Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between an Online Synchronous Learning Environment and Knowledge Acquisition Skills and Traits: The Blackboard Collaborate Experience

Online learning is becoming more attractive to perspective students because it offers them greater accessibility, convenience and flexibility to study at a reduced cost. While these benefits may attract prospective learners to embark on an online learning environment there remains little empirical evidence relating the skills and traits of knowledge acquisition with a synchronous online environment supported by Blackboard Collaborate. Without understanding this relationship colleges and universities cannot assess if their programs offered through educational communication technologies, such as Blackboard, enhance learner’s skills and traits that are essential for knowledge acquisition. The purpose of this paper is to (i) examine the relationship between an online learning environment, which is supported by Blackboard Collaborate, and the skills and traits of knowledge acquisition, (ii) assess the influence of online learners motivation on knowledge acquisition skills and traits, and (iii) propose alternative Blackboard Collaborate layout and structure derived from the process of a critical reflection. Data was collected from 84 learners who studied online courses in a Higher Education Institution in the United Arab Emirates. The Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) was employed to perform the path analysis and SPSS was used to determine the factor structure of the examined variables. The study revealed three major findings. First, easy access of the Blackboard Collaborate and an effectively designed structure enhanced learners’ problem understanding and communication. It also improved the personal traits of conceptualisation, tolerance and amiability that are essential for knowledge acquisition. Second, the readiness of the online learners with educational communication technologies had a positive influence on their liberal arts knowledge. Third, learners’ attested motivation to embark on synchronous online classes enhanced their knowledge acquisition skills and traits. Finally, alternative Blackboard Collaborate layouts and structures are recommended aiming at encouraging future researchers to further investigate the relationship between the knowledge acquisition skills and traits of learners and an online synchronous learning environment.
Alcohol-Related Aggression: A Further Study of the Importance of Frustration

This experiment investigated aggression as an interactive effect of alcohol and frustration in a situation where frustration was defined as strong and arbitrary and aggression as instrumental. 40 male subjects were randomly assigned to either an alcohol or a placebo group, each group further divided into an aggressive-cue group and a no-aggressive-cue group. Subjects either consumed an alcohol dose of 0.8 ml of pure alcohol per kg body weight or a placebo drink. Intensity and duration of shocks administered by subjects to a bogus partner in a supervision “cover task” were measures of relative aggression and absolute aggression was defined as number of shocks given. The aggressive cue manipulation had no effect, and both absolute and relative aggression increased only when intoxicated subjects were frustrated. Aggression was clearly of an instrumental kind with no ingredients of emotional aggression. The different dependent measures were highly intercorrelated and not associated with different types of aggression. The results were discussed as supportive of a model proposing a shift in attentional processes under alcohol to salient external features.
Patient acceptability of manual versus electric vacuum aspiration for early pregnancy loss.

OBJECTIVE To compare the safety, efficacy, postprocedure quality of life, and acceptability of manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) performed as an outpatient with electric vacuum aspiration (EVA) performed in a hospital in women experiencing a first-trimester miscarriage. METHODS From a randomized multicenter trial comparing misoprostol with vacuum aspiration for first-trimester loss, data were extracted comparing the safety, efficacy, and acceptability of MVA in an office setting with local anesthesia with EVA in an operating room environment with spinal or general anesthesia or monitored anesthesia care (MAC). RESULTS One hundred fifty-seven women underwent EVA or MVA. Efficacy and safety were similar in both groups. Physical and emotional role functioning scores were better in patients undergoing MVA (p=0.01), and fewer patients undergoing MVA missed work or required help at home (p<0.01). However, pain severity scores were better in the EVA arm of the study (p=0.03). There was a trend toward fewer MVA patients recommending or using this procedure again. CONCLUSIONS In patients with early pregnancy loss, treatment with MVA as an outpatient with local anesthesia is an effective and safe alternative to EVA performed in a hospital with conscious sedation or spinal or general anesthesia. Treatment in the outpatient setting allows for a better physical and emotional quality of life postprocedure.
Kinetics and mechanism of polythionate oxidation to sulfate at low pH by O 2 and Fe 3

Polythionates (SxO6 2 ) are important in redox transformations involving many sulfur compounds. Here we investigate the oxidation kinetics and mechanisms of trithionate and tetrathionate oxidation between pH 0.4 and pH 2 in the presence of Fe 3 and/or oxygen. In these solutions, Fe 3 plus oxygen oxidizes tetrathionate and trithionate at least an order of magnitude faster than oxygen alone. Kinetic measurements, coupled with density functional calculations, suggest that the rate-limiting step for tetrathionate oxidation involves Fe attachment, followed by electron density shifts that result in formation of a sulfite radical and S3O3 0 derivatives. The overall reaction orders for trithionate and tetrathionate are fractional due to rearrangement reactions and side reactions between reactants and intermediate products. The pseudo-first order rate coefficients for tetrathionate range from 10 11 s 1 at 25°C to 10 8 s 1 at 70°C, compared to 2 10 7 s 1 at 35 °C for trithionate. The apparent activation energy (E A) for tetrathionate oxidation at pH 1.5 is 104.5 4.13 kJ/mol. A rate law at pH 1.5 and 70°C between 0.5 and 5 millimolar [Fe 3 ] is of the form: r 10 6.61 [S4O6 2 ] [Fe ] 0.09 where rate, r, is in units of mol L 1 s . In pH 1 solutions where trithionate forms by rearrangement of tetrathionate, trithionate oxidation is the rapid pathway for conversion of tetrathionate to sulfate. The kinetics of both trithionate and tetrathionate oxidation are several orders of magnitude slower than the formation of polythionates from thiosulfate in acidic, Fe 3 -rich solutions. Copyright © 2003 Elsevier Ltd
Functional outcome of meniscal-bearing total ankle replacement: a gait analysis study.

BACKGROUND Most clinical studies on total ankle replacement (TAR) report assessments based on traditional clinical scores or radiographic analysis. Only a few studies have used modern instrumentation for quantitative functional analysis during the execution of activities of daily living. The aim of this study was to use gait analysis to compare the functional performance of patients who underwent TAR versus a control population. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed of ten consecutive patients who had undergone meniscal-bearing TAR. Clinical and functional assessments were performed at a mean follow-up of 34 months with a modified Mazur scoring system and state-of-the-art gait analysis. RESULTS Gait analysis assessment of TAR at medium-term follow-up showed satisfactory results for all patients, with adequate recovery of range of motion. Because the literature reports unsatisfying long-term results, it is important to evaluate these patients over a longer follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that TAR yields satisfactory, but not outstanding, general functional results at nearly 3 years' follow-up. These gait analysis results highlight the importance of integrating in vivo measurements with the standard clinical assessments of patients who underwent TAR while they perform activities of daily living. These results also emphasize the importance of evaluating the functional outcome of TAR over time.
Persistent Immature Glomeruli in a Girl with Refractory Nephrotic Syndrome

We recently observed an 8-year-old girl with refractory nephrotic syndrome (NS) whose renal biopsy showed remaining immature embryonic-type glomeruli. She had been suffering from long-standing NS, which had onset at 2 years. Her initial renal biopsy at the age of 2 years showed minimal-change lesions and some embryonic-type glomeruli. These clinical observations suggested that early-onset NS might sometimes lead to mutation failure in embryonic -type glomeruli in selected patients. The patient was born at 38 weeks of gestation after an uneventful pregnancy and had a birth weight of 3272 g. The family history was unremarkable. The patient had been healthy until 2 years of age when massive proteinuria and generalized oedema developed. The diagnosis was NS, and treatment with prednisolone (PDN) at a dose of 20 mg/day (2 mg/kg) was initiated. Although the PDN treatment was initially effective for her proteinuria, a rapid recurrence of massive proteinuria occurred when the PDN dose was tapered. A percutanenous renal biopsy at the age of 2.4 years revealed minimal-change lesions and one (4%) glomerulus out of 28 glomeruli in the renal biopsy specimen showed the immature embryonic-type. Persistent hypoalbuminemia (less than 2.0 g/dL) lasting over 40 days required regular albumin infusions in order to preserve peripheral circulation. A 12-week course of cyclophosphamide (1.5 mg/kg), which was combined with PDN, resulted in a gradual decrease in urine protein excretion. For the next 6 years, frequent relapses occurred, and treatment with cyclosporine (CsA), 1.5 mg/kg, was started at the 5 th relapse at the age of 5.4 years. Although CsA was effective for the next 15 months, the 6 th relapse occurred soon after the PDN was discontinued. Because the relapse was due to a subsequently developed CsA-resistant state, tacrolimus (Tac), 0.075 mg/ kg, was initiated, 1
Cervical fluid interleukin 6 and intra-amniotic complications of preterm prelabor rupture of membranes

Abstract Objective: To determine if cervical fluid interleukin (IL)-6 concentrations in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) allows identification of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and/or intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI). Methods: One hundred forty-four women with singleton pregnancies complicated by PPROM were included in this prospective cohort study. Cervical and amniotic fluids were collected at the time of admission and concentrations of IL-6 were measured using an ELISA and point-of-care test, respectively. Cervical fluid was obtained using a Dacron polyester swab and amniotic fluid was obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis. MIAC was diagnosed based on a positive PCR result for Ureaplasma species, M. hominis, and/or C. trachomatis and/or by positivity for the 16 S rRNA gene. IAI was defined as amniotic fluid point-of-care IL-6 concentrations ≥745 pg/mL. The women were assigned to four subgroups based on the presence of MIAC and/or IAI: microbial-associated IAI (both MIAC and IAI), sterile IAI (IAI alone), MIAC alone, and without either MIAC or IAI. Results: (1) Women with microbial-associated IAI had higher cervical fluid IL-6 concentrations (median 560 pg/mL) than did women with sterile IAI (median 303 pg/mL; p = .001), women with MIAC alone (median 135 pg/mL; p = .0004), and women without MIAC and IAI (median 180 pg/mL; p = .0001). (2) No differences were found in cervical fluid IL-6 concentrations among women with sterile IAI, with MIAC alone, and without MIAC and IAI. (3) A positive correlation was observed between cervical fluid IL-6 concentrations and the amount of Ureaplasma species in amniotic fluid (copies DNA/mL; rho = 0.57, p < .0001). (4) A weak positive correlation was detected between cervical and amniotic fluid IL-6 concentrations (rho = 0.33, p < .0001). Conclusions: The presence of microbial-associated IAI is associated with the highest cervical fluid IL-6 concentrations. Cervical IL-6 can be helpful in the identification of microbial-associated IAI.
Chronic Zinc Deficiency in Mice Disrupted T Cell Lymphopoiesis and Erythropoiesis While B Cell Lymphopoiesis and Myelopoiesis Were Maintained

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of chronic zinc deficiency (ChrZD) on T and B cell lymphopoiesis, myelopoiesis and erythropoiesis in mice. Methods: Young adult mice were fed a zinc adequate (ZA) or ChrZD synthetic diet for 34, 45, and 50 days. The cellular composition of the thymus and marrow were determined to assess the impact of ChrZD on lymphopoietic and hematopoietic processes using flow cytometry. Body weights, serum zinc and corticosterone (Cs) were monitored. Results: For ChrZD mice growth was reduced 10% and serum zinc declined 15% by d 34 compared to ZA mice. By d 50 a 25% decrease in growth and 70% depression in serum zinc was noted though there was never any significant reduction in diet intake. Corticosterone rose 2.5 fold by d 34 and remained elevated in ChrZD mice indicating induction of the stress axis. At d 34 the thymus of ChrZD mice was normal but by d 50 there was a 50% cell loss and a 10% reduction in the proportion of Pre-T cells. Most importantly there was a 60% increase in Pre-T cells undergoing apoptosis in ChrZD mice. Pro-T, T helper, and T cytolytic populations were more resistant to ChrZD. Bone marrow cellularity and granulocyte, monocyte, and lymphocyte compartments remained unchanged in ChrZD mice. However, the erythroid compartment was reduced by 35% at d 50. Conclusions: The thymus was the most sensitive primary tissue to ChrZD. By d 50 it had atrophied by 36% with significant loss of Pre-T cells via apoptosis such that T-cell lymhopoiesis was disrupted. Significant reductions were also noted in the erythropoietic population by d 50. Conversely the marrow maintained myelopoiesis and B cell lymphopoiesis for the 50 d period indicating greater ability to survive a chronic zinc deficiency and exposure to Cs. The anemia and T cell lymphopenia associated with ChrZD in both rodents and humans may result from a greater sensitivity of their precursor cells to zinc deficiency and elevated Cs.
CATEGORICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE BODY 1 RUNNING HEAD: CATEGORICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE BODY Categorical perception of tactile distance

The tactile surface forms a continuous sheet covering the body. And yet, the perceived distance between two touches varies across stimulation sites. Perceived tactile distance is larger when stimuli cross over the wrist, compared to when both fall on either the hand or the forearm. This effect could reflect a categorical distortion of tactile space across body-part boundaries (in which stimuli crossing the wrist boundary are perceptually elongated) or may simply reflect a localised increased in acuity surrounding anatomical landmarks (in which stimuli near the wrist are perceptually elongated). We tested these two interpretations, by comparing a well-documented bias to perceive mediolateral tactile distances across the forearm/hand as larger than proximodistal ones along the forearm/hand at three different sites (hand, wrist, and forearm). According to the ‘categorical’ interpretation, tactile distances should be elongated selectively in the proximodistal axis thus reducing the anisotropy. According to the ‘localised acuity’ interpretation, distances will be perceptually elongated in the vicinity of the wrist regardless of orientation, leading to increased overall size without affecting anisotropy. Consistent with the categorical account, we found a reduction in the magnitude of anisotropy at the wrist, with no evidence of a corresponding specialized increase in precision. These findings demonstrate that we reference touch to a representation of the body that is categorically segmented into discrete parts, which consequently influences the perception of tactile distance.
Genetics of susceptibility to scrapie in sheep and goats

(1) Laboratory for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies and Emerging Infectious Diseases of Animals, Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy (2) World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), 12 rue de Prony, 75017 Paris, France * Present affiliation: Animal Health Service, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy ** Present affiliation: Urraca 1366, Carilo (7167), Partido de Pinamar, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The History of Non-Secret Encryption

Two of the most important techniques in public-key cryptography are the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol and the RSA encryption system. These were discovered in the academic community in 1976 and 1978 respectively. It was widely rumoured that these techniques were known by UK government cryptographers prior to these dates, although this was not officially confirmed until December 1997. In fact these techniques were first discovered in the early 1970s at the United Kingdom's Communication-Electronics Security Group (CESG), the United Kingdom communications security group. Official confirmation came with the release of a technical paper by detailing the history of the discoveries.
On Top Of The World, Down In The Dumps: Text Mining The Emotionality Of Online Consumer Reviews

Emotionality of online reviews can reveal much knowledge about product perceptions and popularity. However, current emotion-related analyses of online reviews are mainly focused on sentiment and valence analysis. Based on the theory of discrete emotions, we differentiate between six different emotions (anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise) and posit that they appear differently depending on product types. To assess emotions, we introduce two key measurement dimensions: emotional breadth (word variety) and emotional depth (total word counts). We hypothesize that the density of emotional breadth and depth is higher for hedonic goods than for utilitarian goods as well as that the densities of the six emotions differ between these product types. To test the hypotheses, we collected 10,087 reviews of 30 printers and 30 music CDs at Amazon.com. The text mining analyses on these reviews show that reviews on music CDs are much more emotional than those on printers. Joy is the dominant emotion in both product categories. However, the emotions of disgust (emotional breadth) and sadness (emotional depth) are more prominent for printers than for music CDs. Implications and future research avenues are discussed along with the challenges of textual keyword analyses on discrete emotions.
Estudo florístico da APA do Cariri, Paraíba, Brasil: Riqueza, similaridade e síndromes de dispersão

As condicoes ambientais de uma area influenciam na determinacao da estrutura e composicao da flora local. Estudos realizados em regioes semiaridas do nordeste tem demonstrado uma acentuada heterogeneidade floristica e fisionomica. O objetivo do presente estudo foi inventariar a flora de um trecho da Area de Protecao Ambiental (APA) do Cariri, regiao semiarida do Estado da Paraiba, Brasil, realizar a analise de similaridade com a flora de outras areas de Caatinga do nordeste do pais, bem como determinar o espectro biologico e as sindromes de dispersao das especies registradas na area. Durante 15 meses foram realizados trabalhos de campo objetivando a coleta de material botânico fertil, contendo frutos quando possivel, e observacoes. Foramregistradas 177 especies, pertencentes a 126 generos e 48 familias de Angiospermas, alem de uma especie de Pteridophyta. As familias que se sobressairam em numero de especies foram: Fabaceae (27), Asteraceae (10), Malvaceae e Poaceae (09), Cactaceae e Euphorbiaceae (08), Convolvulaceae e Cyperaceae (07), Amaranthaceae e Bromeliaceae (06). A flora local apresentou-se mais similar a de uma area de Caatinga situada entre os municipios de Betânia e Floresta, no Estado de Pernambuco. As sindromes de dispersao de 77,7% destas especies foram determinadas, com um predominio das sindromes abioticas, representadas pela autocoria (25,9%) e anemocoria (28,3%), sobre a dispersao zoocorica (23,5%); os 22,3% restantes nao puderam ser classificadas quanto ao modo de dispersao. No que se refere as formas de vida, observou-se a predominância dos terofitos (27,7%), seguidos dos fanerofitos (23,5%) de medio e pequeno porte e, camefitos (22,3%), enquanto hemicriptofitose criptofitos foram representados por 9% e 0,6%, respectivamente. Com relacao as sindromes de dispersao e espectro de formas de vida, os resultados obtidos nesse estudo estao em consonância com os dados da literatura registrados para outras areas do semiarido brasileiro.
Modulatory effect of rRNA synthesis and ppUL83 nucleolar compartmentalization on human cytomegalovirus gene expression in vitro

The nucleolus is a nuclear domain involved in the biogenesis of ribosomes, as well as in many other important cellular regulatory activities, such as cell cycle control and mRNA processing. Many viruses, including herpesviruses, are known to exploit the nucleolar compartment during their replication cycle. In a previous study, we demonstrated the preferential targeting and accumulation of the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL83 phosphoprotein (pp65) to the nucleolar compartment and, in particular, to the nucleolar matrix of lytically infected fibroblasts; such targeting was already evident at very early times after infection. Here we have investigated the possible effects of rRNA synthesis inhibition upon the development of HCMV lytic infection, by using either actinomycin D or cisplatin at low concentrations, that are known to selectively inhibit RNA polymerase I activity, whilst leaving RNA polymerase II function unaffected. Following the inhibition of rRNA synthesis by either of the agents used, we observed a significant redistribution of nucleolar proteins within the nucleoplasm and a simultaneous depletion of viral pp65 from the nucleolus; this effect was highly evident in both unextracted cells and in nuclear matrices in situ. Of particular interest, even a brief suppression of rRNA synthesis resulted in a very strong inhibition of the progression of HCMV infection, as was concluded from the absence of accumulation of HCMV major immediate‐early proteins within the nucleus of infected cells. These data suggest that a functional relationship might exist between rRNA synthesis, pp65 localization to the nucleolar matrix and the normal development of HCMV lytic infection. J. Cell. Biochem. 108: 415–423, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.