Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current Perspectives on the Identification and Assessment of Gifted Students

Contemporary thinking challenges the view that giftedness and high IQ are synonymous. Contemporary thinking also challenges the view that being gifted is something real. A number of authorities in the gifted field advocate a paradigm shift; moving away from emphasizing categorical definitions of giftedness and adopting a talent development perspective. This shift to a developmental perspective advocates that we consider giftedness as the unfolding and transforming of uncanny potential among young children into actual outstanding performance and accomplishments in adulthood. The early identification and ongoing assessment of individuals of uncommon ability takes on a more complex, nuanced, and rich perspective when viewed from a developmental model.
GPU-Aware Hybrid Terrain Rendering

: We present a hybrid GPU rendering pipeline for high-resolution textured terrain ﬁelds that reduces polygon throughput limitations on the GPU. This pipeline uses raster-ization and ray-casting in every frame simultaneously to determine eye ray/triangle intersections. It allows shifting workloads ﬂexibly between the triangle setup stage and the parallel execution units, depending on the GPU capacities. We employ a hierarchical tiling of the domain and generate for each tile an error-controlled adaptive tessellation of the terrain. In each rendering frame, for each tile the number of triangles representing this tile as well as the number of pixels covered by the tile are determined, and this information is used to select the fastest rendering method on the executing GPU. Compared to pure rasterization or ray-casting, performance gains of a factor between 2 and 4 are demonstrated for high-resolution ﬁelds.
Capitalism, Democracy, and Ecology: DEPARTING FROM MARX

The world that was revolutionized by industrialization is being remade by the information revolution. But this is mostly a revolution from above, increasingly shaped by a new class of technocrats, experts, and professionals in the service of corporate capitalism. Using Marx as a touchstone, Timothy W. Luke warns that if communities are not to be overwhelmed by new class economic and political agendas, then the practice of democracy must be reconstituted on a more populist basis. However, the galvanizing force for this new, more community-centred populism will not be the proletariat, as Marx predicted, nor contemporary militant patriotic groups. Rather, Luke argues that many groups unified by a concern for ecological justice present the strongest potential opposition to capitalism. Wide-ranging and lucid, "Capitalism, Democracy, and Ecology" is essential reading in the age of information.
Assessing burn severity and comparing soil water repellency, Hayman Fire, Colorado

An important element of evaluating a large wildfire is to assess its effects on the soil in order to predict the potential watershed response. After the 55 000 ha Hayman Fire on the Colorado Front Range, 24 soil and vegetation variables were measured to determine the key variables that could be used for a rapid field assessment of burn severity. The percentage of exposed mineral soil and litter cover proved to be the best predictors of burn severity in this environment. Two burn severity classifications, one from a statistical classification tree and the other a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) burn severity map, were compared with measured ‘ground truth’ burn severity at 183 plots and were 56% and 69% accurate, respectively.
Protein Mitotic Kinase in Human Cancer Cells Midbody-associatedOverexpression of the Aurora-and Ipl 1-like Multinuclearity and Increased Ploidy Caused by Updated

Auroraand Ipll-like midbody-associated protein \IM-li is a serine/ threonine kinase that is structurally related to Drosopliila aurora and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ipil, both of which are required for chromo some segregation. A kinase-negative form of AIM-1 inhibits the formation of cleavage furrow without affecting nuclear division, indicating that the gene controls entry into cytokinesis during M phase in mammalian cells. A human gene that encodes the protein AIM-1 was overexpressed in colorÃ©ela! and other tumor cell lines. The regulation of AIM-1 expression was cell cycle dependent in normal and tumor cells, and the maximum accumulation was observed at G2-M. Exogenous overexpression of wildtype AIM-1 produced multinuclearity in human cells, suggesting that the excess amount of AIM-1 had a dominant-negative effect on the overexpressing cells. In long-term culture of AIM-1-overexpressing cells, multi ple nuclei in a cell were occasionally fused, and then an increased ploidy and aneuploidy were induced. Thus, the overexpression of AIM-1 in colorectal tumor cell lines is thought to have a causal relationship with multinuclearity and increased ploidy. Cytokinesis error caused by AIM-1 overexpression is a major factor in the predisposition of tumor cells to the perturbation of chromosomal integrity that is commonly observed in human neoplasia. Thus, defects of pathways essential for mitotic regula tion are important during human cancer development.
Oxytocin in Pregnancy and the Postpartum: Relations to Labor and Its Management

The purpose of this study was to examine variations in endogenous oxytocin levels in pregnancy and postpartum state. We also explored the associations between delivery variables and oxytocin levels. A final sample of 272 mothers in their first trimester of pregnancy was included for the study. Blood samples were drawn during the first trimester and third trimester of pregnancy and at 8 weeks postpartum. Socio-demographic data were collected at each time point and medical files were consulted for delivery details. In most women, levels of circulating oxytocin increased from the first to third trimester of pregnancy followed by a decrease in the postpartum period. Oxytocin levels varied considerably between individuals, ranging from 50 pg/mL to over 2000 pg/mL. Parity was the main predictor of oxytocin levels in the third trimester of pregnancy and of oxytocin level changes from the first to the third trimester of pregnancy. Oxytocin levels in the third trimester of pregnancy predicted a self-reported negative labor experience and increased the chances of having an epidural. Intrapartum exogenous oxytocin was positively associated with levels of oxytocin during the postpartum period. Our exploratory results suggest that circulating oxytocin levels during the third trimester of pregnancy may predict the type of labor a woman will experience. More importantly, the quantity of intrapartum exogenous oxytocin administered during labor predicted plasma oxytocin levels 2 months postpartum, suggesting a possible long-term effect of this routine intervention, the consequences of which are largely unknown.
Pulmonic ingressive phones do not occur in Tsou

L'auteur vient contredire l'affirmation de Fuller (1990) selon laquelle la langue Tsou (langue austronesienne, Taiwan) comporte un ensemble de sons pulmoniques. Une analyse acoustique de la production phonetique de 14 locuteurs natifs de la ville de Pungun permet a l'auteur d'affirmer qu'aucun de ces locuteurs ne produit de tels sons dans son discours
Prevalence of Procrastination among Samples of Adults

At four public meetings, 122 women and 89 men (M age = 47.6 yr.) completed measures of Decisional, Avoidant, and Arousal Procrastination. About 20% of respondents (42 adults) claimed to be chronic procrastinators, with highest rates of all three procrastination types reported by members of the community (public) groups (n = 64) compared to professional (n = 54), business (n = 59), and educational (n = 34) employees. Respondents who had been married, i.e., separated, divorced, widowed, reported higher rates of procrastination (independent of number of children) than adults who were currently married or never married. Respondents with high-school education or less reported higher rates of decisional procrastination than individuals with college or postcollege educations.
IL-4 Therapy Prevents the Development of Proteinuria in Active Heymann Nephritis by Inhibition of Tc1 Cells1

The role of IL-4, a key Th2 cytokine, in promoting or inhibiting active Heymann nephritis (HN) was examined. HN is induced by immunization with Fx1A in CFA, and proteinuria in HN is associated with subepithelial IgG and C3 deposition and infiltration of CD8+ T-cytotoxic 1 (Tc1) cells and macrophages into glomeruli, as well as induction of Abs to Crry. Treatment with rIL-4 from the time of Fx1A/CFA immunization stimulated an earlier IgG1 response to Fx1A, induced anti-Crry Abs, and up-regulated IL-4 mRNA in lymphoid tissue, but did not alter proteinuria. Treatment with MRCOx-81, an IL-4-blocking mAb, resulted in greater proteinuria, which suggests endogenous IL-4 regulated the autoimmune response. Delay of rIL-4 treatment until 4 wk post-Fx1A/CFA immunization and just before the onset of proteinuria prevented the development of proteinuria and reduced Tc1 cell infiltrate in glomeruli. Delayed treatment with IL-4 had no effect on titer or isotype of Abs to Fx1A or on Ig, C3, and C9 accumulation in glomeruli. Treatment with rIL-13, a cytokine that alters macrophage function such as rIL-4, but has no direct effect on T or B cell function, reduced glomerular macrophage infiltrate, but did not prevent proteinuria or CD8+ T cell infiltrate. Anti-Crry Abs were paradoxically only induced with rIL-4 therapy, not in HN controls with proteinuria. It was concluded that the rIL-4 effect was probably by inhibition of Tc1 cells, which normally mediate the glomerular injury that results in proteinuria.
Synovial macrophage-osteoclast differentiation in inflammatory arthritis

Background: Pathological bone resorption (marginal erosions and juxta-articular osteoporosis) by osteoclasts commonly occurs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objectives: To define the nature of the mononuclear precursor cells from which osteoclasts are formed in inflamed synovial tissues and to determine the cellular and humoral factors which influence osteoclast differentiation. Method: Macrophage (CD14+), non-macrophage (CD14−), and unsorted (CD14+/CD14−) synovial cell populations from RA and inflammatory/non-inflammatory osteoarthritis (OA) synovium were cultured in the presence of receptor activator for nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) and monocyte-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF; in the presence/absence of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), interleukin 1β (IL1β), tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), and IL6). Osteoclast differentiation was assessed by expression of tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), vitronectin receptor (VNR), and lacunar resorption. Results: TRAP+ and VNR+ multinucleated cells capable of lacunar resorption were only formed in cultures of CD14+-containing synovial cell populations (that is, CD14+ and CD14+/CD14− cells). No difference in the extent of osteoclast formation was noted in cultures of CD14+ cells isolated from RA, inflammatory OA, and non-inflammatory OA synovium. However, more TRAP+/VNR+ cells and more lacunar resorption was noted in CD14+/CD14− cells from RA and inflammatory OA synovial tissues. The addition of PGE2, IL1β, TNFα, and IL6 did not increase RANKL/M-CSF-induced osteoclast formation and lacunar resorption of both CD14+/CD14− and CD14+ synovial cell populations. Conclusions: Osteoclast precursors in synovial tissues are CD14+ monocyte/macrophages. The increase in osteoclast formation in cultures of CD14+/CD14− compared with CD14+ synovial cells in RA and inflammatory OA points to a role for CD14− cells in promoting osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption in inflamed synovial tissues by a mechanism which does not involve a direct effect of proinflammatory cytokines/prostaglandins on RANKL-induced macrophage-osteoclast differentiation.
Equivalence of MSE and MaxEnt as objective function of PCA

Compare to MSE as PCA objective function to minimize, MaxEnt can at least achieve the same performance. In this paper, the authors proved that the two objective functions are equivalence in the sense that they achieve the optimal points in the same direction of principal components. Referring to the dimensionality reduction for the DCI benchmarking dataset, numerical experiments illustrate the equivalence of the two objective functions.
Enhanced Aquaporin‐4 immunoreactivity in sporadic Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease

Aquaporin‐4 (AQP‐4) is a water channel protein located on the plasma membrane of astrocytes and is regulated under various conditions. In the present study, a series of brains with sporadic Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (sCJD) were investigated to determine the possible contribution of AQP‐4 in the development of sCJD pathology. Six cases of subacute spongiform encephalopathy (SSE) and four cases of panencephalopathic (PE)‐type sCJD were included. Increased AQP‐4 immunoreactivity compared to that in controls was observed in all sCJD patients, particularly in the cerebral neocortex and cerebellar cortex. AQP‐4 immunoreactivity was present in the cell bodies and processes of protoplasmic astrocytes in SSE and around cell bodies and processes of hypertrophic astrocytes in PE‐type sCJD. Analysis of serial sections showed the development of sCJD pathology, particularly in neocortical lesions, as follows: PrP deposition; spongiform change and gliosis; enhanced staining for AQP‐4; hypertrophic astrocytosis; and neuronal loss and tissue rarefaction. Strong AQP‐4 immunoreactivity was present in burnt‐out lesions such as those of status spongiosus. These results indicate that increased AQP‐4 expression in sCJD is an early pathologic event and appears to remain until the late disease stage. We suggest that increased expression of AQP‐4 is a pathologic feature of sCJD.
Contagion, coordination and communities: Diffusion of innovations on social networks with modular organization

Most social networks exhibit the meso-scale feature of modular organization, i.e., occurrence of communities whose members are more likely to be connected to each other than to members of other communities. In this paper, we look at how the existence of modules in the contact structure of a population affects its adoption of an innovation that is characterized by a given perceived advantage. For this we consider both theoretical models of modular networks as well as the empirical social network of a village in Karnataka. We first use a network generalization of the well-known Bass model of diffusion, which is a variant of the SI compartmental model of contagion propagation, on the empirical network and on an ensemble of degree-preserved randomized surrogates. By comparing the dynamics of the diffusion process in these networks, we see that the modular organization reduces the speed of adoption in the population. However, as there are limitations of the diffusion model, we have also considered an alternative dynamical process based on spin-spin interaction that is inspired by statistical physics. Here, individuals try to coordinate their action with that of neighbors on the contact network, while having randomly distributed thresholds (that measures their inrinsic resistance to adoption). By varying the external field, which is a measure of the perceived advantage of the innovation we observe transitions of the population to a state of complete adoption. While the model network with community organization shows that the occurrence of modularity increases the critical value of perceived advantage at which the transition happens, surprisingly we see that in the empirical network the process of adoption can occur faster than in the corresponding degree-preserved randomized surrogate. We show that by reducing the inter-modular connectivity of the empirical network, the process can indeed be made slower than the corresponding randomized networks. Our results underline the critical importance of modular organization in social networks in affecting the process of adoption of innovation in society.
Persistent Path Homology of Directed Networks

While standard persistent homology has been successful in extracting information from metric datasets, its applicability to more general data, e.g. directed networks, is hindered by its natural insensitivity to asymmetry. We extend a construction of homology of digraphs due to Grigoryan, Lin, Muranov and Yau to the persistent framework. The result, which we call persistent path homology or PPH, encodes a rich level of detail about the asymmetric structure of the input directed network. For example, we prove that PPH identifies a class of directed cyclic networks as directed analogues of the circle. In general, PPH produces signatures that differ from natural extensions of Rips or Cech persistence to the directed setting, but we prove that PPH agrees with Cech persistence on symmetric spaces. Additionally, we prove that PPH agrees with Cech persistence on directed networks satisfying a local condition that we call square-freeness. We prove stability of PPH by utilizing a separate theory of homotopy of digraphs that is compatible with path homology. Finally, we study computational aspects of PPH, and derive an algorithm showing that over field coefficients, computing PPH requires the same worst case running time as standard persistent homology.
The genetic basis of evolution, adaptation and speciation

A primary question in biology concerns the genetic basis of the evolution of novel traits, often in response to environmental changes, and how this can subsequently cause species isolation. This topic was the focus of the symposium on the Genetics of Speciation and Evolution at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, held in Banff in May 2011. The presentations revealed some of the rapid advances being made in understanding the genetic basis of adaptation and speciation, as well as the elegant interplay between an organism’s genetic complement and the environment that organism experiences.
Cognitive‐behavioral features of children with Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome: Preliminary report of 12 cases

As a subset of genetic abnormalities, subtelomeric deletions have been found in 7–10% of individuals with mental retardation (MR). One subtelomeric deletion, Wolf‐Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS), causes mild to severe MR, but the cognitive‐behavioral features of individuals with WHS have not been studied systematically. To that end, we administered a comprehensive cognitive‐behavioral battery to 12 children with WHS, ages 4–17 years, who also had some expressive language. Using the Stanford‐Binet (4th Edition), we found cognitive deficits ranged from mild to severe, with mean IQ = 44.1. Interviewing parents with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, we found mean adaptive behavior score (DQ) = 37.3, with females exhibiting slightly higher scores than males. Cognitive profiles indicated relative strengths in Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning. Adaptive behavior profiles noted significant relative strengths in the Socialization Domain. These cognitive‐behavioral profiles differed from children with other subtelomeric deletion syndromes, 2q37 or 8p23. Attention deficits and hyperactivity (ADHD) were observed in 7/12 (58%) of the children we tested. One child attained a score on the Child Autism Rating Scale (CARS) suggestive of mild autism. We conclude that different genetic disorders, which cause MR, produce diverse cognitive‐behavioral profiles. Consequently, cognitive‐behavioral profiles of children with MR need to be assessed more comprehensively. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ThumbnailDJ: Visual Thumbnails of Music Content

Musical perception is non-visual and people cannot describe what a song sounds like without listening to it. To facilitate music browsing and searching, we explore the automatic generation of visual thumbnails for music. Targeting an expert user groups, DJs, we developed a concept named ThumbnailDJ: Based on a metaphor of music notation, a visual thumbnail can be automatically generated for an audio file, including information of tempo, volume, genre, aggressiveness and bass. We discussed ThumbnailDJ and other 3 selected concepts with DJs, and our concept was preferred most. Based on the results of this interview, we refined ThumbnailDJ and conducted an evaluation with DJs. The results confirmed that ThumbnailDJ can facilitate expert users browsing and searching within their music collection.
Perceptions of Racism in Hurricane Katrina: A Liberation Psychology Analysis

Poll data showed that African Americans perceived more racism in the response to Hurricane Katrina than did White Americans. In this article, we consider claims about racism in Katrina-related events in light of (a) our program of experimental research on group differences in perception of racism and (b) the meta-theoretical perspective of Liberation Psychology (LP). First, this analysis suggests that White Americans may perceive less racism in the Katrina disaster because they are less likely than African Americans to know about historically documented acts of past racism (e.g., following the Mississippi flood of 1927). Second, group differences may arise because African Americans and White Americans face divergent motivations regarding perception of racism. Whereas African Americans may have motivations to be vigilant for the possibility of racism, White Americans may be motivated to deny racism because it constitutes a threat to social identity and to the legitimacy of the status quo.
Wearable human lower limb prototype exoskeleton: An operative approach

This paper presents a functional wearable prototype exoskeleton with partial automation of a human lower limb exoskeleton for torque estimation and position control of the three main joints: hip, knee and ankle. To obtain information of the angular position in which each limb is placed, several Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors allow accurate data due to the use of a sensor fusion algorithm. An arrange of programmable microcontrollers and DC motors are used in the experimental prototype to generate the reference signals and control the angular position of each joint. In particular, a Network Control System (NCS) is developed and implemented as a dedicated Network using a Controller Area Network (CAN) physical Layer according to the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model. Electronic interface modules were designed and implemented as well, in order to enable the Network Control System to transmit data. In this work, we used one degree of freedom for hip and ankle joints to simplify and mimic the pace when walking straight forward. PID controllers were tuned up for hip, knee and ankle movements, i.e., flexion and extension for hip and knee joints, dorsiflexion and plantarflexion for ankle joint. Experimental results showed good tracking and regulation behavior and good fidelity measure was obtained.
The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources: A Five-Year Review

how the exercise of jurisdiction, extraterritorial and territorial, may bring States into conflict and the legal procedures for solving such conflicts. examines the shift from equality and reciprocity to uni- lateral concessions and a system of preferences in the changing mechanisms of the GATT, and McDade analyses the structure of international commodity agreements before and after the collapse of the International Tin Council. and East perspectives, this offers a stimulating up-to-date view of international economic law to all students of international law and international economic relations.