Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Effectiveness of Critical Thinking Instruction

There has been a growing trend among colleges in the United States and Canada to require all students to fulfill a requirement in "critical thinking" as part of their general education program. Critical thinking is a widely used term that includes skills in applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information and the disposition to apply these skills (National Center for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction 1991). The ability to think critically is almost always listed as one of the desirable outcomes of undergraduate education (Halpern 1988). Al though there is considerable disagreement over who should teach such courses, whether they should be "stand-alone" ge neric courses or incorporated into specific content areas, and what sorts of thinking skills students should be learning in these courses, there is virtually no disagreement over the need to help college students improve how they think (e.g., Perkins and Solo mon 1989). The debate over thinking-skills instruction at the postsecondary level is particularly timely because the goal of increasing the number of college students who can think effec tively and solve problems is one component of the National Educational Goals advanced by the National Governors' Asso ciation and President Bush. Students from North America routinely rank below those from other parts of the world in academic areas such as scien
Notice of RetractionEffect of Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen on Life History and Metal Tolerance of the Freshwater Cladoceran Moina macrocopa

The freshwater cladoceran Moina macrocopa showed high tolerance to hypoxia, but high temperature shortened its lifespan and reduced its reproductive performance. The 48-h LC50 values of Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn for M. macrocopa were not significantly affected by temperature and hypoxia.
A route to systematic error in forecasts of Rossby waves

Recent work has shown that both the amplitude of upper‐level Rossby waves and the tropopause sharpness decrease with forecast lead time for several days in some operational weather forecast systems. In this contribution, the evolution of error growth in a case‐study of this forecast error type is diagnosed through analysis of operational forecasts and hindcast simulations. Potential vorticity (PV) on the 320 K isentropic surface is used to diagnose Rossby waves. The Rossby‐wave forecast error in the operational ECMWF high‐resolution forecast is shown to be associated with errors in the forecast of a warm conveyor belt (WCB) through trajectory analysis and an error metric for WCB outflows. The WCB forecast error is characterised by an overestimation of WCB amplitude, a location of the WCB outflow regions that is too far to the southeast, and a resulting underestimation of the magnitude of the negative PV anomaly in the outflow. Essentially the same forecast error development also occurred in all members of the ECMWF Ensemble Prediction System and the Met Office MOGREPS‐15, suggesting that in this case model error made an important contribution to the development of forecast error in addition to initial condition error. Exploiting this forecast error robustness, a comparison was performed between the realised flow evolution, proxied by a sequence of short‐range simulations, and a contemporaneous forecast. Both the proxy to the realised flow and the contemporaneous forecast were produced with the Met Office Unified Model enhanced with tracers of diabatic processes modifying potential temperature and PV. Clear differences between proxy and forecast were found in the way potential temperature and PV are modified in the WCB. These results demonstrate that differences in potential temperature and PV modification in the WCB can be responsible for forecast errors in Rossby waves.
An investigation of search behaviour in a tactile exploration task for sighted and non-sighted adults.

In this work in progress we propose a new method for evaluating objectively the process of performing a tactile exploration with a visuo-tactile sensory substitution system. Both behavioral and neurophysiological cues are considered to evaluate the identification process of virtual objects and surrounding environments. Our experiments suggest that both sighted and visually impaired users integrated spatial information and developed similar behavioural and neurophysiological patterns. The proposed method could also serve as a tool to evaluate touch-based interfaces for application in orientation and mobility programs.
Comparison of outer-rotor stator-permanent-magnet brushless motor drives for electric vehicles

In this paper, two emerging outer-rotor stator-permanent-magnet (PM) brushless motor drives, namely the doubly-salient PM motor drive and the PM hybrid brushless motor drive, are firstly quantitatively compared, which are particularly attractive for serving as in-wheel motor drives for electric vehicles. In order to enable a fair comparison, these two motor drives are designed with the same peripheral dimensions and based on the same outer-rotor 36/24-pole topology. By utilizing the circuit-field-torque time-stepping finite element method for analysis, their steady-state and transient performances are critically compared. Moreover, the cost analysis of these two machines is conducted to evaluate their cost effectiveness.
A simple prognostic index for patients with acute renal failure requiring dialysis. French Multicentric Prospective Study on Furosemide in Acute Renal Failure Requiring Dialysis.

The probability of death in patients with acute renal failure (ARF) remains high. A valid prognostic index available on patient admission and during follow-up could be helpful for decision making. In this study, 94 ARF patients requiring dialysis (not responding to a previous single dose of furosemide 15 mg/kg) were included. On admission, patients were classified according to a Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) of < or = 15 or > 15. The prognostic value of 11 risk factors was analyzed. Only 6 in 11 risk factors were significant by univariate analysis: age (> 55 years) (0.02), mechanical ventilation (0.008), oliguria (< 500 mL/day during the first 5 days) (0.02), sepsis (0.001), shock (0.007), and serum bilirubin (> 30 mumol) (0.001). Only oliguria and sepsis were significant risk factors by multivariate analysis. Overall mortality rate was 41%. Mortality rate was higher in patients with SAPS > 15 (65%) than in those with SAPS < or = 15 (22%) (0.001). Patients with > 3 risk factors showed a significantly higher mortality rate than patients with < 3 risk factors (all patients disregarding SAPS) (0.001). Considering the worst combination of risk factors by univariate analysis, mortality prediction was 56% if oliguria, sepsis, and high serum bilirubin were present, and reached 80% if an older age was added (four risk factors). Ventilation increased probability of death to 92% (five risk factors). If all six risk factors were present, the probability rose to 96%. The corresponding observed mortality rate was 32% for three risk factors, 70% for four, 81% for five and 100% for six risk factors. The results suggest that probability of death in ARF requiring dialysis can be correctly estimated when more than three significant risk factors are present. If confirmed, they could avoid using a more complex severity scoring system in patients with ARF requiring dialysis.
Return-to-Sport Outcomes at 2 to 7 Years After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery

Background: Most people have not returned to their preinjury level of sports participation at 12 months after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery. Twelve months’ follow-up may be too early to assess return-to-sport outcomes accurately. Purpose: This study was undertaken to evaluate the medium-term return-to-sport outcomes after ACL reconstruction surgery. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was used to collect data at 2 to 7 years after ACL reconstruction surgery regarding preinjury sports participation, postoperative sports participation, and subjective knee function. The main inclusion criteria were participation in regular sports activity before injury and the attendance at routine surgical follow-up appointments. Results: A total of 314 participants (mean age, 32.5 ± 10.2 years) were included at a mean 39.6 ± 13.8 months after ACL reconstruction surgery. At follow-up, 45% were playing sport at their preinjury level and 29% were playing competitive sport. Ninety-three percent of the study sample had attempted sport at some time after their ACL reconstruction surgery. Those who had not attempted their preinjury level of sport by 12 months after surgery were just as likely to have returned to preinjury level by 39 months after surgery as those who had played sport by 12 months (risk ratio, 1.1; 95% confidence interval, 0.76-1.6). Conclusion: Less than 50% of the study sample had returned to playing sport at their preinjury level or returned to participating in competitive sport when surveyed at 2 to 7 years after ACL reconstruction surgery. Return to the preinjury level of sport at 12 months after surgery was not predictive of participation at the preinjury level in the medium term, which suggests that people who return to sport within 12 months may not maintain their sports participation.
The Educational Philosophies of Mordecai Kaplan and Michael Rosenak: Surprising Similarities and Illuminating Differences

The thoughts of Mordecai Kaplan and Michael Rosenak present surprising commonalities as well as illuminating differences. Similarities include the perception that Judaism and Jewish education are in crisis, the belief that Jewish peoplehood must include commitment to meaningful content, the need for teachers to teach from a position of authenticity, and the importance of developing the inner life. The differences lie primarily in their divergent understandings of what in Judaism obligates, of the importance of reckoning with the Schwabian “milieu” when educating, of the acceptable boundaries of textual interpretation, and of the need to engage with families when educating children.
Word N-Gram Based Classification for Data Leakage Prevention

Revealing sensitive data to unauthorised personal is a serious problem to many organizations that can lead to devastating consequences. Traditionally, prevention of data leak was achieved through firewalls, VPNs and IDS, but without much consideration to sensitivity of the data. In recent years, new technologies such as data leakage prevention systems (DLPs) are developed, especially to either identify and protect sensitive data or monitor and detect sensitive data leakage. One of the most popular approaches used in DLPs is content analysis, where the content of exchanged documents, stored data or even network traffic is monitored for sensitive data. Contents of documents are examined using mainly text analysis and text clustering methods. Moreover, text analysis can be performed using methods such as pattern recognition, style variation and N-gram frequency. In this paper, we investigate the use of N-grams for data classification purposes. Our method is based on using the N-grams frequency to classify documents in order to detect and prevent leakage of sensitive data. We have studied the effectiveness of N-grams to measure the similarity between regular documents and existing classified documents.
What Happened to Cargo Cults? Material Religions in Melanesia and the West

In contrast to a strong tendency in recent studies of Melanesian religious and political movements that want to discard the term 'cargo cult' for reasons of analytical—and ethical—inadequacy, this article argues that the term remains useful to delineate an empirical field for comparative purposes. Further, it suggests that the central moral and existential crisis that underlies cargo cults has to do with pressure on the traditional exchange system and concomitant notions of personhood and fairness. Finally, it argues that the study of cargo cults provides a vantage point for a culture-critical approach to Western society, as it challenges the sharp distinction between religious and economic values that makes it difficult to understand contemporary moral paradoxes.
Conjugative transfer of cadmium resistance plasmids in Rhodococcus fascians strains

The presence of a 138-kilobase plasmid (pD188) correlated with increased resistance to cadmium in Rhodococcus fascians D188. This plasmid could be transferred by a conjugation-like system in matings between R. fascians strains. Transconjugants expressed the cadmium resistance and could be used as donors in subsequent matings. Four other R. fascians strains (NCPPB 1488, NCPPB 1675, NCPPB 2551, and ATCC 12974) could also be used as donors for cadmium resistance in matings. Strain NCPPB 1675 showed a 100% cotransfer of cadmium and chloramphenicol resistance markers.
Capillary Regeneration in Scleroderma: Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Phenotype?

Background Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease with a characteristic vascular pathology. The vasculopathy associated with scleroderma is one of the major contributors to the clinical manifestations of the disease. Methodology/Principal Findings We used immunohistochemical and mRNA in situ hybridization techniques to characterize this vasculopathy and showed with morphometry that scleroderma has true capillary rarefaction. We compared skin biopsies from 23 scleroderma patients and 24 normal controls and 7 scleroderma patients who had undergone high dose immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell transplant. Along with the loss of capillaries there was a dramatic change in endothelial phenotype in the residual vessels. The molecules defining this phenotype are: vascular endothelial cadherin, a supposedly universal endothelial marker required for tube formation (lost in the scleroderma tissue), antiangiogenic interferon α (overexpressed in the scleroderma dermis) and RGS5, a signaling molecule whose expression coincides with the end of branching morphogenesis during development and tumor angiogenesis (also overexpressed in scleroderma skin. Following high dose immunosuppressive therapy, patients experienced clinical improvement and 5 of the 7 patients with scleroderma had increased capillary counts. It was also observed in the same 5 patients, that the interferon α and vascular endothelial cadherin had returned to normal as other clinical signs in the skin regressed, and in all 7 patients, RGS5 had returned to normal. Conclusion/Significance These data provide the first objective evidence for loss of vessels in scleroderma and show that this phenomenon is reversible. Coordinate changes in expression of three molecules already implicated in angiogenesis or anti-angiogenesis suggest that control of expression of these three molecules may be the underlying mechanism for at least the vascular component of this disease. Since rarefaction has been little studied, these data may have implications for other diseases characterized by loss of capillaries including hypertension, congestive heart failure and scar formation.
Preliminary Study of a New Approach to NMF Based Text Summarization Fused with Anaphora Resolution

Recently Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) has captured a quantifiable attention in the field of information retrieval. Especially in the dimension of text summarization, it has leaped a large step in minimizing the gap between the summary produced by the man and machine. This paper is aimed at a preliminary study of a novel approach to automatic text summarization using extraction method by fusing the output of an anaphoric resolver with NMF. This initial study is aimed at studying the impact of changes in the weights of H matrix of NMF matrices by treating anaphoric pronoun replacements in the term by sentence matrix of the original document. It is done to emphasize how anaphoric resolutions can improve the performance of the output when the original term by document matrix is properly treated with anaphoric replacements using NMF method. Results of the preliminary study demonstrate that when the output of anaphoric resolver is fused with NMF better results can be achieved in automatic text summarization.
Ii. Summary of Results

Short Abstract — In this study, we examined how food uptake is regulated in C. elegans. Combination of microfluidics and automated image analysis enabled longitudinal measurement of individual worms at high temporal resolution in precisely defined environment. We identified the bi-phasic nature of feeding regulation of the worms, where feeding behavior alternates between fast regular pumping and slow irregular pumping. The rate of food uptake is modulated in response to food availability by adjusting the duration of the two modes via the control mechanism as known as Pulse-Width Modulation, where the neurotransmitter serotonin plays essential role. HE regulation of food uptake is a critical mechanism with major physiological impact [1-4]. To understand the mechanism of how food uptake is regulated, there has been interest in using feeding of C. elegans as a model system [5, 6]. The nematode feeds on bacteria, and it is facilitated by the action of the pharynx, a neuromuscular pump that draws bacteria suspended in liquid into the mouth from the surrounding environment, and transports them to the intestine after concentrating and grinding [7, 8]. Pharyngeal pumping is therefore a primary indicator of food intake and consequent growth. Previous results suggest that pharyngeal pumping depends on feeding history and quality of food through a mechanism that involves the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine) [9-11]. Serotonin increases feeding rate of C. elegans [12] and has been suggested as a putative food signal that controls feeding of the animal [13]. Conventional feeding assays are performed on dense bacterial lawns which do not allow fine control of food concentration. Thus, to probe how food uptake is regulated in response to food availability, we employed a custom microfluidic device [14] that enabled us to precisely control
Speaker normalization and speaker adaptation - a combination for conversational speech recognition

Speaker normalization and speaker adaptation are two strategies to tackle the variations from speaker, channel, and environment. The vocal tract length normalization (VTLN) is an e(cid:11)ective speaker normalization approach to compensate for the variations of vocal tract shapes. The Maximum Likelihood Linear Regression(MLLR) is a recent proposed method for speaker-adaptation. In this paper, we propose a speaker-speci(cid:12)c Bark scale VTLN method, investigate the combination of the VTLN with MLLR, and present an iterative procedure for decoding the combined system of VTLN and MLLR. The results show that: (1) the new VTLN method is very e(cid:11)ective with which the word error rate can be reduced up to 11%; (2) the combination of VTLN and MLLR can provide up to 15% word error reduction; (3) both VTLN and MLLR are more e(cid:11)ective for the push-to-talk data than for the cross-talk data.
Revocation techniques for Java concurrency

This paper proposes two approaches to managing concurrency in Java using a guarded region abstraction. Both approaches use revocation of such regions—the ability to undo their effects automatically and transparently. These new techniques alleviate many of the constraints that inhibit construction of transparently scalable and robust concurrent applications. The first solution, revocable monitors, augments existing mutual exclusion monitors with the ability to dynamically resolve priority inversion and deadlock, by reverting program execution to a consistent state when such situations are detected, while preserving Java semantics. The second technique, transactional monitors, extends the functionality of revocable monitors by implementing guarded regions as lightweight transactions that can be executed concurrently (or in parallel on multiprocessor platforms). The presentation includes discussion of design and implementation issues for both schemes, as well as a detailed performance study to compare their behavior with the traditional, state‐of‐the‐art implementation of Java monitors based on mutual exclusion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Impacts of marine invaders on biodiversity depend on trophic position and functional similarity

Impacts of marine invaders on local biodiversity have not been analyzed across inva- sive species and invaded habitats. We conducted a meta-analysis of 56 field experiments pub- lished in 29 papers that examined the effects of marine invaders on local species richness, diver- sity, and/or evenness. We show that invaders, across studies, typically have negative effects on biodiversity within a trophic level but positive effects on biodiversity of higher trophic levels. For example, both plants and sessile filter-feeders had positive effects on richness and diversity of mobile consumers. The contrasting negative and positive effects on similar versus higher trophic levels are potentially manifested through community-wide antagonism (competition and con- sumption) versus facilitation (habitat and food provisioning) interactions, respectively. These relation ships extended to functional interactions, as sessile invaders had negative effects on the biodiversity of sessile communities (intra-functional interactions) but positive effects on the biodi- versity of mobile communities (inter-functional interactions). Our analyses highlight the impor- tance of pairing attributes of the invader and the impacted organisms to obtain simple predictions of how the diversity of entire communities may respond to species invasions on local scales. We also note that our analysis did not require information on co-evolutionary history but that such data, coupled with long-term large-scale mensurative data, are needed to gain a comprehensive predictive insight into invasion impact.
PSO-BASED TUNNING OF PID CONTROLLER FOR SPEED CONTROL OF DC MOTOR

In this paper, a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller of DC motor is designed by using particle swarm optimization (PSO) strategy for formative optimal PID controller tuning parameters. The proposed approach has superior feature, including easy implementation, stable convergence characteristics and very good computational performances efficiency. The DC Motor Scheduling PID-PSO controller is modeled in MATLAB environment. Comparing with conventional PID controller using Genetic Algorithm, the planned method is more proficient in improving the speed loop response stability, the steady state error is reduced, the rising time is perfected and the change of the required input do not affect the performances of driving motor with no overtaking. Keyword: Control Tuning Parameters; Particle Swarm Optimization Strategy; PID-PSO Controller; Speed Control; Optimal Control.
Cascading to the MSSM

The MSSM can arise as an orientifold of a pyramid-like quiver in the context of intersecting D-branes. Here we consider quiver realizations of the MSSM which can emerge at the bottom of a duality cascade. We classify all possible minimal ways this can be done by allowing only one extra node. It turns out that this requires extending the geometry of the pyramid to an octahedron. The MSSM at the bottom of the cascade arises in one of two possible ways, with the extra node disappearing either via Higgsing or confinement. Remarkably, the quiver of the Higgsing scenario turns out to be nothing but the quiver version of the left-right symmetric extension of the MSSM. In the minimal confining sce- nario the duality cascade can proceed if and only if there is exactly one up/down Higgs pair. Moreover, the symmetries of the octahedron naturally admit an automorphism of the quiver which solves a version of theproblem precisely when there are an odd number of generations.