Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Constructing a User-Friendly and Smart Ubiquitous Personalized Learning Environment by Using a Context-Aware Mechanism

Although m-learning applications have been widely researched, few studies have investigated applying adaptive learning content to various learning environments and efficient input interfaces. This study combined a context-aware mechanism, which can be used to provide suitable learning information anytime and anyplace by using GPS technology, with a rapid and user-friendly QR code interface input into a personalized context-aware recommendation (PCAR) learning system for enabling learners to immediately save useful external contents as learning materials. To improve students’ English application abilities efficiently, GPS combined with an intelligent personalized context-aware learning algorithm was used to obtain English learning content that is more practical. The results of several experiments and investigations indicate that the posttest grades of the experimental group, which used the proposed PCAR system, were higher than those of the control group. Furthermore, approximately 80 percent of the users were satisfied with how the system benefited their learning and with its ease of use. The results also show that the PCAR system markedly enhanced learner interest and learning efficiency by creating a convenient virtual English learning environment.
A Transformation Tool for Functional Logic Program Development ?

We present a tool to develop functional logic programs from their specifications. Specifications of functional logic languages, i.e., contracts in the form of preand postconditions, are written in the same language as the final programs. Thus, contracts serve either as initial prototypical implementations or as assertions to check the expected behavior of more efficient implementations. We describe a tool that supports this software development process. Our tool can either instrument ordinary programs with run-time assertions obtained from declarative contracts or can transform declarative contracts into prototypical implementations.
Implant Surface Treatment Using Biomimetic Agents

With an attempt at achieving faster osseointegration to hasten the overall treatment process, the use of biomimetic agents represents a growing area of research in implant dentistry. This study outlines 4 categories of bioactive agents that may be applied to coat the titanium implant surface: (1) biocompatible ceramics, (2) bioactive proteins, (3) ions, and (4) polymers, and their respective importance in the early stages of osseointegration. The potential bioactive agents investigated include bone morphogenetic proteins, growth factors, type I collagen, RGD peptide, fluoride, or chitosan, among others. The ideal characteristics that biomimetic agents should uphold and factors that may influence their effectiveness are reviewed. They include implant surface texture, time-oriented delivery vehicleand the ability of the agent to reach a target. Some of these agents, such as bioceramics (calcium phosphate salts) or ions (fluoride) are already commercially available and have shown clinical success. Others such as bone morphogenetic proteins are very promising, with an excellent therapeutic potential. A specific implant surface coating may enhance the percentage of bone-to-implant contact as well as speed of osseointegration that allows clinicians to overcome many challenging clinical scenarios.
Enhancing the efficiency of Bayesian network based coverage directed test generation

Coverage directed test generation (CDG) is a technique for providing feedback from the coverage domain back to a generator, which produces new stimuli to the tested design. Recent work showed that CDG, implemented using Bayesian networks, can improve the efficiency and reduce the human interaction in the verification process over directed random stimuli. This paper discusses two methods that improve the efficiency of the CDG process. In the first method, additional data collected during simulation is used to "fine tune" the parameters of the Bayesian network model, leading to better directives for the test generator. Clustering techniques enhance the efficiency of the CDG process by focusing on sets of non-covered events, instead of one event at a time. The second method improves upon previous results by providing a technique to find the number of clusters to be used by the clustering algorithm. Applying these methods to a real-world design shows improvement in performance over previously published data.
The Political Performance of Third World Governments and the Debt Crisis

The developing countries' suspension of payments on their external debt is as much a consequence of the political weakness of their governments and the excessive politicization of their economic policies as it is a result of unfavorable structural changes in the international economy. Differences in debtor governments' political performances are treated as an explicit variable rather than as residuals to an economic explanation in estimating the probability of developing countries' suspending their external debt service payments. Using a logit model, I analyze fifty-eight developing countries for the years 1970–1984. The results show that political capacity can be decisive in corrrectly predicting the probability of a government's suspending its external debt service payments. The model predicts 96% of the total outcomes correctly and 80% of the debt payment suspension cases correctly.
A cross-layer AODV routing protocol

Reactive routing protocols are suitable for wireless mobile ad-hoc networks (WMANETs). Because wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are similar to WMANETs in structure, reactive routing protocols can be used in WSNs. In this article, we presented CLAODV (cross-layer ad-hoc on-demand distance vector), a reactive routing protocol suitable for WSNs. CLAODV is an efficient routing protocol crossing routing sublayer and MAC sub-layer. It is based on classic AODV routing protocol and utilizes useful information of MAC sub-layer in routing. At the same time, it improves the sending, receiving and processing mechanism of the timed HELLO messages. From theoretical analysis and simulation experiments, we have found that CLAODV have many advantages. Compared to the classic AODV, CLAODV not only can afford more prompt and accurate local topology information to nodes, but also can remarkably decrease protocol overhead and improve protocol efficiency.
Trypanosoma brucei aquaglyceroporin 2 is a high-affinity transporter for pentamidine and melaminophenyl arsenic drugs and the main genetic determinant of resistance to these drugs

Objectives Trypanosoma brucei drug transporters include the TbAT1/P2 aminopurine transporter and the high-affinity pentamidine transporter (HAPT1), but the genetic identity of HAPT1 is unknown. We recently reported that loss of T. brucei aquaglyceroporin 2 (TbAQP2) caused melarsoprol/pentamidine cross-resistance (MPXR) in these parasites and the current study aims to delineate the mechanism by which this occurs. Methods The TbAQP2 loci of isogenic pairs of drug-susceptible and MPXR strains of T. brucei subspecies were sequenced. Drug susceptibility profiles of trypanosome strains were correlated with expression of mutated TbAQP2 alleles. Pentamidine transport was studied in T. brucei subspecies expressing TbAQP2 variants. Results All MPXR strains examined contained TbAQP2 deletions or rearrangements, regardless of whether the strains were originally adapted in vitro or in vivo to arsenicals or to pentamidine. The MPXR strains and AQP2 knockout strains had lost HAPT1 activity. Reintroduction of TbAQP2 in MPXR trypanosomes restored susceptibility to the drugs and reinstated HAPT1 activity, but did not change the activity of TbAT1/P2. Expression of TbAQP2 sensitized Leishmania mexicana promastigotes 40-fold to pentamidine and >1000-fold to melaminophenyl arsenicals and induced a high-affinity pentamidine transport activity indistinguishable from HAPT1 by Km and inhibitor profile. Grafting the TbAQP2 selectivity filter amino acid residues onto a chimeric allele of AQP2 and AQP3 partly restored susceptibility to pentamidine and an arsenical. Conclusions TbAQP2 mediates high-affinity uptake of pentamidine and melaminophenyl arsenicals in trypanosomes and TbAQP2 encodes the previously reported HAPT1 activity. This finding establishes TbAQP2 as an important drug transporter.
Timing the impact of literacy on visual processing

Significance How does learning to read affect visual processing? We addressed this issue by scanning adults who could not attend school during childhood and either remained illiterate or acquired partial literacy during adulthood (ex-illiterates). By recording event-related brain responses, we obtained a high-temporal resolution description of how illiterate and literate adults differ in terms of early visual responses. The results show that learning to read dramatically enhances the magnitude, precision, and invariance of early visual coding, within 200 ms of stimulus onset, and also enhances later neural activity. Literacy effects were found not only for the expected category of expertise (letter strings), but also extended to other visual stimuli, confirming the benefits of literacy on early visual processing. Learning to read requires the acquisition of an efficient visual procedure for quickly recognizing fine print. Thus, reading practice could induce a perceptual learning effect in early vision. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in literate and illiterate adults, we previously demonstrated an impact of reading acquisition on both high- and low-level occipitotemporal visual areas, but could not resolve the time course of these effects. To clarify whether literacy affects early vs. late stages of visual processing, we measured event-related potentials to various categories of visual stimuli in healthy adults with variable levels of literacy, including completely illiterate subjects, early-schooled literate subjects, and subjects who learned to read in adulthood (ex-illiterates). The stimuli included written letter strings forming pseudowords, on which literacy is expected to have a major impact, as well as faces, houses, tools, checkerboards, and false fonts. To evaluate the precision with which these stimuli were encoded, we studied repetition effects by presenting the stimuli in pairs composed of repeated, mirrored, or unrelated pictures from the same category. The results indicate that reading ability is correlated with a broad enhancement of early visual processing, including increased repetition suppression, suggesting better exemplar discrimination, and increased mirror discrimination, as early as ∼100–150 ms in the left occipitotemporal region. These effects were found with letter strings and false fonts, but also were partially generalized to other visual categories. Thus, learning to read affects the magnitude, precision, and invariance of early visual processing.
Habitat Characteristics of Lowland Leopard Frogs in Mountain Canyons of Southeastern Arizona

Abstract Many aquatic species in the arid southwestern United States are imperiled, persisting primarily in isolated, low-order streams that are increasingly vulnerable to stochastic disturbances. During 2003 and 2004, we surveyed 39 mountain canyons in southeastern Arizona, USA, for lowland leopard frogs (Rana yavapaiensis), a species that has declined in abundance and distribution across its range in the United States. We quantified habitat features at 2 spatial scales, canyon and pool, to identify features that distinguished sites inhabited by frogs from those uninhabited by frogs. Canyons inhabited by frogs had watersheds that averaged 8.1 km2 larger (SE = 2.52), pools that averaged 37.8 m3 greater (9.30) in volume, gradients that averaged 4.1% (1.40%) less steep, and locations that averaged 3.2 km closer (1.06) to the nearest valley stream than did uninhabited canyons. Plunge pools inhabited by frogs averaged 13.5% (5.66%) more perimeter vegetation, 11.2% (5.34%) more canopy cover, and 1.9 (0.60) more refuges than uninhabited pools. In general, canyons that provided more perennial water during dry summer months and plunge pools that provided more bank heterogeneity were more likely to be inhabited by frogs. Conservation of lowland leopard frogs and other aquatic species that inhabit xeric systems in the southwestern United States depends principally on maintaining riparian ecosystems that provide habitat for these species and the adjacent uplands that influence the structure and function of these systems. Therefore, both riparian areas and their adjacent uplands must be managed to maintain habitat for organisms that inhabit these rare and diverse ecosystems.
Determination of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) reference values in healthy Thai population.

BACKGROUND Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) level is directly correlated with airway inflammation in asthma patients. The objective of this study was to define normal FENO levels in healthy Thai volunteers. METHODS This prospective cohort study was conducted in healthy Thai volunteers aged ≥5 years. Demographic and clinical data were recorded and pulmonary function test (PFT) was performed. FENO was measured using a chemiluminescence nitric oxide analyzer. RESULTS Seventy-nine healthy Thai volunteers with normal lung function test were included. Mean age of participants was 13 (6-47) years and 58.2% were female. All subjects had no history of allergic respiratory diseases. Mean FENO level increased with age, and the differences between age groups were statistically significant (p=0.001). The highest mean FENO level was 13.6 ppb in the 11-15 year age group, and then the FENO level gradually declined with age. The highest mean FENO level was found in the 18-24.9 body mass index (BMI) group. Significant differences were observed for FENO levels between different height groups (p=0.005) but not between different BMI groups (p=0.46). Fair correlations between FENO levels and body weight, height, FEV1, and FVC were observed. A fair correlation between FENO level and age, FENO level and FEF25%-75% was found only in volunteers ≤15 years of age. CONCLUSION FENO level in healthy Thais increased with age until reaching maximum level (mean FENO 13.6 ppb) in the 11-15 year age group. Significant differences were observed for FENO levels between different age groups and different height groups.
Cosmeceuticals containing herbs: fact, fiction, and future.

BACKGROUND Modern medicine is rooted in ethnobotanical traditions using indigenous flora to treat symptoms of human diseases or to improve specific aspects of the body condition. Herbal medicine is now used by over half of the American population. Yet the American medical community generally lacks knowledge of the function, metabolism, interaction, adverse reactions, and preparation of herbal products. OBJECTIVE Because over 60 botanicals are marketed in cosmeceutical formulations, dermatologists need to obtain working knowledge of the major botanicals. The preparation, traditional uses, mechanisms of action, human clinical data, adverse reactions, and interactions all impact herbal efficacy and are discussed below. METHOD English-language medical journal and symposium searches. RESULTS The most important botanicals pertaining to dermatologic uses, such as cosmeceuticals, include teas, soy, pomegranate, date, grape seed, Pycnogenol, horse chestnut, German chamomile, curcumin, comfrey, allantoin, and aloe. All are documented to treat dermatologic conditions. Only green and black tea, soy, pomegranate, and date have published clinical trials for the treatment of parameters of extrinsic aging. CONCLUSIONS Preparation of botanical-based cosmeceuticals is complex. Very few of these products are supported by evidence-based science.
Factores precipitantes del acoso sexual laboral en España

The purpose of this study is to determine some of the variables linked to sexual harassment. The text is based on the hypothesis that differences in the incidence of harassment are due to the influence of victims’ personal circumstances and workplace-related factors. The database from the study by Inmark Estudios y Estrategias (2006) was used and two logistic regression analyses undertaken. The results show that personal and work factors have different impacts depending on the type of harassment analyzed.
Immigrant Class and the Use of Unemployment Insurance by Recent Immigrants in Canada: Evidence from a New Data Base, 1980 to 1995 1

This study examines the relationship between claiming unemployment insurance in Canada and the immigrant class in which immigrants were admitted using a new data base that combines tax and immigration records. Immigrants who entered Canada in 1980, 1985 or 1989, and who filed a personal income tax return, are followed from their year of landing until 1995 when the data end. There are large differences among the immigrant classes in the claims made against Canada's unemployment insurance scheme. Claim rates rise rapidly in the few years after arrival no matter in which class a person happened to be admitted in or which year she or he landed, but those rates decline thereafter for all classes or landing cohorts. Claim rates for Canada as a whole, as well as for the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia, for both males and females, are examined and the patterns described above are repeated.
A Fuzzy Variant for On-Demand Data Stream Classification

In many real-world applications, data arrive sequentially in the form of streams. Processing such data poses challenges to machine learning. In data streams learning, classification problems aim to predict the true class of incoming instances in real time. While adhering to online learning strategies, in this paper we extend the On-Demand classification algorithm to include concepts of fuzzy sets theory as a way to make classification more flexible to stream changes. A set of experiments was conducted to evaluate the proposed method. Experiments show that our approach is promising in dealing with imbalanced data streams and presents benefits with relation to the non-fuzzy version.
Rapid convergence to optimality through repeated collective learning and flying of swarms

We propose a new hierarchical collective learning (HCL) strategy for particle swarm optimization. The algorithm shows better performance than popular PSOs on standard benchmark functions. The algorithm has three components: a) initialization b) create exemplars c) fly under guidance of exemplars created in previous step. The HCL strategy is applied for the first two parts. In collective learning (CL), an exemplar is created by selecting the best combination of values for every dimension from the group members for the fittest one. In hierarchical part, this process is repeated for some levels, where in every level, the exemplars from the last level act as the member for the next higher level. During flying the initial population flies towards the final exemplar in proportion their fitness. These processes i.e. “create exemplars” and flying is repeated till a stop criterion is met. The process of flying reduces the common problems “oscillation” and “two steps forward one step backward” in PSO.
IMPACT OF SELF-EXPLANATION AND ANALOGICAL COMPARISON SUPPORT ON LEARNING PROCESSES, MOTIVATION, METACOGNITION, AND TRANSFER

Research examining analogical comparison and self-explanation has produced a robust set of findings about learning and transfer supported by each instructional technique. However, it is unclear how the types of knowledge generated through each technique differ, which has important implications for cognitive theory as well as instructional practice. I conducted a pair of experiments to directly compare the effects of instructional prompts supporting self-explanation, analogical comparison, and the study of instructional explanations across a number of fine-grained learning process, motivation, metacognition, and transfer measures. Experiment 1 explored these questions using sequence extrapolation problems, and results showed no differences between self-explanation and analogical comparison support conditions on any measure. Experiment 2 explored the same questions in a science domain. I evaluated condition effects on transfer outcomes; self-reported self-explanation, analogical comparison, and metacognitive processes; and achievement goals. I also examined relations between transfer and self-reported processes and goals. Receiving materials with analogical comparison support and reporting greater levels of analogical comparison were both associated with worse transfer performance, while reporting greater levels of self-explanation was associated with better performance. Learners’ self-reports of self-explanation and analogical comparison were not related to condition assignment, suggesting that the questionnaires did not measure the same processes promoted by the intervention, or that individual differences in processing are robust even when learners are instructed to engage in self-explanation or analogical comparison.
Variations of little Higgs models and their electroweak constraints

We calculate the tree-level electroweak precision constraints on a wide class of little Higgs models including variations of the littlest Higgs SU(5)/SO(5), SU(6)/Sp(6), and $\mathrm{SU}{(4)}^{4}/\mathrm{SU}{(3)}^{4}$ models. By performing a global fit to the precision data we find that for generic regions of the parameter space the bound on the symmetry breaking scale f is several TeV, where we have kept the normalization of f constant in the different models. For example, the ``minimal'' implementation of SU(6)/Sp(6) is bounded by $fg3.0\mathrm{TeV}$ throughout most of the parameter space, and $\mathrm{SU}{(4)}^{4}/\mathrm{SU}{(3)}^{4}$ is bounded by ${f}^{2}\ensuremath{\equiv}{f}_{1}^{2}{+f}_{2}^{2}g(4.2\mathrm{TeV}{)}^{2}. $ In certain models, such as $\mathrm{SU}{(4)}^{4}/\mathrm{SU}{(3)}^{4},$ a large f does not directly imply a large amount of fine-tuning since the heavy-fermion masses that contribute to the Higgs boson mass can be lowered below f for a carefully chosen set of parameters. We also find that for certain models (or variations) there exist regions of parameter space in which the bound on f can be lowered into the range 1\char21{}2 TeV. These regions are typically characterized by a small mixing between heavy and standard model gauge bosons and a small (or vanishing) coupling between heavy U(1) gauge bosons and light fermions. Whether such a region of parameter space is natural or not is ultimately contingent on the UV completion.
Lower pole calculi larger than one centimeter: Retrograde intrarenal surgery

Controversy remains on how to treat lower pole calculi between 1 and 2 cm of size. Treatment options like shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) or percutaneous stone treatment (PCNL) are associated with poor stone-free rates or high morbidity. Due to the ongoing development in endourologic technology, especially in flexible renoscopy, laser technique and grasping devices (tipless Nitinol baskets) retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) has become an option in treating these patients. Based on personal experience and an overview of the published literature we discuss RIRS as a valuable alternative to PCNL in treating patients with larger calculi of the lower pole. The technical developments in laser technology as well as significant improvement in flexible renoscopes have made RIRS for larger lower pole stones possible. The low complication rate gives RIRS for lower pole stones superiority over the invasive percutaneous approach, which is associated with significant morbidity, even in experienced hands.