Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Considerations for D‐Optimal Sequential Design

Classical D‐optimal design is used to create experimental designs for situations in which an underlying system model is known or assumed known. The D‐optimal strategy can also be used to add additional experimental runs to an existing design. This paper demonstrates a study of variable choices related to sequential D‐optimal design and how those choices influence the D‐efficiency of the resulting complete design. The variables studied are total sample size, initial experimental design size, step size, whether or not to include center points in the initial design, and complexity of initial model assumption. The results indicate that increasing total sample size improves the D‐efficiency of the design, less effort should be placed in the initial design, especially when the true underlying system model isn't known, and it is better to start off with assuming a simpler model form, rather than a complex model, assuming that the experimenter can reach the true model form during the sequential experiments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of sport massage on limb girth and discomfort associated with eccentric exercise.

CONTEXT Sport massage is often used to help prepare for exercise, expedite recovery from muscle soreness, and enhance athletic performance. However, the effect of sport massage on recovery from delayed-onset muscle soreness is unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of a short sport massage treatment on intramuscular swelling and pain in response to eccentric exercise. DESIGN We used a 2 x 8 (treatment x time) repeated-measures design to compare triceps surae muscle girth and pain ratings over the 72 hours after eccentric exercise. SETTING University research laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Nineteen healthy, college-aged subjects. INTERVENTION(S) Delayed-onset muscle soreness was induced with several sets of eccentric triceps surae contractions at 90% of the estimated concentric, 1-repetition maximum weight. Subjects returned on 3 consecutive days after eccentric exercise with a cycle ergometer for active rest treatments. In addition, 1 leg received the sport massage. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Girth measurements were taken at 5.08 cm (2 in), 10.16 cm (4 in), 15.24 cm (6 in), and 20.32 cm (8 in) below the knee joint line, and pain was assessed with a visual analog scale before and after all 4 sessions. RESULTS No interaction was noted between treatment and time for any girth or pain measurements, and no main effect was seen for treatment. CONCLUSIONS Sport massage did not reduce girth or pain in the lower leg after eccentric exercise within 72 hours.
Advanced genetic operators in the context of evolutionary ontology

The concept of evolutionary ontology has been introduced recently. They are actually genetic algorithms which use ontologies instead of mathematical structures, such as bit strings or numbers. An ontology has a significant expressivity power, therefore it allows more complex genetic operators, beside the classical ones. In this article we introduce several such new genetic operators (intersection crossover, union crossover, composition crossover) and we demonstrate their feasibility.
A unified process support framework for global software development

There is an increasing trend in global software development, where different parts of a software product are being developed in different organisations. The process aspect of such a distributed development environment is particularly important in order to ensure communication and coordination between the teams in different organisations. However different organisations may use different notations in modelling their software development processes. The paper addresses the issue on how to integrate models defined using different notations. The paper presents the initial results from a prototype of a unified process support framework that allows teams to define their process models using different notations. The framework integrates the models into a unified representation to facilitate communication and coordination.
How effective is therapy for childhood stuttering? Dissecting and reinterpreting the evidence in light of spontaneous recovery rates.

BACKGROUND Similar positive results (e.g. immediate decreases in stuttering frequency and a 60-80% recovery rate from stuttering) have been reported for numerous therapeutic protocols for treating childhood stuttering, many of which have been diametrically opposite in their orientations and implementations. For example, Johnson advocated indirect treatments that simply advocated refraining from drawing any negative attention to childhood disfluencies as persistent and chronic stuttering was thought to progress via negative parental reactions to normal disfluencies. In contrast, direct interventionists sought immediately to eliminate stuttered speech patterns by training 'corrected' speech models that usually involved some form of prolonged speech. However, reports from speech and language therapists around North Carolina, USA, suggest much lower recovery rates in the children they treat (i.e. 13.9% over a median therapeutic period of 3 years, which to the present authors is an indicator of therapeutic inefficiency and ineffectiveness). AIMS The discrepancy between these recovery rates calls for a re-examination of the efficacy of stuttering therapy for children, especially in light of recent statements from some therapies suggesting that therapy might be curative in nature. MAIN CONTRIBUTION Spontaneous and complete recovery (removing all overt and covert markers of the pathology) occurs in 60-80% of all children who display incipient stuttering behaviours. As such, it appears that many claims of therapeutic success in children who stutter are confounded by the possibility of spontaneous recovery during the testing and intervention period. Simply put, it is impossible to discriminate between recovery that would occur naturally over time, and what may have been simply accelerated via therapy. Based on stable prevalence rates and the data in the present paper, it is suggested that therapy does little to boost recovery rates from incipient stuttering. Therapy can provide 'inhibitory' symptomatic relief with varying degrees of success with respect to decreasing stuttering severity and the need for continued therapy. However, it must be made clear that curing stuttering is not a likely outcome of therapy, although successful management can decrease the severity of the problem. It is argued that all forms of stuttering inhibition, including those at work during spontaneous recovery, are all mediated by the degree of mirror neuron engagement in the brain. CONCLUSIONS It is proposed that in children who stutter, the best source of relief from stuttering is in the effective and efficient engagement of mirror neurons via methods that best replicate choral speech. In order to induce natural sounding, fluent speech, it is suggested that one uses primarily derivations of choral speech such as altered auditory feedback. Motoric techniques might also be used synergistically to provide supplementary sources of mirror neuron engagement.
Effects of mathematics computer games on special education students' multiplicative reasoning ability

This study examined the effects of a teacher-delivered intervention with online mathematics mini-games on special education students' multiplicative reasoning ability (multiplication and division). The games involved declarative, procedural, as well as conceptual knowledge of multiplicative relations, and were accompanied with teacher-led lessons and class discussions. A pretest–posttest control-group design was employed, with 81 students from five schools for special primary education (three experimental schools and two control schools). The intervention consisted of two 10-week game periods in which a total of 16 mini-games were offered as part of the regular educational program for multiplicative reasoning. The control group students played non-multiplicative mini-games; for multiplicative reasoning, they followed their regular educational program without mini-games. In both groups, students' multiplicative reasoning ability significantly increased. Regarding declarative knowledge of multiplication facts, learning outcomes were significantly higher in the experimental group as compared with the control group. This finding indicates the usefulness of mini-games for enhancing special education students' mathematics fact knowledge. Learning outcomes on a test measuring procedural and conceptual knowledge of multiplicative reasoning did not differ between experimental and control group. For these learning outcomes, then, the mini-games intervention did not have added value but can still be considered a “safe” alternative approach.
Classificar e medicar: a gestão biopolítica dos sofrimentos psíquicos

Considerando que a palavra biopolitica se transformou em um marco de referencia para inumeros debates e temas, muitas vezes sem os devidos questionamentos sobre seus alcances e limites, pretendo analisar neste escrito, inicialmente, os eixos centrais em relacao aos quais se articula o conceito foucaultiano de biopolitica: 1) a centralidade da norma e a oposicao normalidade-patologia; (2) os estudos estatisticos referidos aos fenomenos vitais que caracterizam as populacoes; (3) o problema do risco e os dispositivos de seguranca; (4) o governo das populacoes como forma de gestao que exclui o governo de si. Posteriormente, sera discutido um texto recentemente publicado pelo ex-chefe do grupo de tarefas do Manual de Diagnostico e Estatistica de Transtornos Mentais (DSM), onde ele questiona o atual processo de elaboracao da quinta edicao desse Manual. Essas criticas permitem mostrar que o Manual se articula entorno dos mesmos eixos que caracterizam a biopolitica das populacoes, configurando uma estrategia, hoje hegemonica, de gestao dos sofrimentos psiquicos.
Joint Linear Pre-Coder and Combiner Optimization for Distributed Antenna Systems

In this paper, a joint linear pre-coder and combiner optimization scheme is proposed to reduce the multi- user interference in the distributed antenna system (DAS). The pre-coder is designed based on the modified weighted signal-to-caused interference ratio (SCIR) which considers the interference on others caused by the desired user and the users channel condition. And the combiner is chosen based on the signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) which considers the interference on the desired user caused by others. The average user rate and symbol error rate (SER) are investigated through Monte Carlo simulation. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms other schemes.
BIGAP — Seamless handover in high performance enterprise IEEE 802.11 networks

Enterprise IEEE 802.11 networks need to provide high network performance to operate a large number of diverse clients like laptops, smartphones and tablets as well as capacity hungry and delay sensitive novel applications like mobile HD video & cloud storage efficiently. Moreover, such devices and applications require much better mobility support and higher QoS/QoE. Existing solutions can either provide high network performance or seamless mobility but not both. We present BIGAP, a novel architecture achieving both of the above goals. The former is achieved by assigning different channels to co-located APs in order to fully utilize the available radio spectrum. The latter is achieved by providing a mechanism for below MAC-layer handover through exploiting the Dynamic Frequency Selection capability in 802.11. In essence BIGAP forces clients to change AP whilst they `believe' they are simply changing channel. BIGAP is fully compatible with 802.11 and requires no modifications to the wireless clients. Testbed results demonstrate a significant improvement in terms of network outage duration (which is 32 x smaller as compared to state-of-the-art solutions) and negligible throughput degradation during handover operation. In this way frequent and seamless handover operations can take place thus supporting both seamless mobility and efficient load balancing.
Evaluation of Temperature Rise Caused by AC Loss Due to Plasma Disruption in Joint of JT-60SA Poloidal Field Coil

Two kinds of joints (the lap and butt joints) for JT-60SA poloidal field coil are evaluated. We measured and analyzed AC losses of the joints for JT-60SA under a time-varying magnetic field, and based on the analytical AC loss, the temperature rise of the joints is estimated at the plasma disruption by using the FEM simulation software COMSOL Multiphysics. As a result, the maximum temperature of the lap joint is constant, on the other hand, the maximum temperature of the butt joint strongly depends on the mass flow of the supercritical helium. When the mass flow of the supercritical helium is 4 g/s and more in all the initial temperatures (4.2-7.0 K), the butt joint has a sufficient temperature margin at the plasma disruption. The obtained results become fundamental data to estimate the temperature margin of the coil.
PDZ Protein Interactions Underlying NMDA Receptor-Mediated Excitotoxicity and Neuroprotection by PSD-95 Inhibitors

In neuronal synapses, PDZ domains [postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95)/Discs large/zona occludens-1] of PSD-95 proteins interact with C termini of NMDA receptor [NMDAR (NR)] subunits, linking them to downstream neurotoxic signaling molecules. Perturbing NMDAR/PSD-95 interactions with a Tat peptide comprising the nine C-terminal residues of the NR2B subunit (Tat-NR2B9c) reduces neurons' vulnerability to excitotoxicity and ischemia. However, NR subunit C termini may bind many of >240 cellular PDZs, any of which could mediate neurotoxic signaling independently of PSD-95. Here, we performed a proteomic and biochemical analysis of the interactions of all known human PDZs with synaptic signaling proteins including NR1, NR2A–NR2D, and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Tat-NR2B9c, whose interactions define PDZs involved in neurotoxic signaling, was also used. NR2A–NR2D subunits and Tat-NR2B9c had similar, highly specific, PDZ protein interactions, of which the strongest were with the PSD-95 family members (PSD-95, PSD-93, SAP97, and SAP102) and Tax interaction protein 1 (TIP1). The PSD-95 PDZ2 domain bound NR2A–NR2C subunits most strongly (EC50, ∼1 μm), and fusing the NR2B C terminus to Tat enhanced its affinity for PSD-95 PDZ2 by >100-fold (EC50, ∼7 nm). IC50 values for Tat-NR2B9c inhibiting NR2A–NR2C/PSD-95 interactions (∼1–10 μm) and nNOS/PSD-95 interactions (200 nm) confirmed the feasibility of such inhibition. To determine which of the PDZ interactions of Tat-NR2B9c mediate neuroprotection, one of PSD-95, PSD-93, SAP97, SAP102, TIP1, or nNOS expression was inhibited in cortical neurons exposed to NMDA toxicity. Only neurons lacking PSD-95 or nNOS but not PSD-93, SAP97, SAP102, or TIP1 exhibited reduced excitotoxic vulnerability. Thus, despite the ubiquitousness of PDZ domain-containing proteins, PSD-95 and nNOS above any other PDZ proteins are keys in effecting NMDAR-dependent excitotoxicity. Consequently, PSD-95 inhibition may constitute a highly specific strategy for treating excitotoxic disorders.
On Weak Plane Couette and Poiseuille Flows of Rigid Rod and Platelet Ensembles

Films and molds of nematic polymer materials are notorious for heterogeneity in the orientational distribution of the rigid rod or platelet macromolecules. Predictive tools for structure length scales generated by shear-dominated processing are vitally important: both during processing because of flow feedback phenomena such as shear thinning or thickening, and postprocessing since gradients in the rod or platelet ensemble translate to nonuniform composite properties and to residual stresses in the material. These issues motivate our analysis of two prototypes for planar shear processing: drag-driven Couette and pressure-driven Poiseuille flows. Hydrodynamic theories for high aspect ratio rod and platelet macromolecules in viscous solvents are well developed, which we apply in this paper to model the coupling between short-range excluded volume interactions, anisotropic distortional elasticity (unequal elasticity constants), wall anchoring conditions, and hydrodynamics. The goal of this paper is to generalize scaling properties of steady flow molecular structures in slow Couette flows with equal elasticity constants (M. G. Forest et al., J. Rheol., 48 (2004), pp. 175-192) in several ways: to contrast isotropic and anisotropic elasticity; to compare Couette versus Poiseuille flow; and to consider dynamics and stability of these steady states within the asymptotic model equations.
The Mosaic Moment: An Early Modernist Critique of Modernist Theories of Nationalism

Most theorists of nationalism are modernists: they regard nationalism as an essentially modern phenomenon. This article takes issue with the modernist position. Drawing on primary and secondary evidence from the Netherlands, England, and other early modern polities, it documents the existence of movements and ideologies that must be classified as national and nationalist by the modernists' own criteria. It is then argued that some nationalist discourses had medieval roots and that they were no less nationalistic than the nationalisms of the French Revolution. In the conclusion, the theoretical premises of the modernist position are subjected to critical examination.
‘Anthropologists are Talking’:About Islam, Muslims and Law in Contemporary Europe

Abstract In contemporary Europe, Islam and Muslims are rightly or wrongly often perceived as the ‘other’. Among the central foci of concern in many Western European countries with a significant presence of Muslims, the law has featured prominently in recent years. What can anthropology tell us about the multiple ways in which European Muslims engage with liberal and secular laws and the state? Perhaps no other contemporary scholar in anthropology has written more extensively about these issues than Professor John R. Bowen. As part of an ongoing series in public anthropology, Professor Bowen engaged in a public conversation with Professor Oddbjørn Leirvik and Postdoctoral Fellow Sindre Bangstad at The House of Literature in Oslo, Norway on 27 September 2011. Due to technical failures, the conversation had to be re-recorded at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on 28 September 2011.
Multi-sensor Registration and Integration for Inspection and Navigation

This paper describes a unified framework for addressing the problem of multi-sensor registration and integration in the context of inspection by autonomous platforms. The task is approached from an optimization angle by designing an effective general- purpose registration criterion that can be employed for both aligning 3D and 2D datasets. The resulting pipeline reconstructs full 3D representations of the scenes and objects of interest, including multi-spectral texture overlay. The obtained information rich representation is very useful in automating decision and reducing the cognitive load on human operators
Apical polarization of N-CAM in retinal pigment epithelium is dependent on contact with the neural retina

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is unique among epithelia in that its apical surface does not face a lumen, but, instead, is specialized for interaction with the neural retina. The molecules involved in the interaction of the RPE with the neural retina are not known. We show here that the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) is found both on the apical surface of RPE in situ and on the outer segments of photoreceptors, fulfilling an important requisite for an adhesion role between both structures. Strikingly, culture of RPE results in rapid redistribution of N-CAM to the basolateral surface. This is not due to an isoform shift, since the N-CAM expressed by cultured cells (140 kD) is the same as that expressed by RPE in vivo. Rather, the reversed polarity of N-CAM appears to result from the disruption of the contact between the RPE and the photoreceptors of the neural retina. We suggest that N-CAM in RPE and photoreceptors participate in these interactions.
Higher Education for the Future

Priority would be given to research articles. Manuscripts should have a length of 5000-6000 words. There should be an abstract of about 150-200 words, five to seven keywords, a mailing address and a brief profile of the author. Authors must follow the prescriptions of the publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed., 2001). Manuscripts are evaluated by two referees using a blind review process. Papers which have been partially or fully published elsewhere should not be sent.
Processos que levam à compreensão de textos

"All children learn to talk. This natural tendency to acquire language is a gift inscribed in the genetic inheritance that is ours by virtue of being human" - Boysson-Bardies (1999). How do people deal with language? What one knows about both cognitive and social processes that are involved on this relation? What is a comprehension and how one comprehends? This work has as aim to describe succinctly some perspectives through which different authors explain theirs ideas and research results. Particularly it was observed how to look the reading, writing and comprehension phenomena as a specific human capacity; the idea that an individual and an acquired ability is needed in order to control volunteer or unconsciously its own comprehension process. One basic aspect is presented as background: the relation between language and human cognition. It was concluded that further studies are needed for researchers to get a thorough understanding of the consequences of learning spoken and written language.