Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two-stage approach for unbalanced classification with time-varying decision boundary: application to marine container inspection

Two million marine containers arrive each year at Canadian ports, representing a significant percentage of Canada's trade with its overseas partners. While the majority of these commercial shipments are perfectly legitimate, some marine containers are used by criminals to smuggle drugs and weapons. To address this risk, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) employs a predictive model to identify high-risk containers. Recent data-mining initiatives at CBSA led us to study unbalanced classification problems in which the optimal decision boundary may change over time. In this paper, we propose a simple, two-stage approach to deal with such problems. While we focus on the marine container problem at CBSA, our proposed two-stage approach is general.
Electron Density and Temperature During the CHARGE-2B Sounding Rocket Mission

Abstract : The CHARGE-2B sounding rocket was launched from Poker Flats Research Range, Alaska, in March 1992 to investigate VLF electromagnetic radiation generated by a modulated electron beam in the ionosphere. A Langmuir probe on board the Rome Laboratory Diagnostic Free Flyer (DFF) sub-payload was the only source of local electron density and temperature data for the mission. The probe detected supra-thermal electrons generated by the beam injections. These observations were used to characterize the disturbed plasma region surrounding the beam-vehicle system. Spectral analysis of the probe current data reveals a low level of electron density fluctuation despite clear signatures of electrostatic beam emissions on the DFF wave observations.
The significance of social relationships in learning to become a vocational and technical education teacher: a case study of three individuals

This article about workplace learning examines the learning of individuals in becoming a Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) teacher in Brunei. Drawing on research findings from a group of student teachers, it presents case study accounts of three individuals to illustrate the importance of social relationships in learning to become a VTE teacher. These findings also extend current theorising about learning at work which integrates individual learners into predominantly social theories of learning.
Token Monism, Event Dualism and Overdetermination

The argument from causal overdetermination (‘the CO-argument’) is considered to be the shortest route to token monism. It only assumes that: 1. Efficacy: Mental events are causes of physical events. 2. Closure: Every physical event has a sufficient physical cause (if it has any sufficient cause). 3. Exclusion: Systematic Causal Overdetermination (CO) is impossible: if an event x is a sufficient cause of an event y then no event x* distinct from x is a cause of y. 4. Identity: Therefore, mental events are physical events. Exclusion does not deny the possibility of two gunmen that fi re at a victim at the same time. But event-dualism is like a systematic fi ringsquad case — whenever I want to raise my arm, my arm is raised, and that is intolerable.
Parameters of antioxidative defense in type 2 diabetic patients with cardiovascular complications

OBJECTIVE. Diabetes‐associated oxidative stress is a consequence of both increased production of free radicals and reduced capacity of antioxidative defense. Prolonged hyperglycemia is the major factor in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in diabetes which can lead to cardiovascular complications. The aim of this study was to test the parameters of antioxidative defense in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS. A total of 117 type 2 diabetics with and without cardiovascular complications were examined in order to find out the influence of hyperglycemia, type and duration of complications and duration of diabetes on the extent of disorder of antioxidative parameter values: superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px), glutathione reductase (GR) and total antioxidant status (TAS). RESULTS. Compared to healthy control subjects, type 2 diabetic patients with cardiovascular complications (CVC) had significantly lower SOD (P<0.0001), GSH‐Px (P<0.0001), GR ( P = 0.0002) and TAS values (P<0.0001). In type 2 diabetic subjects with CVC, males had significantly lower SOD (778.7±103.2 U/gHb, P<0.01) and GR activities (52.2±8.9 U/L, P<0.001) compared to females (839.3±94.9 U/gHb; 58.5±9.1 U/L). Significant and positive correlation was found between glucose levels and SOD (r = 0.375 for P<0.05) and GSH‐Px (r = 0.384, P<0.05 ) activity in the group of complications‐free diabetics, while significant negative correlation between glucose and GSH‐Px values (r = −0.382, P<0.05) was found in the group of type 2 diabetics with coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertension (HTA) and with CAD and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (r = −0.860 P<0.05), and highly negative correlation between glucose and SOD levels (r = −0.590, P<0.05) in the group of diabetic subjects with CAD, AMI and HTA. Likewise, there was highly significant negative correlation of SOD (r = −0.949, P<0.05) and TAS (r = −0.393 for P = 0.038) with duration of diabetes in the group of diabetics with CAD and HTA. CONCLUSION. Our results confirm the hypothesis that there is reduced antioxidative defense in type 2 diabetics with prominent cardiovascular complications, which negatively correlates with glucose concentrations and duration of diabetes and cardiovascular complications.
“Can We Play THAT Game Again?!”

game than practice. When they ask, "Can we play instead of practice? " the teacher will normally reply, "Not now. You need more practice. At a later time, perhaps. " Such a response does not encourage children. Children need to play games early in their introduction and participation, but the play needs to be modified to suit their physical, mental and social abilities. Unfortunately, modified games seem like poor substitutes for the ' real' games they see on television. It is important to promote and reinforce excitement in the game modification based on the understanding of how to play tactically and learning game strategies. One approach, called Teaching Games for Understanding (TGFU), places the child's concept of a game as the central concern before refining skills. Thorpe, Bunker and Almond (1986) popularized the TGFU approach
Obtainment and characterization of pectin through the peel of passion fruit ( Passiflora edulis f . flavicarpa Degener )

In this study the influence of the skin color (greenish-white, greenishyellow and yellow) and of the extracting agent (HCl, H3PO4, H3PO4-(NaPO3)6) on the pectin of the dry peel of passion fruit was analyzed. The content of pectin was determined through the method of acid hydrolysis under the following extracting conditions pH: 3.0, temperature: 90-95oC heating period: 90 minutes. The quality of the pectin was evaluated by means of the analysis of the humidity, ashes, equivalent weight, methoxyl, anhydrouronic acid, esterification, gelling period, relative viscosity and infrared spectrum. The maximum yield of pectin obtained was 18,45% when H3PO4-(NaPO3)6 was used as extracting agent; whereas in terms of quality the pectin was better when HCl was used as extracting agent, with a content of anhydrouronic acid and methoxyl of 78% and 9,9%, respectively. The peel of the passion fruit in the yellow state of ripeness showed the highest content of pectin, and the greenish-white state of ripeness showed the best gelling properties. The IR spectrometry confirmed that pectin had a high methoxyl. The analysis of the minerals showed the following results: calcium 0.10 to 0.15%, magnesium 0.05 to 0.08% and sodium 0.02 to 0.04%. The pectin of the peel of passion fruit does not have unusual characteristics that would indicate some potential commercial disadvantage.
On the Synthesis of a Nominal Trajectory for Control Law of a One-Link Flexible Arm

In this article we propose a method for the design of a nominal trajectory for a flexible one-link manipulator. This trajectory is near time-optimal. The torque control law consists of two parts: the commanded feedforward torque and the linear an gular position and velocity feedback. Feedforward signal is proportional to nominal angular acceleration of the hub. On the first time interval, the feedforward torque approaches con tinuously to a value that is a little smaller than the maximal possible torque, then it remains constant, and then it goes to zero. On the second interval, the feedforward torque ap proaches continuously to a value that is a little greater than the minimal possible torque, then it remains constant, and then it goes to zero. On the third time interval, feedforward signal is zero. We compute the corresponding nominal (desired) angu lar acceleration, velociy, and position of the hub as functions of time. The last two functions are fed to the linear feedback system. The angular acceleration is such that, on the first time interval, the hub moves with "large" acceleration in one di rection, and the link bends on the opposite side. On the second time interval, the hub moves with deceleration, and the link bends in the direction of the motion. On the third time interval we stabilize the arm near its desired position. In the experiments, the designed control algorithm was successfully implemented. We analyze these experiments from a theoretical point of view
Tenascin‐C and SF/HGF produced by myofibroblasts in vitro provide convergent proinvasive signals to human colon cancer cells through RhoA and Rac

Myofibroblasts are present at the invasion front in colon cancer. In an attempt to understand their putative proinvasive activity, we have developed an in vitro model. Myofibroblasts isolated from colon cancer tissue or obtained through transdifferentiation of colon fibroblasts by transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β stimulate invasion of colon cancer cells into collagen type I and Matrigel. We identified two convergent proinvasive agents secreted by myofibroblasts: namely scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor (SF/HGF) and the TGF‐β‐upregulated extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin‐C (TNC), each of which is necessary though not sufficient for invasion. Myofibroblast‐stimulated invasion into collagen type I is characterized by a change from a round, nonmigratory morphotype with high RhoA and low Rac activity to an elongated, migratory morphotype with low RhoA and high Rac activity. RhoA inactivation is determined by the epidermal growth factor (EGF)‐like repeats of TNC through EGF‐receptor signaling that confers a permissive and priming signal for the proinvasive activity of SF/HGF that activates Rac via c‐Met. We confirmed the validity of this mechanism by using pharmacological modulators and dominant negative or constitutive active mutants that interfere with RhoA‐Rho kinase and Rac signaling. Our in vitro results point to a new putative proinvasive signal for colon cancer cells provided by myofibroblasts in the tumor stroma.
Perspectives of IRB chairs on the informed consent process

ABSTRACT Background: Questions have been raised by researchers and ethics committees about whether human research subjects comprehend study participation when signing a research consent form. Methods: To determine existing beliefs about the informed consent review process, impediments to shorter consent, and augmented/alternative consent methods, a survey of institutional review board (IRB) chairpersons was conducted. Results: IRB chairs expressed concern with (but do not often assess) the length, complexity, and reading level of the consent form or participant comprehension. IRB chairs reported varied (but generally low) familiarity, acceptance, and use of possible solutions and alternatives. Conclusions: Best practice standards should be developed for (1) assessing consent form reading level; (2) measuring and monitoring participant comprehension; (3) alternative consent methods and enhancements; and (4) electronic signatures.
Single event upset tolerance in flip-flop based microprocessor cores

Soft errors due to single event upsets (SEUs) in the flip-flops of a design are of increasing importance in nanometer technology microprocessor cores. In this work, we present a flip-flop oriented soft error detection and correction technique. It exploits a transition detector at the output of the flip-flop for error detection along with an asynchronous local error correction scheme to provide soft error tolerance. Alternatively, a low cost soft error detection scheme is introduced, which shares a transition detector among multiple flip-flops, while error recovery relies on architectural replay. To validate the proposed approach, it has been applied in the design of a 32-bit MIPS microprocessor core using a 90nm CMOS technology.
Therapeutic Effect of Anti‐Tumor Necrosis Factor‐α Antibody on the Murine Model of Viral Myocarditis Induced by Encephalomyocarditis Virus

BackgroundTumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) has been reported to have an antiviral effect in vitro; however, its in vivo effect remains to be clarified. Methods and ResultsTo investigate the role of TNF-α in viral myocarditis using a murine model induced by encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), we evaluated (1) plasma TNF-α levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), (2) the effect of recombinant human TNF-α for its possible antiviral effect in vivo, and (3) the effect of anti-murine TNF-α monoclonal antibody (mAb) in vivo. Four-week-old DBA/2 mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with EMCV (day 0). Mice were injected intravenously daily with 1,μg of TNF-α or 2×103 units of anti–TNF-α mAb starting on day -1, day 0, or day 1 until day 2 (TNF-α study) or day 4 (anti-TNF-α mAb study). A portion of the mice were killed on day 5 (protocol 1); their hearts were removed, and plaque assays were performed to demonstrate the myocardial virus content. The remaining mice were killed on day 14 (protocol 2); myocardial lesions were examined histopathologically in terms of severity, and their survival rates were determined. Plasma TNF-α concentration was elevated in the blood of infected mice compared with uninfected mice 3, 5, and 7 days after virus inoculation. The myocardial virus content was higher in the TNF-α–treated group than in the control group. Histopathological analysis revealed that myocardial necrosis and cellular infiltration were more prominent in the TNF-α group than in the control group. The anti-TNF-α mAb improved survival and myocardial lesions when its treatment was started 1 day before virus inoculation. However, it showed no therapeutic effect when administered simultaneously with the inoculation or on day 1. ConclusionsTNF-α may play an important role in the very early stage of the immune response, and anti-TNF-α mAb may prevent the early pathway of acute viral myocarditis.
Development of a Chinese song name recognition system

The development of automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology in recent years has made it possible for some intelligent query systems to use a voice interface. Automatic song selection is a practical and interesting application of ASR. In this paper we describe our efforts to build and improve a Chinese song name recognition system. It is a large vocabulary, speaker-independent system currently in commercial use. This is a typical example of large list recognition tasks. We use a new paradigm for lager list recognition. In this framework, the spoken query is recognized by a LVCSR module firstly and then the recognized result is used to search for the final song name. Unlike transcription tasks, such as Switchboard task, our LVCSR module is an in-domain application. We present some innovative optimizations that improve the song name recognition accuracy. The experimental result shows that there techniques make relative 7.36%, 26.87% and 32.71% error rate reduction for top 1, top 5 and top 10 results respectively upon the conventional grammar-constrained recognizer.
Comparison of three-dimensional rotational angiography with digital subtraction angiography in the assessment of ruptured cerebral aneurysms.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Rotational angiography (RA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) together may depict more intracranial aneurysms than DSA alone. We compared the diagnostic value of 3D RA and biplanar DSA in detecting, classifying, and planning treatment for ruptured intracranial aneurysms. METHODS A total of 53 patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (Hunt and Hess grades I-V) underwent angiography with both methods. DSA was performed in two to six standard projections in every vascular territory. Three-dimensional RA datasets were evaluated by using surface-shaded display and maximum intensity projection. The usefulness of DSA images and 3D datasets in detecting aneurysms (number, configuration) and treatment planning were retrospectively analyzed in a blinded manner. RESULTS In 42 patients, 56 aneurysms were detected, (one to five per patient; size, 0.6-20.4 mm); no aneurysm was found in 11 patients. RA revealed seven aneurysms not seen at conventional DSA. RA failed to depict one aneurysm visible only in a compression series. Delineation of the aneurysmal neck improved with RA in 71% of cases; the parent vessel and its relationship to adjacent vessels was demonstrated better with RA than with DSA in 45% and 50%, respectively. Endovascular treatment was proposed in nine patients; microsurgical therapy, in 26. In seven patients, both options were rated as being equal. Actual treatment consisted of eight endovascular procedures and 30 neurosurgical operations. Four patients died before therapy. CONCLUSION Compared with DSA, 3D RA allows more exact depiction of anatomic details that are important in planning surgery and interventional therapy for intracranial aneurysms. RA depicted more aneurysms.
Data-Driven Feature-Based 3D Face Synthesis

This paper presents a novel data-driven method for creating varied realistic face models by synthesizing a set of facial features according to intuitive high-level control parameters. Our method takes as examples 3D face scans in order to exploit the variations presented in the real faces of individuals. We use an automatic model fitting approach for the 3D registration problem. Once we have a common surface representation for each example, we form feature shape spaces by applying principal component analysis (PCA) to the data sets of facial feature shapes. Using PCA coefficients as a compact shape representation, we approach the shape synthesis problem by forming scattered data interpolation functions that are devoted to the generation of desired shape by taking the anthropometric parameters as input. The correspondence among all exemplar textures is obtained by parameterizing a 3D generic mesh over a 2D image domain. The new feature texture with desired attributes is synthesized by interpolating the example textures. Apart from an initial tuning of feature point positions and assignment of texture attribute values, our method is fully automated.
Site Saturation Mutagenesis Demonstrates a Central Role for Cysteine 298 as Proton Donor to the Catalytic Site in CaHydA [FeFe]-Hydrogenase

[FeFe]-hydrogenases reversibly catalyse molecular hydrogen evolution by reduction of two protons. Proton supply to the catalytic site (H-cluster) is essential for enzymatic activity. Cysteine 298 is a highly conserved residue in all [FeFe]-hydrogenases; moreover C298 is structurally very close to the H-cluster and it is important for hydrogenase activity. Here, the function of C298 in catalysis was investigated in detail by means of site saturation mutagenesis, simultaneously studying the effect of C298 replacement with all other 19 amino acids and selecting for mutants with high retained activity. We demonstrated that efficient enzymatic turnover was maintained only when C298 was replaced by aspartic acid, despite the structural diversity between the two residues. Purified CaHydA C298D does not show any significant structural difference in terms of secondary structure and iron incorporation, demonstrating that the mutation does not affect the overall protein fold. C298D retains the hydrogen evolution activity with a decrease of k cat only by 2-fold at pH 8.0 and it caused a shift of the optimum pH from 8.0 to 7.0. Moreover, the oxygen inactivation rate was not affected demonstrating that the mutation does not influence O2 diffusion to the active site or its reactivity with the H-cluster. Our results clearly demonstrate that, in order to maintain the catalytic efficiency and the high turnover number typical of [FeFe] hydrogenases, the highly conserved C298 can be replaced only by another ionisable residue with similar steric hindrance, giving evidence of its involvement in the catalytic function of [FeFe]-hydrogenases in agreement with an essential role in proton transfer to the active site.
A Conflict Resolution Model

The Conflict Resolution Model was formulated by a group of Australian psychologists who set about integrating the literature on achieving mutually beneficial outcomes in a conflict situation in order to create a best-practice prescriptive process for conflict resolution. A number of experimental studies conducted at the University of Tasmania with students and school-aged children have found significantly improved outcomes in resolving conflict following training in listening, assertiveness, and problem-solving skills identified in the model. These skills are also core elements of the theory of healthy relationships formulated in 1970 by Thomas Gordon and implemented in Parent Effectiveness Training (PET). Research on both programs is presented here.
Raising participation—or furthering exclusion? Regional lifelong learning strategies under scrutiny

The article brings into question the issue of regional network strategies aiming at implementing structures of lifelong learning in the local context, the so‐called learning communities. Facing a broad diversity in their implementation all over Europe, one can observe on the other hand much less effort to discuss conceptual frameworks that deal explicitly with this subject as a whole. Yet it seems essential to categorise these colourful patterns of practice and to identify key issues—notably with regards to the aspect of lifelong learning—to develop the discourse further and to render it adaptive to international debate. For this purpose the paper draws attention to three instrumental case studies of learning communities (a Norwegian one, an English one and a German one) that were conducted within an exploratory research strategy. Designed as a between‐method triangulation, the case studies represent a mixed qualitative‐quantitative approach by means of an anonymous questionnaire and half‐standardised interviews. The members of the network and its key stakeholders from the meta‐level were investigated just as the local framework itself. Hence, the study intends not only to demonstrate exemplarily the European variety of learning communities, their origins and leading structures, but also to propose a further structuring of the topic by introducing a typology of learning communities. This eventually opens up controversial issues about lifelong learning strategies in general; for example the question, if these strategies will possibly rather widen already existing structures of inequality and exclusion than raising participation in lifelong learning.