Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of dead time and semiconductor device voltage drops of output voltage of multilevel converters

This paper presents the results of a study of the effect of dead time and finite semiconductor device voltage drops on the output voltage of three-level neutral point clamped power converters. Results showed that finite voltage drops and dead time caused a DC voltage shift, and lowered the base harmonic amplitude of output voltage. These effects were analysed and the results confirmed via simulation models. Voltage drops effect was confirmed using Ansys Simplorer, while the dead time effect was confirmed using Matlab. The results showed that the output voltage of the three-level neutral point clamped converters was dependant on the listed parameters. A method is proposed to suppress the negative effects these parameters have on converter voltage.
Parents’ perspectives on child care quality and satisfaction in Taiwan

Parents are important stakeholders when demanding quality child care services, and it is necessary to take parents’ perspectives on child care quality seriously. The purpose of this study was to investigate Taiwanese parents’ perceptions regarding the importance of quality, and satisfaction with preschools based on participants’ demographic characteristics, child’s ages, and types of schools. Convenience sampling was utilized in this study. Data were collected from 810 participants with at least one three- to five-year-old child enrolled in one of 20 preschools in Taiwan. The instrument identified parental perceptions of quality and satisfaction with child care programs were categorized into seven domains: Program Characteristics, Teacher Characteristics, Interactions, Curriculum, Safety and Health, Physical Environment, and Evaluation. Health and safety issues tended to be more important in determining parental ratings for quality and satisfaction when children were enrolled preschool programs. There were no significant differences on parental ratings of the importance of quality among parental demographic characteristics and child’s ages, and only significant difference by children’s types of schools. Overall, results showed parents were satisfied with their current preschool programs. The findings have implications for parents, practitioners, and policy makers; for example, parents’ education; Parent-Teacher partnerships; and effective communication for teacher-parent interactions. Recommendations for future research were addressed.
The Impact of a Flexible Assessment System on Students' Motivation, Performance and Attitude

We examine a flexible assessment system that allows students to determine the weights allocated to each course component and to re-allocate the weights in response to achieved scores. The flexibility is intended to encourage students’ participation in the learning process, thereby promoting self-regulated learning skills. We compare this assessment system to a traditional system and to another system, in which the students may choose their own weights but cannot change them later in the term. We examine the impact on students’ motivation as measured by the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), as well as the impact on grades and students’ attitudes. Our results indicate little improvement in motivation, grades or attitudes when students design and commit to their grading plans early in the term. However, the more flexible system, which allows for re-allocation, appears to improve students’ grades, self-reported motivation and attitudes.
L’intervention auprès d’adolescents : un lieu favorable au développement de la prévention primaire

Suggerant des approches nouvelles dans la pratique du service social aupres d'adolescents, l'auteure nous presente les principes theoriques de l'entraide, formule qu'elle privilegie aupres des jeunes ; elle fait aussi etat d'une recherche quebecoise qui a encadre deux experiences simultanees de cette nature aupres d'adolescents en milieu scolaire.
¿Es posible desarrollarse en torno al café orgánico? Las perspectivas de un negocio local-global en comunidades Mayas*

The article analyzes the new challenges facing organic-coffee producers in the current scenario of global trade, taking into account efficient mechanisms of commercial hegemony that have characterized the balance of power in the region for the last two centuries. In this sense, it analyzes local initiatives that promote, with relative success, more equitable productive schemes aimed at achieving fair and differentiated trade. The objective is to understand the operability of the global business, to help establish the bases for fairer and more efficient productive schemes.
Decycling sets in certain cartesian product graphs with one factor complete

A decycling set in a graph G is a set D of vertices such that G − D is acyclic. The decycling number of G, φ(G), is the cardinality of a smallest decycling set in G. We obtain sharp bounds on the value of the cartesian product φ(G Kr) when r ≥ 3 and prove that when G belongs to one of several well-known families of graphs, including bipartite graphs and graphs of maximum degree 3, then φ(G K3) = n+φ(G) and φ(G Kr) = n(r− 2) for r ≥ 4, where n is the order of G. We prove also that every cubic graph G 6= K4 contains an independent decycling set.
Examining Major Rankings According to the Berlin Principles

While the ranking of higher education institutions (HEIs) has become more and more popular, there are increasing concerns about the quality of such ranking. In response to such legitimate expectations, in May 2006, the International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) developed and endorsed a guideline document – the Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions (hereafter called the Berlin Principles), which consist of sixteen descriptive and prescriptive principles for ranking covering four aspects: the purpose and goal of ranking; the design and weighting of indicators; the collection and processing of data; and the presentation of ranking results. The purpose of this paper is to examine selected HEIs rankings according to the Berlin Principles as well as to propose concrete ‘Fourteen Criteria’ which, if followed, could enhance the quality of ranking. 1. The authors would like to acknowledge that research for this paper was partly supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (Gr.
The Feasibility and Effectiveness of Computer-Guided CBT (FearFighter) in a Rural Area

Evaluations of computer-guided CBT (CCBT) suggest that this is a promising approach to closing the gap between the demand for, and the supply of, CBT. However, additional studies are required that are conducted by researchers independent of the programme developers, and include a wider range of participants. This independent study examined the viability of CCBT for panic and phobic anxiety in an unselected sample of referrals in remote and rural areas of Scotland. Outcome was assessed by a wide range of outcome measures, completed before and after treatment, and at 4-month follow-up. Participants experienced few difficulties in using the programme, and GPs and participants regarded CCBT as acceptable and useful. Major improvements were obtained, with several large effect sizes, which remained at follow-up. It was concluded that computer-guided CBT can play a useful part in delivering CBT services in rural areas; and that self-help CBT may be the only treatment option available to some sufferers.
Automatically Acquiring Rules for Event Correlation from Event Logs

A single fault in a complex network can generate a cascade of events, potentially overloading a manager''s console with information. One way to reduce the number of events is event correlation, a process that groups several related events into a single composite event. We have developed Multi-Event Dependency Detection (MEDD), an algorithm that automatically constructs event correlation rules. MEDD is a prototype for a component of NASA''s EOSDIS Core System. The algorithm efficiently searches the space of possible dependencies between events and selects the most useful rules. Preliminary results indicate that MEDD identifies useful rules for event correlation, and could reduce the information burden on network managers. This research was supported by DARPA under contract F30602-91-C-0076 and DoD Fellowship F30602-93-C-0100.
An example of geometric origami design with benefit of graph enumeration algorithms

This article is concerned with an example of complex planar geometry arising from flat origami challenges. The complexity of solution algorithms is illustrated, depending on the depth of the initial analysis of the problem, starting from brute force enumeration, up to the equivalence to a dedicated problem in graph theory. This leads to algorithms starting from an untractable case on modern computers, up to a run of few seconds on a portable personal computer. This emphasizes the need for a prior analysis by humans before considering the assistance of computers for complex design problems. The graph problem is an enumeration of spanning trees from a grid graph, leading to a coarse scale description of the topology of the paper edge on the flat-folded state.
Osteosarcoma: ESMO clinical recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

Before biopsy, the entire affected bone should be evaluated radiologically. Pulmonary metastases should be evaluated by computed tomography scan and bone metastases should be ruled out by bone scintigraphy. Routine hematology with blood chemistry must include renal function (creatinine and glomerular filtration rate), electrolytes including magnesium, transaminases, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). If preoperative chemotherapy is given, evaluation of the primary tumor with all modalities should be repeated before surgery. Sperm banking should be considered. Staging is most commonly done by the Enneking system which is on the basis of malignancy grade, extension through the bone surface and the presence of detectable metastases. Approximately 70% are in stage IIB (high-grade tumor extending into the adjacent soft tissue, but without detectable metastases). Adverse prognostic factors include detectable metastases at diagnosis, age >40, nonextremity localization, large tumor volume, elevated serum ALP or LDH and a poor histological response to preoperative chemotherapy [III, B]. So far, differentiation of therapy on the basis of risk factors has not been successful [III, B].
Effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide on prolactin secretion in three species of passerine birds.

Previous work on domesticated species has indicated that vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is an important prolactin-releasing factor in these birds, but no comparative work in passerine birds has been reported. This study showed that iv injections of VIP (50-100 microg/kg body mass) result in a dramatic, but transitory, rise in plasma prolactin in Mexican jays (Aphelocoma ultramarina). Significant increases in prolactin were also observed following VIP injection in blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) and zebra finches (Poephilla guttata). At the dosage we used, maximum levels of prolactin attained were slightly lower (Mexican jays) or very similar (blue jay and zebra finch) to the maximum prolactin levels observed in other, breeding birds of the same species. In zebra finches that initially had low prolactin, VIP injection resulted in a greater than 10-fold increase in prolactin within 10 min, but those individuals that already had elevated prolactin showed no further increase in response to VIP. Slow-release pellets of VIP implanted subcutaneously in Mexican jays and releasing 10 or 15 microg VIP/day (two or three pellets) produced a significant increase in plasma prolactin (78 and 92% rise, respectively) compared to birds with placebo pellets or with with one pellet releasing only 5 microg/day.
Weakly Supervised Action Recognition Using Implicit Shape Models

In this paper, we present a robust framework for action recognition in video, that is able to perform competitively against the state-of-the-art methods, yet does not rely on sophisticated background subtraction preprocess to remove background features. In particular, we extend the Implicit Shape Modeling (ISM) of [10] for object recognition to 3D to integrate local spatiotemporal features, which are produced by a weakly supervised Bayesian kernel filter. Experiments on benchmark datasets (including KTH and Weizmann) verifies the effectiveness of our approach.
Lymphocyte Subsets in the Young and Aging Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

T lymphocytes were studied in healthy young and old marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Data indicate that monoclonal antisera to human T lymphocyte antigens can be used to identify these cells in marmosets. Total T and suppressor T cells were lower in the older group; there were no differences in helper T or in B cells. Helper/suppressor ratios (T4/T8) were increased in the older group. Thus, immune system alterations with aging and/or immune deficiency syndromes may be studied in this animal model using available reagents.
Laryngeal characteristics during the production of geminate consonants

Analysis of high-speed digital video images showed no apparent constriction or tenseness in the larynx and glottis during the production of geminate consonants. Glottal width for geminate consonants is slightly, but not much wider than their singleton counterparts. The glottal width depends largely on consonant types. Analysis of photo-electric glottograms showed that an interruption of glottal opening movement and/or abrupt cessation of the preceding vowel may be involved during the production of geminate consonants
THERMOREGULATORY RESPONSES OF SHEEP TO STARVATION AND HEAT STRESS CONDITIONS

The present study was carried out at Sakha Animal Production Experimental Station belonging to Animal Production Research Institute. The experiment was conducted under thermoneutral conditions (TNZ) in winter (THI< 74) and during moderate heat stress (MHS, THI 74 <88) in summer season on 9 and 6 Ossimi rams, respectively. Body weight, thermoregulatory parameters and blood parameters were determined at the start of the experiment and after 48 and 96 hrs of starvation in each experiment. Ambient temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH %) and Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) were measured simultaneously during the experiment. Under TNZ, starvation had no significant effect on rectal temperature (RT), due to a significant and insignificant reduction in heat production (HP) and evaporative cooling (minute ventilation, MV), respectively. While under MHS, starvation reduced the effect of heat stress on RT by decreasing MV and respiration rate (RR), while, HP remained almost unchanged. Under TNZ, starvation caused an insignificant and significant decrease in plasma total cholesterol (Tcho.) and total lipids (Tl), respectively. Meanwhile under MHS, starvation had no significant effect on plasma Tcho. and Tl concentrations. Before starvation, moderate heat stress caused a significant increase in RT; meanwhile, respiratory evaporation (MV) and heat production (HP) were lower than that in the TNZ. Moderate heat stress (MHS) did not affect significantly blood hematocrit (Ht) and plasma proteins (plasma total proteins (Tp), albumin (Alb) and globulin (Gl)) while it increased significantly plasma glucose concentration. It could be concluded that starved sheep can tolerate moderate heat stress by decreasing evaporative cooling; meanwhile normal fed sheep depends on heat storage to tolerate moderate heat stress.
What ERP systems can tell us about Sarbanes-Oxley

Purpose – To provide background for senior and middle management in information technology organizations who may be in the implementation phase of compliance for Sarbanes‐Oxley (SOX). As the information technology (IT) organization looks forward to additional compliance or other IT control frameworks such as COBIT, the paper can help construct a roadmap. Other audiences include senior management, accountants, internal auditors, and academics who may wish to evaluate the impact of SOX on the information technology organization.Design/methodology/approach – SOX is surveyed to understand the four major compliance areas that must be supported in the IT organization. Recently published works are integrated into an evaluation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) research to identity several ongoing themes that point to practical advice for implementing SOX. The private sector of US business is saturated with ERP applications and provides a useful benchmark of what to expect with SOX compliance. The sections of.
Performance assessment for radiologists interpreting screening mammography

When interpreting screening mammograms radiologists decide whether suspicious abnormalities exist that warrant the recall of the patient for further testing. Previous work has found significant differences in interpretation among radiologists; their false‐positive and false‐negative rates have been shown to vary widely. Performance assessments of individual radiologists have been mandated by the U.S. government, but concern exists about the adequacy of current assessment techniques.
Karyotype stability in the family Issidae (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha) revealed by chromosome techniques and FISH with telomeric (TTAGG)n and 18S rDNA probes

Abstract We report several chromosomal traits in 11 species from 8 genera of the planthopper family Issidae, the tribes Issini, Parahiraciini and Hemisphaeriini. All species present a 2n = 27, X(0) chromosome complement known to be ancestral for the family. The karyotype is conserved in structure and consists of a pair of very large autosomes; the remaining chromosomes gradually decrease in size and the X chromosome is one of the smallest in the complement. For selected species, analyses based on C-, AgNOR- and CMA3-banding techniques were also carried out. By fluorescence in situ hybridization, the (TTAGG)n probe identified telomeres in all species, and the major rDNA loci were detected on the largest pair of autosomes. In most species, ribosomal loci were found in an interstitial position while in two species they were located in telomeric regions suggesting that chromosomal rearrangements involving the rDNA segments occurred in the evolution of the family Issidae. Furthermore, for 8 species the number of testicular follicles is provided for the first time.
Modified binary PSO training of recurrent neural network for 1/n rate convolutional decoders

In this paper, a new approach based on combination of modified binary particle swarm optimization (MBPSO) and recurrent neural network (RNN) for decoding of 1/n rate convolutional codes has been developed. For reducing complexity of Viterbi Algorithm (VA) some novel pseudo optimum iterative algorithms based on minimization of noise energy function (NEF) have been proposed however all of them may be trapped in local minima and require high decision delay which is impossible for practical implementation. It is shown in this paper that hybrid gradient descent method and MBPSO can perform better bit error rate (BER) and low latency in decoding procedure compared to VA performance. This results demonstrate that modified version of binary PSO guarantees fast convergence and reaches to global optimum.
Neurocognition of New Word Learning in the Native Tongue: Lessons From the Ancient Farming Equipment Paradigm

Here we review behavioral, neuroimaging, and neuropharmacological studies using a word learning task labeled as the Ancient Farming Equipment paradigm. This task has been used to explore the neural correlates of explicit learning and maintenance of new names for novel objects in the native tongue. The main conclusions drawn from these studies are as follows: (a) Retrieval of both the newly learned and familiar names is subserved by predominantly left hemispheric cortical regions; (b) within this network, retrieval of newly learned words can be accomplished in different ways depending on the exact form 'of training; (c) patient studies indicate that episodic memory mechanisms subserved by hippocampal structures are related to word acquisition rather than to long-term maintenance of newly learned words; (d) explicit learning and maintenance of novel words can be facilitated by neuropharmacological manipulation that boosts the dopaminergic system; and (b) neural events following completed training may predict long-term retention of newly learned words.
Implicit Memory in the Tactile Modality: Evidence From Braille Stem Completion in the Blind

Research on perceptual priming has previously focused exclusively on priming in the visual and auditory modalities The present study explored whether perceptual priming also extends to the tactile modality Tactile priming for Braille words was examined in a group of blind participants, using a Braille analogue of the stem-completion task The results for tactile priming paralleled previous stem-completion results in other modalities Manipulating the encoding task at study (semantic vs nonsemantic) dissociated implicit and explicit Braille stem-completion performance, and priming was unaffected by the number of study presentations (one vs three) Finally, Braille stem-completion priming was found in a cross-modal paradigm to have both a specifically tactile component and a cross-modal component These results demonstrate for the first time that verbal priming can occur in the tactile domain and that tactile priming has basic functional similarities with stem-completion priming in the visual and auditory domains
Developmental changes in the recognition of faces and facial features.

The view that, as children get older, there is a decline in the use of feature-based forms of face processing to more configurational forms of processing was examined by asking 6-year-old and 9-year-old children to judge which of two photographs matches an identical probe photograph. The probe and test stimuli were either photographs of whole faces or photographs of isolated facial features. Within this standard method, the stimuli also systematically varied in terms of the familiarity of the faces shown and in the orientation of presentation, both factors that have been interpreted as effecting configurational encoding. A number of age-related effects are observed: (a) older children are better at recognizing whole faces than younger children, (b) older children exhibit a clear face inversion effect with whole faces while the younger children are equally adept at identifying upright and inverted whole faces, and (c) analysis of the recognition rates associated with the individual features reveals that younger children are better than older children when asked to recognize eye regions. It is argued that the data support the view that as children get older there is a change in the forms of piecemeal encoding employed and an increase in configurational processing.