Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beginning Primary School Principals in Belgium: How They Deal with External Influences and Develop Professionally.

To understand the realities and complexities faced by beginning primary school principals, a group of researchers from Belgium, Canada, England, the Netherlands, and the United States launched a collaborative study in 2000. This report describes the Belgium arm of the study. The study set out to answer the following: What are similarities and differences in the work of school principals in different countries? What encourages and discourages people from aspiring to the principalship? How do new principals perceive and deal with external influences? How do new principals adjust to their role? How does the culture of the school evolve with the arrival of the new principal? The sample for the Belgium study consisted of 174 principals. Data were gathered from an initial questionnaire and followup interviews. The main findings included the following: Some 80 percent of the principals perceived the job as an opportunity to build a valuable career. Being trusted and accepted by teachers and parents was the most positive experience for the principals. On the other side of the coin, principals often experienced a noncollaborative school climate and turbulent policy environment, making it difficult to resolve conflicts. Appended are data about the principals and their schools. (Contains 21 references.)(WFA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. in N 00 t--SYMPOSIUM: Leaders for a global society: Western and Eastern perspectives on 4.1 the professional induction of beginning elementary school principals Beginning primary school principals in Belgium: how they deal with external influences and develop professionally U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) , This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Roland Vandenberghe University of Leuven Center for Educational Policy and Innovation Leuven, Belgium AERA-meeting, Chicago, April 21-25, 2003 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
The Effect of Stride Foot Contact Orientation on Overhand Shot Kinematics, Kinetics, and Performance Outcomes in Male Lacrosse Players

ii Acknowledgements.iii List of Tables.v List of Figures.vi Chapter 1.1 Chapter 2.9 Chapter 3.28 Chapter 4.44 Chapter 5.53 References.71 Appendix A.79 Appendix B.83 Appendix C.91 Appendix D.92
MEASURING AUDIO AND VISUAL SPEECH SYNCHRONY: METHODS AND APPLICATIONS

Speech is a means of communication that is intrinsically bimodal: the audio signal originates from the dynamics of the articulators. This paper reviews recent works in the field of audiovisual speech and more specifically on techniques developed to measure the level of correspondence between audio and visual speech. It overviews the most common audio and visual speech front-end processing, transformations performed on audio, visual or joint audiovisual feature spaces and the actual measure of correspondence between audio and visual speech. Finally, applications of this specific task are described.
Evaluation of a Baculovirus Bioinsecticide for Small-Scale Maize Growers in Latin America

Near identical trials conducted concurrently in maize plots in Honduras and Mexico produced similar results in the pattern of larval mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda following application of a baculovirus or a conventional synthetic insecticide. The highest application rates of virus resulted in approximately 40% mortality of S. frugiperda larvae. Virus-induced mortality decreased with time. Parasitism by wasps and tachinids also contributed up to 40% mortality in field-collected larvae. The application of chlorpyrifos resulted in a resurgence of S. frugiperda. Chlorpyrifos also reduced a number of important predators in the maize crop which is likely to have been influential in the observed resurgence of this pest. The use of granulated sugar in the viral formulation caused an increase in the population density of several maize-associated insect species, and in Mexico a transient increase in parasitism was observed in sugar-treated plots. Sugar did not appear to increase the probability of infection by acting as a feeding stimulant in either trial. A preliminary analysis of the cost of vital production and application indicates that virus was considerably more costly than conventional control. To be commercially viable, economies of scale both in the cost of raw material for the insect diet and in the efficiency of manpower-related activities are needed to substantially reduce the costs of the viral product. Despite high levels of infestation by S. frugiperda, grain weight/cob was not significantly improved by the application of the biological or synthetic insecticide. Natural mortality factors both biotic and abiotic appear to have a large impact on larval S. frugiperda populations. For improvements in yield, the impact of control measures against S. frugiperda may be dependent on plant growth stage. Trials on timing and frequency of virus application are in progress to test this idea.
FLASH: Fast Landmark Aligned Spherical Harmonic Parameterization for Genus-0 Closed Brain Surfaces

Surface registration between cortical surfaces is crucial in medical imaging for performing systematic comparisons between brains. Landmark-matching registration that matches anatomical features, called the sulcal landmarks, is often required to obtain a meaningful 1-1 correspondence between brain surfaces. This is commonly done by parameterizing the surface onto a simple parameter domain, such as the unit sphere, in which the sulcal landmarks are consistently aligned. Landmark-matching surface registration can then be obtained from the landmark aligned parameterizations. For genus-0 closed brain surfaces, the optimized spherical harmonic parameterization, which aligns landmarks to consistent locations on the sphere, has been widely used. This approach is limited by the loss of bijectivity under large deformations and the slow computation. In this paper, we propose FLASH, a fast algorithm to compute the optimized spherical harmonic parameterization with consistent landmark alignment. This is achieved by f.
Behavioral control for multi-robot perimeter patrol: A Finite State Automata approach

This paper proposes a multiple robot control algorithm to approach the problem of patrolling an open or closed line. The algorithm is fully decentralized, i.e., no communication occurs between robots or with a central station. Robots behave according only to their sensing and computing capabilities to ensure high scalability and robustness towards robots' fault. The patrolling algorithm is designed in the framework of behavioral control and it is based on the concept of Action: an higher level of abstraction with respect to the behaviors. Each Action is obtained by combining more elementary behaviors in the Null-Space-Behavioral framework. A Finite-State-Automata is designed as supervisor in charge of selecting the appropriate action. The approach has been validated in simulation as well as experimentally with a patrol of 3 Pioneer robots available at the Distributed Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Tennessee.
Review of trajectory generation of exoskeleton robots

This paper presents a review on the challenges and state of the arts in trajectory generation of exoskeleton robots. The objective of the review is to identify knowledge gaps in trajectory generation in exoskeleton robots for future research in this field. The review is done by categorizing the challenges of the field and investigating the performance of the state of the arts. From the review, challenges in trajectories generation which are trajectory optimization and adaptation to unstructured environment have been elaborated. Following that the state of the arts in the field is presented from the point of view of the off-line, on-line and hybrid trajectory.
Deep Integrity: Campus Ethics in the Flat World.

A recent cheating scandal at a top business school led at least one commentator to propose recasting cheating as postmodern learning. Paradoxically counterproductive, the proposal represents a special challenge to the academy. As accountable institutions, universities serve students by purposefully integrating integrity initiatives into the most basic discussions of the learning enterprise.
Temoporfin (Foscan®, 5,10,15,20‐Tetra(m‐hydroxyphenyl)chlorin)—A Second‐generation Photosensitizer †,‡

This review traces the development and study of the second‐generation photosensitizer 5,10,15,20‐tetra(m‐hydroxyphenyl)chlorin through to its acceptance and clinical use in modern photodynamic (cancer) therapy. The literature has been covered up to early 2011.
AN OVERLAY ARCHITECTURE FOR LIVE VIDEO DISTRIBUTION OVER HETEROGENEOUS IP NETWORKS

A synthetic resin molded article having a good antistatic property, which including a synthetic resin substrate and a film of an antistatic polymer formed on the surface of the substrate. The antistatic polymer is prepared by polymerizing an anionic monomer represented by the formula (I) or a mixture of the anionic monomer and a monomer copolymerizable therewith: (I) R2, R3, R4 and R5 independently represent an alkyl, aryl or aralkyl group which may have a substituent, n is 0, 1 or 2, B is an alkylene, arylene or aralkylene group which may have an ester bond, and R6 is H or an alkyl group.
Simulated Prosthetic Vision: Improving text accessibility with retinal prostheses

Image processing can improve significantly the every-day life of blind people wearing current and upcoming retinal prostheses relying on an external camera. We propose to use a real-time text localization algorithm to improve text accessibility. An augmented text-specific rendering based on automatic text localization has been developed. It has been evaluated in comparison to the classical rendering through a Simulated Prosthetic Vision (SPV) experiment with 16 subjects. Subjects were able to detect text in natural scenes much faster and further with the augmented rendering compared to the control rendering. Our results show that current and next generation of low resolution retinal prostheses may benefit from real-time text detection algorithms.
Red Parkes Quasars: Evidence for Soft X-Ray Absorption

The Parkes Half-Jansky Flat-Spectrum Sample contains a large number of sources with unusually red optical-to-near-infrared (NIR) continua. If this is to be interpreted as extinction by dust in the line of sight, then associated material might also give rise to absorption in the soft X-ray regime. This hypothesis is tested using broadband (0.1-2.4 keV) data from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. Significant (>3 σ confidence level) correlations between the optical (and NIR)-to-soft X-ray continuum slope and optical extinction are found in the data, consistent with absorption by material with metallicity and a range in the gas-to-dust ratio as observed in the local ISM. Under this simple model, the soft X-rays are absorbed at a level consistent with the range of extinctions (0<AV<6 mag) implied by the observed optical reddening. Excess X-ray absorption by warm (ionized) gas, (i.e., a warm absorber) is not required by the data.
Transitional B cells are the target of negative selection in the B cell compartment

B lymphocytes recognize antigen through membrane-bound antigen- receptors, membrane IgM and IgD (mIgM and mIgD). Binding to foreign antigens initiates a cascade of biochemical events that lead to activation and differentiation. In contrast, binding to self-antigens leads to death or to inactivation. It is commonly believed that the B cells acquire the ability to discriminate between self and nonself in the early phases of development. We report here that immature B cells, which have just emerged from the mIgMneg, B220pos pool, are not deleted upon binding of self-antigen. In vivo, developing B cells become sensitive to tolerance induction in a relatively late window of differentiation, when they are in transition from the immature (HSAbright, B220dull) to the mature (HSAdull, B220bright) stage. In the transitional B cells, early markers of differentiation such as Pgp1 (CD44) and ThB reach the highest level of expression, while the expression of CD23 and mIgD, late markers of differentiation, and expression of class II MHC, progressively increases. Most of the transitional B cells, but only few of the mature and of the immature B cells, express the fas antigen, while mature B cells, but not immature and transitional B cells, express bcl-2 protein. mIgM is present in low amounts in immature B cells, reaches the highest level of expression in transitional B cells and is down-regulated in mature resting B cells, where it is coexpressed with mIgD. The high expression of mIgM, the presence of the fas antigen and the absence of bcl-2 protein is compatible with the high sensitivity of transitional B cells to negative selection. In vitro, immature B cells die rapidly by apoptosis after cross-linking of mIgM. This result, combined with the resistance of immature B cells to elimination in vivo, suggests that early in development the stroma cell microenvironment modulates signals transduced through mIgM. The functional and phenotypic division of IgMpos bone marrow B cells in three compartments not only allows to define the target population of physiological processes like negative selection, but will also be a helpful tool for an accurate description of possible developmental blocks in mutant mice.
Still the same? – Self-identity dilemmas when living with post-stroke aphasia in a digitalised society

ABSTRACT Background: Self-identity construction through “stories of self” is highly relevant for people with aphasia, not only because the onset entails a “biographical disruption” but also since their ability to keep their “stories of self” going is reduced. Three dilemmas (constancy/change, sameness/difference and agency/dependency) are known to be central to identity. In a digitalised society like Sweden, self-identity construction, including the navigation of these dilemmas, takes place both online and offline. Nevertheless, research combining aphasia, identity and online issues is scarce. Aim: This qualitative study aims, in terms identity dilemmas, to investigate self-identity construction in working-age persons living with post-stroke aphasia in a digitalised society (i.e. Sweden). Are the dilemmas relevant to the participants, and if so, how do they navigate them online and offline? Methods and Procedures: Nine individuals (three men and six women, aged 24–54 at onset) with mild or moderate post-stroke aphasia participated. The data comprises nine individual audio-recorded interviews and 1,581 screenshots from online observations. Qualitative analyses were performed (vertically and horizontally), combining inductive and deductive approaches. Outcomes and Results: All three dilemmas are relevant to the participants. They construct their self-identity as both the same as they were pre-stroke and changed. They are both the same and different in relation to other stroke survivors (with or without aphasia), i.e. both “disabled” and “normal”. They display both dependency and agency. Thus, they navigate the dilemmas by constantly negotiating what to include in their stories of self. In addition, telling one story of self offline does not imply telling the same story online. Conclusion: The dilemmas are intertwined and highly relevant to the participants. Offline and online settings evoke different ways for them to navigate the dilemmas. Increased awareness of the possible struggle with self-identity dilemmas in people with aphasia, and the possible difference between their online and offline self-identities, should be of value to family members, clinicians and researchers. Further research based on a larger sample is suggested.
Examining Locus of Control and Attributional Style as Contributing Factors in the Narcissism-Aggression Relation

EXAMINING LOCUS OF CONTROL AND ATTRJBUTIONAL STYLE AS CONTRJBUTING FACTORS IN THE NARCISSISM-AGGRESSION RELATION by Marion Tam'eca Wallace August 2010 Previous research has shown a consistent relation bet\~een narcissism and aggression in adults (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998; Stucke, 2003). Although relatively few studies have examined this relation in adolescents, narcissism has previously been correlated with behavioral problems (Washburn, McMahon, King, Reinecke, & Silver, 2004) and aggression (Barry, Grafeman, Adler, & Pickard, 2007; Thomaes, Bushman, Stegge, & Olthof, 2008) in youth. The current study examined attributional style (i.e., intemality vs. extemality) and locus of control as contributing variables in the narcissism-aggression relation in adolescents. The current study consisted of 148 male and 26 female at-risk adolescents (M = 16.04 years, SD= .88). Narcissism was not related to overall aggression in the current study. However, narcissism was significantly correlated with self-esteem and proactive aggression. Contrary to expectations, locus of control did not moderate the narcissism-aggression relation, and a self-aggrandizing attributional style did not mediate the narcissism-proactive aggression relation. However, LOC was a moderator in the relation between self-esteem and aggression such that low self-esteem was associated with higher aggression for individuals with an external LOC. The implications of this study for understanding how self-perception is related to adolescent aggression are discussed below.
What is the plausibility of probability

We present and examine a result related to uncertainty reasoning, namely that a certain plausibility measure of Cox’s type can be uniquely embedded in a minimal ordered field. This, although a purely mathematical result, can be claimed to imply that every rational method to reason with uncertainty must be based on sets of extended probability distributions, where extended probability is standard probability extended with infinitesimals. This claim must be supported by some argumentation of non-mathematical type, however, since pure mathematics does not tell us anything about the world. We propose one such argumentation, and relate it to results from the literature of uncertainty and statistics.
System identification and dereverberation of speech signals in the Single-Side-Band transform domain

Single-Side-Band transform (SSB) is an important real-valued time-frequency representation, often preferred in applications involving speech signals. In this paper, the problems of system identification and dereverberation are addressed using the SSB transform. First, an analytical relation between the input and the output signals is derived in the SSB domain. Then, a system identification routine is formulated for a band-to-band approximation of that relation. Second, the dereverberation problem is addressed, using a statistical model for the acoustic impulse response (AIR) function. Exact and approximate representations of the AIR and the reverberant signal are derived directly in the SSB domain. The performance of the dereverberation algorithm is evaluated as a function of the representation complexity. Finally, the SSB and the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) representations are compared for the application of dereverberation.
A clustering Group Mutual Exclusion algorithm for mobile ad hoc networks

A mobile ad hoc network can be defined as a network that is spontaneously deployed and is independent of any static network. The network consists of mobile nodes1 with wireless interfaces and has an arbitrary dynamic topology. The networks suffers from frequent link formation and disruption due to the mobility of the nodes. A clustering method is used for obtaining a hierarchical organization for the ad hoc networks. In this paper we present a clustering token based algorithm for Group Mutual Exclusion in ad hoc mobile networks. The proposed algorithm is adapted from the RL algorithm in [1] and utilizes the concept of weight throwing in [2]. The proposed algorithm is sensitive to link forming and link breaking. The algorithm ensures the mutual exclusion, the bounded delay, and the concurrent entering properties.
Search for nucleon decay with final states l+η0, ν̄η0, and ν̄π+,0 using Soudan 2

We have searched for nucleon decay into five two-body final states using a 4.4 kiloton-year fiducial exposure of the Soudan 2 iron tracking calorimeter. For proton decay into the fully visible final states mu+ eta and e+ eta, we observe zero and one event, respectively, that satisfy our search criteria for nucleon decay. The lifetime lower limits (tau/B) thus implied are 89 x 10^30 years and 81 x 10^30 years at 90% confidence level. For neutron decay into nubar eta, we obtain the lifetime lower limit 71 x 10^30 years. Limits are also reported for neutron decay into nubar pi0, and for proton decay into nubar pi+.
Whole-grain intake as a marker of healthy body weight and adiposity

Abstract Objective To review evidence relating to the consumption of whole grains and healthy body weight (BW). Design Systematic review and analysis of observational studies reporting whole-grain consumption and measures of BW and adiposity, including the effect on macronutrient intakes and lifestyle factors. Setting Medline and other databases were searched for the period 1990 to 2006 to produce a full reference list; observational studies were retained for further analysis if they included an appropriate control group and reported whole-grain intake and body mass index (BMI) or a measure of adiposity. Subjects Fifteen trials were identified which included data from 119 829 male and female subjects aged 13 years and over. Results The combined and weighted mean difference in BMI from 15 studies representing 20 treatment groups (n = 119 829) using a random-effects model was 0·630 kg/m2 lower when high versus low whole-grain intake was compared, P < 0·0001 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 0·460, 0·800 kg/m2). In high consumers, adiposity assessed as waist circumference was reduced by 2·7 (95 % CI 0·2, 5·2) cm, P = 0·03 (six data sets, n = 4178) or as waist:hip ratio by 0·023 (95 % CI 0·016, 0·030), P < 0.0001 (four data sets, n = 20 147). Higher intake of whole grains led to increased dietary fibre intake (9 g, P < 0·01), while total and saturated fat intakes decreased by 11 g and 3·9 g, respectively. Conclusion A higher intake of whole grains (about three servings per day) was associated with lower BMI and central adiposity. In addition, people who consume more whole grains are likely to have a healthier lifestyle as fewer of them smoke, they exercise more frequently and they tend to have lower fat and higher fibre intakes.
An application adaptive energy model for wireless sensor nodes

The energy efficient design of wireless sensor networks necessitates optimizations at both the system and individual node level. Node-level energy conservation and power aware decisions can lead to better overall performance and may complement any power saving techniques employed in the network infrastructure. A computationally efficient, polynomial shift algorithm that enables energy aware decisions under dynamic load conditions for wireless sensor nodes is presented. The corresponding energy model accurately approximates the energy decay characteristics for applications exhibiting different energy usage profiles. It adapts to the prevailing load conditions, and can be used by applications supporting self-learnt or over-the-air reconfiguration of nodes within the wireless sensor network. The model's computational complexity is such that it can be computed in runtime configurations on the Mica family of motes.