Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative analysis of the protein corona on FePt nanoparticles formed by transferrin binding

Nanoparticles are finding a rapidly expanding range of applications in research and technology, finally entering our daily life in medical, cosmetic or food products. Their ability to invade all regions of an organism including cells and cellular organelles offers new strategies for medical diagnosis and therapy (nanomedicine), but their safe use requires a deep knowledge about their interactions with biological systems at the molecular level. Upon incorporation, nanoparticles are exposed to biological fluids from which they adsorb proteins and other biomolecules to form a ‘protein corona’. These nanoparticle–protein interactions are still poorly understood and quantitative studies to characterize them remain scarce. Here we have quantitatively analysed the adsorption of human transferrin onto small (radius approx. 5 nm) polymer-coated FePt nanoparticles by using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Transferrin binds to the negatively charged nanoparticles with an affinity of approximately 26 µM in a cooperative fashion and forms a monolayer with a thickness of 7 nm. By using confocal fluorescence microscopy, we have observed that the uptake of FePt nanoparticles by HeLa cells is suppressed by the protein corona compared with the bare nanoparticles.
Multiscale Entropy Analysis of Center-of-Pressure Dynamics in Human Postural Control: Methodological Considerations

Multiscale entropy (MSE) is a widely used metric for characterizing the nonlinear dynamics of physiological processes. Significant variability, however, exists in the methodological approaches to MSE which may ultimately impact results and their interpretations. Using publications focused on balance-related center of pressure (COP) dynamics, we highlight sources of methodological heterogeneity that can impact study findings. Seventeen studies were systematically identified that employed MSE for characterizing COP displacement dynamics. We identified five key methodological procedures that varied significantly between studies: (1) data length; (2) frequencies of the COP dynamics analyzed; (3) sampling rate; (4) point matching tolerance and sequence length; and (5) filtering of displacement changes from drifts, fidgets, and shifts. We discuss strengths and limitations of the various approaches employed and supply flowcharts to assist in the decision making process regarding each of these procedures. Our guidelines are intended to more broadly inform the design and analysis of future studies employing MSE for continuous time series, such as COP.
Teachers as Society-Involved “Organic Intellectuals”: Training Teachers in a Political Context

This article presents a new model for teacher training in which teachers are encouraged to become intellectuals involved in the community. Involved intellectual teachers are those whose professional identity leans on robust intellectual self-esteem, a culture of actively caring about other people, awareness of social activism, and commitment to public activity. This article describes the training model from its theoretical and applicatory aspects and comprises four main parts. The first part presents the Israeli social, cultural, and educational contexts in which teacher training takes place and their effects on forming the professional identity of graduates. The second part presents a theoretical outline of the characteristics of educators acting as involved intellectuals while applying the ideas of Antonio Gramsci as a basis to validate teacher training, which intensifies the sense of professional efficacy in teacher trainees. The third part presents the model and its organizational policy. The fourth part presents several findings of the study attending the program. The authors offer insights and conclusions emerging from the initial studies attending the application of the training model.
Inhomogeneous Boundary Value Problems for Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations: Well-Posedness and Sensitivity Analysis

In this paper compressible, stationary Navier–Stokes equations are considered. A framework for analysis of such equations is established. In particular, the well-posedness for inhomogeneous boundary value problems of elliptic-hyperbolic type is shown. Analysis is performed for small perturbations of the so-called approximate solutions that take form (1.12). The approximate solutions are determined from Stokes problem (1.11). The small perturbations are given by solutions to (1.13). The uniqueness of solutions for problem (1.13) is proved, and, in addition, the differentiability of solutions with respect to the coefficients of differential operators is shown. The results on the well-posedness of nonlinear problems are interesting on their own and are used to obtain the shape differentiability of the drag functional for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The shape gradient of the drag functional is derived in the classical and useful for computations form; an appropriate adjoint state is introduced to .
The Contribution of Student Satisfaction to Persistence

This study of nearly 30,000 undergraduates at 61 four-year public and private institutions examines the influence of satisfaction on students' persistence in college. Data were collected using the Student Satisfaction Inventory (Schreiner & Juillerat, 1994) and were analyzed by class level. The hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that satisfaction scores accounted for an additional 35% to 37% of the variation in students' likelihood of choosing the same institution again if given the chance to revisit their college enrollment decision. Binary logistic regression indicated that satisfaction with the college's climate was significantly predictive of actual persistence the following academic year, with odds ratios ranging from 1.15 to 1.67 across the class levels. Clear differences in predictors of satisfaction across class levels indicate the importance of disaggregating data to more clearly understand the drivers of satisfaction at each level and to equip institutions to facilitate positive student experiences throughout the college years.
Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Neonates: Any Differences between Very Preterm and Term Neonates?

Background In the last decades, human full-term cord blood was extensively investigated as a potential source of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Despite the growing interest of regenerative therapies in preterm neonates, only little is known about the biological function of HSPCs from early preterm neonates under different perinatal conditions. Therefore, we investigated the concentration, the clonogenic capacity and the influence of obstetric/perinatal complications and maternal history on HSPC subsets in preterm and term cord blood. Methods CD34+ HSPC subsets in UCB of 30 preterm and 30 term infants were evaluated by flow cytometry. Clonogenic assays suitable for detection of the proliferative potential of HSPCs were conducted. Furthermore, we analyzed the clonogenic potential of isolated HSPCs according to the stem cell marker CD133 and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity. Results Preterm cord blood contained a significantly higher concentration of circulating CD34+ HSPCs, especially primitive progenitors, than term cord blood. The clonogenic capacity of HSPCs was enhanced in preterm cord blood. Using univariate analysis, the number and clonogenic potential of circulating UCB HSPCs was influenced by gestational age, birth weight and maternal age. Multivariate analysis showed that main factors that significantly influenced the HSPC count were maternal age, gestational age and white blood cell count. Further, only gestational age significantly influenced the clonogenic potential of UCB HSPCs. Finally, isolated CD34+/CD133+, CD34+/CD133– and ALDHhigh HSPC obtained from preterm cord blood showed a significantly higher clonogenic potential compared to term cord blood. Conclusion We demonstrate that preterm cord blood exhibits a higher HSPC concentration and increased clonogenic capacity compared to term neonates. These data may imply an emerging use of HSPCs in autologous stem cell therapy in preterm neonates.
Measles virus-induced changes in leukocyte function antigen 1 expression and leukocyte aggregation: possible role in measles virus pathogenesis

Measles virus (MV) infection of U937 cell or peripheral blood leukocyte cultures was shown to induce changes in the expression of leukocyte function antigen 1 (LFA-1) and cause marked aggregation of these cells. Addition of selected monoclonal antibodies specific for LFA-1 epitopes that did not neutralize MV in standard neutralization assays were found to block both virus-induced leukocyte aggregation and virus dissemination. These data suggest that MV modulation of LFA-1 expression on leukocytes may be an important step in MV pathogenesis.
The social contacts of infants and young children reared together

The investigator reports on a longitudinal study of the social contacts between young infants (aged 3‐16 months) raised together in a group. Behavioral observation protocols were scored for nine groups of interactions. The results demonstrated the existence of a broad range of pleasant social inter‐relations between young infants and a lack of aggressive interrelations. The author stresses the pedagogical advantages and importance of the use of a common playpen for infants who are raised in institutions.
Multifrequency Microwave Emission Fromthe Dome-C Area on the East Antarctic Plateau: Temporal and Spatial Variability

The Antarctic plateau that extends for several hundred kilometers with an average altitude of close to 3000 m a.s. l. is the highest part of the east Antarctic ice cap. This area provides unique opportunities for various scientific disciplines, including glaciology and atmospheric and earth sciences. In addition, there is growing interest in using the Antarctic plateau, for calibrating and validating data of satellite-borne microwave radiometers, thanks to the size, structure, and spatial homogeneity of this area, and the thermal stability of deeper snow layers. In this paper, we analyze the temporal and spatial variabilities of multifrequency microwave emission from the area surrounding the Dome-C scientific station using Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer data collected throughout 2005. Moreover, a multilayer coherent electromagnetic model is used for estimating the contribution of snow layers to emission at various frequencies. The results are consistent with the physical structure of the ice sheet and with its seasonal and spatial variations.
A growth-rate composition formula for the growth of E. coli on co-utilized carbon substrates

When bacteria are cultured in medium with multiple carbon substrates, they frequently consume these substrates simultaneously. Building on recent advances in the understanding of metabolic coordination exhibited by Escherichia coli cells through cAMP‐Crp signaling, we show that this signaling system responds to the total carbon‐uptake flux when substrates are co‐utilized and derive a mathematical formula that accurately predicts the resulting growth rate, based only on the growth rates on individual substrates.
Examination of shared risk and protective factors for overweight and disordered eating among adolescents.

OBJECTIVE To identify shared risk and protective factors for purging, binge eating, and overweight. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Population-based questionnaires of children and adolescents residing across the United States. PARTICIPANTS Girls (n = 6022) and boys (n = 4518), aged 11 to 17 years in 1998, in the ongoing Growing Up Today Study. MAIN EXPOSURES Putative risk and protective factors within the psychological, behavioral, and socioenvironmental domains. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Overweight, use of laxatives or purging (vomiting), and binge eating. Because of the low prevalence of purging, we did not examine shared factors for this behavior among boys. RESULTS In 1998, a total of 219 girls (3.7%) and 30 boys (0.7%) reported purging behaviors, 426 girls (7.1%) and 90 boys (2.0%) reported binge eating, and 1019 girls (17.4%) and 1040 boys (24.6%) were overweight. From 1999 through 2001, 331 girls (7.8%) initiated purging behaviors, 503 girls (11.8%) and 132 boys (4.5%) initiated binge eating behaviors, and 424 girls (10.0%) and 382 boys (13.6%) became overweight. Concern for weight was directly associated with all 3 weight-related problems among boys and girls. Among girls, dieting, parental weight-related teasing, and family meal frequency had a shared effect on the weight-related problems examined. CONCLUSIONS Factors within the psychological, behavioral, and socioenvironmental domains may have a shared effect on purging, binge eating, and overweight. Further research is needed to determine if an intervention designed to address these shared risk and protective factors is effective in simultaneously reducing these weight-related problems.
Visual attention measures for multi-screen TV

We introduce a set of nine measures to characterize viewers' visual attention patterns for multi-screen TV. We apply our measures during an experiment involving nine screen layouts with two, three, and four TV screens, for which we report new findings on visual attention. For example, we found that viewers need an average discovery time up to 4.5 seconds to visually fixate four screens, and their perceptions of how long they watched each screen are substantially accurate, i.e., we report Pearson correlations up to . 892 with measured eye tracking data. We hope our set of new measures (and the companion toolkit to compute them automatically) will benefit the community as a first step toward understanding visual attention for emerging multi-screen TV applications.
Extraction of bug localization benchmarks from history

Researchers have proposed a number of tools for automatic bug localization. Given a program and a description of the failure, such tools pinpoint a set of statements that are most likely to contain the bug. Evaluating bug localization tools is a difficult task because existing benchmarks are limited in size of subjects and number of bugs. In this paper we present iBUGS, an approach that semiautomatically extracts benchmarks for bug localization from the history of a project. For ASPECTJ, we extracted 369 bugs, 223 out of these had associated test cases. We demonstrate the relevance of our dataset with a case study on the bug localization tool AMPLE
Attitudes of Princess Rahma College Students toward University Violence.

This study was conducted at the Princess Rahma University College, one of Al Balqa’ Applied University colleges and it aims to identify the attitudes of Princess Rahma College students have towards University Violence, by exploring different variables that vary from the level of violence (Low, medium or high), to gender (males or females), educational achievement (excellent, very good, good and satisfactory), academic year (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior), as well as the type of degree and the financial status The study sample consists of 242 students. There are 135 males and 107 females randomly chosen from different disciplines of the college. The (AL-Hendy) scale of 2007 for detecting University violence is used and the study consists of (18) paragraphs. The data is analyzed by using the Statistical Analysis Program (SPSS) which calculated the averages, standard deviations and (T) and (F) tests to answer the inquiries of the study. The study concluded that the tendencies and inclinations of the students towards violence were low. There were statistical differences in the attitudes of the students because of the differences in gender, the differences in the level of educational achievements as well as differences in the academic year. While there were no statistical differences in the economical level or in the type of specializations.
SOCIAL WORK PROFESSIONALS' EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, LOCUS OF CONTROL AND ROLE EFFICACY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

The principal objective of the study was to study social work professionals psychologically. This study was conducted on a sample of 178 participants. The findings depict role efficacy to be associated positively with emotional intelligence and internal locus of control, but negatively with external locus of control. Similarly, emotional intelligence was found to be associated positively with internality, but negatively related to externality. The findings also indicated that emotional intelligence alone accounts for 43% of the variance on role efficacy of social work professionals. The findings of the study have major implications for non-governmental organizations and are discussed.
Effects of laser irradiation on machined and anodized titanium disks.

PURPOSE Although the laser has become one of the most commonly used tools for implant dentistry, research is lacking on whether or not the laser causes any changes on the surface of titanium (Ti) implants. The present study analyzed the morphology, composition, crystal structure, and surface roughness changes of machined and anodized Ti surfaces, irradiated with erbium chromium-doped yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG), erbium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG), and carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seventy-two Ti disks were fabricated by machining commercially pure Ti (grade 3); 36 of them were anodized at 300 V. The disks were irradiated with Er,Cr:YSGG, Er:YAG, and CO2 lasers at five different powers (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 W). The irradiated disks were examined with scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, x-ray diffractometry, and optical interferometry. RESULTS Surface changes were observed on both types of Ti surfaces irradiated with the Er,Cr:YSGG laser when more than 3 W of power were applied. Surface changes were observed on both types of Ti surfaces when irradiated with the Er:YAG laser with more than 2 W of power. No change was observed when the disks were irradiated with the CO2 laser. The proportion of oxide in the machined Ti disk increased after the application of the Er,Cr:YSGG or Er:YAG laser. In the anodized Ti disk, the anatase peak intensity decreased and the rutile peak intensity increased after laser irradiation. The irradiated Ti disks were significantly rougher than the nonirradiated Ti disks. CONCLUSIONS The Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG laser resulted in surface changes on the Ti disks according to the power output. The CO2 laser did not affect the surface of the Ti disks, irrespective of the power output.
Vascular response to sirolimus‐eluting stents delivered with a nonaggressive implantation technique: Comparison of intravascular ultrasound results from the multicenter, randomized E‐SIRIUS, and SIRIUS trials

The effectiveness of SES to reduce the risk of restenosis was initially demonstrated in short lesions using stent implantation with routine pre‐dilatation and post‐dilatation. This intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) substudy of the E‐SIRIUS trial sought to evaluate local arterial responses to sirolimus‐eluting stents (SES) delivered with a stent implantation technique allowing direct stenting and only selectively applying high‐pressure post‐dilatation.
Gender Bias in the Effect of Dropping Height on Jumping Performance in Volleyball Players

Laffaye, G and Choukou, MA. Gender bias in the effect of dropping height on jumping performence in volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res 24(8): 2143-2148, 2010-The goal of the present study is to investigate in skilled volleyball players (a) the effect of dropping height on women's and men's performance and (b) the drop jump technique with regard to gender. Nine male and 9 female skilled volleyball players were instructed to jump as high as they could, using a drop jump, from a box of 30 cm or from 2 boxes (60 cm). Kinematic and kinetic data were collected using 6 cameras and a force plate. The human body was summarized by using a 4-segment model (foot, shank, thigh, head-arms-trunk). Males performed higher jumps than females (46.6 ± 7.5 cm vs. 36 ± 5.4 cm; p < 0.05). This could be explained by higher mean power (56.9 ± 26 W/kg vs. 42.4 ± 19 W/kg; p < 0.05) and shorter eccentric time (−46.3%), both of which allowed a better stretch-shortening cycle. This study shows that women and men have different jump techniques when they drop from a higher position but without increasing the vertical performance. Women increase the values of force and stiffness (respectively +21.4% and +17.9%) without changing the temporal structure of the jump. Men reduce the eccentric time of the jump (41% vs. 31.8%) and keep the force parameters constant. The study findings indicate that it is necessary to find an optimal height for plyometric training for each athlete, allowing enhancement.
‘Anything other than silence’: using a personal learning system for continuing professional development

This paper investigates the use of a personal learning system (PLS) for continuing professional development (CPD) of academic staff. It examines which, if any, activities, habits or strategies triggered the use of the PLS when there was no immediate or external pressure to engage. It also investigates whether participants felt that using the PLS contributed to their CPD. The case studies in the project were undertaken within an action research approach. Data was gathered by participants posting to the blog tool within the PLS over an eight week period and then individual interviews were conducted. Participants reported that receiving feedback from the project manager on their postings and the prompts within the software to reflect were some of the main triggers for encouraging them to record their CPD. Analysis of the data revealed the distinction between how useful the PLS was during the project compared to its potential future usefulness. On a day-to-day level, several participants stated how the PLS helped them reflect on their work, recording it for processes such as appraisal, working and researching with colleagues and demonstrating fitness to practice in their profession. Some participants found that although the PLS was useful for individual activities, there was greater potential to enhance working practices if other colleagues became actively engaged. The potential of a PLS to support twenty-first century learning organisations is one of the project’s emergent areas of interest, which, in our opinion, merits further investigation.