Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Studies of GPS Multipath Mitigation Methods Performance

Coupled amplitude delay lock loops (CADLL) is a recently proposed multipath estimation and mitigation technique based on joint estimation of line-of-sight (LOS) and multipath signal amplitude, code phase, and carrier phase. The CADLL performance is evaluated against two widely known multipath mitigation methods: the high-resolution correlator (HRC), representative of the correlators combination methods, and the multipath mitigation technique (MMT), representative of multipath estimation methods. Multiple tests emulating various scenarios are performed to demonstrate that CADLL always generates better results than the other two methods. Additionally, CADLL has better noise performance, can estimate multipath signals using shorter integration time, and is capable of tracking dynamic multipath signals. Simulation tests using a statistical urban multipath signal model prove that CADLL is effective in estimating and mitigating multipath in severe multipath environments. These simulation results are further validated using satellite signals generated by Spirent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 6700.
'Now You See Me, Now You Don't' - Service Delivery to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Offenders: A Study of Policy and Practice in Saskatchewan Community Corrections

i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v CHAPTER1 – INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Purpose of this study 4 1.2 Historical context of FASD 4 1.3 Research questions 16 1.4 Operational definitions 17 1.5 Organization of the thesis 20 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 23 2.
Automatically generating and tuning GPU code for sparse matrix-vector multiplication from a high-level representation

We propose a system-independent representation of sparse matrix formats that allows a compiler to generate efficient, system-specific code for sparse matrix operations. To show the viability of such a representation we have developed a compiler that generates and tunes code for sparse matrix-vector multiplication (SpMV) on GPUs. We evaluate our framework on six state-of-the-art matrix formats and show that the generated code performs similar to or better than hand-optimized code.
Theorizing power: Weber, Parsons, Foucault and neostructuralism

The article is an attempt to develop a synthetic conception of power based on Weber's, Parsons's and Foucault's writings. The aim is, first, to build a bridge between the so-called resource theories of power (Weber, Parsons) and the structural approach (Foucault) and, second, to do this in the form of a conception which would be usable on both macro- and micro-levels at the same time. Four theories are discussed: (1) the distributive approach (Weber); (2) the collective approach (Parsons); (3) the structural approach (Foucault); and (4) the neostructuralist approach (this article). It is argued that these approaches can be ordered on a scale on which the complexity of analysis increases as one moves from (1) to (4), and that the selection of an appropriate level of analysis in an empirical study is a practical issue relative to the aim of the study. The types of analyses characteristic of the more complex levels are illustrated by a discussion of the problem posed by Big Case Comparison in historical sociology (level 3) and everyday conversation (level 4), including comments on phenomenological sociology and conversation analysis.
The development, validation and application of the Course Experience Questionnaire

ABSTRACT The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) is a development of work originally carried out at Lancaster University in the 1980s. It is used as a measure of perceived teaching quality in degree programmes in national annual surveys of all graduates in the Australian higher education system and is increasingly being employed as a measure of the quality of teaching in universities in the UK. This article discusses the development and use of the CEQ and the construction of a new generic skills scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of large multidisciplinary samples of students and graduates from several universities established the reliability and validity of both the full and short forms of the instrument, and identified a two-factor higher order structure. The criterion validity of the instrument was also established, with scores on the CEQ demonstrating positive correlations with students' approaches to learning, perceived course satisfaction, academic achievement and reported generic.
The Impact of Transaction Trust on Consumers' Intentions to Adopt M-Commerce: A Cross-Cultural Investigation

Mobile commerce (M-commerce) has been acknowledged as one of the most representative transaction types driving e-commerce worldwide; however, the potential security threats that keep consumers from M-commerce still confound the M-commerce industry. This research attempts to explore two questions: What are the dimensions of transaction trust that may significantly affect consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce, and what are the cultural dimensions that may significantly moderate the impact of transaction trust on consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce? A research framework based on the BATE model and Hofstede's cultural dimensions was established to identify how transaction trust and cultural value affect consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce. Results revealed that transaction trust significantly affects consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce. However, while uncertainty avoidance moderates the impacts of business trust and security on consumers' intentions of M-commerce adoption, both individualism/collectivism and long-term/short-term orientation moderate the relationship between security trust and consumers' intentions of M-commerce adoption.
Field contamination of the starfish Asterias rubens by metals. Part 2: Effects on cellular immunity

To study the effects of matals on starfish in field conditions, immune responses measured in starfish from natural populations along a metal pollution gradient (long‐term contamination) and in starfish that were transferred up the gradient (short‐term contamination). Coelomic amoebocyte concentration (CAC) and production oh reactive oxygen species (ROS) by amoebocytes were measured in two varieties oh Asterias rubens occurring in the fjord: The black variety which lives only in the low salinity upper waters (22‐26‰) and the red variety which live both in the upper layer and in the deeper layer characteruzed by a salinity close to that oh seawater (30‰). The studied immune response were stimulated in starfish living along the metal pollution gradient according to the contamination oh these starfish by cadmium. However, the sensitivity oh these responses toward metals appeared to be strongly modulated by the salinity stress. In red starfish living at 30‰ and transferred up the contamination gradient, the immune responses were inhibited and closely hollowed the short‐term accumulation oh metals in the animal organs. Starfish transferred down the gradient did not recover normal immune responses in the short‐term and appeared highly sensitive to caging stress. It is suggested that the impact oh metals on the immune responses oh A. rubens in field conditions occurs in three phases. Short‐term inhibitory effects are exerted by a direct action of metals on the immune cells and are followed by a recovery due to the induction oh protective mechanisms. Eventually, when these mechanisms are overwhelmed by a long‐term contamination, indirect and durable stimulatory effects on the immune responses appear due to a global disruption oh the animal physiology.
Memory metaphors and the real-life/laboratory controversy: Correspondence versus storehouse conceptions of memory

Abstract The study of memory is witnessing a spirited clash between proponents of traditional laboratory research and those advocating a more naturalistic approach to the study of “real-life” or “everyday” memory. The debate has generally centered on the “what” (content), “where” (context), and “how” (methods) of memory research. In this target article, we argue that the controversy discloses a further, more fundamental breach between two underlying memory metaphors, each having distinct implications for memory theory and assessment: Whereas traditional memory research has been dominated by the storehouse metaphor, leading to a focus on the number of items remaining in store and accessible to memory, the recent wave of everyday memory research has shifted toward a correspondence metaphor, focusing on the accuracy of memory in representing past events. The correspondence metaphor calls for a research approach that differs from the traditional one in important respects: in emphasizing the intentional –representational function of memory, in addressing the wholistic and graded aspects of memory correspondence, in taking an output-bound assessment perspective, and in allowing more room for the operation of subject-controlled metamemory processes and motivational factors. This analysis can help tie together soine of the what, where, and how aspects of the “real-life/laboratory” controversy. More important, however, by explicating the unique metatheoretical foundation of the accuracy-oriented approach to memory we aim to promote a more effective exploitation of the correspondence metaphor in both naturalistic and laboratory research contexts.
Revealing Significant Biological Knowledge via Gene Ontologies and Pathways

Many scientific works in the field of bioinformatics and marker selection deal with the problem of deriving a gene signature with significant statistical properties without paying much attention on the biological aspect of the produced result. In this paper we assess the problem of revealing possible significant knowledge which might be hidden under a given gene signature, using previous biological information provided through gene ontologies and pathways.
HNO enhances SERCA2a activity and cardiomyocyte function by promoting redox-dependent phospholamban oligomerization.

AIMS Nitroxyl (HNO) interacts with thiols to act as a redox-sensitive modulator of protein function. It enhances sarcoplasmic reticular Ca(2+) uptake and myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity, improving cardiac contractility. This activity has led to clinical testing of HNO donors for heart failure. Here we tested whether HNO alters the inhibitory interaction between phospholamban (PLN) and the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA2a) in a redox-dependent manner, improving Ca(2+) handling in isolated myocytes/hearts. RESULTS Ventriculocytes, sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles, and whole hearts were isolated from control (wildtype [WT]) or PLN knockout (pln(-/-)) mice. Compared to WT, pln(-/-) myocytes displayed enhanced resting sarcomere shortening, peak Ca(2+) transient, and blunted β-adrenergic responsiveness. HNO stimulated shortening, relaxation, and Ca(2+) transient in WT cardiomyocytes, and evoked positive inotropy/lusitropy in intact hearts. These changes were markedly blunted in pln(-/-) cells/hearts. HNO enhanced SR Ca(2+) uptake in WT but not pln(-/-) SR-vesicles. Spectroscopic studies in insect cell microsomes expressing SERCA2a±PLN showed that HNO increased Ca(2+)-dependent SERCA2a conformational flexibility but only when PLN was present. In cardiomyocytes, HNO achieved this effect by stabilizing PLN in an oligomeric disulfide bond-dependent configuration, decreasing the amount of free inhibitory monomeric PLN available. INNOVATION HNO-dependent redox changes in myocyte PLN oligomerization relieve PLN inhibition of SERCA2a. CONCLUSIONS PLN plays a central role in HNO-induced enhancement of SERCA2a activity, leading to increased inotropy/lusitropy in intact myocytes and hearts. PLN remains physically associated with SERCA2a; however, less monomeric PLN is available resulting in decreased inhibition of the enzyme. These findings offer new avenues to improve Ca(2+) handling in failing hearts.
Three-year-olds' difficulty with false belief: The case for a conceptual deficit

The hypothesis, that a conceptual limitation underlies 3-year-olds' difficulty with false-belief attribution (Wimmer & Perner, 1983), was tested against three competing hypotheses. These were: (1) failure to retain essential facts, (2) failure to understand the normal expectations which give rise to false belief and (3) pragmatic misinterpretation of the test question. Results showed that false-belief attribution remained difficult for younger 3-year-olds despite their retention of essential facts and despite attempts to make expectations more explicit and prevent pragmatic misinterpretation. These findings strengthen the original hypothesis, specified here as the inability to assign conflicting truth values to propositions. This hypothesis can explain why 3-year-olds find pretend play, the distinction between expected and achieved outcomes, the real-imaginary distinction and level 1 perspective taking easier to understand than false belief, the reality-appearance distinction and level 2 perspective taking.
Enhancement of Bioavailability and Pharmacodynamic Effects of Thymoquinone Via Nanostructured Lipid Carrier (NLC) Formulation

Thymoquinone (TQ), obtained from black cumin (Nigella sativa), is a natural product with anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective effects but unfortunately with poor bioavailability. Aiming to improve its poor oral bioavailability, TQ-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) were prepared by high-speed homogenization followed by ultrasonication and evaluated in vitro. Bioavailability and pharmacodynamic studies were also performed. The resultant NLCs showed poor physical homogeneity in Compritol 888 ATO Pluronic F127 system which consequently produced larger particle size and polydispersity index, smaller zeta potential values, and lower short-term (30 days) physical stability than other systems. Encapsulation efficiency percentage (EE%) lied between 84.6 ± 5% and 96.2 ± 1.6%. TQ AUC0–t values were higher in animals treated with NLCs, with a relative bioavailability of 2.03- and 3.97-fold (for F9 and F12, respectively) higher than TQ suspension, indicating bioavailability enhancement by NLC formulation. Hepatoprotective effects of F12 showed significant (P < 0.05) decrease in both serum alanine amino transferase and aspartate amino transferase to reach 305.0 ± 24.88 and 304.7 ± 23.55 U/ml, respectively, when compared with untreated toxic group. Anti-oxidant efficacy of F12 showed significant (P < 0.05) decline of malondialdehyde and elevation of reduced glutatione. This improvement was also confirmed histopathologically.
Explicit Instruction and Input Processing

In this paper we describe an experiment in explicit instruction that compares traditional form-focused instruction and what we call processing instruction. Traditional instruction involves explanation and output practice of a grammatical point. Processing instruction involves explanation and practice/experience processing input data, taking learner strategies in input processing as the starting point for determining what explicit instruction should look like. Pretest and posttest measures involving both a sentence-level interpretation (comprehension) task and a sentence-level production task were submitted to an analysis of variance. Results reveal significant gains in both comprehension and production for subjects who experienced processing instruction. For those experiencing traditional instruction, significant gains were made in production only.
Nutritional and Social Benefits of Foraging in Ancient California

Abstract Key trends in California prehistory diverge from those characteristic of other world regions; sophisticated advances in the application of human behavioral ecology to archaeological interpretation help us to understand why. Significant interpretive advances have been stimulated by the on-going "provisioning" versus "costly signaling" debate. We argue that provisioning currently has the upper hand because the diet breadth model is older, better understood, and more easily assessed in light of archaeological data than is costly signaling. Archaeological research outside of California will need to confront issues of provisioning and prestige in their own empirical context and in light of behavioral ecology methods developed here.Las tendencias clave en la prehistoria de California se separan de esas características en otras regiones del mundo; avances sofisticados en la aplicación de la ecología de la conducta humana a la interpretación arqueológica nos ayudan a comprender por qué. El debate en curso entre "provisioning" y "señalamiento de costo" ha estimulado avances significativos en la interpretación. Expongamos que provisioning tiene actualmente la ventaja, porque el modelo de anchura de dieta es más viejo, mejor comprendido, y más fácilmente valorado que el señalamiento de costo en la perspectiva de datos arqueológicos. La investigatión arqueológica fuera de California deberá confrontar los asuntos de provisioning y prestigio en su propio contexto empírico y en la perspectiva de los métodos de la ecología de la conducta que se desarrollaron aquí.
Adaptive distributed algorithms for optimal random access channels

We develop adaptive scheduling and power control algorithms for random access in a multiple access channel where terminals acquire instantaneous channel state information but do not know the probability distribution of the channel. In each time slot, terminals measure the channel to the common access point. Based on the observed channel value, they determine whether to transmit or not and, if they decide to do so, adjust their transmitted power. We remark that there is no coordination between terminals and that adaptation is to the local channel value only. It is shown that the proposed algorithm almost surely maximizes a proportional fair utility while adhering to instantaneous and average power constraints. Important properties of the algorithm are adaptivity, low computational complexity and the ability to handle non-convex rate functions. Numerical results on a randomly generated network with heterogeneous users corroborate theoretical results.
The Pedagogy of the Online Wisdom Community: Forming Church Ministers in a Digital Age.

Abstract. While electronic learning is transforming the face of higher education today, some in the theological community question whether it is appropriate for the specific goals of graduate level theological formation for ministry. Drawing on the work of one theological faculty, this article answers yes. The author describes the school's hybrid model of distance education pedagogy. He discusses the underlying teaching and learning principles that guided the faculty in their development of this model, and, in particular, the pedagogical ideal of the learning cohort as a “wisdom community. ” Web-based instruction can be effectively designed to nurture wisdom communities for integrative learning. The author describes the “pedagogy of the online wisdom community” from his experience of Web-based distance education teaching. The growing demand for ministry formation programs, particularly in mission areas, underlines the urgent need for continued study of the role of technology in theological pedagogy.
The Measurement of Sport Fan Exploratory Curiosity

Curiosity has been regarded as a key intrinsic motivational drive for facilitating human exploratory behaviors in many domains, such as psychology, education, and sport. However, no attempt has been made to measure curiosity in a sport context. The purpose of this study was to develop an effective and efficient sport fan exploratory curiosity scale (SFECS). A total of 657 participants were recruited and completed surveys. Various statistical analyses were used to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. The analyses resulted in a reliable and valid scale with three factors (Excitement, New Sport Events, Sport Facility) and a total of 10-items. The SFECS was useful in predicting various sport fan behaviors. Future research should be done in an effort to further refine the scale and to examine the role of curiosity in various practical areas in a sport context.
Effect of thioltransferase (glutaredoxin) deletion on cellular sensitivity to oxidative stress and cell proliferation in lens epithelial cells of thioltransferase knockout mouse.

PURPOSE To examine the physiological function of the thioltransferase (TTase)/glutathione (GSH) system in the lens using TTase knockout mouse (TTase(-/-)) lens epithelial cells (LECs) as a model. METHODS Primary LEC cultures were obtained from wild-type (TTase(+/+)) and TTase(-/-) mice. Characterization and validation of the cells were determined by immunoblotting for TTase and alpha-crystallin proteins and by immunohistochemistry for glutathionylated proteins. Cell proliferation was examined by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium and BrdU analysis, and cell apoptosis after H(2)O(2) stress was assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. Reloading of TTase protein into the TTase(-/-) cells was achieved with reagent. RESULTS Primary LEC cultures obtained from wild-type (TTase(+/+)) and TTase(-/-) mice were characterized and found to contain lens-specific alpha-crystallin protein. Western blot analysis confirmed the absence of TTase protein in the TTase(-/-) cells and its presence in the wild-type cells. TTase(-/-) LECs had significantly lower levels of glutathione (GSH) and protein thiols with extensive elevation of glutathionylated proteins, and they exhibited less resistance to oxidative stress than did TTase(+/+) cells. These cells were less viable and more apoptotic, and they had a reduced ability to remove H(2)O(2) after challenge with low levels of H(2)O(2). Reloading of purified TTase into the TTase(-/-) cells restored the antioxidant function in TTase(-/-) cells to a near normal state. CONCLUSIONS These findings confirm the importance of TTase in regulating redox homeostasis and suggest a new physiological function in controlling cell proliferation in the lens epithelial cells.
Activity and emotion recognition to support early diagnosis of psychiatric diseases

Diagnosis of psychiatric diseases is currently accomplished with questionnaires filled in by the subjects, usually together with a specialist. Such questionnaires are often based on standard, formal scales, where questions range from the ability to cope with household activities, through social interactions, agitation, level of activity, to quality of sleep. In this paper, we propose a context aware framework to support semi-automation of the diagnosis of such diseases, leveraging on authors experience in the fields of activity and emotion recognition. We also introduce a brief description of the main components defining the architecture of the proposed platform and preliminary work on emotion estimation.
A Review of Empirical Evidence About School Size Effects: A Policy Perspective

This review examined 57 post-1990 empirical studies of school size effects on a variety of student and organizational outcomes. The weight of evidence provided by this research clearly favors smaller schools. Students who traditionally struggle at school and students from disadvantaged social and economic backgrounds are the major benefactors of smaller schools. Elementary schools with large proportions of such students should be limited in size to not more than about 300 students; those serving economically and socially heterogeneous or relatively advantaged students should be limited in size to about 500 students. Secondary schools serving exclusively or largely diverse and/or disadvantaged students should be limited in size to about 600 students or fewer, while those secondary schools serving economically and socially heterogeneous or relatively advantaged students should be limited in size to about 1,000 students.