Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cultural Transitions in Higher Education: Individual Adaptation, Transformation and Engagement

This chapter provides a critical analysis of the literature on individuals in cultural transitions in higher education, namely, international students in culturally unfamiliar contexts; teachers of international students and culturally more diverse classrooms; and local students in increasingly culturally diverse classes. All these individuals are actors exposed to new and shifting cultural experiences expected to impact their motivation and engagement. Two broad perspectives emerging from the literature were used to organize the chapter: a perspective of adaptation representing research grounded in unilateral, bilateral or reciprocal conceptualizations, and a perspective of transformation, capturing experiential learning research leading to personal and academic development. The analysis highlights how motivation is a critical, yet under-examined construct. This leads to numerous suggestions for future research including: addressing the neglected role of agency in research on international students' sociocultural adaptation and the lack of research on successful processes of adaptation; examining the confounding issue of socialization into new cultural-educational environments and level of proficiency in the medium of instruction, which impacts on engagement; and scrutinizing the posited link between deep-level motivated engagement in cultural transitions and the emergence of transformative experiences. A case is made for research on individuals' engagement and motivation in cultural transitions to be conceptually and methodologically stronger and broader, moving from studies of single groups of individuals in need of adaptation, to investigations of the co-regulated, reciprocal adaptations of actors and agents operating in complex sociocultural contexts where power dynamics related to knowledge and language affect participation and engagement with cultural 'others'.
Stress and adult neurogenesis

Stress hormones have potent growth‐inhibiting effects on a variety of peripheral tissues. Consistent with this general function, stress has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation and, ultimately, neurogenesis in the hippocampus. This effect appears to be common across mammalian species, life stages, and most types of stressors. Although some evidence points to a role for glucocorticoids in mediating this effect, contradictory data exist. This review considers the growing literature on this subject with specific emphasis on paradoxical findings and the role of glucocorticoids in modulating adult neurogenesis. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Determinants of systemic hydraulic power in unanesthetized dogs.

COX, ROBERT. H. , Determinants of systemic hydraulic power in unawsthetizcd dogs. Am. J. Physiol. 226(3) : 579-587. 1974. -The characteristics of hydraulic power delivery to the systemic circulation by the left ventricle were studied in 16 trained, unanesthetized, chronically instrumented dogs. Measurements of ascending aorta flow, and ascending aorta, left ventricular, and central venous pressures were made under control conditions and during the injection of various neurohumoral agents. Cardiac output averaged 132 ml/min per kg at a mean arterial pressure of 98 mmHg and an average heart rate of 96 beats/min under control conditions. Total systemic hydraulic power averaged 7 13 mW with oscillatory power averaging 2Ooj, of the total. Norepinephrine increased total power to 935 mW with oscillatory power averaging 19%. Angiotensin produced no significant change in total power, but oscillatory power averaged 1 4y0. Isoproterenol increased total power to 1,129 mW with oscillatory power averaging 32 7& The oscillatory power fraction of total power was a strong function of heart rate under all conditions. Values of hydraulic fluid impedance for the ascending aorta were also calculated. Similarities of the impedance spectra for the various conditions were observed. The hydraulic power delivered to the systemic circulation as well as its components were found to depend on a) heart rate, b) left ventricular afterload (arterial pressure), and c) the inotropic state of the left ventricle.
Transcatheter device closure of atrial septal defects in patients above age 60

Background Closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD) mostly causes reverse remodelling of the right heart, a decrease in pulmonary artery pressures (PASP), and improves functional capacity. However, abolition of the left-to-right shunt may be unfavourable in older patients. This study aimed at evaluating patients older than 60 years who underwent ASD closure. Methods and results Forty-seven patients (mean age 69 ± 5 years, 19.1% male) with ASD type secundum who underwent transcatheter device closure were included. Echocardiographic data before and after closure were obtained. Follow-up data until the last follow-up visit were retrieved. Age-, gender- and BMI-matched controls were selected. Before closure, ASD patients had a higher right ventricular end-diastolic diameter (RVEDD), right (RA) and left atrial (LA) dimensions, and PASP when compared to controls. After closure, RVEDD and PASP decreased whereas LVEDD and E/A-ratio increased. RVEDD, PASP, LA dimensions, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and E/A-ratio were higher than controls. NYHA class improved signifi cantly after ASD-closure. During a median follow-up time of 3.3 years, 6 patients died and 16 were hospitalized because of cardiac events. Conclusion Device closure in the elderly improved functional capacity, with a decrease, but not a normalization of RV dimensions and PASP, and an increase in LV dimensions, EF and mitral E/A-ratio. Atrial arrhythmias and coronary ischaemic events are common in this population.
Isavuconazole (BAL4815) Pharmacodynamic Target Determination in an In Vivo Murine Model of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis against Wild-Type and cyp51 Mutant Isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus

ABSTRACT Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) continues to rise in concert with increasing numbers of immune suppression techniques to treat other medical conditions and transplantation. Despite these advances, morbidity and mortality rates remain unacceptably high. One strategy used to optimize outcomes is antifungal pharmacodynamic (PD) examination. We explored the pharmacodynamics of a new triazole in development, isavuconazole, in a murine neutropenic IPA model. Ten A. fumigatus isolates were used, including four wild-type isolates and six cyp51 mutants. The MIC range was 0.125 to 8 mg/liter. Following infection, groups of mice were treated orally with the prodrug (BAL8557) at 40 to 640 mg/kg/12 h for 7 days. Efficacy was determined by quantitative PCR of lung homogenates. At the start of therapy, mice had 4.97 log10 conidial equivalents (CE)/ml of lung homogenate, and this increased to 6.82 log10 CE/ml of lung homogenate in untreated animals. The infection model was uniformly lethal in untreated control mice. The PD target endpoints examined included the static-dose AUC/MIC ratio and the 1-log10 killing AUC/MIC ratio. A stasis endpoint was achieved for all isolates with an MIC of ≤1 mg/liter and 1-log10 killing in all isolates with an MIC of ≤0.5 mg/liter, regardless of the presence or absence of the cyp51 mutation. The static-dose range was 65 to 617 mg/kg/12 h. The corresponding median free-drug AUC/MIC ratio was near 5. The 1-log10 killing dose range was 147 to 455 mg/kg/12 h, and the corresponding median free-drug AUC/MIC ratio was 11.1. These values are similar to those previously reported for other triazoles.
Veiled experiences: Rewriting women's identities and experiences in contemporary Muslim fiction in English

In dominant contemporary Western representations, including various media texts, popular fiction and life-narratives, both the Islamic faith in general and Muslim women in particular are often vilified and stereotyped. In many such representations Islam is introduced as a backward and violent religion, and Muslim women are represented as either its victims or its fortunate survivors. This trend in the representations of Islam and Muslim women has been markedly intensified following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 2001. This thesis takes a postpositivist realist approach to reading selected contemporary women’s fiction, written in English, and foregrounding the lives and religious identities of Muslim women who are neither victims nor escapees of Islam but willingly committed to their faith. Texts include The Translator (1999) and Minaret (2005) by Leila Aboulela, Does my head look big in this? (2005) by Randa Abdel-Fattah, Sweetness in the belly (2005) by Camilla Gibb and The girl in the tangerine scarf (2006) by Mohja Kahf. Attempting to explain how these fictional texts can be read as variously writing back to the often monolithic representations of Islam and Muslim women characteristic of mainstream Western texts (such as those depicted in popular life narratives), the thesis draws attention to the ways in which particular narrative techniques highlight the complexities of Muslim women’s religious identities and experiences. Since the novels depict the lives of Muslim female characters in the West, this study is especially concerned with the exploration of the tensions and contradictions of women’s Muslim identities in Western countries, and addresses Western people’s interests and prejudices in their encounter with Muslim women. Finally, given that various aspects to Muslim women's identities and experiences are typically elided in dominant representations, it is argued that a disruption of the stereotypes of Muslim women signals the potential for the compatibility of Muslim women's distinct identities with Western values.
GALAXY CLUSTERS IDENTIFIED FROM THE SDSS DR6 AND THEIR PROPERTIES

Clusters of galaxies in most of the previous catalogs have redshifts z ⩽ 0.3. Using the photometric redshifts of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 (SDSS DR6), we identify 39,716 clusters in the redshift range 0.05 < z < 0.6 with more than eight luminous (Mr ⩽ −21) member galaxies. Cluster redshifts are estimated accurately with an uncertainty of less than 0.022. The contamination rate of member galaxies is found to be roughly 20%, and the completeness of member galaxy detection reaches ∼90%. Monte Carlo simulations show that the cluster detection rate is more than 90% for massive (M200 > 2 × 1014 M☉) clusters of z ⩽ 0.42. The false detection rate is ∼5%. We obtain the richness, the summed luminosity, and the gross galaxy number within the determined radius for identified clusters. They are tightly related to the X-ray luminosity and temperature of clusters. Cluster mass is related to the richness and summed luminosity with M200 ∝ R1.90±0.04 and M200 ∝ L1.64±0.03r, respectively. In addition, 790 new candidates of X-ray clusters are found by cross-identification of our clusters with the source list of the ROSAT X-ray survey.
Lipid Raft Distribution of CD4 Depends on its Palmitoylation and Association with Lck, and Evidence for CD4-Induced Lipid Raft Aggregation as an Additional Mechanism to Enhance CD3 Signaling1

By mutagenesis, we demonstrated that the palmitoylation of the membrane-proximal Cys396 and Cys399of CD4, and the association of CD4 with Lck contribute to the enrichment of CD4 in lipid rafts. Ab cross-linking of CD4 induces an extensive membrane patching on the T cell surface, which is related to lipid raft aggregation. The lipid raft localization of CD4 is critical for CD4 to induce the aggregation of lipid rafts. The localization of CD4 in lipid rafts also correlates to the ability of CD4 to enhance receptor tyrosine phosphorylation. Thus, our data suggest that CD4-induced aggregation of lipid rafts may play an additional role in CD4 signaling besides its adhesion to MHC molecules and association with Lck.
A Rough Set Approach for Customer Segmentation

Customer segmentation is a process that divides a business's total customers into groups according to their diversity of purchasing behavior and characteristics. The data mining clustering technique can be used to accomplish this customer segmentation. This technique clusters the customers in such a way that the customers in one group behave similarly when compared to the customers in other groups. The customer related data are categorical in nature. However, the clustering algorithms for categorical data are few and are unable to handle uncertainty. Rough set theory (RST) is a mathematical approach that handles uncertainty and is capable of discovering knowledge from a database. This paper proposes a new clustering technique called MADO (Minimum Average Dissimilarity between Objects) for categorical data based on elements of RST. The proposed algorithm is compared with other RST based clustering algorithms, such as MMR (Min-Min Roughness), MMeR (Min Mean Roughness), SDR (Standard Deviation Roughness), SSDR (Standard deviation of Standard Deviation Roughness), and MADE (Maximal Attributes DEpendency). The results show that for the real customer data considered, the MADO algorithm achieves clusters with higher cohesion, lower coupling, and less computational complexity when compared to the above mentioned algorithms. The proposed algorithm has also been tested on a synthetic data set to prove that it is also suitable for high dimensional data.
Three dimensional visualization of the statically equivalent serial chain from kinect recording

We develop and present a portable tool intended for real time estimation of the center of mass (CoM) in human subjects. Using the statically equivalent serial chain (SESC) method we can account for subject specificity after identification of the model's parameters. CoM position estimates are then available from measurements of the subject's limbs orientations. For portability, we make use of widely accessible sensors such as the Kinect and Wii balance board for identification. Use of the Kinect as a measurement device allows us to establish the SESC outside of the laboratory, without many special considerations on the environment. Only Kinect is used for CoM tracking after identification was performed. We present here an overview of the SESC concept and the identification procedure. The aspects involved in the visualization tool are discussed and results are shown in order to verify the performance.
Layer-specific genes reveal a rudimentary laminar pattern in human nodular heterotopia

Objective: To define distinctive features of nodular heterotopia in specimens derived from drug-resistant patients with epilepsy by evaluating mRNA expression of three different layer-specific markers: Rorβ, Er81, and Nurr1. Methods: We analyzed the expression profile of these genes, recognized as markers mainly expressed in layer IV for Rorβ, in layer V for Er81, and in layer VI for Nurr1, in surgical samples from 14 epileptic patients, using in situ hybridization. Six patients had subcortical nodular heterotopia and 8 patients were controls. The intrinsic organization of nodular formations and of the overlaying neocortex was assessed. Results: In all patients, the 3 selected genes showed high cortical laminar specificity. In subcortical nodular heterotopia, the different gene expression profiles revealed a rudimentary laminar organization of the nodules. In the overlaying cortex, fewer cells expressed the 3 genes in the appropriate specific layer as compared to controls. Conclusions: These data provide new insights into possible ontogenetic mechanisms of nodular heterotopia formation and show the potential role of layer-specific markers to elucidate the neuropathology of malformations of cortical development.
Complex Patterns of Altered MicroRNA Expression during the Adenoma-Adenocarcinoma Sequence for Microsatellite-Stable Colorectal Cancer

Purpose: MicroRNAs are short noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression and are over- or underexpressed in most tumors, including colorectal adenocarcinoma. MicroRNAs are potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets and agents, but limited information on microRNAome alterations during progression in the well-known adenoma-adenocarcinoma sequence is available to guide their usage. Experimental Design: We profiled 866 human microRNAs by microarray analysis in 69 matched specimens of microsatellite-stable adenocarcinomas, adjoining precursor adenomas including areas of high- and low-grade dysplasia, and nonneoplastic mucosa. Results: We found 230 microRNAs that were significantly differentially expressed during progression, including 19 not reported previously. Altered microRNAs clustered into two major patterns of early (type I) and late (type II) differential expression. The largest number (n = 108) was altered at the earliest step from mucosa to low-grade dysplasia (subtype IA) prior to major nuclear localization of β-catenin, including 36 microRNAs that had persistent differential expression throughout the entire sequence to adenocarcinoma. Twenty microRNAs were intermittently altered (subtype IB), and six were transiently altered (subtype IC). In contrast, 33 microRNAs were altered late in high-grade dysplasia and adenocarcinoma (subtype IIA), and 63 in adenocarcinoma only (subtype IIB). Predicted targets in 12 molecular pathways were identified for highly altered microRNAs, including the Wnt signaling pathway leading to low-grade dysplasia. β-catenin expression correlated with downregulated microRNAs. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that numerous microRNAs play roles in the sequence of molecular events, especially early events, resulting in colorectal adenocarcinoma. The temporal patterns and complexity of microRNAome alterations during progression will influence the efficacy of microRNAs for clinical purposes. Clin Cancer Res; 17(23); 7283–93. ©2011 AACR.
Immunotherapy for metastatic prostate cancer: where are we at with sipuleucel-T?

Importance of the field: Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in North American men and despite improvements in treatments 20 – 30% of patients will relapse. Immunotherapy using activated mononuclear cells is a way to harness the body's adaptive immune response to fight metastatic prostate cancer. Areas covered in this review: In 2005, at least 10 therapeutic cancer vaccines, designed to confer active, specific immunotherapy against tumor-associated antigens, were in clinical trials. These covered potential fields of immunological strategy to overcome castration-resistant prostate cancer. What the reader will gain: A literature review was performed using the search terms sipuleucel-T, Provenge and APC8015 or APC-8015, and restricted to English language articles from 2000 to 2010. The immunological design and development of sipuleucel-T are summarized. The efficacy and safety of sipuleucel-T are discussed based on current data from clinical trials. Ongoing clinical trials involving sipuleucel-T are summarized. Take home message: Efficacy and safety with sipuleucel-T has been demonstrated in Phase I/II trials. The latest data from a Phase III trial shows that sipuleucel-T has met the primary endpoint of survival benefit. Further work is needed to understand the mechanisms behind cancer vaccine failure and elucidate the population for whom this vaccine will be suitable.
The reproducibility of VO2max, ventilatory, and lactate thresholds in elderly women.

The reproducibility of VO2max, ventilatory, and lactate thresholds in elderly women. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. , Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 425-430, 1986. This investigation examined the reproducibility of maximal (VO2max) and submaximal measures of fitness for elderly women. Eight subjects [age (yr): mean = 80.6 +/- 3.7; range = 73-86] volunteered to repeat three continuous, incremental maximal effort treadmill tests. Blood lactate determinations were made for each increment from blood samples taken from an indwelling venous catheter located in the back of the hand. Average VO2max values (ml X min-1 X kg X l-1) were 13.21 + 1.95 for test 1, 13.44 +/- 1.83 for test 2, and 13.62 + 2.95 for test 3. In all but one subject, a threshold was not definable by either ventilatory or lactate measurements. Maximal lactate values were low, with the average values for tests 1, 2, and 3 being 1.89, 1.46, and 1.86 mmol X l-1, respectively. The data demonstrates that VO2max is reproducible for older women and can, therefore, be used for fitness assessment and exercise prescription. The use of ventilatory or lactate thresholds as submaximal measures of fitness or as minimal intensities for exercise prescription was determined not to be applicable for women in the eighth and ninth decades of life.
Disrupting Function of FK506-Binding Protein 1b/12.6 Induces the Ca2+-Dysregulation Aging Phenotype in Hippocampal Neurons

With aging, multiple Ca2+-associated electrophysiological processes exhibit increased magnitude in hippocampal pyramidal neurons, including the Ca2+-dependent slow afterhyperpolarization (sAHP), L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channel (L-VGCC) activity, Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) from ryanodine receptors (RyRs), and Ca2+ transients. This pattern of Ca2+ dysregulation correlates with reduced neuronal excitability/plasticity and impaired learning/memory and has been proposed to contribute to unhealthy brain aging and Alzheimer's disease. However, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. In cardiomyocytes, FK506-binding protein 1b/12.6 (FKBP1b) binds and stabilizes RyR2 in the closed state, inhibiting RyR-mediated Ca2+ release. Moreover, we recently found that hippocampal Fkbp1b expression is downregulated, whereas Ryr2 and Frap1/Mtor (mammalian target of rapamycin) expression is upregulated with aging in rats. Here, we tested the hypothesis that disrupting FKBP1b function also destabilizes Ca2+ homeostasis in hippocampal neurons and is sufficient to induce the aging phenotype of Ca2+ dysregulation in young animals. Selective knockdown of Fkbp1b with interfering RNA in vitro (96 h) enhanced voltage-gated Ca2+ current in cultured neurons, whereas in vivo Fkbp1b knockdown by microinjection of viral vector (3–4 weeks) dramatically increased the sAHP in hippocampal slice neurons from young-adult rats. Rapamycin, which displaces FKBP1b from RyRs in myocytes, similarly enhanced VGCC current and the sAHP and also increased CICR. Moreover, FKBP1b knockdown in vivo was associated with upregulation of RyR2 and mTOR protein expression. Thus, disruption of FKBP1b recapitulated much of the Ca2+-dysregulation aging phenotype in young rat hippocampus, supporting a novel hypothesis that declining FKBP function plays a major role in unhealthy brain aging.