Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Confirmatory Examination of the Factor Structure of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery

Although some research has examined the factorial nature of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB), none has tested hypotheses relevant to both oblique and orthogonal models via confirmatory factor analysis. Thus, in this investigation, a series of models was tested, which compared the model fit of both oblique/higher order models against a completely orthogonal first-order factor model (i.e., nested factor model). Based on a sample of 3,121 individuals, the intersubscale covariation within the MAB was demonstrated to be captured most accurately by a nested factor model, which consisted of a first-order general factor, a first-order Verbal Intelligence factor, and a first-order Performance Intelligence factor. There was also evidence to suggest that Arithmetic did not share any variance with any Verbal Intelligence factor, independently of the general factor. The results are discussed in light of the advantages of modeling factors as completely first-order, orthogonal models in the area of intelligence research, for the purposes of archiving satisfactory model fit, as well as obtaining less ambiguous associations between intelligence factors and external criteria.
Representation Sharpening Can Explain Perceptual Priming

Perceiving and identifying an object is improved by prior exposure to the object. This perceptual priming phenomenon is accompanied by reduced neural activity. But whether suppression of neuronal activity with priming is responsible for the improvement in perception is unclear. To address this problem, we developed a rate-based network model of visual processing. In the model, decreased neural activity following priming was due to stimulus-specific sharpening of representations taking place in the early visual areas. Representation sharpening led to decreased interference of representations in higher visual areas that facilitated selection of one of the competing representations, thereby improving recognition. The model explained a wide range of psychophysical and physiological data observed in priming experiments, including antipriming phenomena, and predicted two functionally distinct stages of visual processing.
Oxidative DNA damage correlates with oxygen consumption in humans

Generation of reactive oxygen species from mitochondrial respiration has been proposed as an important determinant of longevity and cumulative cancer risk. Interspecies correlations and animal calorie restriction studies of metabolic rate and oxidative DNA damage support this notion. In the present study we have demonstrated a close association between oxidative DNA damage as assessed by the urinary excretion of 8‐oxo‐7,8‐dihydro‐2'‐deoxyguanosine (8‐oxodG) and oxygen consumption in 33 healthy premenopausal women (r = 0.64; p = 0.00007). In the 12 women who smoked, 8‐oxodG excretion was increased by 35%, although oxygen consumption increased only 10% compared with the 21 nonsmoking women. Apparently, the rate of oxidative DNA damage relates to mitochondrial respiration in humans and is aggravated by smoking. —Loft, S. , Astrup, A. , Buemann, B. , Poulsen, H. E. Oxidative DNA damage correlates with oxygen consumption in humans. FASEB J. 8: 534‐537; 1994.
Employment status, non-daytime work and gastric ulcer in men.

BACKGROUND An excess risk of gastric ulcer (GU) (ICD-8: 531) has formerly been found in shift workers and ex-shiftworkers but little is known about the risk of GU associated with other forms of non-daytime work. This study deals with associations between non-daytime work and GU. METHODS A fixed cohort of 122,116 men in occupations in which at least 20% had non-daytime work and a reference group of 593,281 men in occupations with daytime work only, was followed in the National Inpatient Register for first discharges with GU as the principal diagnosis. RESULTS For men with daytime work only we found a steep inverse association between GU and employment status. Men in occupational groups with late evening work had a standardized hospitalization ratio (SHR) of 236 (90% confidence interval [Cl]: 184-299), groups working in rosters covering 24-hour services had an SHR of 147 (90% Cl: 116-183). A slightly raised risk of 114 (90% Cl: 101-128) was found in groups having other forms of non-daytime work. For all men in groups with non-daytime work we found a significant SHR of 130 (90% Cl: 118-142). CONCLUSION We conclude that both low employment status and non-daytime work are associated with an increased risk of GU.
Special Education Provision in Zimbabwe.

Munhuweyi Peresuh, Senior Lecturer in Special Education at the University of Zimbabwe, and Lesley Barcham, Distance Learning Co-ordinator, with the British Institute of Learning Disabilities, examine issues of policy, provision, facilities and human resources characterising special education in Zimbabwe, and analyse the key opportunities and difficulties in providing special education in a developing country. Their article examines the impetus for growth in integrated provision for children with disabilities and difficulties in learning.
Inhibition shapes response selectivity in the inferior colliculus by gain modulation

Pharmacological block of inhibition is often used to determine if inhibition contributes to spike selectivity, in which a preferred stimulus evokes more spikes than a null stimulus. When inhibitory block reduces spike selectivity, a common interpretation is that differences between the preferred- and null-evoked inhibitions created the selectivity from less-selective excitatory inputs. In models based on empirical properties of cells from the inferior colliculus (IC) of awake bats, we show that inhibitory differences are not required. Instead, inhibition can enhance spike selectivity by changing the gain, the ratio of output spikes to input current. Within the model, we made preferred stimuli that evoked more spikes than null stimuli using five distinct synaptic mechanisms. In two cases, synaptic selectivity (the differences between the preferred and null inputs) was entirely excitatory, and in two it was entirely inhibitory. In each case, blocking inhibition eliminated spike selectivity. Thus, observing spike rates following inhibitory block did not distinguish among the cases where synaptic selectivity was entirely excitatory or inhibitory. We then did the same modeling experiment using empirical synaptic conductances derived from responses to preferred and null sounds. In most cases, inhibition in the model enhanced spike selectivity mainly by gain modulation and firing rate reduction. Sometimes, inhibition reduced the null gain to zero, eliminating null-evoked spikes. In some cases, inhibition increased the preferred gain more than the null gain, enhancing the difference between the preferred- and null-evoked spikes. Finally, inhibition kept firing rates low. When selectivity is quantified by the selectivity index (SI, the ratio of the difference to the sum of the spikes evoked by the preferred and null stimuli), inhibitory block reduced the SI by increasing overall firing rates. These results are consistent with inhibition shaping spike selectivity by gain control.
Towards chipless RFID-based sensing for pervasive surface crack detection

We present Surface Crack Antenna Reflectometric Sensing or SCARS: a chipless RFID sensor that enables pervasive, wireless surface crack detection in structural materials. We outline the sensor design and demonstrate how crack length and orientation can be related to the backscatter signal signature of the SCARS sensor. In doing so, design techniques that improve sensor sensitivity and signal fidelity are presented. Proof of concept is then demonstrated via numerical simulation and the implementation of a laboratory prototype. Finally, an envisioned pervasive health monitoring and data extraction strategy using these sensors is also discussed.
Block-wise incremental adaptation algorithm for maximum kurtosis beamforming

In prior work, the current authors investigated beamforming algorithms that exploit the non-Gaussianity of human speech. The beamformers proposed in [1, 2, 3] are designed to maximize the kurtosis or negentropy of the subband output subject to the distortionless constraint for the direction of interest. Such techniques are able to suppress interference signals as well as reverberation effects without signal cancellation. They require, however, multiple passes of processing for each utterance in order to estimate the active weight vector. Hence, they are unsuitable for online implementation. In this work, we propose an online implementation of the maximum kurtosis beamformer. In a set of distant speech recognition experiments on far-field data, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Compared to a single channel of the array, the proposed algorithm reduced word error rate from 15.4% to 6.5%.
Important elements in farm animal-assisted interventions for persons with clinical depression: a qualitative interview study

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to obtain participants’ own experience of a farm animal-assisted intervention, and what they perceived as important elements in relation to their mental health. Method: A qualitative study, inspired by a phenomenological-hermeneutical perspective was conducted. Eight persons with clinical depression who had completed a 12-week farm animal-assisted intervention at a dairy farm participated in thematic interviews between May and June 2009. Results: The intervention was regarded as a positive experience for the participants. The analyses revealed that central elements in the intervention were the possibility to experience an ordinary work life, but also the importance of a distraction to their illness. Furthermore, the flexibility of the intervention made it possible to adjust the intervention to the participants’ shifting reality and was thereby a key element in farm animal-assisted intervention. The flexibility and adapted work tasks were important elements that the participants associated with their experience of coping. A model showing the interaction between the different elements reported as important by the participants was constructed. Conclusions: This study shows that a farm animal-assisted intervention could be a supplement in mental health rehabilitation. All the elements in our model could possibly influence positively on mental health. Implications for Rehabilitation Depression causes decreased quality of life and impairment, and in Western countries depression represents a major cause for sick leave and work disability. During rehabilitation, farm animal-assisted interventions may be beneficial for persons with depression. The possibility to experience an ordinary work setting was important for the participants, but also that the intervention acted as a distraction to their illness. The participants described the flexibility and possibility to experience coping as central elements in the intervention.
Specialized Stroke Services: A Meta-Analysis Comparing Three Models of Care

Background: Using previously published data, the purpose of this study was to identify and discriminate between three different forms of inpatient stroke care based on timing and duration of treatment and to compare the results of clinically important outcomes. Methods: Randomized controlled trials, including a recent review of inpatient stroke unit/rehabilitation care, were identified and grouped into three models of care as follows: (a) acute stroke unit care (patients admitted within 36 h of stroke onset and remaining for up to 2 weeks; n = 5), (b) units combining acute and rehabilitative care (combined; n = 4), and (c) rehabilitation units where patients were transferred onto the service approximately 2 weeks following stroke (postacute; n = 5). Pooled analyses for the outcomes of mortality, combined death and dependency and length of hospital stay were calculated for each model of care, compared to conventional care. Results: All three models of care were associated with significant reductions in the odds of combined death and dependency; however, acute stroke units were not associated with significant reductions in mortality when this outcome was analyzed separately (OR 0.80; 95% CI: 0.61–1.03). Postacute stroke units were associated with the greatest reduction in the odds of mortality (OR 0.60; 95% CI: 0.44–0.81). Significant reductions in length of hospital stay were associated with combined stroke units only (weighted mean difference –14 days; 95% CI: –27 to –2). Conclusions: Overall, specialized stroke services were associated with significant reductions in mortality, death and dependency and length of hospital stay although not every model of care was associated with equal benefit.
Repair at Single Targeted DNA Double-Strand Breaks in Pluripotent and Differentiated Human Cells

Differences in ex vivo cell culture conditions can drastically affect stem cell physiology. We sought to establish an assay for measuring the effects of chemical, environmental, and genetic manipulations on the precision of repair at a single DNA double-strand break (DSB) in pluripotent and somatic human cells. DSBs in mammalian cells are primarily repaired by either homologous recombination (HR) or nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). For the most part, previous studies of DSB repair in human cells have utilized nonspecific clastogens like ionizing radiation, which are highly nonphysiologic, or assayed repair at randomly integrated reporters. Measuring repair after random integration is potentially confounded by locus-specific effects on the efficiency and precision of repair. We show that the frequency of HR at a single DSB differs up to 20-fold between otherwise isogenic human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) based on the site of the DSB within the genome. To overcome locus-specific effects on DSB repair, we used zinc finger nucleases to efficiently target a DSB repair reporter to a safe-harbor locus in hESCs and a panel of somatic human cell lines. We demonstrate that repair at a targeted DSB is highly precise in hESCs, compared to either the somatic human cells or murine embryonic stem cells. Differentiation of hESCs harboring the targeted reporter into astrocytes reduces both the efficiency and precision of repair. Thus, the phenotype of repair at a single DSB can differ based on either the site of damage within the genome or the stage of cellular differentiation. Our approach to single DSB analysis has broad utility for defining the effects of genetic and environmental modifications on repair precision in pluripotent cells and their differentiated progeny.
Travel Socialization: A Social Theory of Travel Mode Behavior

ABSTRACT This article reports research investigating the cultural determinants of children's travel. A new perspective, travel socialization theory, is presented. This states that children learn about travel modes in the same way as other aspects of culture through agents of socialization: the family, school, media, and peer groups. The role of each is discussed. A theoretical implication of travel socialization is that our thinking and attitudes toward transport modes are embedded in childhood. A policy implication is that car dependency should be viewed as a social problem and tackled from a social policy rather than just a travel demand management approach.
HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma is associated with TIMP3 and CADM1 promoter hypermethylation

Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) in a proportion of tumors. HPV‐positive OPSCC is considered a distinct molecular entity with a prognostic advantage compared to HPV‐negative cases. Silencing of cancer‐related genes by DNA promoter hypermethylation may play an important role in the development of OPSCC. Hence, we examined promoter methylation status in 24 common tumor suppressor genes in a group of 200 OPSCCs to determine differentially methylated genes in HPV‐positive versus HPV‐negative primary OPSCC. Methylation status was correlated with HPV status, clinical features, and patient survival using multivariate methods. Additionally, methylation status of 16 cervical squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) was compared with HPV‐positive OPSCC. Using methylation‐specific probe amplification, HPV‐positive OPSCC showed a significantly higher cumulative methylation index (CMI) compared to HPV‐negative OPSCC (P=0.008). For the genes CDH13, DAPK1, and RARB, both HPV‐positive and HPV‐negative OPSCC showed promoter hypermethylation in at least 20% of the tumors. HPV status was found to be an independent predictor of promoter hypermethylation of CADM1 (P < 0.001), CHFR (P = 0.027), and TIMP3 (P < 0.001). CADM1 and CHFR showed similar methylation patterns in OPSCC and cervical SCC, but TIMP3 showed no methylation in cervical SCC in contrast to OPSCC. Methylation status of neither individual gene nor CMI was associated with survival. These results suggest that HPV‐positive tumors are to a greater extent driven by promotor hypermethylation in these tumor suppressor genes. Especially CADM1 and TIMP3 are significantly more frequently hypermethylated in HPV‐positive OPSCC and CHFR in HPV‐negative tumors.
Code-Mixing as a Bilingual Instructional Strategy

This study investigated code-mixing practices, specifically the use of L2 (English) in an L1 (Chinese) class in a U.S. bilingual program. Our findings indicate that the code-mixing practices made and prompted by the teacher served five pedagogical functions: (a) to enhance students’ bilingualism and bilingual learning, (b) to review and consolidate content taught in the ESL and all-English classes, (c) to facilitate cross-linguistic transfer, (d) to increase understanding of home and U.S. cultures, and (e) to foster an understanding of cross-cultural differences. In particular, these functions encompass lexical, cross-cultural, and cross-linguistic dimensions. Findings suggest that strategic use of code-mixing of bilinguals’ L1 and L2 in instruction may enhance students’ bilingual development and maximize their learning efficacy.
School Resource Officers and Students’ Feelings of Safety at School

The number of school resource officers (SROs) placed at schools has increased dramatically. These officers are tasked with making schools safer, yet the effect of interacting with SROs on students’ feelings of safety needs more investigation. To address this need, 1,956 middle and high school students were surveyed. Latent class analysis identified two groups of students, one who felt safe and another who did not. Regression showed that interacting with SROs was unrelated to these feelings of safety; instead, African American students and victimized students felt less safe while males, students with more school connectedness, and students with more positive attitudes about SROs felt safer.
Dealing With Unexpected Events on the Flight Deck: A Conceptual Model of Startle and Surprise

Objective: A conceptual model is proposed in order to explain pilot performance in surprising and startling situations. Background: Today’s debate around loss of control following in-flight events and the implementation of upset prevention and recovery training has highlighted the importance of pilots’ ability to deal with unexpected events. Unexpected events, such as technical malfunctions or automation surprises, potentially induce a “startle factor” that may significantly impair performance. Method: Literature on surprise, startle, resilience, and decision making is reviewed, and findings are combined into a conceptual model. A number of recent flight incident and accident cases are then used to illustrate elements of the model. Results: Pilot perception and actions are conceptualized as being guided by “frames,” or mental knowledge structures that were previously learned. Performance issues in unexpected situations can often be traced back to insufficient adaptation of one’s frame to the situation. It is argued that such sensemaking or reframing processes are especially vulnerable to issues caused by startle or acute stress. Conclusion: Interventions should focus on (a) increasing the supply and quality of pilot frames (e.g., though practicing a variety of situations), (b) increasing pilot reframing skills (e.g., through the use of unpredictability in training scenarios), and (c) improving pilot metacognitive skills, so that inappropriate automatic responses to startle and surprise can be avoided. Application: The model can be used to explain pilot behavior in accident cases, to design experiments and training simulations, to teach pilots metacognitive skills, and to identify intervention methods.
Morphological differences in cardiovascular anomalies induced by bis‐diamine between Sprague–Dawley and Wistar rats

ABSTRACT It is known that animals show different responses to the same teratogen between different strains. We examined cardiac malformations in Sprague–Dawley (SD) and Wistar rats induced by bis‐diamine, which produced conotruncal anomalies and aortic arch malformations in embryos when administered to the dams, to elucidate the morphological differences and pathogenesis in the two strains. Two hundred milligrams of bis‐diamine dissolved in 1% gum‐tragacanth was administered to pregnant rats on embryonic day (ED) 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 in each strain. The embryos were removed on ED 20.5. External appearances, cardiovascular morphology and associated anomalies were examined under a dissecting microscope. An immunohistological study with an anti‐N‐CAM antibody, an excellent marker for neural crest cells, was performed on ED 12.5 embryos. Isolated aortic arch anomalies were common features of malformations induced by bis‐diamine in SD rats and intracardiac defects were found in a small number of the embryos. Wistar rats showed more serious cardiovascular anomalies, such as persistent truncus arteriosus and tetralogy of Fallot, especially when dams were treated on ED 10.5 and isolated arch anomalies were significantly less prevalent than in SD rats. Immunohistology demonstrated that there were fewer N‐CAM positive cells in the conotruncal region in Wistar rats than in SD rats. Bis‐diamine induced more critical cardiovascular malformations in Wistar rats because neural crest cells, which play an important role in conotruncal septation, were more extensively damaged. Different susceptibility to bis‐diamine and/or different time of neural crest cell emigration from the hindbrain might explain those morphological differences.
A single amino acid in the PB2 gene of influenza A virus is a determinant of host range

The single gene reassortant virus that derives its PB2 gene from the avian influenza A/Mallard/NY/78 virus and remaining genes from the human influenza A/Los Angeles/2/87 virus exhibits a host range restriction (hr) phenotype characterized by efficient replication in avian tissue and failure to produce plaques in mammalian Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. The hr phenotype is associated with restriction of viral replication in the respiratory tract of squirrel monkeys and humans. To identify the genetic basis of the hr phenotype, we isolated four phenotypic hr mutant viruses that acquired the ability to replicate efficiently in mammalian tissue. Segregational analysis indicated that the loss of the hr phenotype was due to a mutation in the PB2 gene itself. The nucleotide sequences of the PB2 gene of each of the four hr mutants revealed that a single amino acid substitution at position 627 (Glu-->Lys) was responsible for the restoration of the ability of the PB2 single gene reassortant to replicate in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Interestingly, the amino acid at position 627 in every avian influenza A virus PB2 protein analyzed to date is glutamic acid, and in every human influenza A virus PB2 protein, it is lysine. Thus, the amino acid at residue 627 of PB2 is an important determinant of host range of influenza A viruses.