Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Building arguments: key to collaborative scaffolding

ABSTRACT Collaborative problem-solving in the classroom is a student-centred pedagogical practice that looks to improve learning. However, collaboration does not occur spontaneously; instead it needs to be guided by appropriate scaffolding. In this study we explore whether a script that explicitly incorporates constructing arguments in collaborative problem-solving activities improves learning. In order to do so, a study was conducted involving 75 students from a lower-middle class state-subsidized private school in Santiago de Chile. These students were divided into three groups, each of which worked on geometry activities over 10 sixty-minute sessions that were held across a period of four weeks. To isolate the effect of incorporating technology, the first of these groups did not work with technology. The second group worked with a collaborative script that was developed for use with a tablet, while the third group used the same technology with an integrated tool that explicitly allowed the students to build arguments. We conclude that having students reflect on their own processes and outcomes by arguing their point of view can lead to an improvement in learning, more so than the technology itself.
DESIGN AND FORMULATION OF BUCCAL MUCOADHESIVE PREPARATION BASED ON SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE OLEOGEL

Eleven formulations of buccal mucoadhesive preparations based on sorbitan monostearate (SMS) oleogel in which were incorporated bioadhesive polymers, Carbopol 940 or HPMC K100M, in concentrations established according to a composite central experimental design were prepared. The drug substances, metronidazole (MZ) and ibuprofen (IB) were incorporated in a concentration of 1%. The rheological characteristics, adhesion and in vitro release of MZ and IB were studied. The analyse of the kinetic release showed a good correlation with Peppas model. A formulation containing SMS 6.87% and HPMC K100M 14.99% was identified for maximising consistency, mucoadhesivity and ensuring an in vitro prolonged drug release profile for 8 hours. The optimized formulation was characterized in terms of adhesivity, rheology and release kinetics and their reproducibility was confirmed. The optimized formulation can be considered a good candidate for application in the postextractional socket at patients presenting the risk for osteomielitis on the background of osteonecrosis. Rezumat S-au realizat 11 formulări de preparate mucoadezive bucale, constituite din oleogel de monostearat de sorbitan (SMS) in care s-au incorporat prin suspendare polimeri bioadezivi, Carbopol 940 sau HPMC K100M, in concentraţii stabilite conform unui plan experimental de tip central compozit. Substanţele medicamentoase, metronidazol (MZ) si ibuprofen (IB), s-au incorporat in concentraţie de 1%. S-au studiat caracteristicile reologice, de adeziune si de cedare in vitro a MZ si IB. Analiza cineticii de cedare a prezentat o corelare bună cu modelul Peppas. S-a calculat formularea optimizată, conţinând SMS 6,87% si HPMC K 100M 14,99%, caracteristicile de interes fiind consistenţă si mucoadezivitate crescute si eliberare prelungită a substanţelor medicamentoase pe parcursul a 8 ore. S-au studiat caracteristicile reologice, de adeziune si de cedare in vitro ale formulării optimizate, iar valorile obţinute practic au fost apropiate de cele estimate teoretic. Formularea optimizată poate fi considerată un bun candidat pentru aplicarea in alveola postextracţională la pacienţi cu risc de osteomielită pe fond de osteonecroză.
EKF SLAM is O ( n )

In this paper we show that all processes associated to the move-sense-update cycle of EKF SLAM can be carried out in time linear in the number of map features. We describe Divide and Conquer SLAM, an EKF SLAM algorithm where the computational complexity per step is reduced from O(n) to O(n) (the total cost of SLAM is reduced from O(n) to O(n)). In addition, the resulting vehicle and map estimates have better consistency properties than standard EKF SLAM in the sense that the computed state covariance more adequately represents the real error in the estimation. Both simulated experiments and the Victoria Park Dataset are used to provide evidence of the advantages of this algorithm.
Palindrome Detection Using On-line Position

The purpose of this study is to detect a reverse substring in any position i of the string y, uRru is a factor of y, uR is a reverse substring of u and r is a substring between uR and u. We develop an efficient algorithm to detect all reverse repetitions in a string and describe the algorithm for computing the Longest Previous reverse Factor (LPrF) table by using the on-line construction of position heap data structure. This algorithm runs in linear time on a fixed size alphabet. For the applications in bioinformatics field, LPrF table can use to detect palindrome and gapped palindrome.
Towards omnidirectional passive human detection

Passive human detection and localization serve as key enablers for various pervasive applications such as smart space, human-computer interaction and asset security. The primary concern in devising scenario-tailored detecting systems is the coverage of their monitoring units. In conventional radio-based schemes, the basic unit tends to demonstrate a directional coverage, even if the underlying devices are all equipped with omnidirectional antennas. Such an inconsistency stems from the link-centric architecture, creating an anisotropic wireless propagating environment. To achieve an omnidirectional coverage while retaining the link-centric architecture, we propose the concept of Omnidirectional Passive Human Detection, and investigate to harness the PHY layer features to virtually tune the shape of the unit coverage by fingerprinting approaches, which is previously prohibited with mere MAC layer RSSI. We design the scheme with ubiquitously deployed WiFi infrastructure and evaluate it in typical multipath-rich indoor scenarios. Experimental results show that our scheme achieves an average false positive of 8% and an average false negative of 7% in detecting human presence in 4 directions.
ETOC: Obtaining robustness in component-based localization

Accurate localization is crucial for wireless ad-hoc and sensor networks. Among the localization schemes, component-based approaches specialize in localization performance, which can properly conquer network sparseness and anchor sparseness. However, such design is sensitive to measurement errors. Existing robust localization methods focus on eliminating the positioning error of a single node. Indeed, a single node has two dimensions of freedom in 2D space and only suffers from one type of transformation: translation. As a rigid 2D structure, a component suffers from three possible transformations: translation, rotation, and reflection. A high degree of freedom brings about complicated cases of error productions and difficulties on error controlling. This study is the first work addressing how to deal with ranging noises for component- based methods. By exploiting a set of robust patterns, we present an Error-TOlerant Component-based algorithm (ETOC) that not only inherits the high-performance characteristic of component-based methods, but also achieves robustness of the result. We evaluate ETOC through a real-world sensor network consisting of 120 TelosB motes as well as extensive large-scale simulations. Experiment results show that, comparing with the-state-of-the-art designs, ETOC can work properly in sparse networks and provide more accurate localization results.
HIV Stigma: Perspectives from Kenyan Child Caregivers and Adolescents Living with HIV

Stigma shapes all aspects of HIV prevention and treatment, yet there are limited data on how HIV-infected youth and their families are affected by stigma in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors conducted a qualitative study using focus group discussions among 39 HIV-infected adolescents receiving care at HIV clinics in western Kenya and 53 caregivers of HIV-infected children. Participants felt that while knowledge and access to treatment were increasing, many community members still held negative and inaccurate views about HIV, including associating it with immorality and believing in transmission by casual interactions. Stigma was closely related to a loss of social and economic support but also included internalized negative feelings about oneself. Participants identified treatment-related impacts of stigma, including nonadherence, nondisclosure of status to child or others, and increased mental health problems. Qualitative inquiry also provided insights into how to measure and reduce stigma among affected individuals and families.
Decision Problems for Subclasses of Rational Relations over Finite and Infinite Words

We consider decision problems for relations over finite and infinite words defined by finite automata. We prove that the equivalence problem for binary deterministic rational relations over infinite words is undecidable in contrast to the case of finite words, where the problem is decidable. Furthermore, we show that it is decidable in doubly exponential time for an automatic relation over infinite words whether it is a recognizable relation. We also revisit this problem in the context of finite words and improve the complexity of the decision procedure to single exponential time. The procedure is based on a polynomial time regularity test for deterministic visibly pushdown automata, which is a result of independent interest.
Effects of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Exposure on Neuroimmune Responses in Rat Airways

Exposure to ambient nanoparticles (defined as particulate matter [PM] having one dimension <100 nm) is associated with increased risk of childhood and adult asthma. Nanomaterials feature a smaller aerodynamic diameter and a higher surface area per unit mass ratio compared to fine or coarse-sized particles, resulting in greater lung deposition efficiency and an increased potential for biological interaction. The neurotrophins nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor are key regulatory elements of neuronal development and responsiveness of airway sensory neurons. Changes in their expression are associated with bronchoconstriction, airway hyperresponsiveness, and airway inflammation. The neurogenic-mediated control of airway responses is a key pathophysiological mechanism of childhood asthma. However, the effects of nanoparticle exposure on neurotrophin-driven airway responses and their potential role as a predisposing factor for developing asthma have not been clearly elucidated. In this study, in vivo inhalation exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles (12 mg/m3; 5.6 h/d for 3 d) produced upregulation of lung neurotrophins in weanling (2-wk-old) and newborn (2-d-old) rats but not in adult (12-wk-old) animals compared to controls. This effect was associated with increased airway responsiveness and upregulation of growth-related oncogene/keratine-derived chemokine (GRO/KC; CXCL1, rat equivalent of human interleukin [IL]-8) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. These data show for the first time that exposure to nanoparticulate upregulates the expression of lung neurotrophins in an age-dependent fashion and that this effect is associated with airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation. These results suggest the presence of a critical window of vulnerability in earlier stages of lung development, which may lead to a higher risk of developing asthma.
Corpora for the Conceptualisation and Zoning of Scientific Papers

We present two complementary annotation schemes for sentence based annotation of full scientific papers, CoreSC and AZ-II, applied to primary research articles in chemistry. AZ-II is the extension of AZ for chemistry papers. AZ has been shown to have been reliably annotated by independent human coders and useful for various information access tasks. Like AZ, AZ-II follows the rhetorical structure of a scientific paper and the knowledge claims made by the authors. The CoreSC scheme takes a different view of scientific papers, treating them as the humanly readable representations of scientific investigations. It seeks to retrieve the structure of the investigation from the paper as generic high-level Core Scientific Concepts (CoreSC). CoreSCs have been annotated by 16 chemistry experts over a total of 265 full papers in physical chemistry and biochemistry. We describe the differences and similarities between the two schemes in detail and present the two corpora produced using each scheme. There are 36 shared papers in the corpora, which allows us to quantitatively compare aspects of the annotation schemes. We show the correlation between the two schemes, their strengths and weeknesses and discuss the benefits of combining a rhetorical based analysis of the papers with a content-based one.
Performance Evaluation of Carrier Aggregation for Elastic Traffic in LTE-Advanced Systems

Carrier aggregation is a potential technology for the LTE-Advanced system to support wider bandwidth than the LTE system. This paper analyzes the performance of carrier aggregation under elastic traffic, and compares it to that of a simpler approach for the same purpose, referred to as the independent carrier approach. The queueing behaviors of these two approaches are formulated as one fast versus multiple slow state-dependent Processor Sharing servers, respectively. Both analytical and simulation results show that when there are L component carriers with uniform bandwidth in the system, the performance of the carrier aggregation approach is L times better than that of the independent carrier approach in terms of the average user delay and throughput under the same traffic load.
Association of physical activity and body mass index with novel and traditional cardiovascular biomarkers in women.

CONTEXT There are few data directly comparing the effects of physical activity and body weight on cardiovascular biomarkers. OBJECTIVE To examine the association of physical activity and body mass index (BMI, defined as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) alone and in combination with cardiovascular biomarkers. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional analysis of 27,158 apparently healthy US women (mean age, 54.7 years) at the time of enrollment (1992-1995) in the Women's Health Study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of low-dose aspirin and vitamin E in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The association of physical activity and BMI with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, soluble intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), homocysteine, low- and high-density lipoprotein (LDL and HDL) cholesterol, total cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-1 and B100, lipoprotein(a), and creatinine. RESULTS Lower levels of physical activity and higher levels of BMI were independently associated (P for trend <.001) with adverse levels of nearly all lipid and inflammatory biomarkers. High BMI showed stronger associations with these biomarkers than physical inactivity. For example, using the reference group of physically active, normal weight women (energy expenditure > or =1000 kcal/week; BMI, 18.5-24.9) and adjusting for age, race, smoking, blood pressure, diabetes, menopausal status, and hormone use, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for having CRP >3 mg/L were: for inactive, normal weight women 1.26 (1.15-1.37); active, overweight 2.68 (2.41-2.98); inactive, overweight 3.11 (2.84-3.41); active, obese 8.25 (7.15-9.51); and inactive, obese 9.86 (8.84-10.99). In similar analyses, the odds ratios (95% CIs) for having HDL cholesterol <50 mg/dL were 1.20 (1.11-1.30); 2.25 (2.04-2.49); 2.62 (2.41-2.85); 4.21 (3.68-4.81); and 5.27 (4.77-5.84), respectively, and for having apolipoprotein B100 >120 mg/dL they were 1.21 (1.11-1.33); 1.86 (1.66-2.08); 2.06 (1.88-2.67); 2.35 (2.04-2.70); and 2.33 (2.09-2.59). Fibrinogen, ICAM-1, apolipoprotein A1, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol showed similar associations. By contrast, homocysteine, lipoprotein (a), and creatinine showed weak or nonsignificant associations. CONCLUSIONS High BMI was more strongly related to adverse cardiovascular biomarker levels than physical inactivity. However, within BMI categories, physical activity was generally associated with more favorable cardiovascular biomarker levels than inactivity.
Evaluation of an internet-based physical activity intervention: A preliminary investigation

The Internet has the potential for delivering innovative, interactive physical activity (PA) interventions to large numbers of people. This study was designed to test the efficacy of an Internet intervention that consisted of a Web site plus 12 weekly e-mail tip sheets, compared with a waiting list control group. The Internet intervention was theory based and emphasized clear, graphical presentation of PA information. Sixty-five (30 intervention and 35 control) sedentary adult employees of several large hospitals (9 men and 56 women) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 study arms. Of the 65 participants, 57 completed the 1-month follow-up, and 52 completed the 3-month follow-up. At both 1 and 3 months, those in the intervention group were significantly more likely to have progressed in stage of motivational readiness for PA than participants in the control group: 1 month, χ2(1, N=52) = 4.05, p > . 05; 3 months, χ2(1, N = 52) = 6.45, p > . 01. We hypothesized that at 1 and 3 months, the intervention group would exhibit significant increases relative to the control group on the number of minutes of moderate activity. At the 1-month assessment, the intervention group did exhibit significant increases, relative to the control group in moderate minutes, F(1, 54) = 5.79, p > . 05; however, at the 3-month assessment this difference was no longer significant. In addition, secondary analyses were conducted to examine total number of minutes of walking reported. At 1 month, the intervention group did exhibit significant increases, relative to the control group, in walking minutes, F(1, 54) = 12.1, p > . 001. At the 3-month assessment, amount of time spent in walking activity continued to be significantly higher for the intervention group compared with the control group, F(1, 48) = 5.2, p > . 05. These findings show that a theoretically based PA Web site and weekly e-mail tip sheets can have a short-term impact on PA motivation and behavior both at 1 and 3 months. As Internet access increases, and as bandwith and other technical attributes of this medium improve, Web site delivered health behavior interventions will become increasingly useful in public health promotion.
Cooperation Under Sexual Selection: Age-Graded Changes in a Lekking Bird

Long-tailed manakins, Chiroxiphia linearis, are birds with a lek mating system and male-male cooperation in courtship display. I studied male-male networks in a color-banded population in Monteverde, Costa Rica, from 1981 to 1987. Males displayed in scattered leks (75-300 m apart) comprising 3-15 males. Within each lek, an alpha and beta male, with strict relative dominance ranks, performed most of the courtship display. Of 50-60 active males per season, only 6-8 males were well-established alpha males in leks with consistent levels of dual-male displays (calls and dances). Demographic data suggest that males may be 8 yr of age or more before attaining beta status. Alpha tenure can last from two to at least four years. Alpha males were rarely or never seen in perch zones other than their primary perch zone (their area of dominance). Lower-ranking males maintained simultaneous affiliations with males in as many as six different zones. Each zone, therefore, acted as a hub in which males with different affiliations around the rim came into contact. Each of the six major perch zones shared at least one affiliate with each of the other zones, and roughly half the males in any particular zone were also known affiliates in one or more other zones. Marked changes occurred in male traits with increasing age and status: (1) significant declines in weight throughout the life span, without loss of dominance status; (2) a 4-yr delay in plumage maturation with distinct subdefinitive, transitional stages; (3) reduction in the number of perch zones with which older males maintained affiliations; and (4) increasing probability of copulatory success. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that subdefinitive plumages in this species serve primarily as accurate indicators of age, which in turn largely determines status, and that males queue for positions in an age-based dominance system. The results do not support the hypothesis that delayed plumage maturation involves mimicry or deceptive signaling by subdefinitive males (≤3 yr old) to high-ranking males (≥8 yr old). Of 85 males monitored from 1983 to 1986, copulations (N = 117) were distributed among 8 males. Four of these males accounted for over 90% of the copulations, with 67% accruing to one male. An index of the opportunity for sexual selection, to be used cautiously in interspecific comparisons, was estimated to range from 15.8 to 31.5 in four successive years. Direct benefits to cooperation by the beta male consisted of rare immediate copulations (N = 2) and eventual ascent to alpha status (N = 3). The high variance of mating success means few opportunities for success by younger males and should favor long-term strategies, such as cooperation and delayed plumage maturation, that enhance the prospects of future success.
Universitet A Bottom-up Approach to Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis

Cost-Benefit Analysis is a method to assess the effects of policies and projects on social welfare. CBAs are usually applied in a top-down approach, in the sense that a decision-making body first decides on which policies or projects are to be considered, and then applies a set of uniform criteria to identifying and valuing relevant cost and benefit flows. This paper investigates the possible advantages, prerequisites and limitations of applying CBA in what may be considered an alternative, “bottom-up”. Instead of starting out with a pre-defined policy option, the suggested approach begins with the underlying environmental problem, and then assesses costs and benefits of various strategies and solutions suggested by local and directly affected stakeholders. For empirical case studies concerning two river catchments in Sweden and Latvia, the bottom-up CBA approach utilises local knowledge, assesses plans which are not only developed for local conditions but are also likely to be more acceptable to local society, and sheds additional light on possible distributional effects. By not only benefitting from, but also supporting participative environmental planning, bottom-up CBA is in line with the growing trend of embedding stakeholder participation into environmental policy and decision-making.
Leaderless consensus for the fractional-order nonlinear multi-agent systems under directed interaction topology

ABSTRACT Leaderless consensus for the fractional-order nonlinear multi-agent systems is investigated in this paper. At the first part, a control protocol is proposed to achieve leaderless consensus for the nonlinear single-integrator multi-agent systems. At the second part, based on sliding mode estimator, a control protocol is given to solve leaderless consensus for the the nonlinear single-integrator multi-agent systems. It shows that the control protocol can improve the systems’ convergence speed. At the third part, a control protocol is designed to accomplish leaderless consensus for the nonlinear double-integrator multi-agent systems. To judge the systems’ stability in this paper, two classic continuous Lyapunov candidate functions are chosen. Finally, several worked out examples under directed interaction topology are given to prove above results.