Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toll-Like Receptor 3 Is a Potent Negative Regulator of Axonal Growth in Mammals

Toll is a cell surface receptor with well described roles in the developmental patterning of invertebrates and innate immunity in adult Drosophila. Mammalian toll-like receptors represent a family of Toll orthologs that function in innate immunity by recognizing molecular motifs unique to pathogens or injured tissue. One member in this family of pattern recognition receptors, toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), recognizes viral double-stranded RNA and host mRNA. We examined the expression and function of TLRs in the nervous system and found that TLR3 is expressed in the mouse central and peripheral nervous systems and is concentrated in the growth cones of neurons. Activation of TLR3 by the synthetic ligand polyinosine:polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) or by mRNA rapidly causes growth cone collapse and irreversibly inhibits neurite extension independent of nuclear factor κB. Mice lacking functional TLR3 were resistant to the neurodegenerative effects of poly I:C. Neonatal mice injected with poly I:C were found to have fewer axons exiting dorsal root ganglia and displayed related sensorimotor deficits. No effect of poly I:C was observed in mice lacking functional TLR3. Together, these findings provide evidence that an innate immune pattern recognition receptor functions autonomously in neurons to regulate axonal growth and advances a novel hypothesis that this class of receptors may contribute to injury and limited CNS regeneration.
Disability, atrophy and cortical reorganization following spinal cord injury

The impact of traumatic spinal cord injury on structural integrity, cortical reorganization and ensuing disability is variable and may depend on a dynamic interaction between the severity of local damage and the capacity of the brain for plastic reorganization. We investigated trauma-induced anatomical changes in the spinal cord and brain, and explored their relationship to functional changes in sensorimotor cortex. Structural changes were assessed using cross-sectional cord area, voxel-based morphometry and voxel-based cortical thickness of T1-weighted images in 10 subjects with cervical spinal cord injury and 16 controls. Cortical activation in response to right-sided (i) handgrip; and (ii) median and tibial nerve stimulation were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Regression analyses explored associations between cord area, grey and white matter volume, cortical activations and thickness, and disability. Subjects with spinal cord injury had impaired upper and lower limb function bilaterally, a 30% reduced cord area, smaller white matter volume in the pyramids and left cerebellar peduncle, and smaller grey matter volume and cortical thinning in the leg area of the primary motor and sensory cortex compared with controls. Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed increased activation in the left primary motor cortex leg area during handgrip and the left primary sensory cortex face area during median nerve stimulation in subjects with spinal cord injury compared with controls, but no increased activation following tibial nerve stimulation. A smaller cervical cord area was associated with impaired upper limb function and increased activations with handgrip and median nerve stimulation, but reduced activations with tibial nerve stimulation. Increased sensory deficits were associated with increased activations in the left primary sensory cortex face area due to median nerve stimulation. In conclusion, spinal cord injury leads to cord atrophy, cortical atrophy of primary motor and sensory cortex, and cortical reorganization of the sensorimotor system. The degree of cortical reorganization is predicted by spinal atrophy and is associated with significant disability.
Video games as moral educators?

The growing interest in video gaming is matched by a corresponding increase in concerns about the harmful effects on children and adolescents. There are numerous studies on aggression and addiction which spark debates on the negative effects of video gaming. At the same time, there are also studies demonstrating prosocial effects. This paper focuses on how video games, particularly massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMOs and MMORPGs for short) that allow interaction with other players, can play a part in players' moral and character development. Although there are many games with moral content, the MMO game World of Warcraft (WoW for short) is used as an illustrative example because of its popularity, to demonstrate how players, through game content and game play, are confronted with moral dilemmas which demand decision-making, social obligations and responsibilities, perspective-taking and empathy, perseverance and delayed gratification.
An Endoscopic Technique for Restoration of Voice after Laryngectomy

Reports of restoration of voice after total laryngectomy include diversion of exhaled pulmonary air through planned or spontaneous fistulae with a variety of modified tracheal cannulas and valves. Limitations of these techniques include aspiration, scar closure of the shunts, wound complications, and failure to achieve voice consistently. We report a two-year experience with an endoscopic method using a unique valved prosthesis eliminating complicated surgical reconstructions, aspiration, and stenosis. Fifty-four of 60 patients (90%) achieved fluent voices with one deglutition problem. Radiation therapy preceded voice restoration in 63% of the patients and radical neck dissection in 72%. The endoscopic procedure, hospitalization and period of speech therapy are short and constitute a cost-effective voice rehabilitation program. The results of this simple method and lack of complications are encouraging.
Quantized Feedback Control for Networked Control Systems Under Communication Constraints

This paper investigates the feedback stabilization problem for networked control systems (NCSs) with unbound process noise, where sensors and controllers are connected via noiseless digital channels carrying a finite number of bits per unit time. A sufficient condition for stabilization of NCSs, which relies on a variable-rate digital link used to transmit state measurements, is derived. A lower bound of data rates, above which there exists a quantization, coding and control scheme to guarantee both stabilization and a prescribed control performance of the unstable discrete-time plant, is presented. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
A Novel Available Bandwidth Estimation and Tracking Algorithm

The available bandwidth (AB) of an end-to-end path is its remaining capacity and it is an important metric for several applications. That's why several available bandwidth estimation tools have been published recently. Most of these tools use the probe rate model. This model is based on the concept of self- induced congestion and requires that the tools send a packet train at a rate matching the available bandwidth. The main issue with this model is that these tools congest the path under study. In this paper we present a novel available bandwidth estimation tool that takes into account this issue. Our tool is based on a mathematical model that sends packet trains at a rate lower than the AB. The main drawback of this model is that it is not able to track the AB. To solve this issue we propose to apply Kalman filters (KF) to the model. By applying these filters we can produce real-time estimations of the available bandwidth and monitor its changes. In addition the KFs are able to filter the noisy (erroneous) measurements improving the overall accuracy. We also present an extensive evaluation of our tool in different network scenarios and we compare its performance with that of pathChirp (a state-of-the-art available bandwidth estimation tool).
Community Violence Exposure in University Students

This study validates a survey for community violence exposure, provides details of exposure in young adults, and determines psychological effects. 518 university students completed the Survey of Exposure to Community Violence (SECV) and questionnaires regarding trauma and socioemotional outcomes. Participants were divided into high, moderate, or low witnessing and victimization groups. Results showed SECV validity, with violent trauma more frequently reported in moderate/high victimization groups. 93.2% of respondents reported witnessing and 76.4% being victimized by violence. The most frequent events involved being hit, threatened, or seeing a gun/knife used as a weapon. The most frequent perpetrators were non-family members, except for domestic violence. The most frequent location was near home, although school was noted for peer victimization. High-exposure groups reported greater depression, aggression, interpersonal problems, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. This replicates and extends previous findings on the prevalence of violence exposure and its negative effects in today's young adults.
Relationships between formal-operational thought and conceptual difficulties in genetics problem solving

Seventy-one college general biology students were taught a unit in Mendelian genetics by the traditional lecture method. Emphasis was placed on meiotic formation of gametes, the Law of Segregation, and the Law of Independent Assortment. The Punnett-square model was used for all practice problems. Eight weeks later, a content-validated retention test was given to evaluate the students' retention of problem-solving skills. The test required students to use proportional reasoning (identifying ratios from the Punnett squares), combinatorial reasoning (identifying combinations of gametes from parental genotypes), and probabilistic reasoning (estimating gamete or offspring probabilities). Each of the 71 students was also given three Piagetian interview tasks to evaluate intellectual development in the areas of reasoning under question. The balance-beam task, the electronic switch-box task, and colored squares and diamonds were used to test for proportional reasoning, combinatorial reasoning, and probabilistic reasoning, respectively. Pearson correlations and factor analysis failed to show direct relationships among Piagetian tasks for the three kinds of reasoning and their corresponding occurrence in genetics problems. Some correlations were higher between different reasoning types than between similar types. Analysis of variance showed significant differences for all three reasoning types among concrete-operational, transitional, and formal-operational students with the retention test. Post-hoc analysis of ANOVAs indicated that formal-operational students had significantly more success in the three reasoning areas than transitional students, and transitional students had significantly more success than concrete-operational students.
Learners’ perceived information overload in online learning via computer-mediated communication

Many studies report information overload as one of the main problems that students encounter in online learning via computer-mediated communication. This study aimed to explore the sources of online students’ information overload and offer suggestions for increasing students’ cognitive resources for learning. Participants were 12 graduate students from two online courses in the United States. Their learning experiences in both online discussions and on the course website were explored through semi-structured interviews. They also completed a background questionnaire that assessed three constructs that limit learner readiness and are likely to lead to online students’ perceived information overload: inadequate prior knowledge, inadequate English proficiency, and lack of technical skills for participating in computer-mediated communications. The findings suggest that varied learner characteristics led some students to be more susceptible than others to information overload. Emerging data-driven risk factors were: lack of efficiency in reading from computer screens, visual and auditory learning preferences, and time constraints. Difficulties associated with students’ perceptions of information overload are addressed and implications for course design are offered. Keywords: information overload; computer-mediated communication; cognitive load theory; online discussion DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011. 586678
APELIN: A PROMISING THERAPEUTIC TARGET? (PART 1)

Apelin is a recently discovered bioactive peptide, known to be an endogenous high-affinity ligand for the previously orphan G protein-coupled receptor APJ. Apelin/APJ as a novel signaling pathway has been shown to play many crucial roles in cardiovascular function, blood pressure regulation, fluid homeostasis, feeding behavior, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, adipoinsular axis regulation, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, neuroprotection and thermoregulation. This ubiquitous peptide opens a new field of research in biology and medicine. In this regard, the aim of this short review is to compile the evidence for the apelin involvement in modulation of cardiovascular system and introduction of this new peptidic pathway as a useful drug target in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in future.
Quaternary Landscape Response to Climate Change Geochemical and mineralogical evidence for Sahara and Sahel dust additions to Quaternary soils on Lanzarote, eastern Canary Islands, Spain

Africa is the most important source of dust in the world today, and dust storms are frequent on the nearby Canary Islands. Previous workers have inferred that the Sahara is the most important source of dust to Canary Islands soils, with little contribution from the Sahel region. Soils overlying a late Quaternary basalt flow on Lanzarote, Canary Islands, contain, in addition to volcanic minerals, quartz and mica, exotic to the islands bedrock. Kaolinite in the soils also likely has an exotic origin. Trace-element geochemistry shows that the soils are derived from varying proportions of locally derived basalt and African dust. Major-element geochemistry, clay mineralogy and interpretation of satellite imagery suggest that dust additions to the Canary Islands come not only from the Sahara Desert, but also from the Sahel region.
The Use of Tutor Feedback and Student Self-assessment in Summative Assessment Tasks: Towards transparency for students and for tutors

This paper examines the case for a variation of student self-assessment which has been used across a wide range of subject areas and different types of assessment in higher education in Britain. It argues that three key features will allow students increased access to assessment procedures and protocols and that consequently, they will be better placed to carry out self-assessment from an informed position. These three features are first, to use summative, graded work for self-assessment; second, to receive tutor feedback in order to help them identify and understand their errors prior to self-assessment; and third, it is proposed that students should receive their grade or mark only after they have completed the formative, learning aspect of the self-assessment exercise. It is argued that this process will go some way towards giving students real access to power sharing in assessment.
The Heart of Social Work: Best Practitioners Rise to Challenges in Field Instruction

ABSTRACT Field, as the “signature pedagogy,” is the heart of social work education. However, field education has encountered challenges both in academia and in agencies that serve as field placements. This study explores the ways in which best practitioners in field instruction—10 field instructors who won the Heart of Social Work Award through the Council on Social Work Education—are rising to the challenges of supervising social work interns. These include (a) teaching a wide variety of skills of assessment and intervention, (b) balancing the teaching of these skills with the encouragement of reflection, (c) teaching interns to connect theory and practice, (d) developing an integrative model of supervision, (e) applying research to practice, (f) showing appropriate support to interns, and (g) upholding the mission of field education in the face of fiscal retrenchment and pressures for accountability. Findings of the study show that field instructors are responding with impressive energy and creativity to these challenges and also suggest the need for greater collaboration between field instructors and schools of social work.
Analytical Techniques for Performance Analysis of Multi-copy Routing Schemes in Delay Tolerant Networks

Delay tolerant networks (DTNs) are a class of networks that experience frequent and long-duration partitions due to sparse distribution of nodes. The topological impair ments experienced within a DTN pose unique challenges for designi g effective DTN multicasting protocols. In this paper, we examine multi-copy routing schemes for DTNs. We provide analysis of multi-copy routing schemes by deriving analytical results for important performance metrics such as message delay, messa ge delivery ratio, and buffer occupancy. We use three different analytical methods for our analysis: recursive method, ordinary differential equations, and phase-type distribution. Through extensive simulation study, we show that our analytical resul ts for performance metrics are accurate.
Time, Space, and Text in the Elementary School Digital Writing Classroom

Theorists of multiliteracies, social semiotics, and the New Literacy Studies have drawn attention to the potential changing nature of writing and literacy in the context of networked communications. This article reports findings from a design-based research project in Year 4 classrooms (students aged 8.5-10 years) in a low socioeconomic status school. A new writing program taught students how to design multimodal and digital texts across a range of genres and text types, such as web pages, online comics, video documentaries, and blogs. The authors use Bernstein’s theory of the pedagogic device to theorize the pedagogic struggles and resolutions in remaking English through the specialization of time, space, and text. The changes created an ideological struggle as new writing practices were adapted from broader societal fields to meet the instructional and regulative discourses of a conventional writing curriculum.
XMM-Newton Observation of the Cluster Zw 1305.4+2941 in the Field SA 57

We report the details of an XMM-Newton observation of the cluster of galaxies Zw 1305.4+2941 at the intermediate redshift z = 0.241, increasing the small number of interesting X-ray constraints on properties of ~3 keV systems above z = 0.1. Based on the ~45 ks XMM-Newton observation, we find that within a radius of 228 kpc the cluster has an unabsorbed X-ray flux of fX = (2.07 ± 0.06) × 10−13 ergs cm−2 s−1, a temperature of kT = 3.17 ± 0.19 keV, in good agreement with the previous ROSAT determination, and an abundance of 0.93+ 0.24−0.29 Z☉. Within r500 = 723 ± 16 kpc the rest-frame bolometric X-ray luminosity is LX(r500) = (1.25 ± 0.16) × 1044 h−270 ergs s−1. The cluster obeys the scaling relations for LX, T, and the velocity dispersion σv derived at intermediate redshift for kT≲ 4 keV, for which we provide new fits for all objects in the literature. The mass derived from an isothermal NFW model fit is Mvir = (2.77 ± 0.21) × 1014 M☉, with the concentration parameter c = 7.9 ± 0.5.
Market change and diversity in the Korean movie market

In this study, the relationships among the different, measurable aspects of media diversity (source, content and exposure) were examined. The aim was to look at how changes in the market environment affect the diversity of movies that are exhibited. The Korean movie market since the late 1980s provides a fruitful example of how an increased exhibition outlet affects the source, content and exposure diversity. An analysis of movies that were exhibited in movie theaters between 1990 and 2006 reveals that the increase in movie screens does not affect each dimension of diversity equally; and the relationship among the three distinct dimensions of diversity does not necessarily have a consistent pattern. The Korean market is the case where the expansion in the exhibition market benefits consumer diversity but not necessarily the source diversity.
The value profile of physical education teachers in Taiwan, ROC

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the educational value orientations of physical education teachers in Taiwan, and the relationships of gender, teaching experience, grade level, and the locations in which they work. Value orientations were measured with the Value Orientation Inventory-2, which was translated into complicated Chinese for this study. Participants (N=353) were recruited via stratified random sampling from the population of physical education teachers in Taiwan; 152 participants had one high-priority value orientation and a smaller number (n=76) had more than one high-priority value orientation. Other physical education teachers (n=124) had one or more low-priority value orientations. Taiwanese physical educators possess multiple, diverse value orientations and the largest percentage of strong value orientation scores was for the value orientation of learning process. The specific characteristics of Taiwanese physical educators include: (a) more males prioritizing disciplinary mastery and learning process, but more females prioritizing social responsibility; (b) more experienced teachers prioritizing learning process; (c) more elementary school teachers prioritizing social responsibility; and (d) more rural teachers prioritizing disciplinary mastery and learning process. Both the culture and the curriculum goals of physical education contribute to the differences of value orientations. Thus, Taiwanese physical educators emphasize self-control, self-concept, and social responsibility to achieve the coordination of body and spirit in their practices.
Challenges of Symbolic Computation: My Favorite Open Problems

The success of the symbolic mathematical computation discipline is striking. The theoretical advances have been continuous and significant: Grobner bases, the Risch integration algorithm, integer lattice basis reduction, hypergeometric summation algorithms, etc. From the beginning in the early 1960s, it has been the tradition of our discipline to create software that makes our ideas readily available to scientists, engineers, and educators: SAC-1, Reduce, Macsyma, etc. The commercial viability of our system products is proven by Maple and Mathematica. Today? s user communities of symbolic computation systems are diverse: educators, engineers, stock market analysts, etc. The mathematics and computer science in the design and implementation of our algorithms are sophisticated. The research challenges in symbolic computation at the close of the twentieth century are formidable. I state my favorite eight open problems in symbolic computation. They range from problems in symbolic/numeric computing, symbolic algorithm synthesis, to system component construction. I have worked on seven of my problems and borrowed one from George Collins. I present background to each of my problems and a clear-cut test that evaluates whether a proposed attack has solved one of my problems. An additional ninth open problem by Rob Corless and David Jeffrey on complex function semantics is given in an appendix.