Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in ovarian function and gonadotropin secretion preceding the onset of nutritionally induced anestrus in Bos indicus heifers.

The aim of this study was to monitor endocrine and ovarian changes immediately preceding the onset of nutritionally induced anestrus. Daily blood samples were obtained from 14 postpubertal heifers for one estrous cycle (initial estrous cycle). Subsequently, heifers designated "restricted" were given a limited diet (n = 9), and daily blood samples were obtained for approximately 21 days preceding onset of anestrus (anovulatory cycle). Controls were allowed ad libitum dietary intake (n = 5), and daily blood samples were collected for a complete estrous cycle during a time period that coincided with that preceding onset of anestrus in restricted heifers. Plasma samples were assayed for LH, FSH, progesterone, and estradiol-17 beta. The ovaries of all heifers were examined daily using transrectal ultrasonography from the initial until the final or anovulatory estrous cycles to determine changes in growth of follicles and corpora lutea. Anestrus was defined as failure of ovulation of the dominant follicle following luteolysis. When anovulatory and initial estrous cycles in restricted heifers were compared, mean concentrations of LH were lower (p < 0.01), and diameters of dominant follicles were smaller (p < 0.01); mean concentrations of estradiol-17 beta were also lower in the three days following luteolysis (p = 0.06), but concentrations of FSH appeared to be higher (p = 0.003); maximum diameters of corpora lutea were smaller (p < 0.001), but duration of luteal phases and concentrations of progesterone preceding luteolysis were similar (p > 0.10). In controls, no differences were found between estrous cycles for any of these variables. It is concluded that failure of ovulation, following reduced dietary intake, resulted from insufficient circulating LH to stimulate maturation of the ovulatory follicle.
Culture and Conflict in Academic Organisation: Symbolic Aspects of University Worlds.

How the concept of organisational culture was applied to a recent study of academic organisations in an Australian university is the thrust of this article. Rather than use the more traditional approach of analysing functions and formal structures, the study added a different perspective by applying a cultural framework adapted chiefly from the works of three noted scholars of higher education. It examined academic culture, namely, the symbolic dimension of academic organisation embodying the traditions, myths, rituals, occupational beliefs and values and other forms of expressive symbolism that have grown up about universities and the life and work of academics. Different levels of culture are revealed, bases of conflict and aspects of a common culture are elucidated, their organisational implications are discussed and the value of a cultural perspective is addressed.
Regulation of the human p21(waf1/cip1) gene promoter via multiple binding sites for p53 and the vitamin D3 receptor

The main regulator of the human tumor suppresser gene p21(waf1/cip1) is the transcription factor p53, but more recently it has been suggested to be a primary anti-proliferative target for the nuclear receptor VDR in the presence of its ligand 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1α,25(OH)2D3). To identify VDR responding regions, we analyzed 20 overlapping regions covering the first 7.1 kb of the p21(waf1/cip1) promoter in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells using chromatin immuno-precipitation assays (ChIP) with antibodies against p53 and VDR. We confirmed two known p53 binding regions at approximate positions −1400 and −2300 and identified a novel site at position −4500. In addition, we found three VDR-associated promoter regions at positions −2300, −4500 and −6900, i.e. two regions showed binding for both p53 and VDR. In silico screening and in vitro binding assays using recombinant and in vitro translated proteins identified five p53 binding sites within the three p53-positive promoter regions and also five 1α,25(OH)2D3 response elements within the three VDR-positive regions. Reporter gene assays confirmed the expected responsiveness of the respective promoter regions to the p53 inducer 5-fluorouracil and 1α,25(OH)2D3. Moreover, re-ChIP assays confirmed the functionality of the three 1α,25(OH)2D3-reponsive promoter regions by monitoring simultaneous occupancy of VDR with the co-activator proteins CBP, SRC-1 and TRAP220. Taken together, we demonstrated that the human p21(waf1/cip1) gene is a primary 1α,25(OH)2D3-responding gene with at least three VDR binding promoter regions, in two of which also p53 co-localizes.
Perceptions of time in relation to climate change

Time is at the heart of understanding climate change, from the perspective of both natural and social scientists. This article selectively reviews research on time perception and temporal aspects of decision making in sociology and psychology. First we briefly describe the temporal dimensions that characterize the issue of climate change. Second, we review relevant theoretical approaches and empirical findings. Then we propose an integration of these insights for the problem of climate change and discuss mismatches between the human mind, surrounding social dynamics, and climate change. Finally, we discuss the implications of this article for understanding and responding to climate change, and make suggestions on how we can use the strengths of the human mind and social dynamics to communicate climate change in its temporal context.
Intelligent Monitoring of Multistory Buildings under Unknown Earthquake Excitation by a Wireless Sensor Network

It is necessary to investigate techniques for monitoring structures under unknown earthquakes. For this purpose, an algorithm is proposed in this paper for the identification of structures and excitation of multi-story shear buildings with limited measurements of structural responses. The equation of motion of a multi-story shear building under ground motion is established in the absolute co-ordinate system, while the multi-story building is decomposed into substructures. A novel two-step Kalman estimator approach, which is not available in the previous literature, is proposed for the identification substructures and unknown ground motion with less computational effort. Then, for the purpose of intelligent structural monitoring, a new wireless sensor network is developed in this paper. The designed wireless sensor network has a two-level cluster-tree architecture. Hardware designs of the sensor unit and the cluster head are presented; especially the cluster head contains a low power digital signal processor with strong computing capacity. Thus, the wireless sensor network has the unique feature offers distributed computing at group level. Finally, the proposed algorithm is embedded into the wireless sensor network for intelligent structural monitoring and an experimental test shows the technique is effective for intelligent monitoring of multi-story buildings under unknown earthquakes.
Ion and lipid signaling in apical growth—a dynamic machinery responding to extracellular cues

Apical cell growth seems to have independently evolved throughout the major lineages of life. To a certain extent, so does our body of knowledge on the mechanisms regulating this morphogenetic process. Studies on pollen tubes, root hairs, rhizoids, fungal hyphae, even nerve cells, have highlighted tissue and cell specificities but also common regulatory characteristics (e.g., ions, proteins, phospholipids) that our focused research sometimes failed to grasp. The working hypothesis to test how apical cell growth is established and maintained have thus been shaped by the model organism under study and the type of methods used to study them. The current picture is one of a dynamic and adaptative process, based on a spatial segregation of components that network to achieve growth and respond to environmental (extracellular) cues. Here, we explore some examples of our live imaging research, namely on cyclic nucleotide gated ion channels, lipid kinases and syntaxins involved in exocytosis. We discuss how their spatial distribution, activity and concentration suggest that the players regulating apical cell growth may display more mobility than previously thought. Furthermore, we speculate on the implications of such perspective in our understanding of the mechanisms regulating apical cell growth and their responses to extracellular cues.
On the Energy Cost of Communication and Cryptography in Wireless Sensor Networks

Energy is a central concern in the deployment of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we investigate the energy cost of cryptographic protocols, both from a communication and a computation point of view, based on practical measurements on the MICAz and TelosB sensors. We focus on the cost of two key agreement protocols: Kerberos and the elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman key exchange with authentication provided by the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDH-ECDSA). We find that, in our context, Kerberos is around one order of magnitude less costly than the ECDH-ECDSA key exchange and confirm that it should be preferred in situations where a trusted third party is available. We also observe that the power dedicated to communications can become a central concern when the nodes need to stay in listen mode, e.g. between the protocol rounds, even when reduced using a low power listening (LPL) protocol. Therefore, listening should be considered when assessing the cost of cryptographic protocols on sensor nodes.
A large-Scale Study on Extensive Reading Program for Non-English Majors: Factors and Attitudes

Reading is a complex method of drawing information from some form of text and then interpreting it. The importance of reading in an academic context cannot be underestimated in its influence on learning. It is commonly agreed that students should read extensively in order to enhance their reading skills and to learn other knowledge through that reading. This paper presents an analysis of teachers’ and students’ perceptions toward an extensive reading program located in an EFL higher education context. Particularly, the study aims at assessing factors that may influence the students’ attitudes toward extensive reading (ER) and both students’ and teachers’ perceptions to the newly implemented extensive reading program. In this paper, the author attempts to analyze and understand the effectiveness of an extensive reading program. The results show that: first, differing majors among students and the amount of time spent weekly on reading graded readers directly impacts students’ attitudes toward extensive reading. Second, although many students verbally express a dislike for ER programs in class, they strongly agree that ER is a good way to learn English on the survey. Third, in spite of teachers’ skepticism prior to the ER program, results confirm the linguistic benefit ER brought to learners upon completion of the program. Notwithstanding the preliminary resistance of the ER program, teachers’ and students’ attitudes noticeably changed over the two semesters of engagement.
When finiteness gets marked: the relation between morphosyntactic development and use of scopal items in adult language acquisition

This paper investigates the acquisition of scope in L2 English and French, using longitudinal data from five informants from the ESF database (Feldweg 1993). The scopal items analyzed are negation and additive, restrictive, and temporal items. These items are found to be acquired in a fixed order, with negation preceding additive and restrictive particles (also, only, and equivalents), which in turn precede the temporal items. For these latter, forms marking the iteration of an event (again) are used before temporal adverbs of contrast (TACs: already, still, no more). The learners studied have been independently shown (Klein and Perdue 1992, 1997) to progress from a nominal utterance organization, through an organization based on an uninflected verb (the basic variety), and on to utterances organized around a finite verb, and the placement and scopal properties of the items analyzed correspond closely to this development. Items occur first in nominal utterances adjacent to the constituent they affect, then immediately before the VP or at the utterance boundary, then immediately behind the finite verb. It is only at this final stage that an item is integrated within the utterance structure while affecting a nonadjacent constituent. Furthermore, it is only at this stage that TACs occur, in the same position. Two types of explanation can be proposed for this correspondence between the acquisition order of the particles and the development first of VP, then of verbal morphology: i. These particles affect the constituents available at a given point of development. The first (additive and restrictive) particles apply their meaning to NP referents and the first temporal items to be used quantify over whole events (different tokens of the same TT-Tsit relation: Klein 1994), while TACs affect phases of an event, thus requiring an independent specification of tense, on the finite verb. ii. The development of finiteness marking is a central feature of the grammaticalizati
Handbook of posttraumatic growth : research and practice

Contents: Part I: Posttraumatic Growth: Theory and Method. L.G. Calhoun, R.G. Tedeschi, The Foundations of Posttraumatic Growth: An Expanded Framework. S. Lepore, T. Revenson, Relationships Between Posttraumatic Growth and Resilience: Recovery, Resistance, and Reconfiguration. C.L. Park, S. Lechner, Measurement Issues in Assessing Growth Following Stressful Life Experiences. R. Neimeyer, Re-Storying Loss: Fostering Growth in the Posttraumatic Narrative. R. Janoff-Bulman, Schema-Change Perspectives on Posttraumatic Growth. J. Harvey, K. Barnett, S. Rupe, Posttraumatic Growth and Other Outcomes of Major Loss in the Context of Complex Family Lives. Part II: Posttraumatic Growth in Specific Contexts. K. Pargament, K. Desai, K. McConnell, Spirituality: A Pathway to Posttraumatic Growth or Decline? A. Stanton, C. Low, J. Bower, Posttraumatic Growth After Cancer. H. Znoj, Bereavement and Posttraumatic Growth. R. Rosner, Posttraumatic Growth After War. J. Milam, Positive Changes Attributed to the Challenges of HIV/AIDS. D. Paton, Posttraumatic Growth in Disaster and Emergency Work. R. Lev-Wiesel, M. Amir, Growing Out of the Ashes: Posttraumatic Growth Among Holocaust Child-Survivors? R. Kilmer, Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth in Children. Part III: Clinical Applications of Posttraumatic Growth. R.G. Tedeschi, L.G. Calhoun, Expert Companions: Posttraumatic Growth in Clinical Practice. P.C. Fisher, The Link Between Posttraumatic Growth and Forgiveness: An Intuitive Truth. T. Zollner, A. Maercker, Posttraumic Growth and Psychotherapy. D. Meichenbaum, Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth: A Constructive Narrative Perspective.
Modelling the Spatial Distribution of DEM Error

Assessment of a DEM's quality is usually undertaken by deriving a measure of DEM accuracy – how close the DEM's elevation values are to the true elevation. Measures such as Root Mean Squared Error and standard deviation of the error are frequently used. These measures summarise elevation errors in a DEM as a single value. A more detailed description of DEM accuracy would allow better understanding of DEM quality and the consequent uncertainty associated with using DEMs in analytical applications. The research presented addresses the limitations of using a single root mean squared error (RMSE) value to represent the uncertainty associated with a DEM by developing a new technique for creating a spatially distributed model of DEM quality – an accuracy surface. The technique is based on the hypothesis that the distribution and scale of elevation error within a DEM are at least partly related to morphometric characteristics of the terrain. The technique involves generating a set of terrain parameters to characterise terrain morphometry and developing regression models to define the relationship between DEM error and morphometric character. The regression models form the basis for creating standard deviation surfaces to represent DEM accuracy. The hypothesis is shown to be true and reliable accuracy surfaces are successfully created. These accuracy surfaces provide more detailed information about DEM accuracy than a single global estimate of RMSE.
Automatic female dehumanization across the menstrual cycle

In this study, we investigate whether hormonal shifts during the menstrual cycle contribute to the dehumanization of other women and men. Female participants with different levels of likelihood of conception (LoC) completed a semantic priming paradigm in a lexical decision task. When the word 'woman' was the prime, animal words were more accessible in high versus low LoC whereas human words were more inhibited in the high versus low LoC. When the word 'man' was used as the prime, no difference was found in terms of accessibility between high and low LoC for either animal or human words. These results show that the female dehumanization is automatically elicited by menstrual cycle-related processes and likely associated with an enhanced activation of mate-attraction goals.
Windows of Political Opportunity: Institutional Instability and Gender Inequality in the World's National Legislatures

Although women remain underrepresented in national politics throughout the world, they have also made significant progress toward equality in recent decades. Yet, for the almost 2 billion women living under regimes with limited political rights and civil liberties, we know little about the processes that facilitate their entry into politics. One broad mechanism that may impact women under both democratic and closed systems is elite turnover. In this article, I compare two routes to elite turnover, elections and legislative interruptions, and assess their impact on women's parliamentary representation. Legislative interruptions refer to any undemocratic or unconstitutional break in a country's legislature lasting at least six months. I explore the effects of elections and legislative interruptions on women's parliamentary representation using data from the Women in Parliaments Longitudinal Project, which covers more than 150 countries. Analyzing the likelihood that women will achieve 10 percent in parliament between 1950 and 2000, I find that the effect of legislative interruptions is similar in magnitude to the effect of democratic elections. Although breaks lasting three to ten years increase the likelihood that women will reach the 10 percent threshold, the effect of the longest legislative breaks is negative. Interruptions are also less effective vehicles for representation when considering more significant barriers—15 percent and 20 percent women in parliament. Across each of these outcomes, frequent interruptions hinder women's political progress. In sum, nondemocratic routes to elite turnover can foster real gains in women's representation, but only when legislative breaks are rare. Furthermore, nondemocratic routes to elite turnover are ultimately less effective than regular democratic elections at facilitating high levels of women in politics.
To Bat or Not to Bat: An Examination of Contest Rules in Day-night Limited Overs Cricket

The tradition of tossing a coin to decide who bats first in a cricket match introduces a randomly-assigned advantage to one team that is unique in sporting contests. In this paper we develop previous work on this issue by examining the impact of the toss on outcomes of day-night one day international games explicitly allowing for relative team quality. We estimate conditional logit models of outcomes using data from day-night internationals played between 1979 and 2005. Other things equal, we find that winning the toss and batting increases the probability of winning by 31%. In contrast, winning the toss does not appear to confer any advantage if the team choose to bowl first.
Immigrant pupils in elementary classrooms of Cyprus: how teachers view them as learners of mathematics

Research in diverse mathematics classrooms suggests that pupils’ learning is influenced by both linguistic and cultural factors. In recent years, the demographics of Cypriot (mathematics) classrooms have become very diverse. In 2003, the Ministry of Education and Culture introduced the Zones of Educational Priorities, a UNESCO strategy for positive discrimination, to support schools with high proportions of immigrant pupils. This paper examines how elementary teachers in such schools see their immigrant pupils as learners of mathematics. The findings confirm two main factors identified in the literature (language and culture), yet the Cypriot teachers in this study share some particular views on how these features impact mathematics learning. Some recommendations for policy-making and future research are discussed at the end of this paper.
PD-L1 expression in EBV-negative diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: clinicopathologic features and prognostic implications

Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a cell surface glycoprotein that regulates the cellular immune response and serves as a targetable immune checkpoint molecule. PD-L1 is expressed on tumor cells and the immune microenvironment of several human malignancies, including a subset of aggressive lymphomas. We sought to investigate further the clinical and pathologic features of EBV-negative diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cases that express PD-L1. Immunohistochemical staining using an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody was performed on DLBCL cases from 86 patients. These patients received standard chemotherapy treatment and were followed for up to 175 months. Overall, 14 cases (16%) were considered positive for PD-L1 in tumor cells. In comparison with PD-L1 negative cases, PD-L1 positive cases had a higher rate of non-GCB type (71% vs. 30%, P=0.0060), and higher Ann Arbor stage (II-IV) (100% vs. 73%, P=0.0327). No significant differences were seen in the immunohistochemical expression of BCL2, MYC, or Ki67. Patients with tumors expressing PD-L1 demonstrated inferior overall survival (OS) upon long term follow up (P=0.0447). Both age/sex-adjusted and multivariate analyses identified PD-L1 as an independent predictor for OS (P=0.0101 and P=0.0424). There was no significant difference, however, in terms of remission rates after first treatment, relapse rates, and progression free survival between the groups. Identification of DLBCL cases that express PD-L1 may serve to select a subset of patients that could further benefit from targeted immunotherapy.
Israeli adolescents’ coping strategies in relation to terrorist attacks

ABSTRACT Exposure to terrorism seriously threatens the well-being of children and adolescents. Israeli citizens have witnessed massive ongoing terrorist attacks during the last few years. The present research, conducted among 330 Israeli adolescents, examined coping strategies in relation to terrorist attacks. We found that adolescents utilize more productive than non-productive coping strategies when dealing with terrorist attacks. Moreover, they rarely seek professional help. Male adolescents use more non-productive coping strategies and female adolescents seek more social support as a coping strategy. The impact of exposure to media reports and life satisfaction on adolescents' use of coping strategies is discussed, and potentially effective approaches to coping with terrorist attacks are proposed.