Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
T2/ediT2 : a flexible and easy-to-use model/system for editing and operationalizing learning scenarios. (T2/ediT2 : un modèle/système flexible et facile à utiliser pour l'édition et mise en oeuvre de scénarios d'apprentissage)

The general issue considered in this research is the development of an adaptable and easy-to-use representation of learning scenarios in the form of a table (considered as an artefact of easy manipulation by teachers) associated with a computational model as a tree (as a way to integrate advanced services). In this way, teachers with basic technological skills and without methodological training can edit and operationalize learning scenarios from flexible and friendly graphical interfaces. Although this thesis has its focus on CSCL scripts, the table-tree-based approach (named T2) presents a more general interest. In a first moment, we implemented from this model a learning scenario editor (named ediT2) using notions from CSCL scripts. In a second moment, we considered generalization issues through the extension of the initial implementation, in order to allow teachers to edit their own notions and respective attributes. We investigated from different studies and experiments how teachers used our proposal considering as objectives/evaluation criteria the following features: (1) pedagogical expressiveness (can table-based editors represent a wide range of learning scenarios? ); (2) usability (do teachers find the editor easy to use and intuitive? ); (3) computational expressiveness (does the approach allow implementation of advanced services? ), and; (4) computational flexibility (is the editor easy to adapt to local needs? ).
Anomalías dentofaciales y hábitos deformantes en alumnos de una escuela primaria

Introduccion: los habitos deformantes confieren susceptibilidad para las anomalias dentofaciales. Objetivo: describir el comportamiento de estas anomalias y la asociacion con estos habitos en estudiantes de 6 a 12 anos, en la escuela "Gonzalo de Quesada" del municipio Plaza de la Revolucion. Material y metodos: se estudiaron 120 ninos de esa escuela para esta investigacion descriptiva epidemiologica, donde se utilizaron valores absolutos, porcentajes y el ODDS ratio para cuantificar el grado de asociacion, en el procesamiento de la informacion obtenida. Resultados: el 60,8 % de los ninos esta afectado, prevaleciendo el sexo femenino con 52,5% y dentro de los signos clinicos fundamentales se hallo el resalte aumentado en 24,8%, el apinamiento en 20,4% y el sobrepase en 17.1%. El 78,3% presento habitos deformantes, siendo la succion digital el mas significativo, seguido por la lengua protractil y la onicofagia; los dos primeros fueron los que presentaron mayor asociacion con las anomalias estudiadas. Conclusiones: mas de la mitad de la poblacion estudiada presento algun tipo de alteracion en la oclusion, prevaleciendo el grupo de 9 a 12 anos y el sexo femenino. Palabras clave: anomalias dentofaciales, habitos deformantes, resalte aumentado, apinamiento, sobrepase.
Advances in secure and intelligent data processing

With the fast proliferation of various computational paradigms, from Web-based to wireless and mobile computing, intelligent data processing and security have become cross-cutting features of large scale Internet-based system. On the one hand, there is data being generated everywhere, from various sources and heterogenous formats (such as document repositories, business process data, network data, mobile communications data, server logs data, etc.). On the other hand, the nature of the data, the amount, and data sensitivity, among other features, are promoting the combination of intelligent processing with security intelligence to deliver next generation secure and intelligent systems and applications. This special issue brings together high quality contributions in the interleaving research areas of intelligent data processing and intelligent techniques in security data analysis. The papers of the special issues have also identified and discussed the challenges in the field that will lead to new avenues in intelligent processing for secure and intelligent systems and applications. The special issue consists of 13 papers organized as follows. The first five papers [1–5] are devoted to intelligent secure data analysis, encryption, and authentication techniques. The next three papers [6–8] present intelligent optimization and data processing techniques, including genetic algorithms, independent component analysis, and evolutionary game theory. The following three papers [9–11] deal with data modeling and analysis in wireless, mobile, and Web-based computing systems. The final two papers [12, 13] bring intelligent techniques from image processing field.
Factors Influencing the Adoption of ICT by Teachers in Primary Schools in Saudi Arabia Teachers ’ Perspectives of the Integration of ICT in Primary Education

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become part of everyday life for the many people in business, entertainment, education and many other areas of human activity. Students in primary school are just beginning to learn and accept new ideas, show a maturing creativity, develop critical thinking and decision making skills. ICT enriches all these processes. In education, the successful integration of ICT into learning and teaching depends on teachers’ attitudes and their ability to use communication technologies, not just competently, but with skill and imagination. Experience is required with the medium, however, but ICT use in education has been largely ignored in Saudi Arabia. The study described here investigated the factors influencing the adoption of ICT as a teaching tool by teachers at Saudi Arabian primary schools. Analysis of the data showed computer literacy and confidence with technology registered a significant positive effect on the study, participants’ effort expectancy, which in turn positively influenced their behavioural intention to adopt ICT. On the other hand, Saudi culture, social conditions, system quality, and other obstacles discourage the uptake of ICT by primary school teachers. The findings of this study will assist the Saudi government to enhance the positive factors and eliminate or reduce the negative factors to ensure successful adoption of ICT in primary education by teachers. Keywords—Information and communication technology (ICT); primary education; Saudi Arabia; computer literacy; behavioural
Alternately Spliced NH2-terminal Immunoglobulin-like Loop I in the Ectodomain of the Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) Receptor 1 Lowers Affinity for both Heparin and FGF-1(*)

Alternate splicing of a single exon encoding an NH2-terminal immunoglobulin (Ig) disulfide loop in the ectodomain of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) types 1 and 2 results in α and β isoforms that exhibit 3- and 2-Ig loops, respectively. Previously we demonstrated that alternately spliced Loop I has no independent ligand binding activity but is sufficiently interactive with the ligand- and heparin-binding site formed by Loops II and III to lower affinity for the same fibroblast growth factor (FGF) ligand. Here we show that a lower affinity of FGFR1α for heparin parallels the lower affinity for FGF-1. A mutant of FGFR1α in which the sequence between Loops I and II was deleted exhibits high affinity for both FGF-1 and heparin and other properties of the FGFR1β isoform, which include resistance to degradation by trypsin and display of specific antibody epitopes. This suggests that the interloop sequence facilitates the interaction of Loop I with Loops II and III. Lack of expression of both exons coding for Loop I and the sequence between Loops I and II in the FGFR2 gene characterizes rat prostate tumor cells, which exhibit a loss of the low affinity class of FGF receptors. Although the exon coding for the sequence between Loops I and II is alternately spliced in the FGFR2β isoform, coordinate expression with the exon coding for Loop I results in the functional differences between the FGFRα and FGFRβ variants.
[Treatment of acute diarrhea: prescription patterns by private practice pediatricians].

UNLABELLED Acute gastroenteritis remains a frequent illness in infants and children with still important morbidity and mortality rates. Oral rehydratation solutions (ORS) and early refeeding are the main recommendations. Indication of drugs remains limited. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the management of acute diarrhea by private practice pediatricians of France. METHODS A questionnaire concerning ORS, dietary formula, antidiarrheal diet, antibiotherapy, antidiarrheal drugs was sent to all 2907 private pediatricians of France. RESULTS Six hundred twenty-nine questionnaires were analyzed (22%). Three hundred and ninety-seven pediatricians (63%) prescribed systematically an ORS, 294 (47%) changed formula, 412 (66%) prescribed a regimen. Antibiotic was prescribed after coproculture (81%), when glairy and bloody diarrhea (65%), associated infectious disease (63%), toxi-infectious syndrome (42%) or immunodeficiency were present (28%). Most pediatricians (97%) prescribed at least one drug: diosmectite (84%), Lactobacillus acidophilus (63%), Saccharomyces boulardii (62%), racecadotril (62%), loperamide (28%), attapulgite de Mormoiron (26%), nifuroxazide (20%). Drugs were prescribed more often for their effectiveness than for comfort. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates the discrepancies that remain between recommendations and practical care in the treatment of acute diarrhea in children. Private French pediatricians often prescribe drugs.
Deal or No Deal? Consumer Expectations and Competition in Daily Deals

Daily deals have emerged as an integral part of the marketing mix for retail merchants and have enjoyed wide acceptance by consumers. However, there is considerable ambiguity about the effects of deals on brand evaluation, and resulting electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). In this paper, we propose that the effects of deals on eWOM are contingent on merchant heterogeneity and whether consumers perceive merchants' marketing efforts as desperate. We empirically model the effects of daily deals on eWOM for restaurants in Washington DC over 13 months. Results show that price segment, age, and competitive deal intensity strongly moderate the effect of deals on resulting eWOM. We also show that deals have significant spillover effects on neighboring merchants who do not offer deals. We confirm these effects using three controlled lab experiments, where similar results are obtained without the possibility of deal redemption.
The microfiber loop resonator: theory, experiment, and application

This paper describes the theory of a microfiber loop resonator (MLR) and experimentally demonstrates a high quality factor MLR in free space. The MLR is fabricated from the /spl sim/1-/spl mu/m diameter waist of a biconical fiber taper using the CO/sub 2/ laser indirect heating technique. The high coupling efficiency of an MLR is achieved through an adiabatically slow variation of the microfiber diameter in the coupling region. An MLR-loaded Q-factor of 120 000 and an intrinsic Q-factor of 630 000 were demonstrated. As an application, the performance of an MLR as an ultrafast direct contact temperature sensor is also demonstrated. The MLR heating/cooling relaxation time was measured to be /spl sim/3 /spl mu/s, in good agreement with the developed theory.
Reduced fetal growth in methadone-maintained pregnancies is not fully explained by smoking or socio-economic deprivation.

AIM To determine if reduced fetal growth in infants of opioid-dependent mothers prescribed methadone maintenance in pregnancy is explained by cigarette smoking or socio-economic deprivation. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Inner-city maternity unit in Scotland. PARTICIPANTS A total of 366 singleton infants of methadone-prescribed opioid-dependent mothers compared with the Scottish birth population (n=103 366) as a whole. MEASUREMENTS Primary outcome measures were birth weight and head circumference. FINDINGS In infants of methadone-prescribed opioid-dependent mothers mean birth weight was 259 g [95% confidence interval (CI) 214-303 g; P<0.0001] less, and mean head circumference 1.01 cm (95% CI 0.87-1.15 cm; P<0.0001) less than in controls, allowing for gestation, cigarette smoking, area deprivation, infant sex and maternal age and parity. This represents an adjusted difference of -0.61 (95% CI -0.52--0.71; P<0.0001) Z-score in mean birth weight and -0.77 (95% CI -0.66--0.89; P<0.0001) Z-score in mean head circumference. CONCLUSIONS Reduced fetal growth in infants of opioid-dependent mothers prescribed methadone maintenance in pregnancy is not fully explained by cigarette smoking, area deprivation, maternal age or parity.
Diversidad florística de las terrazas costeras de la Reserva de la Biosfera Baconao. Propuesta de conservación

INTRODUCCION Una de las principales vias de proteccion de la diversidad vegetal son las reservas de la biosfera, entre estas, Baconao, donde se encuentran ecosistemas fragiles, importantes para la conservacion, especialmente las terrazas costeras, area de estudio de la presente investigacion. El problema de investigacion es: La degradacion de la flora y la vegetacion en los ecosistemas costeros de la reserva de la biosfera Baconao es consecuencia del manejo de sus recursos naturales, lo que influye en la diversidad vegetal, el desarrollo de plantas con fotosintesis C4 y la presencia de diversos estadios sucesionales. Ello conllevo a la siguiente hipotesis: ? La influencia antropica ha condicionado un aumento de la diversidad en la composicion floristica y la vegetacion, incluyendo el favorecimiento de plantas con fotosintesis C4; a su vez, los tipos de perturbaciones influyen en la lenta recuperacion de los ecosistemas. El porcentaje de especies con fotosintesis C4, tiende a ser menor en la medida en que el estadio sucesional es mas avanzado o no hay perturbacion. El objetivo general de la tesis estuvo dirigido a analizar los cambios en la composicion y la estructura de la flora y la vegetacion provocados por el manejo de los recursos naturales en las terrazas costeras de la reserva de la biosfera Baconao, con la finalidad de proponer acciones para su conservacion.
Contested artifact: technology sensemaking, actor networks, and the shaping of the Web browser

Much of IT research focuses on issues of adoption and adaptation of established technology artifacts by users and organizations and has neglected issues of how new technologies come into existence and evolve. To fill this gap, this paper depicts a complex picture of technology evolution to illustrate the development of Web browser technology. Building on actor‐network theory as a basis for studying complex technology evolution processes, it explores the emergence of the browser using content analysis techniques on archival data from 1993‐1998. Identifies three processes of inscribing, translating, and framing that clarify how actors acted and reacted to each other and to the emergent technological definition of the browser. This spiral development pattern incorporates complex interplay between base beliefs about what a browser is, artifacts that are the instantiation of those beliefs, evaluation routines that compare the evolving artifact to collective expectations, and strategic moves that attempt to skew the development process to someone's advantage. This approach clarifies the complex interdependence of disparate elements that over time produced the Web browser as it is known today.
Gadolinium containing telechelic PEG‐polymers end‐capped by di‐phenylalanine motives as potential supramolecular MRI contrast agents

Telechelic PEG‐polymers end‐capped by diphenylalanine (FF) motives and containing a DOTA‐Gd complex, bound on a lysine side chain at the centre of peptide moiety, are studied for their assembling properties and for the relaxometric behavior. The observed variations in terms of relaxivity are correlated to the assembling properties of the aggregates by using several techniques: fluorescence, Circular Dichroism (CD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) for aggregation tendency and secondary structure determination; Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) for morphological definition. Self‐aggregation in water solution of the peptide conjugates, due to interaction of the phenylalanine frameworks, starts at concentration around 1 mg/ml with a first evidence of the coexistence of fibrillary networks and hydrogels at 10 mg/ml. Definitive presence of well‐structured fibrillary networks, dominated by an antiparallel β‐sheet arrangement, occurs at 50 mg/ml. At the latter concentration relaxivity values measured at 20 MHz and 298 K, are around 11 mM−1 s−1, in line with a possible use of the these aggregates as MRI contrast agents. Copyright © 2016 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Complications of Nailing in Closed Tibial Fractures

Summary: Reamed intramedullary nailing was used to treat 102 closed tibial shaft fractures. Although a high rate of union was achieved (98%), we noted a higher incidence of complications than previously reported. Thirty-five (37%) patients exhibited one or more components of malunion. In 17 (18%) patients, further operative procedures were required to achieve union or to correct malalignment. New, postoperative peroneal nerve lesions were found in 19 (19%) patients, of which four (4%) failed to resolve. Acute compartment syndrome, requiring fasciotomy, developed in seven (7%) cases after surgery. Two patients developed an atrophic nonunion. In spite of these complications, the overall results were good and we continue to recommend this method of treatment for the displaced, unstable tibial shaft fracture.
Regression shrinkage and neural models in predicting the results of 400-metres hurdles races

This study presents the application of regression shrinkage and artificial neural networks in predicting the results of 400-metres hurdles races. The regression models predict the results for suggested training loads in the selected three-month training period. The material of the research was based on training data of 21 Polish hurdlers from the Polish National Athletics Team Association. The athletes were characterized by a high level of performance. To assess the predictive ability of the constructed models a method of leave-one-out cross-validation was used. The analysis showed that the method generating the smallest prediction error was the LASSO regression extended by quadratic terms. The optimal model generated the prediction error of 0.59 s. Otherwise the optimal set of input variables (by reducing 8 of the 27 predictors) was defined. The results obtained justify the use of regression shrinkage in predicting sports outcomes. The resulting model can be used as a tool to assist the coach in planning training loads in a selected training period.
Complete mapping of glomeruli based on sensory nerve branching pattern in the primary olfactory center of the cockroach Periplaneta americana

Glomeruli are structural and functional units in the primary olfactory center in vertebrates and insects. In the cockroach Periplaneta americana, axons of different types of sensory neurons housed in sensilla on antennae form dorsal and ventral antennal nerves and then project to a number of glomeruli. In this study, we identified all antennal lobe (AL) glomeruli based on detailed innervation patterns of sensory tracts in addition to the shape, size, and locations in the cockroach. The number of glomeruli is ∼205, and no sex‐specific difference is observed. Anterograde dye injections into the antennal nerves revealed that axons supplying the AL are divided into 10 sensory tracts (T1–T10). Each of T1–T3 innervates small, oval glomeruli in the anteroventral region of the AL, with sensory afferents invading each glomerulus from multiple directions, whereas each of T4–T10 innervates large glomeruli with various shapes in the posterodorsal region, with a bundle of sensory afferents invading each glomerulus from one direction. The topographic branching patterns of all these tracts are conserved among individuals. Sensory afferents in a sub‐tract of T10 had axon terminals in the dorsal margin of the AL and the protocerebrum, where they form numerous small glomerular structures. Sensory nerve branching pattern should reflect developmental processes to determine spatial arrangement of glomeruli, and thus the complete map of glomeruli based on sensory nerve branching pattern should provide a basis for studying the functional significance of spatial arrangement of glomeruli and its developmental basis. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:3907–3930, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Acoustic-phonetic approach for automatic evaluation of spoken grammar

Evaluating spoken grammar skills is an important component of evaluating the overall spoken English skills of a candidate. This paper presents a novel approach that incorporates the knowledge of acoustic-phonetics to improve the performance of an existing spoken grammar evaluation technique in a question-answer paradigm. A novel acoustic parameter, Onset Coher-ence, to make a one-pass distinction between the onsets of fricatives, stops and vowels is also proposed. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated against human labeled data obtained from real-life spoken grammar assessment tests. The proposed approach of combining the knowledge from the acoustic-phonetic domain with the information obtained from the automatic speech recognition system leads to an improvement of 8.2% in utterance-level classiﬁcation.
Protective Effect of Spironolactone on Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in HUVECs via Notch Pathway

Background: Fibrosis results in excessive buildup of extracellular matrix proteins along with abnormalities in structure and is partly derived by a process involving transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) called endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT). We investigated whether the aldosterone receptor-blocker spironolactone could abrogate TGF-β-induced fibrosis in EndMT and the underlying mechanism. Methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were divided into 5 groups for treatment: blank; vehicle control; TGF-β (10 ng/ml); spironolactone (1 μM)+TGF-β; and spironolactone+TGF-β+DAPT (10 μM). Cell chemotaxis was assayed by transwell assay. The expression of CD31 and vimentin was determined by Immunofluorescence staining and western blot analysis. Notch1 protein level was detected by western blot analysis. Results: Spironolactone significantly prevented TGF-β-stimulated EndMT by down-regulate vimentin and up-regulate CD31 in HUVECs (p<0.01). It inhibited cell migration during EndMT (p<0.01). The protective effect of spironolactone against EndMT could be attenuated by blocking the Notch signal pathway with DAPT (p<0.01). Notch signaling was activated and cross-interacted with TGF-β and spironolactone in regulating EndMT in HUVECs and reversed the spironolactone-related signaling by abrogating the antifibrotic actions with decreased Notch1 protein expression (p<0.01). Conclusion: Spironolactone may have a protective role in TGF-β-induced EndMT in HUVECs mediated by the Notch signal pathway.
Two-Level State Estimation With Local Measurement Pre-Processing

This paper presents a two-level state estimation methodology intended to integrate in a simple and efficient manner the results provided by local estimators, handling measurements at the substation level, within the framework of existing EMS. This leads to a paradigm in which raw measurements are locally pre-processed by a linear estimator, in such a way that only a manageable subset of measurements is handled at the second level, significantly reducing the communication bandwidth. Simulation results show that, even when the two steps are centrally carried out, the proposed approach is computationally more efficient than the conventional one, particularly with highly redundant measurement sets.