Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental knowledge and behavioural outcomes of tourism students in Australia: towards testing a range of mediation and moderated mediation effects

Our study examines the environmental knowledge (EK) and behavioural outcomes of students studying ecotourism in Sydney, Australia. Three competing models were tested to examine the relationships between EK, participation intention (PI) in ecotourism programs, landscape likeability (LL) and social interactions (SI); and the study also tested the moderated mediation influence of gender differences and relationship length on mediators. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data collected from 173 residential tourism students. Key findings suggest whilst LL and PI are significant outcomes of EK, LL has a stronger mediating effect on PI compared to SI; and all mediation effects are further moderated by gender differences. However, only Model 3 confirms the moderating effect of the length of relationship. Noting the key role that EK plays in influencing their PI and LL, our study also suggests ways of developing the tourism students’ EK, through various experiential and pedagogical interventions.
Qualitative Robustness in Bayesian Inference

The practical implementation of Bayesian inference requires numerical approximation when closed-form expressions are not available. What types of accuracy (convergence) of the numerical approximations guarantee robustness and what types do not? In particular, is the recursive application of Bayes' rule robust when subsequent data or posteriors are approximated? When the prior is the push forward of a distribution by the map induced by the solution of a PDE, in which norm should that solution be approximated? Motivated by such questions, we investigate the sensitivity of the distribution of posterior distributions (i.e. posterior distribution-valued random variables, randomized through the data) with respect to perturbations of the prior and data generating distributions in the limit when the number of data points grows towards infinity.
Elevated Cardiac Troponin in Acute Stroke without Acute Coronary Syndrome Predicts Long-Term Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes

Background. Elevated cardiac troponin in acute stroke in absence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has unclear long-term outcomes. Methods. Retrospective analysis of 566 patients admitted to Temple University Hospital from 2008 to 2010 for acute stroke was performed. Patients were included if cardiac troponin I was measured and had no evidence of ACS and an echocardiogram was performed. Of 200 patients who met the criteria, baseline characteristics, electrocardiograms, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were reviewed. Patients were characterized into two groups with normal and elevated troponins. Primary end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction during follow-up period after discharge. The secondary end points were MACE and death from any cause. Results. For 200 patients, 17 patients had positive troponins. Baseline characteristics were as follows: age 63.1 ± 13.8, 64% African Americans, 78% with hypertension, and 22% with previous CVA. During mean follow-up of 20.1 months, 7 patients (41.2%) in elevated troponin and 6 (3.3%) patients in normal troponin group had nonfatal myocardial infarction (P = 0.0001). MACE (41.2% versus 14.2%, P = 0.01) and death from any cause (41.2% versus 14.5%, P = 0.017) were significant in the positive troponin group. Conclusions. Elevated cardiac troponin in patients with acute stroke and no evidence of ACS is strong predictor of long-term cardiac outcomes.
Connectivity structure of bipartite graphs via the KNC-plot

In this paper we introduce the k-neighbor connectivity plot, or KNC-plot, as a tool to study the macroscopic connectiv-ity structure of sparse bipartite graphs. Given a bipartite graph G = (U, V, E), we say that two nodes in U are k-neighbors if there exist at least k distinct length-two paths between them; this defines a k-neighborhood graph on U where the edges are given by the k-neighbor relation. For example, in a bipartite graph of users and interests, two users are k-neighbors if they have at least k common interests. The KNC-plot shows the degradation of connectivity of the graph as a function of k. We show that this tool provides an effective and interpretable high-level characterization of the connectivity of a bipartite graph However, naive algorithms to compute the KNC-plot are inefficient for k > 1. We give an efficient and practical algorithm that runs in sub-quadratic time O(|E|2-1/k) and is a non-trivial improvement over the obvious quadratic-time algorithms for this problem. We prove significant improvements in this runtime for graphs with power-law degree distributions, and give a different algorithm with near-linear runtime when V grows slowly as a function of the size of the graph We compute the KNC-plot of four large real-world bipartite graphs, and discuss the structural properties of these graphs that emerge. We conclude that the KNC-plot represents a useful and practical tool for macroscopic analysis of large bipartite graphs.
LA-UR-03-5540 Finding the Origin of the Pioneer Anomaly

Analysis of the radio tracking data from the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft at distances between 20 70 AU from the Sun has consistently indicated the presence of an anomalous, small Doppler frequency drift. The drift can be interpreted as being due to a constant acceleration of aP = (8.74 ± 1.33) × 10 −8 cm/s directed towards the Sun. Although it is suspected that there is a systematic origin to the effect, none has been found. As a result, the nature of this anomaly has become of growing interest. We have developed a concept for a deep-space mission that would reveal the origin of the discovered anomaly. A number of critical requirements and design considerations for such a mission are outlined and addressed. In particular we explore the use of a solar sail as a means to reach a great distance from the Sun in a short period of time. PACS: 04.80. -y, 95.10. Eg, 95.55. Pe
Experimental comparison of data transformation procedures for analysis of principal components

Results of principal component analysis depend on data scaling. Recently, based on theoretical considerations, several data transformation procedures have been suggested in order to improve the performance of principal component analysis of image data with respect to the optimum separation of signal and noise. The aim of this study was to test some of those suggestions, and to compare several procedures for data transformation in analysis of principal components experimentally. The experiment was performed with simulated data and the performance of individual procedures was compared using the non-parametric Friedman's test. The optimum scaling found was that which unifies the variance of noise in the observed images. In data with a Poisson distribution, the optimum scaling was the norm used in correspondence analysis. Scaling mainly affected the definition of the signal space. Once the dimension of the signal space was known, the differences in error of data and signal reproduction were small. The choice of data transformation depends on the amount of available prior knowledge (level of noise in individual images, number of components, etc), on the type of noise distribution (Gaussian, uniform, Poisson, other), and on the purpose of analysis (data compression, filtration, feature extraction).
Positive selection for CD90 as a purging option in acute myeloid leukemia stem cell transplants

Several studies showed the benefit of purging of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem cell transplants. We reported previously that purging by positive selection of CD34+ and CD133+ cells resulted in a 3–4 log tumor cell reduction (TCR) in CD34− and/or CD133− AML, but has been shown to be potentially applicable in only about 50% of cases. Similar to CD34 and CD133, CD90 marks the hematopoietic CD34 positive stem cells capable of full hematopoietic recovery after myeloablative chemotherapy, and therefore, in the present study, we explored whether a similar purging approach is possible using CD90.
Social support, stress, and suicidal ideation in professional firefighters.

OBJECTIVE To hypothesize that social support may protect against the effect of firefighter stress on suicidal ideation. METHODS Overall, 334 firefighters completed measures of occupational stress, social support, and suicidal ideation. RESULTS At high levels of social support, no association was observed between occupational stress and suicidal ideation (φ = -.06, ns); however, when social support was low, occupational stress showed a positive association with suicidal ideation (φ = .16, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS The association between occupational stress and suicidal ideation may be reduced by social support. Further research on this topic is warranted.
Locus of Control, Student Motivation, and Achievement in Principles of Microeconomics

In the principles of microeconomics class that I taught during the summer of 2013, 44 out of 48 students participated in the completion of 5 questionnaires and a survey describing student characteristics. The questionnaires include: a 29-item Locus of Control Scale, a 12-item Achievement Goal Scale, a 19-item Test Anxiety Scale, a 16-item Procrastination Scale, and a 5-item Fear of Failure Scale. Using locus of control, the class was divided into two equal-sized groups of 22 students by a median split of 8.5. Those who scored 8 and below were treated as internals and those who scored 9 and above were treated as externals. The results of this study show that internals achieved better academically, suffered less from debilitating test anxiety, scored higher on a mastery approach, spent more hours working, and tended more to be of white ethnicity than externals. The regression results show that the locus of control variable has a negative and significant effect on the exam average.
Leveraging the London 2012 Paralympic Games

The International Paralympic Committee, U.K. Government, and the Organizing Committee for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games all contended that the London 2012 Paralympic Games would positively impact the lives of disabled people in the United Kingdom, particularly with regard to changing nondisabled attitudes toward disability. All three have claimed partial success during the course of the 4-year period (Olympiad) separating the London and Rio Paralympic Games. However, this is at odds with the findings of Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) and the experiences of disabled individuals. This article considers the claims of both sides against a backdrop of public policies that are targeting large-scale benefit cuts, the media coverage of which actually appears to be hardening attitudes toward anyone on benefits and negating any positive impacts from the Games themselves. It argues that the continued predominance of “ableist” perspectives on disability underpins many of the challenges faced by disabled people. The article adopts a historical perspective on the development of legacy-based foundations upon which the disability sport and Paralympic movements originated. It contends that the gradual move toward an elite “Olympic” sports model of competition has actually served to undermine these foundations.
Conditional Monte Carlo

Let α be a random vector distributed over a space U with probability density function f(α). If U is an awkward space or f is a complicated function, it may be hard to estimate $$\theta = E\phi \left( \alpha \right). $$ (6.1.1) .
Dopamine Depletion Impairs Frontostriatal Functional Connectivity during a Set-Shifting Task

We investigated the effect of transient dopamine depletion on functional connectivity during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed as a psychophysiological interaction, a statistical method used to identify functional connectivity during experimental manipulations. Nineteen healthy subjects were scanned, double blind, on 2 separate days: once after drinking an amino acid mixture deficient in the dopamine precursors tyrosine and phenylalanine, and once after drinking a nutritionally balanced mixture. In the balanced drink session, statistically significant connectivity between the frontal lobes and striatum was observed during set shifting, and the greater the prefrontostriatal connectivity, the faster the response time after a shift. Neither of these associations were observed after dopamine depletion. Moreover, dopamine depletion also reduced the degree of deactivation in areas normally suppressed during attention-demanding tasks, including the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus. Together, these results suggest that functional connectivity between the frontal lobes and basal ganglia during set shifting contributes to more efficient performance and that dopamine modulates this corticostriatal connectivity.
Object name learning and object perception: a deficit in late talkers

Two experiments examined the relation between early object name learning and the ability to represent objects by their abstract shapes. In Experiment 1, two-year-old children with productive vocabularies in the bottom 20th percentile – ‘late talkers' – were compared with (1) same-age children with larger vocabularies, and (2) younger children matched for productive vocabulary, on their ability to recognize named common objects. Object categories were represented two ways: by lifelike, perceptually rich toys, and by grey caricatures of those objects' abstract shapes. All 3 groups recognized lifelike objects equally well. Both typically-developing control groups were better than late talkers at recognizing shape caricatures of objects whose names they knew. In Experiment 2, late talkers and age-matched controls identified named objects represented by lifelike toys and by duplicates of those toys covered in grey textured paint. Age-matched controls knew more of the object names overall, but both they and the late talkers performed equally well on both kinds of test objects. Thus, late talkers had some difficulty in Experiment 1 recognizing objects from abstract shape cues, but no difficulty in Experiment 2 when the shape cues were realistic. The findings imply a relation between the growth of productive vocabulary and the emergence of the ability to represent object categories by abstract shape.
Views of prospective teachers about the seven principles of effective teaching and learning, using social studies as a case

This study focuses on the extent the seven principles are utilized on social studies. The research model utilized in this study is a descriptive method. The sample of the study consists of 85 social studies prospective teachers. A scale or measure consisting of 49 questions was used as data collection tool. It has 7 principles with 7 items. The total internal reliability coefficient of scale was calculated as 0.68. In this study, social sciences teachers’ and teachers’ prospective viewpoints and practices are related to the seven principles developed by Chickering and Gamson (1987) for better education. According to this study’s results, it said that females have more positive views than males. Key words: Prompt feedback, communicating high expectations, seven principles
An Essential Role for the Caspase Dronc in Developmentally Programmed Cell Death in Drosophila *

Dronc is a caspase recruitment domain-containingDrosophila caspase that is expressed in a temporally and spatially restricted fashion during development. Dronc is the only fly caspase known to be regulated by the hormone ecdysone. Here we show that ectopic expression of dronc in the developing fly eye leads to increased cell death and an ablated eye phenotype that can be suppressed by halving the dosage of the genes in the H99complex (reaper, hid, and grim) and enhanced by mutations in diap1. In contrast to previous reports, we show that the dronc eye ablation phenotype can be suppressed by coexpression of the baculoviral caspase inhibitorp35. Dronc also interacts, both genetically and biochemically, with the CED-4/Apaf-1 fly homolog, Dark. Furthermore, extracts made from Dark homozygous mutant flies have reduced ability to process Dronc, showing that Dark is required for Dronc processing. Finally, using the RNA interference technique, we show that loss of Dronc function in early Drosophila embryos results in a dramatic decrease in cell death, indicating that Dronc is important for programmed cell death during embryogenesis. These results suggest that Dronc is a key caspase mediating programmed cell death inDrosophila.
β-Aescin at subinhibitory concentration (sub-MIC) enhances susceptibility of Candida glabrata clinical isolates to nystatin.

Aescin (escin) derived from the seeds of horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) is a natural mixture of triterpene saponins exhibiting a wide variety of pharmacological properties, including antiinflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic activities. However, data concerning antifungal activities of these compounds are limited. This study aims to evaluate the in vitro antifungal susceptibility of Candida glabrata clinical isolates to α-aescin sodium, β-aescin crystalline and β-aescin sodium using the disk diffusion (DD) and broth microdilution (BMD) methods. Moreover, the influence of subinhibitory concentration (0.5×MIC) of β-aescins on the nystatin MIC was also studied. In general, the results obtained by the DD assay correlated well with those obtained by the BMD method. Both β-aescins effectively inhibited the growth of all 24 strains tested. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 8 to 32 μg/ml for β-aescin crystalline, whereas those of β-aescin sodium were slightly lower and ranged from 4 to 16 μg/ml. In contrast, α-aescin sodium was found to be completely ineffective against the strains studied. MIC values of nystatin were reduced 2-16-fold and 2-4-fold in the presence of subinhibitory concentration of β-aescin crystalline and β-aescin sodium, respectively. Results of the present study may suggest the additive interaction between β-aescin and nystatin.
Bacterial Agents Associated With Infantile Diarrhea and Their Antibiotics Susceptibility Pattern in Port Harcourt, South- South, Nigeria

A study of the bacterial agents associated with infantile diarrhea along with their antibiotics susceptibility pattern were carried out in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Out of the 100 infants with diarrhea (cases) sampled, at least one bacterial isolate, probably pathogenic, was detected in 49 (49.0%) and no bacterial agent was detected in 51 (51%). Among the 20 infants without diarrhea (controls), 4 (20.0%) had a bacterial isolate while 16 (80%) had no isolate. Bacteria detected among cases arranged in order of their decreasing prevalence included; Escherichia coli (23.0%), Salmonella species (10.0%), Shigella species (8.0%), Yersinia enterocolitica (5.0%), Vibrio cholera (3.0%). Infants between the ages of 0-12 months recorded the highest frequency of bacterial isolates which decreased with increase in age. All the bacterial isolates were subjected to antibiotics sensitivity screening in which the percentage of sensitive isolates were recorded and it was observed that all the isolates showed more than 70% susceptibility to Ofloxacin, Gentamicin and Ciprofloxacin except Vibrio cholera, with Shigella species showing 100% susceptibility to the three antibiotics mentioned earlier and Yersinia species and Vibrio cholera showing 100% sensitivity to Ofloxacin and Gentamicin only. All the bacterial isolates showed 100% resistance to Septrin while only Escherichia coli, Shigella species, Yersinia enterocolitica and Vibrio cholera showed 100% resistance to Augumentin. Mothers of the diarrheal infants at home where some samples were collected were educated on the major routes of diarrheal transmission and how to prevent and control it as well as the impact of ORS in diarrhea control.
Conventional and Inverted UV-PDs Based on Solution Processed PFE:ZnO Active Layer

Solution processed ultraviolet photodetectors with conventional and inverted architectures with active layers composed of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-yleneethynylene) (PFE) and zincoxide (ZnO) nanoparticle hybrid are introduced. Under 1 mW/cm<sup>2</sup> illumination intensity at 365 nm wavelength and for -4 V bias and room temperature, the conventional device structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PFE:ZnO/Al and the inverted device structure of ITO/PFE:ZnO/Au are yielded photoresponsivity values of 311 and 244 mA/W, detectivity values of 1.4 × 10<sup>14</sup> and 5.1 × 10<sup>13</sup> cmHz<sup>1/2</sup>W<sup>-1</sup>, and external quantum efficiency values of 105.6% and 82.7%, respectively. By annealing the active layer at polymer's glass transition temperature (Tg; 60 °C) for 15 min, these values are increased to 375 and 280 mA/W, 1.6 × 10<sup>14</sup> and 5.3 × 10<sup>13</sup> cmHz<sup>1/2</sup>W<sup>-1</sup>, 127% and 95%, as in the above order. Performance, stability, and detectivity value differences between conventional and inverted architectures are explained electrically by impedance spectroscopy.
Analysis of trends in human longevity by new model

Trends in human longevity are puzzling, especially when considering the limits of human longevity. Partially, the conflicting assertions are based upon demographic evidence and the interpretation of survival and mortality curves using the Gompertz model and the Weibull model; these models are sometimes considered to be incomplete in describing the entire curves. In this paper a new model is proposed to take the place of the traditional models. We directly analysed the rectangularity (the parts of the curves being shaped like a rectangle) of survival curves for 17 countries and for 1876-2001 in Switzerland (it being one of the longest-lived countries) with a new model. This model is derived from the Weibull survival function and is simply described by two parameters, in which the shape parameter indicates 'rectangularity' and characteristic life indicates the duration for survival to be 'exp(-1)'. The shape parameter is essentially a function of age and it distinguishes humans from technical devices. We find that although characteristic life has increased up to the present time, the slope of the shape parameter for middle age has been saturated in recent decades and that the rectangularity above characteristic life has been suppressed, suggesting there are ultimate limits to human longevity. The new model and subsequent findings will contribute greatly to the interpretation and comprehension of our knowledge on the human ageing processes.
Expression of bcl‐2‐, p53, and Ki‐67 and outcome of patients with primary nasopharyngeal carcinomas following DNA‐damaging treatment

Recent studies suggest that apoptosis is important in the cell death induced by treatment that damages deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). We assessed the correlation between the expression of the apoptosis‐related proteins, p53 and bcl‐2, and the clinical outcome of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs) who were treated with both DNA‐damaging treatments. We also assessed the level of Ki‐67, a marker of cell proliferation, in these tumors.