Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulsar Polar Cap Heating and Surface Thermal X-Ray Emission. I. Curvature Radiation Pair Fronts

We investigate the effect of pulsar polar cap (PC) heating produced by positrons returning from the upper pair formation front. Our calculations are based on a self-consistent treatment of the pair dynamics and the effect of electric field screening by the returning positrons. We calculate the resultant X-ray luminosities and discuss the dependence of the PC heating efficiencies on pulsar parameters, such as characteristic spin-down age, spin period, and surface magnetic field strength. In this study we concentrate on the regime where the pairs are produced in a magnetic field by curvature photons emitted by accelerating electrons. Our theoretical results are not in conflict with the available observational X-ray data and suggest that the effect of PC heating should significantly contribute to the thermal X-ray fluxes from middle-aged and old pulsars. The implications for current and future X-ray observations of pulsars are briefly outlined.
Flares in Biopsy-Proven Giant Cell Arteritis in Northern Italy

AbstractThis study evaluated the frequency, timing, and characteristics of flares in a large cohort of Italian patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA) and to identify factors at diagnosis able to predict the occurrence of flares. We evaluated 157 patients with biopsy-proven transmural GCA diagnosed and followed at the Rheumatology Unit of Reggio Emilia Hospital (Italy) for whom sufficient information was available from the time of diagnosis until at least 4 years of follow-up. Fifty-seven patients (36.5%) experienced ≥1 flares. Fifty-one (46.4%) of the 110 total flares (88 relapses and 22 recurrences) were experienced during the first 2 years after diagnosis. The majority of relapses occurred with doses of prednisone ⩽ 10 mg/day (82.9%), whereas only 3.4% of relapses occurred for doses ≥ 25 mg/day. Polymyalgia rheumatica (46.5%) and cranial symptoms (41.9%) were the most frequent manifestations at the time of the first relapse. Cumulative prednisone dose during the first year and total cumulative prednisone dose were significantly higher in flaring patients compared with those without flares (7.8 ± 2.4 vs 6.7 ± 2.4 g, P = 0.02; 15.5 ± 8.9 vs 10.0 ± 9.2 g, P = 0.0001, respectively). The total duration of prednisone treatment was longer in flaring patients (58 ± 44 vs 30 ± 30 months, P = 0.0001). Patients with disease flares had at diagnosis more frequently systemic manifestations (P = 0.02) and fever ≥ 38°C (P = 0.02), significantly lower hemoglobin levels (P = 0.05), more frequent presence at temporal artery biopsy (TAB) specimens of giant cells (P = 0.04) and intraluminal acute thrombosis (P = 0.007), and more moderate/severe arterial inflammation (P = 0.009) compared with those without flares. In the multivariate model fever ≥ 38 °C (hazard ratio 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–4.32, P = 0.03) and the severity of inflammatory infiltrate (moderate/severe versus mild) (hazard ratio 5.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.64–17.87, P = 0.006) were significantly associated with an increased risk of flares. In conclusion, a flaring course is common in GCA and it is associated with prolonged GC requirements. Fever at diagnosis and severity of inflammation at TAB appear to predict the development of disease flares.
Use of Mass-Participation Outdoor Events to Assess Human Exposure to Tickborne Pathogens

Mapping the public health threat of tickborne pathogens requires quantification of not only the density of infected host-seeking ticks but also the rate of human exposure to these ticks. To efficiently sample a high number of persons in a short time, we used a mass-participation outdoor event. In June 2014, we sampled ≈500 persons competing in a 2-day mountain marathon run across predominantly tick-infested habitat in Scotland. From the number of tick bites recorded and prevalence of tick infection with Borrelia burgdoferi sensu lato and B. miyamotoi, we quantified the frequency of competitor exposure to the pathogens. Mass-participation outdoor events have the potential to serve as excellent windows for epidemiologic study of tickborne pathogens; their concerted use should improve spatial and temporal mapping of human exposure to infected ticks.
DESKRIPSI KEMAMPUAN PENALARAN MATEMATISDAN MINAT BELAJAR SISWA KELAS VIIISMP NEGERI 9 PURWOKERTO

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan kemampuan penalaran matematis dan minat belajar siswa pada pembelajaran matematika di kelas VIII E SMP Negeri 9 Purwokerto. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif dengan menggunakan model Miles and Huberman yang meliputi reduksi data (data reduction), penyajian data (data display) dan kesimpulan (verification / conclusion drawing). Subjek data dalam penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas VIII E dengan menggunakan teknik purposive sampling, siswa dikelompokan ke dalam tiga kategori prestasi, yaitu siswa prestasi tinggi, sedang dan siswa prestasi rendah. Masing-masing kelompok dipilih tiga siswa sebagai responden. Metode pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan angket, tes, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa siswa yang berprestasi tinggi memiliki minat belajar yang tinggi terhadap pembelajaran matematika dan mampu bernalar secara matematis karena siswa mampu mengajukan dugaan, memanipulasi matematika, menemukan pola untuk membuat solusi, menyusun bukti terhadap kebenaran solusi dan menarik kesimpulan dari pernyataan. Siswa yang berprestasi sedang memiliki minat belajar yang sedang terhadap pembelajaran matematika dan mampu bernalar secara matematis karena siswa mampu mengajukan dugaan, menemukan pola untuk membuat solusi dan menyusun bukti terhadap kebenaran solusi. Sedangkan untuk siswa yang berprestasi rendah memiliki minat belajar yang rendah terhadap pembelajaran matematika dan kurang mampu bernalar secara matematis karena siswa tidak mampu menemukan pola untuk membuat solusi, menyusun bukti terhadap kebenaran solusi dan menarik kesimpulan dari pernyataan.
The use of fairy tale videos to improve the students' writing ability of narrative text: the case of SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Gadung Surabaya

This research is about describing the use of fairy tale videos to improve the students' writing ability of narrative text: the case of SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Gadung Surabaya. The purposes of this study are to identify the difficulties faced by the students in writing nan-ative text, to explain how the fairy tale videos are used to deal with students' difficulties in learning narrative writing, and to confinn the effect of using fairy tale videos whether or not fairy tale videos have impact on students' achievement in writing nairntive text. This research observes the second grade students of SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Gadung Surabaya. In this research, the researcher combines descriptive qualitati ve and quantitative research. The data are collected by observation in the classroom, interview with the teacher -. mcl some students, quest ionna ires for the students, and documentation. Furthermore, the inst ruments of this resarch are observation checklist, interview guide, question nai re, and the tacher's docu men ta tion. This research finds that the students are faced with some problems such as having lack of vocabulary and grammar mastery while they are practicing narrative writing. Based on the questionnaires and interview with some students, the majori ty of the students are getting difficulties to use vocabulary and grammar in writing narrative text. From the result of observation in the class, the research councludes that the fairy tale videos min imize the students difficult is in writing narrative text. It helps the students to produce and organize ideas easily. Besides, most of the studen ts give good responses towards the im pkmcmation of fa i ry tale videos to teach nan-ati ve w1iti ng. Most of the students feel ent husiastic t o study narrati ve writing using fairy tale videos. Moreover, from t he results of students• narrat i ve com posi t i on. it can be concluded that the students have good im proved. The teaching of narrative writing through fairy talc videos contribut es good progress to the students achievement i n writing narrative. When t he teacher uses fairy tale videos the students•mean score is improved from 69.26 up to 73.47. They canreach the success criteria; moreover their mean score is higher than the success criteria. Thus. fairy tale videos can give a good improvement on t he students writing ability of narrative text. The teacher can use it as alternative med ia when students feel bored with textbook or lecturing method in teaching activity.
Transcriptome Analysis of Scrippsiella trochoidea CCMP 3099 Reveals Physiological Changes Related to Nitrate Depletion

Dinoflagellates are a major component of marine phytoplankton and many species are recognized for their ability to produce harmful algal blooms (HABs). Scrippsiella trochoidea is a non-toxic, marine dinoflagellate that can be found in both cold and tropic waters where it is known to produce “red tide” events. Little is known about the genomic makeup of S. trochoidea and a transcriptome study was conducted to shed light on the biochemical and physiological adaptations related to nutrient depletion. Cultures were grown under N and P limiting conditions and transcriptomes were generated via RNAseq technology. De novo assembly reconstructed 107,415 putative transcripts of which only 41% could be annotated. No significant transcriptomic response was observed in response to initial P depletion, however, a strong transcriptional response to N depletion was detected. Among the down-regulated pathways were those for glutamine/glutamate metabolism as well as urea and nitrate/nitrite transporters. Transcripts for ammonia transporters displayed both up- and down-regulation, perhaps related to a shift to higher affinity transporters. Genes for the utilization of DON compounds were up-regulated. These included transcripts for amino acids transporters, polyamine oxidase, and extracellular proteinase and peptidases. N depletion also triggered down regulation of transcripts related to the production of Photosystems I & II and related proteins. These data are consistent with a metabolic strategy that conserves N while maximizing sustained metabolism by emphasizing the relative contribution of organic N sources. Surprisingly, the transcriptome also contained transcripts potentially related to secondary metabolite production, including a homolog to the Short Isoform Saxitoxin gene (sxtA) from Alexandrium fundyense, which was significantly up-regulated under N-depletion. A total of 113 unique hits to Sxt genes, covering 17 of the 34 genes found in C. raciborskii were detected, indicating that S. trochoidea has previously unrecognized potential for the production of secondary metabolites with potential toxicity.
Exploring the Temporal Relationship Between Cognitive Insight and Neurocognition in Schizophrenia: A Prospective Analysis

The present research is an investigation of prospective links between neurocognition (assessed with a well-validated, computerized battery of performance tasks) and cognitive insight (assessed with the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale), using data from two longitudinal studies of adult outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder: a 6-month naturalistic follow-up (N = 168) and a 24-month clinical trial of recovery-oriented cognitive therapy (N = 60). In both studies, cognitive insight prospectively predicted changes in neurocognitive performance, suggesting that reductions in cognitive insight temporally preceded neurocognitive changes. It is important that in neither study was the reverse relationship supported, nor do the findings appear to be accounted for by differential stability of the measures or changes in symptomatology. If corroborated by further research, a significant implication is that increasing cognitive insight may bolster neurocognition (as a possible alternative or supplement to “cognitive remediation”). Potential mechanisms involved in this link are discussed.
Adaptive and Sequential Gridding Procedures for the Abstraction and Verification of Stochastic Processes

This work is concerned with the generation of finite abstractions of general state-space processes to be employed in the formal verification of probabilistic properties by means of automatic techniques such as probabilistic model checkers. The work employs an abstraction procedure based on the partitioning of the state-space, which generates a Markov chain as an approximation of the original process. A novel adaptive and sequential gridding algorithm is presented and is expected to conform to the underlying dynamics of the model and thus to mitigate the curse of dimensionality unavoidably related to the partitioning procedure. The results are also extended to the general modeling framework known as stochastic hybrid systems. While the technique is applicable to a wide arena of probabilistic properties, with focus on the study of a particular specification (probabilistic safety, or invariance, over a finite horizon), the proposed adaptive algorithm is first benchmarked against a uniform gridding approach t.
Effects of tryptophan loading on verbal, spatial and affective working memory functions in healthy adults

Serotonin (5-HT) appears to modulate affective behaviours by providing a homeostatic threshold around which other transmitters respond. This general principle of activity should hold for other types of behaviour, including cognition, but has not been extensively examined. We hypothesized, based on past findings, that increased 5-HT would constrain prefrontally guided working memory functions that are mediated by catecholamine neurotransmitters. Healthy adults ingested amino acid compounds designed to deplete and load systemic tryptophan levels in a repeated-measures crossover design. Outcome variables included total plasma tryptophan, serum prolactin levels and self-report measures of mood, as well as measures of motor skill, attention, memory span and working memory for verbal, spatial and affective stimuli. Our findings indicate decrements in working memory for verbal and affective stimuli following tryptophan loading versus depletion, as well as subtle changes in vigilant attention and motor coordination. Implications for the aetiology and treatment of affective disorders and psychosis are discussed.
Correlates of law enforcement suicide in the United States: a comparison with Army and Firefighter suicides using data from the National Violent Death Reporting System

Abstract Law Enforcement (LE) officers are considered to be at elevated risk of suicide. This study explored variables associated with LE suicide and the extent they differentiated LE suicides from those within similar occupations considered at risk – Army and Firefighters. Using a public health database of violent deaths, the US National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), the prevalence of and association between seven suicide variables (treatment for a mental health condition, Post Traumatic Stress disorder diagnosis, alcohol and substance abuse, job problems, intimate partner problems) and suicide within LE, Army and Firefighters was computed. Method of suicide and demographic characteristics were also identified. All of the suicide variables were associated with suicide in the three occupation groups. LE suicides were differentiated from Army and Firefighter suicides by being more strongly associated with job problems and suicide by females was more common. Implications for suicide prevention strategies within LE are discussed.
The Association Between Management of the Board of Trustees and Its Effectiveness at Hospitals in Tabriz; 2011 to 2013

Background: Reforming the structure and improving care and service system, particularly at hospitals, are the main priorities of the health system. The board of trustees of the hospitals is the main proposed strategy in this field. Hospitals with board of trustees were created with the aim of improving accountability to the community and guaranteeing efficient management and attracting public support in running the hospital. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between hospital effectiveness and the board of trustee’s management method. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tabriz City, Iran, during the years 2011 to 2013. To assess the effectiveness of board of trustees’ management, two hospitals in Tabriz City were compared. Hospitals selected through purposive typical case sampling method. Two hospitals had equal structure, same doctors, and both were gynecology hospitals of Tabriz City, but one of them was a gynecology hospital managed by the board of trustees and the other was managed by the chairman. The information about the five variables of hospital effectiveness was collected during the years 2011 to 2013 using standard lists and questionnaires, which were available in the hospitals; these variables included quality management, safety, medical equipment management, and patients and staff satisfaction. Then, each variable was weighted through the technique of hierarchical analysis and finally they were analyzed using SPSS 17 and Expert Choice 11. Results: Among the five variables related to the effectiveness, safety showed to have the highest weight and medical equipment management had the lowest weight. According to the statistical analyses, the score of the effectiveness of the hospital with the board of trustees was 33.08 (on the scale of 0 - 100) and the score of the hospital with the chairperson was 29.52. No significant association was found between the effectiveness of hospital and the board of trustees management (P = 0.81). Conclusions: Because there was no significant difference in the effectiveness between hospitals with and without board of trustees, decision-makers must monitor how the commands are carried out to make board of trustees for hospitals and make sure its success in achieving its objectives.
An Integrative Review of Parenting Stress in Mothers of Children with Autism in Japan

Abstract Parents of children with autism experience elevated stress that may be influenced by specific characteristics of the child and parent, including cultural norms and beliefs about parenting. However, there is little research on families of children with autism from cultural perspectives. The purpose of this integrative review is to identify factors influencing parenting stress in mothers of children with autism in Japan. A final sample of 15 primary research articles (2000–2015) on parenting stress in mothers of Japanese children with autism was selected using several databases. The findings suggested that these mothers experience much greater parenting stress than mothers of typically developing children and children with other disabilities. Japanese mothers also demonstrate stress related to attachment difficulties, low parenting efficacy and lack of support, reflecting Japanese parenting styles and gender ideology. Parent-directed and culturally calibrated interventions are needed to support parents of children with autism, especially cultural minority parents.
Renormalization and Central Limit Theorem for Critical Dynamical Systems with Weak External Noise

We study of the effect of weak noise on critical one dimensional maps; that is, maps with a renormalization theory. We establish a one dimensional central limit theorem for weak noises and obtain Berry--Esseen estimates for the rate of this convergence. We analyze in detail maps at the accumulation of period doubling and critical circle maps with golden mean rotation number. Using renormalization group methods, we derive scaling relations for several features of the effective noise after long times. We use these scaling relations to show that the central limit theorem for weak noise holds in both examples. We note that, for the results presented here, it is essential that the maps have parabolic behavior. They are false for hyperbolic orbits.
Community violence exposure among underprivileged adolescents : what are the buffering effects of family qualities on negative outcomes?

iv Introduction.1 Violence Exposure.1 Negative Outcomes Associated with Exposure to Violence.2 Aggression.3 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.3 Protective Factors.4 Household Structure.5 Social Support.6 Parenting.7 The Current Study.8 Hypotheses.8 Methods.10 Participants.10 Measures.11 Demographic Questionnaire.11 Household Structure.11 Screen for Adolescent Violence Exposure.12 Aggression Questionnaire.12 UCLA Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index.13 Social Support Questionnaire for Children-Short Form.14 Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-Child Form.14 Procedure.15 Results.16 Missing Values.16 Preliminary Analyses.16 Descriptive Statistics.17 Regression Analyses.21 Discussion.26 Implications.29 Limitations.29 Future Research.30 References.32 Appendix A: Consent and Assent Forms.38 Appendix B: Demographic Questionnaire.42 Appendix C: Screen for Adolescent Violence Exposure.43 iii Appendix D: Aggression Questionnaire.49 Appendix E: Social Support Questionnaire for Children.50 Appendix F: Alabama Parenting Questionnaire.53 Appendix G: IRB Approval Forms.57 Vita.59
Cluster Analysis of Weighted Bipartite Networks: A New Copula-Based Approach

In this work we are interested in identifying clusters of “positional equivalent” actors, i.e. actors who play a similar role in a system. In particular, we analyze weighted bipartite networks that describes the relationships between actors on one side and features or traits on the other, together with the intensity level to which actors show their features. We develop a methodological approach that takes into account the underlying multivariate dependence among groups of actors. The idea is that positions in a network could be defined on the basis of the similar intensity levels that the actors exhibit in expressing some features, instead of just considering relationships that actors hold with each others. Moreover, we propose a new clustering procedure that exploits the potentiality of copula functions, a mathematical instrument for the modelization of the stochastic dependence structure. Our clustering algorithm can be applied both to binary and real-valued matrices. We validate it with simulations and applications to real-world data.
Cosmogenic 10 Be ages on the Pomeranian Moraine, Poland

Rinterknecht, V. R. , Marks, L. , Piotrowski, J. A. , Raisbeck, G. M. , Yiou, F. , Brook, E. J. & Clark, P. U. 2005 (May): Cosmogenic 10Be ages on the Pomeranian Moraine, Poland. Boreas, Vol. 34, pp. 186–191. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.