Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of two methods of presenting homework upon attitude, achievement, and perceptions of study habits in a college mathematics course /

3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
Edge‐Preserving Algorithm for Block Artifact Reduction and Its Pipelined Architecture

This paper presents a new edge‐protection algorithm and its very large scale integration (VLSI) architecture for block artifact reduction. Unlike previous approaches using block classification, our algorithm utilizes pixel classification to categorize each pixel into one of two classes, namely smooth region and edge region, which are described by the edge‐protection maps. Based on these maps, a two‐step adaptive filter which includes offset filtering and edge‐preserving filtering is used to remove block artifacts. A pipelined VLSI architecture of the proposed deblocking algorithm for HD video processing is also presented in this paper. A memory‐reduced architecture for a block buffer is used to optimize memory usage. The architecture of the proposed deblocking filter is verified on FPGA Cyclone II and implemented using the ANAM 0.25 µm CMOS cell library. Our experimental results show that our proposed algorithm effectively reduces block artifacts while preserving the details. The PSNR performance of our algorithm using pixel classification is better than that of previous algorithms using block classification.
Postural Control in Man: The Phylogenetic Perspective

Erect posture in man is a recent affordance from an evolutionary perspective. About eight million years ago, the stock from which modern humans derived split off from the ape family, and from around sixty-thousand years ago, modern man developed. Upright gait and manipulations while standing pose intricate cybernetic problems for postural control. The trunk, having an older evolutionary history than the extremities, is innervated by medially descending motor systems and extremity muscles by the more recent, laterally descending systems. Movements obviously require concerted actions from both systems. Research in rats has demonstrated the interdependencies between postural control and the development of fluent walking. Only 15 days after birth, adult-like fluent locomotion emerges and is critically dependent upon postural development. Vesttibular deprivation induces a retardation in postural development and, consequently, a retarded development of adult-like locomotion. The cerebellum obviously has an important role in mutual adjustments in postural control and extremity movements, or, in coupling the phyiogenetic older and newer structures. In the human, the cerebellum develops partly after birth and therefore is vulnerable to adverse perinatal influences. Such vulnerability seems to justify focusing our scientific research efforts onto the development of this structure.
Getting More Out of Biomedical Documents with GATE's Full Lifecycle Open Source Text Analytics

This software article describes the GATE family of open source text analysis tools and processes. GATE is one of the most widely used systems of its type with yearly download rates of tens of thousands and many active users in both academic and industrial contexts. In this paper we report three examples of GATE-based systems operating in the life sciences and in medicine. First, in genome-wide association studies which have contributed to discovery of a head and neck cancer mutation association. Second, medical records analysis which has significantly increased the statistical power of treatment/outcome models in the UK's largest psychiatric patient cohort. Third, richer constructs in drug-related searching. We also explore the ways in which the GATE family supports the various stages of the lifecycle present in our examples. We conclude that the deployment of text mining for document abstraction or rich search and navigation is best thought of as a process, and that with the right computational tools and data collection strategies this process can be made defined and repeatable. The GATE research programme is now 20 years old and has grown from its roots as a specialist development tool for text processing to become a rather comprehensive ecosystem, bringing together software developers, language engineers and research staff from diverse fields. GATE now has a strong claim to cover a uniquely wide range of the lifecycle of text analysis systems. It forms a focal point for the integration and reuse of advances that have been made by many people (the majority outside of the authors' own group) who work in text processing for biomedicine and other areas. GATE is available online <1> under GNU open source licences and runs on all major operating systems. Support is available from an active user and developer community and also on a commercial basis.
Full-Custom vs. Standard-Cell Design Flow – A Quantitative Adder Comparison

Full-custom design techniques are considered superior to standard-cell design techniques when a high-performance circuit is requested. The structured routing of critical wires is considered to be the most important contributor to the performance gap. This is true for bit-sliced designs with interconnections only to neighboring bitslices, such as register ﬁles and ripple-carry adders, but not for designs with inter-bitslice interconnections spanning several bitslices, such as tree adders, barrel shifters and reduction-tree multipliers. Standard-cell design techniques scale better with the data width than full-custom bitsliced layouts for designs dominated by inter-bitslice interconnections.
Optimal scheduling of smart homes' appliances for the minimization of energy cost under dynamic pricing

This paper focuses on the development of load scheduling algorithms applied to representative types of home appliances, in order to reduce the energy cost, in a context of fluctuating energy prices, based on user's requirements. The presented algorithms could be executed both in a centralized energy management system and in distributed low-cost load controllers. Respective analysis and evaluation provide significant insight, both concerning feasibility and flexibility of such approaches as well as potential cost reduction.
MHC Mismatch Inhibits Neurogenesis and Neuron Maturation in Stem Cell Allografts

Background The role of histocompatibility and immune recognition in stem cell transplant therapy has been controversial, with many reports arguing that undifferentiated stem cells are protected from immune recognition due to the absence of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) markers. This argument is even more persuasive in transplantation into the central nervous system (CNS) where the graft rejection response is minimal. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we evaluate graft survival and neuron production in perfectly matched vs. strongly mismatched neural stem cells transplanted into the hippocampus in mice. Although allogeneic cells survive, we observe that MHC-mismatch decreases surviving cell numbers and strongly inhibits the differentiation and retention of graft-derived as well as endogenously produced new neurons. Immune suppression with cyclosporine-A did not improve outcome but non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, indomethacin or rosiglitazone, were able to restore allogeneic neuron production, integration and retention to the level of syngeneic grafts. Conclusions/Significance These results suggest an important but unsuspected role for innate, rather than adaptive, immunity in the survival and function of MHC-mismatched cellular grafts in the CNS.
Generating associative ripples of relevant information from a variety of data streams by throwing a heuristic stone

Recently, the vast dialog in the microblog, such as twitter, Facebook has become increasingly popular. As we post more messages in microblogs, information is spreading more quickly and widely. These widely spread and diversified contents could be viewed as data streams, which have become an important part of the Internet resources. However, these separated data streams are littery and meaningless, so we need to collect and organize them together to provide us with meaningful information. It is hard to imagine that we could find useful information by simply inputting a few keywords into a search engine in such a stream environment. In this study, we try to find a way to seek the information related to users' personal and current interests and needs among these data streams and provide users with other more relevant information. We introduce a set of metaphors to represent a variety of data streams in different levels, and define two new metaphors: heuristic stone and associative ripple to assist the seeking process and describe the results. Based on these, we further propose two algorithms for the information seeking and processing, and discuss a scenario of the information seeking process that utilizes the proposed metaphors and algorithms.
MINOE: A Software Tool to Analyze Ocean Management Efforts in the Context of Ecosystems

Transitioning ocean governance into an integrated ecosystem-based approach requires improved knowledge of existing governance arrangements. This article presents a software tool, MINOE, to assist policymakers, scientists, and others involved in ecosystem-based management initiatives to navigate through management documents as they relate to a user-defined ecosystem. The tool uses a conceptually modeled ecosystem, defined by the user, and text analysis of a set of management-related documents to determine which ecosystem linkages are potentially acknowledged in the documents. For illustration, the set of documents included with MINOE currently (and used to demonstrate the software in this article) are laws and regulations from four geopolitical jurisdictions for the year 2006; however, users may also import other documents for a more tailored application. Features include an interactive matrix containing results about the set of management documents within the user's scope and scale of interest. In addition, MINOE includes metrics and visualization tools to synthesize information derived from the documents. The article presents the software tool, describes potential uses for the tool, and ends with a discussion of future work to expand the program.
Attitudes Toward Motherhood Among Sexual Minority Women in the United States

In this article, we use data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers—a national, population-based telephone survey—to examine how sexual minority women construct and value motherhood. We analyze the small (N = 43) random sample of self-identified sexual minority women using “survey-driven narrative construction,” which entails converting the structured answers and open-ended responses for each respondent into narratives and identifying themes. We focused on both sexual minority women’s desires and intentions to parent and on the importance they place on motherhood. We found that there is considerable variation in this population. Many sexual minority women distinguish between having and raising children, suggesting a broad notion of motherhood. We also found that sexual minority women without children are not all voluntarily childfree. Our results suggest that survey research on fertility would improve by explicitly addressing sexuality.
University of Castilla-La Mancha A publication of the Department of Computer Science A Strategy to Compute the InfiniBand Arbitration Tables

The InfiniBand Architecture (IBA) is a new industry-standard architecture for server I/O and interprocessor communication. InfiniBand is very likely to become the de facto standard in a few years. It is being developed by the InfiniBandSM Trade Association (IBTA) to provide the levels of reliability, availability, performance, scalability, and quality of service (QoS) necessary for present and future server systems. The provision of QoS in data communication networks is currently the focus of much discussion and research in industry and academia. IBA enables QoS support with some mechanisms. In this paper, we examine these mechanisms and describe a way to use them. We propose a traffic segregation strategy based on mean bandwidth requirements. Moreover, we propose a very effective strategy to compute the virtual lane arbitration tables for IBA switches. We evaluate our proposal with different network topologies. Performance results show that, with a correct treatment of each traffic class in the arbitration of the output port, every traffic class meets its QoS requirements.
Transistor Size Optimization in the Tailor Layout System

This paper describes a combination transistor sizing/layout compaction tool used to synthesize high performance CMOS circuits. This optimization tool is part of a large integrated layout system, called Tailor. Given any CMOS circuit layout, Tailor's transistor size optimizer will simultaneously adjust transistor sizes and compact the layout so that the minimum required area (cell pitch) for a specified upper bound on circuit delay is achieved. All delay paths are considered by modeling circuit delay with a logic independent delay graph. Tailor's optimizer globally optimizes circuit area (in one dimension) and delay by use of compaction and nonlinear programming algorithms. The optimizer does not yet optimize in two dimensions simultaneously or optimize hierarchical circuits. Results for a few optimized CMOS circuits are presented.
Crossing boundarised epistemologies in science education : the affordances of indigenous knowledge

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your esteemed presence here tonight. In this inaugural lecture, my central argument is that, by including indigenous (scientific) knowledge in the school curriculum, and by utilising the processes of science in doing so, we could see worthwhile learning effects in the science classroom. The counter argument of cynics might be that many modern urban young people do not have an indigenous knowledge base a valid point that illustrates why more attention should be devoted to harnessing this often orally transmitted knowledge, before it is lost forever.
Parallel Algorithm for the Chameleon Clustering Algorithm using Dynamic Modeling

With the increasing size of data-sets in application areas like bio-medical, hospitals, information systems, scientific data processing and predictions, finance analytics, communications, retail and marketing, it is becoming increasingly important to execute data mining tasks in parallel. At the same time, technological advancements have made shared memoryparallel computation machines commonly available to various organizations and individuals. This paper analyzes a hierarchical clustering algorithm named chameleon clustering which is based on dynamic modeling and we propose a parallel algorithm for the same. The algorithm utilizes the concept of parallel processors available and hence reduces the time to generate final clusters. General Terms Enhancement, Utilization, clustering, similarity, Algorithms et. al.
2. Workshop Software-reengineering Der Gi-fachgruppe Software-reengineering (sre)

Although the rate of significant quality issues in enduser programs is alarming, high-stake business decisions are often influenced by them. But due to a lack of awareness the end-user programs manage to stay below the radar of today’s managers and vital reengineering actions never get projected. This case study describes a project in which preceding business process reengineering triggered software reengineering of a complex financial accounting spreadsheet. As closer domain analysis indicated severe quality and task inadequacy problems in this piece of software, it was decided to fully redevelop the application instead of just reengineering it. The applied two-staged evolutionary approach allowed urgently required functionality of the new system to be brought into service rapidly, while ensuring high quality in the long run.
Design patterns for learning games

This article concerns the design of self-contained digital games for the life-long learning context. Although the potential of games for teaching and learning is undisputed, two main barriers hamper its wide introduction. First, the design of such games tends to be complex, laborious and costly. Second, the requirements for a sensible game do not necessarily coincide with the requirements for effective learning. To solve this problem, we propose a methodology to the design of learning games by using game design patterns and matching these with corresponding learning functions, which is expected to reduce design effort and help determining the right balance between game elements and learning. First empirical results indicate that such a methodology actually can work.
Rescuing Nones From the Reference Category: Civic Engagement Among the Nonreligious in America

Religious individuals are repeatedly found to be more civically engaged than nonreligious individuals. However, most studies of civic engagement relegate the nonreligious to the reference group; the “Nones” are treated as homogeneous and assumed to have few avenues for civic engagement. We bring the nonreligious out of the reference group and explore how variations in nonreligious identification, belief, and behavior affect civic engagement. We find important variations among the nonreligious in terms of their propensity to be civically engaged that are lost when their heterogeneity is ignored. Those who identify as “nothing in particular” (NIP) are much less likely to show interest or engagement in civic life than are atheists, agnostics, and the “spiritual but not religious,” and we show that the image of the nonreligious as uninvolved in civic life is inaccurate and most likely driven by forms of analysis that disproportionately weight the experiences of the “NIPs. ”
Lossless Video Sequence Compression Using Adaptive Prediction

We present an adaptive lossless video compression algorithm based on predictive coding. The proposed algorithm exploits temporal, spatial, and spectral redundancies in a backward adaptive fashion with extremely low side information. The computational complexity is further reduced by using a caching strategy. We also study the relationship between the operational domain for the coder (wavelet or spatial) and the amount of temporal and spatial redundancy in the sequence being encoded. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme provides significant improvements in compression efficiencies
Computing Workflows for Biologists: A Roadmap

Extremely large datasets have become routine in biology. However, performing a computational analysis of a large dataset can be overwhelming, especially for novices. Here, we present a step-by-step guide to computing workflows with the biologist end-user in mind. Starting from a foundation of sound data management practices, we make specific recommendations on how to approach and perform computational analyses of large datasets, with a view to enabling sound, reproducible biological research.
In Vivo Imaging of the Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Mosaic Using Adaptive Optics Enhanced Indocyanine Green Ophthalmoscopy

Purpose The purpose of this study was to establish that retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells take up indocyanine green (ICG) dye following systemic injection and that adaptive optics enhanced indocyanine green ophthalmoscopy (AO-ICG) enables direct visualization of the RPE mosaic in the living human eye. Methods A customized adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) was used to acquire high-resolution retinal fluorescence images of residual ICG dye in human subjects after intravenous injection at the standard clinical dose. Simultaneously, multimodal AOSLO images were also acquired, which included confocal reflectance, nonconfocal split detection, and darkfield. Imaging was performed in 6 eyes of three healthy subjects with no history of ocular or systemic diseases. In addition, histologic studies in mice were carried out. Results The AO-ICG channel successfully resolved individual RPE cells in human subjects at various time points, including 20 minutes and 2 hours after dye administration. Adaptive optics-ICG images of RPE revealed detail which could be correlated with AO dark-field images of the same cells. Interestingly, there was a marked heterogeneity in the fluorescence of individual RPE cells. Confirmatory histologic studies in mice corroborated the specific uptake of ICG by the RPE layer at a late time point after systemic ICG injection. Conclusions Adaptive optics-enhanced imaging of ICG dye provides a novel way to visualize and assess the RPE mosaic in the living human eye alongside images of the overlying photoreceptors and other cells.
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase mutants retain in vitro integrase activity yet fail to integrate viral DNA efficiently during infection

The viral integrase (IN) protein is the only viral protein known to be required for integration of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome into the host cell DNA, a step in the viral life cycle that is essential for viral replication. To better understand the relationship between in vitro IN activity and IN-mediated integration of viral DNA in an infected cell, we characterized the effects of 13 IN mutations on viral replication in cultured cells. Using HIV-1 genomes that express the hygromycin resistance gene and do not express the HIV-1 env gene, we generated stocks of pseudotype virus coated with the murine leukemia virus amphotropic envelope glycoprotein, containing either wild-type or mutant HIV-1 IN. All mutants produced normal amounts of physical particles, as measured by reverse transcriptase activity and capsid protein (p24) concentration, but they formed three groups based on infectious titer and synthesis of viral DNA. Changes at the three highly conserved acidic residues in the IN core domain (D-64, D-116, and E-152) impair provirus formation without affecting viral DNA synthesis or the accumulation of viral DNA in the nucleus of the infected cell, a phenotype predicted by each mutant's lack of in vitro integrase activity. Mutations at positions N-120, R-199, and W-235 minimally affect in vitro integrase activity, but infectious titers are severely reduced, despite normal synthesis of viral DNA, implying a defect during integration in vivo. Mutations in the zinc binding region (H12C, H16V, and H16C), S81R, and a deletion of residues 32 through 275 yield noninfectious particles that synthesize little or no viral DNA following infection, despite wild-type levels of reverse transcriptase activity and viral RNA in the particles. The two latter classes of mutants suggest that IN can affect DNA synthesis or integration during infection in ways that are not appreciated from currently used assays in vitro.
Capturing crosstalk-induced waveform for accurate static timing analysis

We propose a method to capture crosstalk-induced noisy waveform for crosstalk-aware static timing analysis. The effects of capacitive coupling noise on timing are conventionally measured as delay variation. On the other hand, the propose method derives an equivalent waveform to a crosstalk-induced noisy waveform. The crosstalk effects on timing are all included in the equivalent waveform. With the derived equivalent waveform, we can perform static timing analysis with consideration of dynamic delay variation due to crosstalk noise. The equivalent waveform is derived by our improved least square fitting with weighting coefficient. Our method can naturally consider the slew variation due to crosstalk noise as well as the delay variation. We experimentally verify that our method can estimate the delay variation at the output of the receiver gate accurately. The strength is that the proposed method requires no additional library characterization and is easy to be integrated into usual static timing analysis methods.