Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
P-RnaPredict-a parallel evolutionary algorithm for RNA folding: effects of pseudorandom number quality

This paper presents a fully parallel version of RnaPredict, a genetic algorithm (GA) for RNA secondary structure prediction. The research presented here builds on previous work and examines the impact of three different pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs) on the GA's performance. The three generators tested are the C standard library PRNG RAND, a parallelized multiplicative congruential generator (MCG), and a parallelized Mersenne Twister (MT). A fully parallel version of RnaPredict using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) was implemented on a 128-node Beowulf cluster. The PRNG comparison tests were performed with known structures whose sequences are 118, 122, 468, 543, and 556 nucleotides in length. The effects of the PRNGs are investigated and the predicted structures are compared to known structures. Results indicate that P-RnaPredict demonstrated good prediction accuracy, particularly so for shorter sequences.
Early in vivo MR spectroscopy findings in organophosphate‐induced brain damage—potential biomarkers for short‐term survival

Organophosphates are highly toxic substances, which cause severe brain damage. The hallmark of the brain injury is major convulsions. The goal of this study was to assess the spatial and temporal MR changes in the brain of paraoxon intoxicated rats. T2‐weighted MRI and 1H‐MR‐spectroscopy were conducted before intoxication, 3 h, 24 h, and 8 days postintoxication. T2 prolongation mainly in the thalami and cortex was evident as early as 3 h after intoxication (4–6% increase in T2 values, P < 0.05). On spectroscopy, N‐acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine and NAA/choline levels significantly decreased 3 h postintoxication (>20% decrease, P < 0.005), and 3 h lactate peak was evident in all intoxicated animals. On the 8th day, although very little T2 changes were evident, NAA/creatine and choline/creatine were significantly decreased (>15%, P < 0.05). Animals who succumbed had extensive cortical edema, significant higher lactate levels and a significant decrease in NAA/creatine and NAA/choline levels compared to animals which survived the experiment. Organophosphates‐induced brain damage is obvious on MR data already 3 h postintoxication. In vivo spectroscopic changes are more sensitive for assessing long‐term injury than T2‐weighted MR imaging. Early spectroscopic findings might be used as biomarkers for the severity of the intoxication and might predict early survival. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Scalable Routing System Design for Future Internet

Internet routing is at an important crossroad. The current global routing table, which is largely based on IPv4 addresses, has been growing at an alarming rate over the last few years, despite the constraints by the shortage of IPv4 addresses. IPv6 removes the address shortage problem, however its deployment may potentially further exacerbate the routing scalability challenges facing us today. In this paper, we first examine and describe the root causes of the routing scalability problem and then discuss a promising direction towards an effective solution. The explosive growth of the Internet over the last decade made it no longer feasible to perform global routing based on all end user IP address prefixes. Yet at the same time, we must preserve the end-to-end model of the Internet architecture. We sketch out a basic approach to an effective solution which is to separate globally routable addresses (GRA) from globally deliverable addresses (GDA). This separation of address space can simultaneously achieve the goals of improved routing scalability, ease of site-multihoming without using multiple addresses, and elimination of the need for user renumbering when changing providers. An interesting aspect of this approach is that it both facilitates the deployment of IPv6 at edge sites and also does not require immediate changes at large IPv4 deployed bases.
Effectively Promoting Positive Character Traits in Children.

This action research project implemented strategies for effectively promoting attitude and values to elicit good character in children. The targeted population consisted of first and third grade students in three schools in a middle class community in northern Illinois. The lack of respect and poor moral values contributed to the data that are revealed in parent and teacher questionnaires, surveys, and a teacher checklist. Through interpreting documented material, it was found that students were not demonstrating good character traits. This is because of the escalating moral deterioration of children and teachers' inability to teach values throughout the curriculum. Upon reviewing the causes of why students demonstrated inappropriate character traits, three major values (respect, responsibility, caring) were targeted, and a variety of activities were conducted in classroom settings. Post-intervention data indicated an increase in students treating others with respect and in being kind and considerate to others. The intervention of effectively promoting character traits in children appears to have had a positive effect on student behavior. (Contains 5 tables and 23 references.) (BT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. EFFECTIVELY PROMOTING POSITIVE CHARACTER TRAITS IN CHILDREN 1 Celeste Amish Tracey Markowski Katrina Woolwine An Action Research Project Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the School of Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching and Leadership Saint Xavier University & SkyLight Field-Based Masters Program PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY that. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Chicago, Illinois
Patient Characteristics and Treatment Components that Mediate Improvements in Connected Speech in Persons with Chronic Post-Stroke Aphasia: A Delphi study involving a Communication Disorders Expert Panel

Frey, Kimberly Lynne (PhD., Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences; Neuroscience) Patient Characteristics and Treatment Components that Mediate Improvements in Connected Speech in Persons with Chronic Post-Stroke Aphasia: A Delphi study involving a Communication Disorders Expert Panel Dissertation directed by Associate Professor Gail Ramsberger Purpose: To achieve agreement amongst a group of aphasia experts regarding the most important patient characteristics and treatment components that mediate improvements in connected speech in persons with chronic post-stroke aphasia. Method: A three-round Delphi study obtained the views of experts regarding patient characteristics and treatment components (e.g., focus, materials, task, duration/intensity, other) that positively, neutrally, or negatively influence connected speech. A structured eight-stage process included two data acquisition methods. First, a systematic literature review extracted patient characteristics and treatment components in studies for which connected speech was an outcome variable of interest. Next, over three-rounds, experts identified and rated patient characteristics and treatment components according to their relative influence on connected speech. Means, standard deviations, percentiles, and Spearman rank correlation coefficients were used to investigate the importance of items, agreement amongst experts, and stability of responses across rounds. Results: Fifty-two experts identified in the literature review were contacted to participate in the study, seven of whom completed all three Delphi rounds. Categorization of the narrative responses to first round questions resulted in 175 specific, five-point Likert-scale questions
Syllable-based Machine Transliteration with Extra Phrase Features

This paper describes our syllable-based phrase transliteration system for the NEWS 2012 shared task on English-Chinese track and its back. Grapheme-based Transliteration maps the character(s) in the source side to the target character(s) directly. However, character-based segmentation on English side will cause ambiguity in alignment step. In this paper we utilize Phrase-based model to solve machine transliteration with the mapping between Chinese characters and English syllables rather than English characters. Two heuristic rule-based syllable segmentation algorithms are applied. This transliteration model also incorporates three phonetic features to enhance discriminative ability for phrase. The primary system achieved 0.330 on Chinese-English and 0.177 on English-Chinese in terms of top-1 accuracy.
Temperature sensitivity of SOI-CMOS transistors for use in uncooled thermal sensing

The temperature coefficient of current (TCC) of CMOS transistors implemented on silicon-on-insulator substrates is theoretically and empirically studied for its potential use in uncooled thermal sensing. Modeling and measurements show TCC values in subthreshold of more than 6%/K, better than state of the art microbolometer temperature coefficient of resistance, and less than -0.4%/K in saturation-comparable with metals. Models and measurements are shown for the TCC dependence upon operating point, temperature and channel length. A simple semi-empirical model for the TCC at subthreshold based on long channel approximation is suggested and shown to agree with measurements for channel length down to 0.35 /spl mu/m. The model and measurements show a logarithmic tradeoff between subthreshold current and the TCC, which is important in the design of sensors.
Commodity Financialization and Herd Behavior in Commodity Futures Markets

This paper contributes to the debate on commodity financialization by extending tests of herd behavior to the commodity futures markets. Utilizing a regime-switching model, we test the presence of herd behavior in a number of commodity sectors; including energy, metals, grains, and livestock; during the low and high market volatility states. We find significant evidence of herd behavior in grains only during the high volatility state. We also find that large price movements in the energy and metals sectors significantly contribute to herd behavior in the market for grains. Finally, we find no significant effect of the stock market on herd behavior in the commodity futures markets. Our findings in general do not support the much debated commodity financialization hypothesis.
Concentration-Driven Growth of Model Protocell Membranes

The first protocell membranes may have assembled from fatty acids and related single-chain lipids available in the prebiotic environment. Prior to the evolution of complex cellular machinery, spontaneous protocell membrane growth and division had to result from the intrinsic physicochemical properties of these molecules, in the context of specific environmental conditions. Depending on the nature of the chemical and physical environment, fatty acids can partition between several different phases, including soluble monomers, micelles, and lamellar vesicles. Here we address the concentration dependence of fatty acid aggregation, which is dominated by entropic considerations. We quantitatively distinguish between fatty acid phases using a combination of physical and spectroscopic techniques, including the use of the fluorescent fatty acid analogue Laurdan, whose emission spectrum is sensitive to structural differences between micellar and lamellar aggregates. We find that the monomer–aggregate transition largely follows a characteristic pseudophase model of molecular aggregation but that the composition of the aggregate phase is also concentration dependent. At low amphiphile concentrations above the critical aggregate concentration, vesicles coexist with a significant proportion of micelles, while more concentrated solutions favor the lamellar vesicle phase. We subsequently show that the micelle–vesicle equilibrium can be used to drive the growth of pre-existing vesicles upon an increase in amphiphile concentration either through solvent evaporation or following the addition of excess lipids. We propose a simple model for a primitive environmentally driven cell cycle, in which protocell membrane growth results from evaporative concentration, followed by shear force or photochemically induced division.
Charge Transfer Mechanism in Titanium-Doped Microporous Silica for Photocatalytic Water-Splitting Applications

Solar energy conversion into chemical form is possible using artificial means. One example of a highly-efficient fuel is solar energy used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Efficient photocatalytic water-splitting remains an open challenge for researchers across the globe. Despite significant progress, several aspects of the reaction, including the charge transfer mechanism, are not fully clear. Density functional theory combined with density matrix equations of motion were used to identify and characterize the charge transfer mechanism involved in the dissociation of water. A simulated porous silica substrate, using periodic boundary conditions, with Ti4+ ions embedded on the inner pore wall was found to contain electron and hole trap states that could facilitate a chemical reaction. A trap state was located within the silica substrate that lengthened relaxation time, which may favor a chemical reaction. A chemical reaction would have to occur within the window of photoexcitation; therefore, the existence of a trapping state may encourage a chemical reaction. This provides evidence that the silica substrate plays an integral part in the electron/hole dynamics of the system, leading to the conclusion that both components (photoactive materials and support) of heterogeneous catalytic systems are important in optimization of catalytic efficiency.
Connecting users with their data : an environment to explore the morphodynamics of rip currents

Remote sensors are widely used in coastal morphodynamic research and the users are often confronted with abundant data that sensors generate. These data, if properly explored, can be used to study and manage many coastal features and processes that are not well understood. As an example, we present the exploration of rip currents. Coastal datasets are presently examined using animated image sequences. The users are dissatisfied because the exploration remains largely a qualitative, subjective, tedious and time-consuming process. Especially detecting the presence and evolution of relatively small, highly dynamic rip currents is difficult. In this paper, we examine how the visual exploration of rip objects can be improved. We firstly look at the factors limiting exploratory use of conventional animations for rip studies and argue that two main factors are responsible for that: data complexity and animation design based on images that mimic reality. Then we present an example of how the current approach to visualize time series of coastal images can be improved by computational methods, particularly by feature tracking. Next, we describe the visualization environment and discuss the representational, data mining and interactive functionality resulting from such a combination in an environment that is specifically dedicated to exploration of rip currents.
Re-Visioning Leadership in Community Colleges

The authors apply discourse analysis to the images of leadership found in the literature about community and junior colleges, in the context of organizational life cycle theory. They found: (1) the discourse of community college organizational development reinforces the ideology of a specific small group of male writers and (2) the effect of such writing systematically promotes an image of leaders as “commanders,” excluding those who do not fit that image. This favored image, they conclude, is inappropriate for community colleges at the renewal stage of organizational development.
The Effects of PBL (Problem-Based Learning) on the Self-Directed Learning, Critical Thinking Disposition, and Problem Solving Process of Nursing students

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of PBL on ability of nursing students in Self-Directed Learning, Critical Thinking Disposition and Problem Solving Process. Methods: The research design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. For the experimental group PBL was used during one semester (14 weeks). Instruments for data collection were Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (Kim, 1997), Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (K won et al., 2006) and Problem Solving Process Scale (Lee, 1979). The data were analyzed by repeated measure ANOVA. Results: There were statistically significant improvements in Self-Directed Learning and Critical Thinking between the two groups after PBL. But there was no statistically significant improvement in the Problem Solving Process. Conclusion: These results suggest that PBL has a positive effect on nursing students' education. Therefore, PBL should be used for more subjects in the nursing curriculum.
Extracting topic keywords from Sina Weibo text sets

Sina Weibo is one of the most popular microblogging website in China. It has more than 500 million registered users and the daily production of posters is over 100 million, with a market penetration similar to Twitter. Mining the useful information from large volume of fragmented short texts is a fundamental but very challenging research work. This paper proposes a method LET(LDA&Entropy&Tex-trank) to extract topic keywords from Sina Weibo topics text sets. LET considers both topic influence of keywords and topic discrimination of keyword that combines the merits of LDA, Entropy and TextRank. In addition, we design a new standard evaluation method KESS (topic KEywords Sta-ndard Sequence). Based on KESS, we can compute the offset loss scores for the four different keywords extraction methods. Extensive simulations show that LET is a comparatively efficient and effective method to obtain topic words from hot topics of Sina Weibo.
Computing interval-valued reliability measures: application of optimal control methods

Abstract The paper describes an approach to deriving interval-valued reliability measures given partial statistical information on the occurrence of failures. We apply methods of optimal control theory, in particular, Pontryagin’s principle of maximum to solve the non-linear optimisation problem and derive the probabilistic interval-valued quantities of interest. It is proven that the optimisation problem can be translated into another problem statement that can be solved on the class of piecewise continuous probability density functions (pdfs). This class often consists of piecewise exponential pdfs which appear as soon as among the constraints there are bounds on a failure rate of a component under consideration. Finding the number of switching points of the piecewise continuous pdfs and their values becomes the focus of the approach described in the paper. Examples are provided.
The use and effectiveness of temozolomide in children with central nervous system tumours: a survey from the Canadian Paediatric Brain Tumour Consortium.

OBJECTIVE To describe the use of temozolomide (tmz) in Canadian children treated for brain tumours and to evaluate survival and predictors of survival for children treated with this agent. METHODS A survey was conducted within the Canadian Paediatric Brain Tumour Consortium (cpbtc), a group of tertiary care centres in pediatric neuro-oncology (n = 16) in Canada that are involved in the treatment of children with central nervous system tumours. RESULTS In 10 of the 16 participating pediatric oncology centres of the cpbtc, 137 children with brain tumours were treated with tmz between January 2000 and March 2006. Although 33% of the children were enrolled into a clinical trial, 67% were treated outside open studies. Most patients (72%) received tmz treatment on recurrence of their brain tumour (first or subsequent). The most commonly administered regimen was single-agent tmz 150-200 mg/m(2) administered on 5 consecutive days every 28 days. The median duration of tmz treatment was 141 days (range: 4-1102 days). Response data were provided for 127 of the 137 patients, of whom 6 showed a complete response. Sixteen patients experienced a minor or partial response, 53 had stable disease, and 52 had progressive disease. Of 32 patients alive at last follow-up, 19 had a diagnosis of low-grade glioma. CONCLUSIONS Temozolomide is used in a variety of pediatric brain tumours, often at the time of recurrence. The lack of insight into clear indications for this agent in pediatric brain tumours-used either alone or in combination therapy-may be a result of suboptimal design of phase i and ii studies and a lack of phase iii trials in the pediatric brain tumour population.
The Viability of Autologous Fat Grafts Harvested With the LipiVage System: A Comparative Study

This study evaluates the viability of adipose aspirates harvested with the LipiVage system (Genesis Biosystems Inc, Lewisville, TX), a newly developed fat harvesting device, and determines a potentially preferred method for possible large-quantity fat graft harvesting. Adipose aspirates were harvested with the LipiVage system from the abdomen of 16 female patients (group 1, n = 8) according to the instruction by the manufacturer and with conventional liposuction (group 2, n = 8). Samples from conventional liposuction were spun at 50 g for 10 minutes and the resulting middle layer of fat was collected. All fat graft samples were evaluated with trypan blue vital staining for viable adipocyte count, glycerol-3-phosphatase dehydrogenase (G3PDH) assay for intracellular enzyme activity, and histology. In this study, group 1 had significantly higher viable adipocyte count than group 2 had (3.7 ± 0.64 versus 2.37 ± 0.56 × 106 /mL, P = 0.0021). G3PDH assay showed a marked increase of intracellular enzyme activity in group 1 compared with in group 2 (0.61 ± 0.10 versus 0.34 ± 0.13 U/mL, P = 0.00045). Histology revealed normal structures of fragmental fatty tissues in both groups. While adipose aspirates by both modalities maintain normal structure, the LipiVage system yields a greater number of viable adipocytes and sustains a higher level of intracellular enzyme activity within fat grafts and can potentially be a preferred method of choice for large-quantity fat graft harvesting.