Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semantic Memory Modelling and Memory Interaction in Learning Agents

—Semantic memory plays a critical role in reasoning and decision making. It enables an agent to abstract useful knowledge learned from its past experience. Based on an extension of fusion Adaptive Resonance Theory (fusion ART) network, this paper presents a novel self-organizing memory model to represent and learn various types of semantic knowledge in a uniﬁed manner. The proposed model, called FAMML, incorporates a set of neural processes, through which it may transfer knowledge and cooperate with other long-term memory systems, including episodic memory and procedural memory. Speciﬁcally, we present a generic learning process, under which various types of semantic knowledge can be consolidated and transferred from the speciﬁc experience encoded in episodic memory. We also identify and formalize two forms of memory interactions between semantic memory and procedural memory, through which more effective decision making can be achieved. We present experimental studies, wherein the proposed model is used to encode various types of semantic knowledge in different domains, including a ﬁrst-person shooting game called Unreal Tournament, the Toads and Frogs puzzle, and a strategic game known as Starcraft Broodwar. Our experiments show that the proposed knowledge transfer process from episodic memory to semantic memory is able to extract useful knowledge to enhance the performance of decision making. In addition, cooperative interaction between semantic knowledge and procedural skills can lead to a signiﬁcant improvement in both learning efﬁciency and performance of the learning agents.
Dynamics of the freezing process in relaxor ferroelectrics.

The dynamics of the freezing process in relaxor ferroelectrics are investigated by Monte Carlo computer simulation. The concepts of ``frozen dipole'' and ``slow dipole'' are proposed according to the flipping frequency during the observation time of simulation. The deviation from Curie-Weiss behavior and the frequency dispersion in relaxor ferroelectrics have been proved to be caused by the increasing proportion of slow dipoles. The simulation shows that the external field reduces the dielectric constant and increases the temperature of dielectric maximum, which agrees with the experiment results. The polarization behavior with various electrical and thermal histories and starting from different initial states is also simulated and a systematic explanation based on the bifurcation tree of components in phase space is given. It is proposed that the relaxor characteristics are caused by a gradual freezing process of polar microregions, which arises from the inhomogeneous crystal structure of this kind of material.
From Print to Digital Platforms

The project-based learning (PBL) approach closely reflects the tenets of journalism and provides a potential pedagogical guide for transforming traditional journalism education. This study operationalizes and applies a PBL framework in digitizing a print journalism course. The findings illustrate how the presence of seven key elements of PBL enhanced the quality and experience of student learning, and increased multimedia consciousness and competencies. Providing choices minimized cultural resistance and cultivated ownership and accountability to the student projects, fostering collaboration and critical thinking. Weaker students expressed greater need for a more structured pedagogy.
Persistence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and Other Zoonotic Pathogens during Simulated Composting, Manure Packing, and Liquid Storage of Dairy Manure

ABSTRACT Livestock manures contain numerous microorganisms which can infect humans and/or animals, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp. , and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Mycobacterium paratuberculosis). The effects of commonly used manure treatments on the persistence of these pathogens have rarely been compared. The objective of this study was to compare the persistence of artificially inoculated M. paratuberculosis, as well as other naturally occurring pathogens, during the treatment of dairy manure under conditions that simulate three commonly used manure management methods: thermophilic composting at 55°C, manure packing at 25°C (or low-temperature composting), and liquid lagoon storage. Straw and sawdust amendments used for composting and packing were also compared. Manure was obtained from a large Ohio free-stall dairy herd and was inoculated with M. paratuberculosis at 106 CFU/g in the final mixes. For compost and pack treatments, this manure was amended with sawdust or straw to provide an optimal moisture content (60%) for composting for 56 days. To simulate liquid storage, water was added to the manure (to simulate liquid flushing and storage) and the slurry was placed in triplicate covered 4-liter Erlenmeyer flasks, incubated under ambient conditions for 175 days. The treatments were sampled on days 0, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 56 for the detection of pathogens. The persistence of M. paratuberculosis was also assessed by a PCR hybridization assay. After 56 days of composting, from 45 to 60% of the carbon in the compost treatments was converted to CO2, while no significant change in carbon content was observed in the liquid slurry. Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Listeria were all detected in the manure and all of the treatments on day 0. After 3 days of composting at 55°C, none of these organisms were detectable. In liquid manure and pack treatments, some of these microorganisms were detectable up to 28 days. M. paratuberculosis was detected by standard culture only on day 0 in all the treatments, but was undetectable in any treatment at 3 and 7 days. On days 14, 28, and 56, M. paratuberculosis was detected in the liquid storage treatment but remained undetectable in the compost and pack treatments. However, M. paratuberculosis DNA was detectable through day 56 in all treatments and up to day 175 in liquid storage treatments. Taken together, the results indicate that high-temperature composting is more effective than pack storage or liquid storage of manure in reducing these pathogens in dairy manure. Therefore, thermophilic composting is recommended for treatment of manures destined for pathogen-sensitive environments such as those for vegetable production, residential gardening, or application to rapidly draining fields.
Peer Sameness and Peer Diversity: The Influence of Breadth and Depth of Classmates with High Academic Needs in Kindergarten

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Relying on a newly released national data set of kindergarten students from the 2010–2011 school year (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011), the findings suggest that having a greater percentage of same-needs classmates positively boosts both achievement and socioemotional outcomes among kindergartners. However, the overall degree of diversity in the classroom has no effect (either negative or positive) on these same outcomes. Practice or Policy: Alongside changes in schooling integration policies and grade promotion practices, the general education classroom is becoming increasingly diverse academically. It is notable that general education classrooms have been experiencing increases in the presence of children with disabilities and English language learners in addition to increases in the number of retained students. Prior empirical research typically isolated how 1 of these groups with high academic needs might have influenced the outcomes of other students in that same classroom. Rather than focusing on the influence of 1 student group, however, this study adopts a more holistic perspective by examining how the degree of diversity of high-needs classmates in a classroom might be linked to child outcomes.
A qualitative study on clinical research in Finland: fragmented governance and volume in the 2000s

Objectives Although concerns over clinical research have been expressed, the governance of clinical research has been little studied. The aim was to describe research policy, volume, funding and concerns over clinical research in Finland. Design A qualitative study and the data were collected from various sources, including documents, statistics and semistructured expert interviews. Setting Finland. Results We found no national policy for clinical research. Many actors were responsible for facilitating, directing, regulating and funding clinical research, but no actor had the main responsibility. Health professionals were the main drivers for clinical research. The role of the health ministry was small. The ministry distributed state money for clinical research in health services (EVO-money), but did not use it to direct research. Municipalities responsible for health services or national health insurance had little interest in clinical research. The Academy of Finland had had initiatives to promote clinical research, but they had not materialised in funding. Clinical research was common and internationally competitive, but its volume had declined relatively in the 2000s. Industry was an important private funder, mainly supporting drug trials made for licensing purposes. Drug trials without an outside sponsor (academic projects) declined between 2002 and 2010. The funding and its targeting and amount were no one's responsibility. Concerns over clinical research were similar as in other countries, but it had appeared late. Conclusions Our results suggest fragmented governance and funding in clinical research. The unsystematic research environment has not prevented clinical research from flourishing, but the public health relevance of the research carried out and its sustainability are unclear.
‘Details on the Establishment of Doctor Willis, for the Cure of Lunatics’ (1796)

The ‘mad-doctor’ Dr Francis Willis achieved national and international celebrity following his successful treatment of King George III’s first major episode of insanity in 1788–9. At the time of his summons to attend the King, Willis was a well-established provincial practitioner and madhouse proprietor. An anonymous French visitor published a description of Willis’s Lincolnshire madhouse and his therapeutic practices in 1796. The translated text of the full article provides a unique insight into the work of a key figure in the historical development of psychological medicine. The accompanying Introduction summarizes Francis Willis’s career as a mad-doctor and uses salient information from the original text to place him and his madhouse practice within a contemporary context.
Putting ECD into Practice: The Interplay of Theory and Data in Evidence Models within a Digital Learning Environment

In this paper we describe the development and refinement of evidence rules and measurement models within the evidence model of the evidence-centered design (ECD) framework in the context of the Packet Tracer digital learning environment of the Cisco Networking Academy. Using Packet Tracer learners design, configure, and troubleshoot computer networks within an interactive interface. This leads to product data, which result from the students' final submitted network configurations, and process data, which are log file entries detailing how they got to the final configurations. We discuss how an iterative cycle of empirical analyses and discussions with subject-matter experts is essential for identifying and accumulating evidence about skill profiles of learners and their development. We present results from descriptive, exploratory, and confirmatory diagnostic modeling analyses for both data types, which required bringing to bear a diversity of tools from multivariate statistics, modern psychometrics, and educational data mining. We close the paper with a discussion of the implications of this work for evidence-based argumentation guided by ECD principles within digital learning environments more generally.
Intelligent Structural Operators for the k-way Graph Partitioning Problem

A parallel genetic algorithm for the graph partitioning problem is presented which combines general heuris tic algorithms with techniques that are described in evolution theory In the parallel genetic algorithm the selection of a mate is restricted to a local neighborhood In addition the parallel genetic algorithm executes an adaptation step after an individual is generated with the genetic operators crossover and mutation During the adaptation step the solution is improved by a com mon algorithm Another selection step decides if the adapted descendant should replace the parent individ ual Instead of using a uniform crossover operator a more intelligent crossover operator which copies sub sets of nodes is used Basic parameters of the parallel genetic algorithm are determined for di erent graphs The algorithm found for a large sample instance a new unknown solution
An Echocardiography Training Program for Improving the Left Ventricular Function Interpretation in Emergency Department; a Brief Report

Introduction: Focused training in transthoracic echocardiography enables emergency physicians (EPs) to accurately estimate the left ventricular function. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a brief training program utilizing standardized echocardiography video clips in this regard. Methods: A before and after design was used to determine the efficacy of a 1 hour echocardiography training program using PowerPoint presentation and standardized echocardiography video clips illustrating normal and abnormal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as well as video clips emphasizing the measurement of mitral valve E-point septal separation (EPSS). Pre- and post-test evaluation used unique video clips and asked trainees to estimate LVEF and EPSS based on the viewed video clips. Results: 21 EPs with no prior experience with the echocardiographic technical methods completed this study. The EPs had very limited prior echocardiographic training. The mean score on the categorization of LVEF estimation improved from 4.9 (95% CI: 4.1-5.6) to 7.6 (95%CI: 7-8.3) out of a possible 10 score (p<0.0001). Categorization of EPSS improved from 4.1 (95% CI: 3.1-5.1) to 8.1 (95% CI: 7.6- 8.7) after education (p<0.0001). Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate a statistically significant improvement of EPs’ ability to categorize left ventricular function as normal or depressed, after a short lecture utilizing a commercially available DVD of standardized echocardiography clips.
Machine Comprehension Based on Learning to Rank

Machine comprehension plays an essential role in NLP and has been widely explored with dataset like MCTest. However, this dataset is too simple and too small for learning true reasoning abilities. \cite{hermann2015teaching} therefore release a large scale news article dataset and propose a deep LSTM reader system for machine comprehension. However, the training process is expensive. We therefore try feature-engineered approach with semantics on the new dataset to see how traditional machine learning technique and semantics can help with machine comprehension. Meanwhile, our proposed L2R reader system achieves good performance with efficiency and less training data.
Reg1ulatory Role and Molecular Interactions of a Cell-Surface Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan (N-syndecan) in Hippocampal Long-Term Potentiation

The cellular mechanisms responsible for synaptic plasticity involve interactions between neurons and the extracellular matrix. Heparan sulfates (HSs) constitute a group of glycosaminoglycans that accumulate in the β-amyloid deposits in Alzheimer’s disease and influence the development of neuron–target contacts by interacting with other cell surface and matrix molecules. However, the contribution of HSs to brain function is unknown. We found that HSs play a crucial role in long-term potentiation (LTP), a finding that is consistent with the idea that converging molecular mechanisms are used in the development of neuron–target contacts and in activity-induced synaptic plasticity in adults. Enzymatic cleavage of HS by heparitinase as well as addition of soluble heparin-type carbohydrates prevented expression of LTP in response to 100 Hz/1 sec stimulation of Schaffer collaterals in rat hippocampal slices. A prominent carrier protein for the type of glycans implicated in LTP regulation in the adult hippocampus was identified asN-syndecan (syndecan-3), a transmembrane proteoglycan that was expressed at the processes of the CA1 pyramidal neurons in an activity-dependent manner. Addition of solubleN-syndecan into the CA1 dendritic area prevented tetanus-induced LTP. A major substrate of src-type kinases, cortactin (p80/85), and the tyrosine kinase fyn copurified withN-syndecan from hippocampus. Moreover, association of both cortactin and fyn to N-syndecan was rapidly increased after induction of LTP. N-syndecan may thus act as an important regulator in the activity-dependent modulation of neuronal connectivity by transmitting signals between extracellular heparin-binding factors and the fyn signaling pathway.
Paediatric Autoimmune Liver Disease

In paediatrics, there are 2 liver disorders in which liver damage most likely stems from an autoimmune attack: ‘classical' autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and the AIH/sclerosing cholangitis overlap syndrome (also known as autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis, ASC). The presentation of childhood autoimmune liver disease (AILD) is non-specific and can mimic most other liver disorders. AIH is exquisitely responsive to immunosuppressive treatment, which should be instituted promptly to prevent rapid deterioration and promote remission and long-term survival. Difficult-to-treat or non-responsive patients should be treated with mycophenolate mofetil; if this fails then calcineurin inhibitors can be tried. Persistent failure to respond or lack of adherence to treatment result in end-stage liver disease. These patients, and those with fulminant liver failure at diagnosis, will require liver transplantation. ASC responds to the same immunosuppressive treatment used for AIH when treatment is initiated early. Abnormal liver function tests often resolve within a few months of treatment, although medium- to long-term prognosis is worse than that of AIH because bile duct disease continues to progress despite treatment in approximately 50% of patients. Ursodeoxycholic acid is usually added to conventional treatment regimen in ASC, but whether this actually helps arrest the progression of bile duct disease remains to be established. The pathogenesis of paediatric-onset AILD is not fully understood, although there is mounting evidence that genetic susceptibility, molecular mimicry and impaired immunoregulatory networks contribute to the initiation and perpetuation of the autoimmune attack. Liver damage is thought to be mediated primarily by CD4pos T-cells. While Th1 effector cells are associated with hepatocyte damage in both AIH and ASC, Th17 immune responses predominate in the latter where they correlate with biochemical indices of cholestasis, indicating that IL-17 is involved in the bile duct damage characteristic of this condition. Since a substantial difference between these 2 pathologies is the frequent association of ASC with inflammatory bowel disease, it can be speculated that lymphocytes of intestinal origin are present in patients with a diagnosis of ASC rather than in those with AIH. Animal models faithfully representing the human conditions are needed to unravel the contribution of innate and adaptive, effector and regulatory immune responses. A deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of AILD is likely to contribute to the development of novel treatments, such as the adoptive transfer of autologous expanded antigen-specific regulatory T-cells, which ultimately aim at restoring tolerance to liver-derived antigens.
Learning from triads: training undergraduates in counselling skills

Background Research has shown that counselling skills training in undergraduate programmes is effective. However, there is potential that premature intimacy and disclosures during triad work may impact on relationships which must be maintained out-with the counselling component of the course. Little research has examined individual pedagogical practices within training. Aim The aim of this research was to explore the experience of the practical skills training component of a counselling course for a cohort of undergraduate students, and the impact of this learning experience. The objective being an evaluation of the use of this approach for this group and of the impact of personal sharing within cohorts of undergraduates. Method Semi-structured interviews focusing on the experience of skills training and self-disclosure during training were carried out on 12 undergraduates taking counselling skills modules as part of their BSc Psychology and Counselling degree. Thematic analysis was carried out on the interview transcripts. Results As a result of engagement in skills training and acting as ‘clients’ for one another, individuals perceived the formation of a positive group identity with implicit ‘rules’, but also an impact of training on relationships within the group which relied on the ability to maintain boundaries and personal identities with peers, and this influenced the learning experience. The ability to manage their engagement on the programme was dependent on ongoing support and guidance from tutors. Discussion While this pedagogical approach appears appropriate for facilitating learning and potentially provides a rich learning journey for undergraduate students, tutors must act proactively to ensure a safe learning environment.
Monitoring of HBeAg levels may help to predict the outcomes of lamivudine therapy for HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B

Summary. The aim of this study was to determine whether the changing patterns of quantitative hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) levels by serial monitoring could predict HBeAg seroconversion and viral breakthrough during lamivudine therapy. We retrospectively analysed 340 HBeAg positive naïve chronic hepatitis B patients treated with lamivudine. The mean duration of lamivudine therapy was 18.7 (range 6–56) months. The changing patterns and reduction rates of pretreatment HBeAg levels by serial monitoring were categorized into three groups: Decrescendo group (n = 195), Decrescendo‐crescendo group (n = 65) and no changing or fluctuating group (n = 80). Of 109 patients who had achieved HBeAg seroconversion, 105 (96.3%) were included in the decrescendo group. The decrescendo group, pretreatment quantitative HBeAg levels, alanine aminotransferase levels, and the duration of lamivudine therapy were independent predictive factors for HBeAg seroconversion. Of 82 patients who had viral breakthrough, 53 (64.6%) were in the decrescendo‐crescendo group and 21 (25.6%) were in the no changing or fluctuating group. The only predictive factor for viral breakthrough was the changing patterns of quantitative HBeAg levels, especially, the decrescendo‐crescendo group and the no changing or fluctuating group. The mean time of turning points in the decrescendo‐crescendo group was 7.1 months earlier than the mean time of viral breakthrough (9.0 months vs 16.5 months). Therefore, the changing patterns of quantitative HBeAg levels by serial monitoring during lamivudine therapy may allow not only the prediction of treatment responses, but also an early recognition of a viral breakthrough.