Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender Observations and Study Abroad: How Students Reconcile Cross-Cultural Differences Related to Gender

Increasingly, global understanding is part of the core mission of institutions of higher education (Bollag, 2004). The National Association for State Universities and Land­ Grant Colleges (NASULGC Taskforce on International Education, 2004) issued A Call to Leadership, urging university presidents to focus on internationalization as a way to enhance, broaden, and enliven academic learning, discovery, and engagement. Many colleges and universities recognize the need for globally literate citizens to meet the demands of an increasingly interdependent world and see study abroad as a way to develop students’ cross­cultural skills (Bollag). Paralleling administrators’ acknowledg­ ment of the importance of educating students for an increasingly interconnected world is students’ increasing desire for international experiences. When students choose to study abroad, many do so to gain cross­cultural understanding and language proficiency or to satisfy a desire to travel and to have fun (Carlson, Burn, Useem, & Yachimowicz, 1990). At their best, study abroad programs promote cross­cultural understanding so that students can become citizens of the world (NASULGC Taskforce on International Education, 2004). Ideally, as students become global citizens, they gain exposure to a variety of diverse cultures, fostering an appreciation for and comfort with multiple perspectives (Nussbaum, 1997). Although there is some evidence that students develop cross­cultural understanding through study abroad (Carlson & Widaman, 1988; Kitsantas & Meyers, 2001, Rea, 2003), many programs continue to provide students with limited tools for cross­ cultural interpretation, assuming that the immersion experience alone will be sufficient for students to learn about other cultures. This approach fails to acknowledge that students bring their own socially constructed identities and cultural assumptions to a host country (Twombly, 1995). These identities and assump­ tions influence and in some cases may distort the ways in which students approach, endure, and reflect on their experiences. Oftentimes undergraduate students’ study abroad experiences coincide with identity formation in late adolescence (Davis, 2002; Erikson, 1968; Jones, 1997; Jones & McEwen, 2000; Josselson, 1987, 1996; McEwen, 1996). Not only does study abroad serve to enhance students’ understanding of other cultures, it may be influential to the formation of self. Understanding how study abroad participants interpret their cross­cultural experiences can provide valuable information to anyone interested in fostering the development of students’ identities and their understanding of difference. Although there are many important areas in which to conduct research regarding how students’ cultural assumptions and identities inform their cross­cultural understanding, for the purpose of this study the focus is on examining assumptions related to gender. Gender Observations and Study Abroad: How Students Reconcile Cross-Cultural Differences Related to Gender
Thioredoxin-Mimetic-Peptides Protect Cognitive Function after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is recognized as a common injury among children, sportsmen, and elderly population. mTBI lacks visible objective structural brain damage but patients frequently suffer from long-lasting cognitive, behavioral and emotional difficulties associated with biochemical and cellular changes. Currently there is no effective treatment for patients with mTBI. The thioredoxin reductase/thioredoxin pathway (TrxR/Trx1) has both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. If the system is compromised, Trx1 remains oxidized and triggers cell death via an ASK1-Trx1 signal transduction mechanism. We previously showed tri and tetra peptides which were derived from the canonical -CxxC- motif of the Trx1-active site, called thioredoxin mimetic (TXM) peptides, reversed inflammatory and oxidative stress damage mimicking Trx1 activity. Here, TXM-peptides were examined for protecting cognitive function following weight drop closed-head injury in a mouse model of mTBI. TXM-CB3 (AcCys-Pro-CysNH2), TXM-CB13 (DY-70; AcCys-Met-Lys-CysNH2) or AD4 (ACysNH2) were administered at 50 mg/kg, 60 min after injury and cognitive performance was monitored by the novel-object-recognition and Y-maze tests. Behavioral deficits subsequent to mTBI injury were reversed by a single dose of TXM-CB3, TXM-CB13 and, to a lesser extent, by AD4. TXM-CB13 similar to TXM-CB3 and AD4 reversed oxidative stress-induced phosphorylation of mitogen-activated kinases, p38MAPK and c-Jun N-terminal kinase, (JNK) in human neuronal SH-SY5Y cells. We conclude that significantly improved cognitive behavior post mTBI by the TXM-peptides could result from anti-apoptotic, and/or anti-inflammatory activities. Future preclinical studies are required to establish the TXM-peptides as potential therapeutic drugs for brain injuries.
Viewing experience and naturalness of 3D images

The term 'image quality' is often used to measure the performance of an imaging system. Recent research showed however that image quality may not be the most appropriate term to capture the evaluative processes associated with experiencing 3D images. The added value of depth in 3D images is clearly recognized when viewers judge image quality of unimpaired 3D images against their 2D counterparts. However, when viewers are asked to rate image quality of impaired 2D and 3D images, the image quality results for both 2D and 3D images are mainly determined by the introduced artefacts, and the addition of depth in the 3D images is hardly accounted for. In this experiment we applied and tested the more general evaluative concepts of 'naturalness' and 'viewing experience'. It was hypothesized that these concepts would better reflect the added value of depth in 3D images. Four scenes were used varying in dimension (2D and 3D) and noise level (6 levels of white gaussian noise). Results showed that both viewing experience and naturalness were rated higher in 3D than in 2D when the same noise level was applied. Thus, the added value of depth is clearly demonstrated when the concepts of viewing experience and naturalness are being evaluated. The added value of 3D over 2D, expressed in noise level, was 2 dB for viewing experience and 4 dB for naturalness, indicating that naturalness appears the more sensitive evaluative concept for demonstrating the psychological impact of 3D displays.
Effect of Autoclave Cycles on Surface Characteristics of S-File Evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Introduction: Presence of surface defects in endodontic instruments can lead to unwanted complications such as instrument fracture and incomplete preparation of the canal. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of autoclave cycles on surface characteristics of S-File by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Methods and Materials: In this experimental study, 17 brand new S-Files (#30) were used. The surface characteristics of the files were examined in four steps (without autoclave, 1 autoclave cycle, 5 autoclave cycles and 10 autoclave cycles) by SEM under 200× and 1000× magnifications. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software and the paired sample t-test, independent sample t-test and multifactorial repeated measures ANOVA. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: New files had debris and pitting on their surfaces. When the autoclave cycles were increased, the mean of surface roughness also increased at both magnifications (P<0.05). Moreover, under 1000× magnification the multifactorial repeated measures ANOVA showed more surface roughness (P<0.001). Conclusion: Sterilization by autoclave increased the surface roughness of the files and this had was directly related to the number of autoclave cycles.
Taiwanese preschoolers' emergent reading behaviours with an unfamiliar storybook

Eighty-two Taiwanese preschoolers aged three and four years (boys = 40; girls = 42) were recruited from Tainan, Taiwan, for a parent–child storybook-reading research project. The Taiwanese preschoolers’ emergent reading behaviours were videotaped in a solo storybook-reading task. The children's most frequent emergent reading behaviours were: ‘browses pages’ (23%) and ‘describes pictures using verbs and adjectives’ (22%). Next most frequent reading strategies were: ‘labels pictures’ (19%) and ‘creates dialogues/monologues (story-like)’ (15%). Eight per cent of the children showed unwillingness to read the storybook; 4% noticed words by pointing at the words; 9% of the children tried to spell Chinese phonics to sound out Chinese characters; and 4%of the children tried to read some or all of the text. Three-year-olds used more ‘label and describe’ reading behaviours than did four-year-olds (p = .01); four-year-olds read some text independently more than three-year-olds did (p = .03). More boys than girls refused to try to read verbally (p = .01). Girls read some text more than boys (p = .00). More frequent home literacy practices predicted an increase in child reading some text from the story ‘correctly and independently’. Father's education and socioeconomic status were positively associated with children's trying to read or spell Chinese phonics (chu-yin-fu-how).
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Term Newborns: A Prospective Cost-Benefit Analysis

Clinicians reserve ECMO for neonates at >80% predicted mortality risk. The authors hypothesized that ECMO instituted at lower (50%) mortality risk would result in fewer intensive care unit days and a lower hospital cost compared with conventional therapy (including ECMO at high mortality risk). This was a randomized control trial, cost-benefit analysis in an academic newborn intensive care unit. The patients were a prospectively studied, consecutive sample of 41 term neonates with 1) age 24-72 hours, 2) “maximal medical management” for > 6 hours, 3) oxygenation index (OI) values > 25 but < 40. (Severity of illness measured by OI=((mean airway pressure X FiO2 X 100) PaO2)). All eligible patients entered. Thirty-two of 37 survivors were evaluated at 1 year. Intervention occurred when OI = 25. Patients were randomized to ECMO or continued medical management (ECMO possible at OI = 40). Planned primary outcome measures were ICU days and hospital charges. Secondary measures were pulmonary and neurologic outcomes at discharge and 1 year. Twenty-two early ECMO patients, 19 controls, 14/19 met late ECMO criteria. Four patients died (two each group). No statistically significant difference was seen in hospital charges (early ECMO = $49,500 versus control= $53,7000), (95% confidence intervals= -$3200 to + $5100 more for controls) or ICU days (early =14 + 5 days versus control=19 + 12 days) (95% CI=- 0.8 to +10 more for controls). At 1 year the early group had a higher mental developmental index score (115 + 11) versus (103 + 18), (p = 0.07). Secondary analyses comparing early, late, and no ECMO showed trends toward decreased use of hospital resources and lower morbidity in the early group. The early use of ECMO does not increase hospital cost or utilization and suggests a lower morbidity rate for patients so treated.
Adaptive Multi-Compositionality for Recursive Neural Models with Applications to Sentiment Analysis

Recursive neural models have achieved promising results in many natural language processing tasks. The main difference among these models lies in the composition function, i.e., how to obtain the vector representation for a phrase or sentence using the representations of words it contains. This paper introduces a novel Adaptive Multi-Compositionality (AdaMC) layer to recursive neural models. The basic idea is to use more than one composition functions and adaptively select them depending on the input vectors. We present a general framework to model each semantic composition as a distribution over these composition functions. The composition functions and parameters used for adaptive selection are learned jointly from data. We integrate AdaMC into existing recursive neural models and conduct extensive experiments on the Stanford Sentiment Treebank. The results illustrate that AdaMC significantly outperforms state-of-the-art sentiment classification methods. It helps push the best accuracy of sentence-level negative/positive classification from 85.4% up to 88.5%.
Challenging muscle homeostasis uncovers novel chaperone interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans

Proteome stability is central to cellular function and the lifespan of an organism. This is apparent in muscle cells, where incorrect folding and assembly of the sarcomere contributes to disease and aging. Apart from the myosin-assembly factor UNC-45, the complete network of chaperones involved in assembly and maintenance of muscle tissue is currently unknown. To identify additional factors required for sarcomere quality control, we performed genetic screens based on suppressed or synthetic motility defects in Caenorhabditis elegans. In addition to ethyl methyl sulfonate-based mutagenesis, we employed RNAi-mediated knockdown of candidate chaperones in unc-45 temperature-sensitive mutants and screened for impaired movement at permissive conditions. This approach confirmed the cooperation between UNC-45 and Hsp90. Moreover, the screens identified three novel co-chaperones, CeHop (STI-1), CeAha1 (C01G10.8) and Cep23 (ZC395.10), required for muscle integrity. The specific identification of Hsp90 and Hsp90 co-chaperones highlights the physiological role of Hsp90 in myosin folding. Our work thus provides a clear example of how a combination of mild perturbations to the proteostasis network can uncover specific quality control modules.
Identification of high-risk acute coronary syndromes by spectral analysis of ear photoplethysmographic waveform variability

There is a need for robust techniques for early and accurate diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes (ACSs), to avoid inappropriate discharge of patients. This study examined the use of frequency spectrum analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) waveform variability for the identification of high-risk ACS patients defined by an elevated cardiac troponin level. The study cohort comprised a convenience sample of adult patients presenting to the emergency department of the Prince of Wales Hospital over a 4 month period complaining of non-traumatic chest pain. Valid electrocardiogram (ECG) and earlobe PPG waveforms together with troponin I test results were obtained from 52 patients at presentation, 4 of which were troponin I positive (Trop 0+). Frequency spectrum analysis was performed on the beat-to-beat HRV and PPG waveform variability (PPGV). The Trop 0+ were found to have significantly higher normalized mid-frequency power (MFnu) in HRV (P = 0.017), PPG amplitude variability (P = 0.009) and the cross-spectrum of HRV and PPGV (P = 0.001), which were attributed to reflex sympathetic response to myocardial ischemia. MFnu of PPG amplitude had the best overall performance in detecting Trop 0+, with ROC area under the curve of 0.93. The results demonstrate the potential use of ear PPG waveform to identify high-risk heart disease patients, and further highlight the utility of frequency spectrum analysis of PPGV in critical care.
Measuring party organization: The vertical dimension of the multi-level organization of state-wide parties in Spain and the UK

Over the past few years, attention to the role of state-wide political parties in multi-level polities has increased in recognition of their linkage function between levels of government, as these parties compete in both state-wide and regional elections across their countries. This article presents a coding scheme designed to describe the relationship between central and regional levels of state-wide parties. It evaluates the involvement of the regional branches in central decision-making and their degree of autonomy in the management of regional party affairs. This coding scheme is applied to state-wide parties in Spain (the socialist PSOE and the conservative Partido Popular) and in the UK (Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats). It is an additional tool with which to analyse party organization and it facilitates the comparison of parties across regions and in different countries.
Differential specificity in the glomerular response profiles for alicyclic, bicyclic, and heterocyclic odorants

As part of our ongoing effort to relate stimulus to response in the olfactory system, we tested the hypothesis that the unique chemical structures and odors of various cyclic odorants would be associated with unique spatial response patterns in the glomerular layer of the rat olfactory bulb. To this end, rats were exposed to sets of odorants, including monocyclic hydrocarbons, bicyclic compounds, and various heterocyclic structures containing oxygen or nitrogen in the ring. Relative activity across the entire layer was assessed by mapping uptake of 2‐deoxyglucose into anatomically standardized data matrices. Whereas monocyclic hydrocarbons evoked patterns similar to those evoked by open‐chained hydrocarbon odorants, a set of bicyclic compounds with structures and odors similar to camphor evoked uptake in paired ventral domains not previously associated with any other odorant chemical structures. Despite their unique odors as judged by humans, heterocyclic odorants either evoked uptake in previously characterized areas corresponding to their functional groups or stimulated weak or patchy patterns involving isolated glomeruli. Although the patchiness of the patterns may be partially related to the rigidity of the compounds, which would be expected to restrict their interactions to only a few receptors, the weakness of the patterns suggests the possibility of species‐specific odorant representations. We conclude that, whereas some of the novel cyclic structures indeed were represented by unique patterns in the rat bulb, other unique structures were poorly represented, even when they evoked intense and unique odors in humans. J. Comp. Neurol. 499:1–16, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Models for Predicting Thermal Performance of Packed Bed Energy Storage System for Solar Air Heaters - A Review

Packed bed is generally recommended for attaching with solar air heater in order to store thermal energy of hot air. For designing such a system under the given system and operating parameters, it is required to predict performance of the system by using mathematical models. In the present paper an attempt has been made to discuss mathematical models reported in the literature for predicting thermal performance of packed bed energy storage system for solar air heaters. The designer may be benefited from the consolidated information reported in the present paper. The continuous use of fossil fuels resulted energy crisis and environmental threat. It is felt that renewable energy sources are quite capable of meeting energy demand of today's world. The use of renewable energy sources for meeting energy needs can conserve the conventional energy sources for more number of decades. Among renewable energy sources solar energy is considered to be one of the most dominating energy source. It has many advantages like large potential, free of cost, available everywhere, environment friendly etc. However time dependent nature is the major disadvantage of solar energy. In order to overcome this disadvantage it is required to attach an energy storage system with the solar energy utilization system. With such a provision the stored energy can be utilized in the absence of solar radiation or under peak load conditions. In case of solar air heaters it is required to store thermal energy of flowing hot air. Packed bed is generally recommended for such an application. Packed bed consists of a container in which solid material elements having good heat capacity remain packed. The hot air flows from top to bottom of the bed to transfer heat energy. The rise in temperature of solid material takes place and energy can be retained by having properly insulated packed bed. The stored energy can be retrieved by making flow of cold air from bottom to top of the bed. The schematic of packed bed energy storage system for solar air heaters is shown in Fig. (1). The working of such a system is described in detail by Duffie and Beckman (1).
Experience and Well-being: Explorations on Domains of Life and How they Matter

The guiding question was how past life experiences are linked with adults’ assessments of their present and future well-being. Typical events and transitions (normative experiences) were contrasted with atypical stresses (non-normative experiences). A sample of 308 men and women, divided between young, midlife, and older adults, completed past life event inventories and rated themselves on multiple dimensions of well-being (concurrently and prospectively). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that normative events were significant predictors of multiple aspects of present and future wellness, but there were marked age differences in which domains were key influences: For young adults, life activities were primary; for midlife adults, greatest variance was explained by the family and friends domain; in late life, prior work and educational experiences were strongest predictors of well-being. Non-normative events were significant positive predictors of only personal growth in young adults.
Imaging digital lives

This special issue of the Journal of Material Culture may not have been possible in 1998 when its inaugural volume was published. To say that there have been rapid advances in imaging technologies since then is to greatly understate the sheer impact that digital images of all kinds have had in shaping our lives. We now live in an unprecedented era where digital images permeate our lives, interlacing themselves with our loves and memories, our leisure activities and professional engagements. Digital film and photography, the internet, smartphones, interactive films and installations, digital archives, 3D imaging technologies, CCTV and virtual environments are now part of the quotidian life of many of us living in those parts of the world touched upon by such media. So why create a special issue on ‘Imaging Digital Lives’? The idea originated from a mutual interest Paolo Favero and I both held in the ways peoples marginalized from mainstream society were crafting digital images for the purposes of individual and community affirmation. The emergence of cheap and portable digital imaging technologies such as cameras and mobile phones, widespread availability of internet access and broadband connectivity, and the development of easy-to-use online software applications and web-based storage sites (such as Flickr and Facebook) have all influenced the uptake of imaging technologies for such activities. Our interests focused on directing scholarly attention to public participation with digital images on the part of marginalized communities in two key areas: firstly, the use and application of digital images within these communities; and secondly, the social and material impact of digital images on their lives. We wanted to generate a cross-disciplinary debate on the emerging relationship between digital images and people’s claims to subjectivity, political visibility and collectivity, amongst a range of scholars working with different types of digital images. Our goal was to develop insights into how image-based practices opened an active space from which to assert ‘the right to look’ (Mirzoeff, 2011). ‘The right to look’ emphasizes a case of how dominant technologies such as digital imagining tools have been appropriated by those whom the technology seeks to control. Our attention was focused on the other side of the digital divide: those marginalized communities – such as indigenous,