Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors of Student Outcomes in Developmental Math at a Public Community and Technical College

With the wide range of abilities of community college students, proper course placement is crucial. Therefore, having better predictors of success can help improve placement of students for their achievement. This study analyzed student predictors, instructor predictors, and classroom predictors in relation to student final exam score and student final grade in Elementary Algebra and Intermediate Algebra classes. Student predictors included gender, ACT math score, SAT math score, community college enrollment, math pretest score, and ASC grade. Instructor predictors included gender, employment status, Mozart music use, and ALEKS software use. Classroom predictors included time of day, number of class meetings per week, and class size. The Elementary Algebra and Intermediate Algebra data sets were analyzed with simple and stepwise multiple regression as well as simple and stepwise binary logistic regression. The study of specific predictors that impact student achievement in developmental mathematics revealed the following. When analyzed individually, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra shared ACT Math score, community college enrollment, and math pretest score as predictors of final exam score. When analyzed individually, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra shared ACT Math score, math pretest score, and ASC grade as predictors of final grade. When analyzed in combinations, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra shared ACT Math score and math pretest score as common predictors of final exam score. When analyzed in combinations, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra shared math pretest score and ASC grade as common predictors of final grade. DEDICATION Math has never been easy for me; I’ve always had to work at it. I think this helps me relate to my developmental mathematics students who struggle to understand. This dissertation is dedicated to all of the teachers along the way who had the patience to make sure I finally got it. A special thanks goes to the elementary school teachers who worked diligently at teaching long division and to my dad for helping me with homework, especially how to remember my nines in the multiplication table. I was blessed to have a strong math curriculum in high school and teachers such as Jerry Schultz who continued to help me even when I was no longer his official student. I continued to be blessed in college with great teachers such as James Allison, Mary Ellen Komorowski, and David Brown who spent many office hours helping me with homework and extra exercises I wanted to do. A special thank you goes to Bob Bickel who started helping me in graduate school in 1992 and who encouraged me to complete my dissertation. None of my accomplishments would be possible if it weren’t for my third grade teacher Alta McNinch who helped me learn to read. If it hadn’t been for her, I would have never been able to read to learn. Mostly, I’d like to dedicate this to my developmental mathematics students for whom I work diligently the way my teachers worked for me.
Plotting the Spread , Constructing Risk : Distributed Calculation and the Use of the Spread Plot in Merger Arbitrage

This article explores how financial tools constrain interpretation with an ethnographic study of merger arbitrage. Its central finding is that merger arbitrageurs test their estimates against their rivals by using an original visualization known as the “spread plot. ” Plotting the spread reveals the implied probability that a merger will be completed, allows arbitrageurs to locate their misinterpretations, and lets them modify their financial positions accordingly. Their repositioning then feeds back into the spread. Such recursive interplay between individual and market interpretation distributes calculation across rivals and contributes to a shared view of mergers. Our observations add to economic sociology by detailing how individual interpretations benefit from confrontation, as well as by accounting for the role of financial artifacts and formulae in this process.
Disentangling isotropic fluorescence from the canopy directional reflectance using BRDF models

Remote sensing of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has recently attracted major interest as the SIF is directly linked to the photosynthesis. Nevertheless, SIF retrievals from the observed apparent radiance via the most common fraunhofer line discrimination (FLD) method are significantly affected by the directional reflectance. This study investigates the effects of directional reflectance on SIF estimates by in-situ multiangular spectral measurements of lawn grass. Results show that the SIFs in both O2-B and O2-A atmospheric absorption bands vary greatly with view angles. Consequently, a new retrieval strategy based on kernel-driven BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) models was proposed. We initially demonstrate that the presented approach has the potential to eliminate the directional effects, producing the isotropic SIFs that are considered more closely related to vegetation physiological variations, and it would better comply with the FLD implied assumption of lambertian surface reflection. This study may further promote the understanding of the emission mechanism of remotely sensed SIFs.
Prevalence of hypertension in school children.

The overall prevalence of hypertension in a stratified 6% sample of Croatian school children was 3.1% for the systolic, and 2.9% for the diastolic pressure, with a steady increase with age. The persistence of elevated BP was low: less than 30% of the initially hypertensive pupils reamined in this echelon after a couple of years (table 1). Family clustering of cardiovascular risk factors among the offspring of parents with premature atherosclerotic events was observed not only for BP readings (e.g. 116.7 vs. 114.3 mm Hg ; p<.0001 for systolic BP) but for the relative weight and plasma cholesterol levels as well.
Framingham Stroke Risk Profile and Lowered Cognitive Performance

Background and Purpose— The primary objective of this work was to describe the relationships between 10-year risk for stroke and multiple measures of cognitive performance for a large community-based sample of individuals who were free of clinical stroke and dementia at the time of risk assessment. Methods— Participants were 1011 men and 1164 women from the Framingham Offspring Study. The Framingham Stroke Risk Profile was used to assess 10-year risk of stroke. Using a cross-sectional design, we assessed 10-year risk of stroke, the predictor variable, and cognitive performance, the outcome variable, at examination 7 of the Framingham Offspring Study. Multivariable linear regression models were used to relate 10-year risk of stroke to cognitive tests measuring multiple domains of cognitive functioning. Results— With statistical adjustment for age, education, sex, and other correlates of both stroke and cognitive ability, an inverse association between increments in 10-year risk of stroke and cognitive performance level was observed for tests indexing visual-spatial memory, attention, organization, scanning, and abstract reasoning. Conclusions— In stroke- and dementia-free individuals, higher 10-year risk for stroke is associated with performance decrements in multiple cognitive domains.
Crystal and molecular structure of aflatrem

The crystal structure of the title compound, C32H39NO4, confirms the absolute configuration of the seven chiral centres in the molecule. The molecule has a 1,1-dimethylprop-2-enyl substituent on the indole nucleus and this nucleus shares one edge with the five-membered ring which is, in turn, connected to a sequence of three edge-shared fused rings. The skeleton is completed by the 7,7-trimethyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2. 1]oct-3-en-2-one group connected to the terminal cyclohexene ring. The two cyclohexane rings adopt chair and half-chair conformations, while in the dioxabicyclo[3.2. 1]oct-3-en-2-one unit, the six-membered ring has a half-chair conformation. The indole system of the molecule exhibits a tilt of 2.02 (1)° between its two rings. In the crystal, O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect molecules into chains along [010]. Weak N—H⋯π interactions connect these chains, forming sheets parallel to (10-1).
From Counter-Strike to Counter-Statement: using Burke's pentad as a tool for analysing video games

As video games increasingly become an important frame of reference and as they are more and more taken seriously in education and research, there is a growing need for a methodological tool for video game analysis. In this paper, rhetorical theory in general and pentadic analysis in particular are introduced as useful means to stimulate a critical approach to video games. A case study is presented in which a popular video game (Bioshock) is analysed using this rhetorical approach. It is argued that pentadic analysis can overcome a number of binary discussions within the contemporary field of video game criticism, thus offering interesting perspectives for research and education (e.g. as a reflection tool).
Membranes wrapped on holomorphic curves

We construct supergravity solutions dual to the twisted field theories arising when M-theory membranes wrap holomorphic curves in Calabi-Yau n-folds. The solutions are constructed in an Abelian truncation of maximal $D=4$ gauged supergravity and then uplifted to $D=11. $ For fourfolds and fivefolds we find new smooth AdS/conformal filed theory examples and for all cases we analyze the nature of the singularities that arise. Our results provide an interpretation of certain charged topological AdS black holes. We also present the generalized calibration two-forms for the solutions.
Curation, integration and visualization of bacterial virulence factors in PATRIC

Motivation: We’ve developed a highly curated bacterial virulence factor (VF) library in PATRIC (Pathosystems Resource Integration Center, www.patricbrc.org) to support infectious disease research. Although several VF databases are available, there is still a need to incorporate new knowledge found in published experimental evidence and integrate these data with other information known for these specific VF genes, including genomic and other omics data. This integration supports the identification of VFs, comparative studies and hypothesis generation, which facilitates the understanding of virulence and pathogenicity. Results: We have manually curated VFs from six prioritized NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) category A–C bacterial pathogen genera, Mycobacterium, Salmonella, Escherichia, Shigella, Listeria and Bartonella, using published literature. This curated information on virulence has been integrated with data from genomic functional annotations, trancriptomic experiments, protein–protein interactions and disease information already present in PATRIC. Such integration gives researchers access to a broad array of information about these individual genes, and also to a suite of tools to perform comparative genomic and transcriptomics analysis that are available at PATRIC. Availability and implementation: All tools and data are freely available at PATRIC (http://patricbrc.org). Contact: cmao@vbi.vt. edu. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Exposure to elevated sea-surface temperatures below the bleaching threshold impairs coral recovery and regeneration following injury

Elevated sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are linked to an increase in the frequency and severity of bleaching events due to temperatures exceeding corals’ upper thermal limits. The temperatures at which a breakdown of the coral-Symbiodinium endosymbiosis (coral bleaching) occurs are referred to as the upper thermal limits for the coral species. This breakdown of the endosymbiosis results in a reduction of corals’ nutritional uptake, growth, and tissue integrity. Periods of elevated sea surface temperature, thermal stress and coral bleaching are also linked to increased disease susceptibility and an increased frequency of storms which cause injury and physical damage to corals. Herein we aimed to determine the capacity of corals to regenerate and recover from injuries (removal of apical tips) sustained during periods of elevated sea surface temperatures which result in coral stress responses, but which do not result in coral bleaching (i.e., sub-bleaching thermal stress events). In this study, exposure of the species Acropora aspera to an elevated SST of 32 °C (2 °C below the bleaching threshold, 34 °C) was found to result in reduced fluorescence of green fluorescent protein (GFP), reduced skeletal calcification and a lack of branch regrowth at the site of injury, compared to corals maintained under ambient SST conditions (26 °C). Corals maintained under normal, ambient, sea surface temperatures expressed high GFP fluorescence at the injury site, underwent a rapid regeneration of the coral branch apical tip within 12 days of sustaining injury, and showed extensive regrowth of the coral skeleton. Taken together, our results have demonstrated that periods of sustained increased sea surface temperatures, below the corals’ bleaching threshold but above long-term summertime averages, impair coral recovery from damage, regardless of the onset or occurrence of coral bleaching.
Susceptibility to Insecticides Used for Control of Piezodorus guildinii (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) in the United States and Brazil

ABSTRACT Limited information exists on the insecticide susceptibility of redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), despite its impact on soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. , production in Brazil and the United States. Therefore, this study set out to 1) determine baseline levels of susceptibility to currently recommended pesticides using topical and vial bioassays, 2) determine the levels of esterase activity in populations in the United States and Brazil, and 3) compare control among products in field trials. In topical bioassays conducted in the United States using technical grade materials, the LC50 values of lambda-cyhalothrin, acephate, and methamidophos were 4–25, 141–295, and 40–151 ng per insect, respectively. The LC50 values of imidacloprid and thiamethoxam were 11 and 27 ng per insect, respectively. In vial bioassays conducted in the United States using technical grade materials, the LC50 values of cypermethrin, acephate, and methamidophos were 0.4–0.9, 3.8, and 1.6 µg per vial, respectively. In topical bioassays conducted in Brazil by using commercially formulated products, the LC50 values of acephate, methamidophos, endosulfan, and imidacloprid were 0.90–1.9, 0.4–0.6, 1.5–6.6, and 0.2–0.3 µg per insect, respectively. In vial bioassays conducted in Brazil using commercially formulated products, the LC50 values of endosulfan, methamidophos, and lambda-cyhalothrin were 4–32 and 2–24 µg/cm2 for thiamethoxam and imidacloprid. Esterase activity in Louisiana (United States) populations ranged from 251 to 658 nmol alpha-naphthol formed/min/mg protein. Esterase activity levels in Londrina (Brazil) populations averaged 163 nmol/min/mg. In field tests, P. guildinii in Louisiana were controlled by organophosphates thiamethoxam and imidacloprid and in Brazil, with combinations of neonicotinoids and pyrethroids.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPERSENSITIVE LYMPHOCYTES IN CELL CULTURE

An in vitro cell-mediated immune response to pokeweed mitogen (PWM) is described. Rat lymphocytes were stimulated by PWM, by phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and by concanavalin A (ConA). In the presence of PWM only a fraction of the lymphocytes underwent blastogenesis. This was in contrast to the apparent total blastogenesis obtained in response to PHA or ConA. When blast cells derived from each of the mitogens were plated on rat fibroblast monolayer in the absence of mitogen they differentiated into a distinct type of lymphocyte termed "secondary lymphocyte. " Addition of mitogens to cultures of these lymphocytes resulted in a retransformation to blast cells. The secondary lymphocytes were tested for their ability to effect lysis in the presence of each of the three mitogens. In. the presence of PWM, lysis of fibroblasts produced by PWM-lymphocytes was considerably more efficient than lysis obtained by ConA- or PHA-lymphocytes. No difference in effect on target fibroblasts was obtained when the three types of secondary lymphocytes were tested in the presence of either PHA or ConA. The stimulating action of PWM on lymphocytes was shown to be immunologically specific. No such specificity was found in the case of PHA or ConA. The results are interpreted to indicate that PWM combines with cell membranes and acts on the lymphocytes as a "transplantation antigen. " Lymphocytes capable of responding to "PWM-transplantation antigen" transform to blast cells capable of specifically lysing PWM-conjugated fibroblasts. In the absence of the mitogen, PWM-induced blast cells differentiate to lymphocytes hypersensitive to PWM.
Blending Face Details: Synthesizing a Face Using Multiscale Face Models

Creating realistic 3D face models is a challenging problem in computer graphics because humans are so sensitive to facial abnormalities. The authors propose a method to synthesize a 3D face model using weighted blending of multiscale details from different face models. Using multiscale continuous displacement maps (CDMs), they achieve full correspondences across multiple scales in the parameter space. Their results demonstrate detail transfer across faces with highly different proportions, such as between humans and nonhuman creatures. An artist evaluation also indicated the proposed approach is intuitive and easy to use.
A Silicone-Based Wire-Reinforced Tracheal Tube with a Hemispherical Bevel Reduces Nasal Morbidity for Nasotracheal Intubation

We tested the hypothesis that a silicone-based wire-reinforced tracheal tube with a hemispherical bevel is superior to a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-based precurved tube with a conventional diagonal bevel for nasotracheal intubation. Eighty anesthetized paralyzed adults (ASA physical status I–II) requiring nasotracheal intubation for tonsillectomy were randomly allocated into two equal-sized groups for airway management with the silicone tracheal tube or PVC tracheal tube. Intubation was subdivided into three phases: 1) passage through the nose into the pharynx, 2) laryngoscope-guided passage into the glottic inlet, and 3) laryngoscope-guided passage into the trachea. A specific sequence of airway maneuvers was followed at each stage if it was unsuccessful. The number of attempts and intubation time were documented by an unblinded observer. The frequency of epistaxis and postoperative nasal complications was documented by blinded observers. There were no intubation failures. The number of attempts at pharyngeal (47 versus 56; P = 0.04) and tracheal (43 versus 55; P = 0.005) placement was smaller for the silicone tracheal tube, but the number of attempts at glottic placement was more (72 versus 49; P < 0.0001). Intubation time was similar. The frequency (32% versus 80%; P < 0.0001) and severity of epistaxis were less for the silicone tracheal tube. The total number of postoperative nasal symptoms was smaller for the silicone tracheal tube (10 versus 21; P < 0.05). We conclude that the pharyngeal and tracheal placement phases of nasotracheal intubation require fewer attempts with the silicone tracheal tube than the PVC tracheal tube but that the glottic placement phase requires more attempts. Nasal morbidity is less common with the silicone tracheal tube.
Suicide among the Gifted

^ ^ ^ B d u c a t o r s a r e bombarded with reports about the problems of today's youth — drugs, alcohol, lack of respect for authority, and on and on. One of these problems is especially alarming, however, and that problem is sukrkle. The dramatic increase in the suickle rate among American young people during the past few years is causing sociologists and psychologists to search frantically for possible causes. Our society has filled childhood with situations that are diffk:ult for chikiren as well as adults, and children are not equipped to deal with heavy emotional problems and stressful situations. In the book Childstress (Miller, 1982) five bask: types of behavk>r patterns whk:h relate to stress in children have been identified; aggressran; escape; apathy; playing the game; and self-destruction or suicide. What factors coukl there possibly be that wouki cause chikiren to seek such a solution? Current research is pointing to many social problems rampant in society today as causative factors in this emergent trend. Some children become so overwhelmed by stressful situations that the only solution they see is suicide. We need to listen to these chikiren and help them cope with their stress. Suk:ide must not become the problem no one wants to face. Through understanding why and how suicide happens, we may be able to prevent it.
Ischemia-Reperfusion of the Murine Testis Stimulates the Expression of Proinflammatory Cytokines and Activation of c-jun N-Terminal Kinase in a Pathway to E-Selectin Expression1

Abstract Ischemia-reperfusion (IR) of the testis results in germ cell-specific apoptosis and can lead to aspermatogenesis. Germ cell-specific apoptosis after IR of the testis has been shown to be correlated with and dependent on neutrophil recruitment to the testis after IR. Studies that used E-selectin-deficient mice have demonstrated that E-selectin expression is critical for neutrophil recruitment to subtunical venules in the testis after IR and for the resultant germ cell-specific apoptosis. The present study investigates the in vivo signaling pathway that exists after IR that leads to neutrophil recruitment in the murine testis. Mice were subjected to a 2-h period of testicular ischemia followed by reperfusion. Results demonstrate that the proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β), are stimulated after IR as is the phosphorylation of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). The downstream transcription factors of JNK, ATF-2 and c-jun are also phosphorylated at specific times after IR of the testis. Activation of the JNK stress-related kinase pathway is correlated with an increase in E-selectin expression and neutrophil recruitment to the testis after IR. Intratesticular injection of IL-1β also caused JNK phosphorylation and neutrophil recruitment to the testis. These results suggest that testicular IR injury stimulates IL-1β expression, which leads to activation of the JNK signaling pathway and ultimately E-selectin expression and neutrophil recruitment to the testis. This provides the first evidence of a cytokine/stress-related kinase signaling pathway to E-selectin expression in vivo.