Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ePortfolios Reveal an Emerging Community of Underrepresented Minority Scholars.

We used ePortfolios to promote and assess identity change in a summer research program for 81 underrepresented minority community college students. We hypothesized that ePortfolios would increase students’ development of academic identity, future orientation, and scholarly community. Students completed weekly ePortfolio journal entries and completed the Twenty Statements Test (in which students complete the statement “I am . . .” 20 times) during the first and final weeks of the program. We found that: (a) both ePortfolio entries and Twenty Statements Tests included increasing references to future orientation; (b) only ePortfolio entries included increasing references to academic identity and scholarly community; (c) changes reflected in ePortfolios were independent of changes evidenced in the Twenty Statements Tests; and (d) individual responses to both ePortfolios and the Twenty Statements Tests showed stability over time. We hypothesized that the inclusion of ePortfolios enhanced students’ experience in our program. Similar types of identity shift are likely to be present in many high impact activities (e.g., internships, study abroad, learning communities). The use of ePortfolios in these contexts could have similar value.
Experimental Estimation of the Efficacy of the Flotac Basic Technique

Abstract: The FLOTAC technique is a quantitative coproscopic method for the diagnosis of parasitic infection that is based on the centrifugation of a fecal sample to levitate helminth eggs with a flotation solution in a proprietary apparatus. Determination of the efficacy of the FLOTAC method and multiplication factors for calculation of the number of Toxocara, Trichuris, and Ascaris eggs in 1 g of feces on the basis of the number of detected eggs is presented. An investigation was conducted using feces samples enriched with a known number of parasite eggs: 3, 15, 50, or 100 parasite eggs of 3 nematode genera (Toxocara, Trichuris, and Ascaris) per 1 g (EPG) of feces. In addition, 80 samples of dog feces were prepared consisting of 20 repetitions for each level of contamination. The samples were analyzed using the FLOTAC basic technique. The limit of detection was calculated as the lowest level of egg content at which at least 50% of repetitions were positive. Multiplication factors for estimating the true number of parasite eggs in the samples were derived from regression coefficients that illustrated the linear relationship between the number of detected eggs and the number of eggs added to the sample. The percentages of recovered eggs for 1 chamber and for the whole apparatus ranged from 11.67 to 21.90% and from 21.33 to 40.10%, respectively, depending on dose enrichment and genus of parasite. The limit of detection calculated for the whole FLOTAC device was 3 EPG and was 15 EPG for 1 chamber for each of the 3 parasite genera. The limit of quantification calculated for whole FLOTAC was 15 EPG for each of 3 kinds of eggs. For 1 chamber, the limit of quantification was 15 EPG for Ascaris and Toxocara eggs and 50 EPG for Trichuris eggs. Multiplication factors for calculation of the number of eggs in 1 g of feces calculated for whole FLOTAC were 3 (for Toxocara and Ascaris eggs) and 4 (for Trichuris eggs). Experimentally calculated parameters of the method differ significantly from the theoretical assumptions of the authors of the FLOTAC technique and can significantly affect the reliability of the results. This does not alter the fact that the FLOTAC technique is the most effective parasitological quantitative method, which can be used to detect parasitic forms in feces. However, the results of our study emphasized the need for validation of the method before using it in the laboratory.
Delivering bioactive molecules as instructive cues to engineered tissues

Introduction : Growth factors and other bioactive molecules play a crucial role in the creation of functional engineered tissues from dissociated cells. Areas covered : This review discusses the delivery of bioactive molecules – particularly growth factors – to affect cellular function in the context of tissue engineering. We discuss the primary biological themes that are addressed by delivering bioactives, the types of molecules that are to be delivered, the major materials used in producing scaffolds and/or drug delivery systems, and the principal drug delivery strategies. Expert opinion : Drug delivery systems have allowed the sustained release of bioactive molecules to engineered tissues, with marked effects on tissue function. Sophisticated drug delivery techniques will allow precise recapitulation of developmental milestones by providing temporally distinct patterns of release of multiple bioactives. High-resolution patterning techniques will allow tissue constructs to be designed with precisely defined areas where bioactives can act. New biological discoveries, just as the development of small molecules with potent effects on cell differentiation, will likely have a marked impact on the field.
The Practice of Health Program Evaluation

The Practice of Health Program Evaluation provides an overview of the evaluation process for public health programs while diving deeper to address select advanced concepts and techniques. The book unfolds evaluation as a three-phased process consisting of identification of evaluation questions, data collection and analysis, and dissemination of results and recommendations. The text covers research design, sampling methods, as well as quantitative and qualitative approaches. Types of evaluation are also discussed, including economic assessment and systems research as relative newcomers. Aspects critical to conducting a successful evaluation regardless of type or research design are emphasized, such as stakeholder engagement, validity and reliability, and adoption of sound recommendations. The book encourages evaluators to document their approach by developing an evaluation plan, a data analysis plan, and a dissemination plan, in order to help build consensus throughout the process. The evaluative text offers a good bird’s-eye view of the evaluation process, while offering guidance for evaluation experts on how to navigate political waters and advocate for their findings to help affect change.
Climate Change, Agriculture, and Adaptation in the Republic of Korea to 2050: An Integrated Assessment

As the effects of climate change set in, and population and income growth exert increasing pressure on natural resources, food security is becoming a pressing challenge for countries worldwide. Awareness of these threats is critical to transforming concern into long-term planning, and modeling tools like the one used in the present study are beneficial for strategic support of decision making in the agricultural policy arena. The focus of this investigation is the Republic of Korea, where economic growth has resulted in large shifts in diet in recent decades, in parallel with a decline in both arable land and agricultural production, and a tripling of agricultural imports, compared to the early 2000s. Although these are recognized as traits of a rapidly growing economy, officials and experts in the country recognize that the trends expose the Republic of Korea to climate change shocks and fluctuations in the global food market. This study uses the IMPACT (International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade) economic model to investigate possible future trends of both domestic food production and dependence on food imports, as well as the effects from adoption of agricultural practices consistent with a climate change adaptation strategy. The goal is to help assess the prospects for sustaining improvements in food security and possibly inform the national debate on agricultural policy. Results show that historical trends of harvested area and imports may continue into the future under climate change. Although crop models suggest negative long-term impacts of climate change on rice yield in the Republic of Korea, the economic model simulations show that intrinsic productivity growth and market effects have the potential to limit the magnitude of losses; rice production and yield are projected to keep growing between 2010 and 2050, with a larger boost when adoption of improved technologies is taken into consideration. At the same time, food production and net exports from the countryâ€™s major trading partners are also projected to increase, although diminished by climate change effects. In sum, these results show that kilocalorie availability will keep growing in the Republic of Korea, and although climate change may have some impact by reducing the overall availability, the effect does not appear strong enough to have significant consequences on projected trends of increasing food security.
Connectivity Probability of Interference-Limited Linear Multi-Hop Ad-Hoc Networks

In this paper, we study the connectivity probability of linear multi-hop ad hoc networks operating in an interference-limited environment. The nodes in the network are assumed to form a Poisson point process (PPP), and they generate mutual interference during communications. A node communicates to other nodes in the network by using its intermediate neighbors as relays. The average node density plays a crucial role on the communication quality. A higher node density means shorter transmission distance for each hop, but also a stronger interference from surrounding nodes. We characterize this tradeoff relationship by deriving the analytical probability that all nodes in a finite section of the network are connected, that is, the signal-to-interference ratios (SIRs) of all adjacent node pairs in the finite network section are no less than a threshold. The connectivity probability is expressed as an explicit closed-form function of various system parameters, such as average node density, the length of the network section, pathlosss exponent, and the SIR threshold. It is shown through theoretical analysis that the connectivity probability is a quasi-concave function of the node density, and the optimum node density that can maximize the connectivity probability is identified.
Teacher Education as a High-quality Learning Environment

In this paper, we discuss what a high-quality learning environment in teacher education may look like from the perspective of Biesta’s three characteristics of good education: the qualification, socialization, and subjectification functions of education. Through critical investigation of our own classroom practices, we identify indicators of high-quality learning environments as well as several areas that could be improved. First, we offer a short outline of what quality education can be. Second, we describe three snapshots of teacher education activities, one from each of the authors. The two first examples are from Japan and the third is from Norway. Finally, we discuss characteristics of these snapshots that can be considered quality learning environments, ways in which these three particular learning environments can be improved, and possible ways forward for teacher education in general.
Habitual Emotion Regulation and the Facial Grimace

Images of pleasant scenes usually produce increased activity over the zygomaticus major muscle, as measured by electromyography (EMG), while less activity is elicited by unpleasant images. However, increases in zygomaticus major EMG activity while viewing unpleasant images have occasionally been reported in the literature on affective facial expression (i.e., “grimacing”). To examine the possibility that individual differences in emotion regulation might be responsible for this inconsistently observed phenomenon, the habitual emotion regulation tendencies of 63 participants (32 women) were assessed and categorized according to their regulatory tendencies. Participants viewed emotionally salient images while zygomaticus major EMG activity was recorded. Participants also provided self-report ratings of their experienced emotional valence and arousal while viewing the pictures. Despite demonstrating intact affective ratings, the “grimacing” pattern of zygomaticus major activity was observed in those who were less likely to use the cognitive reappraisal strategy to regulate their emotions.
Comparative Study of Propranolol hydrochloride Release from Matrix Tablets with Kollidon®SR or Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose

The release of propranolol hydrochloride from matrix tablets with hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC K15M) or Kollidon®SR at different concentrations was investigated with a view to developing twice daily sustained release dosage form. A hydrophilic matrix-based tablet using different concentrations of HPMC K15M or Kollidon®SR was developed using direct compression technique to contain 80 mg of propranolol hydrochloride. The resulting matrix tablets prepared with HPMC K15M or Kollidon®SR fulfilled all the official requirements of tablet dosage forms. Formulations were evaluated for the release of propranolol hydrochloride over a period of 12 h in pH 6.8 phosphate buffer using USP type II dissolution apparatus. Propranolol hydrochloride and pure Kollidon®SR or HPMC K15M compatibility interactions was investigated by using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). FTIR spectroscopic and DSC studies revealed that there was no well defined chemical interaction between propranolol hydrochloride with Kollidon®SR or HPMC K15M. Tablets were exposed to 40 °C/75% of RH in open disc for stability. The in vitro drug release study revealed that HPMC K15 at a concentration of 40% of the dosage form weight was able to control the release of propranolol hydrochloride for 12 h, exhibit non-Fickian diffusion with first-order release kinetics where as at 40% Kollidon®SR same dosage forms show zero-order release kinetics. In conclusion, the in vitro release profile and the mathematical models indicate that release of propranolol hydrochloride can be effectively controlled from a single tablet using HPMC K15M or Kollidon®SR matrix system.
Return-Based Factors for Corporate Bonds

We demonstrate significant return reversals and momentum in the cross-section of corporate bonds using comprehensive transaction-based data. We then introduce return-based factors of corporate bonds and show that these new factors based on short/long-term reversals and momentum have economically and statistically significant premia, which cannot be explained by long-established stock and bond market factors. We further show that the newly proposed factors provide significant explanatory power for the returns of the industryand size/rating/maturity-sorted portfolios of corporate bonds. We also provide an illiquidity-based explanation of short-term reversal and show that momentum and long-term reversals are prevalent mainly in the high credit risk sector. This Version: June 2017
Neural correlates of the healthiness evaluation processes of food labels

Objectives: This fMRI study evaluated the cognitive mechanisms and the cerebral substrates when evaluating the healthiness of food products from nutritional information displayed either with a traffic light (TL) system, a colored nutritional label, or with a guideline daily amount (GDA) system, a numeric label. We postulated that TL label would recruit emotional processes and activation of subjacent cerebral regions (e.g. insula and amygdala). On the contrary, the nutritional information presented in a GDA label, would recruit, due to its numeric format and higher complexity, supplementary cognitive processes and activation of related brain regions (e.g. middle and superior frontal as well as parietal cortices). Methods: We examined 50 healthy participants during an evaluation task on the healthiness of real food products from nutritional information only. Per total, 60 food products nutritional labels have been presented, with either colored (TL) or numeric (GDA) nutritional information and three levels of complexity of nutritional information. Results: In line with our predictions, evaluations based on GDA recruited prefrontal and parietal regions reported for analytic processes. Contrary to our predictions, the same network has been recruited when evaluations were based on TL. Finally, we found significant correlation between response time and the superior parietal lobule in the GDA condition. Discussion: Our results suggested that TL did not have an effect on the used strategy compared to GDA, based on calculation and arithmetic processes. Correlations between response time and brain activations suggested a significant involvement of the arithmetic mechanisms in the evaluation of food healthiness.
Investigation of the effects of partial coherence on exit wave reconstruction

In a recent work we presented an iterative wave function reconstruction (IWFR) method that reconstructs a wave function from measurements of its amplitude taken as it propagates in free space (a focal series of images). Although the ideal environment for application of the IWFR method is in a coherent imaging system, it has been developed so that it can be applied in a partially coherent imaging system, in particular for a high‐resolution transmission electron microscope using a field‐emission gun. In this paper we investigate the effects of partial coherence on the accuracy of results obtained using the IWFR method. We then show how results obtained under such conditions can be improved by estimating and subtracting components from the amplitude measurements of the wave function that derive from incoherence in the electron beam.
Visitor expenditure within a mountain bike event portfolio: Determinants, outcomes, and variations

ABSTRACT Gradually community and scholarly support for large-scale sport events is declining as sustainability and efficiency are becoming primary concerns. Thus, a drive for the creation of small-scale event portfolios that comply with a community’s resources and infrastructure is developing. In the current study, a portfolio of four small-scale mountain bike events located in the Northwest United States were investigated to better understand their impact on the local economy. An online survey was conducted after each event that assessed visitor spending, travel behavior, and participant demographics resulting in a total sample of N = 614. Through general linear modeling, chi-square testing, and multiple regression each of the four events were compared with each other and determinants of visitor expenditure were tested. The results demonstrated the four events significantly differed in regards to total expenditure, daily expenditure, daily expenditure per person, trip duration, amount of travel party event participants, travel distance, age, income, and lodging type/location. Overall expenditure and daily expenditure per person were found to be significantly determined by participant travel distance, travel party size, trip duration, and income. Managerial implications derived from these results for destinations and event organizers are discussed.
Long-term corneal morphology after PRK by in vivo confocal microscopy.

PURPOSE To examine human corneal morphology and nerve recovery 5 years after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). METHODS Fourteen eyes of 14 patients (ages, 27-53 years) who underwent 6-mm diameter PRK for low to moderate myopia (spherical equivalent [SE] -2.5 to -8.0 D) were examined once 5 years after surgery. Nine healthy individuals served as control subjects. Standard biomicroscopy, manifest refraction, and visual acuity tests were performed. The morphology of the corneas was examined by in vivo confocal microscope. Thicknesses of the epithelium and stroma, as well as the density of corneal opacity (haze) were obtained from digital image analysis of the confocal microscopy through-focusing (CMTF) scans. RESULTS Confocal microscopy revealed increased reflectivity in the subepithelial extracellular matrix, keratocyte nuclei and processes in all patients. The mean objective haze estimate was 166.7 U (range, 50-390) in control corneas compared with a mean of 225.9 U (range, 125-430, P = 0.15) in the post-PRK corneas. The density of the subbasal nerve fiber bundles in post-PRK corneas (mean, n = 4.2; range, n = 1-7 per field of view) was not significantly lowered from that in control subjects (mean, n = 4.9; range, n = 3-6; P = 0.56). Bowman's layer was undetectable in all post-PRK corneas. Clinically, slit-lamp-observed trace of haze in four corneas correlated positively with the ablation depth (P = 0.016) and the thickness of the haze area (P = 0.006) in the confocal microscope. CONCLUSIONS In vivo confocal microscopy demonstrates the presence of morphologic alterations even 5 years after PRK. However, these alterations are overcome by cellular and neural recovery and do not seem to interfere with visual performance.
Predicting bank rating transitions using optimal competing risks survival analysis models

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, this paper contributes to the literature by investigating which underlying determinants cause bank rating transitions. We put forward competing risks survival analysis models to explain credit transition hazards of financial institutions using macroeconomic factors and the rating history. We find that there exists a significant dependence of rating upor downgrade transition hazards on rating specific covariates. It turns out that macro-economic covariates significantly explain the time to a rating downgrade. Our results confirm the momentum effect, meaning that a financial institution that has been recently up-/downgraded has a higher chance of being up-/downgraded again. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that attempts to build a survival analysis model that explains rating migrations for financial institutions.
Defects in natural language requirement specifications at Mercedes-Benz: An investigation using a combination of legacy data and expert opinion

Natural language (NL) requirement specifications are widely used in industry, but ensuring high quality in these specifications is not easy. This work investigates in an empirical study the typical defect type distributions in current NL requirement specifications. For this study, more than 5,800 review-protocol-entries that originate from reviews of real automotive specifications according to a quality-model were categorized by us at MercedesBenz. As a result, we obtained (a) a typical defect type distribution in NL specifications in the automotive domain, (b) correlations of quality criteria to defect severity, (c) indicators on ease of handling quality criteria in the review-process and (d) information on time needed for defect correction with respect to quality criteria. To validate the findings from the data analysis, we additionally conducted 15 interviews with quality managers. The results confirm quantitatively that the most critical and important quality criteria in the investigated NL requirement specifications are consistency, completeness, and correctness.
Government–Business Partnerships for Radical Eco-Innovation

This study assessed whether and how government–business partnerships (GBPs) offer a unique platform that targets profound environmental impacts via the promotion of radical eco-innovation. It applied transactional cost and complementary logics to explain the rationale of GBP formation for radical eco-innovation, and further assessed the operation of GBPs from governance, learning, and rulemaking aspects. This study applied propensity score matching technique to empirically test these theoretical associations using 225 observations representing 166 U.S. firms’ participation in 192 environmental alliances between 1985 and 2013. The study results confirmed GBPs’ role in channeling public and private efforts in pursuing transformative environmental change via the adoption of radical eco-innovation goals. Results highlight four critical elements of GBP operation—effective governance, exploration learning, cognitive learning, and rulemaking—that enable participants to embrace these radical environmental solutions.