Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Learning Characteristics of Gifted Literacy Disabled Students

Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writing and spelling. The present study uses a ‘differentiated models of giftedness and talent’ framework to examine the learning characteristics of these students. The students, 65 gifted primary school students in Melbourne, had a disability in literacy performance in at least one of reading prose accuracy, prose reading comprehension, or isolated word reading accuracy. Their phonemic awareness (segmentation and blending), and general ability using the WISC-III were assessed. As well, to provide an opportunity for the display of their gifted knowledge, tasks examining their ability to infer from what they had read for texts read accurately were used. Scores on the cognitive factors of the WISC-III identified three categories or ‘profiles’ of gifted knowledge: students gifted verbally, nonverbally and in both areas. The three profiles were associated with particular patterns in literacy knowledge. Comparison with matching cohorts of gifted students who were not literacy disabled (N = 60) and non-gifted students who had a literacy learning disability (N = 42) suggests that the literacy disability is attributed to lower use of analytic information processing strategies that influenced phonemic awareness knowledge and alphanumeric symbolic coding ability. It also showed that the gifted literacy disabled students could display their gifted knowledge during reading comprehension when provided with appropriate tasks. The implications of this study for the diagnosis and teaching of gifted literacy disabled students are discussed.
Acupuncture Alters Expression of Insulin Signaling Related Molecules and Improves Insulin Resistance in OLETF Rats

To determine effect of acupuncture on insulin resistance in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats and to evaluate expression of insulin signaling components. Rats were divided into three groups: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, OLETF rats, and acupuncture+OLETF rats. Acupuncture was subcutaneously applied to Neiguan (PC6), Zusanli (ST36), and Sanyinjiao (SP6); in contrast, acupuncture to Shenshu (BL23) was administered perpendicularly. For Neiguan (PC6) and Zusanli (ST36), needles were connected to an electroacupuncture (EA) apparatus. Fasting blood glucose (FPG) was measured by glucose oxidase method. Plasma fasting insulin (FINS) and serum C peptide (C-P) were determined by ELISA. Protein and mRNA expressions of insulin signaling molecules were determined by Western blot and real-time RT-PCR, respectively. OLETF rats exhibit increased levels of FPG, FINS, C-P, and homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), which were effectively decreased by acupuncture treatment. mRNA expressions of several insulin signaling related molecules IRS1, IRS2, Akt2, aPKCζ, and GLUT4 were decreased in OLETF rats compared to SD controls. Expression of these molecules was restored back to normal levels upon acupuncture administration. PI3K-p85α was increased in OLETF rats; this increase was also reversed by acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture improves insulin resistance in OLETF rats, possibly via regulating expression of key insulin signaling related molecules.
The genome‐centric concept: resynthesis of evolutionary theory

Modern biology has been heavily influenced by the gene‐centric concept. Paradoxically, this very concept – on which bioresearch is based – is challenged by the success of gene‐based research in terms of explaining evolutionary theory. To overcome this major roadblock, it is essential to establish new theories, to not only solve the key puzzles presented by the gene‐centric concept, but also to provide a conceptual framework that allows the field to grow. This paper discusses a number of paradoxes and illustrates how they can be addressed by the genome‐centric concept in order to further resynthesize evolutionary theory. In particular, methodological breakthroughs that analyze genome evolution are discussed. The multiple interactions among different levels of a complex system provide the key to understanding the relationship between self‐organization and natural selection. Darwinian natural selection applies to the biological level due to its unique genetic and heterogeneous features, but does not simply or directly apply to either the lower non‐living level or higher intellectual society level. At the complex bio‐system level, the genome context (the entire package of genes and their genomic physical relationship or genomic topology), not the individual genes, defines the system and serves as the principle selection platform for evolution.
SPEECH ENHANCEMENT USING TIME-DELAY ESTIMATION

This paper presents a new constrained subband beamforming algorithm to enhance speech signals generated by a moving source in a noisy environment. The beamformer is based on the principle of a soft constraint calculated from an estimated source position. The soft constraint secures the spatial-temporal passage of the desired source signal in the adaptive update of the beamforming weights and guaranties the full rank property of the covariance matrix inverted in the update. This approach allows for an efficient adaptation of the beamformer to speaker movement by using a tracking algorithm for sound source time-delay estimation. The proposed method has the benefit of taking into consideration the discrepancies in the acoustical environment model as well as errors in the time-delay estimation. Evaluation in a real environment with a moving speaker in a hands-free situation shows up to 10 dB noise suppression and 20 dB interference suppression within the conventional telephone bandwidth. This is achieved with a negligible impact on target signal distortion.
Aging related erectile dysfunction—potential mechanism to halt or delay its onset

Erectile dysfunction (ED) will visit every man at some time in his life. The age at when that knock on the door is heard is totally dependent on one’s genetics as well as other extrinsic factors. Unlike guests who come for a visit and then leave, once ED shows up it tends to hang around forever. To add insult to injury, the longer ED hangs around, the worse it will get. It is estimated that by the time a man is in his 40’s, he has about a 40% chance of having some form of ED and this prevalence increases about 10% per decade thereafter. This suggests that the aging related process that leads to ED begins early in life. It turns out that the most common cause of ED, regardless of the patient’s age, is due to a problem with the vascular system of the penis. However, this specific aging related vascular problem is not caused by arterial disease but due to a dysfunction and/or loss of the corporal smooth muscle cells (SMC), the main constituent of the corporal sinusoids. As one gets older, these SMC continue to degrade and disappear. When approximately 15% of these cells have been impacted, it results in an inability of the corporal tissue to retain and/or prevent the blood from “leaking” out of the corporal sinusoids into the systemic veins. However, the corporal SMC themselves begin to combat this aging process by expressing the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) enzyme to make nitric oxide (NO) in an attempt to quench the high intracellular oxidative stress responsible for the SMC apoptosis. When this iNOS pathway is then pharmacologically upregulated, reversal of these aging related changes in the corpora with correction of the venous leakage is observed. Since we believe that aging related ED is pathologically the same disorder as essential hypertension, the development of a therapeutic regimen that can halt, delay or possibly reverse the cellular processes that lead to aging related ED should also be applicable to those patients diagnosed with essential hypertension.
Deconfining phase transition and the continuum limit of lattice quantum chromodynamics.

We present a large-scale Monte Carlo calculation of the deconfining phasetransition temperature in lattice quantum chromodynamics without ferminons. Using the Wilson action, we find that the transition temperature as a function of the lattice coupling g is consistent with scaling behaviour dictated by the perturbative β-function for 6/g2 > 6.15.
Fat Borders : Gap Filling For Efficient View-dependent LOD Rendering

Real-time high quality rendering of complex models remains a big challenge. Simply splitting the models into several parts which can be simplified and rendered independently introduces disturbing gaps along the common borders. Recent approaches for viewdependent rendering of huge models either neglect the artifacts introduced by the gaps or try to maintain the connectivity of the models. Unfortunately, in the second case the computational complexity and storage requirements of the algorithms are tremendous. In this work we present a novel solution to the gap problem. Vertex programs are used to generate appropriately shaded fat lines that fill the gaps between neighbouring patches. Based on our method the development of new algorithms for out-of-core simplification and view-dependent rendering of complex triangle meshes is straightforward. Due to its generality, simplicity and effectiveness our method has the potential of becoming part of future graphics APIs. To demonstrate the capabilities of our method we apply our new algorithm to the rendering of complex trimmed NURBS models, where the gap problem becomes especially apparent as these models consist already of thousands of independent trimmed patches. Combining the new gap filling algorithm with an on-the-fly tessellation of the individual trimmed NURBS patches we are able to visualize deformable trimmed NURBS models with dynamic neighbourhood in real-time. CR Categories: I.3. 3 [COMPUTER GRAPHICS]: Picture/Image Generation—Display algorithms; I.3. 7 [COMPUTER GRAPHICS]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism—Animation
Conditions for existance of neutral strange quark matter

Breached pairing solutions to the gap equation are obtained analytically in for two and three quarks and for low and high temperatures. We compare the energy of these states to that of other homogeneous states under the condition of electric neutrality. We found the two-flavor BP and the three flavor mixed BCS-BP phases, which are stable over a wide range of parameters. Both phases contain four BP modes in the quasiparticle spectrum.
SPINK1 Status in Colorectal Cancer, Impact on Proliferation, and Role in Colitis-Associated Cancer

Colorectal cancer is a major cause of deaths due to cancer; therefore, research into its etiology is urgently needed. Although it is clear that chronic inflammation is a risk factor for colorectal cancer, the details remain uncertain. Serine protease inhibitor, Kazal type 1 (SPINK1) is mainly produced in pancreatic acinar cells. However, SPINK1 is expressed in various cancers and in inflammatory states, such as colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. There are structural similarities between SPINK1 and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Hence, it was hypothesized that SPINK1 functions as a growth factor for tissue repair in inflammatory states, and if prolonged, acts as a promoter for cell proliferation in cancerous tissues. Here, immunohistochemical staining for SPINK1 was observed in a high percentage of colorectal cancer patient specimens and SPINK1 induced proliferation of human colon cancer cell lines. To clarify its role in colon cancer in vivo, a mouse model exposed to the colon carcinogen azoxymethane and nongenotoxic carcinogen dextran sodium sulfate revealed that Spink3 (mouse homolog of SPINK1) is overexpressed in cancerous tissues. In Spink3 heterozygous mice, tumor multiplicity and tumor volume were significantly decreased compared with wild-type mice. These results suggest that SPINK1/Spink3 stimulates the proliferation of colon cancer cells and is involved in colorectal cancer progression. Implications: Evidence suggests that SPINK1 is an important growth factor that connects chronic inflammation and cancer. Mol Cancer Res; 13(7); 1130–8. ©2015 AACR.
Micromagnetic Microscopy and Modeling

With the miniaturization of magnetic technologies, the need to understand magnetization on length scales below a micron is becoming increasingly important. This booming interest in micro magnetics has fueled a renaissance in both micro‐magnetic modeling and measurement techniques. Conversely, the codevelop‐ment of modeling and imaging has made possible recent advances in this critical area of magnetism. On the modeling side, the rapid development of high‐speed computing has had a tremendous impact on micromagnetics simulations. On the measurement side, a number of microscopies have been developed for imaging on a length scale of tens of nanometers. Figure 1 shows an image of rows of bits in a magneto‐optical medium. The bits were both written and imaged using a magnetic force microscope. Results on this length scale provide information that can be used in models and also challenge models’ predictive capabilities. The image on the cover of this issue shows naturally occurring domain patterns in a single‐cr.
Single-Dose Bioequivalence of a New Fixed-Dose Combination TabletContaining Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate and Lamivudine

Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate, CAS 147127-20-6 is a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor with potent activity against both HIV and hepatitis B infections. Lamivudine, CAS 134678-17-4 is a nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor developed as a treatment for HIV infection and also with activity against hepatitis B virus. The combination of tenofovir and lamivudine associated either with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors or with a ritonavir-boosted or unboosted protease inhibitor are recommended as preferred regimens for antiretroviral therapy-naive patients infected with HIV, and also for the treatment of HIV-HVB coinfected patients. The objective of this study was to compare rate and extent of absorption and to assess the bioequivalence between a new pharmaceutical equivalent tablet formulation containing a fixed-dose combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/ lamivudine 300/300 mg and the innovator products. A randomized, single-center, open-label, single-dose, two-way crossover bioequivalence study in 40 healthy adult subjects was conducted. Dosing was separated by a wash-out period of 14 days. All subjects signed an informed consent form. In each study period, 13 blood samples were collected in Vacutainers containing EDTA over 48 h. Plasma levels of tenofovir and lamivudine were determined by a validated HPLC/fluorescence assay and by a validated HPLC/UV assay, respectively. Rate and extent of absorption were similar between products. The 90% confidence interval(CI) of the ratio of the geometric means for log-transformed C max , AUC last and AUC inf values were used to assess bioequivalence between the two formulations using the equivalence interval of 80 and 125%. In healthy subjects, the point estimate and 90 % C I of the ratios of C max , AUC last and AUC inf values for tenofovir were 100.99%(92.89-109.80%), 96.11%(90.02-102.63%) and 94.73%(88.22-101.73%), respectively; and for lamivudine were 90.37%(83.76-97.50%), 97.02%(93.27-100.93%) and 97.04%(93.41-100.82%), respectively. Both treatments exhibited similar tolerability and safety. It was concluded that the new pharmaceutical formulation was bioequivalent to the innovators.
Rigid biodegradable photopolymer structures of high resolution using deep-UV laser photocuring

Recently there has been increasing effort in using microstereolithography to produce scaffolds of crosslinkable and biodegradable polymers, with desired configurations of high spatial resolution, able to regulate the growth and distribution of cells and consequently the tissue development and engineering on them. The use of deep-UV radiation allows high resolution both in the transversal plane (optical resolution) and in the vertical direction (curing depth) due to the intrinsic large absorption of polymers in this region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Herein we present high-resolution photocrosslinking of the biodegradable poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) and diethyl fumarate (DEF), using pulsed laser light at 248 nm. The curing depth can be modulated between a few hundreds of nanometers (nm) and a few micrometers (µm) by adjusting the energy dose, the number of incident pulses and the weight ratios of PPF, DEF and photoinitiator in the photocrosslinkable mixtures. The lateral resolution is evaluated by projecting a pattern of a grid with a specified line width and line spacing, and is found to be a few µm. Young's modulus of the cured parts is measured and found to be several GPa, high enough to support bone formation. The results presented here demonstrate that the proposed technique is suitable for the fabrication of stiff and biocompatible structures with defined patterns of micrometer resolution in all three spatial dimensions, setting the first step toward deep-UV laser microstereolithography.
Designing Message-Dependent Deadlock Free Networks on Chips for Application-Specific Systems on Chips

Networks on chip (NoC) has emerged as the paradigm for designing scalable communication architecture for systems on chips (SoCs). Avoiding the conditions that can lead to deadlocks in the network is critical for using NoCs in real designs. Methods that can lead to deadlock-free operation with minimum power and area overhead are important for designing application-specific NoCs. A major class of deadlocks that occur in NoCs are due to the dependencies among the resources shared by different message types. In this work, we consider the problem of avoiding message-dependent deadlocks during the NoC topology synthesis phase. We show that by considering this issue during topology synthesis, we can obtain a significantly better NoC design than traditional methods, where the deadlock avoidance issue is dealt with separately. Our experiments on several SoC benchmarks show that our proposed scheme provides large reduction in NoC power consumption (an average of 38.5%) and NoC area (an average of 30.7%) when compared to traditional approaches
Do English NHS waiting time targets distort treatment priorities in orthopaedic surgery?

Objectives: To assess and quantify the impact of guarantees on maximum waiting times on clinical decisions to admit patients from waiting lists for orthopaedic surgery. Methods: Before and after comparative study, analysing changes in waiting times distributions between 1997/8 and 2001/2 for waiting list and booked inpatients and day cases admitted for elective treatments in trauma and orthopaedics in English hospitals. Results: The 2001/2 maximum waiting time target of 15 months did change the pattern of admissions for trauma and orthopaedic elective inpatients, with a net increase in admissions in that year, compared with 1997/8 (and over and above the 30,259 (7.6%) overall increase in all admissions) of patients who had waited around 15 months, of 9333. There was little indication that these additional admissions displaced shorter wait patients. In absolute and proportional terms, admissions increased for all waiting time categories except very short waiters – one to two weeks (an absolute fall of 2901 and a relative fall of 6591), and those waiting 40–41 weeks. The latter fall was only 111 patients in absolute terms (or 577 relative to the expected increase), however. The former much larger reduction may be an indication of clinical distortions, but it is unclear why very short wait (presumably more urgent) patients should disproportionately suffer compared with longer wait (presumably less urgent) cases. In addition, there was little indication that more minor cases usurped more major cases: 57% of the increase consisted of knee and hip replacement procedures, for example. Conclusions: While the 2001/2 waiting times target demonstrably changed admission patterns (and was a major contribution to the reduction in long waits), the extent to which this represented significant and clinically relevant distortions is questionable given the lack of widely accepted admission criteria. However, as targets become progressively tougher, there is a need to monitor consultants' concerns more closely.
FUNDAMENTAL ACTIONS OF AIR-ENTRAINING AGENTS

THE FORMATION AND RETENTION OF AIR BUBBLES IN CEMENT PASTES CONTAINING SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENTS, DEPEND GENERALLY ON TWO MAJOR FACTORS: (1) AFTER ANY PRECIPITATION OR ADSORPTION, THE RESIDUAL CONCENTRATION OF THE SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT IN THE MIXING WATER OF A PASTE MUST BE SUFFICIENT TO GENERATE AIR BUBBLES. (2) THE SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT SHOULD BE ADSORBED ON THE CEMENT PARTICLES MAKING THEM HYDROPHOBIC SO THAT AIR BUBBLES MAY ADHERE TO THEM. THE CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE FORMATION OF STABLE AIR-ENTRAINED MORTARS AND CONCRETES BY MEANS OF SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENTS ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE FOR CEMENT PASTES. HOWEVER, UNDER SOME CONDITIONS, THE AGGREGATE INFLUENCES THE AIR-ENTRAINMENT PROCESSES BY ENTRAPPING AND RETAINING AIR BUBBLES IN THE INTERSTICES BETWEEN AGGREGATE PARTICLES. THE VISCOSITIES AND BLEEDING PROPERTIES OF AIR-ENTRAINED CEMENT PASTES ARE AFFECTED BY BOTH THE PRESENCE OF AIR BUBBLES AND THE TYPE OF ADSORPTION OF THE SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT ON CEMENT. ALTHOUGH THE IMPROVEMENT IN WORKABILITY OF MORTARS AND CONCRETES PRODUCED BY AIR-ENTRAINMENT, IS DUE LARGELY TO THE PRESENCE OF AIR BUBBLES, THE HYDROPHOBIC ADSORPTION OF SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENTS CAN INFLUENCE SUCH PROPERTIES AS COHESIVENESS AND RESISTANCE TO SEGREGATION. THE SPECIFIC SURFACE AREAS OF ENTRAINED BUBBLES IN CEMENT PASTES DEPEND TO A LARGE EXTENT ON THE TYPE OF SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT USED AND THE EFFICIENCY OF MIXING. /CRIC/FESR/RRL/A/
Direct measurement of chlorine penetration into biofilms during disinfection

Transient chlorine concentration profiles were measured in biofilms during disinfection by use of a microelectrode developed for this investigation. The electrode had a tip diameter of ca. 10 microm and was sensitive to chlorine in the micromolar range. The biofilms contained Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Chlorine concentrations measured in biofilms were typically only 20% or less of the concentration in the bulk liquid. Complete equilibration with the bulk liquid did not occur during the incubation time of 1 to 2 h. The penetration depth of chlorine into the biofilm and rate of penetration varied depending on the measurement location, reflecting heterogeneity in the distribution of biomass and in local hydrodynamics. The shape of the chlorine profiles, the long equilibration times, and the dependence on the bulk chlorine concentration showed that the penetration was a function of simultaneous reaction and diffusion of chlorine in the biofilm matrix. Frozen cross sections of biofilms, stained with a redox dye and a DNA stain, showed that the area of chlorine penetration overlapped with nonrespiring zones near the biofilm-bulk fluid interface. These data indicate that the limited penetration of chlorine into the biofilm matrix is likely to be an important factor influencing the reduced efficacy of this biocide against biofilms as compared with its action against planktonic cells.