Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rethinking the hidden curriculum: daily routine in Slovene preschools

In Slovenia there is a unitary system of early education for all preschool-aged children. Since the vast majority of children attend full-day programmes, the daily routine represents a significant part of life for children in kindergarten. When systemic and curricular reform of preschools was introduced at the end of the twentieth century, lot of attention was paid to changing the previously rigid and non-individualised daily routine. This article presents some of the findings of a research project that introduced principles of Reggio Emilia preschools in Italy to preschool teachers in Slovenia and concerned indirectly the daily routine. The focus was on whether and in what manner the daily routine changed in the decade after the introduction of the new national curriculum, and whether the mentioned training influenced these changes. The results show increased flexibility of the daily routine in teachers’ practices but the picture is not uniformly positive.
A Factor Underlying Late-Phase Arrhythmogenicity After Cell Therapy to the Heart: Global Downregulation of Connexin43 in the Host Myocardium After Skeletal Myoblast Transplantation

Background— Arrhythmia occurrence is a variable but serious concern of cell therapy for treating heart failure. Using a rat postinfarction chronic heart failure model, we compared skeletal myoblast (SMB) with bone marrow cell (BMC) injection to highlight donor cell-specific, late-phase arrhythmogenesis and the underlying factors. Methods and Results— SMBs or BMCs derived from male GFP-transgenic rats, or PBS were injected intramyocardially into female rat hearts 3 weeks after coronary artery occlusion. At 28 days after injection, echocardiography showed that the left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly improved in both the SMB and BMC groups, compared to PBS control despite poor graft survival as assessed by PCR for the male-specific gene. Radio-telemetry analysis revealed that the SMB group displayed a higher occurrence of ventricular premature contractions with an elongation of the QRS complex and the hearts were more susceptible to isopreterenol-induced ventricular tachycardia compared to the BMC and PBS groups. Western blot and immunoconfocal analysis showed that the gap junction protein, connexin43, was widely and persistently decreased in the SMB group compared to the other groups. IL-1β was shown to be upregulated in hearts after SMB injection, and in vitro experiments demonstrated that exposure to IL-1β caused a decrease in connexin43 and intercellular communication in cultured cardiomyocytes. Conclusions— Although cell therapy was capable of improving function of the postinfarction chronically failing heart, there was late-phase arrhythmogenicity specific to donor cell type. Global downregulation of connexin43 in the host myocardium was indicated to be an important factor underlying late-phase arrhythmogenicity after SMB transplantation.
Study on a phoswich detector consisting of Li-composed crystal scintillator and BGO for neutron measurement

For high-sensitivity neutron measurement, we developed a phoswich detector consisting of LiYF<inf>4</inf> (Ce 1%) and BGO crystals. Light outputs of LiYF<inf>4</inf> excited from α-ray (simulating neutron excitation) have the faster decay-time constant τ~ 50 ns, compared with that from the shielding BGO crystal (τ~ 300 ns), and these waveforms output from a preamplifier are clearly distinguished each other. When the waveforms with the faster rise-time were selected, the spectrum was obtained with only the peak of 5.49 MeV α-ray from <sup>241</sup>Am detected at the neutron-sensitive LiYF<inf>4</inf> scintillator.
The Mediating Role of Sexual and Nonsexual Communication Between Relationship and Sexual Satisfaction in a Sample of College-Age Heterosexual Couples

This study aimed to examine in a sample of college-age heterosexual couples the relations between (a) relationship and sexual satisfaction and (b) sexual and nonsexual communication. The authors tested a mediation model whereby couples’ relationship satisfaction was hypothesized to predict couples’ sexual satisfaction by way of sexual and nonsexual communication levels. Participants were 266 individuals (133 couples) who completed measures of satisfaction and communication independently of their partner. A mediation model, tested with structural equation modeling, showed the degree to which couples were relationally satisfied was positively related to their level of sexual and nonsexual communication, which, in turn, was positively associated with their degree of sexual satisfaction. Results indicate that levels of sexual and nonsexual communication among couples affect the link between relationship and sexual satisfaction. Such findings may have important implications for college-age couples in committed relationships who are looking to improve satisfaction as well as for therapists, counselors, and educators who work with these couples to improve relationship and/or sexual satisfaction.
An Empirical Investigation of Students' Behavioural Intention to Use E-Books

The rise in popularity of e-books is expected to erode the market share of printed books significantly. However, the demand for e-books has not been as great as initially hoped, especially in developing countries. While it would appear that customer apathy is the foremost obstacle in the growth and use of e-books, more research is necessary in order to understand the broader complexities behind this issue. This study analyses the behavioural intention of students in selected South African tertiary intuitions to use e-books. The study is based on theory rooted in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Data were collected from 439 participating students from five tertiary institutions in South Africa.The results suggest that, with regard to students in South Africa, performance expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions are significant antecedents of behavioural intention towards e-book use. Surprisingly, gender differences did not moderate the relationships between the factors examined and behavioural intention, whilst use experience only moderated the relationship between effort expectancy and behavioural intention. The findings of this study do not only provide useful guidelines for the development and promotion of the acceptance of e-books in South Africa, but also make an important contribution to the extant body of literature on e-book acceptance.
Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To examine patterns of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption among U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes in 2003–2006. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We analyzed 24-h dietary recall data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2006 to estimate SSB consumption levels among 1,090 adults (aged ≥20 years) with type 2 diabetes overall and by diagnosis and control status of their diabetes. RESULTS In 2003–2006, 45% of adults with diabetes consumed SSBs on a given day, obtaining an average of 202 calories and 47 g of sugar. Undiagnosed adults with diabetes were significantly more likely to consume SSBs than diagnosed adults (60 vs. 38% diagnosed/uncontrolled [P < 0.001] and 43% diagnosed/controlled [P = 0.001]) and were less likely to consume diet beverages (18 vs. 50% diagnosed/uncontrolled [P < 0.001] and 40% diagnosed/controlled [P < 0.001]). Men consumed significantly more SSBs than women (P = 0.027), younger adults (aged 20–44) more than older adults (45–64 and ≥65; P < 0.001), non–Hispanic black more than whites (P = 0.010); and low-income individuals (quartile 1) more than higher-income individuals (quartile 3, P = 0.040; quartile 4, P = 0.013). For most demographic and body weight categories, adults who were undiagnosed consumed more sugar from SSBs than adults who were diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS SSB consumption is high among adults with diabetes, particularly among those who are undiagnosed.
Spatial versus Object Working Memory: PET Investigations

Abstract We used positron emission tomography (PET) to answer the following question: Is working memory a unitary storage system, or does it instead include different storage buffers for different kinds of information? In Experiment 1, PET measures were taken while subjects engaged in either a spatial-memory task (retain the position of three dots for 3 sec) or an object-memory task (retain the identity of two objects for 3 sec). The results manifested a striking double dissociation, as the spatial task activated only right-hemisphere regions, whereas the object task activated primarily left-hemisphere regions. The spatial (right-hemisphere) regions included occipital, parietal, and prefrontal areas, while the object (left-hemisphere) regions included inferotemporal and parietal areas. Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1 except that the stimuli and trial events were identical for the spatial and object tasks; whether spatial or object memory was required was manipulated by instructions. The PET results once more showed a double dissociation, as the spatial task activated primarily right-hemisphere regions (again including occipital, parietal and prefrontal areas), whereas the object task activated only left-hemisphere regions (again including inferotemporal and parietal areas). Experiment 3 was a strictly behavioral study, which produced another double dissociation. It used the same tasks as Experiment 2, and showed that a variation in spatial similarity affected performance in the spatial but not the object task, whereas a variation in shape similarity affected performance in the object but not the spatial task. Taken together, the results of the three experiments clearly imply that different working-memory buffers are used for storing spatial and object information.
Reliability of Nationwide Prevalence Estimates of Dementia: A Critical Appraisal Based on Brazilian Surveys

Background The nationwide dementia prevalence is usually calculated by applying the results of local surveys to countries’ populations. To evaluate the reliability of such estimations in developing countries, we chose Brazil as an example. We carried out a systematic review of dementia surveys, ascertained their risk of bias, and present the best estimate of occurrence of dementia in Brazil. Methods and Findings We carried out an electronic search of PubMed, Latin-American databases, and a Brazilian thesis database for surveys focusing on dementia prevalence in Brazil. The systematic review was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42014008815). Among the 35 studies found, 15 analyzed population-based random samples. However, most of them utilized inadequate criteria for diagnostics. Six studies without these limitations were further analyzed to assess the risk of selection, attrition, outcome and population bias as well as several statistical issues. All the studies presented moderate or high risk of bias in at least two domains due to the following features: high non-response, inaccurate cut-offs, and doubtful accuracy of the examiners. Two studies had limited external validity due to high rates of illiteracy or low income. The three studies with adequate generalizability and the lowest risk of bias presented a prevalence of dementia between 7.1% and 8.3% among subjects aged 65 years and older. However, after adjustment for accuracy of screening, the best available evidence points towards a figure between 15.2% and 16.3%. Conclusions The risk of bias may strongly limit the generalizability of dementia prevalence estimates in developing countries. Extrapolations that have already been made for Brazil and Latin America were based on a prevalence that should have been adjusted for screening accuracy or not used at all due to severe bias. Similar evaluations regarding other developing countries are needed in order to verify the scope of these limitations.
Controlled experimental study depicting moving objects in view‐shared time‐resolved 3D MRA

Various methods have been used for time‐resolved contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE‐MRA), many involving view sharing. However, the extent to which the resultant image time series represents the actual dynamic behavior of the contrast bolus is not always clear. Although numerical simulations can be used to estimate performance, an experimental study can allow more realistic characterization. The purpose of this work was to use a computer‐controlled motion phantom for study of the temporal fidelity of three‐dimensional (3D) time‐resolved sequences in depicting a contrast bolus. It is hypothesized that the view order of the acquisition and the selection of views in the reconstruction can affect the positional accuracy and sharpness of the leading edge of the bolus and artifactual signal preceding the edge. Phantom studies were performed using dilute gadolinium‐filled vials that were moved along tabletop tracks by a computer‐controlled motor. Several view orders were tested using view‐sharing and Cartesian sampling. Compactness of measuring the k‐space center, consistency of view ordering within each reconstruction frame, and sampling the k‐space center near the end of the temporal footprint were shown to be important in accurate portrayal of the leading edge of the bolus. A number of findings were confirmed in an in vivo CE‐MRA study. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cartan for Beginners: Differential Geometry via Moving Frames and Exterior Differential Systems, Second Edition

p. 17, Def. 1.6. 4, line 2 change ω|e to ωe p. 17, line -1 change Ada−1 to Ad(a −1) p. 18, Def. 1.6. 9 right-hand side of displayed equation should read [ω(X), θ(Y )] − [ω(Y ), θ(X)] (not +) p. 19, Proof of 1.6. 10, last line the “uniqueness” referred to is in the Frobenius Theorem p. 20, Exercise 1.6. 14.3 change “complete the proof of” to “prove” p. 20, Exercise 1.6. 14.6 should begin “On a connected Lie group” and displayed equation should read dωe(X,Y ) = −[X,Y ] (not +)
An analysis of remedial trials on math skill acquisition

The purpose of the present study was to compare rates of multiplication fact acquisition in a control condition with two other remedial trial conditions. The participants were two schoolaged children with autism. During a pretest, the participants were presented with flashcards containing unsolved multiplication facts and were asked to solve the problems. Problems which were solved incorrectly were considered unknown and were randomly assigned to the three training conditions. During training, praise was delivered contingent on correct responding across all conditions. In the baseline condition (differential reinforcement), an error produced no consequences. In both remedial trial conditions, incorrect responses resulted in the experimenter providing the correct response followed by repetition of the trial. In the relevant condition, the participant was required to repeat the solution to the incorrectly solved multiplication problem three times, whereas in the irrelevant condition the participant was required to repeat three unrelated words. Results indicated that both remedial trial conditions resulted in faster skill acquisition for both participants over differential reinforcement alone. Furthermore, both participants exhibited higher rates of acquisition during the irrelevant remedial trial condition compared to the relevant remedial trial condition. These data suggest that remedial trials enhance performance by creating a negative reinforcement paradigm for correct responding. Suggestions for future research are discussed.
Mathematical Model of Mouse Embryonic Cardiomyocyte Excitation–Contraction Coupling

Excitation–contraction (E–C) coupling is the mechanism that connects the electrical excitation with cardiomyocyte contraction. Embryonic cardiomyocytes are not only capable of generating action potential (AP)-induced Ca2+ signals and contractions (E–C coupling), but they also can induce spontaneous pacemaking activity. The spontaneous activity originates from spontaneous Ca2+ releases from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), which trigger APs via the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX). In the AP-driven mode, an external stimulus triggers an AP and activates voltage-activated Ca2+ intrusion to the cell. These complex and unique features of the embryonic cardiomyocyte pacemaking and E–C coupling have never been assessed with mathematical modeling. Here, we suggest a novel mathematical model explaining how both of these mechanisms can coexist in the same embryonic cardiomyocytes. In addition to experimentally characterized ion currents, the model includes novel heterogeneous cytosolic Ca2+ dynamics and oscillatory SR Ca2+ handling. The model reproduces faithfully the experimentally observed fundamental features of both E–C coupling and pacemaking. We further validate our model by simulating the effect of genetic modifications on the hyperpolarization-activated current, NCX, and the SR Ca2+ buffer protein calreticulin. In these simulations, the model produces a similar functional alteration to that observed previously in the genetically engineered mice, and thus provides mechanistic explanations for the cardiac phenotypes of these animals. In general, this study presents the first model explaining the underlying cellular mechanism for the origin and the regulation of the heartbeat in early embryonic cardiomyocytes.
Endogenous Growth, Convexity of Damages and Climate Risk: How Nordhaus' Framework Supports Deep Cuts in Carbon Emissions

'To slow or not to slow' (Nordhaus, 1991) was the first economic appraisal of greenhouse gas emissions abatement and founded a large literature on a topic of great, worldwide importance. In this paper we o ffer our assessment of the original article and trace its legacy, in particular Nordhaus' later series of 'DICE' models. From this work many have drawn the conclusion that an efficient global emissions abatement policy comprises modest and modestly increasing controls. On the contrary, we use DICE itself to provide an initial illustration that, if the analysis is extended to take more strongly into account three essential elements of the climate problem -- the endogeneity of growth, the convexity of damages, and climate risk -- optimal policy comprises strong controls. To focus on these features and facilitate comparison with Nordhaus' work, all of the analysis is conducted with a high pure-time discount rate, notwithstanding its problematic ethical foundations.
Resolving the Meat-Paradox: A Motivational Account of Morally Troublesome Behavior and Its Maintenance

A majority of people the world over eat meat, yet many of these same people experience discomfort when the meat on their plate is linked to the death of animals. We draw on this common form of moral conflict—the meat-paradox—to develop insights into the ways in which morally troublesome behaviors vanish into the commonplace and every day. Drawing on a motivational analysis, we show how societies may be shaped by attempts to resolve dissonance, in turn protecting their citizens from discomfort associated with their own moral conflicts. To achieve this, we build links between dissonance reduction, habit formation, social influence, and the emergence of social norms and detail how our analysis has implications for understanding immoral behavior and motivations underpinning dehumanization and objectification. Finally, we draw from our motivational analysis to advance new insights into the origins of prejudice and pathways through which prejudice can be maintained and resolved.
Cause of Stroke Recurrence Is Multifactorial: Patterns, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Stroke Recurrence in the South London Stroke Register

Background and Purpose— This article examines stroke recurrence and whether the subtype of the initial stroke influences the risk and subtypes of further strokes. The proportion of recurrences attributable to conventional risk factors is quantified. Methods— From January 1995 to August 2000, all first-in-a-lifetime strokes (n=1626) were identified and prospectively followed up in a defined multiethnic inner city population of 234 533. Twelve overlapping referral sources and face-to-face follow-up at 3 months and 1 and 3 years were used to attain complete registration of stroke recurrence. Index and recurrent stroke were classified according to the Oxford Community Stroke Project classification. Results— In 2744 person-years of follow-up, 153 recurrences were observed. At 5 years, the cumulative risk of first stroke recurrence was 16.6% (95% CI, 13.5 to 20.4), and the combined risk of death or stroke recurrence was 65.3% (95% CI, 61.9 to 68.6). Ethnicity and subtype of index stroke were not associated with stroke recurrence. A change in subtype between index and recurrent stroke occurred in 45.5% (95% CI, 35.8 to 55.2) of cases and was most frequent among index lacunar strokes and primary intracerebral hemorrhages. In multivariable analyses, diabetes mellitus and atrial fibrillation were associated with both stroke recurrence and recurrence-free survival. In the stroke population, 9.1% (95% CI, −2.0 to 20.2) of recurrences were attributable to diabetes and 4.9% (95% CI, −7.3 to 17.2) to atrial fibrillation during the first year after the index stroke. Conclusions— The cause of stroke recurrence is multifactorial, and the subtypes of index and recurrent strokes are often not identical. Most recurrences remain unexplained by conventional risk factors.
A Dynamic Programming Approach to Length-Limited Huffman Coding: Space Reduction With the Monge Property

The “state-of-the-art” in length-limited Huffman coding (LLHC) algorithms is the <i>Θ(nD</i>)-time, <i>Θ(n</i>)-space one of Hirschberg and Larmore, where <i>n</i> is the size of the code and <i>D</i> ≤ <i>n</i> is the length restriction on the codewords. This is a very clever, very problem specific, technique. This paper presents a simple dynamic-programming (DP) method that solves the problem with the same time and space bounds. The fact that there was an <i>Θ(nD</i>) time DP algorithm was previously known; it is a straightforward DP with the <i>Monge</i> property (which permits an order of magnitude speedup). It was not interesting, though, because it also required <i>Θ(nD</i>) space. The main result of this paper is the <i>technique</i> developed for reducing the space. It is quite simple and applicable to many other problems modeled by DPs with the Monge property. This is illustrated with examples from web-proxy design and wireless mobile paging.