Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the Mathematics Interest Inventory Using Item Response Theory

As the United States has begun to lag behind other developed countries in performance on mathematics and science, researchers have sought to explain this with theories of teaching, knowledge, and motivation. We expand this examination by further analyzing a measure of interest that has been linked to student performance in mathematics and intention to enroll in advanced mathematics classes. Using Item Response Theory (IRT), the purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Mathematics Interest Inventory (MII). Six hundred sixty-six students (47.6% Hispanic, 48.2% Male) formed the sample. Results revealed minimal differential item functioning (DIF) between genders. Substantial DIF emerged between Hispanic and White students. Implications of the differential functioning and the measurement of interest in mathematics are discussed.
A qualitative comparison of cognitive-behavioural and evidence-based clinical supervision

Abstract Despite the acknowledged importance of clinical supervision, controlled research is minimal and has rarely addressed the measurement or manipulation of clinical supervision, hampering our understanding and application of the different supervision methods. We therefore compared two related approaches to supervision, cognitive-behavioural (CBT) and evidence-based clinical supervision (EBCS), evaluating their relative effectiveness in facilitating the experiential learning of one supervisee. Drawing on a multiple-baseline N = 1 design, we gathered mostly qualitative data by means of an episode analysis, a content analysis, a satisfaction questionnaire, and interviews with the supervisor and supervisee. We found that the EBCS approach was associated with higher supervision fidelity and increased engagement in experiential learning by the supervisee. This case study in the evaluation of supervision illustrates the successful application of some rarely applied qualitative methods and some potential supervision enhancements, which could contribute to the development of CBT supervision.
Integration Sea and River Ports – the Challenge of the Croatian Transport System for the 21st Century

This paper discusses the indicators of development possibilities for sea ports of national importance which are opened for public traffic: Rijeka, Ploce, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, as well as for inland water ports: Vukovar, Osijek, Slavonski Brod and Sisak. Development of traffic and logistic integration processes have been proposed for Croatian sea and river ports, based upon development factors analyses. Croatian sea ports Rijeka, Ploce and inland water cargo ports Osijek, Vukovar, Slavonski Brod and Sisak have been analysed as delivery/forwarding points (nodes), taking into account the directions of goods flows, the participation in the traffic of goods, and all other relevant indicators. The integrated and coordinated approach to the ports and other subjects in the logistic chain redirects the traffic from roads to railways and inland waterways as energy efficient and environmentally – friendly forms of transportation, increases business rationality and optimal organisation users and transportation entities.
Pathogenesis of BK virus infection after renal transplantation

BK virus (BKV) was first detected in a renal transplant recipient in 1971 [1]. Increasing incidence of this infection in renal transplant recipients as BKV nephritis (BKVN) poses a threat to graft survival and this coincides with decreasing acute rejection rates as well as the use of potent immunosuppressants [2]. A combination of increased awareness, identification of typical histological findings of nephritis, the use of simian virus (SV)-40 staining and the availability to measure BKV load in urine, blood and plasma by reverse-transcriptase PCR have improved the ability to diagnose the infection earlier than was previously possible [3]. Work on source, life-cycle and human immune response to BKV at both humoral and cellular levels is still in early stages and no clear consensus exists on how best to treat this infection, with reduction of immunosuppression being used as the main response. This editorial addresses the current state of our knowledge, highlighting the pathogenesis of BKV infection.
Real-Time Analysis of Specific Protein-DNA Interactions with Surface Plasmon Resonance

Several proteins, like transcription factors, bind to certain DNA sequences, thereby regulating biochemical pathways that determine the fate of the corresponding cell. Due to these key positions, it is indispensable to analyze protein-DNA interactions and to identify their mode of action. Surface plasmon resonance is a label-free method that facilitates the elucidation of real-time kinetics of biomolecular interactions. In this article, we focus on this biosensor-based method and provide a detailed guide how SPR can be utilized to study binding of proteins to oligonucleotides. After a description of the physical phenomenon and the instrumental realization including fiber-optic-based SPR and SPR imaging, we will continue with a survey of immobilization methods. Subsequently, we will focus on the optimization of the experiment, expose pitfalls, and introduce how data should be analyzed and published. Finally, we summarize several interesting publications of the last decades dealing with protein-DNA and RNA interaction analysis by SPR.
Constraint-induced aphasia therapy stimulates language recovery in patients with chronic aphasia after ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND Constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT) offers potential benefits to individuals with history of aphasia-producing ischemic stroke. The goals of this pilot study were to implement the original German CIAT protocol, refine the treatment program, and confirm its efficacy in patients with chronic aphasia. MATERIAL/METHODS We translated and modified the original CIAT protocol to include a hierarchy of individual skill levels for semantic, syntactic, and phonological language production, while constraining non-use behaviors. Three male participants with moderate to severe post-stroke aphasia received CIAT 3-4 hours/day for 5 consecutive days. Pre and post-testing included formal language evaluation, linguistic analysis of story retell, and mini-Communication Activity Log (mini-CAL). RESULTS Substantial improvements in comprehension and verbal skills were noted in 2 patients with an increase in the total number of words (31% and 95%) and in number of utterances for story-retell task (57% and 75%). All participants demonstrated an improvement on at least one linguistic measure. No subjective improvements on mini-CAL were noted by any of the participants. CONCLUSIONS Given that the duration of treatment was only 1 week, these linguistic improvements in post stroke aphasia participants were remarkable. The results indicate that the CIAT protocol used in this study may be a useful tool in language restoration after stroke. These initial findings should be confirmed in a larger, randomized study.
The dedB (usg) open reading frame of Escherichia coli encodes a subunit of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase

In the course ofwork on Escherichia coli acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) carboxylase (9), we noted a strong amino acid sequence similarity between the 1B subunit of rat propionyl-CoA carboxylase and the predicted protein product (304 residues) of an E. coli open reading frame of unknown function previously called dedB (for DNA downstream of hisT; 11) and usg (for gene upstream of folC; 4) (Fig. 1). Further analysis showed that the predicted DedB/Usg protein also had sequence similarity to the 12S subunit of the Propionibacterium shermanii transcarboxylase (Fig. 1). E. coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase is composed of two components, biotin carboxylase and carboxyltransferase, which catalyze distinct half-reactions; (i) the carboxylation of biotin with bicarbonate, followed by (ii) transfer of the CO2 group from carboxybiotin to acetyl-CoA to form malonylCoA (1, 12). A third subunit, biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP), carries the essential biotin cofactor covalently bound to a lysine residue proximal to its carboxyl terminus. The reactions catalyzed by the rat and P. shermanii
Megestrol acetate-induced weight gain does not negatively affect blood lipids in elderly men: effects of resistance training and testosterone replacement.

BACKGROUND Megestrol acetate (MA) has been used to stimulate weight gain in elderly populations, with the majority of the weight gain being adipose tissue. Because of the increased energy intake and adipose tissue accrual with MA, it may have a negative effect on circulating lipids. Thus, in this study we examined the effects of MA--alone and in combination with resistance training and/or testosterone replacement--on blood lipids. METHODS All subjects (n = 28) received MA and were randomly assigned to one of four groups: 1) placebo (P) injections, 2) resistance training and P (RT+P), 3) weekly injections of testosterone (T; 100 mg/week), or 4) RT and T (RT+T). RESULTS A significant time effect was observed for total cholesterol (p = 0.0006) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (p = .0003) with the mid and post time points being significantly lower than the pre time points for both variables. For the total cholesterol to HDL ratio, no significant differences between groups or over time (time effect: ) were observed. For triglycerides, there tended to be a time effect (p = .061), with the mid and post time points being lower than the pre time point; however, this effect was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Because it appears from our data that MA does not cause adverse blood lipid changes, the decision to use it should be based on other factors.
A novel high-throughput activity assay for the Trypanosoma brucei editosome enzyme REL1 and other RNA ligases

The protist parasite Trypanosoma brucei causes Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), which threatens millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. Without treatment the infection is almost always lethal. Current drugs for HAT are difficult to administer and have severe side effects. Together with increasing drug resistance this results in urgent need for new treatments. T. brucei and other trypanosomatid pathogens require a distinct form of post-transcriptional mRNA modification for mitochondrial gene expression. A multi-protein complex called the editosome cleaves mitochondrial mRNA, inserts or deletes uridine nucleotides at specific positions and re-ligates the mRNA. RNA editing ligase 1 (REL1) is essential for the re-ligation step and has no close homolog in the mammalian host, making it a promising target for drug discovery. However, traditional assays for RELs use radioactive substrates coupled with gel analysis and are not suitable for high-throughput screening of compound libraries. Here we describe a fluorescence-based REL activity assay. This assay is compatible with a 384-well microplate format and sensitive, satisfies statistical criteria for high-throughput methods and is readily adaptable for other polynucleotide ligases. We validated the assay by determining kinetic properties of REL1 and by identifying REL1 inhibitors in a library of small, pharmacologically active compounds.
StageNet : A Reconfigurable CMP Fabric for Resilient Systems

Though CMOS feature size scaling has been the source of dramatic performance gains, this scaling has lead to mounting r eliability concerns due to increasing power densities and on-ch ip temperatures. Given that most wearout mechanisms that plague s emiconductor devices are highly dependent on these parameters , significantly higher failure rates are projected for future tec hnology generations. Traditional techniques for dealing with devi c failures have relied on the coarse-grained replication of structure s (typically at the processor core level) to maintain service in the face o f failed components. In this work, we challenge the practice of corelev l replication by identifying the inability of core-level rep lication to scale to high failure rate scenarios and investigating the a dvantages of finer-grained configurations. The case is made that suppor ting fine-grained reconfiguration not only enhances a system’s ro bustness, but can improve overall throughput as well. We use this s udy to motivate the design of StageNet, a CMP architecture desig n d from its inception with reliability as a first class design co nstraint. StageNet relies on a reconfigurable network of replicated pr ocessor structures to maximize the useful lifetime of the chip, grac efully degrading performance toward end of life.
STOCHASTIC EQUlCONTlNUlTY FOR UNBOUNDED DEPENDENT HETEROGENEOUS ARRAYS

This paper establishes stochastic equicontinuity for classes of mixingales. Attention is restricted to Lipschitz-continuous parametric functions. Unlike some other empirical process theory for dependent data, our results do not require bounded functions, stationary processes, or restrictive dependence conditions. Applications are given to martingale difference arrays, strong mixing arrays, and near-epoch dependent arrays.
Hurricane Sandy, Disaster Preparedness, and the Recovery Model.

OBJECTIVE Hurricane Sandy was the second largest and costliest hurricane in U.S. history to affect multiple states and communities. This article describes the lived experiences of 24 occupational therapy students who lived through Hurricane Sandy using the Recovery Model to frame the research. METHOD Occupational therapy student narratives were collected and analyzed using qualitative methods and framed by the Recovery Model. Directed content and thematic analysis was performed using the 10 components of the Recovery Model. RESULTS The 10 components of the Recovery Model were experienced by or had an impact on the occupational therapy students as they coped and recovered in the aftermath of the natural disaster. CONCLUSION This study provides insight into the lived experiences and recovery perspectives of occupational therapy students who experienced Hurricane Sandy. Further research is indicated in applying the Recovery Model to people who survive disasters.
Effect of capacitor size and pathway resistance on defibrillation threshold for implantable defibrillators.

BACKGROUND The time constant of truncated exponential pulses used with implantable defibrillators is determined by the output capacitor size and defibrillation pathway resistance. The optimal capacitor size is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS This study compared defibrillation threshold (DFT) for standard 120-microF capacitors (DFT120) and smaller 60-microF capacitors (DFT60) at implantation of cardioverter-defibrillators in 67 patients using epicardial electrodes (15 patients) or one of four transvenous electrode configurations (52 patients). Paired comparisons of DFT60 and DFT120 were made for 44 defibrillation pathways using monophasic pulses and for 53 pathways using biphasic pulses. Truncated exponential pulses with 65% tilt were used. Pooled data from all electrode configurations showed a significant inverse correlation between pathway resistance and the ratio of stored energy DFT60 to DFT120 (monophasic pulses: r = .75, P = .0001; biphasic pulses: r = .68, P = .0001). Data from all electrode configurations formed a continuum with 120-microF capacitors superior for low-resistance pathways and 60-microF capacitors superior for high-resistance pathways. For pathways with resistance < or = 40 omega, the modest advantage of 120-microF capacitors applied primarily to pathways with low DFTs: 8.2 +/- 6.1 versus 9.6 +/- 5.4 J (P = .001) for monophasic pulses and 4.1 +/- 2.8 versus 5.1 +/- 3.1 J (P < .02) for biphasic pulses. The greater advantage of 60-microF capacitors for pathways with resistance > or = 61 omega applied to pathways with higher DFTs: 12.4 +/- 4.3 versus 23.1 +/- 6.4 J (P = .0001) for monophasic pulses and 8.5 +/- 4.9 versus 12.5 +/- 6.4 J (P = .0001) for biphasic pulses. For pathways using monophasic 120-microF pulses versus 95% for 60-microF pulses. Similarly, the DFT was < or = 10 J for 48% of pathways using biphasic 120-microF capacitors versus 83% for 60-microF pulses. CONCLUSIONS In comparison with conventional 120-microF capacitors, 60-microF capacitors had clinically insignificant higher DFTs for low-resistance pathways and clinically important lower DFTs for high-resistance pathways. Optimal capacitance is inversely related to pathway resistance for clinical defibrillation pathways and waveforms.
Analysis of the oxidative stress regulation of the Candida albicans transcription factor, Cap1p

CAP1 encodes a basic region‐leucine zipper (bZip) transcriptional regulatory protein that is required for oxidative stress tolerance in Candida albicans. Cap1p is a homologue of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae bZip transcription factor designated Yap1p that is both required for oxidative stress tolerance and localized to the nucleus in response to the presence of oxidants. Oxidant‐regulated localization of Yap1p to the nucleus requires the presence of a carboxy‐terminal cysteine residue (C629) that is conserved in Cap1p as C477. To examine the role of this conserved cysteine residue, C477 was replaced with an alanine residue. This mutant protein, C477A Cap1p, was analysed for its behaviour both in S. cerevisiae and C. albicans. Wild type and C477A Cap1p were able to complement the oxidant hypersensitivity of a Δyap1 S. cerevisiae strain. Whereas a Yap1p‐responsive lacZ fusion gene was oxidant inducible in the presence of YAP1, the C. albicans Cap1p derivatives were not oxidant responsive in S. cerevisiae. Introduction of wild type and C477A Cap1p‐expressing plasmids into C. albicans produced differential resistance to oxidants. Glutathione reductase activity was found to be inducible by oxidants in the presence of Cap1p but was constitutively elevated in the presence of C477A Cap1p. Western blot assays indicate Cap1p is post‐translationally regulated by oxidants. Green fluorescent protein fusions to CAP1 showed that this protein is localized to the nucleus only in the presence of oxidants while C477A Cap1p is constitutively nuclear localized. Directly analogous to S. cerevisiae Yap1p, regulated nuclear localization of C. albicans Cap1p is crucial for its normal function.
Data Mining Methods for Case-Based Reasoning in Health Sciences

Case-based reasoning (CBR) systems often refer to diverse data mining functionalities and algorithms. This article locates examples, many from health sciences domains, mapping data mining functionalities to CBR tasks and steps, such as case mining, memory organization, case base reduction, generalized case mining, indexing, and weight mining. Data mining in CBR focuses greatly on incremental mining for memory structures and organization with the goal of improving performance of retrieval, reuse, revise, and retain steps. Researchers are aiming at the ideal memory as described in the theory of the dynamic memory, which follows a cognitive model, while also improving performance and accuracy in retrieve, reuse, revise, and retain steps. Several areas of potential crossfertilization between CBR and data mining are also proposed.
Flight Deck-Based Merging and Spacing during En Route Descent: Findings from an Air Traffic Controller Simulation

In an effort to achieve consistent, low variance spacing between aircraft pairs during arrival operations and to reduce aircraft maneuvering, noise, fuel burn, and controller workload, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is developing, and UPS has implemented an Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS-B) concept termed Merging and Spacing (MS however, controller responses were varied on whether it was acceptable to give FDMS aircraft priority. FDMS helped reduce overall controller interventions in an arrival stream under normal conditions, but did not increase or decrease total interventions for overall sector traffic sets under normal conditions or when spacing disruptions were introduced. Keywords—Air Traffic Control (ATC), Aircraft Surveillance Application (ASA), Airline Based En route Sequencing and Spacing (ABESS), Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), ATM lab, Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI), Continuous Descent Arrival (CDA), en route, Flight Deck-based Merging and Spacing (FDMS), Merging and Spacing (M&S), metering, MITRE CAASD, Sequencing and Merging (S&M), spacing.
Directions in active networks

Active networks represent a significant step in the evolution of packet-switched networks, from traditional packet-forwarding engines to more general functionality supporting dynamic control and modification of network behavior. However, the phrase "active network" means different things to different people. This article introduces a model and nomenclature for talking about active networks, describes some possible approaches in terms of that nomenclature, and presents various aspects of the architecture being developed in the DARPA-funded active networks program. Potential applications of active networks are highlighted, along with some of the challenges that must be overcome to make them a reality.
Controlled production of Camembert-type cheeses. Part II. Changes in the concentration of the more volatile compounds

Flavour generation in cheese is a major aspect of ripening. In order to enhance aromatic qualities it is necessary to better understand the chemical and microbiological changes. Experimental Camembert-type cheeses were prepared in duplicate from pasteurized milk inoculated with Kluyveromyces lactis, Geotrichum candidum, Penicillium camemberti and Brevibacterium linens under aseptic conditions. Two replicates performed under controlled conditions of temperature (12 °C), relative humidity (95±2%), and atmosphere showed similar ripening characteristics. The evolutions of metabolite concentrations were studied during ripening. The volatile components were extracted by dynamic headspace extraction, separated and quantified by gas chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. For each cheese the volatile concentrations varied with the part considered (rind or core). Except for ethyl acetate and 2-pentanone, the volatile quantities observed were higher than their perception thresholds. The flavour component production was best correlated with the starter strains. During the first 10 days the ester formations (ethyl, butyl and isoamyl acetates) were associated with the concentrations of K. lactis and G. candidum. The rind quantity of esters was lower than that observed in core probably due to (1) a diffusion from the core to the surface and (2) evaporation from the surface to the chamber atmosphere. G. candidum and Brev. linens association produced 3 methyl butanol and methyl 3-butanal from leucine, respectively. DMDS came from the methionine catabolism due to Brev. linens. Styrene production was attributed to Pen. camemberti. 2-Pentanone evolution was associated with Pen. camemberti spores and G. candidum. 2-Heptanone changes were not directly related to flora activities while 2-octanone production was essentially due to G. candidum. This study also demonstrates the determining role of volatile component diffusion.