Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study of the Development of Programming Ability and Thinking Skills in High School Students

This article reports on a year-long study of high school students learning computer programming. The study examined three issues: 1) what is the impact of programming on particular mathematical and reasoning abilities? ; 2) what cognitive skills or abilities best predict programming ability? ; and 3) what do students actually understand about programming after two years of high school study? The results showed that even after two years of study, many students had only a rudimentary understanding of programming. Consequently, it was not surprising to also find that programming experience (as opposed to expertise) does not appear to transfer to other domains which share analogous formal properties. The article concludes that we need to more closely study the pedagogy of programming and how expertise can be better attained before we prematurely go looking for significant and wide reaching transfer effects from programming.
The Proteins of Hevea brasiliensis Latex . Part 5 * . Starch Gel Electrophoresis of C Serum Proteins

'C serum' has been prepared from latex by high speed centrifugation; after freeze drying and redissolving at higher concentration it has been examined by a simple technique of starch gel electrophoresis. The patterns obtained are complex and highly dependent on the concentration of starch in the gel. Even with the optimum concentration of starch some features of the pattern are difficult to reproduce. Nevertheless, twenty-one (possibly twenty-two) components staining with naphthalene black have been found in C serum. No definitely significant differences have yet been detected in the patterns with C sera from collections of latex from the same trees made at different times.
Reproductive Strategies of Brazilian Lizards of the Genus Tropidurus Rodrigues, 1987 (Squamata, Tropiduridae) in the Temporal and Spatial

Estrategia reproductiva es el conjunto de adaptaciones que promueven la manera mas eficiente para una poblacion a sobrevivir en las condiciones especificas de un entorno particular. Comprender esta adaptacion es importante y puede identificarse en algunas poblaciones como indicador de cambios ambientales. La espermatogenesis puede ser un proceso biologico medible de estas adaptaciones en escalas espaciales y temporales. Se analizo la morfologia de los testiculos y oviductos de las especies de lagartijas que componen el genero Tropidurus, teniendo en cuenta la amplia distribucion geografica y las relaciones simpatricas. Para el analisis hemos eliminado los testiculos de los machos y la parte media de los oviductos de hembras de las especiesTropidurus Etheridge, T. oreadicus, T. itambere, T. spinulosus y T. Guarani recolectadas en diferentes lugares en el estado de Mato Grosso, Brasil. El periodo reproductivo es sincronico para machos y hembras, y se produce durante septiembre, octubre y noviembre. Se caracterizaron como machos reproductores por testiculos con tubulos seminiferos con celulas germinales en distintas etapas de la espermatogenesis, un epitelio muy alto, un lumen reducido, numerosos espermatozoides libres en el lumen y tejido intersticial redicudo. En hembras el pico reproductivo se produce cuando los canales de conduccion de gametos poseen un epitelio alto, secretor y con nucleos basales. Estos meses son caracterizados en las zonas muestreadas por fuertes lluvias y altas temperaturas. La disminucion del periodo reproductivo se observo en ambos sexos, entre abril y agosto. La baja reproduccion en machos se caracteriza por un lumen ancho, ausencia de espermatozoides, presencia de celulas germinales solo en las primeras etapas de la espermatogenesis (espermatogonias y pocos espermatocitos) y tejido intersticial amplio. En las mujeres, el periodo de baja reproduccion esta marcado por la ausencia de glandulas unicelulares en el epitelio del oviducto, con mayor afinidad a la tincion. Este periodo corresponde al de baja precipitaciones y temperaturas mas bajas. Proponemos un analisis de muestras de las colecciones zoologicas ya que esta es una propuesta para facilitar el trabajo de muchos investigadores a traves del acceso a las especies, especialmente especies raras.
Rain, Rain, Go Away? The Investment Climate, State Business Relations and Firm Performance in India

It is commonly argued that a better investment climate reform – i.e., lower distortions in the institutional, policy and regulatory environment in which firms operate – lead to discernible improvements in firm performance. In this paper, we argue that effective Stateâ€“Business Relations (SBRs) condition better investment climate outcomes and that the deeper institutional determinants of firm performance are the former. We examine the effect of effective SBRs of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) for formal sector firms in India for the years 2000–2001 and 2004–2005 and find support for this hypothesis.
Data fusion of remotely sensed images using wavelet transform: the ARSIS solution

Earth Observation satellites are often considered to deliver a high spatial resolution image and a set of high spectral resolution images with a lower spatial resolution. Users often want to take advantage of both the high spatial and high spectral resolutions. The ARSIS concept was specially designed to fulfill this requirement and to produce high spectral resolution images with the best spatial resolution available in the set of images with respect to the original spectral content. This concept is based on the wavelet transform and the multiresolution analysis. In this paper, the concept is presented and the different parameters are discussed. Examples of application of ARSIS to real case- studies are provided. Perspectives of use of such a concept are proposed and the benefits to user discussed.
The Architecture of Pseudosporochnus nodosus Leclercq et Banks: A Middle Devonian Cladoxylopsid from Belgium

New observations on trunks of Pseudosporochnus nodosus Leclercq et Banks (Cladoxylopsida) from the Middle Devonian (upper Eifelian) of Goé, Belgium, show for the first time the presence of significant contiguous scars on their surfaces. The morphology of these scars corresponds to the morphology of the bases of first‐order, digitately divided branches characteristic of the genus. We therefore reconstruct Pseudosporochnus with a sturdy trunk bearing densely and acutely inserted lateral branches capable of abscission at their base. We reject previous interpretations of Pseudosporochnus that do not include lateral branching of the trunk. In proposing an architectural model for Pseudosporochnus, we believe it to apply to other mainly Middle Devonian plants that we place in Pseudosporochnales, Calamophyton Kräusel et Weyland, Lorophyton Fairon‐Demaret et Li, and Wattieza Stockmans. The largest trunks bearing branch scars that we can now positively identify as Pseudosporochnus from Goé have a diameter of 13 cm and indicate a moderately sized tree.
Hyponatremia Secondary to Antidepressant Therapy - A Post Marketing Safety Study

Background: Most antidepressants have been associated with hyponatremia. The risk is highest during the early stages of the treatment. Symptoms are commonly mistaken for physical complaints of old age or the underlying conditions. Speed of onset determines the risk of developing symptoms. Aims and Objectives: To establish the incidence, risk factors, time course of detection of hyponatremia complicating treatment with antidepressant therapy. Also, to objectively assess the causality, severity and preventability of hyponatremia as an adverse drug reaction. Methods: The study was carried out in collaboration between the Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, India. The source populations in our study were all the out- and in-patients on antidepressant therapy with normal serum sodium concentration meeting the eligibility criteria of the study. The assessment of causality, severity and preventability of the hyponatremia with the use of anti-depressant therapy were assessed using Naranjo’s scale, Hartwig and Siegel’s scale, and Schumock and Thornton’s scale respectively. Results: A total of 24 cases had hyponatremia with 21 cases assessed as “probable” on Naranjo’s Scale. We found a moderately strong positive correlation between the use of mirtazapine and occurrence of hyponatremia with a p value of 0.089. The use of venlafaxine also suggested a positive correlation with a p value of 0.097. Though not statistically significant we found cases reported for Milnacipran. Mean ± SD for overall time to detection of hyponatremia was 224.71 ± 117.79 days. In the univariate regression, we found SNRIs and Mirtazapine to have significant association with hyponatremia. However, none of the other factors and concomitant medications proved to have a significant association on multivariate regression analysis. Conclusion: Hyponatremia is an under recognized and potentially serious complication of antidepressant therapy. Our results provide a foundation for understanding the safety profile of antidepressants in a clinical setting of hyponatremia and its impact on suitable monitoring and treatment strategy.
Title Diverse and Active Roles for Adipocytes During Mammary Gland Growth and Function Permalink

The mammary gland is unique in its requirement to develop in close association with a depot of adipose tissue that is commonly referred to as the mammary fat pad. As discussed throughout this issue, the mammary fat pad represents a complex stromal microenvironment that includes a variety of cell types. In this article we focus on adipocytes as local regulators of epithelial cell growth and their function during lactation. Several important considerations arise from such a discussion. There is a clear and close interrelationship between different stromal tissue types within the mammary fat pad and its adipocytes. Furthermore, these relationships are both stageand species-dependent, although many questions remain unanswered regarding their roles in these different states. Several lines of evidence also suggest that adipocytes within the mammary fat pad may function differently from those in other fat depots. Finally, past and future technologies present a variety of opportunities to model these complexities in order to more precisely delineate the many potential functions of adipocytes within the mammary glands. A thorough understanding of the role for this cell type in the mammary glands could present numerous opportunities to modify both breast cancer risk and lactation performance.
A comparison of eigenvalues obtained with two dynamic simulation software packages

Eigenvalues of a power system give a good picture of the stability in the current operating point. In this paper the linear analysis capabilities of two software packages are evaluated and compared. It is shown in which way the linearization method influences the results, i.e., the location of the obtained eigenvalues in the complex plane. Further, the paper illustrates the impact of the models of the power system components (such as generators) on the location of the eigenvalues. The conclusions drawn from eigenvalue analysis are thus not only dependent on the properties of the investigated system, but also on the software package which is used, as well as on how the components of the power system are modeled. Therefore, conclusions can differ when studying the same power system with different software packages.
Casimirs and its implications on control of port-Hamiltonian systems

In this paper we extend results on interconnections of port-Hamiltonian systems to infinite-dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems and to mixed finite and infinite dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems. The problem of achievable Dirac structures is now studied for systems with dissipation, in the finite-dimensional, infinite-dimensional and the mixed finite and infinite-dimensional case. We also characterize the set of achievable Casimirs and study its application for the control of port-Hamiltonian systems.
Supporting Online Material Materials and Methods Figs. S1 to S3 Tables S1 to S5 References Worldwide Human Relationships Inferred from Genome-wide Patterns of Variation

Cooperative Human Tissue Network for tissues used in this study, M. Aquafondata for tissue staining, P. S. Schnable for sharing cDNA data sets used in DTS pilot testing, O. Gjoerup and R. D. Wood for helpful comments, and J. Zawinul for help with the manuscript. Supported in part by funds from NIH R33CA120726 and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The Pennsylvania Department of Health specifically disclaims responsibility for any analyses, interpretations, or conclusions. Human genetic diversity is shaped by both demographic and biological factors and has fundamental implications for understanding the genetic basis of diseases. We studied 938 unrelated individuals from 51 populations of the Human Genome Diversity Panel at 650,000 common single-nucleotide polymorphism loci. Individual ancestry and population substructure were detectable with very high resolution. The relationship between haplotype heterozygosity and geography was consistent with the hypothesis of a serial founder effect with a single origin in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, we observed a pattern of ancestral allele frequency distributions that reflects variation in population dynamics among geographic regions. This data set allows the most comprehensive characterization to date of human genetic variation. I n the past 30 years, the ability to study DNA sequence variation has dramatically increased our knowledge of the relationships among and history of human populations. Analyses of mitochondrial, Y chromosomal, and autosomal markers have revealed geographical structuring of human populations at the continental level (1–3) and suggest that a small group of individuals migrated out of eastern Africa and their descendants subsequently expanded into most of today's populations (3–6). Despite this progress, these studies were limited to a small fraction of the genome, to limited populations, or both, and yield an incomplete picture of the relative importance of mutation, recombination, migration, demography , selection, and random drift (7–10). To substantially increase the genomic and population coverage of past studies (e.g., the HapMap Project), we have examined more than 650,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in samples from the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP-CEPH), which represents 1064 fully consenting individuals from 51 populations from sub-and the Americas (11). This data set is freely available (12) and allows a detailed characterization of worldwide genetic variation. We first studied genetic ancestry of each individual without using his/her population identity. This analysis considers each person's genome as having originated from K ancestral but unobserved populations whose contributions are described by K coefficients that sum to 1 for each individual. To …
DISPERSAL DISTANCE OF MAMMALS IS PROPORTIONAL TO HOME RANGE SIZE

We tested the prediction that home range area and dispersal distance in mammals are related when considered independently of body size. Regression of log- transformed data demonstrated that more variance in maximum dispersal distance could be explained by home range area (74%) than could be explained by body size (50%). The relationship between maximum dispersal distance and home range size was isometric (slope 5 1) when the square root of home range area (i.e., linear dimension of home range) was used. Thus, maximum dispersal distance was related to home range size by a single constant of 40. A linear relationship remained between these two variables after the effects of body size were removed (F 5 31.6, df 5 1, 32, P 5 3.2 3 10 26 , R 2 5 0.50). A similar isometric relationship with home range size was found for median dispersal distance (related by a multiple of 7). This isometric relationship between dispersal distance and home range size was tested using a second data source: maximum movements made by mammals after translocation, which also was linearly related to home range area (F 5 94.5, df 5 1, 23, P 5 1.3 3 10 29 , R 2 5 0.81). The slope and intercept of this relationship were not different from those of the relationship between maximum dispersal distance and home range area. We suggest that the vagility of mammals affected both home range size and dispersal distance (or movement after translocation) independently of body size, such that these movements could be predicted by home range area better than by body size alone. The resulting isometric relationship between dispersal distance and home range size has potential as a useful scaling rule for ecological practitioners.
Studies of Extracellular and Intracellular Bacterial Deoxyribonucleic Acids

Highly polymerized bacterial deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs) obtained from extracellular and from intracellular locations were analysed. DNAs from two strains (Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis) were of the type having high adenine and thymine contents ; two others (Alcaligenes faecalis and Pseudomonas fluorescens) had a high content of guanine and cytosine. For each micro-organism the composition of extracellular DNA was essentially the same as that of the intracellular DNA. Conditions associated with the extracellular accumulation of DNA in cultures of 3 strains were investigated. S. aureus elaborated a deoxyribonuclease (DNase) which required calcium ion and high pH for activity. In a culture medium of c. pH 6 and insufficient calcium, the DNase was inactive and DNA slime accumulated. In cultures of P . jluorescens a specific ribonuclease-sensitive DNase inhibitor protected slime DNA from depolymerization by culture DNase. In cultures of A . faecalis, also, both a DNA slime and a low concentration of DNase may occur. This enzyme, detected by studying its action against solutions of calf thymus DNA prepared from dried fibres, was activated by various cations within the pH range of cultures. Unlike other DNases, however, it has little capacity to attack the slimelayer DNA, which presumably is more nearly native.
Implicit stochastic gradient descent

Stochastic optimization procedures, such as stochastic gradient descent, have gained popularity for parameter estimation from large data sets. However, standard stochastic optimization procedures cannot effectively combine numerical stability with statistical and computational efficiency. Here, we introduce an implicit stochastic gradient descent procedure, the iterates of which are implicitly defined. Intuitively, implicit iterates shrink the standard iterates. The amount of shrinkage depends on the observed Fisher information matrix, which does not need to be explicitly computed in practice, thus increasing stability without increasing the computational burden. When combined with averaging, the proposed procedure achieves statistical efficiency as well. We derive non-asymptotic bounds and characterize the asymptotic distribution of implicit procedures. Our analysis also reveals the asymptotic variance of a number of existing procedures. We demonstrate implicit stochastic gradient descent by further developing theory for generalized linear models, Cox proportional hazards, and M-estimation problems, and by carrying out extensive experiments. Our results suggest that the implicit stochastic gradient descent procedure is poised to become the workhorse of estimation with large data sets.
Extensions of the Forward Search to Time Series

This paper extends the forward search technique to the analysis of structural time series data. It provides a series of powerful new forward plots that use information from the whole sample to display the effect of each observation on a wide variety of aspects of the fitted model and shows how the forward search, free from masking and swamping problems, can detect the main underlying features of the series under study (masked multiple outliers, level shifts or transitory changes). The effectiveness of the suggested approach is shown through the analysis of real and simulated data.
Psychometric Properties Of The Eurohis-QOL (WHO-8) – Malay Version In People With Cognitive Impairment

Normal 0 false false false MS X-NONE AR-SA Objective: Although a number of quality of life (QoL) measures have been developed for assessing QoL in older adults, few have been validated in developing countries. This study aimed to examined the construct validity and reliability of the EUROHIS-QOL (WHO-8) assessment in people with cognitive impairment in Malaysia. Methods: A cross sectional, quasi experimental study design involving people with cognitive impairment was employed. Two groups of people with cognitive impairment from government nursing homes (n=110) and community home care (n=109) were recruited. Measurements used in the study included; the EUROHIS-QOL (WHO-8), the Short Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE), the Barthel Index (BI) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD). Results: Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure with loadings ranged from 0.59 to 0.88. The ordinal α value for the WHO-8 was 0.88. Confirmatory factor analysis showed better fit indices for two factors model. The WHO-8 demonstrates large correlation with cognitive impairment, physical functions and depression. Conclusion: The WHO-8 has a satisfactory construct validity and reliability and hence an adequate tool to measure QoL in people with cognitive impairment in Malaysia. Please click PDF below to download the full paper. /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:. 0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-MY; mso-fareast-language:EN-MY;}
Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding TB infection control among health science students in a TB-endemic setting

Medical and physiotherapy students in tuberculosis (TB)-endemic settings are at high risk of developing occupational TB. Didactic lectures are the traditional method for delivering education on the topic of TB infection control (TB-IC) to undergraduate health science students. The aim of this study was toevaluate the impact of a novel educational package for teaching TB-IC to undergraduate health science students in a TB-endemic setting. Undergraduate medical and physiotherapy students at Stellenbosch University, South Africa (n = 326) participated in a cross-sectional survey documenting TB-IC knowledge, attitudes and TB-IC practices at the training institution. A self-administered questionnaire was completed before and after a novel educational intervention which utilized the health belief model (and included personal testimonials from healthcare workers and an IC expert who had survived occupational TB). Students perceived themselves to be at high risk of occupational TB, but underestimated drug-resistant TB mortality. Pre-intervention knowledge of TB-IC measures was poor, but improved post-intervention (58% vs 78% [p < 0.001]). Senior students had better pre-intervention knowledge of N95 respirator use. Negative attitudes and TB-IC practices of senior staff at the training institution reportedly influenced those of students. TB-IC measures (natural and mechanical ventilation; airborne precaution signage; patient isolation) were reportedly poorly implemented. Access to personal protective equipment was problematic with 49% (87/177) of senior students stating that N95 respirators were never available. In conclusion, students lack knowledge of TB-IC measures and report poor implementation of TB-IC measures at their training institution. A novel structured educational intervention increased students’ knowledge of TB-IC measures and heightened awareness of occupational TB risk.