Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Acceleration on Subsequent Course Success Rates Based on the North Carolina Developmental Mathematics Redesign

In 2011, the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) redesigned the DE mathematics curriculum from three 16-week courses (48 weeks) into eight 4-week courses (32 weeks), based on mastery (NCCCS, 2013). This reduction was done so that the entire sequence could be completed in one year (NCCCS, 2011b). Different time frames for accelerated courses were evaluated and it was determined that the 4-week model worked best in designing accelerated courses (Austin & Gustafson, 2006). Overlap of redundant course material was eliminated and multiple points of successfully exiting DE were established, based upon the credit-bearing, college-level course that was needed for a program of study (NCCCS, 2011b). Each 4-week course was graded on a mastery system of 80%. Students that did not meet the 80% mastery requirement were immediately re-enrolled in the same module for the next four weeks. Hence, students were not getting slowed down in repeating long courses, but instead immediately repeating the 4-week course they did not master. The shortened class lengths allowed students to repeat courses in the same semester, rather than waiting 16-weeks to repeat a course. Students needing three 4-week mathematics modules could repeat one module and still finish in one semester. Consequently, students were able to move on to college-level, credit-bearing courses more quickly. The acceleration of the sequence leads to discussions of the effect of acceleration on the retention of material. Jaggars and Hodara (2011) questioned whether acceleration of DE mathematics courses hinders student progression and learning. Edgecombe (2011) discussed the benefits of accelerating the sequence, which included less time, greater persistence, increased retention of knowledge, and the creation of an environment of rigor needed in the subsequent courses. The shortened course length allowed students to study and master one topic at a time, shortening the time for forgetting mathematics concepts in between courses (Edgecombe, 2011). One purpose of the NCCCS redesign of DE coursework was to increase the subsequent course pass-rate for DE students completing a credit-bearing gateway course. It is essential to evaluate the success of students in subsequent courses in order to determine the effectiveness of the new structure and acceleration, which may have value for other institutions exploring accelerated course-design options. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the NCCCS redesign in improving subsequent gateway course success rates among students who took the accelerated 4-week DE mathematics courses versus the prior 16-week courses. Twelve community colleges from the North Carolina system were chosen to participate in this study.
Dopamine receptor D2 genetic variations is associated with the risk and clinicopathological variables of urothelial cell carcinoma in a Taiwanese population

Dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) is overexpressed in several kinds of cancers and was correlated with the prognosis of these cancers. Polymorphisms within the DRD2 gene were shown to be associated with lung and colon cancers. The purpose of this study was to explore effects of DRD2 gene polymorphisms on the susceptibility to and clinicopathological characteristics of urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC). In total, 369 patients diagnosed with UCC and 738 healthy controls were enrolled to analyze DRD2 genotypes at four loci (rs1799732, -141C>del; rs1079597, TaqIB; rs6277, 957C>T; and rs1800497, TaqIA) using a TaqMan-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We found a significantly lower risk for UCC in individuals with the DRD2 rs6277 CT genotype compared to those with the wild-type CC genotype (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.405, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.196~0.837, p=0.015). In 124 younger patients (aged < 65 years) of the recruited UCC cohort, patients who carried at least one T allele of DRD2 rs1800497 were at higher risk (AOR=2.270, 95% CI: 1.060~4.860, p=0.033) of developing an invasive stage (pT2~pT4). In 128 female patients of the recruited UCC cohort, patients who carried at least one deletion allele of DRD2 rs1799732 showed a higher incidence of having an invasive stage (AOR=2.585, 95% CI: 1.066~6.264, p=0.032) and a large tumor (AOR=2.778, 95% CI: 1.146~6.735, p=0.021). Further analyses of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets revealed correlations of the expression of DRD2 with an invasive tumor, tumor metastasis, and the lower survival rate in patients with UCC. Our findings suggest that DRD2 levels might affect the progression of UCC, and the polymorphisms rs6277, rs1800497, and rs1799732 of DRD2 are probably associated with the susceptibility and clinicopathologic development of UCC in a Taiwanese population.
A Color Decomposition Method for Preserving Ukiyo-e Woodblocks

In this paper we propose a color decomposition method for multicolor printing of watercolors including areas overlapping each print layer. Watercolors have an important feature that the observed colors are different on the printing order. The proposed method is based on a particle density model for expressing the effects of watercolors. The approach of this method is to solve an inverse problem, that is, determining a printed area corresponding to a watercolor from an observed image. Our purpose in this study is to estimate woodblocks from a woodblock print. The authors have already proposed a non-photorealistic rendering method to produce virtual woodblock prints. This approach can be utilized to Ukiyo-e. An Ukiyo-e print is created from several woodblocks with several water-colors, and has a mixing color expression similar to the effects of watercolor painting. The color decomposition method can be applied to produce virtual woodblocks in the virtual woodblock printing. The results of woodblock estimation will be utilized to preserve the techniques and prints of Ukiyo-e.
Feedback-Based Learning in Aging: Contributions and Trajectories of Change in Striatal and Hippocampal Systems

The striatum supports learning from immediate feedback by coding prediction errors (PEs), whereas the hippocampus (HC) plays a parallel role in learning from delayed feedback. Both regions show evidence of decline in human aging, but behavioral research suggests greater decline in HC versus striatal functions. The present study included male and female humans and used fMRI to examine younger and older adults' brain activation patterns during a learning task with choice feedback presented immediately or after a brief delay. Participants then completed a surprise memory task that tested their recognition of trial-unique feedback stimuli, followed by assessments of postlearning cue preference, outcome probability awareness, and willingness to pay. The study yielded three main findings. First, behavioral measures indicated similar rates of learning in younger and older adults across conditions, but postlearning measures indicated impairment in older adults' ability to subsequently apply learning to discriminate between cues. Second, PE signals in the striatum were greater for immediate versus delayed feedback in both age groups, but PE signals in the HC were greater for delayed versus immediate feedback only in younger adults. Third, unlike younger adults, older adults failed to exhibit enhanced episodic memory for outcome stimuli in the delayed-feedback condition. Together, these findings indicate that HC circuits supporting learning and memory decline more than striatal circuits in healthy aging, which suggests that declines in HC learning signals may be an important predictor of deficits in learning-dependent economic decisions among older adults. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The hippocampus (HC) and striatum play distinct and critical roles in learning. Substantial research suggests that age-related decline in learning supported by the HC outpaces decline in learning supported by the striatum; however, such inferences have been drawn by comparing performance in tasks with fundamentally different structures. The present study overcomes this obstacle by implementing a single fMRI-learning paradigm with a subtle variation in feedback timing to examine differential age effects on memory supported by the HC and striatum. Our results provide converging behavioral and brain-imaging evidence showing that HC circuits supporting learning and memory decline more than striatal circuits in healthy aging and that declines in HC learning signals may predict early deficits in learning-dependent decisions among older adults.
Increment of growth factors in mouse skin treated with non-thermal plasma

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) has several beneficial effects, and can be applied as a novel instrument for skin treatment. Recently, many types of NTP have been developed for potential medical or clinical applications, but their direct effects on skin activation remain unclear. In this study, the effect of NTP on the alteration of mouse skin tissue was analyzed. After NTP treatment, there were no signs of tissue damage in mouse skin, whereas significant increases in epidermal thickness and dermal collagen density were detected. Furthermore, treatment with NTP increased the expression of various growth factors, including TGF-α, TGF-β, VEGF, GM-CSF, and EGF, in skin tissue. Therefore, NTP treatment on skin induces the expression of growth factors without causing damage, a phenomenon that might be directly linked to epidermal expansion and dermal tissue remodeling.
Therapeutic potentials of propolis and pollen on biochemical changes in reproductive function of L-NAME induced hypertensive male rats

ABSTRACT Background: Hypertension is described as increased blood pressure based on changed hemodynamics and associated with an increased oxidative damage to reproductive function. This work is to determine therapeutic and protective effects of apitherapy products (propolis and pollen) on reproductive functions of L-NAME-induced hypertensive male rats. Methods: Experimental animals were indiscriminately separated into four groups of seven rats in each group: (I) Control, (II) L-NAME, (III) L-NAME+ propolis and (IV) L-NAME+ pollen. At the end of the experimental applications, the rats were decapitated by anesthesia and biochemical analyzes were performed on the removed testicular tissues. Results: The levels of TOS, NF-κB and MDA in the L-NAME group compared to control have increased (p < 0.05). The levels of these parameters in L-NAME+ propolis and L-NAME+ pollen groups compared to the L-NAME group have decreased (p < 0.05). TAS levels, PON1 and CAT activities were significantly decreased in testis tissue samples in the L-NAME-induced group (p < 0.05). However, these parameters were significantly lower in the L-NAME plus propolis and pollen groups (p < 0.05) compared with rats administered L-NAME alone (p < 0.05). NO level significantly reduced (p < 0.05) in L-NAME group compared with control group. There was no statistically significant changes in the NO level of the L-NAME+ propolis group compared with the L-NAME-treated group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It has been determined that ethanolic extracts of propolis and pollen, which are natural bee products in the regulation of rising blood pressure. Propolis or pollen is thought to help regulate reproductive function by inhibiting the functioning of inflammatory pathways leading to hypertension.
Soil and forest structure predicts large-scale patterns of occurrence and local abundance of a widespread Amazonian frog

The distribution of biodiversity within the Amazon basin is often structured by sharp environmental boundaries, such as large rivers. The Amazon region is also characterized by subtle environmental clines, but how they might affect the distributions and abundance of organisms has so far received less attention. Here, we test whether soil and forest characteristics are associated with the occurrence and relative abundance of the forest-floor dwelling Aromobatid frog, Allobates femoralis. We applied a structured sampling regime along an 880 km long transect through forest of different density. High detection probabilities were estimated for A. femoralis in each of the sampling modules. Using generalized linear mixed-effects models and simple linear regressions that take detectability into account, we show that A. femoralis is more abundant in open forests than in dense forests. The presence and relative abundance of A. femoralis is also positively associated with clay-rich soils, which are poorly drained and therefore likely support the standing water bodies required for reproduction. Taken together, we demonstrate that relatively easy-to-measure environmental features can explain the distribution and abundance of a widespread species at different spatial scales. Such proxies are of clear value to ecologists and conservation managers working in large inaccessible areas such as the Amazon basin.
The utilization of stone ash on cellular lightweight concrete

Lightweight concrete brick is a brick which made of cement, sand, water, and foam as the basic composition. This brick are divided into 2, based on the foam used such as AAC (Autoclave Aerated Concrete) that use aluminium paste and CLC(Cellular Lightweight Concrete) that use foaming agent from BASF as its foaming material. In this trial, the lightweight brick that are ging to be use are the CLC with foaming agent as its foaming material with the mixture of stone ash that are produced by the Stone Crusher with spesific gravity 2666 kg/m3 as their partly sand substitution . In this research, the stone ash variant that are used are 10%, 15%, and 20% from the amount of sand that planned before. After casting, the result of the 10% will receive a reduction of compressive strength while an increasing in absorption as 25.07% and 39.005% and the 15% variant will recieve a reduction of compressive strength as much as 65.8% and a reduction of absorption as much as 17.441% and the 20% variant will recieve a reduction of compressive strength as much as 67.4% while an increasing of absorption as much as 17.956%.
Are some individuals generally more behaviorally plastic than others? An experiment with sailfin mollies

Individuals within the same population generally differ among each other not only in their behavioral traits but also in their level of behavioral plasticity (i.e., in their propensity to modify their behavior in response to changing conditions). If the proximate factors underlying individual differences in behavioral plasticity were the same for any measure of plasticity, as commonly assumed, one would expect plasticity to be repeatable across behaviors and contexts. However, this assumption remains largely untested. Here, we conducted an experiment with sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna) whose behavioral plasticity was estimated both as the change in their personality traits or mating behavior across a social gradient and using their performance on a reversal-learning task. We found that the correlations between pairwise measures of plasticity were weak and non-significant, thus indicating that the most plastic individuals were not the same in all the tests. This finding might arise because either individuals adjust the magnitude of their behavioral responses depending on the benefits of plasticity, and/or individuals expressing high behavioral plasticity in one context are limited by neural and/or physiological constraints in the amount of plasticity they can express in other contexts. Because the repeatability of behavioral plasticity may have important evolutionary consequences, additional studies are needed to assess the importance of trade-offs between conflicting selection pressures on the maintenance of intra-individual variation in behavioral plasticity.
Ribbons: Enabling the Effective Use of HPC Utilization Data for System Support Staff

Beyond raw computational power, a supercomputer offers the capability of generating and logging a significant amount of diagnostic data. While adding to the burden of maintenance, this data nevertheless represents compelling opportunities for development directed toward improved evaluations, diagnostics, analytics, etc. We have developed such a utility, a visual analytics tool for the support staff of the Blue Waters supercomputer. Our initial goal was broad: provide an informative illustration of current running jobs on the machine for the purpose of system monitoring. Additionally, we were able to collect diverse utilization data to the extent that both minimizing exclusion of as well as intuitively coordinating information were equally challenging. Our primary visual element is an extension of a stacked bar chart to increase horizontal continuity; resulting visualizations show system utilization as a series of concurrent job “ribbons”. The remaining elements are common visual/interactive techniques offering expansive functionality. Together these components were deployed as a web application, which is referred to as the “ribbon viewer” by its regular users. In this paper we will highlight the design nuances and development complexities that are belied by the ribbon viewer’s apparent simplicity. We will also discuss use-case scenarios in terms of both typical usage and specific examples.
UC Office of the President Recent Work Title Acceptability of Injectable and On-Demand Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among an Online Sample of Young Men Who Have Sex with Men in California

Purpose: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective strategy to prevent HIV. However, low uptake of daily oral PrEP since Food and Drug Administration approval and low medication adherence among users have stimulated the investigation of other modalities for delivery, such as injectable PrEP and on-demand PrEP. The objective of this study was to determine the demographic and behavioral predictors of willingness to try alternative PrEP delivery mechanisms among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) who stated that they were unwilling to try daily oral PrEP. Methods: YMSM in California were recruited through geosocial networking applications; we analyzed a subsample who stated that they were either ambivalent about trying or unwilling to try daily oral PrEP (n = 265). We used chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests to determine characteristics associated with willingness to try injectable PrEP, willingness to try on-demand PrEP, and willingness to try either alternative form. Results: For individuals who stated that they would not be willing to try daily oral PrEP, *85% were willing to try on-demand and/or injectable PrEP. Individuals who reported some college or more reported greater willingness to try injectable PrEP (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.32–6.46), ondemand PrEP (aOR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.06–4.90), or either method (aOR: 5.54; 95% CI: 1.78–17.22). Conclusion: Future research should determine how to enhance uptake of emerging forms of PrEP among the individuals most at risk for HIV.
New species of Cystolepiota from China

ABSTRACT In this paper, a new species, Cystolepiota pseudofumosifolia, is introduced. C. pseudofumosifolia is characterized by granulose or powdery pileus with an anatomic structure that is loosely globose, as well as ellipsoid cells in chains in the pileus covering the cheilocystidia. This new species is compared to the related and similar Cystolepiota species in morphology and molecular phylogeny based on Internal transcribed spacer sequences. Both types of data support our specimens as a new species in the genus Cystolepiota.
Paying for Happiness: Experimental Results from a Large Cash Transfer Program in Malawi

Abstract This study analyzes the short‐term impact of an exogenous, positive income shock on caregivers’ subjective well‐being (SWB) in Malawi using panel data from 3,365 households targeted to receive Malawi's Social Cash Transfer Program that provides unconditional cash to ultra‐poor, labor‐constrained households. The study consists of a cluster‐randomized, longitudinal design. After the baseline survey, half of these village clusters were randomly selected to receive the transfer and a follow‐up was conducted 17 months later. We find that the short‐term impact of household income increases from the cash transfer leads to substantial SWB gains among caregivers. After a year's worth of transfers, caregivers in beneficiary households have higher life satisfaction and are more likely to believe in a better future. We examine whether program impacts on consumption, food security, resilience, and hopefulness could explain the increase in SWB but do not find that any of these mechanisms individually mediate our results.
Statistical Modeling of the 3D Geometry and Topology of Botanical Trees

We propose a framework for statistical modeling of the 3D geometry and topology of botanical trees. We treat botanical trees as points in a tree‐shape space equipped with a proper metric that captures the geometric and the topological differences between trees. Geodesics in the tree‐shape space correspond to the optimal sequence of deformations, i.e. bending, stretching, and topological changes, which align one tree onto another. In this way, the 3D tree modeling and synthesis problem becomes a problem of exploring the tree‐shape space either in a controlled fashion, using statistical regression, or randomly by sampling from probability distributions fitted to populations in the tree‐shape space. We show how to use this framework for (1) computing statistical summaries, e.g. the mean and modes of variations, of a population of botanical trees, (2) synthesizing random instances of botanical trees from probability distributions fitted to a population of botanical trees, and (3) modeling, interactively, 3D botanical trees using a simple sketching interface. The approach is fast and only requires as input 3D botanical tree models with a known upright orientation.
Colonization and usage of an artificial urban wetland complex by freshwater turtles

Conservation authorities invest heavily in the restoration and/or creation of wetlands to counteract the destruction of habitat caused by urbanization. Monitoring the colonization of these new wetlands is critical to an adaptive management process. We conducted a turtle mark-recapture survey in a 250 ha artificially created wetland complex in a large North American city (Toronto, Ontario). We found that two of Ontario’s eight native turtle species (Snapping turtle (SN), Chelydra serpentina, and Midland Painted (MP) turtle, Chrysemys picta marginata) were abundant and both were confirmed nesting. The Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) was present but not well established. Species richness and turtle density were not equally distributed throughout the wetland complex. We noted SN almost exclusively populated one water body, while other areas of the wetland had a varying representation of both species. The sex ratios of both SN and MP turtles were 1:1. We tracked the movement of Snapping and Blanding’s turtles and found that most turtles explored at least two water bodies in the park, that females explored more water bodies than males, and that 95% of turtles showed fidelity to individual overwintering wetlands. We performed DNA analysis of two Blanding’s turtles found in the created wetlands and could not assign these turtles to any known profiled populations. The genetic data suggest that the turtles probably belong to a remnant local population. We discuss the implications of our results for connectivity of artificial wetlands and the importance of the whole wetland complex to this turtle assemblage.