Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Journal of Information Technology Education Web-based Learning Environment: a Theory-based Design Process for Development and Evaluation Web-based Learning Environment Background Overview of Gps Education

Executive Summary Web-based courses and programs have increasingly been developed by many academic institutions , organizations, and companies worldwide due to their benefits for both learners and educators. However, many of the developmental approaches lack two important considerations needed for implementing Web-based learning applications: (1) integration of the user interface design with instructional design and (2) development of the evaluation framework to improve the overall quality of Web-based learning support environments. This study addressed these two weaknesses while developing a user-centered, Web-based learning support environment for Global Positioning System (GPS) education: Web-based distance and distributed learning (WD 2 L) environment. The research goals of the study focused on the improvement of the design process and usability of the WD 2 L environment based on a theory-based Integrated Design Process (IDP) proposed in the study. Results indicated that the proposed IDP was effective in that the study showed (1) the WD 2 L environment's equivalence to traditional supplemental learning, especially as a Web-based supplemental learning program and (2) users' positive perceptions of WD 2 L environment resources. The study also confirmed that for an e-learning environment to be successful, various aspects of the learning environment should be considered such as application domain knowledge, conceptual learning theory, instructional design, user interface design, and evaluation about the overall quality of the learning environment. Introduction As an increasingly powerful, interactive, and dynamic medium for delivering information, the World Wide Web (Web) in combination with information technology (e.g., LAN, WAN, Internet, etc.) has found many applications. One popular application has been for educational use, such as Web-based, distance, distributed or online learning. The use of the Web as an educational tool has provided learners and educators with a wider range of new and interesting learning experiences and teaching environments , not possible in traditional in-class education (Khan, 1997). Web-based learning environments have been Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all …
Understanding the Uneven Spread of HIV Within Africa: Comparative Study of Biologic, Behavioral, and Contextual Factors in Rural Populations in Tanzania and Zimbabwe

Background Large differences in the spread of HIV have been observed within sub-Saharan Africa. Goal The goal was to identify factors that could explain differences in the spread of HIV within sub-Saharan African populations. Study Design Ecologic comparison of data from population-based surveys in high and relatively low HIV prevalence rural areas in Zimbabwe, Manicaland, and Tanzania, Kisesa. Results HIV prevalence in Manicaland and Kisesa was 15.4% and 5.3% in men aged 17-44 years and 21.1% and 8.0% in women aged 15-44 years (odds ratios, 3.3 and 3.1, respectively). Marriage is later, spatial mobility more common, cohabitation with marital partners less frequent, education levels are higher, and male circumcision is less common in Manicaland. However, adjustment for differences in these factors increased the odds ratios for HIV infection in Manicaland versus Kisesa to 6.9 and 4.8 for men and women, respectively. Sexually transmitted infection levels were similar, but syphilis was only common in Kisesa. Respondents in Kisesa started sex earlier and reported more sexual partners. Age differences between partners were similar in the 2 locations. Conclusion Substantial differences exist between the contemporary sociodemographic profiles of rural Manicaland and Kisesa. However, these differences did not translate into measurable differences in the biologic or behavioral factors for which data were available and did not explain the much higher HIV prevalence found in Manicaland. These findings might reflect more extensive AIDS-selective mortality and behavior change or greater bias in reporting of sexual behavior in Zimbabwe.
A Pilot Study to Explore the Results from Learning a Self-empowered Energy Healing Technique as an Emotional Regulation Tool Intended to Improve Service Industry Leaders’ Affect, Well-being, and Performance

5 Chapter 1 Purpose of the Proposed Research 6 Chapter 2 Analysis of Conceptual Context 12 Emotional Intelligence 12 Emotional Labor 19 Affective Leadership 23 A Brief History of Healing Practices 29 An Anatomy and Physiology of Healing 32 The Neurophysiology of Emotional Trauma 36 Evidence Related to the Energy Healing Technique 42 Outcomes in Healing Research 52 The Benefits and Cautions of Bringing Spirituality into the Workplace 54 A Vision Supporting Sustainable Leaders 60 Chapter 3 Methodology & Validity 64 Chapter 4 Results and Discussion 77 Chapter 5 Summary, Recommendations, Conclusions 122
Apolipoprotein J (clusterin) activates rodent microglia in vivo and in vitro

Apolipoprotein J (apoJ; also known as clusterin and sulfated glycoprotein (SGP)‐2) is associated with senile plaques in degenerating regions of Alzheimer's disease brains, where activated microglia are also prominent. We show a functional link between apoJ and activated microglia by demonstrating that exogenous apoJ activates rodent microglia in vivo and in vitro. Intracerebroventricular infusion of purified human plasma apoJ (∼4 µg over 28 days) activated parenchymal microglia to a phenotype characterized by enlarged cell bodies and processes (phosphotyrosine immunostaining). In vitro, primary rat microglia were also activated by apoJ, with changes in morphology and induction of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) antigen. ApoJ increased the secretion of reactive nitrogen intermediates in a dose‐dependent manner (EC50 112 nm), which was completely blocked by aminoguanidine (AG), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor. However, AG did not block the increased secretion of tumor necrosis factor‐α by apoJ (EC50 55 nm). Microglial activation by apoJ was also blocked by an anti‐apoJ monoclonal antibody (G7), and by chemical cleavage of apoJ with 2‐nitro‐5‐thiocyanobenzoate. The mitogen‐activated protein kinase kinase and protein kinase C inhibitors PD98059 and H7 inhibited apoJ‐mediated induction of reactive nitrogen intermediate secretion from cultured microglia. As a functional measure, apoJ‐activated microglia secreted neurotoxic agents in a microglia–neuron co‐culture model. We hypothesize that ApoJ contributes to chronic inflammation and neurotoxicity through direct effects on microglia.
Racial Battle Fatigue and the MisEducation of Black Men: Racial Microaggressions, Societal Problems, and Environmental Stress

Abstract:Black men's lives are racialized contradictions. They are told that contemporary educational and professional institutions—particularly historically White institutions (HWIs)—are places where, through hard work, they can achieve the so-called American dream. However, for far too many Black men, HWIs represent racial climates that are replete with gendered racism, blocked opportunities, and mundane, extreme, environmental stress (MEES). This study examined the experiences of 661 Black men. A structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the data. Findings indicate that as educational attainment increases toward college completion, both racial microaggressions and societal problems contribute to more than one third of the cause of MEES. Results suggest predominantly White environments are prime contexts for producing racial battle fatigue among Black men.
Dynamic model based formation control and obstacle avoidance of multi-robot systems

SUMMARY This work presents, first, a complete dynamic model of a unicycle-like mobile robot that takes part in a multi-robot formation. A linear parameterization of this model is performed in order to identify the model parameters. Then, the robot model is input-output feedback linearized. On a second stage, for the multi-robot system, a model is obtained by arranging into a single equation all the feedback linearized robot models. This multi-robot model is expressed in terms of formation states by applying a coordinate transformation. The inverse dynamics technique is then applied to design a formation control. The controller can be applied both to positioning and to tracking desired robot formations. The formation control can be centralized or decentralized and scalable to any number of robots. A strategy for rigid formation obstacle avoidance is also proposed. Experimental results validate the control system design.
Thermo-Moisture Responsive Polyurethane Shape Memory Polymer for Biomedical Devices

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have a number of advantages as compared with their metal counterpart, i.e., shape memory alloys, in particular for biomedical applications. The recent finding of the influence of moisture on the glass transition temperature of a polyurethane SMP, which is traditionally well-known for its thermo-responsive feature, enables us to achieve not only the so called moisture-driven for shape recovery, but also the recovery following a predetermined sequence, i.e., programmed recovery. Utilizing these new features, we demonstrate a few novel applications of this SMP for biomedical devices, in particular, for minimally invasive surgery and cell surgery in future.
Correlation of rpoB Mutations with Minimal Inhibitory Concentration of Rifampin and Rifabutin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis in an HIV/AIDS Endemic Setting, South Africa

Treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV co-infections is often complicated by drug-to-drug interactions between anti-mycobacterial and anti-retroviral agents. Rifabutin (RFB) is an alternative to rifampin (RIF) for TB regimens and is recommended for HIV patients concurrently receiving protease inhibitors because of reduced induction of CYP3A4. This study sought to determine the proportion of RFB susceptible isolates among RIF-resistant strains in a high HIV prevalence setting in South Africa. In addition, the study explored the association between rpoB mutations and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of RIF and RFB. A total of 189 multidrug resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from the Centre for Tuberculosis repository were analyzed. The MICs were determined using a MYCOTB Sensititre plate method and the rpoB gene was sequenced. Of the 189 MDR isolates, 138 (73%) showed resistance to both RIF and RFB, while 51 (27%) isolates were resistant to RIF but retained susceptibility to RFB. The S531L was the most frequent rpoB point mutation in 105/189 (56%) isolates, followed by H526Y in 27/189 (14%) isolates. Resistance to both RIF and RFB was found predominantly in association with mutations S531L (91/105, 87%), H526Y (20/27, 74%), and H526D (15/19, 79%), while D516V (15/17, 88%), and L533P (3/4, 75%) were found in RIF-resistant, RFB-susceptible isolates. This study has shown that up to 27% of MDR-TB patients in South Africa may benefit from a treatment regimen that includes RFB.
The Expansions of the Pectoral Girdle Muscles onto the Brachial Fascia: Morphological Aspects and Spatial Disposition

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between the expansions of the pectoral girdle muscles, i.e. pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi and deltoid, and the brachial fascia. Methods: Thirty shoulder specimens from 15 unembalmed adult cadavers were studied by dissection and in vivo radiological studies were performed in 20 patients using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Results: The clavicular part of the pectoralis major muscle sent a fibrous expansion onto the anterior portion of the brachial fascia, its costal part onto the medial portion and medial intermuscular septum. The latissimus dorsi muscle showed a triangular fibrous expansion onto the posterior portion of the brachial fascia. The posterior part of the deltoid muscle inserted muscular fibres directly onto the posterior portion of the brachial fascia, its lateral part onto the lateral portion and the lateral intermuscular septum. In MR images, the brachial fascia appeared as a low-signal-intensity sinuous line of connective tissue, sharply delineated in T1-weighted sequences. Conclusion: The expansions of the pectoral girdle muscles onto the brachial fascia were present in all the subjects and showed a quite constant course with a specific spatial organization. During the various movements of the arm, these expansions stretch selective portions of the brachial fascia, with possible activation of specific patterns of fascial proprioceptors.
CM-GANs: Cross-modal Generative Adversarial Networks for Common Representation Learning

It is known that the inconsistent distribution and representation of different modalities, such as image and text, cause the heterogeneity gap that makes it challenging to correlate such heterogeneous data. Generative adversarial networks (GANs) have shown its strong ability of modeling data distribution and learning discriminative representation, existing GANs-based works mainly focus on generative problem to generate new data. We have different goal, aim to correlate heterogeneous data, by utilizing the power of GANs to model cross-modal joint distribution. Thus, we propose Cross-modal GANs to learn discriminative common representation for bridging heterogeneity gap. The main contributions are: (1) Cross-modal GANs architecture is proposed to model joint distribution over data of different modalities. The inter-modality and intra-modality correlation can be explored simultaneously in generative and discriminative models. Both of them beat each other to promote cross-modal correlation learning. (2) Cross-modal convolutional autoencoders with weight-sharing constraint are proposed to form generative model. They can not only exploit cross-modal correlation for learning common representation, but also preserve reconstruction information for capturing semantic consistency within each modality. (3) Cross-modal adversarial mechanism is proposed, which utilizes two kinds of discriminative models to simultaneously conduct intra-modality and inter-modality discrimination. They can mutually boost to make common representation more discriminative by adversarial training process. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed CM-GANs approach is the first to utilize GANs to perform cross-modal common representation learning. Experiments are conducted to verify the performance of our proposed approach on cross-modal retrieval paradigm, compared with 10 methods on 3 cross-modal datasets.
A Comparison Of Parental Self-Efficacy, Parenting Satisfaction, And Other Factors Between Single Mothers With And Without Children With Developmental Disabilities

A COMPARISON OF PARENTAL SELF-EFFICACY, PARENTING SATISFACTION, AND OTHER FACTORS BETWEEN SINGLE MOTHERS WITH AND WITHOUT CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES by RAYMOND PHILLIP SMALL August 2010 Advisor: Dr. Barry Markman Major: Educational Psychology Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Depression and stress occur among single mothers and raising a child with a developmental disability can be a difficult burden. The purpose of this study was to determine if having a child with a developmental disability was a source of stress and depression among single mothers, and if this impinged on parental self-efficacy, parenting satisfaction, and social support. The moderating potential of having a child with a disability was examined on relationships between stress, depression, parental self-efficacy, parenting satisfaction, and social support. Understanding these relationships could be useful in the service delivery system to single mothers and families of children with developmental disabilities. A total of 192 single mothers were divided into two groups: mothers of children with developmental disabilities (n=93) and mothers of children without disabilities (n=99). Participants were unmarried with no live-in romantic partners who were residing with at least one biological child between the age of 5 and 17 years in the home. Basic demographics were used for inclusionary purposes and to calculate SES. Four instruments assessed stress (Perceived Stress Scale-10), depression (BDI-II), parental self-efficacy and parenting satisfaction (Parental Sense of Competence Scale), and social support (Family Support Scale).
Peptide YY receptor distribution and subtype in the kidney: effect on renal hemodynamics and function in rats.

This study characterizes the location and subtype of peptide YY (PYY) receptors in rat and rabbit kidney and the effect of PYY on renal function and renal hemodynamics in rats. Receptor autoradiography performed on kidney sections revealed a dense concentration of specific high-affinity binding sites [dissociation constant ( K d) = 0.7 ± 0.1 nM] in the papilla of the rat, as well as cortical and papillary binding in the rabbit (papilla, K d = 1.6 ± 0.6 nM) and some medullary binding in both species. In the rat papilla, neuropeptide Y (NPY) and the Y1 agonist [Leu31, Pro34]NPY competed with PYY for binding ( K d = 1.1 ± 0.4 nM and 1.6 ± 0.5 nM, respectively), but NPY-(13-36) (Y2 agonist) and pancreatic polypeptide (PP, Y4 agonist) were without effect, demonstrating that the PYY receptor in the rat papilla is of the Y1 subtype. In the rabbit papilla, NPY and NPY-(13-36) competed with PYY ( K d = 0.5 ± 0.1 and 3.1 ± 0.6 nM, respectively), but [Leu31, Pro34]NPY and PP were without effect, evidence that the PYY receptor in the rabbit papilla is of the Y2subtype. Infusion of PYY into rats (47 pmol ⋅ kg-1 ⋅ min-1) increased mean arterial pressure (103 ± 6 to 123 ± 8 mmHg) and decreased renal plasma flow (13 ± 1.8 to 8.4 ± 2.1 ml/min) but produced no significant change in glomerular filtration rate or sodium excretion. Injection of PYY or angiotensin II directly into the renal artery caused a dose-related vasoconstriction, which was less intense but of longer duration for PYY than for angiotensin II. These results show that receptors for PYY are widely distributed in the kidney and that exogenously administered PYY causes renal vasoconstriction and may influence renal sodium excretion.
The Concept of Lying in Adolescents and Young Adults: Testing Sweetser's Folkloristic Model.

Predictions based on Sweetser's folkloristic model of lying, which emphasizes the critical contribution of social factors to definitions of lie, were tested. Eight vignettes were presented to 12-, 16-, and 19-year-olds. Half were situations of prototypic lie-telling, and half were prototypic truth-telling. Each vignette, depicting a speaker making a statement in either an informational setting or a politeness setting under conditions intending to help or harm, was rated for degree of agreement or dis agreement that the statement was a lie. The effects of age, help-harm condition, and setting were significant in prototypic lieand truth-telling situations Sweetser's model was supported and the concept of lying appears to be a developmental, cognitive-social construct.
Hemostatic Factors as Risk Markers for Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Prospective Incident Case-Referent Study

Background and Purpose— Abnormalities in the hemostatic system may cause hemorrhagic complications. The aim of the present study was to examine whether total concentrations of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), plasminogen inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tPA/PAI-1 complex, von Willebrand factor (VWF), and soluble thrombomodulin were associated with a first-ever intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods— This prospective study was an incident case-referent study nested within the Västerbotten Intervention Program and the Northern Sweden Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) cohorts. By 2000, ≈74 000 subjects had been screened, and 39 ICH cases were defined according to the World Health Organization MONICA criteria. A total of 78 matched controls were selected from the same cohort. Results— The average time from screening to the ICH event was 5.1 years. tPA/PAI-1 complex, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and hypertension were associated with ICH in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate model, only hypertension (odds ratio [OR], 3.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27 to 12.36) and the tertile with the highest level of VWF compared with the lowest tertile (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.90) were independently associated with ICH. The OR for the combined exposure to hypertension and low levels of VWF was 8.95, indicating a possible synergistic interaction. No associations were observed for smoking, cholesterol, body mass index, PAI-1, tPA, and soluble thrombomodulin. Conclusions— This study showed that hypertension and low concentrations of VWF were independently associated with ICH. Furthermore, we observed a possible synergistic interaction between low levels of VWF and hypertension, suggesting 2 different pathways in the development of ICH.
Adaptive sliding control for single-link flexible-joint robot with mismatched uncertainties

An adaptive sliding controller is proposed for a single-link flexible-joint robot with mismatched uncertainties. A backsteppinglike design is used to deal with the mismatched problem and the function approximation technique is employed to transform the uncertainties into finite combinations of orthonormal basis functions. Adaptive laws can thus be derived based on the Lyapunov-like design. Experiment results show that the proposed control strategy gives good tracking performance with all other signals remaining bounded.
Detection of EEG-resting state independent networks by eLORETA-ICA method

Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown that functional networks can be extracted even from resting state data, the so called “Resting State independent Networks” (RS-independent-Ns) by applying independent component analysis (ICA). However, compared to fMRI, electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) have much higher temporal resolution and provide a direct estimation of cortical activity. To date, MEG studies have applied ICA for separate frequency bands only, disregarding cross-frequency couplings. In this study, we aimed to detect EEG-RS-independent-Ns and their interactions in all frequency bands. We applied exact low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography-ICA (eLORETA-ICA) to resting-state EEG data in 80 healthy subjects using five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma band) and found five RS-independent-Ns in alpha, beta and gamma frequency bands. Next, taking into account previous neuroimaging findings, five RS-independent-Ns were identified: (1) the visual network in alpha frequency band, (2) dual-process of visual perception network, characterized by a negative correlation between the right ventral visual pathway (VVP) in alpha and beta frequency bands and left posterior dorsal visual pathway (DVP) in alpha frequency band, (3) self-referential processing network, characterized by a negative correlation between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in beta frequency band and right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) in alpha frequency band, (4) dual-process of memory perception network, functionally related to a negative correlation between the left VVP and the precuneus in alpha frequency band; and (5) sensorimotor network in beta and gamma frequency bands. We selected eLORETA-ICA which has many advantages over the other network visualization methods and overall findings indicate that eLORETA-ICA with EEG data can identify five RS-independent-Ns in their intrinsic frequency bands, and correct correlations within RS-independent-Ns.