Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sources of Variability in the Use of Standardized Perfusion Value for HCC Studies

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the world’s most common malignant tumours. As known, liver tumour tissue is characterised by an increased blood supply related to neoangionesis which causes an increased arterial vascularisation. CT Perfusion Imaging is an important, non invasive, technique for qualitative assessment of tissue perfusion after contrast agent administration. Nevertheless, being able to reliably quantifying angiogenesis is increasingly important to both the evaluation of the disease progression and monitoring of the therapeutic response of HCC. With this in mind, we believe that could be helpful to employ Standardised Perfusion Value (SPV), which has the potential to be a useful non-invasive marker of HCC angiogenesis. However, before using SPV in clinical practice, we need to verify its reliability. There are different causes of variability in applying the SPV index, e.g., the technical specifications of the CT system employed and the image processing system. In this paper the authors will analyse the variability of the BFa estimates and the variability due to the calibration procedure of the CT system, this with the objective of verifying how these factors affects SPV values. In our case, perfusion MDCT images of seventeen HCC patients were analysed. A software application, based on maximum slope method, was developed to compute BFa and SPV values. Four radiologists were involved in images processing evaluating variability related to ROI selection; each radiologist repeated the ROI drawing four times on the same image set. We computed the k calibration factor in order to evaluate SPV variability due to calibration protocol of CT systems. Results show that calibration factor variance, due to the position in the gantry, is less than BFa variability. So, we conclude that, when daily calibration is preferred, a simplified protocol, which neglects the dependence of K factor from the position, may be utilised; at least until the intrinsic variability of perfusion parameter computation operator-dependent will be reduced.
Study of genetic variation and broad sense heritability for some qualitative and quantitative traits in soybean (Glycine max L.) genotypes

The success of crop breeding programs largely depends on presence of the genetic variation and the inheritance of traits of interest. The importance of genetic variation assists the breeder to decide the proper strategy and selection criteria to be followed for improvement of the target traits. In addition, the correlation between seed yield and quality characters as well as oil content is of major interest. Twelve soybean genotypes were evaluated for genotypic variation, phenotypic correlations and broad sense heritability for seed yield and some quality properties during three growing seasons. Results showed significant differences for seed yield and quality characters which suggest sufficient genetic variation for efficient selection. High broad sense heritability (81%, 76%, 74%) and genetic advance (0.35, 0.20, 0.40) were obtained for the number of nodes plant-1, days to flowering and plant height respectively, and strong positive correlation (r = 0.61*) was observed between seed yield and plant height. An increase in plant height leads to increase of number of nodes plant-1, number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, number of seeds plant-1 and protein yield. It is, therefore, concluded that simultaneous selection for improving seed yield through increasing the number of nodes plant-1, number of pods plant-1 and plant height would be an effective approach to increase seed yield as well as protein yield.
High-growth entrepreneurs : the relevance of business knowledge and work experience on venture success

In Africa high-growth entrepreneurs are scarce, and in SA entrepreneurial activity is dominated by necessity entrepreneurship with low expectations of growth and job creation. The paper focuses on opportunity entrepreneurs who are responsible for job creation. The sample (n = 171) is randomly drawn from the JCCI population membership base, who qualify on established individual and organizational level criterion to represent high-growth entrepreneurs. Building on previous research on entrepreneurial characteristics,competencies, knowledge, work experiences, skills, capabilities, education, training, and success indicators, the study measures business knowledge and work experience and relates these to different levels of venture success. Various chi-square-based tests are used to detect the strength of the relationship between the variables; in particular, statistically significant relationships are found between employment growth, higher levels of education, previous work experience and successful venture indicators. Practical and policy implications follow.
Real Exchange Rate Volatility and Exports in Kenya: 2005- 2012

The real exchange rate has proven to be an important factor in international trade because it is expected that exports react to real exchange rate movements with respect to the characteristics of the importing and exporting countries. Exchange rate volatility increases uncertainty of profits on contracts denominated in foreign currency and subsequently dampens trade and economic growth. This study investigated how real exchange rate volatility affected exports of key Kenyan commodities to the European Union and United Kingdom, namely; tea, coffee and horticulture to the European Union. The presence of exchange rate volatility was determined using the GARCH model. A Bounds testing and Autoregressive Distributed Lag model was used to establish the presence of a long run relationship between exchange rate volatility and commodity exports. Findings revealed that exchange rate volatility affected tea exports to the UK and horticulture exports to the European Union. Foreign income played an important role in explaining tea and coffee exports to the UK and EU respectively. It is recommended that greater value addition be done to tea and coffee exports to ensure that their demand increases with increase in foreign incomes.
Experimental thermal microevolution in community-embedded Daphnia populations

There are an increasing number of studies documenting effects of global warming on the distribution and ecology of a wide variety of organisms. However, much less is known about evo- lutionary responses in species to increasing temperature. As a result, thermal microevolution is often ignored when making predictions about the impact of global warming on the distribution of organ- isms and the composition of communities. We investigated the ability of 2 large-bodied Daphnia spe- cies, D. magna and D. pulex, to genetically respond to increased temperature under semi-natural conditions. Daphnia populations were exposed for 6 mo to different temperature treatments in large outdoor mesocosms that simulated small pond systems. The selection experiment was followed by a common garden experiment in which we quantified thermal microevolution in important life history traits. Intrinsic growth rate did not respond to thermal selection. Instead, we observed an effect of selection temperature on size at maturity, indicating that Daphnia may genetically adapt to increased temperature within one growing season. In a previous laboratory study on thermal microevolution using single-species cultures of D. magna, we documented the opposite pattern with thermal microevolution in intrinsic growth rate but not in size at maturity. These observations suggest that the ecological context (semi-natural conditions compared to single species cultures) is very important in determining with which traits species adapt to global warming.
X-ray view of IC 348 in the light of an updated cluster census

Context. IC 348 is a nearby (≈310 pc), young (∼2–3 Myr) open cluster with >300 members identified from optical and infrared observations. It comprises young stellar objects in various evolutionary phases from protostars over disk-bearing to diskless premain sequence stars. This gives us the opportunity to study evolutionary effects in the high-energy emissions in a homogeneous environment. Aims. We study the properties of the coronae of the young low-mass stars in IC 348 combining X-ray and optical/infrared data. In particular, we intend to shed light on the dependence of X-ray luminosity and spectral hardness on evolutionary stage and on stellar parameters such as mass, effective temperature, and bolometric luminosity. Methods. The four existing Chandra observations of IC 348 were merged, thus providing a deeper and spatially more complete X-ray view than previous X-ray studies of the cluster. We have compiled a comprehensive catalog of IC 348 members taking into account recent updates to the cluster census. Our data collection comprises fundamental stellar parameters, infrared excess indicating the presence of disks, Hα emission as a tracer of chromospheric emission or accretion, and mass accretion rates. Results. We have detected 290 X-ray sources in four merged Chandra exposures, of which 187 are associated with known cluster members, which corresponds to a detection rate of ∼60% for the cluster members of IC 348 that are identified in optical/infrared studies. According to the most recent spectral classification of IC 348 members, only four of the X-ray sources are brown dwarfs (spectral type M6 and later). The detection rate is highest for diskless Class III stars and increases with stellar mass. This may be explained with higher X-ray luminosities for higher mass and later evolutionary stage that is evident in the X-ray luminosity functions. In particular, we find that for the lowest examined masses (0.1−0.25 M� )t here is ad ifference between the X-ray luminosity functions of accreting and non-accreting stars (classified on the basis of their Hα emission strength) as well as those of disk-bearing and diskless stars (classified on the basis of the slope of the spectral energy distribution). These differences disappear for higher masses. This is related to our finding that the Lx/Lbol ratio is non-constant across the mass/luminosity sequence of IC 348 with a decrease toward lower luminosity stars. Our analysis of an analogous stellar sample in the Orion Nebula Cluster suggests that the decline of Lx/Lbol for young stars at the low-mass end of the stellar sequence is likely universal.
Decimetric-Scale Two-Dimensional Distribution of Soil Phosphorus after 20 Years of Tillage Management and Maintenance Phosphorus Fertilization

Improving soil test P assessment at plot scale is essential for productivity in conservation agriculture systems. We characterized the distribution of Mehlich-3 P (PM₃) concentrations at the decimetric scale with depth on either side of the sowing row in no-till (NT) and moldboard plow (MP) plots fertilized with 35 kg P ha–¹ every 2-yr in a corn–soybean rotation (20-yr). A total of 996 soil samples (83 samples × 2 depths [0–5 and 5–20 cm] × 6 plots [3 blocks each MP and NT]) were collected at corn harvest in 2012. The average PM₃ concentrations in the 0- to 5-cm layer were 35.7 and 63.4 mg kg–¹ in MP and NT, respectively. The PM₃ concentration in the 5- to 20-cm depth was similar between MP and NT and averaged 32.0 mg kg–¹. The horizontal distribution of PM₃ concentrations in these plots was less sensitive to extrinsic factors including tillage, P fertilization and soil depth. High coefficients of variation were associated with PM₃ data in both MP (77 and 63% at 0–5 and 5–20 cm, respectively) and NT plots (46 and 66% at 0–5 and 5–20 cm, respectively). It is possible that this strong overall variability overshadowed any PM₃ pattern that could have been introduced by NT management. Geostatistical semivariance analysis indicated a predominance of random spatial dependence in most plots, except two plots (one MP and one NT) with moderate spatial structures. The 2-D geospatial model related to tillage was not detected by the sampling grid used at this experimental site. Therefore, a similar sampling strategy would be appropriate and could be recommended for these two tillage systems in this long-term corn–soybean rotation.
Where do the air masses between double tropopauses come from

Abstract. An analysis of the origin of air masses that end up between double tropopauses (DT) in the subtropics and midlatitudes is presented. The double tropopauses were diagnosed in the ERA-Interim reanalysis (1979–2010), and the origin of air masses was analysed using the Lagrangian model FLEXPART. Different processes for the formation of double tropopauses (DT) have been suggested in the literature. Some studies have suggested that double tropopauses may occur as a response to the vertical profile of adiabatic heating, due to the residual meridional circulation, while others have put forward contradicting explanations. Whereas some studies have suggested that double tropopauses result from poleward excursions of the tropical tropopause over the extratropical one, others have argued that DTs develop in baroclinic unstable processes involving transport of air from high latitudes. In some regions, the DT structure has a semipermanent character which cannot be explained by excursions of the tropical tropopause alone. However, the results presented in this paper confirm that processes involving excursions of the tropical tropopause over the extratropical tropopause, which are therefore accompanied by intrusions of air from the tropical troposphere into the lower extratropical stratosphere, make a significant contribution for the occurrence of DTs in the subtropics and midlatitudes. Specifically, it is shown that the air between double tropopauses comes from equatorward regions, and has a higher percentage of tropospheric particles and a lower mean potential vorticity.
DOES REPEATED READING CONTRIBUTE TO STUDENTS' FLUENCY AND COMPREHENSION IN EFL READING?

Many students lack fluency in English as a foreign language (EFL) reading. Like in first language settings, repeated reading is proposed as an instructional method to improve fluency in EFL too. Present study investigates the effects of repeated reading on students’ reading fluency and comprehension in EFL. 11 students studying at English Language Teaching (ELT) program participated in the study. Three texts consisting of 2,252 words in total were divided into 8 passages. The study lasted 8 sessions and the students were asked to read each passage 7 times in each session. A pretest and posttest were used in order to see whether repeated reading would improve students’ fluency and comprehension in L2 reading. The results showed that there was not a significant change in students’ fluency. However, students’ reading comprehension improved significantly. It was discussed that while 8 sessions were not enough to develop students’ reading fluency, it helped them to enhance their reading comprehension. It is suggested for future research that a longer treatment would be needed for improving reading fluency.
How Citizens United vs FEC Impacted the Quality of Democracy

In 2010 the United States Supreme Court delivered an opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission which reversed decades of federal campaign finance law. The Court held that corporations, unions, and other entities could not be subject to federal campaign finance laws that restricted these organizations from engaging in independent expenditures using general treasury funds – i.e., advocating for the election or defeat of a specific candidate for federal office. Two months later, in SpeechNow v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia extended the ruling to apply to non-profit organizations. The result of this pair of rulings was the creation of the “Super PAC” – a type of political action committee than can spend unlimitedly on expressly advocating for the election or defeat of a candidate for federal office. A wealth of scholarship emerged in the aftermath of Citizens United. One of these bodies of literature contended over whether Super PACs were de facto extensions of the parties, or whether the Super PAC represented a novel entity that could be used by party outsiders to challenge the party insiders. I investigated the ability of party outsiders and factions to fundraise before and after the 2010 ruling to determine whether Citizens United created an opening for party outsiders. I used a database consisting of over 100 million contribution records from the Federal Election Commission to review a list of candidates for federal office and their numerical ideology scores. I used a modified z-score to standardize the ideology of candidates, and then conducted a comparative analysis of the percentage of total contributions that went to extreme candidates in Republican Presidential primaries both before and after 2010. I found that extreme candidates were indeed better off after Citizens United. HONORS COLLEGE THESIS – JOHN J. DOWLING, III. – LIU POST 2017 3 A K N O W L E D G E M E N T S I had no idea what I was in for when I took on this project. From beginning to end, everything took one year and seven months. I have grown both as a student and as a person in the process. None of it could have been feasible without the consistent aid and support of my brilliant advisor – Dr. Anke Grosskopf, who responded to emails on Friday nights, Sunday mornings, and remained interested and enthusiastic about the work from start to finish. I am deeply thankful for her time over these last nineteen months. A special thanks to my co-advisor, Dr. Jeremy Buchman, who provided insightful advice throughout the project. Lastly, I would also like to thank Lindsey, who kept with me while I worked on this weekend after weekend, after weekend. I’m John Dowling, III, and I approve this message. HONORS COLLEGE THESIS – JOHN J. DOWLING, III. – LIU POST 2017 4 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1.0 OPENING STATEMENT.6 1.
An Entailment-based Scoring Method for Content Selection in Document Summarization

This paper introduces a scoring method to improve the quality of content selection in an extractive summarization system. Different from previous models mainly using local information inside sentences such as sentence position or sentence length, our method judges the importance of a sentence based on its own information and the relation between sentences. For the relation between sentences, we utilize textual entailment, a relationship indicating that the meaning of a sentence can be inferred from another one. Unlike previous work on using textual entailment for summarization, we go a step further by looking at aligned words in an entailment sentence pair. Assuming that important words in a salient sentence can be aligned by several words in other sentences, word alignment scores are exploited to compute the entailment score of a sentence. To take advantage of local and neighbor information for facilitating the salient estimation of sentences, we combine entailment scores with sentence position scores. We validate the proposed scoring method with greedy or integer linear programming approaches for extracting summaries. Experiments on three datasets (including DUC 2001 and 2002) in two different domains show that our model obtains competitive ROUGE-scores with state-of-the-art methods for single-document summarization.
Fluoxetine causes decrease in intestinal motility

Background: Major depression is the most frequent disorder occurring in 16% of the population worldwide. In the middle of the 20 th century, the discovery of selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors acted as a miracle in the antidepressant therapy. We explored the acute effects of fluoxetine and possible mechanism underlying the contractile effects of fluoxetine on isolated ileal smooth muscles of rabbit in vitro . Methods: Effects of increasing concentrations of acetylcholine (Ach), 5-HT and fluoxetine were studied on isolated ileal tissue of the rabbit in vitro by constructing cumulative concentration response curves. The ileal smooth muscle contractions were recorded on power lab (USA). Results: Ach, 5-HT and fluoxetine, produced a concentration-dependent reversible contraction of isolated ileal muscle of rabbit. The mean ± standard error of the mean of maximum amplitudes of contraction with Ach, 5-HT and fluoxetine, were 24.8±1.22 mm, 44±0.527 mm and 2.6±1.16 mm, respectively. Fluoxetine shifted the concentration-response curve right and downwards. Conclusion: Our study has indicated that fluoxetine on isolated ileal intestinal smooth muscle decrease the motility and this decrease in motility is possibly due to the inability of fluoxetine in vitro to enhance the serotonergic transmission and also because of the interaction of these agents with some of the other receptors, present in the intestinal smooth muscles.
GalWeight: A New and Effective Weighting Technique for Determining Galaxy Cluster and Group Membership

We introduce GalWeight, a new technique for assigning galaxy cluster membership. This technique is specifically designed to simultaneously maximize the number of bona fide cluster members while minimizing the number of contaminating interlopers. The GalWeight technique can be applied to both massive galaxy clusters and poor galaxy groups. Moreover, it is effective in identifying members in both the virial and infall regions with high efficiency. We apply the GalWeight technique to MDPL2 and Bolshoi N-body simulations, and find that it is >98% accurate in correctly assigning cluster membership. We show that GalWeight compares very favorably against four well-known existing cluster membership techniques (shifting gapper, den Hartog, caustic, SIM). We also apply the GalWeight technique to a sample of 12 Abell clusters (including the Coma cluster) using observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We conclude by discussing GalWeight’s potential for other astrophysical applications.
ON RATIO AND PROPORTION LEARNING BY USING RATIO TABLE AND GRAPH WITH OKU TIMUR CONTEXT AT THE 7 th GRADE

This research was motivated by several studies which show that students have difficulties in understanding the material ratio, wherein one contributing factor is the lack of ability in proportional reasoning. The purpose of this study is to produce a trajectory of learning to help students develop abilities in comparison reasoning. Solution strategies in this study were the ratio tables and graphs using PMRI approach (Indonesian Realistic Mathematics Education) with OKU Timur context. This research was conducted in MTs Subulussalam 2 Sriwangi Ulu OKU Timur. The method used was design research with three stages, those are the preliminary experiment, design experiment, and retrospective analysis. At the preliminary experiment, researchers designed the Hypothetical Learning Trajectory (HLT). At the design experiment, HLT tested on students to develop informal knowledge into a formal knowledge of mathematics through activities. The trial results were analyzed in a retrospective analysis phase so that the trajectory of learning or Learning Trajectory (LT) resulted.