Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Egg ultrastructure of the amabiliid cestode Tatria biremis Kowalewski, 1904 (Cyclophyllidea, Amabiliidae), with an emphasis on the oncospheral envelopes

This is the first report on the ultrastructure of eggs in the cestode family Amabiliidae Braun, 1900. The gravid proglottides of Tatria biremis easily detach from the strobila. Their thick-walled saccate uterus contains numerous rounded or oval eggs measuring about 30-32 μm in diameter. In the early preoncospheral phase, three primary embryonic envelopes are formed around the developing and differentiating embryos, namely: (1) vitelline capsule originating from vitellocyte material; (2) outer envelope formed by two macromeres, and (3) inner envelope originating from a fusion of three mesomeres. Thus, both the outer and inner envelopes of T. biremis eggs are cellular in origin and syncytial in nature. During egg maturation, the three primary embryonic envelopes undergo differentiation into fully formed oncospheral or egg envelopes. Most significant changes were observed in the inner envelope which becomes progressively subdivided into 3 sub-layers: the extra-embryophoral sub-layer, the embryophore, and the intra-embryophoral sub-layer, containing mesomere nuclei. The mature hexacanth is covered by a thin layer of the oncospheral tegument. Within the infective hexacanth larva, five cell types were distinguished: (1) a binucleated subtegumental cell; (2) U-shaped penetration gland; (3) nerve cells; (4) somatic cells representing the myocytons of both somatic and hook musculature, and (5) large germinative cells. Ultrastructural characteristics of T. biremis eggs are compared with those described in representatives of other cestode taxa. Since the functional ultrastructure of cestode egg envelopes is defined by multiple factors such as the type of life cycles, habitats and behaviour of the intermediate hosts, mode of the intermediate host infection, etc., ultrastructural studies of the greater diversity of cestodes are needed to obtain comparative data for fruitful analysis of cyclophyllidean cestode adaptations to their diverse life cycles.
Explaining the Poor Performance of Consumption-Based Asset Pricing Models

We show that the external habit-formation model economy of Campbell and Cochrane ~1999! can explain why the Capital Asset Pricing Model ~CAPM! and its extensions are better approximate asset pricing models than is the standard consumptionbased model. The model economy produces time-varying expected returns, tracked by the dividend‐price ratio. Portfolio-based models capture some of this variation in state variables, which a state-independent function of consumption cannot capture. Therefore, though the consumption-based model and CAPM are both perfect conditional asset pricing models, the portfolio-based models are better approximate unconditional asset pricing models. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSUMPTION-BASED ASSET PRICING THEORY ranks as one of the major advances in financial economics during the last two decades. The classic papers of Lucas ~1978! , Breeden ~1979! , Grossman and Shiller ~1981! , and Hansen and Singleton ~1982, 1983! show how a simple relation between consumption and asset returns captures the implications of complex dynamic intertemporal multifactor asset pricing models. Unfortunately, consumption-based asset pricing models prove disappointing empirically. Hansen and Singleton ~1982, 1983! formulate a canonical consumption-based model in which a representative investor has timeseparable power utility of consumption. They reject the model on U.S. data, finding that it can not simultaneously explain the time-variation of interest rates and the cross-sectional pattern of average returns on stocks and bonds. Wheatley ~1988! rejects the model on international data. All models can be rejected, and the more important issue is which approximate models are most useful. Alas, the canonical consumption-based model performs no better, and in many respects worse, than even the simple static Capital Asset Pricing Model ~CAPM! Mankiw and Shapiro ~1986! regress the average returns of the 464 NYSE stocks that were continuously traded from 1959 to 1982 on their market betas, on consumption growth betas, and on both betas. They find that market betas are more strongly and robustly
Designing a Bridging Discourse: Re-Mediation of a Mathematical Learning Disability

Students with disabilities present a unique instructional design challenge. These students often have qualitatively different ways of processing information, meaning that standard instructional approaches may not be effective. In this study I present a case study of a student with a mathematical learning disability for whom standard instruction on fractions had been ineffective. With regard to theory, I draw on Lev Vygotsky’s framing of disability and then use Anna Sfard’s conceptualization of mathematics as a discourse to design a fraction re-mediation that provided a bridge from the student’s discourse to the canonical mathematics discourse. This bridging discourse was used in 5 videotaped re-mediation sessions with the case study student. A fine-grained analysis of the re-mediation sessions traced the ways in which the student’s discourse shifted over time, which enabled her to solve problems she had previously been unable to solve. This study provides a proof of concept for reconceptualizing remediation and illustrates the potential utility of a bridging discourse to help students who have a history of failure gain access to the canonical mathematics discourse and content.
Embryonic avian cornea contains layers of collagen with greater than average stability

A unique morphological feature of the embryonic avian cornea is the uniformity of its complement of striated collagen fibrils, each of which has a diameter of 25 nm. We have asked whether this apparent morphological uniformity also reflects an inherent uniformity of the structural and physical properties of these fibrils. For this we have examined the in situ thermal stability of the type I collagen within these fibrils. Corneal tissue sections were reacted at progressively higher temperatures with conformation-dependent monoclonal antibodies directed against the triple-helical domain of the type I collagen molecule. These studies show that the cornea contains layers of collagen fibrils with greater than average stability. The two most prominent of these extend uninterrupted across the entire width of the cornea, and then appear to insert into thick bundles of scleral collagen, which in turn appear to insert into the scleral ossicles, a ring of bony plates which circumscribe the sclera of the avian eye. Once formed, the bands may act to stabilize the shape of the cornea or, conversely, to alter it during accommodation.
Investigating Cross-Platform Robustness for Machine Learning Based IDSs on 802.11 Networks

—Security and Intrusion detection in 802.11 networks is currently an active area of research where WiFi speciﬁc Data Link layer attacks are an area of focus. While these attacks are very simple in implementation, their effect on WiFi networks can be devastating. Recent research has focused on producing machine learning based IDSs for these attacks. Such IDSs have shown promise. Our work investigates the Cross-Platform robustness of such machine learning based solutions. By cross-platform robustness we mean the ability to train a solution on one network and run it seamlessly on another. We demonstrate that machine learning based IDSs could potentially suffer when employed across different platforms. In order to solve this, we propose a MAC address mapping technique which can achieve a Cross-Platform detection rate, for machine learning based IDSs, on average of 100% and a false positive rate on average of 0.1%.
Older adults, in Lebanon, committed to learning: Contextualizing the challenges and the benefits of their learning experience

ABSTRACT The University for the Third Age, a relatively new concept in Lebanon, provides educational and social opportunities for older adults. The goal of later-life educational institutions supposedly covers more than a mere provision of learning. This being said, highlighting the significance of rewards associated with older adult learning—and the barriers it faces—is needed. Through this study, we hope to deepen the understanding of the benefits of later-life learning. In addition, we also payi special attention to environmental and social factors that were previously excluded dimensions of the challenges to learning. We explored the benefits perceived by older adults after finishing one term at a University for the Third Age in Lebanon. Also, we distinguished between the different types of barriers faced by seniors in the same context. We included 461 older adults from two cohorts, and we followed a qualitative approach, using content analysis of 247 solicited answers to our research questions. The data consisted of relatively short answers describing self-perceived benefits of the learning experience, as well as its perceived challenges. Findings indicated the existence of three types of benefits: social, cognitive, and psychological, with cognitive benefits the most reported ones. In addition, educational challenges were categorized into dispositional, situational, and institutional, with the latter being the most reported. After interpreting the findings with the Self-Determination Theory in mind, it was concluded that educational challenges negatively affect the well-being of older adults, while educational rewards could enhance it.
A statistical subspace method for blind channel identification in OFDM communications

This paper presents a subspace method for blind channel estimation based on A a special output correlation matrix. The approach relies on the i.i. d. assumption of the data sequence and uses the cyclic prefix redundancy present in OFDM systems or single-carrier systems with frequency domain equalization. This method has an important feature that allows channels to be longer than the cyclic prefix. In addition, unknown frame synchronization can be accommodated. There is no constraint on the zero locations of the channel and the performance is asymptotically independent of white noise. The method is compared with a simple correlation approach and a deterministic subspace method.
Transitioning self-regulated learning profiles in hypermedia-learning environments

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a process that highly fluctuates as students actively deploy their metacognitive and cognitive processes during learning. In this paper, we apply an extension of latent profiling, latent transition analysis (LTA), which investigates the longitudinal development of students' SRL latent class memberships over time. We will briefly review the theoretical foundations of SRL and discuss the value of using LTA to investigate this multidimensional concept. This study is based on college students (n = 75) learning about the human circulatory system while using MetaTutor, an intelligent tutoring system that adaptively supports SRL and targets specific metacognitive SRL processes including judgment of learning (JOL) and content evaluation (CE). Preliminary results identify transitional probabilities of SRL profiles from four distinct events associated with the use of SRL.
Gaps in Family and Teacher Involvement Beliefs

Gaps in Family and Teacher Involvement Beliefs by Malia DeCourcy Sakamoto MA, University of San Francisco, 1998 BS, University of San Francisco, 1996 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University February 2017
Gender differences in visual presentation e-learning

E-learning has been widely used in this society in line with the rapid growth of technology, and it is the best way to accomplish lifelong learning. A number of studies have suggested that there is a difference in males’ and females’ achievement and attitudes relating to computer use. Due to the gender differences in learners’ achievement and attitudes according to computer use, this study investigated the gender differences in visual presentation e-learning based on an engineering drawing course. Through literature review, expert panel discussion and experimental design, the one-group pre-test/post-test experimental teaching was conducted within an eight week (three hours per week) period. Before and after the experimental teaching, the vocational high school students’ learning achievement and learning attitudes were investigated. Data were analysed by using descriptive statistics, a paired-samples t-test, an independent-samples t-test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings could lead to improved understanding of the gender differences in visual presentation learning.
Influence of Cervical Muscle Fatigue on Musculo-Tendinous Stiffness of the Head-Neck Segment during Cervical Flexion

Aim The aim of this study is to determine if the fatigue of cervical muscles has a significant influence on the head-neck segment musculo-tendinous stiffness. Methods Ten men (aged 21.2 ± 1.9 years) performed four quick-release trials of flexion at 30 and 50% MVC before and after the induction of muscular fatigue on cervical flexors. Electromyographic activity was recorded on the sternocleidomastoids (SCM) and spinal erectors (SE), bilaterally. Musculo-tendinous stiffness was calculated through the quick-release method adapted to the head-neck segment. Results We noticed a significant linear increase of the head-neck segment musculo-tendinous stiffness with the increase of exertion level both before (P < 0.0001) and after the fatigue procedure (P < 0.0001). However, this linear relationship was not different before and after the fatigue procedure. EMG analysis revealed a significant increase of the root mean square for the right SCM (P = 0.0002), the left SCM (P < 0.0001), the right SE (P < 0.0001), and the left SE (P < 0.0001) and a significant decrease of the median power frequency only for the right (P = 0.0006) and the left (P = 0.0003) SCM with muscular fatigue. Discussion We did not find significant changes in the head-neck segment musculo-tendinous stiffness with fatigue of cervical muscles. We found a significant increase in EMG activity in the SCM and the SE after the induction of fatigue of the SCM. Our findings suggest that with fatigue of cervical flexors, neck muscle activity is modulated in order to maintain the musculo-tendinous stiffness at a steady state.
Chronic Peripheral Administration of Kappa-Opioid Receptor Antagonist Advances Puberty Onset Associated with Acceleration of Pulsatile Luteinizing Hormone Secretion in Female Rats

Puberty in mammals is timed by an increase in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion. Previous studies have shown involvement of the two neuropeptides, kisspeptin and neurokinin B (NKB), in controlling puberty onset. Little is known about the role of the other key neuropeptide, dynorphin, in controlling puberty onset, although these three neuropeptides colocalize in the arcuate kisspeptin neurons. The arcuate kisspeptin neuron, which is also referred to as the KNDy neuron, has recently been considered to play a role as an intrinsic source of the GnRH pulse generator. The present study aimed to determine if attenuation of inhibitory dynorphin-kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) signaling triggers the initiation of puberty in normal developing female rats. The present study also determined if stimulatory NKB-neurokinin 3 receptor (NK3R) signaling advances puberty onset. Female Wistar-Imamichi rats were weaned and intraperitoneally implanted with osmotic minipumps filled with nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI), a KOR antagonist, or senktide, a NK3R agonist, at 20 days of age. Fourteen days of intraperitoneal infusion of nor-BNI or senktide advanced puberty onset, manifested as vaginal opening and the first vaginal estrus in female rats. Frequent blood sampling showed that nor-BNI significantly increased luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency at 29 days of age compared with vehicle-treated controls. Senktide tended to increase this frequency, but its effect was not statistically significant. The present results suggest that the inhibitory input of dynorphin-KOR signaling plays a role in the prepubertal restraint of GnRH/LH secretion in normal developing female rats and that attenuation of dynorphin-KOR signaling and increase in NKB-NK3R signaling trigger the onset of puberty in female rats.
An Integration of Processes that Underlie Stereotype Threat

An Integration of Processes that Underlie Stereotype Threat PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2011. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use (for details see http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/page/privacy-policy). Subscriber: University of Chicago; date: 08 February 2012 Stereotype Threat Michael Inzlicht and Toni Schmader
A Theory of Attention: Variations in the Associability of Stimuli with Reinforcement

According to theories of selective attention, learning about a stimulus depends on attending to that stimulus; this is represented in two-stage models by saying that subjects switch in analyzers as well as learning stimulusresponse associations. This assumption, however, is equally well represented in a formal model by the incorporation of a stimulus-specific learning-rate parameter, a, into the equations describing changes in the associative strength of stimuli. Theories of selective attention have also assumed (a) that subjects learn to attend to and ignore relevant and irrelevant stimuli (i.e., that a may increase or decrease depending on the correlation of a stimulus with reinforcement) and (b) that there is an inverse relationship between the probabilities of attending to different stimuli (i.e., that an increase in a to one stimulus is accompanied by a decrease in a to others). The first assumption is used to explain the phenomena of acquired distinctiveness and dimensional transfer, the second those of overshadowing and blocking. Although the first assumption is justified by the data, the second is not: Overshadowing and blocking are better explained by the choice of an appropriate rule for changing a, such that a decreases to stimuli that signal no change from the probability of reinforcement predicted by other stimuli.
Taking sides: user classification for informal online political discourse

Purpose – To evaluate and extend, existing natural language processing techniques into the domain of informal online political discussions.Design/methodology/approach – A database of postings from a US political discussion site was collected, along with self‐reported political orientation data for the users. A variety of sentiment analysis, text classification, and social network analysis methods were applied to the postings and evaluated against the users' self‐descriptions.Findings – Purely text‐based methods performed poorly, but could be improved using techniques which took into account the users' position in the online community.Research limitations/implications – The techniques we applied here are fairly simple, and more sophisticated learning algorithms may yield better results for text‐based classification.Practical implications – This work suggests that social network analysis is an important tool for performing natural language processing tasks with informal web texts.Originality/value – This re.
Experimental Study of Wellbore Instability in Clays

This paper presents the results of an extensive program of laboratory model wellbore tests that have been performed to study wellbore instability in saturated clays. The tests were conducted on resedimented Boston blue clay (RBBC) anisotropically consolidated to vertical effective stresses up to 10 MPa by using two custom-built thick-walled cylinder (TWC) devices with outer diameters Do=7.6 and 15.2 cm. The experimental program investigated the effects of specimen geometry, mode of loading, strain rate, consolidation stress level, and overconsolidation ratio (OCR) on deformations of the model wellbore measured during undrained shearing. Results indicate that for normally consolidated clays most of the change in cavity pressure occurs at volumetric strains less than 5% after which the borehole becomes unstable. Increases in outer diameter and strain rate led to a reduction in the minimum borehole pressure. Stress-strain properties were interpreted by using an analysis procedure originally developed for und.
Examining Changes in College Counseling Clients' Symptomology and Severity over an Eight Year Span.

EXAMINING CHANGES IN COLLEGE COUNSELING CLIENTS’ SYMPTOMOLOGY AND SEVERITY OVER AN EIGHT YEAR SPAN Caroline Lee Bertolet Old Dominion University, 2016 Chair: Dr. Alan Schwitzer The current college counseling literature has conflicting findings regarding the extent to which the severity of mental health symptoms has increased for college students. Some researchers claim that over time student’s mental health symptoms have become more complex rather than more severe. This study examined archival data to analyze both the severity and complexity of symptoms in an eight year time span. The study also examined how disruptiveness and treatment demand have changed over the eight year period. The data were analyzed using multiple regression. The results of the study supported perspectives found in the current literature indicating little increase in severity of symptoms over time. The results did not indicate any significant change over time in complexity of problems and disruptiveness. There was a significant increase in treatment demand over time. Implications for the college counseling knowledgebase, college counseling directors and their institutions, college counseling professionals, and students are discussed. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are provided.
Are Crises Inevitable ?

Recessions and other crises seem to occur without any large exogenous shocks. One theory is that this is due to strategic complementarities: the incentive to invest is stronger if others are expected to invest. If, in addition, each investor observes a slightly noisy signal of the true fundamentals, a crisis occurs whenever fundamentals fall below a certain threshold (Morris and Shin, AER 1998). However, this theory cannot explain recurrent crises: with drift or permanent shocks to fundamentals, the chance of a crisis falls quickly over time. Our main result is that rent seeking by the supplier of a critical input can reverse this result, leading to a constant crisis risk. Intuitively, past improvements in fundamentals simply lead to higher input prices, leaving the economy perpetually vulnerable to a negative shock. The full text of this paper can be downloaded from http://www.econ.iastate.edu/faculty/frankel/gg.pdf. ∗Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, dfrankel@econ.iastate.edu. I am grateful to Drew Fudenberg for helpful comments.