Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Common problems and coping solutions of university students in Taiwan

University life of today is full of challenges. News of school involved bad incidents has all become too common. In Taiwan, students are also faced with many pressures and problems. Problems such as academic stress, future job uncertainty, and interpersonal relationships are just some of the interrelated complications easily found in universities. To address this issue, the current mixed-method study uses a series of focus group sessions in order to solicit the various issues surrounding students’ day to day in-campus life challenges and their corresponding coping strategies. A survey questionnaire was then formulated from the results of the focus group sessions. A total of 123 valid surveys were collected. Data collected were analyzed together with their corresponding demographical backgrounds such as: gender, year level of study, place of living, working or non-working students, and course of study. Results show that the common students’ related complications are health problems, future career issues, lessons and examinations, learning difficulties, self-efficacy issues, interpersonal difficulties, time management, and stress causing issues. Statistical analyses were accomplished resulting to significant students’ school problems determining background factors such as students’ course of study, gender, working or non-working students, and place of living. While no significant differences were found on the common students’ coping strategies. Lastly, there seems to be a high correlation between the students’ problems and coping strategies within the stress causing issues, suggesting that stress related issues to be the root cause of major complications for university students in Taiwan.
Leading learning and teaching primary schools

Introduction Over the last decade attention to school leadership has grown. One of the most visible signs of this attention has been the creation of the National College for School Leadership which aims to play a leading role in supporting and developing leadership and management. Moreover, the college, like many others is eager to ensure that the strengthening of leaders' skills, actions and knowledge is geared to school improvement. In this article I want to discuss four issues which research findings, inspection evidence and experience have shown to be important in school leadership.
Playing with the Artworks: Engaging with Art through an Augmented Reality Game

In the majority of cases our experiences of artworks in galleries and museums is as passive observers. While this is widely accepted practice in terms artwork preservation it limits the engagement potential with younger visitors. In this paper, we present the results of a focus group with nine K-6 children revealing their opinions about (i) art, (ii) museums and galleries, and (iii) standard engagement practices in these venues. Participants stressed the importance of art and museums, showed a high respect for artworks and artists, depicted interactive activities they liked at museums, and described how they would liven up art venues. In addition, we explored a way of using augmented reality (AR) technology to create an engaging and personal art experience for a young audience. To achieve this, we built a prototype for a treasure hunt style game where participants coloured a contour drawing not knowing what exactly they are colouring. However, they were told that if this coloured drawing is placed correctly, it should wrap around a 3D object (statue) or overlay a 2D canvas (picture) somewhere in the gallery.
Quantum Transport in Nanowires and Nanographene

Transport in nanowires and nanographene with emphasis on nanotubes is reviewed from classical to quantum, low-field to high-field, nondegenrate to degenerate, scattering limited to ballistic, and beyond. Nonequilibrium Arora distribution function (NEADF) is shown to be an outgrowth of the Fermi-Dirac statistics by inclusion of the energy gained in a mean free path (mfp). NEADF is highly asymmetric with electrons changing equilibrium random phase to extreme nonequilibrium unilateral phase in a towering electric field. The drift response to the electric field is shown to be limited to the unilateral intrinsic velocity appropriate for twice the carrier concentration as electrons transfer from -x-direction to +x-direction in the presence of an extremely high electric field in the -x-direction. An electron temperature for degenerate statistics is defined to make it compatible with nondegenrate statistics. The intrinsic velocity giving saturation is shown to be independent of the scattering-limited or ballistic mobility. Optical phonon emission may lower the saturation velocity. In a low-field domain, the mobility may become size-dependent and is ballistic when injection from the ohmic contacts is considered.
HLA-B*2704, an Allotype Associated with Ankylosing Spondylitis, Is Critically Dependent on Transporter Associated with Antigen Processing and Relatively Independent of Tapasin and Immunoproteasome for Maturation, Surface Expression, and T Cell Recognition: Relationship to B*2705 and B*27061

B*2704 is strongly associated to ankylosing spondylitis in Asian populations. It differs from the main HLA-B27 allotype, B*2705, in three amino acid changes. We analyzed the influence of tapasin, TAP, and immunoproteasome induction on maturation, surface expression, and T cell allorecognition of B*2704 and compared some of these features with B*2705 and B*2706, allotypes not associated to disease. In the tapasin-deficient . 220 cell line, this chaperone significantly influenced the extent of folding of B*2704 and B*2705, but not their egress from the endoplasmic reticulum. In contrast, B*2706 showed faster folding and no accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum in the absence of tapasin. Surface expression of B*2704 was more tapasin dependent than B*2705. However, expression of free H chain decreased in the presence of this chaperone for B*2705 but not B*2704, suggesting that more suboptimal ligands were loaded on B*2705 in the absence of tapasin. Despite its influence on surface expression, tapasin had little effect on allorecognition of B*2704. Both surface expression and T cell recognition of B*2704 were critically dependent on TAP, as established with TAP-deficient and TAP-proficient T2 cells. Both immunoproteasome and surface levels of B*2704 were induced by IFN-γ, but this had little effect on allorecognition. Thus, except for the differential effects of tapasin on surface expression, the tapasin, TAP, and immunoproteasome dependency of B*2704 for maturation, surface expression, and T cell recognition are similar to B*2705, indicating that basic immunological features are shared by the two major HLA-B27 allotypes associated to ankylosing spondylitis in human populations.
Performance Analysis of Isolated Self-Excited Reluctance Generators Connected to Diode Bridge Rectifier

- This paper presents the performance of a three-phase self-excited reluctance generator connected to a diode bridge rectifier. The steady-state mathematical model is used to perform the self-excited reluctance generator performance. The performance is presented under load and no load cases for different operation conditions. The experiments are performed using a prototype reluctance generator. MATLAB/SIMULINK software is used to simulate the system. The simulation results are compared with the experiment results
Risk factors for cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: Results of a case‐control study

The role of the viral genotype, especially genotype 1b, in the severity of liver injury induced by chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is unclear, probably because of confounding factors such as the date and mode of contamination. Host genetic or environmental factors such as heterozygous MZ α1‐antitrypsin deficiency or alcoholism, could also be potential risk factors for the development of cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of genotypes, α1‐antitrypsin phenotype, past hepatitis B virus infection, and alcohol consumption in cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis C. We conducted a case‐control study comparing 84 consecutive cirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis C (cases) with 84 noncirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis C (controls) selected from a cohort of 464 patients hospitalized during the same period. Controls were paired with cases according to age, sex, risk factors, and date of infection. HCV genotypes were determined using the InnoLiPA technique (Innogenetics, Zwijnaarde, Belgium) and classified according to the method of Simmonds. Patients were divided in three groups according to alcohol consumption: <30 g/d (light), 30 to 80 g/d (moderate), and >80 g/d (heavy). Cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients were not significantly different in terms of genotype distribution (1a/1b/2a/3a/others/undetermined: 10/48/7/17/0/2 versus 11/43/10/10/5/5), α1‐antitrypsin phenotype distribution (MM/MS/MZ: 84%/14%/2% vs. 87%/11%/2%, respectively), and prevalence of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen positivity (29% vs. 23%). Alcohol consumption was significantly different between cases and controls (L/M/H: 58%/27%/16% vs. 76%/15%/9%, respectively; P < .05). Two conclusions regarding patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection can be drawn from this study: 1) viral genotype, especially 1b, past hepatitis B virus infection, and heterozygous MZ α1‐antitrypsin deficiency are not risk factors for cirrhosis; and 2) alcohol consumption, even moderate, is a risk factor for cirrhosis.
Multiparametric Detection of Antibodies against Different EBV Antigens to Predict Risk for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in a High-Risk Population of China

In this study, we aimed to use the combined detection of multiple antibodies against Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) antigens to develop a model for screening and diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Samples of 300 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients and 494 controls, including 294 healthy subjects (HC), 99 non-nasopharyngeal carcinoma cancer patients (NNPC), and 101 patients with benign nasopharyngeal lesions (BNL), were incubated with the EUROLINE Anti-EBV Profile 2, and band intensities were used to establish a risk prediction model. The nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk probability analysis based on the panel of VCAgp125 IgA, EBNA-1 IgA, EA-D IgA, EBNA-1 IgG, EAD IgG, and VCAp19 IgG displayed the best performance. When using 26.1% as the cutoff point in ROC analysis, the AUC value and sensitivity/specificity were 0.951 and 90.7%/86.2%, respectively, in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and all controls. In nasopharyngeal carcinoma and controls without the non-nasopharyngeal carcinoma and BNL groups, the AUC value and sensitivity/specificity were 0.957 and 90.7%/88.1%, respectively. The diagnostic specificity and sensitivity of the EUROLINE Anti-EBV Profile 2 assay for both nasopharyngeal carcinoma and early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma were higher than that of mono-antibody detection by immune-enzymatic assay and real-time PCR (EBV DNA). In the VCA-IgA–negative group, 82.6% of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients showed high probability for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and the negative predictive value was 97.1%. In the VCA-IgA–positive group, 73.3% of healthy subjects showed low probability. The positive predictive value reached 98.2% in this group. The nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk probability value determined by the EUROLINE Anti-EBV Profile 2 might be a suitable tool for nasopharyngeal carcinoma screening. Cancer Prev Res; 10(9); 542–50. ©2017 AACR.
Suppression by Interleukin 4 of Activation of Human Blood Monocytes to the Tumoricidal State

The effect of interleukin 4 (IL‐4) on expression of antitumor activity of blood monocytes purified by counter‐flow centrifugal elutriation from healthy donors was examined. The blood monocytes were incubated for 24 h in medium with lipopolysaccharide, interferon γ (IFN‐γ) or desmethyl muramyl dipeptide (norMDP) or with IFN‐γ and norMDP in the presence of IL‐4, and then their tumoricidal activity was assayed by measuring 125IUdR release from human melanoma (A375) cells. Irrespective of activation stimulus, addition of IL‐4 to cultures of monocytes and activators resulted in dose‐dependent suppression of the tumoricidal activity of monocytes against parent A375 melanoma cells and the variant cells, A375‐R resistant to IL‐1 and tumor necrosis factor α. IL‐4 suppressed the early induction phase of monocyte activation. Rabbit anti‐IL‐4 antisera completely blocked the IL‐4‐mediated suppression of monocyte activation to the tumoricidal state. These findings suggest that IL‐4 is important in vivo in down‐regulation of anti‐tumor expression of monocytes.
Dynamics of channel negotiations: Contention and reciprocity

We examine the dynamics of channel negotiations in terms of two useful notions: contention and reciprocity. Contention refers to the degree of overall tension between bargaining opponents. It expresses itself in all areas relevant to the negotiation process: economics, communications, and perceptions. In fact, level of contention is a dimension that ties these areas inseparably to each other. Reciprocity is the mechanism through which contention is maintained at the same or comparable levels among bargaining opponents. Reciprocity can be observed in all tactics and perceptions that cause or indicate contention. We examine these notions in two negotiation experiments and establish baseline behaviors in bargaining encounters. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cost-effectiveness analyses for injury prevention initiatives in low- and middle-income countries

Eighty-five percent of the worlds’ population live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). 1 An LMIC is defined as a country with a gross national income per capita of ⩽US$11 115 in 2006.2 Although less than 40% of the world’s vehicles are found in LMICs, more than 85% of all deaths due to traffic crashes occur in LMICs.3 Fatality rates per 100 000 population in LMICs are substantially higher than those in high-income countries (HICs). For example, traffic crash fatality rates in the LMICs of Africa and Central/South America are 28.2 and 25.3 per 100 000 population, respectively, compared with 16.1 and 16.8 per 100 000 population in the HICs of North America and Europe, respectively.4 The high numbers of crashes, multiple deaths per crash, and the high mortality from traffic injuries all contribute to the high fatality rates in LMICs.5 Deaths due to traffic crashes in LMICs affect children and those of working age (15–44 years) the most (table 1). In the 15–44 year age group, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in men, accounting for about three-quarters of deaths in this age group.4 6 7 There are also distinct differences in fatality rates between types of road users and between rural and urban settings within countries. For example, traffic fatalities and injuries mostly occur to pedestrians, passengers and cyclists in LMICs, whereas in the developed world, drivers are most likely to be killed or injured.1 4 View this table: Table 1 Traffic crash fatality rates per 100 000 population4 Fatality rates due to traffic crashes have increased dramatically in some countries; for example, from 1975 to 1998, rates increased 237% in Colombia, 243% in China, and 384% in Botswana.8 These increases are partly due to economic growth and a corresponding growth in the numbers of motor vehicles.1 5 8 9 What is being done about …
Prototyping for tiny fingers

The technique of building user interface prototypes on paper and testing them with real users is called low-fidelity (lo-fi) prototyping. Lo-fi prototyping is a simple and effective tool that has failed to come into general use in the software community. Paper prototyping is potentially a breakthrough idea for organizations that have never tried it, since it allows developers to demonstrate the behavior of an interface very early in development, and test designs with real users. If quality is partially a function of the number of iterations and refinements a design undergoes before it enters the market, lo-fi prototyping is a technique that can dramatically increase quality. It is fast, it brings results early in development, and it allows a team to try far more ideas then they could with high-fidelity prototypes. The steps for building a lo-fi prototype include: 1. Assemble a kit. 2. Set a deadline. 3. Construct models, not illustrations. Steps for preparing for and conducting a test of the prototype are also discussed.
Brain Abscess Associated with Multidrug-Resistant Capnocytophaga ochracea Infection

ABSTRACT Brain abscesses are occasionally associated with a dental source of infection. An unusual case of frontal lobe abscess in a nonimmunocompromised child infected with multidrug-resistant Capnocytophaga ochracea is described and confirms the pathogenic potential of this organism to cause human disease in the central nervous system.
Wideband Tri-band Filter Design using Stepped-impedance Stub Resonators

This letter presents a wideband tri-passband filter in which tri-section stepped-impedance shunt-stubs are used as tri-mode resonators, connected by transmission lines. Developed from the topology of quarter-wavelength stub filters, these filters have much wider passbands compared to many other designs published. The stepped-impedance stubs also contribute transmission zeros between the passbands, thus increasing the isolation. A prototype filter with passbands located at 0.6-1, 1.5-1.8 and 2.2-2.4 GHz is designed by an optimization method. Good agreement between simulation and measurements in respect of low insertion loss and high isolation is demonstrated.
The Combined Repetitive Oligopeptides of Clostridium difficile Toxin A Counteract Premature Cleavage of the Glucosyl-Transferase Domain by Stabilizing Protein Conformation

Toxin A (TcdA) and B (TcdB) from Clostridium difficile enter host cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis. A prerequisite for proper toxin action is the intracellular release of the glucosyltransferase domain by an inherent cysteine protease, which is allosterically activated by inositol hexaphosphate (IP6). We found that in in vitro assays, the C-terminally-truncated TcdA1–1065 was more efficient at IP6-induced cleavage compared with full-length TcdA. We hypothesized that the C-terminally-located combined repetitive oligopeptides (CROPs) interact with the N-terminal part of the toxin, thereby preventing autoproteolysis. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays and microscale thermophoresis confirmed binding between the CROPs and the glucosyltransferase (TcdA1–542) or intermediate (TcdA1102–1847) domain of TcdA, respectively. This interaction between the N- and C-terminus was not found for TcdB. Functional assays revealed that TcdB was more susceptible to inactivation by extracellular IP6-induced cleavage. In vitro autoprocessing and inactivation of TcdA, however, significantly increased, either by acidification of the surrounding milieu or following exchange of its CROP domain by the homologous CROP domain of TcdB. Thus, TcdA CROPs contribute to the stabilization and protection of toxin conformation in addition to function as the main receptor binding domain.
Shot Boundary Detection for a Video under the Influence of Illumination: A Adaptive Thresholding Approach

Video Shot boundary detection is the process of automatically detecting the boundaries between shots in video. Shot Boundary detection is an important fundamental process in video data access, indexing, search and retrieval. The increased availability and usage of on-line digital video has created a need for automated video content analysis techniques. Detection of gradual transition and elimination of disturbances caused by illumination change is a major challenge in shot boundary detection technique. These disturbances are often mistaken as shot boundaries. It is a crucial task to develop a method that is not only insensitive to illumination change but also sensitive to detect shot change. An algorithm is proposed for shot boundary detection in presence of illumination change. This is very important for accurate detection of shot boundaries and very useful in content based analysis of video. First the algorithm removes illumination change using discrete cosine transform and discrete wavelet transform. Then shot boundaries are detected using normal difference & wavelet difference. A shot boundary is detected when the feature difference shows sharp change greater than threshold. Experimental study is performed on number of videos that include significant illumination change. The performance of proposed algorithm is better as compared to existing techniques
A phase I/IItrial of MYO‐029 in adult subjects with muscular dystrophy

Myostatin is an endogenous negative regulator of muscle growth and a novel target for muscle diseases. We conducted a safety trial of a neutralizing antibody to myostatin, MYO‐029, in adult muscular dystrophies (Becker muscular dystrophy, facioscapulohumeral dystrophy, and limb‐girdle muscular dystrophy).
BROADCAST SCHEDULING FOR MOBILE ADVERTISING BERT DE REYCK and ZEGER DEGRAEVE

We describe a broadcast scheduling system developed for a precision marketing firm specialized in location-sensitive permission-based mobile advertising using SMS (Short Message Service) text messaging. Text messages containing advertisements were sent to registered customers when they were shopping in one of two shopping centers in the vicinity of London. The ads typically contained a limited-time promotional offer. The company’s problem was deciding which ads to send out to which customers at what particular time, given a limited capacity of broadcast time slots, while maximizing customer response and revenues from retailers paying for each ad broadcast. We solved the problem using integer programming with an interface in Microsoft Excel. The system significantly reduced the time required to schedule the broadcasts, and resulted both in increased customer response and revenues.
Actin Waves Do Not Boost Neurite Outgrowth in the Early Stages of Neuron Maturation

During neurite development, Actin Waves (AWs) emerge at the neurite base and move up to its tip, causing a transient retraction of the Growth Cone (GC). Many studies have shown that AWs are linked to outbursts of neurite growth and, therefore, contribute to the fast elongation of the nascent axon. Using long term live cell-imaging, we show that AWs do not boost neurite outgrowth and that neurites without AWs can elongate for several hundred microns. Inhibition of Myosin II abolishes the transient GC retraction and strongly modifies the AWs morphology. Super-resolution nanoscopy shows that Myosin IIB shapes the growth cone-like AWs structure and is differently distributed in AWs and GCs. Interestingly, depletion of membrane cholesterol and inhibition of Rho GTPases decrease AWs frequency and velocity. Our results indicate that Myosin IIB, membrane tension, and small Rho GTPases are important players in the regulation of the AW dynamics. Finally, we suggest a role for AWs in maintaining the GCs active during environmental exploration.