Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Basic need satisfaction in the parental relationship offsets millennials’ worries about the transition to college

ABSTRACT Students’ worries about transitioning to college are correlated with long-term reduced psychological well-being, so we investigated how psychological need satisfaction might mitigate millennials’ worries about college. As parents can support or undermine their children’s basic needs, we also examined the influence of autonomy-supportive and helicopter parenting during the transition. Additionally, we compared these outcomes between first- and continuing-generation students. Incoming college students (N = 355) completed measures of parental relationship need satisfaction, parental involvement, worries about college, and family achievement guilt. Higher need satisfaction in the parental relationship was associated with reduced worries and feelings of achievement guilt for both first- and continuing-generation students. Autonomy-supportive parenting moderated the relationship between autonomy and millennials’ worries about college. Helicopter parenting did not moderate any of the relationships examined in this study but was positively associated with students’ transition worries and achievement guilt. We discuss these findings in the context of self-determination theory.
A Comparative Study on Monte Carlo Simulations of Electron Emission from Liquid Water.

PURPOSE Liquid water being the major constituent of human body, is of fundamental importance in radiobiological research. Hence, the knowledge of electron-water interaction physics and particularly the secondary electron yield is essential. However, very little is known up to now experimentally on the low energy electron interaction with liquid water because of certain practical limitations. The purpose of this study is to gain some useful information about electron emission from water by a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation technique that can numerically model electron transport trajectories in water. METHODS In this study, we have performed MC simulations of electron emission from liquid water in the primary energy range of 50 eV-30 keV by using two different codes, i.e. a classical trajectory MC (CMC) code developed in our laboratory and the Geant4-DNA (G4DNA) code. The calculated secondary electron yield and electron backscattering coefficient are compared with experimental results wherever applicable to verify the validity of physical models for the electron-water interaction. RESULTS The secondary electron yield vs. primary energy curves calculated by the two codes present the same generic curve shape as that of metals but in rather different absolute values. G4DNA underestimates the secondary electron yield due to the application of one step thermalization model by setting a cutoff energy at 10 eV so that the low energy losses due to phonon excitations are omitted. Our CMC calculation by using a full energy loss function data in modelling electron inelastic scattering allows the simulation of individual phonon scattering events for very low energy losses down to 10 meV, which then enables the calculated secondary electron yields being much closer to the experimental data and also the quite reasonable energy distribution curve of secondary electrons. CONCLUSIONS It is concluded that a full dielectric function data at low energy loss values below 10 eV is recommended for modeling of low energy electrons in liquid water.
Temporal changes in the diet of two sympatric carnivorous mammals in a protected area of south–central Chile affected by a mixed–severity forest fire

espanolEl fuego es un importante agente perturbador en varios ecosistemas de todo el mundo que puede afectar a la disponibilidad de recursos en una zona determinada, regulando la interaccion entre especies competidoras. Estudiamos la dieta del zorro culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus) y el puma (Puma concolor) por dos anos consecutivos en un zona protegida del centro y el sur de Chile que se vio afectada por un incendio forestal. Se observaron diferencias significativas en el regimen alimentario de ambas especies, lo que pone de manifiesto su segregacion trofica. En los dos anos del estudio, la presa predominante del puma fue una especie exotica: la liebre europea (Lepus europaeus), lo que sugiere una simplificacion de su espectro trofico respecto a lo reportado en otras latitudes. Se analizan las consecuencias ecologicas de este hecho. EnglishFire is a significant disruptive agent in various ecosystems around the world. It can affect the availability of resources in a given area, modulating the interaction between competing species. We studied the diet of the culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) and cougar (Puma concolor) for two consecutive years in a protected area of southern–central Chile which was affected by a wildfire. Significant differences were observed in the dietary pattern between the two species, showing their trophic segregation. In the two years of the study, the predominant prey for cougar was an exotic species, the European hare (Lepus europaeus), implying a simplification of its trophic spectrum with respect to that reported in other latitudes. The ecological consequences related to this scenario are discussed.
Program evaluation and causal inference with high-dimensional data

In this paper, we provide efficient estimators and honest con fidence bands for a variety of treatment eff ects including local average (LATE) and local quantile treatment eff ects (LQTE) in data-rich environments. We can handle very many control variables, endogenous receipt of treatment, heterogeneous treatment e ffects, and function-valued outcomes. Our framework covers the special case of exogenous receipt of treatment, either conditional on controls or unconditionally as in randomized control trials. In the latter case, our approach produces ecient estimators and honest bands for (functional) average treatment eff ects (ATE) and quantile treatment eff ects (QTE). To make informative inference possible, we assume that key reduced form predictive relationships are approximately sparse. This assumption allows the use of regularization and selection methods to estimate those relations, and we provide methods for post-regularization and post-selection inference that are uniformly valid (honest) across a wide-range of models. We show that a key ingredient enabling honest inference is the use of orthogonal or doubly robust moment conditions in estimating certain reduced form functional parameters. We illustrate the use of the proposed methods with an application to estimating the eff ect of 401(k) eligibility and participation on accumulated assets. The results on program evaluation are obtained as a consequence of more general results on honest inference in a general moment condition framework, which arises from structural equation models in econometrics. Here too the crucial ingredient is the use of orthogonal moment conditions, which can be constructed from the initial moment conditions. We provide results on honest inference for (function-valued) parameters within this general framework where any high-quality, modern machine learning methods can be used to learn the nonparametric/high-dimensional components of the model. These include a number of supporting auxilliary results that are of major independent interest: namely, we (1) prove uniform validity of a multiplier bootstrap, (2) o er a uniformly valid functional delta method, and (3) provide results for sparsity-based estimation of regression functions for function-valued outcomes.
Scope Creep and Purposeful Pivots in Developmental Evaluation

This practice note illustrates a situation where, as program evaluators, we crept beyond the provisional boundaries set by our Developmental Evaluation (DE) goals to facilitate learning. Our DE was initially focused on one program which was being designed for online delivery in higher education. During the DE of this program, questions and themes arose which had larger organizational applicability; we were asked to help design a strategic learning session that addressed a large group of stakeholders within which existed the tiny subset of stakeholders engaged in the original DE. This practice note describes how we negotiated the emergent purposes of the DE with the need for intentional pivots within the strategic learning session to serve our intended subset of stakeholders with their project as well as stimulate evaluative thinking within the larger stakeholder group.
Population Growth and Economic Development in Bangladesh: Revisited Malthus

Bangladesh is the 2nd largest growing economy in the world in 2016 with 7.1% GDP growth. This study undertakes an econometric analysis to examine the relationship between population growth and economic development. This result indicates population growth adversely related to per capita GDP growth, which means rapid population growth, is a real problem for the development of Bangladesh. Malthus’s prediction is that population increases so rapidly and outstrip the food supply due to the operation of the law of diminishing return, which is proven wrong because of technological improvement, human capital development and so on in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has reduced its population growth by about 67% between 1979 and 2017 using different preventive checks suggested by Malthus and Mill. Bangladesh has been suffering from environmental degradation, loss of arable land, loos of agricultural land biodiversity loss and deforestation. As a consequence, the climate has changed dramatically, and species are in danger and extinction. Bangladesh Economy is growing with improving living standard at the cost of environmental degradation.
District heating systems under high CO2 emission prices: the role of the pass-through from emission cost to electricity prices

Low CO2 prices have prompted discussion about political measures aimed at increasing the cost of carbon dioxide emissions. These costs affect, inter alia, integrated district heating system operators (DHSO), often owned by municipalities with some political influence, that use a variety of (CO2 emis- sion intense) heat generation technologies. We examine whether DHSOs have an incentive to support measures that increase CO2 emission prices in the short term. Therefore, we (i) develop a simplified analytical framework to analyse optimal decisions of a district heating operator, and (ii) investigate the market-wide effects of increasing emission prices, in particular the pass- through from emission costs to electricity prices. Using a numerical model of the common Austrian and German power system, we estimate a pass-through from CO2 emission prices to power prices between 0.69 and 0.53 as of 2017, depending on the absolute emission price level. We find the CO2 emission cost pass-through to be sufficiently high so that low-emission district heating systems operating at least moderately efficient generation units benefit from rising CO2 emission prices in the short term.
Quantitative Characterization of Impact Crater Materials on the Moon: Implications for Degradation Processes and Stratigraphic Age

1532 [9] Liu J. Z. et al. (2016) LPSC 47, Abstract #2039. [10] Liu J. Z. , et al. (2017) LPSC 48, Abstract #1477. [11] Smith D. E. et al. (2010). 150(1), 209-241. [12] Kreslavsky M. A. et al. (2013). Icarus. 226(1), 52-66. [13] Bandfield J. L. et al. (2011). JGR-Planets. 116(E12). [14] Ghent R. et al. 2016. Icarus. 273, 182-195. [15] Kokelaar B. et al. 2017. 122(9), 1893-1925. 1262.pdf 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2132)
Intestinal dysbiosis promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition by activating tumor-associated macrophages in ovarian cancer

We aimed to investigate the relationship of intestinal dysbiosis (IDB) and ovarian cancer progression, and understand its underlying signaling mechanisms. IDB was induced with high dose antibiotics. The xenograft mouse model was used to assess the tumor progression. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting are commonly used quantitative methods, and they were used to quantify epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in this paper. Meanwhile, cellular proliferation was also measured. First, IDB could promote the growth of xenograft tumors and induce the EMT. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 also increased remarkably. In addition, the production and secretion of TNF-α and IL-6 in macrophages isolated from IDB model mice were observably higher. In vitro, conditioned medium could significantly stimulate the development of EMT in ovarian cancer cells. Loss of macrophages completely offset the pro-tumor effects of IDB. IDB can stimulate the activation of tumor-associated macrophages in ovarian cancer, which is achieved by secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α, and ultimately induces the development of EMT.
Effectiveness of cervical cancer screening at age 65 — A register-based cohort study

Most cervical cancer deaths in Finland occur after the termination of the national screening program, targeted at women aged 30 to 64 years. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of screening at age 65 in reducing cervical cancer mortality. A register-based cohort study was performed with a follow-up period between 1991 and 2014. Mortality risk ratios for incident cervical cancer cases diagnosed at age 65 or older were compared between women invited and not invited for screening. The background risk difference between the studied areas was accounted for by using a reference cohort. The relative risk of death for women invited for cervical cancer screening at the age of 65 was 0.52 (95% CI: 0.29–0.94). The relative risks for women not attending and attending to screening with respect to the uninvited were 1.28 (CI: 0.65–2.50) and 0.28 (CI: 0.13–0.59), respectively. Inviting 65-year-old women for screening has been effective in reducing cervical cancer mortality.
Diosmetin Suppresses Neuronal Apoptosis and Inflammation by Modulating the Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase (PI3K)/AKT/Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB) Signaling Pathway in a Rat Model of Pneumococcal Meningitis

Bacterial meningitis has a high mortality rate and can be challenging to diagnose and manage. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of diosmetin in a rat model of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis and to investigate the mechanism of action. Forty rats included a treatment group (n=30) that underwent intracisternal injection with S. pneumoniae, and a sham group (n=10) that underwent intracisternal injection with normal saline. In the treatment group, four days before the inoculation of the bacteria, rats were pre-treated with oral diosmetin 100 mg/kg (n=10) and 200 mg/kg (n=10), and the negative control was pre-treated with normal saline (n=10). Bacterial meningitis was confirmed one day after inoculation by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) bacterial titer and neurological score. In rat brain tissue, levels of inflammatory mediators were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot for protein kinase B (Akt), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88), and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and the TUNEL assay for apoptosis was performed. In the diosmetin-treated group compared with negative control group, the CSF bacterial titer and the level of pro-inflammatory mediators, and the neurological score, were significantly reduced (p<0.01). In the rat hippocampal tissue, levels of Akt, PI3K, MyD88 and NF-κB, and the number of TUNEL-positive apoptotic cells were significantly reduced in the diosmetin-treated group compared with negative control group (p<0.01). In a rat model of bacterial meningitis due to S. pneumoniae, diosmetin reduced neuroinflammation, and neuronal apoptosis by modulating the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway.
Monte Carlo Simulation in Item Response Theory Applications Using SAS

ABSTRACT Data simulation and Monte Carlo simulation studies are important skills for researchers and practitioners of educational and psychological measurement, but there are few resources on the topic specific to item response theory. Even fewer resources exist on the statistical software techniques to implement simulation studies. This article presents an introduction to the questions that simulation studies can, and cannot answer, along with the primary steps of the simulation study. We primarily focus on the parts of the simulation for which statistical software is used, presenting syntax for simulating 2PL data, and discuss how to extend the basic syntax to more complex models. We focus on SAS software in the article to build upon an existing syntax base, as most universities have SAS licenses. Two small simulations serve as didactic illustrations and to demonstrate parameter recovery of the SAS IRT procedure and an evaluation of the procedure’s item-fit options.
Continuous record asymptotics for structural change models

For a partial structural change in a linear regression model with a single break, we develop a continuous record asymptotic framework to build inference methods for the break date. We have T observations with a sampling frequency h over a fixed time horizon [0, N] , and let T with h 0 while keeping the time span N fixed. We impose very mild regularity conditions on an underlying continuous-time model assumed to generate the data. We consider the least-squares estimate of the break date and establish consistency and convergence rate. We provide a limit theory for shrinking magnitudes of shifts and locally increasing variances. The asymptotic distribution corresponds to the location of the extremum of a function of the quadratic variation of the regressors and of a Gaussian centered martingale process over a certain time interval. We can account for the asymmetric informational content provided by the pre- and post-break regimes and show how the location of the break and shift magnitude are key ingredients in shaping the distribution. We consider a feasible version based on plug-in estimates, which provides a very good approximation to the finite sample distribution. We use the concept of Highest Density Region to construct confidence sets. Overall, our method is reliable and delivers accurate coverage probabilities and relatively short average length of the confidence sets. Importantly, it does so irrespective of the size of the break.
Effect of Creatine Supplementation on the Airways of Youth Elite Soccer Players

ABSTRACT Introduction Owing to its well-established ergogenic potential, creatine is a highly popular food supplement in sports. As an oral supplement, creatine is considered safe and ethical. However, no data exist on the safety of creatine on lung function in athletes. The aim of this project was to evaluate the effects of a standard course of creatine on the airways of youth elite athletes. Methods Nineteen elite soccer players, 16–21 yr old, completed a stratified, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial. The creatine group (n = 9) ingested 0.3 g·kg−1⋅d−1 of creatine monohydrate (CM) for 1 wk (loading phase) and 5 g·d−1 for 7 wk (maintenance phase), and the placebo group (n = 10) received the same dosages of maltodextrin. Airway inflammation (assessed by exhaled nitric oxide, FENO) and airway responsiveness (to dry air hyperpnoea) were measured pre- and postsupplementation. Results Mild, unfavorable changes in FENO were noticed by trend over the supplementation period in the CM group only (P = 0.056 for interaction, η2 = 0.199), with a mean group change of 9 ± 13 ppb in the CM group versus −5 ± 16 ppb in the placebo group (P = 0.056, d = 0.695). Further, the maximum fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s after dry air hyperpnoea was larger by trend postsupplementation in the CM group compared with the placebo group: 9.7% ± 7.5% vs 4.4% ± 1.4%, respectively (P = 0.070, d = 0.975). These adverse effects were more pronounced when atopic players only (n = 15) were considered. Conclusion On the basis of the observed trends and medium to large effect sizes, we cannot exclude that creatine supplementation has an adverse effect on the airways of elite athletes, particularly in those with allergic sensitization. Further safety profiling of the ergogenic food supplement is warranted.
Contact sensitivity to 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate in consecutive patients: A 1‐year multicentre SIDAPA study

Acrylates and methacrylates, here referred to as (meth)acrylates, are reactive monomers that polymerize into polymer plastics (1). They are well known sensitizers in occupational (e.g. dental materials) (2) and non-occupational settings (e.g. dressings and wound care products) (3). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The Relationship between Spatial Structure and the Maintenance of Diversity in Microbial Populations

Spatial structure is pervasive in the microbial world, yet we know little about how it influences the evolution of microbial populations. It is thought that spatial structure limits the scale of competitive interactions and protracts selective sweeps. This may allow microbial populations to simultaneously explore multiple evolutionary paths. But how structured a microbial population must be before this effect is realized is not known. We used empirical and simulation studies to explore the relationship between spatial structure and the maintenance of diversity. The degree of spatial structure experienced by Escherichia coli metapopulations was manipulated by varying the migration rate between its component subpopulations. Each subpopulation was inoculated with an equal number of two equally fit genotypes, and their frequencies in 12 subpopulations were determined during 150 generations of evolution. We observed that the frequency of the “loser” genotypes decreased exponentially as the migration rate between the subpopulations was increased and that higher frequencies of the loser genotypes were maintained in structured metapopulations. These results demonstrate that structured microbial populations can evolve along multiple evolutionary trajectories even when migration rates between the subpopulations are relatively high.
What does the financial market pricing do? A simulation analysis with a view to systemic volatility, exuberance and vagary

Biondi et al. (Phys A 391(22):5532–5545, 2012) develop an analytical model to examine the emergent dynamic properties of share market price formation over time, capable to capture important stylized facts. These latter properties prove to be sensitive to regulatory regimes for fundamental information provision, as well as to market confidence conditions among actual and potential investors. We comparatively assess accounting models belonging to two main families: historical cost accounting and mark-to-market (fair value) accounting regimes. Regimes based upon mark-to-market measurement of traded security, while generating higher linear correlation between market prices and fundamental signals, also involve higher market instability and volatility. These regimes also incur more relevant episodes of market exuberance and vagary in some regions of the market confidence space, where lower market liquidity further occurs.