Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Late effects in adult survivors of childhood cancer: the need for life-long follow-up.

BACKGROUND To assess health status and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in childhood cancer survivors who were not involved in regular long-term follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred and twenty-three long-term survivors, median age 33 (19-50) years, follow-up 27 (9-38) years, were recalled to the long-term follow-up clinic. Most of them were treated in the period 1970-1990. Late effects were graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 3 (CTCAEv3). HRQoL was assessed by RAND-36. Socio-economic factors were compared with data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). RESULTS Grade 1-2 late effects were found in 54% of the survivors, grade 3-4 in 39%, two or more late effects in 70% and grade 2-4 previously unknown late effects in 33%. Survivors had significantly lower scores on RAND-36 compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS As nearly 40% of these long-term childhood cancer survivors suffer from moderate to severe late effects and 33% had previously unknown late effects it is worthwhile recalling these patients to follow-up. Where and by whom this follow-up can best be done is still a question that needs to be answered.
Ab initio calculations of electron affinity and ionization potential of carbon nanotubes

By combining ab initio all-electron localized orbital and pseudopotential plane-wave approaches we report on calculations of the electron affinity (EA) and the ionization potential (IP) of (5, 5) and (7, 0) single-wall carbon nanotubes. The role played by finite-size effects and nanotube termination has been analysed by comparing several hydrogen-passivated and not passivated nanotube segments. The dependence of the EA and IP on both the quantum confinement effect, due to the nanotube finite length, and the charge accumulation on the edges, is studied in detail. Also, the EA and IP are compared to the energies of the lowest unoccupied and highest occupied states, respectively, upon increasing the nanotube length. We report a slow convergence with respect to the number of atoms. The effect of nanotube packing in arrays on the electronic properties is eventually elucidated as a function of the intertube distance.
Antimicrobial Activity of Purified Toxins from Yellow Wasp Polistes flavus (Vespidae) against Certain Bacteria and Fungi

Yellow Wasp Polistes flavus venom toxins were isolated and purified on a Sepharose CL-6B 200 column. Purified proteins were investigated for its antibacterial and antifungal activity against 13 infectious microbial pathogens. Paper disc diffusion and serial micro-dilution assays were performed for the determination of inhibition zone (DIZ) diameters and minimal inhibitory concentration, respectively. Triton X-100 (0.1%) proved to be a good solubilizing agent for toxin/proteins. Higher protein solubilization was observed in the supernatant than in the residue, except TCA (tri-chloroacetic acid). The elution pattern of purified and homogenized sting glands exhibited two major peaks at 280 nm in fraction No. 41 - 61 and 81 - 101. The total yield of protein was 69.21% and specific activity was determined in each fraction. Molecular weights in protein fractions were ranging from 6 - 70 kD. MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) values were 12.3 μg/ml against K. pneumonia 12.3 μg/ml against E. coli and L. acidophilus, 24.6 μg/ml against B. cereus; 49.24 μg/ml against S. aureus and M. luteus. By agar disc diffusion method, the diameter of inhibition zones in mm in presence of yellow wasp toxins is at a concentration range of 98.56 - 6.9 μg/ml E. coli 18.36 ± 0.14, Bacillus cereus 14.566 ± 0.21, L. acidophilus 18.10 ± 0.21, Micrococcus luteus 18.76 ± 0.19, S. aeurus 17.36 ± 0.43, Klebsiella pneuminiae 19.56 ± 0.21, Salmonella typhi 19.96 ± 0.31, Vibrio cholera 21.83 ± 0.22, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 22.90 ± 0.09, Aspergillus niger 21.66 ± 0.16, Candida albicans 23.33 ± 0.26, Rhizopus stolonifer 24.96 ± 0.16 respectively. The antibacterial and antifungal activity of venom toxin may be due to action on cell membrane, its destruction and cell lysis. The wasp toxins may be used as strong biological agents to control microbes.
The Relationships between Weather-Related Factors and Daily Outdoor Physical Activity Counts on an Urban Greenway

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between weather and outdoor physical activity (PA). An online weather source was used to obtain daily max temperature [DMT], precipitation, and wind speed. An infra-red trail counter provided data on daily trail use along a greenway, over a 2-year period. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine associations between PA and weather, while controlling for day of the week and month of the year. The overall regression model explained 77.0% of the variance in daily PA (p < 0.001). DMT (b = 10.5), max temp-squared (b = −4.0), precipitation (b = −70.0), and max wind speed (b = 1.9) contributed significantly. Conclusion: Aggregated daily data can detect relationships between weather and outdoor PA.
Personality Traits, Coping Strategies and Social Support in patients with Depression and Anxiety

Present study was aimed to investigate the relationship of personality traits, coping strategies and social support in patients with depression and anxiety disorders. It was hypothesized that (a) there would likely to be a significant relationship between Personality Traits, Coping Strategies and Social Support in patients with depressive illness and anxiety disorders, (b) personality traits would likely to predict coping strategies in patients with depressive illness and anxiety disorders and (c) there would likely to be a gender difference with respect to personality traits, coping strategies and social support in patients with depressive illness and anxiety disorder. The total sample of 140 including 100 with depressive illness (men = 29 and women = 71) and 40 with anxiety disorder (men = 16 and women = 24) were recruited through purposive sampling technique. Self-designed demographic questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety and Obsessive compulsive Scale of Symptom Checklist-Revised (Rahman & Dawood, 2002) were used for screening. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Amjad & Kausar, 2001), Coping Strategies Questionnaire (Kausar & Munir, 2004) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988) were administered respectively. Results revealed significant inverse relationship of personality traits with active practical coping strategies and active distractive coping strategies and social support in patients with depressive illness and anxiety disorders. Likewise, extraversion was the significant predictor of active distractive coping strategy in patients with depressive illness whereas neuroticism was found to be the significant predictor of active distractive coping strategy in patients with anxiety disorders.
Seasonal Sexual Segregation by Monomorphic Sooty Shearwaters Puffinus griseus Reflects Different Reproductive Roles during the Pre-Laying Period

Tracking technology has revolutionized knowledge of seabird movements; yet, few studies have examined sex differences in distribution and behavior of small to medium-sized, sexually-monomorphic seabirds. Application of bird-borne geolocation-immersion loggers revealed seasonal segregation in the sexually-monomorphic Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus, mainly in the pre-laying period, when there were clear differences in reproductive roles. Shearwaters first returned to the Falkland Islands on 27 Sept±8 d; males, on average, 8 d earlier than females. Prior to egg-laying, distribution at sea, colony attendance and behaviour depended on sex. Males foraged locally over the southern Patagonian Shelf and Burdwood Bank, spending mainly single days at sea and intervening nights in the burrow. Females, who flew for more of the day during this time, foraged in more distant areas of the northern Patagonian Shelf and Argentine Basin that were deeper, warmer and relatively more productive. Attendance of females at the colony was also more variable than that of males and, overall, males were present for significantly more of the pre-laying period (38 vs. 19% of time). Sex differences were reduced following egg-laying, with males and females using similar foraging areas and making trips of similar mean duration in incubation (7.6±2.7 d) and chick-rearing (1.4±1.3 d). Congruence continued into the non-breeding period, with both sexes showing similar patterns of activity and areas of occupancy in the NW Atlantic. Thus, seasonal changes in reproductive roles influenced patterns of sexual segregation; this occurred only early in the season, when male Sooty Shearwaters foraged locally, returning regularly to the colony to defend (or maintain) the burrow or the mate, while females concentrated on building resources for egg development in distant and relatively more productive waters.
Effect of collaborative learning on enhancement of students’ self-efficacy, social skills and knowledge towards mobile apps development

This study investigated the impact of a collaborative learning intervention on students’ self-efficacy, social skills and knowledge toward mobile apps development. Twenty-nine undergraduate students were recruited for participation in the research study. They participated in a 12-week collaborative learning intervention. The self-efficacy for learning and performance scales from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and Social Skills Inventory were used to evaluate students’ self-efficacy in mobile apps development and social skills respectively. A knowledge of mobile apps assessment form was designed to assess a student’s knowledge in mobile apps development. The results revealed that students experienced a significant increase in knowledge of mobile apps. However, collaborative learning only has a small positive effect on a student’s self-efficacy and social skills. Implications for practice and research are provided for future study.
USING THE CORRECT STATISTICAL TEST FOR THE EQUALITY OF REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS

Criminologists are often interested in examining interactive effects within a regression context. For example, “holding other relevant factors constant, is the effect of delinquent peers on one's own delinquent conduct the same for males and females? ” or “is the effect of a given treatment program comparable between first-time and repeat offenders? ” A frequent strategy in examining such interactive effects is to test for the difference between two regression coefficients across independent samples. That is, does b1= b2? Traditionally, criminologists have employed a t or z test for the difference between slopes in making these coefficient comparisons. While there is considerable consensus as to the appropriateness of this strategy, there has been some confusion in the criminological literature as to the correct estimator of the standard error of the difference, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of coefficient differences, in the t or z formula. Criminologists have employed two different estimators of this standard deviation in their empirical work. In this note, we point out that one of these estimators is correct while the other is incorrect. The incorrect estimator biases one's hypothesis test in favor of rejecting the null hypothesis that b1= b2. Unfortunately, the use of this incorrect estimator of the standard error of the difference has been fairly widespread in criminology. We provide the formula for the correct statistical test and illustrate with two examples from the literature how the biased estimator can lead to incorrect conclusions.
Distinct Epigenetic Effects of Tobacco Smoking in Whole Blood and among Leukocyte Subtypes

Tobacco smoke exposure dramatically alters DNA methylation in blood cells and may mediate smoking-associated complex diseases through effects on immune cell function. However, knowledge of smoking effects in specific leukocyte subtypes is limited. To better characterize smoking–associated methylation changes in whole blood and leukocyte subtypes, we used Illumina 450K arrays and Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) to assess genome-wide DNA methylation. Differential methylation analysis in whole blood DNA from 172 smokers and 81 nonsmokers revealed 738 CpGs, including 616 previously unreported CpGs, genome-wide significantly associated with current smoking (p <1.2x10-7, Bonferroni correction). Several CpGs (MTSS1, NKX6-2, BTG2) were associated with smoking duration among heavy smokers (>22 cigarettes/day, n = 86) which might relate to long-term heavy-smoking pathology. In purified leukocyte subtypes from an independent group of 20 smokers and 14 nonsmokers we further examined methylation and gene expression for selected genes among CD14+ monocytes, CD15+ granulocytes, CD19+ B cells, and CD2+ T cells. In 10 smokers and 10 nonsmokers we used RRBS to fine map differential methylation in CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD14+, CD15+, CD19+, and CD56+ natural killer cells. Distinct cell-type differences in smoking-associated methylation and gene expression were identified. AHRR (cg05575921), ALPPL2 (cg21566642), GFI1 (cg09935388), IER3 (cg06126421) and F2RL3 (cg03636183) showed a distinct pattern of significant smoking-associated methylation differences across cell types: granulocytes> monocytes>> B cells. In contrast GPR15 (cg19859270) was highly significant in T and B cells and ITGAL (cg09099830) significant only in T cells. Numerous other CpGs displayed distinctive cell-type responses to tobacco smoke exposure that were not apparent in whole blood DNA. Assessing the overlap between these CpG sites and differential methylated regions (DMRs) with RRBS in 6 cell types, we confirmed cell-type specificity in the context of DMRs. We identified new CpGs associated with current smoking, pack-years, duration, and revealed unique profiles of smoking-associated DNA methylation and gene expression among immune cell types, providing potential clues to hematopoietic lineage-specific effects in disease etiology.
The ecology and psychology of agri-environment schemes

Het agrarisch natuurbeheer in slootkanten staat centraal, met als doel de diversiteit aan plantensoorten langs slootkanten toe te laten nemen. De afgelopen tien jaar hebben namelijk verschillende onderzoeken aangetoond dat tot nu toe de effectiviteit van agrarisch natuurbeheer beperkt is geweest. In dit proefschrift is zowel vanuit ecologisch als psychologisch perspectief onderzocht welke factoren het resultaat van het agrarisch natuurbeheer hebben beperkt.
c-Met Ectodomain Shedding Rate Correlates with Malignant Potential

Purpose: Many proteins are proteolytically released from the cell surface by a process known as ectodomain shedding. Shedding occurs under normal physiologic conditions and can be increased in certain pathologies. Among the many receptors for which ectodomain shedding has been shown is c-Met, the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor tyrosine kinase. HGF stimulates mitogenesis, motogenesis, and morphogenesis in a variety of cellular targets during development, homeostasis, and tissue regeneration. Inappropriate HGF signaling resulting in unregulated cell proliferation, motility, and invasion occurs in several human malignancies. This can occur through paracrine signaling, autocrine loop formation, receptor mutation, gene amplification, or gene rearrangement, accompanied frequently with overexpression of ligand and/or receptor proteins. We hypothesized that c-Met overexpression in cancer might result in increased ectodomain shedding, and that its measure could be a useful biomarker of tumor progression. Experimental Design: We developed a sensitive electrochemiluminescent immunoassay to quantitate c-Met protein in cell lysates, culture supernatants, and biological samples. Results: A survey of cultured cell models of oncogenic transformation revealed significant direct correlations (P < 0.001, t test or ANOVA) between malignant potential and the rate of c-Met ectodomain shedding that was independent of steady-state receptor expression level. Moreover, weekly plasma and urine samples from mice harboring s.c. human tumor xenografts (n = 4 per group) displayed soluble human c-Met levels that were measurable before tumors became palpable and that correlated directly with tumor volume (R2 > 0.92, linear regression). Conclusions: For a variety of human cancers, c-Met ectodomain shedding may provide a reliable and practical indicator of malignant potential and overall tumor burden.
AERMOD: A dispersion model for industrial source applications. Part II: Model performance against 17 field study databases

Abstract The performance of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulatory Model (AERMOD) Improvement Committee’s applied air dispersion model against 17 field study databases is described. AERMOD is a steady-state plume model with significant improvements over commonly applied regulatory models. The databases are characterized, and the performance measures are described. Emphasis is placed on statistics that demonstrate the model’s abilities to reproduce the upper end of the concentration distribution. This is most important for applied regulatory modeling. The field measurements are characterized by flat and complex terrain, urban and rural conditions, and elevated and surface releases with and without building wake effects. As is indicated by comparisons of modeled and observed concentration distributions, with few exceptions AERMOD’s performance is superior to that of the other applied models tested. This is the second of two articles, with the firs.
Maxium Likelihood Non-linear Transformation for Environment Adaptation in Speech Recognition Systems

In this paper, we describe an adaptation method for speech recognition systems that is based on a piecewise-linear approximation to a non-linear transformation of the feature space. The method extends a previously proposed non-linear transformation (NLT) technique by making the transformation function more sophisticated (piecewise-linear instead of piecewise-constant), and by computing the transformation to maximize the likelihood of the adaptation data given its transcription (instead of just matching the global statistics of the test and training data). This method also differs from other linear techniques (such as MLLR, linear feature space transforms, etc.) in two ways - ﬁrst, the computed transformation is non-linear, second, the tying structure of the transformation depends not on the phonetic class but rather on the location in the feature space. Experimental results show that the method performs well for the case of limited adaptation data, and the performance gains appear to be additive to those provided by MLLR - yielding upto 3.4% relative improvement over MLLR.
KEMAMPUAN MENYUSUN HIPOTESIS DALAM PEMBELAJARAN IPA MELALUI METODE EKSPERIMEN PADA PESERTA DIDIK KELAS V SEKOLAH DASAR

Abstract : This Research aimed at increasing the ability compiled hypothesis in Scientific Learning through the experiment method. This Research is done at SD Negeri Pajeleran 01 located at Jl. Dadi Kusmayadi kelurahan Sukahati Kecamatan Cibinong. Research is an action research class room. The observation Result that the average of students score in scientific subject got higher from 68 become 80, KKM achievements increase as high as 23% and the ability compiles hypothesis at each indicator is increase from 2,99 to 3,22, logical indicator increase 3,19 to 3,21 and deductive indicator increase from 2,90 to 3,20. The Rule of teacher action and participant have reached 100%. This research Result can become input for teacher to apply experiment method in compiling hypothesis at scientific learning. Keyword : Compile hypothesis, natural science, eksperimen, elementary school. Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan meningkatkan kemampuan meyusun hipotesis melalui metode ilmiah percobaan . Penelitian ini ini dilakukan pada SD Negeri Pajeleran 01 yang terletak di jl . Dadi kusmayadi kelurahan Sukahati Kecamatan Cibinong Kabupaten bogor. Jenis penelitian ini adalah PTK kemimis serta mc . Pengamatan hasil bahwa rata-rata siswa mencetak gol ilmiah tunduk punya lebih besar dari 68 menjadi 80 , prestasi meningkatkan setinggi kkm 23 % dan kemampuan mengkompilasi hipotesis di setiap indikator mengalami peningkatan untuk semua dari 2,99 untuk 3,22 , indikator meningkatkan 3,19 untuk 3,21 logis dan indikator deduktif meningkat dari 2,90 untuk 3,20 . Supremasi guru tindakan dan peserta telah mencapai 100 % . Hasil penelitian ini dapat menjadi masukan bagi guru untuk menerapkan percobaan metode ilmiah dalam kompilasi hipotesis di belajar. Kata Kunci : Menyusun hipotesis, pembelajaran ilmu pengetahuan alam
The Charm Renaissance: $D^-$ Physics - A Selective Review

In recent years, no doubt because of the success of the B-physics programme at BaBar and Belle, charm has been considered the poor relation of heavy-quark physics. This is now changing: while B-physics remains the biggest show in town, it is no longer the only show. As will be argued, measurements in the D-sector have a vital, although indirect, role to play in pinning down the value of certain critical parameters of flavour-physics. Furthermore, the charm system provides a powerful laboratory in its own right to search for contributions from non-Standard Model (SM) processes. Three main reasons can be identified which explain why charm physics is once more, quite correctly, being perceived as an important and exciting discipline:
Spiking Neural P Systems with Neuron Division and Dissolution

Spiking neural P systems are a new candidate in spiking neural network models. By using neuron division and budding, such systems can generate/produce exponential working space in linear computational steps, thus provide a way to solve computational hard problems in feasible (linear or polynomial) time with a “time-space trade-off” strategy. In this work, a new mechanism called neuron dissolution is introduced, by which redundant neurons produced during the computation can be removed. As applications, uniform solutions to two NP-hard problems: SAT problem and Subset Sum problem are constructed in linear time, working in a deterministic way. The neuron dissolution strategy is used to eliminate invalid solutions, and all answers to these two problems are encoded as indices of output neurons. Our results improve the one obtained in Science China Information Sciences, 2011, 1596-1607 by Pan et al.
The vocational–academic divide in neoliberal upper secondary curricula: the Swedish case

Abstract A historical tension between a more general and a more specific focus in post-compulsory education is made visible in some educational systems by the division into more academic and more vocational programmes. Embedded in this tension are questions of social justice and the purposes of education. In addition, division into academic and vocational programmes has class dimensions since youth with working class backgrounds are often over-represented in vocational programmes. This study investigates how this tension is handled in the Swedish upper secondary curriculum, which reflects an international neoliberal policy trend in promoting competition, employability and employer influence over the curriculum. By analysing how the educational content of vocational educational and training (VET) programmes and higher educational preparatory (HEP) programmes is contextualised, we found that the two programme types were based on very different logics. In VET programmes, knowledge is strongly context-bound and often related to regulating behaviours. This contrasts sharply with the way knowledge is contextualised in HEP programmes in which less context-bound knowledge and skills such as using concepts, models and critical thinking are dominant. Students in VET programmes are trained to ‘do’ and to ‘adapt’, while the students in HEP programmes are trained to ‘think’ and to ‘imagine possibilities’. Thus, students from different social classes are prepared for very different roles in society.