Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organ Profiles of the Antioxidant Defence System and Accumulation of Metals in Helix aspersa Snails

This paper studied the association between metals accumulation in selected tissues and the shell and antioxidant defence system in Helix aspersa snails. Accumulation of Zn, Fe, Pb, Cd, and Mg was organ-specific and was the highest in the hepatopancreas. Hepatopancreatic catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities were the highest, whereas the highest glutathione reductase activity was recorded in the foot. Concentration of GSH was inversely proportional to hepatopancreatic accumulation of the metals. The metals accumulation did not affect hepatopancreatic lipids peroxidation, which means that the hepatopancreatic antioxidant defence was quite capable of eliminating the overproduction of reactive oxygen species evoked by metals.
The Role of Technology in Learning: Managing to Achieve a Vision

The paper explores the current context for uses of technology in education, including the nature of work, the capabilities required by employees, and developments in the technology itself. A vision for education is needed: how might students be learning in the future and what role might technology play in this? By making students’ learning needs the focus we can identify the support technology can offer. The issue of student access is discussed— both physical access to technology and the psychological confidence to use it. One major government initiative—the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme—shows the limits of what has been achieved to date. The paper ends by suggesting how changes necessary within the education sector might be better managed.
Europarties’ election pledges and European Commission legislative priorities: An assessment of their overlap

Utilizing a newly compiled data set, this article demonstrates that some election pledges made by the transnational Europarties are included among the European Commission priorities issued during the pre-legislative stage. The data set consists of 597 promises made by four transnational Europarties during the 2004 and 2009 European Parliament (EP) elections and of 698 subsequent Commission legislative intentions. Focusing on the time periods during the Barroso presidencies, the article’s findings suggest that (1) decision-making rules in the EP help us understand which transnational pledges are included in Commission priorities and (2) promises by two Europarties, such as the European People’s Party and the European Liberal and Democrat Party, are more likely to be considered by the Commission than those of other Europarties. Our results speak to scholarly debates on the place of the Europarties in the European Union inter-institutional relations and more broadly on the democratic legitimacy of the Union.
A New Aspect of the TrkB Signaling Pathway in Neural Plasticity

In the central nervous system (CNS), the expression of molecules is strictly regulated during development. Control of the spatiotemporal expression of molecules is a mechanism not only to construct the functional neuronal network but also to adjust the network in response to new information from outside of the individual, i.e., through learning and memory. Among the functional molecules in the CNS, one of the best-studied groups is the neurotrophins, which are nerve growth factor (NGF)-related gene family molecules. Neurotrophins include NGF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), and NT-4/5 in the mammal. Among neurotrophins and their receptors, BDNF and tropomyosin-related kinases B (TrkB) are enriched in the CNS. In the CNS, the BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway fulfills a wide variety of functions throughout life, such as cell survival, migration, outgrowth of axons and dendrites, synaptogenesis, synaptic transmission, and remodeling of synapses. Although the same ligand and receptor, BDNF and TrkB, act in these various developmental events, we do not yet understand what kind of mechanism provokes the functional multiplicity of the BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway. In this review, we discuss the mechanism that elicits the variety of functions performed by the BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway in the CNS as a tool of pharmacological therapy.
Incident Atrial Fibrillation Among Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites

Background— Because the association between atrial fibrillation (AF) and race has only been rigorously compared in population-based studies that dichotomized participants as white or black, it is unclear whether white race confers elevated AF risk or black race affords AF protection. Methods and Results— The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project was used to identify patients receiving hospital-based care in California between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2009. The association between race and incident AF was examined using Cox proportional hazards models. Interaction analyses were performed to elucidate the mechanism underlying the race-AF association. Among 13 967 949 patients, 375 318 incident AF episodes were observed over a median 3.2 (interquartile range 1.8–4.3) years. In multivariable Cox models adjusting for patient demographics and established AF risk factors, blacks (hazard ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.82–0.85; P<0.001), Hispanics (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.77–0.79; P<0.001), and Asians (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.77–0.79; P<0.001) each exhibited a lower AF risk compared with whites. AF risk among whites was disproportionately higher in the absence of acquired cardiovascular risk factors and diminished or reversed in the presence of comorbid diseases. Although Hispanics and Asians also had a lower adjusted risk of incident atrial flutter compared with whites, the risk of flutter was significantly higher among blacks. Conclusions— In a large hospital-based cohort, whites have an increased risk of AF whether compared with blacks, Asians, or Hispanics. The heightened AF risk among whites is most pronounced in the absence of cardiovascular comorbidities.
Novel Echocardiographic Indices for Assessing the Left Main Coronary Artery in Children With Kawasaki Disease

Background Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common cause of acquired myocardial infarction in children. Coronary artery involvement is the most serious feature of this vasculitis syndrome. Timely diagnosis of coronary artery involvement is of utmost importance since it can prevent long-term morbidity and mortality. The current methods for the diagnosis of coronary artery dilation in KD are inconsistent and are also not capable of detecting all the abnormal coronary arteries or the so-called occult dilations present. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of three novel allometric indices for the diagnosis of left main coronary artery (LMCA) involvement in KD. Methods We performed a prospective case-control study in 69 children (38 with KD and 31 healthy children). All the followed up patients underwent two complete echocardiographic examinations at the time of admission and 4 - 6 weeks later. We measured the size of the LMCA, coronary sinus (CS) and aorta (A) and calculated the LMCA/CS, LMCA/A and LMCA/CS/A ratios. We also calculated the cut-off scores for each index using receiver operating characteristic curves both in the acute phase and 4 - 6 weeks later. Results In the acute phase, the cut-off scores for the LMCA/A ratio was > 0.23; LMCA/CS, > 0.44; and LMCA/CS/A, > 0.03. This implied 60% sensitivity and 80% specificity for the detection of abnormal LMCA in KD. Four to six weeks after the acute phase, the LMCA/A cut-off score was > 0.23; LMCA/CS, > 0.73; and LMCA/CS/A, > 0.73. This implied 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity for the detection of abnormal LMCA. There was a significant decrease in the size of the CS in comparison with the control group (1.92 ± 0.363 mm; P = 0.007 and 0.023). Conclusions The LMCA/A, LMCA/CS and LMCA/CS/A ratios seem to provide simple and patient-specific indices for the detection of abnormal LMCA in KD, both in the acute and subacute phase. Further, a decrease in the size of the CS may imply a decrease in coronary artery flow in the acute and subacute phases of KD.
Developing Preservice Teachers' Self-Efficacy through Field-Based Science Teaching Practice with Elementary Students.

Thirty preservice teachers enrolled in a field-based science methods course were placed at a public elementary school for coursework and for teaching practice with elementary students. Candidates focused on building conceptual understanding of science content and pedagogical methods through innovative curriculum development and other course assignments during the first ten weeks. Teaching practice with fifth-grade students at the hosting elementary school occurred over a five-week period towards the end of the course. The researcher sought to determine if teacher candidates’ confidence would rise in a teacher preparation environment that included exposure to authentic teaching practice. A pretest-posttest administration of the STEBIB determined that general efficacy and personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) increased significantly as hypothesized. Science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE) increased, but to a lesser degree.
Cost Analysis of Joins in RDF Query Processing Using the TripleT Index

Cost Analysis of Joins in RDF Query Processing Using the TripleT Index By Kanwei Li The Semantic Web movement has led to a growing popularity of RDF and its query languages. Clearly, good query performance is important in allowing information to be quickly retrieved from RDF datasets that are everincreasing in size. We use the TripleT indexing scheme for RDF data as a framework to examine the cost of join operations for RDF. We analyze strategies for efficient join processing for a variety of query patterns. For queries that involve multiple join conditions, we introduce a model to predict the number of I/Os required to best order the join conditions. Experimental results validate the model using three real RDF datasets. Cost Analysis of Joins in RDF Query Processing Using the TripleT Index
Prosocial Attitudes toward Money from Terror Management Perspective: Death Transcendence through Spirituality

ABSTRACT Based on Terror Management Theory (TMT), we suggest that spirituality and prosocial attitudes toward money have a similar defensive function in resisting existential anxiety. In mortality salient (MS) situations, both spirituality and prosocial money attitudes afford symbolic immortality by self-transcendent connections. In four studies, we found that activating death awareness weakened people’s subjective love of money (Study 1) and predicted increased spending willingness on prosocial rather than proself goals (Studies 2, 3, and 4). More importantly, MS effects on money attitudes were smaller when people’s trait spirituality was high (vs. low; Studies 1, 2, 3) and when people were primed to experience spirituality (vs. happiness control condition; Study 4). For low spirituality people, the association between MS and prosocial spending also depended on the capacity of money spending to contribute positively to one’s feelings of self-worth (Study 3). Theoretical implications and future directions are discussed.
Probing for Requirements Knowledge to Stimulate Architectural Thinking

Software requirements specifications (SRSs) often lack the detail needed to make informed architectural decisions. Architects therefore either make assumptions, which can lead to incorrect decisions, or conduct additional stakeholder interviews, resulting in potential project delays. We previously observed that software architects ask Probing Questions (PQs) to gather information crucial to architectural decision-making. Our goal is to equip Business Analysts with appropriate PQs so that they can ask these questions themselves. We report a new study with over 40 experienced architects to identify reusable PQs for five areas of functionality and organize them into structured flows. These PQflows can be used by Business Analysts to elicit and specify architecturally relevant information. Additionally, we leverage machine learning techniques to determine when a PQ-flow is appropriate for use in a project, and to annotate individual PQs with relevant information extracted from the existing SRS. We trained and evaluated our approach on over 8,000 individual requirements from 114 requirements specifications and also conducted a pilot study to validate its usefulness.
Human brucellosis: seroprevalence and associated exposure factors among abattoir workers in Abuja, Nigeria - 2011

Introduction Brucellosis, a neglected debilitating zoonosis, is a recognized occupational hazard with a high prevalence in developing countries. Transmission to humans can occur through contact with infected animals or animal products. Brucellosis presents with fever. In Nigeria, there is a possibility of missed diagnoses by physicians leading to a long debilitating illness. We conducted a study to determine the seroprevalence and factors associated with Human Brucellosis (HB) among abattoir-workers in Abuja, Nigeria. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study and selected abattoir-workers using stratified random sampling. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data on demographics and exposure-factors. We tested the workers’ serum-samples using Rose-Bengal (RBPT) and ELISA tests. A worker with HB was one whose serum tested positive to RBPT or ELISA. We tested differences in proportions between workers with HB and those without HB using odds-ratio and X2 tests. Results Of 224 workers, 172 (76.8%) were male and mean age was 30 + 9.0 years. Of 224 sera collected, 54 were positive giving a seroprevalence of 24.1%. Of these, 32 (59.3%) were butchers, and 11 (20.4%) were meat-sellers. Slaughtering animals while having open-wounds (Odds-ratio (OR) = 2.15, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.15-4.04); occupational-exposure of >5years (OR = 2.30, CI = 1.11-4.78) and eating raw meat (OR = 2.75, CI = 1.21-6.26) were significantly associated with HB. Multivariate analyses showed that occupational-exposure of >5years (Adjusted OR (AOR) =2.45, CI = 1.15 – 5.30) and eating raw-meat (AOR = 2.64, CI = 1.14 - 6.14) remained significantly associated with HB. Conclusion Seroprevalence of HB among abattoir-workers in Abuja was high. Factors associated with HB were occupational-exposure of >5years and eating raw-meat. Abattoir-workers should be discouraged from eating raw-meat and educated on adherence to safe animal-product handling practices.
Prenatal diagnosis, prediction of outcome and in utero therapy of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) can be associated with genetic or structural anomalies with poor prognosis. In isolated cases, survival is dependent on the degree of lung hypoplasia and liver position. Cases should be referred in utero to tertiary care centers familiar with this condition both for prediction of outcome as well as timed delivery. The best validated prognostic indicator is the lung area to head circumference ratio. Ultrasound is used to measure the lung area of the index case, which is then expressed as a proportion of what is expected normally (observed/expected LHR). When O/E LHR is < 25% survival chances are < 15%. Prenatal intervention, aiming to stimulate lung growth, can be achieved by temporary fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion (FETO). A balloon is percutaneously inserted into the trachea at 26–28 weeks, and reversal of occlusion is planned at 34 weeks. Growing experience has demonstrated the feasibility and safety of the technique with a survival rate of about 50%. The lung response to, and outcome after FETO, is dependent on pre‐existing lung size as well gestational age at birth. Early data show that FETO does not increase morbidity in survivors, when compared to historical controls. Several trials are currently under design. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Half-Mile Circle

The 0.5-mile distance has become accepted for gauging a transit station's catchment area in the United States and is the de facto standard for the planning of U.S. transit-oriented developments (TODs). Planners and researchers use transit catchment areas not only to make predictions about transit ridership and transit impacts (socioeconomic and on land use) but also to prescribe regulations (e.g., relaxing restrictive zoning or carving out TODs for financial plans). This radius is loosely based on the distance that people are willing to walk to transit, but the same reasoning has been used to justify other transit catchment areas. Station-level variables from 1,449 high-capacity American transit stations in 21 cities are used to determine whether a clear benchmark between distance and ridership provides a norm for station-area planning and prediction. Results indicate that, for the purposes of predicting station-level transit ridership, different catchment areas have little influence on a model's predictive power. This finding suggests that transit agencies should use the easiest, most readily available data when estimating direct demand models. The evidence is less clear for prescribing land use policy. Nevertheless, results support the use of a 0.25-mile catchment area around transit for jobs and a 0.5-mile catchment area for population. Even though these distances probably will vary, depending on the location and the study purpose, the distances are good starting points for considering transit-oriented land use policy or collecting labor-intensive data, such as surveys, about transit-adjacent firms or households.
Fault-Tolerant Fuzzy Gain-Scheduled PID for a Quadrotor Helicopter Testbed in the Presence of Actuator Faults

Abstract In the current study, an adaptive PID controller is proposed for fault-tolerant control of a quadrotor helicopter system in the presence of actuator faults. A fuzzy inference scheme is used to tune in real-time the controller gains. Tracking errors and change in tracking errors are used in this fuzzy scheduler to make the system act faster and more effectively in the event of fault occurrence. Two fault scenarios are investigated: the loss of control effectiveness in all actuators and the loss of control effectiveness in one single actuator. The proposed adaptive PID controller is compared with the conventional one through an experimental application to a quadrotor helicopter testbed at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering of Concordia University. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Linking patterns in the European Union’s Countries: geographical maps of the European academic web space

This national-level study intends to describe the existing relationships between the number of web pages, inlinks to and outlinks from Europe and national or internal links in the European Higher Education Area through a sample of 535 European universities web domains. Several geographical maps are introduced to summarize and visualize this statistical information. The main result shows that larger countries, in number of web pages, link less to the remaining European countries, while the smaller ones are characterized by their link profusion to the European zone. The great presence of national links in large and medium size countries confirms that the European academic web space is shaped by the aggregation of national sub-networks, while the similar low presence in small countries suggests that these are linked to another large country.
Marriage and Managers' Attitudes to Risk

Marital status can both reflect and affect individual preferences. We explore the impact of marriage on corporate CEOs, and find that firms run by single CEOs exhibit higher stock return volatility, pursue more aggressive investment policies, and do not respond to changes in idiosyncratic risk. These effects are weaker for older CEOs. Our findings continue to hold when we use variation in divorce laws across states to instrument for CEO marital status, which supports the hypothesis that marriage itself drives choices rather than it just reflecting innate heterogeneity in preferences. We explore various potential explanations for why single CEOs may be less risk-averse. JEL Classification: G02, G30, G32, J12, K36.
Distinct and synergistic feedforward inhibition of pyramidal cells by basket and bistratified interneurons

Feedforward inhibition (FFI) enables pyramidal cells in area CA1 of the hippocampus (CA1PCs) to remain easily excitable while faithfully representing a broad range of excitatory inputs without quickly saturating. Despite the cortical ubiquity of FFI, its specific function is not completely understood. FFI in CA1PCs is mediated by two physiologically and morphologically distinct GABAergic interneurons: fast-spiking, perisomatic-targeting basket cells and regular-spiking, dendritic-targeting bistratified cells. These two FFI pathways might create layer-specific computational sub-domains within the same CA1PC, but teasing apart their specific contributions remains experimentally challenging. We implemented a biophysically realistic model of CA1PCs using 40 digitally reconstructed morphologies and constraining synaptic numbers, locations, amplitude, and kinetics with available experimental data. First, we validated the model by reproducing the known combined basket and bistratified FFI of CA1PCs at the population level. We then analyzed how the two interneuron types independently affected the CA1PC spike probability and timing as a function of inhibitory strength. Separate FFI by basket and bistratified respectively modulated CA1PC threshold and gain. Concomitant FFI by both interneuron types synergistically extended the dynamic range of CA1PCs by buffering their spiking response to excitatory stimulation. These results suggest testable hypotheses on the precise effects of GABAergic diversity on cortical computation.
Characterization of Acinetobacter johnsonii isolate XBB1 carrying nine plasmids and encoding NDM-1, OXA-58 and PER-1 by genome sequencing.

OBJECTIVES To obtain the complete genome sequence of an Acinetobacter johnsonii isolate, which encodes the NDM-1 and OXA-58 carbapenemases. METHODS Genome sequencing was performed using the 454 and HiSeq 2000 platforms. Reads were assembled into scaffolds and gaps between scaffolds were filled by PCR and Sanger sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses of A. johnsonii isolates and their intrinsic blaOXA genes were performed using Harvest and MEGA. The context of blaOXA-58 was analysed in detail. RESULTS Isolate XBB1 has one 3.5 Mb chromosome (38.5% GC content) and nine plasmids in the range 3.9-398.9 kb. Isolate XBB1 appears to be distinct from other A. johnsonii isolates. Five of the nine plasmids contained genes encoding for mobilization. The largest contains four XerC/XerD-like binding sites and five Re27 regions. Alignment revealed that Re27 regions are variants of XerC/XerD-like sites. Besides blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-58, isolate XBB1 has an ESBL gene blaPER-1 and a few other genes conferring resistance to aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, rifampicin, sulphonamides and tetracycline. blaOXA-58 is located in a Russian doll-type structure, as it is flanked by ISAba3, then by two copies of a newly identified element ISAjo2 and bracketed by a pair of Re27 regions. The intrinsic blaOXA of XBB1 is a new variant, blaOXA-311, which is most closely related to blaOXA-333 in an Australian A. johnsonii isolate. CONCLUSIONS We present the first completely assembled genome sequence of A. johnsonii. The ability of A. johnsonii to harbour nine plasmids suggests this species could generate various platforms to mediate the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance.