Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reading images in optics: Students' difficulties and teachers' views

This paper focuses on difficulties students have in reading images, regarding the understanding of a particular domain, e.g. optics and colour. We concentrated upon what extent teachers were conscious of such difficulties and what they suggested doing to avoid possible pitfalls in this respect. A list of expected obstacles, set up to initiate the study, was shown to be appropriate. It shows that, when they predicted or observed a misunderstanding, the consulted teachers tended to add some elements to a misleading image rather than discussing the symbols that were used, their more or less realistic status and their possible ambiguity. Implications for teacher training and the design of innovative sequences are briefly discussed.
Natural history of cerebral arteriovenous malformations: a meta-analysis.

OBJECT The purpose of this report was to provide overall arteriovenous malformation (AVM) hemorrhage rates and, with enhanced statistical power, to elucidate significant risk factors for hemorrhage. METHODS The authors performed a meta-analysis via the PubMed database through January 2012 using the terms "AVM," "arteriovenous malformation," "natural history," "bleed," and "hemorrhage. " Additional studies were identified through reference searches in each reviewed article. English language studies providing annual hemorrhage rates for AVMs were included. Data extraction, performed independently by the authors, included demographic data, hemorrhage rates, and hazard ratios for hemorrhage risk factors. The analysis was performed using a random effects model. RESULTS Nine natural history studies with 3923 patients and 18,423 patient-years of follow-up were identified for analysis. The overall annual hemorrhage rate was 3.0% (95% CI 2.7%-3.4%). The rate of hemorrhage was 2.2% (95% CI 1.7%-2.7%) for unruptured AVMs and 4.5% (95% CI 3.7%-5.5%) for ruptured AVMs. Prior hemorrhage (HR 3.2, 95% CI 2.1-4.3), deep AVM location (HR 2.4, 95% CI 1.4-3.4), exclusively deep venous drainage (HR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1-3.8), and associated aneurysms (HR 1.8, 95% CI 1.6-2.0) were statistically significant risk factors for hemorrhage. Any deep venous drainage (HR 1.3, 95% CI 0.9-1.75) and female sex (HR 1.4, 95% CI 0.6-2.1) demonstrated a trend toward an increased risk of hemorrhage that was not statistically significant. Small AVM size and older patient age were not significant risk factors for hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS Arteriovenous malformations with prior hemorrhage, deep location, exclusively deep venous drainage, and associated aneurysms have greater annual hemorrhage rates than their counterparts, influencing surgical decision making and the selection of radiosurgery for these lesions.
Cysteine 723 in the C‐linker segment confers oxidative inhibition of hERG1 potassium channels

Excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role under pathophysiological conditions, such as ischaemia/reperfusion and diabetes, potentially contributing to cardiac arrhythmia. hERG1 (KCNH2) potassium channels terminate the cardiac action potential and malfunction can lead to long‐QT syndrome and fatal arrhythmia. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of hERG1 channel alteration by ROS, hERG1 and mutants thereof were expressed in HEK293 cells and studied with the whole‐cell patch‐clamp method. Even mild ROS stress induced by hyperglycaemia markedly decreased channel current. Intracellular H2O2 or cysteine‐specific modifiers also strongly inhibited channel activity and accelerated deactivation kinetics. Mutagenesis revealed that cysteine 723 (C723), a conserved residue in a structural element linking the C‐terminal domain to the channel's gate, is critical for oxidative functional modification. Moreover, kinetics of channel closure strongly influences ROS‐induced modification, where rapid channel deactivation diminishes ROS sensitivity. Because of its fast deactivation kinetics, the N‐terminally truncated splice variant hERG1b possesses greater resistance to oxidative modification.
Dynamics of Cyberbullying on Twitter: ML Detection Models and the Catalytic role of Tweets Engagement Metrics

In today's interconnected digital landscape, the alarming rise of cyberbullying has cast a shadow over online interactions, significantly impacting the well-being and safety of users. This research conducts a comprehensive analysis of various techniques and algorithms for identifying cyberbullying in Twitter tweets, utilising a diverse dataset and evaluation parameters such as precision, recall, Fl-score, and accuracy. The study assesses the effectiveness of two key detection algorithms, Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Naive Bayes classifiers, leveraging unigram, bigram, and trigram features. Additionally, the research explores how social engagement metrics like likes, retweets, and shares may amplify cyberbullying behaviour, shedding light on the intricate dynamics of cyberbullying detection and its amplification on Twitter through these engagement metrics
Shared Site Intergenerational Programs: A Case Study

Shared site intergenerational programs (SSIP) unite disparate age groups in quasi-kin relationships and meet the care needs of multiple generations of families. SSIPs can effectively support development through intergenerational relationships. However, many programs prove unsustainable. The authors conducted a case study of an established SSIP serving frail older adults and preschool-aged children using surveys and interviews from parents, family caregivers, and older adult clients with dementia. Benefits included appreciation for diversity, formation of close intergenerational relationships, and enhanced client self-esteem. Challenges related to developmental differences and need for greater communication with families. SSIPs can benefit individuals, families, and human services organizations.
The Challenges of Scientific Literacy: From the viewpoint of second‐generation cognitive science

Recent trends in cognitive science have not made scientific literacy easier to attain, but they have made the practices through which educators meet its challenges more interpretable. Traditionally, cognitive scientists viewed knowledge as a set of propositions comprised of classical concepts, thought as logical inference and language as a literal representation of the world. They attributed the same denotative characteristics to cognition as to science text. In contrast, many contemporary cognitive scientists view knowledge as comprised of fuzzy and contextual concepts, thought as perceptually rather than formally grounded, and language as largely metaphorical and narrative. In this view the expressive characteristics of cognitive representations differ from the relatively denotative characteristics of science texts. Science literacy education bridges this difference through practices that help students: build classical concepts on a fuzzy cognitive architecture, achieve formally valid reasoning using perceptually driven operations, and construct written explanations and arguments using speech‐like and narrative language.
Overcoming Multidrug Resistance via Photodestruction of ABCG2-Rich Extracellular Vesicles Sequestering Photosensitive Chemotherapeutics

Multidrug resistance (MDR) remains a dominant impediment to curative cancer chemotherapy. Efflux transporters of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily including ABCG2, ABCB1 and ABCC1 mediate MDR to multiple structurally and functionally distinct antitumor agents. Recently we identified a novel mechanism of MDR in which ABCG2-rich extracellular vesicles (EVs) form in between attached neighbor breast cancer cells and highly concentrate various chemotherapeutics in an ABCG2-dependent manner, thereby sequestering them away from their intracellular targets. Hence, development of novel strategies to overcome MDR modalities is a major goal of cancer research. Towards this end, we here developed a novel approach to selectively target and kill MDR cancer cells. We show that illumination of EVs that accumulated photosensitive cytotoxic drugs including imidazoacridinones (IAs) and topotecan resulted in intravesicular formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and severe damage to the EVs membrane that is shared by EVs-forming cells, thereby leading to tumor cell lysis and the overcoming of MDR. Furthermore, consistent with the weak base nature of IAs, MDR cells that are devoid of EVs but contained an increased number of lysosomes, highly accumulated IAs in lysosomes and upon photosensitization were efficiently killed via ROS-dependent lysosomal rupture. Combining targeted lysis of IAs-loaded EVs and lysosomes elicited a synergistic cytotoxic effect resulting in MDR reversal. In contrast, topotecan, a bona fide transport substrate of ABCG2, accumulated exclusively in EVs of MDR cells but was neither detected in lysosomes of normal breast epithelial cells nor in non-MDR breast cancer cells. This exclusive accumulation in EVs enhanced the selectivity of the cytotoxic effect exerted by photodynamic therapy to MDR cells without harming normal cells. Moreover, lysosomal alkalinization with bafilomycin A1 abrogated lysosomal accumulation of IAs, consequently preventing lysosomal photodestruction of normal breast epithelial cells. Thus, MDR modalities including ABCG2-dependent drug sequestration within EVs can be rationally converted to a pharmacologically lethal Trojan horse to selectively eradicate MDR cancer cells.
Developmental regulation of α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazole‐propionic acid receptor subunit expression in forebrain and relationship to regional susceptibility to hypoxic/ischemic injury. I. Rodent cerebral white matter and cortex

This is the first part of a two‐part study to investigate the cellular distribution and temporal regulation of α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazole‐propionic acid receptor (AMPAR) subunits in the developing white matter and cortex in rat (part I) and human (part II). Western blot and immunocytochemistry were used to evaluate the differential expression of AMPAR subunits on glial and neuronal subtypes during the first 3 postnatal weeks in the Long Evans and Sprague Dawley rat strains. In Long Evans rats during the first postnatal week, GluR2‐lacking AMPARs were expressed predominantly on white matter cells, including radial glia, premyelinating oligodendrocytes, and subplate neurons, whereas, during the second postnatal week, these AMPARs were highly expressed on cortical neurons, coincident with decreased expression on white matter cells. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that cell‐specific developmental changes in AMPAR expression occurred 2–3 days earlier by chronological age in Sprague Dawley rats compared with Long Evans rats, despite overall similar temporal sequencing. In both white and gray matter, the periods of high GluR2 deficiency correspond to those of regional susceptibility to hypoxic/ischemic injury in each of the two rat strains, supporting prior studies suggesting a critical role for Ca2+‐permeable AMPARs in excitotoxic cellular injury and epileptogenesis. The developmental regulation of these receptor subunits strongly suggests that Ca2+ influx through GluR2‐lacking AMPARs may play an important role in neuronal and glial development and injury in the immature brain. Moreover, as demonstrated in part II, there are striking similarities between rat and human in the regional and temporal maturational regulation of neuronal and glial AMPAR expression. J. Comp. Neurol. 497:42–60, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Similarity-Based Non-Scorable Response Detection for Automated Speech Scoring

This study provides a method that identifies problematic responses which make automated speech scoring difficult. When automated scoring is used in the context of a high stakes language proficiency assessment, for which the scores are used to make consequential decisions, some test takers may have an incentive to try to game the system in order to artificially inflate their scores. Since many automated proficiency scoring systems use fluency features such as speaking rate as one of the important features, students may engage in strategies designed to manipulate their speaking rate as measured by the system. In order to address this issue, we developed a method which filters out nonscorable responses based on text similarity measures. Given a test response, the method generated a set of features which calculated the topic similarity with the prompt question or the sample responses including relevant content. Next, an automated filter which identified these problematic responses was implemented using the similarity features. This filter improved the performance of the baseline filter in identifying responses with topic problems.
Evidence against High Extracellular Glutamate Promoting the Elicitation of Spreading Depression by Potassium

This study ascertains whether high extracellular glutamate contributes to the initiation of spreading depression (SD) by K+. Two microdialysis probes, each incorporating an electrode to record the extracellular direct current (DC) potential at the elicitation site, were implanted symmetrically in the cortex of anesthetized rats. Recurrent SD was triggered by perfusion of 130 mM K+ through the microdialysis probe for 20 min. On one side, this medium was supplemented with increasing concentrations of glutamate (0.1–1 mM) or of the selective glutamate uptake inhibitor L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate (L-trans-PDC; 1–10 mM). The effects of L-trans-PDC on extracellular glutamate and basal DC potential were studied in separate experiments. Application of K+ for 20 min consistently elicited five to seven waves of SD. Increasing the concentration of glutamate in the perfusion medium did not alter SD elicitation. Application of L-trans-PDC concentration dependently increased the dialysate levels of glutamate (by ∼ 19-fold with 10 mM L-trans-PDC) but, unexpectedly, reduced SD elicitation. These data do not support the hypothesis that SD is elicited because high extracellular glutamate resulting from exocytosis and/or reversal of glutamate uptake depolarizes adjacent neurons. As SD elicitation requires activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, these results also illustrate that sensitivity of a pathological or experimental event to NMDA receptor antagonists does not necessarily imply involvement of increased extracellular glutamate. This does not rule out a selective action of glutamate, transiently released from presynaptic vesicles, on immediately juxtaposed postsynaptic receptors.
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CARDIOGENIC SYNCOPE AND SEIZURE DISORDERS

Transient loss of consciousness is a dramatic symptom, which has many possible mechanisms and hence different therapeutic, psychosocial, and prognostic implications. It is a common cause both for emergency room visits and for hospitalisation, and has recently been the topic of a task force within the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). 1 Syncope is a symptom, defined as a transient, self limited loss of consciousness with a relatively rapid onset and usually leading to falling; the subsequent recovery is spontaneous, complete, and usually prompt. The underlying mechanism is a transient global cerebral hypoperfusion. Seizure is, according to the same document, synonymous with an epileptic fit , which is the manifestation of a paroxysmal discharge of abnormal rhythms in some part of the brain, and “ Epilepsy is then defined as a condition in which seizures recur, usually spontaneously”. 2 The diagnosis thus requires that the episodes are spontaneous or unprovoked and recurrent.3 In order to differentiate between syncope and seizure, videotelemetry with simultaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocardiographic (ECG) recording with multiple scalp and chest electrodes is required—a situation that is rarely fulfilled. There are clinically important relations between cardiovascular causes of syncope and seizure disorders (fig 1). Involuntary movements, often referred to as myoclonic jerks, may accompany syncope due to cardiovascular causes and create a differential diagnostic problem against seizure with important therapeutic and prognostic implications. These implications are basically: the underlying disease may not receive proper treatment, and some cardiac causes of syncope carry a considerable mortality risk; bradycardias might be aggravated by some (ion channel active) antiepileptic drugs (AEDs); and a diagnosis of epilepsy may also lead to significant psychosocial consequences.4 Put slightly differently: “Hardly anyone with epilepsy will come to any harm from a delay in diagnosis whereas a false positive diagnosis is gravely damaging”. …
3 Interpretable Conditions 3 . 1 Preliminary Notation and Nomenclature

This paper translates the conditions necessary for the identification of natural direct and indirect effects into a transparent language, thus permitting a more informed judgment of the plausibility of these conditions. We show that the conditions usually cited in the literature are overly restricted, and can be relaxed substantially, without compromising identification. In particular, we show that natural effects can be identified by methods other than adjustment. The identification conditions can be further relaxed in parametric models with interactions, and permit us to compare the relative importance of several pathways, mediated by interdependent variables.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Spain: Molecular Epidemiology and Utility of Different Typing Methods

ABSTRACT In a point-prevalence study performed in 145 Spanish hospitals in 2006, we collected 463 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus in a single day. Of these, 135 (29.2%) were methicillin (meticillin)-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates. Susceptibility testing was performed by a microdilution method, and mecA was detected by PCR. The isolates were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after SmaI digestion, staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) typing, agr typing, spa typing with BURP (based-upon-repeat-pattern) analysis, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The 135 MRSA isolates showed resistance to ciprofloxacin (93.3%), tobramycin (72.6%), gentamicin (20.0%), erythromycin (66.7%), and clindamycin (39.3%). Among the isolates resistant to erythromycin, 27.4% showed the M phenotype. All of the isolates were susceptible to glycopeptides. Twelve resistance patterns were found, of which four accounted for 65% of the isolates. PFGE revealed 36 different patterns, with 13 major clones (including 2 predominant clones with various antibiotypes that accounted for 52.5% of the MRSA isolates) and 23 sporadic profiles. Two genotypes were observed for the first time in Spain. SCCmec type IV accounted for 6.7% of the isolates (70.1% were type IVa, 23.9% were type IVc, 0.9% were type IVd, and 5.1% were type IVh), and SCCmec type I and SCCmec type II accounted for 7.4% and 5.2% of the isolates, respectively. One isolate was nontypeable. Only one of the isolates produced the Panton-Valentine leukocidin. The isolates presented agr type 2 (82.2%), type 1 (14.8%), and type 3 (3.0%). spa typing revealed 32 different types, the predominant ones being t067 (48.9%) and t002 (14.8%), as well as clonal complex 067 (78%) by BURP analysis. The MRSA clone of sequence type 125 and SCCmec type IV was the most prevalent throughout Spain. In our experience, PFGE, spa typing, SCCmec typing, and MLST presented good correlations for the majority of the MRSA strains; we suggest the use of spa typing and PFGE typing for epidemiological surveillance, since this combination is useful for both long-term and short-term studies.
Internet of Robotic Things: Concept, Technologies, and Challenges

Internet of Things allow massive number of uniquely addressable “things” to communicate with each other and transfer data over existing internet or compatible network protocols. This paper proposes a new concept which tackles the issues for supporting control and monitoring activities at deployment sites and industrial automations, where intelligent things can monitor peripheral events, induce sensor data acquired from a variety of sources, use ad hoc, local, and distributed “machine intelligence” to determine appropriate course of actions, and then act to control or disseminate static or dynamic position aware robotic things in the physical world through a seamless manner by providing a means for utilizing them as Internet of robotic things (IoRT). Although progressive advancements can be seen in multi-robotic systems, robots are constantly getting enriched by easier developmental functionalities, such vertical robotic service centric silos are not enough for continuously and seamlessly supporting for which they are meant. In this paper, a novel concept—IoRT is presented that highlights architectural principles, vital characteristics, as well as research challenges. The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the architectural assimilation of IoRT and identify important research directions on this term.
A prototype of behavior selection mechanism based on emotion

In bionic methodology rather than in design methodology more familiar with, summarizing the psychological researches of emotion, we propose the biologic mechanism of emotion, emotion selection role in creature evolution and a anima framework including emotion similar to the classical control structure; and consulting Prospect Theory, build an Emotion Characteristic Functions(ECF) that computer emotion; two more emotion theories are added to them that higher emotion is preferred and middle emotion makes brain run more efficiently, emotional behavior mechanism comes into being. A simulation of proposed mechanism are designed and carried out on Alife Swarm software platform. In this simulation, a virtual grassland ecosystem is achieved where there are two kinds of artificial animals: herbivore and preyer. These artificial animals execute four types of behavior: wandering, escaping, finding food, finding sex partner in their lives. According the theories of animal ethnology, escaping from preyer is prior to other behaviors for its existence, finding food is secondly important behavior, rating is third one and wandering is last behavior. In keeping this behavior order, based on our behavior characteristic function theory, the specific functions of emotion computing are built of artificial autonomous animals. The result of simulation confirms the behavior selection mechanism.