Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Student-teachers’ conceptualisations of environment and human-nature relationships

This study presents arguments for a constructivist perspective and qualitative methodologies for environmental education research. Its purpose was to explore student teachers' pre-instructional perspectives on the environment and environmental education, as well as on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Interviews were conducted with students in a South African teacher education program with mandatory environmental education sessions. Three data sets consisting of one-on-one interviews were collected. The first set comprised single interviews with ten students in 1992 and the second set involved multiple interviews with nine students and single interviews with three other students in 1993. The third data set comprised single interviews conducted by an independent researcher to eUcit students' experiences of the data collection process. Students' conceptualisations of the environment, including associated beliefs on environmental education, are described within five categories: social, political, biophysical, integrated systems, and part of one's self. Thirteen conceptualisations of human-nature relationships are described, beginning with one portraying the shared origin of humans and nature, then four portraying human-nature connections. The remaining eight are organised on the basis of value which students attributed to the natural world: four conceptualisations relating to intrinsic value, one to inherent value, and three to instrumental value. Students' experiences of the environmental education sessions are also described, drawing attention to themes. Two conclusions are drawn from the analyses. First, students' pre-instructional beliefs exhibit important elements of conceptions of environment and environmental issues described in the literature. Similarly, their conceptualisations of human-nature relationships traverse a range of eco-philosophical perspectives and include elements of most of the categories developed in this Uterature. These conclusions are used to argue for the place of eco-philosophical literature within environmental teacher education and for a pedagogical approach which encourages students to expUcate and critique their personal beliefs. Dr. David Bateson Research supervisor
The redistributive potential of taxation in Latin America

This study uses internationally comparable methodologies to analyse the distributional impact of income tax and public transfers in 17 countries of Latin America. The results indicate that fiscal policy plays a limited role in improving the distribution of disposable income; the Gini coefficient decreased by barely three percentage points after direct fiscal action. On average, 61% of this reduction was due to public cash transfers and the rest to direct taxes, reflecting the pressing need for personal income tax to be strengthened. Analysis of household surveys gives an indication of the potential effects of tax reforms aimed at increasing the average effective tax rate of the top income decile. Allocating this additional revenue to targeted transfers would produce significant results. Consequently, tax reforms must be evaluated bearing in mind how those resources are used.
Structure and Thermoelectric Properties of Bi2−xSbxTe3 Nanowires Grown in Flexible Nanoporous Polycarbonate Templates

We report the room-temperature growth of vertically aligned ternary Bi2−xSbxTe3 nanowires of diameter ~200 nm and length ~12 µm, within flexible track-etched nanoporous polycarbonate (PC) templates via a one-step electrodeposition process. Bi2−xSbxTe3 nanowires with compositions spanning the entire range from pure Bi2Te3 (x = 0) to pure Sb2Te3 (x = 2) were systematically grown within the nanoporous channels of PC templates from a tartaric–nitric acid based electrolyte, at the end of which highly crystalline nanowires of uniform composition were obtained. Compositional analysis showed that the Sb concentration could be tuned by simply varying the electrolyte composition without any need for further annealing of the samples. Thermoelectric properties of the Bi2−xSbxTe3 nanowires were measured using a standardized bespoke setup while they were still embedded within the flexible PC templates.
Comments about Joint Modeling of Cluster Size and Binary and Continuous Subunit‐Specific Outcomes

Summary In longitudinal studies and in clustered situations often binary and continuous response variables are observed and need to be modeled together. In a recent publication Dunson, Chen, and Harry (2003, Biometrics59, 521–530) (DCH) propose a Bayesian approach for joint modeling of cluster size and binary and continuous subunit‐specific outcomes and illustrate this approach with a developmental toxicity data example. In this note we demonstrate how standard software (PROC NLMIXED in SAS) can be used to obtain maximum likelihood estimates in an alternative parameterization of the model with a single cluster‐level factor considered by DCH for that example. We also suggest that a more general model with additional cluster‐level random effects provides a better fit to the data set. An apparent discrepancy between the estimates obtained by DCH and the estimates obtained earlier by Catalano and Ryan (1992, Journal of the American Statistical Association87, 651–658) is also resolved. The issue of bias in inferences concerning the dose effect when cluster size is ignored is discussed. The maximum‐likelihood approach considered herein is applicable to general situations with multiple clustered or longitudinally measured outcomes of different type and does not require prior specification and extensive programming.
Separating direct and indirect effects of global change: a population dynamic modeling approach using readily available field data

Two sources of complexity make predicting plant community response to global change particularly challenging. First, realistic global change scenarios involve multiple drivers of environmental change that can interact with one another to produce non‐additive effects. Second, in addition to these direct effects, global change drivers can indirectly affect plants by modifying species interactions. In order to tackle both of these challenges, we propose a novel population modeling approach, requiring only measurements of abundance and climate over time. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach, we model population dynamics of eight abundant plant species in a multifactorial global change experiment in alpine tundra where we manipulated nitrogen, precipitation, and temperature over 7 years. We test whether indirect and interactive effects are important to population dynamics and whether explicitly incorporating species interactions can change predictions when models are forecast under future climate change scenarios. For three of the eight species, population dynamics were best explained by direct effect models, for one species neither direct nor indirect effects were important, and for the other four species indirect effects mattered. Overall, global change had negative effects on species population growth, although species responded to different global change drivers, and single‐factor effects were slightly more common than interactive direct effects. When the fitted population dynamic models were extrapolated under changing climatic conditions to the end of the century, forecasts of community dynamics and diversity loss were largely similar using direct effect models that do not explicitly incorporate species interactions or best‐fit models; however, inclusion of species interactions was important in refining the predictions for two of the species. The modeling approach proposed here is a powerful way of analyzing readily available datasets which should be added to our toolbox to tease apart complex drivers of global change.
Colon Cancer-associated DNA Polymerase β Variant Induces Genomic Instability and Cellular Transformation*

Background: Mutations in the POLB gene are present in 40% of human colorectal tumors. Results: The G231D variant is a slow polymerase that induces genomic instability and cellular transformation. Conclusion: The slow G231D variant induces cellular transformation due to its inability to fill in single nucleotide gaps. Significance: Slow pol β variants may drive tumorigenesis. Rapidly advancing technology has resulted in the generation of the genomic sequences of several human tumors. We have identified several mutations of the DNA polymerase β (pol β) gene in human colorectal cancer. We have demonstrated that the expression of the pol β G231D variant increased chromosomal aberrations and induced cellular transformation. The transformed phenotype persisted in the cells even once the expression of G231D was extinguished, suggesting that it resulted as a consequence of genomic instability. Biochemical analysis revealed that its catalytic rate was 140-fold slower than WT pol β, and this was a result of the decreased binding affinity of nucleotides by G231D. Residue 231 of pol β lies in close proximity to the template strand of the DNA. Molecular modeling demonstrated that the change from a small and nonpolar glycine to a negatively charged aspartate resulted in a repulsion between the template and residue 231 leading to the distortion of the dNTP binding pocket. In addition, expression of G231D was insufficient to rescue pol β-deficient cells treated with chemotherapeutic agents suggesting that these agents may be effectively used to treat tumors harboring this mutation. More importantly, this suggests that the G231D variant has impaired base excision repair. Together, these data indicate that the G231D variant plays a role in driving cancer.
Applications of Laser Scanning Cytometry in Immunohistochemistry and Routine Histopathology

Laser scanning cytometry (LSC) is a powerful tool for qualitative and quantitative analysis of tissue sections in preclinical drug development. LSC combines the strengths of flow cytometry with tissue architecture retention. This technology has been used predominantly with immunofluorescent techniques on cell culture and tissue sections, but recently LSC has shown promise in evaluating chromogenic immunohistochemistry (IHC) and histochemical products in paraffin-embedded and/or frozen tissue sections. Inverted light scatter measurements or a combination of inverted scatter and fluorescence allows automated determination of cell/nuclear counts (e.g., proliferation labeling indices), cell area (e.g., cellular hypertrophy), stromal elements, and labeling intensity (e.g., cytoplasmic/organellar proteins) in chromogen-labeled IHC or histochemical stained sections that correlates well with standard manual quantification methods. Segmentation with autofluorescence or dual immunolabeling facilitates capture of labeling data from specific cell populations. LSC evaluation of HE-stained sections is accomplished using autofluorescence/eosin fluorescence and inverse scatter. A standardized fluorescent approach with archivability, a lack of fluorescence quenching (photobleaching), and amenability to evaluation of multiple markers in a section has been demonstrated using Qdot® nanocrystals. Examples of LSC use in chromogenic IHC, routine histopathology, and Qdot® labeling will be reviewed, and advantages and disadvantages of this technology will be discussed.
MODELLING WAVE-TIDE INTERACTIONS AT A WAVE FARM

The Wave Hub project will create the world’s largest wave farm off the coast of Cornwall, Southwest England. This study is to investigate wave and tide interactions, in particular their effects on bottom friction and sediment transport at the wave-farm coast. This is an ambitious project research which includes the use of a very complex numerical modelling system. The main question to answer is how waves, tidal currents and winds affect the bottom friction at the Wave Hub site and the near-shore zone, as well as their impact on the sediment transport. Results show that tidal elevation and tidal currents have a significant effect on the wave height predictions, tidal forcing and wind waves have a significant effect on the bed shear-stress, relevant to sediment transport, waves via radiation stresses have an important effect on the long-shore and cross-shore velocity components, particularly during the spring tides, waves can impact on bottom boundary layer and the mixing in the water column. Interactions between waves and tides at the Wave Hub site is important when modelling coastal morphology influenced by wave energy devices, this open-source modelling system tool will help the study of physical impacts on the Wave Hub farm area.
Understanding rate allocation mechanism in strategic and structural communication network via dynamic adjacency

Era of Integration has truly arrived. Taking cues from these integration trends, this paper explores the interaction of dynamic social network formation and their impact on rate control as a resource allocation problem. Main motivation for this work is to develop dynamical insights into stability mechanisms or lack thereof due to interaction of different strategic, structural and rate allocation mechanisms. First, a stochastic model for network formation has been coded and demonstrated in a stochastic setting which would give insight about dynamic structural and strategic formation. Then, a generative model of network formation is illustrated which along with the rate control mechanism simulates the stability mechanism with respect to the utility and price functions. The simulation presented is based on dynamically changing routing adjacency matrix driven by higher layer network formation games. Also, the simulation sheds light on ways to adapt physical layer and antenna design in volatile scenarios. New models, and simulation insights are presented which when coupled with data sets can bring realism.
Vertical propagation of extratropical Rossby waves during the 1997–1998 El Niño off the west coast of South America in a medium‐resolution OGCM simulation

[1] A medium-resolution ocean general circulation model (OGCM) simulation is used to investigate the subthermocline interannual variability in the eastern South Pacific. The focus is on isotherm vertical displacement variability associated with extratropical Rossby waves (ETRW) and their connection with equatorial Kelvin waves (EKW). The WKB theory is used to interpret the modeled subsurface variability. The analysis reveals vertical propagation of energy associated with the 1997–1998 El Nino near the coast at various latitudes. Consistent with theory, WKB raypaths are steeper southward and do not extend more than ∼600 km from the coast at ∼2000 m depth. A vertical mode decomposition of model variability showed that vertical propagation mostly involves the first three baroclinic modes. The vertical isotherm displacements along the raypaths, associated with the downwelling EKW of the 1997–1998 El Nino, are negative (rising isotherms) and peak (minimum isotherm) as El Nino reverses to La Nina conditions. The relationship between vertical propagation of ETRW and equatorial variability is interpreted in the light of EKW sequence. The evolution of the vertical isotherm displacements along the raypath at extratropical latitudes is controlled by the vertical structure of the EKW. As El Nino develops, high-order baroclinic mode contributions to the EKW progressively increase, leading to the dominance of finer vertical scales of variability along the coast, triggering the vertical propagation of ETRW. This mechanism of connection between equatorial variability and subsurface variability at the extratropical latitudes illustrates how sensitive the ETRW characteristics in the eastern South Pacific are to equatorial forcing.
A new selective fading model: Application to propagation data

Channel transmission models for use in estimating the performance of radio systems on line-of-sight paths at 6 GHz are explored. The basis for this study is the simple three-ray multipath fade, which provides a channel transfer function of the form H(ω) = a[1 − b exp −j(ω − ω0)τ], where a is the scale parameter, b is a shape parameter, τ is the delay difference in the channel, and ω0 is the (radian) frequency of the fade minimum. This model is indistinguishable from an ideal channel model, within the accuracy of existing measurements. The propagation data that confirm the model were obtained in summer 1977 from a 26.4-mile hop near Atlanta, Georgia. The received power at 24 sample frequencies spaced at 1.1 MHz and centered on 6034.2 MHz was continuously monitored and recorded during periods of anomalous behavior. The model is applied to estimating the statistics of the channel delay difference, τ. The average delay difference giving rise to significant selectivity in the channel is between 5 and 9 ns. The distribution of delay difference is obtained for delay differences greater than 10 ns. The channel is found to have more than 3 dB of selectivity (difference between maximum and minimum attenuation in band) due to delay differences greater than 20 ns for more than 70 seconds in a heavy fading month. (This is comparable to the time the channel attenuation of a single frequency exceeds 40 dB.) The three-path model requires further simplification for narrowband channel application. For a channel with 30 MHz bandwidth, a model with fixed delay of 6.3 ns provides a sufficiently accurate representation of all observed channel conditions. The resulting nonphysical model is used to statistically characterize the condition of the fading channel. The statistics of the parameters of the fixed delay model are almost independent and of relatively simple form. The distribution of the shape parameter b is of the form (1 − b)2.3. The distribution of a is lognormal.
Regulation of Mdm2-Directed Degradation by the C Terminus of p53

ABSTRACT The stability of the p53 tumor suppressor protein is regulated by interaction with Mdm2, the product of a p53-inducible gene. Mdm2-targeted degradation of p53 depends on the interaction between the two proteins and is mediated by the proteasome. We show here that in addition to the N-terminal Mdm2 binding domain, the C terminus of p53 participates in the ability of p53 to be degraded by Mdm2. In contrast, alterations in the central DNA binding domain of p53, which change the conformation of the p53 protein, do not abrogate the sensitivity of the protein to Mdm2-mediated degradation. The importance of the C-terminal oligomerization domain to Mdm2-targeted degradation of p53 is likely to reflect the importance of oligomerization of the full-length p53 protein for interaction with Mdm2, as previously shown in vitro. Interestingly, the extreme C-terminal region of p53, outside the oligomerization domain, was also shown to be necessary for efficient degradation, and deletion of this region stabilized the protein without abrogating its ability to bind to Mdm2. Mdm2-resistant p53 mutants were not further stabilized following DNA damage, supporting a role for Mdm2 as the principal regulator of p53 stability in cells. The extreme C terminus of the p53 protein has previously been shown to contain several regulatory elements, raising the possibility that either allosteric regulation of p53 by this domain or interaction between this region and a third protein plays a role in determining the sensitivity of p53 to Mdm2-directed degradation.
A Gaze-Centered Multimodal Approach to Human-Human Social Interaction

This study aims at investigating gaze aversion behavior in human- human dyads during the course of a conversation. Our goal is to identify the parametric infrastructure, which will underlie the development of gaze behavior in Human Robot Interaction. We employed a job interview setting, where pairs (an interviewer and an interviewee) conducted mock job interviews. Three pairs of native speakers took part in the experiment. Two eye-tracking glasses recorded the scene video, the audio and the eye gaze positions of the participants. The analyses involved synchronization of multimodal data, including video recording data for face tracking, gaze data from the eye trackers, and the audio data for speech segmentation. We investigated frequency, duration, timing and spatial positions of gaze aversions relative to interlocutor's face. The results revealed that the interviewees perform more frequent gaze aversion compared to the interviewers. Moreover, gaze aversion takes longer when accompanied by speech. Also, specific speech instances, such as pause and speech-end signals have significant impact on gaze aversion behavior.
Asexual propagules as an adaptive trait for epiphylly in tropical leafy liverworts (Lejeuneaceae).

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Many links between form and function are described in the context of adaptation. Several morphological and life-history traits in the leafy liverwort family Lejeuneaceae (Marchantiophyta) have been hypothesized to be adaptations for living on the surface of leaves of vascular plants (epiphylly). There have been, however, no rigorous tests of these hypotheses. METHODS Using a recently published phylogeny of Lejeuneaceae and trait data from published monographs, I tested the correlations of putative adaptive traits with the incidence of epiphylly. Both cross-species and phylogenetic-based analyses of trait data were performed to distinguish the patterns of shared evolutionary history from independent origins of putatively adaptive traits. The rates of transitions between different combinations of character states were also calculated to determine whether traits were more likely to evolve in the presence of epiphylly. KEY RESULTS Only one trait, production of asexual propagules, was correlated with epiphylly in the phylogenetic-based analysis. The rate of transition to asexual propagules was also significantly higher in the presence of epiphylly. Other traits correlated with epiphylly appeared to be the results of shared evolutionary history among sister taxa and therefore not due to adaptive evolution. CONCLUSION The present study distinguished production of asexual propagules from other traits as a key adaptive response to living on the leaf surface. No other putative "adaptive" traits to epiphylly showed evidence of being specific adaptation to epiphylly. The results highlight the importance of phylogenetically controlled methods in determining an adaptive function of traits.
Molecular and cellular MR imaging: Potentials and challenges for neurological applications

This review presents the state of the art of molecular MRI and its application to experimental neurology and neuroscience. We do not repeat a broad, comprehensive overview over the rapidly growing literature in the field of “molecular MRI,” which is achieved by several recent reviews. Instead, we focus here on the potential of this imaging technique and its challenges to achieve useful new information in various fields of application with the aim of visualizing cellular processes in the brain, in both the physiological and pathophysiological context. Particular attention will be given to the visualization of cells grafted into the brain. For this goal, the recent most exciting studies are selected as the best examples to elucidate the method's fast expanding potentials. Attention is also given to the aspects of producing synergies by combining molecular MRI with other molecular imaging modalities, thus generating the most complex pictures of cellular and molecular events in the brain under in vivo conditions. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.