Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of students' perceived relatedness and competence upon their motivated engagement with learning activities : a self-determination theory perspective

Empirical research that has applied Self-Determination Theory (SDT) within classrooms suggests that the combined satisfaction of three basic psychological needs can be predictive of students’ motivation to engage with learning activities. These three basic needs are relatedness, which, for the purposes of the current research, takes the form of a positive teacher-student relationship, perceived self-competence, and autonomy. The current research suggests that, whilst SDT emphasizes the importance of autonomy as a basis for self-determined engagement with learning, the motivation to be autonomous is a potential outcome informed by the students’ perceived competence and the perceived quality of the teacher-student relationship. These findings were the basis for three posits regarding the impact of the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs, central to SDT, upon students’ engagement with learning activities. These posits are: that firstly, an individual’s motivation to be autonomous (SDT; autonomy) is an outcome dependent upon students’ satisfied needs for both a positive teacher-student relationship (SDT: relatedness) and perceived competence (SDT: competence); secondly, that perceived competence is informed by and reciprocally informs the quality of the teacher-student relationship; and thirdly, that there is a potential cumulative connection between students’ perceived competence and the quality of the teacher-student relationship, in terms of the combined impact upon the quality and persistence of autonomous motivation. These interpretive claims emerged from and were supported by the findings across the main study and triangulation methods within the current research. The current research begins to unravel how the motivational interplay between the three SDT-centred basic psychological needs may inform students’ engagement with learning activities in formal learning settings. This led to the development of a proposed SDT-embedded motivational pathways model. This model is worthy of further testing, explanation and modification by educators through classroom-based research.
Hybrid CMOS-CNFET based NP dynamic Carry Look Ahead Adder

Advanced electronic device technologies require a faster operation and smaller average power consumption, which are the most important parameters in very large scale integrated circuit design. The conventional Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology is limited by the threshold voltage and subthreshold leakage problems in scaling of devices. This leads to failure in adapting it to sub-micron and nanotechnologies. The carbon nanotube (CNT) technology overcomes the threshold voltage and subthreshold leakage problems despite reduction in size. The CNT based technology develops the most promising devices among emerging technologies because it has most of the desired features. Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors (CNFETs) are the novel devices that are expected to sustain the transistor scalability while increasing its performance. Recently, there have been tremendous advances in CNT technology for nanoelectronics applications. CNFETs avoid most of the fundamental limitations and offer several advantages compared to silicon-based technology. Though CNT evolves as a better option to overcome some of the bulk CMOS problems, the CNT itself still immersed with setbacks. The fabrication of carbon nanotube at very large digital circuits on a single substrate is difficult to achieve. Therefore, a hybrid NP dynamic Carry Look Ahead Adder (CLA) is designed using p-CNFET and n-MOS transistors. Here, the performance of CLA is evaluated in 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit and 64-bit stages with the following four different implementations: silicon MOSFET (Si-MOSFET) domino logic, Si-MOSFET NP dynamic CMOS, carbon nanotube MOSFET (CN-MOSFET) domino logic, and CN-MOSFET NP dynamic CMOS. Finally, a Hybrid CMOS-CNFET based 64-bit NP dynamic CLA is evaluated based on HSPICE simulation in 32nm technology, which effectively suppresses power dissipation without an increase in propagation delay.
N1‐methylnicotinamide (MNAM) as a guardian of cardiovascular system

Atherosclerosis is identified as the formation of atherosclerotic plaques, which could initiate the formation of a blood clot in which its growth to coronary artery can lead to a heart attack. N‐methyltransferase (NNMT) is an enzyme that converts the NAM (nicotinamide) to its methylated form, N1‐methylnicotinamide (MNAM). Higher levels of MNAM have been reported in cases with coronary artery disease (CAD). Further, MNAM increases endothelial prostacyclin (PGI2) and nitric oxide (NO) and thereby causes vasorelaxation. The vasoprotective, anti‐inflammatory and anti‐thrombotic roles of MNAM have been well documented; however, the exact underlying mechanisms remain to be clarified. Due to potential role of MNAM in the formation of lipid droplets (LDs), it might exert its function in coordination with lipids, and their targets. In this study, we summarized the roles of MNAM in cardiovascular system and highlighted its possible mode of actions.
Antimicrobial resistance and clonality in Acinetobacter baumannii

The aim of this thesis was to obtain insight into the epidemiology and molecular basis of multidrug resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii at the population level. To this aim a number of studies were performed on strains mainly from the Czech Republic (CR) which have shown in particular that (i) the vast majority of multidrug resistant (MDR) clinical isolates of A. baumannii from CR belong to clonal lineages termed EU clone I and II; (ii) these two clones have predominated among MDR hospital isolates in CR since at least 1991; (iii) recent emergence of A. baumannii resistance to carbapenems in CR was associated with the country-wide spread of a subclone of EU clone II; (iv) multidrug resistance is a general feature of strains of EU clones I and II, yet strains belonging to one clone may vary in the content of resistance genes; (v) upregulation of genes intrinsic to A. baumannii as well as horizontal acquisition of resistance genes can be sources of development of multidrug resistance and intraclonal diversification; (vi) the genes encoding the non-specific efflux system AdeABC are present in nearly all A. baumannii strains, yet the AdeABC overexpression is seen mostly in MDR strains harbouring additional resistance genes.
Effects of a weight management program on body composition and metabolic parameters in overweight children: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT Pediatric obesity has escalated to epidemic proportions, leading to an array of comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes in youth. Since most overweight children become overweight adults, this chronic condition results in serious metabolic complications by early adulthood. To curtail this major health issue, effective pediatric interventions are essential. OBJECTIVE To compare effects of a weight management program, Bright Bodies, on adiposity and metabolic complications of overweight children with a control group. DESIGN One-year randomized controlled trial conducted May 2002-September 2005. SETTING Recruitment and follow-up conducted at Yale Pediatric Obesity Clinic in New Haven, Conn, and intervention at nearby school. PARTICIPANTS Random sample of 209 overweight children (body mass index [BMI] >95th percentile for age and sex), ages 8 to 16 years of mixed ethnic groups were recruited. A total of 135 participants (60%) completed 6 months of study, 119 (53%) completed 12 months. INTERVENTION Participants were randomly assigned to either a control or weight management group. The control group (n = 69) received traditional clinical weight management counseling every 6 months, and the weight management group (n = 105) received an intensive family-based program including exercise, nutrition, and behavior modification. Intervention occurred biweekly the first 6 months, bimonthly thereafter. The second randomization within the weight management group assigned participants (n = 35) to a structured meal plan approach (dieting), but this arm of the study was discontinued while enrollment was ongoing due to a high dropout rate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Change in weight, BMI, body fat, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) at 6 and 12 months. RESULTS Six-month improvements were sustained at 12 months in weight management vs control, including changes in the following (mean [95% confidence interval]): weight (+0.3 kg [-1.4 to 2.0] vs +7.7 kg [5.3 to 10.0]); BMI (-1.7 [-2.3 to -1.1] vs +1.6 [0.8 to 2.3]); body fat (-3.7 kg [-5.4 to -2.1] vs +5.5 kg [3.2 to 7.8]); and HOMA-IR (-1.52 [-1.93 to -1.01] vs +0.90 [-0.07 to 2.05]). CONCLUSION The Bright Bodies weight management program had beneficial effects on body composition and insulin resistance in overweight children that were sustained up to 12 months. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00409422.
Beyond Marxist Economism and Entrepreneurial Essentialism: Post-Colonial Politics of Empire in Chinua Achebe’s And Linus Asong’s Writings

This paper on political economy of entrepreneurship draws insights from creative writings of Chinua Achebe and Linus Asong to argue that, contrary to Marxist optimisms and idealisms, the business of political entrepreneurship is so complicated because it intersects with multiple conflicting narratives. These narratives of empire take new different and often times contradictory directions such as neo-pariarchalism, the popularity of anarchism, limitations of the intelligentsia class. religion as substitution, issues of feminist labour power and social class questions.
NeuRec: On Nonlinear Transformation for Personalized Ranking

Modeling user-item interaction patterns is an important task for personalized recommendations. Many recommender systems are based on the assumption that there exists a linear relationship between users and items while neglecting the intricacy and non-linearity of real-life historical interactions. In this paper, we propose a neural network based recommendation model (NeuRec) that untangles the complexity of user-item interactions and establish an integrated network to combine non-linear transformation with latent factors. We further design two variants of NeuRec: user-based NeuRec and item-based NeuRec, by focusing on different aspects of the interaction matrix. Extensive experiments on four real-world datasets demonstrated their superior performances on personalized ranking task.
PTSD symptoms, suicidality and non-suicidal risk to life behavior in a mixed sample of pre- and post-9/11 veterans

ABSTRACT This study investigated relationships between symptom clusters of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal ideation, suicide plan, and non-suicidal risk to life behavior (NSRB) behavior in a sample of 1,356 pre- and post-9/11-era military veterans. After controlling for a positive PTSD screen, results indicated that suicidal ideation was significantly associated with re-experiencing symptoms (OR = 1.12), White race (OR = 1.82) and use of pain medication (COR = 1.62). Suicide plan was associated with avoidance symptoms (OR = 1.08), and NSRB with hyperarousal symptoms (OR = 1.11) and severe alcohol use (OR = 2.10). Standardized coefficients indicated that re-experiencing symptoms (b = .38) were a stronger predictor of suicidal ideation than White race (b = .16) or pain medication (b = .12) and that hyperarousal symptoms (b = .36) were a stronger predictor of NSRB than severe alcohol use (b = .15). The interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide was used to frame a discussion of military specific suicide risk as well as the risk of premature death among veterans who endorse NSRB but not suicidality. We suggest that this subset of veterans may be overlooked by traditional screening methods while nonetheless presenting with great risk for premature death.
Novel contributions in canine craniometry: Anatomic and radiographic measurements in newborn puppies

The largest differences in intraspecific head shape among the Carnivora order are to be found in dogs. Based on their skull morphotypes, dog breeds are currently classified as dolichocephalic, mesaticephalic and brachycephalic. Due to the fact that some breeds have not been yet defined, this classification is incomplete; moreover, multi-breed studies on the skull morphology of puppies have never been performed. The aim of this work was to verify (i) whether differences in the skull conformation of purebred puppies are already present within the first week of age; (ii) whether radiographic and anatomic measures could be considered interchangeable, and (iii) to possibly classify puppies from non-categorized breeds thanks to their radiographic cranial measurements using neural nets. One hundred and thirty-seven dead puppies aged 0–7 days were examined considering their anatomic and radiographic measures. All linear measures and anatomic indices significantly differed among brachycephalic and non-brachycephalic puppies. Radiographic indices, with the exception of CI, identified the three skull morphotypes (p<0.05, for all comparisons). Radiographic and anatomic measures proved to be non-interchangeable in newborn puppies. Finally, nineteen puppies belonging to 5 non-categorized breeds could be classified thanks to neural nets in the three skull morphotypes with different probability (P between 0,66 and 0,95).
Risk of lactic acidosis in type 2 diabetes patients using metformin: A case control study

Background Metformin constitutes first-line treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is presumed to have lactic acidosis as a dangerous, but rare, side effect. Objectives To estimate the incidence rate of lactic acidosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus as well as to estimate the relative risk of lactic acidosis associated with metformin treatment. Methods This is a population-based combined cohort and case-control study among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were acutely admitted with lactic acidosis at Odense University Hospital, Denmark; in the period from 1st June 2009 to 1st October 2013. The patients included as cases were all acutely hospitalized with lactic acidosis (pH <7.35 and lactate ≥2.0 mmol/l). For each case, we identified 24 age- and sex-matched controls sampled from the same cohort with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The use of metformin identified by using a prescription database. Analyses included multivariable logistic regression and adjusting for predefined confounding: renal function, HbA1c, comorbidity and diabetes duration. Results Our cohort included 10,652 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with a median age of 74 years, and 51.5% were male. During follow-up, 163 individuals were hospitalized with lactic acidosis, corresponding to an incidence rate of 391/100,000 person years. Use of metformin was not associated with lactic acidosis: adjusted odds ratio was 0.79 (95%CI 0.54–1.17). Conclusion Among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the incidence rate of acute hospitalization with lactic acidosis was 391/100,000 person years. Use of metformin did not increase the risk of lactic acidosis. However, comorbidity seems to be an important risk factor.
Rates of dinitrogen fixation and the abundance of diazotrophs in North American coastal waters between Cape Hatteras and Georges Bank

We coupled dinitrogen (N2) fixation rate estimates with molecular biological methods to determine the activity and abundance of diazotrophs in coastal waters along the temperate North American Mid‐Atlantic continental shelf during multiple seasons and cruises. Volumetric rates of N2 fixation were as high as 49.8 nmol N L−1 d−1 and areal rates as high as 837.9 µmol N m−2 d−1 in our study area. Our results suggest that N2 fixation occurs at high rates in coastal shelf waters that were previously thought to be unimportant sites of N2 fixation and so were excluded from calculations of pelagic marine N2 fixation. Unicellular N2‐fixing group A cyanobacteria were the most abundant diazotrophs in the Atlantic coastal waters and their abundance was comparable to, or higher than, that measured in oceanic regimes where they were discovered. High rates of N2 fixation and the high abundance of diazotrophs along the North American Mid‐Atlantic continental shelf highlight the need to revise marine N budgets to include coastal N2 fixation. Integrating areal rates of N2 fixation over the continental shelf area between Cape Hatteras and Nova Scotia, the estimated N2 fixation in this temperate shelf system is about 0.02 Tmol N yr−1, the amount previously calculated for the entire North Atlantic continental shelf. Additional studies should provide spatially, temporally, and seasonally resolved rate estimates from coastal systems to better constrain N inputs via N2 fixation from the neritic zone.
Relationships between selective neuronal loss and microglial activation after ischaemic stroke in man

Modern ischaemic stroke management involves intravenous thrombolysis followed by mechanical thrombectomy, which allows markedly higher rates of recanalization and penumbral salvage than thrombolysis alone. However, <50% of treated patients eventually enjoy independent life. It is therefore important to identify complementary therapeutic targets. In rodent models, the salvaged penumbra is consistently affected by selective neuronal loss, which may hinder recovery by interfering with plastic processes, as well as by microglial activation, which may exacerbate neuronal death. However, whether the salvaged penumbra in man is similarly affected is still unclear. Here we determined whether these two processes affect the non-infarcted penumbra in man and, if so, whether they are inter-related. We prospectively recruited patients with (i) acute middle-cerebral artery stroke; (ii) penumbra present on CT perfusion obtained <4.5 h of stroke onset; and (iii) early neurological recovery as a marker of penumbral salvage. PET with 11C-flumazenil and 11C-PK11195, as well as MRI to map the final infarct, were obtained at predefined follow-up times. The presence of selective neuronal loss and microglial activation was determined voxel-wise within the MRI normal-appearing ipsilateral non-infarcted zone and surviving penumbra masks, and their inter-relationship was assessed both across and within patients. Dilated infarct contours were consistently excluded to control for partial volume effects. Across the 16 recruited patients, there was reduced 11C-flumazenil and increased 11C-PK11195 binding in the whole ipsilateral non-infarcted zone (P = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively). Within the non-infarcted penumbra, 11C-flumazenil was also reduced (P = 0.001), but without clear increase in 11C-PK11195 (P = 0.18). There was no significant correlation between 11C-flumazenil and 11C-PK11195 in either compartment. This mechanistic study provides direct evidence for the presence of both neuronal loss and microglial activation in the ipsilateral non-infarcted zone. Further, we demonstrate the presence of neuronal loss affecting the surviving penumbra, with no or only mild microglial activation, and no significant relationship between these two processes. Thus, microglial activation may not contribute to penumbral neuronal loss in man, and its presence in the ipsilateral hemisphere may merely reflect secondary remote degeneration. Selective neuronal loss in the surviving penumbra may represent a novel therapeutic target as an adjunct to penumbral salvage to further improve functional outcome. However, microglial activation may not stand as the primary therapeutic approach. Protecting the penumbra by acutely improving perfusion and oxygenation in conjunction with thrombectomy for example, may be a better approach. 11C-flumazenil PET would be useful to monitor the effects of such therapies.
On Extending TM Primitives using Low Level Semantics

Transactional memory has recently emerged as an optimistic concurrency control technique that isolates concurrent executions at the level of reads and writes, and therefore provides an easy programming interface. However, such an isolation could be conservative from the application level perspective. In this work, we pro-pose an extension to the classical TM primitives (read and write) to infer more semantics from the program code while maintaining the same level of abstraction at the programmers side. Practically, our proposed extension can be implemented either as a complete compiler pass, which maximizes programmability and allows backward compatibility, or as an extension to TM APIs to be exploited by expert programmers. We deployed this extension on two state-of-the-art STM algorithms and showed a speedup up to 4 ⇥ better on different applications.
Maxima of branching random walks with piecewise constant variance

This article extends the results of Fang & Zeitouni (2012a) on branching random walks (BRWs) with Gaussian increments in time inhomogeneous environments. We treat the case where the variance of the increments changes a finite number of times at different scales in [0,1] under a slight restriction. We find the asymptotics of the maximum up to an OP(1) error and show how the profile of the variance influences the leading order and the logarithmic correction term. A more general result was independently obtained by Mallein (2015b) when the law of the increments is not necessarily Gaussian. However, the proof we present here generalizes the approach of Fang & Zeitouni (2012a) instead of using the spinal decomposition of the BRW. As such, the proof is easier to understand and more robust in the presence of an approximate branching structure.
Lipase-Catalyzed Synthesis of Sucrose Monolaurate and Its Antibacterial Property and Mode of Action against Four Pathogenic Bacteria

The aim of this work was to evaluate the antibacterial activities and mode of action of sucrose monolaurate (SML) with a desirable purity, synthesized by Lipozyme TL IM-mediated transesterification in the novel ionic liquid, against four pathogenic bacteria including L. monocytogenes, B. subtilis, S. aureus, and E. coli. The antibacterial activity was determined by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and the time–kill assay. SML showed varying antibacterial activity against tested bacteria with MICs and MBCs of 2.5 and 20 mM for L. monocytogenes, 2.5 and 20 mM for B. subtilis, 10 and 40 mM for S. aureus, respectively. No dramatic inhibition was observed for E. coli at 80 mM SML. Mechanism of bacterial inactivation caused by SML was revealed through comprehensive factors including cell morphology, cellular lysis, membrane permeability, K+ leakage, zeta potential, intracellular enzyme, and DNA assay. Results demonstrated that bacterial inactivation against Gram-positive bacteria was primarily induced by the pronounced damage to the cell membrane integrity. SML may interact with cytoplasmic membrane to disturb the regulation system of peptidoglycan hydrolase activities to degrade the peptidoglycan layer and form a hole in the layer. Then, the inside cytoplasmic membrane was blown out due to turgor pressure and the cytoplasmic materials inside leaked out. Leakage of intracellular enzyme to the supernatants implied that the cell membrane permeability was compromised. Consequently, the release of K+ from the cytosol lead to the alterations of the zeta potential of cells, which would disturb the subcellular localization of some proteins, and thereby causing bacterial inactivation. Moreover, remarkable interaction with DNA was also observed. SML at sub-MIC inhibited biofilm formation by these bacteria.