Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning about animals, science and conservation : large-scale survey-based evaluation of the educational impact of the ZSL London Zoo Formal Learning programme

The study described in this report represents the largest (n = 3018) and most methodologicallyrobust investigation of the educational value of zoos for children and adolescents ever conductedworldwide. This research evaluates (1) the impact of ZSL London Zoo Formal Learningeducational presentations and unguided zoo visits, (2) pupils’ development of new knowledge and (3) pupils’ perceptions of zoos, science and wildlife conservation. Using methods developed duringa pilot study conducted in spring 2009 with primary school (Wagoner & Jensen 2010) and post-16 pupils (Jensen & Wagoner, under review) attending London Zoo Formal Learningpresentations, both the quality and quantity of learning are directly assessed. The present study isaimed at both informing practice at the ZSL London Zoo Discovery & Learning Department and at developing robust evidence of the degree to which zoo-based science and conservation educationcan have a positive impact for children and adolescents.
The delayed rectifier potassium conductance in the sarcolemma and the transverse tubular system membranes of mammalian skeletal muscle fibers

A two-microelectrode voltage clamp and optical measurements of membrane potential changes at the transverse tubular system (TTS) were used to characterize delayed rectifier K currents (IKV) in murine muscle fibers stained with the potentiometric dye di-8-ANEPPS. In intact fibers, IKV displays the canonical hallmarks of KV channels: voltage-dependent delayed activation and decay in time. The voltage dependence of the peak conductance (gKV) was only accounted for by double Boltzmann fits, suggesting at least two channel contributions to IKV. Osmotically treated fibers showed significant disconnection of the TTS and displayed smaller IKV, but with similar voltage dependence and time decays to intact fibers. This suggests that inactivation may be responsible for most of the decay in IKV records. A two-channel model that faithfully simulates IKV records in osmotically treated fibers comprises a low threshold and steeply voltage-dependent channel (channel A), which contributes ∼31% of gKV, and a more abundant high threshold channel (channel B), with shallower voltage dependence. Significant expression of the IKV1.4 and IKV3.4 channels was demonstrated by immunoblotting. Rectangular depolarizing pulses elicited step-like di-8-ANEPPS transients in intact fibers rendered electrically passive. In contrast, activation of IKV resulted in time- and voltage-dependent attenuations in optical transients that coincided in time with the peaks of IKV records. Normalized peak attenuations showed the same voltage dependence as peak IKV plots. A radial cable model including channels A and B and K diffusion in the TTS was used to simulate IKV and average TTS voltage changes. Model predictions and experimental data were compared to determine what fraction of gKV in the TTS accounted simultaneously for the electrical and optical data. Best predictions suggest that KV channels are approximately equally distributed in the sarcolemma and TTS membranes; under these conditions, >70% of IKV arises from the TTS.
Membrane Attack Complex Contributes to Destruction of Vascular Integrity in Acute Lung Allograft Rejection1

The lung is known to be particularly susceptible to complement-mediated injury. Both C5a and the membrane attack complex (MAC), which is formed by the terminal components of complement (C5b-C9), can cause acute pulmonary distress in nontransplanted lungs. We used C6-deficient rats to investigate whether MAC causes injury to lung allografts. PVG.R8 lungs were transplanted orthotopically to MHC class I-incompatible PVG.1U recipients. Allografts from C6-sufficient (C6+) donors to C6+ recipients were rejected with an intense vascular infiltration and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage 7 days after transplantation (n = 5). Ab and complement (C3d) deposition was accompanied by extensive vascular endothelial injury and intravascular release of von Willebrand factor. In contrast, lung allografts from C6-deficient (C6−) donors to C6− recipients survived 13–17 days (n = 5). In the absence of C6, perivascular mononuclear infiltrates of ED1+ macrophages and CD8+ T lymphocytes were present 7 days after transplantation, but vascular endothelial cells were quiescent, with minimal von Willebrand factor release and no evidence of alveolar hemorrhage or edema. Lung allografts were performed from C6− donors to C6+ recipients (n = 5) and from C6+ donors to C6− recipients (n = 5) to separate the effects of systemic and local C6 production. Lungs transplanted from C6+ donors to C6− recipients had increased alveolar macrophages and capillary injury. C6 production by lung allografts was demonstrated at the mRNA and protein levels. These results demonstrate that MAC causes vascular injury in lung allografts and that the location of injury is dependent on the source of C6.
Radiative Transfer: Application to Indoor Propagation

In recent years, with the increasing interest in indoor wireless communications systems, the development of appropriate tools for modeling the propagation within an indoor environ‐ ment is becoming of utmost importance. A versatile technique for studying propagation in such a complex scenario is ray tracing [1-2]. Through this approach, a number of paths, stemming from the transmitter, are traced along their way to the receiver, accounting for re‐ flection over the obstacles within the scenario. Other mechanisms of interaction between the wave and the environment, such as diffraction, can be accommodated in ray tracing proce‐ dures by appropriate generalization of the basic theory [2].
SECOND- AND FOREIGN-LANGUAGE VARIATION IN TENSE BACKSHIFTING IN INDIRECT REPORTED SPEECH

This study examined how English learners in second-language (SL) and foreign-language (FL) contexts employ tense backshifting in indirect reported speech. Participants included 35 international students in the United States, 37 Bulgarian speakers of English, 38 Bosnian speakers of English, and 41 native English speakers. The instrument involved speech scenarios in two time settings—immediate and delayed report—and questions about the participants’ reasons for backshifting tenses or not. The results revealed that FL environments foster the acquisition of backshifting as an automatically applicable grammatical rule, whereas SL contexts facilitate awareness of pragmatic and semantic aspects of tense backshifting.
Food and identity: Food studies, cultural, and personal identity

This study was inspired by the author’s academic travel to Naples, Italy to study the food habits of those who live in that region and follow the Mediterranean Diet. The author introduces the concept of food studies and explores the relationship of food to the human experience. Food studies is not the study of food itself; it is an emerging interdisciplinary field of study that observes the intricate relationships among food, culture, and society from a number of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Through food studies, one examines the relationships people have with food, and analyzes how this association discloses an enormous amount of information about them. The food choices made by people, either as individuals or as a group, can reveal views, passions, background knowledge, assumptions and personalities. Food choices tell stories of families, migrations, assimilation, resistance, changes over times, and personal as well as group identity. Food studies challenges researchers to delve into the common daily occurrence of eating and find deeper meaning in this every day practice. By examining the what where, how, and why of our food choices and food habits, we develop a better understanding of ourselves and others. Applying a food studies mind set allows researchers across disciplines to debunk food related stereotypes and promotes acceptance across individuals and groups. The author also explores the relationship of this field of study to standards espoused by the National Council of the Social Studies to determine where and how food studies fits into the school curriculum.
The Power of Transparency

Does the dissemination of organizational financial information shift power dynamics within workplaces, as evidenced by increasing workers’ wages? That is the core question of this investigation. We utilize the 2004 and 2011 series of the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) to test whether employees who report that their managers disclose workplace financial data earn more than otherwise similar workers not privy to such information. Our findings suggest that disclosure results in higher wages for workers after adjusting for profit and productivity levels and a range of other workplace and worker characteristics. We estimate that workers who report their managers are “very good” at sharing organizational financial information outearn those who report their managers are “very poor” at financial disclosure by between 8 and 12 percent. We argue that disclosure is a key resource that reduces information asymmetries, thereby providing legitimacy to workers’ claims in wage bargaining. More broadly, our focus on managerial transparency and its effects on worker earnings reveals a largely ignored characteristic of modern workplaces that has implications for contemporary trends in inequality and wage stagnation in Great Britain and other liberal market economies.
Characterization of Low Temperature Ferrite/Austenite Transformations in the Heat Affected Zone of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel Arc Welds

Spatially Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (SRXRD) has been used to identify a previously unobserved low temperature ferrite ({delta})/austenite({gamma}) phase transformation in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel (DSS) welds. In this ''ferrite dip'' transformation, the ferrite transforms to austenite during heating to peak temperatures on the order of 750 C, and re-transforms to ferrite during cooling, resulting in a ferrite volume fraction equivalent to that in the base metal. Time Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (TRXRD) and laser dilatometry measurements during Gleeble{reg_sign} thermal simulations are performed in order to verify the existence of this low temperature phase transformation. Thermodynamic and kinetic models for phase transformations, including both local-equilibrium and para-equilibrium diffusion controlled growth, show that diffusion of substitutional alloying elements does not provide a reasonable explanation for the experimental observations. On the other hand, the diffusion of interstitial alloying elements may be rapid enough to explain this behavior. Based on both the experimental and modeling results, two mechanisms for the ''ferrite dip'' transformation, including the formation and decomposition of secondary austenite and an athermal martensitic-type transformation of ferrite to austenite, are considered.
Peritoneal Protein Losses and Cytokine Generation in Automated Peritoneal Dialysis with Combined Amino Acids and Glucose Solutions

Objectives. Protein-energy malnutrition as a consequence of deficient protein intake frequently occurs in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Previously, we showed that peritoneal dialysate containing a mixture of amino acids (AA) and glucose has anabolic effects. However AA-dialysate has been reported to increase intraperitoneal protein and AA losses and the release of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukine-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα)). We investigated the effect of AA plus glucose (AAG) solutions on peritoneal protein losses and cytokine generation. Methods. In 6 patients on standard automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) 12 APD sessions of 6 cycles each were performed during the night using dialysate containing 1.1% AA plus glucose or glucose alone as control. Protein losses and TNFα and IL-6 concentrations were measured in dialysates separately collected from nightly cycling and daytime dwell. Results. The 24 hour-protein losses with AAG (median 6.7 g, range 4.7–9.4 g) were similar to control dialysate (median 6.0 g, range 4.2–9.2 g). Daytime dialysate IL-6 levels were higher after nightly AAG dialysis than after control dialysis (142 pg/ml and 82 pg/ml, respectively, P<.05). TNFα concentrations were very low. Conclusion. Nightly APD with amino acids containing dialysate was associated with an increase in peritoneal IL-6 generation during the day. The addition of AA to standard glucose dialysis solutions did not induce a significant increase of peritoneal protein losses.
Effect of an Unstable Load on Primary and Stabilizing Muscles During the Bench Press

Abstract Ostrowski, SJ, Carlson, LA, and Lawrence, MA. Effect of an unstable load on primary and stabilizing muscles during the bench press. J Strength Cond Res 31(2): 430–434, 2017—Unstable resistance exercises are performed to increase activity of stabilizing muscles. The premise is that this increase in activity will yield greater strength gains than traditional resistance exercises. The purpose of this study was to determine if an unstable load increases muscle activity of stabilizing muscles during a bench press as compared with a standard bench press with a typical load. Fifteen resistance-trained males (age 24.2 ± 2.7 years, mass 84.8 ± 12.0 kg, height 1.77 ± 0.05 m, weight lifting experience 9.9 ± 3.4 years, and bench press 1 repetition maximum [1RM] 107.5 ± 25.9 kg) volunteered for this study. Subjects pressed 2 sets of 5 repetitions in both stable (75% 1RM) and unstable (60% 1RM) conditions using a standard barbell and a flexible Earthquake bar, respectively. Surface electromyography was used to detect muscle activity of primary movers (pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and triceps) and stabilizing musculature (latissimus dorsi, middle and posterior deltoid, biceps brachii, and upper trapezius). Muscle activity was compared using a multivariate analysis of variance to determine significant (p ⩽ 0.05) phase and condition differences. The right and left biceps and the left middle deltoid were significantly more active in the unstable condition. Some of the stabilizing muscles were found to be significantly more active in the unstable condition with 15% less weight. Therefore, bench pressing with an unstable load appears promising in activating stabilizing musculature compared with pressing a typical barbell.
Pensamento Computacional em Sala de Aula: Desafios, Possibilidades e a Formação Docente

Abstract. The accelerated and complex transformations in society demanding for a differentiated professional profile, holder of a comprehensive set of skills and competencies aligned to statistical and analytical thinking, which are not limited to advanced manipulation of text editors or spreadsheets, and, in this sense, the computational thinking presents rich subsidies to stimulate and foster such skills and competences. Given this context, this article focuses on the suitability of teacher education to this reality, as well as on the possibilities and the challenges met for the submission of the relevant concepts to the computational thinking in the classroom everyday to the new generations. Resumo. As aceleradas e complexas transformacoes na sociedade demandam por um perfil profissional diferenciado, detentor de um abrangente conjunto de habilidades e competencias alinhadas ao pensamento analitico e estatistico, as quais nao se limitam a manipulacao avancada de editores de textos ou planilhas eletronicas, e, neste sentido, o pensamento computacional apresenta subsidios ricos para estimular e fomentar tais habilidades e competencias. Considerando este contexto, o presente artigo versa sobre a adequacao da formacao docente para esta realidade, bem como sobre as possibilidades e os desafios encontrados para a apresentacao dos conceitos pertinentes ao pensamento computacional no cotidiano de sala de aula para as novas geracoes.
Neural correlates of stress and favorite‐food cue exposure in adolescents: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Adolescence is a critical period of neurodevelopment for stress and appetitive processing, as well as a time of increased vulnerability to stress and engagement in risky behaviors. This study was conducted to examine brain activation patterns during stress and favorite‐food‐cue experiences relative to a neutral‐relaxing condition in adolescents. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was employed using individualized script‐driven guided imagery to compare brain responses with such experiences in 43 adolescents. Main effects of condition and gender were found, without a significant gender‐by‐condition interaction. Stress imagery, relative to neutral, was associated with activation in the caudate, thalamus, left hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus, midbrain, left superior/middle temporal gyrus, and right posterior cerebellum. Appetitive imagery of favorite food was associated with caudate, thalamus, and midbrain activation compared with the neutral‐relaxing condition. To understand neural correlates of anxiety and craving, subjective (self‐reported) measures of stress‐induced anxiety and favorite‐food‐cue‐induced craving were correlated with brain activity during stress and appetitive food‐cue conditions, respectively. High self‐reported stress‐induced anxiety was associated with hypoactivity in the striatum, thalamus, hippocampus, and midbrain. Self‐reported favorite‐food‐cue‐induced craving was associated with blunted activity in cortical‐striatal regions, including the right dorsal and ventral striatum, medial prefrontal cortex, motor cortex, and left anterior cingulate cortex. These findings in adolescents indicate the activation of predominantly subcortical‐striatal regions in the processing of stressful and appetitive experiences and link hypoactive striatal circuits to self‐reported stress‐induced anxiety and cue‐induced favorite‐food craving. Hum Brain Mapp 34:2561–2573, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mixed-Mode PWM for High-Performance Stepping Motors

This paper describes the realization of a high-performance drive based on stepping motors, with a specific reference to the optimal choice of pulsewidth modulation. An original modulation technique is proposed that allows, in conjunction with current feedback, to achieve high performances together with a reduced current ripple. A prototype digital signal processor-based drive was realized for a small-size stepping motor.
Site the Mine in Our Backyard! Discursive Strategies of Community Stakeholders in an Environmental Conflict in New Zealand

This article is centered around a decision to site a mining operation in a conservation area near a small community on the South Island of New Zealand. Two key groups emerged in the dispute over the decision: One was in favor of the mining operation and one was opposed. This intense conflict provided the opportunity to examine the notion of community as stakeholder—a stakeholder group not often considered by researchers. Through interviews and a media analysis, the discursive strategies employed by the various parties to actively support or oppose the decision are identified. In constituting these positions, both groups engage with broader discourses of place and identity and with classic rhetorical themes in business-environmental conflict. However, the identification of an activist community group willing and eager to have the mining operation sited in their local environment is the most unexpected finding in the research.
Spike Triggered Hormone Secretion in Vasopressin Cells; a Model Investigation of Mechanism and Heterogeneous Population Function

Vasopressin neurons generate distinctive phasic patterned spike activity in response to elevated extracellular osmotic pressure. These spikes are generated in the cell body and are conducted down the axon to the axonal terminals where they trigger Ca2+ entry and subsequent exocytosis of hormone-containing vesicles and secretion of vasopressin. This mechanism is highly non-linear, subject to both frequency facilitation and fatigue, such that the rate of secretion depends on both the rate and patterning of the spike activity. Here we used computational modelling to investigate this relationship and how it shapes the overall response of the neuronal population. We generated a concise single compartment model of the secretion mechanism, fitted to experimentally observed profiles of facilitation and fatigue, and based on representations of the hypothesised underlying mechanisms. These mechanisms include spike broadening, Ca2+ channel inactivation, a Ca2+ sensitive K+ current, and releasable and reserve pools of vesicles. We coupled the secretion model to an existing integrate-and-fire based spiking model in order to study the secretion response to increasing synaptic input, and compared phasic and non-phasic spiking models to assess the functional value of the phasic spiking pattern. The secretory response of individual phasic cells is very non-linear, but the response of a heterogeneous population of phasic cells shows a much more linear response to increasing input, matching the linear response we observe experimentally, though in this respect, phasic cells have no apparent advantage over non-phasic cells. Another challenge for the cells is maintaining this linear response during chronic stimulation, and we show that the activity-dependent fatigue mechanism has a potentially useful function in helping to maintain secretion despite depletion of stores. Without this mechanism, secretion in response to a steady stimulus declines as the stored content declines.
Channel-hopping on multiple channels for full rendezvous diversity in cognitive radio networks

In cognitive radio networks, a pair of communicating nodes are required to rendezvous or meet on a common available channel prior to control information exchange. Maintaining a common control channel (CCC), has several drawbacks such as channel saturation, vulnerability to jamming attacks, and spatial variation in the CCC availability. Although channel-hopping (CH) approaches have been proposed to avoid these problems, most existing work on CH schemes assume that the nodes hop to one channel at a time. This paper proposes asynchronous CH schemes where the nodes listen to or transmit on an arbitrary number of channels at a time. The proposed schemes enable any pair of nodes to rendezvous on all common available channels in the shortest period of time. Simulations are performed to evaluate the expected time-to-rendezvous and robustness of our schemes to primary network activity.
A predictive correlation study: What human capital and demographic factors relate to credential completion for STEM students?

This dissertation examines the educational attainment of college STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students in Arkansas in an attempt to identify the human capital factors that predict completion of a STEM degree or certificate. Students seeking STEM credentials (having STEM majors) were identified using the state higher education database from the state of Arkansas, including public four-year universities and two-year colleges. STEM students from 32 colleges and universities were included from three cohorts and tracked for six academic years. The criterion variable was STEM credential earned, whether or not the student earned any STEM undergraduate credentials. The predictor human capital variables for all STEM students included high school grade point average (GPA), American College Testing (ACT) composite score, ACT mathematics score, ACT English score, ACT reading score, and remedial status (remediation in any subject of mathematics, English, or reading). The predictor demographic factors included gender, race/ethnicity, and age. The research design was a predictive correlation study using logistic regression. The results indicated that high school GPA was highly predictive with ACT mathematics scores having predictive capability but with limited effect size and two other variables (remedial status and gender) being predictive for two of three cohorts.