Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Graphical methods for real-time fusion and estimation with soft message data

Fusion of observational data acquired by human observers and couched in linguistic form is a modern-day challenge for the fusion community. This paper describes a basic research effort examining various strategies for associating and exploiting such data for intelligence analysis purposes. An overall approach is described that involves Latent Semantic Analysis, Inexact Graph Matching, formal ontology development, and Social Network Analyses. Not all the methods have yet been employed but the exploitation of the developed ontology and graphical techniques have been implemented in a working prototype and preliminary results have shown promise. Planned future research will complete the implementation of the methods described herein and add yet further enhancements.
One Size Fits Many: Column Bundle for Multi-X Learning

Much recent machine learning research has been directed towards leveraging shared statistics among labels, instances and data views, commonly referred to as multi-label, multi-instance and multi-view learning. The underlying premises are that there exist correlations among input parts and among output targets, and the predictive performance would increase when the correlations are incorporated. In this paper, we propose Column Bundle (CLB), a novel deep neural network for capturing the shared statistics in data. CLB is generic that the same architecture can be applied for various types of shared statistics by changing only input and output handling. CLB is capable of scaling to thousands of input parts and output labels by avoiding explicit modeling of pairwise relations. We evaluate CLB on different types of data: (a) multi-label, (b) multi-view, (c) multi-view/multi-label and (d) multi-instance. CLB demonstrates a comparable and competitive performance in all datasets against state-of-the-art methods designed specifically for each type.
Educational technology, epistemology and discourses in curricula in Norway ∗

Why is Norway, the first nation in the world defining digital literacy, as the fifth basic competence in the national curriculum? How has epistemological and ontological issues influenced educational technology and how has this influenced discourse of educational technology in curricula which have led to today's "technology friendly curriculum"? These are central questions in this paper and one of the main aims within the paper is to analyze what kind of impacts, such underlying epistemological and ontological aspect, has been given in Norwegian curricula throughout the last decades in light of Koschmann's (1996) technological paradigms. As consequence of this, the paper will highlight the most relevant discourses about educational technology in different curricula as an entry point to ask, if the increased ICT (Information and Communication Technology) status in the new national curriculum has established new discourses and got any impact in the practice field yet.
Reducing System Power Consumption Using Check-Pointing on Nonvolatile Embedded Magnetic Random Access Memories

The most widely used embedded memory technology, static random access memory (SRAM), is heading toward scaling problems in advanced technology nodes due to the leakage currents caused by the quantum tunneling effect. As an alternative, spin-transfer torque magnetic RAM (STT-MRAM) technology shows comparable performance in terms of speed and power consumption and much better performance in terms of density and leakage. Moreover, MRAM brings up new paradigms in system design thanks to its inherent nonvolatility, which allows the definition of new instant-on/off policies and leakage current optimization. Based on our compact model, we have developed a fully characterized system-on-chip from the basic cell up to the system architecture in a 40nm LP hybrid CMOS/magnetic process. Through simulations, first we demonstrate that STT-MRAM is a candidate for the memory part of embedded systems, and second we implement a check-pointing methodology based on the regular interrupt routines of a processor to enable a fast power on and off functionality. Using a synthetic benchmark developed in high-level programming languages intended to be representative of integer system performance, our method shows that having MRAM instead of SRAM in an embedded design brings up important energy savings. The influence of the check-pointing routine on power consumption is finally evaluated with regard to various shutdown and restart behaviors.
Evaluation of Relationships Between Reported Resilience and Soldier Outcomes. Report #1: Negative Outcomes (Suicide, Drug Use, & Violent Crimes)

Abstract : This document is the first of a series of reports evaluating the impact of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) Program by examining relationships between reported resilience and various health and behavioral outcomes (both positive and negative) among Soldiers. The first set of deidentified Global Assessment Tool data made available for analysis included responses from Soldiers who completed suicide in 2010, Soldiers who tested positive for illicit drug use, and Soldiers who were charged with engaging in violent crimes. Our analyses suggest that Soldiers who completed suicide were less resilient than Soldiers who did not commit suicide; Soldiers who tested positive for illicit drug use were less resilient than Soldiers who did not test positive; and Soldiers who committed violent crimes were less resilient than those who did not commit violent crimes. The results of these analyses held when researchers controlled for potential demographic effects.
SABIOS: una aplicación de la Web semántica para la gestión de documentos digitales

The Semantic Web seeks to convert information into knowledge. To do so, it must be based fundamentally on semantic and descriptive markings not only of the documents but the data as well, by means of automatically structured and legible information that provides the machines with a greater capacity for managing and retrieving the data. SABIOS proposes to introduce emergenttechnologies based on semantics and combined with multi-agent systems and information retrieval techniques in order to improve the processes of insertion, cataloging, and retrieval of digital documents, thereby implementing a system composed of three modules: a knowledge module, a semantic search module, and finally a module for visualizing and navigating the results
An extension of LaSalle's invariance principle for discontinuous systems

In this paper, discontinuous righthand sides dynamical systems are considered. An extension of LaSalle invariance principle is presented by using locally Lipschitz continuous and nonpathological Lyapunnov functions. This result is used to locate chaotic attractors of studied systems, and less restrictive conditions are required. Numerical example has been given to illustrate the correctness of the theorem.
Organization of the gymnotiform fish pallium in relation to learning and memory: IV. Expression of conserved transcription factors and implications for the evolution of dorsal telencephalon

We have cloned the apteronotid homologs of FoxP2, Otx1, and FoxO3. There was, in the case of all three genes, good similarity between the apteronotid and human amino acid sequences: FoxP2, 78%; Otx1, 54%; FoxO3, 71%. The functional domains of these genes were conserved to a far greater extent, on average: FoxP2, 89%; Otx1, 76%; FoxO3, 82%. This led us to hypothesize that the cellular functions of these genes might also be conserved. We used in situ hybridization to examine the distribution of the mRNA transcripts of these genes in the apteronotid telencephalon. We confined our analysis to the pallial regions previously associated with learning about social signals, whose circuitry has been closely examined in the other articles of this series. We found that AptFoxP2 and AptOtx1 transcripts were expressed predominantly in the dorsocentral division of the pallium (DC); the dorsolateral division of the pallium (DL) contained only weakly labeled neurons. In both cases, the distribution of labeled neurons was very heterogeneous, and unlabeled neurons could be found adjacent to strongly labeled ones. In contrast, we found that most neurons in DL strongly expressed AptFoxO3 mRNA, although there was only weak expression in a small number of cells within DC. We briefly discuss the relevance of our results regarding the functional roles of AptFoxP2/AptOtx1‐expressing neurons in DC for communication vs. foraging behavior. We extensively discuss the implications of our results for possible homologies between DL and DC and medial and dorsal pallium of tetrapods, respectively. J. Comp. Neurol. 520:3395–3413, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Dose escalation studies of cytarabine, daunorubicin, and etoposide with and without multidrug resistance modulation with PSC-833 in untreated adults with acute myeloid leukemia younger than 60 years: final induction results of Cancer and Leukemia Group B Study 9621.

PURPOSE P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is strongly inhibited by PSC-833. A chemotherapy dose-escalation study was performed with PSC-833 in patients younger than 60 years with untreated acute myeloid leukemia. Clinical rather than pharmacokinetic end points were used to develop two induction therapies containing drugs susceptible to Pgp-mediated efflux and associated with comparable toxicities at the maximum-tolerated doses. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 410 patients were enrolled. Fifteen induction regimens containing variable doses of daunorubicin (DNR) and etoposide (ETOP) and fixed doses of cytarabine were evaluated with (ADEP) or without (ADE) a fixed dose of PSC-833. RESULTS Doses selected for phase III testing were DNR 90 mg/m(2) and ETOP 100 mg/m(2) in ADE, and DNR and ETOP each 40 mg/m(2) in ADEP. Intolerable mucosal toxicity occurred at higher doses of ADEP. Although the design of this study precludes direct comparisons, there was an apparent advantage for receiving ADEP with respect to disease-free and overall survival in patients < or = 45 years old, despite the significantly lower doses of DNR and ETOP given in ADEP compared with ADE. CONCLUSION A large clinical data set was used to develop induction regimens containing two drugs susceptible to Pgp-mediated efflux, with and without an inhibitor of Pgp function. The chosen doses have comparable antileukemia activity and toxicity, making them suitable for use in a phase III comparative study of induction chemotherapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia younger than 60 years. That trial will also clarify whether patients < or = 45 years old are especially likely to benefit from Pgp inhibition during induction therapy.
A reconfigurable radiation pattern annular slot antenna

This paper contemplate a theoretical analysis of a pattern reconfigurable antenna using annular slot antenna operating in low frequency. A shorting pin is inserted to allow the annular slot antenna to have an omni-directional radiation pattern like a monopole antenna. The reconfigurable antenna consists of numerous metal cylinders arranged around the annular slot antenna. By controlling pin diodes associated with the metal cylinders, the antenna is capable of working up in different directions with a maximum working beam angle of 11.25° at a frequency of 1.05 GHz.
High-performance hardware accelerators for sorting and managing priorities

The paper describes the hardware implementation and optimization of algorithms that process tree-like data structures which are needed for numerous practical applications in such areas as databases, embedded systems, and networks requiring priority management. The emphasis is done on applications that involve fast processing of new incoming data items, such as resorting. Parallelism is achieved by constructing N binary trees (N>1) and applying concurrent operations to N trees at the same time with the aid of N communicating processing modules. It is shown that the considered technique can efficiently be combined with sorting networks, which gives new potentialities for optimization. Modeling in software, experiments with FPGA-based circuits on different computing platforms, and comparisons with the other known methods demonstrate that the performance is increased significantly. It is also shown that the proposed algorithms are easily scalable.
The Experiences of Adults Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence as Children: An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Resilience and Protective Factors

ABSTRACT Research indicates a large percentage of children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) experience psychological, social, cognitive, behavioral, and physical problems. These deficits can have overwhelming long-term problems for children. Although there is some evidence of the intergenerational cycle of violence, not all children exposed to IPV encounter abuse in their adult relationships. This study qualitatively explored the protective factors or resiliencies that contribute to adaptive outcomes of adults exposed to IPV as children. Ten major and five minor themes emerged from this analysis. These themes were organized into internal factors/individual characteristics, family factors, and external factors. Implications for practice are also discussed.
Social desirability scales as moderator and suppressor variables

This study concerned the effectiveness of social desirability (SD) as a moderator or suppressor variable. Three SD scales were employed: the Edwards SDS, the Marlowe‐Crowne SDS, and a new scale that uses sets of four trait‐descriptive terms such that highly desirable responses are inconsistent at the descriptive level (e.g. firm, lenient, severe, and lax). Moreover, factor‐analytically derived measures of self‐deception and impression management were used. The 300 subjects were administered measures of the five major factors of personality. They were also judged by three peers on these dimensions. To examine moderator effects, the sample of 300 subjects was dichotomized at the median of the SD measures, and self‐peer correlations were calculated for each group separately. Saunders s moderated regression technique was also used. Partial correlations controlling for SD were computed to test for suppressor effects. Moderator effects were present only for Neuroticism, whereas no suppressor effects were found for any of the SD measures. It is argued that researchers and subjects may hold different perspectives on the meaning of responses to SD scales.
A Combined Phonotogical Awareness, Whole Language, and Metacognitive Approach to Teach Reading to Reading Resistors

In the present study we investigated the effectiveness of a reading remediation program for reading disabled (RD) students that was based on phonological awareness, as well as incorporating aspects of whole language and netacognitive instruction. Participants consisted primarily of treatment resistant RD students (N = 68; age range: 6-17 years) with a mean age Of 11.3 years, referred to a reading clinic at a school dedicated to working with children with learning disabilities. Pre/post intervention measures were analyzed by repeated measures multivariate analyzed of variance (MANONVA). Results (Wilk's Lambda = .33, F(7,49) = 14.16, p< . ooi) indicated students' phonological awareness, reading comprehension and, to a lessor extent, spelling had improved post intervention (Cohen's d ranged from .14 to .82). The results are discussed in relation to current research on remedial reading programs and reading treatment resistors.
Evidence of Genomic Exchanges between Homeologous Chromosomes in a Cross of Peanut with Newly Synthetized Allotetraploid Hybrids

Cultivated peanut and synthetics are allotetraploids (2n = 4x = 40) with two homeologous sets of chromosomes. Meiosis in allotetraploid peanut is generally thought to show diploid-like behavior. However, a recent study pointed out the occurrence of recombination between homeologous chromosomes, especially when synthetic allotetraploids are used, challenging the view of disomic inheritance in peanut. In this study, we investigated the meiotic behavior of allotetraploid peanut using 380 SSR markers and 90 F2 progeny derived from the cross between Arachis hypogaea cv Fleur 11 (AABB) and ISATGR278-18 (AAKK), a synthetic allotetraploid that harbors a K-genome that was reported to pair with the cultivated B-genome during meiosis. Segregation analysis of SSR markers showed 42 codominant SSRs with unexpected null bands among some progeny. Chi-square tests for these loci deviate from the expected 1:2:1 Mendelian ratio under disomic inheritance. A linkage map of 357 codominant loci aligned on 20 linkage groups (LGs) with a total length of 1728 cM, averaging 5.1 cM between markers, was developed. Among the 10 homeologous sets of LGs, one set consisted of markers that all segregated in a polysomic-like pattern, six in a likely disomic pattern and the three remaining in a mixed pattern with disomic and polysomic loci clustered on the same LG. Moreover, we reported a substitution of homeologous chromosomes in some progeny. Our results suggest that the homeologous recombination events occurred between the A and K genomes in the newly synthesized allotetraploid and have been highlighted in the progeny. Homeologous exchanges are rarely observed in tetraploid peanut and have not yet been reported for AAKK and AABB genomes. The implications of these results on peanut breeding are discussed.
Teenage childbearing and personal responsibility: an alternative view.

The introduction to this article which reexamines assumptions about the social costs of adolescent child-bearing in the US notes that proposals to create incentives and punishments to alter adolescent child-bearing behavior are receiving wide support from disparate political groups while diverting energy from searching debate about the nature of poverty. The article then describes the influence of assumptions about adolescent child-bearing on recent welfare reform proposals and legislation. A hard look at the consequences of adolescent child-bearing follows and reveals that the scientific evidence of a causal relationship between adolescent child-bearing and welfare dependency or between adolescent child-bearing and the health and development of the children of teen-age mothers is more modest and equivocal than commonly believed. Next claims of enormous social costs associated with adolescent parenting are debunked as exaggerations and it is noted that a full and careful accounting of the social costs remains to be performed. Such an accounting may in fact reveal higher social costs if these mothers delayed child-bearing. The article continues by reconstructing the popularized image that presents the adolescent mother as a single parent. In fact most teenage mothers are 18-19 years old about 40% are married and those who are not married benefit from the support and guidance of others. The life prospects of adolescents living in poverty are then contrasted with middle-income adolescents to show that most poor teenagers have little to gain by postponing parenthood. Finally the article spells out an alternative view of the rationality of adolescent child-bearing and questions the value of making reduction of teenage child-bearing an important goal of welfare reform instead of developing more effective general antipoverty policies.
Space-Optimized Texture Atlases for 3D Scenes with Per-polygon Textures

Real-time rendering of massively textured urban scenes is still a challenging problem in computer graphics. Texture atlases and the recently-introduced texture arrays have proven to be a powerful tool to accelerate the rendering of such scenes by minimizing the number of texture switches. In this paper we present a perception-based scheme for generating space-optimized texture atlases from 3D scenes with per-polygon textures. Key elements of our approach include the use of perceptual metrics to allocate texture space in accordance to the visual content of each chart, a joint encoding of chart size and position coordinates to provide within-chart tiling support with no space overhead, and a packing strategy achieving full occupancy of the texture atlas. We demonstrate our optimization scheme in the context of real-time navigation through a gigatexel urban model. Our scheme significantly decreases texture memory usage and provides dramatic speed-up factors without noticeable loss in visual quality.
Exoproteome and Secretome Derived Broad Spectrum Novel Drug and Vaccine Candidates in Vibrio cholerae Targeted by Piper betel Derived Compounds

Vibrio cholerae is the causal organism of the cholera epidemic, which is mostly prevalent in developing and underdeveloped countries. However, incidences of cholera in developed countries are also alarming. Because of the emergence of new drug-resistant strains, even though several generic drugs and vaccines have been developed over time, Vibrio infections remain a global health problem that appeals for the development of novel drugs and vaccines against the pathogen. Here, applying comparative proteomic and reverse vaccinology approaches to the exoproteome and secretome of the pathogen, we have identified three candidate targets (ompU, uppP and yajC) for most of the pathogenic Vibrio strains. Two targets (uppP and yajC) are novel to Vibrio, and two targets (uppP and ompU) can be used to develop both drugs and vaccines (dual targets) against broad spectrum Vibrio serotypes. Using our novel computational approach, we have identified three peptide vaccine candidates that have high potential to induce both B- and T-cell-mediated immune responses from our identified two dual targets. These two targets were modeled and subjected to virtual screening against natural compounds derived from Piper betel. Seven compounds were identified first time from Piper betel to be highly effective to render the function of these targets to identify them as emerging potential drugs against Vibrio. Our preliminary validation suggests that these identified peptide vaccines and betel compounds are highly effective against Vibrio cholerae. Currently we are exhaustively validating these targets, candidate peptide vaccines, and betel derived lead compounds against a number of Vibrio species.
Three years' follow-up of bone density in adult coeliac disease: significance of secondary hyperparathyroidism.

BACKGROUND The mechanisms of disturbances in bone mineral density (BMD) in coeliac disease are not completely understood. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the possible significance of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) with regard to BMD in patients with untreated coeliac disease. METHODS One hundred and five adult patients with untreated coeliac disease were examined for BMD and serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentration. BMD in the hip, lumbar spine, and forearm were examined up to 3 years after the introduction of a gluten-free diet. RESULTS SHPT was found in 27% (28 of 105) of the patients. In patients with SHPT serum levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D were lower and those of alkaline phosphatase higher than in patients with normal PTH, but ionized serum calcium did not differ between the two groups. BMD was more severely reduced in patients with SHPT. Although the BMD increment was more rapid in patients with than in those without SPTH, only in the latter group did mean BMD became normal after 1-3 years on a gluten-free diet (GFD). After 3 years on a GFD more than half of the patients with initial SHPT still had low BMD in both the hip and the forearm. Furthermore, in patients with SHPT the intestinal mucosa more often remained atrophic at the 1-year follow-up, despite good compliance with the diet. CONCLUSIONS Low BMD in patients with untreated coeliac disease is often associated with SHPT. After 3 years on a GFD the BMD remains low only in patients with initial SHPT. We therefore suggest that PTH should be measured when the diagnosis of coeliac disease is made, as an indicator of more serious intestinal disorder and complicating bone disease.