Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectrum: Retrieving Different Points of View from the Blogosphere

Blogs have become an important medium for people to publish opinions and ideas on the web. Bloggers with interest and expertise in specific domains (e.g., politics, or technology) often create and maintain blogs to publish news, opinions and ideas about those domains. In this paper, we present Spectrum, a novel blog search system that enables users to search for different points of view related to a topic from the blogosphere. Given a topic, Spectrum retrieves blog posts from bloggers with interests and expertise in various domains, enabling users to browse and compare the opinions related to different aspects of the topic. To identify bloggers in a domain category, we propose a two-layer classification model that predicts bloggers’ interests based on short snippets of posts by the blogger and posts citing the blogger. The model characterizes the recurrent interests of bloggers and the importance of the bloggers in the domain. Experiments were conducted on a list of bloggers collected from blog directories, with their snippets collected from Google Blog Search. Categorization of bloggers’ interests achieves precision of 88.4% and recall of 84.5% by micro-averaging over all the categories, outperforming a baseline algorithm which directly classifies the bloggers’ snippets. We further apply this multi-perspective blog search to explore the ecological relationship between news and blogs. The system aggregates recent popular news stories and then automatically aggregates different points of view about those news stories in the blogosphere.
Modelling Distributed Leadership and Management Effectiveness: Primary School Senior Management Teams in England and Wales

This article argues that the notion of distributed leadership and management has potential to illuminate school-level relationships, a significant area of school effectiveness and improvement research and development activity. It reports how research findings were used inductively to model effectiveness of senior management teams in British primary schools, which represent one form of distributed leadership and management. Difficulties in establishing effectiveness are reviewed; a heuristic model of team operation is put forward as a basis for identifying team effectiveness; relevant criteria employed by informants in research schools and inspectors are summarised in relation to the model, supported by findings from observation of meetings; and key findings and judgements of effectiveness are synthesised as a speculative contingency model of team effectiveness focusing on balancing contradictory beliefs in a management hierarchy and in equal contribution within the team. An agenda for research, practice and policy is suggested.
Stem Cell Therapy for Neonatal Diseases Associated with Preterm Birth

In the last decades, the prevention and treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome with antenatal steroids and surfactant replacement allowed the survival of infants born at extremely low gestational ages. These extremely preterm infants are highly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of oxidative stress and infection, and are prone to develop lung and brain diseases that eventually evolve in severe sequelae: The so-called new bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and the noncystic, diffuse form of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Tissue simplification and developmental arrest (larger and fewer alveoli and hypomyelination in the lungs and brain, respectively) appears to be the hallmark of these emerging sequelae, while fibrosis is usually mild and contributes to a lesser extent to their pathogenesis. New data suggest that loss of stem/progenitor cell populations in the developing brain and lungs may underlie tissue simplification. These observations constitute the basis for the application of stem cell-based protocols following extremely preterm birth. Transplantation of different cell types (including, but not limited to, mesenchymal stromal cells, endothelial progenitor cells, human amnion epithelial cells) could be beneficial in preterm infants for the prevention and/or treatment of BPD, PVL and other major sequelae of prematurity. However, before this new knowledge can be translated into clinical practice, several issues still need to be addressed in preclinical in vitro and in vivo models.
Efficient Channel Management Mechanism to Enhance Channel Utilization for Sensing Data Delivery in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

IEEE 1609.4 defines MAC layer implementation in a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET). In IEEE 1609.4 multichannel operation, the control channel interval (CCHI) and the service channel interval (SCHI) are defined such that service channels cannot be utilized during the CCHI, and vice versa, which leads to poor utilization of scarce spectrum resources. In this paper, we propose a multi-schedule-based channel switching mechanism to improve channel utilization and uniformly distribute channel load. In our proposed mechanism, four schedules are defined to switch between the control channel and service channels. Therefore, service channels can be utilized during the CCHI, and the control channel can be utilized during the SCHI. Moreover, control channel load is distributed throughout the whole sync interval. We compared our proposed MAC protocol with IEEE802.11p for wireless access in the vehicular environment using the OMNET++ 4.5 network simulator. In the simulation results, we determined that utilization of the service channel increased and contention on the control channel was reduced, compared with the legacy standard, especially in slow motion and high-density VANETs.
Single-unit response of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus of freely moving cats. I. Acutely presented stressful and nonstressful stimuli

The present experiment was designed to explore the stress-relatedness of activity in noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) of behaving cats. A stressor was defined as a stimulus that elicited a significant sympathoadrenal activation as measured by plasma norepinephrine level and heart rate. According to this definition, exposure to 15 min of 100 dB white noise or 15 min of restraint was stressful in cats. In contrast, exposure to inaccessible rats for 15 min was behaviorally activating but nonstressful. The single-unit activity of noradrenergic neurons in the LC of behaving cats was examined under these conditions. The stressful stimuli elicited a significant increase in LC neuronal activity for the entire 15 min stressor duration, whereas the behaviorally activating but nonstressful stimulus elicited no significant change in the activity of these neurons. These results provide evidence that behavioral activation per se is not sufficient to evoke a tonic activation of these neurons. Rather, these data support the hypothesis that the LC is involved in the CNS response to stress and provide additional evidence that the activity of LC noradrenergic neurons increases in association with sympathoadrenal activation.
PowerMannaSim: An extension with power consumption modeling to MannaSim, a Wireless Sensor Network module of NS-2

MannaSim is an extension to the consecrated network simulation tool NS-2, to simulate Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). However, MannaSim's power consumption module can be improved to include some influential factors in a WSN. The objective of this work is to present PowerMannaSim. This extension provides two important features for the simulation of energy consumption in a WSN. The first one is an estimating model for the number of clock cycles spent in a code that runs on the sensor node. The second is a realistic energy decay model of the sensor node's batteries, which is based on the discharge rate of the battery and considers factors such as the environment's temperature in which the sensor node is.
A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor.

McGHEE, PAUL E. , and LLOYD, SALLY A. A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 925-931. The present study examined the effect of degree of similarity between subjects and victims of an accidental mishap depicted in cartoons on appreciation of humor occurring in connection with the mishap. Boys and girls approximately 3-7 years old were presented with pairs of drawings differing only in the identification of the victim of the mishap and were asked to choose the funnier of the 2. The pairs included the following comparisons: boyversus girl-victim, sonversus father-victim, sonversus mothervictim, daughterversus father-victim, and daughterversus mother-victim. Findings for boys were consistent with predictions, indicating that boys' humor is enhanced by the victimization of a person toward whom the child presumably feels less similar or is less favorably disposed. Findings for girls were consistent with this pattern as long as a parent-victim was compared with a child-victim, but no significant preference occurred when boy-victims were compared with girl-victims. The lack of significant differences among females for such comparisons is consistent with findings for adult samples and is interpreted in terms of differential rate of sex-role development among boys and girls.
Professional communities and student achievement – a meta-analysis

In the past 3 decades, the concept of professional community has gained considerable momentum in the theoretical and empirical studies in this field. At the same time, the concept has faced conceptual and methodological difficulties in that as yet no universal definition has been formulated and that its operationalization differs in the various empirical studies conducted on the subject. This study presents a comprehensive synthesis of the theories currently available and their implications for the conceptualization and operationalization of the professional community concept including a meta-analysis of the studies that investigated the effect of professional community on student achievement. Our meta-analysis reported a small but significant summary effect (d = .25, p < .05), indicating that within a school environment professional community could enhance student achievement. Furthermore, the need for the conceptual and empirical validation of the concept's key dimension was discussed.
Quality of Open Source Systems from Product Metrics Perspective

Software engineering and information systems practices seek ultimately to create the flawless product. One of the tools used to improve the quality of software development is the use of metrics. In this paper, metrics retrieved from open source software were analyzed for quality attributes. Defect density is considered a strong indication of the quality of software product. Few studies have taken into consideration the density of defects while looking into quality of software and proneness to defects. Analysis of this study has shown that defect density is relevant to different developers and different product sizes. Thus, open source project has shown to have low defect density and the larger the product the lower the defect density is. In addition, this study has shown that there are different metrics that correlate with each other indicating that some of these metrics have conceptual and practical relevance to each other. Another relationship was tested between the number of bugs and the metrics. Results indicated that most attributes had positive correlation with the number of bugs with exception to coupling between cohesion among methods of class.
Understanding ‘Race’ In/And Public Relations: Where Do We Start and Where Should We Go?

Our starting point for a broader discussion on ‘race’ in=and public relations (PR) is that, despite its virtual invisibility in the scholarly literature, race is firmly embedded in the context and practice of PR. Although scholars are slowly beginning to engage with race (e.g., Edwards, 2010b; Pompper, 2005; 2010; Waymer, 2010), PR scholarship has not yet paid sufficient attention to the ‘raced’ nature of the field. The dominant, functional perspectives of PR concentrate primarily on organizational goals, apparently oblivious to the impact that such goals have in relation to issues of race. On the other hand, critical approaches look at PR as a social and cultural phenomenon but these too, by and large, bypass race as an inherent part of the social and cultural domain.
The reliability of peer review for manuscript and grant submissions: A cross-disciplinary investigation

Abstract The reliability of peer review of scientific documents and the evaluative criteria scientists use to judge the work of their peers are critically reexamined with special attention to the consistently low levels of reliability that have been reported. Referees of grant proposals agree much more about what is unworthy of support than about what does have scientific value. In the case of manuscript submissions this seems to depend on whether a discipline (or subfield) is general and diffuse (e.g., cross-disciplinary physics, general fields of medicine, cultural anthropology, social psychology) or specific and focused (e.g., nuclear physics, medical specialty areas, physical anthropology, and behavioral neuroscience). In the former there is also much more agreement on rejection than acceptance, but in the latter both the wide differential in manuscript rejection rates and the high correlation between referee recommendations and editorial decisions suggests that reviewers and editors agree more on acceptance than on rejection. Several suggestions are made for improving the reliability and quality of peer review. Further research is needed, especially in the physical sciences.
Abusive family backgrounds and later victimization among runaway and homeless adolescents

This article reports findings from the initial phase of an ongoing study of runaway and homeless adolescents in four Midwestern states. One hundred eight homeless and runaway adolescents were interviewed directly on the streets and in shelters by outreach workers in youth services agencies. Levels of physical and sexual abuse within family of origin, participation in deviant subsistence strategies, and levels of victimization while on the streets are reported. Path analysis indicated that abusive family backgrounds had a positive direct effect on victimization of adolescents on the streets, and indirectly increased the likelihood of victimization by increasing the amount of time at risk, deviant peer associations, and risky behaviors.
The power of goal internalization: studying psychological empowerment in a Venezuelan plant

This study, based in a manufacturing plant in Venezuela, examines the relationship between perceived task characteristics, psychological empowerment and commitment, using a questionnaire survey of 313 employees. The objective of the study was to assess the effects of an organizational intervention at the plant aimed at increasing productivity by providing performance feedback on key aspects of its daily operations. It was hypothesized that perceived characteristics of the task environment, such as task meaningfulness and task feedback, will enhance psychological empowerment, which in turn will have a positive impact on employee commitment. Test of a structural model revealed that the relationship of task meaningfulness and task feedback with affective commitment was partially mediated by the empowerment dimensions of perceived control and goal internalization. The results highlight the role of goal internalization as a key mediating mechanism between job characteristics and affective commitment. The study also validates a Spanish-language version of the psychological empowerment scale by Menon (2001).
Clitic Doubling, Reflexives, and Word Order Alternations in Yagua

Complementary distribution between SVO and clitic-VSO word orders in Yagua receives a natural explanation from independent principles of Case and X'-theories of the Principles-and-Parameters theory of grammar. Word-order variation in Yagua results from the fact that both clitics and arguments compete for a single Case. This conflict is resolved by moving the head of the phrase to the phrase-internal AGR[eement] position and allowing the clitic to acquire morphological visibility via incorporation into the head. Independent justification for this analysis is adduced from reflexives: all and only those arguments whose heads raise to AGR (subject, genitive, and oblique, but not direct objects) may serve as antecedents for reflexive clitics. This is explained if we require that the indices of the head, AGR, and the argument be connected. This analysis sheds new light on phrase structure, Case theory, and clitics in Universal Grammar. *
The Sibling Resource Dilution Theory: An Analysis

ABSTRACT In this study, I examined relationships between sibling variables and children's family educational resources at different levels of family social status and children's intellectual ability. Data were collected from 900 eleven-year-old Australian children (450 boys, 450 girls) and their parents. Relationships among the variables were examined by plotting regression surfaces generated from models that included terms to test for possible linear, interaction, and curvilinear associations. Although results from some of the regression models provided tentative support for the sibling resource dilution theory, overall results suggest that acceptance of the theory must be treated with some caution. In general, the analysis indicated the possible complexity of relationships between sibling variables and family educational resources.
Defective in Vitro Granulopoiesis in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) frequently suffer from a mild degree of anemia and from moderate leukopenia on top of their undernourished state and metabolic disarrangements. To evaluate in vitro granulopoiesis and its relationship to cytokine production and undernutrition, we have studied 10 adolescent girls with moderate AN (age range, 13.5-18.0). Study methods included assessment of peripheral blood (PB) granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells (GM-CFC) of the patients and age-matched controls, and determination of plasma and conditioned medium (CM) of mononuclear cells levels of IL-1, IL-3, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor(GM-CSF) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), all of which may play a role in GM-CFC growth regulation. GM-CFC numbers were significantly lower in AN patients compared with the normal controls (13.09 ± 11.15versus 39.33 ± 26.61 colonies/5 × 105 cells,p < 0.01). No inhibitory effect was found in either plasma or CM of patients with AN. However, when CM were applied to non-recombinant human GM-CSF-stimulated normal bone marrow GM-CFC targets, the number of colonies stimulated by the CM of patients with AN was significantly lower than those stimulated by the CM of the controls (73.5 ± 20.1 versus 113.0 ± 11.6, p < 0.025). GM-CSF concentrations in CM were significantly lower in patients with AN compared with normal controls, but no such differences were found in IL-1, IL-3, IL-6, or TNF concentrations. These results indicate defective in vitro granulopoiesis in AN patients, manifested by a reduction of both GM-CFC and GM-CSF. It has to be determined whether these changes are the result of the basic disease process or are they due to malnutrition.
Inversion Improves the Recognition of Facial Expression in Thatcherized Images

The Thatcher illusion provides a compelling example of the face inversion effect. However, the marked effect of inversion in the Thatcher illusion contrasts to other studies that report only a small effect of inversion on the recognition of facial expressions. To address this discrepancy, we compared the effects of inversion and thatcherization on the recognition of facial expressions. We found that inversion of normal faces caused only a small reduction in the recognition of facial expressions. In contrast, local inversion of facial features in upright thatcherized faces resulted in a much larger reduction in the recognition of facial expressions. Paradoxically, inversion of thatcherized faces caused a relative increase in the recognition of facial expressions. Together, these results suggest that different processes explain the effects of inversion on the recognition of facial expressions and on the perception of the Thatcher illusion. The grotesque perception of thatcherized images is based on a more orientation-sensitive representation of the face. In contrast, the recognition of facial expression is dependent on a more orientation-insensitive representation. A similar pattern of results was evident when only the mouth or eye region was visible. These findings demonstrate that a key component of the Thatcher illusion is to be found in orientation-specific encoding of the features of the face.
Toward enabling broadband for a billion plus population with TV white spaces

One of the major impediments to providing broadband connectivity in semi-urban and rural India is the lack of robust and affordable backhaul. Fiber connectivity in terms of backhaul that is being planned (or provided) by the Government of India would reach only up to the rural offices (called Gram Panchayat) in Indian villages. In this exposition, we articulate how TV white space can address the challenge in providing broadband connectivity to a billion plus population within India. The villages can form local Wi-Fi clusters. The problem of connecting the Wi-Fi clusters to the optical fiber points can be addressed using a TV white space based backhaul (middle mile) network. The amount of TV white space present in India is very large when compared to the developed world. Therefore, we discuss a backhaul architecture for rural India that utilizes TV white spaces. We also present results from our TV white space testbed that support the effectiveness of backhaul by using TV white spaces. Our testbed provides a broadband access network to rural populations in seven villages. The testbed is deployed over an area of 25 km2, and extends seamless broadband connectivity from optical fiber locations or Internet gateways to remote (difficult to connect) rural regions. We also discuss standards and TV white space regulations, which are pertinent to the backhaul architecture mentioned above.
Image‐guided navigation of single‐element focused ultrasound transducer

The spatial specificity and controllability of focused ultrasound (FUS), in addition to its ability to modify the excitability of neural tissue, allows for the selective and reversible neuromodulation of the brain function, with great potential in neurotherapeutics. Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance has limitations due to its complicated examination logistics, such as fixation through skull screws to mount the stereotactic frame, simultaneous sonication in the MRI environment, and restrictions in choosing MR‐compatible materials. To overcome these limitations, an image‐guidance system based on optical tracking and preoperative imaging data is developed, separating the imaging acquisition for guidance and sonication procedure for treatment. Techniques to define the local coordinates of the focal point of sonication are presented. First, mechanical calibration detects the concentric rotational motion of a rigid‐body optical tracker, attached to a straight rod mimicking the sonication path, pivoted at the virtual FUS focus. The spatial error presented in the mechanical calibration was compensated further by MRI‐based calibration, which estimates the spatial offset between the navigated focal point and the ground‐truth location of the sonication focus obtained from a temperature‐sensitive MR sequence. MRI‐based calibration offered a significant decrease in spatial errors (1.9 ± 0.8 mm; 57% reduction) compared to the mechanical calibration method alone (4.4 ± 0.9 mm). Using the presented method, pulse‐mode FUS was applied to the motor area of the rat brain, and successfully stimulated the motor cortex. The presented techniques can be readily adapted for the transcranial application of FUS to intact human brain. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 22, 177–184, 2012