Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prison Libraries Inside Out.

Prison librarians work in a unique and challenging environment. The demands of the job are taxing since these positions require an exercise of a librarian's entire range of skills and knowledge as well as successful adaptation in the hierarchical structure of a correctional institution. This article provides an inside look at the institutional environment, prison security concerns, inmate patrons and library usage, library collections and services, and the day-to-day operation of a prison library and offersrecommendations for the professional development of such libraries.
Factor Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Social Skills Scale of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales

A avaliacao de aptidoes sociais de criancas pre-escolares representa um topico de relevância crescente em pesquisas desenvolvidas na area. O objetivo deste artigo e apresentar estudos de analise fatorial confirmatoria da escala de Aptidoes Sociais das Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – Second Edition (PKBS-2), uma escala de avaliacao de aptidoes sociais e problemas de comportamento adaptada e validada para a populacao pre-escolar portuguesa. Os 34 itens da escala de Aptidoes Sociais, distribuidos por tres subescalas (Cooperacao/Ajustamento Social, Interacao Social/Empatia e Independencia Social/Assertividade), foram reagrupados em parcelas. O ajustamento do modelo foi analisado para a totalidade da amostra (N = 2000) e as analises replicadas para subamostras recolhidas em casa (n = 1000) e na escola (n = 1000). A estrutura fatorial revelou-se bastante estavel nas tres amostras, sobressaindo valores elevados de consistencia interna e correlacao entre parcelas/escalas. Os resultados reforcam a utilidade/validade da escala de Aptidoes Sociais das PKBS-2 (versao portuguesa).
The effect of missing KIR ligands, activating KIR genotype and haplotype on the outcome of T‐cell‐replete hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from HLA‐identical siblings in Thai patients

This study was a retrospective analysis of Thai patients undergoing T‐replete hematopoietic stem cell transplant from human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐identical sibling donors. We investigated 66 patients, including 40 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 12 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 14 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIR) genes and HLA ligands were typed by polymerase chain reaction‐sequence specific oligonucleotide probes. We analyzed the effect of the number of missing KIR ligands (Bw4, C1 and C2) on clinical outcomes. A beneficial effect of missing KIR ligand was not observed in both univariate and multivariate analysis. When we analyzed the effect of specific missing KIR ligand on clinical outcomes, there was a trend that patients with missing A11 ligand had lower relapse rate (P = 0.076). Therefore, we also conducted the analysis by including the group with missing KIR ligands of Bw4, C1, C2 and A11. Patients with two or more than two missing KIR ligands had a trend for better clinical outcome including reduced relapse (P = 055) and statistically significant in terms of reduced acute graft‐vs‐host disease (aGVHD) rate (P = 0.013). In multivariate analysis, patients with two or more than two missing KIR ligands had a statistically significant better clinical outcome in terms of reduced aGVHD rate (HR = 0.155, 95%CI = 0.040–0.605, P = 0.007). The association between clinical outcome with KIR haplotypes, centromeric B haplotype and activating KIR was not observed here. Although the sample size in this study is rather limited, these data can later be subjected to meta‐analysis to help reach the conclusion of the usefulness of this additional promising KIR genotyping in various hematopoietic stem cell transplantation types.
Periodicity of the spectrum in dimension one

A bounded measurable set $\Omega$, of Lebesgue measure 1, in the real line is called spectral if there is a set $\Lambda$ of real numbers ("frequencies") such that the exponential functions $e_\lambda(x) = \exp(2\pi i \lambda x)$, $\lambda\in\Lambda$, form a complete orthonormal system of $L^2(\Omega)$. Such a set $\Lambda$ is called a {\em spectrum} of $\Omega$. In this note we prove that any spectrum $\Lambda$ of a bounded measurable set $\Omega\subseteq\RR$ must be periodic.
An Evaluation of Information Transfer Through the Continuum of Surgical Care: A Feasibility Study

Objective:To evaluate information transfer and communication (ITC) across the surgical care pathway with the use of Information Transfer and Communication Assessment Tool for Surgery (ITCAS). Background:Communication failures are the leading cause of surgical errors and adverse events. It is vital to assess the ITC across the entire surgical continuum of care to understand the process, to study teams, and to prioritize the phases for intervention. Methods:Twenty patients undergoing major gastrointestinal procedures were followed through their entire surgical care, and ITC process was assessed using ITCAS. ITCAS consisted of 4 checklists for 4 phases of the surgical care. Results:ITC failures are distributed across the entire surgical continuum of care. Preprocedural teamwork and postoperative handover phases have the maximum number of ITC failures (61.7% and 52.4%, respectively). Moreover, it was found that information degrades as it crosses from one phase to another. Of patients, 75% had clinical incidents or adverse events because of ITC failures. Conclusions:The study demonstrated that ITC failures are ubiquitous across surgical care pathway and there is an imminent need to modify current ITC practices. Standardization of ITC through use of checklists, protocols, or information technology is essential to reduce these communication failures.
A Learning Theory of Ranking Aggregation

Originally formulated in Social Choice theory , Ranking Aggregation , also referred to as Consensus Ranking , has motivated the development of numerous statistical models since the middle of the 20th century. Recently, the analysis of ranking/preference data has been the subject of a renewed interest in machine-learning, boosted by modern applications such as meta-search engines, giving rise to the design of various scalable algorithmic approaches for approximately computing ranking medians , viewed as solutions of a discrete (generally NP-hard) minimization problem. This paper develops a statistical learning theory for ranking aggregation in a general probabilistic setting (avoiding any rigid ranking model assumptions), assessing the generalization ability of empirical ranking medians. Universal rate bounds are established and the situations where convergence occurs at an exponential rate are fully characterized. Minimax lower bounds are also proved, showing that the rate bounds we obtain are optimal.
Social-Desirability Responding in the Assessment of Social Skill and Anxiety

The present study examines the relationship between social-desirability responding and both self-report and behavioral measures of assertion, conversational skill, and social anxiety. With one exception (Conflict Resolution Inventory-Nonassertion Scale), behavioral and self-report measures of assertion were unrelated to the social-desirability response set. Global but not specific behavioral measures of conversational skill were confounded with social-desirability responding. Self-report (e.g., Social Avoidance and Distress Scale) but not behavioral measures of anxiety were correlated with social-desirability scores. The need to evaluate further the psychometric properties of cognitive-behavioral measures is discussed.
Deliberation as Coordination through Cheap Talk

In contrast with other formal theory treatments of democratic deliberation in terms of (1) strategic information pooling or (2) relaxing the assumption of logical omniscience, this paper considers the role of deliberation in coordinating citizens on a higherwelfare equilibrium. The equilibrium in question belongs to a post-deliberation game of fundamental action vis-a-vis other individuals: giving, taking, harming, or producing private or collective goods. This action game has multiple equilibria, some of which achieve preferred outcomes for most or all individuals through coordinated actions. The present paper portrays this problem as a multi-player version of a battle-of-thesexes (BoS) game, and deliberation is represented as a sequence of pre-play proposals for various coordinated action patterns. Failure to reach sufficient agreement on these leads to play of a less favorable action profile, stylized as a mixed-strategy equilibrium. Thus the model extends Farrell’s (1987) model to the setting of more than two players, examining issues of how actions respond to proposals and how this connection bears on the aggregated effect of proposals–issues that do not arise in the two-player case but are fundamental to deliberation (as well as to endogenous-institution voting models). The BoS game for multiple players is first specified, and relevant equilibria derived. As a first cut at pre-play deliberation, we then add one pre-play stage of simultaneous proposals for action. Depending on whether the participants are swayed by agreement among a plurality of players, or instead require that a consensus is expressed, deliberation yields different results in terms of strategic proposals, likelihood of coordination, and expected payoff. The same questions are then addressed in a deliberation process consisting of multiple periods of such simultaneous proposals. The results match Farrell’s two-player conclusions in terms of expected payoff, but differ from his conclusions concerning deliberative strategies. Moreover, the length of deliberation necessary to approach the achievable payoffs depends strongly on the deliberation criterion (onetime consensus, or one-time plurality). ∗Thanks to respondents to earlier presentations of this work at: the Midwest Political Science Association annual meeting, April 20-23 2006, Chicago; the Hoover Institution, Stanford University (October 2005); and the “Conference on Deliberation and Collective Choice,” Kellogg School, Northwestern University (May 2005). Thanks especially to David Austen-Smith and Timothy Feddersen for providing the initial opportunity.
PRONUNCIATION TEACHING AND LEARNING: EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT PHONETIC INSTRUCTION IN THE L2 CLASSROOM

This classroom-based study investigated how explicit instruction influences the acquisition of L2 phonological features, and how their production contributes to comprehensible speech in L2 learners. Three groups of ESL learners (n=30) received pronunciation instruction during three weeks (25 minutes/day, 3 days/week) using the same teaching sequence within a communicative methodology (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 2010; Hinkel, 2006). Groups differed in the type of explicit instruction received: two experimental groups received explicit instruction either on suprasegmental or segmental features. A combination of these features was presented orally to the third group without explicit instruction. Pretest and posttest recordings indicate that only the explicit group trained on suprasegmentals improved its comprehensibility scores significantly from pretest to posttest. An analysis of classroom-treatment recordings demonstrates that explicit phonetic instruction that makes learners notice L2 features (i.e., explicit presentation of contents, guided analysis and practice, and corrective feedback) can be beneficial for L2 learners in the development of comprehensible speech. The results also corroborate a major role of prosody in enhanced comprehensibility (e.g., Derwing, Munro, & Wiebe, 1998; Munro, 1995) and a call for more explicit phonetic instruction within a communicative methodology (e.g., Celce-Murcia et al., 2010).
Transcription Factor Interplay between LEAFY and APETALA1/CAULIFLOWER during Floral Initiation1

LEAFY and APETALA1/CAULIFLOWER have partially antagonistic activities in the control of floral initiation. The transcription factors LEAFY (LFY) and APETALA1 (AP1), together with the AP1 paralog CAULIFLOWER (CAL), control the onset of flower development in a partially redundant manner. This redundancy is thought to be mediated, at least in part, through the regulation of a shared set of target genes. However, whether these genes are independently or cooperatively regulated by LFY and AP1/CAL is currently unknown. To better understand the regulatory relationship between LFY and AP1/CAL and to obtain deeper insights into the control of floral initiation, we monitored the activity of LFY in the absence of AP1/CAL function. We found that the regulation of several known LFY target genes is unaffected by AP1/CAL perturbation, while others appear to require AP1/CAL activity. Furthermore, we obtained evidence that LFY and AP1/CAL control the expression of some genes in an antagonistic manner. Notably, these include key regulators of floral initiation such as TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1), which had been previously reported to be directly repressed by both LFY and AP1. We show here that TFL1 expression is suppressed by AP1 but promoted by LFY. We further demonstrate that LFY has an inhibitory effect on flower formation in the absence of AP1/CAL activity. We propose that LFY and AP1/CAL act as part of an incoherent feed-forward loop, a network motif where two interconnected pathways or transcription factors act in opposite directions on a target gene, to control the establishment of a stable developmental program for the formation of flowers.
A Nationwide Sentinel Clinic Survey of Chlamydia trachomatis Infection in Finland

Background Chlamydia trachomatis has been recognized as a major sexually transmitted infection in North America and Western Europe during the past two decades. The incidence of C trachomatis in Finland has been continuously high throughout the 1990s. Objectives As the epidemic of C trachomatis infection continues in Finland, there is a need to obtain up-to-date information on the prevalence and patient profiles in the planning of preventive strategies. Methods A nationwide sentinel clinic network consisting of seven sexually transmitted disease (STD) and five general student health clinics was established in 1995. Data were collected during a 3-year period (1995–1997) from 3,686 patients with and 32,230 patients without C trachomatis using a self-administered questionnaire. Results The prevalence of chlamydia was 8.4% in the STD clinics and 5.3% in the general clinics; 90% of the infections were endemic. The prevalence was highest in the youngest age group (15–19 years; 16% in females, 14% in males). The patients with chlamydia were significantly younger (mean age: men 26.6 years, women 23.7 years) than those without chlamydia. Women with chlamydia used oral contraceptives or intrauterine devices (IUD) significantly more often (59%) than women without chlamydia (42%). A high number of sex partners and a history of previous chlamydia during the preceding 12 months were also risk factors. Men contracted chlamydia frequently from a casual partner (61%) but rarely from a commercial sex worker (2%). For women, the source partner was most often a regular one (61%). The median time from exposure to attendance was 34 days, and was highest when the source partner was a spouse. One third of the patients could have spread chlamydia to a new partner before the diagnosis. Conclusions C trachomatis infection is spread all over Finland, and the risk factors include younger age, high number of sex partners, and use of oral contraceptives or IUDs. Source partner analysis focused attention on the importance of transmission from regular partners, especially in women. The time from transmission to diagnosis was long, and any effort to shorten this period would be an effective preventive strategy.
The Economic Uncertainty Premium in Corporate Bond Returns : An Empirical Investigation ∗

We examine the role of macroeconomic uncertainty in the cross-section of corporate bonds and find a significant uncertainty premium for both investment-grade (0.42% per month) and non-investment-grade (0.94% per month) bonds. The magnitude of economic uncertainty premium declines as we progressively remove downgraded bonds, indicating that the premium represents an increase in required returns for bonds with higher credit and macroeconomic risk. Return decomposition shows that discount rate uncertainty beta is the predominant driver of the uncertainty premium in the bond market, whereas the equity uncertainty premium is induced by both cash flow and discount rate uncertainty betas. This Version: April 2019
Expanding the archaellum regulatory network – the eukaryotic protein kinases ArnC and ArnD influence motility of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

Expression of the archaellum, the archaeal‐type IV pilus‐like rotating motility structure is upregulated under nutrient limitation. This is controlled by a network of regulators, called the archaellum regulatory network (arn). Several of the components of this network in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius can be phosphorylated, and the deletion of the phosphatase PP2A results in strongly increased motility during starvation, indicating a role for phosphorylation in the regulation of motility. Analysis of the motility of different protein kinase deletion strains revealed that deletion of saci_0965, saci_1181, and saci_1193 resulted in reduced motility, whereas the deletion of saci_1694 resulted in hypermotility. Here ArnC (Saci_1193) and ArnD (Saci_1694) are characterized. Purified ArnC and ArnD phosphorylate serine and threonine residues in the C‐terminus of the repressor ArnB. arnC is upregulated in starvation medium, whereas arnD is constitutively expressed. However, while differences in the expression and levels of flaB were observed in the ΔarnD strain during growth under rich conditions, under nutrient limiting conditions the ΔarnC and ΔarnD strains showed no large differences in the expression levels of the archaellum or of the studied regulators. This suggests that next to the regulation via the archaellum regulatory network additional regulatory mechanisms of expression and/or activity of the archaellum exist.
Differential Telomere Processing by Borrelia Telomere Resolvases In Vitro but Not In Vivo

ABSTRACT Causative agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever, including Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia hermsii, respectively, are unusual among bacteria in that they possess a segmented genome with linear DNA molecules terminated by hairpin ends, known as telomeres. During replication, these telomeres are processed by the essential telomere resolvase, ResT, in a unique biochemical reaction known as telomere resolution. In this study, we report the identification of the B. hermsii resT gene through cross-species hybridization. Sequence comparison of the B. hermsii protein with the B. burgdorferi orthologue revealed 67% identity, including all the regions currently known to be crucial for telomere resolution. In vitro studies, however, indicated that B. hermsii ResT was unable to process a replicated B. burgdorferi type 2 telomere substrate. In contrast, in vivo cross-species complementation in which the native resT gene of B. burgdorferi was replaced with B. hermsii resT had no discernible effect, even though B. burgdorferi strain B31 carries at least two type 2 telomere ends. The B. burgdorferi ResT protein was also able to process two telomere spacing mutants in vivo that were unresolvable in vitro. The unexpected differential telomere processing in vivo versus in vitro by the two telomere resolvases suggests the presence of one or more accessory factors in vivo that are normally involved in the reaction. Our current results are also expected to facilitate further studies into ResT structure and function, including possible interaction with other Borrelia proteins.
Induction of c‐fos in specific thalamic nuclei following stimulation of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus

The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) is a major source of cholinergic input to the thalamus. Tracing studies have established that the PPTg has projections to many thalamic nuclei and electrophysiological studies have shown acetylcholine (ACh) to have characteristic effects on thalamic neurons. Behavioural studies point to a role for the PPTg in attention and it is possible that a key substrate for this is the ability of the PPTg to modify sensorimotor gating through the thalamus. However, it is not clear how altered PPTg activity effects neuronal activity across the thalamus en masse. We have attempted to examine this by stimulating the PPTg in freely moving rats and measuring thalamic activation withc‐fos immunohistochemistry. The PPTg was stimulated by unilateral microinjection of the l‐glutamate uptake inhibitor l‐trans‐pyrrolidine‐2,4‐dicarboxylic acid (PDC) with the rationale that reuptake blockade increases locally the availability of endogenous neurotransmitter. It was shown that PDC microinjection into PPTg produced clear and consistent changes in Fos immunoreactivity in several thalamic nuclei, but most markedly in the centrolateral, ventrolateral and reticular nuclei. A second study was carried out to determine the gross behavioural effects of intra‐PPTg l‐glutamate blockade. No changes in locomotion or other general behaviours were observed, indicating that observed changes in thalamic Fos expression were not the result of increased behavioural output but rather a direct consequence of increased neuronal activity from PPTg input. The present data extend previous work establishing pedunculopontine–thalamic connections by specifying which particular nuclei are most affected by PPTg activation.
The effect of thiazide and loop diuretics on urinary levels of free deoxypyridinoline: an osteoclastic bone‐resorption marker

Diuretics can cause changes in calcium levels due to renal effects. Moreover, calcium levels can also vary as a result of changes in intestinal absorption and in the activity of osteoclastic cells. A marker of osteoclastic bone‐resorption activity is the level of urinary free deoxypyridinoline (FDP). Deoxypyridinoline (DP) acts as a cross‐link between adjacent collagen chains to provide structural rigidity. Our aim was to investigate the association between use of thiazides and loop diuretics and urinary levels FDP.
The Effect of Different Types of Filler on the Mechanical and Physical Properties of Wood Plastic Composite from Eucalyptus spp.

Nowadays with increasing environmental concerns, many researchers start using biocomposites such as wood fiber, bamboo, sisal, hemp and flax for composites manufacturing. Generally, wood plastic composites (WPCs) have gained interest in commercial markets for automobile (interior panels, trunk liners, spare tire covers, and package trays) and construction (deck boards, stairs, post sleeves, and hand rails) fields. WPC needs less maintenance than the alternatives of solid wood treated with preservatives or solid wood of rot-resistant species and claimed as more environmentally friendly by manufacturers. Since it can performs like conventional wood, it does not require special fasteners and design changes in application. In this study, our attempt for development of WPCs is focused on using wood fibers (Eucalyptus sp.) with polypropylene. Polypropylene is used, as it has high melting point of 170 °C and its mechanical properties are constant at ambient temperature. It also has dimensional consistency, impact resistance and high strength-to-weight ratios. Two types of fillers (virgin and recycled polypropylene) and three types of filler loadings (10%, 30% and 50%) were used for compounding with wood fibers. In addition, recycled polypropylene is used instead of recycled ethylene because of the availability of virgin polypropylene supplies in study area. Recycled polypropylene can easily get from broken plastic buckets, basins, bottles and others.