an artificial-molecule-based chemical reaction optimization algorithm is proposed. A set of artificial molecules are constructed based on some elitist solutions and adaptively injected into the population, which can enhance and balance exploration and exploitation abilities. The simulation experiments are carried out on a set of stochastic test problems with different sizes. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than its peer algorithms in solving the investigated problem.
Improved Carbohydrate Metabolism After Bariatric Surgery Raises Antioxidized LDL Antibody Levels in Morbidly Obese Patients

OBJECTIVE—Antioxidized LDL (anti-oxLDL) antibodies have recently been suggested to be protective against the development of diabetes. We measured the changes in anti-oxLDL antibody levels in the inverse situation of improvement in carbohydrate metabolism. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The study was undertaken in 73 morbidly obese individuals, 21 of whom had type 2 diabetes, before and 7 months after they underwent bariatric surgery and in 11 healthy, nonobese individuals. Measurements were made of the area under the curve of glucose (AUCGlu) by an intravenous glucose tolerance test and of oxidized LDL (oxLDL) and IgG and IgM anti-oxLDL antibodies. RESULTS—The morbidly obese patients with diabetes had significantly higher levels of oxLDL compared with the morbidly obese patients with normal fasting glucose and the control subjects and significantly lower levels of IgM anti-oxLDL antibodies. An inverse correlation was found between the levels of oxLDL and IgM anti-oxLDL antibodies (r = −0.352, P = 0.012). Although the levels of IgG and IgM anti-oxLDL antibodies rose after surgery, this increase was only significant in the diabetic patients, who experienced an improvement in their metabolic profile. Different multiple linear regression models showed that the AUCGlu was the main factor explaining the behavior of the levels of oxLDL and anti-oxLDL antibodies. CONCLUSIONS—We found a close association between carbohydrate metabolism and IgM anti-oxLDL antibodies, which were significantly reduced in the morbidly obese patients with diabetes. The improvement in carbohydrate metabolism after bariatric surgery led to a significant increase in the levels of IgG and IgM anti-oxLDL antibodies.
Resiliency and Optimism: An African American Senior Citizen’s Perspective

A total of 52 African American senior citizens (aged 59-99 years) were asked to participate in a study examining psychological resources (ego resilience and dispositional optimism) and the experience of racial stress as a function of geographical location (north vs. south). This is an understudied population, and African American seniors who remain relatively active within their respected communities may provide useful information regarding these psychological constructs in particular and successful aging in general. Participants completed the ego resilience, optimism, stress, and distress surveys. When collapsed across geographical location, resilience was negatively correlated with distress and positively correlated with optimism. Dispositional optimism was negatively correlated with levels of psychological distress. African American seniors who resided in the north reported significantly less distress than those in the south. Findings support resiliency and optimism as stress buffers for older African Americans.
PermWeb: remote parallel and distributed-volume visualization

In this paper we present a system for visualizing volume data from remote supercomputers. We have developed both parallel volume rendering algorithms, and the World Wide Web (WWW) software for accessing the data at the remote sites. The implementation uses Hypertext Markup Language, Java, and Common Gateway Interface scripts to connect WWW servers/clients to our volume renderers. The front ends are interactive Java classes for specification of view, shading , and classification inputs. We present performance results, and implementation details for connections to our computing resources at the University of California Santa Cruz including a MasPar MP-2, SGI Reality Engine-RE2, and SGI Challenge machines. We apply the system to the task of visualizing trabecular bone from finite element simulations. Fast volume rendering on remote compute servers through a web interface allows us to increase the accessibility of the results to more users. User interface issues, overview of parallel algorithm developments, and overall system interfaces and protocols are presented. Access is available through Uniform Resource Locator http://www.cse. ucsc.edu/research/slvg/.
Skin Cancer Detection from Macroscopic Images

Automatic diagnosis of skin cancer images is especially difficult in medical image processing. Moreover, proper segmentation is crucial for the partitioning of growths from the skin, which can aid in the differentiation between melanoma and benign skin lesions. To address these issues, this research work investigates the widely used ABCD rule (Asymmetry, Border Irregularity, Colour and Diameter) on macroscopic images and the Graph-Cut segmentation technique as it demonstrates capabilities for handling extremely textured, noisy and colour images which are present in macroscopic images. The accuracy rates achieved by the proposed model with the use of the TDS (Total Dermoscopy Score) classifier is 73,529%, SVM is 75,294% and KNN classifier is 74,706%.
Social Information Processing and Social Networks: A Test of Social Influence Mechanisms

After identifying the implicit assumptions about social influence mechanisms and the social structural bases reflected in the social information processing literature, social network analysis concepts and structural models are used to clearly specify three alternative influence mechanisms. Simple interaction contact, norm enforcing cohesive groups, and the occupation of structurally equivalent positions or roles in an interaction structure are hypothesized as the structures underlying different social influence processes. The relative efficacy of these various structural configurations in predicting similarity of perception of and attitudes about organizational phenomena are then evaluated. While the evidence seems to indicate that the social influence of norm enforcing groups is most robust, multiple mechanisms appear to operate, sometimes simultaneously, for different kinds of perceptions. The limits of social information processing effects are discussed in light of the findings here of no significant effects on some perceptions.
Compressibility Characteristics of Address / Data Transfers in Commercial Workloads

In this paper, we evaluate the compressibility of address and data transfers in commercial servers. Our proposed compression scheme is geared towards improving the efficiency of the transfer medium (busses, links etc) and increasing the performance of the system. We evaluate the potential of the basic compression techniques for two commercial workloads – SPECweb99 [21] and TPCC[22] – based on trace-driven simulations. Based on the obtained results, we show that simple compression schemes show significant promise for reducing address bus width and moderate benefits for data bus width reduction. We also show the sensitivity of these performance benefits to the number of bits compressed and the size of the encoding/decoding table used. Additionally, we propose enhancements to the compression schemes based on (1) recognizing and utilizing data-type specific knowledge and (2) improving the replacement policy of the encoding/decoding table. The performance benefits of bus compression schemes with these enhancements are also presented and analyzed.
Package equivalence in complex software network

The public package registry npm is one of the biggest software registry. With its 216 911 software packages, it forms a big network of software dependencies. In this paper we evaluate various methods for finding similar packages in the npm network, using only the structure of the graph. Namely, we want to find a way of categorizing similar packages, which would be useful for recommendation systems. This size enables us to compute meaningful results, as it softened the particularities of the graph. Npm is also quite famous as it is the default package repository of Node.js. We believe that it will make our results interesting for more people than a less used package repository. This makes it a good subject of analysis of software networks.
Muscular humanitarianism: reading the narratives of the new interventionism

As a result of the decision by NATO to use force in response to the Kosovo crisis, issues about the legality and morality of humanitarian intervention have again begun to dominate the international legal agenda. This article explores the ways in which international legal texts about intervention operate at the ideological or representational level. It draws on feminist and post-colonial theories of subjectivity and identification to suggest that the desire to intervene militarily in cases of crisis is a product of the deeper narratives and flows of meaning within which texts about intervention are inserted. The narratives of the new interventionism create a powerful sense of self for those who identify with the hero of the story, be that the international community, the Security Council, NATO or the United States. As a result, these narratives operate not only in the realm of state systems, rationality and facts, but also in the realm of identification, imagination, subjectivity and emotion. The article explores some of the implications for international lawyers of the recognition that their arguments about intervention have effects at this personal and subjective level.
Impact of microRNA dynamics on cancer hallmarks: An oral cancer scenario

MicroRNAs are endogenous small noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at posttranscriptional level. The discovery of microRNAs has identified a new layer of gene regulation mechanisms, which play a pivotal role in development as well as in various cellular processes, such as proliferation, differentiation, cell growth, and cell death. Deregulated microRNA expression favors acquisition of cancer hallmark traits as well as transforms the tumor microenvironment, leading to tumor development and progression. Many recent studies have revealed altered expression of microRNAs in oral carcinoma with several microRNAs shown to have key biological role in tumorigenesis functioning either as tumor suppressors or as tumor promoters. MicroRNA expression levels correlate with clinicopathological variables and have a diagnostic and prognostic value in oral carcinoma. For these reasons, microRNA has been a hot topic in oral cancer research for the last few years. In this review, we attempt to summarize the present understanding of microRNA deregulation in oral carcinoma, their role in acquiring cancer hallmarks, and their potential diagnostic and prognostic value for oral cancer management.
Summarization of Business-Related Tweets: A Concept-Based Approach

We present a method for summarizing the collection of tweets related to a business. Our procedure aggregates tweets into subtopic clusters which are then ranked and summarized by a few representative tweets from each cluster. Central to our approach is the ability to group diverse tweets into clusters. The broad clustering is induced by first learning a small set of business-related concepts automatically from free text and then subdividing the tweets into these concepts. Cluster ranking is performed using an importance score which combines topic coherence and sentiment value of the tweets. We also discuss alternative methods to summarize these tweets and evaluate the approaches using a small user study. Results show that the concept-based summaries are ranked favourably by the users.
Essays on the Economics of Education

This dissertation includes three papers in the field of economics of education. The first paper provides estimates of the long-run impacts of tracking high-achieving students using data from a Boston Public Schools (BPS) program, Advanced Work Class (AWC). AWC is an accelerated curriculum in 4th through 6th grades with dedicated classrooms. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach based on the AWC entrance exam, I find that AWC has little impact on test scores. However, it improves longer-term academic outcomes including Algebra 1 enrollment by 8th grade, AP exam taking, and college enrollment. The college enrollment effect is particularly large for elite institutions. Testing potential channels for program effects provides suggestive evidence that teacher effectiveness and math acceleration account for AWC effects, with little evidence that peer effects contribute to gains. The second paper uses item-level information from standardized tests to investigate whether large test score gains attributed to Boston charter schools can be explained by score inflation. To do so, I estimate the impact of charter school attendance on subscales of the test scores and examine them for evidence of score inflation. If charter schools are teaching to the test to a greater extent than their counterparts, one would expect to see higher scores on commonly tested standards, higher stakes subjects, and frequently tested topics. However, despite incentives to reallocate effort toward highly-tested content, and to coach to item type, I find no evidence of this type of test preparation. Boston charter middle schools perform consistently across all standardized test subscales. The third paper analyzes a Massachusetts merit aid program that gives high-scoring students tuition waivers at in-state public colleges with lower graduation rates than available alternative colleges. A regression discontinuity design comparing students just above and below the eligibility
Narrative and Paradigmatic Thinking Styles in Creative Writing and Journalism Students

How do creative writing students and journalists differ in their thinking styles? To investigate this question, 81 undergraduate participants (41 creative writing students and 40 student journalists) were asked to write sentences in response to a series of photographs. Their responses were then scored according Bruner's theory of Narrative and Paradigmatic thought. In addition, these students were assessed on the NEO Personality Inventory — Revised (Costa & McRae, 1992) to measure personality, the Work Preference Inventory, College Student Version (Amabile, 1995) to measure motivation, and the Mental Self-Government Thinking Styles Inventory (Sternberg & Wagner, 1991) to measure a different theory of thinking styles. As hypothesized, creative writers scored significantly higher than journalists on Narrative thought, but an interaction occurred on Paradigmatic thought. Male journalists significantly outscored male creative writers, but a non-significant trend in the opposite direction was observed for females; these results stayed significant when personality and motivation factors were controlled.
A preferential attachment gathering mobility model

In this letter we propose a mobility model using preferential attachment via objects called attractors. We introduce a new kind of mobility we call Gathering Mobility, where nodes, although independent, exhibit a collective behavior. We show that this model, called Pragma, achieves a scale-free spatial distribution in the situation of population growth.
Generic and massively concurrent computation of belief combination rules: a MapReduce approach

This paper presents a generic and versatile approach for implementing combining rules on preprocessed belief functions, issuing from a large population of information sources. In this paper, we address two issues, which are the intrinsic complexity of the rules processing, and the possible large amount of requested combinations. We present a fully distributed approach, based on a MapReduce scheme. This approach is generic. In particular, we compare two implementations of three sources Dubois & Prade rule within framework Apache Spark and Apache Flink.
Variation in Crossover Frequencies Perturb Crossover Assurance Without Affecting Meiotic Chromosome Segregation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The segregation of homologous chromosomes during the Meiosis I division requires an obligate crossover per homolog pair (crossover assurance). In Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mammals, Msh4 and Msh5 proteins stabilize Holliday junctions and its progenitors to facilitate crossing over. S. cerevisiae msh4/5 hypomorphs that reduce crossover levels up to twofold at specific loci on chromosomes VII, VIII, and XV without affecting homolog segregation were identified recently. We use the msh4–R676W hypomorph to ask if the obligate crossover is insulated from variation in crossover frequencies, using a S. cerevisiae S288c/YJM789 hybrid to map recombination genome-wide. The msh4–R676W hypomorph made on average 64 crossovers per meiosis compared to 94 made in wild type and 49 in the msh4Δ mutant confirming the defect seen at individual loci on a genome-wide scale. Crossover reductions in msh4–R676W and msh4Δ were significant across chromosomes regardless of size, unlike previous observations made at specific loci. The msh4–R676W hypomorph showed reduced crossover interference. Although crossover reduction in msh4–R676W is modest, 42% of the four viable spore tetrads showed nonexchange chromosomes. These results, along with modeling of crossover distribution, suggest the significant reduction in crossovers across chromosomes and the loss of interference compromises the obligate crossover in the msh4 hypomorph. The high spore viability of the msh4 hypomorph is maintained by efficient segregation of the natural nonexchange chromosomes. Our results suggest that variation in crossover frequencies can compromise the obligate crossover and also support a mechanistic role for interference in obligate crossover formation.
Trajectory-Switching Algorithm for a MEMS Gyroscope

The motion of a conventional force-balancing controlled gyroscope in a mode-matched operation does not have sufficient persistence of excitation, and as a result, all major fabrication imperfections cannot be identified and compensated for. This paper presents an adaptive force-balancing control for a microelectromechanical-system z-axis gyroscope using a trajectory-switching algorithm. The proposed adaptive force-balancing control supplies additional richness of excitation to the internal dynamics of the gyroscope by switching the trajectory of the proof mass of the gyroscope, and it provides quadrature compensation, drive- and sense-axis frequency tuning, and closed-loop identification of the angular rate without the measurement of input/output phase difference. This algorithm also identifies and compensates the cross-damping terms which cause zero-rate output.