Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Revised Bloomâ€™s Taxonomy to Evaluate Higher Order Thinking Skills (Hots) in Reading Comprehension Questions of English Textbook for Year X of High School

Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) has been widely recognized as a set of important devices of cognitive development. The research was conducted to evaluate the availability of higher order thinking skills in reading comprehension questions of the English textbook for Year X of high school published by ministry of education. There are 158 reading comprehension questions from 15 reading texts which are analyzed using revised Bloomâ€™s taxonomy. An intuitive approach to the analysis of qualitative data is taken for the study in which an individual researcher intuitively relates data from various instruments to each other (Smaling, 1987) in Meijer, et al (2002, p. 146). The data were analyzed qualitatively to determine the cognitive level of each questions according to revised Bloomâ€™s taxonomy, Question types based on which cognitive process is required to answer and forms of questions. The result shows that majority of reading comprehension questions in the textbook being studied is in the lowest level of revised Bloomâ€™s taxonomy; remembering with 134 items whereas higher order thinking skills are only found in 24 out of 158 items. It was concluded that the reading comprehension questions of the English textbook for Year X of high school is lack of higher order thinking skills. The result of the study is expected to benefit the English teachers, textbook writers and further researchers to elaborate the implementation of higher order thinking skills in English teaching and learning.
Effect of Statins on Lung Cancer Molecular Pathways: A Possible Therapeutic Role

Lung cancer is a common neoplasm, usually treated through chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery. Both clinical and experimental studies on cancer cells suggest that some drugs (e.g., statins) have the potential to improve the prognosis of cancer. In fact, statins blocking the enzyme “hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase” exert pleiotropic effects on different genes involved in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. In this narrative review, we presented the experimental and clinical studies that evaluated the effects of statins on lung cancer and described data on the effectiveness and safety of these compounds. We also evaluated gender differences in the treatment of lung cancer to understand the possibility of personalized therapy based on the modulation of the mevalonate pathway. In conclusion, according to the literature data, statins exert multiple effects on lung cancer cells, even if the evidence for their use in clinical practice is lacking.
Reliability analysis for rubbing in rotor-bearing system with pedestal looseness

The dynamic equations of a rotor-bearing system with pedestal looseness and rubbing were established on the basis of the nonlinear oil film force and linear rubbing model. The random response of rotor-bearing system was systematically investigated by matrix differential theory, second order moment technique, matrix perturbation and Kronecker algebra. Moreover, research on the reliability for rubbing in rotor-bearing system was conducted by statistical fourth moment method and Edgeworth series technique. Numerical results are also presented and the reliability curve is offered.
Utilitarian, hedonic, and self-esteem motives in online shopping

Purpose The study aims to analyze the influence of hedonic, utilitarian, and self-esteem motivations on online shopping behavior. Likewise, the mediating role of impulsive shopping and shopping intentions is also analyzed. Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out with the results of a survey in which 450 respondents participated, and the data was analyzed by using structural equation modeling (SmartPLS 3.0 software). Findings All the hypothesized links were significant and positive except for the relationship of self-esteem motive with impulsive shopping tendency, which was negative as hypothesized. Moreover, hedonic motive had a strong positive impact on impulsive shopping tendency, whereas, in contrast, utilitarian motive had a strong positive impact on shopping intentions. Practical implications Managers should focus on functional value rather than emotional value to attract customers who tend to be utilitarian. In contrast, for customers who tend to be hedonic, the product offerings should be visually appealing, stimulating and inspiring, as well as have emotional value. Originality/value This study investigates the roles of self-esteem and hedonic motives in impulsive shopping behavior. Moreover, by using the theory of planned behavior, this study highlights the roles of hedonic and utilitarian motives in attitude toward engaging in online shopping.
Evaluation of the effect of potassium solubilizing bacterial strains on the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract The present study was designed to isolate potassium solubilizing bacteria (KSB) and evaluate their capacity to mobilize available potassium (K) from soil to plants. Screening of KSB for plant growth-promoting (PGP) properties and K-solubilizing efficiency resulted in the selection of nine potential strains. Identification of the 16S rRNA gene of KSB confirmed that these isolates belong to the genera Bacillus and Pseudomonas. Optimization of physicochemical parameters revealed that pH 7 and 37 °C were the most suitable conditions for K solubilization by all test strains. The K-mobilizing activity was also observed at pH 7 and 25 °C, followed by pH 4 and 37 °C. However, the isolates did not solubilize K at pH 9 after incubation under the tested conditions (25 °C, 37 °C and 40 °C). The PGP effect of these strains was confirmed by an increase in root length of wheat seedlings by 16.0-40.0%. A significant enhancement (2-3 times) in biomass (both fresh and dry weight) was also observed in plants propagated from seedlings that were previously treated with KSB strains, in comparison with control plants. Apart from the growth enhancement, KSB strains mobilized 53.6-304.8% K from natural soil to wheat seedlings under optimized conditions in a greenhouse setup. However, the influx of K upon treatment with strains showing extreme mobilization capacity was negatively correlated with the chlorophyll content of the plants. Overall, four isolates, KSB9 (B. fungorum), KSB7 (P. aeruginosa), KSB20 (B. paramycoides), and KSB18 (P. aeruginosa) exhibited efficient PGP properties with optimum K-mobilizing potential.
Geometric Mean Serum Cotinine Concentrations Confirm a Continued Decline in Secondhand Smoke Exposure among U.S. Nonsmokers—NHANES 2003 to 2018

The objective of this study was to examine long-term trends in serum cotinine (COT) concentrations, as a measure of secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure, in U.S. nonsmokers using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 2003 to 2018. We analyzed NHANES serum COT results from 8 continuous NHANES 2 year cycles from 2003 to 2018 using a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry assay that has been maintained continuously at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 1992. Serum COT concentrations (based on the geometric means) among nonsmokers in the U.S. decreased by an average of 11.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) [8.8%, 13.1%]; p < 0.0001) every 2 year cycle. From 2003 to 2018, serum COT concentrations in U.S. nonsmokers declined by 55.0%, from 0.065 ng/mL in 2003–2004 to 0.029 ng/mL in 2017–2018 (p < 0.0001). Significant decreases in serum COT concentrations were observed in all demographic groups. While disparities between these groups seems to be shrinking over time, several previously observed disparities in SHS exposure remain in 2017–2018. Serum COT concentrations of the non-Hispanic Black population remained higher than those of non-Hispanic Whites and Mexican Americans (p < 0.0001). Additionally, serum COT concentrations were significantly higher for children aged 3–5 years than other age groups (p ≤ 0.0002), and men continued to have significantly higher serum COT concentrations than women (p = 0.0384). While there is no safe level of exposure to SHS, the decrease in serum COT concentrations in the U.S. population as well as across demographic groupings represents a positive public health outcome and supports the importance of comprehensive smoke-free laws and policies for workplaces, public places, homes, and vehicles to protect nonsmokers from SHS exposure.
Contextual Profiling of Homogeneous User Groups for Masquerade Detection

The complexity of modern computer networks creates a number of information security challenges for organizations. As the use of computer systems increases they become more targeted by criminals. In order to limit damages, the ability to detect probable criminal activity as soon as it occurs is of paramount concern. Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is a technology that has been in existence for a number of decades. It aims to identify patterns indicative of an attack, or alternatively, behaviour that is suspicious compared to some notion of normality. In order to ensure the effectiveness of these systems research efforts are required to adapt them to the ever changing threat landscape. Currently, internal threats pose a large risk to organizations bringing along with it additional challenges, as not all threats can be detected using known patterns. Behaviour based methods, know as anomaly detection, has the benefit of detecting previously unseen attacks. Profiling is a common technique used to establish a baseline for normal behaviour. However, normality can be difficult to define when considering individual profiles. Group profiling can offer additional context that can form the basis for better comparison in order to detect the presence of abnormal behaviour. It also reduces the scope of the IDS and in so doing removes some of the background noise. This thesis evaluates the application of group profiling methods as a contextual means to detect internal threats, specifically masquerade attacks. It delves into related theoretical knowledge and derives a framework used for masquerade detection research. The study frames the masquerade detection challenge as a classification problem, primarily focusing on the profiling task. A relevant feature representation method is chosen. Features are extracted from a simulated data set using a script developed in Bro, and classified using Support Vector Machine as a machine learning method. Individual and group profiling results are presented.
Dynamic Event-Triggered Consensus Control for Leader-Following Multiagent Systems With Communication Delay

This brief considers the dynamic event-triggered consensus control design of leader-following multiagent systems (MASs) under communication delay. Static event-triggered mechanism is often used, but its energy saving is limited. The dynamic event-triggered mechanism based on sampled data can obtain fewer trigger times than static event-triggered mechanism by adding a dynamic variable, which means that energy is saved to a greater extent and Zeno behaviors can be excluded obviously. Different from the existing works, this brief considers time-varying communication delay between agents. A periodic switching controller is used to deal with delay. Besides, the Lyapunov-Krasovskii function is applied to prove the stability of the closed-loop system and linear matrix inequality plays an important role in this process. Finally, simulation results illustrate the availability of the proposed controller.
Integrated Gut-Heart Axis and Network Pharmacology to Reveal the Mechanisms of the Huoxue Wentong Formula Against Myocardial Ischemia

Background Myocardial ischemia (MI) is a major public health problem with high mortality and morbidity worldwide. Huoxue Wentong formula (HX), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, exhibits unambiguous effects on treating MI and preventing cardiovascular diseases. However, the molecular mechanism of the therapeutic effects of HX on MI remains largely unknown. Objective This study combined microbiology, metabolomics, and network pharmacology to explore the relationship between the gut microbiota and its metabolites in MI rats and the efficacy of HX. Methods First, the MI rat model was established by ligation of left anterior descending. Echocardiography, Masson's staining, and hematoxylin and eosin staining were used to evaluate the effect of HX on MI. Then, fecal metabolomics and 16S rRNA sequencing were used to obtain the microbial and metabolic characteristics of HX on MI. After that, network pharmacology was used to predict the target and action pathway of HX in treating MI. Finally, the relationship between fecal metabolites and target was explored through bioinformatics. Results HX can improve the cardiac function and ameliorated myocardial fibrosis in MI rats. Moreover, HX can affect the gut microbiota community and metabolites of MI rats, especially Bacteroides, Deferribacteres, Ruminococcus_sp. _zagget7, Acidobacteria, daidzein, L-lactic acid, and malate. Network pharmacology found that HX can function through tumor necrosis factor (TNF), tumor protein p53 (TP53), interleukin 6 (IL6), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), fos proto-oncogene (FOS), bcl2-associated X (BAX), myeloperoxidase (MPO), PI3K-Akt signaling pathways, and HIF-1 signaling pathway. The mechanism study showed that the anti-MI effect of HX was related to valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis, fatty acid biosynthesis, and arachidonic acid metabolism. Conclusion This study demonstrates that HX treated MI rats in a multitarget and multipathway manner. Its mechanism is related to the change of gut microbiota and the regulation of valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, fatty acid biosynthesis, and arachidonic acid metabolism.
Hypercoagulability Impairs Plaque Stability in Diabetes-Induced Atherosclerosis

Diabetes mellitus, which is largely driven by nutritional and behavioral factors, is characterized by accelerated atherosclerosis with impaired plaque stability. Atherosclerosis and associated complications are the major cause of mortality in diabetic patients. Efficient therapeutic concepts for diabetes-associated atherosclerosis are lacking. Atherosclerosis among diabetic patients is associated with reduced endothelial thrombomodulin (TM) expression and impaired activated protein C (aPC) generation. Here, we demonstrate that atherosclerotic plaque stability is reduced in hyperglycemic mice expressing dysfunctional TM (TMPro/Pro mice), which have a pro-coagulant phenotype due to impaired thrombin inhibition and markedly reduced aPC generation. The vessel lumen and plaque size of atherosclerotic lesions in the truncus brachiocephalic were decreased in diabetic TMPro/Pro ApoE-/- mice compared to diabetic ApoE-/- mice. While lipid accumulation in lesions of diabetic TMPro/Pro ApoE-/- mice was lower than that in diabetic ApoE-/- mice, morphometric analyses revealed more prominent signs of instable plaques, such as a larger necrotic core area and decreased fibrous cap thickness in diabetic TMPro/Pro ApoE-/- mice. Congruently, more macrophages and fewer smooth muscle cells were observed within lesions of diabetic TMPro/Pro ApoE-/- mice. Thus, impaired TM function reduces plaque stability, a characteristic of hyperglycemia-associated plaques, thus suggesting the crucial role of impaired TM function in mediating diabetes-associated atherosclerosis.
Construcción y posicionamiento del imaginario sociotécnico: “Energía 2050”

The aim of this article is to identify the main efforts deployed by a techno-epistemic network in the construction and positioning of an energetic imaginary that’s renewable and civic in Chile: the “Energy 2050”. The methodology of the study is qualitative with a bibliographic review design. Empirically, we conducted a thematic analysis on the secondary information from the techno-epistemic network developed by Chile’s Ministry of Energy between the years 2014-2018. The analysis shows that members of the network, through the sociotechnical understanding of energy, managed to “dehydroAysenize” the electricity field, develop an energy policy and position a new socially, politically and technically validated imaginary that promotes an energy transition towards the year 2050. Finally, our discussions with the scientific literature allows us to provide a background for a new study subject related to the implications of socio-environmental conflicts or controversies in sociotechnical imaginary.
A Model of Culture-General Competence for Education and Training: Validation Across Services and Key Specialties

Abstract : Preparing people for the cultural aspect of their jobs is a challenge for leaders. A key difficulty is that their people may ultimately go anywhere. US personnel have to be ready to engage and work with people from countless cultures. And to get up to speed quickly in new areas of operation. They need a set of cultural skills that apply no matter where they hit the ground. We refer to this set of skills as culture-general competence. The aim of the current study was to further test a model of culture-general competence. We call the model Adaptive Readiness for Culture (ARC). It is general in that it applies across all regions of interest. The skills that comprise ARC were identified in an earlier study of Marine Corps and Army service members who had worked in multiple cultures. This unique aspect of the study was essential to tease out general skills from specific area knowledge. The current study extended the sample to determine how well the model applies across the DoD and Total Force.
Formal commitments versus actual practices? Narratives as tools of epistemic governance in the debate over Finnish forestry

Nation states often end up adopting practices that are incongruent with their formal commitments to international efforts, such as mitigation of climate change. Although the necessity of a transfer towards carbon-neutral societies is widely understood, such decoupling is a challenge to transition. This study analyses the political discourse in the Finnish media from 2017 to 2018 around the European Union's Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation. The discourse embodies a contradiction, as the Finnish government sought to justify its aim to log a record amount of forest while officially pledging to climate change mitigation. The forest industry and the government launched a major lobbying campaign to influence the regulation calculations to be adopted by the European Union. Several representatives of the scientific community rose to oppose the government's plan of action by distributing scientific knowledge on the negative climate effects caused by extensive forestry; a vigorous public debate around the correct ways to use this natural resource ensued. Our analysis identifies three prevailing narratives, each portraying and resolving the contradiction in a distinct way. We argue that narratives work as tools of epistemic governance and demonstrate how policy actors selectively weave scientific knowledge into such narratives.
Joint Design of Multicast Transmission and In-Network Caching for Green Internet of Things

In this paper, the joint design of energy-efficient multicast beamforming and in-network caching in Internet of Things is investigated. We propose the fractional in-network caching scheme. Specifically, parts of the sensed data resources are cached in the helpers, such as small-cell base stations and device-to-device equipments, and the caching fraction for a certain resource is the same among the helpers. The remaining data resources are kept in the sensor nodes. Employing multicast transmission at the helpers, the cached data can be cooperatively transmitted to the clients belonging to multiple multicast groups, where the data requests are identical among the clients in the same multicast group. Based on the proposed fractional caching and multicast transmission protocols, the power consumption model is established, and then we formulate the energy efficiency (EE) optimization problem, which is challenging to solve due to its non-convexity. Thereafter, by exploiting the Dinkelbach ’ s method, semi-definite relaxation, successive convex approximation and other approximation techniques, the original problem is converted into a second-order cone programming problem, which is convex and can be efficiently solved by off-the-shelf CVX solvers. Numerical results exhibit the fast convergence of the proposed algorithm, and demonstrate the superior EE performance of the proposed fractional caching scheme, compared to the benchmark strategies.
Genome-Wide Analysis and Exploration of WRKY Transcription Factor Family Involved in the Regulation of Shoot Branching in Petunia

The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) participate in various physiological, growth and developmental processes of plants. In our study, a total of 79 WRKY family members were identified and classified into three groups (Group I, Group IIa–e, and Group III) based on phylogenetic and conservative domain analyses. Conserved motif analysis showed that seven WRKYGQK domains changed. The promoter sequence analysis suggested that there were multiple stress- and hormone-related cis-regulatory elements in the promoter regions of PhWRKY genes. Expression patterns of PhWRKYs based on RNA-seq data revealed their diverse expression profiles in five tissues and under different treatments. Subcellular localization analysis showed that PhWRKY71 was located in the nucleus. In addition, overexpression of PhWRKY71 caused a significant increase in branch number. This indicated that PhWRKY71 played a critical role in regulating the shoot branching of Petunia hybrida. The above results lay the foundation for further revealing the functions of PhWRKY genes.
Comparative Study on Muscle Fiber Types of Longissimus Dorsi of Xinjiang Brown Cattle and Angus Cattle of Different Months

The longissimus dorsi muscle of Xinjiang brown cattle and Angus cattle at the age of 3, 7, 12, and 24 months under the same feeding and management conditions were selected to explore the differences of muscle 4 fiber types in this study. The muscle histological and molecular biological reasons for the quality difference between Xinjiang brown cattle and Angus beef were discussed. The morphology of the muscle was compared by ATP enzyme staining and SDH enzyme staining, and its gene expression was detected by qRT-PCR. The mRNA expression levels of Myhc-I in 3-month-old Xinjiang brown cattle were significantly higher than those in Angus cattle of the same age ( P < 0.01 ). The 4 fiber types of 7-month-old Xinjiang brown cattle were significantly lower than those of Angus cattle of the same age ( P < 0.01 ). The expression level of type I and IIb in 12-month-old Xinjiang brown cattle was significantly higher than that in 12-month-old Angus cattle ( P < 0.05 ). Type I and IIa of 24-month-old Xinjiang brown cattle were significantly lower than those of Angus cattle of the same age ( P < 0.05 ). However, in our study, the basic characteristics of longissimus dorsi of Xinjiang brown cattle and Angus cattle, such as color, pH, shearing force, and other characteristics were not detected, which is lacking in this aspect. Overall, with the increase of age, the growth trend of muscle fiber morphology of Xinjiang brown cattle and Angus cattle is roughly the same, but from the point of view of muscle fiber types, the Xinjiang brown cattle are more suitable for the production of early fat calves and to make some reference for improving the quality of beef cattle in China.