Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A meta-analysis of the effects of viewing U.S. presidential debates

Televised debates are now an expected component of the American presidential election campaign. A meta-analysis was used to cumulate the research on the effects of watching presidential debates. General campaign debates increase issue knowledge and issue salience (the number of issues a voter uses to evaluate candidates) and can change preference for candidates' issue stands. Debates can have an agenda-setting effect. Debates can alter perceptions of the candidates' personality, but they do not exert a significant effect on perceptions of the candidates' competence (leadership ability). Debates can affect vote preference. Primary debates increase issue knowledge, influence perceptions of candidates' character, and can alter voter preferences (the effect sizes for these variables are larger in primary than general debates). The effect sizes for the dependent variables with significant effects were heterogeneous (except for effects of debates other than the first on vote preference). No support was found for several possible moderator variables on issue knowledge, character perceptions, candidate competence, and vote preference: nature of subject pool (students, nonstudents), study design (pretest/posttest, viewers/nonviewers), number of days between debate and election, or data collection method (public opinion poll or experimenter data). The first debate in a series had a larger effect on vote preference than other debates, but was not a moderator for other dependent variables. The possibility that other moderator variables are at work cannot be rejected.
The Sensitivity of Teacher Performance Ratings to the Design of Teacher Evaluation Systems

In recent years, states and districts have responded to federal incentives and pressure to institute major reforms to their teacher evaluation systems. The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 now provides state policymakers with even greater autonomy to redesign existing evaluation systems. Yet, little evidence exists to inform decisions about two key system design features: teacher performance measure weights and performance ratings thresholds. Using data from the Measures of Effective Teaching study, we conduct simulation-based analyses that illustrate the critical role that performance measure weights and ratings thresholds play in determining teachers’ summative evaluation ratings and the distribution of teacher proficiency rates. These findings offer insights to policymakers and administrators as they refine and possibly remake teacher evaluation systems.
User Influence and the Success of MIS Projects: A Contingency Approach

In the present study we investigate alternative specifications of the relation-ship between user influence and the success of the management information system (MIS) project. The aim is to learn if success varies with the influence of different types of users, the phase of the development process during which influence is exerted, the effectiveness of the communication process, the characteristics of the task that the system is designed to support (task environment) and the characteristics of existing computer-based systems (system environment). Data are collected by structured interviews of key actors in the development process. The results indicate that the factors specified above are important contingencies for the relationship between user influence and the success of MIS projects. Tentative causal models are proposed to relate the important variables.
Using Haptic Feedback in Human Robotic Swarms Interaction

Robotic swarms display emergent behaviors that are robust to failure of individual robots, although they can not necessarily accomplish complex tasks with these behaviors. The research objective is to make use of their robust behaviors to accomplish complex tasks in many types of environments. For now, it is difficult to affect swarm “goals”, and therefore difficult them to direct to perform complex tasks. The extant literature on Human Swarm Interaction (HSI) focuses on demonstrating the usefulness of human operator inputs for swarms to accomplish complex tasks. The human typically gets visual feedback of the state of the swarm and influences the robots through a computer interface. This paper presents a user study investigating the effectiveness of haptic feedback in improving HSI. We use methods developed in studies using haptics in multi-robot systems (where the communication and structure is very rigid) and potential field algorithms developed for fully-autonomous swarms to determine the benefits of haptic feedback from the semi-autonomous control algorithm. In some environments, haptic feedback proved beneficial whereas in other environments haptic feedback did not improve performance over visual feedback alone. However, presence of haptic feedback did not degrade the performance under any of the experimental conditions. This supports our working hypothesis that haptic feedback is potentially useful in HSI.
T Cells Facilitates Identification of Tumor-Reactive Antigens Acquired by Trogocytosis Imprinting of Lymphocytes with Melanoma

Trogocytosis is a contact-dependent intercellular transfer of membrane fragments and associated molecules from APCs to effector lymphocytes. We previously demonstrated that trogocytosis also occurs between tumor target and cognate melanoma Ag-speciﬁc cytotoxic T cells (CTL). In this study, we show that, following trogocytosis, immune effector cells acquire molecular components of the tumor, including surface Ags, which are detectable by speciﬁc mAbs. We demonstrate that CD8 + and CD4 + T cells from melanoma patients’ PBMC and tumor-inﬁltrating lymphocytes (TIL) capture melanoma Ags, enabling identiﬁcation of trogocytosing lymphocytes by staining with Ag-speciﬁc Abs. This ﬁnding circumvents the necessity of tumor prelabeling, which in the past was mandatory to detect membrane-capturing T cells. Through the detection of melanoma Ags on TIL, we sorted trogocytosing T cells and veriﬁed their preferential reactivity and cytotoxicity. Furthermore, tumor Ag–imprinted T cells were detected at low frequency in fresh TIL cultures shortly after extraction from the tumor. Thus, T cell imprinting by tumor Ags may allow the enrichment of melanoma Ag-speciﬁc T cells for research and potentially even for the adoptive immunotherapy of patients with cancer. The Journal of Immunology , 2013, 190: 000–000.
Ethology, Evolution, Mind & Consciousness

A model is presented of the mind of free living animals, expressing evolved normal behavior, and the steps between such minds and the conscious minds of people. Animals recognize each other and changes in surroundings. This requires two sources of information, from memory and the senses with a comparitor. Constantly comparing all sensory input with memories requires memories organized into maps that allow any change to be detected. Change elicits an Orienting Response, a moment of high attention, emotion, learning and decisions. Awareness involves monitoring and ORs, but living only in the present. These OR moments are stretched in emotion, hunting, interaction and exploration. They are times closest to consciousness, but memories are restricted to immediate situations. Acquiring story-telling required full access to memory models, of places, social relationships and stories, with the ability to examine these models for planning behavior and social interactions. A model is developed of relations between feelings and specialization of behavior. Attention to details is central to consciousness.
A scheme for the effective use of role plays for an emancipatory geography

Abstract Role plays are a form of educational simulation. They constitute a continuum of activities which usually have the common elements of characters, issue scenarios and student interaction. The effective use of role plays depends, in part, on the adoption of the most appropriate type of role play for the learning needs of a particular group of students. The options for constructing and using role plays are summarised. It is argued that a role play used effectively can be an emancipatory learning experience for students and tutors in a number of ways.
Cross-talk between Two Essential Nutrient-sensitive Enzymes

Background: OGT and AMPK collectively target hundreds of intracellular signaling processes, but no study has addressed whether they regulate each other. Results: AMPK activity mediates the substrate selectivity of OGT, and O-GlcNAcylation modulates the activity of AMPK. Conclusion: There is significant cross-talk between the O-GlcNAc and AMPK systems. Significance: OGT and AMPK may synergistically regulate numerous nutrient-sensitive processes essential for life. Nutrient-sensitive pathways regulate both O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), cooperatively connecting metabolic homeostasis to regulation of numerous intracellular processes essential for life. Similar to phosphorylation, catalyzed by kinases such as AMPK, O-GlcNAcylation is a highly dynamic Ser/Thr-specific post-translational modification of nuclear, cytoplasmic, and mitochondrial proteins catalyzed exclusively by OGT. OGT and AMPK target a multitude of intracellular proteins, with the net effect to protect cells from the damaging effects of metabolic stress. Despite hundreds of studies demonstrating significant overlap in upstream and downstream signaling processes, no study has investigated if OGT and AMPK can directly regulate each other. We show acute activation of AMPK alters the substrate selectivity of OGT in several cell lines and nuclear localization of OGT in C2C12 skeletal muscle myotubes. Nuclear localization of OGT affects O-GlcNAcylation of numerous nuclear proteins and acetylation of Lys-9 on histone 3 in myotubes. AMPK phosphorylates Thr-444 on OGT in vitro; phosphorylation of Thr-444 is tightly associated with AMPK activity and nuclear localization of OGT in myotubes, and phospho-mimetic T444E-OGT exhibits altered substrate selectivity. Conversely, the α- and γ-subunits of AMPK are O-GlcNAcylated, O-GlcNAcylation of the γ1-subunit increases with AMPK activity, and acute inhibition of O-GlcNAc cycling disrupts activation of AMPK. We have demonstrated significant cross-talk between the O-GlcNAc and AMPK systems, suggesting OGT and AMPK may cooperatively regulate nutrient-sensitive intracellular processes that mediate cellular metabolism, growth, proliferation, and/or tissue function.
Self-directed behavior (ninth edition)

Self-directed behavior (ninth edition), by David Watson and Roland Tharp, helps individuals modify their behavior by learning the skills of self-regulation (Watson & Tharp, 2007). The book’s purpose is to facilitate self-regulation skill development by guiding the reader through the process of a personal behavior-change project (Watson & Tharp, 2007). The book can be used as a psychology textbook, as a resource for individuals who are not in a structured course, or by clients of therapists to supplement the support they are receiving in treatment (Watson & Tharp, 2007). I will provide a balanced critique of the book which includes information on the following topics: the book structure, the key concepts, the book’s strengths, the areas for improvement, and a conclusive statement recommending the resource.
Pharmacologic stress perfusion imaging with adenosine: Role of simultaneous low-level treadmill exercise

BackgroundAdenosine is commonly used for pharmacologic stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). However, it frequently results in adverse effects, and the subdiaphragmatic tracer uptake may interfere with the image interpretation. Our aim was to determine the feasibility of combining low-level treadmill exercise with adenosine MPI and its impact on adverse effects, image quality, and myocardial ischemia.Methods and ResultsForty-one patients underwent technetium 99m sestamibi single photon emission computed tomography following adenosine and adenosine with low-level exercise (adenosine-Ex) on separate occasions and rest MPI. A comparison was made of symptoms, hemodynamic response, electrocardiographic changes, image quality, and image interpretation between the 2 protocols. With adenosine-Ex, fewer patients had one or more adverse effects (61% vs 90%; P = .006), more patients had ischemic electrocardiographic changes (34% vs 15%; P = .03), a higher percentage had excellent- or fair-quality images (88% vs 61%; P = .003), and they had higher heart-liver ratios (1.0 ± 0.37 vs 0.84 ± 0.29; P = .002) compared with adenosine alone. Four adenosine MPI studies, but only 2 adenosine-Ex studies, were uninter-pretable because of excessive subdiaphragmatic radiotracer activity. Of the 39 patients with at least 1 interpretable stress study, interpretation was discordant in 11 (28%): 7 showed greater ischemia with adenosine-Ex, 2 uninterpretable adenosine studies were interpretable with adenosine-Ex, and 2 studies interpreted as abnormal with adenosine were normal by adenosine-Ex (both had normal coronary angiograms). ConclusionsSimultaneous low-level treadmill exercise with adenosine Tc-99m sestamibi imaging is safe and feasible, significantly reduces unfavorable side effects, enhances image quality, and may result in greater ischemia detection compared with adenosine alone.
Propagation of delay faults caused by resistive open faults with dynamic voltage scaling awareness

Fault Diagnosis is important step in detecting manufacturing process problems and improving its quality. Characterizing the effect of faults on the performance of circuits is essential in diagnosing and testing faulty chips. Resistive opens are common manufacturing faults which affect the timing performance of circuits. In dynamic voltage scaling environment, the supply voltage and clock frequency are dynamically adjusted to meet the processing demands. With this awareness, we previously demonstrated that the delay caused by resistive opens as the VDD increases show different increment and decrement patterns depending on the range of the open resistance value. However, the path delay in CMOS circuits increases exponentially with reduced VDD. In this work, we investigate how the delay of the opens is propagated through the CMOS circuit. We show how this behavior is manifested with the aid of simulation on benchmark circuits based on 130nm technology model as well as 65nm, 22nm and 16nm Berkeley Predictive Technology Models (BPTM). Based on this observation and to ease fault related work on resistive open faults, we proposed dividing the full range of opens resistances into smaller subsets of resistance intervals.
A fiber scattering model with non-separable lobes

Figure 1: Glossy reflections from fibers exhibit a lightand view-dependent lobe tightening similar to surface reflectance that previous analytic fiber models lack (a,c). We derive new non-separable fiber-scattering lobes that exhibit this and additional behaviours seen in ground-truth simulation of rough dielectric fiber scattering. Parameter tweaking of previous models can produce results similar to (d), but no previous model with fixed settings can simultaneously produce both (b) and (d). We found that ground-truth renders using explicit cylindrical geometry with Cook Torrance reflectance to be indistinguishable from (b) and (d) (upon convergence, which required significantly more samples per pixel). The difference between the old and new models is further illustrated in (e) by visualizing the R lobe of a circular fiber with Beckmann micro roughness and tilted scales (black hair). In the backlit case (c,d) light grazes the edges of fibers and exhibits the brighter more focused response (seen in (e) where the lobe compresses and brightens for high |φ |).
Toward a Workplace Pedagogy: Guidance, Participation, and Engagement

This article proposes bases for a workplace pedagogy. Planes of intentional guidance and sequenced access to workplace activities represent some key workplace pedagogic practices. Guidance by others, situations, and artifacts are central to learning through work because the knowledge to be learned is historically, culturally, and situationally constituted. However, the quality of learning through these planes of activities and guidance is ultimately premised on the workplace’s participatory practices, which shape and distribute the activities and support the workplace affordance workers and fromwhich they learn. Situational and political processes underpin these workplace affordances. Yet participatory practices are reciprocally constructed because individuals elect how to engage in and learn from what workplaces afford them. A workplace pedagogy is founded in these coparticipatory practices and needs to account for how workplaces invite access to activities and guidance and how individuals elect to participate in what the workplace affords.
NMDA Receptor-Dependent Pattern Transfer from Afferents to Postsynaptic Cells and Dendritic Differentiation in the Barrel Cortex

N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are important for synaptic refinement during development. In CxNR1KO mice, cortical excitatory neurons lack NR1, the essential subunit of the NMDAR, and in their primary somatosensory (S1) cortex whisker-specific cellular patterns, "barrels," are absent. Despite this cytoarchitectural defect, thalamocortical axons (TCAs) representing the mystacial vibrissae form topographically organized patterns and undergo critical period plasticity. This region-specific knockout mouse model allows for dissection of the mechanisms underlying patterning of the pre- and postsynaptic neural elements in the S1 cortex. In the absence of functional NMDARs, layer IV cell numbers are unaltered, but these cells fail to segregate into barrels. Furthermore, the dendritic fields of spiny stellate cells do not orient toward TCA terminal patches as in normal mice. Instead, they radiate in all directions covering larger territories, exhibiting profuse branching with increased spine density. Comparison of TCA patches with serotonin transporter (5-HTT) immunohistochemistry or Dil labeling also indicates that in the CxNR1KO cortex TCAs form smaller patches and individual axon terminal branching is not as well developed as in control cortex. Our results suggest that postsynaptic NMDAR activation is critical in communicating periphery-related sensory patterns from TCAs to barrel cells. When postsynaptic NMDAR function is disrupted, layer IV spiny stellate cells remain imperceptive to patterning of their presynaptic inputs and elaborate exuberant dendritic specializations.
Optimal tracking for a class of nonlinear systems based on the state-dependent Riccati equation

In this paper an infinite-horizon optimal controller, based on the state-dependent Riccati equation approach to solve the tracking for nonlinear systems, is presented. The synthesized control law comes from solving the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation for state-dependent coefficient factorized nonlinear systems. The proposed controller minimizes a quadratic performance index. In order to illustrate the tracking to a desired reference, the proposed optimal control scheme is applied via simulation to the Van der Pol Oscillator.
An interval type-2 Fuzzy Logic based system for model generation and summarization of arbitrage opportunities in stock markets

Today stock market exchange and finance are centers of attention all over the world. In finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price misalignment between two or more stock markets where profit can be earned by striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon the misalignment. If one strikes when misalignment has been observed, such deals are practically risk-free. However, when risk-free profit is around, everyone would compete to take advantage of it. Therefore, the question is whether arbitrage opportunities can be predicted; after all, misalignment does not happen instantaneously. Furthermore, financial operators do not like black boxes in forecasting. In this paper, we will present a type-2 Fuzzy Logic System (FLS) for the modeling and prediction of financial applications. The proposed system is capable of generating summarized models from pre-specified number of linguistic rules, which enables the user to understand the generated models for arbitrage opportunities prediction. The system is able to use this summarized model for the prediction of arbitrage opportunities in stock markets. We have performed several experiments based on the arbitrage data which is used in stock markets to spot ahead of time arbitrage opportunities. The proposed type-2 FLS has outperformed the Evolving Decision Rule (EDR) procedure (which is based on Genetic Programming (GP) and decision trees). Like GP, the type-2 FLS is capable of providing a white box model which could be easily understood and analyzed by the lay user.
Neighborhood Disadvantage and Verbal Ability as Explanations of the Black–White Difference in Adolescent Violence

This article develops a multilevel model that integrates individual difference and sociological explanations of the Black–White difference in adolescent violence. Our basic premise is that low verbal ability is a criminogenic risk factor that is in part an outcome of exposure to neighborhood and family disadvantages. Analysis of the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth reveals that verbal ability has direct and indirect effects (through school achievement) on violence, provides a partial explanation for the racial disparity, and mediates the effect of socioeconomic disadvantage at the neighborhood level. Results support the view that neighborhood and family disadvantages have repercussions for the acquisition of verbal ability, which, in turn, serves as a protective factor against violence. We conclude that explanation of the race difference is best conceived as originating from the segregation of Blacks in disadvantaged contexts.
Satellite DNA Libraries and Centromere Evolution ur

Related species share a pool of satellite DNA sequences known as a satellite DNA library. Such sequences may persist in the genome for long evolutionary time at latent locations and can be amplified in any species. This leads to rapid turnover of satellite DNA composition which is characteristic for centromere evolution. The «library» hypothesis however does not predict whether any of the sequences can be amplified, and subsequently confer a centromere role. Based on structural and evolutionary studies it is proposed that satellite DNAs are highly adapted sequences whose evolution has proceeded through the combined action of natural selection and molecular drive. Their recruitment to a satellite library and retention within the genome could be related to some structural characteristics which enable them to be extended into a functional centromere array. A newly formed array could replace the previous centromere if it has some selective advantage in transmission at meiosis due to particular satellite sequence features and/or high homogeneity.
Spin-Transfer Torque MRAM (STT-MRAM): Challenges and Prospects

Spin-transfer torque (STT) switching demonstrated in submicron sized magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) has stimulated considerable interest for developments of STT switched magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM). Remarkable progress in STT switching with MgO MTJs and increasing interest in STTMRAM in semiconductor industry have been witnessed in recent years. This paper will present a review on the progress in the intrinsic switching current density reduction and STT-MRAM prototype chip demonstration. Challenges to overcome in order for STT-MRAM to be a mainstream memory technology in future technology nodes will be discussed. Finally, potential applications of STT-MRAM in embedded and standalone memory markets will be outlined.