Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Not the Norm: The Potential of Tree Analysis of Performance Data from Students in a Foundation Mathematics Module

Quantitative methods of data analysis usually involve inferential statistics, and are not well known for their ability to reflect the intricacies of a diverse student population. The South African tertiary education sector is characterised by extreme inequality and diversity. Foundation programmes address issues of inequality of access by providing an opportunity for disadvantaged students with academic potential to enter mainstream degree programmes. Seeking to understand which factors are most influential in enhancing student selection and their performance in a foundation mathematics module, Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis is presented as a non-parametric alternative to traditional quantitative research methods. CART, a data-mining technique, is illustrated with reference to two cohorts of students enrolled in the foundation module. The two cohorts had experienced different secondary school curricula. The regression tree to examine students' final mathematics marks illustrated that the primary performance indicators for both cohorts related to the alternative selection criteria, whereas school-level performance was of little consequence. The classification tree showed that passing the module depended on socio-economic, and not academic, indicators, irrespective of school history. The hierarchy of context-dependent influences revealed in the trees illustrated that no single variable can be the basis for a framework for practical and policy responsiveness in a context of such student diversity.
Towards a Virtual Trusted Platform

The advances and adoption of Trusted Computing and hardware assisted virtualisation technologies in standard PC platforms promise new approaches in build- ing a robust virtualisation platform for security sensitive software modules. The amal- gam of these technologies allows an attractive off-the-shelf environment, capable of supporting security levels potentially higher than commonly deployed today. This ar- ticle proposes a practical approach of combining technology elements available today to create such a platform using available components. The design supports operating high-security and low-security compartments side by side. The high security compart- ment is able to use the functionality of the Trusted Platform Module. The low security compartment is isolated through hardware-assisted virtualisation. The platform boots via Intel Trusted Execution Technology to resist manipulation. We discuss the building blocks of the architecture and present a number of open research challenges.
Impairments in the Initiation of Maternal Behavior in Oxytocin Receptor Knockout Mice

Oxytocin (Oxt) acting through its single receptor subtype, the Oxtr, is important for the coordination of physiology and behavior associated with parturition and maternal care. Knockout mouse models have been helpful in exploring the contributions of Oxt to maternal behavior, including total body Oxt knockout (Oxt −/−) mice, forebrain conditional Oxtr knockout (Oxtr FB/FB) mice, and total body Oxtr knockout (Oxtr −/−) mice. Since Oxtr −/− mice are unable to lactate, maternal behavior has only been examined in virgin females, or in dams within a few hours of parturition, and there have been no studies that have examined their anxiety-like and depression-like behavior following parturition. To improve our understanding of how the absence of Oxt signaling affects maternal behavior, mood and anxiety, we designed a study using Oxtr −/− mice that separated nursing behavior from other aspects of maternal care, such as licking and grooming by thelectomizing (i.e. removing the nipples) of Oxtr +/+ mice and sham-thelectomizing Oxtr −/− mice, and pairing both genotypes with a wet nurse. We then measured pup abandonment, maternal behavior, and postpartum anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors. We hypothesized that genetic disruption of the Oxtr would impact maternal care, mood and anxiety. Specifically, we predicted that Oxtr −/− dams would have impaired maternal care and increased anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors in the postpartum period. We found that Oxtr −/− dams had significantly higher levels of pup abandonment compared to controls, which is consistent with previous work in Oxtr FB/FB mice. Interestingly, Oxtr −/− dams that initiated maternal care did not differ from wildtype controls in measures of maternal behavior. We also did not find any evidence of altered anxiety-like or depressive-like behavior in the postpartum period of Oxtr −/− dams. Thus, our data suggest that Oxt lowers the threshold for the initiation of maternal behavior.
The effect of a high-MUFA, low-glycaemic index diet and a low-fat diet on appetite and glucose metabolism during a 6-month weight maintenance period

We aimed to test the effects of three different weight maintenance diets on appetite, glucose and fat metabolism following an initial low-energy diet (LED) induced body weight loss. Following an 8-week LED and a 2–3-week refeeding period, 131 subjects were randomized to three diets for 6 months: MUFA, moderate-fat (35–45 energy percentage (E%) fat), high in MUFA with low glycaemic index; LF, low fat (20–30 E% fat) or CTR, control (35 E% fat). A meal test study was performed in a subgroup, before and after the 6-month dietary intervention, with forty-two subjects completing both meal tests. No difference in body weight, energy intake or appetite ratings were observed between diets. Both the LF and MUFA diets compared to CTR diet reduced postprandial glycaemia and insulinaemia and lowered fasting insulin from month 0 to month 6. Following the 8-week LED period lower levels of the appetite regulating peptides, pancreatic polypeptide, peptide YY, glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucagon-like peptide-2, along with increased appetite scores were seen in comparison to measurements performed after the 6-month dietary intervention. In conclusion, the two competing diets, MUFA and LF, were equally good with respect to glucose metabolism, whereas the CTR diet resembling the typical Western diet, high in SFA, sugar and high glycaemic carbohydrates, indicated associations to lowering of insulin sensitivity. Lower levels of appetite regulatory peptides along with increased appetite scores following an 8-week LED and 2–3-week refeeding period, suggest that strategies for physiological appetite control following a LED period are needed, in order to prevent weight regain.
PHONEMIC AWARENESS AND MIDDLE-EAR DISEASE AMONG BEDOUIN ARABS IN ISRAEL

This study investigated the effect of middle-ear infections on phonemic awareness of first-grade elementary school children. Forty-nine children were screened according to their infant medical records, and divided into two groups: one with repeated middle-ear infection and one without. They had to read aloud seven different phonemic awareness measures. The results indicated a nonsignificant effect of middle-ear infections on phonemic awareness ability. The limitations of this study and other studies in this field concerning this specific phenomenon are discussed.
Assimilation in American Life: An Empirical Assessment of Milton Gordon’s Multi-dimensional Theory

Abstract This study empirically assesses Milton Gordon's theory of interrelated stages of assimilation. I focus on one small but salient religious minority—American Jews—to show how structural assimilation is associated with other dimensions of assimilation: marital, identification, and behavior reception. Findings from multivariate analyses suggest that structural assimilation encourages Jews to marry non-Jews. Such a marriage composition has become a major determinant of identificational assimilation, with non-Jewish social relationships having important if somewhat weaker association with group identification. Social and economic attainments are moderate factors of identificational behavior that may sometimes strengthen, rather than weaken, religio-ethnic identification. The various components of structural assimilation are not significant for reception assimilation. The findings are discussed in relation to the functionalism concept, in connection with the more recent literature on immigration and assimilation and in view of the changing social context of America in the second half of the twentieth century from the dominance of the melting pot ethos to cultural pluralism.
An Experimental Study of Deryck Cooke's Theory of Music and Meaning

Hevner (1935, 1936) used a technique in which short, but complete pieces of music were presented to listeners in two forms, the original and another composed to be as alike as possible to the original except for the one attribute which was being studied. The listeners were asked to represent the meaning of the music by ticking adjective lists. In this way Hevner studied the effects of varying modality, rhythm, harmony and direction of the melodic line on the conveyed meaning of the pieces. Whereas reliable changes in meaning were observed for the first three attributes, this was not the case with the direction of the melodic line.
The American Interest in the Palestine Question and the Establishment of Israel

It was not until the mid-1940s that the United States was called upon to have more than a vague and gen eralized attitude toward the Palestine problem. With the end of World War II, pressures on our government to take some action with respect to the Jewish displaced persons in Europe became intense. President Truman, whose basic motivation was humanitarian, but who was responsive to Zionist influ ence, urged the British to admit 100 thousand displaced Jews to Palestine. The British countered by proposing a joint Anglo-American Committee to examine the situation, but the committee's recommendations were not accepted by either government. After a second Anglo-American effort failed, and no agreement with the Arabs and Jews was in sight, the British in 1947 referred the matter to the United Nations, where we strongly supported partition. The State of Israel was established May 14, 1948, and immediately recognized by Truman. President Eisenhower and Secretary Dulles adopted a policy of impartiality and promoted a settlement, but en countered various obstacles. In the 1956 Suez crisis, we took a strong line against Britain, France, and Israel, called for an immediate cease-fire, and put considerable pressure on Israel to withdraw from occupied territory. Our support of Israel adversely affected our interests in the Middle East, and the evenhanded policy adopted later, though an improvement, was not really impartial in practice.
Ca2+ Permeable AMPA Receptor Induced Long-Term Potentiation Requires PI3/MAP Kinases but Not Ca/CaM-Dependent Kinase II

Ca2+ influx via GluR2-lacking Ca2+-permeable AMPA glutamate receptors (CP-AMPARs) can trigger changes in synaptic efficacy in both interneurons and principle neurons, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. We took advantage of genetically altered mice with no or reduced GluR2, thus allowing the expression of synaptic CP-AMPARs, to investigate the molecular signaling process during CP-AMPAR-induced synaptic plasticity at CA1 synapses in the hippocampus. Utilizing electrophysiological techniques, we demonstrated that these receptors were capable of inducing numerous forms of long-term potentiation (referred to as CP-AMPAR dependent LTP) through a number of different induction protocols, including high-frequency stimulation (HFS) and theta-burst stimulation (TBS). This included a previously undemonstrated form of protein-synthesis dependent late-LTP (L-LTP) at CA1 synapses that is NMDA-receptor independent. This form of plasticity was completely blocked by the selective CP-AMPAR inhibitor IEM-1460, and found to be dependent on postsynaptic Ca2+ ions through calcium chelator (BAPTA) studies. Surprisingly, Ca/CaM-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), the key protein kinase that is indispensable for NMDA-receptor dependent LTP at CA1 synapses appeared to be not required for the induction of CP-AMPAR dependent LTP due to the lack of effect of two separate pharmacological inhibitors (KN-62 and staurosporine) on this form of potentiation. Both KN-62 and staurosporine strongly inhibited NMDA-receptor dependent LTP in control studies. In contrast, inhibitors for PI3-kinase (LY294002 and wortmannin) or the MAPK cascade (PD98059 and U0126) significantly attenuated this CP-AMPAR-dependent LTP. Similarly, postsynaptic infusion of tetanus toxin (TeTx) light chain, an inhibitor of exocytosis, also had a significant inhibitory effect on this form of LTP. These results suggest that distinct synaptic signaling underlies GluR2-lacking CP-AMPAR-dependent LTP, and reinforces the recent notions that CP-AMPARs are important facilitators of synaptic plasticity in the brain.
Just Words? A Quantitative Analysis of the Communication of the Central Bank of Brazil

We quantify the informational content of statements issued by the interest-rate setting committee of the Central Bank of Brazil (COPOM), building on the methodology developed by Lucca and Trebbi (2011). Using Google search queries, we measure the extent to which each COPOM statement is perceived to be associated with more "hawkish" or "dovish" language. This allows us to construct a time-series of the informational content of COPOM statements, which we then use in regressions to explain changes in the term-structure of interest rates around COPOM meetings -- together with a market-based measure of interest-rate surprises. We find that, during Governor Tombini's tenure, interest-rate surprises started to be "passed through" one-to-one (or more) even at long maturities, as markets seem to have bought into the idea that the interest-rate cuts that began in mid-2011 would lead to lower yields in Brazil into the foreseeable future. Most importantly, changes in the informational content of COPOM statements seem to have meaningful effects on yields at short-to-medium maturities. However, this result only holds for the period prior to Tombini's tenure.
Effect of epidermal growth factor on clonogenic growth of primary human tumor cells

The effect of EGF on the soft agar colony‐forming ability of fresh human tumor cells was assessed in 40 specimens obtained from various types of carcinoma including those of the breast, endometrium, ovary, and other sites. Cells from four established human tumor cell lines (three breast and one endometrial) were also included in this study. The results showed that addition of EGF at a concentration of 50 ng/ml resulted in a 50% higher cloning efficiency in soft agar in 40% of the samples of fresh human tumors. When cells from tumor cell lines were plated in semi‐solid medium containing EGF, the number of colonies formed was at least twice as high as controls. Cells from fresh tumor biopsies were assayed for EGF receptors to determine whether the correlation between the proliferative response in EGF‐supplemented semi‐solid medium as compared to control could be related to the number of EGF receptors present on the cells. Specific receptors for EGF were detected by using radioiodinated EGF in early‐passage cell cultures from some of the tumors tested for clonogenicity. The number of receptors ranged from 0.3 to 3.27 × 105 per cell. Cells from two melanoma specimens possessed less than 0.3 × 103 EGF receptors per cell. We found no correlation between the number of EGF receptor on a cell surface and the mitogenic effect of EGF on the same tumor cells grown in semi‐solid medium.
Stochastic Optimization Model and Solution Algorithm for Robust Double-Track Train-Timetabling Problem

By considering various stochastic disturbances unfolding in a real-time dispatching environment, this paper develops a stochastic optimization formulation for incorporating segment travel-time uncertainty and dispatching policies into a medium-term train-timetabling process that aims to minimize the total trip time in a published timetable and reduce the expected schedule delay. Based on a heuristic sequential solution framework, this study decomposes the robust timetabling problem into a series of subproblems that optimize the slack-time allocation for individual trains. A number of illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the proposed model and solution algorithms using data collected from a Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail corridor in China.
Managing Statistical Behavior of Large Data Sets in Shared-Nothing Architectures

Increasingly larger data sets are being stored in networked architectures. Many of the available data structures are not easily amenable to parallel realizations. Hashing schemes show promise in that respect for the simple reason that the underlying data structure can be decomposed and spread among the set of cooperating nodes with minimal communication and maintenance requirements. In all cases, storage utilization and load balancing are issues that need to be addressed. One can identify two basic approaches to tackle the problem. One way is to address it as part of the design of the data structure that is used to store and retrieve the data. The other is to maintain the data structure intact but address the problem separately. The method that we present here falls in the latter category and is applicable whenever a hash table is the preferred data structure. Intrinsically attached to the used hash table is a hashing function that allows one to partition a possibly unbounded set of data items into a finite set of groups; the hashing function provides the partitioning by assigning each data item to one of the groups. In general, the hashing function cannot guarantee that the various groups will have the same cardinality on average, for all possible data item distributions. In this paper, we propose a two-stage methodology that uses the knowledge of the hashing function to reorganize the group assignments so that the resulting groups have similar expected cardinalities. The method is generally applicable and independent of the used hashing function. We show the power of the methodology using both synthetic and real-world databases. The derived quasi-uniform storage occupancy and associated load-balancing gains are significant.
THE EFFECTS OF RESTRICTING HAND GESTURE PRODUCTION ON LEXICAL RETRIEVAL AND FREE RECALL

This study examined hand gesture production and the effects of restricting gestures on lexical retrieval and free recall. Participants were presented 50 definitions and attempted to retrieve each target word. Half the participants performed the task under restricted hand gesture conditions. Participants with unrestricted hand gestures retrieved and subsequently recalled significantly more words than participants whose hands were restricted. The role of hand gesture production in retrieval of verbal information from semantic memory is discussed. In addition, the lexical retrieval and recall data are analyzed as a function of high and low verbal skill and quantity and type of hand gesture production. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is discussed in the context of gesture use and retrieval advantages.
Who “They” Are Matters: Immigrant Stereotypes and Assessments of the Impact of Immigration

We investigate the relationship between stereotypes of immigrants and assessments of the impact of immigration on U.S. society. Our analysis exploits a split-ballot survey of registered voters in Ohio, who were asked to evaluate both the characteristics of one of four randomly assigned immigrant groups and perceived impacts of immigration. We find that associations between impact assessments and stereotypes of Middle Eastern, Asian, and European immigrants are weak and fully attenuated by control covariates. By contrast, this relationship for Latin American immigrants is strong and robust to controls, particularly in the areas of unemployment, schools, and crime. Our findings suggest that public views of the impacts of immigration are strongly connected to beliefs about the traits of Latin American immigrants in particular.
Three space-time block-coding schemes for frequency-selective fading channels with application to EDGE

Three space-time block-coding schemes with two transmit antennas for frequency-selective fading channels are described and compared. The three schemes implement the symbol-level Alamouti scheme (see Alamouti, S., IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, p.1451-8, 1998) developed for flat-fading channels at a block level either in the time or frequency domains. Receiver structures that aim at exploiting the spatial diversity offered by the two transmit antennas and the temporal diversity offered by the channel frequency selectivity are presented. The three schemes are applied to the EDGE TDMA system and their performance compared on a typical urban channel under both perfect and estimated channel conditions at the receiver.
A conceptual framework of computations in mid-level vision

If a picture is worth a thousand words, as an English idiom goes, what should those words—or, rather, descriptors—capture? What format of image representation would be sufficiently rich if we were to reconstruct the essence of images from their descriptors? In this paper, we set out to develop a conceptual framework that would be: (i) biologically plausible in order to provide a better mechanistic understanding of our visual system; (ii) sufficiently robust to apply in practice on realistic images; and (iii) able to tap into underlying structure of our visual world. We bring forward three key ideas. First, we argue that surface-based representations are constructed based on feature inference from the input in the intermediate processing layers of the visual system. Such representations are computed in a largely pre-semantic (prior to categorization) and pre-attentive manner using multiple cues (orientation, color, polarity, variation in orientation, and so on), and explicitly retain configural relations between features. The constructed surfaces may be partially overlapping to compensate for occlusions and are ordered in depth (figure-ground organization). Second, we propose that such intermediate representations could be formed by a hierarchical computation of similarity between features in local image patches and pooling of highly-similar units, and reestimated via recurrent loops according to the task demands. Finally, we suggest to use datasets composed of realistically rendered artificial objects and surfaces in order to better understand a model's behavior and its limitations.
The Role of Perspective in Locating Position in a Real-World, Unfamiliar Environment

SUMMARY This paper reports an exploration of how perspective information contributes to localizing and orienting oneself in a real-world, unfamiliar environment. Participants were asked to recognize their positions on a three-dimensional map by observing real buildings from different perspectives set at viewpoints between 0 � and 180 � from a starting position. Results showed that participants were able to use remembered perspective information to locate their subsequent, different position in the correct area of space. They also showed a linear increase in rotation times as the angular distance increased between initially perceived perspective and test position. This finding suggests that the representation of the spatial information acquired from a real world large-scale environment is orientation dependent. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.