Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Calculator Effect

Calculators serve as general tools in mathematics classrooms; however, they also serve as a common accommodation for students with disabilities. Yet, their role as an accommodation is not without controversy. Using a single-subject design study, the researchers explored if students with disabilities solve more mathematics problems aligned to grade-level standards when they use a calculator than when they do not. The researchers also analyzed whether calculators assist students more with solving computation versus word problems. On average, students answered more questions correctly when they had access to a calculator. However, the tool was not generally an effective intervention given the low percentage of nonoverlapping data and, generally, small Tau-U for each student as well as instability and decreasing trends. The results lacked a consistent pattern of students benefiting from calculator use with regard to answering computation versus word problems.
On-site supervisors : The unsung partners in the training team?

There is very little research on on-site supervisors, who carry the detailed day to day work-based support of social work students. This model is increasingly being used as placements become more difficult to find and the need for a wide variety of learning experiences has been recognised. The authors provide the findings from a study in which face to face interviews were held with twenty-seven on-site supervisors in both statutory and voluntary agencies within three Scottish regional consortia. The themes explored are: training, perceptions of roles, supervision of students, contribution to the assessment process, relationships with practice teachers, communications with academic institutions and benefits and difficulties of on-site supervision. Recommendations are offered which could enhance the important contribution made by on-site supervisors to the training of students.
Network Information Theory

Course Description: This course covers information theory as it relates to networked communication systems. The course will broadly be broken into three parts: (1) Study of single-hop networks, such as the multiple-access channel, broadcast channel, distributed source coding, (2) Study of multi-hop networks, including noiseless network coding, and the impact of eavesdropping and adversarial attacks, and (3) Research projects by students, who will choose their own topics to present to the rest of the class.
Desarrollo de nuevas variedades de uva (Vitis vinifera L.) sin semilla mediante rescate de embriones* Development of new seedless grape varieties (Vitis vinifera L.) by embryo rescue

Resumen Uno de los objetivos principales de un programa de mejoramiento genetico de uva es el desarrollo de variedades sin semilla. Sin embargo, para lograr esto se requiere combinar la tecnica de rescate de embriones con la genetica tradicional. El objetivo de este trabajo fue desarrollar hibridos de cruzas con las siguientes variedades de uva sin semilla: Perlette, Black Seedless, Crimson Seedless, Crispy, Flame, Superior, Princesa, Red Globe, Fiesta, Fresno y Thompson, utilizadas como padre y como madre. El experimento se realizo en el campo agricola experimental Costa de Hermosillo del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias en el ano 2009. Se realizaron 23 hibridaciones mediante la polinizacion de las flores manualmente dos veces al dia durante tres dias consecutivos. Las bayas fueron cosechadas al inicio del envero y trasladadas al laboratorio donde se esterilizaron superficialmente antes del aislamiento de los rudimentos seminales. Los rudimentos fueron transferidos a un medio de cultivo donde permanecieron entre 75 y 90 dias y los embriones rescatados de los rudimentos transferidos a medio para incubacion de embriones. Se cosecharon en total 3 163 bayas de las cuales se aislaron 3836 rudimentos seminales. En 8.76% de los rudimentos, fue posible
Robust nonlinear control: beyond backstepping and nonlinear forwarding

This paper considers the problem of robust global stabilization of a large class of nonlinear systems. We introduce a recursive design approach based on a powerful technique of Wei (1990) for quadratic stabilization of linear systems. This approach allows us to globally stabilize an uncertain nonlinear system which is augmented from a robustly globally stabilizable system via either down-augmentation or up-augmentation. These augmentations are similar to the so-called backstepping and integrator forwarding. However, the advantage of the proposed augmentation approach is that robust stabilizability is achieved for nonlinear systems involving large uncertain parameters.
Analysis of Coordinated Motions of Humanoid Robot Fingers Using Interphalangeal Joint Coordination

In this study, we analyse the coordinated motions of humanoid robot fingers using an interphalangeal joint coordination. For this purpose, four humanoid robot fingers with different sizes have been considered. A biomimetic interphalangeal joint coordination (IJC) formulation based on the grasp configuration of human fingers has been presented for humanoid robot fingers. The usefulness of the specified IJC formulation for human-like finger motion has been verified through comparative demonstrations. As a result, a proper coordination of humanoid robot fingertips can be achieved by applying our IJC formulation. Also the IJC formulation can be used to design of humanoid robot fingers.
The analgesic effect of dihydroetorphine in percutaneous hepatic artery chemoembolization therapy for liver cancer

Objective To evaluate the analgesic effect of dihydroetorphine(DHE) on postoperative pain in transarterial chemoembolization(TACE) therapy for patients with liver cancers. Methods A total of120 patients with hepatic cancer who was planed to receive interventional therapy were enrolled in this study.The patients were randomly divided into DHE group(n = 60) and control group(n = 60). Patients of the DHE group sublingually took 20 μg(or 40 μg if necessary) of DHE when TACE began,while no special medication was employed for patients of control group. Visual analogue scale(VAS) was used to quantitatively evaluate the scores of the base line(T0) and at 0-12 hours(T12),12-24 hours(T24) and 24-48 hours(T48) after the treatment. And Bruggrmann comfort scale(BCS) was used to evaluate the scores of subjective comfort level. The percentage of patients who asked for analgesic drug within 24 hours after TACE was calculated. Results After TACE the pain severity and pain-control extent of the DHE group were much better than those of the control group. The VSA scores and BCS scores of both T12 and T24 of the DHE group were significantly superior to those of the control group. No obvious drug-related untoward reactions or sideeffects occurred during and after the operation. Conclusion For controlling pain in TACE for liver cancer,the use of DHE is safe and effective.
Automatic recognition for mechanical images based on Sparse non-negative matrix factorization and Probabilistic Neural Networks

A method of image compression or dimensional reduction is proposed to avoid the dimension disaster in machine learning and the bottleneck in extracting and selecting sensitive characteristics, which can make it easier for automatic image recognition. Sparse non-negative matrix factorization (Sparse NMF) and the Probabilistic Neural Networks (PNN) are used to recognize the time-frequency images automatically for diesel valve trains. The comparison of the results of sparse NMF with the results of pane division have found that the former has higher correct recognition rate, which indicates that sparse NMF is an effective method for dimension reduction while preserving or even enhancing the information content. Thus the computation complexity is greatly reduced and the correct recognition rate is effectively improved.
Application of Ground Goji Berry Fruits in Macedonian Bacon-folk Sausage

The effect of addition of ground goji berry fruits (GGBF) in different concentrations on the heat treatment weight loss, proximate composition, fatty acid profile and sensory characteristics of semi-durable bacon-folk sausage was determined. Four sample groups of sausage were examined: control group – without addition of goji berry and three experimental groups with addition of 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5% of GGBF. The addition of GGBF to the filling mass does not influence the heat treatment, weight loss and proximate composition of the sausages, but changed in degree the fatty acids composition of the examined sausages. On the first day of production, the statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) of sensory scores for cross-sectional view and colour between the control group and groups III and IV were determined.
Environmental Sounds as Concept Carriers for Communication

Sonification, the use of nonspeech audio to represent data and information, has been applied to industrial systems and computer interfaces via mechanisms such as auditory icons and earcons. In this paper, we explore a different application of sonification, which is to facilitate communication across language barriers by conveying commonly used concepts via environmental auditory representations. SoundNet, a linguistic database enhanced with natural nonspeech audio, is constructed for this purpose. The concept-sound associations which are building blocks of SoundNet were validated through a sound labeling study conducted on Amazon Mechanical Turk. We determine the factors that cause a sound to evoke a concept. We examine which aspects of the proposed auditory representations are evocative, and what kinds of confusions may occur. Our results show that sounds can effectively illustrate some concepts, especially those related to concrete entities and actions, and thus can be utilized in assistive communication applications.
HYBRID ORIENTATION OF AIRBORNE LIDAR POINT CLOUDS AND AERIAL IMAGES

Abstract. Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) and airborne photogrammetry are both proven and widely used techniques for the 3D topographic mapping of extended areas. Although both techniques are based on different reconstruction principles (polar measurement vs. ray triangulation), they ultimately serve the same purpose, the 3D reconstruction of the Earth’s surface, natural objects or infrastructure. It is therefore obvious for many applications to integrate the data from both techniques to generate more accurate and complete results. Many works have been published on this topic of data fusion. However, no rigorous integrated solution exists for the first two steps that need to be carried out after data acquisition, namely (a) the lidar strip adjustment and (b) the aerial triangulation. A consequence of solving these two optimization problems independently can be large discrepancies (of up to several decimeters) between the lidar block and the image block. This is especially the case in challenging situations, e.g. corridor mapping with one strip only or in case few or no ground control data. To avoid this problem and thereby profit from many other advantages, a first rigorous integration of these two tasks, the hybrid orientation of lidar point clouds and aerial images, is presented in this work.
A Novel FPGA Implementation of a Time-to-Digital Converter Supporting Run-Time Estimation and Compensation

Time-to-digital converters (TDCs) are widely used in applications that require the measurement of the time interval between events. In previous designs using a feedback loop and an extended delay line, process-voltage-temperature (PVT) variation often decreases the accuracy of measurements. To overcome the loss of accuracy caused by PVT variation, this study proposes a novel design of a synthesizable TDC that employs run-time estimation and compensation of PVT variation. A delay line consisting of a series of buffers is used to detect the period of a ring oscillator designed to measure the time interval between two events. By comparing the detected period and the system clock, the variation of the oscillation period is compensated at run-time. The proposed TDC is successfully implemented by using a low-cost Xilinx Spartan-6 LX9 FPGA with a 50-MHz oscillator. Experimental results show that the proposed TDC is robust to PVT variation with a resolution of 19.1 ps. In comparison with previous design, the proposed TDC achieves about five times better tradeoff in the area, resolution, and frequency of the reference clock.
The PSPP Guide: An Introduction to Statistical Analysis

The PSPP Guide (Basic Edition) is an update to the original PSPP Guide. The PSPP Guide is a step-by-step introduction to using the PSPP Statistical Analysis application. The purpose of this guide is to assist the novice social science and educational researcher in interpreting statistical output data using PSPP. Through the examples and guidance you will be able to select, apply, and use a statistical tests output table. The guide includes information on Chi Square, t-Test (Independent Samples), ANOVA, Correlation, and Regression analysis. There are simple, guided steps to interpreting the output tables, along with explanations concerning the statistical values. The use of descriptive statistics is discussed, as well as various data types and appropriate techniques to use with the data. With the advent of statistical analysis applications anyone with a computer can run statistical analysis on any dataset. The intention of this guide is to provide the novice researcher with a step-by-step guide to using these powerful analysis tools and to gain the confidence to read and interpret output tables in order to guide their own research.
Modeling and control of Mechatronic Devices via the Internet with the use of the Matlab/Simulink software - on example of the manipulator

The paper presents remotely controlled system on the example of a manipulator controlled via the Internet by the use of Matlab/Simulink. Individual modules of this control system were presented, with the focus mainly on the description of the control algorithm of the manipulator via the Internet. Analysis of the effectiveness of the proposed method for remote control via the Internet was conducted by using Matlab/Simulink. The analysis was based on comparing the set and recorded trajectory of the manipulator in Cartesian coordinate system. Streszczenie. W artykule przedstawiono układ zdalnego sterowania przykładowym manipulatorem poprzez sieć Internet z zastosowaniem oprogramowania Matlab/Simulink. Opisano poszczególne moduły systemu z naciskiem na algorytm sterowania. Analizę skuteczności proponowanego sposobu zdalnego sterowania za pośrednictwem Internetu przeprowadzono stosując oprogramowanie Matlab/Simulink. Analizę oparto na porównaniu zadanej i zarejestrowanej trajektorii manipulatora w układzie współrzędnych kartezjańskich. (Modelowanie oraz sterowanie urządzeń mechatronicznych poprzez Internet z wykorzystaniem programu Matlab/Simulink na przykładzie manipulatora).
An Assessment of Patient Knowledge and Awareness of Issues Surrounding Cholesterol Risk Management

Background: A lack of patient understanding and awareness of issues surrounding cholesterol risk management may be one reason that a significant number of patients receiving cholesterol-lowering therapy do not achieve optimal cholesterol levels. This study was conducted to assess patients' knowledge and awareness of issues surrounding cholesterol risk management. Methods: Community pharmacists within the Edmonton, Alberta, area were identified and asked to recruit patients within their practice who had been receiving cholesterol-lowering therapy for a minimum of six weeks. A 32-question telephone survey was developed and used as the instrument to assess patient knowledge and awareness. All surveys were conducted by the same individual, and data analysis was primarily descriptive. Results: Seventeen community pharmacies recruited 136 potential subjects over an eight-week period. Surveys were conducted with 105 (77%) of the eligible subjects. Of those surveyed, 37% identified elevated cholesterol as a risk factor for heart disease. While the majority of respondents felt it important to know their cholesterol targets (82%) and their specific levels (91%), only 23% and 29% of respondents indicated that they knew their high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, respectively. Gaps in knowledge with respect to cholesterol-lowering therapy also existed. Conclusions: The results of this survey indicate gaps in patient knowledge of various issues surrounding cholesterol risk management. Pharmacists are in an excellent position to provide better education to patients about cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease risk management. Further research is required to determine whether improved patient knowledge leads to improved clinical outcomes.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF DESCENDING PAIN FACILITATION TO THE MAINTENANCE OF NEUROPATHIC PAIN

12 L INTRODUCTION 14 Pain defined 14 Nociception and pain transmission pathways 14 Neuropathic pain, a closer look 17 Current drug therapies for the treatment of neuropathic pain 18 Animal models of neuropathic pain spinal nerve ligation 20 Ectopic discharge 21 The rostral ventromedial medulla 24 A. On and off cells 25 B. Supraspinal modulation and descending facilitation of neuropathic pain. 28 C. Cholecystokinin as a mediator of descending facilitation from the RVM 30 Upregulation of dynorphin as a consequence of descending facilitation 32 Use of a targeted toxin to destroy |i opioid receptor-expressing cells 34 Summary of research goals 35 IL MATERIALS AND GENERAL METHODS 37 Animals used 37 RVM drug microinjection 37 Intrathecal drug administration 38 Spinal nerve injury 38 Spinal dorsolateral funiculus lesions 39 Radioligand binding 39 Tissue preparation 40 In situ hybridization of opioid receptor mRNA using cDNA probes 41 Subcloning and in vitro transcription of riboprobes 42 In situ hybridization of opioid |a, receptor and CCK2 receptor mRNA using riboprobes 43 Dynorphin immunoassay 45 CGRP release assay 45 Radioummunoassay for CGRP in superfusate 46 Immunostaining for the opioid |i receptor 46 Behavioral assessments 47
Drivers behaviour on expressways: headway and speed relationships

This paper describes result of a study on driver’s car following behaviour on Malaysian high-speed highways. Drivers’ car following behaviour can considered as one of the main factors that causes road accidents to occur such as rear end collision between vehicles on highways. The aim of the study was to examine the safe following distance adopted by drivers on expressways at various operating speeds. An automatic traffic recording device attached with pneumatic tubes was used to record traffic movement at three selected expressway segments in Malaysia for six consecutive days. More than one hundred thirty three thousand (133,000) headway and speed data were involved in the analysis. The distance headway and associated speed collected were classified into five vehicle following categories by vehicle type, i.e. all vehicles, car following car, car following heavy goods vehicle (HGV), HGV following HGV, and HGV following car. Linear regression models were used to develop relationship between distance headway and speed. The relationships developed can be regarded as reliable since the R2-values for each of the relationships is in the range of 0.80 to 0.99 and can be used to estimate a safe following distance perceived by a driver at a given speed. The driver’s average response time on an expressway is 3.06 sec which is 1.9 sec longer than those who are driving on a two-lane single-carriageway road. Such a variation in response time indicates that the level of aggressiveness of drivers on a two-lane single-carriageway road are higher than the drivers on an expressway.
Nachhaltigkeit - ein kulturelles, bisher aber chancenloses Wirtschaftsziel*

Die industrielle Wirtschaft hat einen Wohlstand hervorgebracht, wie es ihn in dieser Allgemeinheit noch nie gegeben hat, aber dieser Wohlstand hat einen hohen Preis. Denn die Industrielander, wir Reichen im Norden also, leben zu Lasten der Natur, zu Lasten der Mitmenschen - vor allem in der Dritten Welt - und zu Lasten der Nachwelt. Die weitreichendsten Schaden, die wir zu verantworten haben, sind das Artensterben, die Klimaanderung und die Altlasten, die wir der Nachwelt hinterlassen. Wir leben also zu Lasten Dritter, d.h. die wahren - nicht nur monetaren - Kosten unserer Wirtschaft werden durch die Ertrage nicht gedeckt. Dies verstost naturlich gegen das Kriterium der Wirtschaftlichkeit, so dass hier zumindest in erster Naherung nach wirtschaftsimmanenten Prinzipien Abhilfe geschaffen werden konnte. Dementsprechend war die Internalisierung der externen Kosten nach dem Verursacherprinzip von Anfang an ein okonomischer Grundgedanke der Umweltpolitik. Allerdings ist die Wirtschaftlichkeit der industriellen Wirtschaft in diesem Sinn bisher noch nicht einmal innerhalb der Industrielander gewahrleistet. Beispielsweise ist jeder Energieumsatz mit Schaden verbunden, die durch die Energiepreise bei weitem nicht gedeckt werden. So betragen die wahren Kosten des Autofahrens (einschlieslich der Externalitaten) das Vierdrittel- bis Zweifache der Aufwendungen durch den Nutzer. Dabei handelt es sich zwar teilweise um grenzuberschreitende Lasten, aber in der Deklaration von Rio ist zumindest ein grundsatzliches Ubereinkommen erzielt worden, dass das Verursacherprinzip auch international gelten soll. Danach konnten die Lander der Dritten Welt, die unter der - im wesentlichen von den Industrielandern verursachten - Klimaanderung am meisten zu leiden haben werden, diese dafur dermaleinst zur Rechenschaft ziehen.
Keita MiyanishiToshiro IgaNaonobu TakahiraTanzo SugimoriHajime SugiyamaKunihiko Okano • Tatsuro KaritaKenichi AndoTakanari HamakiTeruhisa HirayamaKen IwataSatoshi Nakasone •

Background We conducted a nationwide epidemiologic study regarding hip osteoarthritis (OA) in Japan, and a previous report found these patients to be unique in comparison to Caucasians. This report focused on the data regarding each hip joint, and the involvement of acetabular dysplasia with hip OA was analyzed. Methods Seven hundred twenty OA hips were examined. Sixty-five joints with osteonecrosis of the femoral head and 215 non-OA contralateral joints of the unilateral patients were examined as controls. The revised system of stage classification for hip OA of the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) was used according to the reproducibility in order to ensure reliable data from the multiple
Un document télévisuel pour parfaire l'apprentissage des langues ?

Le document televisuel s'adresse d'une facon simultanee a l'affect aussi bien qu'a l'intellect de l'apprenant et selon une logique qui n'a rien a voir avec une progression linguistique. Enfin, il faut prendre conscience que l'attitude de mefiance face aux documents de la television cadre difficilement avec l'evolution de la didactique des langues et des informations apportees par les recherches en psychologie cognitive, particulierement sur la facon dont nous percevons et nous apprenons. Bref, il nous semble que changer l'image mentale que les apprenants et les enseignants ont de la television est une priorite.