Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Enduring Effects of Parental Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use on Child Well-being: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis

Abstract The effects of psychoactive substance abuse are not limited to the user, but extend to the entire family system, with children of substance abusers being particularly at risk. This meta-analysis attempted to quantify the longitudinal relationship between parental alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and child well-being, investigating variation across a range of substance and well-being indices and other potential moderators. We performed a literature search of peer-reviewed, English language, longitudinal observational studies that reported outcomes for children aged 0 to 18 years. In total, 56 studies, yielding 220 dependent effect sizes, met inclusion criteria. A multilevel random-effects model revealed a statistically significant, small detriment to child well-being for parental substance abuse over time (r = .15). Moderator analyses demonstrated that the effect was more pronounced for parental drug use (r = .25), compared with alcohol use (r = .13), tobacco use (r = .13), and alcohol use disorder (r = .14). Results highlight a need for future studies that better capture the effect of parental psychoactive substance abuse on the full breadth of childhood well-being outcomes and to integrate substance abuse into models that specify the precise conditions under which parental behavior determines child well-being. Registration: PROSPERO CRD42017076088
Are mindfulness skills associated with reducing kinesiophobia, pain severity, pain catastrophizing and physical disability? Results of Iranian patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain

background Although the results obtained for mindfulness-based treatments are promising, there is limited information concerning the role of different dimensions of mindfulness in the undesirable outcomes related to chronic pain such as physical pain and catastrophizing, pain severity, kinesiophobia and disability. Therefore, the objective of this present research was to examine the relationship between facets of mindfulness and the mentioned outcomes in individuals with musculoskeletal pain (MSP), including an extensive population of patients.
Efficiency analysis of china’s outward foreign direct investment in ASEAN countries: an application of stochastic frontier gravity model

This study aims to compute the efficiency scores of China’s ODI in ASEAN countries over the period from 2005 to 2016 and identify the inefficiency determinants that affect the efficiency scores. A stochastic frontier gravity model was employed in the study. The overall performance of China’s ODI in ASEAN countries is at inefficiency level, meanwhile the low performance of China’s ODI indicated a higher potential level to improve. The second-stage analysis is a panel model regression to identify the inefficiency determinants by using the efficiency scores that derived from first-stage analysis as the dependent variable. The results showed language, voice and accountability, regulation quality, rule of law, and control of corruption are statistically significant towards the efficiency scores. ASEAN countries are recommended to enhance their government ability thus improve the regulation quality and rule of law.
18F-DCFPyL PET/CT Imaging in Patients with Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer After Primary Local Therapy

Our objective was to investigate the lesion detection rate of 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT, a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)–targeted PET agent, in patients with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer after primary local therapy. Methods: This was a prospective institutional review board–approved study of 90 patients with documented biochemical recurrence (median prostate-specific antigen [PSA], 2.5 ng/mL; range, 0.21–35.5 ng/mL) and negative results on conventional imaging after primary local therapies, including radical prostatectomy (n = 38), radiation (n = 27), or a combination of the two (n = 25). Patients on androgen deprivation therapy were excluded. Patients underwent whole-body 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT (299.9 ± 15.5 MBq) at 2 h after injection. The PSMA PET lesion detection rate was correlated with PSA, PSA kinetics, and original primary tumor grade. Results: Seventy patients (77.8%) showed positive PSMA PET results, with a total of 287 lesions identified: 37 prostate bed foci, 208 lesions in lymph nodes, and 42 in distant sites in bones or organs, Eleven patients had negative results, and 9 patients showed indeterminate lesions, which were considered negative in this study. The detection rates were 47.6% (n = 10/21), 50% (n = 5/10), 88.9% (n = 8/9), and 94% (n = 47/50) for PSA levels of >0.2 to <0.5, 0.5 to <1.0, 1 to <2.0, and ≥2.0 ng/mL, respectively. In postsurgical patients, PSA, PSA doubling time, and PSA velocity correlated with PET results, but the same was not true for postradiation patients. These parameters also correlated with the extent of disease on PET (intrapelvic vs. extrapelvic). There was no significant difference in the rate of positive scans between patients with higher-grade and lower-grade primary tumors (Gleason score of ≥4 + 3 vs. <3 + 4). Tumor recurrence was histology-confirmed in 40% (28/70) of patients. On a per-patient basis, positive predictive value was 93.3% (95% confidence interval, 77.6%–99.2%) by histopathologic validation and 96.2% (95% confidence interval, 86.3%–99.7%) by the combination of histology and imaging/clinical follow-up. Conclusion: 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT imaging offers high detection rates in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer patients and is positive in about 50% of patients with a PSA level of less than 0.5 ng/mL, which could substantially impact clinical management. In postsurgical patients, 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT correlates with PSA, PSA doubling time, and PSA velocity, suggesting it may have prognostic value. 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT is highly promising for localizing sites of recurrent prostate cancer.
07. Reproductive biology of Philodryas olfersii (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) in a subtropical region of Brazil

We studied the reproductive biology of a subtropical population of Philodryas olfersii through the analysis of 263 museum specimens. Females were found to have larger bodies with males having longer tails. Testicular volume has a tendency to decrease in colder months but histological analyses are still needed to validate the macroscopic evidence. In females, secondary follicles were found throughout the year but ovulation was restricted to three months during the warmer period. Clutch size was correlated with female size and varied between 4 and 11 eggs, with a mean relative clutch mass of 0.187. Ovigerous females frequently also presented secondary follicles, and potential fecundity was significantly higher than real fecundity. We suggest that estimates of clutch size based on the number of vitellogenic follicles may be inappropriate. In addition, although some patterns of the reproductive biology of Philodryas olfersii were similar to other members of the tribe Philodryadini, we found important differences such as shorter reproductive season of females, indicating that phylogenetical traits and environmental conditions influence aspects of the life history of the species.
Improvement of emission efficiency with a sputtered AlN buffer layer in GaInN-based green light-emitting diodes

We examined a sputtered AlN (sp-AlN) buffer layer to improve the emission efficiency of GaInN-based green LEDs. Both the electroluminescence and photoluminescence emission efficiencies are improved in a LED with a sp-AlN buffer layer compared to that with a conventional low-temperature GaN buffer layer. To identify the origin of the improvements, we carried out the analysis including X-ray diffraction, surface morphology, initial nucleation growth, and temperature-dependent PL. Through analysis and consideration, we showed that the improvements are mainly caused by less strain and a lower degree of carrier localization in quantum wells (QWs), that is highly influenced by the grain diameter of the GaN island at initial growth. These results indicate that a sp-AlN buffer layer induces less compositional pulling that results in less strain and alloy fluctuation in QWs, simultaneously.
Academic Engagement, Commercialization, and Scholarship: Empirical Evidence from Agricultural and Life Scientists at U.S. Land-Grant Universities

This article examines the involvement of agricultural and life science faculty at U.S. land grant universities in two types of university-industry relations: academic engagement (sponsored research, industry collaborations, and presentations), academic commercialization (patenting, licensing, and start-ups) and traditional academic scholarship. It exploits large-scale, random sample cross-section surveys of nearly 1,500 scientists at the original 52 Land Grant Universities in 2005 and 2015. We fill a knowledge gap regarding the prevalence, coincidence, intensity, importance and factors shaping faculty involvement in university-industry relations (UIR). After several decades of promotion and emphasis on UIR activities participation in them has plateaued and is stable at a fairly high level. Academic engagement is far more prevalent (at 76% of faculty) and important than is academic commercialization (at 19% of faculty). Academic engagement generates 15-20 times the research funds than academic commercialization does, but both continue to be dwarfed by public funding. We find evidence of synergies between UIR activities and academic scholarship. We also explore how individual, institutional, and university-level factors help explain faculty UIR participation. We find differences across academic disciplines and highlight the role that faculty attitudes toward science and commercial activity shape involvement in UIR. Significant differences also stem from university level effects and may be contingent on culture, history, location, and quality of science.
Variability in foraging behaviour, thermal requirement and virulence of entomopathogenic nematodes against sod webworm, Herpetogramma phaeopteralis Guene� (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Variability in virulence among entomopathogenic nematodes, Heterorhabditis indica , H. bacteriophora and Steinernema abbasi , was studied for lethality, foraging behaviour in response to host volatiles, thermal requirements (degree-days), recyclability, persistence and field efficacy against Turfgrass Sod Webworm (TSW), Herpetogramma phaeopteralis . Comparatively, lethal concentration and time were lowest for H. indica against TSW. Recyclability of EPN ranged from 3.42 × 10 5 to 4.23 × 10 5 IJs g 1 of TSW. H. bacteriophora recorded highest movement rate on agar (0.38–0.78cm) and sand-agar (0.45–0.56cm), followed by S. abbasi , and H. indica . Responding to TSW volatiles, S. abbasi recorded maximum movement, H. bacteriophora , moderate, and H. indica , lowest. Heterorhabditis indica (with nictitation); S. abbasi and H. bacteriophora (without nictitation) were ambusher and cruiser, respectively. S. abbasi preferred warmer temperatures (30–33°C), H. bacteriophora , moderate (24–27°C), and H. indica , a wider range (24–30°C), for virulence based on thermal requirement. In field, EPNs were comparable to chlorpyriphos against TSW. We demonstrated the complementarity of thermal preferences of EPNs and insect pest was critical besides attributes like foraging behaviour, recyclability, persistence, and lethality values for their success in the field.
RETROMER REPLETION WITH AAV9-VPS35 RESTORES ENDOSOMAL FUNCTION IN THE MOUSE HIPPOCAMPUS

Retromer has emerged as a master conductor of endosomal trafficking, and VPS35 and other retromer-related proteins are found to be deficient in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Depleting VPS35 in neurons impairs retromer function, affecting for example the trafficking of the amyloid-precursor protein (APP) and the glutamate receptor GluA1. Whether VPS35 repletion, after chronic in vivo depletion, can rescue these impairments remains unknown. Here we set out to address this question by using a viral vector approach for VPS35 repletion. First, we completed a series of studies using neuronal cultures in order to optimize AAV9-VPS35 delivery, and to understand how exogenous VPS35 expression affects its endogenous levels as well as its binding to other retromer proteins. Next, we completed a series of studies in wildtype mice to determine the optimum protocol for in vivo delivery of AAV9-VPS35 to the hippocampus. We relied on this information to deliver AAV9-VPS35 to the hippocampus of mice genetically engineered to have chronic, neuronal-selective, VPS35 depletion. VPS35 repletion in the hippocampus was found to normalize APP cleavage and to restore glutamate receptor levels. Unexpectedly, chronic VPS35 depletion in neurons caused glial activation, similar to the pattern observed in AD, which was also partially normalized by VPS35 repletion. Taken together, these studies strengthen the mechanistic link between retromer and AD, and have therapeutic implications.
Flow Velocity and Field‐Aligned Current Associated With Field Line Resonance: SuperDARN Measurements

This study presents observations of the two‐dimensional velocities and field‐aligned currents of magnetospheric field line resonances. Knowledge of the two‐dimensional plasma flows is essential for determining the field‐aligned current structure of the field line resonance and for understanding the role that field line resonances play in the generation of some auroral arc forms. In this work the full velocity vectors are determined from a high‐resolution fit to the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) line‐of‐sight data. Two discrete field line resonance events are presented, one at 4.0 mHz (4‐ to 5‐min period) and the other at 0.6 mHz (30‐min period). Band‐pass filtering the north‐south and east‐west components of the total convection velocity vectors reveals the two‐dimensional velocity field specific to an individual field line resonance. The field line resonance velocities exhibit periodic vorticity, which correspond to periodic poleward moving bands of enhanced field‐aligned current. Assuming a constant ionospheric Pedersen conductance of 10 S, peak field‐aligned current values are estimated to be 2–4 μA/m2. The field‐aligned currents alternate between upward and downward directed and peak in magnitude ~0.5–1° poleward and/or equatorward of the peak in field line resonance flow velocity. A Swarm satellite overpass occurs directly over the 0.6‐mHz field line resonance. The SuperDARN field‐aligned current profile along the Swarm trajectory is found to be similar in magnitude and structure to that determined from Swarm‐A and Swarm‐C in situ measurements.
Kick‐Starting Diffusion: Explaining the Varying Frequency of Preferential Trade Agreements’ Environmental Provisions by Their Initial Conditions

Most recent preferential trade agreements (PTAs) include environmental provisions. While a number of these environmental provisions remain rare and are incorporated in just a few PTAs, others are widely popular and are duplicated in more than 100 PTAs. We still lack a convincing explanation for this varying frequency. While the diffusion literature typically tries to explain how diffusion occurs, we investigate why certain provisions diffuse more often than others. We hypothesise that the initial conditions under which provisions first emerge determine the scope of their diffusion. Our results support this hypothesis and indicate that provisions originating from intercontinental agreements diffuse more often than others. At the same time, provisions first designed by economically powerful or environmentally credible countries are not related to more frequent occurrences of diffusion. These findings are of interest for the literatures on international institutions' design, interaction and diffusion.
Passive acoustic monitoring off Vancouver Island reveals extensive use by at-risk Resident killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations

Two sympatric populations of fish-eating Resident killer whales inhabit the coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada: Southern and Northern Resident killer whales. These populations are listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) as ‘endangered’ and ‘threatened’, respectively. Relatively little is known about their habitat use outside of the sheltered waters along the east coast of Vancouver Island, especially during the winter. SARA requires the identification of critical habitat for these populations. High densities of Chinook salmon — their primary prey — are found around Swiftsure Bank, an area identified as potential critical habitat for Southern Residents. However, it is a difficult area to survey for whales using conventional small-boat ap proaches. Here, we used 2 yr of data collected from an autonomous acoustic recorder deployed at Swiftsure Bank from 2009−2011 to assess the year-round habitat use of this area by Resident killer whales. Overall, Resident killer whales were detected on 244 of 680 monitored days (36%). Southern Residents were heard in all months, with activity peaking during the summer. Northern Residents were also heard throughout the year, but were mostly detected in the spring and fall, which indicates the 2 populations may differ in their strategies for using this common foraging area. High levels of use by both of these populations highlights the importance of Swiftsure Bank to both, supporting the expansion of Resident killer whale critical habitat to include this site.
Teaching English to Students With Dyslexia in Iran: A Multiple-Case Study

Abstract Dyslexia diagnosis and intervention in the first language (L1) has a long history, whereas the foreign and second language (L2) learning aspects of dyslexia have largely been neglected. Thus, the present study aimed to provide intervention in English as a foreign language through multisensory phonics instruction to Iranian Persian–speaking students with dyslexia in order to examine the effects of the noted instruction on their L1 and L2 performance, checked using similar tests of L1 and L2 reading and phonological awareness. Results revealed that instruction in L2 enhanced students’ performance in both languages, supporting the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis, and certain features of L1 orthography led to specific problems in L2, casting doubt on the accuracy of the Script Dependence Hypothesis.
Firm Factors and Share Returns of Secondary Equity Offers at Nairobi

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the effect of firm factors namely size, profitability, leverage and shareholding structure on share returns of secondary equity offers at Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya. An event study employing the market model determined share returns of 52 bonus issues and 28 rights issues announced between January 2006 and December 2015. Multivariate linear regression analysis established the effect of size, profitability, leverage and shareholding structure on share returns of secondary equity offers obtained from the event study. The results of the event study indicate that secondary equity offer announcements had a significant positive effect on share returns and thus investors increased their wealth during the event period. The results of multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that profitability and shareholding structure had a significant positive effect on share returns, size had a significant negative effect on share returns while leverage did not affect share returns. The study recommends investors to participate in secondary equity offers of small sized profitable companies with a high proportion of institutional investors because they will realize positive share returns and increase their wealth. The study further recommends management of small sized and profitable companies with a high proportion of institutional investors to raise capital through secondary equity offers as this will increase their market capitalization. The Capital Markets Authority and Nairobi Securities Exchange should consider size, profitability and shareholding structure when screening companies seeking approval to raise capital through secondary equity offers.
EFFECT OF HOME ENVIRONMENT ON STUDY HABITS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

e present study was undertaken to study the effect of home environment on study habits of secondary school students. Study habits was treated as dependent variable whereas home environment was treated as an independent variable. Descriptive survey method was used for the present study. Random sampling technique was used to select the sample for the present study. e sample comprised of 220 secondary school students of private schools affiliated to Central Board of School Education (CBSE). Study Habits Inventory by Mukhopadhyay and Sansanwal (2011) and Home environment inventory by Mishra (2012) were used to study the effect of home environment on study habits of secondary school students. Mean, SD, 't' test and Co-efficient of correlation (r) were used to analyse the data. e findings of the study revealed that significant difference was found in the study habits of male and female secondary school students. No significant difference was found in the study habits of urban and rural secondary school students. It was also found that the home environment of male and female secondary school students did not differ significantly. Significant difference was found in the home environment of rural and urban secondary school students. It was further revealed that there exists significant relationship between home environment and study habits of secondary school students.
Examining the Role of Horizontal Gene Transfer on the Evolution of CRISPR-Cas

Author(s): O'Meara, Derek Miles | Advisor(s): Nunney, Leonard | Abstract: CRISPR-Cas is a widespread bacterial genomic defense system characterized by its unique ability to “remember” nucleic acid sequences from invasive threats and provide future protection against these elements. CRISPR-Cas is found to have variable presence/absence throughout much of the bacterial Kingdom, even at the species level. This variability is presumably caused by a mix of both gain events, by which the system is passed horizontally from one bacterial genome to another, and loss events, by which CRISPR-Cas is removed from the bacterial genome driven either by a loss of selective pressure or active selection against the system. To further understand the evolution of CRISPR-Cas, this research was broken into three distinct chapters. In the first chapter, a single bacterial species (Pseudomonas psychrotolerans) found to show variability in CRISPR-Cas presence was analyzed for evidence of both horizontal transfer and loss of the system by comparison of the bacterial phylogeny to the CRISPR-Cas phylogeny and through a search for recombination sites surrounding the CRISPR-Cas loci. Evidence indicated that there were multiple, independent losses of the CRISPR-Cas system from these strains of bacteria, potentially due to human driven changes in their environments. Further, homologous recombination was found to be responsible for multiple independent horizontal transfers of CRISPR-Cas between the related genomes. The second chapter followed the next logical step in zooming out to the level of the Pseudomonas genus in search of recombination of CRISPR-Cas at the intraspecies and interspecies levels. It was found that while intraspecies recombination of CRISPR-Cas was prevalent (as seen in the first chapter), interspecies horizontal transfer appeared to only be a rare, founder-like process. Branching away from these phylogenetic approaches, the third chapter instead focuses on identifying whether the CRISPR-Cas system imposes a cost on its bacterial genome by acting as a barrier towards the entry of potentially beneficial DNA. Through a phylogenetically constrained pairwise analysis of related CRISPR-Cas present and CRISPR-Cas absent bacterial strains from throughout the bacterial kingdom, a significant negative correlation was found between CRISPR-Cas presence and plasmid count.