Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychometrics With R: A Review Of CRAN Packages For Item Response Theory

In this paper we review the current state of R packages for Item Response Theory (IRT). We group the available packages based on their purpose and provide an overview of each package's main functionality. Each of the packages we describe has a peer-reviewed publication associated with it. We also provide a tutorial analysis of data from the 1990 Workplace Industrial Relation Survey to show how the breadth and exibility of IRT packages in R can be leveraged to conduct even challenging item analyses with versatility and ease. These items relate to the type of consultations that are carried out in a firm when major changes are implemented. We first use unidimensional IRT models just to discover that they fit do not fit well. We then use nonparametric IRT to explore the possible causes for the scaling problem. Based on the results from the exploration, we finally use a two-dimensional model on a subset of the original items to achieve a good fit with a sensible interpretation, namely that there are two types of consultations a firm may engage in: consultations with workers/representatives from the firm and with official union representatives. The different items relate mostly to one of these dimensions and firms can be scaled well along these two dimensions.
Un análisis comparativo del papel del bucle fonológico versus la agenda viso-espacial en el cálculo en niños de 7-8 años

A comparative analysis of the phonological loop versus the visuo-spatial sketchpad in mental arith metic tasks in 7-8 y.o. children. This research analyses the relationship between two subsystems of working memory (phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad) and arithmetic achievement in a sample of 94 spanish 7-8 year-old children. Two arithmetic measures for this study, six simple measures of working memory (including verbal, quantitative and spatial measures) from Pickering, Baques and Gathercole’ s «Bateria de Tests de Memoria de T reball», and two complementary visual tests were used. The results show that verbal and quantitative measures were correlated with arithmetic achie vement, but not spatial measures. We conclude that there is a stronger relationship between phonolo gical loop and arithmetic achievement in spanish children, but the visuo-spatial sketchpad however se ems to have a limited influence.
Top Management Team Behavioral Integration and the Performance of Service Organizations

The call for more extensive research regarding the role of processes within top management teams (TMTs) in organizational functioning is addressed in this study. The focus is on the service sector, which according to recent estimations accounts for more than 60% of the total economic activity in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and examines the relationship between TMT behavioral integration and multiple performance measures of service organizations. Results from survey data of TMTs from 96 organizations show that TMT behavioral integration is positively associated with both human resource performance and economic performance. The relationship between TMT behavioral integration and service quality and development was only marginally significant.
A commentary on “team cognition and expert teams: Emerging insights into performance for exceptional teams”

Abstract This article offers a critical evaluation of the team cognition and performance literature and, in particular, the concepts, ideas, and research discussed by the authors contributing to this special issue. We begin by examining how some of the terms introduced have been defined previously and assess the appropriateness of and theoretical rationale for their use. Next, the concept of “sharedness” is considered. We specifically focus on the role of planning or plan sharing in becoming an “expert team. ” Following this, we discuss the relationship between those concepts introduced and performance. We pay particular attention to the underlying mechanisms responsible for superior performance, at both the individual and team level, with a special consideration given to understanding if and why this relationship is important. Finally, we consider the added value of adopting this approach and how the research on teams might be used in improving the approaches, methods, and paradigms currently adopted in sports science and beyond. Although we play devil's advocate throughout this commentary—primarily to offer a constructive introduction of this research to the sport science community and to provide the best feedback to the I/O community from the perspective of researchers from sport psychology and motor behavior—we assert that each field can benefit enormously from research collaborations and constructive debate on research topics held in common
Applying STAMP in Accident Analysis

Accident models play a critical role in accident investigation and analysis. Most traditional models are based on an underlying chain of events. These models, however, have serious limitations when used for complex, socio-technical systems. Previously, Leveson proposed a new accident model (STAMP) based on system theory where the basic concept is not an event but a constraint. This paper shows how STAMP can be applied to accident analysis using three different views or models of the accident process and proposes a notation for describing this process.
The Institutional Foundations of Materialism in Western Societies

Studies of materialism have increased in recent years, and most of these studies examine various aspects of materialism including its individual or social consequences. However, understanding, and possibly shaping, a society’s materialistic tendencies requires a more complete study of the relationship between a society’s institutional patterns and the acceptance of materialism by its members. Consequently, the current study examines five of the institutional antecedents of materialism to understand better how and why it develops as a mode of consumption within a society. More specifically, a model relating materialism and a set of institutionalized patterns of social behavior referred to as the dominant social paradigm was developed and tested in a study of seven industrial, market-based countries. The results suggest that the economic, technological, political, anthropocentric, and competition institutions making up the dominant social paradigm are all positively related to materialism. The implications of the relationship are then discussed.
Collision detection, isolation and identification for humanoids

High-performance collision handling, which is divided into the five phases detection, isolation, estimation, classification and reaction, is a fundamental robot capability for safe and sensitive operation/interaction in unknown environments. For complex humanoid robots collision handling is obviously significantly more complex than for classical static manipulators. In particular, the robot stability during the collision reaction phase has to be carefully designed and relies on high fidelity contact information that is generated during the first three phases. In this paper, a unified realtime algorithm is presented for determining unknown contact forces and contact locations for humanoid robots based on proprioceptive sensing only, i.e. joint position, velocity and torque, as well as force/torque sensing along the structure. The proposed scheme is based on nonlinear model-based momentum observers that are able to recover the unknown contact forces and the respective locations. The dynamic loads acting on internal force/torque sensors are also corrected based on a novel nonlinear compensator. The theoretical capabilities of the presented methods are evaluated in simulation with the Atlas robot. In summary, we propose a full solution to the problem of collision detection, collision isolation and collision identification for the general class of humanoid robots.
A Power Efficient Architecture with Optimized Parallel Memory Accessing for Feature Generation

Visual feature detection has been widely used in many computer vision applications. In comparison with popular feature detection algorithms, AFFINE-SIFT (ASIFT) achieves the strongest robustness on image illumination, image rotation and image scale transformation, etc., however, since feature vectors of different feature points need to be computed, feature generation of ASIFT exhibits high computing complexity. Meanwhile, it also shows low efficiency on parallel memory accessing since multiple computing processes of feature points need to access the same memory concurrently, which causes memory accessing conflicts and incurs high power consumption. In this work, we improve the feature generation based on a rotation invariant block binary pattern(RIBBP) to reduce computation and design a parallel processing architecture. Meanwhile, a spatial relevance based memory accessing(SRBMA) optimization is performed to improve data reuse and enhance parallel memory accessing. Evaluations using TSMC 65 nm 1P9M LP process show that this work improves the processing speed and energy efficiency of feature generation by 17% and 37.9%, respectively, when compared with state-of-the art work.
Sounds Like City

Our cultural climate is increasingly dependent upon visual space. Media and communication for the most part are exemplified through television and the Internet. Aural space has, for the moment, become an ambient presence. The aim of this article is to develop a phenomenological approach to interpreting our sonic environment by drawing upon a range of sound-scape theorists. I will, in some cases, provide a counter-argument to established theses, and in doing so endeavour to open up fresh debate for future sonic enterprises.
Scheduling of electric vehicle charging operations

In this work we address the optimization problem related to the recharge of electric vehicles, in which parking place availability, parking duration and available power constraints have to be satised. We formulate this problem as a resource allo- cation problem (with time windows) and solve it with exact and heuristic methods. The results obtained with a min-conicts heuristic are promising. Further, we apply the static problem to an online, real world environment, and shortly discuss additional challenges and the performance of the overall system.
Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor-γ Down-regulates Chondrocyte Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 via a Novel Composite Element*

Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) induces degradation via hyperexpression of an array of genes, including metalloproteinases (MMP), in cartilage cells during articular degenerative diseases. In contrast, natural ligands for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) display protective anti-cytokine effects in these cells. We used the PPAR agonist rosiglitazone (Rtz) to investigate PPAR-γ isotype on IL-1β-target genes. Immunocytochemistry, electrophoretic mobility shift, and transient transfection assays revealed a functional PPAR-γ in chondrocytes in vitro. Rtz displayed significant inhibition of IL-1β effects in chondrocytes. Low Rtz concentrations (close to Kd values for PPAR-γ, 0.1 to 1 μm) inhibited the effects of IL-1β on 35S-sulfated proteoglycan production and gelatinolytic activities and downregulated MMP1 expression at mRNA and protein levels. We have investigated the mechanism of action of Rtz against IL-1β-mediated MMP1 gene hyperexpression. Rtz effect occurs at the transcriptional level of the MMP1 promoter, as observed in transiently transfected cells with pMMP1-luciferase vector. Transient expression of wild type PPAR-γ enhanced Rtz inhibitory effect in chondrocytes, whereas a mutated dominant negative PPAR-γ abolished it, supporting the role of PPAR-γ in this effect. MMP1 gene promoter analysis revealed the involvement of a cis-acting element located at -83 to -77, shown to be a composite PPRE/AP1 site. Gel mobility and supershift assays demonstrated that PPAR-γ and c-Fos/c-Jun proteins bind this cis-acting element in a mutually exclusive way. Our data highlight a new PPAR-γ-dependent inhibitory mechanism on IL-1β-mediated cartilage degradation occurring through DNA binding competition on the composite PPRE/AP1 site in the MMP1 promoter.
Developing Transferable Research Skills in First Year Agricultural Economics Students

A problem-based learning approach was adopted for a unit of study in first year agricultural economics at the University of Sydney with the aim of starting development of students’ research skills earlier than usual. The novel teaching approach employed a structured and guided problem activity in the first semester and progressed to a more authentic problem activity in the second semester where the students worked in online peer groups to identify their own problem within a specified challenging area (market failure), carry out research and discuss findings prior to submitting an individual essay on their chosen topic. A structured learning journal with 10 questions was used in the second semester where the students recorded their reflections on a range of aspects of the learning process. None of the questions specifically asked about research yet 72% of the students mentioned it at least once. These learning journals were analysed for unsolicited comments about learning and research to gauge what the students themselves believed they had learned about research and how it can be transferred to other disciplines and future employment. The final essays were independently analysed by using eight research performance criteria to estimate the degree of research skills displayed by the students. Most of the students performed well in six of the research criteria indicating that development of research skills can be initiated in the first year of a degree program.
Aberrant Behaviors and Road Accidents among Iranian Truck Drivers, 2010.

BACKGROUND Road accidents are a social phenomenon in different communities that its infra-structural dimensions of which as well as technologic failures such as road quality, and tech-nical faults of automobiles, need to be assessed in detail. Iran has the first order in the world for deadly road accidents. This study was designed to assess the association between aberrant behaviors of truck drivers and the incidence of road accidents in Yazd, center of Iran, in 2010. METHODS This cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 300 truck drivers in Yazd. We used 3 questionnaires, including one for demographic data, Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ), and one for drivers' self-evaluation of the of their driving. RESULTS Five types of the behavior had the highest frequency: Misjudge speed of oncoming vehicle when overtaking. ; Deliberately disregard the speed limits late at night or very early in the morning. ; Ignore 'give way' signs, and narrowly avoid colliding with traffic having right of way. ; Stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle on a two-lane highway, you are driven by frustration to try to overtake in risky circumstances. ; Drive with only 'half-an-eye' on the road while looking at a map, changing a cassette or radio channel, etc. The more the driver's driv-ing was influenced by emotional and mental states the more deliberate violations and slips. CONCLUSION Among truck drivers, safety has not developed sufficiently, and because of the dangers of road accidents both for the drivers and other people and its economic losses, the importance of the presenting some solutions is completely obvious.
Stoichiometry of alloy nanoparticles from laser ablation of PtIr in acetone and their electrophoretic deposition on PtIr electrodes

Charged Pt–Ir alloy nanoparticles are generated through femtosecond laser ablation of a Pt9Ir target in acetone without using chemical precursors or stabilizing agents. Preservation of the target’s stoichiometry in the colloidal nanoparticles is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM)–energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), high angle annular dark field (HAADF) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM)–EDX elemental maps, high resolution TEM and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) measurements. Results are discussed with reference to thermophysical properties and the phase diagram. The nanoparticles show a lognormal size distribution with a mean Feret particle size of 26 nm. The zeta potential of − 45 mV indicates high stability of the colloid with a hydrodynamic diameter of 63 nm. The charge of the particles enables electrophoretic deposition of nanoparticles, creating nanoscale roughness on three-dimensional PtIr neural electrodes within a minute. In contrast to coating with Pt or Ir oxides, this method allows modification of the surface roughness without changing the chemical composition of PtIr.
Disposition of students to online counselling: The Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigerian experience

An online guidance and counselling services was established at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in December, 2010. This study was designed to examine the undergraduates’ disposition to the online counselling services after 24 months. It also investigated the prevalent disposition, dispositional types and distribution of students across the types. 1200 undergraduates of the University participated in the study comprising 900 students who made use of the site during the period and 300 students who were selected by proportionate stratified random sampling from the students’ hostels and two clusters off campus. The instruments for the study were the OAU online counsellors software purposefully developed for this study, an online feedback questionnaire and a self-constructed questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using simple percentages, RSI, ANOVA, factor, cluster and discriminant analyses. The results showed that students were mostly (94.9%) favourably disposed to online counselling services in OAU, particularly in form of trust (44.4%), curiosity (31.9%) and enthusiasm (13.9%). Although, the students’ disposition was not affected by their age and level in the university, sex and their awareness of the weblink significantly influenced their disposition to online counselling.
Securing Birth Certificate Documents with DNA Profiles

The birth certificate is a document used by a person to obtain identification and licensing documents throughout their lifetime. For identity verification, the birth certificate provides limited information to support a person’s claim of identity. Authentication to the birth certificate is strictly a matter of possession. DNA profiling is becoming a commodity analysis that can be done accurately in under two hours with little human intervention. The DNA profile is a superior biometric to add to a birth record because it is stable throughout a person’s life and beyond. Acceptability of universal DNA profiling will depend heavily on privacy and safety concerns. This paper uses the U.S. FBI CODIS profile as a basis to discuss the effectiveness of DNA profiling and to provide a practical basis for a discussion of potential privacy and authenticity controls. As is discussed, adopting DNA profiles to improve document security should be done cautiously.
Understanding telecollaboration through an analysis of intercultural discourse

This study examines if and how collaboration and intercultural learning took place during telecollaboration by exploring the linguistic features of the discourse used by the participants, as well as the patterns and types of interactions between intercultural interlocutors. EFL students in Taiwan were paired up with pre-service teacher education students in the US for the project. The data collected included online forum entries written by participants from both sides after they read two articles and the end-of-project reports written by the Taiwanese participants. The findings of this study add to the small but increasing body of literature about online learning and collaborative behaviors. In particular, the linguistic-grounded examination of intercultural discourse adopted by this study echoes a previous assertion that such an approach could provide insights into the complex and multi-layered social interactions in telecollaboration. The new and unexpected findings about intercultural learning between Asian and US university students deserve further study.
Hopelessness Among Later-Life Patients

We address three issues: the relationship of hopelessness to depression and general behavior, the relative contribution of hopelessness to known hospital variables in treatment with respect to behavior and suicidal factors, and the influence of high-and low-level hopelessness on depression variables, behavior, and suicidal factors. Fifty psychiatric inpatients were individually administered the Beck Depression Inventory, the Geriatric Hopelessness Scale (GHS), and the Geriatric Depression Scale and were rated on key behavioral indexes by the MACC Behavior Adjustment Scale. Suicide ideation and past suicidal behavior were evaluated in an interview and by a record check. Results show that hopelessness is related to depression, especially the psychological components of depression and behavior. Hopelessness also adds to routine hospital information for total behavior, especially cooperation and social contact. Finally, high- and low-level hopelessness patients differ on psychological depression and behavior but not on suicidal indexes. The GHS is considered an instrument suitable for use with psychiatric patients.
Encounters with Authentic Embera Culture in Panama

In this article I will compare indigenous cultural performances for outsiders in an allegedly 'inauthentic' Embera community in Panama, which welcomes tourists on a daily basis, with similar staged events in some other less accessible communities, which receive visitors much less frequently. I will challenge the idea introduced by several travellers who seek authentic experiences that the first community is 'unreal' and its repetitive representations of Embera culture are mechanical, sterile and unoriginal. I will argue that these repetitive cultural performances constitute real lived experiences, and do not deserve to be demeaned as inauthentic. I will further maintain that in the 'tourist' community, as well as in the less accessible settlements, the Embera respond to the same set of expectations. They imagine what Western visitors would appreciate from their culture and enact very similar representations of these generalised expectations.
Data compression in remote sensing applications

A survey of current data compression techniques which are being used to reduce the amount of data in remote sensing applications is provided. The survey aspect is far from complete, reflecting the substantial activity in this area. The purpose of the survey is more to exemplify the different approaches being taken rather than to provide an exhaustive list of the various proposed approaches.
Distributed filtering basing consensus for the local strongly coupled systems

The interactions between subsystems are important for large-scale systems. We introduce a local strongly coupled system which coupled by random communication between subsystems.Due to the intermittent communication, it is difficult to apply the standard Kalman or robust filter to design procedures to such systems. In this paper, we addressed the distributed robust filter design method for this kind of system based on the consensus idea. The main result is a sufficient condition which guarantees a suboptimal level of disagreement of estimates in a coupled network of estimators. The condition is formulated in terms of feasibility of biaffine matrix inequalities (BMIs). The generic algorithm is used to treat the bilinear relation between filter parameters and the interconnection gains. The proposed approach is applied to the problem of formation-based robust synchronization. The numerical simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed filtering method.