Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emerging Trends of Research on Transfer of Learning

The terms ‘transfer of learning’ and ‘transfer of training’ are usually found mutually exclusive in training and development literature. Transfer is a key concept in adult learning theories because most education and training aspires to transfer. The end goals of training and education are not achieved unless transfer occurs. Emerging trends of development in the area of research on transfer of learning from the training environment to the workplace environment have been drawn together and summarised in this review to introduce this important area of human performance support. Transfer of training is defined as the extent of retention and application of the knowledge, skills and attitudes from the training environment to the workplace environment. In other words, transfer of training is the degree to which trainees effectively apply the learning from a training context to the job. The increased attention to the transfer problem in recent years has resulted in the production and use of significant literature and research outcomes from the contexts of modern workplaces that prevail in the industrialised nations of western culture. However, the amount of actual research on strategies to facilitate transfer of formal employee training is still limited. In congruence with the definition and context of transfer of training in government and non-government organisations, this review focused on related literature and previous studies geared towards the process and strategies of facilitating the application of knowledge, skills, and attitudes from training to job. Existing literature and previous research relating to factors influencing transfer of training were found subsequently classified in three main clusters (a) trainee characteristics, (b) training design and delivery characteristics, and (c) organisational or workplace environment characteristics. Transfer of training, transfer of learning, adult education, performance improvement, training effectiveness, transfer partnership, workplace
How much structure is best? A comparison of market model, factor model and unstructured equity covariance matrices

This paper compares three approaches to estimating equity covariance matrices: a factor model, a market model and an unstructured asset-by-asset model. These approaches make different trade-offs between estimation variance and model specification error. We explore this trade-off with a simulation experiment and with an empirical analysis of UK equity portfolios. The factor model is found to perform best for large investment universes and typical sample lengths. The market model underperforms due to excessive specification error while an asset-by-asset model with a short half-life of 22 days underperforms due to high estimation variance. The importance of properly accounting for serial correlation is highlighted.
Fears and Tears of Transparency and Disclosure: Controversies and Politics of School Profiles in Hong Kong Since 2000

One measure of current education reform in Hong Kong is reporting school performance to the public to increase the transparency and accountability of schools, enhance parents’ right of access to information, and provide guides for choosing schools. This article examines the controversies and politics involved and shows how the sociopolitical construction of information are connected to crucial questions about how the conflicting values and expectations of different stakeholders are balanced. Advocating public school performance reporting without adequate deliberation could introduce anti-educational and unethical consequences, however unintended. Drawing on the works by Albert Meijer and findings from Hong Kong, this study provides additional empirical evidence and conceptual insights for understanding the complex dynamics of school transparency in the context of public sector accountability. The article concludes with analytical and ethical implications of the Hong Kong experience and recommendations for policy makers, particularly concerning the value judgments on the right to information, freedom of choice, transparency, accountability, freedom of the press, and professionalism.
Origin of the X-ray background and AGN unification: new perspectives

We critically review the basic assumptions of the standard model for the synthesis of the X-ray background (XRB) in the light of new data from ultradeep surveys by Chandra and XMM, resolving major parts of it. Important constraints come in particular from the observed redshift distributions of faint hard X-ray sources - showing large excesses at redshifts (z ∼ 0.8) much lower than expected by the synthesis models - and from their X-ray/optical/infrared spectral energy distributions combined with the infrared counts of type II AGNs. We find that hard X-rays and the mid-infrared appear to detect the same population of buried AGNs with peak emissivity around z ∼ 1. This analysis, although supporting the general scheme which interprets the XRB as due to absorbed AGNs with broad N H distributions, requires major revision of the other postulate of the XRB synthesis models: the AGN unification. We argue that the unification scheme based on a simple orientation effect fails at high redshifts, where galaxy activity is induced by strong interactions and mergers among gas-rich systems. This helps to explain the observational evidence that type I and II AGNs follow different evolutionary patterns, with type I quasars providing a very biased trace of this activity. Combined deep X-ray and infrared surveys consistently find that the Universe has experienced a violent phase of galaxy activity around z ≃ 1, probably related to the assembly of massive galaxies. This has involved both star formation (primarily sampled in the infrared) and obscured AGN fuelling (as detected in hard X-rays and mostly responsible for the XRB): our analysis implies that roughly 10 to 20 per cent of this activity has involved substantial AGN emission, this fraction probably reflecting the AGN/starburst duty cycle during the activation phase.
In vitro chemoresponse in metachronous pairs of ovarian cancers.

BACKGROUND/AIM An in vitro chemoresponse assay may aid effective therapy selection in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This study explores changes in chemoresponse between paired primary and recurrent EOC tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS RESULTS from metachronous tumors were examined in 242 patients. Changes in in vitro chemoresponse, measured by the area under the dose response curve (AUC) between paired tumors were assessed. RESULTS A significant increase in AUC was identified in most first-line therapies over time. No significant difference was observed in most recurrent therapies. When the elapsed time between occurrences was <17 months, no difference was observed for any recurrent therapies, and half of first-line therapies exhibited significant increases in AUC. When ≥17 months, all 7 therapies showed significant increases. CONCLUSION These results suggest an increase in chemoresistance over time, which is more pronounced for first-line therapies. This is consistent with clinical observations and suggests the biologic concordance between assay results and response to chemotherapy.
THE SYNDROME OF ACUTE CENTRAL CERVICAL SPINAL CORD INJURY

Any discussion of the diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord injuries inevitably involves controversial matters. Among the foremost of these are the indications for (Schneider, 1951, 1955) and the contraindications for (Schneider, Cherry, and Pantek, 1954) surgical intervention. It seems highly important, therefore, to establish criteria which will assist in determining whether an operation should or should not be undertaken. In 1955, a paper was published on " The Syndrome of Acute Central Cervical Spinal Cord Injury" (Schneider et al., 1954), a syndrome the presence of which contraindicated any surgical procedure. At that time, nine of the authors' cases which exhibited this neurological pattern were described in detail, and six others were abstracted from the literature. There was no pathological material presented, however, which would substantiate firmly the clinical thesis which had been advanced. This paper is written to present 12 additional patients who exhibited the syndrome. In one case the post-mortem examination confirms the assumptions previously made on the basis of clinical examination. A study of this group of cases permits further consideration of the mechanisms involved in this type of injury. The description of the syndrome reads: " In acute cervical spinal cord injuries, there is a syndrome that suggests acute central cervical spinal cord involvement. It is characterized by disproportionately more motor impairment of the upper than of the lower extremities, by bladder dysfunction, usually by urinary retention, and by varying degrees of sensory loss below the level of the lesion. If the findings are caused by central cord destruction with bleeding, hematomyelia, there may be caudad or cephalad extension of the lesion with further progression of symptoms, perhaps culminating in complete tetraplegia or death. But if the symptoms are caused by concussion or contusion, with an edematous type of central cord involvement, there may be gradual return of function in a definite sequence. The amount of recovery depends on the degree of edema present compared to the extent of true destruction of nervous tissue. The lower extremities tend to recover motor power first, bladder function returns next, and finally strength in the upper extremities reappears, with the finer finger movements coming back last. The varying degrees of sensory impairment do not follow any set pattern of recovery. "
Human Factors in Implementing E-Government in Developing Countries

Thurow (1997) was right in his discussion about the loss of “classical comparative” advantage. “Brain power” industries and knowledge workers were (are) the “neo comparative” advantage of the future (Thurow, 1997). However, it is not clear that even Thurow could foresee all the ways the “neo comparative” advantages would appear. The benefits of E-Government for citizens, business and governments have been extolled for years (Jaeger, 2003). Claims have been made that E-Government will absTracT
Reward-based Peer-to-Peer Digital Cinema Distribution Model

We propose making use of peer-to-peer technology to distribute electrical contents. The conventional peer-to-peer (P2P) technology encounters the problem that each peer has no incentive to advertise or sell other peers the content. We propose a reward-based P2P content distribution model, in which peers obtain rewards according to their selling activities. In addition, we compare two systems: one is a perfectly traceable system in which each peer has a complete knowledge regarding the peers who have already been introduced by other peers and who have not yet been introduced. The other is an imperfectly traceable system in which each peer does not know completely. We conclude that perfectly traceable system is efficient and all the peers in the market should be introduced, while imperfectly traceable system is not because of double counting effects. Thus original distributor should terminate the introduction activity before all the peers in the market are introduced
Aberrant Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β Is Involved in Pancreatic Cancer Cell Invasion and Resistance to Therapy

Background and Purpose The major obstacles to treatment of pancreatic cancer are the highly invasive capacity and resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) regulates multiple cellular pathways and is implicated in various diseases including cancer. Here we investigate a pathological role for GSK3β in the invasive and treatment resistant phenotype of pancreatic cancer. Methods Pancreatic cancer cells were examined for GSK3β expression, phosphorylation and activity using Western blotting and in vitro kinase assay. The effects of GSK3β inhibition on cancer cell survival, proliferation, invasive ability and susceptibility to gemcitabine and radiation were examined following treatment with a pharmacological inhibitor or by RNA interference. Effects of GSK3β inhibition on cancer cell xenografts were also examined. Results Pancreatic cancer cells showed higher expression and activity of GSK3β than non-neoplastic cells, which were associated with changes in its differential phosphorylation. Inhibition of GSK3β significantly reduced the proliferation and survival of cancer cells, sensitized them to gemcitabine and ionizing radiation, and attenuated their migration and invasion. These effects were associated with decreases in cyclin D1 expression and Rb phosphorylation. Inhibition of GSK3β also altered the subcellular localization of Rac1 and F-actin and the cellular microarchitecture, including lamellipodia. Coincident with these changes were the reduced secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and decreased phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK). The effects of GSK3β inhibition on tumor invasion, susceptibility to gemcitabine, MMP-2 expression and FAK phosphorylation were observed in tumor xenografts. Conclusion The targeting of GSK3β represents an effective strategy to overcome the dual challenges of invasiveness and treatment resistance in pancreatic cancer.
Robustness evaluation of software customized intelligent techniques for oscilloscopes triggering

This paper addresses the problem of time period measurement of complex waveforms using the algorithms, which utilizes the associative memory network based weighted hamming distance (whd) technique and autocorrelation based techniques for noiseless and noisy waveforms. In this work, robustness of both the advance techniques, have been evaluated by simulated addition of random noise to a test complex signal waveform. Here, Complex test waveforms are generated using LabVIEW® software and samples of the test waveforms are captured and stored in as real time test vectors using a PCI-6221 data acquisition card; and these captured test vectors are used for the robustness evaluation. For robustness evaluation, period measurement algorithms are implemented using Matlab®. The mean of minimum value of whd and peak value of coefficient of correlation are computed over 10000 cycles of the selected test waveform, with noise of various levels introduced in the test signal. From the results, it is found that both the techniques are capable of producing trigger pulses efficiently; that results into stable display of the selected complex test waveform even in the presence of noise. Correlation based technique is found to be slightly better from robustness point of view.
The Role of Complexity and Symbolization Method in Thematic Map Effectiveness

Abstract Thematic map effectiveness can be defined only in terms of specific user requirements. Consideration of common requirements results in four criteria by which map effectiveness is evaluated: effectiveness for direct acquisition of both specific and general information and for memory of both specific and general information. The influence of visual map complexity and two methods of symbolization (choropleth and shaded isopleth maps) on each aspect of complexity is evaluated. Though isopleth maps prove to be consistently less complex than choropleth maps, the only significant difference in effectiveness between the methods is for memory of general patterns, in which case isopleth maps are more effective. Map complexity is found to have two components that influence effectiveness in quite different ways. Complexity of a mapped distribution is inversely related to effectiveness of maps in communicating general patterns but has little relation to communication of specific details. The second aspect of .
Data swapping as a decision problem

We construct a decision-theoretic formulation of data swapping in which quantitative measures of disclosure risk and data utility are employed to select one release from a possibly large set of candidates. The decision variables are the swap rate, swap attribute(s) and possibly, constraints on the unswapped attributes. Risk–utility frontiers, consisting of those candidates not dominated in (risk, utility) space by any other candidate, are a principal tool for reducing the scale of the decision problem. Multiple measures of disclosure risk and data utility, including utility measures based directly on use of the swapped data for statistical inference, are introduced. Their behavior and resulting insights into the decision problem are illustrated using data from the Current Population Survey, the well-studied “Czech auto worker data” and data on schools and administrators generated by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Assessing Osha Performance: Evidence from the Construction Industry

The determinants of OSHA performance can be examined by breaking the regulatory process into three elements relating to enforcement, compliance behavior, and the adequacy of standards in addressing safety outcomes. This paper develops and applies this framework to the U.S. construction industry during the period 1987 to 1993. Enforcement activity among the firms in the sample was substantial, with firms facing a high probability of annual inspection. But, despite this significant enforcement effort, inspections have a modest effect on firm compliance with OSHA standards. Finally, the health and safety standards cited most frequently diverge from the major sources of fatalities and injuries on construction projects. These results suggest that historic enforcement policies toward construction make less sense as OSHA moves into its fourth decade of operation. More generally, the paper illustrates the problem of focusing enforcement resources on large, highhprofile companies even though they often are not the major source of regulatory problems in an established area of public policy intervention. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Análisis de protocolos de comunicaciones para internet de las cosas

Para el usuario de IoT, estas tecnologías resultan ser “transparentes”. Es decir que se ignora su existencia o se tiene una visión parcial o incompleta de las mismas. Esta “transparencia” también incluye a cuáles son los protocolos adecuados para cada tipo de aplicación y las técnicas de protección y seguridad de las comunicaciones y del transporte y almacenamiento de datos confidenciales y/o sensibles, en los sistemas que así lo requieren.
Network Modeling Reveals Prevalent Negative Regulatory Relationships between Signaling Sectors in Arabidopsis Immune Signaling

Biological signaling processes may be mediated by complex networks in which network components and network sectors interact with each other in complex ways. Studies of complex networks benefit from approaches in which the roles of individual components are considered in the context of the network. The plant immune signaling network, which controls inducible responses to pathogen attack, is such a complex network. We studied the Arabidopsis immune signaling network upon challenge with a strain of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae expressing the effector protein AvrRpt2 (Pto DC3000 AvrRpt2). This bacterial strain feeds multiple inputs into the signaling network, allowing many parts of the network to be activated at once. mRNA profiles for 571 immune response genes of 22 Arabidopsis immunity mutants and wild type were collected 6 hours after inoculation with Pto DC3000 AvrRpt2. The mRNA profiles were analyzed as detailed descriptions of changes in the network state resulting from the genetic perturbations. Regulatory relationships among the genes corresponding to the mutations were inferred by recursively applying a non-linear dimensionality reduction procedure to the mRNA profile data. The resulting static network model accurately predicted 23 of 25 regulatory relationships reported in the literature, suggesting that predictions of novel regulatory relationships are also accurate. The network model revealed two striking features: (i) the components of the network are highly interconnected; and (ii) negative regulatory relationships are common between signaling sectors. Complex regulatory relationships, including a novel negative regulatory relationship between the early microbe-associated molecular pattern-triggered signaling sectors and the salicylic acid sector, were further validated. We propose that prevalent negative regulatory relationships among the signaling sectors make the plant immune signaling network a “sector-switching” network, which effectively balances two apparently conflicting demands, robustness against pathogenic perturbations and moderation of negative impacts of immune responses on plant fitness.
Capacity of opportunistic routing in multi-rate and multi-hop wireless networks

Opportunistic routing (OR) copes with the unreliable transmissions by exploiting the broadcast nature of the wireless medium and spatial diversity of the multi-hop wireless networks. In this paper, we carry out a comprehensive study on the impacts of multiple rates, interference, candidate selection and prioritization on the maximum end-to-end throughput or capacity of OR. Taking into account the wireless interference and unique properties of OR, we introduce the concept of concurrent transmitter sets to represent the constraints imposed by the transmission conflicts of OR, and formulate the maximum end-to-end throughput problem as a maximum-flow linear programming subject to the transmission conflict constraints. We also propose two multi-rate OR metrics: expected medium time (EMT) and expected advancement rate (EAR), and the corresponding distributed and local rate and candidate set selection schemes, one of which is least medium time OR (LMTOR) and the other is multi-rate geographic OR (MGOR). We compare the capacity of multi-rate OR with single-rate ones under different settings. We show that our proposed multi-rate OR schemes achieve higher throughput bound than any single-rate GOR. We observe some insights of OR: 1) although involving more forwarding candidates increases the end-to-end capacity, the capacity gained from involving more forwarding candidates decreases; 2) there exists a node density threshold, higher than which 24 Mbps GOR performs better than 12 Mbps GOR, and vice versa.
Distribution and Risk Factors of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in the General Population of Central Iran

Background Hepatitis B is the most common chronic viral infection in humans and the most common cause of death among viral hepatitis. As 70% to 80% of chronic hepatitis cases are caused by HBV in Iran, this virus alone is considered the most important cause of liver diseases and the major cause of mortality arising from viral hepatitis cases in Iran. Objectives We planned this study to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B in the general population of Qom, central Iran. Patients and Methods The present study is a cross-sectional study. A total of 3690 samples were collected from 7 rural clusters and 116 urban clusters. Ten teams, each consisting of 2 trained members, were assigned to conduct the sampling and fill the questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Results The prevalence rate of hepatitis B infection in Qom Province was 1.3%. The mean age of the patients with hepatitis B was 44.17 years. The prevalence of hepatitis B was 1.6% in men and 1.1% in women. Moreover, the prevalence of hepatitis B correlated positively with age, tattooing, and literacy level. Conclusions The prevalence rate of hepatitis B in Qom is 1.3%. It is possible to prevent the disease by increasing public awareness. Further investigation on clinical presentations and a determination of the genotype of the virus are suggested.