Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sources of L2 writing apprehension: a study of Egyptian university students

High levels of apprehension cause students to have writing difficulties. This study attempted to identify the sources of Egyptian university students’ English writing apprehension. The study made use of both quantitative and qualitative data. The scores of 57 students on a writing apprehension scale were compared to their scores on another scale assessing writing self-efficacy and three linguistic tests measuring English grammar and vocabulary. Additionally, 15 apprehensive students and 16 nonapprehensive students were interviewed about their writing experiences and beliefs. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data showed that there are six sources of the students’ English writing apprehension: linguistic knowledge level, perceived language competence, writing performance level, perceived writing competence, instructional practices and fear of criticism. These results indicate the integrative nature of L2 writing ability and emphasise the need for dealing with these sources of apprehension. The study recommends that reducing L2 students’ writing apprehension should start by improving their linguistic knowledge and writing ability; this will result in bringing about a positive change in their language and writing competence self-perceived beliefs. In addition, the study presents some other recommendations for improving instructional practices of English writing in the Egyptian context.
Modeling of temperature dependent contact resistance for analysis of ESD reliability

A physically based model has been formulated to represent temperature-dependent specific contact resistance. The new model can generate silicided contact resistance values at high temperatures and is capable of predicting high current behavior of silicided deep submicron devices. Implications for failure analysis of advanced silicided devices are also considered. Using the model, it has been demonstrated how current localization is affected by increased temperature, which is critical for predicting ESD reliability.
Advances in Modeling, Design, and Fabrication of Deep-Etched Multilayer Resonators

We present recent advances in modeling, design, and fabrication of in-plane multilayer optical resonators fabricated by high aspect ratio etching of silicon. We first revisit the model of Gaussian beam divergence proposed by A. Lipson to correct a mistake that leads to an underestimation of the losses affecting this type of resonator. Secondly, we discuss the influence of surface roughness at the silicon-air interfaces of multilayered structures. Roughness profiles-measured by white light interferometry on the sidewalls of silicon trenches etched by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE)-are presented. The single absorbing layer model of Carniglia is used to predict the influence of the measured roughness ( nm RMS). This model is combined with the corrected model for Gaussian beam divergence and is compared with recent experimental results obtained for a new generation of deep-etched Fabry-Perot refractive index sensors. These sensors are fabricated using the contour lithography method, which is demonstrated to greatly improve the predictability of their optical characteristics. The combined model for roughness and divergence is found to correspond remarkably well with the experimental results, with predictions of loss and finesse of the resonances within an average error of 1.3 dB and 25%, respectively. We therefore expect the models and the simulations presented in this article to become a useful tool for the design of devices based on deep-etched multilayer resonators.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT Effects of Emotional Stress on Recovery Experiences and Subsequent Affective Well-Being Emotional stress

This study examined the impact of two emotion regulation strategies, reappraisal and expressive suppression, on recovery experiences and affective well-being after significant study-related events. In a sample of 63 undergraduate students who completed a time-contingent daily diary over 14 consecutive days (726 diary entries), the assumption that perceived emotional stress during study-related events would reduce affective well-being at bedtime ( 0.28, p .001) was supported. Multilevel analyses further showed that recovery experiences partially mediated this negative relationship ( 0.39, p .001). As postulated, reappraisal buffered the adverse effects of emotional stress on recovery experiences ( 0.05, p .01). Unexpectedly, expressive suppression had the same buffering effect ( 0.04, p .05). We conclude that an additional, fine-grained focus on context and time would usefully enhance our knowledge of the effects of emotion regulation on stress responses.
Role of arginine vasopressin in modulating plasticity in defensive behavior

Role of arginine vasopressin in modulating plasticity in defensive behavior Shantala Arundathi Hari Dass; shan0044@e.ntu. edu.sg School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551 Social behavior can be viewed as a varying output of an approach-avoidance conflict. For example a potential mate elicits a strong ‘approach’ response and a predator induces the very opposite. Social behavior must be plastic to best adapt to a continuously changing (biotic and abiotic) environment. Different external states are mirrored by changes in levels of circulating sex hormones; presence of a mating opportunity elevates testosterone levels while presence of a stressor depresses it. I hypothesize that the plasticity in social behavior is a function of changes in circulating sex hormones; i.e. testosterone in males. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a neuropeptide widely implicated in social behavior. In the extrahypothalamic regions of the brain it is highly sensitive to testosterone. Castration causes a drop in AVP projections in the extrahypothalmic zone, medial amygdala (MEA); a change that can be attributed to an androgen dependent hypermethylation of the AVP promotor. For these reasons extrahypothalmic AVP was selected as a candidate target. I focused my studies on the MEA, a part of the social behavior network, which has a central role in social behaviors such as reproductive and defensive behavior. The infection of rats by Toxoplasma gondii is a well suited system to study social behavior. Infected male rats display an attraction to their feline predators. This is a shift of the approach-avoidance conflict from avoidance to approach. I show that this change can be generalized to sexual aspects of the social behavior, coupled with a corresponding increase in
Leisure participation amongst Hong Kong Chinese older adults

Gerontologists have recognised the important influence of leisure activity on the mental and physical health of older adults. To date, however, there have been few studies of the patterns of participation in leisure activity among older adults in Hong Kong. This study examines a large representative sample of Hong Kong older adults and the associations between their socio-economic and health characteristics and their leisure activities. The data are from a cross-sectional survey of 2,180 respondents aged 60 or more years, conducted in 2000 by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. There were full records for 2,144 respondents. Among the participation rates in the seven categories of leisure activities, watching television or listening to radio was the highest, while the lowest was for playing mahjong or cards. The characteristics that significantly correlated with the level of participation differed by the activity. Although no consistent pattern emerged, gender, education, employment status, receiving welfare benefits, self-rated health and functional impairment were the strongest correlates for most types of leisure activity. The paper is concluded by comparing the results with previous findings, and by discussing the service implications of the findings, the limitations of the study, and directions for future research.
Anterior Tibial Artery Injury Following Tibiotalocalcaneal Retrograde Intramedullary Nailing: A Case Report

Case: We report the case of a patient who sustained injury to the anterior tibial artery during tibiotalocalcaneal retrograde nailing and developed an acutely ischemic foot. Conclusion: Vascular injury during tibiotalocalcaneal arthrodesis with retrograde nailing is a rare but serious complication. While retrograde tibiotalocalcaneal arthrodesis nailing for end‐stage ankle and subtalar arthritis has shown encouraging results, a high index of suspicion for postoperative complications is necessary in patients with risk factors for poor posterior collateral circulation.
THE COMPARISON THEORY OF MIND DIMENSION IN AUTISM CHILDREN AND NORMAL CHILDREN ISFAHAN CITY

The purpose of this study was the comparison of mind Dimensions theory in children with/ without Autism Disorders in Isfahan city. The research method was causal- Comparative. The subjects were boys(age 5-10 years) with Autism Disorders, from whom 15 children with Autism Disorders who had suitable oral ability were selected, and 15 Normal Children who were ethnographically in harmony were chosen as the control group. Theory of mind Scale of Morris and colleagues (1999) was used to gather the data. After gathering the data the statistical analysis of variance was applied and the following results were revealed: The difference between the performance of children with Autism Disorders in theory of mind test scales was significant (P<0.001). It shows that children with Autism Disorders were lower than the normal children in theory of mind test scores and other levels. Thus, children with Autism Disorders must receive different attention and interpretation compared with typical children.
Effects of sternotomy on heart–lung interaction in patients undergoing cardiac surgery receiving pressure‐controlled mechanical ventilation

Background: The key concept underlying the dynamic indexes of preload dependence is the physiological heart–lung interaction. During sternotomy this interaction undergoes various changes, some of which remain unclear. Our primary aim was to investigate how the interaction changes during sternotomy by evaluating pulse pressure variations (PPV) with the chest closed and after sternotomy in patients ventilated using the pressure‐controlled mode.
BlitzG: Exploiting high-bandwidth networks for fast graph processing

Nowadays, high-bandwidth networks are easily accessible in data centers. However, existing distributed graph-processing frameworks fail to efficiently utilize the additional bandwidth capacity in these networks for higher performance, due to their inefficient computation and communication models, leading to very long waiting times experienced by users for the graph-computing results. The root cause lies in the fact that the computation and communication models of these frameworks generate, send and receive messages so slowly that only a small fraction of the available network bandwidth is utilized. In this paper, we propose a high-performance distributed graph-processing framework, called BlitzG, to address this problem. This framework fully exploits the available network bandwidth capacity for fast graph processing. Our approach aims at significant reduction in (i) the computation workload of each vertex for fast message generation by using a new slimmed-down vertex-centric computation model and (ii) the average message overhead for fast message delivery by designing a lightweight message-centric communication model. Evaluation on a 40Gbps Ethernet, driven by real-world graph datasets, shows that BlitzG outperforms the state-of-the-art distributed graph-processing frameworks by up to 27x with an average of 20.7x.
Reprogramming chick RPE progeny cells to differentiate towards retinal neurons by ash1

Purpose Harnessing a cell culture of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) to give rise to retinal neurons may offer a source of developing neurons for cell-replacement studies. This study explores the possibility of reprogramming RPE progeny cells to differentiate toward retinal neurons with achaete-scute homolog 1 (ash1), a proneural gene that is expressed in progenitor cells in the developing retina and promotes amacrine cell production when overexpressed in the chick retina. Methods Replication Competent Avian Splice (RCAS) retrovirus was used to drive the ectopic expression of ash1 in cell cultures of dissociated RPE isolated from day 6 chick embryos. RCAS expressing green fluorescent protein (RCAS-GFP) was used as control. The cultures were examined for de novo generation of neuron-like cells by molecular, cellular, and physiologic criteria. Results In control cultures infected with RCAS-GFP, RPE cells appeared cobblestone-like and often darkly pigmented. In cultures infected with RCAS-ash1, however, cells remained de-pigmented and frequently formed clusters. Further examination at the morphological and molecular levels showed the development of elaborate processes characteristic of neurons and the expression of genes/markers that identify different types of retinal neurons. The most prevalently expressed neural marker was calretinin, which in the chick retina identifies amacrine, ganglion, and horizontal cells. As an assay for functional maturation, the reprogrammed cells were analyzed for the presence of functional, ionotropic glutamate receptors that lead to a rise in the cytosolic free calcium (Ca2+) concentration. Calcium imaging showed that reprogrammed cells responded to glutamate and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) by increasing their Ca2+ concentrations, which, after reaching a peak level, returned to the basal level. The response curves of reprogrammed cells resembled those of cultured retinal neurons. Conclusions These results suggest that RPE progeny cells can be reprogrammed by ash1 to develop molecular, morphological, and physiologic properties that are characteristic of retinal neurons.
Effects of salvianolate on bone metabolism in glucocorticoid-treated lupus-prone B6.MRL-Faslpr/J mice

Aim To investigate the bone-protective effects of salvianolate (Sal), a total polyphenol from Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae, on bone tissue in the spontaneous lupus-prone mouse model, B6.MRL-Faslpr/J, undergoing glucocorticoid (GC) treatment. Methods Fifteen-week-old female B6.MRL-Faslpr/J mice were administered either a daily dose of saline (lupus group), prednisone 6 mg/kg (GC group), Sal 60 mg/kg (Sal group); or GC plus Sal (GC + Sal group) for a duration of 12 weeks. Age-matched female C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) mice were used for control. Micro-computed tomography assessments, bone histomorphometry analysis, bone biomechanical test, immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting analysis for bone markers, and renal histology analysis were performed to support our research endeavor. Results Lupus mice developed a marked bone loss and deterioration of mechanical properties of bone due to an increase in bone resorption rather than suppression of bone formation. GC treatment strongly inhibited bone formation in lupus mice. Sal treatment significantly attenuated osteogenic inhibition, and also suppressed hyperactive bone resorption, which recovered the bone mass and mechanical properties of bone in both the untreated and GC-treated lupus mice. Conclusion The data support further preclinical investigation of Sal as a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus-related bone loss.
The Flipped Classroom Improves Student Achievement and Course Satisfaction in a Statistics Course

There are but a handful of experimental or quasi-experimental studies comparing student outcomes from flipped or inverted classrooms to more traditional lecture formats. In the current study, I present cumulative exam performance and student evaluation data from two sections of a statistics course I recently taught: one a traditional lecture (N = 19) and the other a flipped class (N = 24). Independent samples t-tests revealed students in the flipped classroom outperformed their lecture peers by more than a letter grade on the final exam. Further, these students were more satisfied with the course overall, a novel finding in this burgeoning area of research. This latter point, I argue, is likely due to the strong cohesion between the in-class and out-of-class content.
Older workers and employment: managing age relations

This article reports the findings of research into the functioning of companies' and organisations' internal labour markets. Four case studies of Australian and United Kingdom public and private sector organisations have been undertaken with two principal aims: to elucidate the challenges and barriers to the employment of older workers, and to demonstrate the benefits to business and to older workers of age-aware human resource management policies. In each of the case-study organisations, age-related assumptions affected the management of knowledge and skills and the ways in which older and younger workers were employed. Managing age relations in organisations requires an understanding of the ways in which workers of different ages are perceived and how these associate with sub-optimal deployment. The article concludes by suggesting that policies directed at older workers alone will ignore the age and age-group dynamics that pervade workplaces. To promote the better deployment of younger and older individuals in rapidly transforming organisations, there is a need for policy makers, employers and employees to be attentive to the age-group relationships that currently inform workplace practices. Organisations cannot ignore these age dynamics, but should adopt ‘age aware’ rather than ‘age free’ practices. The recommended human-resources approach would attend to individuals' capabilities and not stereotype them by age.
Burden on Family Members: Caring for Frail Elderly: A Meta-Analysis of Interventions

BackgroundAlthough multiple interventional approaches to reduce perceived burden among caregivers of the frail elderly have been investigated for over a decade, the effectiveness of those interventions and the benefits of group versus individual interventions are largely unclear. ObjectivesThis meta-analysis was undertaken to (a) assess the effectiveness of group and individual interventions on decreasing burden of caregivers of the frail elderly, and (b) identify factors with potential influence on the magnitude of the effects. MethodComputerized literature searches and manual searches of published true and quasi-experimental studies with control groups were performed. A coding form was developed to record methodological and other study characteristics, including study design, attrition rate, and reliability and validity of the measures. ResultsEighteen group and eight individual interventional studies published from 1985 to 2000 were included. For group interventions, the sample size for individual studies ranged from 20 to 486, with a total of 1,970. The weighted mean effect size was 0.41 (95% CI: 0.32 to 0.51), indicating a significant positive treatment effect. A significant homogeneity test (Q17 = 56.37, p < .0001) indicated that there were variations in effect sizes among the studies attributable to study characteristics. The effect size in the 11 true experimental studies was smaller (M: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.15 to 0.37) but still existed. For individual interventions, the sample sizes ranged from 16 to 168, with a total of 472. The weighted effect sizes were homogeneous with a mean of 0.48 (95% CI: 0.30 to 0.67), indicating a positive treatment effect. DiscussionAvailable evidence supports the premise that both group and individual interventions reduce perceived burden, however, this evidence is inconclusive. Further studies of large scale and high quality designs are needed.
Prevention of Postendoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography Pancreatitis: The Endoscopic Technique

Pancreatitis is the most frequent and distressing complication of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Many recent studies have reported the use of pharmacological agents to reduce post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP); however, the most effective agents have not been established. Reduction in the incidence of PEP in high-risk patients has been reported through specific cannulation techniques such as guide wire-assisted cannulation and the use of pancreatic stents. The present review focuses on ERCP techniques for the prevention of PEP.
In Situ Field Sequencing and Life Detection in Remote (79°26′N) Canadian High Arctic Permafrost Ice Wedge Microbial Communities

Significant progress is being made in the development of the next generation of low cost life detection instrumentation with much smaller size, mass and energy requirements. Here, we describe in situ life detection and sequencing in the field in soils over laying ice wedges in polygonal permafrost terrain on Axel Heiberg Island, located in the Canadian high Arctic (79°26′N), an analog to the polygonal permafrost terrain observed on Mars. The life detection methods used here include (1) the cryo-iPlate for culturing microorganisms using diffusion of in situ nutrients into semi-solid media (2) a Microbial Activity Microassay (MAM) plate (BIOLOG Ecoplate) for detecting viable extant microorganisms through a colourimetric assay, and (3) the Oxford Nanopore MinION for nucleic acid detection and sequencing of environmental samples and the products of MAM plate and cryo-iPlate. We obtained 39 microbial isolates using the cryo-iPlate, which included several putatively novel strains based on the 16S rRNA gene, including a Pedobacter sp. (96% closest similarity in GenBank) which we partially genome sequenced using the MinION. The MAM plate successfully identified an active community capable of L-serine metabolism, which was used for metagenomic sequencing with the MinION to identify the active and enriched community. A metagenome on environmental ice wedge soil samples was completed, with base calling and uplink/downlink carried out via satellite internet. Validation of MinION sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform was consistent with the results obtained with the MinION. The instrumentation and technology utilized here is pre-existing, low cost, low mass, low volume, and offers the prospect of equipping micro-rovers and micro-penetrators with aggressive astrobiological capabilities. Since potentially habitable astrobiology targets have been identified (RSLs on Mars, near subsurface water ice on Mars, the plumes and oceans of Europa and Enceladus), future astrobiology missions will certainly target these areas and there is a need for direct life detection instrumentation.
Perforator Territory Infarction in the Lenticulostriate Arterial Territory: Mechanisms and Lesion Patterns Based on the Axial Location

Background: We hypothesized that perforator territory infarcts in the lenticulostriate territory (pLSAIs) may have heterogeneous lesion patterns and stroke mechanisms. Methods: We reviewed prospectively collected patients who developed pLSAIs within 72 h after stroke onset. Lesion patterns were analyzed based on the six axial levels. Based on MR angiography, stenosis of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) was classified into 3 groups. White matter hyperintensities were assessed by Fazeka’s scale of periventricular hyperintensity (PVH) and deep white matter hyperintensity (DWMH). Results: Of 221 patients, 159 were normal, 44 had mild stenosis, and 18 had severe stenosis of the MCA. Larger infarct volume was correlated with the severity of MCA disease (r = 0.289, p < 0.001). Lower lesion patterns were correlated with the severity of MCA disease (r = –0.294, p < 0.001). A higher lesion pattern was correlated with the severity of DWMH or PVH scores (r = 0.205, p = 0.002 in DWMH, and r = 0.137, p = 0.042 in PVH). Conclusions: Patients with MCA disease have larger and lower lesion patterns beginning from the proximal territory of the lenticulostriate artery (LSA). Patients with severe white matter changes have smaller and higher lesion patterns in the distal territory of the LSA.