Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extension of the sparse grid quadrature filter

The sparse grid quadrature filter is a point-based Gaussian filter in which expectations of nonlinear functions of Gaussian random vectors are computed using the sparse grid quadrature. The sparse grid quadrature can be considered a generalization of the Unscented Transform in that the Unscented Transform is equivalent to the level-2 sparse grid quadrature. A novel extension of the sparse grid quadrature filter is presented that directly transforms the points in time update and measurement update to eliminate repeated covariance decomposition based point generation and to relax the Gaussian assumption inherent in the sparse grid quadrature filter as well as the sigma-point filters. A tracking example is presented to demonstrate the performance of the novel filter.
Romanian Spatial Planning System: Post-Communist Dynamics of Change and Europeanization Processes

Abstract This paper addresses the post-communist history of Romania's spatial planning system with the two-fold aim of describing its evolution and identifying the role played by the EU in this process. Taking as a starting point the contradiction between the formal goals of Romanian spatial planning and the actual spatial development patterns, the paper proposes a contextualized analysis of the system's changes. It complements the focus on the formal technical dimension with a look at the broader socio-political context, driving forces and path dependencies. It identifies five episodes within this time frame and argues that they were catalysed by factors outside the immediate technical dimension of spatial planning, such as the changes in the Romanian political scene, the dynamics in the governance and planning culture, the evolution of the economy, the actual development patterns and most notably, by the process of Europeanization. While often the role of the EU is taken for granted as a general positive force for Romania, the paper makes instead the distinction between the use of Europeanization as a rhetorical external driving force and the real changes brought about by the process.
Canonical image selection and efficient image graph construction for large-scale flickr photos

Efficient image search clustering is prominent for image search engines for exponentially growing photo collections. In this work, we propose an image search clustering approach which selects multiple canonical images from image search results and constructs image clusters in real time on an image sub-graph for the search results. The efficiency is achieved with the help of offline-computed image context graphs by distributed computing methods. Extending our prior works, we demonstrate the results of the proposed canonical image selection and preliminary outcomes of large-scale image graph construction in this proposal. We experiment in Flickr550 dataset, containing 540,321 Flickr photos.
Initial Development and Validation of the Academic Self-Concept Scale

The Academic Self-Concept Scale (ASCS) was developed as a measure of an academic facet of general self-concept in college stu dents. The initial item pool consisted of 59 items worded to conform to a 4-point Likert-type response format. On the basis of responses from 427 college students, the final form of the ASCS was con structed consisting of 40 items with an estimated internal con sistency reliability of . 91. Validity was established by correlating the ASCS with grade point averages (GPAs) of students and with their scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. A multiple regression analysis of the ASCS with GPA and Rosenberg scores as predictor variables resulted in a multiple correlation of . 64. These and other data lend support to the reliability and validity of the ASCS as a measure of academic self-concept.
The Impact of School and Classroom Characteristics on Educational Choices by Boys and Girls: A Multilevel Analysis

Does enrolment in comprehensive schools affect girls' and boys' choices of educational field at the upper secondary school level? For example, do girls in some comprehensive schools choose the engineering programme (gender-atypical for girls) to a significantly higher degree than girls do in other schools? These questions were studied in the context of a 25 per cent random sample of Swedish comprehensive schools in 1991 and 1992. Multilevel analyses were carried out on pupils who chose one of the academic programmes. Three hierarchical levels are included in the models: pupils, classrooms and schools. The results show that pupils' choices of study field vary significantly between schools and classrooms when pupil-level characteristics have been controlled for. The results also show that both boys' and girls' choices correlate with those of classmates of the same sex, but not with those of the opposite sex. However, the contextual variables in this study that characterize schools and classrooms (such as the percentage of boys/girls in classrooms, etc.) do not account for the school and classroom variances, although some school/classroom characteristics are significant. The results give especially strong support for the so-called 'frog pond effect': for example, if classmates do well in mathematics and natural sciences subjects, the likelihood that they will enter the humanities/social sciences increases (controlling for the pupils' own marks in these subjects). When classmates do poorly in these subjects, their chances of choosing engineering increase.
Gender differences in science attitude‐achievement relationships over time among white middle‐school students

Four causal models describing the longitudinal relationships between attitudes and achievement have been proposed in the literature. These models feature: (a) cross-effects over time between attitudes and achievement, (b) influence of achievement predominant over time, (c) influence of attitudes predominant over time, or (d) no cross-effects over time between attitudes and achievement. In an examin-ation of the causal relationships over time between attitudes toward science and science achievement for White rural seventh- and eighth-grade students, the cross-effects model was the best fitting model form for students overall. However, when examined by gender, the no cross-effects model exhibited the most accurate fit for White rural middle-school girls, whereas a new model called the no attitudes-path model exhibited the best fit for these boys. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 324–340, 2002
Molecular Basis of BACH1/FANCJ Recognition by TopBP1 in DNA Replication Checkpoint Control*

The diverse roles of TopBP1 in DNA replication and checkpoint signaling are associated with the scaffolding ability of TopBP1 to initiate various protein-protein interactions. The recognition of the BACH1/FANCJ helicase by TopBP1 is critical for the activation of the DNA replication checkpoint at stalled replication forks and is facilitated by the C-terminal tandem BRCT7/8 domains of TopBP1 and a phosphorylated Thr1133 binding motif in BACH1. Here we provide the structural basis for this interaction through analysis of the x-ray crystal structures of TopBP1 BRCT7/8 both free and in complex with a BACH1 phospho-peptide. In contrast to canonical BRCT-phospho-peptide recognition, TopBP1 BRCT7/8 undergoes a dramatic conformational change upon BACH1 binding such that the two BRCT repeats pivot about the central BRCT-BRCT interface to provide an extensive and deep peptide-binding cleft. Additionally, we provide the first structural mechanism for Thr(P) recognition among BRCT domains. Together with systematic mutagenesis studies, we highlight the role of key contacts in governing the unique specificity of the TopBP1-BACH1 interaction.
Bacillus Strains Most Closely Related to Bacillus nealsonii Are Not Effectively Circumscribed within the Taxonomic Species Definition

Bacillus strains with >99.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity were characterized with DNA:DNA hybridization, cellular fatty acid (CFA) analysis, and testing of 100 phenotypic traits. When paired with the most closely related type strain, percent DNA:DNA similarities (% S) for six Bacillus strains were all far below the recommended 70% threshold value for species circumscription with Bacillus nealsonii. An apparent genomic group of four Bacillus strain pairings with 94%–70% S was contradicted by the failure of the strains to cluster in CFA- and phenotype-based dendrograms as well as by their differentiation with 9–13 species level discriminators such as nitrate reduction, temperature range, and acid production from carbohydrates. The novel Bacillus strains were monophyletic and very closely related based on 16S rRNA gene sequence. Coherent genomic groups were not however supported by similarly organized phenotypic clusters. Therefore, the strains were not effectively circumscribed within the taxonomic species definition.
The Berlin Aging Study (BASE): Overview and Design

ABSTRACT This article, the introduction to a collection of six related articles, describes the general rationale and design of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE). The distinguishing features of BASE are: (1) a special focus on the very old (70–105 years), (2) broad inter-diciplinarity (medicine, psychiatry, psychology, sociology and economics), and (3) sample heterogeneity achieved by local (West Berlin) representativeness. In addition to discipline-specific topics, four theoretical orientations guide the study: (1) differential ageing, (2) continuity versus discontinuity of ageing, (3) range and limits of plasticity and reserve capacity, and (4) ageing as an inter-disciplinary and systemic phenomenon. To provide a foundation and framework for the remaining articles, this paper outlines the protocols, designs, and measurement procedures of fourteen data collection sessions. In addition, information is given on the samples used for empirical analysis. Two samples from the first wave of the Berlin Aging Study are addressed in this collection of articles. The first (N = 360), uses data from the BASE Intake Assessment Protocol (Session 1). The second (N = 156), employs data from the entire 14-session full protocol of BASE. Selectivity analyses involving 22 comparison variables are reported in this paper and demonstrate that, with the exception of 12-month mortality, these two samples displayed the intended sample heterogeneity. Those results suggest that data from BASE hold high generalizability.
A wireless LAN-based indoor positioning technology

Context-aware computing is an emerging computing paradigm that can provide new or improved services by exploiting user context information. In this paper, we present a wireless-local-area-network-based (WLAN-based) indoor positioning technology. The wireless device deploys a position-determination model to gather location information from collected WLAN signals. A model-based signal distribution training scheme is proposed to trade off the accuracy of signal distribution and training workload. A tracking-assistant positioning algorithm is presented to employ knowledge of the area topology to assist the procedure of position determination. We have set up a positioning system at the IBM China Research Laboratory. Our experimental results indicate an accuracy of 2 m with a 90% probability for static devices and, for moving (walking) devices, an accuracy of 5 m with a 90% probability. Moreover, the complexity of the training procedure is greatly reduced compared with other positioning algorithms.
Out-of-Hospital Administration of Medication without Prescription and Associated Factors among Preschool Children

The increasing trend of administering nonprescribed medicines in children is a significant public health issue. The aim of the present study was to assess the use of medication without a prescription (MWP), including both nonprescribed medication (NPM) and prescription-only medication (POM), and identify associated factors, among preschoolers in Athens, Greece. A predesigned questionnaire was distributed to parents from May through June 2011. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis models were used to assess associations of interest. Results showed that 95.1% of parents reported administering at least one MWP, during the previous 12 months. Antipyretics (91%) were the most commonly NPM and bronchodilators (24.8%) and antibiotics (16.4%) the most common POM dispensed. Child's increased age group, lack of parental information, higher paternal education, and mother's foreign nationality were associated with increased antipyretic use (p < 0.05), while father's foreign nationality and parental age were positive predictors of antibiotic administration (p < 0.05). The likelihood of consuming antipyretics and antibiotics significantly increased when information was provided by a pharmacist (p = 0.017 and p = 0.054, resp.). Conclusively, most parents have administered at least one MWP, including antibiotics, to address symptoms of common childhood diseases, highlighting the need of information campaigns concerning the consequences of their improper use.
Social Work

SOWK 501: 3 s.h. Principles and Philosophies Introduces the generalist model for practice, which serves as a base for subsequent social work courses and provides initial understanding of the needs and issues of special populations in relation to social welfare policies and services as well as social work practice. The course provides an introduction to the profession and the MSW program while helping to prepare students for their subsequent field placements. This course may be offered in multiple modalities.
An Algorithm for Finding Maximal Common Subtopologies in a Set of Protein Structures

For the comparison and analysis of protein structures, it is of interest to find maximal common substructures in a given set of proteins. This question is also relevant for motif definition and structure classification. In this paper we describe first a new suitable representation of the secondary structure topology of a protein by an undirected labeled graph. Based on this representation we developed a new fast algorithm that finds all common subtopologies in a set of protein structures. Our method is based on the algorithm by Bron and Kerbosch (1973), which enumerates all maximal cliques in a graph. The main improvement of our algorithm is to restrict the search process to cliques that represent connected substructures. This restriction reduces the number of cliques to be considered during the search process and the size of the search tree drastically. Thus we are able to handle large proteins. Experiments show the efficiency and superiority of our algorithm in comparison with other existing algorithms basing on graph-theoretical methods.
The taming of the skew: estimating proper confidence intervals for divergence dates.

Thacker, P. D. 2003. Morphology: The shape of things to come. Bioscience 53:544–549. Vogel, P. 2005. The current molecular phylogeny of eutherian mammals challenges previous interpretations of placental evolution. Placenta 26:591–596. Waddell, P. J., and S. Shelley. 2003. Evaluating placental interordinal phylogenies with novel sequences including RAG1, gammafibrinogen, ND6, and mt-tRNA, plus MCMC-driven nucleotide, amino acid, and codon models. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 28: 197– 224. Werdelin, L. , and A Nilssone. 1999. The evolution of the scrotum and testicular descent in mammals: A phylogenetic view. J. Theor. Biol. 196:61–72. Wesley-Hunt, G. D. , and J. J. Flynn. 2005. Phylogeny of the Carnivora: Basal relationships among the carnivoramorphans, and assessment of the position of “Miacoidea” relative to Carnivora. J. Syst. Palaeo. 3:1–28. Wheeler, W. C. 1995. Sequence alignment, parameter sensitivity, and the phylogenetic analysis of molecular data. Syst. Biol. 44: 321– 331.
A distributed control scheme with cost optimization and capacity constraints

This paper proposes a novel distributed control scheme for DC microgrids to acquire minimum generation cost and recover the global average voltage with consideration of capacity constraints. Our main focus is on constrained problems where the power of each distributed generator (DG) is restricted to lie in the feasible region. In this paper, a global load observer (GLO) is introduced that uses neighbor's data to estimate the total load across the microgird. To achieve minimizing generation cost, an alternative control strategy is proposed based on the specific characteristics of the optimum solution. When the total load which can be obtained by the GLO is less than the critical point, it generates power according to equal incremental cost rate (ICR) criteria; otherwise, it generates power maintain the maximum output point. To achieve voltage recovery, a voltage regulator is designed. The proposed controller on each DG communicates with its neighbor DGs on a sparse communication graph. The performance of the proposed scheme is validated and tested through MATLAB simulation.
Effect of hCG and eCG treatments on prostaglandins synthesis in the porcine oviduct.

The oviduct plays a crucial role in fertilization, gamete maturation and embryo transport. Prostaglandins are some of the main factors determining its roles. The present study investigated the influence of oestrus synchronization and superovulation on prostaglandins synthesis in the porcine oviduct. Mature cross-bred gilts after exhibiting oestrous cycles were divided into four groups: I, cyclic; II, inseminated; III, synchronized and inseminated; and IV, superovulated and inseminated. Oviducts were collected on the third day of the oestrous cycle or after insemination and divided into isthmus and ampullary parts. This study demonstrated lower mRNA (in the isthmus and ampulla; p < 0.05, p < 0.001, respectively) and protein prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase 2 expression (in the isthmus; p < 0.001) in gilts treated with human chorionic gonadotrophin/equine chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG/eCG) compared with Group II that were inseminated only. In addition, hCG and eCG treatment decreased mPGES-1 mRNA levels in Groups III and IV, in both the isthmus (p < 0.01 in III, p < 0.001 in IV) and ampulla (p < 0.001). The prostaglandin E2 content of oviductal tissues was significantly lower in Groups III (p < 0.05) and IV (p < 0.01 in isthmus, p < 0.0001 in ampulla) compared with Group II. mRNA and protein levels of PGFS in Group IV in the oviductal isthmus were higher (p < 0.01) compared with the non-treated Group II. In effect, the amount of prostaglandin F2α in oviductal tissues of gilts treated with hCG/eCG was significantly elevated (p < 0.001 in isthmus of Groups III and IV; p < 0.05 in ampulla of Group IV). Differential expression of the factors analysed in gilts treated with exogenous gonadotrophins suggests that hCG/eCG stimulation affects prostaglandins synthesis pathway. These changes can alter oviduct functions and in turn affect gamete maturation and fertilization as well as development of embryos and their transport to the uterus.
'Scraps': hidden nursing information and its influence on the delivery of care.

What nurses commonly describe as 'scraps' are defined as the personalized recordings of information that is routinely made on any available piece of paper (hence scraps) or in small notebooks. The use of scraps is common in practice and has been noted in research from across the globe. Drawing on an empirical study it is argued that scraps are a unique combination of personal and professional knowledge that informs the delivery of care. The overall aim of the study was to discover how nurses define and communicate information about patients and the delivery of care to each other on an elderly care unit. The processes by which information was constructed and the organizational structure and interactions that influenced this were also identified. The research design was an ethnographic one that involved: observations of formal nursing end of shift reports (23 handovers) and informal interactions between nurses (146 hours); interviews (n + 34) with registered nurses, student nurses and nursing auxiliaries; and analysis of written records. Data were collected from five acute elderly care wards at a district general hospital in the south of England. A grounded theory analysis was undertaken which revealed that scraps may have a significant role in the communication of information and the delivery of care. Therefore a categorization of scraps within three main themes was undertaken. First, the analysis revealed the processes involved in the construction of scraps. Second, the content and role of scraps in influencing the delivery of care was exposed. Finally, the potentially confidential nature of scraps and consequent problems of storage and disposal was recognized. The findings are discussed in relation to a suggested model of the interrelationship between paperwork, scraps, handovers and the delivery of nursing care. It is concluded that scraps are significant in facilitating nursing care and that this should be recognized in research, education and practice.
Assessing the Reliability of Beck Depression Inventory Scores: Reliability Generalization across Studies

The reliability estimates for the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores across studies were accumulated and summarized in a meta-analysis. Only 7.5% of the articles reviewed reported meaningful reliability estimates, indicating that the logic of “test score reliability” generally has not prevailed in clinical psychology regarding application of BDI. Analyses revealed that for BDI, the measurement error due to time sampling as captured by test-retest reliability estimate is considerably larger than the measurement error due to item heterogeneity and content sampling as captured by internal consistency reliability estimate. Also, reliability estimates involving substance addicts were consistently lower than reliability estimates involving normal subjects, possibly due to restriction of range problems. Correlation analyses revealed that standard errors of measurement (SEMs) were not correlated with reliability estimates but were substantially related to standard deviations of BDI scores, suggesting that SEMs should be considered in addition to reliability estimates when interpreting individual BDI scores.
Modifying Backoff Freezing Mechanism to Optimize Dense IEEE 802.11 Networks

From experience, it has been well known that the performance of IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks significantly drops in dense settings, largely driven by poor capacity of the medium access control (MAC) layer. The current 802.11 MAC mechanism utilizes a contention window (CW) for random access, and the CW size is dictated to take discrete values from a bounded finite set. In this paper, with focus on a saturated network scenario, we closely investigate the impacts of the aforementioned constraint and show that the limitations on the CW size are the main MAC bottleneck in dense conditions. Then, in order to tackle this bottleneck, we propose a new backoff scheme that does not attempt to tune the CW but makes a small modification in the backoff freezing process to determine the optimal configuration. We prove that our backoff scheme can achieve the maximum network throughput even under densely populated networks (i.e., many contenders), while a maximal compliance with the mentioned constraints is maintained. Then, we turn our attention to minimizing the channel access delay, and propose a variant of our backoff algorithm to accomplish this aim. We further present a new result on the theoretical relation between the optimal configurations for which the throughput is maximized and the delay is minimized. Finally, we note that our modified backoff mechanism does not penalize legacy users and is, therefore, practical for implementation in existing networks, which removes co-existence concerns.