Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between Handwriting Style and Speed and Legibility

The relationship between handwriting style and handwriting speed and legibility was investigated. Three samples of writing (narrative, expository, and copying) were collected from 600 students in Grades 4-9. The copying task provided a measure of handwriting speed, and all 3 writing samples were scored for handwriting style (manuscript, cursive, mixed-mostly manuscript, and mixed-mostly cursive) and legibility. The handwriting of students who used a mixed style was faster than the handwriting of the students who used either manuscript or cursive exclusively. In addition, papers written with mixed-mostly cursive letters generally received higher ratings for legibility than papers written with the other 3 styles did. There were no differences between manuscript and cursive in terms of legibility or speed.
Beyond the present and the particular : a theory of liberal education

1. Introduction - Theory and Education Part 1: Justification of Liberal Education 2. Education and its Justification 3. Types of Education. 4. The Justification of Liberal Education Part 2: Content and Method 5. Some Preliminary Ideas 6. Three Accounts Considered 7. The Content of a Liberal Education 8. The Methods of a Liberal Education Part 3: Challenges to Liberal Education 9. The Challenge of Economic Utility 10. The Challenge of Relativism, Ideology and the State 11. Teachers, Assessment and Accountability
The autotrophic pathway of acetate synthesis in acetogenic bacteria.

SURVEY AND PROPERTIES OF ACETOGENS . 418 THE WOOD PATHWAY OF AUTOTROPHIC FIXATION OF CO2 INTO ACETATE . 424 O utline of the Pathway. 424 Formate Dehydrogenase . 426 Tetrahydrofolate Enzymes . 430 Corrinoid Proteins and Methyltransferase . 431 Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase and CO Dehydrogenase Disulfide Reductase. 432 Hydrogenase and Energy Generation in Acetogens. 435 Methanol as a Precursor to Acetate. 437 ACETYL COENZYME A AS PRECURSOR OF CELL CARBON IN ACETOGENS . 438 ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ACETOGENS . 441 CONCLUDING REMARKS . 442
The first wave of T lymphopoiesis in zebrafish arises from aorta endothelium independent of hematopoietic stem cells

T lymphocytes are key cellular components of the adaptive immune system and play a central role in cell-mediated immunity in vertebrates. Despite their heterogeneities, it is believed that all different types of T lymphocytes are generated exclusively via the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Using temporal–spatial resolved fate-mapping analysis and time-lapse imaging, here we show that the ventral endothelium in the zebrafish aorta–gonad–mesonephros and posterior blood island, the hematopoietic tissues previously known to generate HSCs and erythromyeloid progenitors, respectively, gives rise to a transient wave of T lymphopoiesis independent of HSCs. This HSC-independent T lymphopoiesis occurs early and generates predominantly CD4 T&agr;&bgr; cells in the larval but not juvenile and adult stages, whereas HSC-dependent T lymphopoiesis emerges late and produces various subtypes of T lymphocytes continuously from the larval stage to adulthood. Our study unveils the existence, origin, and ontogeny of HSC-independent T lymphopoiesis in vivo and reveals the complexity of the endothelial-hematopoietic transition of the aorta.
A Role for Caspases in Lens Fiber Differentiation

There is increasing evidence that programmed cell death (PCD) depends on a novel family of intracellular cysteine proteases, called caspases, that includes the Ced-3 protease in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the interleukin-1β–converting enzyme (ICE)-like proteases in mammals. Some developing cells, including lens epithelial cells, erythroblasts, and keratinocytes, lose their nucleus and other organelles when they terminally differentiate, but it is not known whether the enzymatic machinery of PCD is involved in any of these normal differentiation events. We show here that at least one CPP32 (caspase-3)-like member of the caspase family becomes activated when rodent lens epithelial cells terminally differentiate into anucleate lens fibers in vivo, and that a peptide inhibitor of these proteases blocks the denucleation process in an in vitro model of lens fiber differentiation. These findings suggest that at least part of the machinery of PCD is involved in lens fiber differentiation.
Mixed Noise Reduction based on improved PCNN Algorithm

- The image de-noising naturally corrupted by noise is a classical problem in the field of signal or image processing. Additive random noise can easily be removed using simple threshold methods. De-noising of natural images corrupted by Gaussian noise and Gaussian - Gaussian Mixture using wavelet techniques are very effective because of its ability to capture the energy of a signal in few energy transform values. In this paper decompose the image using discrete wavelet and then applied PCNN (Pulse Coupled Neural Network) algorithm and threshold for mixed noise removal. The proposed method can efficiently remove a variety of mixed or single noise while preserving the image information well. It is proposed to investigate the suitability of different wavelet bases and the size of different neighborhood on the performance of image de-noising algorithms in terms of PSNR. The experimental results demonstrate its better performance compared with some existing methods.
Is there a role for site visits in monitoring systems? A UK perspective

Abstract The paper is concerned with the part played in monitoring systems by the type of ‘site visit’ which is carried out by inspectors. The role of Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMI) is outlined and the efforts of the Government to extend inspection methods to Local Education Authority (LEA) monitoring is described. The contribution which inspection can make to educational monitoring systems locally and nationally is assessed against the criteria of comprehensiveness, timeliness, and acceptability. The paper emphasises the point that descriptions of inspection as a mode of evaluation constitute a major lacuna in the literature. It is argued that as inspection becomes more common place it will be increasingly necessary to clarify and make explicit the assumptions and methodology on which it is based. It is suggested that inspection also has the potential to generate performance indicators of educational quality.
Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Nectogale elegans

Abstract The elegant water shrew (Nectogale elegans) belongs to the family Soricidae, and distributes in northern South Asia, central and southern China and northern Southeast Asia. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of N. elegans was sequenced. It was determined to be 17,460 bases, and included 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and one non-coding region, which is similar to other mammalian mitochondrial genomes. Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods were used to construct phylogenetic trees based on 12 heavy-strand concatenated PCGs. Phylogenetic analyses further confirmed that Crocidurinae diverged prior to Soricinae, and Sorex unguiculatus differentiated earlier than N. elegans.
Product Line Pricing in a Vertically Differentiated Oligopoly

This paper empirically examines the joint pricing decision of products in a ﬁrm’s product line. When products are distinguished by a vertical characteristic, those products with higher values of that characteristic will command higher prices. We investigate whether, holding the value of the characteristic constant, there is a price premium for products on the industry and/or the ﬁrm frontier, i.e., for the products with the highest value of the characteristic in the market or in a ﬁrm’s product line. The existence of price premia for lower ranked products is also investigated. Finally, the paper investigates whether ﬁrms set prices to avoid cannibalizing the other products in their portfolio, whether competition with rival ﬁrms is stronger for products that are closer to the frontier compared to other products, and whether a product’s price declines with the time it is oﬀered by a ﬁrm. Using personal computer price data, we show that prices decline with the distance from the industry and ﬁrm frontiers. We ﬁnd evidence that consumer tastes for brands is stronger for the consumers of frontier products (and thus competition between ﬁrms weaker in the top end of the market). Finally, there is evidence that a product’s price is higher if a ﬁrm oﬀers products with the immediately faster and immediately slower computer chip (holding the total number of a ﬁrm’s oﬀerings constant), possibly as an attempt way to reduce cannibalization.
Word-Based Handwritten Arabic Scripts Recognition Using Dynamic Bayesian Network

In this paper, multi-class classification system is of handwritten Arabic words using Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN) is proposed, in which technical details are presented in terms of three stages, i.e. preprocessing, feature extraction and classification. Firstly, words are segmented from inputted scripts and also normalized in size. Then, features are extracted from each normalized word, where a set of new features for handwritten words is proposed based on a sliding window approach. The sliding window is moving across the mirrored word image. Finally, these features are then utilized to train a DBN for classification. The proposed system has been successfully tested on database (version v2.0p1e) consisting of 32492 Arabic words handwritten by more than 1000 different writers, and the results were promising and very encouraging. Keywords— Off-line handwritten recognition; feature extraction; dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN); IFN/ENIT database.
Investigating Spatial Relationships in Human-Robot Interaction

Co-presence and embodied interaction are two fundamental characteristics of the command and control situation for service robots. This paper presents a study of spatial distances and orientation of a robot with respect to a human user in an experimental setting. Relevant concepts of spatiality from social interaction studies are introduced and related to human-robot interaction (HRI). A Wizard-of-Oz study quantifies the observed spatial distances and spatial formations encountered. However, it is claimed that a simplistic parameterization and measurement of spatial interaction misses the dynamic character and might be counter-productive in the design of socially appropriate robots
A Single Beta-Complex Solves All Geometry Problems in a Molecule

Geometry-related problems in bio-molecules are new challenges as well as opportunities for geometers since it is now strongly agreed that the shape of molecules mostly determines their functions. To analyze the shape of molecule, a systematic approach of handling the proximity among constituting atoms is inevitable. The Voronoi diagram of atoms and its derivative structures have proven their powerful capabilities on analyzing the structure problems of bio-molecules related with geometry or shape of molecules. In this paper, we show that a single ¯-complex of a molecule can be used to efficiently solve many bio-molecular problems which are based on some geometry among atoms in the molecule. We explain the ¯-complex in the context of molecular geometry and shape analysis based on the Voronoi diagram of atoms and the quasi-triangulation. We also compare the capabilities of ¯-complex with the (weighted) ®-complex and (weighted) ®-shape which are based on the power diagram.
Rapid Identification of Campylobacter,Arcobacter, and Helicobacter Isolates by PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis of the 16S rRNA Gene

ABSTRACT A rapid two-step identification scheme based on PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the 16S rRNA gene was developed in order to differentiate isolates belonging to theCampylobacter, Arcobacter, andHelicobacter genera. For 158 isolates (26 reference cultures and 132 clinical isolates), specific RFLP patterns were obtained and species were successfully identified by this assay.
Quality of Life: Its Application to Persons With Intellectual Disabilities and Their Families—Introduction and Overview

The authors provide an overview of quality of life (QoL) conceptualization in the field of intellectual disabilities (ID), provide background information, and set an organizing framework for presenting concepts and concrete ideas for applying QoL. This framework is useful for three broad categories of application in the field of ID that form the application of QoL to individuals, groups of individuals, and to families. QoL thus can be used as a sensitizing notion that gives a sense of reference and guidance from the individual's perspective, focusing on the person and the individual's environment and provides a framework for conceptualizing, measuring, and applying the QoL construct. The applications also frame evaluation strategies for QoL research. The authors conclude that there is a need to identify relevant QoL evidence from the literature in a proactive way, and to ensure that it is methodologically sound, provides both quantitative and qualitative data, represents inter- and intra-individual variability, and illustrates changes over both the lifespan and across cultural settings.
Hebb's accomplishments misunderstood

Abstract Amit's efforts to provide stronger theoretical and empirical support for Hebb's cell-assembly concept is admirable, but we have serious reservations about the perspective presented in the target article. For Hebb, the cell assembly was a building block; by contrast, the framework proposed here eschews the need to fit the assembly into a broader picture of its function.
Coping strategies as predictors of employee distress and turnover after an organizational consolidation: A longitudinal analysis

This study examined coping strategies and situational stressors as predictors of employee distress and turnover following an organizational consolidation. Six coping strategies were used: action planning, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, seeking emotional social support, intention to quit, and using alcohol or drugs. Two stressors, the extent to which a unit was affected by the consolidation and consolidation-related stress, were used. Two indicators of distress, mental distress and somatic complaints, were measured at three time periods: three months prior to, shortly after, and six months after the consolidation. The coping strategies were assessed three months prior to and in response to the consolidation. Findings indicated that intention to quit and consolidation stress predicted mental distress while positive reinterpretation, use of alcohol or drugs and lower unit impact predicted somatic complaints shortly after the consolidation. Six months later, the main predictor of mental distress and somatic complaints was use of alcohol and drugs. Turnover was best predicted by a pre-consolidation indicator of intent to quit and a post-consolidation indicator of lack of acceptance of the consolidation.
A Role for Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase in Bacterial Invasion

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterial pathogen that invades cultured nonphagocytic cells. Inhibitors and a dominant negative mutation were used to demonstrate that efficient entry requires the phosphoinositide (PI) 3-kinase p85α-p110. Infection with L. monocytogenes caused rapid increases in cellular amounts of PI(3,4)P2 and PI(3,4,5)P3, indicating that invading bacteria stimulated PI 3-kinase activity. This stimulation required the bacterial protein InlB, host cell tyrosine phosphorylation, and association of p85α with one or more tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins. This role for PI 3-kinase in bacterial entry may have parallels in some endocytic events.
Grammatical Gender and Inferences About Biological Properties in German-Speaking Children

In German, nouns are assigned to one of the three gender classes. For most animal names, however, the assignment is independent of the referent's biological sex. We examined whether German-speaking children understand this independence of grammar from semantics or whether they assume that grammatical gender is mapped onto biological sex when drawing inferences about sex-specific biological properties of animals. Two cross-linguistic studies comparing German-speaking and Japanese-speaking preschoolers were conducted. The results suggest that German-speaking children utilize grammatical gender as a cue for inferences about sex-specific properties of animals. Further, we found that Japanese- and German-speaking children recruit different resources when drawing inferences about sex-specific properties: Whereas Japanese children paralleled their pattern of inference about properties common to all animals, German children relied on the grammatical gender class of the animal. Implications of these findings for studying the relation between language and thought are discussed.
The Politics of Temporality: An Analysis of Leftist Youth Politics and Generational Contention

Based on focus groups and in-depth interviews with young leftist political party activists in Uruguay, this article analyzes the dilemmas faced by young people as they use images from the past to interpret and orient their situation in the present and their aspirations for the future. They are the heirs to a highly romantic image of what it means to be a political activist on the Left; in this sense, the shadow of the radical Sixties and the omnipresent image of armed struggle and military dictatorship define them. But the reality of politics in contemporary democratic Uruguay is that of pressing for incremental and routine social reform inside a ‘Broad Front’ where ideological definitions for the future have become hazy. This paper explores the various ways that young Uruguayan Leftists work to reconcile these different senses of time and how these mediate their relationships with ‘significant generational others’. In so doing, I place the concept of time, of the perceived and socially constructed sense of acting in the current of a particular historical time, at the center of analysis.
The effect of hydrocortisone on tyrosine-alpha-ketoglutarate transaminase and tryptophan pyrrolase activities in the isolated, perfused rat liver.

Administration of hydrocortisone or cortisone to rats has been shown to produce a marked increase in hepatic tryptophan pyrrolase (1, 2) and tyrosine-cY-ketoglutarate transaminase’ (4, 5) activities. Although present evidence suggests that the rise in tryptophan pyrrolase activity involves the synthesis of new protein (6) and the rise in tyrosine transaminase activity may not (7), the mechanism of action of hydrocortisone is unknown. The question of whether or not the increased enzyme activities are the result of a direct action of hydrocortisone on hepatic cells was investigated in the present study. Since attempts to demonstrate a direct action of hydrocortisone on tryptophan pyrrolase activity in homogenates (1) or slices (8) of rat liver have been unsuccessful, as were similar attempts with tyrosine transaminase, we turned to the artificially perfused, isolated rat liver (9, 10). Hydrocortisone produced a distinct increase in activity of both enzymes in this preparation. Barnabei and Sereni (11) also have recently reported that hydrocortisone induced an increase in tyrosine transaminase activity in the isolated, perfused rat liver.
Hispanic Adults at a Southwestern University: Reasons They Come, Reasons They Stay

For more than 30 years, beginning with the initial development of nontraditional academic programs for adult students in the early 1970s (Spanard, 1990), adult students have benefited from increased awareness from institutions of higher learning as their level of participation in higher education has grown dramatically. Adult students in higher education are typically defined as those individuals who are 25 or older (Chao & Good, 2004; Donaldson & Townsend, 2007; Kasworm, 2003; Kasworm, 2005; Kasworm, Sandmann, & Sissel 2000; Quimby & O'Brien, 2006; Ross-Gordon, 2006) . Since 1970, their enrollment in higher education has increased by more than 170% (Kasworm et al., 2000; U. S. Department of Education, 2006), growing from less than 2.5 million nationwide in 1970 to more than 6.5 million in 2004 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). As a percentage of the undergraduate student population, adult students have grown from approximately 28% in 1971 (Kasworm, Polson, & Fishback, 2002) to a peak of 44% in 1995 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007), and leveled off at somewhere between 37% and 39% since 1999 (U. S. Census Bureau, 2007). While the overall level of adult participation in higher education has been increasing, the percentage of White, non-Hispanic students has actually decreased, both as a fraction of total undergraduates, and as a proportion of the adult student segment. For instance, in 1985, White, non-Hispanic adult students represented 32.4% of the total undergraduate population and 85.8% of the undergraduate population aged 25 or older (U. S. Census Bureau, 2008). By 2005, these percentages had dropped to 27.8% and 74.4% respectively, indicating significant increases in the numbers of adult minority students. In fact, over this same period of time we have seen adult Black students increase from 4.1% of the total undergraduate student population and 10.8% of the adult student segment to 5.9% of the total and 14.9% of the adult student total. Adult Hispanic student participation levels have increased even more noticeably. With only a 1.5% share of the total undergraduate population, and a 4% share of the adult student population
Support vector machine based on a new reduced samples method

The support vectors play an important role in the training to find the optimal hyper-plane. For the problem of many non-support vectors and a few support vectors in the classification of SVM, a method to reduce the samples that may be not support vectors is proposed in this paper. First, adopt the Support Vector Domain Description to find the smallest sphere containing the most data points, and then remove the objects outside the sphere. Second, remove the edge points based on the distance of each pattern to the centers of other classes. In comparison with the standard SVM, the experimental results show that the new algorithm in the paper is capable of reducing the number of samples as well as the training time while maintaining high accuracy.
An examination of gender effect on pre-service teachers’ behavioural intentions to use ICT / Öğretmen adaylarının BİT kullanımına yönelik davranışsal niyetleri üzerindeki cinsiyet etkisinin incelenmesi

Many studies were conducted to find an answer to a question of how individuals' beliefs and attitudes affect their use of information communication technologies (ICT). Based onthese studies, theories were developed and used in different disciplines in order to model individuals' behavioural intention to use technology. Among these, The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been used to establish a theoretical-base to assess user acceptance considering different culture and gender samples. The purpose of this study was to investigate a model that predicts the level of technology acceptance by pre-service teachers at a teacher training institute. Data was collected from 337 (female-205, male-132) pre-service elementary teachers by employing TAM to reveal their purposes of technology use. The resulting model was found to have a good fit. Six variables that were expected to affect pre-service teachers' acceptance of technology (computer self-efficacy, facilitating conditions, technological complexity, attitude towards technology use, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness) explained the purpose of technology use by accounting the variances of 35% among male and 44 % among female pre-service teachers. It was also found that perceived usefulness and computer self-efficacy were the most influential variables in explaining behavioural intention to use technology for both genders.