Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
M-LEARNING READINESS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND: A STRUCTURATION THEORY PERSPECTIVE

Whilst a wider adoption and integration of information technology into teaching and learning process have become widespread, the magnitude of use vary between environments across regions, and between institutions within countries. Research however, have shifted from the traditional e-Learning and learning management system (LMS) adoption, into how are converged technology solutions exploited in higher education (HE) spaces. Convergence anticipates information-society citizenry as defined by dependence on efficient technology solutions across all modern life faculties – be it work, learning or play. In the HE context, an always connected student, an IT literate, multimedia and network reliant leaner is assumed. Rigid e-Learning solutions can no longer meet the needs of this modern learner. For, mobility, synchronous access and independent enquiry are the defining characteristics – where interactive mobile technology solutions have become the basic requirements. In South Africa, many historically black universities remain behind in terms of infrastructure, IT resources and related skills sets. Rural universities in particular, remain on the periphery of the rural-and-urban geographic and development divides in terms readiness to integrate IT solutions into curricula and pedagogy. In the absence of basic insight, the readiness of these institutions to adopt mobile learning solutions for the 21 st century student remains unclear. To this end, this paper explores mobile learning (m-Learning) readiness of the University of Zululand (UniZulu). We drew on the structuration theory (ST), in particular, the notions of structure, structuration, system, urgency, tools and resources - to unpack the status-quo. Methodologically, a qualitative approach – embedded on interviews of decision makers and personal observations by the researcher – was followed. In earlier m-Learning adoption attempts, resistance to change is never uncommon. For, unless a deliberate transformation of structure is enforced, comfortable social relations between actors will serve as a force of signification that reproduces regular social practices (the status-quo) over time and space. A lack of rules (policies & guides) and an enabling resources base, is clearly an impediment to m-Learning readiness efforts at UniZulu. Whilst UniZulu is committed to integrating educational technology into its curricula, adoption efforts are still at infancy. According to the ST insight, the institution has not applied changes to the basic conditions of structure (rules & resources), structuration and system needed to fast-track a transformation. That is, to sanction a reproduction of stale systems, and to significate new and desired social practices. As such, findings point to one conclusion - that the status of m-Learning readiness is minimal at best, and at worst – is bordering close to non-existent.
The timing of evaluation of genebank accessions and the effects of biotechnology

The lack of ex-ante evaluation of germplasm in genebanks has been the single most prevalent and long-standing complaint of plant breeders about the management of genebanks. Advances in biotechnology offer the possibility of faster, cheaper, and more efficient evaluation methodologies. Will these new technologies favor ex-post evaluation, as some expect, or will it lead to more ex-ante evaluation? Will it also lead to earlier development of varieties with disease resistance traits in anticipation of actual infestations? Will the prospect of further advances in biotechnology favor delay of evaluation and development? This paper addresses these questions in the case of evaluation of germplasm for resistance to a disease.
Omega-categories and chain complexes

There are several ways to construct omega-categories from combinatorial objects such as pasting schemes or parity complexes. We make these constructions into a functor on a category of chain complexes with additional structure, which we call augmented directed complexes. This functor from augmented directed complexes to omega-categories has a left adjoint, and the adjunction restricts to an equivalence on a category of augmented directed complexes with good bases. The omega-categories equivalent to augmented directed complexes with good bases include the omega-categories associated to globes, simplexes and cubes; thus the morphisms between these omega-categories are determined by morphisms between chain complexes. It follows that the entire theory of omega-categories can be expressed in terms of chain complexes; in particular we describe the biclosed monoidal structure on omega-categories and calculate some internal homomorphism objects.
Tree based score computation for speaker verification

This paper proposes an original approach to the task of speaker veriﬁcation, in which the training process consists in a direct modeling of the score function. It divides the parameter space in disjoint regions where a score can be obtained as a simple function of the vector position in the region. The aim of this approach is, on the one hand to overcome some undesirable properties of the gaussian mixture models (GMMs), and on the other hand, to speed up the decision process. First, we present the formalism of probabilistic speaker ver-iﬁcation and we discuss some motivations for exploring alternative approaches. We then describe a method currently under investigation, which is based on a binary recursive partition of the acoustic parameter space into regions to which an elementary scoring function is associated. Finally, we provide illustrations and preliminary results of the method, together with conclusions and perspectives.
Magnetohydrodynamic Shocks in Nonequatorial Plasma Flows around a Black Hole

We study magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) standing shocks in inflowing plasmas in a black hole magnetosphere. Fast and intermediate shock formation is explored in Schwarzschild and Kerr geometry to illustrate general relativistic effects. We find that nonequatorial standing MHD shocks are physically possible, creating a very hot plasma region close to the event horizon. Shocked downstream plasmas can be heated or magnetized depending on the values of various magnetic field-aligned parameters. Then we may expect high-energy thermal/nonthermal emissions from the shocked region. We present the properties of nonequatorial MHD shocks and discuss the shocked plasma region in the black hole magnetosphere. We also investigate the effects of the poloidal magnetic field and black hole spin on the properties of shocks and show that both effects can modify the distribution of the shock front and shock strength. We find for strong MHD shock formation that fast rotating magnetic fields are necessary. The physics of nonequatorial MHD shocks in the black hole magnetosphere could be very important when we construct the central engine model of various astrophysical phenomena.
Convergent evolution of metabolic roles in bacterial co-symbionts of insects

A strictly host-dependent lifestyle has profound evolutionary consequences for bacterial genomes. Most prominent is a sometimes-dramatic amount of gene loss and genome reduction. Recently, highly reduced genomes from the co-resident intracellular symbionts of sharpshooters were shown to exhibit a striking level of metabolic interdependence. One symbiont, called Sulcia muelleri (Bacteroidetes), can produce eight of the 10 essential amino acids, despite having a genome of only 245 kb. The other, Baumannia cicadellinicola (γ-Proteobacteria), can produce the remaining two essential amino acids as well as many vitamins. Cicadas also contain the symbiont Sulcia, but lack Baumannia and instead contain the co-resident symbiont Hodgkinia cicadicola (α-Proteobacteria). Here we report that, despite at least 200 million years of divergence, the two Sulcia genomes have nearly identical gene content and gene order. Additionally, we show that despite being phylogenetically distant and drastically different in genome size and architecture, Hodgkinia and Baumannia have converged on gene sets conferring similar capabilities for essential amino acid biosynthesis, in both cases precisely complementary to the pathways conserved in Sulcia. In contrast, they have completely divergent capabilities for vitamin biosynthesis. Despite having the smallest gene set known in bacteria, Hodgkinia devotes at least 7% of its proteome to cobalamin (vitamin B12) biosynthesis, a significant metabolic burden. The presence of these genes can be explained by Hodgkinia's retention of the cobalamin-dependent version of methionine synthase instead of the cobalamin-independent version found in Baumannia, a situation that necessitates retention of cobalamin biosynthetic capabilities to make the essential amino acid methionine.
Event-triggered real-time metering in smart grids

This paper introduces an event-triggered approach to realtime metering that significantly reduces the amount of reported measurements. The proposed method reports measurements only when the load profile changes due to a triggering event, and ensures that the maximum difference between reported and true measurement values is always bounded in magnitude. Moreover, it employs a change detection based filter to resolve the estimation-tracking conflict associated with non-stationary signals containing abrupt changes. Simulation results show that the proposed reporting method provides a convenient tradeoff between average reporting error as well as the reporting frequency.
On the Design of Optimal Grandfathering Schemes for Emission Allowances

To meet its commitment under the Kyoto Protocol, the EU plans to implement an emissions trading system with grandfathering of allowances. Besides having distributional impacts, the choice of the grandfathering scheme may affect efficiency if firms anticipate how future allocations depend on upcoming decisions. In this paper, we determine central design rules for optimal grandfathering within a simple two-period model. We find that for (small) open trading systems, where allowance prices are exogenous, first-best second-period grandfathering schemes must not depend on firm-specific decisions in the first period. Second-best schemes correspond to a Ramsey rule of optimal tax differentiation and are generally based on both previous emissions and output. However, of closed emissions trading systems, i.e. endogeneous allowance prices, first- and second-best rules coincide and must not depend on previous output levels. They consist of an assignment proportional to the emissions in the first period plus a term which does not depend on firm-specific decisions in either of the two periods.
MINIPIG CYTOCHROME P450 2E1: COMPARISON WITH HUMAN ENZYME

Cytochrome P450 2E1 was isolated from minipig liver microsomes. The protein has been cloned and the respective cDNA sequenced (GenBank Accession Number AY581116). Minipig CYP2E1 is two residues shorter than its human ortholog. The only difference between pig and minipig sequence is the presence of aspartic acid residue in position 346 contrary to valine in the pig enzyme. Minipig CYP2E1 was shown to be able to convert two prototypical substrates of human CYP2E1, chlorzoxazone and p-nitrophenol, to the respective metabolites. The experiments performed with both the liver microsomal fraction and reconstituted systems with human or minipig CYP2E1 confirmed the similarity of both enzymes. Inhibition with diethyldithiocarbamate gave comparable Ki values for minipig as well as for the human CYP2E1. The results indicate that the systems containing minipig CYP2E1 may be used to model the respective CYP2E1-catalyzed reactions of drug metabolism in humans.
Educación Superior en Emprendimiento y la Superación de la Pobreza

espanolLa educacion en emprendimiento fomenta cultura emprendedora y la empresarialidad, por ello, en Colombia es obligatoria esta catedra en los establecimientos educativos. Las universidades colombianas adoptan este lineamiento, brindando educacion sobre emprendimiento, para emprender e innovar, para mantener y desarrollar las empresas. Como lo hacen? , ? que tipo de emprendimientos fomentan? , ? la cultura emprendedora y la empresarialidad que fomentan puede aportar a la superacion de la pobreza, al crecimiento socioeconomico y al desarrollo humano? , son preguntas que permitieron la construccion de este articulo y el uso de un tipo de investigacion descriptiva y explicativa, el analisis de universidades comprometidas con el emprendimiento, determinando, que ensenan emprendimiento economico, social, de base tecnologica y ambiental, promoviendo emprendimiento interno y externo, con lo cual, sus estudiantes y egresados han logrado aumentar la efectividad productiva y la creacion de empresas, contribuyendo a la superacion de la pobreza monetaria y al desarrollo humano de estos. EnglishEntrepreneurship education promotes entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurship, and in Colombia this institution is compulsory in educational establishments. Colombian universities adopt this approach, providing education on entrepreneurship, to undertake and innovate, to maintain and develop companies. How do they do it? What kind of entrepreneurship do they foster? Can the entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurship that they foster contribute to overcoming poverty, socioeconomic growth and human development? These are questions that allowed the construction of this article and the use of a type of descriptive and explanatory research, the analysis of universities committed to entrepreneurship, determined, that teaches economic, social, technological and environmental entrepreneurship, promoting internal and external entrepreneurship, with which students and graduates Have been able to increase the productive effectiveness and the creation of companies, contributing to the overcoming of the monetary poverty and to the human development of these.
Online system identification under non-negativity and ℓ1-norm constraints algorithm and weight behavior analysis

Information processing with ℓ1-norm constraint has been a topic of considerable interest during the last five years since it produces sparse solutions. Non-negativity constraints are also desired properties that can usually be imposed due to inherent physical characteristics of real-life phenomena. In this paper, we investigate an online method for system identification subject to these two families of constraints. Our approach differs from existing techniques such as projected-gradient algorithms in that it does not require any extra projection onto the feasible region. The mean weight-error behavior is analyzed analytically. Experimental results show the advantage of our approach over some existing algorithms. Finally, an application to hyperspectral data processing is considered.
On the Vulnerability of Digital Fingerprinting Systems to Finite Alphabet Collusion Attacks

This paper proposes a novel, non-linear collusion attack on digital fingerprinting systems. The attack is proposed for fingerprinting systems with finite alphabet but can be extended to continuous alphabet. We analyze the error probability of the attack for some classes of proposed random and deterministic schemes and obtain a bound on the number of colluders necessary to correctly estimate the host signal. That is, it requires fewer number of colluders to defeat the fingerprinting scheme. Our simulation results show that our attack is more powerful in practice than predicted by the theoretical bound.
File Transfer Protocol for Clusters Using Multi Servers

Grid computing is the widely used resource sharing mechanism in the large-scale distributed environment. Data grids are one of the storage resources sharing mechanism in the grid environment. Mirror servers are used for the fault tolerance requirements. Parallel File Transfer Protocol (PFTP) introduces the concept of data transfer using multiple parallel data paths between clusters and mirror servers. The new proposed system “Parallel file Transfer system for the Grid Environment” makes use of striped data distributed across the multiple IO-nodes of a Parallel File Access on clusters and mirror servers. This system is implemented as three applications such as grid server, mirror server and grid client. The grid server and mirror server applications are designed to handle the data updating and sharing process. The grid client is designed to carry out the file upload and download activities. The grid client can concurrently update the same file content into the grid server and set of mirror server while using the parallel input/output mechanism and multiple TCP connections. The protocol uses the striping format of the Parallel File Access to push multiple stripes of the file over multiple TCP connections. The flexibility in PFTP allows user to use different file transfer applications over these TCP connections. This system is implemented using java language to support cross platform environment.
Comparing adaptive-power and adaptive-rate MACs for wireless ad-hoc networks

There are two approaches in designing MAC protocols: adaptive-power and adaptive-rate MACs. In adaptive-power MACs transmission power is changed upon nodes' distance in order to reduce energy consumption. In adaptive-rate MACs transmission rate is changed in order to improve throughput. Recent adaptive-power protocols suggest varying the transmission power such that the RTS/CTS handshake is done at the maximum and the data-ACK are transmitted at the minimum necessary transmission power level. It has also been suggested to periodically use maximum transmission power during data transmission (PCM MAC). In this paper we show that although adaptive-rate MACs are designed to increase throughput but they are also more power-efficient than adaptive-power MACs with maximum RTS-CTS power
Color Gradients in Early-Type Galaxies in Clusters at Redshift 0.37-0.56

Color gradients in elliptical galaxies in distant clusters (z = 0.37–0.56) are examined by using the archival deep imaging data of the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Obtained color gradients are compared with the two model gradients to examine the origin of the color gradients. In one model, a color gradient is assumed to be caused by a metallicity gradient of stellar populations, while in the other one, it is caused by an age gradient. Both of these model color gradients reproduce the average color gradient seen in nearby elliptical galaxies, but predict significantly different gradients at redshift larger than ∼0.3. Comparison of the observed gradients and the model gradients favors the metallicity gradient much more than the age gradient as the primary origin of color gradients in elliptical galaxies in clusters. The same conclusion has been obtained for field elliptical galaxies by using those at redshift 0.1–1.0 in the Hubble Deep Field North by Tamura et al. Thus, it is also suggested that the primary origin of the color gradients in elliptical galaxies does not depend on galaxy environment.
Sex Offender Stigma: An Exploration of Vigilantism against Sex Offenders

ABSTRACT The current study compiles open-source news reports involving vigilantes who targeted individuals because of their status as a sex offender (SO) or their suspected involvement in a sex offense. The Sex Offender-Vigilante database includes 279 separate incidents of vigilantism against SOs, ranging from the dissemination of unsanctioned fliers to murder. Results indicate that the stigmatization that convicted SOs experience is so pervasive that it extends even to individuals suspected of having committed a sexual offense.
Electrical restitution and spatiotemporal organization during ventricular fibrillation.

Despite recent advances in our understanding of the mechanism for ventricular fibrillation (VF), important electrophysiological aspects of the development of VF still are poorly defined. It has been suggested that the onset of VF involves the disintegration of a single spiral wave into many self-perpetuating waves. It has been further suggested that such a process requires that the slope of the electrical restitution relation be >/=1. The same theory anticipates that a single spiral wave will be stable (not disintegrate) if the maximum slope of the restitution relation is <1. We have shown previously that the slope of the restitution relation during rapid pacing and during VF is >/=1 in canine ventricle. We now show that drugs that reduce the slope of the restitution relation (diacetyl monoxime and verapamil) prevent the induction of VF and convert existing VF into a periodic rhythm. In contrast, a drug that does not reduce the slope of the restitution relation (procainamide) does not prevent the induction of VF, nor does it regularize VF. These results indicate that the kinetics of electrical restitution is a key determinant of VF. Moreover, they suggest novel approaches to preventing the induction or maintenance of VF.
Impact of the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist on safety culture in the operating theatre: a controlled intervention study

Background Positive changes in safety culture have been hypothesized to be one of the mechanisms behind the reduction in mortality and morbidity after the introduction of the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC). We aimed to study the checklist effects on safety culture perceptions in operating theatre personnel using a prospective controlled intervention design at a single Norwegian university hospital. Methods We conducted a study with pre- and post-intervention surveys using the intervention and control groups. The primary outcome was the effects of the Norwegian version of the SSC on safety culture perceptions. Safety culture was measured using the validated Norwegian version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Descriptive characteristics of operating theatre personnel and checklist compliance data were also recorded. A mixed linear regression model was used to assess changes in safety culture. Results The response rate was 61% (349/575) at baseline and 51% (292/569) post-intervention. Checklist compliance ranged from 77% to 85%. We found significant positive changes in the checklist intervention group for the culture factors ‘frequency of events reported’ and ‘adequate staffing’ with regression coefficients at −0.25 [95% confidence interval (CI), −0.47 to −0.07] and 0.21 (95% CI, 0.07–0.35), respectively. Overall, the intervention group reported significantly more positive culture scores—including at baseline. Conclusions Implementation of the SSC had rather limited impact on the safety culture within this hospital.
Ties that bind: family obligations as immediate and anticipatory obstacles

Abstract While research on Asian American students has overwhelmingly emphasized family ties as an important contributor to student success in high school, what it neglects is how family ties can constrain students in their educational endeavors. Based on a study of 30 low-income Hmong American high school students, I argue that poverty can create conditions in which family ties bind students to gender-based expectations and obligations that prevent them from pursuing opportunities for social mobility. In their discussion of mobility obstacles, Hmong students consistently brought up family as a significant barrier. Whereas males were concerned about fulfilling family obligations related to performing cultural and religious rituals, females were distressed about providing social and economic support for their families. Both males and females framed family obligations as obstacles that interfere with their schooling but females were also concerned that family obligations would restrict their ability to pursue opportunities away from home.