Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recent advances in deciphering oligodendrocyte heterogeneity with single-cell transcriptomics

Oligodendrocytes (OL) have been for decades considered a passive, homogenous population of cells that provide support to neurons, and show a limited response to pathological stimuli. This view has been dramatically changed by the introduction of powerful transcriptomic methods that have uncovered a broad spectrum of OL populations that co-exist within the healthy central nervous system (CNS) and also across a variety of diseases. Specifically, single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq, snRNA-seq) have been used to reveal OL variations in maturation, myelination and immune status. The newly discovered immunomodulatory role suggests that OL may serve as targets for future therapies. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of OL heterogeneity in mammalian CNS as revealed by scRNA-seq and snRNA-seq. We provide a list of key studies that identify consensus marker genes defining the currently known OL populations. This resource can be used to standardize analysis of OL related datasets and improve their interpretation, ultimately leading to a better understanding of OL functions in health and disease.
Direct simulations on 2D mold-filling processes of particle-filled fluids

We present a direct simulation technique for two-dimensional mold-filling simulations of fluids filled with a large number of circular disk-like rigid particles. It is a direct simulation in that the hydrodynamic interaction between particles and fluid is fully considered. We employ a pseudo-concentration method for the evolution of the flow front and the DLM (distributed Lagrangian multipliers)-like fictitious domain method for the implicit treatment of the hydrodynamic interaction. Both methods allow the use of a fixed regular discretization during the entire computation. The discontinuous Galerkin method has been used to solve the concentration evolution equation and the rigid-ring description has been introduced for freely suspended particles. A buffer zone, the gate region of a finite area subject to the uniform velocity profile, has been introduced to put discrete particles into the computational domain avoiding any artificial discontinuity. From example problems of 450 particles, we investigated the particle motion and effects of particles on the flow for both Newtonian and shear-thinning fluid media. We report the prolonged particle movement toward the wall in case of a shear-thinning fluid, which has been interpreted with the shear rate distribution.
Comparison of Wavelet Families for Mental Task Classification

Wavelet theory is a widely used feature extraction method for raw electroencephalogram (EEG) signal processing. The nature of the EEG signal is non-stationary, therefore applying wavelet transform on EEG signals is a valuable process for extraction promising features. On the other hand, determining the proper wavelet family is a challenging step to get the best fitted features for high classification accuracy. In this paper, therefore, we focused on a comparative study of different Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) methods to find the most convenient wavelet function of wavelet families for a non-stationary EEG signal analysis to be used to classify mental tasks. For the classification process, four different mental tasks were selected to and we grouped each with another one to set dual tasked sets including all possible combinations. Feature extraction steps are performed using wavelet functions haar, coiflets (order 1), biorthogonal (order 6.8), reverse biorthogonal (order 6.8), daubechies (order 2) and, daubechies (order 4). Later, a specific feature reduction formula is applied to the extracted feature vector. Generated feature vector is then split into train and test data before the classification. Artificial neural network was used for classification of the extracted feature sets. From the result of the repeated analysis for each DWT methods, Coiflets performed relatively better compared to other wavelet families.
First Year Learning Experiences of University Undergraduates in the Use of Open Educational Resources in Online Learning

This study investigated -the first year University undergraduates’ experiences in the use of open educational resources (OER) in online learning and their in-course achievement. The design selected for the study was survey and quasi-experimental. A total number of 106 University undergraduates participated in the study after a preliminary study was conducted to ascertain undergraduates’ perception and acceptability of OER. A structured questionnaire on 4-point Likert scale and Achievement Test were used to collect data. The two instruments were validated and trial tested to established reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. Data were analysed using simple percentage and t-test. The results clearly shown that understanding of online learners’ skills, acceptability, perception, and competencies is necessary to provide intervention strategy and appropriate support service which could facilitate their understanding and learning of difficult concepts. It was also discovered that that students that have positive perception of OER performed very well in the achievement test administered.
Metalloproteinase-9 gene variants and risk for hypertension among ethnic Javanese

Background Hypertension is associated with endothelial-dependent vasodilation disorders, due to reduced nitric oxide (NO) availability and excessive angiotensin II (ANG-II) activation. The objective of this study was to determine the association between matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) gene polymorphism and hypertension in ethnic Javanese in the 40-80 year age group. Methods This was a case-control study on 50 PROLANIS patients of family doctors meeting the inclusion criteria and 50 controls without hypertension. Subjects were hypertensive patients with constant systolic arterial pressure of >140 mmHg and diastolic arterial pressure of >90 mmHg, confirmed in three successive measurements The observed parameters were degree of MMP-9 polymorphism, and NO and ANG-II levels. Matrix metallopeptidase 9 polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) using the SmaI restriction enzyme. MMP-9 polymorphisms were indicated by variation in band patterns. Degree of polymorphism in cases and controls were compared with NO and ANG-II levels in both groups. Data analysis was done using independent t-test. Results The heterozygous (3 band) to normal (2 band) MMP-9 genotype ratio was 3:1 in hypertensives, but balanced in controls. In hypertensives, heterozygous GA and homozygous AA genotype frequencies were respectively 3.198 and 1.548 times higher than that of the GG genotype (p=0.008 and p=0.726). There was a statistically significant differences of NO and Ang-II levels between cases and controls (p=0.000 and p=0.000; respectively). Conclusion Matrix metallopeptidase 9 gene polymorphisms in hypertensive ethnic Javanese are associated with NO and angiotensin II levels.
Contextual EFL Learning in a 3D Virtual Environment.

Yu-Ju Lan, National Taiwan Normal University The purposes of the current study are to develop virtually immersive EFL learning contexts for EFL learners in Taiwan to preand review English materials beyond the regular English class schedule. A 2-iteration action research lasting for one semester was conducted to evaluate the effects of virtual contexts on learners’ EFL learning. 132 elementary school students participated in this study. Both qualitative and quantitative data, including observation and English learning performances, were collected and analyzed. The positive results obtained from the study approved that the usage of virtual contexts in EFL learning could (1) provide students with learning opportunities without the time and space limits, (2) provide students with a game-liked scenario for English learning, and (3) enhance learners’ EFL performances. The learning mode proposed and experiences gained in the current study not only serve as a practical reference to diverse foreign language educational occasions but also add to the knowledge pool of foreign language learning and teaching in virtual worlds.
Exploring the effects of computerised sight translation on written translation speed and quality

ABSTRACT Beginning with an overview of the application of digital technologies to translation/interpreting on the one hand and sight interpreting/translation (SI/T) on the other, this paper sets out to explore the potential advantages of combining speech-recognition technology with SI/T when applied to written translation. A pilot study was conducted as a classroom exercise based on the premise that this combined technique would help increase overall translation speed, whilst at the same time generating a more idiomatic translation by exploiting the interpreting-oriented component of SI/T. While failing to corroborate the hypothesis that this technique would increase speed, owing primarily to technical difficulties and the subjects’ lack of familiarity with the technology, the findings of this preliminary study did indicate that idiomaticity was enhanced, while not significantly impairing the overall quality of the final translation when compared with the traditional manual input method. Furthermore, the majority of the errors detected could be overcome by greater familiarity with the technology used and an improved revision of the final text.
Inherited Bleeding Disorders in Iraq and Consanguineous Marriage

Background: Consanguineous marriage is defined as inbreeding between second cousins or closer. In such families there will be a potential increase in the autosomal recessive traits with its lethal effect, with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality in the new generation. Inherited bleeding disorders (InBDs) are rare complicated diseases, difficult and expensive to treat, the defect usually due to quantitative or qualitative deficiency of clotting factors, platelets or fibrinolysis. This study attempts to assess the diversity, the frequency and the clinical features of inherited bleeding disorders (InBDs) in central part of Iraq and to determine the state of consanguineous marriage. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study conducted in the National Center of Hematology NCH, Baghdad, Iraq between June2014 and June 2017. In total, 256 pediatrics and adult patients were included. Full bleeding history, family history, drug history and consanguineous marriage were recorded and followed by medical examination. First-line laboratory tests were performed and then were followed by further tests included mixing study, lupus anticoagulant testing, clotting factor activity assay, von Willebrand Antigen (VW: Ag), Ristocetin co factor vWF: RiCoF activity and platelet function test. Results : The range of age was from 1 month to 57 years, with mean age 8.424±8.623 years and median age of 6.5years. The male to female ratio was 1.1:1. The most common age group was in the range of 1-10 years (46.45%). Family history was positive in 55.07% of patients (P >0.05). The consanguinity was found in 76.95% of the families studied (P <0.0001). The most prevalent InBD was von Willebrand disease (42.98%) with majority type 3VWD (86.4%). The second most prevalent was thrombasthenia (36.71%) and the majority had Glanzmann’s thrombosthenia (86.2%). Rare bleeding disorders (RBDs) were observed in 6.25% of patients and the most common factor deficiency was FVII. Conclusion: Consanguinity is high in patients with inherited bleeding disorders in Iraq, leading to emergence of life-threatening autosomal recessive inherited diseases. Genetic counselling is recommended besides education and awareness to minimize such rare illnesses in the community.
PENERAPAN MODEL PROBLEM BASED LEARNING UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR KRITIS SISWA KELAS V SD

This study aims to describe the increase of critical thinking skills in learning Mathematics of fifth-grade students in SD N Noborejo 01 Argomulya sub-district, Salatiga. This study is a spiral action class study of the Mc. Taggart model which consists of 2 cycles, where each cycle has 4 stages, namely the stages of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting, however at the acting and observing stages were carried out at the same time. The data collection techniques carried out in this study were observation and tests. The instruments used were the observation sheet of teacher and student activities as well as a test sheet for students’ critical thinking skills. Data analysis was performed using comparative descriptive analysis, this was done by comparing the pre-cycle, cycle I and cycle II. The researcher determined the success indicator of 80% of students completing with the Minimum Criteria of Mastery Learning ≥ 70. The results showed that by applying the Problem Based Learning model students’ critical thinking skills in mathematics subjects can be improved, where it was shown that in the first cycle students’ critical thinking skills was 58.98% and in the second cycle, it increased to 97.44%. The number of students who completed the pre-cycle was 15 (38.5%) students, where it increased to 22 (56.4%) students in cycle I and increased again to 33 (84.6%) students in cycle II. The research can be said successful because it has reached a success indicator of 80% of all fifth-grade students who completed the Minimum Criteria of Mastery Learning ≥ 70. Based on these results, research with Problem Based Learning learning models can improve students’ critical thinking skills thus it influences student learning outcomes on the subject of mathematics.
THE MARKET PRICE OF CREDIT RISK : An Empirical Analysis of Interest Rate Swap Spreads

This paper studies the market price of credit risk incorporated into one of the most important credit spreads in the financial markets: interest rate swap spreads. Our approach consists of jointly modeling the swap and Treasury term structures using a general five-factor affine credit framework and estimating the parameters by maximum likelihood. We solve for the implied special financing rate for Treasury bonds and find that the liquidity component of on-the-run bond prices can be significant. We also find that credit premia in swap spreads are positive on average. These premia, however, vary significantly over time and were actually negative for much of the 1990s.
Using computer-vision and machine learning to automate facial coding of positive and negative affect intensity

Facial expressions are fundamental to interpersonal communication, including social interaction, and allow people of different ages, cultures, and languages to quickly and reliably convey emotional information. Historically, facial expression research has followed from discrete emotion theories, which posit a limited number of distinct affective states that are represented with specific patterns of facial action. Much less work has focused on dimensional features of emotion, particularly positive and negative affect intensity. This is likely, in part, because achieving inter-rater reliability for facial action and affect intensity ratings is painstaking and labor-intensive. We use computer-vision and machine learning (CVML) to identify patterns of facial actions in 4,648 video recordings of 125 human participants, which show strong correspondences to positive and negative affect intensity ratings obtained from highly trained coders. Our results show that CVML can both (1) determine the importance of different facial actions that human coders use to derive positive and negative affective ratings, and (2) efficiently automate positive and negative affect intensity coding on large facial expression databases. Further, we show that CVML can be applied to individual human judges to infer which facial actions they use to generate perceptual emotion ratings from facial expressions.
Individual differences in cognitive processing for roughness rating of fine and coarse textures

Previous studies have demonstrated that skin vibration is an important factor affecting the roughness perception of fine textures. For coarse textures, the determining physical factor is much less clear and there are indications that this might be participant-dependent. In this paper, we focused on roughness perception of both coarse and fine textures of different materials (glass particle surfaces and sandpapers). We investigated the relationship between subjective roughness ratings and three physical parameters (skin vibration, friction coefficient, and particle size) within a group of 30 participants. Results of the glass particle surfaces showed both spatial information (particle size) and temporal information (skin vibration) had a high correlation with subjective roughness ratings. The former correlation was slightly but significantly higher than the latter. The results also indicated different weights of temporal information and spatial information for roughness ratings among participants. Roughness ratings of a different material (sandpaper versus glass particles) could be either larger, similar or smaller, indicating differences among individuals. The best way to describe our results is that in their perceptual evaluation of roughness, different individuals weight temporal information, spatial information, and other mechanical properties differently.
Quality indicators: developing “MOOCs” in the European Higher Education Area

Abstract The objective of this research is to design an integrated system of evaluation of the quality of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) taking into account the features of this type of courses. The criteria included in the evaluation of the quality of e-learning training in a broad sense are considered, and specifically those developed for the MOOCs. Using a quantitative, descriptive and sectional design, a team of experts have valued those indicators proposed by the scientific literature. To do this, eight courses, focusing on the field of entrepreneurship and innovation, were selected. Most of the analysed courses meet designated quality criteria by having a clear and organized academic structure. In addition, each course states clearly the timing and hours of dedication by the learner. However, only a few courses do that on the open Internet and on their own academic institutions’ websites. None of the MOOCs establishes the admission requirements. The main contribution of the current research is that it gives MOOC developers some quality indicators, related to course design and platform, to better plan their applied design and implementation, which has a decisive positive impact on the educational quality of such e-learning platforms.
Combining green cards, telephone calls and postcards into an intervention algorithm to reduce suicide reattempt (AlgoS): P-hoc analyses of an inconclusive randomized controlled trial

Background Brief contact interventions (BCIs) might be reliable suicide prevention strategies. BCI efficacy trials, however, gave equivocal results. AlgoS trial is a composite BCI that yielded inconclusive results when analyzed with Intention-To-Treat strategy. In order to elicit intervention strengths and weaknesses, post-hoc analyses of AlgoS data were performed. Methods AlgoS was a randomized controlled trial conducted in 23 French hospitals. Suicide attempters were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (AlgoS) or the control group (Treatment as usual TAU). In the AlgoS arm, first-time suicide attempters received crisis cards; non first-time suicide attempters received a phone call, and post-cards if the call could not be completed, or if the participant was in crisis and/or non-compliant with the post-discharge treatment. An As Treated strategy, accounting for the actual intervention received, was combined with subgroup analyses. Results 1,040 patients were recruited and randomized into two groups of N = 520, from which 53 withdrew participation; 15 were excluded after inclusion/exclusion criteria reassessment. AlgoS first attempters were less likely to reiterate suicide attempt (SA) than their TAU counterparts at 6 and 13–14 months (RR [95% CI]: 0.46 [0.25–0.85] and 0.50 [0.31–0.81] respectively). AlgoS non-first attempters had similar SA rates as their TAU counterparts at 6 and 13–14 months (RR [95% CI]: 0.84 [0.57–1.25] and 1.00 [0.73–1.37] respectively). SA rates were dissimilar within the AlgoS non-first attempter group. Conclusions This new set of analysis suggests that crisis cards could be efficacious to prevent new SA attempts among first-time attempters, while phone calls were probably not significantly efficacious among multi-attempters. Importantly, phone calls were informative of new SA risk, thus a key component of future interventions.
Grafen ve Grafen Üretim Yöntemleri

2010 yili nobel fizik odulunun grafen hakkindaki ‘’Cigir acan deneyleri’’ dolayisiyla Hollandali Andre Geim ve Rus kokenli Ingiliz vatandasi Konstantin Novoselov’a verilmesi dikkatleri ‘’mucize materyal’’ olarak da bilinen bu malzeme uzerine cekmistir. Grafen tek atom inceliginde oldugundan dolayi iki boyutlu kabul edilen, kovalent bag ile bagli karbon atomlarinin altili balpetegi orgusunde kusursuzca dizilmesiyle olusturdugu ustun ozelliklere sahip bir nanomateryal olarak taninmaktadir. Grafen yapisinda karbon-karbon arasi bag uzunlugu 0,142 nm’dir. Grafen icindeki elektronlar oda sicakliginda kutlesiz rolativistik parcaciklar gibi davranir, bu sayede grafen kuantum boslugu etkisi gibi kendine has ozellikler sergiler. Grafenin temel ustun ozellikleri genis yuzey alani (2630 m 2 g – 1) yuksek elektron mobilitesi (200000 cm2/(V s) yuksek isil iletkenligi (5000 Wm-1K-1) ve yuksek young modulu (~1100 Gpa) olarak siralanabilir. Bu malzeme sahip oldugu ustun ozellikler nedeniyle bir cok uygulama alani bulmaktadir bunlarin baslicalari transparan elektrotlar, alan etkili transistorler, sensorler, temiz enerji cihazlari, nanokompozitler ve organik fotovoltaik cihazlar olarak sayilabilir. Bu calismada ustun ozellikleri ile on plana cikan grafen nanomateryalinin uretim yontemleri ele alinacaktir.
Risk Factors for Community-Acquired Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase–Producing Enterobacteriaceae Infections—A Retrospective Study of Symptomatic Urinary Tract Infections

Abstract Background Community-acquired extended-spectrum beta-lactamase–producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL) infections are an evolving public health problem. Identifying predictive risk factors may improve patient management. Methods We identified 251 adult inpatients admitted to a 22-hospital system with an ESBL urinary tract infection (UTI) between 2001 and 2016. Cases were matched 1:1 with controls who had a UTI at admission with non-ESBL Enterobacteriaceae. Cases with a history of ESBL infections or hospitalization within 3 months of index admission were excluded. Univariate and multiple logistic regression were used to identify risk factors associated with ESBL UTIs. Results In univariate analysis, history of repeated UTIs, neurogenic bladder, urinary catheter presence at admission, and exposure to outpatient third-generation cephalosporins or fluoroquinolones within 3 months were associated with higher risk of ESBL UTIs. When controlling for severity of illness and comorbid conditions, history of repeated UTIs (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.42–12.66; P < .001), presence of urinary catheter at admission (aOR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.15–4.98; P < .05), and prior antibiotic exposure (aOR, 7.98; 95% CI, 2.92–28.19; P < .001) remained associated with risk of ESBL infection. Conclusions Patients in the community with indwelling urinary catheters, history of recurrent UTIs, or recent antimicrobial use are at higher risk for de novo ESBL Enterobacteriaceae UTIs.