Effectiveness of Monetary Incentives: Mail Surveys to Members of Multinational Professional Groups

Members of professional groups were much more likely to respond to a mail survey than nonmembers who were also experts in the area (43.7% versus 13.7%). A one-dollar (U.S.) prepaid monetary incentive increased the response rates, and it was as effective for members as for nonmembers (gains of 18.6% and 15.3%, respectively). Surprisingly, the U.S. dollar monetary incentive had a greater effect on foreign than U.S. response rates (gains of 32.6% and 12.9%, respectively).monetary incentives, marketing

Estimating Post-Synaptic Effects for Online Training of Feed-Forward SNNs

Facilitating online learning in spiking neural networks (SNNs) is a key step in developing event-based models that can adapt to changing environments and learn from continuous data streams in real-time. Although forward-mode differentiation enables online learning, its computational requirements restrict scalability. This is typically addressed through approximations that limit learning in deep models. In this study, we propose Online Training with Postsynaptic Estimates (OTPE) for training feed-forward SNNs, which approximates Real-Time Recurrent Learning (RTRL) by incorporating temporal dynamics not captured by current approximations, such as Online Training Through Time (OTTT) and Online Spatio-Temporal Learning (OSTL). We show improved scaling for multi-layer networks using a novel approximation of temporal effects on the subsequent layer's activity. This approximation incurs minimal overhead in the time and space complexity compared to similar algorithms, and the calculation of temporal effects remains local to each layer. We characterize the learning performance of our proposed algorithms on multiple SNN model configurations for rate-based and time-based encoding. OTPE exhibits the highest directional alignment to exact gradients, calculated with backpropagation through time (BPTT), in deep networks and, on time-based encoding, outperforms other approximate methods. We also observe sizeable gains in average performance over similar algorithms in offline training of Spiking Heidelberg Digits with equivalent hyper-parameters (OTTT/OSTL - 70.5%; OTPE - 75.2%; BPTT - 78.1%)

PENGEMBANGAN BAHAN AJAR ELEKTRONIK DALAM MENULIS TEKS CERPEN BERBASIS MEDIA SOSIAL PADA SISWA KELAS IX SMP NEGERI SUBANG

Penelitian ini berangkat dari kendala-kendala yang dialami siswa SMP Negeri Subang dalam keterampilan menulis teks cerpen. Kendala tersebut, yaitu kesulitan untuk memahami materi teks cerpen, siswa cenderung bosan dalam mempelajari materi teks cerpen. Selain itu permasalahan baru yang muncul adalah motivasi siswa menurun ketika pembelajaran dialihkan menjadi pembelajaran daring. Oleh sebab itu penelitian ini berupaya mencarikan solusi dengan mengembangkan bahan ajar elektronik dalam menulis teks cerpen berbasis media sosial pada siswa kelas IX SMP Negeri Subang. Pengembangan bahan ajar ini diharapkan dapat membatu siswa dalam mengatasi kendala-kendala dalam pembelajaran menulis cerpen. Metode penelitian dan pengembangan yang digunakan adalah Research and Development (R&D). Desain yang digunakan mengacu pada pengembangan Hannafin dan Peck (1988) yang terdiri atas (1) analisis kebutuhan (2) desain (3) pengembangan dan implementasi. Uji kelayakan produk divalidasi oleh ahli materi dan ahli media. Selanjutnya, tanggapan pengguna produk oleh 6 praktisi dalam pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia serta tanggapan siswa berada pada kategori “sangat layak”. Hasil analisis terhadap penilaian validator ahli dan tanggapan pengguna produk menunjukkan bahwa bahan ajar elektronik dalam menulis teks cerpen berbasis media sosial pada siswa kelas IX SMP Negeri Subang “sangat layak” untuk diterapkan dalam pembelajaran menulis teks cerpen. This research departs from the problem skills of writing short stories by the students of Junior High School of Subang. These obstacles is, the student difficult to understanding short story text material, students also tend to be bored in studying short story text material. In addition, a new problem that arises is that student motivation decreases when learning is shifted to online learning. Therefore, this study intends to find a solution by developing electronic teaching materials in writing short stories based on social media for class IX Junior High School of Subang. The development of these teaching materials is expected to help students overcome obstacles in learning to write short stories. The research and development method used is Research and Development (R&D). The design used refers to the development of Hannafin and Peck (1988) which consists of (1) needs analysis (2) design (3) development and implementation. The product feasibility test is validated by material experts and media experts. Furthermore, the responses of product users by 6 practitioners in learning Indonesian and students' responses were in the "very feasible" category. The results of the analysis of the assessment of expert validators and product user responses, show that electronic teaching materials in writing short stories based on social media for class IX Junior High School students are "very feasible" to be applied in learning to write short stories

Rapid generation of chromosome-specific alphoid DNA probes using the polymerase chain reaction

Non-isotopic in situ hybridization of chromosome-specific alphoid DNA probes has become a potent tool in the study of numerical aberrations of specific human chromosomes at all stages of the cell cycle. In this paper, we describe approaches for the rapid generation of such probes using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and demonstrate their chromosome specificity by fluorescence in situ hybridization to normal human metaphase spreads and interphase nuclei. Oligonucleotide primers for conserved regions of the alpha satellite monomer were used to generate chromosome-specific DNA probes from somatic hybrid cells containing various human chromosomes, and from DNA libraries from sorted human chromosomes. Oligonucleotide primers for chromosome-specific regions of the alpha satellite monomer were used to generate specific DNA probes for the pericentromeric heterochromatin of human chromosomes 1, 6, 7, 17 and X directly from human genomic DNA

Tree migration-rates : narrowing the gap between inferred post-glacial rates and projected rates

Faster-than-expected post-glacial migration rates of trees have puzzled ecologists for a long time. In Europe, post-glacial migration is assumed to have started from the three southern European peninsulas (southern refugia), where large areas remained free of permafrost and ice at the peak of the last glaciation. However, increasing palaeobotanical evidence for the presence of isolated tree populations in more northerly microrefugia has started to change this perception. Here we use the Northern Eurasian Plant Macrofossil Database and palaeoecological literature to show that post-glacial migration rates for trees may have been substantially lower (60–260 m yr–1) than those estimated by assuming migration from southern refugia only (115–550 m yr–1), and that early-successional trees migrated faster than mid- and late-successional trees. Post-glacial migration rates are in good agreement with those recently projected for the future with a population dynamical forest succession and dispersal model, mainly for early-successional trees and under optimal conditions. Although migration estimates presented here may be conservative because of our assumption of uniform dispersal, tree migration-rates clearly need reconsideration. We suggest that small outlier populations may be a key factor in understanding past migration rates and in predicting potential future range-shifts. The importance of outlier populations in the past may have an analogy in the future, as many tree species have been planted beyond their natural ranges, with a more beneficial microclimate than their regional surroundings. Therefore, climate-change-induced range-shifts in the future might well be influenced by such microrefugia

Functional ecology of aquatic phagotrophic protists - Concepts, limitations, and perspectives

Special issue Current trends in protistology – results from the VII ECOP - ISOP Joint Meeting 2015.-- 25 pages, 6 figures, 1 tableFunctional ecology is a subdiscipline that aims to enable a mechanistic understanding of patterns and processes from the organismic to the ecosystem level. This paper addresses some main aspects of the process-oriented current knowledge on phagotrophic, i.e. heterotrophic and mixotrophic, protists in aquatic food webs. This is not an exhaustive review; rather, we focus on conceptual issues, in particular on the numerical and functional response of these organisms. We discuss the evolution of concepts and define parameters to evaluate predator–prey dynamics ranging from Lotka–Volterra to the Independent Response Model. Since protists have extremely versatile feeding modes, we explore if there are systematic differences related to their taxonomic affiliation and life strategies. We differentiate between intrinsic factors (nutritional history, acclimatisation) and extrinsic factors (temperature, food, turbulence) affecting feeding, growth, and survival of protist populations. We briefly consider intraspecific variability of some key parameters and constraints inherent in laboratory microcosm experiments. We then upscale the significance of phagotrophic protists in food webs to the ocean level. Finally, we discuss limitations of the mechanistic understanding of protist functional ecology resulting from principal unpredictability of nonlinear dynamics. We conclude by defining open questions and identifying perspectives for future research on functional ecology of aquatic phagotrophic protistsHA was supported by grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG; AR 288/16) and from the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF: 03G0237B; 02WRM1364D). Project FERMI (CGL2014-59227-R) was awarded to AC from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. RA was supported by the the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 658882). PJH was supported by the Danish Council for independent Reseach, project DDF-4181-00484. TW was financially supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, projects P20118-B17 and P20360-B17). DJSM received no support for his efforts on this study, other than his salary provided by the University of LiverpoolPeer Reviewe

Vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy: A narrative review of factors predictive of response

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). Epilepsia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International League Against Epilepsy.Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an established therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy. However, there is a lack of reliable predictors of VNS response in clinical use. The identification of factors predictive of VNS response is important for patient selection and stratification as well as tailored stimulation programming. We conducted a narrative review of the existing literature on prognostic markers for VNS response using clinical, demographic, biochemical, and modality-specific information such as from electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). No individual marker demonstrated sufficient predictive power for individual patients, although several have been suggested, with some promising initial findings. Combining markers from underresearched modalities such as T1-weighted MRI morphometrics and EEG may provide better strategies for treatment optimization

Using the theory of planned behaviour as a process evaluation tool in randomised trials of knowledge translation strategies : A case study from UK primary care

Peer reviewedPublisher PD