Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Research Use in Inservice and Preservice Education: A Case Study of California

Are the findings of research being used by preservice and inservice educators? Using a case study approach, Weil examines selected research dissemina tion practices in California. She describes the proactive posture taken by school-based staff developers in using and in educating classroom teachers regarding the uses of research. Research, she observes, has given edu cators, particularly administrators, the confidence to assume firmer, stronger leadership. Regrettably, that same research is not guiding practice in pre service teacher preparation. The reasons for this information-practice gap are rooted within ingrained institutional mindsets and behaviors.
Differential evolution with the Adaptive Penalty Method for constrained multiobjective optimization

A differential evolution algorithm is proposed here to solve constrained multiobjective optimization problems (CMOPs). In this paper, an Adaptive Penalty Method (APM), which was successfully applied to solve single objective optimization problems, is used to handle the constraints. That constraint handling technique is incorporated to a multiobjective DE which combines the non-dominated ranking and crowding distance schemes when the candidate solutions are replaced. Previously, several variants of the APM were proposed and, here, those variants are tested in order to asses their performance when solving CMOPs. The results obtained in the computational experiments are used to compare the proposal with another well known constraint handling scheme in the literature.
Managing Strategic Change: Technical, Political, and Cultural Dynamics

Noel Tichy’s book is a scholarly, well-researched, and thought-provoking book that makes a valuable contribution to organizational change and development literature and to filling a need for an organized approach to managing strategic change. Because of the heavy theoretical thrust of the book, it requires a reader dedicated to long hours of study and contemplation. However, the studious approach should not deter those interested in managing change as the book is filled with useful ideas, interesting vignettes about companies and their efforts to manage strategic change, and a wealth of information and observations on planned change. Tichy calls his TPC theory a meta-theory rather than a formal theory because of its early stage of development. However, he states at the conclusion of his book that it will
ANRIL: Molecular Mechanisms and Implications in Human Health

ANRIL is a recently discovered long non-coding RNA encoded in the chromosome 9p21 region. This locus is a hotspot for disease-associated polymorphisms, and it has been consistently associated with cardiovascular disease, and more recently with several cancers, diabetes, glaucoma, endometriosis among other conditions. ANRIL has been shown to regulate its neighbor tumor suppressors CDKN2A/B by epigenetic mechanisms and thereby regulate cell proliferation and senescence. However, the clear role of ANRIL in the pathogenesis of these conditions is yet to be understood. Here, we review the recent findings on ANRIL molecular characterization and function, with a particular focus on its implications in human disease.
The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues Agricultural Labor Markets and Immigration Economic Issues

Foreign workers have been an important part of U.S. labor-intensive segments of agriculture throughout U.S. history. Typically, these are specialty crops such as tree crops, vegetables, and nursery and greenhouse crops. Each requires large amounts of labor relative to other resources used in production. Tree crop and vegetable production on only has very large labor requirements, but the requirements are often concentrated into a very short time span of a relatively few weeks, particularly at harvest time. Nursery and greenhouse production has large, but nearly year-round labor requirements. While there has been considerable mechanization in agriculture, a number of fruits and vegetables, particularly for the fresh market, continue to be hand-harvested. Most greenhouse and nursery production utilizes manual labor. Hired farm employment in the United States is dominated by foreign-born workers: 78% of crop workers were foreign-born in 2001-2002 (Carroll et al., 2005, p. 3). The same report indicated that 53% of crop workers lacked proper authorization to work in the United States during this same time period (p. 6). Most of the recent policy debate has concerned the latter group, the illegal foreign population in the United States. Although agricultural workers are now a small part of this population estimated to be 11.5-12 million in 2006, the proportion of workers in agriculture who are illegal is among the highest of any occupation (Passell, 2006). With the major presence of illegal foreign workers in agriculture and the legislative emphasis on illegal foreign workers, there are two sets of economic issues to isolate: 1) the economic effects of a significant augmentation of the workforce through legal immigration, and 2) the economic effects of working in an illegal immigration status. Emphasis is given to the following economic indicators regarding the agricultural labor market: wage rates, length of time working in agriculture , technology, crop mix, and capital flows. Wage Rates Legal immigrants. While some economists suggest that increased immigration has reduced wage rates for native-born, unskilled workers (Borjas, 2003), most have found negative wage effects of increased immigration extremely difficult to demonstrate once all appropriate adjustments are made. For example, the 1980 Mariel Boatlift from Cuba to Miami increased the Miami labor force by 7%, but had no significant effect on wages of comparable Miami workers (Card, 1990). A second example is the sudden, unanticipated 14% increase in the Israeli labor force by Russian émigrés over 1989-1996, resulting in no significant wage …
Conversational Implicature, Conscious Representation, and the Conjunction Fallacy

This study examined judgments in four of Tversky and Kahneman's (1983) conjunction tasks, applying Gricean principles of conversational implicature and an analysis of the subjects' conscious representations. Conversational inference is itself a form of judgment under uncertainty, and hearers often venture interpretations of a speaker's intention, constrained by assumptions embodying rules of conversation. For a conjunction effect to be a fallacy, we argue, subjects must interpret the key conjunct extensionally; fallacious reasoning consists of deficient mental operations on one's own mental contents. We therefore assessed interpretations of the conjunct with reports or induced them with elaborative information, distinguishing extensional interpretations from those that absolve the judgment of fallacy. In Experiment 1, subjects most often formed absolving interpretations of the conjunct where they were most likely to judge the conjunction more probable than the conjunct. In Experiment 2, the conjunct was m.
System Description for SAIC Entry at RTE-6

SAIC participated in the RTE Main Task (Summarization scenario) at TAC 2010. The SAIC entry implemented a rule-based analysis approach involving deep parsing, WordNet, and a propositional pattern matching strategy for entailment determination. Only a first working version of the implementation was available for use for the challenge, with corresponding limited results.
Hotel Revenue Management Theories and Applications

How to sustain hotel business operation particularly during the economic recession becomes the most significant concern of hoteliers. Hotel revenue management is discussed in this paper. By analyzing hotel revenue management based on price discrimination and expected marginal revenue theories, the article uses examples in hotel operation to illustrate the applications of hotel revenue management. The study also examines the revenue per available room (REVPAR) as a measurable indicator of hotel revenue management. Industry records show successes of hotel revenue management. This paper concludes that revenue management will provide a critical contribution to the operational effectiveness of hotel enterprises in China with regards to pricing policy and room inventory control.
Do Tourists Travel for the Discovery of “Self” or Search for the “Other”?

This exclusive department is created to include findings of special significance and to identify areas of subtle research nuances through mutual debates, discourse and discussions. Elenctic method is used wherein knowledge progresses through articulation, cross-examination and rejection of spurious hypotheses. Thus, probe aims at encouraging scholars to think against the grain by unmasking the stereotype and dogmatic that has taken the mould of research conservatism, holding back acquisition of new knowledge. Contact the Editor-in-chief for more detaas. Context The question of why tourists travel is a fundamental one in tourism that speaks to both how we define tourism as a phenomenon for study and how we build our understanding of its nature, processes, consequences and future. The debate and discussion covered in these three papers take a critical approach to this question but from three very different perspectives. Moscardo begins by providing a selective review of some of the key papers that have addressed this question beginning with MacCannell's (1976) The Tourist and finishing with discussions of the links between tourism consumption and identity (Bond and Falk 2012), the new mobilities paradigm (Cresswell 2010) and research into people who can but do not travel (McKercher 2009). Along the way she argues that despite a substantial growth in tourism as a research field in the 40 years since MacCannell's (1976) seminal work, very little progress has actually been made in addressing this fundamental question. Dann adds a number of significant references to the discussion and suggests a wider range of possible answers can and should be considered. He disagrees with taking a psychological needs approach to the question of why tourists travel, but concurs with the critique of the way tourism researchers have addressed this question. McKercher argues for a simpler answer, tourism is essentially a selfish pursuit and provides a variety of evidence to support this stance. The overall debate provides important reviews of critical papers in this field, highlights the challenges that exist in addressing this question, offers some ideas for meeting these challenges, and reaffirms the importance of returning to fundamental questions in tourism research.
Book Reviews : The Formal, Informal, and Voluntary Sectors in Development Theory and Practice

economic sector of large-scale industries at the expense of the informal economic sector of small enterprises and the voluntary sector of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Yet the informal and voluntary sectors have played extremely important roles in the social and economic development of the LDCs, even in periods when the formal sector has experienced serious economic difficulties. The biased policies of international development institutions and of the governments of LDCs toward the formal sector have had negative consequences for micro-level development aimed at economic self-sufficiency, the eradication of poverty, and grass-roots initiatives. In the remaining portion of this essay, case studies on selected coun-
Shadow rendering for mesostructure surface based on height gradient map

The objects with mesostructure surfaces have difficulty in geometric modeling and have complex model structures, which result in low efficiency of shadow rendering algorithms. This paper presents a real-time rendering method for soft shadow based on height gradient map. To realize the real-time rendering, we propose a mesostructure description model, which has the mesostructure height field tied to the surfaces of low-resolution models by using texture coordinates to exhibit complex mesostructure models. We also introduce mesostructure height gradient map (MHGM) to create local apex sets of visible points. In the shadow rendering stage, the detailed shadow is generated by computing the occlusion of gradient-space local apex sets in real time. Our algorithm runs entirely in image space, and uses deferred shading and the graphics pipeline to show the self-shadowing effect of deformable objects in dynamic scenes.
Occlusion-Aided Weights for Local Stereo Matching

Recently, local stereo matching has experienced largeprogress by the introduction of adaptive support-weights. Inthis paper, we aim at eliminating negative effects of occlusionsby proposing an occlusion-based method to improvetraditional support weights. Weights of occluded points aregreatly reduced while computing matching costs, initial disparitiesand final disparities. Experimental results on the Middlebury images demonstratethat our method is very effective in improving disparitiesof points around occluded areas and depth discontinuities.According to the Middlebury benchmark, theproposed algorithm is now the top performer among localstereo methods. Moreover, this approach can be easily integratedinto nearly all existing support weights strategies.
Enhancing Decisions of Goalkeeper and Kicker Players in the RoboCup 2D Simulation League through Behavioral Cloning

RoboCup is recognized as a landmark project in the robotics and artificial intelligence industry, providing a crucial platform for the advancement of research and innovations in autonomous and multi-agent systems. This study delves into the use of behavioral cloning in the RoboCup 2D Simulation League to imitate the best decisions and improve the performance of the goalkeeper along with the kicker players. To improve the performance of our soccer team in the league, we have developed a new approach that combines behavioral cloning and game log parsing. To achieve this, we played extensively against the champion team Helios and analyzed the actions and decisions of their goalkeeper and kicker players. This data was used to create a large dataset that our team could use to improve their imitation skills. Our innovative log generator tool and game logs parser made the labeling process easier and will also be useful for future research in the league. Novel features are extracted to represent the state of the game considering the limitations of each player including their head direction along with their field of view. Next, a neural structure is trained to imitate the behavior of kicker players and the goalkeeper. Moreover, the time limit for decision-making in each turn is considered. This study showed that using behavioral cloning for imitation learning noticeably improved our team’s actions and decisions due to the enhancement of the number of accurate passes, on-target shoots, and saves by the goalkeeper.
Ideas about Parenting in Argentina, France, and the United States

Central to a concept of culture is the expectation that different peoples possess different ideas and behave in different ways with respect to child rearing. In this study, we investigated ideas that Argentine, French, and US American mothers hold about their own and their husbands' actual child rearing, as well as what they consider to be ideal child rearing, in three parenting domains: social, didactic, and limit setting. For each domain, we analysed mothers' reports of their actual behaviours and of their husbands' actual behaviours; mothers' ideal expectations of their own and their husbands' behaviours; and mothers' dissonance with respect to parenting (i.e. the extent to which mothers' actual and their husbands' actual behaviours each agrees with mothers' ideal expectations for themselves and for their husbands). The results showed consistent parent, country, as well as parent-by-country effects, interpretable in terms of overarching cultural beliefs. The study of parents' ideas contributes to understanding why and how parents behave the way they do toward children, and provides insights into the broader social context of child development.
Perioperative desaturation and risk factors in general anesthesia.

OBJECTIVE Despite advances in anesthetic technique, the incidence of perioperative desaturation in general anesthesia has remained high. Knowledge on factors associated with intraoperative desaturation is relatively scanty. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the distribution of time dependent intraoperative desaturation and factors predicting perioperative desaturation. MATERIAL AND METHOD A prospective observational analytic study was conducted. One thousand and ninety three patients schedule for elective surgery under general anesthesia (GA) were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were patients with preoperative arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) < or = 95%, pregnant women, obvious difficult airway and those requiring mechanical ventilation postoperatively. Desaturation was defined as oxygen saturation < or = 95% for > or = 10 seconds. RESULTS Among 1093 eligible cases, 30 cases (2.74%) developed intraoperative desaturation. The probability of desaturation during induction, maintenance, and emergence were 0.55% (6/1093), 2.01% (22/1093), and 0.18% (2/1093), respectively. Occurrences of desaturation at the recovery room (RR) were noted in 224 patients (20.49%). Younger, obese patients, snorers, and lower respiratory tract infection were significant high-risk groups of intraoperative desaturation. Elderly, obese patients, snorers, positive history of pulmonary disease, modified Aldrete's score < or = 8, and duration of GA > or = 180 minutes predicted desaturation at RR. CONCLUSION Obesity and snorers were the high-risk groups of perioperative desaturation. Elderly patients are at lower risk of desaturation than children intraoperatively, but at a higher risk in the postoperative period Higher FiO2 should be given to high-risk patients during the intraoperative period. Desaturation can still occur at RR, even in patients who received oxygen. Pulse oximeter monitoring should be continued throughout RR care.
Judicial Independence and the Reality of Political Power

Defining judicial independence as the ability of courts to make decisions in the short term without regard for the preferences of officeholders, this article empirically examines the conditions under which judicial independence is and is not likely to be found. Nine periods of intense congressional hostility to the Supreme Court are identified and Court reactions are chartered along a continuum from pure independence to total subservience. Examination of the historical record highlights five key factors related to independence and shows that judicial independence existed in only three of the periods. In the remaining six periods, the Court either refrained from hearing certain cases, issued opinions more in line with congressional preferences, or reversed itself. The article rejects the hypothesis of judicial independence, concluding that in times of congressional opposition to the Court, only under special conditions identified in the analysis will it retain its independence.
Joint Analysis of Dependent Features within Compound Spectra Can Improve Detection of Differential Features

Mass spectrometry is an important analytical technology in metabolomics. After the initial feature detection and alignment steps, the raw data processing results in a high-dimensional data matrix of mass spectral features, which is then subjected to further statistical analysis. Univariate tests like Student’s t-test and Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) are hypothesis tests, which aim to detect differences between two or more sample classes, e.g., wildtype-mutant or between different doses of treatments. In both cases, one of the underlying assumptions is the independence between metabolic features. However, in mass spectrometry, a single metabolite usually gives rise to several mass spectral features, which are observed together and show a common behavior. This paper suggests to group the related features of metabolites with CAMERA into compound spectra, and then to use a multivariate statistical method to test whether a compound spectrum (and thus the actual metabolite) is differential between two sample classes. The multivariate method is first demonstrated with an analysis between wild-type and an over-expression line of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. For a quantitative evaluation data sets with a simulated known effect between two sample classes were analyzed. The spectra-wise analysis showed better detection results for all simulated effects.
A 'Richter scale for risk'? Scientific management of uncertainty versus management of scientific uncertainty

Abstract There have recently been calls in the UK for the development of a 'Richter scale for risk'. It is helpful when considering the merits of these proposals to distinguish three categories of risk: directly perceptible risk, e.g. climbing a tree, riding a bicycle; risks perceptible with the help of science, e.g. cholera and other infectious diseases; and virtual risks, about which scientists do not know or can not agree, e.g. BSE/CJD and suspected carcinogens. The professional management of directly perceptible risks is made difficult and frustrating by people insisting on being their own risk managers, and overriding the judgements of risk experts and the interventions of safety regulators. Risks perceived through science are framed in terms of probabilities. The Richter scale for risk seeks, by means of a table of 'benchmark risks', to help scientists communicate thier knowledge of risk to the lay public. But frequently these probabilities are nothing but confident sounding expressions of uncertain.
Social Modulation of Contagious Yawning in Wolves

On the basis of observational and experimental evidence, several authors have proposed that contagious yawn is linked to our capacity for empathy, thus presenting a powerful tool to explore the root of empathy in animal evolution. The evidence for the occurrence of contagious yawning and its link to empathy, however, is meagre outside primates and only recently domestic dogs have demonstrated this ability when exposed to human yawns. Since dogs are unusually skilful at reading human communicative behaviors, it is unclear whether this phenomenon is deeply rooted in the evolutionary history of mammals or evolved de novo in dogs as a result of domestication. Here we show that wolves are capable of yawn contagion, suggesting that such ability is a common ancestral trait shared by other mammalian taxa. Furthermore, the strength of the social bond between the model and the subject positively affected the frequency of contagious yawning, suggesting that in wolves the susceptibility of yawn contagion correlates with the level of emotional proximity. Moreover, female wolves showed a shorter reaction time than males when observing yawns of close associates, suggesting that females are more responsive to their social stimuli. These results are consistent with the claim that the mechanism underlying contagious yawning relates to the capacity for empathy and suggests that basic building blocks of empathy might be present in a wide range of species.
Integrate Handheld Device and RFID to Support Context Awareness Environment for Outdoor Inquiry Learning Activity

The main purpose of this study is to conduct a ubiquitous learning experiment to investigate the difference of inquiry learning effect between traditional teaching environment and ICT-based ubiquitous learning environment. This study employed RFID technology and mobile learning system to build a ubiquitous inquiry learning environment, and adopted the aquatic plant unit as an example for science learning experiment. The subjects were sixty-six 5th graders in Taipei city. After analyzing the collected data, the result reveals that the achievement of aquatic plant is not significantly different between treatment group and control group. Nevertheless, the treatment group showed highly positive attitudes toward ubiquitous inquiry learning.