Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Open Access Research Characterization of Variants in the Promoter of Bzlf1 Gene of Ebv in Nonmalignant Ebv-associated Diseases in Chinese Children

Background: Diseases associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections, such as infectious mononucleosis (IM), EBV-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (EBV-HLH) and chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV) are not rare in Chinese children. The association of type 1 or type 2 EBV and variants of the EBV BZLF1 promoter zone (Zp) with these diseases is unclear. Results: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between EBV genotypes (Zp variants and EBV type 1 and 2) and the clinical phenotypes of EBV-associated diseases in Chinese children. The Zp region was directly sequenced in 206 EBV-positive DNA samples from the blood of patients with IM, EBV-HLH, CAEBV, and healthy controls. Type 1 or type 2 EBV was examined by PCR for EBNA2 and EBNA3C subtypes. Four polymorphic Zp variants were identified: Zp-P, Zp-V3, Zp-P4 and Zp-V1, a new variant. The Zp-V3 variant was significantly associated with CAEBV (P ≤ 0.01). The frequency of co-infection with Zp variants was higher in patients with CAEBV and EBV-HLH, compared with IM and healthy controls, mostly as Zp-P+V3 co-infection. Type 1 EBV was predominant in all categories (81.3-95%) and there was no significant difference in the frequency of the EBV types 1 and 2 in different categories (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Type 1 EBV and BZLF1 Zp-P of EBV were the predominant genotypes in nonmalignant EBV associated diseases in Chinese children and Zp-V3 variant may correlates with the developing of severe EBV infection diseases, such as CAEBV and EBV-HLH. Background Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the Lym-phocryptovirus genus, Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily of the Herpesviridae family of viruses. This virus is associated with a wide variety of diseases, both benign and malignant, which ubiquitously infect humans and persist for the lifetime of the individual. During its life cycle, EBV has latent and productive (lytic) phases. The latent phase maintains the virus long-term in its host and can lead to the productive phase where virus is reactivated and produced allowing it to be transmitted. During the two phases, EBV expresses a set of viral gene products in its life cycle and some of these genes were proved to possess the potential to cause changes in the interactions between the virus and the host's immune system [1,2].
Signature Profiling and Classification of Illicit Heroin by GC‐MS Analysis of Acidic and Neutral Manufacturing Impurities

Abstract: The illicit manufacture of heroin results in the formation of trace level acidic and neutral impurities. These impurities are detectable in illicit heroin and provide valuable information about the manufacturing process used. The isolation, derivatization, and semiquantitative analysis of neutral and acidic heroin manufacturing impurities by programmed temperature vaporizing injector‐gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (PTV‐GC‐MS) is described. Trace acidic and neutral heroin impurities were isolated from basic fractions using liquid–liquid extraction. Extracted impurities were treated with N‐Methyl‐N‐trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide followed by PTV‐GC‐MS analyses. Semiquantitative data were obtained using full scan mass spectrometry utilizing unique ions or ion combinations for 36 trace impurities found in crude and/or highly refined heroin samples. Minimum detection limits for acidic and neutral impurities were estimated to be at the 10−7 level relative to total morphine. Over 500 authentic heroin samples from South America, Mexico, Southwest Asia, and Southeast Asia were analyzed. Classification of illicit heroin based on the presence or absence and relative amounts of acidic and neutral impurities is presented.
Mechanisms Underlying the False Consensus Effect

The current studies investigated the role of self-serving motivations in the False Consensus Effect (FCE). There were two major goals. First, the studies tested whether consensus estimates would be increased when judges receive threats to self in the form of failure feedback about their performance on an experimental task. The second goal of the studies was to investigate whether self-knowledge plays a special role in the FCE beyond the use of the self as simply a single available case in memory. The current findings indicated that judges indeed use the behavior of an available case (whether the self or an other) in making inferences about a target group. Moreover, under success conditions, the available case information was sufficient to account for the extent of perceived consensus. However, under failure feedback, a judge's own behavior increased estimates above and beyond the effect of information about an available individual When the self is threatened, perceptions of consensus may be increased by a motivation to seek normalization and support for one's own behavior.
Aging in healthy men impairs recombinant human luteinizing hormone (LH)-stimulated testosterone secretion monitored under a two-day intravenous pulsatile LH clamp.

CONTEXT Testosterone (Te) depletion in aging men in principle could reflect deficits in the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, or testis. Available pharmacological studies of possible failure of Leydig cell steroidogenesis remain inconclusive. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to assess Te secretion in older and young men in response to near physiological LH stimulation. INTERVENTION Pulsatile i.v. infusion of recombinant human LH was administered for 2 d to stimulate Te secretion during suppression of endogenous LH concentrations with a potent selective GnRH receptor antagonist (ganirelix). SUBJECTS/CONTEXT: Healthy older (aged 60-73 yr, n = 8) and young (19-30 yr, n = 13) men were studied in an academic setting. MEASURES Pulsatile LH and Te concentrations on the second day of exogenous LH stimulation were measured. RESULTS Serum ganirelix concentrations and infused LH pulse increments were similar by age. In contrast, older subjects manifested: 1) reduced mean Te concentrations (P = 0.016), Te peak heights (P = 0.014), increments (P = 0.010), summed areas (P < 0.013), and interpeak Te concentrations (P = 0.023); 2) decreased Te to LH concentration ratios (P = 0.002); 3) diminished LH-Te feed-forward synchrony (P = 0.020); and 4) a blunted amplitude (P = 0.036) and advanced phase (P = 0.013) of diurnal Te rhythms. CONCLUSION A novel regimen of pulsatile LH stimulation for 48 h during GnRH receptor blockade unmasks deficits in pulsatile, basal, synchronous, and nyctohemeral Te secretion in healthy older men. These findings do not exclude concomitant defects in GnRH outflow and/or Te-negative feedback in the aging male.
Playing at School: An Inquiry Approach to Using an Experiential Play Lab in an Early Childhood Teacher Education Course

Play is considered an important activity of the early childhood years. Research supports the contribution of play to children’s development, learning, and well-being. In spite of this, time for play is being pushed out in many early childhood programs by greater time allotted to formal instruction in narrow academic skills to be tested eventually by standardized tests. As a result, current preservice teachers are likely to see fewer examples of appropriate time and support for play in their field placements in early childhood settings. The purpose of this study was to document and analyze what happens when an experiential play lab is implemented in an early childhood teacher education program. This qualitative study includes multiple forms of data collection, including two forms of reflective writings and group discussions. After the workshop, preservice teachers made a greater number of references to play in their defense of developmentally appropriate practice, and the nature of their references to play increased in their focus on play process and on teacher roles in children’s play, as compared to prior to the lab. The results of this study of an experiential play intervention support its potential as a means of probing, documenting, and enriching students’ understanding of the importance of providing for and supporting play in classrooms for young children.
Educational arrangements and social participation with peers amongst children with disabilities in regular schools

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between educational arrangements and social participation amongst children with disabilities in regular schools. The analysis is based on data drawn from surveys of parents of children with disabilities, aged 11–13, who attend regular schools in Norway (N = 262). We have explored the relationships between the variables of interest by means of structural equation modelling linear structural relations (LISREL). The results show that (1) the present educational arrangements may hinder social participation with peers and (2) the type of disability and the degree of impairment have no direct effect on the degree of social participation with peers, but only an indirect effect via educational support and classroom participation. These findings suggest that if children with disabilities are equally entitled to have the opportunity of gaining the same social benefits as their peers, then regular schools should be careful not to segregate them from their peers in mainstream school activities.
Historical Analysis of Portuguese Primary School Textbooks (1920–2005) on the Topic of Digestion

Our previous studies have shown that Portuguese primary school pupils and teachers have three main difficulties in the representation of the digestion process: the sequence of the digestive tract, blood absorption, and the relationship of the digestive function with other human functions. In this study we analysed the topic of digestion in 63 Portuguese textbooks (1920–2005). In general, the textual explanation of the digestive process (including reference to blood absorption) is clear, but “confusion” in images is persistent throughout the period studied. To demonstrate the influence of the period of the Portuguese dictatorship (1926–1974), a brief comparison with French textbooks (which developed during the same period with the aim of presenting clearer representations of the digestive tract) was carried out. Results suggest that inadequate images in textbooks may be the main didactic obstacle to accurate learning of the digestive function.
Discrimination Against Latina/os

This meta-analysis synthesizes the findings of 60 independent samples from 51 studies examining racial/ethnic discrimination against Latina/os in the United States. The purpose was to identify individual-level resources and outcomes that most strongly relate to discrimination. Discrimination against Latina/os significantly results in outcomes pertaining to health, mental health, education, and employment. Mental health indicators have the strongest correlations with discrimination. Among the individual resources resulting from this meta-analysis—personal constructs and strengths, social support, acculturation, enculturation, acculturative stress, and active coping skills—personal constructs and strengths (e.g., self-esteem and self-efficacy) have the strongest correlations with discrimination and outcomes. These findings are significantly moderated by sample age, ethnicity, and regionality. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Plasmonic engineering of singlet oxygen generation

In this article, we report metal-enhanced singlet oxygen generation (ME1O2). We demonstrate a direct relationship between the singlet oxygen yield of a common photosensitizer (Rose Bengal) and the theoretical electric field enhancement or enhanced absorption of the photosensitizer in proximity to metallic nanoparticles. Using a series of photosensitizers, sandwiched between silver island films (SiFs), we report that the extent of singlet oxygen enhancement is inversely proportional to the free space singlet oxygen quantum yield. By modifying plasmon coupling parameters, such as nanoparticle size and shape, fluorophore/particle distance, and the excitation wavelength of the coupling photosensitizer, we can readily tune singlet oxygen yields for applications in singlet oxygen-based clinical therapy.
Perceptions of Benevolence and the Design of Agency Contracts: CEO-TMT Relationships in Family Firms

In this study, we view the contracts of top managers from an integrated agency theory-trust perspective, arguing that two conditions reflecting CEO risk bearing, top management team (TMT) behavioral uncertainty and CEO vulnerability, are negatively related to a CEO's perceptions of TMT benevolence toward him-/herself, which in turn influence the protective features of TMT contracts. Model tests on data from 122 family-owned firms in Spain support our hypotheses overall. Agency theory may be enhanced by accounting for a CEO's perceptions (as principal) of TMT benevolence and for the effect of those perceptions on contracts with TMT members (as agents).
Developmental phonological dyslexia: A case study of the efficacy of a remediation programme

A remediation programme was devised and implemented in a case study of a developmental phonological dyslexic. Psycholinguistic assessment determined the developmental stage at which the subject's acquisition of reading skills had arrested. This was determined to be at the logographic stage of reading (Frith, 1985) so his pattern of performance resembled that of phonological dyslexics. Remediation focused on development of an alphabetic or phonological strategy for reading. The efficacy of remediation was investigated employing a single-subject case study incorporating a crossover design with multiple baseline and repeated pre- and post-therapy measures. The results of therapy indicated significant improvement in phonological reading skills as a consequence of the treatment. In addition, these effects generalised to untreated items and were accompanied by changes in reading strategy. Theoretical explanations and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Survey on Additive Manufacturing, Cloud 3D Printing and Services

Cloud Manufacturing (CM) is the concept of using manufacturing resources in a service-oriented way over the Internet. Recent developments in Additive Manufacturing (AM) are making it possible to utilise resources ad-hoc as replacements for traditional manufacturing resources in case of spontaneous problems in the established manufacturing processes. In order to be of use in these scenarios, the AM resources must adhere to a strict principle of transparency and service composition in adherence to the Cloud Computing (CC) paradigm. With this review, we provide an overview of CM, AM and relevant domains as well as presenting the historical development of scientific research in these fields, from 2002 to 2016. Part of this work is also a meta-review on the domain to further detail its development and structure.
A Sociological Perspective on Motivation to Learn EFL: The Case of Escuelas Plurilingües in Argentina

This study explores the effects of socio-economic background on attitudes towards L2 motivation within Gardner's (e.g. 1985, 2000, 2001, 2002) Integrative Motivation framework. Recent findings by Dornyei & Csizer (2002) and Csizer & Dornyei (2005) have cast doubt on the explanatory power of 'integrativeness' for monolingual contexts of language learning. While the authors propose a reformulation of the concept based on the learners' construction of "possible selves", this thesis stresses the need to delve deeper into the origins of such representations to better understand FL learners' attitudes and motivation. Socio-economic background is thus proposed as a potentially fruitful avenue of investigation. Despite the current emphasis on contextualized motivation (Clement & Gardner 2001, Dornyei 2001b, Gardner 2002, McGroarty 1998, 2001, Spolsky 2000), and strong indications from sociology about the impact of social stratification on human behavior (Grusky 1994), no systematic empirical work shows how socio-economic status may impinge upon FL motivation. To investigate the socio-economic dimension of motivation, two questionnaires were designed based (1) on Gardner's (1985) AMTB and (2) on Bourdieu's (1986) tripartite conceptualization of capital. Parental occupation was also used as an additional measure of socio-economic level. Both questionnaires were administered among 39 fourth-graders (9-10 years of age) enrolled in EFL intensive classes in six public so-called Plurilingual Schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Though not conclusive or generalizable due to the reduced pool of respondents and the novel testing conditions and instruments, this study gives some evidence in support of a predictive role of economic capital and parental occupation on motivation. Overall, more economically disadvantaged EFL learners showed more positive attitudes towards the benefits of learning English to attain present and future goals, and they were more generally motivated to learn the language as well. Possible interpretations of these results in light of Bourdieu's 'habitus' as well as the potential effects of parental expectations and performance anxiety are discussed.
Family Structure and Female Labour Supply in Mexico City

This paper investigates labour supply of the wives of the heads of households in Mexico City, with a focus on the impact of family structure. A static neoclassical structural model is used. We assume that each woman chooses her labour supply and corresponding income so that her utility is maximized, conditional upon her husband’s labour supply and earnings. We use a direct translog specification, and include family composition variables as taste shifters. Also taken into account are fixed costs of working, nonlinear taxes, unobserved preference variation, prediction errors in wages of nonworkers, and potential endogeneity of wages. The models are estimated by smooth simulated maximum likelihood using data from Mexico’s Urban Employment Survey drawn in 1992. We find income elasticities of labour supply of about -0.35, and wage elasticities of about 0.5. The latter is substantially overestimated if wage rate endogeneity is not taken into account. The results are robust with respect to other specification choices. We find that the impact of family structure variables on participation is different from that on hours worked, so that their total effect is ambiguous.
INDUSTRIAL CHALLENGES OF MILITARY ROBOTICS

Abstract This article evaluates the ‘drive toward greater autonomy’ in lethally-armed unmanned systems. Following a summary of the main criticisms and challenges to lethal autonomy, both engineering and ethical, raised by opponents of this effort, the article turns toward solutions or responses that defense industries and military end users might seek to incorporate in design, testing and manufacturing to address these concerns. The way forward encompasses a two-fold testing procedure for reliability incorporating empirical, quantitative benchmarks of performance in compliance with formalized and programmable rules of engagement, and a conception of ‘due care’ in product liability. This would be designed in analogy with procedures currently followed by well-intentioned governments and militaries with their own (human) military personnel, both to ensure against failure, and to accept responsibility and compensate victims of inadvertent and unintended accidents. The procedure is designed specifically to address objections first posed by Robert Sparrow (2007) and Noel Sharkey (2007), and echoed in P.W. Singer's critically acclaimed Wired for War (2009), that lethal autonomous systems cannot be meaningfully held accountable for commission of war crimes, and thus the development, manufacture, and deployment of such systems would constitute a violation of international law.
A Comparative Study of Activity Preferences of Learners and Teachers in College English Teaching and Its Implications for Curriculum Design

The present paper takes as its point of departure methodological aspects of the curriculum, and specifically, it attempts at a comparative study of activity preferences of teachers and learners, and wishes to invest tentative thoughts and efforts in College English (CE) curriculum design. It conducts an empirical study on divergent views of 132 students and 30 CE teachers in University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) by means of questionnaire on 50 learning activities derived through interviews with a group of teachers and learners. Major findings indicate that there is a considerable lack of correspondence between learners’ and teachers’ opinions on various learning activities, and teachers respond more favorably to communicative activities while learners express stronger liking attitudes towards non-communicative activities. To provide a comprehensive picture, learners’ attitudes towards various learning activities are also examined carefully, which reveals that they embrace both communicative and traditional activities. Tentative implications of the study for curriculum design are: 1) it sets up an empirical basis for methodology design in curriculum development by providing a detailed picture of learners’ preferences; 2) it establishes a useful operating model for prompting a learner-centered curriculum by suggesting several mechanisms such as negotiation and consultation, incorporation of learners’ feedback and flexibility and adaptation; 3) it supplies the rationale for specifying and optimizing CE classroom teaching by impressing teachers with the divergences of learner teacher views on learning activities.
Relationship of Intellectual Capital with the Organizational Performance of Commercial Banks in Islamabad , Pakistan

Intellectual capital is a vital asset of an organization in a knowledge-based economy. The principal thrust of this research paper is to examine the relationship of intellectual capital with the organizational performance of banking sector in Pakistan. The study was conducted in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. Random sampling technique was used for data collection. The structured questionnaires were administrated as a research instrument to collect the data from the respondents. Pearson Correlation was used to test the relationship between the components of intellectual capital and the performance of banking sector. The results demonstrated that the component of intellectual capital has significant positive relationship with the organizational performance. The findings of this research will be useful for bankers to understand and apply intellectual capital in their organizations. Key wordsIntellectual capital, human capital, structural capital, social capital, Organizational performance
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet

During the past decade, there have been renewed calls for the use of capi tal punishment to deter murder. Economists and other social scientists have conducted statistical analyses which have generally failed to locate these alleged deterrent effects. A few economists, notably Isaac Ehrlich, have claimed to locate such effects, but little confidence can be placed in these findings. This article reviews these studies, with particular attention paid to a plain-English review of statistical methods used and technical problems found in the analyses. However, this review of technical questions should not obscure broader issues about socioeconomic influences on homicide, crime, and deterrence. Such issues cannot be resolved through debates over econometric techniques.