A Second Language Acquisition Toolkit for Teaching Introduction to Computing

Introduction to Computing and higher-level programming courses are common first-year engineering curricula at the university level and are key in developing logical thought processes in engineering students. Recent research has shown that employing second language acquisition (SLA) techniques to teach programming increases exam performance and student motivation compared to more classical approaches. However, the presentation of pedagogical techniques has been largely limited to higher-level languages with more intuitive linguistic analogs and has not been extended to lower-level computing course material. In this paper we present several SLA techniques and their analogs in a computing course setting and the results of implementing an SLA strategy in a first-year engineering course. Statistical analysis shows that students taught with SLA methods completed quizzes more quickly, enjoyed recitation more, and had a higher perceived value of the class when compared with students taught with non-SLA techniques.Cockrell School of Engineerin

The Effect of P2P File Sharing on Music Markets: A SurvivalAnalysisofAlbums on Ranking Charts

Recent technological and market forces have profoundly impacted the music industry. Emphasizing threats from peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies, the industry continues to seek sanctions against individuals who offer significant number of songs for others to copy. Yet there is little rigorous empirical analysis of the impacts of online sharing on the success of music products. Combining data on the performance of music albums on the Billboard charts with file sharing data from a popular network, we: 1) assess the impact of recent developments related to the music industry on survival of music albums on the charts, and 2) evaluate the specific impact of P2P sharing on an album's survival on the charts. In the post P2P era, we find significantly reduced chart survival. The second phase of our study isolates the impact of file sharing on album survival. We find that sharing does not seem to hurt the survival of albums

Aligning Monitoring and Compliance Requirements in Evolving Business Networks

Dynamic business networks (BNs) are intrinsically characterised by change. Compliance requirements management, in this context, may become particularly challenging. Partners in the network may join and leave the collaboration dynamically and tasks over which compliance requirements are specified may be consequently delegated to new partners or backsourced by network participants. This paper considers the issue of aligning the compliance requirements in a BN with the monitoring requirements they induce on the BN participants when change (or evolution) occurs. We first provide a conceptual model of BNs and their compliance requirements, introducing the concept of monitoring capabilities induced by compliance requirements. Then, we present a set of mechanisms to ensure consistency between the monitoring and compliance requirements when BNs evolve, e.g. tasks are delegated or backsourced in-house. Eventually, we discuss a prototype implementation of our framework, which also implements a set of metrics to check the status of a BN in respect of compliance monitorability

Brain monoamine oxidase A activity predicts trait aggression

The genetic deletion of monoamine oxidase A (MAO A), an enzyme that breaks down the monoamine neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, produces aggressive phenotypes across species. Therefore, a common polymorphism in the MAO A gene (MAOA, Mendelian Inheritance in Men database number 309850, referred to as high or low based on transcription in non-neuronal cells) has been investigated in a number of externalizing behavioral and clinical phenotypes. These studies provide evidence linking the low MAOA genotype and violent behavior but only through interaction with severe environmental stressors during childhood. Here, we hypothesized that in healthy adult males the gene product of MAO A in the brain, rather than the gene per se, would be associated with regulating the concentration of brain amines involved in trait aggression. Brain MAO A activity was measured in vivo in healthy nonsmoking men with positron emission tomography using a radioligand specific for MAO A (clorgyline labeled with carbon 11). Trait aggression was measured with the multidimensional personality questionnaire (MPQ). Here we report for the first time that brain MAO A correlates inversely with the MPQ trait measure of aggression (but not with other personality traits) such that the lower the MAO A activity in cortical and subcortical brain regions, the higher the self-reported aggression (in both MAOA genotype groups) contributing to more than one-third of the variability. Because trait aggression is a measure used to predict antisocial behavior, these results underscore the relevance of MAO A as a neurochemical substrate of aberrant aggression

Wireless Sensor Network using DRINA

On demand routing protocols give climbable and price effective solutions for transferring packets in mobile spontaneous networks (MANET). A wireless detector network could be a assortment of distributed nodes to watch and additionally to transmit their information from detector network to a sink node. In wireless detector network, detector nodes area unit set close to every different and additionally act with one another through information routing. In wireless detector network, the information routing takes place in non-aggregated manner would force a lot of energy. Energy conservation is that the major issue in wireless detector network. During this work we have a tendency to propose jury-rigged information routing with in-network aggregation formula which may address this energy consumption issue. It uses information aggregation technique and it will be effective in routing. so information aggregation is beneficial for increasing information accuracy, elimination of information redundancy, and reduction of communication load alongside reducing energy consumption

GoCo: planning expressive commitment protocols

Acknowledgements We gratefully thank those who shared their code with us. Special thanks to Ugur Kuter. We thank the anonymous reviewers, and also acknowledge with gratitude the reviewers at ProMAS’11, AAMAS’13, AAAI’13, and AAMAS’15, where preliminary parts of this work appeared. FM thanks the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the support within process numbers 306864/2013-4 under the PQ fellowship and 482156/2013-9 under the Universal project programs. NYS acknowledges support of the AUB University Research Board Grant Number 102853 and the OSB Grant OFFER_C1_2013_2014.Peer reviewe

Defining the Molecular Basis of Tumor Metabolism: a Continuing Challenge Since Warburg's Discovery

Cancer cells are the product of genetic disorders that alter crucial intracellular signaling pathways associated with the regulation of cell survival, proliferation, differentiation and death mechanisms. the role of oncogene activation and tumor suppressor inhibition in the onset of cancer is well established. Traditional antitumor therapies target specific molecules, the action/expression of which is altered in cancer cells. However, since the physiology of normal cells involves the same signaling pathways that are disturbed in cancer cells, targeted therapies have to deal with side effects and multidrug resistance, the main causes of therapy failure. Since the pioneering work of Otto Warburg, over 80 years ago, the subversion of normal metabolism displayed by cancer cells has been highlighted by many studies. Recently, the study of tumor metabolism has received much attention because metabolic transformation is a crucial cancer hallmark and a direct consequence of disturbances in the activities of oncogenes and tumor suppressors. in this review we discuss tumor metabolism from the molecular perspective of oncogenes, tumor suppressors and protein signaling pathways relevant to metabolic transformation and tumorigenesis. We also identify the principal unanswered questions surrounding this issue and the attempts to relate these to their potential for future cancer treatment. As will be made clear, tumor metabolism is still only partly understood and the metabolic aspects of transformation constitute a major challenge for science. Nevertheless, cancer metabolism can be exploited to devise novel avenues for the rational treatment of this disease. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, BaselFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Univ Fed ABC UFABC, CCNH, Santo Andre, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Biol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Bioquim, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Carlos UFSCar, DFQM, Sorocaba, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Biol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Bioquim, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 10/16050-9FAPESP: 10/11475-1FAPESP: 08/51116-0Web of Scienc

Targeting cancer metabolism: a therapeutic window opens

Genetic events in cancer activate signalling pathways that alter cell metabolism. Clinical evidence has linked cell metabolism with cancer outcomes. Together, these observations have raised interest in targeting metabolic enzymes for cancer therapy, but they have also raised concerns that these therapies would have unacceptable effects on normal cells. However, some of the first cancer therapies that were developed target the specific metabolic needs of cancer cells and remain effective agents in the clinic today. Research into how changes in cell metabolism promote tumour growth has accelerated in recent years. This has refocused efforts to target metabolic dependencies of cancer cells as a selective anticancer strategy.Burroughs Wellcome FundSmith Family FoundationStarr Cancer ConsortiumDamon Runyon Cancer Research FoundationNational Institutes of Health (U.S.

Collecfion of chickpea germplasm in Madhya Pradesh, India and their agronomic evaldation

Three-hundred-and-fifty-one seed samples of local chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) were collected in Madhya Pradesh, India, during 1986 and 1987 for the world germplasm collection maintained at ICRISAT Centre. These missions were joint efforts of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya(JNKVV), Jabalpur, and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi. Vast variability was noticed for several morphoagronomic traits of chickpea during these missions. The collected samples were sorted out into relatively homogenous samples and later grouped into five homogenous sets for easy evaluation. These sets were evaluated for eight agronomic traits at ICR/SAT Centre (18°N) and Gwalior (26°N). The performance of accessions for seeds per pod and 100-seed mass were almost similar at both locations whereas other agronomic characters varied with locations. The accessions with superior performance in five sets and two locations were identified