Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Determining Student Achievement

A b s t r a c t This study aims to review and summarize national and international literature that seeks to determine what quality education actually is, as well as look at what is happening as regards students‟ achievements. The current study aims to carry out a literature review with the purpose of laying down the foundations of future empirical research related to student achievement and educational effectiveness. This literature review indicates relevant results and comes to conclusions regarding analyses and research in the topic of student achievement. First, the study briefly introduces the connections between quality, effectiveness and equity; then it reveals the context of student achievement at schools; and, finally, it looks at the most important factors determining student and school achievement. The results of this literature review will support the conceptualisation and operationalisation of a future empirical examination of student achievement.
Alpha syntrophin deletion removes the perivascular but not the endothelial pool of aquaporin‐4 at the blood‐brain barrier and delays the development of brain edema in an experimental model of acute hyponatremia

The formation of brain edema, commonly occurring as a potentially lethal complication of acute hyponatremia, is delayed following knockout of the water channel aquaporin‐4 (AQP4). Here we show by high‐resolution immunogold analysis of the blood–brain‐barrier that AQP4 is expressed in brain endothelial cells as well as in the perivascular membranes of astrocyte endfeet. A selective removal of perivascular AQP4 by α‐syntrophin deletion delays the buildup of brain edema (assessed by Diffusion‐weighted MRI) following water intoxication, despite the presence of a normal complement of endothelial AQP4. This indicates that the perivascular membrane domain, which is peripheral to the endothelial blood–brain barrier, may control the rate of osmotically driven water entry. This study is also the first to demonstrate that the time course of edema development differs among brain regions, probably reflecting differences in aquaporin‐4 distribution. The resolution of the molecular basis and subcellular site of osmotically driven brain water uptake should help design new therapies for acute brain edema.
Factor V HR2: An Ancient Haplotype out of Africa – Reasons for being Interested

Factor V, the cofactor of the prothrombinase complex, is a frequently talked about coagulation factor, these days. The reason is factor V Leiden, of course, but not exclusively. Another polymorphism in the factor V gene is becoming an object of interest. The A4070G mutation in exon 13 (B domain) of factor V was first described by Lunghi et al in 1996 and called the R2 polymorphism (because of its susceptibility to the Rsa I restriction enzyme). It is linked to many other mutations, mostly in exon 13, but also (as reported in this issue of Thrombosis and Haemostasis by Castoldi et al) in other exons coding for the light and heavy chains, so that it is more correct to speak of the HR2 haplotype. Due to linkage disequilibrium with the other polymorphic sites, most epidemiological studies actually rely on the detection of the R2 polymorphism only. For sake of uniformity, the term HR2 haplotype will be used throughout this commentary.
Primary ALK-positive Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma of the Breast: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Background Non-Hodgkin lymphomas of the breast are uncommon, which represent less than 1% of all breast malignancies and predominantly are of B-cell origin. Observation In this report, a rare case of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma in the breast of a 16-year-old female without breast implant is described. The patient presented with a 3-month history of progressive right breast swelling and erythema. Clinically, inflammatory breast carcinoma was highly suspected. A tru-cut needle biopsy of the right breast demonstrated infiltration of tumoral cells around the breast lobules and soft tissue and also in angiolymphatic spaces. The immunohistochemical profile showed positivity for CD30 and ALK and confirmed the diagnosis of ALK-positive anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma of the breast. Conclusion Anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma of the breast is rare, and can clinically mimic inflammatory breast carcinoma in adolescence.
Energy-Efficient Real-Time Human Activity Recognition on Smart Mobile Devices

Nowadays, human activity recognition (HAR) plays an important role in wellness-care and context-aware systems. Human activities can be recognized in real-time by using sensory data collected from various sensors built in smart mobile devices. Recent studies have focused on HAR that is solely based on triaxial accelerometers, which is the most energy-efficient approach. However, such HAR approaches are still energy-inefficient because the accelerometer is required to run without stopping so that the physical activity of a user can be recognized in real-time. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for HAR process that controls the activity recognition duration for energy-efficient HAR. We investigated the impact of varying the acceleration-sampling frequency and window size for HAR by using the variable activity recognition duration (VARD) strategy. We implemented our approach by using an Android platform and evaluated its performance in terms of energy efficiency and accuracy. The experimental results showed that our approach reduced energy consumption by a minimum of about 44.23% and maximum of about 78.85% compared to conventional HAR without sacrificing accuracy.
Hydrothermal origin of elevated iron, manganese and redox-sensitive trace elements in the c. 635 Ma Doushantuo cap carbonate

Abstract: Major and trace element, including REE, concentrations of the Doushantuo cap carbonate (c. 635 Ma) in South China show enrichment in Fe, Mn and redox-sensitive elements and slightly negative Ce anomalies, indicating anoxic environments during cap carbonate precipitation. High FeT/Al ratios but very low concentration of extractable pyrites suggest ferruginous rather than euxinic conditions. The REE + Y patterns of samples show enrichment of heavy REE (HREE), positive Eu anomalies and positive Y anomalies, implying a hydrothermal origin for elevated concentration of Fe, Mn and redox-sensitive elements. The results suggest that ferruginous Ediacaran oceans may have rooted from hydrothermally induced iron accumulation in severely glaciated Cryogenian oceans.
Uncovering Bivariate Interactions in High Dimensional Data Using Random Forests with Data Augmentation

Random Forests (RF) is an ensemble technology for classification and regression which has become widely accepted in the bioinformatics community in the last few years. Its predictive strength, along with some of the utilities, rich in information, provided by the output, has made RF an efficient data mining tool for discovering patterns in high dimensional data. In this paper we propose a search strategy that explores a subset of the input space in an exhaustive way using RF as the search engine. Our procedure begins by taking the variables previously rejected by a sequential search procedure and uses the out of bag error rate of the ensemble, obtained when trained over an augmented data set, as criterion to capture difficult to uncover bivariate patterns associated with an outcome variable. We will show the performance of the procedure in some synthetic scenarios and will give an application to a real microarray experiment in order to illustrate how it works for gene expression data.
Experimental Phase Diagram of a Binary Colloidal Hard-Sphere Mixture with a Large Size Ratio.

We determined the phase diagram of a binary hard-sphere dispersion with size ratio 9.3. Phase separation into a fluid and a crystal of large spheres is observed. The fluid-solid binodal is determined by measurements of compositions of coexisting phases. The results agree qualitatively with recent theories, although the latter strongly overestimate the depletion activity of the smaller spheres. By fluorescent labeling we are able to measure the mobility of both particles separately. We found evidence for a new glassy phase in which only the small spheres are mobile.
Prevalence of antibodies to some viral pathogens, Brucella abortus and Toxoplasma gondii in serum from camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Sudan.

Summary In a serological survey of 102 Sudanese female camels, 81.1 per cent were seropositive to bovine parainfluenza-3 virus (PIV 3) and 15.7 per cent to bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV). No camels showed any serum neutralizing antibodies to infectious bovine rhino-tracheitis virus (IBRV), 5.9 per cent were positive to Brucella abortus by agglutination and complement fixation tests, and 22.5 per cent showed antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii. Zusammenfassung Das Vorkommen von Antikorpern gegen einige Viren, gegen Brucella abortus und Toxoplasma gondii im Serum von Kamelen (Camelus dromedarius) in Sudan Bei serologischen Untersuchungen von 102 weiblichen, sudanesischen Kamelen reagierten 81,1% der Tiere gegenuber bovinem Parainfluenza-3-Virus (PIV3) und 15,7% gegenuber bovinem Virusdiarrhoe-Virus (BVDV) positiv. Neutralisierende Antikorper gegen infektioses, bovines Rhinotracheitis-Virus (IBRV) konnte in keinem Serum gefunden werden. 5,9% der Tiere zeigten in der Agglutinations- und der Komplementbindungsreaktion einen Titer gegenuber Brucella abortus. Antikorper gegen Toxoplasma gondii wurden in 22,5% der Seren gefunden.
Hydrogen Sulfide and Reduced-Sulfur Gases Adversely Affect Neurophysiological Functions

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) above 50 parts per million (ppm) causes unconsciousness and death. Lower doses of H2S and related gases have been regarded as innocuous, but the effects of prolonged exposure have not been studied. This study was designed to determine whether people exposed to sulfide gases as a result of working at or living downwind from the processing of "sour" crude oil demonstrate persistent neurobehavioral dysfunction. Thirteen former workers and 22 neighbors of a refinery complained of headaches, nausea, vomiting, depression, personality changes, nosebleeds, and breathing difficulties. Their neurobehavioral functions and a profile of mood states (POMS) were compared to 32 controls, matched for age and educational level. The exposed subjects' mean values were statistically significantly abnormal compared to controls for two-choice reaction time, balance (as speed of sway), color discrimination, digit symbol, trail-making A and B, and immediate recall of a story. Their POMS scores were much higher than those of controls. Visual recall was significantly impaired in neighbors, but not in exworkers. It was concluded that neurophysiological abnormalities were associated with exposure to reduced sulfur gases, including H2S from crude oil desulfurization.
Human eotaxin induces eosinophil extravasation through rat mesenteric venules: role of α4 integrins and vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1

Eotaxin is a potent eosinophil‐specific CC‐chemokine, which has been shown to play a role in the selective induction of eosinophil accumulation in a number of allergic models of inflammation. Many aspects of the mechanism by which eotaxin induces eosinophil accumulation in vivo remain unresolved. In the present study, we investigated the direct effect of synthetic human eotaxin on leucocyte/endothelial cell interactions within rat mesenteric venules, as quantified by intravital microscopy. Topical eotaxin (30 pmol) induced rapid firm adhesion and extravasation of leucocytes within the rat mesentery, the extravasated leucocytes all being eosinophils, as determined by histological analysis. Whilst eotaxin was unable to stimulate the interaction of rat eosinophils with vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1 (VCAM‐1) under static conditions in vitro, eotaxin‐induced responses in vivo were significantly suppressed by anti‐α4 integrin and anti‐VCAM‐1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The anti‐α4 integrin mAb, HP2/1 (3·5 mg/kg), inhibited the eotaxin‐induced firm adhesion and extravasation, 60 min postapplication of the chemokine, by 89% and 84%, respectively. In the same set of experiments, the anti‐VCAM‐1 mAb, 5F10 (3·5 mg/kg), inhibited leucocyte adhesion and extravasation by 61% and 63%, respectively. These results demonstrate that eotaxin‐induced migration of eosinophils through rat mesenteric venules in vivo is dependent on an α4 integrin/VCAM‐1 adhesion pathway, the significance of which may only be evident under flow conditions and/or following the ligation of other adhesion molecules expressed on eosinophils.
Coherence of subsumption, minimum typing and type-checking in F ≤

A subtyping relation ≤ between types is often accompanied by a typing rule, called subsumption: if a term a has type T and T≤U, then a has type U. In presence of subsumption, a well-typed term does not codify its proof of well typing. Since a semantic interpretation is most naturally defined by induction on the structure of typing proofs, a problem of coherence arises: different typing proofs of the same term must have related meanings. We propose a proof-theoretical, rewriting approach to this problem. We focus on F≤, a second-order lambda calculus with bounded quantification, which is rich enough to make the problem interesting. We define a normalizing rewriting system on proofs, which transforms different proofs of the same typing judgement into a unique normal proof, with the further property that all the normal proofs assigning different types to a given term in a given environment differ only by a final application of the subsumption rule. This rewriting system is not defined on the proofs themselves but on the terms of an auxiliary type system, in which the terms carry complete information about their typing proof. This technique gives us three different results: — Any semantic interpretation is coherent if and only if our rewriting rules are satisfied as equations. — We obtain a proof of the existence of a minimum type for each term in a given environment. — From an analysis of the shape of normal form proofs, we obtain a deterministic typechecking algorithm, which is sound and complete by construction.
[Studies on anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities of Cape aloe].

Cape aloe is a dried product of juice of Aloe ferox Miller or of the cross-bred between Aloe ferox Miller and Aloe africana Miller, usually brownish black to dark brown in color. When it is heated to evaporize and crushed after cooling, it becomes to dark red to brownish yellow powder which is called Aloe powder in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia.On the other hand, Aloe juice producee by Mamiya Pharmaceutical Co. is an yellow liquid obtained from original plants by means of repeated freezing and thawing. When it is passed through Seitz filter and then freeze-dried, it becomes to fine yellowish powder which we call freeze-dried Aloe powcer.Cape aloe or Aloe powder has been used as a peptic or a laxative in medicine, and Aloe juice is now widely used as a medicine for gastro-intestinal disturbances or as an ointment for burns or frostbites in popular remedies.In an attempt to clarify the basic mechanism by which Aloe Juice exerts its beneficial effect on the skin lesions such as burns, frostbites and insectbites, its anti-bacterial and antifungal activity against representative 16 strains and its therapeutic effect on experimental trichophytiasis produced on the back skin of guinea pigs as well as on 12 human cases with trichophytiasis have been tested. Although the bactericidal and fungicidal activity of Aloe juice is not so noteworthy, it exerts a cidal action against a wide variety of bacteria and fungi, particularly against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris.Aloe ointment containing 5% Aloe freeze-dried powder proved to be considerably effective in treatment of experimental or human trichophytiasis, when applied once a day for about 10 days. The test on therapeutic effect of Aloe juice on burns experimentally infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is now in progress, which will be reported on in the near future.
Redundant Exonuclease Involvement in Escherichia coli Methyl-directed Mismatch Repair*

Previous biochemical analysis ofEscherichia coli methyl-directed mismatch repair implicates three redundant single-strand DNA-specific exonucleases (RecJ, ExoI, and ExoVII) and at least one additional unknown exonuclease in the excision reaction (Cooper, D. L., Lahue, R. S., and Modrich, P. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 11823–11829). We show here that ExoX also participates in methyl-directed mismatch repair. Analysis of the reaction with crude extracts and purified components demonstrated that ExoX can mediate repair directed from a strand signal 3′ of a mismatch. Whereas extracts of all possible single, double, and triple exonuclease mutants displayed significant residual mismatch repair, extracts deficient in RecJ, ExoI, ExoVII, and ExoX exonucleases were devoid of normal repair activity. The RecJ−ExoVII− ExoI− ExoX− strain displayed a 7-fold increase in mutation rate, a significant increase, but less than that observed for other blocks of the mismatch repair pathway. This elevation is epistatic to deficiency for MutS, suggesting an effect via the mismatch repair pathway. Our other work (Burdett, V., Baitinger, C., Viswanathan, M., Lovett, S. T., and Modrich, P. (2001) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 98, 6765–6770) suggests that mutants are under-recovered in the exonuclease-deficient strain due to loss of viability that is triggered by mismatched base pairs in this genetic background. The availability of any one exonuclease is enough to support full mismatch correction, as evident from the normal mutation rates of all triple mutants. Because three of these exonucleases possess a strict polarity of digestion, this suggests that mismatch repair can occur exclusively from a 3′ or a 5′ direction to the mismatch, if necessary.
Statistics in the Jury Box: How Jurors Respond to Mitochondrial DNA Match Probabilities

This article describes parts of an unusually realistic experiment on the comprehension of expert testimony on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing in a criminal trial for robbery. Specifically, we examine how jurors who responded to summonses for jury duty evaluated portions of videotaped testimony involving probabilities and statistics. Although some jurors showed susceptibility to classic fallacies in interpreting conditional probabilities, the jurors as a whole were not overwhelmed by a 99.98% exclusion probability that the prosecution presented. Cognitive errors favoring the defense were more prevalent than ones favoring the prosecution. These findings lend scant support to the legal argument that mtDNA evidence (with modest exclusion probabilities) should be excluded because jurors are prone to overvalue such evidence. The article also introduces a new method for inferring the perceived probability of guilt that satisfies the burden of persuasion for most jurors.
Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Transactivator Rta Induces Cell Cycle Arrest in G0/G1 Phase by Stabilizing and Promoting Nuclear Localization of p27kip

ABSTRACT The Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) immediate-early gene, replication, and transcription activator (K-Rta) is a key viral protein that serves as the master regulator for viral lytic replication. In this study, we investigated the role of K-Rta in cell cycle regulation and found that the expression of K-Rta in doxycycline (Dox)-inducible BJAB cells induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase. Western blot analysis of key cell cycle regulators revealed that K-Rta-mediated cell cycle arrest was associated with a decrease in cyclin A and phosphorylated Rb (pS807/pS811) protein levels, both markers of S phase progression, and an increase in protein levels for p27, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. Further, we found that K-Rta does not affect the transcription of p27 but regulates p27 at the posttranslational level by inhibiting its proteosomal degradation. Immunofluorescence staining and cell fractionation experiments revealed largely nuclear compartmentalization of p27 in K-Rta-expressing cells, demonstrating that K-Rta not only stabilizes p27 but also modulates its cellular localization. Finally, short hairpin RNA knockdown of p27 significantly abrogates cell cycle arrest in K-Rta-expressing cells, supporting its key role in K-Rta-mediated cell cycle arrest. Our findings are consistent with previous studies which showed that expression of immediate-early genes of several herpesviruses, including herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr virus, and cytomegalovirus, results in cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase, possibly to avoid competition for resources needed for host cell replication during the S phase.
The Legacy of Episodic Climatic Events in Shaping Temperate, Broadleaf Forests

In humid, broadleaf-dominated forests where gap dynamics and partial canopy mortality appears to dominate the disturbance regime at local scales, paleoecological evidence shows alteration at regional-scales associated with climatic change. Yet, little evidence of these broad-scale events exists in extant forests. To evaluate the potential for the occurrence of large-scale disturbance, we used 76 tree-ring collections spanning ∼840 000 km2 and 5327 tree recruitment dates spanning ∼1.4 million km2 across the humid eastern United States. Rotated principal component analysis indicated a common growth pattern of a simultaneous reduction in competition in 22 populations across 61 000 km2. Growth-release analysis of these populations reveals an intense and coherent canopy disturbance from 1775 to 1780, peaking in 1776. The resulting time series of canopy disturbance is so poorly described by a Gaussian distribution that it can be described as “heavy tailed,” with most of the years from 1775 to 1780 comprising th.
ZOONOTIC DISEASE RISK AND PREVENTION PRACTICES AMONG BIOLOGISTS AND OTHER WILDLIFE WORKERS—RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL SURVEY, US NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, 2009

In 2007, a National Park Service (NPS) biologist died from pneumonic plague after unprotected exposure to an infected mountain lion. This incident increased awareness of occupational zoonotic disease transmission and prompted an assessment of employees who handle wildlife. During April–June 2009, we conducted a national online survey of NPS biologists and other wildlife workers to assess in the preceding 12 mo: 1) potential work-related zoonotic disease exposures; 2) protective practices, including use of personal protective equipment (PPE); and 3) barriers and facilitators to PPE use. Summary protective measure scores were calculated and compared with sociodemographic and work-related factors. Surveys were completed by 238 employees from 131 parks in all NPS regions. Seventy-one percent were biologists or technicians, 16% natural resource specialists or managers, and 13% had other job titles. Among a majority of respondents, interactions with animals were infrequent and occurred approximately several times per year as follows: handling live (39%), sick (43%), or dead animals (46%), and drawing blood from animals (42%). The most frequently reported protective measures used were hand hygiene and gloves. Commonly agreed-upon measures that would facilitate PPE use included having PPE stocked and readily available (92%) and having specific PPE kits for use during necropsies (91%) and in remote field settings (91%). Significantly higher summary protective measure scores were found if respondents had either read or reviewed ‘‘NPS safe work practices for employees handling wildlife’’ with their supervisor, had zoonotic disease safety or PPE use included in their employee performance appraisal plans, or had conducted a job-hazard analysis for handling wildlife. Ninety (38%) respondents reported receiving zoonotic disease training. Our findings support the development and implementation of workplace interventions to increase zoonotic disease awareness and promote a culture of prevention among wildlife professionals.