Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethnicity, Family Environment, School Attitudes and Academic Achievement

Regression surface analysis was used to examine relations between the family environment and measures of academic achievement at different levels of school-related attitudes for 800 11-year-old children from different Australian social groups. The sample included lower social-status families from the following groups: Anglo Australian (250), Greek (170), recent English immigrants (120), and Southern Italian (120). In addition, there were 140 Anglo-Australian middle social-status families. A semi-structured family interview schedule was used to assess parents' aspirations for the child, press for English in the family, satisfaction with the child's school, and satisfaction with teaching in the school. Standardized tests were used to measure performance in mathematics, word knowledge, and word comprehension while an attitude schedule was devised to assess children's affective commitment to school and their academic adjustment to school. The regression surfaces were generated from models that examined possible linear, interaction, and curvilinear relations between the variables. Results indicate that there are differential relations between family environments, attitudes, and children's academic achievement within the ethnic and social-status groups. Tentative support is provided for a theoretical framework which suggests that there can be no change of social reality which is not the common effect of pre-existing social values and individual attitudes acting upon them.
An experimental adaptive fuzzy controller for differential games

In this paper a reinforcement fuzzy learning scheme for robots playing a differential game is derived. A differential game may be considered a Markov decision process in continuous time, with continuous states and actions. The robots receive reinforcements from the environment after they take an action; and this reinforcement is then used to adapt a fuzzy controller that stores the experience accumulated by the robot. Every calculation is done in a physical system based on microcontrollers to control the movement of the robots and sensors to measure their position and angle in a 2D-plane. Filters are also implemented to approximate the derivatives of the states. Experiments of a pursuer-evader game are provided in order to show the feasibility of the technique. It should be noted, though, that the technique may also be used in a multi-game environment.
Remote Sensing via Femtosecond Filament Based Technologies

The use of laser-induced filaments for remote sensing is of interest due to unique capabilities, including: propagating unchanged over 1-100 m distances, the creation of high intensity (10 W/cm) and large spectral bandwidth, and the ability to control the position of filamentation in space by changing the spectral phase of the driving pulse. These characteristics are used here for remote detection of materials in two implementations. Filament induced breakdown spectroscopy (FIBS) was used to measure the carbon/clay ratios between three composites at a standoff distance greater than 5 meters. Filament induced stimulated Raman spectroscopy was demonstrated as a method for remote detection of gasphase species. The impulsive Raman spectra of small molecules in air is reported.
Differential CD146 expression on circulating versus tissue endothelial cells in rectal cancer patients: implications for circulating endothelial and progenitor cells as biomarkers for antiangiogenic therapy.

PURPOSE Circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and progenitor cells are currently evaluated as potential biomarkers of antiangiogenic therapy. CD146 is considered a panendothelial-specific marker, but its utility as a CEC marker in cancer patients remains unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed the expression of CD146 on mononuclear blood cells, primary tissue endothelial cells, and malignant and normal tissues by flow cytometric and immunohistochemical analyses. Furthermore, we measured the circulation kinetics of CD146+ cells before, and then 3 and 12 days after vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody blockade by bevacizumab infusion in rectal cancer patients enrolled in a phase I trial. RESULTS In the peripheral blood of these cancer patients, over 90% of the CD146+ cells were CD45+ hematopoietic cells. CD146 expression was primarily detected on a subset of CD3+CD4+ lymphocytes, and was undetectable on CD34+CD133+CD45(dim) progenitor cells or CD31(bright)CD45- viable CECs. In contradistinction, CD146 was detectable in tissues on both cellular components of tumor vessel wall: CD31(bright)CD45- endothelial cells and alpha-SMA+ pericytes. Unlike viable CECs and progenitor cells, CD146+ cell concentration in the peripheral blood of cancer patients did not decrease during VEGF blockade. CONCLUSION CD146 is fairly homogeneously expressed on vascular endothelium but not on viable CECs or progenitor cells. The vast majority of CD146+ blood cells are lymphocytes, and VEGF blockade by bevacizumab did not significantly change their number in rectal cancer patients. These results underscore the need for further characterization and identification of new markers for CEC subpopulations for their development as biomarkers of antiangiogenic therapy.
Intelligence Research and Assessment in the United Kingdom

British contributions to research and practice in human intelligence are described and discussed. The emphasis on individual differences in humans’ cognitive abilities and the search for the origins of human intelligence differences are British contributions. Some applications of intelligence testing are described in education, in the workplace, and in clinical settings. In theory and research, British contributors commune with those from other countries, especially the United States and, therefore, their contributions are not distinctly different. In the application of intelligence testing there is more United Kingdom-specific practice, with tests and procedures that are specific to the United Kingdom. There are differences in practice even within the United Kingdom’s nations.
Algorithms for Transmission Scheduling in Optical CDMA Networks

Transmission scheduling is a media access control mechanism that prevents degradation of throughput in optical CDMA Local Area Networks (LANs) at high offered load. Optical CDMA is a multiple access technique for broadcast optical Local Area Networks. The throughput of an optical CDMA LAN at high offered load is limited by multi-user interference. Interference Avoidance, a distributed, contention based media access control mechanism, can prevent throughput degradation at high loads. Interference avoidance consists of state estimation and transmission scheduling. This work analyzes algorithms for transmission scheduling under perfect state estimation. The analysis shows that transmission scheduling under specific conditions can provide upto 30% network throughput at high offered load. This compares well to non scheduled systems which have close to zero throughput under the same conditions. Simulations show that the performance of transmission scheduling is independent of codeset length and degrades with increase in codeset weight. The results also show that the performance of transmission scheduling does not degrade when used with realistic network traffic based on traffic obtained from a real network.
Measurement of the W-+/- Z boson pair-production cross section in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of W ± Z events in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The collected data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3 . 2 fb − 1 . The W ± Z candidates are reconstructed using leptonic decays of the gauge bosons into electrons or muons. The measured inclusive cross section in the detector ﬁducial region for leptonic decay modes is σ ﬁd.
Beta‐ and gamma‐catenin expression in thyroid carcinomas

Cadherins are calcium‐dependent cell–cell adhesion molecules whose intracellular domain forms a complex with proteins required for their function, called catenins. Down‐regulation of cadherins has frequently been detected in many types of human carcinomas, being associated with tumour progression. The present study investigates the immunohistochemical expression of E‐cadherin and beta‐ and gamma‐catenin in 27 human thyroid carcinomas. E‐cadherin immunoreactivity was found to be decreased at cell–cell contacts in 8/15 (53 per cent) papillary, 5/7 (71 per cent) follicular, and 5/5 (100 per cent) anaplastic carcinomas. Beta‐catenin membrane localization was found to be decreased in 6/15 (40 per cent) papillary, 2/7 (28 per cent) follicular, and 5/5 (100 per cent) anaplastic carcinomas. Gamma‐catenin expression was partially or totally lost in 13/15 (86 per cent) papillary, 6/7 (85 per cent) follicular, and 5/5 (100 per cent) anaplastic carcinomas. A normal pattern of expression for these three molecules was observed in areas of normal tissue in each sample. These data indicate that in addition to E‐cadherin, catenins are also down‐regulated at cell–cell junctions in thyroid tumours and could represent potentially useful differentiation and/or transformation markers. The high frequency of alterations of gamma‐catenin expression found in thyroid carcinomas suggests an important role for this gene product in thyroid carcinogenesis. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A ROLE OF THE CELL CYCLE IN HORMONE-DEPENDENT DIFFERENTIATION

An interesting concept in developmental biology, based on a proposal presented by Holtzer (1), concerns the necessary coupling of differentiation to a prior round of cell division. An extension of this concept states that critical events must occur during either the DNA synthetic (S) or the mitotic (M) phase of the cell cycle, or both, which result in developmentally competent daughter cells, qualitatively different from their relatively undifferentiated progenitors (2). These events having occurred, altered phenotypic expression (i.e., differentiation) can take place. A similar proposition has been examined in several other systems including the estrogen-primed immature chick oviduct (3-6), erythropoietin-sensit ive hemoglobin-producing ceils (7, 8), and cultured pancreatic exocrine cells (9, 10). The model system we have used to investigate such a dependence on cell proliferation (which we termed "critical mitosis" [11]) is the terminal differentiation of the mouse mammary gland. Epithelial cells in mammary gland explants are stimulated to undergo DNA synthesis and cell division, and subsequently to produce the milk
Influence of Verbalization on Problem Solving

Battig ( 2 ) studied the influence of verbal cues on the acquisition of a motor skill as a test of Brogden's ( 2 ) verbal hypothesis which states that the acquisition of a motor skill will be facilitated to the extent that verbal description of the stimulus, the response, or both can be utilized. Battig systematically added verbal cues and eliminated others, but his results were inconclusive and he suggested that verbal cues be added to the standard task without eliminating others as a more direct test of the verbal hypothesis. The present study was an application of the verbal hypothesis to a problem solving situation where verbal cues were added without the elimination of other cues. 20 fourth grade children were divided into two groups matched according to age and IQ. The control group was given the standard administration of the Stencil Design Test I of the Arthur Point Scale of Performance Tests ( 1 ). The experimental group was administered the same test, but with additional instructions to verbalize what they were thinking and doing as they worked. The mean total time for solutions for the control group was 736.8" and for the experimental group 673.0"; this difference was not significant. The mean number of correct solutions for the control group was 9.3 and for the experimental group was 11.0, but the difference did not reach an acceptable level of significance. The mean total number of moves for the control group was 66.2 and for the experimental group 50.9. This difference was significant beyond the . 02 level. The results lend only partial support to the verbal hypothesis as applied to a problem solving situation. The addition of verbal cues apparently had a selective facilitating influence in this particular situation. It may be that the relatively simple nature of this task precluded a more pervasive utilization of the verbal cues. This suggests that the application of the verbal hypothesis to a more complex problem solving situation might prove to be more useful in evaluating the verbal hypothesis as related to problem solving behavior.
Fenretinide Cytotoxicity for Ewing’s Sarcoma and Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor Cell Lines Is Decreased by Hypoxia and Synergistically Enhanced by Ceramide Modulators

Patients with disseminated Ewing’s family of tumors (ESFT) often experience drug-resistant relapse. We hypothesize that targeting minimal residual disease with the cytotoxic retinoid N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide (4-HPR; fenretinide) may decrease relapse. We determined the following: (a) 4-HPR cytotoxicity against 12 ESFT cell lines in vitro; (b) whether 4-HPR increased ceramide species (saturated and desaturated ceramides); (c) whether physiological hypoxia (2% O2) affected cytotoxicity, mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) change, or ceramide species or reactive oxygen species levels; (d) whether cytotoxicity was enhanced by l-threo-dihydrosphingosine (safingol); (e) whether physiological hypoxia increased acid ceramidase (AC) expression; and (f) the effect of the AC inhibitor N-oleoyl-ethanolamine (NOE) on cytotoxicity and ceramide species. Ceramide species were quantified by thin-layer chromatography and scintillography. Cytotoxicity was measured by a fluorescence-based assay using digital imaging microscopy (DIMSCAN). Gene expression profiling was performed by oligonucleotide array analysis. We observed, in 12 cell lines tested in normoxia (20% O2), that the mean 4-HPR LC99 (the drug concentration lethal to 99% of cells) = 6.1 ± 5.4 μm (range, 1.7–21.8 μm); safingol (1–3 μm) synergistically increased 4-HPR cytotoxicity and reduced the mean 4-HPR LC99 to 3.2 ± 1.7 μm (range, 2.0–8.0 μm; combination index < 1). 4-HPR increased ceramide species in the three cell lines tested (up to 9-fold; P < 0.05). Hypoxia (2% O2) reduced ceramide species increase, ΔΨm loss, reactive oxygen species increase (P < 0.05), and 4-HPR cytotoxicity (P = 0.05; 4-HPR LC99, 19.7 ± 23.9 μm; range, 2.3–91.4). However, hypoxia affected 4-HPR + safingol cytotoxicity to a lesser extent (P = 0.04; 4-HPR LC99, 4.9 ± 2.3 μm; range, 2.0–8.2). Hypoxia increased AC RNA expression; the AC inhibitor NOE enhanced 4-HPR-induced ceramide species increase and cytotoxicity. The antioxidant N-acetyl-l-cysteine somewhat reduced 4-HPR cytotoxicity but did not affect ceramide species increase. We conclude the following: (a) 4-HPR was active against ESFT cell lines in vitro at concentrations achievable clinically, but activity was decreased in hypoxia; and (b) combining 4-HPR with ceramide modulators synergized 4-HPR cytotoxicity in normoxia and hypoxia.
Current Source Density Estimation Enhances the Performance of Motor-Imagery-Related Brain–Computer Interface

The objective is to evaluate the impact of EEG referencing schemes and spherical surface Laplacian (SSL) methods on the classification performance of motor-imagery (MI)-related brain–computer interface systems. Two EEG referencing schemes: common referencing and common average referencing and three surface Laplacian methods: current source density (CSD), finite difference method, and SSL using realistic head model were implemented separately for pre-processing of the EEG signals recorded at the scalp. A combination of filter bank common spatial filter for features extraction and support vector machine for classification was used for both pairwise binary classifications and four-class classification of MI tasks. The study provides three major outcomes: 1) the CSD method performs better than CR, providing a significant improvement of 3.02% and 5.59% across six binary classification tasks and four-class classification task, respectively; 2) the combination of a greater number of channels at the pre-processing stage as compared with the feature extraction stage yields better classification accuracies for all the Laplacian methods; and 3) the efficiency of all the surface Laplacian methods reduced significantly in the case of a fewer number of channels considered during the pre-processing.
Ras transformation uncouples the kinesin-coordinated cellular nutrient response

Significance The kinesin family member 2C (KIF2C) that regulates microtubule depolymerization, is up-regulated in a number of human cancer cells in a Ras- and ERK1/2-dependent manner. In this study, we find that KIF2C expression positively regulates signaling pathways downstream of Ras, ERK1/2, and mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 in nontransformed cells to coordinate a cellular nutrient response. Transformation by oncogenic Ras overrides the need for this level of organization and repurposes ERK1/2 and KIF2C signaling events. Therefore, this study provides a link for how cytoskeletal transformation may interconnect with cancer metabolism. The kinesin family members (KIFs) KIF2A and KIF2C depolymerize microtubules, unlike the majority of other kinesins, which transport cargo along microtubules. KIF2A regulates the localization of lysosomes in the cytoplasm, which assists in activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) on the lysosomal surface. We find that the closely related kinesin KIF2C also influences lysosomal organization in immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). Expression of KIF2C and, to a lesser extent, KIF2A in untransformed and mutant K-Ras–transformed cells is regulated by ERK1/2. Prolonged inhibition of ERK1/2 activation with PD0325901 mimics nutrient deprivation by disrupting lysosome organization and decreasing mTORC1 activity in HBEC, suggesting a long-term mechanism for optimization of mTORC1 activity by ERK1/2. We tested the hypothesis that up-regulation of KIF2C and KIF2A by ERK1/2 caused aberrant lysosomal positioning and mTORC1 activity in a mutant K-Ras–dependent cancer and cancer model. In Ras-transformed cells, however, mTORC1 activity and lysosome organization appear independent of ERK1/2 and these kinesins although ERK1/2 activity and the kinesins are required for Ras-dependent proliferation and migration. We conclude that mutant K-Ras repurposes these signaling and regulatory proteins to support the transformed phenotype.
Dealing with disorder

Over the past two decades, municipal governments across the United States have adopted novel social control techniques including off-limits orders, parks exclusion laws, and other applications of trespass law. These new tools are used to exclude the socially marginal from contested public spaces. These new social control techniques fuse criminal and civil legal authority and are touted as `alternatives' to arrest and incarceration. Ironically, these new techniques nonetheless increase the number of behaviors and people defined as criminal and subject to formal social control. This article describes these legal innovations and considers their origins and theoretical implications. We argue that recognition of law's constitutive effects helps to explain the origins and nature of the urban social control innovations described here.
Constrained Manipulation Planning

Every planning problem in robotics involves constraints. Whether the robot must avoid collision or joint limits, there are always states that are not permissible. Some constraints are straightforward to satisfy while others can be so stringent that feasible states are very difficult to find. What makes planning with constraints challenging is that, for many constraints, it is impossible or impractical to provide the planning algorithm with the allowed states explicitly; it must discover these states as it plans. The goal of this thesis is to develop a framework for representing and exploring feasible states in the context of manipulation planning. Planning for manipulation gives rise to a rich variety of tasks that include constraints on collision-avoidance, torque, balance, closed-chain kinematics, and end-effector pose. While many researchers have developed representations and strategies to plan with a specific constraint, the goal of this thesis is to develop a broad representation of constraints on a robot's configuration and identify general strategies to manage these constraints during the planning process. Some of the most important constraints in manipulation planning are functions of the pose of the manipulator's end-effector, so we devote a large part of this thesis to end-effector placement for grasping and transport tasks. We present an efficient approach to generating paths that uses Task Space Regions (TSRs) to specify manipulation tasks which involve end-effector pose goals and/or path constraints. We show how to use TSRs for path planning using the Constrained BiDirectional RRT (CBiRRT2) algorithm and describe several extensions of the TSR representation. Among them are methods to plan with object pose uncertainty, find optimal base placements, and handle more complex pose constraints by chaining TSRs together. We also explore the problem of automatically generating end-effector pose constraints for grasping tasks and present two grasp synthesis algorithms that can generate lists of grasps in extremely cluttered environments. We then describe how to convert these lists of grasps to TSRs so they can be used with CBiRRT2. We have applied our framework to a wide range of problems for several robots, both in simulation and in the real world. These problems include grasping in cluttered environments, lifting heavy objects, two-armed manipulation, and opening doors, to name a few. These example problems demonstrate our framework's practicality, and our proof of probabilistic completeness gives our approach a theoretical foundation. In addition to the above framework, we have also developed the Constellation algorithm for finding configurations that satisfy multiple stringent constraints where other constraint-satisfaction strategies fail. We also present the GradienT-RRT algorithm for planning with soft constraints, which outperforms the state-of-the-art approach to high-dimensional path planning with costs.
Resolution Scalable Image Coding With Reversible Cellular Automata

In a resolution scalable image coding algorithm, a multiresolution representation of the data is often obtained using a linear filter bank. Reversible cellular automata have been recently proposed as simpler, nonlinear filter banks that produce a similar representation. The original image is decomposed into four subbands, such that one of them retains most of the features of the original image at a reduced scale. In this paper, we discuss the utilization of reversible cellular automata and arithmetic coding for scalable compression of binary and grayscale images. In the binary case, the proposed algorithm that uses simple local rules compares well with the JBIG compression standard, in particular for images where the foreground is made of a simple connected region. For complex images, more efficient local rules based upon the lifting principle have been designed. They provide compression performances very close to or even better than JBIG, depending upon the image characteristics. In the grayscale case, and in particular for smooth images such as depth maps, the proposed algorithm outperforms both the JBIG and the JPEG2000 standards under most coding conditions.