Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-Efficacy, Satisfaction, and Academic Achievement: The Mediator Role of Students' Expectancy-Value Beliefs

Although there is considerable evidence to support the direct effects of self-efficacy beliefs on academic achievement, very few studies have explored the motivational mechanism that mediates the self-efficacy–achievement relationship, and they are necessary to understand how and why self-efficacy affects students' academic achievement. Based on a socio-cognitive perspective of motivation, this study examines the relationships among academic self-efficacy, students' expectancy-value beliefs, teaching process satisfaction, and academic achievement. Its main aim is to identify some motivational-underlying processes through which students' academic self-efficacy affects student achievement and satisfaction. Student achievement and satisfaction are two of the most important learning outcomes, and are considered key indicators of education quality. The sample comprises 797 Spanish secondary education students from 36 educational settings and three schools. The scales that referred to self-efficacy and expectancy-value beliefs were administered at the beginning of the course, while student satisfaction and achievement were measured at the end of the course. The data analysis was conducted by structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that students' expectancy-value beliefs (Subject value, Process expectancy, Achievement expectancy, Cost expectancy) played a mediator role between academic self-efficacy and the achievement/satisfaction relationship. These results provided empirical evidence to better understand the mechanism that mediates self-efficacy–achievement and efficacy–course satisfaction relationships. The implications of these findings for teaching and learning in secondary education are discussed.
On nonintrusive speech quality estimation for hearing aids

Assessment and monitoring of speech quality in assistive hearing devices is of great interest to Audiologists, hearing researchers, device manufacturers and consumers. While subjective assessment of device quality is the “gold standard”, objective speech quality evaluation methods that emulate subjective perception are attractive for their efficiency and ease of use. This paper focuses on data-driven, non-intrusive speech quality metrics for potential application in hearing aids (HAs), using a custom database of HA speech recordings acquired in different noisy and reverberant environments. A large set of speech specific features were extracted from HA recordings, followed by a dimensionality reduction procedure to identify the most relevant features for quality prediction. The selected features are subsequently mapped to predicted quality scores and validated with subjective ratings obtained from hearing impaired listeners. Results showed that the non-intrusive metrics perform well in HA speech quality prediction.
Uva-dare (digital Academic Repository) a Systems Biology Approach to Deciphering the Etiology of Steatosis Employing Patient-derived Dermal Fibroblasts and Ips Cells

A systems biology approach to deciphering the etiology of steatosis employing patient-derived dermal fibroblasts and iPS cells. (2012). A systems biology approach to deciphering the etiology of steatosis employing patient-derived dermal fibroblasts and iPS cells. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease comprises a broad spectrum of disease states ranging from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. As a result of increases in the prevalences of obesity, insulin resistance, and hyperlipidemia, the number of people with hepatic steatosis continues to increase. Differences in susceptibility to steatohepatitis and its progression to cirrhosis have been attributed to a complex interplay of genetic and external factors all addressing the intracellular network. Increase in sugar or refined carbohydrate consumption results in an increase of insulin and insulin resistance that can lead to the accumulation of fat in the liver. Here we demonstrate how a multidisciplinary approach encompassing cellular reprogramming, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, modeling, network reconstruction, and data management can be employed to unveil the mechanisms underlying the progression of steatosis. Proteomics revealed reduced AKT/mTOR signaling in fibroblasts derived from steatosis patients and further establishes that the insulin-resistant phenotype is present not only in insulin-metabolizing central organs, e.g., the liver, but is also manifested in skin fibroblasts. Transcriptome data enabled the generation of a regulatory network based on the transcription factor SREBF1, linked to a metabolic network of glycerolipid, and fatty acid biosynthesis including the downstream transcriptional targets of SREBF1 which include LIPIN1 (LPIN) and low density lipoprotein receptor. Glutathione metabolism was among the pathways enriched in steatosis patients in comparison to healthy controls. By using a model of the glutathione pathway we predict a significant increase in the flux through glutathione synthesis as both gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase and glutathione synthetase have an increased flux. We anticipate that a larger cohort of patients and matched controls will confirm our preliminary findings presented here.
The SAC Domain-Containing Protein Gene Family in Arabidopsis1

The SAC domain was first identified in the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Sac1p phosphoinositide phosphatase protein and subsequently found in a number of proteins from yeast and animals. The SAC domain is approximately 400 amino acids in length and is characterized by seven conserved motifs. The SAC domains of several proteins have been recently demonstrated to possess phosphoinositide phosphatase activities. Sac1p has been shown to regulate the levels of various phosphoinositides in the phosphoinositide pool and affect diverse cellular functions such as actin cytoskeleton organization, Golgi function, and maintenance of vacuole morphology. The Arabidopsis genome contains a total of nine genes encoding SAC domain-containing proteins (AtSACs). The SAC domains of the AtSACs possess the conserved amino acid motifs that are believed to be important for the phosphoinositide phosphatase activities of yeast and animal SAC domain proteins. AtSACs can be divided into three subgroups based on their sequence similarities, hydropathy profiles, and phylogenetic relationship. Gene expression analysis demonstrated that the AtSAC genes exhibited differential expression patterns in different organs and, in particular, the AtSAC6 gene was predominantly expressed in flowers. Moreover, the expression of the AtSAC6 gene was highly induced by salinity. These results provide a foundation for future studies on the elucidation of the cellular functions of SAC domain-containing proteins in Arabidopsis.
Alcohol consumption and sickness absence: evidence from microdata.

BACKGROUND Aggregate time-series evidence has shown that overall per capita alcohol consumption is associated with sickness absence. This study re-examines the relationship between alcohol consumption and sickness absence by using individual-level microdata and methods that yield results which are less likely to be due to spurious correlations. METHODS Data on sickness absence and alcohol consumption for 18 Finnish regions over the period 1993-2005 was used. Sickness absence was measured as the number of sickness absence days during 1 year. Alcohol consumption was measured as the number of alcohol drinks consumed per week. The individual-level relationship between alcohol consumption and sickness absence was estimated by using Poisson regression models. Unobserved determinants of lifestyle behaviours associated with the region and survey year were controlled for. Personal characteristics as well as the clustering of observations by regions were also taken into account. RESULTS The estimates show that alcohol consumption is associated with sickness absence. The positive relationship between alcohol consumption and sickness absence is particularly pronounced for low-educated males. CONCLUSIONS Aggregate time-series evidence for the relationship between alcohol consumption and sickness absence is confirmed by using individual-level microdata. The policy lesson is that it is important to take into account the effects of alcohol consumption on the prevalence of sickness absence (i.e. labour supply on an intensive margin) when one is considering the level of taxation of alcoholic beverages.
Categorizing Biases in High-Confidence High-Throughput Protein-Protein Interaction Data Sets*

We characterized and evaluated the functional attributes of three yeast high-confidence protein-protein interaction data sets derived from affinity purification/mass spectrometry, protein-fragment complementation assay, and yeast two-hybrid experiments. The interacting proteins retrieved from these data sets formed distinct, partially overlapping sets with different protein-protein interaction characteristics. These differences were primarily a function of the deployed experimental technologies used to recover these interactions. This affected the total coverage of interactions and was especially evident in the recovery of interactions among different functional classes of proteins. We found that the interaction data obtained by the yeast two-hybrid method was the least biased toward any particular functional characterization. In contrast, interacting proteins in the affinity purification/mass spectrometry and protein-fragment complementation assay data sets were over- and under-represented among distinct and different functional categories. We delineated how these differences affected protein complex organization in the network of interactions, in particular for strongly interacting complexes (e.g. RNA and protein synthesis) versus weak and transient interacting complexes (e.g. protein transport). We quantified methodological differences in detecting protein interactions from larger protein complexes, in the correlation of protein abundance among interacting proteins, and in their connectivity of essential proteins. In the latter case, we showed that minimizing inherent methodology biases removed many of the ambiguous conclusions about protein essentiality and protein connectivity. We used these findings to rationalize how biological insights obtained by analyzing data sets originating from different sources sometimes do not agree or may even contradict each other. An important corollary of this work was that discrepancies in biological insights did not necessarily imply that one detection methodology was better or worse, but rather that, to a large extent, the insights reflected the methodological biases themselves. Consequently, interpreting the protein interaction data within their experimental or cellular context provided the best avenue for overcoming biases and inferring biological knowledge.
Threats to 5G Group-based Authentication

The fifth generation wireless system (5G) is expected to handle an unpredictable number of heterogeneous connected devices and to guarantee at least the same level of security provided by the contemporary wireless standards, including the Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol. The current AKA protocol has not been designed to efficiently support a very large number of devices. Hence, a new group-based AKA protocol is expected to be one of the security enhancement introduced in 5G. In this paper, we advance the group-based AKA threat model, reflecting previously neglected security risks. The threat model presented in the paper paves the way for the design of more secure protocols.
Benzyl 3-[(E)-benzylidene]dithiocarbazate

Crystals of the title compound, C15H14N2S2, were obtained from a condensation reaction of benzyl dithiocarbazate and benzaldehyde. The molecule assumes an E configuration about the N=C double bond. The phenyl ring of the thioester group is nearly perpendicular to the dithiocarbazate plane, with a dihedral angle of 84.60 (5)°. In the crystal structure, intermolecular N—H⋯S hydrogen bonding links adjacent molecules to form a centrosymmetric supramolecular dimer.
Functional Hallmarks of GABAergic Synapse Maturation and the Diverse Roles of Neurotrophins

Functional impairment of the adult brain can result from deficits in the ontogeny of GABAergic synaptic transmission. Gene defects underlying autism spectrum disorders, Rett’s syndrome or some forms of epilepsy, but also a diverse set of syndromes accompanying perinatal trauma, hormonal imbalances, intake of sleep-inducing or mood-improving drugs or, quite common, alcohol intake during pregnancy can alter GABA signaling early in life. The search for therapeutically relevant endogenous molecules or exogenous compounds able to alleviate the consequences of dysfunction of GABAergic transmission in the embryonic or postnatal brain requires a clear understanding of its site- and state-dependent development. At the level of single synapses, it is necessary to discriminate between presynaptic and postsynaptic alterations, and to define parameters that can be regarded as both suitable and accessible for the quantification of developmental changes. Here we focus on the performance of GABAergic synapses in two brain structures, the hippocampus and the superior colliculus, describe some novel aspects of neurotrophin effects during the development of GABAergic synaptic transmission and examine the applicability of the following rules: (1) synaptic transmission starts with GABA, (2) nascent/immature GABAergic synapses operate in a ballistic mode (multivesicular release), (3) immature synaptic terminals release vesicles with higher probability than mature synapses, (4) immature GABAergic synapses are prone to paired pulse and tetanic depression, (5) synapse maturation is characterized by an increasing dominance of synchronous over asynchronous release, (6) in immature neurons GABA acts as a depolarizing transmitter, (7) synapse maturation implies inhibitory postsynaptic current shortening due to an increase in alpha1 subunit expression, (8) extrasynaptic (tonic) conductances can inhibit the development of synaptic (phasic) GABA actions.
Assessing DNA recovery from chewing gum

The purpose of this study was to evaluate which DNA extraction method yields the highest quantity of DNA from chewing gum. In this study, several popular extraction methods were tested, including Chelex-100, phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (PCIA), DNA IQ, PrepFiler, and QIAamp Investigator, and the quantity of DNA recovered from chewing gum was determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction with Quantifiler. Chewed gum control samples were submitted by anonymous healthy adult donors, and discarded environmental chewing gum samples simulating forensic evidence were collected from outside public areas (e.g., campus bus stops, streets, and sidewalks). As expected, results indicate that all methods tested yielded sufficient amplifiable human DNA from chewing gum using the wet-swab method. The QIAamp performed best when DNA was extracted from whole pieces of control gum (142.7 ng on average), and the DNA IQ method performed best on the environmental whole gum samples (29.0 ng on average). On average, the QIAamp kit also recovered the most DNA from saliva swabs. The PCIA method demonstrated the highest yield with wet swabs of the environmental gum (26.4 ng of DNA on average). However, this method should be avoided with whole gum samples (no DNA yield) due to the action of the organic reagents in dissolving and softening the gum and inhibiting DNA recovery during the extraction.
Simulation of growth and development of irrigated cowpea in Piauí State by CROPGRO model

The objective of this work was to adapt the CROPGRO model, which is part of the DSSAT system, for simulating the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) growth and development under soil and climate conditions of the Baixo Parnaiba region, Piaui State, Brazil. In the CROPGRO, only input parameters that define crop species, cultivars, and ecotype were changed in order to characterize the cowpea crop. Soil and climate files were created for the considered site. Field experiments without water deficit were used to calibrate the model. In these experiments, dry matter (DM), leaf area index (LAI), yield components and grain yield of cowpea (cv. BR 14 Mulato) were evaluated. The results showed good fit for DM and LAI estimates. The medium values of R2 and medium absolute error (MAE) were, respectively, 0.95 and 264.9 kg ha-1 for DM, and 0.97 and 0.22 for LAI. The difference between observed and simulated values of plant phenology varied from 0 to 3 days. The model also presented good performance for yield components simulation, excluding 100-grain weight, for which the error ranged from 20.9% to 34.3%. Considering the medium values of crop yield in two years, the model presented an error from 5.6%.
Research Paper No . 2005 / 66 Tax Reforms in Ghana

Ghana’s tax reforms constitute the major policy instrument needed to accelerate growth and poverty reduction. Over the past two decades, the government has consistently spent more revenue than it is able to generate and the gap is often financed with foreign aid which has perpetuated the country’s aid dependency. Two options can be explored to reduce the gap between government revenue and expenditure; generate more revenue or reduce government expenditure. Although the latter sounds reasonable, the government needs to spend more on key sectors like education, health and infrastructure if the country is to significantly reduce poverty. The critical issue has been how to generate the needed resources domestically, using tax instruments that are least harmful to the poor. This will obviously involve reforming the tax system to ensure efficiency by widening the tax net without necessarily increasing the tax rate. This paper provides an assessment of the changing structure of the tax system in Ghana over the last two decades and suggests ways to improve tax administration in the country.
Preparation of Hybrid Materials Containing M(II)Pc (M = Fe, Co, Ni)/Nylon films with Optical and Electrical Properties

Hybrid materials consisting of M(II)Pc (M = Fe, Co, Ni) particles dispersed in nylon 11 films have been prepared by using a thermal relaxation technique. The obtained films are characterized by AFM, SEM and TEM, and their structural composition is determined by IR spectroscopy and EDS. The M(II)Pc particles are homogeneously distributed in the nylon 11 matrix after heat treatment. Optical absorption studies of the hybrid films are performed in the 200 - 1150 nm wavelength range. The band-model theory is applied to determine the optical parameters for MPc/nylon 11 hybrid films. The optical band gap of the thin films is determined from the (αhν)1/2 vs. hν plots for indirectly allowing transitions and comparing with the as-deposited M(II)Pc thin films. The values of the optical band gap calculated from the absorption spectra, range between 1.07 and 2.7 eV. The electrical conductivity is measured in order to evaluate the conductivity behavior of these hybrid films.
Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in Chicken Production Chain in Thailand

บทคดยอ การศกษาความชกโรคของลสเตอรเรย โมโนซยโตจเนส ตลอดหวงโซการผลตภณฑเนอไก และผลตภณฑของประเทศไทย ตงแตปพ. ศ. 2547-2552 โดยเกบตวอยางจำนวน 14,670 ตวอยางจากฟารมพอแมพนธ 43 ฟารม โรงฟกไข 32 โรงฟก ฟารมไกกระทง 1331ฟารม โรงฆาสตวปก 22 โรงงาน และโรงงานแปรรปเนอไก 22 โรงงาน ตวอยางทใชในการศกษา ไดแก วสดรองพน อาหารไก นำกน และนำใชในฟารมพอแมพนธ และฟารมไกกระทง ตวอยางสำลปายเชอจากถาดไขฟก และมลของลกไกทฟกออกใหมในโรงฟกไข ตวอยางสำลปายเชอจากกนไกกอนฆา และเนอไกแชแขงจากโรงฆาสตวปก และตวอยางผลตภณฑเนอไกสำเรจรปพรอมบรโภคจากโรงงานแปรรปเนอไก ผลการศกษาครงน ไมพบการปนเปอนเชอ ลสเตอรเรย โมโนซยโตจเนส ในตวอยางทเกบจากฟารม และโรงฟกไข แตสามารถแยกเชอดงกลาวจากตวอยางเนอไก และผลตภณฑเนอไก จำนวน 59 (รอยละ 2.5) และ 2 (รอยละ 0.2) ตวอยาง ตามลำดบ บงชวาไกไมไดนำเชอเขาสโรงฆาสตวปก ซงเปนการชนำวาการปฏบตในขนตอนการผลตไกขนตน ไมใชสาเหตการปนเปอนของเชอนในเนอไกและผลตภณฑเนอไกพรอมบรโภค แตการปนเปอนเชอ ลสเตอรเรย โมโนซยโตจเนส อาจเกดจากความบกพรองในการจดการสขอนามย และสขาภบาลทดภายในโรงงาน และ/ หรอ ขาดขนตอนการผลตทด คำสำคญ: หวงโซการผลตเนอไกของประเทศไทย ลสเตอรเรย โมโนซยโตจเนส ความชกโรค Abstract This study was conducted from 2004 to 2009 to investigate the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in thechicken production chain in Thailand from primary production stages to processing plants. A total of 14,670 sampleswere taken from 43 breeder farms, 32 hatcheries, 1331 broiler farms, 22 slaughterhouses and 22 ready-to-eat (RTE)chicken products from processing plants. Various types of samples were collected: soiled litter, water, and chickenfeed from breeder and broiler farms; swabs and mecomium from hatcheries; cloacal swabs and fresh frozen chickenmeat from slaughterhouses; and RTE chicken products from processing plants. This study showed that there was noL. monocytogenes contamination in the chicken production chain except in slaughterhouses and processing plants. Thisimplies that the chickens did not carry the organism into slaughterhouses, and consequently primary productionpractices were not responsible for the contamination of end products. This suggests that the observed L.monocytogenes contamination in 59 (2.5%) and 2 (0.2%) samples of fresh frozen chicken meat and RTE chickenproducts, respectively, was due to breakdowns in the application of good hygienic and/or good manufacturingpractices. Keywords: chicken production chain in Thailand, Listeria monocytogenes, Prevalence
A Hodgkin-Huxley model exhibiting bursting oscillations

We investigate bursting behaviour generated in an electrophysiological model of pituitary corticotrophs. The active and silent phases of this mode of bursting are generated by moving between two stable oscillatory solutions. The bursting is indirectly driven by slow modulation of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ concentration. The model exhibits different modes of bursting, and we investigate mode transitions and similar modes of bursting in other Hodgkin-Huxley models. Bifurcation analysis and the use of null-surfaces facilitate a geometric interpretation of the model bursting modes and action potential generation, respectively.
CMUcam3: An Open Programmable Embedded Vision Sensor

In this paper we present CMUcam3, a low-cost, open source, embedded computer vision platform. The CMUcam3 is the third generation of the CMUcam system and is designed to provide a flexible and easy to use open source development environment along with a more powerful hardware platform. The goal of the system is to provide simple vision capabilities to small embedded systems in the form of an intelligent sensor that is supported by an open source community. The hardware platform consists of a color CMOS camera, a frame buffer, a low cost 32bit ARM7TDMI microcontroller, and an MMC memory card slot. The CMUcam3 also includes 4 servo ports, enabling one to create entire, working robots using the CMUcam3 board as the only requisite robot processor. Custom C code can be developed using an optimized GNU toolchain and executables can be flashed onto the board using a serial port without external downloading hardware. The development platform includes a virtual camera target allowing for rapid application development exclusively on a PC. The software environment comes with numerous open source example applications and libraries including JPEG compression, frame differencing, color tracking, convolutions, histogramming, edge detection, servo control, connected component analysis, FAT file system support, and a face detector.