Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is Active Learning Like Broccoli? Student Perceptions of Active Learning in Large Lecture Classes.

Although research suggests that active learning is associated with positive outcomes (e.g., memory, test performance), use of such techniques can be difficult to implement in large lecture-based classes. In the current study, 1,091 students completed out-of-class group exercises to complement course material in an Introductory Psychology class. Students were assigned either active learning or content review activities. Students in the active learning condition reported greater retention of and engagement with the course material but not greater enjoyment when compared to students in the content review condition. The importance of choosing pedagogical methods that promote the construction of knowledge rather than just behavioral activity is discussed. The lecture is a traditional approach to learning and instruction found across academic levels and disciplines. It is an efficient means of transferring knowledge from instructor to student, especially given institutional pressures for large classroom environments. However, instructors have begun to question the effectiveness of this approach: …. we want to teach our students as much as possible in the limited amount of time we've been given. So we in effect load our pedagogical dump truck as full as we can, back it up to the classroom, and unload it onto our students, burying them in teaching…When we use the dump truck method, we overwhelm our students with more skills and strategies than they can possibly absorb in an hour. That's our first mistake. Then we fail to give students the opportunity to practice any of the strategies and skills, virtually guaranteeing that they won't be internalized. (Gremmels, 1995, p. 89) Gremmels's metaphor cleverly captures the drawbacks of what is often seen in classrooms. Although constraints such as large class sizes and theatre-style classrooms can prohibit the use of newer pedagogical methods, ways of combining active learning with the traditional lecture should be explored.
An automatic continuation strategy for the solution of singularly perturbed nonlinear boundary value problems

In a recent paper, the present authors derived an automatic continuation algorithm for the solution of linear singular perturbation problems. The algorithm was incorporated into two general-purpose codes for solving boundary value problems, and it was shown to deal effectively with a large test set of linear problems. The present paper describes how the conintuation algorithm for linear problems can be extended to deal with the nonlinear case. The results of exstensive numerical testing on a set of nonlinear singular perturbation problems are given, and these clearly demonstrate the efficacy of continuation for solving such problems.
Contrast-enhanced transcranial color-coded sonography in acute hemispheric brain infarction.

PURPOSE The aim of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic potential of contrast-enhanced transcranial color-coded real-time sonography (CE-TCCS) in otherwise ultrasound-refractory acute stroke patients with an ischemia in the territory of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Furthermore, correlations of CE-TCCS findings with clinical, angiographic, and CT results were investigated. METHODS In 90 acute stroke patients with inadequate insonation conditions in unenhanced transcranial color-coded real-time sonography (TCCS) examinations, CE-TCCS, clinical, angiographic, and CT examinations were performed within 12 hours, 36 hours (CE-TCCS only), and 1 week after onset of clinical symptoms. A CT angiography (CTA) as reference method was available in 39 individuals. After application of a galactose-based echo-enhancing agent, the portion of conclusive ultrasound examinations of the MCA, as manifested by an MCA occlusion, decreased or increased flow velocity (FV), and symmetrical MCA FV, was evaluated. CE-TCCS findings on admission and during follow-up were correlated with infarction size as demonstrated on follow-up CT, and clinical findings were assessed by use of the European Stroke Scale. RESULTS Adequate diagnosis was achieved in 74 of 90 patients (82%) by the use of echo contrast agents. MCA occlusion or reduction of MCA FV was found in 20 and 27 patients, respectively. MCA occlusion was confirmed by CTA in 17 cases. In one individual, false-positive diagnosis of MCA occlusion was made according to ultrasound criteria. In 5 patients with MCA occlusion, vessel recanalization was observed during follow-up; 15 of 27 patients with decreased flow velocities showed normalization after the third examination that was associated with a significantly better clinical outcome (P<0.0001). Furthermore, MCA occlusion or decreased FV in the first 12 hours were associated with significantly larger infarctions in the MCA territory compared with normal CE-TCCS findings (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS CE-TCCS enables adequate diagnosis in approximately 80% of acute hemispheric stroke patients with insufficient unenhanced TCCS examinations. It is a reliable diagnostic tool regarding MCA mainstem and branch occlusions. Because this method conveys useful information concerning cerebral tissue and clinical prognosis, it may be useful to identify those patients who benefit most from local or intra-arterial thrombolytic therapy.
POMDP-based cross-layer power adaptation techniques in cognitive radio networks

We investigate the spectrum access and power adaptation techniques in a cognitive radio network to optimize throughput of a secondary user with specified sensing error limit. Using partially observable Markov decision process framework, we first study the optimal policies, where the primary user is assumed to be in busy, concurrent or idle state, and the secondary user either stay idle or transmits with any of the two designed power level. The collision is avoided with proper reward choices. Although the primary user's states are hidden, their activity statistics, ranges of transmission, and interference thresholds are assumed to be known. The instantaneous optimal policy for each time-slot is then obtained for the current belief of the states obtained through channel sensing. We also propose a forward algorithm based technique that updates belief using the sensor output in the first slot and then using the acknowledgment feedback in the subsequent time-slots in a frame. Simulation results show that the proposed cross-layer technique is more throughput efficient than the physical layer optimal case, specially when the primary user activity is slowly varying and/or frame size is smaller.
Morphological and Physiological Characterization ofListeria monocytogenes Subjected to High Hydrostatic Pressure

ABSTRACT High hydrostatic pressure is a new food preservation technology known for its capacity to inactivate spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. That inactivation is usually assessed by the number of colonies growing on solid media after treatment. Under normal conditions the method does not permit recovery of damaged cells and may underestimate the number of cells that will remain viable and grow after a few days in high-pressure-processed foodstuffs. This study investigated the damage inflicted on Listeria monocytogenescells treated by high pressure for 10 min at 400 MPa in pH 5.6 citrate buffer. Under these conditions, no cell growth occurred after 48 h on plate count agar. Scanning electron microscopy, light scattering by flow cytometry, and cell volume measurements were compared to evaluate the morphological changes in cells after pressurization. All these methods revealed that cellular morphology was not really affected. Esterase activity, as assessed either by enzymatic activity assays or by carboxy fluorescein diacetate fluorescence monitored by flow cytometry, was dramatically lowered, but not totally obliterated, under the effects of treatment. The measurement of propidium iodide uptake followed by flow cytometry demonstrated that membrane integrity was preserved in a small part of the population, although the membrane potential measured by analytical methods or evaluated by oxonol uptake was reduced from −86 to −5 mV. These results showed that such combined methods as fluorescent dyes monitored by flow cytometry and physiological activity measurements provide valuable indications of cellular viability.
Modulation of neuronal responses in macaque primary visual cortex in a memory task

The primary visual cortex, a relatively early station in the visual pathway, has long been considered mainly as a site of basic feature detection but evidence is emerging that is consistent with the existence of feedback influences from higher cortical areas. We show that in a delayed match‐to‐sample memory task, where the monkey needs to remember both the visual pattern and its location, there is significant modulation of neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex suggestive of a feedback signal. Responses to identical patterns are remarkably different depending upon their place in the memory task. These modulatory influences are significantly less when the same visual patterns are shown during a simple fixation task, where these stimuli can be ignored and not attended to. The results indicate that neural processing specific to attentional and mnemonic functions can involve even primary sensory areas.
Protective effect of long-term angiotensin II inhibition.

Experimental studies indicate that angiotensin II (ANG II) through its type 1 receptor (AT(1)) promotes cardiovascular hypertrophy and fibrosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze whether chronic long-term inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) can prevent most of the deleterious effects due to aging in the cardiovascular system of the normal rat. The main objective was to compare two strategies of ANG II blockade: a converting enzyme inhibitor (CEI) and an AT(1) receptor blocker (AT(1)RB). A control group remained untreated; treatment was initiated 2 wk after weaning. A CEI, enalapril (10 mg.kg(-1). day(-1)), or an AT(1)RB, losartan (30 mg.kg(-1). day(-1)), was used to inhibit the RAS. Systolic blood pressure, body weight, and water and food intake were recorded over the whole experimental period. Heart, aorta, and mesenteric artery weight as well as histological analysis of cardiovascular structure were performed at 6 and 18 mo. Twenty animals in each of the three experimental groups were allowed to die spontaneously. The results demonstrated a significant protective effect on the function and structure of the cardiovascular system in all treated animals. Changes observed at 18 mo of age in the hearts and aortas were quite significant, but each treatment completely abolished this deterioration. The similarity between the results detected with either enalapril or losartan treatment clearly indicates that most of the effects are exerted through AT(1) receptors. An outstanding finding was the significant and similar prolongation of life span in both groups of treated animals compared with untreated control animals.
Cell‐derived microparticles: a new challenge in neuroscience

Microparticles (MPs) are membrane fragments shed by cells activated by a variety of stimuli including serine proteases, inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, and stress inducers. MPs originating from platelets, leukocytes, endothelial cells, and erythrocytes are found in circulating blood at relative concentrations determined by the pathophysiological context. The procoagulant activity of MPs is their most characterized property as a determinant of thrombosis in various vascular and systemic diseases including myocardial infarction and diabetes. An increase in circulating MPs has also been associated with ischemic cerebrovascular accidents, transient ischemic attacks, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral malaria. Recent data indicate that besides their procoagulant components and identity antigens, MPs bear a number of bioactive effectors that can be disseminated, exchanged, and transferred via MPs cell interactions. Furthermore, as activated parenchymal cells may also shed MPs carrying identity antigens and biomolecules, MPs are now emerging as new messengers/biomarkers from a specific tissue undergoing activation or damage. Thus, detection of MPs of neurovascular origin in biological fluids such as CSF or tears, and even in circulating blood in case of blood–brain barrier leakage, would not only improve our comprehension of neurovascular pathophysiology, but may also constitute a powerful tool as a biomarker in disease prediction, diagnosis, prognosis, and follow‐up.
Calibrated Forecasting and Merging

Consider a general finite-state stochastic process governed by an unknown objective probability distribution. A forecaster, observing the system, assigns subjective probabilities to future states. The subjective forecast merges to the objective distribution if, with time, forecasted probabilities converge to the (unknown) correct probabilities. The forecast is calibrated if observed long-run empirical distributions coincide with their forecasted probabilities. This paper links the unobserved reliability of forecasts to their observed empirical performance by showing full equilvalents between notions of merging and calibration.
Japanese to English Machine Translation using Preordering and Compositional Distributed Semantics

The pipeline of modern statistical machine translation (SMT) systems consists of several stages, presenting interesting opportunities to tune it towards improved performance on distant language pairs like Japanese and English. We explore modifications to several parts of this pipeline. We include a preordering method in the preprocessing stage, a neural network based model in the tuning stage and a recurrent neural network languagemodel in the postprocessing stage. To our knowledge this is the first work tightly integrating a neural network based model into the tuning stage of a SMT system for the Japanese-English language pair. As a first step in this direction we provide several insights into how this integration should be approached and give rise to future work in this area.
Scene Text Recognition Using Co-occurrence of Histogram of Oriented Gradients

Scene text recognition is a fundamental step in End-to-End applications where traditional optical character recognition (OCR) systems often fail to produce satisfactory results. This paper proposes a technique that uses co-occurrence histogram of oriented gradients (Co-HOG) to recognize the text in scenes. Compared with histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), Co-HOG is a more powerful tool that captures spatial distribution of neighboring orientation pairs instead of just a single gradient orientation. At the same time, it is more efficient compared with HOG and therefore more suitable for real-time applications. The proposed scene text recognition technique is evaluated on ICDAR2003 character dataset and Street View Text (SVT) dataset. Experiments show that the Co-HOG based technique clearly outperforms state-of-the-art techniques that use HOG, Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT), and Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER).
Antiinflammatory peptides (antiflammins) inhibit synthesis of platelet- activating factor, neutrophil aggregation and chemotaxis, and intradermal inflammatory reactions

Synthetic peptides corresponding to the region of highest similarity between human lipocortin I and rabbit uteroglobin inhibit phospholipase A2 and show potent antiinflammatory activity on the carrageenan-induced rat footpad edema. The peptide HDMNKVLDL (antiflammin-2) inhibits the synthesis of platelet-activating factor (PAF) induced by TNF or phagocytosis in rat macrophages and human neutrophils, and by thrombin in vascular endothelial cells. The peptide MQMKKVLDS (antiflammin-1) is less inhibitory than antiflammin-2 for macrophages and not inhibitory for neutrophils after a 5-min preincubation. This finding suggests that antiflammin-1 is inactivated by neutrophils secretory products, possibly oxidizing agents. Synthesis of PAF is inhibited by antiflammin- 2 without an appreciable lag, but this inhibition is reversed when neutrophils or macrophages are washed and incubated in fresh medium. Therefore, antiflammins must be continuously present to inhibit PAF synthesis. Antiflammins block activation of the acetyltransferase required for PAF synthesis, suggesting that this enzyme is another target for the inhibitory activity of antiflammins. These peptides inhibit neutrophil aggregation and chemotaxis induced by complement component C5a. Antiflammin-2 suppresses the increase in vascular permeability and the leukocyte infiltration induced in rats by an Arthus reaction or by intradermal injection of rTNF and C5a.
Outsourcing Versus Foreign Direct Investment--A Welfare Analysis

Foreign direct investment may not necessarily be the most welfare enhancing form of international investment. The host country may avail options like â€“ Joint venture, technology licensing, franchising, outsourcing etc. A host countryâ€™s choice of organizational form should depend on its growth and welfare effects. This paper compares the welfare effects of FDI with that of outsourcing in the host country using Grossman-Helpman quality ladders framework. If the host absorptive capacity is above a threshold level, outsourcing is more welfare enhancing vis-A -vis FDI; while even with lower than threshold absorptive capacity, outsourcing being welfare improving over FDI is not ruled out. [Working Paper No. 140]
Minimal Null Space Task Parameterization for Balance Control of Humanoid robot

The balance control for humanoids with null space projection to the contact constrained space has been widely proposed. In this paper, we propose a new formalism for the balance control using null space dynamics to the constrained space. By parameterizing null space tasks through the general solution of inverse kinematics, the null space dynamics can be achieved. Its equation of motion is clearly decoupled with the constrained force and it fully covers the robot motion. It is worth to remark that the control of humanoid robot can be regarded as a regulation problem of manipulator robot on the null space dynamics at active constraints. The simple controller based on computed torque method and the simulation results are given in this paper to verify the formalism.
Epigenetic Effects of n-3 LCPUFAs: A Role in Pediatric Metabolic Syndrome

Childhood obesity represents an important public health issue worldwide and is strongly linked to metabolic alterations such as hypertension, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia. The constellation of these conditions is commonly known as Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). Metabolic syndrome is not just a simple cluster of metabolic complications due to excess of adipose tissue, but is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Evidence from several human and animal studies suggests that environmental and nutritional exposure during pregnancy may affect the newborn development and future health through epigenetic changes, playing a potential role in determining obesity and obesity-related complications. Understanding how nutritional epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the “transgenerational risk” for obesity and metabolic dysfunction is crucial in order to develop early prevention strategies for children’s health. Nutrigenetics is the science that studies the role of nutrients in gene expression. Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (LCPUFAs) are known for their health benefits, especially in relation to their ability to modulate inflammation and improve some obesity-associated comorbidities, mainly by decreasing plasma triglycerides. Recent nutrigenetic research is focusing on the potential role of LCPUFAs in influencing epigenetic markers. In this review, we present the most recent updates about the possible interaction between n-3 LCPUFAs and epigenetic pathways in metabolic syndrome. Literature from MEDLINE® and the Cochrane database between May 2005 and December 2018 has been scanned.
Patient perspectives on telephone first system

As representatives of a major patient charity, we think that Newbould and colleagues have seriously undervalued the adverse effects that patients experience and the extra hospital costs incurred with telephone first consultations in general practice.1 A 4% immediate rise in hospital admissions for (potentially preventable) ambulatory care sensitive conditions, which increases thereafter, is bad for patients. Similarly, the ESTEEM study reported a 22.2% rise …
A cooperative ARQ scheme for infrastructure WLANs

We propose a Cooperative Opportunistic Automatic Repeat ReQuest (CoARQ) scheme to solve the HOL-blocking problem in infrastructure IEEE 802.11 WLANs. HOL blocking occurs when the head-of-the-line packet at the Access Point (AP) queue blocks the transmission of packets to other destinations resulting in severe throughput degradation. When the AP transmits a packet to a mobile station (STA), some of the nodes in the vicinity can overhear this packet transmission successfully. If the original transmission by the AP is unsuccessful, our CoARQ scheme chooses the station (STA or AP) with the best channel to the intended receiver as a relay and the chosen relay forwards the AP's packet to the receiver. This way, our scheme removes the bottleneck at the AP, thereby providing significant improvements in the throughput of the AP. We analyse the performance of our scheme in an infrastructure WLAN under a TCP controlled file download scenario and our analytical results are further validated by extensive simulations.
Anomaly extraction in backbone networks using association rules

Anomaly extraction is an important problem essential to several applications ranging from root cause analysis, to attack mitigation, and testing anomaly detectors. Anomaly extraction is preceded by an anomaly detection step, which detects anomalous events and may identify a large set of possible associated event flows. The goal of anomaly extraction is to find and summarize the set of flows that are effectively caused by the anomalous event. In this work, we use meta-data provided by several histogram-based detectors to identify suspicious flows and then apply association rule mining to find and summarize the event flows. Using rich traffic data from a backbone network (SWITCH/AS559), we show that we can reduce the classification cost, in terms of items (flows or rules) that need to be classified, by several orders of magnitude. Further, we show that our techniques effectively isolate event flows in all analyzed cases and that on average trigger between 2 and 8.5 false positives, which can be trivially sorted out by an administrator.
A computationally grounded logic of knowledge, belief and certainty

This paper presents a logic of knowledge, belief and certainty, which allows us to explicitly express the knowledge, belief and certainty of an agent. A computationally grounded model, called interpreted KBC systems, is given for interpreting this logic. The relationships between knowledge, belief and certainty are explored. In particular, certainty entails belief; and to the agent what it is certain of appears to be the knowledge. To formalize those agents that are able to introspect their own belief and certainty, we identify a subclass of interpreted KBC systems, called introspective KBC systems. We provide sound and complete axiomatizations for the logics. We show that the validity problem for the interpreted KBC systems is PSPACE-complete, and the same problem for introspective KBC systems is co-NP complete, thus no harder than that of the propositional logic.