Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TEFL tourism: the tourist who teaches

ABSTRACT There is evident lineage between the concepts of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and tourism, represented through evocative marketing material, the commoditisation of the TEFL product, teacher motivations and experiences. Yet, to date there has been little attention paid to this relationship. The amalgamation of the two concepts brings rise to the introduction of the niche form of tourism ‘TEFL tourism’, where the tourist travels outside of their usual environment to teach English as a foreign language and whose role shifts between tourist, educator and educatee at various points in their trip. The TEFL tourism phenomenon is explored through the use of a two-phase research approach employing the qualitative examination of blogs written by TEFL teachers and quantitative surveys. Drawing parallels with associated tourism forms including volunteer, education and philanthropic, it is concluded that TEFL tourism is an entity in its own right, with unique characteristics and motivations presented by TEFL tourists. The use of logistic regression facilitated the analysis of TEFL teacher types, presenting a typology classifying tourists as leisure-minded, philanthropy-minded, career-minded and expatriate-minded. This case-study examination facilitates initial comprehension of the TEFL tourism industry, providing basis for subsequent research to be undertaken to enable enhanced sustainable management of the TEFL industry worldwide.
Parents' current income, long-term characteristics and children's education: evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study

This paper investigates the effect of parents’ current income and long-term family characteristics on individuals’ highest educational qualification obtained by age 26 using UK data from the 1970 British Cohort Study. The issues of the possible sample selection bias produced by the not completely random omission of current family income and that of its potential endogeneity are addressed, using a hot-deck multiple imputation procedure and including an indicator of child ability, respectively. I find evidence that current family income has a statistically significant positive impact on children’s education, although it is one of negligible magnitude. Long-term family characteristics are far more important.
Balmer and He I Absorption in the Nuclear Spectrum of NGC 4151

Spectra taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph allow accurate location and extraction of the nuclear spectrum of NGC 4151, with minimal contamination by extended line emission and circumnuclear starlight. Spectra since 1997 show that the P Cygni Balmer and He I absorption seen previously in low nuclear states is present in higher states, with outflow velocity that changes with the nuclear flux. The phenomenon is discussed in terms of some of the absorbers seen in the UV resonance lines, and in terms of outflows from the central source and surrounding torus.
Alarm delivery to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in wireless sensor networks using coordinators

This work presents a method of coordinating static ground sensors with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles using coordinators. The ground wireless sensors are responsible for the primary detection of an event (e.g. intrusion in the monitored area). After the initial detection, a suitable UAV, equipped with high quality surveillance devices, should be designed inspect the event's area. A method combining a geographic routing with a UAV-CoordinatorPosition function that is responsible to deliver the initial alarm to the selected UAV is presented. In this method, each UAV has a coordinator node on the ground network. This coordinator receive periodic updates of the UAV actual position. When an alarm is issued by any ground sensor, it is forwarded to the appropriated coordinator, and it is then responsible to forward using the geo-routing to the selected UAV. The position of the coordinator is determined by the UAV-CoordinatorPosition function which receives the characteristics of the UAV as input and returns the position of the corresponding coordinator. Results showed the efficiency of the proposed method, reducing by 45.39% the number of hops needed to find the appropriate UAV in comparison with the strategy using a bio-inspired method presented in the literature. In most cases, the UAV could handle at least 65% of the alarms.
Using Genetic Algorithm for Fuel Consumption Optimization of a Natural Gas Transmission Compressor Station

In this study the goal is to optimize the compressors’ fuel consumption through manipulating the compressors’ affecting parameters as well as the operating condition parameters of the turbines and the air coolers within a gas compression station unit in operation phase by using Genetic Algorithm. The simulation part is written in a custom-built computer program and is checked by known software and optimization is through the use of Genetic Algorithm. By considering the complexity of these systems, GA is used to do the optimization part in a proper manner. The results show that in compressor stations with same turbo compressor packages which are designed in recent years, despite nonlinear relations, linear load sharing will be the most optimized choice (the effect of air coolers and line pack has been studied too). And also Genetic Algorithm optimization method is a good one for optimization of gas transmission systems.
The Word Superiority Effect in central and peripheral vision

ABSTRACT The Word Superiority Effect (WSE) is a well-known phenomenon in reading research, where words are reported more accurately than single letters or non-words. We report two experiments that investigate the WSE in the central and peripheral visual field, as well as laterality differences in the perception of words and letters, using methods based on the Theory of Visual Attention. The results show a WSE in the central visual field, reflected in mean scores, perception thresholds, and processing speed, whereas the effect is eliminated or reversed in the periphery. This may be caused by crowding, which prevents lexical analysis of a word in the periphery. We conclude that perception of words and letters differs according to location in the visual field. Linking our results to previous studies of crowding effects in patients with reading impairments, we hypothesize that similar mechanisms may limit normal word peripheral processing.
Apoptosis Induction by Polygonum minus Is Related to Antioxidant Capacity, Alterations in Expression of Apoptotic-Related Genes, and S-Phase Cell Cycle Arrest in HepG2 Cell Line

Polygonum minus (Polygonaceae) is a medicinal herb distributed throughout eastern Asia. The present study investigated antiproliferative effect of P. minus and its possible mechanisms. Four extracts (petroleum ether, methanol, ethyl acetate, and water) were prepared by cold maceration. Extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening, antioxidant, and antiproliferative assays; the most bioactive was fractionated using vacuum liquid chromatography into seven fractions (F1–F7). Antioxidant activity was measured via total phenolic content (TPC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Antiproliferative activity was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Most active fraction was tested for apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest in HepG2 cells using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Apoptotic-related gene expression was studied by RT-PCR. Ethyl acetate extract was bioactive in initial assays. Its fraction, F7, exhibited highest antioxidant capacity (TPC; 113.16 ± 6.2 mg GAE/g extract, DPPH; EC50: 30.5 ± 3.2 μg/mL, FRAP; 1169 ± 20.3 μmol Fe (II)/mg extract) and selective antiproliferative effect (IC50: 25.75 ± 1.5 μg/mL). F7 induced apoptosis in concentration- and time-dependent manner and caused cell cycle arrest at S-phase. Upregulation of proapoptotic genes (Bax, p53, and caspase-3) and downregulation of antiapoptotic gene, Bcl-2, were observed. In conclusion, F7 was antiproliferative to HepG2 cells by inducing apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and via antioxidative effects.
A hair cell-specific vesicular glutamate transporter is required for auditory and vestibular function in zebrafish

Hair cells (HCs) are the sense receptors for the auditory and vestibular systems. I report here that asteroid, a gene identified in an ENU mutagenesis screen for deafness/vestibular dysfunction mutants, encodes vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (Vglut3). Hair cells in ast -1fish show normal FM 1-43 uptake-indicative of normal mechanotransduction-and display no obvious morphological defects, suggesting that the ast defect is in neurotransmission. In situ hybridization shows that vglut3 is expressed in hair cells of the ear, whereas vglutl and -2 are not. A splicing defect that results in the exclusion of exon 2 from vglut3 mRNA correlates with the ast phenotype; however, the genomic lesion is not located in exonic sequence, suggesting that the lesion is likely in an intronic splicing regulatory element. Morpholinos directed against the vglut3 start codon and intron 2 splice sites delete ex on 2 in ~50% of vglut3 transcripts and cause a balance defect reminiscent of, though weaker than, the asteroid phenotype. While there is no apparent difference in synaptic ribbon number or ribbon localization in ast mutants, ultrastructural analysis reveals a decrease in the number of ribbon-associated synaptic vesicles, perhaps indicating a role for Vglut3 in synaptic vesicle biogenesis and/or trafficking. Thus Vglut3 may have roles beyond neurotransmitter transport. These results provide the first unambiguous identification of the hair cell vesicular glutamate transporter, and establish the asteroid mutation as a platform on which to conduct further investigation into hair cell synaptic biology.
Downlink Base Station Cooperative Transmission Under Limited-Capacity Backhaul

Coordinated multi-point transmission (CoMP) joint processing (CoMP-JP) is a promising technique for supporting high spectral efficiency in future cellular systems. However, this technique requires high-capacity backhaul links for connecting multiple base stations (BSs), which leads to high deployment costs. CoMP coordinated beamforming (CoMP-CB) needs less backhaul capacity, but with lower maximal multiplexing gain. In this paper, we study downlink CoMP strategies with limited-capacity backhaul. We start by investigating the optimal interference-free transmission strategy under backhaul rate constraints, where only a part of the data is shared among the BSs. We then study soft and hard switching between the CoMP-JP and CoMP-CB modes. Finally, a closed-form semi-dynamic distributed hard switching scheme is proposed, which depends on the local large-scale channel gains of the users. Simulation results show that both the soft and hard mode switching transmission perform closely to the optimal strategy and outperform the single-mode CoMP transmission especially when the backhaul capacity is very limited.
The Prevalence and Control of Bacillus and Related Spore-Forming Bacteria in the Dairy Industry

Milk produced in udder cells is sterile but due to its high nutrient content, it can be a good growth substrate for contaminating bacteria. The quality of milk is monitored via somatic cell counts and total bacterial counts, with prescribed regulatory limits to ensure quality and safety. Bacterial contaminants can cause disease, or spoilage of milk and its secondary products. Aerobic spore-forming bacteria, such as those from the genera Sporosarcina, Paenisporosarcina, Brevibacillus, Paenibacillus, Geobacillus and Bacillus, are a particular concern in this regard as they are able to survive industrial pasteurization and form biofilms within pipes and stainless steel equipment. These single or multiple-species biofilms become a reservoir of spoilage microorganisms and a cycle of contamination can be initiated. Indeed, previous studies have highlighted that these microorganisms are highly prevalent in dead ends, corners, cracks, crevices, gaskets, valves and the joints of stainless steel equipment used in the dairy manufacturing plants. Hence, adequate monitoring and control measures are essential to prevent spoilage and ensure consumer safety. Common controlling approaches include specific cleaning-in-place processes, chemical and biological biocides and other novel methods. In this review, we highlight the problems caused by these microorganisms, and discuss issues relating to their prevalence, monitoring thereof and control with respect to the dairy industry.
Birth of Cone Bipolar Cells, but Not Rod Bipolar Cells, Is Associated with Existing RGCs

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) play important roles in retinogenesis. They are required for normal retinal histogenesis and retinal cell number balance. Developmental RGC loss is typically characterized by initial retinal neuronal number imbalance and subsequent loss of retinal neurons. However, it is not clear whether loss of a specific non-RGC cell type in the RGC-depleted retina is due to reduced cell production or subsequent degeneration. Taking advantage of three knockout mice with varying degrees of RGC depletion, we re-examined bipolar cell production in these retinas from various aspects. Results show that generation of the cone bipolar cells is correlated with the existing number of RGCs. However, generation of the rod bipolar cells is unaffected by RGC shortage. Results report the first observation that RGCs selectively influence the genesis of subsequent retinal cell types.
DEQUALITE: building design-based software quality models

Object-oriented software quality models usually use metrics of classes or of relationships between classes to measure internal attributes of systems. However, the quality of these systems does not depend on classes solely: It also depends on the organisation of classes, i.e., their design. We propose DEQUALITE, a method to build models to measure the quality of systems taking into account both their internal attributes and their designs. Our method uses a machine learning approach and also allows combining different models to improve the quality prediction. In this paper, we justify the use of patterns to build quality models, we illustrate our method on a set of systems implementing design patterns and on the quality model QMOOD from Bansiya et al. We discuss the advantages and limitations of this method, we then present a validation of a resulting quality model on a set of systems. We conclude on the advantages of using patterns to build models and the difficulty of doing so.
Usefulness of MRI measures of entorhinal cortex versus hippocampus in AD

Objective: MRI-based measurements of hippocampal atrophy are a sensitive indicator of the early pathologic degeneration of the medial temporal lobe in AD. However, AD pathology appears first in the transentorhinal/entorhinal cortex, not the hippocampus. The authors tested the hypothesis that MRI-based measurements of the entorhinal cortex are more sensitive than measurements of hippocampal volume in discriminating among three clinical groups; controls, patients with a mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and patients with mild probable AD. Methods: The authors studied 30 controls, 30 patients with MCI, and 30 patients with AD who were matched among clinical groups on age, gender, and education. All underwent a standardized MRI protocol from which the authors made measurements of hippocampal volume, entorhinal cortex volume, and the cumulative length of the medial border of the entorhinal cortex. Results: Pairwise intergroup differences (p < 0.01) were found for all MRI measurements with the exception of the cumulative length of the entorhinal cortex, which did not differentiate controls from MCI patients. Whereas the hippocampal and entorhinal cortex volume measurements provided slightly better intergroup discrimination than the entorhinal distance measurement, overall differences in discriminating ability among the three MRI measurements were minor. Conclusions: Despite the theoretical rationale for the superiority of entorhinal measurements in early AD, the authors found MRI measurements of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex were approximately equivalent at intergroup discrimination. Measurements of the hippocampus may be preferable because MRI depiction of the boundaries of the entorhinal cortex can be obscured by anatomic ambiguity, image artifact, or both.
Methodology of China's national study on the evaluation, early recognition, and treatment of psychological problems in the elderly: the China Longitudinal Aging Study (CLAS)

Summary Cognitive and depressive disorders are common in elderly Chinese and are becoming an increasingly important public health problem, partly because of the rapid aging of the population. To help address this issue China's national government has funded a major study to establish national standards for the early identification, evaluation and treatment of common psychological disorders in the elderly. The present paper describes the overall methodology of this study. Fifteen centers in eight provinces will recruit representative samples of subjects aged 60 and over, collect a detailed history, conduct a physical and neurological examination, administer a comprehensive battery of psychological tests, and carry out a diagnostic exam using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). These subjects will participate in follow-up evaluations one year and three years after the initial evaluation. Subsamples of subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subclinical depression will be enrolled in randomized controlled trials of a cognitive training program (for MCI) or group cognitive behavioral therapy (for subclinical depression). The results of the study will be used to estimate the prevalence of cognitive and affective disorders in the elderly, to develop a standard screening procedure for these conditions that can be promulgated nationally, and to promote the use of specific interventions that can prevent the development of dementia in persons with MCI and the development of depressive episodes in elderly individuals with subclinical depression.
MG 132 proteasome inhibitor upregulates the expression of connexin 43 in rats with adriamycin-induced heart failure

The connexin 43 (Cx43) gap junction protein is important in the synchronization of contraction of cardiac myocytes. Abnormal expression of Cx43 contributes to ventricular arrhythmia, which is the major cause of sudden death in heart failure (HF). Cx43 is known to interact with zonula occludens (ZO)-1, and the proteasome is involved in the regulation of Cx43 degradation. Although Cx43 is downregulated in heart failure, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the MG132 proteasome inhibitor on the expression levels of Cx43, ZO-1, 20S proteasome and ubiquitin in a rat model of HF, induced by adriamycin. MG132 reduced adriamycin-induced injury in the failing heart. In addition, MG132 inhibited the expression of 20S proteasome and ubiquitin, accompanied by an upregulation in the expression of Cx43 and ZO-1. These findings suggested that inhibition of the ubiquitin‐proteasome system upregulated the expression of Cx43. Therefore, the proteasome inhibitor may be used to prevent degradation of Cx43 in HF, and thus may prevent Cx43-mediated arrhythmia in HF.
Liver microsomes; an integrated morphological and biochemical study.

Rat liver, liver homogenates, and microsome fractions separated therefrom were examined systematically in the electron microscope in sections of OsO 4 -fixed, methacrylate-embedded tissue and pellets. It was found that most microsomes are morphologically identical with the rough surfaced elements of the endoplasmic reticula of hepatic cells. They appear as isolated, membrane-bound vesicles, tubules, and cisternae which contain an apparently homogeneous material of noticeable density, and bear small, dense particles (100 to 150 A) attached to their outer aspect. In solutions of various osmolar concentrations they behave like osmometers. The findings suggest that they derive from the endoplasmic reticulum by a generalized pinching-off process rather than by mechanical fragmentation. The microsome fractions contain in addition relatively few vesicles free of attached particles, probably derived from the smooth surfaced parts of the endoplasmic reticula. Dense, peribiliary bodies represent a minor component of the same fractions. The microsomes derived from 1 gm. wet weight liver pulp contained (averages of 10 experiments) 3.09 mg. protein N, 3.46 mg. RNA (RNA/protein N = 1.12), and 487 µg. phospholipide P. They displayed DPNH-cytochrome c reductase activity and contained an alcohol-soluble hemochromogen. The microsome preparations proved resistant to washing and "aging. " Treatment with versene and incubation with ribonuclease (30 minutes at 37°C.) resulted in appreciable losses of RNA and in partial or total disappearance of attached particles. Treatment with deoxycholate (0.3 to 0.5 per cent, pH = 7.5) induced a partial clarification of the microsome suspensions which, upon centrifugation, yielded a small pellet of conglomerated small, dense particles (100 to 150 A) with only occasionally interspersed vesicles. The pellet contained ∼80 to 90 per cent of the RNA and ∼20 per cent of the protein N of the original microsomes. The supernatant accounted satisfactorily for the materials lost during deoxycholate treatment. The findings suggest that the microsomal RNA is associated with the small particles whereas most of the protein and nearly all of the phospholipide, hemochromogen, and DPNH-cytochrome c reductase activity are associated with the membrane or content of the microsomes.
Gene Networks in the Wild: Identifying Transcriptional Modules that Mediate Coral Resistance to Experimental Heat Stress

Organisms respond to environmental variation partly through changes in gene expression, which underlie both homeostatic and acclimatory responses to environmental stress. In some cases, so many genes change in expression in response to different influences that understanding expression patterns for all these individual genes becomes difficult. To reduce this problem, we use a systems genetics approach to show that variation in the expression of thousands of genes of reef-building corals can be explained as variation in the expression of a small number of coexpressed “modules. ” Modules were often enriched for specific cellular functions and varied predictably among individuals, experimental treatments, and physiological state. We describe two transcriptional modules for which expression levels immediately after heat stress predict bleaching a day later. One of these early “bleaching modules” is enriched for sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins, particularly E26 transformation-specific (ETS)-family transcription factors. The other module is enriched for extracellular matrix proteins. These classes of bleaching response genes are clear in the modular gene expression analysis we conduct but are much more difficult to discern in single gene analyses. Furthermore, the ETS-family module shows repeated differences in expression among coral colonies grown in the same common garden environment, suggesting a heritable genetic or epigenetic basis for these expression polymorphisms. This finding suggests that these corals harbor high levels of gene-network variation, which could facilitate rapid evolution in the face of environmental change.