Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scafida: a scale-free network inspired data center architecture

Data centers have a crucial role in current Internet architecture supporting content-centric networking. State-of-the-art data centers have different architectures like fat-tree, DCell, or BCube. However, their architectures share a common property: symmetry. Due to their symmetric nature, a tricky point with these architectures is that they are hard to be extended in small quantities. Contrary to state-of-the-art data center architectures, we propose an asymmetric data center topology generation method called Scafida inspired by scale-free networks; these data centers have not only small diameters and high fault tolerance, inherited by scale-free networks, but can also be scaled in smaller and less homogenous increments. We extend the original scale-free network generation algorithm of Barabasi and Albert to meet the physical constraints of switches and routers. Despite the fact that our method artificially limits the node degrees in the network, our data center architectures keep the preferable properties of scale-free networks. Based on extensive simulations we present preliminary results that are promising regarding the error tolerance, scalability, and flexibility of the architecture.
Success with Struggling Readers: The Benchmark School Approach

Part 1: Struggling Readers. Searching for Answers to the Why and How of Struggling Readers. Introduction to Benchmark's Interactive Learning Model and Person Variables. Exploring the Strengths and Challenges of Struggling Readers: Personality, Temperament, Emotion, Motivation, and Volition. Exploring the Strengths and Challenges of Struggling Readers: Intelligence, Physical Development, and Health. Part 2: Context and Theories of Learning. The Context for Learning: Teacher Knowledge, Classroom Culture, and Instruction. The Context for Learning: Sociocultural, Task, and Text Variables. Learning Principles about the Interaction of Variables, Explicit Instruction, and Social Activity. Learning Principles That Guide Instruction: Developmental, Motivational, and Accountability Issues. Learning Principles to Share with Students. Part 3: Classroom Implementation. Strategies for Reading Words: Teaching Phonemic Awareness, Decoding, and Fluency. Activities That Reinforce Word Detective Practices. Comprehension Strategies. Explicit Explanations of Comprehension Strategies for Grades 1--8. Rationale for Teaching Concepts, Essential Understandings, and Knowledge Structures. Afterword: Five Major Insights from 45 Years of Teaching Struggling Readers.
How Sweet It Is: Intestinal Sweet Taste Receptors in Type 2 Diabetes

In humans, there are a number of taste receptors on the tongue. These include G protein–coupled receptors (GPRs) for sweet, bitter, and umami (savory) tastes and ion channel–based receptors for salt and sour. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the distribution and function of these receptors elsewhere in the body (1). This has led to interesting and occasionally surprising findings, some with potential therapeutic implications (e.g., activation of bitter taste receptors in the airway’s smooth muscle causes bronchodilation, suggesting a novel target for asthma therapy) (2). Of particular interest in the area of diabetes and obesity is the role of sweet taste receptors (STRs) in the intestine (3,4). The upper gastrointestinal tract is well-endowed with taste and fat receptors, with sweet taste being detected, as elsewhere, by a heterodimer of the taste 1 receptor (T1R) family, T1R2/T1R3. These receptors have been localized to intestinal brush and enteroendocrine cells, and are coupled with α-gustducin as the α-subunit of the G protein (Fig. 1). They recognize sugars, d-amino acids, sweet proteins, and artificial sweeteners. Of importance to a possible role in the incretin response, these receptors are colocalized with glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and L cells containing peptide YY (PYY) and K cells containing glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) (3). Incidentally, fatty acid responsive GPRs are also coupled to GLP-1 release, but are found predominantly …
Deficiency in CD22, a B Cell–specific Inhibitory Receptor, Is Sufficient to Predispose to Development of High Affinity Autoantibodies

CD22 is a B cell–specific transmembrane glycoprotein that acts to dampen signals generated through the B cell antigen receptor (BCR): B cells from CD22-deficient mice give increased Ca2+ fluxes on BCR ligation. Here we show that this B cell hyperresponsiveness correlates with the development of autoantibodies. After the age of eight months, CD22-deficient mice developed high titers of serum IgG directed against double-stranded DNA; these antibodies were of multiclonal origin, somatically mutated, and high affinity. Increased titers of antibodies to cardiolipin and myeloperoxidase were also noted. The results demonstrate that a single gene defect exclusive to B lymphocytes is, without additional contrivance, sufficient to trigger autoantibody development in a large proportion of aging animals. Thus, CD22 might have evolved specifically to regulate B cell triggering thresholds for the avoidance of autoimmunity.
Do different industries report Corporate Social Responsibility differently? An investigation through the lens of stakeholder theory

The social responsibility of business has become a major issue in recent years and the reporting of such activity is becoming more prevalent. Companies are attuning to the benefits of being seen as socially responsibly and many industries are jumping on the bandwagon of reporting CSR and using different media to communicate their activities in this arena to their stakeholders. This paper considers the content of one type of such communications, the annual report, and looks at how organisations are taking a focused stakeholder view of CSR rather than a wider view as would be expected from the ambiguity of definitions of the concept. Differences in reporting practices were found by an analysis of the annual and CSR reports of 28 FTSE4Good firms focusing on a variety of industries. Findings show that there is a significant difference between how organisations in different industries report on CSR consistent with a stakeholder view of CSR, and that this reporting follows for the most part the expectations of the CSR communications literature. It is suggested that firms report on CSR in line with what their key stakeholders expect, thus giving evidence for CSR reporting as another tool in the marketing communicators toolbox.
Validity of Quinpirole Sensitization Rat Model of OCD: Linking Evidence from Animal and Clinical Studies

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder with 1–3% prevalence. OCD is characterized by recurrent thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions). The pathophysiology of OCD remains unclear, stressing the importance of pre-clinical studies. The aim of this article is to critically review a proposed animal model of OCD that is characterized by the induction of compulsive checking and behavioral sensitization to the D2/D3 dopamine agonist quinpirole. Changes in this model have been reported at the level of brain structures, neurotransmitter systems and other neurophysiological aspects. In this review, we consider these alterations in relation to the clinical manifestations in OCD, with the aim to discuss and evaluate axes of validity of this model. Our analysis shows that some axes of validity of quinpirole sensitization model (QSM) are strongly supported by clinical findings, such as behavioral phenomenology or roles of brain structures. Evidence on predictive validity is contradictory and ambiguous. It is concluded that this model is useful in the context of searching for the underlying pathophysiological basis of the disorder because of the relatively strong biological similarities with OCD.
Dynamic Regulation of H3K27 Trimethylation during Arabidopsis Differentiation

During growth of multicellular organisms, identities of stem cells and differentiated cells need to be maintained. Cell fate is epigenetically controlled by the conserved Polycomb-group (Pc-G) proteins that repress their target genes by catalyzing histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). Although H3K27me3 is associated with mitotically stable gene repression, a large fraction of H3K27me3 target genes are tissue-specifically activated during differentiation processes. However, in plants it is currently unclear whether H3K27me3 is already present in undifferentiated cells and dynamically regulated to permit tissue-specific gene repression or activation. We used whole-genome tiling arrays to identify the H3K27me3 target genes in undifferentiated cells of the shoot apical meristem and in differentiated leaf cells. Hundreds of genes gain or lose H3K27me3 upon differentiation, demonstrating dynamic regulation of an epigenetic modification in plants. H3K27me3 is correlated with gene repression, and its release preferentially results in tissue-specific gene activation, both during differentiation and in Pc-G mutants. We further reveal meristem- and leaf-specific targeting of individual gene families including known but also likely novel regulators of differentiation and stem cell regulation. Interestingly, H3K27me3 directly represses only specific transcription factor families, but indirectly activates others through H3K27me3-mediated silencing of microRNA genes. Furthermore, H3K27me3 targeting of genes involved in biosynthesis, transport, perception, and signal transduction of the phytohormone auxin demonstrates control of an entire signaling pathway. Based on these and previous analyses, we propose that H3K27me3 is one of the major determinants of tissue-specific expression patterns in plants, which restricts expression of its direct targets and promotes gene expression indirectly by repressing miRNA genes.
Visual Marketing: From Attention to Action

M. Wedel, R. Pieters, Introduction to Visual Marketing. Part 1. Visual Attention and Perception. K. Rayner, M.S. Castelhano, Eye Movements During Reading, Scene Perception, Visual Search and While Looking at Print Advertisements. R. Pieters, M. Wedel, The Informativeness of Eye-Movements for Visual Marketing: Six Cornerstones. N.T. Tavassoli, The Effect of Selecting and Ignoring on Liking. Part 2. Visual Cognition. E.F. McQuarrie, Differentiating the Pictorial Element in Advertising: A Rhetorical Perspective. E. Greenleaf, P. Raghubir, Geometry in the Market Place. P. Raghubir, Are Visual Perception Biases Hard-Wired? A. Krishna, Spatial Perception Research: An Integrative Review of Length, Area, Volume, and Number Perception. Part 3. Action and Choice. J. Meyers-Levy, R. Zhu, Perhaps the Store Made You Purchase It: Toward an Understanding of Structural Aspects of Indoor Shopping Environments. P. Chandon, J.W. Hutchinson, E.T. Bradlow, S.H. Young, Measuring the Value of Point-of-Purchase Marketing with Commercial Eye-Tracking Data. H. Cho, N. Schwarz, H. Song, Images and Preference: A Feeling-as-Information Analysis. Epilogue. C. Janiszewski, Rethinking Visual Communication Research: Updating Old Constructs and Considering New Metaphors.
Good Readers Get Smart: Reading Orientations in a Second-Grade Classroom

The primary goal of this research is to better understand my students' reading orientations – what they believe it means to be a successful reader. I also seek to identify the relationship between those beliefs and my teaching. The data come primarily from six focal students in my second-grade classroom in an urban public charter elementary school in Oakland, California. Focal students were observed, interviewed, and asked to discuss and rank vignettes of readers with varying reading behaviors, skills, and habits. In addition, I drew on systematic reflections about my own teaching and students. Results showed that focal students shared reading orientations toward aspects of fluency, such as accuracy, and knowledge-level comprehension skills, such as retelling events from a story. Results also showed that students' responses correlated closely with teaching points emphasized both within my classroom and around the school. These results, in combination with data from observations, led me to discover that students' reading orientations may have both public and private aspects. In other words, their stated preferences might differ from their private inclinations. These findings suggest that teachers need to be organized and intentional around the messages that they send to students about successful reading. They also suggest that teachers create environments in which various purposes and reading behaviors are valued.
Defect formation energies without the band-gap problem: combining density-functional theory and the GW approach for the silicon self-interstitial.

We present an improved method to calculate defect formation energies that overcomes the band-gap problem of Kohn-Sham density-functional theory (DFT) and reduces the self-interaction error of the local-density approximation (LDA) to DFT. We demonstrate for the silicon self-interstitial that combining LDA with quasiparticle energy calculations in the G0W0 approach increases the defect formation energy of the neutral charge state by approximately 1.1 eV, which is in good agreement with diffusion Monte Carlo calculations (E. R. Batista, Phys. Rev. B 74, 121102(R) (2006)10.1103/PhysRevB.74. 121102; W. -K. Leung Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2351 (1999)10.1103/PhysRevLett.83. 2351). Moreover, the G0W0-corrected charge transition levels agree well with recent measurements.
Multimodal Biometrics by Face and Hand Images Taken by a Cell Phone Camera

This paper presents a multimodal approach for a biometrics verification system. It is based on face and hand images captured by a cell phone. The algorithm includes all parts that are required for face and hand verification, such as feature extraction, classification and authentication. To find local facial features, such as eyes, mouth and nose, we apply a point distribution model and active shape models. We use the same system to find distinctive points in hand geometry. The face feature vector is constructed by applying a Gabor filter to the image and extracting the key points found by an active shape model. The palm feature vector contains characteristics of the hand geometry features. A support vector machine (SVM) is applied to verify the identity of the user. One SVM machine is built for each person in the database to distinguish that person from others. To test the algorithm we built our own database containing face and hand images taken by a cell phone camera. The database contains 480 frontal face images and 120 hand images of 30 persons (16 face images and 4 hand images per person).
The Effects of Ageing on Differentiation and Characterisation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

BACKGROUND Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are unique in their ability to self-renew and differentiate into one of many lineage possibilities. It is therefore integral to preserve these qualities to prevent the far reaching effects of a defective stem cell. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) are precursors for and can differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes and chondrocytes. They were originally found in the bone marrow, but have also been located in the umbilical cord, adipose tissue and muscle. Few studies have been conducted into the in vivo effects of age on these cells. This contribution reviews current knowledge surrounding the effects of age on the characteriation and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. METHOD 471 articles were found using a combination of Online published articles from January 1983 to January 2016 were searched using the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct databases. There were no existing systematic reviews on this research topic. RESULTS Nine studies were identified that met the predefined selection criteria. Three studies were used to assess the effects of ageing on characterisation of hMSC with no conclusive results. The cumulative results of these studies show that the effect of ageing on characterisation of hMSC remains inconclusive. Seven studies were used to assess the differentiation potentials of hMSC showing that age either decreased or altered lineage preference in hMSC differentiation. CONCLUSION There is indication that ageing affects hMSC characterisation and differentiation, however it is not conclusive. There are not enough high quality controlled clinical trials to make reliable conclusions.
Mottled Mice and Non-Mammalian Models of Menkes Disease

Menkes disease is a multi-systemic copper metabolism disorder caused by mutations in the X-linked ATP7A gene and characterized by progressive neurodegeneration and severe connective tissue defects. The ATP7A protein is a copper (Cu)-transporting ATPase expressed in all tissues and plays a critical role in the maintenance of copper homeostasis in cells of the whole body. ATP7A participates in copper absorption in the small intestine and in copper transport to the central nervous system (CNS) across the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) and blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). Cu is essential for synaptogenesis and axonal development. In cells, ATP7A participates in the incorporation of copper into Cu-dependent enzymes during the course of its maturation in the secretory pathway. There is a high degree of homology (>80%) between the human ATP7A and murine Atp7a genes. Mice with mutations in the Atp7a gene, called mottled mutants, are well-established and excellent models of Menkes disease. Mottled mutants closely recapitulate the Menkes phenotype and are invaluable for studying Cu-metabolism. They provide useful models for exploring and testing new forms of therapy in Menkes disease. Recently, non-mammalian models of Menkes disease, Drosophila melanogaster and Danio rerio mutants were used in experiments which would be technically difficult to carry out in mammals.
Serum ferritin levels in adults with sickle cell disease in Lagos, Nigeria

Background Serum ferritin is considered to be one of the most important tools in the measurement of iron balance in steady-state sickle cell disease. Increased gastrointestinal absorption of iron has been reported in sickle cell disease because of the associated chronic hemolysis, and it is also thought that repeated red cell transfusion consequent to chronic hemolysis and anemia causes excessive iron levels. The aim of this study was to determine overall and gender-specific mean ferritin levels in patients with steady-state sickle cell disease in order to establish the prevalence of iron deficiency and overload. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in homozygous patients with sickle cell disease attending the sickle cell clinic at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. A 5 mL blood sample was collected in plain bottles from consenting participants during steady-state periods. The serum was separated and analyzed for ferritin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Another 5 mL sample was collected for a full blood count, done on the same day of collection, to determine red blood cell indices, ie, mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. The Pearson Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. The differences were considered to be statistically significant when P was <0.05. Results In total, 103 patients were recruited for this study and comprised 58 women (56.40%) and 45 men (43.70%). The overall mean ferritin concentration was 93.72 ± 92.24 ng/mL. The mean ferritin concentration in the women was 92.00 ± 88.07 ng/mL and in men was 96.41 ± 99.80 ng/mL. Only eight (7.76%) of the 103 patients had a serum ferritin level < 15 ng/mL, while two subjects (1.94%) had a serum a ferritin level > 300 ng/mL. Ninety-three subjects (90.29%) had serum ferritin within the normal reference range of 15–300 ng/mL. Conclusion In this study, 90% of subjects with sickle cell disease had normal iron stores; serum ferritin was higher in men than in women, and iron deficiency was more common than overload in the disease.
Preparedness of Teachers to Maintain Discipline in the Absence of Corporal Punishment in Bondo District Kenya

Discipline of students is critical to educators, parents, and the society as a whole. Secondary schools in Kenya have experienced problems of student discipline for along time. In the year 2001 alone, after the government had banned the use of corporal punishment in schools, 253 schools all over the country went on strike. Most people attributed the trend of strikes in schools to the ban on corporal punishment. While the schools all over the country were portraying a trend of violence, those in Bondo district in Nyanza province appeared incredibly calm with only one case of student strike reported in five years. The study set to find out how the teacher managed student discipline in public secondary schools in Bondo district. The study used survey research design and targeted 40 public secondary schools. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 3 boys’ schools, 2 girls’ and 8 mixed secondary schools for study. A total of 13 secondary schools were sampled. Saturated sampling was used to select all the 13 head teachers, 13 deputy head teachers and 13 heads of guidance and counseling. 26 classroom teachers were selected by simple random and convenient sampling technique, while the students were stratified per class and then 780 of them were selected based on simple random sampling from forms 2, 3 and 4 classes. Form 1 class did not participate in the study because they had just reported in school. Questionnaires, in-depth interview schedules and school documents on discipline were used to collect data. The face and contents of the instruments were validated by experts in the department of educational management in Maseno University and tried out in 2 secondary schools twice at intervals of two weeks in order to determine their ability to generate accurate data. Data were mainly analyzed using basic descriptive statistics like frequencies and mean. Some data from interview schedules were organized into themes and reported verbatim as they emerged from the field. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013. v3n2p123
General Video Game Level Generation

This paper presents a framework and an initial study in general video game level generation, the problem of generating levels for not only a single game but for any game within a specified range. While existing level generators are tailored to a particular game, this new challenge requires generators to take into account the constraints and affordances of games that might not even have been designed when the generator was constructed. The framework presented here builds on the General Video Game AI framework (GVG-AI) and the Video Game Description Language (VGDL), in order to reap synergies from research activities connected to the General Video Game Playing Competition. The framework will also form the basis for a new track of this competition. In addition to the framework, the paper presents three general level generators and an empirical comparison of their qualities.