Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Framing, identity, and responsibility: do episodic vs. thematic framing effects vary by target population?

ABSTRACT Extensive political communication research shows that people respond differently to the same policy problem depending on how it is portrayed, or “framed. ” Specifically, Iyengar [1991]. Is Anyone Responsible? How Television Frames Political Issues. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press] finds that when news coverage about a policy issue is framed episodically, citizens tend to attribute responsibility to the individual, whereas when news is framed thematically, they attribute responsibility to government/society. But how might these framing effects be conditioned by the identity of the individual/group portrayed in the news? Here we examine whether episodic vs. thematic framing effects vary when the target population is “Muslim American,” compared to “American. ” We do so both in the context of poverty (following Iyengar's original study) and also in a context where the difference between “Americans” and “Muslim Americans” might prove especially salient: religious radicalism. Using data from an online survey experiment (N = 1655), we find that participants treat both groups similarly and in line with episodic vs. thematic framing effects when the issue is poverty. But in the case of religious radicalism, framing effects disappear. Instead, participants consistently attribute responsibility to the people who radicalize rather than to government/society. Yet importantly, the substance of these individual-level explanations is significantly more likely to involve religion when the person portrayed is Muslim American.
The Debasement of Contracts and the Decline of Capital Markets

The basic problem in the conflict between political democrary and free markets is the following: individuals, you and I, can make ourselves and our families better off in two major ways: (1) By expending time and other resources operating in the private sector to produce goods and services (be they art, automobiles, film, or education) which other people wish to buy. (2) By expending our resources in the political sector to get the government to change the rules of the game to reallocate wealth from others in society to ourselves. In the first of these activities we generally make other people better off and in the second, we make them worse off: We make them worse off for two reasons: (1) The direct effects of the wealth transfers, and (2) The indirect effects caused by the reduced incentive to produceexamples include income taxes, restrictions on production such as our former farm programs and licensing restrictions on entry into various professions or markets, and the attenuation of property rights caused by significantly increased uncertainty over what will be the future rules of the game.
Equivalent Capacity-Based Joint Multilevel Coding and Space–Time Transmit Diversity Design

A novel space-time block-coding-assisted and sphere-packed multilevel-coded (STBC-SP-MLC) modulation arrangement is proposed, which combines an MLC-based scheme with a twin-antenna-aided STBC for the sake of providing a transmit diversity gain. The SP modulation invokes a 4D D 4 constellation space. A new bit-to-SP symbol mapper is designed for the sake of improving the system's performance. This involves mapping the MLC bits to the SP symbols of Layer-1 and Layer-2 in D 4 space. The binary switching algorithm is used to determine the optimum cost function used for designing different mapping strategies. The so-called equivalent capacity-based design invoking the 4-D signal space is used to determine the optimum coding rate of the STBC-SP-MLC scheme's component codes. Finally, we investigate a hybrid bit-to-SP symbol-mapping strategy for the STBC-SP-MLC scheme, which is capable of providing unequal error protection.
Identity-based and Reputational Leadership: An American Indian Approach to Leadership

Leadership, like diversity, is often used in education as an all-encompassing notion, applied to a wide variety of situations, or at times, used rather loosely. The danger with such an approach is the lack of specificity. Yet, specificity can set the boundaries so narrow that one is led to believe one approach is better than another or that one size fits all situations. I suggest what educators and educational leadership programs need is some balance between the broad and narrow views of leadership in order to foster congruence between individual values and beliefs and organizational missions, visions, and activities.
Construct state-action map through human control trajectories and computation

Extracting, optimizing and transferring control skill is an important step towards creating an intelligent robot in a cooperative environment. Traditionally, control skill analysis focuses on how to design a state-action map to provide appropriate actions according to the states. Therefore approaches such as dynamic programming and neural networks are employed to compute the appropriate actions for all the states. However, this results in time consuming computation, low robustness and no human control characteristics. Although human control skill is robust, it is subcognitive and difficult to be described by the human operators themselves. In this case, human control trajectory is proposed to record and analyze human control skill. Human control trajectory is just a sequence of the systempsilas states and corresponding human operatorpsilas control actions, sampled at a certain frequency. Taking the advantages of human control trajectories and computation, a new approach is proposed. That is analyzing the human operatorspsila control trajectories to find out the most important states which limit the control effect. And then compute the selected states to set up the local state-action map. After that, based on the computational results and the human control trajectories, synthesize the global state-action map to realize the control skill transformation process. In this paper, a dynamic simulator is used as an example to evaluate the effect of the proposed approach. The results show that this approach can reduce the total computational cost while improve the human operatorpsilas control skill effectively.
Marine Antifreeze Proteins: Structure, Function, and Application to Cryopreservation as a Potential Cryoprotectant

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are biological antifreezes with unique properties, including thermal hysteresis (TH), ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI), and interaction with membranes and/or membrane proteins. These properties have been utilized in the preservation of biological samples at low temperatures. Here, we review the structure and function of marine-derived AFPs, including moderately active fish AFPs and hyperactive polar AFPs. We also survey previous and current reports of cryopreservation using AFPs. Cryopreserved biological samples are relatively diverse ranging from diatoms and reproductive cells to embryos and organs. Cryopreserved biological samples mainly originate from mammals. Most cryopreservation trials using marine-derived AFPs have demonstrated that addition of AFPs can improve post-thaw viability regardless of freezing method (slow-freezing or vitrification), storage temperature, and types of biological sample type.
Hector : User – Transparent Resource Allocation for MPI

– Hector, a complete job scheduling and parallel run–time environment, is intended to present many features both to parallel and sequential jobs, including dynamic load balancing, checkpointing, near–real–time resource awareness, and transparency to the programmer/user. This describes some recent work on user–transparent enhancements to support load balancing, near–real–time resource awareness, and Hector’s central optimizer. I. Some Aspects of Hector The Hector parallel run–time environment is designed to run MPI–based parallel programs while actively maintaining a balanced load and returning workstations to their ‘‘owners’’. (The Message–Passing Interface, or MPI, is an archtiecture–independent way of writing parallel programs.) There are several aspects of its design that are important. A. Programmer Transparency One key aspect of Hector’s design philosophy is that of total transparency to the programmer/user. MPI–based programs require neither source code modification nor writing additional programs or routines in order to be run under it. Sequential programs are treated as 1–task ‘‘parallel’’ programs, and only require two additional lines of source code. All of Hector’s features, including task migration, checkpointing, load balancing, and resource awareness, are provided to programs that are run under it and are provided with total transpar ency[1],[2],[3] . That is, the MPI programmer does not need to understand the underlying complexities of these operations. User–transparent checkpointing, for example, is highly desirable and frees the programmer from writing their own checkpointing routines. Other systems, such as Condor ([4],[5]) CoCheck, and tuMPI ([6],[7]) support this feature as well. B. Resource Awareness Another aspect is its ability to reclaim idle resources rapidly. Hector does this by running a small utility, called a ‘‘slave allocator’’, on each candidate platform. The slave allocator, or SA, monitors the machine and reports its usage back to the central optimizer, called a ‘‘master allocator’’ or MA. The SA’s are minimally intrusive, as will be shown below, and maintain an accurate picture of the degree to which a machine is being used efficiently. This relationship is diagrammed below in Figure 1. An MPI program consists of several sequential ‘‘pieces’’. These pieces are called ‘‘tasks’’ and the total MPI program is called a ‘‘job’’ in the ensuing discussion. Hector: User–Transparent Resource Allocation for MPI Russ, et al. 2 Slave Allocator Master Allocator Performance Information System Info
Authoring for E-learning 2.0: A Case Study

E-learning 2.0 is a term refers to the second generation of e-learning, which uses the technologies of the Social Web, such as collaborative authoring and social annotation, in order to enhance e-learning environments. In this paper, we report the utilization of Social Web techniques for e-learning at the University of Warwick, UK, in general; then we present MOT 2.0, an E-learning 2.0 adaptive authoring and delivery system, followed by a case study that examines the usefulness of E-learning 2.0. Our main contributions are: 1) adding a new Social Layer for adaptive hypermedia and e-learning systems; 2) allowing students to contribute in the authoring process of e-learning, with different privileges; 3) adding collaborative authoring and social annotation to e-learning environments.
Fractional Pebbling Game Lower Bounds

Fractional pebbling is a generalization of black-white pebbling introduced recently. In this reasearch paper we solve an open problem by proving a tight lower bound on the pebble weight required to fractionally pebble a balanced d-ary tree of height h. This bound has close ties with branching programs and the separation of P from NL.
Automatic video to point cloud registration in a structure-from-motion framework

In Structure-from-Motion (SfM) applications, the capability of integrating new visual information into existing 3D models is an important need. In particular, video streams could bring significant advantages, since they provide dense and redundant information, even if normally only relative to a limited portion of the scene. In this work we propose a fast technique to reliably integrate local but dense information from videos into existing global but sparse 3D models. We show how to extract from the video data local 3D information that can be easily processed allowing incremental growing, refinement, and update of the existing 3D models. The proposed technique has been tested against two state-of-the-art SfM algorithms, showing significant improvements in terms of computational time and final point cloud density.
Topology of a Bidirectional Converter for Energy Interaction between Electric Vehicles and the Grid

In vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems, electric vehicles interact with the grid as distributed energy storage systems that offer many potential benefits. As an energy interface between a vehicle and the grid, the bidirectional converter plays a crucial role in their interaction. Its reliability, safety, cost, efficiency, weight, size, harmonics, and other factors are of essential importance for V2G realization, especially for on-board operations. Beyond the common existing topologies for bidirectional chargers, this paper introduces a novel high-power-factor bidirectional single-stage full-bridge (BSS-FBC) topology, which offers advantages in power density, size, weight, cost, efficiency, power quality, dynamic characteristic, reliability, and complexity. Its operational principles and control strategies are presented. Harmonic analysis on the basis of double-Fourier integral is performed with detailed comparison of line current harmonic characteristics between the BSS-FBC topology and unipolar/bipolar controlled single-phase pulse width modulation (PWM) converters. A dynamic model of the topology is derived, its dynamic behavior analyzed, and its compensator design method developed. Simulation and experimental results are employed to verify the design and analysis. Design considerations for the key parameters are discussed. A 3.3 kW prototype is developed for this topology and validated in its vehicle applications. The results demonstrate clearly the benefits and advantages of the new topology.
3D cow identification in cattle farms

The increased consumption of the society necessiates increased use of automation in larger animal farms which require new monitoring and tracking systems in order to observe the general health and instantaneous state of the herds. In this paper, we propose a Kinect based system, that is capable of identifying individual animals in a cattle farm from their 3D visual appearences. Since the proposed solution depends only on the shape information, animals with the same color are recognized successfully even in poor lighting conditions. Furthermore, as no markers or external devices such as tags are utilized, the natural behavior of the animals is affected in a minimal way.
Benchmarking Parameter-Free AMaLGaM on Functions With and Without Noise

We describe a parameter-free estimation-of-distribution algorithm (EDA) called the adapted maximum-likelihood Gaussian model iterated density-estimation evolutionary algorithm (AMaLGaM-IDA, or AMaLGaM for short) for numerical optimization. AMaLGaM is benchmarked within the 2009 black box optimization benchmarking (BBOB) framework and compared to a variant with incremental model building (iAMaLGaM). We study the implications of factorizing the covariance matrix in the Gaussian distribution, to use only a few or no covariances. Further, AMaLGaM and iAMaLGaM are also evaluated on the noisy BBOB problems and we assess how well multiple evaluations per solution can average out noise. Experimental evidence suggests that parameter-free AMaLGaM can solve a wide range of problems efficiently with perceived polynomial scalability, including multimodal problems, obtaining the best or near-best results among all algorithms tested in 2009 on functions such as the step-ellipsoid and Katsuuras, but failing to locate the optimum within the time limit on skew Rastrigin-Bueche separable and Lunacek bi-Rastrigin in higher dimensions. AMaLGaM is found to be more robust to noise than iAMaLGaM due to the larger required population size. Using few or no covariances hinders the EDA from dealing with rotations of the search space. Finally, the use of noise averaging is found to be less efficient than the direct application of the EDA unless the noise is uniformly distributed. AMaLGaM was among the best performing algorithms submitted to the BBOB workshop in 2009.
Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease: Incidence and Progression in the Northern Territory of Australia, 1997 to 2010

Background— Although acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and its sequel, rheumatic heart disease (RHD), continue to cause a large burden of morbidity and mortality in disadvantaged populations, most studies investigating the effectiveness of control programs date from the 1950s. A control program, including a disease register, in the Northern Territory of Australia where the Indigenous population has high rates of ARF and RHD allowed us to examine current disease incidence and progression. Methods and Results— ARF and RHD incidence rates, ARF recurrence rates, progression rates from ARF to RHD to heart failure, and RHD survival and mortality rates were calculated for Northern Territory residents from 1997 to 2010. For Indigenous people, ARF incidence was highest in the 5- to 14-year age group (males, 162 per 100 000; females, 228 per 100 000). There was little evidence that the incidence of ARF or RHD had declined. The ARF recurrence rate declined by 9% per year after diagnosis. After a first ARF diagnosis, 61% developed RHD within 10 years. After RHD diagnosis, 27% developed heart failure within 5 years. For Indigenous RHD patients, the relative survival rate was 88.4% at 10 years after diagnosis and the standardized mortality ratio was 1.56 (95% confidence interval, 1.23–1.96). Conclusions— For Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory, ARF and RHD incidence and associated mortality remain very high. The reduction in ARF recurrence indicates that the RHD control program has improved secondary prophylaxis; a decline in RHD incidence is expected to follow.
Immunodiagnosis of bovine trypanosomiasis in Anambra and Imo states, Nigeria, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay: zoonotic implications to human health.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The prevalence of trypanosomiasis was studied in cattle, being a major source of animal protein in Nigeria, thus, a very likely means of spread of Human African Trypanosomosis (HAT). METHODS Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to diagnose bovine trypanosomiasis in 264 samples collected from adult cattle of mixed breeds, age and sex, in Anambra and Imo states, Nigeria. RESULTS Out of 264 samples analysed, 21 (7.96%) were seropositive for Trypanosoma congolense while 20 (7.58%) were seropositive for T. vivax and 8 (3.03%) were seropositive for T. brucei infections in both the states. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION The predominant species was found to be T. congolense. Mixed infection of three species, T. vivax, T. congolense and T. brucei was found to dominate other mixed infections in both the states. ELISA detected the infection of the three species of trypanosomes in the same group of animals. The usefulness of antigen capture ELISA in the diagnosis of human or animal trypanosomiasis was established, and the possibility of the spread of HAT caused by T. brucei gambiense and T.b. rhodesiense through cattle was expressed.
A Genetic Multiple Kernel Relevance Vector Regression Approach

Relevance vector machine (RVM) is a state-of-the-art technique for regression and classification, as a sparse Bayesian extension version of the support vector machine. The kernel function and parameter selection is a key problem in the research of RVM. The real-world application and recent researches have emphasized the requirement to multiple kernel learning. This paper proposes a novel regression technique, called Genetic Multiple Kernel Relevance Vector Regression (GMK RVR), which combines genetic programming and relevance vector regression to evolve a multiple kernel function. The proposed technique are compared with those of a standard RVR using the Polynomial, Gaussian RBF and Sigmoid kernel with various parameter settings, based on several benchmark problems. Numerical experiments show that the GMK performs better than such widely used kernels and prove the validation of the GMK.
Slumbot NL: Solving Large Games with Counterfactual Regret Minimization Using Sampling and Distributed Processing

Slumbot NL is a heads-up no-limit hold'em poker bot built with a distributed disk-based implementation of counterfactual regret minimization (CFR). Our implementation enables us to solve a large abstraction on commodity hardware in a cost-effective fashion. A variant of the Public Chance Sampling (PCS) version of CFR is employed which works particularly well with our architecture.
The fertility myth: Israeli students' knowledge regarding age-related fertility decline and late pregnancies in an era of assisted reproduction technology.

BACKGROUND As in many advanced societies, the age at first birth and the rate of post-menopausal pregnancies in Israel are constantly increasing. Since Israeli university students are the most likely population to postpone parenthood, this study aims at evaluating their awareness of: (i) women's age-related fertility decline; (ii) age-dependent success rates of IVF technology and (iii) medical procedures allowing late and post-menopausal pregnancies. METHODS Israeli undergraduate students (n= 410), attending four academic institutions and studying in different fields, completed a structured questionnaire in the 2009/2010 academic year. RESULTS Students overestimated women's chances of spontaneous pregnancy in all age groups, whereas women's chances of achieving a live birth following IVF treatment were overestimated only for ages 40 years and above. Regarding both spontaneous and IVF pregnancies, success rates of very late pregnancies (beyond 45 years and after menopause) were greatly overestimated. Only 11% of the students knew that genetic motherhood is unlikely to be achieved from the mid-40s onward, unless using oocytes frozen in advance. CONCLUSIONS The findings demonstrate entrenched fertility myths among Israeli students, particularly the false belief in the possibility of late (beyond 35 years) and very late genetic motherhood. This can be explained by technological 'hype' and favorable media coverage of very late pregnancies. Since this may culminate in involuntary childlessness, it is highly important to increase the awareness of the Israeli public on the subject of fertility. However, as our sample is not representative of the Israeli student population, our findings should be tested in future studies.
Establishment of a Transgenic Mouse Model Specifically Expressing Human Serum Amyloid A in Adipose Tissue

Obesity and obesity co-morbidities are associated with a low grade inflammation and elevated serum levels of acute phase proteins, including serum amyloid A (SAA). In the non-acute phase in humans, adipocytes are major producers of SAA but the function of adipocyte-derived SAA is unknown. To clarify the role of adipocyte-derived SAA, a transgenic mouse model expressing human SAA1 (hSAA) in adipocytes was established. hSAA expression was analysed using real-time PCR analysis. Male animals were challenged with a high fat (HF) diet. Plasma samples were subjected to fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) separation. hSAA, cholesterol and triglyceride content were measured in plasma and in FPLC fractions. Real-time PCR analysis confirmed an adipose tissue-specific hSAA gene expression. Moreover, the hSAA gene expression was not influenced by HF diet. However, hSAA plasma levels in HF fed animals (37.7±4.0 µg/mL, n = 7) were increased compared to those in normal chow fed animals (4.8±0.5 µg/mL, n = 10; p<0.001), and plasma levels in the two groups were in the same ranges as in obese and lean human subjects, respectively. In FPLC separated plasma samples, the concentration of hSAA peaked in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) containing fractions. In addition, cholesterol distribution over the different lipoprotein subfractions as assessed by FPLC analysis was similar within the two experimental groups. The established transgenic mouse model demonstrates that adipose tissue produced hSAA enters the circulation, resulting in elevated plasma levels of hSAA. This new model will enable further studies of metabolic effects of adipose tissue-derived SAA.