Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High School Students’ Critical Thinking Related to Their Metacognitive Self-Regulation and Physics Self-Efficacy Beliefs

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between ninth grade students’ metacognitive self-regulation skills and physics self-efficacy beliefs and their critical thinking. To this end, 162 students attending the ninth grade participated in the study. Critical thinking scale, metacognitive self-regulation scale and physics self-efficacy scale were used as data collection tools in the study. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, pearson product moment correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. According to descriptive analysis results the students’ critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation and physics self-efficacy beliefs were high. Moreover, stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the students’ metacognitive self-regulation and physics self-efficacy belief scores were significant predictors of their critical thinking scores, explaining 55 % of the variance of critical thinking scores. In addition, it was also determined that the main variable that best explained critical thinking was metacognitive self-regulation, explaining 53 % of variance.
Observations of velocities, sand concentrations, and fluxes under velocity-asymmetric oscillatory flows

[1] U‐tube measurements of instantaneous velocities, concentrations, and fluxes for a well‐sorted, medium‐sized sand in oscillatory sheet flow are analyzed. The experiments involved two velocity‐asymmetric flows, the same two flows with an opposing current of 0.4 m/s, and a mixed skewed‐asymmetric flow, all with a velocity amplitude of 1.2 m/s and flow period of 7 s. We find that the net positive transport rate beneath velocity‐ asymmetric oscillatory flow results from large, but opposing sand fluxes during the positive and negative flow phase. With an increase in velocity asymmetry and, in particular, velocity skewness, the difference in the magnitude of the fluxes in the two half cycles increases, leading to larger net transport rates. This trend is consistent with the observed increase in skewness of the oscillatory bed shear stress. Phase‐lag effects, whereby sand stirred during the negative flow phase has not settled by the time of the negative‐to‐positive flow reversal and is subsequently transported during the positive flow phase, are notable but of minor importance to the net transport rate compared to earlier experiments with finer sands. In the vertical, the oscillatory flux is positive above the no‐ flow bed. Within the sheet flow pick‐up layer, the oscillatory flux is negative and similar in magnitude to the positive flux induced by the residual flow. The 0.4 m/s opposing current causes more sand to be picked up during the negative than during the positive flow phase. Above the no‐flow bed the resulting negative oscillatory flux is comparable in magnitude to the current‐related flux.
The relative roles of genes and rearing environment on the spatial cognitive ability of two sympatric species of threespine stickleback

Background: Recently diverged populations provide a powerful model for studying trait evolution. Benthic sticklebacks primarily occupy vegetated areas of lakes, a spatially complex environment. Limnetic sticklebacks primarily occupy open water in lakes, a spatially simple environment. In a T-maze spatial learning assay, wild-caught benthic sticklebacks perform better than wild-caught limnetic sticklebacks. It is not known whether this difference has a genetic basis and is thus the result of evolution or is instead a plastic response to the contrasting environments. Question: To what extent are differences in the spatial cognitive ability of benthic and limnetic sticklebacks influenced by genetic differences, rearing environment, or the interaction between the two? Methods: Using wild-caught limnetic and benthic fish from Paxton and Priest Lakes, we made pure-species crosses in the lab. We reared the fertilized eggs in spatially simple or spatially complex lab environments. We used a previously validated T-maze spatial learning assay to quantify the ability of adult fish from each rearing environment to learn an association between a visual landmark and a reward location. Results: Lab-reared benthic fish learned the spatial task faster and made fewer errors than lab-reared limnetic fish, which supports a genetic basis underlying species differences in spatial learning ability. However, we found no significant differences between fish raised in different artificial environments.
Scanning micro‐X‐ray fluorescence elemental mapping: A new tool for the study of laminated sediment records

The utility of elemental mapping by scanning X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) in the study of annual laminated sedimentary records was investigated on eight annually laminated sediment types. The examples were chosen to illustrate the potential of this approach in environments dominated by terrigenous, biological and chemical deposition. Individual laminae were identifiable in elemental maps of all sediment types and were enhanced through the use of data reduction techniques (e.g., principal components transformation). Laminae were least apparent in clastic dominated systems with no seasonal changes in sediment sources. In biologically dominated systems, element maps provided insights into the composition of the varve subcomponents, related to alternating terrigenous and biologically dominated seasonal periods of deposition. Chemically precipitated structures were more prevalent than expected from visual investigations alone and may provide an underutilized paleoenvironmental signature of changing limnological conditions. Elemental mapping offers a valuable tool for the study of laminated records that complements existing techniques (e.g., SEM, digital image analysis).
EVALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE TO FUTURE-PROOF THE KNOWLEDGE BASE

Companies have to develop their knowledge base to ensure that employees provide suitable knowledge to follow changes in market and customer requirements. We built a methodology to evaluate the degree of knowledge usage and of knowledge depth. In order to analyze how knowledge will change in the future regarding those two dimensions, we incorporate an approach of scenario technique into the methodology. In the methodology, the degrees of knowledge usage and depth are identified by interviews with employees and managers. Finally, this methodology was applied in a company's service department.
Contact problems with friction, adhesion and wear in orthopaedic biomechanics. Part II – Numerical implementation and application to implanted knee joints

The present paper is the second part of the contribution by Rojek and Telega (2001). An alternative adhesion law was used to the study of bone-implant interface. Numerical scheme was developed and applied to the knee joint after arthroplasty. Influence of wear debris on this interface and currently used wear models were investigated.
On resultant inequalities

(1.1) 0 < |R(f, g)| 6M(g)r−κ to be solved in polynomials g ∈ Z[X] of degree t, where R(f, g) denotes the resultant of f and g and where M(g) denotes the Mahler measure of g (see formulas (2.1), (2.2) in Section 2 for definitions). If g = vX − u is a polynomial of degree 1 then R(f, g) = F (u, v) where F is the binary form defined by F (u, v) = vf(u/v) and M(g) = max(|u|, |v|). So for t = 1 we may rewrite (1.1) as a Thue inequality
Modeling Power Systems as Complex Adaptive Systems

Physical analogs have shown considerable promise for understanding the behavior of complex adaptive systems, including macroeconomics, biological systems, social networks, and electric power markets. Many of today's most challenging technical and policy questions can be reduced to a distributed economic control problem. Indeed, economically based control of large-scale systems is founded on the conjecture that the price-based regulation (e.g., auctions, markets) results in an optimal allocation of resources and emergent optimal system control. This report explores the state-of-the-art physical analogs for understanding the behavior of some econophysical systems and deriving stable and robust control strategies for using them. We review and discuss applications of some analytic methods based on a thermodynamic metaphor, according to which the interplay between system entropy and conservation laws gives rise to intuitive and governing global properties of complex systems that cannot be otherwise understood. We apply these methods to the question of how power markets can be expected to behave under a variety of conditions.
High‐throughput proteomic analysis of FFPE tissue samples facilitates tumor stratification

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE), biobanked tissue samples offer an invaluable resource for clinical and biomarker research. Here we developed a pressure cycling technology (PCT)-SWATH mass spectrometry workflow to analyze FFPE tissue proteomes and applied it to the stratification of prostate cancer (PCa) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) samples. We show that the proteome patterns of FFPE PCa tissue samples and their analogous fresh frozen (FF) counterparts have a high degree of similarity and we confirmed multiple proteins consistently regulated in PCa tissues in an independent sample cohort. We further demonstrate temporal stability of proteome patterns from FFPE samples that were stored between one to 15 years in a biobank and show a high degree of the proteome pattern similarity between two types histological region of small FFPE samples, i.e. punched tissue biopsies and thin tissue sections of micrometer thickness, despite the existence of certain degree of biological variations. Applying the method to two independent DLBCL cohorts we identified myeloperoxidase (MPO), a peroxidase enzyme, as a novel prognostic marker. In summary, this study presents a robust proteomic method to analyze bulk and biopsy FFPE tissues and reports the first systematic comparison of proteome maps generated from FFPE and FF samples. Our data demonstrate the practicality and superiority of FFPE over FF samples for proteome in biomarker discovery. Promising biomarker candidates for PCa and DLBCL have been discovered.
Neuromuscular Activation Differences During Gait in Patients With Ehlers‐Danlos Syndrome and Healthy Adults

Ehlers‐Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a group of genetic disorders affecting connective tissue. Symptoms include joint and ligament laxity. The objectives of this study were to compare muscle activation, joint angles, and spatiotemporal parameters during gait, and to compare isometric strength between participants with EDS (hypermobility and classical subtypes) and healthy adults.
Activation through toll‐like receptor 2 on group 2 innate lymphoid cells can induce asthmatic characteristics

Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are one of the sources of IL‐5 and IL‐13 in allergic airway inflammation. Innate immune receptors such as Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) expressed on epithelial cells could contribute to ILC2 activation through IL‐33 production, but a direct effect of TLRs on ILC2s remains to be elucidated.
Collision fatality of raptors in wind farms does not depend on raptor abundance

Summary 1. The number of wind farms is increasing worldwide. Despite their purported environmental benefits, wind energy developments are not without potential adverse impacts on the environment, and the current pace and scale of development proposals, combined with a poor understanding of their impacts, is a cause for concern. 2. Avian mortality through collision with moving rotor blades is one of the main adverse impacts of wind farms, yet long-term studies are rare. We analyse bird fatalities in relation to bird abundance, and test several factors which have been hypothesized to be associated with bird mortality. 3. Bird abundance was compared with collision fatality records to identify species-specific death risk. Failure time analysis incorporated censored mortality data in which the time of event occurrence (collision) was not known. The analysis was used to test null hypotheses of homogeneity in avian mortality distribution according to several factors. 4. There was no clear relationship between species mortality and species abundance, although all large-bird collision victims were raptors and griffon vulture Gyps fulvus was most frequently killed. Bird mortality and bird abundance varied markedly among seasons, but mortality was not highest in the season with highest bird abundance. Mortality rates of griffon vultures did not differ significantly between years. 5. Bird collision probability depended on species, turbine height (taller = more victims) and elevation above sea level (higher = more victims), implicating species-specific and topographic factors in collision mortality. There was no evidence of an association between collision probability and turbine type or the position of a turbine in a row. 6. Synthesis and applications . Bird abundance and bird mortality through collision with wind turbines were not closely related; this result challenges a frequent assumption of wind-farm assessment studies. Griffon vulture was the most frequently killed species, and species-specific flight behaviour was implicated. Vultures collided more often when uplift wind conditions were poor, such as on gentle slopes, when thermals were weak, and when turbines were taller at higher elevations. New wind installations and/or repowering of older wind farms with griffon vulture populations nearby, should avoid turbines on the top of hills with gentle slopes.
Investor behavior heterogeneity in the French stock market

We estimate in this paper a non probabilistic Markovien model of stock prices with an evolutionary selection of heterogeneous strategies. It is a model proposed by Brock and Hommes (1997, 1998) and improved later by Boswijk and al. (2007). Indeed, the latter propose one of the few estimations considering stock markets data, characterized by an evolutionary selection procedure of heterogeneous strategies. They estimate the model to annual US stock price data from 1871 to 2003. In this paper, we chose to proceed by estimation concerning 27 companies from the CAC 40 and the composite index corresponding to these 27 companies to avoid the risk of an average effect on adding these stocks. In addition, the strategy adopted by an investor can depend on his investment horizon and to verify this assumption we chose daily, monthly and quarterly data. Citation: Rania Guirat, (2011) ''Investor behavior heterogeneity in the French stock market'', Economics Bulletin, Vol. 31 no.2 pp. 18271836. Submitted: Apr 07 2011. Published: June 22, 2011. Economics Bulletin, 2011, Vol. 31 no.2 pp. 1827-1836
Choice of endpoint in kidney outcome trials: considerations from the EMPA-REG OUTCOME® trial.

BACKGROUND Doubling of serum creatinine [equivalent to 57% reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)] is an established surrogate for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD); however, this endpoint necessitates lengthy follow-up and large sample sizes in clinical trials. We explored whether alternative eGFR decline thresholds provide more feasible surrogate kidney endpoints. METHODS The study involved post hoc analysis of the EMPA-REG OUTCOME® trial. Adults with type 2 diabetes, high cardiovascular risk and eGFR ≥30 mL/min/1.73 m2 were assigned empagliflozin 10 mg or 25 mg (n = 4687) or placebo (n = 2333), on top of standard of care. We assessed composite endpoints incorporating different eGFR decline thresholds (≥30, ≥40, ≥50 or ≥57%) combined with initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT) or renal death. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01131676). RESULTS Empagliflozin versus placebo significantly lowered the risk of decline in eGFR for each threshold listed above, combined with initiation of RRT or renal death, ranging from a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.81 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72-0.91] for endpoints based on 30% eGFR decline to an HR of 0.37 (0.23-0.61) for endpoints based on 57% eGFR decline. Lower thresholds (e.g. 30%) were associated with higher event rates but weaker treatment effects. The time to the 95% CI of the HR falling to <1.0 decreased with increasing eGFR threshold. CONCLUSIONS The composite of 40% decline in eGFR, ESKD or renal death appears to provide reliable results similar to the traditional 57% decline in eGFR.
Genomic evidence of neo-sex chromosomes in the eastern yellow robin

Abstract Background Understanding sex-biased natural selection can be enhanced by access to well-annotated chromosomes including ones inherited in sex-specific fashion. The eastern yellow robin (EYR) is an endemic Australian songbird inferred to have experienced climate-driven sex-biased selection and is a prominent model for studying mitochondrial-nuclear interactions in the wild. However, the lack of an EYR reference genome containing both sex chromosomes (in birds, a female bearing Z and W chromosomes) limits efforts to understand the mechanisms of these processes. Here, we assemble the genome for a female EYR and use low-depth (10×) genome resequencing data from 19 individuals of known sex to identify chromosome fragments with sex-specific inheritance. Findings MaSuRCA hybrid assembly using Nanopore and Illumina reads generated a 1.22-Gb EYR genome in 20,702 scaffolds (94.2% BUSCO completeness). Scaffolds were tested for W-linked (female-only) inheritance using a k-mer approach, and for Z-linked inheritance using median read-depth test in male and female reads (read-depths must indicate haploid female and diploid male representation). This resulted in 2,372 W-linked scaffolds (total length: 97,872,282 bp, N50: 81,931 bp) and 586 Z-linked scaffolds (total length: 121,817,358 bp, N50: 551,641 bp). Anchoring of the sex-linked EYR scaffolds to the reference genome of a female zebra finch revealed 2 categories of sex-linked genomic regions. First, 653 W-linked scaffolds (25.7 Mb) were anchored to the W sex chromosome and 215 Z-linked scaffolds (74.4 Mb) to the Z. Second, 1,138 W-linked scaffolds (70.9 Mb) and 179 Z-linked scaffolds (51.0 Mb) were anchored to a large section (coordinates ∼5 to ∼60 Mb) of zebra finch chromosome 1A. The first ∼5 Mb and last ∼14 Mb of the reference chromosome 1A had only autosomally behaving EYR scaffolds mapping to them. Conclusions We report a female (W chromosome–containing) EYR genome and provide genomic evidence for a neo-sex (neo-W and neo-Z) chromosome system in the EYR, involving most of a large chromosome (1A) previously only reported to be autosomal in passerines.
Classification of Nonlinear Power Quality Events Based on Multiwavelet Transform

The paper presented uses multiwavelet due to its inherent property to resolve the signal better than all single wavelets. MWTs are based on more than one scaling function. The resolution is better com- pared to Daubechies and hence, the event can be detected from lesser number of samples and in lesser time as compared to Daubechies. This paper utilizes an enhanced resolving capability of MWT to recognize PQ disturbances. Fuzzy product aggregation reasoning rule (FPARR) classifier has been implemented and tested for various PQ events. Results on various PQ events such as voltage sag, voltage swell, outage, interruption (INT), impulsive-transient (IT), oscillatory-transient (OT), noise and notch show that multiwavelets can de- tect and classify different PQ events efficiently and consistently.
Human mesenchymal stromal cell-derived extracellular vesicles improve liver regeneration after ischemia reperfusion injury in mice.

Hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) remains a major obstacle in liver resection and transplantation surgery, especially in diseased organs. Human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are reported to acutely alleviate hepatic IRI in mice by releasing bioactive membrane-enclosed extracellular vesicles (EV), but the long-term effects of MSC-derived EV on hepatic IRI are unknown. Given the considerable differentiation capacity of fibroblasts (FB) during wound healing and their morphological similarities with MSC, the present study aimed to investigate the potential of these two cell types and their cell-derived EV in attenuating liver damage after IRI. EV were isolated and purified from the supernatant of MSC and FB cultures and subsequently characterized by electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis and western blot. Liver injury and organ regeneration in a murine in vivo model of IRI were assessed by serum transaminase levels, histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Changes in expression of inflammation-associated genes within liver tissue were evaluated by RT-qPCR. MSC, MSC-derived EV, FB and FB-derived EV were systemically administered prior to hepatic IRI. We found that MSC and MSC-derived EV decreased serum transaminase levels, reduced hepatic necrosis, increased the amount of Ki67-positive hepatocytes and repressed the transcription of inflammation-associated genes. Although they had no impact on organ damage, FB and FB-derived EV showed some regenerative potential in the late phase of hepatic IRI. Compared to FB, MSC and their derived EV had a stronger potential to attenuate liver damage and improve organ regeneration after hepatic IRI. These results suggest that the key therapeutic factors are located within EV.
Area Speed Flow Relationships: Initial SATURN Results for the Ring-Radial Network

This paper is one of a series of ITS working papers and technical notes describing the methodology and results of the EPSRC funded project "The definition of capacity in urban road networks : The role of area speed flow relationships". The objectives of the project were to investigate the interaction between vehicle-hours and vehicle-km within a network as the demand for travel increases; to develop improved area speed flow relationships; to use the relationships to explain the process by which networks reach capacity; and to assess the significance for the evaluation of road pricing policies. The approach used was to collect the vehicle-hours and the vehicle-km directly from a simulation model and thus create relationships between supply and demand in terms of veh-hours/hr and veh-km/hr demanded and also between times per trip and trips demanded. During the project two models were used. The first was a micro-simulation model called NEMIS. This model was used on hypothetical networks ranging from single link to a six by six grid and finally a ring-radial network. The networks were used to study the effects of changes in OD pattern and the effects of varying capacity on the resulting speed flow measures. The second model used was SATURN. This model was used to study the same ring-radial as before and a full SATURN model of Cambridge. The SATURN results were then taken one step further in that they were used to create an aggregate model of each network using SATURN in buffer only mode. The related papers discuss issues such as network aggregation. Note that the methodology and terminology was developed as the study progressed and that in particular the method varies between application of the two distinct models. The reader is directed to the attached appendix A for a full list of publications arising from this project.