Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
De-Mystifying Inventive Thinking: A Survey With Pedagogic Implications

Students on an enterprise course running in a number of colleges in the UK in which invention and innovation formed part of the curriculum were asked to complete a questionnaire immediately upon having an inventive thought in an attempt to establish the thinking processes involved. Results from those who had ideas that subsequently proved to be genuinely inventive are presented in this paper. The results show that such thinking is most frequently categorised by the thinker in terms that suggest it is similar to other everyday modes of thought, rather than anything more mysterious. The implication of this research is that accessing the kind of creativity required to begin students inventing is not as problematic as has previously been assumed, although it can be made so by approaches that fail to take account of the need for problem construction and the need to overcome the inertia created by the extent to which invention has been mythologized in the minds of both students and teachers.
Geography and the Clinical Picture of Sickle Cell Disease

The first formal recognition of sickle cell disease was in a 20-year-old student from Grenada in the West Indies who was attending school in Chicago. ' Review of the first four cases reported in the United States noted that all were of African ancestrye2 The first cases reported from the African continent were from the Sudan3 and later from Ghana. ' The sickle cell gene was subsequently recognized to be widely distributed throughout equatorial Africa and to reach heterozygote frequencies as high as 30%40% in parts of Uganda, West Africa, and Zaire. This high prevalence in equatorial Africa and its predominance among populations of African origin in the Caribbean and the United States led to the belief that the sickle cell gene was confined to people of African origin and in some way racially linked. Subsequent knowledge shows this to be untrue.
Toward an Optimal Estimation of the SMOS Antenna-Frame Systematic Errors

After 2.5 years of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, the characterization of residual instrumental systematic errors in the measured brightness temperatures (TB) is still rather poor. This, in turn, negatively impacts the sea surface salinity retrievals and, as such, notably limits the mission's success. The error mitigation methodology currently used operationally, the so-called Ocean Target Transformation (OTT), mixes both instrumental and model-induced errors. In this paper, it is proposed to distinguish errors by their type of impact on the TB images: mean brightness level, incidence angle dependence, and azimuth angle dependence. A new approach to characterize the azimuth-dependent errors is proposed. First, a careful data selection strategy is applied. Then, an empirically fitted model, which only accounts for the TB incidence angle dependence, is subtracted from the mean TB images of the selected data sets to estimate the systematic antenna-frame errors. The robustness of this methodology is assessed through the estimated anomaly pattern stability when computed for different geophysical conditions, periods of time, and latitudinal bands. The residual variability ranges from 0.03 K to 0.14 K, whereas the OTT variability is about 0.5 K. The new method is forward model independent and generic. It can therefore be applied to estimate the antenna-frame systematic errors over land and ice. Moreover, it proves to be very effective in separating different sources of error and can therefore be used to further characterize other error components and improve the various SMOS forward model terms.
Tests of the Three-Path Mediated Effect

In a three-path mediational model, two mediators intervene in a series between an independent and a dependent variable. Methods of testing for mediation in such a model are generalized from the more often used single-mediator model. Six such methods are introduced and compared in a Monte Carlo study in terms of their Type I error, power, and coverage. Based on its results, the joint significance test is preferred when only a hypothesis test is of interest. The percentile bootstrap and bias-corrected bootstrap are preferred when a confidence interval on the mediated effect is desired, with the latter having more power but also slightly inflated Type I error in some conditions.
Methods for dealing with time‐dependent confounding

Longitudinal studies, where data are repeatedly collected on subjects over a period, are common in medical research. When estimating the effect of a time‐varying treatment or exposure on an outcome of interest measured at a later time, standard methods fail to give consistent estimators in the presence of time‐varying confounders if those confounders are themselves affected by the treatment. Robins and colleagues have proposed several alternative methods that, provided certain assumptions hold, avoid the problems associated with standard approaches. They include the g‐computation formula, inverse probability weighted estimation of marginal structural models and g‐estimation of structural nested models. In this tutorial, we give a description of each of these methods, exploring the links and differences between them and the reasons for choosing one over the others in different settings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Men's and Women's Evaluations of Communication Skills in Personal Relationships: When Sex Differences Make a Difference and when they don't

Much recent research on gender and communication has emphasized differences in men's and women's communicative conduct, with some theorists going so far as to claim that men and women constitute different cultures. However, comparatively little research has assessed both similarities and differences in men and women's communication to determine whether the sexes are more alike or different. The present paper provides such assessments with respect to men's and women's evaluations of the importance of diverse communication skills in two relationships, friendship and romance. Two studies are reported. In Study 1, participants (N = 382) evaluated the importance of eight communication skills in same-sex friendships. Results indicated that although females rated affectively oriented communication skills as somewhat more important than males and males rated instrumentally oriented skills as somewhat more important than females, both males and females overwhelmingly viewed affectively oriented skills as more important than instrumental skills. Study 2 sought to replicate and extend the findings of Study 1 by having participants ( N = 685) evaluate the importance of eight communication skills for either same-sex friendship or opposite-sex romances. Results virtually identical to those of Study 1 were obtained in Study 2 for both friendship and romance. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of communication in personal relation ships and the different cultures perspective.
Malignant lymphoma of the thyroid

Nine cases of malignant lymphoma of the thyroid are described; the clinical features and histological patterns are recorded and the latter related to results of serological tests for thyroid antibodies. The value of such tests in clinical assessment is discussed. The distribution of metastases and their predilection for the gastrointestinal tract is noted.
Brain tissue oxygen monitoring after severe traumatic brain injury in children: relationship to outcome and association with other clinical parameters.

OBJECT Minimizing secondary brain injuries after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children is critical to maximizing neurological outcome. Brain tissue oxygenation monitoring (as measured by interstitial partial pressure of O2 [PbO2]) is a new tool that may aid in guiding therapies, yet experience in children is limited. This study aims to describe the authors' experience of PbO2 monitoring after TBI. It was hypothesized that PbO2 thresholds could be established that were associated with favorable neurological outcome, and it was determined whether any relationships between PbO2 and other important clinical variables existed. METHODS Forty-six children with severe TBI (Glasgow coma scale score ≤ 8 after resuscitation) who underwent PbO2 and brain temperature monitoring between September 2004 and June 2008 were studied. All patients received standard neurocritical care, and 24 were concurrently enrolled in a trial of therapeutic early hypothermia (n = 12/group). The PbO2 was measured in the uninjured frontal cortex. Hourly recordings and calculated daily means of various variables including PbO2, intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), mean arterial blood pressure, partial pressure of arterial O2, and fraction of inspired O2 were compared using several statistical approaches. Glasgow outcome scale scores were determined at 6 months after injury. RESULTS The mean patient age was 9.4 years (range 0.1-16.5 years; 13 girls) and 8554 hours of monitoring were analyzed (PbO2 range 0.0-97.2 mm Hg). A PbO2 of 30 mm Hg was associated with the highest sensitivity/specificity for favorable neurological outcome at 6 months after TBI, yet CPP was the only factor that was independently associated with favorable outcome. Surprisingly, instances of preserved PbO2 with altered ICP and CPP were observed in some children with unfavorable outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Monitoring of PbO2 demonstrated complex interactions with clinical variables reflecting intracranial dynamics using this protocol. A higher threshold than reported in studies in adults was suggested as a potential therapeutic target, but this threshold was not associated with improved outcomes. Additional studies to assess the utility of PbO2 monitoring after TBI in children are needed.
Predictors and By-Products of Participation in a Mutual Help Group for Adult Children of Alcoholics

Abstract This prospective study examined correlates of participation in a mutual help group for 43 adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs). The mutual help group was based on A1-Anon guidelines and was delivered to the ACOAs during the first month that they were enrolled in a residential, substance abuse treatment program. Results indicated that age and self-esteem at baseline predicted level of participation in the mutual help group. In addition, level of participation in the group was associated with less relapse and more positive changes in status-based self-stigmatization and self-esteem at a six month follow-up assessment.
Segregating Shelter

Individuals participating in the HUD Housing Choice Voucher program, formerly Section 8, can rent units in the private market and are not tied to public housing projects in a specific neighborhood. We would expect vouchers to help poor families leave the ghetto and move to more diverse communities with higher socioeconomic opportunity, but many voucher holders remain concentrated in poor, segregated communities. We use longitudinal qualitative data from one hundred low-income African American families in Mobile, Alabama, to explore this phenomenon, finding that tenants’ limited housing search resources, involuntary mobility, landlord practices, and several aspects of the voucher program itself limit families’ ability to escape disadvantaged areas. We also find that the voucher program’s regulations and funding structures do not incentivize housing authorities to promote neighborhood mobility and residential choice. This combination of forces often keeps voucher recipients in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poor and minority residents.
Manifestation of Existential Issues As a Brilliant Function for Quality of Matrimony

There are some important issues in marital counselling which are discoursed in Existential thought. These issues are freedom, time, human communication, meaning of life, and anxiety, which are shared by the existential counsellors and philosophers. Even though there are full potentials of the existential issues to be applied during counselling sessions, most of them are ignored by couple counsellors. The purpose of this article is to highlight these issues as the key concepts in four different counselling theories of Existential thought. We found that, each theory used only certain issues as the key concepts. Therefore, this study gathers all of the applied existential issues for a future comprehensive marital counselling model. Applying these issues together seems to be a brilliant function for quality of matrimony.
Identification of Reliable Reference Genes for Quantification of MicroRNAs in Serum Samples of Sulfur Mustard-Exposed Veterans

Objective In spite of accumulating information about pathological aspects of sulfur mustard (SM), the precise mechanism responsible for its effects is not well understood. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are promising biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognosis. Accurate normalization using appropriate reference genes, is a critical step in miRNA expression studies. In this study, we aimed to identify appropriate reference gene for microRNA quantification in serum samples of SM victims. Materials and Methods In this case and control experimental study, using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), we evaluated the suitability of a panel of small RNAs including SNORD38B, SNORD49A, U6, 5S rRNA, miR-423-3p, miR-191, miR-16 and miR-103 in sera of 28 SM-exposed veterans of Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and 15 matched control volunteers. Different statistical algorithms including geNorm, Normfinder, best-keeper and comparative delta-quantification cycle (Cq) method were employed to find the least variable reference gene. Results miR-423-3p was identified as the most stably expressed reference gene, and miR- 103 and miR-16 ranked after that. Conclusion We demonstrate that non-miRNA reference genes have the least stabil- ity in serum samples and that some house-keeping miRNAs may be used as more reliable reference genes for miRNAs in serum. In addition, using the geometric mean of two reference genes could increase the reliability of the normalizers.
Effects of Construction Activities on Residential Electricity Consumption: Evidence from Singapore's Public Housing Estates

This study aims to empirically test the effects of negative environmental externalities (i.e. noise pollution) due to construction activities within half to one kilometer (km) radius and how households react to such externalities by increasing the use of air-conditioners to mitigate noise from the construction work. We use a unique dataset of electricity consumption by public housing residents in Singapore measured at the building level and merge it with the dataset of construction sites for the periods from 2009 to 2011. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that electricity consumption by the households living close to the construction sites increases by 6% compared to the households who are not affected by noises from construction sites during the construction periods, after controlling for building and month of the year fixed effects. The results remain robust after controlling for spatial autocorrelated lag and error terms. The economic cost of the construction externalities for each household amounts to approximately S$98 per annum. We also find that the increases in electricity consumption of the affected households were persistent, and the electricity consumption of the affected households did not revert to the pre-construction levels, after the removal of the negative externality.
Modelación en programación matemática y resolución del problema de localización-ruteo en logística urbana

Abstract The implementation of urban distribution centers near to city centers to allow freight consolidation is a widely extended initiative worldwide, seeking to improve traffic congestion and quality of life in downtown, among oth-ers. This paper considers the problem of locating urban distribution centers and proposes an exact method, based on integer linear programming for strategic, tactical and operational decision-making. The aim is to solve, in an integer manner, location, sizing and operation (vehicle routing) problems in these logistics platforms. The model is validated using real-data taken from the city of Saint-Etienne, France. Computational experiments are also carried out in order to compare the proposed model with existing procedures from the literature. Results show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed model and its applicability in real decision-making for medium sized data sets. Keywords Urban distribution centers; freight consolidation; traffic; decision levels
Neoliberal Policy and the Meaning of Counterintuitive Middle-class School Choices

This article considers how the nature and effects of neoliberal policy in education are illuminated by the outcomes of a study of white middle-class families choosing ordinary state secondary schools in England. Having described the main features of the study and some of its findings, consideration is given to specific ‘global’ dimensions — one in terms of parental perceptions and the other drawing upon analysis of the global effects of neoliberalism, an example of which is illustrated with reference to an influential UK policy. The article concludes that the conditions so generated not only provide advantages to those making conventional choices in keeping with a marketized service, but that they may also bring advantages to middle-class families making ‘counterintuitive’ choices as well.
Oral Tolerance Revisited: Prior Oral Tolerization Abrogates Cholera Toxin-Induced Mucosal IgA Responses1

Oral delivery of a large dose or prolonged feeding of protein Ags induce systemic unresponsiveness most often characterized as reduced IgG and IgE Ab- and Ag-specific CD4+ T cell responses. It remains controversial whether oral tolerance extends to diminished mucosal IgA responses in the gastrointestinal tract. To address this issue, mice were given a high oral dose of OVA or PBS and then orally immunized with OVA and cholera toxin as mucosal adjuvant, and both systemic and mucosal immune responses were assessed. OVA-specific serum IgG and IgA and mucosal IgA Ab levels were markedly reduced in mice given OVA orally compared with mice fed PBS. Furthermore, when OVA-specific Ab-forming cells (AFCs) in both systemic and mucosa-associated tissues were examined, IgG AFCs in the spleen and IgA AFCs in the gastrointestinal tract lamina propria of mice given OVA orally were dramatically decreased. Furthermore, marked reductions in OVA-specific CD4+ T cell proliferative and cytokine responses in spleen and Peyer’s patches were seen in mice given oral OVA but were unaffected in PBS-fed mice. We conclude that high oral doses of protein induce both mucosal and systemic unresponsiveness and that use of mucosal adjuvants that induce both parenteral and mucosal immunity may be a better way to assess oral tolerance.
ISSP An Experiment in Multi-Systemic Responses to Persistent Young Offenders Known to Children's Services

ISSP is a multi-systemic intervention for persistent young offenders delivered jointly by police, social services and education. Based on a Netherlands programme, a variation of the approach has been widely adopted in England and Wales. The intervention has seven components including close supervision by police, family group conferences, multi-agency reviews and opportunities for reparation and mentoring. To qualify, young people need at least three convictions or cautions, to be aged 15-17 and to have experienced custody or a failed community sentence. Candidates were randomly allocated to either ISSP or two control groups. As hypothesized, reconviction rates were unaffected by the intervention but there was a 30 to 50 per cent reduction in the volume of crime committed by ISSP participants. No particular aspect of the programme was associated with success suggesting a general placebo effect. Lessons for the planning and administration of such projects and the need for improved epidemiological data about persistent offenders are indicated.
Acetogenesis in the Energy-Starved Deep Biosphere – A Paradox?

Under anoxic conditions in sediments, acetogens are often thought to be outcompeted by microorganisms performing energetically more favorable metabolic pathways, such as sulfate reduction or methanogenesis. Recent evidence from deep subseafloor sediments suggesting acetogenesis in the presence of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis has called this notion into question, however. Here I argue that acetogens can successfully coexist with sulfate reducers and methanogens for multiple reasons. These include (1) substantial energy yields from most acetogenesis reactions across the wide range of conditions encountered in the subseafloor, (2) wide substrate spectra that enable niche differentiation by use of different substrates and/or pooling of energy from a broad range of energy substrates, (3) reduced energetic cost of biosynthesis among acetogens due to use of the reductive acetyl CoA pathway for both energy production and biosynthesis coupled with the ability to use many organic precursors to produce the key intermediate acetyl CoA. This leads to the general conclusion that, beside Gibbs free energy yields, variables such as metabolic strategy and energetic cost of biosynthesis need to be taken into account to understand microbial survival in the energy-depleted deep biosphere.
Changing the strategy formation process in a service cooperative

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to concern the strategic changes a firm needs to incorporate in order to deliver a complex service such as providing assistance to the socially disadvantaged. The paper seeks to analyze the development of such a process considering the ability of managers to exploit resources and foster new opportunities for the firm.Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative methodology applied is that of a case study. The organization analyzed was a service cooperative. A semi‐structured questionnaire was used to gather the information along with documents and additional information thereafter, thus facilitating the triangulation process.Findings – Non‐profit service organizations that provide assistance services for the disadvantaged population have to compete in a complex and turbulent environment. The strategic process adopted by those organizations requires more participation and involvement from organizational members; but, simultaneously, this process should be more ration.
Mobile News Adoption among Young Adults

Using the frameworks of innovation diffusion and technology acceptance model, this study examines the predictors of mobile news consumption among young adults. The results show that the perceived relative advantage (especially content), utility, and ease of use of mobile news are positively related to its adoption. The young adults’ news consumption patterns and preferences, as well as media usage, all play a role in the adoption of mobile news. This study also validates the importance of examining the adoption outcome from multiple perspectives.