Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spain: an extreme case of successful integration of second-generation immigrants with transfers of best practices applicable to other European countries?

ABSTRACT This volume presents cutting-edge research on integration and adaptation processes of second-generation immigrant adolescents in Spain that no doubt constitutes an important and timely contribution to the migration-integration debate. Principal findings of the Investigación Longitudinal de la Segunda Generación study indicate a comparatively smooth integration of second-generation immigrant adolescents, arguably best explained by the theoretical hypotheses of neo-assimilationism and segmented assimilation. The major strengths of the study pertain to research design and methodology, and theoretical grounding that enables it to have far-reaching implications for future research on migrant youth in Spain and beyond. The focus here is primarily on questions of transferability of major findings to other European countries, such as Sweden. In essence, the authors’ findings raise a number of important questions regarding the feasibility (or infeasibility) of Spain’s laissez-a-faire approach to integration in countries with contrasting modes of incorporation.
Retrieval of the Most Relevant Combinations of Data Published in Heterogeneous Distributed Datasets on the Web

Finding the most relevant data items among heterogeneous data published on the Web is getting a growing attention in recent years. Retrieving the most relevant data items from a collection of data is a challenge addressed by top-k databases. Accessing heterogeneous and distributed data sources is a challenge addressed by the Semantic Web. How to combine methods and techniques from those two fields is still an open research issue. This doctoral thesis will investigate how the presence of an ontology describing an integrated conceptual model of the data sources and the possibility to encode the users’ information needs in topk queries can make the query answering process faster, more efficient, and able to get more relevant results.
Evaluation of Performance of Part-based Models for Groupwise Registration

We evaluate the performance of a system which addresses the problem of building detailed models of shape and appearance of complex structures, given only a training set of representative images and some minimal manual intervention. We focus on objects with repeating structures (such as bones in the hands), which can cause normal deformable registration techniques to fall into local minima and fail. Using a sparse annotation of a single image we can construct a parts+geometry model capable of locating a small set of features on every training image. Iterative refinement leads to a model which can locate structures accurately and reliably. The resulting sparse annotations are sufficient to initialise a dense groupwise registration algorithm, which gives a detailed correspondence between all images in the set. We demonstrate the method on a much larger set of radiographs of the hand while comparing results with that of the earlier work, we achieved a sub-millimeter accuracy in a prominent group.
Enabling quality of service in input-queued packet switches

The possibility of enabling quality of service in input-queued packet switches has been investigated. An expanded version of the maximum weight matching (MWM) scheduling mechanism has been proposed by including additional weight calculation algorithms. The overall results are quite satisfactory. Clearly, the performance of output-queued packet switches cannot be achieved, but controlled service class separation is possible. For example, by using the weighted fair queuing (WFQ) weight calculation algorithm, fair bandwidth distribution can be achieved.
Primary Care Detection of Chronic Kidney Disease in Adults with Type-2 Diabetes: The ADD-CKD Study (Awareness, Detection and Drug Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease)

This US, multicenter, observational study assessed the CKD prevalence in adult patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and characterized the proportion of detected and undiagnosed CKD in the primary care setting using the following: a clinician survey; a patient physical exam and medical history; a single blood draw for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and glycosolated hemoglobin (HbA1c); urine dipstick for protein; urine albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR); two patient quality of life questionnaires; and a 15-month medical record review. The study consisted of 9339 adults with T2DM and 466 investigator sites. Of the 9339 enrolled, 9307 had complete data collection for analysis. The 15-month retrospective review showed urine protein, urine ACR, and eGFR testing were not performed in 51.4%, 52.9% and 15.2% of individuals, respectively. Of the 9307 patients, 5036 (54.1%) had Stage 1–5 CKD based on eGFR and albuminuria; however, only 607 (12.1%) of those patients were identified as having CKD by their clinicians. Clinicians were more successful in diagnosing patients with Stage 3–5 CKD than Stages 1 and 2. There were no differences in clinicians’ likelihood of identification of CKD based on practice setting, number of years in practice, or self-reported patients seen per week. Awareness or patient self-reported CKD was 81.1% with practitioner detection versus 2.6% in the absence of diagnosis. Primary care of T2DM demonstrates recommended urine CKD testing is underutilized, and CKD is significantly under-diagnosed. This is the first study to show CKD detection is associated with awareness.
Why Did Khizr Khan’s Speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention Go Viral? Personifying Collective Values in an Epideictic Speech

On July 28, 2016, Mr. Khizr Khan, an American Muslim immigrant, gave a short speech at the Democratic National Convention. Khan’s speech eulogized his soldier son, attacked the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, and endorsed the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. The speech went “viral” within minutes, circulating rapidly on the Internet, evoking an immediate response on social media. Barely 2 days later, Trump attacked the Khan speech, the Khans responded, and the event dominated the news for days. The event and its aftermath “emerged as an unexpected and potentially pivotal flash point in the general election” (Burns, Haberman, & Parket, 2016). Why did this speech have such an effect? Using principles from Aristotle’s concept of the epideictic speech, this study examines (1) the role of surprise in the structure and visual presentation of Khan’s speech, as well as (2) the way in which Khan expressed personal and collective anger. Trump’s postconvention responses magnified the speech effect through heavy media coverage.
Magnitude and phase-frequency response to single tones in the auditory nerve.

In this paper we describe magnitude and phase measurements obtained from primary single unit recordings in the cat auditory nerve. Levels range from threshold to 100 dB SPL, with frequencies from 0.1-30.0 kHz. The upper limit on the phase measurements was limited by the loss of neural phase locking at 4-5 kHz. For each unit, the frequency tuning curve (FTC) was measured by the method of Kiang and Moxon [M.C. Liberman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 63, 442-445 (1978)] to establish the threshold frequency response of the unit. Data from several selected animals, organized by characteristic frequency (CF), are presented showing phase response, group delay, frequency tuning, and tuning slope for each CF range. The major emphasis in this paper is on the "linear" aspects of the data as characterized by the filter properties of the single unit response, however a number of nonlinear (level-dependent) effects are described. Data are presented showing the phase response normalized by the cochlear microphonic (CM) recorded at the round window membrane. This normalization simplifies the phase data since it produces a constant phase slope with respect to frequency (constant group delay) for high CF units (f CF greater than 1 kHz) for frequencies more than one octave below their characteristic frequencies. A model of CM, as measured at the round window (RW), is presented and compared to experimental CM measurements. The CM model gives a reasonable fit to the experimental data above 500 Hz. Our interpretation of the CM normalization is that it removes driver and middle ear effects. In the model we assume that the CM is generated by the displacement of the basilar membrane near the round window recording site.
The Role of Emotion in Decision Making

Decision making often occurs in the face of uncertainty about whether one's choices will lead to benefit or harm. The somatic-marker hypothesis is a neurobiological theory of how decisions are made in the face of uncertain outcome. This theory holds that such decisions are aided by emotions, in the form of bodily states, that are elicited during the deliberation of future consequences and that mark different options for behavior as being advantageous or disadvantageous. This process involves an interplay between neural systems that elicit emotional/bodily states and neural systems that map these emotional/bodily states.
Differential effects of internal and external factors in early bilingual vocabulary learning: The case of Singapore

ABSTRACT Both internal factors (e.g., nonverbal intelligence) and external factors (e.g., input quantity) are claimed to affect the rate of children's vocabulary development. However, it remains an open question whether these variables work similarly on bilingual children's dual language learning. The current paper examined this issue on 805 Singapore children (4 years, 1 month to 5 years, 8 months) who are learning English (societal language) and an ethnic language (Mandarin/Malay/Tamil). Singapore is a bilingual society; however, there is an inclination for English use at home in recent years, resulting in a discrepancy of input between English and ethnic languages in many families. In this study, internal and external factors were examined comprehensively with standardized tests and a parental questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to address the questions. There were statistically significant differences in language input quantity, quality, and output between English and ethnic language learning environments. Singapore children are learning English in an input-rich setting while learning their ethnic language in a comparatively input-poor setting. Multiple regressions revealed that while both sets of factors explained lexical knowledge in each language, the relative contribution is different for English and ethnic languages: internal factors explained more variance in English language vocabulary, whereas external factors were more important in explaining ethnic language knowledge. We attribute this difference to a threshold effect of external factors based on the critical mass hypothesis and call for special attention to learning context (input-rich vs. input-poor settings) for specific bilingual language studies.
Aryl hydantoin Ro 13-3978, a broad-spectrum antischistosomal.

OBJECTIVES Praziquantel is the only drug available for the treatment of schistosomiasis and the state of the exhausted drug discovery pipeline is alarming. We restarted investigations on the abandoned antischistosomal Ro 13-3978, an aryl hydantoin discovered in the early 1980s by Hoffmann La-Roche. METHODS Newly transformed schistosomula and adult Schistosoma mansoni were studied in the presence of Ro 13-3978 in vitro. The metabolic stability of Ro 13-3978 was determined in vitro using human and mouse liver S9 fractions. Dose-response relationship, stage specificity, hepatic shift and scanning electron microscopy studies were carried out in S. mansoni-infected mice. In addition, efficacy experiments were conducted in rodents infected with Echinostoma caproni and Fasciola hepatica as well as in S. mansoni-infected immunocompromised nude (Foxn1(nu)) mice. RESULTS Ro 13-3978 showed minor in vitro activity and no damage to the tegument was found. No cytotoxicity was detected for Ro 13-3978. Ro 13-3978 was metabolically stable. ED50 values of 138.9 and 14.6 mg/kg were calculated for the treatment of juvenile and adult S. mansoni infections, respectively, with a single oral dose of Ro 13-3978. SEM studies revealed severe damage to the worms 48 h post-treatment of infected mice. A single oral dose of Ro 13-3978 (100 mg/kg) administered to S. mansoni-infected (Foxn1(nu)) mice reduced the worm burden by 88%. Ro 13-3978 was not active against E. caproni and F. hepatica in vivo. CONCLUSIONS Ro 13-3978 has excellent antischistosomal properties in vivo. Structure-activity relationship studies with the aryl hydantoins have been launched in order to elucidate active pharmacophores, further investigate the mechanism of action and to identify a derivative with minimal antiandrogenic effects.
Underwater image restoration using single color channel prior

Recovering dehazed image from the single underwater image has always been a challenging task. Inspired from dark channel prior, we extend it further to dehaze the underwater images using a single color channel. The red color component undergoes maximum attenuation on account of the longest wavelength and dominates the dark channel prior in the underwater scenario. We developed the algorithm based on the red color channel, and obtained depth map using morphological operation. The proposed approach significantly restores the color, minimizes the effect of haze and improves the contrast. Experimental results based on qualitative and quantitative analysis exhibits that the proposed method performs efficiently as compared to existing dehazing algorithms.
Efficient power conversion for ultra low voltage micro scale energy transducers

Energy harvesting has emerged as a feasible and attractive option to improve battery lifetime in micro-scale electronic systems such as biomedical implants and wireless sensor nodes. A key challenge in designing micro-scale energy harvesting systems is that miniature energy transducers (e.g., photovoltaic cells, thermo-electric generators, and fuel cells) output very low voltages (0–0.4V). Therefore, a fully on-chip power converter (usually based on a charge pump) is used to boost the output voltage of the energy transducer and transfer charge into an energy buffer for storage. However, the charge transfer capability of widely used linear charge pump based power converters degrades when used with ultra-low voltage energy transducers. This paper presents the design of a new tree topology charge pump that has a reduced charge sharing time, leading to an improved charge transfer capability. The proposed design has been implemented using 65nm technology and circuit simulations demonstrate that the proposed design results in an increase of up to 30% in harvested power compared to existing linear charge pumps.
Funds of Identity in Education: Acknowledging the Life Experiences of First Year Tertiary Students

ABSTRACT Teacher education students bring diverse funds of knowledge to formal education. These funds of knowledge are particularly important for the successful transition of first year tertiary students into higher education. In preservice teacher education contexts, students draw knowledge from varied life contexts and their funds of knowledge become funds of identity when experiences associated with onto-epistemologies are used in the service of identity formation. This descriptive case study draws data from an online first year preservice teacher education unit (subject) to consider examples of funds of identity that can inform the work of practitioners in developing significant and contextualized learning experiences. Students' prior schooling experiences give meaning to their teacher education coursework and project potential teacher identities.
Real Options and Subsequent Technology Adoption: An ERP System Perspective

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system has been identified as having option-like characteristics making such systems unique and different from many Information Systems (IS) technologies. Given the growing need to extend ERP systems beyond the boundaries of an ERP implementing organization, there is need to explore how an ERP system as an IS platform technology, can enable the subsequent adoption of other function-specific applications. Using insights from real options theory, this study proposes a conceptual framework that views ERP adoption as a technology positioning investment with options at each stage of the decision making process. Specifically, in a post-ERP implementation, the study proposed that organizational factors such as managerial flexibility, technical resources and level of technological uncertainty, affect the organizational ease of use of subsequent technology which in turn influences ERP-enabled adoption.
Implicit Group Messaging over Peer-to-Peer Networks

We propose a decoupled distribution paradigm for connecting large numbers of content publishers and consumers called implicit group messaging (IGM). Unlike traditional multicast or publish/subscribe messaging, IGM delivers content to "implicit groups" of consumers matching combinations of attributes specified by the publisher at the time of publication. The contributions of this paper include a characterisation of IGM encompassing the types of groups that must be supported, and an innovative distributed P2P implementation that we compare via simulation to a functionally equivalent client/server approach. Our results show the P2P model to efficiently support a range of implicit groups with acceptable delivery times and vastly less maximum peer and link stress than a client/server approach
Relation between Red Cell Distribution Width and Left Ventricular Function in Children with Heart Failure

Background. Most of the studies done on adults showed that red cell distribution width (RDW) can be used as a prognostic marker in patients with chronic heart failure. However, RDW has not been tested in children with heart failure. Methods and Results. 31 children with heart failure admitted to Cardiology Unit, Tanta University Hospital, during the period of January 2012 to December 2012 were included in this study, RDW as a component of routine blood count was evaluated and correlated to the echocardiographic parameters of left ventricle. The mean age of our cohort was 16.16 ± 14.97 months, congenital heart disease with left-to-right shunt represented 58.1% of the underlying causes of heart failure while dilated cardiomyopathy made 41.9%. The mean hemoglobin level was 9.14 ± 1.18 gm/dL; RDW level ranged from 10.7% to 27.7% with a mean of 16.01 ± 3.34. Hemoglobin was significantly correlated with RDW at any level. For the echo parameters, at cutoff point of 16.4%, RDW was significantly correlated with fraction shortening (FS), and A, E/A ratio, but it was not correlated with LVEDD, LVESD, and E/É at the same cutoff level. Conclusion. RDW, a simple, available test, can be used as a marker for the left ventricular function in children with heart failure until an echocardiography assessment for the patients is done.
Lateral diffusion of the PH-20 protein on guinea pig sperm: evidence that barriers to diffusion maintain plasma membrane domains in mammalian sperm

PH-20 protein on the plasma membrane (PH-20PM) is restricted to the posterior head of acrosome-intact guinea pig sperm. During the exocytotic acrosome reaction the inner acrosomal membrane (IAM) becomes continuous with the posterior head plasma membrane, and PH-20PM migrates to the IAM. There it joins a second population of PH-20 protein localized to this region of the acrosomal membrane (PH-20AM) (Cowan, A.E., P. Primakoff, and D.G. Myles, 1986, J. Cell Biol. 103:1289-1297). To investigate how the localized distributions of PH-20 protein are maintained, the lateral mobility of PH-20 protein on these different membrane domains was determined using fluorescence redistribution after photobleaching. PH-20PM on the posterior head of acrosome-intact sperm was found to be mobile, with a diffusion coefficient and percent recovery typical of integral membrane proteins (D = 1.8 X 10(-10) cm2/s; %R = 73). This value of D was some 50-fold lower than that found for the lipid probe 1,1-ditetradecyl 3,3,3',3'- tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (C14diI) in the same region (D = 8.9 X 10(-9) cm2/s). After migration to the IAM of acrosome-reacted sperm, this same population of molecules (PH-20PM) exhibited a 30-fold increase in diffusion rate (D = 4.9 X 10(-9) cm2/s; %R = 78). This rate was similar to diffusion of the lipid probe C14diI in the IAM (D = 5.4 X 10(-9) cm2/s). The finding of free diffusion of PH-20PM in the IAM of acrosome-reacted sperm supports the proposal that PH-20 is maintained within the IAM by a barrier to diffusion at the domain boundary. The slower diffusion of PH-20PM on the posterior head of acrosome-intact sperm is also consistent with localization by barriers to diffusion, but does not rule out alternative mechanisms.
A Simple Distribution-Free Test for Nonnested Hypotheses †

Clarke (2003) introduced a simple distribution-free test for nonnested hypotheses. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the relative merits of this test more thoroughly than has been done in the past. The distribution-free test is compared to the better known Vuong test, and the results of a battery of monte carlo experiments demonstrate that the distribution-free test has greater statistical power than the Vuong test under commonly encountered conditions.
Feature extraction and classification of Event-related EEG based on Kolmogorov entropy

In this paper, we propose a novel method with Kolmogorov entropy to extract the feature of event-related EEG. The results show that the Kolmogorov entropy can effectively quantify the dynamic process of event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) time course of EEG in relation to hand movement imagination. The relative increase and decrease of Kolmogorov entropy could be an indicator of ERD/ERS. To testify the validity of Kolmogorov entropy measure, the method is tested on five human subjects for feature extraction to classify the left- and right-hand motor imagery by Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. An average accuracy and mutual information of 91.5% and 0.5374 are obtained, which highly outperforms the commonly used method of AR model. The results confirm that Kolmogorov entropy analysis may improve accuracy for classification of motor imagery tasks, and have applications to performance improvement of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems.