Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relações entre desempenho escolar e orientações motivacionais

The intent of this research was to investigate if a relationship exists between the school performance and the motivational orientations from elementary students. Participants were 150 male and female elementary school children, aged between 9 and 12 years of two public schools from Sao Paulo State. The results indicated that in the third-grade there was a negative and significant correlation between extrinsic motivation and the school performance, that is, the lower the school performance the higher the extrinsic motivation. For the intrinsic motivation and school performance, variables showed no significant correlation and extrinsic motivation and in the fourth-grade, the results showed a significant and positive correlation. For the fourth-grade, there was a negative and significant correlation between extrinsic motivation and school performance, that is, the lower the school performance the higher the extrinsic motivation. For the intrinsic motivation and school performance, variables showed a positive and significant correlation, indicating that the higher the school performance the higher the intrinsic motivation.
Sport, Racism And Ethnicity

Sport, racism and ethnicity, Grant Jarvie cricket, carnival and street culture in the Caribbean, Richard Burton sport, schooling and Asian male youth culture, Scott Fleming sport, racism and young women, Tessa Lovell sport festivals and race relations in the North-West territories of Canada, Vicky Paraschak sport racism and British society - a sociological study of England's elite male Afro-Caribbean soccer and rugby union players, Joe Maguire athletics and academics - contrary or complementory activities? , Othello Harris sport and the black experience, Jose Parry and Noel Parry sport, popular struggle and South African culture, Grant Jarvie.
The immobilization of human spermatozoa by STAT3 inhibitory compound V results from an excessive intracellular amount of reactive oxygen species

We previously showed that Stattic V (Stat3 inhibitory compound V) reduces human sperm motility and cellular ATP levels, increases intracellular Ca2+ concentration, and promotes mitochondrial membrane depolarization resulting in increased levels of extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). As these alterations in cellular function are highly similar to what is observed in a cell undergoing apoptosis, our goal was to determine if the immobilizing effect of Stattic V on spermatozoa results from apoptosis or was because of an oxidative stress. To address this question, spermatozoa were incubated with Stattic V in combination with a caspase inhibitor, a proteasome inhibitor or a cell permeant ROS scavenger. Following incubation in different conditions, sperm motility was evaluated by CASA, acrosomal integrity by FITC conjugated Pisum sativum agglutinin (PSA‐FITC) labeling, intracellular pH, and mitochondrial superoxide production by flow cytometry using BCECF and MitoSoxRed dye, respectively. Levels of reduced thiols were assessed by iodoacetamidofluorescein staining on total and on sperm surface proteins, and protein tyrosine phosphorylation was evaluated by western blot. The loss in sperm motility induced by Stattic V was associated with a slight intracellular acidification and an important increase in intracellular superoxide anion. Unlike caspase and proteasome inhibitors, low molecular weight thiols, such as N‐acetyl‐L‐cysteine (NAC), prevented Stattic V‐induced sperm immobilization and increase responsiveness to acrosome reaction inducers. NAC also efficiently prevented the production of superoxide anion, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, intracellular acidification and the oxidation of protein free thiols caused by Stattic V. These results show that the deleterious effects of Stattic V on sperm functions are caused directly or indirectly by excessive intracellular ROS production without causing sperm apoptosis or necrosis.
Microwave radiometric technique to retrieve vapor, liquid and ice. II. Joint studies of radiometer and radar in winter clouds

For pt.I see ibid., vol.35, no.2, p.224-36 (1997). A neural network-based retrieval technique is developed to infer vapor, liquid, and ice columns using two- and three-channel microwave radiometers. Neural network-based inverse scattering methods are capable of merging various data streams in order to retrieve microphysical properties of clouds and precipitation. The method is calibrated using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) results in a cloud-free condition. The performance of two- and three-channel neural network-based techniques is verified by independent NOAA estimates. The estimates of vapor and liquid agree with NOAA values. In the presence of ice, the liquid estimates deviated from NOAA's estimates. One of the major contributions of the three-channel radiometer is the estimation of ice in a winter cloud. The three-channel radiometer not only improves estimates of vapor and liquid, but also retrieves the ice column. Passive remote sensing can be ameliorated with the help of active remote sensing methods. The three-channel radiometer is used for estimating columnar contents of vapor, liquid, and ice in a cloud. It is shown that vertical profiles of median size diameter, number concentration, liquid water content, and ice water content can be inferred by combining radar reflectivity and radiometer observations. The combined remote sensor method is applied to Winter Icing and Storms Project (WISP) data to obtain detailed microphysical properties of clouds and precipitation. The authors also derived Z- Ice Water Content (IWC) and Z- Liquid Water Content (LWC) relationships and they are consistent with the earlier results.
COMP-1 promotes competitive advantage of nematode sperm

Competition among sperm to fertilize oocytes is a ubiquitous feature of sexual reproduction as well as a profoundly important aspect of sexual selection. However, little is known about the cellular mechanisms sperm use to gain competitive advantage or how these mechanisms are regulated genetically. In this study, we utilize a forward genetic screen in Caenorhabditis elegans to identify a gene, comp-1, whose function is specifically required in competitive contexts. We show that comp-1 functions in sperm to modulate their migration through and localization within the reproductive tract, thereby promoting their access to oocytes. Contrary to previously described models, comp-1 mutant sperm show no defects in size or velocity, thereby defining a novel pathway for preferential usage. Our results indicate not only that sperm functional traits can influence the outcome of sperm competition, but also that these traits can be modulated in a context-dependent manner depending on the presence of competing sperm. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.05423. 001
The autograph method for investigation arcs in vacuum and in gases at threshold currents

The present paper reports an experimental study of craters on the surface of cathodes of pulsed arc under the influence of surface conditions (contaminants and clean), weak transverse magnetic fields in vacuum and ambient gases (argon, nitrogen with high purity introduced with pressures from 50 Torr up to 800 Torr) with cold cathodes. The autograph method was used to investigate the arc spot motion over a cathodes under a magnetic field of H = 0.1-0.7 T in the range of current 2-50 A. Erosion traces have been studied of wires cathodes from Au, Ag, Cu, W. The analysis of arc voltage and arc current fluctuations in vacuum and in gas shows that the spot operates in cycles that include extremely non-stationary periods with time constants about 10-50 ns for all cathodes from Au, Ag, Cu, W. At the surfaces of Au, Ag, Cu cathodes in vacuum and in gases there remain numerous small craters (diameter <; 6 mkm). Such spots are type 1, in contrast to clean surface spots (type 2). Erosion traces clean surfaces of W cathodes in vacuum and in gases consist of overlapping craters which form a coherent chain. It appears that the elementary spot processes (plasma production, electron emission, retrograde movement, average cycle duration, current density) are not changed by outer influences as magnetic field or background gas. The current density measured at the moment of cathode spot death is (1 ± 0.9) × 1011 A/m2. Neither the current density nor the cathode spot lifetime depends on current.
Ribavirin inhibits protein synthesis and cell proliferation induced by mitogenic factors in primary human and rat hepatocytes

Ribavirin, a guanosine analog, used in combination with interferon α (IFN‐α) in the treatment of chronic hepatitis induced by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, has been shown to improve liver histology and to decrease transaminases even when administered alone. We analyzed the direct effects of ribavirin on the liver by using primary cultures of human and rat hepatocytes. Between 10 to 60 μmol/L, ribavirin was found to inhibit both the synthesis and secretion of whole proteins in a time‐ and dose‐dependent fashion. Such an effect was confirmed by the measurement of albumin and haptoglobin secretion rates. [3H]‐Thymidine incorporation was suppressed both in hepatocyte growth factor‐stimulated human hepatocytes and in epidermal growth factor (EGF)‐stimulated rat hepatocytes in the presence of ribavirin. The inhibitory effect on DNA synthesis was associated with a delayed progression to S phase of the cell cycle, as determined by flow cytometry and detection of cyclin A and cdc2 which are two proteins expressed during the S phase. The inhibition of DNA synthesis, caused by 50 μmol/L ribavirin, was completely restored by the addition of 80 μmol/L guanosine. These observations demonstrate that ribavirin at concentrations close to those found in plasma of treated patients can directly affect hepatic functions in vitro. Its effects could, however, be reduced in vivo by guanosine salvage supply.
High-Performance Hardware Merge Sorter

State-of-the-art studies show that FPGA-based hardware merge sorters (HMSs) can achieve superior performance compared with optimized algorithms on CPUs and GPUs. The performance of any HMS is proportional to its operating frequency (F) and the number of records that can be output each cycle (E). However, all existing HMSs have a problem that F drops significantly with increasing E due to the increase of the number of levels of gates. In this paper, we propose novel architectures for HMSs where the number of levels of gates is constant when E is increased. We implement some HMSs adopting the proposed architectures on a Virtex-7 FPGA. The evaluation shows that an HMS of E = 32 operates at 311MHz and achieves 3.13x higher throughput than the state-of-the-art HMS.
Trying to get it back : indigenous women, education and culture

Trying to Get It Back: Indigenous Women, Education and Culture examines aspects of the lives of six women from three generations of two indigenous families. Their combined memories, experiences and aspirations cover the entire twentieth century. The first family, Pearl McKenzie, Pauline Coulthard and Charlene Tree are a mother, daughter and granddaughter of the Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Range in South Australia. The second family consists of Bernie Sound, her neice Valerie Bourne and Valerie's daughter, Brandi McLeod -- Sechelt women from British Columbia, Canada. They talk to Gillian Weiss about their memories of childhood, informal learning and schooling, their experience and changing aspirations in raising their own children and educating them in both their traditional and the dominant cultures. They also talk to each other via video conferencing, sharing their personal experience and those of their peoples as colonized nations, and they discuss their current positions as they fight to reclaim, regain and revitalize their traditional cultures. The education of their own peoples as well as the dominant societies is something they see as crucial for their futures; it is a path that they feel has already acheived some success. They document the difficulties, the pain, but also the triumphs of growing up in Western societies. The narratives are in their own words, speaking directly to the reader and allowing analysis and interpretation at multiple levels. They are prefaced by a brief history of the two peoples and set between a methodological Foreword and a summative Afterword by Gillian Weiss.
Book review

First published in New Zealand and Australia in 1999, this book has only now become available to readers in other parts of the world. Russell Bishop and Ted Glynn have published extensively on educational inequality in New Zealand. They argue that the system remains flawed, and single out the failures of educational research: it ignores the ‘epistemological racism’ of ‘cross cultural’ work conducted by the dominant European/Pakehua cultural group on rather than with the subordinate Maōri. Bishop and Glynn outline the history of education in colonial and post-colonial New Zealand and then map out recent Maōri educational initiatives. They offer guidelines for reducing unequal power relations in the theory and practice of teaching and research. My focus is on the book’s methodological aspects. The authors argue that European colonization has decimated indigenous Maōri culture. From the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi to the 1993 Mataatua Declaration, Maōris have had the legal right to decide upon those things ‘that explain and make sense of their world, which the world gives to nurture and protect them and which give spiritual or artistic expression to their sense of being’ (p. 26); and that these treasures be protected and honoured. This has not been the case. The early twentieth century assimilationist approach to Maōri culture and people dominated until the 1980s when multi-, and latterly biculturalism, became the ideals in education. However, the continued ‘othering’ of Maōris (and other ethnic minority settlers) has meant that
Constructing elastic distinguishability metrics for location privacy

Abstract With the increasing popularity of hand-held devices, location-based applications and services have access to accurate and real-time location information, raising serious privacy concerns for their users. The recently introduced notion of geo-indistinguishability tries to address this problem by adapting the well-known concept of differential privacy to the area of location-based systems. Although geo-indistinguishability presents various appealing aspects, it has the problem of treating space in a uniform way, imposing the addition of the same amount of noise everywhere on the map. In this paper we propose a novel elastic distinguishability metric that warps the geometrical distance, capturing the different degrees of density of each area. As a consequence, the obtained mechanism adapts the level of noise while achieving the same degree of privacy everywhere. We also show how such an elastic metric can easily incorporate the concept of a “geographic fence” that is commonly employed to protect the highly recurrent locations of a user, such as his home or work. We perform an extensive evaluation of our technique by building an elastic metric for Paris’ wide metropolitan area, using semantic information from the OpenStreetMap database. We compare the resulting mechanism against the Planar Laplace mechanism satisfying standard geo-indistinguishability, using two real-world datasets from the Gowalla and Brightkite location-based social networks. The results show that the elastic mechanism adapts well to the semantics of each area, adjusting the noise as we move outside the city center, hence offering better overall privacy.1
Deep Learning of Invariant Features via Simulated Fixations in Video

We apply salient feature detection and tracking in videos to simulate fixations and smooth pursuit in human vision. With tracked sequences as input, a hierarchical network of modules learns invariant features using a temporal slowness constraint. The network encodes invariance which are increasingly complex with hierarchy. Although learned from videos, our features are spatial instead of spatial-temporal, and well suited for extracting features from still images. We applied our features to four datasets (COIL-100, Caltech 101, STL-10, PubFig), and observe a consistent improvement of 4% to 5% in classification accuracy. With this approach, we achieve state-of-the-art recognition accuracy 61% on STL-10 dataset.
Lead-Free (K,Na)NbO3 Impact-Induced-Oscillation Microenergy Harvester

We developed microenergy harvesters using impact-induced oscillation to scavenge electrical power from low frequency (<;200 Hz) and random environmental vibrations. The microharvesters comprised a (K,Na)NbO3/Si composite cantilever and a cylindrical cavity to guide a metal ball to perpendicularly strike the cantilever. Through ball impact, oscillation of the cantilever was induced, generating electrical power at ambient vibration frequencies from 20 to 150 Hz. The contact time of ball impact was identified as a key parameter for power enhancement and was effectively tuned by adjusting the impact position on the triangular cantilever. The experimental output power when the impact position was at the base of the cantilever was 34.6 nW. This value is tenfold higher than that from conventional devices in which the ball strikes the tip of the cantilever.
Preclinical characterization of abemaciclib in hormone receptor positive breast cancer

Abemaciclib is an ATP-competitive, reversible kinase inhibitor selective for CDK4 and CDK6 that has shown antitumor activity as a single agent in hormone receptor positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancer in clinical trials. Here, we examined the mechanistic effects of abemaciclib treatment using in vitro and in vivo breast cancer models. Treatment of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer cells with abemaciclib alone led to a decrease in phosphorylation of Rb, arrest at G1, and a decrease in cell proliferation. Moreover, abemaciclib exposure led to durable inhibition of pRb, TopoIIα expression and DNA synthesis, which were maintained after drug removal. Treatment of ER+ breast cancer cells also led to a senescence response as indicated by accumulation of β-galactosidase, formation of senescence-associated heterochromatin foci, and a decrease in FOXM1 positive cells. Continuous exposure to abemaciclib altered breast cancer cell metabolism and induced apoptosis. In a xenograft model of ER+ breast cancer, abemaciclib monotherapy caused regression of tumor growth. Overall these data indicate that abemaciclib is a CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitor that, as a single agent, blocks breast cancer cell progression, and upon longer treatment can lead to sustained antitumor effects through the induction of senescence, apoptosis, and alteration of cellular metabolism.
Parental Literacy Level and Understanding of Medical Information

Objective. To ascertain the impact of literacy level on parents' understanding of medical information and ability to follow therapy prescribed for their children. Design/Methods. A prospective cohort of parents accompanying their children for acute care. Parents were interviewed about demographic status, their child's health, and use of pediatric preventive services. The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) test was used to assess parental literacy. The same parent was interviewed 48 to 96 hours later and asked to recall the child's diagnosis, any medication prescribed, and instructions. Results. A total of 633 patients were enrolled. Follow-up was obtained in 543 patients (85.8%). Mean parental age was 32.43 years (SD = 9.07). Mean REALM score was 57.6 (SD = 10.9), corresponding to a 7th- to 8th-grade reading level, with a mean parental educational level of 13.43 years (SD = 2.09). Low REALM score was significantly correlated with young parental age and parental education. African-American race was associated with lower REALM scores. After controlling for these variables, REALM score significantly correlated with parental perception of how sick the child was, but not with use of preventive services, comprehension of diagnosis, medication name and instructions, or ability to obtain and administer prescribed medications. Conclusions. Parental literacy level did not correlate with use of preventive services or parental understanding of or ability to follow medical instructions for their children.
Vascular aspects of Alzheimer's disease: role of oxidative stress on vascular miocytes B-amyloid production and B-amyloid-induced toxicity in endothelial cells

El presente trabajo de tesis doctoral estudia el papel del estres oxidativo tanto en la etiologia como en la patofisiologia de la angiopatia cerebral amiloidea asociada a la enfermedad de Alzheimer. En este trabajo se ha demostrado la capacidad de las celulas de la musculatura lisa vascular de producir peptido s-amiloide (As). El estres oxidativo asociado a edades avanzadas, estimula el procesamiento amiloidogenico del APP a celulas de la musculatura lisa vascular dando lugar a un incremento en la produccion de As1-40 y As1-42, contribuyendo asi, a la formacion de los depositos amiloideos vasculares. A la vez, los depositos amiloideos vasculares inducen dano en los vasos a traves de estres oxidativo, donde la nitrotirosincion de proteinas juega un papel clave al inactivar enzimas esenciales para la viabilidad celular. La vitamina E y los estrogenos tienen un efecto protector frente el dano oxidativo inducido por el peptido As en neuronas y en celulas de la musculatura lisa vascular, mientras que la vitamina E, pero no los estrogenos, pueden proteger a las celulas endoteliales frente la toxicidad inducida por el peptido As.
Acute Clinical Disease in Cats following Infection with a Pathogenic Strain of Bartonella henselae(LSU16)

ABSTRACT Bartonella henselae is the causative agent of human cat scratch disease as well as several serious sequelae of infections, including bacillary angiomatosis and bacillary peliosis. Conflicting reports describe the pathogenesis of B. henselae in the cat. In this study, we characterized a strain of B. henselae termed LSU16. This strain was isolated on rabbit blood agar from a naturally infected 10-month-old female cat during a recurrent episode of bacteremia. The bacterial species was confirmed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Nine cats were infected intradermally with 5 × 107 CFU of LSU16, and clinical signs, antibody responses, and bacteremia were monitored. All nine cats developed raised, erythematous areas at the site of inoculation within 72 h postinoculation; the swelling peaked at 14 days postinfection and was not palpable by 28 days postinfection. Fever developed in all nine cats between 6 and 16 days postinfection and lasted for 1 to 8 days. Between 6 and 16 days postinfection, all nine cats experienced lethargy which persisted 5 to 18 days. Seven of nine cats were bacteremic by day 7, and all nine cats had become bacteremic by 14 days postinfection. Bacteremia peaked at 14 to 28 days postinfection in all cats. In six of the nine infected cats, bacterial numbers reached nondetectable levels during the 7th week postinfection; however, a single animal maintained bacteremia to 18 weeks postinfection. All nine cats developed strong antibody responses toB. henselae, as determined by Western blot analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Subsequently, three naive cats were injected intradermally with blood from cats infected with LSU16 from a pure culture, and five naive cats were injected with feces from fleas which had been feeding on cats infected with a pure culture of LSU16. These cats developed signs similar to those described in the previous experiment and were euthanized at 5 weeks postinfection. We conclude that B. henselae LSU16 is a virulent strain of B. henselae in cats and propose that the virulence of B. henselae in cats is strain dependent.