Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computer simulation of the delivery of etanidazole to brain tumor from PLGA wafers: comparison between linear and double burst release systems.

This paper presents the computer simulation results on the delivery of Etanidazole (radiosensitizer) to the brain tumor and examines several factors affecting the delivery. The simulation consists of a 3D model of tumor with poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) wafers with 1% Etanidazole loading implanted in the resected cavity. A zero-order release device will produce a concentration profile in the tumor which increases with time until the drug in the carrier is depleted. This causes toxicity complications during the later stages of drug treatment. However, for wafers of similar loading, such release results in a higher drug penetration depth and therapeutic index as compared to the double drug burst profile. The numerical accuracy of the model was verified by the similar results obtained in the two-dimensional and three-dimensional models.
Communicating Disability: Metaphors of Oppression, Metaphors of Empowerment

This chapter frames the literature on communication and disability within six metaphors, identifying how those metaphors oppress or empower persons with disabilities. Disability as a medical problem suggests persons with disabilities must be repaired. This metaphor disempowers persons with disabilities, although more recent conceptualizations may provide useful tools for empowerment. Disability as cognition focuses on the influence of attitudes toward disability or individual differences in personality traits that influence disabled-nondisabled interaction, moving away from objective notions of disability to subjective ones. Disability in culture examines the influence of culture on what constitutes disability, highlighting the ways that cultural definitions oppress and disempower persons with disabilities. Disability as culture views persons with disabilities as forming distinct cultures or cocultures, underscoring the empowering potential of disability as a cultural identity. Disability as politics recognizes the importance of empowering relationships in public and private discourse. Finally, disability as community incorporates several perspectives to provide a more complex view of disability and communication. This metaphor of disability, particularly with its focus on new communication technologies, most clearly demonstrates empowerment strategies that provide an avenue for persons with disabilities to participate fully in the social construction of their life experiences.
Anger and anger styles of the teacher candidates

The aim of this study was to determine the anger and anger styles and the related variables of the anger on the teacher candidates. The participants of the study consist of 713 students of which 377 of them were first grade and 336 were fourth grade students. The range of participants was 17-27, with mean of 20.72 (Ss: 2.11). Data were collected with Trait Anger and Anger Styles Scale and Personal Information Form. According to findings, the anger and anger styles of the candidates were showed meaningful differences for major, gender and living place. However, there were no significant differences for the grade level, age and the income.
Long-term (up to 18 years) clinical and echocardiographic results of mitral balloon valvuloplasty in children in comparison with adult population.

AIMS The purpose of this study was to assess the safety, efficacy, and long-term results (up to 18 years) of mitral balloon valvuloplasty (MBV) in children in comparison to adults. METHODS 57 children age < or = 18 years (group A) and 474 adult patients (group B) who underwent successful MBV and were followed up for a mean 8.5 +/- 4.8 (range 1.5-18) years were analyzed. RESULTS Patients in group A had a lower mitral echocardiographic score (echo score), 7.6 +/- 1.3 vs. 8.1 +/- 1 (P = 0.0005); smaller Doppler mitral valve area (MVA), 0.82 +/- 0.16 cm(2) vs. 0.92 +/- 0.17 cm(2) (P < 0.0001); and higher mitral valve gradient, 15.2 +/- 2.3 mmHg vs. 14.3 +/- 2.1 mmHg (P = 0.0003), than group B. Immediately after MBV, group A had larger MVA whether measured by catheter, 1.99 +/- 0.57 cm(2) vs. 1.8 +/- 0.52 cm(2) (P < 0.001), or by Doppler, 2.0 +/- 0.27 cm(2) vs. 1.97 +/- 0.28 cm(2) (P < 0.01), and similar complication rates, compared to group B. After a mean follow-up of 8.5 +/- 4.8 (range 1.5-18 years), restenosis in group A was 26% vs. 31% for group B (P = 0.41). Echo score > 8 (P = 0.046) was a predictor of restenosis in children and echo score > 8 (P < 0.0001) and previous surgery (P = 0.043) were predictors of restenosis in adults. Actuarial freedom from restenosis at 10, 15, and 18 years for groups A and B were 78%+/- 7%, 64%+/- 9%, and 18%+/- 14% and 77%+/- 2%, 43%+/- 4%, and 17%+/- 4%, respectively (P = 0.26). Event-free survival rates at 10, 15, and 18 years were 87%+/- 6%, 62%+/- 1%, and 20%+/- 2% versus 87%+/- 1%, 51%+/- 4%, and 20%+/- 5% for groups A and B, respectively (P = 0.51). Postprocedure MVA < 2.0 cm(2) (P = 0.043) and previous surgery (P = 0.03) were identified as predictors of events in children. Echo score > 8 (P < 0.0001) and prevalvuloplasty AF (P = 0.03) were identified as predictors of events in adults. CONCLUSION MBV is safe and effective in children with rheumatic MS. It provides better immediate results than in adults and excellent long-term results that are comparable to those seen in adults.
Personality and Social Psychology Review, in Press Improving the Dependability of Research in Personality and Social Psychology: Recommendations for Research and Educational Practice

In this article, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Task Force on Publication and Research Practices offers a brief statistical primer and recommendations for improving the dependability of research. Recommendations for research practice include (1) describing and addressing the choice of N (sample size) and consequent issues of statistical power, (2) reporting effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals, (3) avoiding " questionable research practices " that can inflate the probability of Type I error, (4) making available research materials necessary to replicate reported results, (5) adhering to SPSP's data sharing policy, (6) encouraging publication of high quality replication studies, and (7), maintaining flexibility and openness to alternative standards and methods. Recommendations for educational practice include (1) encouraging a culture of " getting it right " , (2) teaching and encouraging transparency of data reporting, (3) improving methodological instruction, and (4) modeling sound science and supporting junior researchers who seek to " get it right. " 3 February 2013 and charged with making recommendations to the Executive Committee concerning actions to improve the dependability and replicability of research findings in personality and social psychology. The impetus for this task force arose in response to growing concerns about the dependability and replicability of research findings in fields as diverse as physics, economics, biochemistry, medicine, and cell biology, as well as in psychology. As a behavioral science organization, SPSP is well positioned to be a leader in improving research practices and professional communication across disciplines. The hope is that the actions taken by SPSP will be a model for other organizations within and outside of psychology. The current wave of concern about the dependability of research findings arguably started with Ioannidis's (2005) provocatively titled paper, " Why most published research findings are false. " The paper raised issues that apply to much of science, arguing that incentive structures and research practices produce a high rate of false positive findings. In psychology, the paper's shockwaves were amplified by a series of events including the publication of Vul et al.'s (2009) critique of social and affective neuroscience, followed by reactions – ranging from incredulous to disdainful – to Bem's (2011) article on extrasensory perception. Shortly thereafter, a number of prominent symposia and articles criticized research practices in psychology said to be Around the same time, and presumably coincidentally, three well-known social/personality psychologists each retracted multiple papers, and in one case admitted to falsifying …
Event-based PI control of an underactuated biped walker

This paper addresses the control of a planar, biped robot with one degree of underactuation. Previous work has designed controllers that induce provably, exponentially stable, periodic walking motions at fixed, pre-determined walking rates. These controllers operate in continuous time during the single support phase of the robot The present paper shows how to design an event-based PI controller that provides an additional control feature: the ability to regulate the average walking rate to a continuum of values. The PI controller is active only in the (instantaneous) double support phase and achieves regulation by adjusting key parameters of the within-stride controller.
A complete toolset for the study of Ustilago bromivora and Brachypodium sp. as a fungal-temperate grass pathosystem

Due to their economic relevance, the study of plant pathogen interactions is of importance. However, elucidating these interactions and their underlying molecular mechanisms remains challenging since both host and pathogen need to be fully genetically accessible organisms. Here we present milestones in the establishment of a new biotrophic model pathosystem: Ustilago bromivora and Brachypodium sp. We provide a complete toolset, including an annotated fungal genome and methods for genetic manipulation of the fungus and its host plant. This toolset will enable researchers to easily study biotrophic interactions at the molecular level on both the pathogen and the host side. Moreover, our research on the fungal life cycle revealed a mating type bias phenomenon. U. bromivora harbors a haplo-lethal allele that is linked to one mating type region. As a result, the identified mating type bias strongly promotes inbreeding, which we consider to be a potential speciation driver. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.20522. 001
Pharmacokinetic Disposition of the Oral Iron Chelator Deferiprone in the Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia)

ABSTRACT Deferiprone is a bidentate oral iron chelator used for the treatment of iron overload in people. The purpose of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetic disposition of deferiprone in the domestic pigeon (Columba livia) and to compare the results with a previous study in the white leghorn chicken. Deferiprone (DFP) was administered orally as a suspension at a single dose of 50 mg/kg to 10 iron-loaded (IL-DFP) pigeons and 10 non–iron-loaded controls (NIL-DFP). Six NIL-DFP birds were also administered deferiprone intravenously to determine the bioavailability of the drug after a 30-day washout period. To evaluate if deferiprone induces its own metabolism, the pharmacokinetic disposition of the drug was also studied in the IL-DFP group after oral therapy with deferiprone at a dosage of 50 mg/kg q12h for 30 days. For each phase, collected blood was analyzed for deferiprone by high-performance liquid chromatography to develop a plasma concentration versus time curve. Deferiprone was rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, with plasma concentrations effective for iron chelation maintained for at least 8 hours after administration in iron-loaded birds. The half-life (mean ± SD) for deferiprone given orally to the IL-DFP and NIL-DFP groups was 2.98 ± 0.85 hours and 3.26 ± 1.25 hours, respectively, and when intravenously administered was 3.79 ± 1.23 hours. The half-life after 30 days of treatment was 3.42 ± 1.18 hours. Oral bioavailability was 44%. This study demonstrated that oral absorption of deferiprone is acceptable, it does not induce its own metabolism, and the drug was widely distributed in the pigeon, as it was in the chicken, with a longer half-life than that reported in mammals. Minor interspecies variations in the pharmacokinetics of deferiprone exist between chickens and pigeons.
Environmental Dependence of Genetic Constraint

The epistatic interactions that underlie evolutionary constraint have mainly been studied for constant external conditions. However, environmental changes may modulate epistasis and hence affect genetic constraints. Here we investigate genetic constraints in the adaptive evolution of a novel regulatory function in variable environments, using the lac repressor, LacI, as a model system. We have systematically reconstructed mutational trajectories from wild type LacI to three different variants that each exhibit an inverse response to the inducing ligand IPTG, and analyzed the higher-order interactions between genetic and environmental changes. We find epistasis to depend strongly on the environment. As a result, mutational steps essential to inversion but inaccessible by positive selection in one environment, become accessible in another. We present a graphical method to analyze the observed complex higher-order interactions between multiple mutations and environmental change, and show how the interactions can be explained by a combination of mutational effects on allostery and thermodynamic stability. This dependency of genetic constraint on the environment should fundamentally affect evolutionary dynamics and affects the interpretation of phylogenetic data.
Involvement of Primary Motor Cortex in Motor Imagery: A Neuromagnetic Study

Functional brain imaging studies have indicated that several cortical and subcortical areas active during actual motor performance are also active during imagination or mental rehearsal of movements. Recent evidence shows that the primary motor cortex may also be involved in motor imagery. Using whole-scalp magnetoencephalography, we monitored spontaneous and evoked activity of the somatomotor cortex after right median nerve stimuli in seven healthy right-handed subjects while they kinesthetically imagined or actually executed continuous finger movements. Manipulatory finger movements abolished the poststimulus 20-Hz activity of the motor cortex and markedly affected the somatosensory evoked response. Imagination of manipulatory finger movements attenuated the 20-Hz activity by 27% with respect to the rest level but had no effect on the somatosensory response. Slight constant stretching of the fingers suppressed the 20-Hz activity less than motor imagery. The smallest possible, kinesthetically just perceivable finger movements resulted in slightly stronger attenuation of 20-Hz activity than motor imagery did. The effects were observed in both hemispheres but predominantly contralateral to the performing hand. The attempt to execute manipulatory finger movements under experimentally induced ischemia causing paralysis of the hand also strongly suppressed 20-Hz activity but did not affect the somatosensory evoked response. The results indicate that the primary motor cortex is involved in motor imagery. Both imaginative and executive motor tasks appear to utilize the cortical circuitry generating the somatomotor 20-Hz signal.
EEG synchrony analysis for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: A study with several synchrony measures and EEG data sets

It has frequently been reported in the medical literature that the EEG of Alzheimer disease (AD) patients is less synchronous than in healthy subjects. In this paper, it is explored whether loss in EEG synchrony can be used to diagnose AD at an early stage. Multiple synchrony measures are applied to two different EEG data sets: (1) EEG of pre-dementia patients and control subjects; (2) EEG of mild AD patients and control subjects; the two data sets are from different patients, different hospitals, and obtained through different recording systems. It is observed that both Granger causality and stochastic event synchrony indicate statistically significant loss of EEG synchrony, for the two data sets; those two synchrony measures are then combined as features in linear and quadratic discriminant analysis (with crossvalidation), yielding classification rates of 83% and 88% for the pre-dementia data set and mild AD data set respectively. These results suggest that loss in EEG synchrony is indicative for early AD.
Voltage Regulators Design Through Advanced Mixed-Mode Circuit Simulation

Switching power suppliers are described through a mixed analog/digital model. The analog (nonlinear) part is represented by the power circuit and the digital one by the control driving the (MOSFET) switches. We present a general, efficient, and reliable technique to determine, versus variations of design parameters, 1) the periodic steady-state behavior of these circuits discussing stability, 2) periodic time varying transfer functions, and 3) to straightforwardly evaluate the performances of the controller. The proposed simulation approach resorts to the saltation matrix operator to define fundamental matrix for hybrid dynamical systems. This extends conventional simulation and analysis techniques such as the shooting method, the periodic linear phasor, and the Floquet multipliers evaluation to mixed analog/digital circuits. The effectiveness of the approach, representing an alternative viewpoint with respect to commonly adopted analysis strategies, is shown by designing a version of a voltage regulator module for a computer and by investigating its limits versus its output filtering capacitance.
Antenatal care services and its implications for vital and health outcomes of children: evidence from 193 surveys in 69 low-income and middle-income countries

Objectives Antenatal care (ANC) is an essential part of primary healthcare and its provision has expanded worldwide. There is limited evidence of large-scale cross-country studies on the impact of ANC offered to pregnant women on child health outcomes. We investigate the association of ANC in low-income and middle-income countries with short- and long-term mortality and nutritional child outcomes. Setting We used nationally representative health and welfare data from 193 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1990 and 2013 from 69 low-income and middle-income countries for women of reproductive age (15–49 years), their children and their respective household. Participants The analytical sample consisted of 752 635 observations for neonatal mortality, 574 675 observations for infant mortality, 400 426 observations for low birth weight, 501 484 observations for stunting and 512 424 observations for underweight. Main outcomes and measures Outcome variables are neonatal and infant mortality, low birth weight, stunting and underweight. Results At least one ANC visit was associated with a 1.04% points reduced probability of neonatal mortality and a 1.07% points lower probability of infant mortality. Having at least four ANC visits and having at least once seen a skilled provider reduced the probability by an additional 0.56% and 0.42% points, respectively. At least one ANC visit is associated with a 3.82% points reduced probability of giving birth to a low birth weight baby and a 4.11 and 3.26% points reduced stunting and underweight probability. Having at least four ANC visits and at least once seen a skilled provider reduced the probability by an additional 2.83%, 1.41% and 1.90% points, respectively. Conclusions The currently existing and accessed ANC services in low-income and middle-income countries are directly associated with improved birth outcomes and longer-term reductions of child mortality and malnourishment.
Mathematical Optimization of Multilayer Piezoelectric Devices with Nonuniform Layers by Simulated Annealing

Multilayer ultrasonic transducers with layers of uniform design are in common use. It is also possible to devise such transducers in which the layer design is nonuniform. However, this adds many degrees of freedom to the transducer design, and conventional design techniques are inadequate to realize desired behavior or even to assess potential benefits. In this paper, a theoretical investigation of multilayer piezoelectric structures with nonuniform layers is reported. Results are presented from a study using computer code to solve the one-dimensional wave equation. It is first shown how multilayer structures with nonuniform layer thicknesses generate even and odd harmonics in their frequency response, suggesting that frequency response can be controlled by choice of layer thickness. However, this choice is complicated and it is impossible to analyze all possible combinations of layer thicknesses. Hence, use of the stochastic optimization technique of simulated annealing is reported. Two optimized transducer designs illustrate this. The first design maximizes uniformity of the fundamental, second, and third harmonics of pressure output, achieved to approximately plusmn3%. The results suggest additional bandwidth can be achieved for practical applications, as the presence of a finite response at the second harmonic frequency avoids the null usually associated with this frequency. This is further illustrated with the second optimized transducer design in the form of a three-layer 1-3 connectivity piezo- composite transducer for underwater operation.
Difficulties in solving ill-defined problems: A case study with introductory computer programming students

In this paper we report a case study carried out in the first academic semester of 2008 with novice programming students of the computer science course at the Federal University of Campina Grande. This case study aimed at observing and evaluating strategies adopted by students on ill-defined problem solving. The results of this case study showed that students found it hard to perform problem statement exploratory reading and interpretation, formulate questions to enlighten the problem, analyze the problem constrains and error occurrence, write tests to check non-obvious situations and also to register effectively the new problem information acquired by discussing with client. The present paper also reports on some pedagogic possibilities to improve the introductory programming teaching.
Motion controllers for learners to manipulate and interact with 3D objects for mental rotation training

Mental rotation is an important spatial processing ability and an important element in intelligence tests. However, the majority of past attempts at training mental rotation have used paper-and-pencil tests or digital images. This study proposes an innovative mental rotation training approach using magnetic motion controllers to allow learners to manipulate and interact with three-dimensional ( 3D) objects. Stereovision allows learners to perceive the spatial geometric form of a 3D object. This approach allows learners to perceive 3D objects in space through stereovision and make mental rotation visible from each intrinsic and invisible mental rotation step using motion-interaction methods. This study examines the effects of user training performance and perceptions. The results indicate that the proposed approach can improve user mental rotation ability effectively. Learners expressed high degrees of concentration toward the mechanism that included direct control and immediate feedback. The results also suggest that female testers perceive greater degrees of playfulness toward the mechanism and improve more through training than male testers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]