Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Building Student Understanding and Interest in Science through Embodied Experiences with LEGO Robotics

The purpose of this study was to examine whether embodied experiences with LEGO robotics can build elementary school students’ understanding of and interest in science learning. Previous studies have shown that many children do not enjoy learning about science; they often find it very difficult to learn (Johnstone, 1991; Millar, 1991). We developed a curriculum incorporating embodied experiences and LEGO robotics so that when students physically move their own bodies and then program robots to perform tasks related to science concepts including force and mass, speed and distance, and friction, learning develops from personal embodiment to embodiment through surrogate robots. We compared the understanding and interest of students with the embodied experience to those of children without the embodied experience. The results showed that students improved in their understanding overall, however, students with the embodied experience performed better in terms of their understanding of physical concepts as well as their interest in science learning.
Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in hypertension prevention and control: what will it take to translate research into practice and policy?

INTRODUCTION Despite available, effective therapies, racial and ethnic disparities in care and outcomes of hypertension persist. Several interventions have been tested to reduce disparities; however, their translation into practice and policy is hampered by knowledge gaps and limited collaboration among stakeholders. METHODS We characterized factors influencing disparities in blood pressure (BP) control by levels of an ecological model. We then conducted a literature search using PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL databases to identify interventions targeted toward reducing disparities in BP control, categorized them by the levels of the model at which they were primarily targeted, and summarized the evidence regarding their effectiveness. RESULTS We identified 39 interventions and several state and national policy initiatives targeted toward reducing racial and ethnic disparities in BP control, 5 of which are ongoing. Most had patient populations that were majority African-American. Of completed interventions, 27 demonstrated some improvement in BP control or related process measures, and 7 did not; of the 6 studies examining disparities, 3 reduced, 2 increased, and 1 had no effect on disparities. CONCLUSIONS Several effective interventions exist to improve BP in racial and ethnic minorities; however, evidence that they reduce disparities is limited, and many groups are understudied. To strengthen the evidence and translate it into practice and policy, we recommend rigorous evaluation of pragmatic, sustainable, multilevel interventions; institutional support for training implementation researchers and creating broad partnerships among payers, patients, providers, researchers, policymakers, and community-based organizations; and balance and alignment in the priorities and incentives of each stakeholder group.
A Generic Deep Architecture for Single Image Reflection Removal and Image Smoothing

This paper proposes a deep neural network structure that exploits edge information in addressing representative low-level vision tasks such as layer separation and image filtering. Unlike most other deep learning strategies applied in this context, our approach tackles these challenging problems by estimating edges and reconstructing images using only cascaded convolutional layers arranged such that no handcrafted or application-specific image-processing components are required. We apply the resulting transferrable pipeline to two different problem domains that are both sensitive to edges, namely, single image reflection removal and image smoothing. For the former, using a mild reflection smoothness assumption and a novel synthetic data generation method that acts as a type of weak supervision, our network is able to solve much more difficult reflection cases that cannot be handled by previous methods. For the latter, we also exceed the state-of-the-art quantitative and qualitative results by wide margins. In all cases, the proposed framework is simple, fast, and easy to transfer across disparate domains.
Robust Synchronization of Uncertain Linear Multi-Agent Systems

This paper deals with robust synchronization of uncertain multi-agent networks. Given a network with for each of the agents identical nominal linear dynamics, we allow uncertainty in the form of additive perturbations of the transfer matrices of the nominal dynamics. The perturbations are assumed to be stable and bounded in H∞-norm by some a priori given desired tolerance. We derive state space formulas for observer based dynamic protocols that achieve synchronization for all perturbations bounded by this desired tolerance. It is shown that a protocol achieves robust synchronization if and only if each controller from a related finite set of feedback controllers robustly stabilizes a given, single linear system. Our protocols are expressed in terms of real symmetric solutions of certain algebraic Riccati equations and inequalities, and also involve weighting factors that depend on the eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian. For undirected network graphs we show that within the class of such dynamic protocols, a guaranteed achievable tolerance can be obtained that is proportional to the quotient of the second smallest and the largest eigenvalue of the Laplacian. We also extend our results to additive nonlinear perturbations with L2-gain bounded by a given tolerance.
A New Chinese Text Feature Selection Method in Centroid-Based Classifier

Feature selection method based on text study is a mainstream method currently, whose research key lies in finding out one suitable feature assessment method, which can reduce the numbers of the words to be processed as less as possible in the situation of not decreasing classification precision, to improve the speed and the efficiency of classification. A new feature assessment method entropy ratio is proposed in this paper on the base of researching the classical feature assessment methods in the existing literature. This method not only considered feature classification ability, but also the feature generalization ability. It is a new and better choice to apply the centroid-based classifier to improve the effect of classification. Experimental results show that the effect obtained by using this method to select features is obviously superior to the one obtained by other methods, especially when the feature selected is less.
Antibodies to TRIC agents in matched human tears and sera.

In matched specimens of tears and serum from trachoma patients, antibodies were measured against six TRIC antigens. Antibodies were found in the serum of 78% and in the tears of 59% of Tunisian children aged 6 to 9, suffering from severe trachoma. Serum or tear antibodies were found in only 6% of Navajo Indian children aged 7 to 12 with mild trachoma. Although 48% of Navajo students aged 13 to 20 with mild trachoma had antibodies in serum, antibodies in tears were exceedingly rare. Of Samoan adults living in San Francisco, with moderately severe trachoma, 86% had antibodies in serum and 29% in tears. The antibodies in tears were usually of lower titer than in serum, showed similar reactivity with specific TRIC antigens, and seemed to parallel the degree of clinical activity. Most antibodies in tears appeared to be derived from serum, and not to be produced locally.
Characterization of the Role of the Rab GTPase-activating Protein AS160 in Insulin-regulated GLUT4 Trafficking*

Insulin stimulates the translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 from intracellular vesicles to the plasma membrane. In the present study we have conducted a comprehensive proteomic analysis of affinity-purified GLUT4 vesicles from 3T3-L1 adipocytes to discover potential regulators of GLUT4 trafficking. In addition to previously identified components of GLUT4 storage vesicles including the insulin-regulated aminopeptidase insulin-regulated aminopeptidase and the vesicle soluble N-ethylmaleimide factor attachment protein (v-SNARE) VAMP2, we have identified three new Rab proteins, Rab10, Rab11, and Rab14, on GLUT4 vesicles. We have also found that the putative Rab GTPase-activating protein AS160 (Akt substrate of 160 kDa) is associated with GLUT4 vesicles in the basal state and dissociates in response to insulin. This association is likely to be mediated by the cytosolic tail of insulin-regulated aminopeptidase, which interacted both in vitro and in vivo with AS160. Consistent with an inhibitory role of AS160 in the basal state, reduced expression of AS160 in adipocytes using short hairpin RNA increased plasma membrane levels of GLUT4 in an insulin-independent manner. These findings support an important role for AS160 in the insulin regulated trafficking of GLUT4.
Epidemiology and Outcomes of Complicated Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Hospitalized Patients

ABSTRACT Complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs) are among the most rapidly increasing reasons for hospitalization. To describe inpatients with regard to patient characteristics, cSSTI origin, appropriateness of initial antibiotics, and outcomes, we performed a retrospective cohort study in patients hospitalized for cSSTI. To identify independent predictors of outcomes, we performed multivariate analyses. Of 1,096 eligible patients, 48.7% had health care-associated (HCA) cSSTI and 51.3% had community-acquired (CA) cSSTI. After adjustment for baseline variables, hospital length of stay (LOS) was longer for HCA than for CA cSSTI (difference, 2.1 days; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8 to 3.5; P < 0.05). Other covariates associated with a longer LOS were need for dialysis (regression coefficient ± standard error, 4.5 ± 1.1) and diabetic wound diagnosis (2.6 ± 1.0) (all P < 0.05). In the subset with culture-positive cSSTI within 24 h of admission, the most common pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus (298/449 [66.4%]), of which 74.8% (223/298) were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Eighty-three patients (18.5%) received inappropriate initial antibiotics. After adjustment for other variables, the following were associated with inappropriate initial therapy: direct admission to hospital (not via emergency department), cSSTI caused by MRSA or mixed pathogens, and cSSTI caused by pathogens other than S. aureus or streptococci (all P < 0.05). We did not find an association between inappropriate therapy and outcomes, except in the subset with ulcers (adjusted odds ratio, 11.8; 95% CI, 1.3 to 111.1; P = 0.03). More studies are needed to examine the impact of HCA cSSTI and inappropriate initial therapy on outcomes.
Molecular and Cellular Pathobiology Tumor Endothelial Markers De fi ne Novel Subsets of Cancer-Speci fi c Circulating Endothelial Cells Associated with Antitumor Ef fi cacy

Circulating endothelial cells (CEC) are derived from multiple sources, including bone marrow (circulating endothelial progenitors; CEP), and established vasculature (mature CEC). Although CECs have shown promise as a biomarker for patients with cancer, their utility has been limited, in part, by the lack of specificity for tumor vasculature and the different nonmalignant causes that can impact CEC. Tumor endothelial markers (TEM) are antigens enriched in tumor versus nonmalignant endothelia. We hypothesized that TEMs may be detectable on CEC and that these circulating TEMþ endothelial cells (CTEC) may be a more specific marker for cancer and tumor response than standard CEC. We found that tumor-bearing mice had a relative increase in numbers of circulating CTEC, specifically with increased levels of TEM7 and TEM8 expression. Following treatment with various vascular-targeting agents, we observed a decrease in CTEC that correlated with the reductions in tumor growth.We extended these findings to human clinical samples and observed that CTECs were present in patients with esophageal cancer and non–small cell lung cancer (N 1⁄4 40), and their levels decreased after surgical resection. These results demonstrate that CTECs are detectable in preclinical cancer models and patients with cancer. Furthermore, they suggest that CTECs offer a novel cancer-associated marker that may be useful as a blood-based surrogate for assessing the presence of tumor vasculature and antiangiogenic drug activity. Cancer Res; 74(10); 2731–41. 2014 AACR.
Towards ambitious teaching: using video to support future teachers reasoning about evidence of student learning

This article discusses systematic analysis of teaching as a process to prepare future teachers to plan, teach, and reflect on their teaching. The process includes four practices: 1) specifying the lesson learning goals for students; (2) conducting empirical observations to collect evidence of student learning; (3) generating hypotheses about features of the teacher’s instruction that promoted student learning; and (4) revising instruction on the basis of these hypotheses. Studies that used this process in the context of teacher preparation programs are reviewed. Finally, a case is presented as an illustration of ways analysis skills are used in practice and as an argument that these skills may position pre-service teachers on a trajectory for continuous improvement.
Development of cortical microstructure in the preterm human brain

Cortical maturation was studied in 65 infants between 27 and 46 wk postconception using structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Alterations in neural structure and complexity were inferred from changes in mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy, analyzed by sampling regions of interest and also by a unique whole-cortex mapping approach. Mean diffusivity was higher in gyri than sulci and in frontal compared with occipital lobes, decreasing consistently throughout the study period. Fractional anisotropy declined until 38 wk, with initial values and rates of change higher in gyri, frontal and temporal poles, and parietal cortex; and lower in sulcal, perirolandic, and medial occipital cortex. Neuroanatomical studies and experimental diffusion–anatomic correlations strongly suggested the interpretation that cellular and synaptic complexity and density increased steadily throughout the period, whereas elongation and branching of dendrites orthogonal to cortical columns was later and faster in higher-order association cortex, proceeding rapidly before becoming undetectable after 38 wk. The rate of microstructural maturation correlated locally with cortical growth, and predicted higher neurodevelopmental test scores at 2 y of age. Cortical microstructural development was reduced in a dose-dependent fashion by longer premature exposure to the extrauterine environment, and preterm infants at term-corrected age possessed less mature cortex than term-born infants. The results are compatible with predictions of the tension theory of cortical growth and show that rapidly developing cortical microstructure is vulnerable to the effects of premature birth, suggesting a mechanism for the adverse effects of preterm delivery on cognitive function.
Optimal power control for analog bidirectional relaying with long-term relay power constraint

Wireless systems that carry delay-sensitive information (such as speech and/or video signals) typically transmit with fixed data rates, but may occasionally suffer from transmission outages caused by the random nature of the fading channels. If the transmitter has instantaneous channel state information (CSI) available, it can compensate for a significant portion of these outages by utilizing power allocation. In a conventional dual-hop bidirectional amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying system, the relay already has instantaneous CSI of both links available, as this is required for relay gain adjustment. We therefore develop an optimal power allocation strategy for the relay, which adjusts its instantaneous output power to the minimum level required to avoid outages, but only if the required output power is below some cutoff level; otherwise, the relay is silent in order to conserve power and prolong its lifetime. The proposed scheme is proven to minimize the system outage probability, subject to an average power constraint at the relay and fixed output powers at the end nodes.
Multilingual shifting deep bottleneck features for low-resource ASR

In this work, we propose a deep bottleneck feature architecture that is able to leverage data from multiple languages. We also show that tonal features are helpful for non-tonal languages. Evaluations are performed on a low-resource conversational telephone speech transcription task in Bengali, while additional data for DBNF training is provided in Assamese, Pashto, Tagalog, Turkish, and Vietnamese. We obtain relative reductions of up to 17.3% and 9.4% WER over mono-lingual GMMs and DBNFs, respectively.
The Application of Mixed Method in Developing a Cyber Terrorism Framework

Mixed method research has becoming an increasingly popular approach in the discipline of sociology, psychology, education, health science and social science. The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of mixed method in developing a cyber terrorism framework. This project has two primary goals: firstly is to discover the theory and then develop a conceptual framework that describes the phenomena, and secondly is to verify the conceptual framework that describes the phenomena. In order to achieve conclusive findings of the study, a mixed method research is recommended: qualitative data and quantitative data are collected and analyzed respectively in a separate phase. The mixed method approach improves the rigor and explanation of the research results, thus bring conclusive findings to the study outcome. By utilizing qualitative and quantitative techniques within the same study, we are able to incorporate the strength of both methodologies and fit together the insights into a workable solution.
A Generic Context Model Enhanced with Self-Configuring Features

This paper addresses two fundamental research problems in the domain of context aware autonomic systems: the development of a generic context model that can be used to represent general purpose contexts in a system interpretable way and the autonomic context model management. The proposed context model uses two equivalent and synchronized ways of representing the context: a set based representation and an ontology based representation. The set based representation is used to evaluate the conditions under which the self-* processes should be executed in order to enforce the autonomic properties. The ontology representation is used by context aware applications for reasoning and learning purposes. The increasing complexity of execution environments of the context aware systems and the difficulties of their management have headed us towards the necessity of defining and integrating the self-configuring autonomic paradigm in the context model management process. The self–configuring property is enforced by monitoring the real world context in order to detect context variations or conditions for which the context artifacts must be updated.
Charles Millard, A Canadian in the International Labour Movement: A Case Study of the ICFTU 1955-61

Shortly after its formation in 1949, the Interntional Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) became hamstrung dy disagreements over cold war issues. General Secretary Oldenbroek's caution was criticized by the Americans, and Charles Millard, Candian Director of the Steelworkers, was appointed Regional Director, a post established to counterbalance Oldenbroek's influence and to revitalise the organization. However, Millard's zeal was insufficient to compensate for his shortage of interntional experience, and lack of guile left him vulnerable to opponents among the movement's power brokers. At odds with both the American and British union leaderships, he resigned in 1961, a victim of the constraints placed on labour internationalism by the Cold War. Resumes Peu apres sa formation en 1949, la Confederation internationale des syndicats libres (CISL) etait tourmentee par des disputes au sujet de la Guerre froide. La prudence de secretaire general Oldenbroek avait ete critiquee par les Americains, et donc Charles Millard, le directeur canadien des siderurgistes, a ete nomme directeur regional. Ce poste a ete etabli afin de contrebalancer l'influence d'Oldenbroek, ainsi que pour revitaliser l'organisation. Neanmoins, l'enthousiasme de Millard etait insuffisant pour compenser son manque d'experience internationale et son manque d'astuce qui l'ont laisse vulnerable face a ses adversaires a l'interieur du mouvement. Brouille avec les autorites syndicales americaines et britaniques, il a demissionne en 1961, victime des contraintes empirees par l'internationalisme du travail lors de la Guerre froide.
Preconception health promotion: Analysis of means and constraints

Objectives To assess means and constraints of preconception care implementation. Methods Three strategies were applied to promote preconception health: organisation of a campaign, production of guidelines, and implementation of a preconception pilot clinic. Three surveys investigated the knowledge and practices of women before and after the campaign, and one survey assessed the attitudes of gynaecologists. Results Posters and leaflets are more efficient than TV spots; implementation of a pilot clinic enhances all activities in the field of preconception health. With regard to constraints, we observed that (i) preconception care could not be provided when pregnancy was unplanned; (ii) the necessity of postponing pregnancy interfered with vaccinations; (iii) the compliance of women with regard to the prolonged intake of folates is poor; (iv) the application of guidelines by providers is inconsistent; (v) providers lack training regarding genetic ethical stakes; and (vi) practitioners find it difficult to integrate the concept of private eugenics and to envision the probabilistic character of the clinical manifestations of inherited diseases. Conclusions and recommendations We propose (i) flour fortification with folic acid; (ii) timely immunisation by preventive medicine at school, and (iii) continuous training of health care providers in the provision of preconception care.
EFFECT OF NICOTINE ON HIPPOCAMPAL NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE α7 RECEPTOR AND NMDA RECEPTOR SUBUNITS 2A AND 2B EXPRESSION IN YOUNG AND OLD RATS

Nicotinic acetylcholine (nAChR) and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play critical roles in memory function. This study administered chronic nicotine to determine the alterations of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 2A and 2B (NR2A, NR2B) and the alterations of α7nAChR receptor. It was determined that the effectivity of nicotine and the data support that nicotine increases hippocampal NR2A and B expression. Additionally, the role of nicotine in the cognitive improvement was not supported by the antioxidative mechanisms or the authors observed no effect of nicotine on lipid peroxidation at the hippocampus.
Negation disambiguation using the maximum entropy model

Handling negation issue is of great significance for sentiment analysis. Most previous studies adopted a simple heuristic rule for sentiment negation disambiguation within a fixed context window. In this paper we present a supervised method to disambiguate which sentiment word is attached to the negator such as “(not)” in an opinionated sentence. Experimental results show that our method can achieve better performance than traditional methods.