Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teachers ' perceptions of aspects affecting seminar learning

Background: Many medical schools have embraced small group learning methods in their undergraduate curricula. Given increasing financial constraints on universities, active learning groups like seminars (with 25 students a group) are gaining popularity. To enhance the understanding of seminar learning and to determine how seminar learning can be optimised it is important to investigate stakeholders’ views. In this study, we qualitatively explored the views of teachers on aspects affecting seminar learning. Methods: Twenty-four teachers with experience in facilitating seminars in a three-year bachelor curriculum participated in semi-structured focus group interviews. Three focus groups met twice with an interval of two weeks led by one moderator. Sessions were audio taped, transcribed verbatim and independently coded by two researchers using thematic analysis. An iterative process of data reduction resulted in emerging aspects that influence seminar learning. Results: Teachers identified seven key aspects affecting seminar learning: the seminar teacher, students, preparation, group functioning, seminar goals and content, course coherence and schedule and facilities. Important components of these aspects were: the teachers’ role in developing seminars (‘ownership’), the amount and quality of preparation materials, a non-threatening learning climate, continuity of group composition, suitability of subjects for seminar teaching, the number and quality of seminar questions, and alignment of different course activities. Conclusions: The results of this study contribute to the unravelling of the ‘the black box’ of seminar learning. Suggestions for ways to optimise active learning in seminars are made regarding curriculum development, seminar content, quality assurance and faculty development.
Bayesian Synthetic Likelihood

ABSTRACT Having the ability to work with complex models can be highly beneficial. However, complex models often have intractable likelihoods, so methods that involve evaluation of the likelihood function are infeasible. In these situations, the benefits of working with likelihood-free methods become apparent. Likelihood-free methods, such as parametric Bayesian indirect likelihood that uses the likelihood of an alternative parametric auxiliary model, have been explored throughout the literature as a viable alternative when the model of interest is complex. One of these methods is called the synthetic likelihood (SL), which uses a multivariate normal approximation of the distribution of a set of summary statistics. This article explores the accuracy and computational efficiency of the Bayesian version of the synthetic likelihood (BSL) approach in comparison to a competitor known as approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) and its sensitivity to its tuning parameters and assumptions. We relate BSL to pseudo-marginal methods and propose to use an alternative SL that uses an unbiased estimator of the SL, when the summary statistics have a multivariate normal distribution. Several applications of varying complexity are considered to illustrate the findings of this article. Supplemental materials are available online. Computer code for implementing the methods on all examples is available at https://github.com/cdrovandi/Bayesian-Synthetic-Likelihood.
Trastuzumab distribution in an in-vivo and in-vitro model of brain metastases of breast cancer

Background Drug and antibody delivery to brain metastases has been highly debated in the literature. The blood-tumor barrier (BTB) is more permeable than the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and has shown to have highly functioning efflux transporters and barrier properties, which limits delivery of targeted therapies. Methods We characterized the permeability of 125I-trastuzumab in an in-vivo, and fluorescent trastuzumab-Rhodamine123 (t-Rho123) in a novel microfluidic in-vitro, BBB and BTB brain metastases of breast cancer model. In-vivo: Human MDA-MB-231-HER2+ metastatic breast cancer cells were grown and maintained under static conditions. Cells were harvested at 80% confluency and prepped for intra-cardiac injection into 20 homozygous female Nu/Nu mice. In-vitro: In a microfluidic device (SynVivo), human umbilical vein endothelial cells were grown and maintained under shear stress conditions in the outer compartment and co-cultured with CTX-TNA2 rat brain astrocytes (BBB) or Met-1 metastatic HER2+ murine breast cancer cells (BTB), which were maintained in the central compartment under static conditions. Results Tissue distribution of 125I-trastuzumab revealed only ~3% of injected dose reached normal brain, with ~5% of injected dose reaching brain tumors. No clear correlation was observed between size of metastases and the amount of 125I-trastuzumab localized in-vivo. This heterogeneity was paralleled in-vitro, where the distribution of t-Rho123 from the outer chamber to the central chamber of the microfluidic device was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed over time. The rate of t-Rho123 linear uptake in the BBB (0.27 ± 0.33 × 104) and BTB (1.29 ± 0.93 × 104) showed to be significantly greater than 0 (p < 0.05). The BTB devices showed significant heterogenetic tendencies, as seen in in-vivo. Conclusions This study is one of the first studies to measure antibody movement across the blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers, and demonstrates that, though in small and most likely not efficacious quantities, trastuzumab does cross the blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers.
An Analysis of the Weldability of Ductile Cast Iron Using Inconel 625 for the Root Weld and Electrodes Coated in 97.6% Nickel for the Filler Welds

This article examines the weldability of ductile cast iron when the root weld is applied with a tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process employing an Inconel 625 source rod, and when the filler welds are applied with electrodes coated with 97.6% Ni. The welds were performed on ductile cast iron specimen test plates sized 300 mm × 90 mm × 10 mm with edges tapered at angles of 60°. The plates were subjected to two heat treatments. This article analyzes the influence on weldability of the various types of electrodes and the effect of preheat treatments. Finally, a microstructure analysis is made of the material next to the weld in the metal-weld interface and in the weld itself. The microstructure produced is correlated with the strength of the welds. We treat an alloy with 97.6% Ni, which prevents the formation of carbides. With a heat treatment at 900 °C and 97.6% Ni, there is a dissolution of all carbides, forming nodules in ferritic matrix graphite.
Location differences in communities’ preferences for environmental improvements in selected NSW catchments: A Choice Modelling approach

To elicit household willingness to pay (WTP) for improvements in environmental quality in three NSW catchments (Lachlan, Namoi and Hawkesbury-Nepean), a choice modelling (CM) study was conducted.This report presents results of research designed to investigate variations in WTP across different communities. The communities included local residents, distant/urban and distant/rural residents. Nine split samples were established to test for ‘location effects’. The analysis involved both conditional logit and random-parameters logit models. Natural resource management (NRM), including Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs), can use the non-market values obtained from this study to guide their investment decisions. Key words: Choice modelling, location effects, non-market valuation, catchment planning, environment
Gluteus medius kinesio-taping: The effect on torso-pelvic separation, ball flight distance and accuracy during the golf swing

Background. The kinesio-taping method, which is becoming increasingly popular, may provide support and stability to joints and muscles without inhibiting range of motion. Objective. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of kinesio-taping of the gluteus medius muscle on x-factor (torsopelvic separation), ball flight distance and accuracy (smash factor ratio). A specific aim was to determine whether a correlation exists between hip abduction strength and x-factor, ball distance and accuracy. Methods. This study is a one group pretest-posttest quasiexperimental design which took place at a golf facility. Twentynine amateur golfers with handicap of scratch ±2, who were between the ages of 18- and 25-years, participated in this study. Biomechanical outcomes were recorded with and without kinesio-tape applied on the gluteus medius muscle of the trail leg. Biomechanical golf swing analysis with the iClub™ Body Motion System determined the x-factor at the top of the backswing. Ball flight distance and accuracy were measured with FlightScope® and dominant hip abduction strength was measured with the MicroFET Hand-held Dynamometer. Results. Kinesio-tape is effective in improving the relative hip abduction strength (p<0.001), although the effect size was small (Cohen’s d=0.24). With regard to the biomechanical outcome measures, namely x-factor (p=0.28), ball flight distance (p=0.53) and accuracy (p=0.1), there was no significant improvement. Conclusion: Even though the relative hip abduction strength was improved, there was no effect on golf swing biomechanics. This can be explained due to the fact that x-factor, ball flight distance and accuracy are dependent on a combination of body movements to produce the golf swing. Keywords. Golf, X-factor, pelvic stability, taping
HUNTING FOR ORPHANED CENTRAL COMPACT OBJECTS AMONG RADIO PULSARS

Central compact objects (CCOs) are a handful of young neutron stars found at the center of supernova remnants (SNRs). They show high thermal X-ray luminosities but no radio emission. Spin-down rate measurements of three CCOs with X-ray pulsations indicate surface dipole fields much weaker than those of typical young pulsars. To investigate if CCOs and known radio pulsars are objects at different evolutionary stages, we carried out a census of all weak-field ( < 10 11 ? > G) isolated radio pulsars in the Galactic plane to search for CCO-like X-ray emission. None of the 12 candidates are detected at X-ray energies, with luminosity limits of 10 32 − 10 34 ? > erg s−1. We consider a scenario in which the weak surface fields of CCOs are due to a rapid accretion of supernova materials and show that as the buried field diffuses back to the surface, a CCO descendant is expected to leave the P– P ˙ ? > parameter space of our candidates at a young age of a few ×10 kyr. Hence, the candidates are likely to just be old ordinary pulsars in this case. We suggest that further searches for orphaned CCOs, which are aged CCOs with parent SNRs that have dissipated, should include pulsars with stronger magnetic fields.
The History of Body Contouring Surgery

Body contouring surgery is a rapidly evolving field of plastic surgery. Fueled by the exponential growth of successful bariatric surgery cases, the subspecialty of body contouring has expanded to include new procedures for treating redundant skin in all areas of the body. This review highlights the major technical developments that have served as the building blocks for current techniques.
Significance of pyroxene megacrysts for massif anorthosite petrogenesis: Constraints from the Labrieville, Quebec, pluton

Abstract Newly discovered orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene megacrysts (OPMs and CPMs) in the Labrieville massif provide additional constraints on megacryst origins and their significance in massif anorthosite petrogenesis. Pyroxene megacrysts (∼ 1-15 cm across) occur throughout the anorthosite, some in layered zones (as cumulates? ) and others as scattered crystals that form subophitic intergrowths with plagioclase; some also contain tabular plagioclase inclusions. In many cases, pyroxene megacrysts are intergrown with ilmenite and locally occur within meter-sized masses of ilmenite. Plagioclase and ilmenite are the dominant exsolution products in OPMs, whereas CPMs contain additional lamellae of orthopyroxene. Biotite consistently occurs with megacrysts, locally as an integral portion of exsolution lamellae. Microprobe spot compositions of the megacrystic pyroxenes (OPM ∼ En58-66, CPM ∼ Wo45En40Fs15) are essentially the same as those of smaller matrix pyroxenes in the same outcrops. In contrast, three bulk OPMs (4.4-5.9 wt% Al2O3) and one CPM (6.4 wt% Al2O3) are enriched in Ca, Na, Al, and Ti, compatible with observed exsolution products. Plagioclase lamellae (An34-53) are more calcic than matrix plagioclase (An32-38) but are the most sodic recognized in any massif anorthosite thus far. Field characteristics of megacrysts indicate that they formed contemporaneously with the other minerals in the same outcrops. Furthermore, bulk OPMs have XMt similar to matrix pyroxene (or are slightly more Fe-rich). In comparison, OPMs from the Saint Urbain massif are more magnesian (∼En66-72), whereas lamellae and matrix plagioclase are more anorthitic (∼An55-75 and ∼An40, respectively). These systematic differences between the two massifs suggest that the En content of OPMs and the An content of plagioclase (matrix and lamellae) are strongly controlled by local magma composition. Collectively, these results can be explained best by the in-situ growth of megacrysts, together with or after adjacent plagioclase. The megacrysts bulk compositions can be adequately accounted for by a rapid growth mechanism. The common association of OPMs with ilmenite (and biotite) is noteworthy and suggests that oxidizing conditions played an important role in controlling the properties and compositions of the megacrysts. The implication is that these megacrysts are not relics of prior high-pressure pyroxene fractionation and provide no demonstrable link to a basaltic parent magma for this massif.
Impact of Public Market Information System (PMIS) on Farmers Food Marketing Decisions : Case of Benin

To sell their surpluses of maize, the main staple in Benin, farmers may choose among three modes of transaction: they may sell under a contract with itinerant traders, or they may sell without a contract at the farmgate or on distant markets. It has been postulated that farmers may choose a profitable mode of transaction if they have good access to information on the prevailing market conditions. Using detailed farm household survey data from Benin, this paper applies the Nested Logit model to test this hypothesis. The results show that farmers are likely to opt for selling at the farmgate without a contract if they have good access to information. However, such a decision may not be related to access to information through the government supported 'Public Market Information System' but rather it is likely to be induced by access to information through farmers' own social networks.
Dual-probe decoherence microscopy: probing pockets of coherence in a decohering environment

We study the use of a pair of qubits as a decoherence probe of a nontrivial environment. This dual-probe configuration is modelled by three two-level systems (TLSs), which are coupled in a chain in which the middle system represents an environmental TLS. This TLS resides within the environment of the qubits and therefore its coupling to perturbing fluctuations (i.e. its decoherence) is assumed much stronger than the decoherence acting on the probe qubits. We study the evolution of such a tripartite system including the appearance of a decoherence-free state (dark state) and non-Markovian behaviour. We find that all parameters of this TLS can be obtained from measurements of one of the probe qubits. Furthermore, we show the advantages of two qubits in probing environments and the new dynamics imposed by a TLS that couples to two qubits at once.
The Performance of Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) in Structure Selection of Polynomial NARX Models

System Identification (SI) is a discipline of building a mathematical model of dynamic systems based on its input and output data. The process of SI is generally divided into structure selection, parameter estimation and model validation. This paper attempts to address the structure selection issue in SI, where the objective is to select the most representative set of regressors to represent the system. However, the selection process must obey the principle of parsimony, where the structure must be as small as possible, yet has the ability to represent the system well. We propose a binarized modification of the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm to perform structure selection of a Nonlinear Auto-Regressive with eXogenous (NARX) model on a Direct Current (DC) motor. We compare this implementation with the Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO) algorithm in terms of solution quality and convergence consistency. The results indicate that the ABC algorithm excelled in terms of convergence consistency with similar solution quality to BPSO algorithm.
Power Consumption Comparison of NetFPGA-based Routers

Energy efficiency is one of the most important issues in designing the future Internet. For examining an energy efficient router, in this paper, differnet routers such as rate control protocol (RCP) router, precision time protocol (PTP) router and reference router are compared in terms of the power consumption. The experimental measurements demonstrate that with varying the traffic load, the RCP router and the PTP router consume almost identical power which is about >1% higher than that of the reference router. This power degradation is observed to be from the 3.3V power component of the total power consumption and arises from the increased design complexity for implementing the RCP and the PTP onto the router. In addition, the down scaling of the NetFPGA core operational frequency is promising for reducing the energy consumption of the RCP router and PTP router. Keywords-Power consumption; NetFPGA; Frequency scaling; Energy proportional network design.
The Economic-Environmental model PANTA RHEI and its Application

The global dimension of environmental problems stresses the need of an internationally linked environmental environmental policy. The example of climate change policy shows, that environmental policy has to be a subject of a globally oriented international policy formulating operational targets that allow for global sustainable development in the environmental, economic and social dimension. Further, a set of policy instruments hast to be installed, that will enable to reach global sustainability. Already from a political point of view of a single country the task seems to be huge, and there are many sceptical voices, whether the big political bargaining process could ever converge. A necessary but by no means sufficient condition for this is the solution of a big information problem: What does sustainable development for the future? How are the relations between the targets? What do we know about the interdependencies between the environment, the economic and the social development in the different countries? How do the different instruments affect nature and the paths of economic and social development? How is the efficiency of these instruments?
Determination of growth of anaerobic fungi on soluble and cellulosic substrates using a pressure transducer

Summary: A pressure transducer was used to determine the accumulation of fermentation gases during growth of Neocallimastix hurleyensis and Caecomyces communis on soluble (glucose) and particulate (cellulose and wheat straw) carbon sources. The anaerobic fungi were grown in submerged batch culture in gas-tight bottles using conventional anaerobic techniques. As the fermentation progressed, fermentation gases accumulated in the head-space of culture bottles causing an increase in the head-space gas pressure. Gas was measured and released using a pressure transducer connected to a digital readout voltmeter and gas-tight syringe assembly. By repeating this gas measurement-release procedure at regular intervals during the fermentation, and summation of the calculated (regression corresprected) gas volumes, gas accumulation profiles were constructed. For cultures grown on glucose, this technique enabled the growth of anaerobic fungi to be evaluated without destructive sampling of the fungal culture. The resultant gas accumulation profiles were related to glucose loss and biomass accumulation and could be used to determine specific growth rates, doubling times and fermentation gas yields. For cultures grown on cellulose and wheat straw, measurement of gas accumulation enabled growth phases and the course of the fermentation to be easily monitored. The results obtained establish the pressure transducer as an instrument for rapid, precise and reproducible determination of the growth of anaerobic fungi on soluble and particulate substrates.
A Multilevel Analysis of the Role of School Quality and Family Background on Students’ Mathematics Achievement in the Middle East

The purpose of the present study is investigating the correlation between school quality and family socioeconomic background and students' mathematics achievement in the Middle East. The countries in comparison are UAE, Syria, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, and Bahrain. The study utilized data from IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) of 2011. Analysis of the data used the hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and the data was analyzed in two levels: student and school. Separate models were developed for each country. The final models for most of the countries suggest similar results. Comparison of explained variance in school and family levels revealed that school is a more important factor in explaining the variance of students' mathematics achievement in all countries, excluding Syria. In most of the studied countries, some variables, such as parents' education and family economic status, show a weaker correlation with academic achievement compared to school resources, educational climate, and the number of enrolments of school.
Somatic embryogenesis via protoplast cultures of Fortunella hindsii (Champ.) and their regeneration into precocious flowering plants.

Protoplasts isolated from embryogenic callus of Fortunella hindsii (Champ.) were cultured in MT (Murashige and Tucker, 1969) basal medium containing 5% sucrose supplemented with kinetin, malt extract (ME) and 0.6 M sorbitol. About 85% of the surviving protoplasts formed cell wall within 6 d of culture and the first cell division was observed 7 days after isolation. The highest plating efficiency was obtained in MT basal medium containing 5% sucrose supplemented with 0.01 mg 1 -1 kinetin 600 mg 1 -1 ME, MT basal medium containing 5% sucrose and supplemented with 0.01 mg 1 -1 zeatin was found to be a medium suitable for the development somatic embryos into heart-shaped somatic embryos. The highest percentage shoot formation was obtained using 0.1 mg 1 -1