Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single-sex Classes and Equal Opportunities for Girls and Boys: Perspectives through time from a mixed comprehensive school in England

The recent concern with the apparent 'under-achievement' of boys in England's comprehensive schools has led schools to review the potential of single-sex classes as a means of improving performance. This paper reviews the arguments for such a strategy, in the context of one school where such an approach has underpinned the organisation of the school through the last three decades. We examine the rationale behind the original decision to implement single-sex teaching, consider the evolution of the curriculum through time, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this mode of organisation from the varying perspectives of parents, students and teachers. We consider whether the strategy has contributed to an improvement in the achievement levels of girls, and discuss the extent to which single-sex teaching has the potential to have a positive impact in raising boys' performance. In reviewing the evidence, we conclude that the single-sex mode of teaching in the school is effective in contributing to high achievement levels, in many contexts providing a conducive and supportive environment for students' learning. We suggest that such groupings may offer more advantages for girls than for boys; we argue that the potential of the system will only be fully realised when it is explicitly recognised that girls and boys do respond differently, in certain contexts, to different teaching-learning styles.
The effects of regulatory pressure on information system adoption success: An institutional theory perspective

In today's economy, firms are affected by various government regulations that have implications for their information systems (IS). Regulatory pressure has become a major driver behind IS adoption. Nevertheless, it is currently unknown how regulatory pressure affects adoption success. Using an institutional theory lens, this research proposes that regulatory pressure affects some well established success factors of IS adoption. In particular, we hypothesise that regulatory pressure has a positive effect on top management support, project champion and formal project management; but a negative effect on project team competence. Hypotheses will be tested using a survey approach.
Analyzing the Impact of Social Connections on Rating Behavior in Social Recommender Systems

Social recommenders provide recommendations taking also into account the social connections among their users. We attempt to formalize and investigate the degree of impact that social connections have to the rating behavior of users, by studying publicly available datasets. Our research will provide a better understanding of specific aspects of social connections that are important when making recommendations, and thus contribute towards more effective social recommenders.
Soft Thermal Sensor with Mechanical Adaptability

A soft thermal sensor with mechanical adaptability is fabricated by the combination of single-wall carbon nanotubes with carboxyl groups and self-healing polymers. This study demonstrates that this soft sensor has excellent thermal response and mechanical adaptability. It shows tremendous promise for improving the service life of soft artificial-intelligence robots and protecting thermally sensitive electronics from the risk of damage by high temperature.
Psychological Maturity of At-Risk Juveniles, Young Adults and Adults: Implications for the Justice System

While the justice system assumes adulthood is reached by the age of 18 and given the increase in the number of juveniles being tried within adult court, it is imperative to understand whether young people are as criminally culpable for their actions as adults and where differences may lie in the maturity of young people and their adult counterparts. Psychological maturity was assessed in order to gain a better understanding of culpability and responsibility in at-risk young people, 18-year-olds and 25-year-olds to determine where psychosocial maturity levels and the propensity to make antisocial decisions differ and, if so, how. At-risk young people and 18-year-olds differed from 25-year-olds in psychological maturity levels, instigating implications for future research and the trial of young people as adults.
Correlation-aware statistical timing analysis with non-Gaussian delay distributions

Process variations have a growing impact on circuit performance for today's integrated circuit (IC) technologies. The non-Gaussian delay distributions as well as the correlations among delays make statistical timing analysis more challenging than ever. In this paper, the authors presented an efficient block-based statistical timing analysis approach with linear complexity with respect to the circuit size, which can accurately predict non-Gaussian delay distributions from realistic nonlinear gate and interconnect delay models. This approach accounts for all correlations, from manufacturing process dependence, to re-convergent circuit paths to produce more accurate statistical timing predictions. With this approach, circuit designers can have increased confidence in the variation estimates, at a low additional computation cost.
Cathepsin S contributes to macrophage migration via degradation of elastic fibre integrity to facilitate vein graft neointimal hyperplasia.

AIMS Cathepsin S (Cat S) is a potent lysosomal protease that is secreted into the extracellular space and has been implicated in elastin and collagen degradation in diseases such as atherosclerosis. Elastin degradation plays an important role in vascular remodelling. However, the mechanism by which Cat regulates this process and its contribution to vein graft remodelling remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS Using a murine vein graft model, we examined the expression pattern of Cat family members. Expression of cathepsin genes was induced in vein grafts, with that of Cat S being the highest. Elevated Cat S expression was confirmed in both mouse and human vein grafts. To explore the role of Cat S, vein grafts were created between wild-type (WT) littermates and Cat S knockout (Cat S KO) mice. Knockout of Cat S in the recipients (vein(CatS-KO)-artery(CatS-KO) or vein(WT)-artery(CatS-KO)) significantly inhibited neointima formation and reduced the accumulation of macrophages and proliferation of smooth muscle cells in vein grafts. Knockout of Cat S preserved the elastic fibre integrity of vein grafts and inhibited the migration of macrophages across the elastin fibres. CONCLUSION These results demonstrated that Cat S contributes to macrophage migration via degradation of elastic fibre integrity to facilitate neointima formation of vein grafts, which might provide a novel therapeutic target for preserving vein graft patency.
Admission control based on OFDMA channel transformations

It is well known that channel-dependent OFDMA resource assignment algorithms provide a significant performance improvement compared to static (i.e. channelunaware) approaches. Such dynamic algorithms constantly adapt resource assignments to current channel states according to some objective function. Due to these dynamics, it is difficult to predict the resulting performance for such schemes given a certain scenario (characterized by the number of terminals in the cell and their average channel gains). Hence, previous work on admission control for OFDMA systems neglects the performance improvement from channel-dependent resource assignments and bases analysis on the average channel gains instead. In this paper we provide for the first time an analytical framework for admission control in OFDMA systems applying channel-dependent resource assignments. The framework is based on fundamental transformations of the channel gains caused by the channel-dependent assignment algorithms. We provide closed-form expressions for these transformations and derive from them probability functions for the rate achieved per terminal and frame. These functions can then be used for admission control as demonstrated in this paper for Voice-over-IP streams in IEEE 802.16e systems.
Sexuality in the aids crisis: Patterns of sexual practice and pleasure in a sample of Australian gay and bisexual men

AIDS prevention work needs an understanding of the full spectrum of sexuality. A survey of sexual practices was conducted among gay and bisexual men in New South Wales, Australia. Interviews with 535 men indicate that the repertoire of sexual expression appears to be diminishing under the impact of the AIDS crisis. Particular sexual practices can be grouped into several clusters or factors, and scales can be constructed which focus on anal, oral/tactile and esoteric practices. These factors appear stable for sex with regular or casual partners. Pleasure and practice are not isomorphic; some men have modified their sexual behaviour and given up some of the practices they enjoy. Pleasure is gained from a broad spectrum of activities, but patterns of genital primacy (oral‐genital and anal‐genital) and communicative primacy are present.
Eyes on Landowner Concerns: How Do Landowner Concerns About Fee Hunting Impact Their Willingness to Lease?

Although leasing hunting rights increases landowner income and provides incentives to improve wildlife habitat, few landowners lease their lands. In this article, landowner attitudes about potential problems associated with fee hunting leases were explored based on a mail survey of nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners. Responses to questions eliciting landowner levels of concern with 17 potential issues associated with hunting leases were aggregated into four categories: concerns about property damage and liability, customer relations, impacts on personal use, and impacts on habitat, wildlife and safety. Landowners were grouped into five subgroups based on their attitudes to these four categories. These groups were significant predictors of landowner willingness to allow hunting access in conjunction with public land hunting lease rate, property characteristics, and landowner demographics. These results provided insights into problems facing hunters and land managers attempting to improve access to NIPF lands.
The role of labelling processes in the assessment of geriatric depression

Informed by a labelling theory perspective, the authors examine the difficulties in diagnosing depression in elderly persons. Two popular diagnostic tools, the DSM‐III and depression scales, are used to illustrat the value judgements, theoretical biases, and insensitivity to geriatric norms that underlie the diagnostic decisions. The implications of these problems are discussed.
Interagency Collaboration Under Part H

This article examines the role of interagency collaboration as it pertains to the unique requirements of PL 99-457—Part H (early intervention services for handicapped infants/toddlers and their families). Questions discussed here include (a) What is unique about the application of the interagency concept within Part H compared to collaborative efforts that have preceded it? (b) What requirements under PL 99-457 and its minimum components for a “statewide system” underscore collaborative issues and create situations where interagency cooperation is imperative if a truly coordinated, comprehensive service system is to be built? (c) What are some critical points or junctures where decisions by state and local planners will either build the foundation for interagency teamwork or detract from it? (d) What complex dynamics or realities affect cooperative work among agencies and suggest strategies to facilitate more comfortable, productive liaisons? (e) What interagency issues lie ahead in the 1990s as states work toward full services for infants, toddlers, and their families? Conclusions give several predictions for the 1990s.
Development and validation of an HPLC method for the analysis of sirolimus in drug products.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to develop a simple, rapid and sensitive reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for quantification of sirolimus (SRL) in pharmaceutical dosage forms. METHODS The chromatographic system employs isocratic elution using a Knauer- C18, 5 mm, 4.6 × 150 mm. Mobile phase consisting of acetonitril and ammonium acetate buffer set at flow rate 1.5 ml/min. The analyte was detected and quantified at 278nm using ultraviolet detector. The method was validated as per ICH guidelines. RESULTS The standard curve was found to have a linear relationship (r(2) > 0.99) over the analytical range of 125-2000ng/ml. For all quality control (QC) standards in intraday and interday assay, accuracy and precision range were -0.96 to 6.30 and 0.86 to 13.74 respectively, demonstrating the precision and accuracy over the analytical range. Samples were stable during preparation and analysis procedure. CONCLUSION Therefore the rapid and sensitive developed method can be used for the routine analysis of sirolimus such as dissolution and stability assays of pre- and post-marketed dosage forms.
Visualization of normal and pathological speech data

December 13-15, 2007: Firenze, Italy, ed. by C. Manfredi, ISBN 978 88-8453-673-3 (print) ISBN 978-88-8453-674-7 (online) © Firenze university press, 2007. Abstract: Techniques for the visualization of highdimensional data are common in exploratory data analysis and can be very useful for gaining an intuition into the structure of a data set. The classical method of principal component analysis is the one most often employed, however in recent years a number of other nonlinear techniques have been introduced. In the present paper, principal component analysis, and two newer methods, are applied to a set of speech data and their results are compared.
Modeling Age-related Memory Deficits: a Two-parameter Solution the Pattern of Age-related Decline of Memory Function

Recent research and meta-analytic reviews suggest that 1 observed pattern of impaired and intact memory performance with advancing age is a deficit in measures of episodic but not semantic memory. The authors used computational modeling to explore a number of age-related parameters to account for this pattern. A 2-parameter solution based on lifelong experience successfully fit the pattern of results in 5 published studies of the word-frequency mirror effect and paired-associate recognition. Lifelong experience increases the strength (resting level of activation) of concepts in the network but also saturates the network with an increasing number of episodic associations to each concept. More episodic associations to each concept mean that activation spreads more diffusely, making retrieval of any newly established memory trace less likely; however, the greater strength of a concept makes recognition based on familiarity more likely. The simulations provide good quantitative fits to the extant age-related memory literature and support the plausibility of this mechanistic account. Prominent researchers have called for formalized models of cognitive aging processes for the purpose of organizing and integrating this sizeable research literature in a rigorous and testable manner (e.g., Charness, 1988; Salthouse, 1988). In that regard, computational modeling can be quite useful in establishing the formal computational principles and mechanisms that underlie and distinguish a certain theoretical perspective. The particular theoretical perspective undertaken here is that much of the course of normal age-related effects on memory can be characterized by changes to the memory representation that occur as a function of experience. Surprisingly, experience is absent as a causal factor in most models of cognitive aging. As a theory of age-related change, a computational mechanism predicated on lifelong experience is a proximal one. Memory impairments are a salient characteristic of aging, yet not all memories are equally subject to decline. Longitudinal studies have demonstrated separate trajectories for measures of This article introduces a computational model of cognitive aging that attempts to capture this pattern of normal age-related change in memory performance. This model posits two changes to memory that occur simply as a result of lifelong experience. That is, lifelong experience reaffirms and strengthens semantic knowledge, which increases the general familiarity of concepts. However, episodic deficits also arise because memory concepts are experienced over a lifetime in a multitude of different contexts, which makes the recollection of any specific episode more difficult. Although there are undoubtedly biological changes that occur with age that …
Competition between Visual Events Modulates the Influence of Salience during Free-Viewing of Naturalistic Videos

In daily life the brain is exposed to a large amount of external signals that compete for processing resources. The attentional system can select relevant information based on many possible combinations of goal-directed and stimulus-driven control signals. Here, we investigate the behavioral and physiological effects of competition between distinctive visual events during free-viewing of naturalistic videos. Nineteen healthy subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while viewing short video-clips of everyday life situations, without any explicit goal-directed task. Each video contained either a single semantically-relevant event on the left or right side (Lat-trials), or multiple distinctive events in both hemifields (Multi-trials). For each video, we computed a salience index to quantify the lateralization bias due to stimulus-driven signals, and a gaze index (based on eye-tracking data) to quantify the efficacy of the stimuli in capturing attention to either side. Behaviorally, our results showed that stimulus-driven salience influenced spatial orienting only in presence of multiple competing events (Multi-trials). fMRI results showed that the processing of competing events engaged the ventral attention network, including the right temporoparietal junction (R TPJ) and the right inferior frontal cortex. Salience was found to modulate activity in the visual cortex, but only in the presence of competing events; while the orienting efficacy of Multi-trials affected activity in both the visual cortex and posterior parietal cortex (PPC). We conclude that in presence of multiple competing events, the ventral attention system detects semantically-relevant events, while regions of the dorsal system make use of saliency signals to select relevant locations and guide spatial orienting.
Emulation of Wireless Sensor Networks for Object Tracking

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) represent a new technology that could be adopted to achieve ubiquitous computing and embedded Internet. One example of WSN applications is surveillance and monitoring of a deployment area. The goal of our project is the development of effective WSN for detecting and tracking human and/or vehicle presence. In this paper, our focus is two-folded. We first examine the issues of tracking objects using wireless sensor networks, including a brief introduction to object tracking, a survey of work related to object tracking using WSN, and the challenges of designing an object tracking sensor network using the emulation approach (in contrast to the simulation approach). The second focus of this paper is the design of a sample wireless sensor network application capable of detecting human presence. In the sample application, motes and sensor nodes capture data from the surrounding environment and send the data to the base station. A Java application running at the base station analyzes the data to determine whether a human is present. In addition to discussing our experience of developing the project, we examine the challenges of emulating a wireless sensor network, difficulties encountered during the project, and the algorithm implemented in the application. We also propose the design of a multi-node WSN for detecting/tracking humans. Projects are currently underway to implement and evaluate the design.
Performance evaluation of Adaptive MIMO Switching in Long Term Evolution

In a race towards 4G technologies, future cellular network like Long Term Evolution (LTE) is competing with high data rates and improved spectrum efficiency. The target of this paper is to evaluate performance of Adaptive MIMO Switching (AMS) in LTE in terms of cell throughput and throughput gain with respect to other antenna configuration. The impact of different intersite distance on the performance of AMS was also investigated in this paper. The assessment was based on simulations using analytical channel model. Kronecker channel model without any Channel State Information (CSI) at transmitter was used for the simulation purposes. Adaptive MIMO switching works on the principle of switching among transmit diversity, receive diversity, and spatial multiplexing in accordance to SINR level. Simulation results reveal that significant improvement in cell throughput can be achieved by applying AMS technique. However, utilization of standard MIMO transmission techniques also improves channel capacity.
Objective Measurement of the Speech Transmission Quality of Vocoders by Means of the Speech Transmission Index

Nearly all types of military speech communication involve the use of so-called (narrow band) voice coders or vocoders. Usually the Speech Transmission Index (STI) uses artificial test signals, which can not be reproduced by vocoders with the usual fidelity. Therefore the STI is not able to evaluate vocoders at this time. Although it is theoretically feasible to measure the Speech Transmission Index with natural speech instead of the usual artificial test signals, each of the various speech-based STI measurement methods proposed in the literature has its own shortcomings and inaccuracies. A new procedure is proposed for estimating a speech based modulation transfer function (MTF), on which the STI is based, that approaches the accuracy of conventional STI implementations based on artificial signals. The new method enables evaluation of vocoders by means of the STI. Applying the method to a voice coder database shows promising results, giving an average squared correlation coefficient R2 of 0.87 between the subjective CVC scores and the calculated STI for male speech.
Baculovirus Stimulates Antiviral Effects in Mammalian Cells

ABSTRACT Herein, we report that Autographa californicanucleopolyhedrovirus, a member of the Baculoviridae family, is capable of stimulating antiviral activity in mammalian cells. Baculoviruses are not pathogenic to mammalian cells. Nevertheless, live baculovirus is shown here to induce interferons (IFN) from murine and human cell lines and induces in vivo protection of mice from encephalomyocarditis virus infection. Monoclonal antibodies specific for the baculovirus envelope gp67 neutralize baculovirus-dependent IFN production. Moreover, UV treatment of baculovirus eliminates both infectivity and IFN-inducing activity. In contrast, the IFN-inducing activity of the baculovirus was unaffected by DNase or RNase treatment. These data demonstrate that IFN production can be induced in mammalian cells by baculovirus even though the cells fail to serve as a natural host for an active viral infection. Baculoviruses, therefore, provide a novel model in which to study at least one alternative mechanism for IFN induction in mammalian cells.