Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toward improving female retention in the computer science major

Evidence that women’s success in computer science varies over time was provided in an article by Camp that appeared in Communications in 1997 [2]. In this article, Camp documented the rise and fall in the female proportion of computer science Bachelor’s degrees between 1981 and 1994. Camp also noted that this variation was affected by the type of college (engineering/nonengineering) in which a CS department was located. Figure 1 expands Camp’s timeframe to the most recent available data and reconfirms that women’s proportion of CS Bachelor’s degrees waxes and wanes. As Figure 1 shows, women comprised 14% of CS Bachelor’s degrees in the U.S. in 1971; this percentage rose to 37% by 1984, and then dropped 10 percentage points over the subsequent 13 years. These temporal changes in female representation are not statistical phantoms that can be easily explained away. In particular, they are not attributable to general trends in female educational attainment—women’s proportion of all Bachelor’s degrees rose steadily from 46% to 56% during this period. Furthermore, women’s proportion of non-CS scientific and technical disciplines also rose during this period [7]. The temporal changes in female representation were also not attributable to the effects of newly formed CS departments—a similar rising and
Vitamin C in dermatology

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant drug that can be used topically in dermatology to treat and prevent changes associated with photoageing. It can also be used for the treatment of hyperpigmentation. Because it is unstable and difficult to deliver into the dermis in the optimum dosage, research is being directed to find stable compounds of Vitamin C and newer methods of delivery of Vitamin C into the dermis.
The Role of Grammar in Second Language Lexical Processing

The role of grammatical knowledge in second language (L2) lexical processing is far from clear. Providing evidence from a recent introspective study, this paper seeks to demonstrate the significant contribution that such knowledge can make to inferring the meanings of unfamiliar words while reading, and to possible consequent acquisition of L2 vocabulary. The findings of the study point to the importance of learners’ knowledge of grammar in L2 lexical processing and L2 vocabulary acquisition process, and lends support to the intrinsic value of grammar instruction.
Face recognition rate using different classifier methods based on PCA

This paper describes the different classifier methods with minimum means of clusters to achieve face recognition rate of humans from the feature extracted of training face image data for many sets of images as a data base. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a robust method used as feature extraction techniques for face recognition but the recognition decreases with the variation of person's actions. The features extracted for face images are light insensitive, individual, hidden, and activity effective to biometric recognition. The face recognition treats as two dimensions recognition problems, the fact is to take the advantage of these human faces are straight pose in general may be represented as a small set of two dimension characteristics view. The training and testing face images are selected from Research Laboratory for Olivetti and Oracle (ORL) face database, which have minimum pose variation. Three classifier methods are used to obtain the distance of recognition. These classifiers are: the Euclidian distance method, the Squared Euclidian Distance method, and the City-Block Distance method. By Clustering the difference of training image with images set for each person and determined the mean to it, the minimum mean is representing the recognition of the person. The cluster method with Squared Euclidian Distance method produces higher a recognition rate 100% near the Euclidian Distance method which gives a human face recognition rate 98% higher than the City-Block Distance method which gives a recognition rate 95%.
Feedback within peer observation: continuing professional development and unexpected consequences

This article explores, via a case study of sustained developmental peer observation practice within the UK higher education sector, the hypothesis that feedback can play a role in facilitating continuing professional development (CPD). Despite the potentially evaluative and threatening nature of feedback, an unanticipated issue emerges – professional relationships can be strengthened, leading to the development of enhanced mutual trust and respect. The article highlights lessons for practice and ideas for further research.
Molecular insights into the OGG1 gene, a cancer risk modifier in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations carriers

We have recently shown that rs2304277 variant in the OGG1 glycosidase gene of the Base Excision Repair pathway can increase ovarian cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers. In the present study, we aimed to explore the role of this genetic variant on different genome instability hallmarks to explain its association with cancer risk. We have evaluated the effect of this polymorphism on OGG1 transcriptional regulation and its contribution to telomere shortening and DNA damage accumulation. For that, we have used a series of 89 BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, 74 BRCAX cases, 60 non-carrier controls and 23 lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) derived from BRCA1 mutation carriers and non-carriers. We have identified that this SNP is associated to a significant OGG1 transcriptional down regulation independently of the BRCA mutational status and that the variant may exert a synergistic effect together with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations on DNA damage and telomere shortening. These results suggest that this variant, could be associated to a higher cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers, due to an OGG1 transcriptional down regulation and its effect on genome instability.
The evolution of programs: a system for automatic program modification

A programmer spends more time modifying already existing programs than constructing original ones. An attempt is made to formulate techniques of program modification, whereby a program that achieves one result can be transformed into a new program that uses the same principles to achieve a different goal. For example, a program that uses the binary search paradigm to divide two numbers may be modified to calculate the square-root of a number in a similar manner.Program debugging is considered as a special case of modification if a program computers wrong results, it must be modified to achieve the intended results The application of abstract program schemata to concrete problems is also viewed from the perspective of modification techniques.We, have embedded this approach in a running implementation; our methods are illustrated with several examples that have been performed by it.
Finding a Princess in a Palace: a Pursuit-Evasion Problem

This paper solves a pursuit{evasion problem in which a prince must nd a princess who is constrained to move on each day from one vertex of a nite graph to another. Unlike the related and much studied 'Cops and Robbers Game', the prince has no knowledge of the position of the princess; he may, however, visit any single room he wishes on each day. We characterize the graphs for which the prince has a winning strategy, and determine, for each such graph, the minimum number of days the prince requires to guarantee to nd the princess.
Automatic Natural Video Matting with Depth

Video matting is the process of taking a sequence of frames, isolating the foreground, and replacing the background in each frame. We look at existing single-frame matting techniques and present a method that improves upon them by adding depth information acquired by a time-offlight range scanner. We use the depth information to automate the process so it can be practically used for video sequences. In addition, we show that we can improve the results from natural matting algorithms by adding a depth channel. The additional depth information allows us to reduce the artifacts that arise from ambiguities that occur when an object is a similar color to its background.
NCCloud: A Network-Coding-Based Storage System in a Cloud-of-Clouds

To provide fault tolerance for cloud storage, recent studies propose to stripe data across multiple cloud vendors. However, if a cloud suffers from a permanent failure and loses all its data, we need to repair the lost data with the help of the other surviving clouds to preserve data redundancy. We present a proxy-based storage system for fault-tolerant multiple-cloud storage called NCCloud, which achieves cost-effective repair for a permanent single-cloud failure. NCCloud is built on top of a network-coding-based storage scheme called the functional minimum-storage regenerating (FMSR) codes, which maintain the same fault tolerance and data redundancy as in traditional erasure codes (e.g., RAID-6), but use less repair traffic and, hence, incur less monetary cost due to data transfer. One key design feature of our FMSR codes is that we relax the encoding requirement of storage nodes during repair, while preserving the benefits of network coding in repair. We implement a proof-of-concept prototype of NCCloud and deploy it atop both local and commercial clouds. We validate that FMSR codes provide significant monetary cost savings in repair over RAID-6 codes, while having comparable response time performance in normal cloud storage operations such as upload/download.
Quantitative Changes in the Capillary Bed during Developing, Peak, and Stabilized Cardiac Hypertrophy in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat

We studied the effects of developing, peak, and stabilized cardiac hypertrophy on the capillary bed of spontaneously hypertensive rats; Wistar-Kyoto rats served as controls. Histological measurements were based on 1.5-/xm cross-sections of left ventricular specimens from perfuse-fixed hearts arrested in diastole. The decline in capillary density, in general, paralleled the decrease in capillary surface area which was lowest at peak hypertrophy (7 months) in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Between 7 and 15 months cardiocyte diameter remained constant and capillary density increased to Wistar-Kyoto rat values. Radioautographic data showed that in 12-month-old spontaneously hypertensive rats, 3H-thymidine labeling of capillary nuclei was more than 2-fold higher than in Wistar-Kyoto rats. Mean capillary diameter increased in both spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats between 1 and 2.5 months, but remained constant thereafter. Whereas multiple regression analysis showed that capillary density is the major determinant of capillary surface area, significant changes were detected earlier in capillary surface area than in capillary density. Although peak cardiac hypertrophy affected a 12.5% capillary density decrement in spontaneously hypertensive rats, capillary surface area was 24% lower than in Wistar-Kyoto rats. This substantial decrease in capillary surface area was associated with only a 1.1-jU.m decrease in minimal intercapillary distance. Since mean capillary diameter was similar in the two strains, it is suggested that the drop in capillary surface area during peak hypertrophy was due to a relative decrease in anastomotic and branching capillaries, as well as the decline in capillary density. These data provide morphological evidence that: (1) whereas capillary density is, in general, a good predictor of capillary surface area, the latter is a more sensitive measure of capillarity than the former; (2) the decrement in capillary supply to a cardiocyte during peak, but moderate, hypertrophy is probably substantially greater than that estimated by capillary density; and (3) capillary growth during stabilized hypertrophy is sufficient to reverse the decrements in capillary surface area, capillary density and the increase in minimal intercapillary distance.
Relation of Academic Support From Parents, Teachers, and Peers to Hong Kong Adolescents' Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Academic Engagement

The author tested a model hypothesizing that students' self-perceived academic support (from parents, teachers, and peers) is related to their achievement directly and indirectly through their own perceived academic engagement. The participants were 270 adolescents (M age = 15.41 years, range = 14-20 years) from 3 grade levels (Forms 3-5, equivalent to Grades 9-11 in the United States) in a Hong Kong secondary school. The school principal and teachers helped to collect data based on these adolescents' responses to a self-report questionnaire, consisting of a demographic profile and 4 scales assessing their self-perceptions of the extent of parental, teacher, and peer support, and their own academic engagement. Academic achievement was measured by self-reported grades in math, English, and Chinese. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that adolescents' perceived parental, teacher, and peer support were all indirectly related to their academic achievement mediated by their own perceived academic engagement. The strength of the relationships, however, varied by support system, with perceived teacher support to achievement being the strongest, followed closely by perceived parental support, and then perceived peer support. In addition, both perceived parental support and perceived teacher support were directly related to academic achievement. However, perceived teacher support made the most total (direct and indirect) contribution to student achievement. Perceived peer support had the smallest, nonetheless significant, indirect relationship to academic achievement. However, the negative, direct influence of perceived peer support canceled out its positive, indirect influence on academic achievement.
Tracking With a High-Resolution 2D Spectral Estimation Based Automotive Radar

This paper concerns the tracking of automotive radar targets by a radar using a high-resolution 2D spectral estimator in order to detect the radar targets. We show how to implement the tracking, discuss the measurement variances, and show how we can exploit the high resolution in order to make a better tracking filter. Existing automotive radar systems are affected by a limited field of view, poor angular accuracy, or low measurement update rate. By using a combination of a waveform solving, the target ambiguity problem within a short measurement time and a conformal array design, we eliminate these problems and by the use of the 2D APES estimator, we achieve a high angular resolution, which is used in order to improve the tracking. The simulation results show that we are able to track a laterally moving vehicle very accurately and that the new improved tracking filter achieves more robust and accurate tracking along with a short initialization time. These attributes can be very important for safety critical applications.
Cognitive tinnitus sensitization: Behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of tinnitus centralization

Objective Acquired centralized tinnitus (ACT) is the most frequent type of chronic tinnitus. We introduce a cognitive neurophysiological ACT hypothesis based on centralized cognitive sensitization processes. Material and Methods Published cognitive sensitization processes were reviewed using PubMed. Furthermore, a Cochrane analysis was performed. Results Patients frequently perceive tinnitus as being extremely loud although audiological tinnitus-matching measures reveal that its loudness levels are low. An important principle of central tinnitus processing is that individual tinnitus appraisal is directly linked to neuronal networks in the brain responsible for the production of emotions and cognitions. Cognitive processes may be associated with a reduction in the tinnitus cognition threshold, resulting in hypersensitivity of cognition. The underlying mechanism is known as sensitization and is suggested to be a specific learning process. Conclusions ACT may be associated with a specific learning process allowing increased tinnitus awareness and continuous appraisal. The underlying mechanism, the cognitive tinnitus sensitization process, is associated with a decrease in the tinnitus cognition threshold. The sensitization contributes to the extremely loud cognition of the tinnitus signal. The associated audiological cognitive discrepancy can be used clinically and diagnostically to identify patients for cognitive testing. The sensitization model does not require tinnitus hyperactivity.
F9 Fimbriae of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Are Expressed at Low Temperature and Recognise Galβ1-3GlcNAc-Containing Glycans

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the leading causative agent of urinary tract infections (UTI) in the developed world. Among the major virulence factors of UPEC, surface expressed adhesins mediate attachment and tissue tropism. UPEC strains typically possess a range of adhesins, with type 1 fimbriae and P fimbriae of the chaperone-usher class the best characterised. We previously identified and characterised F9 as a new chaperone-usher fimbrial type that mediates biofilm formation. However, the regulation and specific role of F9 fimbriae remained to be determined in the context of wild-type clinical UPEC strains. In this study we have assessed the distribution and genetic context of the f9 operon among diverse E. coli lineages and pathotypes and demonstrated that f9 genes are significantly more conserved in a UPEC strain collection in comparison to the well-defined E. coli reference (ECOR) collection. In the prototypic UPEC strain CFT073, the global regulator protein H-NS was identified as a transcriptional repressor of f9 gene expression at 37°C through its ability to bind directly to the f9 promoter region. F9 fimbriae expression was demonstrated at 20°C, representing the first evidence of functional F9 fimbriae expression by wild-type E. coli. Finally, glycan array analysis demonstrated that F9 fimbriae recognise and bind to terminal Galβ1-3GlcNAc structures.
Exposure assessment of trichloroethylene.

This article reviews exposure information available for trichloroethylene (TCE) and assesses the magnitude of human exposure. The primary sources releasing TCE into the environment are metal cleaning and degreasing operations. Releases occur into all media but mostly into the air due to its volatility. It is also moderately soluble in water and can leach from soils into groundwater. TCE has commonly been found in ambient air, surface water, and groundwaters. The 1998 air levels in microg/m(3) across 115 monitors can be summarized as follows: range = 0.01-3.9, mean = 0.88. A California survey of large water utilities in 1984 found a median concentration of 3.0 microg/L. General population exposure to TCE occurs primarily by inhalation and water ingestion. Typical average daily intakes have been estimated as 11-33 microg/day for inhalation and 2-20 microg/day for ingestion. A small portion of the population is expected to have elevated exposures as a result of one or more of these pathways: inhalation exposures to workers involved in degreasing operations, ingestion and inhalation exposures occurring in homes with private wells located near disposal/contamination sites, and inhalation exposures to consumers using TCE products in areas of poor ventilation. More current and more extensive data on TCE levels in indoor air, water, and soil are needed to better characterize the distribution of background exposures in the general population and elevated exposures in special subpopulations. ImagesFigure 1
Olfactory Memories, Olfactory Imagery and Their Influence on Behavior

Our sense of smell is the least studied of our somatic senses. The idea that humans possess olfactory imagery is still a very controversial topic, and scientists continue to research limbic brain structures to determine where and how we store and retrieve olfactory memories. Despite considerable anecdotal evidence that odorants affect human emotional states and behavior, science has been slow to undertake studies in this area. However, a growing body of evidence empirically indicates that odorants do indeed affect our behavior, from our ability to tolerate pain to our preference in choosing a mate. hippocampal damage and found that his subjects had an inability to recollect somatic sensations involved in autobiographical memory. His work with brain imaging demonstrates that the amygdala and right inferior frontal gyrus are also extremely active in subjects asked to recall the olfactory, visual and auditory components of autobiographical memories. He believes his research will eventually be helpful in the treatment of patients with panic disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, where somatic memories, including smell, are often incomplete or confused.
A Unified Approach to Energy-Efficient Power Control in Large CDMA Systems

A unified approach to energy-efficient power control is proposed for code-division multiple access (CDMA) networks. The approach is applicable to a large family of multiuser receivers including the matched filter, the decorrelator, the linear minimum mean-square error (MMSE) receiver, and the (nonlinear) optimal detectors. It exploits the linear relationship that has been shown to exist between the transmit power and the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SIR) in the large-system limit. It is shown that, for this family of receivers, when users seek to selfishly maximize their own energy efficiency, the Nash equilibrium is SIR-balanced. In addition, a unified power control (UPC) algorithm for reaching the Nash equilibrium is proposed. The algorithm adjusts the user's transmit powers by iteratively computing the large-system multiuser efficiency, which is independent of instantaneous spreading sequences. The convergence of the algorithm is proved for the matched filter, the decorrelator, and the MMSE receiver, and is demonstrated by means of simulation for an optimal detector. Moreover, the performance of the algorithm in finite-size systems is studied and compared with that of a conventional power control scheme, in which user powers depend on the instantaneous spreading sequences.
Identification of Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Proteins in Arabidopsis. A Proteomic and Genomic Analysis1

In a recent bioinformatic analysis, we predicted the presence of multiple families of cell surface glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins (GAPs) in Arabidopsis (G.H.H. Borner, D.J. Sherrier, T.J. Stevens, I.T. Arkin, P. Dupree [2002] Plant Physiol 129: 486-499). A number of publications have since demonstrated the importance of predicted GAPs in diverse physiological processes including root development, cell wall integrity, and adhesion. However, direct experimental evidence for their GPI anchoring is mostly lacking. Here, we present the first, to our knowledge, large-scale proteomic identification of plant GAPs. Triton X-114 phase partitioning and sensitivity to phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C were used to prepare GAP-rich fractions from Arabidopsis callus cells. Two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis and one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis demonstrated the existence of a large number of phospholipase C-sensitive Arabidopsis proteins. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, 30 GAPs were identified, including six β-1,3 glucanases, five phytocyanins, four fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins, four receptor-like proteins, two Hedgehog-interacting-like proteins, two putative glycerophosphodiesterases, a lipid transfer-like protein, a COBRA-like protein, SKU5, and SKS1. These results validate our previous bioinformatic analysis of the Arabidopsis protein database. Using the confirmed GAPs from the proteomic analysis to train the search algorithm, as well as improved genomic annotation, an updated in silico screen yielded 64 new candidates, raising the total to 248 predicted GAPs in Arabidopsis.