Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning and Emotional Outcomes after the Application of Invention Activities in a Sample of University Students

Invention activities can promote reflective learning processes. However, their inclusion in educational practice can generate doubts because they take up time that can otherwise be invested in explaining content, and because some students might experience frustration and anxiety while trying to solve them. This study experimentally evaluated the efficacy of invention activities in a university statistics class, considering both emotions (self-reported) and learning achieved. In total, 43 students were randomly assigned to either (a) inventing variability measures before receiving instruction about the topic of statistical variability, or (b) completing a similar problem-solving activity, but only after they had received guidance with a worked example concerning the target concepts. Students in the first condition acquired greater conceptual knowledge, which is an indicator of deep learning. The emotions experienced during the learning activities were similar in both learning conditions. However, it was notable that enjoyment during the invention phase of the invention condition was strongly associated with higher achievement. Invention activities are a promising educational strategy that require students to play an active role, and can promote deep learning. This study also provides implementation guidelines for teachers while discussing the possibilities offered by new technologies.
Functionalized pyridine in pyclen-based iron(iii) complexes: evaluation of fundamental properties

The use of tetra-aza pyridinophanes is of increasing interest in the fields of bioinorganic modeling, catalysis, and imaging. However, a full study of how modifications to the pyridyl moiety affect the characteristics of the daughter metal complexes, has not been explored. In this study, six tetra-aza macrocyclic ligands were metalated with Fe(iii) and were characterized for the first time. The pyridyl functional groups studied include: 4-hydroxyl (L1), 4-H (L2), 4-chloro (L3), 4-trifluoromethyl (L4), 4-nitrile (L5), and 4-nitro (L6) modified pyridyl on a pyclen base structure. The resulting iron complexes were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and metal-binding affinities (log β) were determined. Analysis of these results indicate that such functionalizations introduce a handle by which electrochemical properties and thermodynamic stability of daughter complexes with transition metal ions can be tuned, which in turn, could potentially impact the reactivity of these complexes in future studies.
Ageing, inorganic nitrate and vitamin C : effects on markers of cardiovascular risk

I SUPERVISORS’ CERTIFICATE . III DEDICATION . V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . VII PUBLICATIONS . IX TABLE OF CONTENTS . XII LIST OF TABLES . XVIII LIST OF FIGURES . XIX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . XXIII STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS . XXV CHAPTER
Development of a novel TCR avidity assay for human CD8+ T cells

T cells with high avidity for their specific ligand are believed to be most effective in clearing viral infections and inducing tumor regression. Thereby, an important part of the avidity seems to be hard wired in the structure of the T cell receptor (TCR). Existing methods do not allow for the exact measurement of this structural avidity on living cells. We therefore developed a novel assay, where the dissociation of monomeric MHC-molecules bound to surface expressed TCRs can be observed by real-time microscopy and can be quantified as koff-rate. Experiments with preclinical mouse models showed a clear correlation between functional avidity, koff-rate and protectivity of the T cells. This led to the assumption that the koff-rate might be an important parameter for determination of the quality of T cells used e.g. for adoptive immunotherapy. Hence, the assay was adapted to the measurement of human T cells. To achieve this, fundamental changes of the setups turned out to be necessary. Validation of the method with CMV-specific T cells showed that the assay allows for precise and reproducible determination of the koff-rate. High variability of the koff-rate assed for different CMV-positive donors indicates that this parameter might be important for the selection of high quality T cells for adoptive T cell therapy.
Vote-Seeking Among Non-Resident Citizens: How Romanian Parties Form Organisations Abroad

ABSTRACT Non-resident voters can be an important share of the electorate. To compete for their votes, parties in the country of origin establish organisations abroad. This article analyses the organisations established by Romanian parliamentary parties in the countries hosting large numbers of Romanian migrants. The analysis relies on qualitative content analysis of party statutes and semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that parties differ in their degree of formalisation, territorial coverage and division of power when establishing their organisations abroad.
NMR-based quantitative studies of the conformational equilibrium between their square and folded forms of ascidiacyclamide and its analogues

Ascidiacyclamide [cyclo(-Ile1,5-oxazoline2,6-D-Val3,7-thiazole4,8-)] (1) is a cytotoxic cyclic peptide from the ascidian, or sea squirt. Through structural analyses using asymmetric analogues [Xxx1: Ala (2), Val (3), Leu (4), Phe (5), cyclohexylalanine (6) and phenylglycine (7)], we previously showed 1 to exist in a conformational equilibrium between square and folded forms. In the present study, five new asymmetric analogues [Xxx1: 2-aminobutyric acid (8), 2-aminopentyric acid (9), tert-butylalanine (10), cyclohexylglycine (11) and tert-leucine (12)] were synthesized, and their structures were analyzed with X-ray diffraction and CD spectral measurements. Variable temperature 1H NMR measurements were performed to determine their equilibrium constants and their thermodynamic parameters. The use of two reference peptides made these quantitative studies possible. T3ASC, which contains three thiazole rings as a result of replacing oxazoline2 with thiazole, and dASC, in which the two oxazoline rings were deleted, were respectively used as square and folded reference peptides. The estimated parameters enabled more detailed discussion of the relationship between the bulkiness of substituents and the conformational free energies (ΔG°) of the peptides as well as the relationship between structure and cytotoxicity. The ΔG° values for peptides 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and 11 decreased with decreases in the bulkiness of their substituents. We suggest that spontaneous folding is promoted as the bulkiness of substituents decreases. Peptides 7 and 12, which have large positive ΔG° values independently of temperature, did not exhibit spontaneous folding at any temperature; that is, their conformations were very stable in the square form. Peptides 4, 5, 6 and 10 had negative ΔG° values, despite their bulky substituents. Peptides with a positive ΔG° value showed cytotoxicity, and peptides with a negative ΔG° value showed reduced or no cytotoxicity. However, peptides 5 and 6 showed cytotoxicity equal to or stronger than 1. Those ten peptides except for 5 and 6 showed a clear structure–cytotoxicity relationship based on ΔG° values.
Terrestrial Snake Environmental DNA Accumulation and Degradation Dynamics and its Environmental Application

Abstract There is an increasing need for effective biomonitoring tools that quantify patterns of habitat occupancy by reptile species. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has been regarded as an emerging tool to detect specific target species; however, the dynamics of accumulation and degradation of eDNA in terrestrial environments are poorly understood. This study determines the time required for terrestrial snakes to leave enough eDNA behind to become detectable (accumulation time) as well as its persistence (degradation time). By targeting mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 12S rRNA genes of Red Cornsnakes (Pantherophis guttatus) in a controlled laboratory setting, we found that eDNA can be detected 3.5 h after the snakes had contact with soil and for up to 6 d after their removal. Estimated accumulation rate of Pantherophis guttatus eDNA per gram of snake biomass per hour was 12.6 μg. We also evaluated the applicability of eDNA detection under field conditions by targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of a cryptic invasive species in South Florida, Burmese Pythons (Python bivittatus). Soil samples were derived from two groups of field sites: telemetry-monitored refugia (i.e., radiotelemetry evidence of python presence) and telemetry-absent refugia (i.e., no telemetry evidence, but monitored with a burrow camera at time of sample collection). We were able to detect the presence of python eDNA in 66.7% of the telemetry-monitored sites that fit within our laboratory-defined residence and degradation time window. Additionally, at the telemetry-absent sites, no eDNA from Burmese Pythons was detected and burrow cameras did not detect their presence. We concluded that eDNA technology using soil can be an effective detection tool for terrestrial snakes, particularly when used with other traditional tracking and sampling methods.
Modeling Subtropical Forest Changes under Climate Change and Close-to-Nature Silviculture: Is There a Tipping Point in an Uncertain Future in Southern China?

Subtropical forests face pressure from both rapidly changing climate and increasing harvest activity in southern China. However, the interactive effects of various spatial processes on forests are not well known. The objective of the present study was to answer the question of how forest aboveground biomass (AGB) changes under alternative climate change and harvesting scenarios and to determine whether there will be a tipping point for forest AGB before 2300. Our simulation results show that, although total forest AGB did not reach a tipping point before 2300 under possible climate change and harvesting scenarios, the slope of the total forest AGB showed a decreasing trend around 2100 and 2200. Moderate climate warming was conducive to AGB accumulation, except for in the high emissions Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP8.5) scenario. Our results also indicate that timber harvesting is adaptable to the accumulation of biomass under climate change scenarios. Harvesting intensity was a key variable affecting forest AGB more than harvesting frequency. Our findings will help develop more sustainable forest management strategies that can adapt to potential climate change scenarios, as well as determining the effectiveness of implementing alternative forest harvesting policies.
The role of motivations and self-concepts in university graduate entrepreneurs’ creativity and resilience

ABSTRACT Creativity and resilience are critical capacities for entrepreneurs in today’s economy. We investigated university graduate entrepreneurs’ individual determinants such as entrepreneurial motivations and positive self-concepts in relation to entrepreneurs’ creativity and resilience. Specifically, we tested the proposed research model using a survey data collected from university graduate entrepreneurs and pre-entrepreneurs in the field of technology. Our results show that the antecedents of creativity and resilience were contingent on the type of entrepreneurs. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our study.
Climate-driven hydrological variability determines inter-annual changes in stream invertebrate community assembly

1 Dept of Ecology and Genetics, Univ. of Oulu, PO BOX 3000, FI-90014, University of Oulu, Finland 2 School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent Univ., Nottingham, UK 3 Finnish Environment Inst. , Oulu, Finland 4 Finnish Environment Institute, Freshwater Centre, Oulu, Finland 5 Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland 6 Oulanka Research Station, Kuusamo, Finland 7 Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Freshwater Centre, Helsinki, Finland
The Role of Hiss, Chorus, and EMIC Waves in the Modeling of the Dynamics of the Multi‐MeV Radiation Belt Electrons

In this study, we performed a series of long‐term and individual storm simulations with and without hiss, chorus, and electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves. We compared simulation results incorporating different wave modes with Van Allen Probes flux observations to illustrate how hiss and chorus waves aid EMIC waves in depleting multi‐MeV electrons. We found that EMIC, hiss, and chorus waves are required to reproduce satellite measurements in our simulations. Our results indicate that hiss waves play a dominant role in scattering near‐equatorial mirroring electrons, and they assist EMIC waves, which scatter only small pitch angle electrons. The best agreement between the observations and the simulations (long‐term and 17 January 2013 storm) is achieved when hiss, chorus, and EMIC waves are included.
Soil penetration resistance mapping quality: effect of the number of subsamples

There is no consensus in the literature regarding how many subsamples are needed to perform accurate on-farm soil penetration resistance (SPR) mapping. Therefore, the objective of this study was to define the number of subsamples per sampling point needed to quantify the SPR. The experiment was performed in a 4.7 ha area and employed a 50 × 50 m grid system (18 sampling points). The SPR was evaluated using a digital penetrometer in two different years with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, and 15 subsamples per sampling point. The SPR maps produced with increasing numbers of subsamples were compared to the reference maps (15 subsamples) using the relative deviation coefficient and Pearson´s linear correlation. A reduction in the number of subsamples promoted an increase in the variability of the SPR data. Generally, the results from this study suggest the use of at least four subsamples per sampling point to achieve SPR maps with a coefficient of relative deviation less than 10% (30% maximum error per point around the mean) and significant correlation with the reference maps (15 subsamples).
The Association Between Facebook Use and Student Involvement: The Moderating Role of Shyness

Research suggests that social networking sites may provide a viable context for promoting student involvement. We examined the relations between social and academic Facebook use and undergraduates’ social and academic involvement. We found that social Facebook use was positively linked to social involvement, particularly among non-shy students. Conversely, among shy students, social Facebook use was positively associated with academic involvement. More academic Facebook use was associated with greater social and academic involvement, irrespective of shyness.
Apparent Treatment-Resistant Hypertension Assessed by Office and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Chronic Kidney Disease-A Report from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study.

Background Apparent treatment-resistant hypertension is common in patients with CKD. Whether measurement of 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring is valuable for risk-stratifying patients with resistant hypertension and CKD is unclear. Methods We analyzed data from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort study, a prospective study of participants (n=1186) with CKD. Office BP was measured using standardized protocols; ambulatory BP was measured using Spacelabs monitors. Apparent treatment-resistant hypertension was defined on the basis of office BP, ambulatory BP monitoring, and use of more than three antihypertensive medications. Outcomes were composite cardiovascular disease, kidney outcomes, and mortality. Groups were compared using Cox regression analyses with a control group of participants without apparent treatment-resistant hypertension. Results Of 475 participants with apparent treatment-resistant hypertension on the basis of office BP, 91.6% had apparent treatment-resistant hypertension confirmed by ambulatory BP monitoring. Unadjusted event rates of composite cardiovascular disease, kidney outcomes, and mortality were higher in participants with ambulatory BP monitoring-defined apparent treatment-resistant hypertension compared with participants without apparent treatment-resistant hypertension. In adjusted analyses, the risks of composite cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio, 1.27; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.59 to 2.7), kidney outcomes (hazard ratio, 1.68; 95% CI, 0.88 to 3.21), and mortality (hazard ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.5 to 3.25) were not statistically significantly higher in participants with ambulatory BP monitoring-defined apparent treatment-resistant hypertension compared with participants without apparent treatment-resistant hypertension. Conclusions In our study population with CKD, most patients with apparent treatment-resistant hypertension defined on the basis of office BP have apparent treatment-resistant hypertension confirmed by ambulatory BP monitoring. Although ABPM-defined apparent treatment-resistant hypertension was not independently associated with clinical outcomes, it identified participants at high risk for adverse clinical outcomes.
Doing nonbinary gender: The occupational experience of nonbinary persons in the environment

ABSTRACT Understanding the effect of the environment is fundamental to grasping the occupational experiences of nonbinary individuals. Current research in occupational science addresses the occupations of the transgender population but often fails to distinguish between the binary and nonbinary experience. There is an absence of occupational science research that solely focuses on the nonbinary experience. This study focuses on nonbinary individuals and aims to illuminate the environmental factors that support or hinder occupational engagement for nonbinary individuals. Using a descriptive qualitative research design, we conducted two interviews per participant and photo-elicitation. Data analysis resulted in three themes: binary environments and safe spaces, navigating binary spaces through doing gender and avoiding unsafe spaces, and undoing gender through occupation. These themes capture the experience of occupations within the environment for nonbinary people involved doing, being, and becoming nonbinary gender. Each of these responses depended on how safe and welcoming the environment was perceived to be. Our findings illuminate that the process of doing nonbinary gender is a reciprocal relationship between the person, their occupations, and the environment, and support the complex nature of occupation for diverse populations that fall outside the dominant binary culture.
Country Brand Equity: The Decision Making of Corporate Brand Architecture in Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions

Cross-border merger and acquisition (CBM&A) is a dominant and sustainable antagonistic strategy, but a relevant concern like a country has inadequately been emphasized over the five decades of acquisition studies. Therefore, this article attempts to examine the impact of country brand equity (CBE) on corporate brand architecture (CBA) in post-CBM&A. It first originates a hypothetical model esteeming Resource-Based View (RBV) and Industrial Organization (IO) theory following the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm. Then, it tests the model conducting a web survey on 124 acquiring corporates from 29 countries that accomplished CBM&A transactions between 1990 and 2014. The empirical findings clarify that the market aspect, such as the acquirer’s more substantial country brand equity, indirectly leads to the high degree of CBA standardization in the host market through prioritized intangible and strategic resources—corporate reputation and corporate brand management system. Individually, the acquirer’s corporate reputation cumulatively yields a high degree of CBA standardization with corporate brand power, which has only a direct effect. On the other hand, the corporate brand management system leads to a high degree of CBA standardization cumulatively with corporate reputation. It is deemed that the research findings as a whole reveal a framework for the application of country brand equity and corporate brand architecture in post-CBM&A.
Avoiding the Privacy Paradox Using Preference-Based Segmentation: A Conjoint Analysis Approach

Personal privacy on online social networks (OSN) is becoming increasingly important. The collection and misuse of personal information can affect people’s behavior and can have a broader impact on civil society. The aim of this paper is to explore the privacy paradox phenomenon on OSNs that is reflected in the gap between OSN users’ privacy concerns and behavior and to introduce a new segmentation framework based on preference data from conjoint analysis. For the purpose of the study, an online survey on four dimensions of OSNs has been conducted. Conjoint analysis has been employed on collected data to reveal users’ preferences, followed by two-step cluster analysis for the preference-based segmentation. The characteristics of the resulting clusters were compared with self-reported behavior and privacy concerns, as well as the results of the Westin Privacy Segmentation approach. The results suggest that conjoint analysis can improve users’ segmentation and consequently provide better solutions for avoiding the gap between users’ concerns, attitudes, and behavior.
Effect of combined arginase and nitric oxide donor treatment on normal and leukemic cells in vitro

Arginine deprivation has been recently suggested as a therapeutic approach against difficult to cure blood cancers. Herein, we investigated for the first time the combined effect of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) donor and recombinant human arginase (rhARG) as arginine-depleting agent on viability of several human leukemic cell lines and normal peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). We found that exogenous NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), at physiologically compatible dose did not counteract but augmented rhARG-mediated pro-apoptotic effect of arginine depletion in leukemic cells but not in resting lymphocytes. Thus, we hypothesize that NO deficiency resulting from arginine deprivation is not the primary cause of high leukemic cells sensitivity to the ac-tion of rhARG. The results of this study further support the notion that not arginine ca-tabolism but other cell response mechanisms must be involved in determining cell fate upon arginine restriction. SNP or alternative NO donors can be proposed as compo-nents of metabolic anti-leukemia therapy based on arginine deprivation. phytohaemagglutinin (PHA, “Sigma”, USA) and 20 U/ml recombinant inter-leukin 2 (rIL-2, “Millipore Corp.”, USA) in culture medium for 4 days. Resting PBL were cultured in the presence of 20 U/mL rIL-2 only. Resting and proliferatively active PBL were used in the experiments.