Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning by Collaborating: Convergent Conceptual Change

The goal of this article is to construct an integrated approach to collaboration and conceptual change. To this end, a case of conceptual change is analyzed from the point of view of conversational interaction. It is proposed that the crux of collaboration is the problem of convergence: How can two (or more) people construct shared meanings for conversations, concepts, and experiences? Collaboration is analyzed as a process that gradually can lead to convergence of meaning. The epistemological basis of the framework of analysis is a relational, situated view of meaning: Meanings are taken to be relations among situations and verbal or gestural actions. The central claim is that a process described by four primary features can account for students' incremental achievement of convergent conceptual change. The process is characterized by (a) the production of a deep-featured situation, in relation to (b) the interplay of physical metaphors, through the constructive use of (c) interactive cycles of conversati.
Developmental Origins of Chronic Renal Disease: An Integrative Hypothesis

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of mortality. Hypertension (HT) is one of the principal risk factors associated with death. Chronic kidney disease (CKD), which is probably underestimated, increases the risk and the severity of adverse cardiovascular events. It is now recognized that low birth weight is a risk factor for these diseases, and this relationship is amplified by a rapid catch-up growth or overfeeding during infancy or childhood. The pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms involved in the “early programming” of CKD are multiple and partially understood. It has been proposed that the developmental programming of arterial hypertension and chronic kidney disease is related to a reduced nephron endowment. However, this mechanism is still discussed. This review discusses the complex relationship between birth weight and nephron endowment and how early growth and nutrition influence long term HT and CKD. We hypothesize that fetal environment reduces moderately the nephron number which appears insufficient by itself to induce long term diseases. Reduced nephron number constitutes a “factor of vulnerability” when additional factors, in particular a rapid postnatal growth or overfeeding, promote the early onset of diseases through a complex combination of various pathophysiological pathways.
CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT : WHAT CAN UNIVERSITIES DO?

Climate change is a topical issue. It presents problems in different dimensions and hence solving such problems needs a collaborative effort of all sectors of society. Universities are some of the institutions well positioned to solve problems related to climate change by virtue of them being generators of knowledge. They need a curriculum relevant to the changing nature of climate, so that they retain such relevance over time. Thus, this paper explores the concept of community engagement that is central to the universities involvement in climate change education. Communities are not only geographical, but also virtual and university – community engagement could take various forms thereby widening the university’s influence. This paper discusses the possibility of adopting the issues based curriculum as a way of ensuring that Climate change is integrated, infused or mainstreamed into the University curriculum. However, it also recognises the need of universities to benefit from their relationship with communities through the adaptation of indigenous knowledge.
Assessing the impacts of water policy in Beijing: A computable general equilibrium analysis

A computable general equilibrium model with detail types of water is applied to study the impacts of water pricing scheme, ground water protection and water transfer policy in Beijing. We compare the short-run and long run results. Water transfer project is advantageous to Beijing, which is able to offset the adverse effects of groundwater protection policy. Water price policy cause the decrease of water use by raising water price, which has limited negative impacts on other sectors of local economy. The package of these policies has positive implications on local economy.
Parvalbumin increases in the medial and lateral geniculate nuclei of aged rhesus macaques

Subcortical auditory structures in the macaque auditory system increase their densities of neurons expressing the calcium binding protein parvalbumin (PV) with age. However, it is unknown whether these increases occur in the thalamic division of the auditory system, the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN). Furthermore, it is also unclear whether these age-related changes are specific to the macaque auditory system or are generalized to other sensory systems. To address these questions, the PV immunoreactivity of the medial and lateral geniculate nuclei (LGN) from seven rhesus macaques ranging in age from 15 to 35 was assessed. Densities of PV expressing neurons in the three subdivisions of the MGN and the six layers of the LGN were calculated separately using unbiased stereological sampling techniques. We found that the ventral and magnocellular subdivisions of the MGN and all six layers of the LGN increased their expressions of PV with age, although increases in the MGN were greater in magnitude than in the LGN. Together, these results suggest that the MGN shows age-related increases in PV expression as is seen throughout the macaque ascending auditory system, and that the analogous region of the visual system shows smaller increases. We conclude that, while there are some similarities between sensory systems, the age-related neurochemical changes seen throughout the macaque auditory system cannot be fully generalized to other sensory systems.
A study on separation between acoustic models and its applications

We study separation between models of speech attributes. A good measure of separation usually serves as a key indicator of the discrimination power of these speech models because it can often be used to indirectly determine the performance of speech recognition and verification systems. In this study, we use a probabilistic distance, called generalized log likelihood ratio (GLLR), to measure the separation between a model of a target speech attribute and models of its competing attributes. We illustrate five applications to compare separations among models obtained over multiple levels of discrimination capabilities, at various degrees of acoustic definitions and resolutions, under mismatched training and testing conditions, and with different training criteria and speech parameters. We demonstrate that the well-known GLLR distance and its corresponding histograms also provide a good utility to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize the properties of trained models without performing large scale speech recognition and verification experiments.
Speech and Sign: Some Comments from the Event Perspective. Report for the Language Work Group of the First International Conference on Event Perception.* Useful Descriptions of Signed and Spoken Events

Signed and spoken utterances have at least two aspects that are of interest to a perceiver. First of all, they have a physical aspect, the significance of which is given in the lawful relations among utterances, the information-bearing media structured by them, and the perceptual systems of observers and listeners. Secondly, they have a linguistic aspect, the significance of which is given in the conventional or ruleful relations between forms and meaning. 1 In part because our time was limited, and in part because so little work has been done on the conventional significance of events (as opposed to the intrinsic significance [cf. Gibson, 1966]2), our work group chose to focus on the physical aspect. Nevertheless, it will be seen that we did have a speculative word or two to say about the origins of some linguistic conventions, arid we would draw attention to the report of the Event/Cognition group, as well as to Verbrugge's remarks (discussant for the address by Studdert-Kennedy), for more elaborate treatments of this important topic.
Visualization of network data for effective semantic analysis

Visual data analysis has been emerging as an attractive technique in addressing the challenges of the current computing research. It relies upon the human ability in grasping the intrinsic characteristics of the data through visual exploration. This human visual perception combined with the domain specific data semantics can lead to effective extraction of knowledge that is of immense use in real life. However, visualization of network data poses some serious issues as it has to deal with the inherent links between various network entities in addition to rendering the entities themselves in a semantically appealing manner. Addressing these issues, this paper proposes a methodology of employing graph-based representation of network data for extracting useful semantic graph patterns from the data. Our method defines various visual features that are used in rendering an interactive visual display of the network data for carrying out semantic analysis. An implementation of the proposed method is achieved by extending the Java Universal Network/Graph (JUNG) library. The efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated through an experimental study using some benchmark network data sets.
IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY ON GROWTH OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Information technology is the extract of human’s 2000-year knowledge and experience. Information technology has been seriously taken under consideration in a new form during the recent years. In this juncture of time, many countries have reached to the conclusion that development of information technology is regarded as an important factor in their economic growth and development. Information and communications technology have manifested the ability to act effectively for empowering and strengthening the agriculture sector. Hence, application and determination of the specific roles which this technology can encompass with respect to progress and effectiveness in agriculture sector deserve essential attention. Agriculture sector requires utilization and deployment of information technology for improvement of efficiency in production and marketing of the agricultural crops as information technology have provided opportunities for development of agriculture sector through empowerment and unification of access to the available knowledge and information. The present paper analyzes impact of information and communications technology on growth of agriculture sector during 1972-2008 by depicting a suitable model for Iran’s agriculture sector. The model benefits from Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Method. Estimation results indicate that information and communication technology have positive and significant effect on the growth of agriculture sector.
On the averaging of a class of hybrid systems

Modeling abstraction and time-scale separation in the design of complex systems often leads to hybrid dynamics. Discontinuities in the continuous evolution of a hybrid system may however create difficulties in the formal analysis, as well as in numerical simulation and verification. Here we study a class of hybrid systems that are excited by high-frequency external signals. These systems arise in the modeling of switched power converters, mechanical systems with friction and quantized systems. For a quite general class of excitation signals, an averaging result is shown stating that the hybrid system can be approximated by a Lipschitz-continuous system. The approximation is in the order of the maximal repetition interval of the excitation signal.
Non-Negative Group Sparsity with Subspace Note Modelling for Polyphonic Transcription

Automatic music transcription (AMT) can be performed by deriving a pitch-time representation through decomposition of a spectrogram with a dictionary of pitch-labelled atoms. Typically, non-negative matrix factorisation (NMF) methods are used to decompose magnitude spectrograms. One atom is often used to represent each note. However, the spectrum of a note may change over time. Previous research considered this variability using different atoms to model specific parts of a note, or large dictionaries comprised of datapoints from the spectrograms of full notes. In this paper, the use of subspace modelling of note spectra is explored, with group sparsity employed as a means of coupling activations of related atoms into a pitched subspace. Stepwise and gradient-based methods for non-negative group sparse decompositions are proposed. Finally, a group sparse NMF approach is used to tune a generic harmonic subspace dictionary, leading to improved NMF-based AMT results.
Endogenous Disinvestment Activities and the Transformation to a new Equilibrium. A computable general equilibrium approach

The contribution of this book is the explicit recognitation of the importance of endogenous disinvestment activities to a new equilibrium. This is embodied in the condition specifying the economic life of capital to account for obsolescence. This specification provides the formal link between capital formation and production capacity. Thus, the transformation process will be endogenously specified in the model. In technical terms, the economic structure is illustrated by the help of a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of an open economy. The numerical applications is an examination of the sensitivity of the model to systematic variation in key variables of the transformation process, and the variations that may appear through changes in domestic and international conditions. This book, organised in 6 chapters, is designed as a textbook and a research publication in combination. In rough outline, Chapter 2 and 3 is a pure textbook representation, and Chapter 4, 5 and 6 are representative chapters of the research publication.
A Re-Entrancy Analysis for Object Oriented Programs

We are interested in object-oriented programming methodologies that enable static verification of object-invariants. Reasoning soundly and effectively about the consistency of objects is still one of the main stumbling blocks to pushing object-oriented program verification into the mainstream. In this paper we explore a simple model of invariants that is intuitive and allows us to divide the verification problem into two well-defined parts: 1) reasoning about object consistency within a single method, and 2) reasoning about the absence of inconsistent re-entrant calls. We delineate this division by specifying the assumptions and proof obligations of each part. Part one can be handled using well-established techniques in modular verification. This paper presents a novel program analysis to handle the second part. It warns developers when re-entrant calls are made on objects whose invariants may not hold. The analysis uses a points-to analysis to detect re-entrant calls and a simple dataflow analysis to decide whether the invariant of the receiver of a re-entrant call holds. Initial experimentation shows the analysis is able to recognize that many re-entrant calls can be safely performed as their receivers are in a consistent state.
Fractional cointegration in the consumption and income relationship using semiparametric techniques

This paper deals with the issue of the Permanent Income Hypothesis (PIH) and we show that consumption and income may be fractionally cointegrated. We use a semiparametric frequency domain procedure of Robinson (1995a), and the results show that the UK and the Japanese consumption and income are related in the long run throughout a fractional model.
Real-time Obstacle Avoidance in Sonar-based Mobile Robot Navigation Using Harmonic Potential Functions

This paper presents a new algorithm for real time obstacle avoidance for mobile robots with a navigation task. The method, based on harmonic potential function and real time world modeling, allows to detect and to avoid unexpected obstacles, without any need to stop the robot. The algorithm, overcoming limitations of local minima, permits to face unknown cluttered environment composed by arbitrarily shaped obstacles. The use of harmonic potential functions eliminates local minima in the free space (only unstable minima are present). The algorithm, starting from a given path to be followed, makes local replanning of it, based on sonar sensor data. This approach allows to avoid unexpected obstacles, integrating information provided by global path planner. We use a grid type world model, building on it a harmonic potential function. A method to compute in real time the potential function and to manage its boundary minima, is presented. The proposed algorithm allows to face arbitrarily shaped obstacles (e.g., concave obstacles), narrow passages (e.g., doorway) and slow moving obstacles (e.g., persons). We tested the method on our mobile robot having 24 sonar sensors in an indoor environment.
Optical and near‐infrared photometric study of the open cluster NGC 637 and 957

We present UBVRI CCD photometry in the region of the open clusters NGC 637 and 957. The radii are found to be 4.2 and 4.3 arcmin. Their reddenings E(B − V) are 0.64 ± 0.05 and 0.71 ± 0.05 mag and their distances, from main-sequence fitting are 2.5 ± 0.2 and 2.2 ± 0.2 kpc. Comparison with Z = 0.02 isochrones leads to an age of 10 ± 5 Myr for both clusters. Combining our photometry with Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) JHK shows the reddening law in these directions to be normal. Mass function slopes of x = 1.65 ± 0.20 and 1.31 ± 0.50 are derived for the clusters, both of which are found to be dynamically relaxed. Spectral and photometric characteristics of three Be stars, two in NGC 957 and one (newly discovered) in NGC 637, indicate them to be of Classical Be type.
Obtaining the Bidirectional Texture Reflectance of Real-World Surfaces by means of a Kaleidoscope

The aim of this research is to enable the rendering of more realistic surfaces for use within virtual environments. This paper investigates the use of a kaleidoscope in measuring the reflectance properties of real-world surfaces, in particular to obtain the Bidirectional Texture Reflectance (BTF) of the surfaces. The technique is discussed in practical terms, highlighting pertinent issues as well as potential optimisations. Various configurations are explored through simulation and confirmed through physical implementation. The results show that the technique has significant merit in its efficiency and accuracy at a fraction of the overhead required for current alternative techniques. Hardware optimisations proposed in the paper could lead to improvements on the technique.
Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters

In this authoritative study, three political scientists demonstrate that identification with political parties powerfully determines how citizens look at politics and cast their ballots. "Partisan Hearts and Minds is a profound breakthrough in our understanding of partisan loyalties and makes a major contribution to the study of political attitudes and voting behavior. "-Paul Abramson, Michigan State University "This book will be influential the moment it appears. It will be the starting point for all further treatments of the topic. "-Richard Johnston, University of British Columbia "The grounding of partisanship in social identities is the most important theoretical contribution to the study of partisanship in the last two decades. "-Morris P. Fiorina, Stanford University
Psychological Defensiveness as a Mechanism Explaining the Relationship Between Low Socioeconomic Status and Religiosity

People who are low in socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to be religious than their higher status counterparts; however, little research has tested the mechanisms for this relationship. Using data from 90 diverse societies and multilevel path analysis, we replicated findings that individuals low in SES are more religious and furthermore found that in wealthy countries this relationship was mediated by a measure of psychological defensiveness even while controlling for participants' sense of financial insecurities. These results suggest that religious belief may play a psychologically protective role for low SES individuals, independent of realistic economic concerns.
Energy consumption estimation for TDMA-based industrial wireless sensor networks

Industrial wireless sensor networks make use of batteries to provide mobility and low maintenance. The available energy depends of battery specification, electrical characteristics of the device, communication protocol and process variable update rate. The development of industrial field devices and communication protocols demands solutions to verify the expended energy along the time which can be used to predict battery life and to provide a balanced network for messages routing. In this work, an energy measurement circuit is developed for TDMA-based industrial wireless field devices such as WirelessHART and ISA SP100.11 and it is used as a reference to correct an embedded energy estimation algorithm. The overall idea is to certify the algorithm embedded by the electronic measurement, further substituted by simple functions that calculate the expended energy. The results presented a 2.5% in most cases and 3.5% worst case errors by the estimation algorithm when compared to the reference circuit, used for measuring the total energy of the sensor node during a predefined communication period.
Physical model of electroforming mechanism in oxide-based resistive switching devices (RRAM)

Resistive switching mechanism is an ongoing topic in resistive random access memory (RRAM) communities. In this work, a physical model including vacancy generation, drift/diffusion mechanisms is developed to characterize the forming process in valence change resistive switching memories (VCM). This model addresses the intrinsic nature of forming time dependence on pulse amplitude and temperature, which is attributed to combined effects of vacancy generation and migration. The microscopic vacancy concentration evolution during forming operation was calculated and the vacancy migration effect on the forming process was quantitatively evaluated. The modeled forming time versus pulse amplitude relationship at different temperatures show excellent agreement with the experiment data.
Salient object detection via spectral clustering

Detection of salient object is useful in many computer tasks. In this paper, we propose a novel spectral clustering (SC) based method to detect salient object. Image can be expressed as a graph which is composed by nodes and edges, where nodes are superpixels generated by segmenting algorithms and edge strengths are proportional to superpixels similarity. We jointly consider color distribution and spatial distance to measure the similarity between superpixels. Then SC algorithm is applied to cluster the nodes(superpixels) into two classes, one class for foreground and the other for background. It is reasonable that salient regions are far different from the background, so we can take salient object detection as a two-class clustering problem. Extensive experiments on a public database demonstrate that our model is not only easy to implement but also outperforms lots of recently proposed methods.
Research on Information Quality Driven Data Cleaning Framework

Considering the limited extensibility and interactivity of the current data cleaning work, this paper proposes a new extensible and interactive data cleaning framework driven by information quality. The framework implements the formation of data quality analysis strategy, data transformation strategy and cleaning result assessment strategy. It also realizes the control of the cleaning process. The framework has the significant features of extensibility and interactivity.