Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Media(ting) Between Generations: Common Sense and Perceptions of New Media by Young People and Teachers

The wide spread of mobile communication devices, the expansion of social media and participatory media platforms, the ease to edit, share and produce media content, indicate a trend of change in the media system that influences the production and consumption of knowledge and generates new paths for the young’s identity construction. This raises necessary questions about the ways not only young, but also the education agencies – school in particular – relate to these transformations, starting from taking into account the production of common sense on the use, risks and opportunities of the media. Based on these considerations, in this paper, we will discuss the results of a qualitative case study carried out in the Veneto Region (Italy) on upper secondary school students and teachers in order to detect and compare the perception that young and educators have of the media, trying to identify boundaries or land on which to build exchange opportunities for dialogue between the generations.
Latent structure of agility obtained by a battery of tests

Ovo istraživanje je provedeno s ciljem analize latentne strukture motorickih testova namjenjenih procjeni agilnosti. U tu svrhu formirana je baterija od 32 motoricka testa u koju su ukljuceni prakticki svi testovi agilnosti koji su koristeni u istraživanjima motorickih fenomena i/ili u trenažnoj sportskoj praksi, ali i veci broj testova koji su konstruirani upravo za ovaj istraživacki projekt. Eksperiment je proveden na uzorku od 152 studenata prve godine Kinezioloskog fakulteta u Zagrebu. Faktorizacijom matrice interkorelacija testova za procjenu agilnosti ekstrahirano je sedam znacajnih glavnih komponenti. Te su dimenzije transformirane u dvije kosokutne parsimonijske solucije primjenom Promax i Ortoblique faktorskih rjesenja. Obje analize polucile su numericki jednostavne i vrlo slicne solucije, sto dodatno povecava vjerodostojnost izoliranih latentnih dimenzija. Od sedam izoliranih faktora, samo prvih pet je bilo moguce logicki interpretirati. Izolirane latentne dimenzije nominirane su prema spomenutom redosljedu na sljedeci nacin: 1) Agilnost pri izvođenju razlicitih promjena pravca kretanja na malom prostoru ; 2) Agilnost u uvjetima jednostavnih frontalnih i lateralnih kretanja ; 3) Agilnost pri rotacionim gibanjima ; 4) Agilnost u frontalnim i lateralnim kretanjima s promjenama smjera manjim od 90o ; ; 5) Agilnost u frontalnom kretanju s promjenama smjera vecim od 90o ; . Nakon ovog eksperimenta vidljivo je da je prostor agilnosti znatno složeniji nego sto to obicno strucnjaci za podrucje motorickih fenomena najcesce misle. Zbog toga se ovaj prostor treba detaljnije istražiti jer ce dobivene spoznaje biti od znacaja, kako za podrucje opcih motorickih sposobnosti, tako i za sve primjenjene kinezioloske discipline gdje je agilnost važna komponenta sportske uspjesnosti.
Green currents for quasi-algebraically stable meromorphic self-maps of Pk

We construct a canonical Green current Tf for every quasi-algebraically stable meromorphic self-map f of Pk such that its rst dynamical degree 1(f) is a simple root of its characteristic polynomial and that λ1(f) > 1: We establish a functional equation for Tf and show that the support of Tf is contained in the Julia set, which is thus non empty.
Toward a Better Use of the Semantic Differential in IS Research: An Integrative Framework of Suggested Action

The semantic differential is a widely applied measurement technique in the information systems field. As we demonstrate in this study, however, there is evidence that many of the applications of the semantic differential seem to be subject to common shortcomings. In this study, we address these shortcomings by creating awareness of the requirements underlying semantic differentiation. We discuss the requirements of semantic differentiation and use them as a foundation to introduce a framework to assist researchers in applying the semantic differential more adequately. The framework puts renewed emphasis on bipolar scale selection and dimensionality testing, introduces semantic bipolarity as new criterion, and proposes distinct stages for the testing of wording and contextual contamination. We exemplify the framework using an illustration exercise, which centers on the assessment of the meaning of the concept “electronic marketplace quality”. Using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, the illustration exercise clarifies the prerequisites for semantic differentiation and provides suggestions for researchers. The paper concludes with a discussion of several methodological implications.
On the Timing and Efficiency of Creative Destruction

This paper analyzes the timing, pace and efficiency of the on- going job reallocation that results from product and process innovation. There are strong reasons why an efficient economy ought to concentrate both job creation and destruction during cyclical downturns, when the opportunity cost of reallocation is lowest. Malfunctioning labor markets can disrupt this synchronized pattern and decouple creation and destruction. Moreover, irrespective of whether workers are too strong or too weak, labor market inefficiencies generally lead to technological 'sclerosis,' characterized by excessively slow renovation. Government incentives to production may alleviate high unemployment in this economy, but at the cost of exacerbating sclerosis. Creation incentives, on the contrary, increase the pace of reallocation. We show how an optimal combination of both types of policies can restore economic efficiency.
Nosocomial Outbreak of Drug-Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 9V in an Adult Respiratory Medicine Ward

ABSTRACT Streptococcus pneumoniae infections arising in hospitalized patients are often assumed to be sporadic and linked to community acquisition. Here, whole-genome sequencing was used to demonstrate nosocomial acquisition of antimicrobial-resistant sequence type 156 (ST156) serotype 9V S. pneumoniae in 3 respiratory patients that resulted in two bacteremias and one lower respiratory tract infection. Two of the cases arose in patients who had recently been discharged from the hospital and were readmitted from the community. Nosocomial spread was suspected solely because of the highly unusual resistance pattern and case presentations within 24 h of one another. The outbreak highlights the potential for rapid transmission and the short incubation period in the respiratory ward setting.
Design and performance modeling of resource allocation strategies for GPRS

Abstract Incorporating promising techniques, including buffering, priority, de‐allocation, preemption, and threshold control on the buffer into the resource allocation design for the general packet radio service (GPRS) network, four resource allocation strategies are proposed in this paper, i.e., strategies RAS 1, RAS 2, RASth 1, and RASth 2. For the four strategies, analytic models are built to obtain performance measures expressed in general forms using the Markov chain approach. In addition, simulation experiments are arranged and used to validate the analytic results. Based on the numerical results, we show that i) a good match between analytic and simulation results strongly supports the theoretical analysis given in this paper; ii) these four strategies, designed in a comprehensive manner, can outperform many strategies previously proposed in the literature; iii) better voice call performance and superior quality of service (QoS) differentiation between new and handoff voice calls can be achieved by using these strategies.
Learning and teaching about the Shoah: retrospect and prospect

ABSTRACTThe “IHRA Education Research Project” and its concluding conference in Lucerne in February 2016 make it necessary to give a summative reflection about normative purposes, empirical results, and pragmatic ways of education about the Shoah. There is some ambivalence in all three fields. “Europeanization” has succeeded, but “universalization” not really. Two necessary (but partly conflicting) main goals are “commemoration of victims” and “prevention of genocides,” implicating conclusions for actual crises like the Syrian civil war and fugitives. In the realm of empirical findings, there are some moral limits of research methods, many illusions about great results can be destroyed, and different “contexts” prove to be absolutely decisive. Therefore, comparisons are very important as well as very difficult, and “normal everyday teaching/learning” has to be distinguished carefully from intervention by “elaborated best-practice teaching. ” Unavoidably, some of the remarks are given mainly from the special.
Role of Charged Residues in the S1–S4 Voltage Sensor of BK Channels

The activation of large conductance Ca2+-activated (BK) potassium channels is weakly voltage dependent compared to Shaker and other voltage-gated K+ (KV) channels. Yet BK and KV channels share many conserved charged residues in transmembrane segments S1–S4. We mutated these residues individually in mSlo1 BK channels to determine their role in voltage gating, and characterized the voltage dependence of steady-state activation (Po) and IK kinetics (τ(IK)) over an extended voltage range in 0–50 μM [Ca2+]i. mSlo1 contains several positively charged arginines in S4, but only one (R213) together with residues in S2 (D153, R167) and S3 (D186) are potentially voltage sensing based on the ability of charge-altering mutations to reduce the maximal voltage dependence of PO. The voltage dependence of PO and τ(IK) at extreme negative potentials was also reduced, implying that the closed–open conformational change and voltage sensor activation share a common source of gating charge. Although the position of charged residues in the BK and KV channel sequence appears conserved, the distribution of voltage-sensing residues is not. Thus the weak voltage dependence of BK channel activation does not merely reflect a lack of charge but likely differences with respect to KV channels in the position and movement of charged residues within the electric field. Although mutation of most sites in S1–S4 did not reduce gating charge, they often altered the equilibrium constant for voltage sensor activation. In particular, neutralization of R207 or R210 in S4 stabilizes the activated state by 3–7 kcal mol−1, indicating a strong contribution of non–voltage-sensing residues to channel function, consistent with their participation in state-dependent salt bridge interactions. Mutations in S4 and S3 (R210E, D186A, and E180A) also unexpectedly weakened the allosteric coupling of voltage sensor activation to channel opening. The implications of our findings for BK channel voltage gating and general mechanisms of voltage sensor activation are discussed.
Back-Pressure Traffic Signal Control With Fixed and Adaptive Routing for Urban Vehicular Networks

City-wide control and coordination of traffic flow can improve efficiency, fuel consumption, and safety. We consider the problem of controlling traffic lights under fixed and adaptive routing of vehicles in urban road networks. Multicommodity back-pressure algorithms, originally developed for routing and scheduling in communication networks, are applied to road networks to control traffic lights and adaptively reroute vehicles. The performance of the algorithms is analyzed using a microscopic traffic simulator. The results demonstrate that the proposed multicommodity and adaptive routing algorithms provide significant improvement over a fixed schedule controller and a single-commodity back-pressure controller in terms of various performance metrics, including queue length, trips completed, travel times, and fair traffic distribution.
Ultrasound spatial compound scanner for improved visualization in vascular imaging

A new off-line multi-angle ultrasound compound scanner has been built with the aim of improving visualization of vascular tissue. Images are recorded from 3 to 11 insonification angles over a range of 40 to 50 degrees and the individual images are combined (averaged) into a single image (spatial compounding). Compared to conventional B-mode imaging, this multi-angle compound imaging (MACI) method features less angle-dependent images, since more scan lines are nearly perpendicular to the tissue interfaces. Further, the spatial compounding strongly diminishes the speckle pattern. These improvements are illustrated with in vitro images of porcine aorta and human atherosclerotic plaque.
Impacts of Organic and Conventional Crop Management on Diversity and Activity of Free-Living Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria and Total Bacteria Are Subsidiary to Temporal Effects

A three year field study (2007–2009) of the diversity and numbers of the total and metabolically active free-living diazotophic bacteria and total bacterial communities in organic and conventionally managed agricultural soil was conducted using the Nafferton Factorial Systems Comparison (NFSC) study, in northeast England. Fertility management appeared to have little impact on both diazotrophic and total bacterial communities. However, copy numbers of the nifH gene did appear to be negatively impacted by conventional crop protection measures across all years suggesting diazotrophs may be particularly sensitive to pesticides. Impacts of crop management were greatly overshadowed by the influence of temporal effects with diazotrophic communities changing on a year by year basis and from season to season. Quantitative analyses using qPCR of each community indicated that metabolically active diazotrophs were highest in year 1 but the population significantly declined in year 2 before recovering somewhat in the final year. The total bacterial population in contrast increased significantly each year. It appeared that the dominant drivers of qualitative and quantitative changes in both communities were annual and seasonal effects. Moreover, regression analyses showed activity of both communities was significantly affected by soil temperature and climatic conditions.
The haematopoietic stem cell niche at a glance

Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) regulate the balanced turnover of erythrocytes, platelets and all immune cells by switching between self-renewal, differentiation, quiescence and dormancy ([Trumpp et al., 2010][1]) and, thereby, maintain homeostasis both in the steady state as well as in response to
Detecting and explaining person misfit in non-cognitive measurement

The logistic person response function (PRF) models the probability of a correct response as a function of the item locations. Reise (2000) proposed to use the slope parameter of the logistic PRF as a person-fit measure. He reformulated the logistic PRF model as a multilevel logistic regression model, and estimated the PRF parameters from this multilevel framework. An advantage of the multilevel framework is that it allows relating person fit to explanatory variables for person misfit/fit. We critically discuss Reise’s (2000) approach. First, we argue that often the interpretation of the PRF slope as an indicator of person misfit is incorrect. Second, we show that the multilevel logistic regression model and the logistic PRF model are incompatible, resulting in a multilevel person-fit framework, which grossly violates the bivariate normality assumption for residuals in the multilevel model. Third, we use a Monte Carlo study to show that in the multilevel logistic regression framework estimates of distribution parameters of PRF intercepts and slopes are biased. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results and suggest an alternative multilevel regression approach to explanatory person-fit analysis. We illustrate the alternative approach using empirical data on repeated anxiety measurements of cardiac arrhythmia patients who had a cardioverter-defibrillator implanted.  This chapter was published as: Conijn, J. M. , Emons, W. H. M. , Van Assen, M. A. L. M, & Sijtsma, K. (2011). On the usefulness of a multilevel logistic regression approach to person-fit analysis. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 46, 365-388.
The acute effect of budesonide/formoterol in COPD: a multi-slice computed tomography and lung function study

The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) classification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) does not always match with other clinical disease descriptors such as exacerbation frequency and quality of life, indicating that forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) is not a perfect descriptor of the disease. The aim of this study was to find out whether changes in airway geometry after inhalation of the most commonly used inhalation therapy in severe COPD can more adequately be described with an image-based approach than with spirometry. 10 COPD GOLD stage III patients were assessed in a double-blind crossover study. Airway volumes were analysed using segmentation of multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) images; airway resistance was determined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Distal airway volume significantly increased (p=0.011) in patients 4 h after receiving a budesonide/formoterol combination from 9.6±4.67 cm3 to 10.14±4.81 cm3. Also CFD-determined airway resistance significantly decreased (p=0.047) from 0.051±0.021 kPa·s·L−1 to 0.043±0.019 kPa·s·L−1. None of the lung function parameters showed a significant change. Only functional residual capacity (FRC) showed a trend to decline (p=0.056). Only the image-based parameters were able to predict the visit at which the combination product was administered. This study showed that imaging is a sensitive, complementary tool to describe changes in airway structure.
‘Fractured communities’: uncertainty, stress, and (a lack of) communal coping in Palestinian refugee camps

ABSTRACT This study examined how communal coping reveals itself in Palestinian refugee camps and the conditions that promote or prevent its occurrence. Individual and dyadic interviews were conducted with 40 mothers and one of their adolescent children living in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. The results revealed that communal coping existed within the mother–adolescent dyad to a certain extent, but was rare within the larger context of the refugee camps. While families and neighbors did not typically verbalize their hardships and actively cope with them as a group, there was often an implicit recognition that they were all experiencing the same uncertainty and stress. Acting upon their uncertainty as a collective, however, was greatly hampered by mistrust within and outside the camps, due to widespread violence, privacy violations, vying for scarce resources, and disloyalty. Parents and adolescents also engaged in protective buffering whereby they attempted to reduce the stress of the family by keeping stress and fears to themselves rather than communicating about them. Even though protective buffering helped the refugees cope with chronic uncertainty and maintain a sense of normalcy, it prevented them from acting upon the problem as a group. Finally, parents emphasized that the child’s education provided hope for the future. Practical implications are discussed.
Modeling preference heterogeneity in stated choice data: an analysis for public goods generated by agriculture

Stated choice models based on the random utility framework are becoming increasingly popular in the applied economics literature. The need to account for respondents' preference heterogeneity in such models has motivated researchers in agricultural, environmental, health, and transport economics to apply random parameter logit and latent class models. In most of the published literature these models incorporate heterogeneity in preferences through the systematic component of utility. An alternative approach is to investigate heterogeneity through the random component of utility, and covariance heterogeneity models are one means of doing this. In this article we compare these alternative ways of incorporating preference heterogeneity in stated choice models and evaluate the sensitivity of estimated welfare measures to which approach is selected. We find that a latent class approach fits our data best, but all the models perform well in terms of out-of-sample predictions. Finally, we discuss what criteria a researcher can use to decide which approach is most appropriate for a given data set. Copyright (c) 2009 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
Interaction of the Transactivation Domain of B-Myb with the TAZ2 Domain of the Coactivator p300: Molecular Features and Properties of the Complex

The transcription factor B-Myb is a key regulator of the cell cycle in vertebrates, with activation of transcription involving the recognition of specific DNA target sites and the recruitment of functional partner proteins, including the coactivators p300 and CBP. Here we report the results of detailed studies of the interaction between the transactivation domain of B-Myb (B-Myb TAD) and the TAZ2 domain of p300. The B-Myb TAD was characterized using circular dichroism, fluorescence and NMR spectroscopy, which revealed that the isolated domain exists as a random coil polypeptide. Pull-down and spectroscopic experiments clearly showed that the B-Myb TAD binds to p300 TAZ2 to form a moderately tight (Kd ∼1.0–10 µM) complex, which results in at least partial folding of the B-Myb TAD. Significant changes in NMR spectra of p300 TAZ2 suggest that the B-Myb TAD binds to a relatively large patch on the surface of the domain (∼1200 Å2). The apparent B-Myb TAD binding site on p300 TAZ2 shows striking similarity to the surface of CBP TAZ2 involved in binding to the transactivation domain of the transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1), which suggests that the structure of the B-Myb TAD-p300 TAZ2 complex may share many features with that reported for STAT1 TAD-p300 TAZ2.
Inhibitor of Apoptosis-Stimulating Protein of p53 (iASPP) Is Required for Neuronal Survival after Axonal Injury

The transcription factor p53 mediates the apoptosis of post-mitotic neurons exposed to a wide range of stress stimuli. The apoptotic activity of p53 is tightly regulated by the apoptosis-stimulating proteins of p53 (ASPP) family members: ASPP1, ASPP2 and iASPP. We previously showed that the pro-apoptotic members ASPP1 and ASPP2 contribute to p53-dependent death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). However, the role of the p53 inhibitor iASPP in the central nervous system (CNS) remains to be elucidated. To address this, we asked whether iASPP contributes to the survival of RGCs in an in vivo model of acute optic nerve damage. We demonstrate that iASPP is expressed by injured RGCs and that iASPP phosphorylation at serine residues, which increase iASPP affinity towards p53, is significantly reduced following axotomy. We show that short interference RNA (siRNA)-induced iASPP knockdown exacerbates RGC death, whereas adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated iASPP expression promotes RGC survival. Importantly, our data also demonstrate that increasing iASPP expression in RGCs downregulates p53 activity and blocks the expression of pro-apoptotic targets PUMA and Fas/CD95. This study demonstrates a novel role for iASPP in the survival of RGCs, and provides further evidence of the importance of the ASPP family in the regulation of neuronal loss after axonal injury.