Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring teacher–student interactions: communities of practice, ecological learning systems – or something else?

Abstract A small-scale action research project was used to consider the policy and rhetoric surrounding development of the ‘expert learner’ and how this might be further explored to provide opportunities for learners to have greater direct involvement in reflection and discussion with teachers. The research was based within a further education setting, using participants from an ‘HE in FE’ curriculum area: teacher education. It sought to explore how involving students as partners in the peer observation process might be used to engage with student voice and enhance the teaching and learning experience for all involved. To evaluate the creation, sharing and development of teaching and learning that might be generated in such circumstances, the research used two theoretical frameworks to analyse the data: communities of practice and ecological learning systems. This article reviews the literature around these two frameworks and critically reflects on the influences of these approaches in communities of teaching and learning. Analysis of interviews, and the interactions and dialogue contained within these, revealed something else happening within these connections. As such, it considers the opportunities facilitated in this context and how development of a newly-devised continuum of practice may be used to enable professional dialogue to enhance student–teacher interactions.
The overlap of corticobasal degeneration and Alzheimer changes: An autopsy case

The aspects of various neurodegenerative diseases can be observed overlapping with each other during autopsy. Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a rare neurodegenerative disease, whereas Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. In this article, we present the combination of CBD and AD in an autopsy case. The patient, an 82‐year‐old right‐handed woman developed asymmetrical parkinsonism, visuospatial dysfunction and memory loss, as well as subsequent non‐influent aphasia over the past 10 years. The autopsy revealed characteristic CBD‐related pathology, ballooned neurons, globose tangles and astrocytic plaques, mainly in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia. The Alzheimer‐related pathology was also present concomitantly. Senile plagues deposited diffusively throughout the hippocampus and neocortices. Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) were more confined to the hippocampus. The autopsy demonstrated pathological overlap of CBD and AD, which therefore explained the clinical early development of dementia and parkinsonism. We should suspect the concurrence of various neurodegenerative disorders in any case with atypical or complex clinical manifestations. Tau pathology is a prominent feature in both CBD and AD. Such a combination would be a clue for the pathogenesis of various tauopathies.
Nano, quantum, and molecular computing: are we ready for the validation and test challenges?

In the recent years a lot of research effort is being spent in the areas of nanotechnology, quantum computation, and biologically inspired computing. As we are faced with various challenges regarding their implementability, architectural visions, and design automation, not much has been done in the field of high level design and validation in looking further into the future, and ponder about the state of the art in design validation and test in such miniscule technology era. Very few reported research work have surfaced on the design and validation challenges for these technologies. However, this certainly is a matter of concern because the technology of the small will be ridden with random faults and hence architectural design strategies need to change to take into account these stochastic models of failures to build robust designs. Validation of such designs also have to capture the stochastic behavioral models of the technology, and hence traditional validation and testing techniques will not work directly. Are we getting ready with our theory; technology and tools to address these challenges? This futuristic panel asks technology and computer aided design experts, as well as finding agency program managers questions about the technological barriers to be surpassed, as well as how the funding agencies such as NSF are ramping up for this technological future.
Privileged processing of low spatial frequencies in emotional faces

It is proposed that spatial frequency filtering can act as a new kind of masking technique, so that conscious and nonconscious processing can be contrasted while presentation durations remain constant. Stronger affective priming by emotional faces in suboptimal than optimal presentation conditions is a striking example of such a contrast. Similarly, images containing only low spatial frequencies (LSF) were expected to produce larger priming than images with only high spatial frequencies (HSF). Conscious report on the emotional expressions should, however, be more accurate for the HSF than the LSF faces. The results supported only the former expectation, but ceiling effects, procedural issues, and inadequate filtering may account for this limited support. It is assumed that the stronger-suboptimal-than-optimal affective priming pattern reflects the biologically privileged processing of LSF components of affective stimuli. Nonconscious processing of low frequency features is discussed in the context of evolution and models for affective processing.
The Role of Glucose in Brain Injury Following the Combination of Lipopolysaccharide or Lipoteichoic Acid and Hypoxia-Ischemia in Neonatal Rats

We have previously shown that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) sensitizes the immature rat brain to subsequent hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we examined the role of glucose in the sensitizing effects of LPS and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) in combination with HI in 7-day-old rats. LPS/HI resulted in hypoglycemia which lasted 24 h and lactate levels were increased from 6 to 10 h after LPS administration. LPS/HI induced severe brain injury, which persisted 2 weeks after LPS/HI. Administration of glucose to LPS-treated animals with HI reduced brain injury in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, while striatal damage remained. LTA/HI did not affect blood glucose, lactate or brain injury. In conclusion, enhanced blood glucose levels during HI after LPS administration conferred protection in some brain regions but not in the striatum, suggesting that alterations in glucose can only partly explain the sensitizing effect of LPS.
Fluoroquinolone Resistance Associated with Target Mutations and Active Efflux in Oropharyngeal Colonizing Isolates of Viridans Group Streptococci

ABSTRACT Oropharyngeal samples from 60 hospitalized patients (30 fluoroquinolone [FQ]-treated and 30 non-FQ-treated patients) and 30 untreated nonhospitalized healthy control subjects yielded 20 isolates of viridans group streptococci with reduced susceptibility to FQ, mostly from the hospitalized patients. An efflux phenotype was commonly encountered, expressed either alone or with topoisomerase mutations. Interspecies transfer of the efflux phenotype was demonstrated via transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae R6 with DNA fromS. mitis and S. oralis.
Foundations and future application of internet-based interventions for PTSD in PR China

This study examines internet-based interventions as a solution to improve mental health services for traumatised individuals in People's Republic of China (PR China). By reviewing the literature, the authors first summarise primary barriers to Chinese people's mental health help-seeking. Next, based on a research model, the authors discuss how the internet has been used to overcome these barriers and then introduce the current state of internet-based interventions. Finally, the authors conclude the necessity and feasibility of internet-based intervention applications in PR China, give implications for mental health services and discuss some limitations.
In vitro small intestinal epithelial cell growth on a nanocomposite polycaprolactone scaffold

Tissue engineering of the small intestine remains experimental despite worldwide attempts to develop a functional substitute for short bowel syndrome. Most published studies have reported predominant use of PLLA (poly‐L‐lactide acid)/PGA (polyglycolic acid) copolymer as the scaffold material, and studies have been limited by in vivo experiments. This lack of progress has inspired a fresh perspective and provoked further investigation and development in this field of tissue engineering. In the present paper, we exploit a relatively new nanocomposite of POSS (polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane) and PCL [poly(caprolactone‐urea)urethane] as a material to develop porous scaffolds using a solvent casting/particulate leaching technique to fabricate porous scaffolds in different pore sizes and porosities. Scaffolds were characterized for pore morphology and porosity using scanning electron microscopy and micro‐computed tomography. Rat intestinal epithelial cells were then seeded on to the polymer scaffolds for an in vitro study of cell compatibility and proliferation, which was assessed by Alamar Blue™ and lactate dehydrogenase assays performed for 21 days post‐seeding. The results obtained demonstrate that POSS–PCL nanocomposite was produced as a macroporous scaffold with porosity over the range of 40–80% and pore size over the range of 150–250 μm. This scaffold was shown to support epithelial cell proliferation and growth. In conclusion, as a further step in investigating small intestinal tissue engineering, the nanocomposite employed in this study may prove to be a useful alternative to poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) in the future.
Commercial Density, Residential Concentration, and Crime: Land Use Patterns and Violence in Neighborhood Context

Drawing on Jacobs’s (1961) and Taylor’s (1988) discussions of the social control implications of mixed land use, the authors explore the link between commercial and residential density and violent crime in urban neighborhoods. Using crime, census, and tax parcel data for Columbus, Ohio, the authors find evidence of a curvilinear association between commercial and residential density and both homicide and aggravated assault, consistent with Jacobs’s expectations. At low levels, increasing commercial and residential density is positively associated with homicide and aggravated assault. Beyond a threshold, however, increasing commercial and residential density serves to reduce the likelihood of both outcomes. In contrast, the association between commercial and residential density and robbery rates is positive and linear. The implications of these findings for understanding the sources of informal social control in urban neighborhoods are discussed.
PACAP in Immunity and Inflammation

Abstract: The pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide belonging to the VIP/secretin/glucagon family of peptides, produced by the lymphoid cells, which exerts a wide spectrum of immunological functions controlling the homeostasis of immune system through different receptors expressed in various immunocompetent cells. In the last decade, PACAP has been clearly identified as a potent anti‐inflammatory factor that exerts its function by regulating the production of both anti‐ and proinflammatory mediators. In this sense, PACAP prevents death by septic shock, an acute inflammatory disease with a high mortality. In addition, PACAP regulates the expression of costimulatory molecules, inasmuch as this related to the modulation in the shift from Th1 towards Th2 differentiation. We recently reported that PACAP prevents the deleterious effects of arthritis by downregulating both inflammatory and autoimmune components of the disease. Therefore, PACAP and analogs have been proposed as very promising candidates, alternative to other existing treatments, for treating acute and chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as septic shock, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, or autoimmune diabetes.
Regional Flow Simulation in Fractured Aquifers Using Stress‐Dependent Parameters

A model function relating effective stress to fracture permeability is developed from Hooke's law, implemented in the tensorial form of Darcy's law, and used to evaluate discharge rates and pressure distributions at regional scales. The model takes into account elastic and statistical fracture parameters, and is able to simulate real stress‐dependent permeabilities from laboratory to field studies. This modeling approach gains in phenomenology in comparison to the classical ones because the permeability tensors may vary in both strength and principal directions according to effective stresses. Moreover this method allows evaluation of the fracture porosity changes, which are then translated into consolidation of the medium.
Creating a Long-Term Diabetic Rabbit Model

This study was to create a long-term rabbit model of diabetes mellitus for medical studies of up to one year or longer and to evaluate the effects of chronic hyperglycemia on damage of major organs. A single dose of alloxan monohydrate (100 mg/kg) was given intravenously to 20 young New Zealand White rabbits. Another 12 age-matched normal rabbits were used as controls. Hyperglycemia developed within 48 hours after treatment with alloxan. Insulin was given daily after diabetes developed. All animals gained some body weight, but the gain was much less than the age-matched nondiabetic rabbits. Hyperlipidemia, higher blood urea nitrogen and creatinine were found in the diabetic animals. Histologically, the pancreas showed marked beta cell damage. The kidneys showed significantly thickened afferent glomerular arterioles with narrowed lumens along with glomerular atrophy. Lipid accumulation in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes appeared as vacuoles. Full-thickness skin wound healing was delayed. In summary, with careful management, alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits can be maintained for one year or longer in reasonably good health for diabetic studies.
Replicability of Research in Biomedical Natural Language Processing: a pilot evaluation for a coding task

The scientiﬁc community is facing raising concerns about the reproducibility of research in many ﬁelds. To address this issue in Natural Language Processing, the CLEF eHealth 2016 lab offered a replication track together with the Clinical Information Extraction task. Herein, we report detailed results of the replication experiments carried out with the three systems submitted to the track. While all re-sults were ultimately replicated, we found that the systems were poorly rated by analysts on documentation aspects such as ”ease of understanding system requirements” (33%) and ”provision of information while system is run-ning” (33%). As a result, simple steps could be taken by system authors to increase the ease of replicability of their work, thereby increasing the ease of re-using the systems. Our experiments aim to raise the awareness of the community towards the challenges of replication and community sharing of NLP systems.
Strand displacement synthesis capability of Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase

The accepted model of retroviral reverse transcription includes a circular DNA intermediate which requires strand displacement synthesis for linearization and creation of an integration-competent, long terminal repeat-flanked DNA product. We have used an in vitro model of this last step of reverse transcription to examine the role of the viral enzyme, reverse transcriptase (RT), in displacement synthesis. We show that Moloney murine leukemia virus RT possesses an activity which allows for displacement synthesis through a minimum of 1,334 bp of duplex DNA--an extent much greater than that required during in vivo reverse transcription and over 25-fold greater than has been previously demonstrated for a viral RT. RT does not function as a helicase in the classical sense but appears to closely couple duplex DNA melting with synthesis-driven translocation of the enzyme. In the absence of synthesis, the unwound region created by a primer-positioned RT appears to be no greater than 2 bp and does not advance along the template. Additionally, RT does not utilize ATP or any deoxynucleoside triphosphate not directly encoded by the template strand to catalyze processive duplex unwinding at a nick; nor does binding of the enzyme unwind duplex DNA in the absence of a 3' terminus. The approximate maximum chain elongation rate during strand displacement synthesis by Moloney murine leukemia virus RT falls between 0.73 and 1.5 nucleotides per s at 37 degrees C. The RNase H activity of RT does not appear to play a role in displacement synthesis; however, a 181-amino-acid C-terminal truncation of RT displays a dramatically reduced ability to catalyze synthesis through duplex DNA.
Prognostic Survival Associated With Left-Sided vs Right-Sided Colon Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Importance Primary tumor location is emerging as an important prognostic factor owing to distinct biological features. However, the side of origin of colon cancer (CC) still does not represent a prognostic parameter when deciding for adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy. Objective To determine the prognostic role of left vs right-sidedness of primary tumor location in patients with CC. Data Sources We searched PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, LILACS, CINAHL, and SCOPUS for prospective or retrospective studies reporting data on overall survival for left-sided colon cancer (LCC) compared with right-sided colon cancer (RCC). Study Selection Studies were selected if: (1) side of CC was reported among variables entered into survival analysis, (2) survival information was available (overall survival [OS] was reported in the article as hazard ratio (HR) according to multivariate analysis, (3) articles were published in the English language. Data Extraction and Synthesis Data were pooled using HRs for OS of LCC vs RCC according to fixed or random-effects models. Subgroup analysis and multivariate random-effects model meta-regression was also implemented adjusting for stage distribution, sample size, race, year of publication, type and quality of studies, and adjuvant chemotherapy. Main Outcomes and Measures HRs for OS (the primary outcome measure) were pooled to provide an aggregate value. In this analysis, all HRs with 95% CIs were pooled to obtain prognostic information on the location of the primary tumor (left vs right location site of CC) independent of other common clinicopathological covariates. Results An analysis was made from the 66 studies conducted. It included 1 437 846 patients with a median follow-up of 65 months. Left sided primary tumor location was associated with a significantly reduced risk of death (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.79-0.84; P < .001) and this was independent of stage, race, adjuvant chemotherapy, year of study, number of participants, and quality of included studies. Conclusions and Relevance Based on these results, CC side should be acknowledged as a criterion for establishing prognosis in all stages of disease. It should be considered when deciding treatment intensity in metastatic settings, and should represent a stratification factor for future adjuvant studies.
Predictors of Perceptions of Scientists

The 2001 and 2012 National Science Foundation surveys of public attitudes and knowledge about science were used to model perceptions of scientists and explore whether the predictors of such perceptions have changed over time. The available data indicate that the relative impact of the available predictors changed in only minor ways between the two time periods. Predictors of views about scientists include age, gender, and scientific knowledge, regardless of time period. Science museum attendance and primary source of science news were only rarely significant predictors. A limitation of the modeling is that the available predictors do a relatively poor job predicting both positive and negative views about scientists. This may suggest the need to reconsider which questions get included in the biennial National Science Foundation science and technology survey or the measures used to assess views about scientists.
Evaluation of carbon fiber surface treated by chemical and cold plasma processes

Sized PAN-based carbon fibers were treated with hydrochloric and nitric acids, as well as argon and oxygen cold plasmas, and the changes on their surfaces evaluated. The physicochemical properties and morphological changes were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), tensile strength tests and Raman spectroscopy. The nitric acid treatment was found to cause the most significant chemical changes on the carbon fiber surface, introducing the largest number of chemical groups and augmenting the roughness. The oxygen plasma treatments caused ablation of the carbon fiber surface, removing carbon atoms such as CO and CO2 molecules. In addition, the argon plasma treatment eliminated defects on the fiber surface, reducing the size of critical flaws and thus increasing the fiber's tensile strength.
Uncoupling Proteostasis and Development in Vitro with a Small Molecule Inhibitor of the Pancreatic Endoplasmic Reticulum Kinase, PERK*

Background: PERK controls unfolded protein load in the ER and promotes a latent gene expression program whose relative contributions to cell physiology are incompletely understood. Results: Acute PERK inhibition deregulates protein synthesis and promotes accumulation of misfolded pro-insulin. Conclusion: PERK contributes to proteostasis acutely. Significance: The proteostatic activity of PERK can be uncoupled from its latent role in gene expression. Loss-of-function mutations in EIF2AK3, encoding the pancreatic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) kinase, PERK, are associated with dysfunction of the endocrine pancreas and diabetes. However, to date it has not been possible to uncouple the long term developmental effects of PERK deficiency from sensitization to physiological levels of ER unfolded protein stress upon interruption of PERK modulation of protein synthesis rates. Here, we report that a selective PERK inhibitor acutely deregulates protein synthesis in freshly isolated islets of Langerhans, across a range of glucose concentrations. Acute loss of the PERK-mediated strand of the unfolded protein response leads to rapid accumulation of misfolded pro-insulin in cultured beta cells and is associated with a kinetic defect in pro-insulin processing. These in vitro observations uncouple the latent role of PERK in beta cell development from the regulation of unfolded protein flux through the ER and attest to the importance of the latter in beta cell proteostasis.
Stroop interference associated with efficient reading fluency and prelexical orthographic processing

ABSTRACT The Stroop Color–Word Test involves a dynamic interplay between reading and executive functioning that elicits intuitions of word reading automaticity. One such intuition is that strong reading skills (i.e., more automatized word reading) play a disruptive role within the test, contributing to Stroop interference. However, evidence has accumulated that challenges this intuition. The present study examined associations among Stroop interference, reading skills (i.e., isolated word identification, grapheme-to-phoneme mapping, phonemic awareness, reading fluency) measured on standardized tests, and orthographic skills measured on experimental computerized tasks. Among university students (N = 152), correlational analyses showed greater Stroop interference to be associated with (a) relatively low scores on all standardized reading tests, and (b) longer response latencies on orthographic tasks. Hierarchical regression demonstrated that reading fluency and prelexical orthographic processing predicted unique and significant variance in Stroop interference beyond baseline rapid naming. Results suggest that strong reading skills, including orthographic processing, play a supportive role in resolving Stroop interference.