Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Darwin's Naturalization Hypothesis Revisited

In The Origin of Species, Darwin (1859) drew attention to observations by Alphonse de Candolle (1855) that floras gain by naturalization far more species belonging to new genera than species belonging to native genera. Darwin (1859, p. 86) goes on to give a specific example: “In the last edition of Dr. Asa Gray’s ‘Manual of the Flora of the United States’ . out of the 162 naturalised genera, no less than 100 genera are not there indigenous. ” Darwin used these data to support his theory of intense competition between congeners, described only a few pages earlier: “As the species of the same genus usually have, though by no means invariably, much similarity in habits and constitution, and always in structure, the struggle will generally be more severe between them” (1859, p. 60). Darwin’s intriguing observations have recently attracted renewed interest, as comprehensive lists of naturalized plants have become available for various regions of the world. Two studies (Mack 1996; Rejmanek 1996, 1998) have concluded that naturalized floras provide some support for Darwin’s hypothesis, but only one of these studies used statistical tests. Analyses of additional floras are needed to test the generality of Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis. Mack (1996) tabulated data from six regional floras within the United States and noted that naturalized species more often belong to alien genera than native genera, with the curious exception of one region (New York). In addition to the possibility of strong competition between native and introduced congeners, Mack (1996) proposed that specialist native herbivores, or pathogens, may be
Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are the educational buzzword of 2012. Media frenzy surrounds them and commercial interests have moved in. Sober analysis is overwhelmed by apocalyptic predictions that ignore the history of earlier educational technology fads. The paper describes the short history of MOOCs and sets them in the wider context of the evolution of educational technology and open/distance learning. While the hype about MOOCs presaging a revolution in higher education has focussed on their scale, the real revolution is that universities with scarcity at the heart of their business models are embracing openness. We explore the paradoxes that permeate the MOOCs movement and explode some myths enlisted in its support. The competition inherent in the gadarene rush to offer MOOCs will create a sea change by obliging participating institutions to revisit their missions and focus on teaching quality and students as never before. It could also create a welcome deflationary trend in the costs of higher education.
Politics Understanding and Networking Ability as a Function of Mentoring

Some have suggested that mentoring in organizations tends to focus on “learning the ropes,” or understanding organizational politics. This process is believed to result in building greater political skill and networking ability. The authors examined the relationships among mentoring, politics understanding, and networking ability. It was proposed that individuals experiencing the mentoring process would report higher levels of knowledge regarding understanding organizational politics, leading to greater networking ability. Specifically, the hypothesis that politics understanding mediated the relationship between mentoring and networking ability was tested with mediation analysis. The results provided strong support for the hypothesized relationship, demonstrating full mediation. Two additional hypotheses proposed a test of the “political skill deficiency” hypothesis, that the mediated relationships between mentoring, politics understanding, and networking ability would be moderated by gender and ethnicity, such that mediation would occur for men and Caucasians but not women and minorities. The results supported these hypotheses. Study implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Brain Processing of Stimulus Deviance During Slow‐Wave and Paradoxical Sleep: A Study of Human Auditory Evoked Responses Using the Oddball Paradigm

Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to frequent (90%) and deviant (10%) tones were recorded during both wakefulness and all-night sleep in eight drug-free volunteers. During presleep waking (10:00–11:00 p.m.), deviant stimuli elicited, in all subjects, a prominent “P300” wave of parieto-central topography, culminating at 344 ms (average), which was absent in response to frequent tones. This “presleep P300” was delayed and reduced relative to values obtained during full wakefulness (3:00–7:00 p.m.) in a control group. Passage from waking to sleep stage I was characterized by a progressive attenuation and delay of the P300 wave in response to deviant stimuli, without major changes in AEP morphology as compared to the waking state. Thus, in terms of cognitive evoked potentials (EPs), sleep stage I appeared more as a “weak” state of wakefulness than a true phase of sleep. During sleep stages II, III, and IV, both frequent and deviant tones evoked AEPs that closely resembled K-complexes. Responses to rare stimuli were four-to-five times larger than those to frequent tones, this likely being the result of K-complex habituation to monotonous stimuli. During paradoxical sleep (PS), AEP morphology again became comparable to that of wakefulness. Notably, a “P3” wave with similar topography as the waking P300 appeared in response to deviant stimuli exclusively. Thus, even though the brain seems able to detect stimulus deviance during all sleep stages, only during stage I and PS were the electrophysiological counterparts of deviance detection comparable to those of the waking state. Our results support the view that PS is not a state of “sensory isolation”; failure to respond to external stimuli during this stage may depend upon mechanisms occurring only after the sensory input has undergone cognitive analysis.
The influence of stigma on the quality of life for prostate cancer survivors

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of stigma on prostate cancer (PCa) survivors' quality of life. Stigma for lung cancer survivors has been the focus of considerable research (Else-Quest & Jackson, 2014); however, gaps remain in understanding the experience of PCa stigma. A cross-sectional correlational study was designed to assess the incidence of PCa stigma and its influence on the quality of life of survivors. Eighty-five PCa survivors were administered survey packets consisting of a stigma measure, a PCa-specific quality of life measure, and a demographic survey during treatment of their disease. A linear regression analysis was conducted with the data received from PCa survivors. Results indicated that PCa stigma has a significant, negative influence on the quality of life for survivors (R2 = 0.33, F(4, 80) = 11.53, p < 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in PCa stigma based on demographic variables (e.g., race and age). Implications for physical and mental health practitioners and researchers are discussed.
The Influence of Categories of Cumulative Folder Information on Teacher Referrals of Low-achieving Children for Special Educational Services

Artificial cumulative folders were constructed, each purporting to reference a fourth grade boy with average ability but low academic achievement. The eight folders factorially varied three categories of information: presence or absence of comments concerning previous misbehavior, race (black or white), and parents’ educational level (some high school or postsecondary). A random sample of 104 central North Carolina elementary teachers examined the folders and recorded various recommendations regarding the kind of outside-class educational help that would be appropriate for a child. The most influential category information was comments concerning misbehavior. With negative behavioral comments, teachers judged a child more likely to need special educational help, more time in a resource room, and special forms of help. Although complicated by interactions, the general pattern was to expect more favorable educational progress and less need for special help for blacks and for children of less educated parents than for whites or children of well educated parents.
Sodium channel selectivity. Dependence on internal permeant ion concentration

The selectivity of sodium channels in squid axon membranes was investigated with widely varying concentrations of internal ions. The selectivity ratio, PNa/PK, determined from reversal potentials decreases from 12.8 to 5.7 to 3.5 as the concentration of internal potassium is reduced from 530 to 180 to 50 mM, respectively. The internal KF perfusion medium can be diluted by tetramethylammonium (TMA), Tris, or sucrose solutions with the same decrease in PNa/PK. The changes in the selectivity ratio depend upon internal permeant ion concentration rather than ionic strength, membrane potential, or chloride permeability. Lowering the internal concentration of cesium, rubidium, guanidnium, or ammonium also reduces PNa/Pion. The selective sequence of the sodium channel is: Na greater than guanidinium greater than ammonium greater than K greater than Rb greater than Cs.
Effects of Switch Training on the Communication of Children with Autism and Severe Disabilities

The use of simple augmentative and alternative communication systems for physically able individuals with autism and severe disabilities has not been sufficiently explored. Individuals with severe physical disabilities have used switches primarily to gain control over their environment, yet these switches have the potential to also serve as communication strategies. Thus, investigation of switch training for communicative purposes is warranted. This action-oriented study examined the effects of switch training on the communication of four functionally nonverbal students with severe disabilities and autism. Several elements of communication were investigated: (a) number of communicative interactions, (b) number of spontaneous communicative interactions, (c) percentage of independent communicative interactions, and (d) number of verbalizations. Results indicated that switch training was an effective strategy for helping the students communicate a simple message. The benefits of switch use and implications for future research are discussed.
"Flying Higher": Understanding the Meanings Given to Scientific Initiation in Brazil

This article discusses how Brazil’s Institutional Scholarship Institutional Scholarship Program for Scientific Initiation in High School (PIBIC-EM), which is designed to encourage young people to enter science careers and to increase the celerity of scientific training, is understood by the grantees as a mechanism that facilitates their access to higher education and, consequently, to improved class status. The authors consider the fundamental theoretical framework concerning the analysis of public policies on careers in science, as well as relevant ideas regarding the role of education in the acquisition of cultural and relational capital. The authors present the idea that during participation in the program young people develop modus operandi that break certain class conditionings, anticipating futures that otherwise would be difficult for them to envision. The article is based on a study that included documentary analysis, as well as in-depth interviews with grantees in four public schools and seven supervisors in the PIBIC - EM at the Federal University at Santa Catarina (UFSC) campuses of Florianopolis, Ararangua and Curitibanos in southern Brazil . The conclusions point out the positive influence of the program in strengthening opportunities for professional trajectories for students from low-income families DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014. v4n6p235
Teaching the History of Technical Communication: A Lesson with Franklin and Hoover

The first part of this article shows that research in the history of technical communication has increased in quantity and sophistication over the last 20 years. Scholarship that describes how to teach with that information, however, has not followed, even though teaching the history of the field is a need recognized by several scholars. The article provides and defends four guidelines as a foundation to study ways to incorporate history into classroom lessons: 1) maintain a continued research interest in teaching history; 2) limit to technical rather than scientific discourse; 3) focus on English-language texts; and 4) focus on American texts, authors, and practices. The second part of the essay works within the guidelines to show a lesson that contrasts technical texts by Benjamin Franklin and Herbert Hoover. The lesson can help students see the difference in technical writing before and after the Industrial Revolution, a difference that mirrors their own transition from the university to the workforce.
Total body 100-mGy X-irradiation does not induce Alzheimer's disease-like pathogenesis or memory impairment in mice

The cause and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are poorly understood. Possible cognitive and behavioral consequences induced by low-dose radiation are important because humans are exposed to ionizing radiation from various sources. Early transcriptional response in murine brain to low-dose X-rays (100 mGy) has been reported, suggesting alterations of molecular networks and pathways associated with cognitive functions, advanced aging and AD. To investigate acute and late transcriptional, pathological and cognitive consequences of low-dose radiation, we applied an acute dose of 100-mGy total body irradiation (TBI) with X-rays to C57BL/6J Jms mice. We collected hippocampi and analyzed expression of 84 AD-related genes. Mouse learning ability and memory were assessed with the Morris water maze test. We performed in vivo PET scans with 11C-PIB, a radiolabeled ligand for amyloid imaging, to detect fibrillary amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) accumulation, and examined characteristic AD pathologies with immunohistochemical staining of amyloid precursor protein (APP), Aβ, tau and phosphorylated tau (p-tau). mRNA studies showed significant downregulation of only two of 84 AD-related genes, Apbb1 and Lrp1, at 4 h after irradiation, and of only one gene, Il1α, at 1 year after irradiation. Spatial learning ability and memory were not significantly affected at 1 or 2 years after irradiation. No induction of amyloid fibrillogenesis or changes in APP, Aβ, tau, or p-tau expression was detected at 4 months or 2 years after irradiation. TBI induced early or late transcriptional alteration in only a few AD-related genes but did not significantly affect spatial learning, memory or AD-like pathological change in mice.
Mitochondria in Cardiovascular Physiology and Disease Type II diabetes increases mitochondrial DNA mutations in the left ventricle of the Goto-Kakizaki diabetic rat

Hicks S, Labinskyy N, Piteo B, Laurent D, Mathew JE, Gupte SA, Edwards JG. Type II diabetes increases mitochondrial DNA mutations in the left ventricle of the Goto-Kakizaki diabetic rat. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 304: H903–H915, 2013. First published February 1, 2013; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00567. 2012. —Mitochondrial dysfunction has a significant role in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Mitochondrial oxidant stress has been accepted as the singular cause of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage as an underlying cause of mitochondrial dysfunction. However, separate from a direct effect on mtDNA integrity, diabetic-induced increases in oxidant stress alter mitochondrial topoisomerase function to propagate mtDNA mutations as a contributor to mitochondrial dysfunction. Both glucose-challenged neonatal cardiomyocytes and the diabetic GotoKakizaki (GK) rat were studied. In both the GK left ventricle (LV) and in cardiomyocytes, chronically elevated glucose presentation induced a significant increase in mtDNA damage that was accompanied by decreased mitochondrial function. TTGE analysis revealed a number of base pair substitutions in the 3’ end of COX3 from GK LV mtDNA that significantly altered the protein sequence. Mitochondrial topoisomerase DNA cleavage activity in isolated mitochondria was significantly increased in the GK LV compared with Wistar controls. Both hydroxycamptothecin, a topoisomerase type 1 inhibitor, and doxorubicin, a topoisomerase type 2 inhibitor, significantly exacerbated the DNA cleavage activity of isolated mitochondrial extracts indicating the presence of multiple functional topoisomerases in the mitochondria. Mitochondrial topoisomerase function was significantly altered in the presence of H2O2 suggesting that separate from a direct effect on mtDNA, oxidant stress mediated type II diabetesinduced alterations of mitochondrial topoisomerase function. These findings are significant in that the activation/inhibition state of the mitochondrial topoisomerases will have important consequences for mtDNA integrity and the well being of the diabetic myocardium.
Assessing and predicting drug-induced anticholinergic risks: an integrated computational approach

Background: Anticholinergic (AC) adverse drug events (ADEs) are caused by inhibition of muscarinic receptors as a result of designated or off-target drug–receptor interactions. In practice, AC toxicity is assessed primarily based on clinician experience. The goal of this study was to evaluate a novel concept of integrating big pharmacological and healthcare data to assess clinical AC toxicity risks. Methods: AC toxicity scores (ATSs) were computed using drug–receptor inhibitions identified through pharmacological data screening. A longitudinal retrospective cohort study using medical claims data was performed to quantify AC clinical risks. ATS was compared with two previously reported toxicity measures. A quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) model was established for rapid assessment and prediction of AC clinical risks. Results: A total of 25 common medications, and 575,228 exposed and unexposed patients were analyzed. Our data indicated that ATS is more consistent with the trend of AC outcomes than other toxicity methods. Incorporating drug pharmacokinetic parameters to ATS yielded a QSAR model with excellent correlation to AC incident rate (R2 = 0.83) and predictive performance (cross validation Q2 = 0.64). Good correlation and predictive performance (R2 = 0.68/Q2 = 0.29) were also obtained for an M2 receptor-specific QSAR model and tachycardia, an M2 receptor-specific ADE. Conclusions: Albeit using a small medication sample size, our pilot data demonstrated the potential and feasibility of a new computational AC toxicity scoring approach driven by underlying pharmacology and big data analytics. Follow-up work is under way to further develop the ATS scoring approach and clinical toxicity predictive model using a large number of medications and clinical parameters.
Implementing Quality Criteria in Designing and Conducting a Sequential QUAN → QUAL Mixed Methods Study of Student Engagement With Learning Applied Research Methods Online

In spite of recent methodological developments related to quality assurance in mixed methods research, practical examples of how to implement quality criteria in designing and conducting sequential QUAN → QUAL mixed methods studies to ensure the process is systematic and rigorous remain scarce. This article discusses a three-step procedure for securing the quality of the meta-inferences generated from sequential employment of quantitative and qualitative methods and offers several validation strategies specific to a sequential QUAN → QUAL mixed methods design: applying a systematic process for selecting participants for qualitative follow-up, elaborating on unexpected quantitative results, and observing interaction between qualitative and quantitative study strands. The discussed procedures are illustrated using a mixed methods study of graduate student engagement in learning applied research methods online.
Parental Beliefs about Problematic Social Behaviors in Early Childhood

To assess parents' beliefs about preschoolers' displays of aggression and social withdrawal and the extent to which their strategies for dealing with these behaviors can be predicted from beliefs and socioecological circumstances, 122 mothers and 67 fathers of 4-year-olds were presented with descriptions of hypothetical incidents of peer-directed aggression and social withdrawal, and were asked how they would feel if their child acted in the manner described, how they would explain the behavior, and what they would do about it. Data concerning stress and social support were also gathered. Aside from being concerned, mothers and fathers primarily felt negative about aggression and puzzled about social withdrawal. Transient states were considered the primary source of both behaviors. The modal strategies were moderate power for dealing with aggression and low power for social withdrawal. The choice of strategies for dealing with these behaviors was related to both beliefs and socioecological circumstances.
What is discerned in teachers’ expressions about planning?—Similarities and differences between teachers from Sweden and Hong Kong

The aim of this study is to find out what teachers say their primary focus is when planning to teach an object of learning. The study is carried out in two different cultural contexts, Sweden and Hong Kong, and based on the framework of variation theory, which has a two-fold focus, namely both what teachers do and what students learn at school. Fifteen semi-structured open-ended interviews were conducted with nine Swedish and six Hong Kong teachers in grades 1 to 6. The analysis generated categories inspired from a phenomenographic research approach, where attention is directed towards respondents’ apprehensions of a phenomenon. The results showed some clear differences in the way teachers from the two countries talked about how they organise and think about planning, which in turn reveals whether their focus is on students’ understanding or on teacher action. The Swedish teachers’ experienced focus is on activities/methods, and they separate activities and methods from the content, while the Hong Kong teachers have the content in the foreground and do not separate content and act. There can be several different explanations of the differences identified; such as that a too general theoretical and surface awareness of concepts of learning makes it difficult to reach a detailed level of the object of learning, i.e. what it actually takes for students to learn exactly this phenomenon or ability. The Swedish teachers seem to underestimate what it takes to learn due to a theoretical framework. Another explanation of this difference in focus might be that teachers need support from each other to deepen the reflections about the subject, thus achieving knowledge of what it takes to understand the intended object of learning. The Hong Kong teachers report frequent opportunities to discuss and reflect over subject-related matters.
Intersectionality and Serious Mental Illness—A Case Study and Recommendations for Practice

Those with serious mental illness are highly likely to experience stigma resulting in discrimination. This article addresses the intersectionality of serious mental illness with gender, social class, and disability status utilizing a case study of a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Despite estimated prevalence rates of 1.0% to 6.0% in psychiatric settings, individuals with DID experience providers who are unfamiliar or skeptical of the diagnosis. Media portrayal of DID, gender bias, ability, and social status increase difficulties with access to needed services. Discussion of trauma-informed and gender responsive clinical interventions will be provided, as well as clinical recommendations.