Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Magnetogenesis and the primordial non-gaussianity

The primordial density fluctuation inevitably couples to all forms of matter via loop corrections and depends on the ambient conditions while inflation was ongoing. This gives us the opportunity to observe processes which were in progress while the universe was inflating, provided they were sufficiently dramatic to overcome suppression by powers of (H/M P)2 10-9, where H is the Hubble scale during inflation and MP is the Planck mass. As an example, if a primordial magnetic field was synthesized during inflation, as suggested by some interpretations of the apparently universal 10-6 gauss field observed on galactic scales, then this could leave traces in inflationary observables. In this paper, I compute corrections to the spectrum and bispectrum generated by a varying electromagnetic coupling during inflation, assuming that the variation in this coupling is mediated by interaction with a collection of light scalar fields. If the mass scale associated with this interaction is too far below the Planck scale then the stability of perturbation theory can be upset, potentially leading to a large non-gaussianity which would be incompatible with observation. For the mass-scale which is relevant in the standard magnetogenesis scenario, however, the theory is stable and the model is apparently consistent with observational constraints
Predicting Reading Comprehension of 8th Grade Struggling Readers: Fluency, Self-Efficacy, and Intrinsic Motivation

Several theories contribute to explaining factors that influence text comprehension in struggling readers. Some authors assume a simple view in which fluent word recognition and adequate language comprehension leads to comprehension of text (Gough, Hoover, & Peterson, 1996). A broad base of research evidence supports the substantial impact of reading fluency in students’ reading comprehension in elementary grades (Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp, & Jenkins, 2001). However, as students move from elementary school to middle school, fluency tends to account for less variation in comprehension (Denton et al., 2011) and other factors must be considered. A missing part of the puzzle concerns psychological factors that relate to reading comprehension. What role does motivation play in adolescents’ reading comprehension? Theories on the positive impact of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation on academic achievement have been examined by several psychologists (Bandura, 1977; Deci & Ryan, 1985). Researchers have used these theories to build motivation assessments, which explore how motivation is related to reading outcomes. However, most of these studies have focused on elementary school students, and limited studies have been conducted with English Language Learners (ELLs), a population that has been shown to lag behind their peers in reading comprehension (Lesaux, 2006). Using a sample of 102 eighth grade struggling readers, this study addressed the relationship between silent reading fluency, oral reading fluency, language status, self efficacy, and intrinsic motivation in predicting reading comprehension. Hierarchical linear models were used to control for the effect of teacher on reading comprehension. The following major conclusions can be summarized about struggling readers in middle school from this study: (1) Silent reading fluency significantly predicts reading comprehension; (2) Oral reading fluency does not contribute significantly to reading comprehension; (3) Language status is a significant predictor of reading comprehension; (4) Self-efficacy and reading curiosity are not substantial predictors of reading comprehension scores; and (5) Language status moderates the relationship between reading involvement and reading comprehension scores. These conclusions will be discussed in light of the results of the study and practical implications for educators will be addressed.
Artemisinin resistance in Cambodia: a clinical trial designed to address an emerging problem in Southeast Asia.

BACKGROUND Increasing rates of failure of artemisinin-based combination therapy have highlighted the possibility of emerging artemisinin resistance along the Thai-Cambodian border. We used an integrated in vivo-in vitro approach to assess the presence of artemisinin resistance in western Cambodia. This article provides additional data from a clinical trial that has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine. METHODS Ninety-four adult patients from Battambang Province, western Cambodia, who presented with uncomplicated falciparum malaria were randomized to receive high-dose artesunate therapy (4 mg/kg/day orally for 7 days) or quinine-tetracycline. Plasma concentrations of dihydroartemisinin, in vitro drug susceptibility, and molecular markers were analyzed. Cases meeting all the following criteria were classified as artemisinin resistant: failure to clear parasites within 7 days of treatment or reemergence of parasites within 28 days of follow-up; adequate plasma concentrations of dihydroartemisinin; prolonged parasite clearance; and increased in vitro drug susceptibility levels for dihydroartemisinin. RESULTS Two (3.3%) of 60 artesunate-treated patients were classified as artemisinin resistant. Their parasite clearance times were prolonged (133 and 95 h, compared with a median of 52.2 h in patients who were cured). These patients had 50% inhibitory concentrations of dihydroartemisinin that were almost 10 times higher than the reference clone W2. Resistance did not appear to be mediated by the pfmdr1 copy number or selected PfATPase6 polymorphisms previously proposed to confer artemisinin resistance. CONCLUSION Artemisinin resistance has emerged along the Thai-Cambodian border. The potentially devastating implications of spreading resistance to a drug that currently has no successor call for further studies of this emerging problem. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00479206.
Plasticity-Driven Self-Organization under Topological Constraints Accounts for Non-random Features of Cortical Synaptic Wiring

Understanding the structure and dynamics of cortical connectivity is vital to understanding cortical function. Experimental data strongly suggest that local recurrent connectivity in the cortex is significantly non-random, exhibiting, for example, above-chance bidirectionality and an overrepresentation of certain triangular motifs. Additional evidence suggests a significant distance dependency to connectivity over a local scale of a few hundred microns, and particular patterns of synaptic turnover dynamics, including a heavy-tailed distribution of synaptic efficacies, a power law distribution of synaptic lifetimes, and a tendency for stronger synapses to be more stable over time. Understanding how many of these non-random features simultaneously arise would provide valuable insights into the development and function of the cortex. While previous work has modeled some of the individual features of local cortical wiring, there is no model that begins to comprehensively account for all of them. We present a spiking network model of a rodent Layer 5 cortical slice which, via the interactions of a few simple biologically motivated intrinsic, synaptic, and structural plasticity mechanisms, qualitatively reproduces these non-random effects when combined with simple topological constraints. Our model suggests that mechanisms of self-organization arising from a small number of plasticity rules provide a parsimonious explanation for numerous experimentally observed non-random features of recurrent cortical wiring. Interestingly, similar mechanisms have been shown to endow recurrent networks with powerful learning abilities, suggesting that these mechanism are central to understanding both structure and function of cortical synaptic wiring. Author Summary The problem of how the brain wires itself up has important implications for the understanding of both brain development and cognition. The microscopic structure of the circuits of the adult neocortex, often considered the seat of our highest cognitive abilities, is still poorly understood. Recent experiments have provided a first set of findings on the structural features of these circuits, but it is unknown how these features come about and how they are maintained. Here we present a neural network model that shows how these features might come about. It gives rise to numerous connectivity features, which have been observed in experiments, but never before simultaneously produced by a single model. Our model explains the development of these structural features as the result of a process of self-organization. The results imply that only a few simple mechanisms and constraints are required to produce, at least to the first approximation, various characteristic features of a typical fragment of brain microcircuitry. In the absence of any of these mechanisms, simultaneous production of all desired features fails, suggesting a minimal set of necessary mechanisms for their production.
Citric Acid Production from Orange Peel Wastes by Solid-State Fermentation

Valencia orange (Citrus sinensis) peel was employed in this work as raw material for the production of citric acid (CA) by solid-state fermentation (SSF) of Aspergillus niger CECT-2090 (ATCC 9142, NRRL 599) in Erlenmeyer flasks. To investigate the effects of the main operating variables, the inoculum concentration was varied in the range 0.5·103 to 0.7·108 spores/g dry orange peel, the bed loading from 1.0 to 4.8 g of dry orange peel (corresponding to 35-80 % of the total volume), and the moisture content between 50 and 100 % of the maximum water retention capacity (MWRC) of the material. Moreover, additional experiments were done adding methanol or water in different proportions and ways. The optimal conditions for CA production revealed to be an inoculum of 0.5·106 spores/g dry orange peel, a bed loading of 1.0 g of dry orange peel, and a humidification pattern of 70 % MWRC at the beginning of the incubation with posterior addition of 0.12 mL H2O/g dry orange peel (corresponding to 3.3 % of the MWRC) every 12 h starting from 62 h. The addition of methanol was detrimental for the CA production. Under these conditions, the SSF ensured an effective specific production of CA (193 mg CA/g dry orange peel), corresponding to yields of product on total initial and consumed sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) of 376 and 383 mg CA/g, respectively. These results, which demonstrate the viability of the CA production by SSF from orange peel without addition of other nutrients, could be of interest to possible, future industrial applications.
Biochemical Foundations of Health and Energy Conservation in Hibernating Free-ranging Subadult Brown Bear Ursus arctos*

Brown bears (Ursus arctos) hibernate for 5–7 months without eating, drinking, urinating, and defecating at a metabolic rate of only 25% of the summer activity rate. Nonetheless, they emerge healthy and alert in spring. We quantified the biochemical adaptations for hibernation by comparing the proteome, metabolome, and hematological features of blood from hibernating and active free-ranging subadult brown bears with a focus on conservation of health and energy. We found that total plasma protein concentration increased during hibernation, even though the concentrations of most individual plasma proteins decreased, as did the white blood cell types. Strikingly, antimicrobial defense proteins increased in concentration. Central functions in hibernation involving the coagulation response and protease inhibition, as well as lipid transport and metabolism, were upheld by increased levels of very few key or broad specificity proteins. The changes in coagulation factor levels matched the changes in activity measurements. A dramatic 45-fold increase in sex hormone-binding globulin levels during hibernation draws, for the first time, attention to its significant but unknown role in maintaining hibernation physiology. We propose that energy for the costly protein synthesis is reduced by three mechanisms as follows: (i) dehydration, which increases protein concentration without de novo synthesis; (ii) reduced protein degradation rates due to a 6 °C reduction in body temperature and decreased protease activity; and (iii) a marked redistribution of energy resources only increasing de novo synthesis of a few key proteins. The comprehensive global data identified novel biochemical strategies for bear adaptations to the extreme condition of hibernation and have implications for our understanding of physiology in general.
Experimental determination of correlations for heat transfer coefficients in the suction muffler of a hermetic reciprocating compressor

The efficiency and reliability of hermetic reciprocating compressors adopted for household refrigeration are affected by the temperature distribution of their components. Simulation models developed to assist the thermal design of compressors require heat transfer coefficients in different components, usually estimated from correlations available for simplified geometries. However, the geometries of some components are complex and require more representative heat transfer coefficients. This paper presents experimental results for heat transfer coefficients obtained from measurements of heat flux and temperature in different regions of the suction muffler of a small reciprocating compressor under different operating conditions. A least square method was employed to obtain correlations for local heat transfer coefficients, which were then compared with estimates given by correlations available in the literature for simplified geometries.
Butyrate Greatly Enhances Derivation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Promoting Epigenetic Remodeling and the Expression of Pluripotency‐Associated Genes

We report here that butyrate, a naturally occurring fatty acid commonly used as a nutritional supplement and differentiation agent, greatly enhances the efficiency of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell derivation from human adult or fetal fibroblasts. After transient butyrate treatment, the iPS cell derivation efficiency is enhanced by 15‐ to 51‐fold using either retroviral or piggyBac transposon vectors expressing 4 to 5 reprogramming genes. Butyrate stimulation is more remarkable (>100‐ to 200‐fold) on reprogramming in the absence of either KLF4 or MYC transgene. Butyrate treatment did not negatively affect properties of iPS cell lines established by either 3 or 4 retroviral vectors or a single piggyBac DNA transposon vector. These characterized iPS cell lines, including those derived from an adult patient with sickle cell disease by either the piggyBac or retroviral vectors, show normal karyotypes and pluripotency. To gain insights into the underlying mechanisms of butyrate stimulation, we conducted genome‐wide gene expression and promoter DNA methylation microarrays and other epigenetic analyses on established iPS cells and cells from intermediate stages of the reprogramming process. By days 6 to 12 during reprogramming, butyrate treatment enhanced histone H3 acetylation, promoter DNA demethylation, and the expression of endogenous pluripotency‐associated genes, including DPPA2, whose overexpression partially substitutes for butyrate stimulation. Thus, butyrate as a cell permeable small molecule provides a simple tool to further investigate molecular mechanisms of cellular reprogramming. Moreover, butyrate stimulation provides an efficient method for reprogramming various human adult somatic cells, including cells from patients that are more refractory to reprogramming. STEM CELLS 2010;28:713–72028:713–720
The effect of emotions and cognitions on continuance intention in information systems

While much of the prior studies on Information system (IS) adoption and usage continuance have examined cognitive factors, the emotion factors in understanding and predicting user behavior remained relatively unexplored. This study proposed a hybrid model that integrates emotion, cognition, satisfaction, and post adoption behavior in order to obtain a better understanding of users' continuance intention of IS. Three hundred and eighteen Blackboard Learning System (BLS) users were obtained from a survey. The paper assessed the psychometric properties of the measures through confirmatory factor analysis and then employed structural equation modeling analysis in order to examine the prospective model to better predict users' continuous adoption of IS. The results show that positive and negative emotions mediate the effect of confirmation and directly predict user satisfaction. However, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use predict the level of user satisfaction better than emotions and perceived usefulness is the stronger predictor of user satisfaction than other variables.
Pengaruh Kepercayaan, Kemudahan, dan KualitasInformasi Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian SecaraOnline(Studi Pada Pengguna Situs Jual Beli Online tokobagus.com )

This study aims to determine the influence of trust, easy of use, and information quality on online buying decisions of online shop site tokobagus.com, and to analyze the most dominant factor affecting those decisions. The populations used in this study is tokobagus.com users who have decided to buy online at online shop tokobagus.com. Samples taken are as many as 100 customers, by using Non-Probability Sampling method and Accidential Sampling approaches, that is the sample determination method based on coincidence, which are the customers using the Honda matic motorcycle in Siliwangi Honda Center, Semarang. According to the statistical data analysis, the outcome is that the indicators used in this study are valid and the variables are reliable. The classical assumption test, that is the multicolinnearity regression model, indicate that there is no heteroscedasticity, and the distribution is normal. The analysis also prove that trust variable indicate the most dominant result on influencing the buying decisions with a regression coefficient of 0.310, followed by the easy of use variable with a regression coefficient of 0.298, and the information quality variable with a regression coefficient of 0.279. Those results indicate that all of the independent variables affect positively and significancely on the buying decisions through the F-test and the T-test, while the Adjusted R-Square value of 0,639 indicate that 63,9% of the buying decision variations at online shop tokobagus.com, could be explained by those three independent variables, and the remaining 36,1% is explained by the other factors outside this study
Viral Infection Affects Sucrose Responsiveness and Homing Ability of Forager Honey Bees, Apis mellifera L.

Honey bee health is mainly affected by Varroa destructor, viruses, Nosema spp. , pesticide residues and poor nutrition. Interactions between these proposed factors may be responsible for the colony losses reported worldwide in recent years. In the present study, the effects of a honey bee virus, Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), on the foraging behaviors and homing ability of European honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) were investigated based on proboscis extension response (PER) assays and radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. The pollen forager honey bees originated from colonies that had no detectable level of honey bee viruses and were manually inoculated with IAPV to induce the viral infection. The results showed that IAPV-inoculated honey bees were more responsive to low sucrose solutions compared to that of non-infected foragers. After two days of infection, around 107 copies of IAPV were detected in the heads of these honey bees. The homing ability of IAPV-infected foragers was depressed significantly in comparison to the homing ability of uninfected foragers. The data provided evidence that IAPV infection in the heads may enable the virus to disorder foraging roles of honey bees and to interfere with brain functions that are responsible for learning, navigation, and orientation in the honey bees, thus, making honey bees have a lower response threshold to sucrose and lose their way back to the hive.
Cortical mechanisms for reach planning

Many interactions with the world around us involve reaching out to objects that we see, and manipulating them with our hands. Yet the computation of a reach plan and the representation of the necessary components of a reach – hand position and target position - have been investigated extensively in monkeys, but studies on reach planning in humans have been scarce. How the different types of sensory information, like visual and somatosensory information, are integrated into a reach plan, and where this processing is implemented in the brain, are questions that still need to be answered. One crucial aspect of this problem is that the different sensory signals arrive in different reference frames, so that integrating or comparing them requires transformations between reference frames. The experiments described in this thesis have resulted in the following contributions to the field. Psychophysical data suggest that an eye-centered mechanism is involved in integrating target and hand position in programming reaching movements. BOLD imaging data show that the posterior parietal cortex and the dorsal premotor cortex specify both the spatial location of a target and the effector selected for a reach. These regions are thus selectively engaged in the neural computations for reach planning, which is consistent with the results from physiological studies in non-human primates. The neural circuitry involved in the planning of goal-directed hand movements overlaps with the circuitry recruited during the planning of eye movements. The relative weight of spatial goal and effector selectivity changes within this circuitry, depending on the status of the movement plan. Posterior parietal cortex and dorsal premotor cortex show eye-centered integration effects in setting up reach plans, consistent with the behavioral findings. Regions closer to the central sulcus show body-centered hand position effects, which may be related to the implementation of a joint-based motor command.
Shared or non-shared?: Children's different consumer socialisation experiences within the family environment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine children's consumption experiences within families in order to investigate the role that different family environments play in the consumer socialisation of children.Design/methodology/approach – Key consumer socialisation literature is reviewed and family communication patterns and parental socialisation style studies are introduced. Such studies argue for the homogenous and shared nature of the family environment for children. A three‐stage qualitative study of six families is reported, incorporating existential phenomenological interviews. The voices of children and their parents are captured, and the transcribed interview texts are analyzed on two levels (within and across family cases) using a hermeneutical process.Findings – The findings of the study point towards the differential treatment of children within the family environment by both parents and siblings. It is proposed that children inhabit a unique position, or micro‐environment, within their.