Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching theoretical physics: The cases of Enrico Fermi and Ettore Majorana

We report on theoretical courses by Enrico Fermi and Ettore Majorana, which give evidence of the first appearance and further development of quantum mechanics teaching in Italy. On the basis of original documents, we compare Fermi and Majorana’s approaches. A detailed analysis is made of Fermi’s course on theoretical physics attended by Majorana in 1927–28. Three (previously unknown) programs on advanced physics courses submitted by Majorana to the University of Rome between 1933 and 1936 and the course he taught in Naples in 1938 complete our analysis. Fermi’s phenomenological approach resounded in Majorana, who combined it with a deeper theoretical approach, closer to the contemporary way of presenting quantum mechanics.
Preserved memory monitoring but impaired memory control during episodic encoding in patients with schizophrenia

Metamemory awareness refers to the ability to monitor and control how well information is processed depending on the loads and needs of the task at hand. There is some evidence that metamemory functions are impaired in schizophrenia at the time of memory retrieval. This study investigated whether patients with schizophrenia exhibit metamemory abnormalities during the encoding of new information. The frequency of item presentation was varied. Both memory control and memory monitoring were assessed using study-time allocation and Judgments of Learning (JOL), respectively. Repeated items were recalled better by both groups, but memory performance was lower in patients than controls. Patients' behavior patterns were abnormal in terms of the study-time allocated for each item according to presentation frequency. Patients' JOLs were lower than those of controls but remained sensitive to item repetition. Patients' predictive values on memory accuracy were no different to those measured in controls. In addition, none of the patients reported using efficient strategies to help memorize target items. The results show a dissociation between memory control, which was impaired, and memory monitoring, which was spared, in patients with schizophrenia during encoding of new information (JINS, 2007, 13, 219–227.)
A Comparison of the Neurological Impress Method, the Language Experience Approach, and Classroom Teaching for Children with Reading Disabilities. Final Report.

AUTHOR Arnold, Richard C. TITLE A Comparison of the Neurological Impress Method, the Language Experience Approach, and Classroom Teaching for Children with Reading Disabilities. Final Report. INSTITUTION Purdue Research Foundation, Lafayette Ind. SPONS AGENCY National Center for Educational Research and Development (DBEW/OE), Washington, D.C. Regional Research Program. BUREAU NO ER -1 -E -023 PUB DATE Jun 72 GRANT OEG-5-71-0027(509) NOTE 49p.
The Tully-Fisher Relation and its Residuals for a Broadly Selected Sample of Galaxies

We measure the relation between galaxy luminosity and disk circular velocity (the Tully-Fisher [TF] relation), in the g, r, i, and z bands, for a broadly selected sample of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with the goal of providing well-defined observational constraints for theoretical models of galaxy formation. The input sample of 234 galaxies has a roughly flat distribution of absolute magnitudes in the range -18.5 > Mr > -22, and our only morphological selection is an isophotal axis ratio cut b/a < 0.6 to allow accurate inclination corrections. Long-slit spectroscopy from the Calar Alto and MDM observatories yields usable Hα rotation curves for 162 galaxies (69%), with a representative color and morphology distribution. We define circular velocities V80 by evaluating the rotation curve at the radius containing 80% of the i-band light. Observational errors, including estimated distance errors due to peculiar velocities, are small compared to the intrinsic scatter of the TF relation. The slope of the forward TF relation steepens from -5.5 ± 0.2 mag (log10 km s-1)-1 in the g band to -6.6 ± 0.2 mag (log10 km s-1)-1 in the z band. The intrinsic scatter is σ ≈ 0.4 mag in all bands, and residuals from either the forward or inverse relations have an approximately Gaussian distribution. We discuss how Malmquist-type biases may affect the observed slope, intercept, and scatter. The scatter is not dominated by rare outliers or by any particular class of galaxies, although it drops slightly, to σ ≈ 0.36 mag, if we restrict the sample to nearly bulgeless systems. Correlations of TF residuals with other galaxy properties are weak: bluer galaxies are significantly brighter than average in the g-band TF relation but only marginally brighter in the i band; more concentrated (earlier type) galaxies are slightly fainter than average, and the TF residual is virtually independent of half-light radius, contrary to the trend expected for gravitationally dominant disks. The observed residual correlations do not account for most of the intrinsic scatter, implying that this scatter is instead driven largely by variations in the ratio of dark to luminous matter within the disk galaxy population.
Tradeoffs between Self-interest and Other-Regarding Preferences Cause Willpower Depletion

In this paper we show that making choices that involve conflicts between self-interest and other-regarding concerns may deplete cognitive resources and willpower and thus reduce individuals' ability to exert self-control. In a lab experiment we use a series of modified dictator games to manipulate whether subjects are exposed to tradeoffs between their self-interest and the interest of others: in a Conflict treatment the option that maximizes the dictator's payoff always minimizes the recipient's payoff, whereas in the NoConflict treatment dictator's and recipient's payoffs are aligned. We then measure how decision-making in the dictator games affects subjects' performance in a subsequent and unrelated task that requires exertion of willpower. We find that subjects in the Conflict treatment perform significantly worse than those in NoConflict. This effect is particularly marked for dictators who experienced a stronger conflict during the dictator games.
Modular architecture of eukaryotic RNase P and RNase MRP revealed by electron microscopy

Ribonuclease P (RNase P) and RNase MRP are closely related ribonucleoprotein enzymes, which process RNA substrates including tRNA precursors for RNase P and 5.8 S rRNA precursors, as well as some mRNAs, for RNase MRP. The structures of RNase P and RNase MRP have not yet been solved, so it is unclear how the proteins contribute to the structure of the complexes and how substrate specificity is determined. Using electron microscopy and image processing we show that eukaryotic RNase P and RNase MRP have a modular architecture, where proteins stabilize the RNA fold and contribute to cavities, channels and chambers between the modules. Such features are located at strategic positions for substrate recognition by shape and coordination of the cleaved-off sequence. These are also the sites of greatest difference between RNase P and RNase MRP, highlighting the importance of the adaptation of this region to the different substrates.
CFD Analysis of a Propeller Flow and Cavitation

The propeller is the predominant propulsion device used in ships. The performance of propeller is conventionally represented in terms of non-dimensional coefficients, i.e., thrust coefficient (KT), torque coefficient (KQ) and efficiency and their variation with advance coefficients (J). It is difficult to determine the characteristics of a full-size propeller in open water by varying the speed of the advance and the revolution rate over a range and measuring the thrust and torque of the propeller. Therefore, recourse is made to experiments with models of the propeller and the ship in which the thrust and torque of the model propeller can be conveniently measured over a range of speed of advance and revolution rate. Experiments are very expensive and time consuming, so the present paper deals with a complete computational solution for the flow using Fluent 6.3 software. When the operating pressure was lowered below the vapor pressure of surrounding liquid it simulates cavitating condition. In the present work, Fluent 6.3 software is also used to solve advanced phenomena like cavitation of propeller. The simulation results of cavitation and open water characteristics of propeller are compared with experimental predictions, as obtained from literature [1].
Assignment1 of the gene of mitochondrial branched chain aminotransferase (BCAT2) to sheep chromosome band 14q24 and to cattle and goat chromosome bands 18q24 by in situ hybridization

Branched chain aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.42) is the first enzyme involved in the catabolic pathway of branched chain amino acids. Its activity is much lower in sheep than in rats (Papet et al., 1988). In order to investigate the biochemical basis of such a difference, we recently cloned the cDNA corresponding to the sheep mitochondrial branched chain aminotransferase gene BCAT2 (Faure et al., 1998). Human BCAT2 has previously been mapped to chromosome 19 using somatic cell hybrids (Bledsoe et al., 1997). The 929-bp cDNA fragment of sheep BCAT2 reveals 85, 81 and 80% identity with human, rat and mouse sequences, respectively. The BCAT2 sequence homology among sheep, cattle and goat, which are evolutionarily closer species, is likely higher than 95% as reported for milk proteins (Vilotte et al., 1992; Provot et al., 1989). The sheep probe has been used to assign BCAT2 to sheep chromosome band 14q24 and to cattle and goat chromosome bands 18q24 by in situ hybridization. Materials and methods
Design and methods of the evaluation of an HPV-based cervical cancer screening strategy in Mexico: The Morelos HPV Study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and methodology of the Morelos HPV Study. The main objective of this study is to examine the use of two different methods for obtaining HPV DNA specimens, self-collected vaginal and clinician-collected cervical, to detect pre-invasive cervical lesions and cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study was conducted within the regular population-based framework of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) cervical cancer screening program in Morelos. A total of 7,868 women were recruited between May and October 1999 and are representative of the population of women attending cervical cancer screening services at the 23 IMSS clinics in the state of Morelos in 1999. Women were provided with a detailed description of the study before signing an informed consent form. Basic data were obtained from all participants using a standard IMSS registration form. During the initial recruitment visit, a randomly selected subsample of 1,069 participants were interviewed to collect additional information about cervical cancer risk factors, acceptability of the HPV and Pap tests, as well as patient costs. Before the pelvic exam, participants were asked to provide a self-collected vaginal specimen for HPV testing. All participants underwent a pelvic examination that involved collecting a cervical sample for the Pap smear and a clinician-collected HPV specimen. Data were evaluated from 7,732 women with complete information for the three tests. The 1,147 women who received at least one positive result (Pap, self- and/or clinician-HPV tests) were invited to return for a colposcopic examination. During colposcopy, biopsies were taken as appropriate, to histologically confirm a diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2/3 or invasive cancer. A total of 1,015 women attended colposcopy, and 101 women received a histologically-confirmed CIN 2/3 or cervical cancer diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS The initial enrollment activities of the Morelos HPV study are the basis for a prevalent case-control study and a prospective cohort study that will investigate the natural history of HPV infections and determine if an HPV-based screening strategy is a safe and cost-effective alternative to Pap screening. The English version of this paper is available too at: http://www.insp. mx/salud/index.html.
Efficiency Ranges for Nitrate-Nitrogen and Potassium for Vegetable Petiole Sap Quick Tests

Petiole sap N and K quick tests offer fast and accurate in-field analysis for N and K and have been calibrated for some vegetable crops in Florida. This paper summarizes 10 years of research conducted in Florida on petiole sap testing for N and K. Petiole sap nitrate-N and K concentrations correlated highly with wholeleaf N and K concentrations and decreased through the season for all vegetable crops tested. Optimum early season fresh sap nitrate-N and K concentrations were highest for pepper, and optimum late-season concentrations were lowest for tomato. Petiole sap nitrate-N and K concentrations were not affected by storing petioles on ice for up to 16 h or freezing them for 24 h.
Using a student centred approach to explore issues affecting student transition

Student attrition in the first year of university is an issue of concern for many universities. Many factors influence attrition including academic preparedness and social adjustment difficulties. In this project we sought clarify factors that influence transition from the perspective of students and to implement strategies to address this issue. During first semester 2006, a series of strategies were implemented with the aim of better supporting first year psychology students' adjustment to university. These strategies included identifying students' concerns and challenges, structured orientation activities, curriculum reforms and learning support workshops. Students found the structured orientation activities and curriculum reforms beneficial in that they allowed them to reflect upon, share and validate their concerns with others which in turn helped foster their adjustment to university life. However, evaluation of the effectiveness of the learning support workshops revealed that a more systematic approach to academic support was needed, such as embedding this support into the curriculum.
On Finding Query Rewritings under Expressive Constraints

We study a general framework for query rewriting in the presence of general FOL constraints, where standard theorem proving techniques (e.g., tableau or resolution) can be used. The novel results of applying this framework include: 1) if the original constraints are domain independent, then so will be the query rewritten in terms of database predicates; 2) for infinite databases, the rewriting of conjunctive queries over connected views is decidable; 3) one can apply this technique to the guarded fragment of FOL, obtaining results about ontology languages.
TCOT-A Timeout-Based Mobile Transaction Commitment Protocol

We present a transaction commit protocol, "Transaction Commit On Timeout (TCOT)," based on a "timeout" approach for Mobile Database Systems (MDS), which can be universally used to reach a final transaction termination decision (e.g., commit, abort, etc.) in any message-oriented system. Particularly suited for a wireless environment, a timeout mechanism is the only way to minimize the impact of the slow and unreliable wireless link. We compare TCOT to a modified version of 2PC to show its superiority based on commit time.
Very high bit rate power line communications for home networks

Power line communications (PLC) has become a viable local area network (LAN) solution for in-home networks. PLC systems can be used in a wide variety of applications requiring high data rate. Therefore, there is a need to achieve an extremely high bit rate. In this paper, the increase in current technology bandwidth up to 100 MHz is investigated. Furthermore, a fast computational resource allocation algorithm is also developed for linear precoded discrete multitone (LP-DMT), which enables reliable high bit rate under peak BER constraint. Simulations are run over PLC channels and it is highlighted that 1 Gbit/s transmission is achievable and it is also shown that peak BER constraint algorithms give better performance compared to classical peak SER constraint algorithms. In addition, the linear precoding technique brings significant bit rate gain.
Respiratory Virus Infections in Hospital and in General Practice, 1954-6

In continuation of previous laboratory studies of respira tory illness, tests for a wider range of virus infections were made in a series of patients admitted to hospital and also in cases of milder illness seen in general prac tice during the winter seasons of 1954-5 and 1955-6. This paper presents evidence of infections with influenza viruses of types A, B, and C, an agent related to the Sendai strain of newborn pneumonitis virus (" influenza D," Jensen et al., 1955), and the adenovirus group (Rowe et al., 1953). Methods
On the frequency dependence of the bias temperature instability

An accurate understanding of the duty-factor and frequency dependence of the bias temperature instability (BTI) is essential since it can transfer to significant lifetime benefits. Contradictory reports regarding the frequency dependence have been published in literature, with particularly older studies and those interpreted in the framework of the reaction-diffusion model claiming BTI to be frequency-independent. Newer studies, on the other hand, clearly show a frequency-dependent component of BTI. Here we discuss this frequency dependence using the recently suggested capture/emission time map model, which explains BTI as a collection of a large number of independent first-order reactions of defects with two states. While this model can explain most features observed in DC and low-frequency AC stress experiments, it does not fully capture the experimentally observed frequency and duty-factor dependence. However, when a more accurate defect model is considered, which describes charging of the defect via an intermediate state, good accuracy with experimental data is obtained.
Cytokine Production and Killer Activity of NK/T-NK Cells Derived with IL-2, IL-15, or the Combination of IL-12 and IL-181

NK cell populations were derived from murine splenocytes stimulated by IL-2, IL-15, or the combination of IL-12 and IL-18. Whereas NK cells derived with the latter cytokines consisted of an homogeneous population of NK cells (DX5+CD3−), those derived with IL-2 or IL-15 belonged to two different populations, namely NK cells (DX5+CD3−) and T-NK cells (DX5+CD3+). Among NK cells, only those derived with IL-12/IL-18 produced detectable levels of cytokines, namely IFN-γ, IL-10, and IL-13 (with the exception of IL-13 production by NK cells derived with IL-2). As for T-NK cells, IL-2-stimulated cells produced a wide range of cytokines, including IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, IL-10, and IL-13, but no IFN-γ, whereas IL-15-derived T-NK cells failed to produce any cytokine. Switch-culture experiments indicated that T-NK cells derived in IL-2 and further stimulated with IL-12/IL-18 produced IFN-γ and higher IL-13 levels. Next, we observed that NK/T-NK cell populations exerted distinct effects on Ig production by autologous splenocytes according to the cytokines with which they were derived. Thus, addition of NK cells derived in IL-12/IL-18 inhibited Ig production and induced strong cytotoxicity against splenocytes, whereas addition of NK or T-NK cells grown in IL-2 or IL-15 did not. Experiments performed in IFN-γR knockout mice demonstrated that IFN-γ was not involved in the killer activity of IL-12/IL-18-derived NK cells. The hypothesis that their cytotoxic activity was related to the induction of target apoptosis was confirmed on murine A20 lymphoma cells. Experiments performed in MRL/lpr mice indicated that IL-12/IL-18-derived NK cells displayed their distinct killer activity through a Fas-independent pathway. Finally, perforin was much more expressed in IL-12/IL-18-derived NK cells as compared with IL-2- or IL-15-derived NK cells, an observation that might explain their unique cytotoxicity.
Mechanics of the mammalian cochlea.

In mammals, environmental sounds stimulate the auditory receptor, the cochlea, via vibrations of the stapes, the innermost of the middle ear ossicles. These vibrations produce displacement waves that travel on the elongated and spirally wound basilar membrane (BM). As they travel, waves grow in amplitude, reaching a maximum and then dying out. The location of maximum BM motion is a function of stimulus frequency, with high-frequency waves being localized to the "base" of the cochlea (near the stapes) and low-frequency waves approaching the "apex" of the cochlea. Thus each cochlear site has a characteristic frequency (CF), to which it responds maximally. BM vibrations produce motion of hair cell stereocilia, which gates stereociliar transduction channels leading to the generation of hair cell receptor potentials and the excitation of afferent auditory nerve fibers. At the base of the cochlea, BM motion exhibits a CF-specific and level-dependent compressive nonlinearity such that responses to low-level, near-CF stimuli are sensitive and sharply frequency-tuned and responses to intense stimuli are insensitive and poorly tuned. The high sensitivity and sharp-frequency tuning, as well as compression and other nonlinearities (two-tone suppression and intermodulation distortion), are highly labile, indicating the presence in normal cochleae of a positive feedback from the organ of Corti, the "cochlear amplifier. " This mechanism involves forces generated by the outer hair cells and controlled, directly or indirectly, by their transduction currents. At the apex of the cochlea, nonlinearities appear to be less prominent than at the base, perhaps implying that the cochlear amplifier plays a lesser role in determining apical mechanical responses to sound. Whether at the base or the apex, the properties of BM vibration adequately account for most frequency-specific properties of the responses to sound of auditory nerve fibers.
How have past fire disturbances contributed to the current carbon balance of boreal ecosystems

Abstract. Boreal fires have immediate effects on regional carbon budgets by emitting CO2 into the atmosphere at the time of burning, but they also have legacy effects by initiating a long-term carbon sink during post-fire vegetation recovery. Quantifying these different effects on the current-day pan-boreal (44–84° N) carbon balance and quantifying relative contributions of legacy sinks by past fires is important for understanding and predicting the carbon dynamics in this region. Here we used the global dynamic vegetation model ORCHIDEE–SPITFIRE (Organising Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic Ecosystems – SPread and InTensity of FIRE) to attribute the contributions by fires in different decades between 1850 and 2009 to the carbon balance of 2000–2009, taking into account the atmospheric CO2 change and climate change since 1850. The fire module of ORCHIDEE–SPITFIRE was turned off for each decade in turn and was also turned off before and after the decade in question in order to model the legacy carbon trajectory by fires in each past decade. We found that, unsurprisingly, fires that occurred in 2000–2009 are a carbon source (−0.17 Pg C yr−1) for the carbon balance of 2000–2009, whereas fires in all decades before 2000 contribute carbon sinks with a collective contribution of 0.23 Pg C yr−1. This leaves a net fire sink effect of 0.06 Pg C yr−1, or 6.3 % of the simulated regional carbon sink (0.95 Pg C yr−1). Further, fires with an age of 10–40 years (i.e., those that occurred during 1960–1999) contribute more than half of the total sink effect of fires. The small net sink effect of fires indicates that current-day fire emissions are roughly balanced out by legacy sinks. The future role of fires in the regional carbon balance remains uncertain and will depend on whether changes in fires and associated carbon emissions will exceed the enhanced sink effects of previous fires, both being strongly affected by global change.