Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patriarchy and Women Abuse: Perspectives from Ancient Israel and Africa

It is often claimed that women abuse inevitably emanates from patriarchy. Using ancient Israel and Africa as contexts, this article assesses the correlation between patriarchy and violence against women. The article suggests in these contexts, it is not all men are who are perpetrators of women abuse; rather, there is evidence of female perpetrators of sexual violence against men; and that in the ancient and modern societies, there is also homosexual violence. Rather than patriarchy, the major cause of women abuse is a personality disorder characterised, among other traits, by aggression against women, alcoholism and drug abuse – the latter two traits are often responsible for women abuse. Being accustomed to domestic violence from youth and low socio-economic status are also causes of women abuse.
A method for evaluating bias in global measurements of CO 2 total columns from space

We describe a method of evaluating systematic errors in measurements of total column dry-air mole fractions of CO_2 (X_(CO_2)) from space, and we illustrate the method by applying it to the v2.8 Atmospheric CO_2 Observations from Space retrievals of the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (ACOS-GOSAT) measurements over land. The approach exploits the lack of large gradients in X_(CO_2) south of 25° S to identify large-scale offsets and other biases in the ACOS-GOSAT data with several retrieval parameters and errors in instrument calibration. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method by comparing the ACOS-GOSAT data in the Northern Hemisphere with ground truth provided by the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). We use the observed correlation between free-tropospheric potential temperature and X_(CO_2) in the Northern Hemisphere to define a dynamically informed coincidence criterion between the ground-based TCCON measurements and the ACOS-GOSAT measurements. We illustrate that this approach provides larger sample sizes, hence giving a more robust comparison than one that simply uses time, latitude and longitude criteria. Our results show that the agreement with the TCCON data improves after accounting for the systematic errors, but that extrapolation to conditions found outside the region south of 25° S may be problematic (e.g., high airmasses, large surface pressure biases, M-gain, measurements made over ocean). A preliminary evaluation of the improved v2.9 ACOS-GOSAT data is also discussed.
The Black Man's Burden :The Cost of Colonization of French West Africa

Was colonization very costly for the metropole? This view has been widely accepted among French historians, even though little empirical evidence has been provided. Using original data from the colonial budgets of French West Africa (AOF), this paper provides new insights into the actual colonial public funding in this part of the French empire. Comparing the financial transfers from the metropole to AOF to total metropolitan expenses reveals that the cost of colonization of the AOF for French taxpayers was extremely low: French subsidies to the AOF represented on average 0.007 percent of total metropolitan expenses. From the AOF side, financial transfers from the metropole were not that beneficiary since French subsidies represented on average 0.4 percent of total local revenue. Including the public loans and cash advances from the metropole does not change this general pattern. West Africans therefore funded most colonial public investments, which reveal to be very small. One reason for the scarcity of public investments is the cost of French civil servants serving in the colonies, which turned out to be a considerable burden for Africans: French government officials alone represented 20 percent of total local public expenses.
P190B RhoGAP Regulates Chromosome Segregation in Cancer Cells

Rho GTPases are overexpressed and hyperactivated in many cancers, including breast cancer. Rho proteins, as well as their regulators and effectors, have been implicated in mitosis, and their altered expression promotes mitotic defects and aneuploidy. Previously, we demonstrated that p190B Rho GTPase activating protein (RhoGAP) deficiency inhibits ErbB2-induced mammary tumor formation in mice. Here we describe a novel role for p190B as a regulator of mitosis. We found that p190B localized to centrosomes during interphase and mitosis, and that it is differentially phosphorylated during mitosis. Knockdown of p190B expression in MCF-7 and Hela cells increased the incidence of aberrant microtubule-kinetochore attachments at metaphase, lagging chromosomes at anaphase, and micronucleation, all of which are indicative of aneuploidy. Cell cycle analysis of p190B deficient MCF-7 cells revealed a significant increase in apoptotic cells with a concomitant decrease in cells in G1 and S phase, suggesting that p190B deficient cells die at the G1 to S transition. Chemical inhibition of the Rac GTPase during mitosis reduced the incidence of lagging chromosomes in p190B knockdown cells to levels detected in control cells, suggesting that aberrant Rac activity in the absence of p190B promotes chromosome segregation defects. Taken together, these data suggest that p190B regulates chromosome segregation and apoptosis in cancer cells. We propose that disruption of mitosis may be one mechanism by which p190B deficiency inhibits tumorigenesis.
New SMARCA2 mutation in a patient with Nicolaides–Baraitser syndrome and myoclonic astatic epilepsy

We report a de novo SMARCA2 missense mutation discovered on exome sequencing in a patient with myoclonic astatic epilepsy, leading to reassessment and identification of Nicolaides–Baraitser syndrome. This de novo SMARCA2 missense mutation c.3721C>G, p.Gln1241Glu is the only reported mutation on exon 26 outside the ATPase domain of SMARCA2 to be associated with Nicolaides–Baraitser syndrome and adds to chromatin remodeling as a pathway for epileptogenesis. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom

Self-determination theory (SDT) assumes that inherent in human nature is the propensity to be curious about one's environment and interested in learning and developing one's knowledge. All too often, however, educators introduce external controls into learning climates, which can undermine the sense of relatedness between teachers and students, and stifle the natural, volitional processes involved in high-quality learning. This article presents an overview of SDT and reviews its applications to educational practice. A large corpus of empirical evidence based on SDT suggests that both intrinsic motivation and autonomous types of extrinsic motivation are conducive to engagement and optimal learning in educational contexts. In addition, evidence suggests that teachers' support of students' basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness facilitates students' autonomous self-regulation for learning, academic performance, and well-being. Accordingly, SDT has strong implications for both classroom practice and educational reform policies.
The Effect of Alcohols on Red Blood Cell Mechanical Properties and Membrane Fluidity Depends on Their Molecular Size

The role of membrane fluidity in determining red blood cell (RBC) deformability has been suggested by a number of studies. The present investigation evaluated alterations of RBC membrane fluidity, deformability and stability in the presence of four linear alcohols (methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol) using ektacytometry and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. All alcohols had a biphasic effect on deformability such that it increased then decreased with increasing concentration; the critical concentration for reversal was an inverse function of molecular size. EPR results showed biphasic changes of near-surface fluidity (i.e., increase then decrease) and a decreased fluidity of the lipid core; rank order of effectiveness was butanol > propanol > ethanol > methanol, with a significant correlation between near-surface fluidity and deformability (r = 0.697; p<0.01). The presence of alcohol enhanced the impairment of RBC deformability caused by subjecting cells to 100 Pa shear stress for 300 s, with significant differences from control being observed at higher concentrations of all four alcohols. The level of hemolysis was dependent on molecular size and concentration, whereas echinocytic shape transformation (i.e., biconcave disc to crenated morphology) was observed only for ethanol and propanol. These results are in accordance with available data obtained on model membranes. They document the presence of mechanical links between RBC deformability and near-surface membrane fluidity, chain length-dependence of the ability of alcohols to alter RBC mechanical behavior, and the biphasic response of RBC deformability and near-surface membrane fluidity to increasing alcohol concentrations.
ModelTest-NG: A New and Scalable Tool for the Selection of DNA and Protein Evolutionary Models

ModelTest-NG is a re-implementation from scratch of jModelTest and ProtTest, two popular tools for selecting the best-fit nucleotide and amino acid substitution models, respectively. ModelTest-NG is one to two orders of magnitude faster than jModelTest and ProtTest but equally accurate, and introduces several new features, such as ascertainment bias correction, mixture and FreeRate models, or the automatic processing of partitioned datasets. ModelTest-NG is available under a GNU GPL3 license at https://github.com/ddarriba/modeltest.
Achievable Rates for Lattice Coded Gaussian Wiretap Channels

This paper uses a nested lattice chain to perform lattice coding and decoding for a Gaussian wiretap channel, in which we derive the achievable rates and the equivocation rate. We also show that it is possible to achieve the equivocation rate of the classical Gaussian wiretap channel, and meet the reliability and security criteria using the nested lattice construction.
Actions of symbolic dynamical systems on C*-algebras

Abstract We introduce a notion of C*-symbolic dynamical system, that is a finite family of endomorphisms of a C*-algebra with some conditions. The endomorphisms are indexed by symbols and yield both a nontrivial subshift and a Hilbert C*-bimodule. The associated C*-algebra with the Hilbert C*-bimodule is regarded as a crossed product by the subshift. We also introduce a notion of strong shift equivalence of C*-symbolic dynamical systems. We then prove that if two C*-symbolic dynamical systems are strong shift equivalent, the gauge actions of the crossed product C*-algebras by their subshifts are stably outer conjugate.
Reproductive and developmental effects of atrazine on the estuarine meiobenthic copepod Amphiascus tenuiremis

Atrazine is one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States. Atrazine concentrations in coastal environments chronically range from 90 ng/L to 46 μg/L, with rare but measured concentrations near 60 μg/L at edge‐of‐field conditions. Chronic atrazine effects on estuarine benthos exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations are unknown. The purpose of this research was to assess atrazine reproductive and developmental effects over multiple‐generation exposures of the copepod Amphiascus tenuiremis. Copepods were chronically exposed to two environmentally relevant nominal atrazine concentrations (2.5 and 25 μg/L, and to an environmentally unrealistic concentration (250 μg/L). Chronic exposures were performed using a 96‐well microplate life cycle bioassay. Individual stage I copepodites (C1, n = 60/treatment) were reared through two generations (F0 and F1) to sexual maturity and individually mated in microwells containing 200 μl of atrazine solution. Copepod survival across all treatments and generations was >95%. Atrazine did not affect development to reproductive maturity, time to egg extrusion, or time to egg hatch (p > 0.05). However, reproductive failures increased across generations with increasing atrazine concentrations. Reproductive failures in the 0‐, 2.5‐, 25‐, and 250‐μg/L atrazine treatments were 11, 11, 20, and 24% for the F0 and 4, 9, 26, and 38% for the F1, respectively. Compared to controls, total nauplii production per female was reduced by approximately 22% in F0 females exposed to 250 μg/L atrazine (p < 0.05), and by approximately 23%, approximately 27%, and approximately 32% in F1 females exposed to 2.5‐, 25‐, and 250‐μg/L atrazine treatments, respectively (p < 0.05). The combined effect of reproductive failure and reduced offspring production significantly reduced total population growth in the F1 generation (p < 0.05) even at atrazine concentrations lower than that considered safe for seawater chronic exposure (26 μg/L).
Three-dimensional virtual worlds and distance learning: two case studies of Active Worlds as a medium for distance education

Online three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds are emerging technologies that offer unique learning opportunities for traditional and distributed education. One of the more popular 3D virtual worlds, Active Worlds, is currently being used as a medium for synchronous and asynchronous distance learning. This investigation presents two exploratory case studies of different, but exemplary educational activities using Active Worlds for formal and informal education. The focus of each case study is to investigate how Active Worlds is being used for distance learning and to determine the type of learning experiences afforded by this 3D virtual environment. Whilst more research is necessary to explore fully the potential of 3D virtual worlds for learning, this initial investigation illustrates how Active Worlds affords opportunities for experiential learning and situated learning within a collaboration learning environment.
Balancing Theory and Practice in Respondent-Driven Sampling: A Case Study of Innovations Developed to Overcome Recruitment Challenges

Introduction Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) offers a recruitment strategy for hard-to-reach populations. However, RDS faces logistical and theoretical challenges that threaten efficiency and validity in settings worldwide. We present innovative adaptations to conventional RDS to overcome barriers encountered in recruiting a large, representative sample of men who have sex with men (MSM) who travel internationally. Methods Novel methodological adaptations for the “International Travel Research to Inform Prevention” or “I-TRIP” study were offering participants a choice between electronic and paper coupons referrals for recruitment and modifying the secondary incentives structure from small cash amounts to raffle entries for periodic large cash prize raffle drawings. Staged referral limit increases from 3 to 10 referrals and progressive addition of 70 seeds were also implemented. Results There were 501 participants enrolled in up to 13 waves of growth. Among participants with a choice of referral methods, 81% selected electronic referrals. Of participants who were recruited electronically, 90% chose to remain with electronic referrals when it was their turn to recruit. The mean number of enrolled referrals was 0.91 for electronic referrals compared to 0.56 for paper coupons. Median referral lag time, i.e., the time interval between when recruiters were given their referrals and when a referred individual enrolled in the study, was 20 days (IQR 10–40) for electronic referrals, 20 days (IQR 8–58) for paper coupons, 20 days (IQR 10–41) for raffle entries and 33 days (IQR 16–148) for small cash incentives. Conclusions The recruitment of MSM who travel internationally required maximizing known flexible tools of RDS while at the same time necessitating innovations to increase recruitment efficiency. Electronic referrals emerged as a major advantage in recruiting this hard-to-reach population who are of high socio-economic status, geographically diffuse and highly mobile. These enhancements may improve the performance of RDS in target populations with similar characteristics.
Mobile biomedical sensing with dry electrodes

Monitoring patients continuously while they go about their daily activities is a challenging goal. It requires long-term recording of cardiovascular and other electrophysiological signals and contextual information such as body motion. Here we present a small, battery powered, user customisable, portable monitor capable of recording three-axial acceleration, skin temperature, and up to four bio-signals. Moreover, it is able of continuous Bluetooth transmission to any compatible device. The bio-front end can use long-lasting dry electrodes as well as novel textile electrodes that can be embedded in clothes. The device, when powered by a standard mobile phone Ni-MH 3.6 V battery, can sustain several days of continuous operation.
Too Long and Too Boring: The Effects of Survey Length and Interest on Careless Responding

Brower, Cheyna Katherine. M.S. Department of Psychology, Wright State University, 2018. Too Long and Too Boring: The Effects of Survey Length and Interest on Careless Responding. Careless responding (CR), also called insufficient effort responding (IER), occurs when survey participants respond to items without regard to item content. The presence of careless responding threatens the validity of inferences made from self-report data (Huang et al., 2012; Huang et al., 2015). This study examines the effects of two proposed causes of careless responding (Mead & Craig, 2012): questionnaire length and participant disinterest. Specifically, I hypothesized that (a) questionnaire length is positively related to careless responding, (b) participant interest is negatively related to careless responding, and (c) questionnaire length has a weaker relationship with careless responding among participants who are interested in the questionnaire content than among participants who are uninterested in the questionnaire content. Analyses using a sample of 316 undergraduate students, who were randomly assigned to either a long survey or short survey condition, provided partial support for the three hypotheses tested. I found significant mean differences (d = 0.29 to 0.42) in careless responding that indicated a lower prevalence of careless responding in the short survey condition than the long survey condition. I found significant negative correlations (r = -.12 to -.21)
A Novel Feeder-Free Culture System for Expansion of Mouse Spermatogonial Stem Cells

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs, also called germline stem cells) are self-renewing unipotent stem cells that produce differentiating germ cells in the testis. SSCs can be isolated from the testis and cultured in vitro for long-term periods in the presence of feeder cells (often mouse embryonic fibroblasts). However, the maintenance of SSC feeder culture systems is tedious because preparation of feeder cells is needed at each subculture. In this study, we developed a Matrigel-based feeder-free culture system for long-term propagation of SSCs. Although several in vitro SSC culture systems without feeder cells have been previously described, our Matrigel-based feeder-free culture system is time- and cost- effective, and preserves self-renewability of SSCs. In addition, the growth rate of SSCs cultured using our newly developed system is equivalent to that in feeder cultures. We confirmed that the feeder-free cultured SSCs expressed germ cell markers both at the mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, the functionality of feeder-free cultured SSCs was confirmed by their transplantation into germ cell-depleted mice. These results suggest that our newly developed feeder-free culture system provides a simple approach to maintaining SSCs in vitro and studying the basic biology of SSCs, including determination of their fate.
Power Control and Multiuser Diversity for the Distributed Cognitive Uplink

This paper studies optimum power control and sum-rate scaling laws for the distributed cognitive uplink. It is first shown that the optimum distributed power control policy is in the form of a threshold based water-filling power control. Each secondary user executes the derived power control policy in a distributed fashion by using local knowledge of its direct and interference channel gains such that the resulting aggregate (average) interference does not disrupt primary's communication. Then, the tight sum-rate scaling laws are derived as a function of the number of secondary users $N$ under the optimum distributed power control policy. The fading models considered to derive sum-rate scaling laws are general enough to include Rayleigh, Rician and Nakagami fading models as special cases. When transmissions of secondary users are limited by both transmission and interference power constraints, it is shown that the secondary network sum-rate scales according to $\frac{1}{\e{}n_h}\log\logp{N}$, where $n_h$ is a parameter obtained from the distribution of direct channel power gains. For the case of transmissions limited only by interference constraints, on the other hand, the secondary network sum-rate scales according to $\frac{1}{\e{}\gamma_g}\logp{N}$, where $\gamma_g$ is a parameter obtained from the distribution of interference channel power gains. These results indicate that the distributed cognitive uplink is able to achieve throughput scaling behavior similar to that of the centralized cognitive uplink up to a pre-log multiplier $\frac{1}{\e{}}$, whilst primary's quality-of-service requirements are met. The factor $\frac{1}{\e{}}$ can be interpreted as the cost of distributed implementation of the cognitive uplink.