Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Constraints on galaxy formation from α-enhancement in luminous elliptical galaxies

We explore the formation of α-enhanced and metal-rich stellar populations in the nuclei of luminous ellipticals under the assumption of two extreme galaxy formation scenarios based on hierarchical clustering, namely a fast clumpy collapse and the merger of two spirals. We investigate the parameter space of the star formation time-scale, the slope of the initial mass function (IMF) and stellar yields. In particular, the latter add a huge uncertainty in constraining time-scales and IMF slopes. We find that—for Thielemann, Nomoto & Hashimoto nucleosynthesis—in a fast clumpy collapse scenario an [α/Fe] overabundance of ∼ 0.2 dex in the high-metallicity stars can be achieved with a Salpeter IMF and star formation time-scales of the order 109 yr. The scenario of two merging spirals that are similar to our Galaxy, instead, fails to reproduce the α-enhanced abundance ratios in the metal-rich stars, unless the IMF is flattened during the burst ignited by the merger. This result is independent of the burst time-scale. We suggest that abundance gradients give hints to distinguish between the two extreme formation scenarios considered in this paper.
Adolescents at risk for social and test anxiety. Who are at risk and how can we help

Bij sociale angst en faalangst staat de angst voor negatieve beoordeling door anderen centraal. Deze angstklachten komen vaak voor in de vroege adolescentie, kunnen een chronisch beloop hebben en kunnen leiden tot sociale isolatie, middelenmisbruik en depressieve klachten. Het is dus van belang om jongeren die risico lopen tijdig op te sporen en te voorkomen dat klachten zich ontwikkelen of verergeren. In samenwerking met Eva de Hullu onderzocht Esther Sportel twee trainingen gericht op het verminderen van faalangst en sociale angstklachten. Van de ruim 1800 scholieren (12-14 jaar) die meededen aan een screening op 25 scholen werden 240 scholieren geselecteerd die in enige mate last hadden van faalangst of sociale angst. Zij kregen Cognitieve Bias Modificatie training (CBM), een cognitieve gedragstraining (CGT) in een groep op school, of geen training. De scholieren werden twee jaar gevolgd. CGT bleek effectief in het verminderen van faalangst op korte en lange termijn. Wat betreft sociale angst was er alleen op korte termijn een meerwaarde ten opzichte van de jongeren die geen training kregen. De CBM had een gunstig effect op faalangst op lange termijn. Al met al lijkt het aanbieden van de CGT raadzaam voor het verminderen van faalangstklachten op de middelbare school. Hiernaast bekeek Esther Sportel ook factoren die mogelijk bijdragen aan een verhoogd risico op het ontwikkelen van angstklachten. Hiervoor keek zij naar de temperamentsfactoren aandachtscontrole, gedragsinhibitie en het vecht-vlucht-bevries-systeem. Hoewel deze factoren allemaal samenhangen met angst, bleken angstsymptomen zelf de beste voorspeller voor angst twee jaar later en was er geen unieke bijdrage van de temperamentsfactoren.
Irinotecan combined with infusional 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid or capecitabine plus celecoxib or placebo in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. EORTC study 40015.

BACKGROUND The study aimed to demonstrate the noninferiority of capecitabine to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/folinic acid (FA), in relation to progression-free survival (PFS) after first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and the benefit of adding celecoxib (C) to irinotecan/fluoropyrimidine regimens compared with placebo (P). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients were randomly assigned to receive FOLFIRI: irinotecan (180 mg/m(2) i.v. on days 1, 15 and 22); FA (200 mg/m(2) i.v. on days 1, 2, 15, 16, 29 and 30); 5-FU (400 mg/m(2) i.v. bolus, then 22-h, 600 mg/m(2) infusion) or CAPIRI: irinotecan (250 mg/m(2) i.v. infusion on days 1 and 22); capecitabine p.o. (1000 mg/m(2) b.i. d. on days 1-15 and 22-36). Patients were additionally randomly assigned to receive either placebo or celecoxib (800 mg: 2 x 200 mg b.i.d.). RESULTS The trial was closed following eight deaths unrelated to disease progression in the 85 enrolled (629 planned) patients. Response rates were 22% for CAPIRI + C, 48% for CAPIRI + P, 32% for FOLFIRI + C and 46% for FOLFIRI + P. Median PFS and overall survival (OS) times were shorter for CAPIRI versus FOLFIRI (PFS 5.9 versus 9.6 months and OS 14.8 versus 19.9 months) and celecoxib versus placebo (PFS 6.9 versus 7.8 months and OS 18.3 versus 19.9 months). CONCLUSION Due to the small sample size following early termination, no definitive conclusions can be drawn in relation to the noninferiority of CAPIRI compared with FOLFIRI.
MetaSpider: Meta-searching and categorization on the Web

It has become increasingly difficult to locate relevant information on the Web, even with the help of Web search engines. Two approaches to addressing the low precision and poor presentation of search results of current search tools are studied: meta-search and document categorization. Meta-search engines improve precision by selecting and integrating search results from generic or domain-specific Web search engines or other resources. Document categorization promises better organization and presentation of retrieved results. This article introduces MetaSpider, a meta-search engine that has real-time indexing and categorizing functions. We report in this paper the major components of MetaSpider and discuss related technical approaches. Initial results of a user evaluation study comparing MetaSpider, NorthernLight, and MetaCrawler in terms of clustering performance and of time and effort expended show that MetaSpider performed best in precision rate, but disclose no statistically significant differences in recall rate and time requirements. Our experimental study also reveals that MetaSpider exhibited a higher level of automation than the other two systems and facilitated efficient searching by providing the user with an organized, comprehensive view of the retrieved documents.
Psychopathology in children of schizophrenics

The higher prevalence of schizophrenia in children of schizophrenics than in the general population has generated an interest in pinpointing those behaviors that may precede the disorder and serve as an index of vulnerability to the disorder. Signs of neurobehavioral dysfunction in areas of neurocognitive functioning and social behavior have been found in school-age children of schizophrenic parents. This study assessed the neurobehavioral functioning, social behavior, cognitive functioning, attention and intelligence in children with a schizophrenic parent and compared the same parameters with children of mentally healthy parents. The children aged 12-15 years, were assessed with a battery of neurobehavioral tests. The children with a schizophrenic parent performed more poorly on the tests as compared to the children of mentally healthy parents. The children with a schizophrenic parent were seen to have more behavioral problems, especially withdrawn behavior and more social problems when compared to the other children in the study. Poor attention, disordered thoughts and lower intelligence were also observed to be more in the children of the schizophrenic parent
Effects of land tenure and property rights on agricultural productivity in Ethiopia, Namibia and Bangladesh

The SARD-Climate project provides report containing an analysis and policy recommendations for a development policy aiming at a Sustainable Development with regard to agriculture and rural areas, food security and climate. The following reports have been issued: 1. Gen eral th eore ti cal f ram ework (J oh n Sum elius, S tef an Bäckm an , Reim un d Rötter, Hel ena Kahiluoto) 2. Start-up document (John Sumelius, Stefan Bäckman) 3. Investigation of the effects of increases in agricultural productivity with regard to food security, employment and rural development in general (4 .Analysis of the relation between rural poverty, malnutrition and hunger, and the interlinks with agricultural production growth and productivity growth with special reference to Mozambique 5. Effects of land tenure and property rights on agricultural productivity in Ethiopia, Namibia and Bangladesh (Shimelles Tenaw, K.M. Zahidul Islam and Tuulikki Parviainen) 6. Effects of developing country policies on agricultural services, extension, rural infrastructure and energy, health care, water and sanitation (Md. Motaher Hossain and Shimelles Tenaw) 7. Identifying the driving forces behind price fluctuations and potential food crisis (Stefan Bäckman and John Sumelius) 8. Analysis factors affecting supply of agricultural products: market liberalization, agricultural policies, bioenergy policies, population growth, input price development, trade policies and other relevant factors (Newton Nyairo and Stefan Bäckman) 9. Rural financial services and effects of microfinance on agricultural productivity and on poverty (Shimelles Tenaw and K.M. Zahidul Islam) 10. Fair Trade coffee certification. A tool for rural development and environmental protection in Nicaragua? (Joni Valkila) 11. Implications of and possible responses to climate change (Helena Kahiluoto and Reimund Rötter) Abstract Land reform experts claim that the main obstacle to increased agricultural output is shortage of land and population pressure. However, it is not the shortage of land alone, which affects the output of agriculture; it is the structure of land tenure, the lack of proper land ownership as well as lack of improved agricultural technology and changing climatic conditions. This is predominantly the major problem particularly in most of sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. A Namibian experience shows that subsistence agriculture is not necessarily a way out of poverty. The basic purpose of this paper is to discuss issues related to land tenure system, land rights, agricultural productivity and the effects of climate change. The paper presents an overall view of the above-mentioned themes in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, namely in Ethiopia, …
Regulation of actin microfilament integrity in living nonmuscle cells by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase and the myosin light chain kinase

Microinjection of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) into living fibroblasts or the treatment of these cells with agents that elevate the intracellular cAMP level caused marked alterations in cell morphology including a rounded phenotype and a complete loss of actin microfilament bundles. These effects were transient and fully reversible. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used to analyze the changes in phosphoproteins from cells injected with A-kinase. These experiments showed that accompanying the disassembly of actin microfilaments, phosphorylation of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) increased and concomitantly, the phosphorylation of myosin P- light chain decreased. Moreover, inhibiting MLCK activity via microinjection of affinity-purified antibodies specific to native MLCK caused a complete loss of microfilament bundle integrity and a decrease in myosin P-light chain phosphorylation, similar to that seen after injection of A-kinase. These data support the idea that A-kinase may regulate microfilament integrity through the phosphorylation and inhibition of MLCK activity in nonmuscle cells.
Educational Cultural Negotiators for students of color: a descriptive study of racial advocacy leaders

Abstract The research presented in this study focuses on Educational Cultural Negotiators (ECNs). The participants were teachers, administrators, and graduate students in an after-school program in the Midwest and a community-based school/university partnership in the Western U.S. We posit that the roles of the ECNs function as advocacy leaders to invoke racial affirmation, and academic intervention on behalf of African-American and Latina/o students at these school sites. Relying on critical race theory as the methodological analysis of the findings, this study seeks to identify the role of the ECNs as advocates for students in these settings to promote their academic and personal growth and success. This work illustrates how these particular educational leaders provide academic direction and challenge racial neglect and color-blindness within the public school system.
Ultrarelativistic fluid dynamics

This is the first of two papers examining the critical collapse of spherically symmetric perfect fluids with the equation of state P = ( -1) . Here we present the equations of motion and describe a computer code capable of simulating the extremely relativistic flows encountered in critical solutions for 2. The fluid equations are solved using a high-resolution shock-capturing scheme based on a linearized Riemann solver.
The action of the orthogonal group on planar vectors: invariants, covariants and syzygies

The construction of invariant and covariant polynomials from the x, y components of n planar vectors under the SO(2) and O(2) orthogonal groups is addressed. Molien functions determined under the SO(2) symmetry group are used as a guide to propose integrity bases for the algebra of invariants and the modules of covariants. The Molien functions that describe the structure of the algebra of invariants and the free modules of (m)-covariants, m ⩽ n − 1, are written as a ratio of a numerator in λ with positive coefficients over a (1 − λ2)2n − 1 denominator. This form of single rational function is standard in invariant theory and has a clear symbolic interpretation. However, its usefulness is lost for the non-free modules of (m)-covariants, m ⩾ n, due to negative coefficients in the numerator. We propose for these non-free modules a new representation of the Molien function as a sum of n rational functions with positive coefficients in the numerators and different numbers of terms in the denominators. This non-standard form is symbolically interpreted in terms of a generalized integrity basis. Integrity bases are explicitly given for n = 2, 3, 4 planar vectors and m ranging from 0 to 5. The integrity bases obtained under the SO(2) symmetry group are subsequently extended to the O(2) group.
A Fourteen Year Follow-Up Study of Health Promoting Schools in Norway: Principals’ Perceptions of Conditions Influencing Sustainability

In this study, we examined the sustainability of health-promoting practices in Norwegian schools that were enrolled in the European Network of Health-Promoting Schools from 1993 to 2003. The research questions were: How do the principals perceive that health-promoting practices have been sustained in the schools following the schools' membership of the health-promoting schools network? In what way is school leadership related to the sustainability of health promotion? The study draws on qualitative data consisting of interviews with seven principals in 2008 and school documents. The schools determined their own priorities for action based on assessment of needs in 1994. After 14 years, health promotion practices were sustained in six of the seven schools. Two factors emerged as vital for sustained health promotion practices: the health-promoting school experience and the maintenance and development of practice. The health-promoting school experience relates to staff who internalized the potential link between health promotion practices, school satisfaction, and learning. This also emphasizes the importance of the transfer of experience in sustaining health promotion practices as the staff turned over. The maintenance of vision and practice relates to the principals' commitment to school health promotion, leadership practices that encourage health promotion practices, and external collaboration with the surrounding community in health promotion.
Downscaling temperature and precipitation: a comparison of regression‐based methods and artificial neural networks

A comparison of two statistical downscaling methods for daily maximum and minimum surface air temperature, total daily precipitation and total monthly precipitation at Indianapolis, IN, USA, is presented. The analysis is conducted for two seasons, the growing season and the non‐growing season, defined based on variability of surface air temperature. The predictors used in the downscaling are indices of the synoptic scale circulation derived from rotated principal components analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis of variables extracted from an 18‐year record from seven rawinsonde stations in the Midwest region of the United States. PCA yielded seven significant components for the growing season and five significant components for the non‐growing season. These PCs explained 86% and 83% of the original rawinsonde data for the growing and non‐growing seasons, respectively. Cluster analysis of the PC scores using the average linkage method resulted in eight growing season synoptic types and twelve non‐growing synoptic types. The downscaling of temperature and precipitation is conducted using PC scores and cluster frequencies in regression models and artificial neural networks (ANNs).
Metabolic responses in discrete, Mice brain regions like CC, CG, H and CQ during PTZ induced epileptic seizures.

Epilepsy, a neurological disorder with recurrent seizures, involves disruption of different metabolic enzymes and its related metabolites altering the normal processes of metabolism, either during the onset or post epilepsy in the brain. In the present work, it is convincingly, observed that the Mice brain regions such as Corpus callosum (CC), Cingulate gyrus (CG), Hippocampus (H) and Corpora quadrigemina (CQ) shows significant changes in the activities of metabolic enzymes such as AST, ALT, LDH; ATPases like Na+, K+-ATPase, Mg2+- ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase along with their metabolites such as Glucose, Pyruvate, Lactate and Glutamate, altering the metabolic integrity during Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced epileptic seizure. We report from the present work that, H and CG are affected completely during epileptic seizure as compared to its control but CC and CQ shows partly altered as far as metabolism in brain is concerned.
Steganography and Cryptography Inspired Enhancement of Introductory Programming Courses

Steganography is the art and science of concealing communication. The goal of steganography is to hide the very existence of information exchange by embedding messages into unsuspicious digital media covers. Cryptography, or secret writing, is the study of the methods of encryption, decryption and their use in communications protocols. Steganography manipulates data to ensure the security of information, but the concept of steganography differs from cryptography. Cryptography obscures the meaning of a message, but it does not conceal the fact that there is a message. The goal of cryptography is to make data unreadable by a third party, whereas the goal of steganography is to hide the data from a third party. We present a way to integrate steganography and cryptology examples into introductory programming courses. This enrichment promotes active involvement in the course and provides opportunity to engage students in experimental problem solving and collaborative learning to enhance critical thinking.
Novel Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase MpkC of Aspergillus fumigatus Is Required for Utilization of Polyalcohol Sugars

ABSTRACT The genome of Aspergillus fumigatus has four genes that encode mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), sakA/hogA, mpkA, mpkB, and mpkC. The functions of the MpkB and MpkC MAPKs are unknown for A. fumigatus and the closely related and genetically amenable species Aspergillus nidulans. mpkC deletion mutants of A. fumigatus were made and their phenotypes characterized. The mpkC deletion mutants were viable and had normal conidial germination and hyphal growth on minimal or complete media. This is in contrast to deletion mutants with deletions in the closely related MAPK gene sakA/hogA that we previously reported had a nitrogen source-dependent germination phenotype. Similarly, the growth of the mpkC deletion mutants was wild type on high-osmolarity medium. Consistent with these two MAP kinase genes regulating different cellular responses, we determined that the mpkC deletion mutants were unable to grow on minimal medium with sorbitol or mannitol as the sole carbon source. This result implicates MpkC signaling in carbon source utilization. Changes in mRNA levels for sakA and mpkC were measured in response to hypertonic stress, oxidative stress, and a shift from glucose to sorbitol to determine if there was overlap in the SakA and MpkC signaling pathways. These studies demonstrated that SakA- and MpkC-dependent patterns of change in mRNA levels are distinct and have minimal overlap in response to these environmental stresses.
Effects of confinement on freezing and melting

We present a review of experimental, theoretical, and molecular simulation studies of confinement effects on freezing and melting. We consider both simple and more complex adsorbates that are confined in various environments (slit or cylindrical pores and also disordered porous materials). The most commonly used molecular simulation, theoretical and experimental methods are first presented. We also provide a brief description of the most widely used porous materials. The current state of knowledge on the effects of confinement on structure and freezing temperature, and the appearance of new surface-driven and confinement-driven phases are then discussed. We also address how confinement affects the glass transition.
American Grandchildren’s Use of Relational Maintenance Behaviors With Their Grandparents

ABSTRACT The present investigation sought to advance extant relational maintenance research in the context of grandparent-grandchild (GP-GC) relationships from the perspective of grandchildren. Specifically, this study examined the extent to which American grandchildren’s use of relational maintenance behaviors with their grandparents is (a) dependent on grandchildren’s and grandparents’ biological sex, (b) dependent on family lineage (i.e., maternal versus paternal grandparents), and (c) associated with grandchildren’s perceived GP-GC relational characteristics (i.e., trust, commitment, and control mutuality). Young adult American grandchildren (N = 220) completed a series of established instruments in reference to their relationships with a specific grandparent. The results of three MANOVAs and a series of Pearson correlations indicated that grandchildren’s use of relational maintenance behaviors with their grandparents is not dependent on the grandchildren’s or the grandparents’ biological sex, nor is it dependent on family lineage. However, grandchildren’s tendencies to sustain their GP-GC relationships were closely associated with their perceived GP-GC relational characteristics. These findings both corroborate and contradict extant GP-GC and relational maintenance research.
Binary interpolation search for solution mapping on broadcast and on-demand channels in a mobile computing environment

We explore in this paper the problem of dynamic data and channel allocations with the number of communication channels and the number of data items given. It is noted that the combined use of broadcast and on-demand channels can utilize the bandwidth effectively for data dissemination in a mobile computing environment. We first derive the an-alytical models of the expected delays when the data are requested through the broadcast and on-demand channels. Then, we transform this problem into to a guided search problem. In light of the theoretical properties derived, we devise an algorithm based on binary interpolation search, referred to as algorithm BIS, to obtain solutions of high quality efficiently. In essence, algorithm BIS is guided to explore the solution space with higher likelihood to be the optimal first, thereby leading to an efficient and effective search. It is shown by our simulation results that the solution obtained by algorithm BIS is of very high quality and is in fact very close to the optimal one. Sensitivity analysis on several parameters, including the number of data items and the number of communication channels, is conducted.