Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A sociology of truth?

In this book the author addresses various aspects of what might be called ‘the problem of knowledge’ in the sociology of education and beyond. He criticizes the ‘new sociology of education’ of the 1970s as well as subsequently influential approaches that espouse forms of cultural relativism or standpoint epistemology; and he defends a version of realism developed with a group of collaborators, including Michael F.D. Young (see Young 2008; Moore 2004, 2007; Maton and Moore 2009). His main conclusion, in educational terms, is that rather than treating the curriculum as reflecting a dominant culture that is imposed upon subordinate groups, we should recognize its status and value as knowledge, so that entitlement is the key issue. This amounts to a reversal in the current priority given to these two conflicting ideas, both of which have long been present in discussions of schooling. The idea of cultural imposition was, of course, a central element of the ‘new sociology of education’ of the early 1970s, and has been the more dominant theme ever since. This represented a break with earlier sociological approaches that focused on the extent to which subordinate classes and marginalized groups had been excluded from access to high-status forms of education, and on identifying the barriers they faced. More or less in line with the earlier approach, the main educational message of the new realism, then, is that all children and students must be given equal access to knowledge, or to culture more generally, this being seen as empowering them. Another key element of the book is the development of a new approach to the sociology of knowledge, one that is derived from the later work of Bernstein (see also Moore and Maton 2001; Moore 2006). Here it is used to explain ‘schizmatic’ developments in intellectual fields: those that claim to reject all that went before, to be incommensurable as regards competitors, and to give
Base excess: A review

T of pH, carbon dioxide, and oxygen in blood goes back hundreds of years. This scientific history involves distinguished names such as Boyle, Dalton, Avogadro, Arrhenius, Henderson, and Hasselbach. Following in the footsteps of these luminaries, Siggaard-Andersen and Astrup developed the term base excess (BE) to describe the metabolic component of an alkalosis or acidosis. Ever since then, physicians and physicians-in-training have been trying to understand BE.There is a paucity of literature, even in critical care textbooks, to explainBE to the eager learner. This reviewarticlewill explain what BE is, groups of patients where it has been studied, and finally explore the pitfalls and limitations of its use. The goal is to understand BE without having to be a clinical chemist.
Geometric strong segregation theory for compositionally asymmetric diblock copolymer melts

Department of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, U.S.A. (Dated: November 30, 2008)We have identiﬁed the eﬀect of the Wigner-Seitz cell geometry in the strong segregation limit ofdiblock copolymer melts with strong composition asymmetry. A variational problem is proposeddescribing the distortions of the chain paths due to the geometric constraints imposed by the cellshape. We computed the geometric excess energies for cylindrical phases arranged into hexagonal,square, and triangular lattices and explicitly demonstrated that the hexagonal lattice has the lowestenergy for a ﬁxed cell area.
Evaluation of grounding grid's effective area

Grounding grid performance when subject to lightning current are different when compared to power frequency environment. Various computer models have been developed to understand transient grounding performance. The models led to the introduction of an “effective area” concept. It is an important concept as the parameter is used to optimize grounding-grid design. Several approaches and numerical equations are proposed by previous researchers to estimate the effective area. Each equation defines the grounding impedance at the injection point. In this paper, transient ground potential rise (TGPR) alongside the grounding grid is used to evaluate the empirical equations proposed by previous researchers. Simulations are based on the electromagnetic approach and the governing equations are solved using the Finite element method (FEM). Different soil resistivity and impulse front times were considered in the simulations.
Volume and morphology changes of a bdelloid rotifer species (Macrotrachela quadricornifera) during anhydrobiosis

Following a study on the changes occurring in a bdelloid species (Macrotrachela quadricornifera, Rotifera, Bdelloidea) when entering anhydrobiosis, we investigated the changes in morphology, including weight and volume during the transition from the active hydrated to the dormant anhydrobiotic state by scanning electron microscopy, confocal microscopy and light microscopy. We compared sizes and morphologies of hydrated extended, hydrated contracted and anhydrobiotic specimens. Bdelloid musculature is defined: longitudinal muscles are contracted in the hydrated contracted animal (head and foot are retracted inside the trunk), but appear loose in the anhydrobiotic animal. When anhydrobiotic, M. quadricornifera appears much smaller in size, with a volume reduction of about 60% of the hydrated volume, and its internal organization undergoes remarkable modifications. Internal body cavities, clearly distinguishable in the hydrated extended and contracted specimens, are no longer visible in the anhydrobiotic specimen. Concomitantly, M. quadricornifera loses more than 95% of its weight when anhydrobiotic; this is more than expected from the volume reduction data and could indicate the presence of space‐filling molecular species in the dehydrated animal. We estimate that the majority of body mass loss and volume reduction can be ascribed to the water loss from the body cavity during desiccation. J. Morphol. , 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Role of Titanium Surface Topography and Surface Wettability on Focal Adhesion Kinase Mediated Signaling in Fibroblasts

Changes of titanium surface roughness and surface free energy may influence protein absorption that increases cell differentiation through activation of focal adhesion kinase related pathways. However, the influence of titanium surface roughness and hydrophilicity on fibroblast behavior is not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of topography and hydrophilicity on fibroblast attachment, spreading, morphology, intracellular signaling, proliferation, and collagen I mRNA levels. Using a cellular FAK knockout (FAK−/−) model and wild-type (WT) controls, we also investigated the contribution of adhesion in fibroblasts cultured on smooth (PT), sand-blasted, large grit, acid-etched (SLA) and hydrophilic SLA topographies. Loss of FAK did not significantly affect fibroblast attachment to any surface, but SLA and hydrophilic SLA surface attenuated spreading of WT cells significantly more than FAK−/− fibroblasts. Both FAK−/− and WT cells formed numerous focal adhesions on PT surfaces, but significantly less on SLA and hydrophilic SLA surfaces. In WT cells, phosphorylation levels of FAK were lower on SLA and hydrophilic SLA in comparison with PT 24 h post seeding. Labeling of cells with antibodies to cortactin showed that FAK−/− cells contained significantly more cortactin-rich focal adhesion in comparison with WT cells on PT surfaces, but not on SLA or hydrophilic SLA. ERK 1/2 phosphorylation was highest in WT cells on all surfaces which correlated with collagen I expression levels. We conclude that fibroblasts are sensitive to changes in surface roughness and hydrophilicity, with adhesive interactions mediated through FAK, an important modulator of fibroblast response.
In-group favouritism and the reflection of realistic dimensions of difference between national states in Central and Eastern European nationality stereotypes

This study examines the content of European nationality stereotypes held by adolescents from six Central and Eastern European countries and in-group favouritism on the dimensions underlying these nationality stereotypes. It was found that the content of nationality stereotypes reflects a competence and a morality dimension, and that each dimension is related to perceived structural or relational features of nation states. The attribution of competence-related traits to out-group nationalities is strongly related to the perceived economic power of the nation states and the attribution of morality-related traits to the size of the nation states, as well as perceived conflicts of interests, nationalism and economic power. The participants did not blindly favour their in-group over all foreign nationalities on competence or morality. The tendency to perceive Western European nationalities as more competent than the in-group reflects a social reality constraint due to lower economic status. Furthermore, in-group favouritism on competence decreased as a function of the economic status and size of out-groups, while in-group favouritism on morality increased as a function of economic status and size of out-groups. These results are interpreted in terms of self-categorization theory and social identity theory.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Why Counterterrorism Cannot Be a Defense of Democracy

Debates in democratic theory underestimate the dangers of confusing counterterrorism with the defense of democracy. This confusion is traced back either to the perception that terrorism constitutes a threat to the functioning of a democratic system, the similarity of measures deployed to defend democracy and to fight terrorism, or the misuse of the term “democracy. ” However, terrorism is not a threat to consolidated democracies, but rather a threat to security. On the contrary, counterterrorism laws can themselves have negative effects on democracy. This confusion is hazardous and not merely a conceptual oversight, as it could justify unreviewed longer-term counterterrorism measures.
The Proust effect and the evolution of a dual learning system

Abstract Proust's madeleine illustrates the automatic nature of associative learning. Although we agree with Mitchell et al. that no compelling scientific proof for this effect has yet been reported in humans, evolutionary constraints suggest that it should not be discarded: There is no reason by which natural selection should favor individuals who lose a fast and automatic survival tool.
Is Forgetting of Dreams due to Repression? Experimental Investigations Using Free Associations

This study investigated whether forgetting of dream material is due to repression. Under this assumption, free associations starting from forgotten elements are expected to encounter successively growing resistance. In Experiment 1, 25 participants brought along notes of dreams and were asked to freely associate to five elements from their own dreams and five stimuli from someone else’s dreams. One week later, they were tested for recognition of sequences of their dreams. Afterwards they produced free associations to five elements they had remembered and to five elements not identified (Experiment 2). Skin conductance responses (SCR) and perceived unpleasantness were recorded. Results of Experiment 1 were in line with previous findings from our laboratory: Associations starting from own dream material provoke greater SCRs. Results of Experiment 2 were: In comparison to recognised dream material, unrecognised elements elicited associations accompanied by greater activation. During associations to the latte.
The emotional relationship with parents: A validation study of the LEAP among Italian adolescents

Adolescence represents a crucial phase in the individual's development, characterized by significant changes in relationship with parents. The purpose of this study was to validate the Italian version of the Lum Emotional Availability of Parents (LEAP; Lum & Phares, 2005, Assessing the emotional availability of parents, Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 27, 211–226), a brief self-report questionnaire aimed at exploring the affective quality of the parent–adolescent relationship. A total of 578 adolescents of two age groups (10–14 and 15–20 years) were administered the maternal and the paternal form of the LEAP. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a one-factor solution for both forms. Results suggest that the Italian form of the LEAP can be considered a valid measure to assess the emotional quality of the parent–adolescent relationship, able to highlight differences between early and middle adolescents and to distinguish between maternal and paternal contributions to the parent–child relationship.
Bmc Complementary and Alternative Medicine the Antibacterial Properties of Malaysian Tualang Honey against Wound and Enteric Microorganisms in Comparison to Manuka Honey

Background: Antibiotic resistance of bacteria is on the rise, thus the discovery of alternative therapeutic agents is urgently needed. Honey possesses therapeutic potential, including wound healing properties and antimicrobial activity. Although the antimicrobial activity of honey has been effectively established against an extensive spectrum of microorganisms, it differs depending on the type of honey. To date, no extensive studies of the antibacterial properties of tualang (Koompassia excelsa) honey on wound and enteric microorganisms have been conducted. The objectives of this study were to conduct such studies and to compare the antibacterial activity of tualang honey with that of manuka honey.
Alzheimer Aβ peptide interactions with lipid membranes

Fibrillar aggregates of misfolded amyloid proteins are involved in a variety of diseases such as Alzheimer disease (AD), type 2 diabetes, Parkinson, Huntington and prion-related diseases. In the case of AD amyloid β (Aβ) peptides, the toxicity of amyloid oligomers and larger fibrillar aggregates is related to perturbing the biological function of the adjacent cellular membrane. We used atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of Aβ9–40 fibrillar oligomers modeled as protofilament segments, including lipid bilayers and explicit water molecules, to probe the first steps in the mechanism of Aβ-membrane interactions. Our study identified the electrostatic interaction between charged peptide residues and the lipid headgroups as the principal driving force that can modulate the further penetration of the C-termini of amyloid fibrils or fibrillar oligomers into the hydrophobic region of lipid membranes. These findings advance our understanding of the detailed molecular mechanisms and the effects related to Aβ-membrane interactions, and suggest a polymorphic structural character of amyloid ion channels embedded in lipid bilayers. While inter-peptide hydrogen bonds leading to the formation of β-strands may still play a stabilizing role in amyloid channel structures, these may also present a significant helical content in peptide regions (e.g., termini) that are subject to direct interactions with lipids rather than with neighboring Aβ peptides.
Teaching Logic to Information Systems Students: Challenges and Opportunities

In contrast to Computer Science, where the fundamental role of Logic is widely recognized, it plays a practically non-existent role in Information Systems curricula. In this paper we argue that instead of Logic's exclusion from the IS curriculum, a significant adaptation of the contents, as well as teaching methodologies, is required for an alignment with the needs of IS practitioners. We present our vision for such adaptation and report on concrete steps towards its implementation in the design and teaching of a course for graduate IS students at the University of Haifa. We discuss the course plan and present some data on the students' feedback on the course.
Online The Open University ’ s repository of research publications and other research outputs Positioning for conceptual development using latent semantic analysis

With increasing opportunities to learn online, the problem of positioning learners in an educational network of content offers new possibilities for the utilisation of geometry-based natural language processing techniques. In this article, the adoption of latent semantic analysis (LSA) for guiding learners in their conceptual development is investigated. We propose five new algorithmic derivations of LSA and test their validity for positioning in an experiment in order to draw back conclusions on the suitability of machine learning from previously accredited evidence. Special attention is thereby directed towards the role of distractors and the calculation of thresholds when using similarities as a proxy for assessing conceptual closeness. Results indicate that learning improves positioning. Distractors are of low value and seem to be replaceable by generic noise to improve threshold calculation. Furthermore, new ways to flexibly calculate thresholds could be identified.
Flow Analyses for Abstraction of Architectural Structure and Behavior Technical Report # CIS-TR-0301

Architectural analysis for style checking and transformations can include analysis of gross structure (topology) together with analysis of behavior. In this paper, we investigate such integrated analyses in the context of C2-style architectures. We apply flow analysis in a novel way to the structure and behavior of C2-style message bus architectures to discover groups of components that can be condensed into a single “virtual component. ” The combined analysis can be expressed in the form of flow equations interpreted by a generic flow analysis toolkit which treats all relations — those that describe the structure of the system and those that describe its behavior — uniformly.
C-MAC: A Cognitive MAC Protocol for Multi-Channel Wireless Networks

A number of algorithmic and protocol assumptions taken for granted in the design of existing wireless communication technologies need to be revisited in extending their scope to the new cognitive radio (CR) paradigm. The fact that channel availability can rapidly change over time and the need for coordinated quiet periods in order to quickly and robustly detect the presence of incumbents, are just some of the examples of the unique challenges in protocol and algorithm design for CR networks and, in particular, in the medium access control (MAC) layer. With this in mind, in this paper we introduce a novel cognitive MAC (C-MAC) protocol for distributed multi-channel wireless networks. C-MAC operates over multiple channels, and hence is able to effectively deal with, among other things, the dynamics of resource availability due to primary users and mitigate the effects of distributed quiet periods utilized for primary user signal detection. In C-MAC, each channel is logically divided into recurring superframes which, in turn, include a slotted beaconing period (BP) where nodes exchange information and negotiate channel usage. Each node transmits a beacon in a designated beacon slot during the BP, which helps in dealing with hidden nodes, medium reservations, and mobility. For coordination amongst nodes in different channels, a rendezvous channel (RC) is employed that is decided dynamically and in a totally distributed fashion. Among other things, the RC is used to support network-wide multicast and broadcast which are often neglected in existing multi-channel MAC protocols. We present promising performance results of C- MAC. We also describe our efforts to implement features of C- MAC in a real CR prototype with Atheros chipset, which currently includes the spectrum sensing module and preliminary features of C-MAC.
Blind signal separation : statistical principles

Blind signal separation (BSS) and independent component analysis (ICA) are emerging techniques of array processing and data analysis, aiming at recovering unobserved signals or ‘sources’ from observed mixtures (typically, the output of an array of sensors), exploiting only the assumption of mutual independence between the signals. The weakness of the assumptions makes it a powerful approach but requires to venture beyond familiar second order statistics. The objective of this paper is to review some of the approaches that have been recently developed to address this exciting problem, to show how they stem from basic principles and how they relate to each other. Keywords— Signal separation, blind source separation, independent component analysis.
Urban and Metropolitan Development in the United States and Canada

Compared with the rest of the Western Hemisphere, the patterns of population distribution in the United States and Canada are highly similar. This historico-statistical review shows that both nations have had "urban" majorities since at least World War I. But Canadian urbanization has lagged behind that of the United States, and the same thing can be said about "metropolitan" de velopment which began on a large scale just after World War I.
X R D S @bullet W I N T E R 2 0 14 @bullet V O L . 2 1 @bullet N O . 2 Wearable Technologies: One Step Closer to Gait Rehabilitation in Parkinson's Patients

Wearable computing has the potential to fundamentally alter healthcare by enabling long-term patient monitoring and rehabilitation outside of the lab. in the same way as we tend to ignore the rhythm of a song that we have listened to too often. THE WEARABLE ASSISTANT In the Wearable Computing Lab at ETH Zürich we have been researching the use of wearable sensors and smart-phones to provide rhythmic auditory stimuli to people with Parkinson's disease , helping them to alleviate or even overcome freeze episodes. Rhythmic stimulation combined with gait-training exercises is a promising practice toward gait rehabilitation in Parkinson's disease [3]. A wear-W earable technologies have begun to take root in our everyday life. On-body sensors are used to quantify how often and how well we perform our favorite sport, while our smartphones have become our personal assistants— monitoring how active we are, our daily routines, the places that we visit, and the activities we do. Wearable systems are already being developed for bipolar disorder, cerebral palsy, chronic pain, and Parkinson's disease. The latter ranks among the most common neurological disorders, with an estimated 7 to 10 million people worldwide living with Parkinson's disease. The symptoms of Parkinson's disease include tremors, slow movements , rigidity of the limbs, shuffling gait, and, in advanced stages, the freezing of gait. Freezing of gait is a sudden inability to move, people with Parkin-son's describe it as the feeling as if " the legs are glued to the ground " [1]. Of all the symptoms of Parkinson's, gait freezing is the most feared, being the main cause of falls and mortality in people with the disease. Although widespread, the causes of Parkinson's disease remain unknown and there is currently no cure. Existing treatments can only alleviate symptoms through medication or deep-brain stimulation with a brain pacemaker. Freezing of gait is often treatment-resistant. However recent clinical studies have shown people with Parkinson's disease respond to rhythmic external stimuli [2], such as metronome beats, which might help to alleviate gait freeze. There is a simple explanation: The human gait is rhythmic , and humans respond to rhythmic tones in everyday life, for example when listening to music while walking or jogging. However, the impact of a continuously rhythmic pattern on the Parkinsonian gait wears off with time,