Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of Multiple Nonreturner Profiles to Inform the Development of Targeted College Retention Interventions

Throughout the college retention literature, there is a recurring theme that students leave college for a variety of reasons making retention a difficult phenomenon to model. In the current study, cluster analysis techniques were employed to investigate whether multiple empirically based profiles of nonreturning students existed to more fully understand the types of students with particular characteristics that are related to leaving college. Based on over 18,000 students who left their initial institution after the first year, analyses supported three clusters, which were labeled as Affordability Issues, Unexpected Underperformers, and Underprepared and Facing Hurdles. Follow-up analyses were then conducted to determine whether students from each cluster had different higher education trajectories. Students in the Underprepared and Facing Hurdles cluster were most likely to drop out of higher education completely or transfer to a 2-year institution. Those students in the Affordability Issues cluster were most likely to transfer to a less expensive 4-year institution. Finally, the Unexpected Underperformers behaved somewhere in between the other two clusters with regard to dropout and transfer behavior. The implications of these findings in terms of developing more thoughtful and targeted retention interventions for these different types of students are discussed.
Differences in proximal (cardia) versus distal (antral) gastric carcinogenesis via the retinoblastoma pathway.

AIM Disruption of cell cycle regulation is a critical event in carcinogenesis, and alteration of the retinoblastoma (pRb) tumour suppressor pathway is frequent. The aim of this study was to compare alterations in this pathway in proximal and distal gastric carcinogenesis in an effort to explain the observed striking epidemiological differences. METHODS Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate expression of p16 and pRb in the following groups of both proximal (cardia) and distal (antral) tissue samples: (a) biopsies showing normal mucosa, (b) biopsies showing intestinal metaplasia and, (c) gastric cancer resection specimens including uninvolved mucosa and tumour. RESULTS In the antrum there were highly significant trends for increased p16 expression with concomitant (and in the group of carcinomas inversely proportional) decreased pRb expression from normal mucosa to intestinal metaplasia to uninvolved mucosa (from cancer resections) to carcinoma. In the cardia, there were no differences in p16 expression between the various types of tissue samples whereas pRb expression was higher in normal mucosa compared with intestinal metaplasia and tissue from cancer resections. CONCLUSION Alterations in the pRb pathway appear to play a more significant role in distal gastric carcinogenesis. It may be an early event in the former location since the trend towards p16 overexpression with concomitant pRb underexpression was seen as early as between normal mucosa and intestinal metaplasia. Importantly, the marked differences in expression of pRb and p16 between the cardia and antrum strongly support the hypothesis that tumours of the two locations are genetically different which may account for some of the observed epidemiological differences.
MoRePriv: mobile OS support for application personalization and privacy

Privacy and personalization of mobile experiences are inherently in conflict: better personalization demands knowing more about the user, potentially violating user privacy. A promising approach to mitigate this tension is to migrate personalization to the client, an approach dubbed client-side personalization. This paper advocates for operating system support for client-side personalization and describes MoRePriv, an operating system service implemented in the Windows Phone OS. We argue that personalization support should be as ubiquitous as location support, and should be provided by a unified system within the OS, instead of by individual apps. We aim to provide a solution that will stoke innovation around mobile personalization. To enable easy application personalization, MoRePriv approximates users' interests using personae such as technophile or business executive. Using a number of case studies and crowd-sourced user studies, we illustrate how more complex personalization tasks can be achieved using MoRePriv. For privacy protection, MoRePriv distills sensitive user information to a coarse-grained profile, which limits the potential damage from information leaks. We see MoRePriv as a way to increase end-user privacy by enabling client-side computing, thus minimizing the need to share user data with the server. As such, MoRePriv shepherds the ecosystem towards a better privacy stance by nudging developers away from today's privacy-violating practices. Furthermore, MoRePriv can be combined with privacy-enhancing technologies and is complimentary to recent advances in data leak detection.
Early Onset Pancreatic Cancer: Evidence of a Major Role for Smoking and Genetic Factors

Pancreatic cancer ranks 4th as a cause of cancer mortality and in ∼5% to 10% of patients, this lethal tumor develops before age 50. We used age-, sex-, and country-specific cancer incidence and mortality data to describe the burden of early onset pancreatic cancer (EOPC) worldwide. We also reviewed the current published evidence on smoking and genetic factors associated with EOPC. We found an excess of EOPC resulting in a substantial number of years-of-life-lost in countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Worldwide, the proportion of EOPC is strongly correlated with lung cancer mortality (R2 = 0.53), suggesting that approximately half of the variation in the proportion of EOPC could be explained by smoking. The unusual pattern of the incidence of pancreatic cancer by gender and race supports the primary role of smoking in the etiology of EOPC: the excess male-to-female rate ratio, attributable mainly to smoking, gradually approaches unity with increasing age. Moreover, male-to-female rate ratios are greater in blacks than in whites only in younger patients. Published studies also identified genetic alterations involved either alone or in association with smoking in the development of EOPC. In conclusion, EOPC constitutes only 1% to 5% of the total deaths from pancreatic cancer worldwide, but is responsible for 20% to 30% of the total number of years-of-life-lost caused by the disease. Smoking and genetic mutations are the major identified risk factors and seem to be even more important for EOPC than for PC in older age groups. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(9):1894–7)
LncRNA GClnc1 Promotes Gastric Carcinogenesis and May Act as a Modular Scaffold of WDR5 and KAT2A Complexes to Specify the Histone Modification Pattern.

UNLABELLED Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) play a role in carcinogenesis. However, the function of lncRNAs in human gastric cancer remains largely unknown. In this study, we identified a novel lncRNA, GClnc1, which was upregulated and associated with tumorigenesis, tumor size, metastasis, and poor prognosis in gastric cancer. GClnc1 affected gastric cancer cell proliferation, invasiveness, and metastasis in multiple gastric cancer models. Mechanistically, GClnc1 bound WDR5 (a key component of histone methyltransferase complex) and KAT2A histone acetyltransferase, acted as a modular scaffold of WDR5 and KAT2A complexes, coordinated their localization, specified the histone modification pattern on the target genes, including SOD2, and consequently altered gastric cancer cell biology. Thus, GClnc1 is mechanistically, functionally, and clinically oncogenic in gastric cancer. Targeting GClnc1 and its pathway may be meaningful for treating patients with gastric cancer. SIGNIFICANCE This report documents a novel lncRNA, GClnc1, which may act as a scaffold to recruit the WDR5 and KAT2A complex and modify the transcription of target genes. This study reveals that GClnc1 is an oncogenic lncRNA in human gastric cancer. Cancer Discov; 6(7); 784-801. ©2016 AACR.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 681.
Towards a better understanding of the generation of fructan structure diversity in plants: molecular and functional characterization of a sucrose:fructan 6-fructosyltransferase (6-SFT) cDNA from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

The main storage compounds in Lolium perenne are fructans with prevailing β(2–6) linkages. A cDNA library of L. perenne was screened using Poa secunda sucrose:fructan 6-fructosyltransferase (6-SFT) as a probe. A full-length Lp6-SFT clone was isolated as shown by heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris. High levels of Lp6-SFT transcription were found in the growth zone of elongating leaves and in mature leaf sheaths where fructans are synthesized. Upon fructan synthesis induction, Lp6-SFT transcription was high in mature leaf blades but with no concomitant accumulation of fructans. In vitro studies with the recombinant Lp6-SFT protein showed that both 1-kestotriose and 6G-kestotriose acted as fructosyl acceptors, producing 1- and 6-kestotetraose (bifurcose) and 6G,6-kestotetraose, respectively. Interestingly, bifurcose formation ceased and 6G,6-kestotetraose was formed instead, when recombinant fructan:fructan 6G-fructosyltransferase (6G-FFT) of L. perenne was introduced in the enzyme assay with sucrose and 1-kestotriose as substrates. The remarkable absence of bifurcose in L. perenne tissues might be explained by a higher affinity of 6G-FFT, as compared with 6-SFT, for 1-kestotriose, which is the first fructan formed. Surprisingly, recombinant 6-SFT from Hordeum vulgare, a plant devoid of fructans with internal glucosyl residues, also produced 6G,6-kestotetraose from sucrose and 6G-kestotriose. In the presence of recombinant L. perenne 6G-FFT, it produced 6G,6-kestotetraose from 1-kestotriose and sucrose, like L. perenne 6-SFT. Thus, we demonstrate that the two 6-SFTs have close catalytic properties and that the distinct fructans formed in L. perenne and H. vulgare can be explained by the presence of 6G-FFT activity in L. perenne and its absence in H. vulgare.
Effect of Er, Cr: YSGG Laser Output Power on Enamel Caries Prevention: An in vitro study Running Title: Effect of Er, Cr: YSGG Laser on caries

Aims of the study: The purpose of this study was to evaluate caries-preventive potential of Er, Cr: YSGG laser and to study the effect of power in order to determine the optimal output power for caries prevention. Materials and Methods: The study samples were upper first premolars obtained from patients who required orthodontic extraction. Sample size was a forty-eight freshly extracted, caries-free upper first premolars of patients aged 15-20 years old. The crowns of teeth were covered with nail varnish leaving a square window (approximately 3mm×3mm) on the buccal surface at the middle third of the crown. Teeth were randomly assigned to four groups with 12 samples in each group, these groups were: group A (irradiated with laser power0.25watt for 10 seconds), group B(irradiated with laser power 0.50watt for 10 seconds), group C(irradiated with laser power 0.75watt for 10 seconds) and control group(no laser treatment). Er, Cr: YSGG laser with 2. 78µm in wavelength and 20Hz repetition rate was used. Teeth were subjected to caries-like formation by immersion in lactic acid (pH=3.5) and incubation for twenty-one days at 37oC. Sections of 250µm in thickness were then obtained. Mean lesion depth was measured using polarized microscope. Results: Post hoc(Duncan's test)confirmed that there was a high significant difference among lesion means of group A,B and C(P≤0.00) where samples were irradiated at different powers and a constant time. Results indicated that treatment with Er, Cr: YSGG laser could cause caries inhibition up to 56%. Conclusions: It is obvious that increasing the laser power (up to 0.75watt) could result in an increase in caries inhibition and reduction in mean lesion depth.
EVALUATION OF WINE COMPETITION JUDGE PERFORMANCE USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT SIMILARITY ANALYSIS

Principal component similarity (PCS) analysis was used to evaluate judge performance from a wine competition. Data were analyzed for five international judges and seven wine makers, for 42 white, 30 red and 25 specialty wines, using a 20-point quality scoring system. Principal similarity plots were used to group judges according to judging 'style' and to identify outliers, for each wine category. Judge groupings were consistent when three different references were used; however, the most interpretable PCS plot was obtained when the overall mean-judge-score was used as the reference. Results from PCS were compared to principal component analysis (PCA). PCS analysis allowed the information from all significant principal components to be graphically represented in two dimensions and was more successful in classifying judges than plots based on the first three principal components. The technique of PCS is an important complement to existing methodologies, and can provide wine competition coordinators with an objective technique for judge evaluation and selection. L'analyse en composantes principales similaires est utilisee pour evaluer la performance des juges d'un concours vinicole. 5 juges internationaux et 7 fabricant de vins ont testes 42 vins blancs, 30 rouges et 25 specialites. Ils ont utilise un systeme d'evaluation en 20 points. Les similarites ont servies a grouper les juges selon leur style pour chaque categorie de vin. Cette technique est un outil d'evaluation des juges pour les coordinateurs de concours.
Dietary-dependent trans-generational immune priming in an insect herbivore

Trans-generational effects on immunity are well known in vertebrates and are considered in many evolutionary and ecological theories of species interaction. Maternal effects have been identified to be of special importance, and are now recognized as a mechanism for adaptive phenotypic response to environmental heterogeneity. We have previously shown that exposure to dietary non-pathogenic bacteria can induce several aspects of immune response in an insect herbivore, the cabbage semilooper (Trichoplusia ni). Here, we test the effects of this exposure on the immune status of the next generation, measuring immune parameters on three different levels—enzyme activities, protein expression and transcript abundance. We also monitored fitness-related traits which are often negatively correlated with increased immunocompetence. We found evidence for trans-generational priming on all these levels, with immune system parameters that are clearly not transmitted in a 1 : 1 ratio from parent to offspring, but rather in a complex manner with a strong but not exclusive maternal component. These findings indicate that trans-generational priming is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, potentially playing a role as a long-term but non-genetic mode of environmental adaptation.
Towards a Cybervictimology: Cyberbullying, Routine Activities Theory, and the Anti-Sociality of Social Media

Existing research on cyberbullying has consistently overlooked the role of victims in online offending, as well as victim behaviour as both a facilitator and predictor of digital predation. This article offers an interdisciplinary critique of existing research and proposes a new framework of cybervictimology—traditional victimology in the context of cyberactivities. The framework points to cyberbullying as being best explained by Cohen and Felson’s (1979) routine activities theory of crime. Because one of the main criteria of “traditional” corporeal bullying is repetition, the routine activities of victims in social media environments are key facilitators in the bullying process; they serve as advanced indicators of victimization in a space where anti-social behaviour is comparatively tolerated—and even celebrated—in the absence of suitable guardianship. La recherche actuelle sur cyberintimidation a souvent neglige le role des victimes en cas de les crimes engage en linge, et aussi les compartements de victimes comme faciliateurs et predicteurs de predation numerique. Cet essai offre une critique interdisciplinaires de la recherche et propose un noveau cadre de cybervictimologie—le victimologie tradionnel en cas de les activites en ligne. Le cadre propose indique que cyberintimidation est mieux explique par le ‘routine activities theory’ propose par Cohen et Felson (1979). Parce que l’un des principaux criteres de cyberintimidation traditionnel est repetition, les activities discret des victimes dans les environments des medias sociaux sont les principaux facilitateurs de cyberintimidation dans les environments en ligne ou le compartement deviant est souvent tolere et encore celebre en l’absence de la tutelle apprpriee.
ASKNet: Creating and Evaluating Large Scale Integrated Semantic Networks

Extracting semantic information from multiple natural language sources and combining that information into a single unified resource is an important and fundamental goal for natural language processing. Large scale resources of this kind can be useful for a wide variety of tasks including question answering, word sense disambiguation and knowledge discovery. A single resource representing the information in multiple documents can provide significantly more semantic information than is available from the documents considered independently. In this paper we describe the ASKNet system, which extracts semantic information from a large number of English texts, and combines that information into a large scale semantic network using spreading activation based techniques. Evaluation of large-scale semantic networks is a difficult problem. In order to evaluate ASKNet we have developed a novel evaluation metric and applied it to networks created from randomly chosen DUC articles. The results are highly promising:almost 80% precision for the semantic core of the networks.
Comprehensive Comparison of Cultivable Norovirus Surrogates in Response to Different Inactivation and Disinfection Treatments

ABSTRACT Human norovirus is the leading cause of epidemic and sporadic acute gastroenteritis. Since no cell culture method for human norovirus exists, cultivable surrogate viruses (CSV), including feline calicivirus (FCV), murine norovirus (MNV), porcine enteric calicivirus (PEC), and Tulane virus (TuV), have been used to study responses to inactivation and disinfection methods. We compared the levels of reduction in infectivities of CSV and Aichi virus (AiV) after exposure to extreme pHs, 56°C heating, alcohols, chlorine on surfaces, and high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), using the same matrix and identical test parameters for all viruses, as well as the reduction of human norovirus RNA levels under these conditions. At pH 2, FCV was inactivated by 6 log10 units, whereas MNV, TuV, and AiV were resistant. All CSV were completely inactivated at 56°C within 20 min. MNV was inactivated 5 log10 units by alcohols, in contrast to 2 and 3 log10 units for FCV and PEC, respectively. TuV and AiV were relatively insensitive to alcohols. FCV was reduced 5 log10 units by 1,000 ppm chlorine, in contrast to 1 log10 unit for the other CSV. All CSV except FCV, when dried on stainless steel surfaces, were insensitive to 200 ppm chlorine. HHP completely inactivated FCV, MNV, and PEC at ≥300 MPa, and TuV at 600 MPa, while AiV was completely resistant to HHP up to 800 MPa. By reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), genogroup I (GI) noroviruses were more sensitive than GII noroviruses to alcohols, chlorine, and HHP. Although inactivation profiles were variable for each treatment, TuV and MNV were the most resistant CSV overall and therefore are the best candidates for studying the public health outcomes of norovirus infections.
Developing Leadership and Cultural Competency through Service Exposure Attachment Program.

Background: Seventeen pre-service teachers from The Hong Kong Institute of Education involved in a service education project during the summer vacation in 2008. They spent seven weeks in an orphanage and a commune in Vietnam to provide various services for disabled children and to help constructing a house for the poor villagers respectively. They learned how to cope with challenging environment through developing service leadership, problem solving and communication abilities in a different cultural context. Aims: To reveal what respondents have experienced, reflected and gained through involving in the cross-cultural service exposure project and how such fruitful learning experiences can be enhanced. Sample: All seventeen pre-service teachers involved in the project. Method: Content analysis was conducted on service-learning journals, day logs and writings prepared by the students after the service-learning experience. Results: The analysis based on respondents’ reflective writings revealed that the development of genuine relationship among participants through mutual care, their generic skills, leadership abilities and cultural competencies are enhanced while they work collaboratively and support each other to overcome difficulties. Conclusion: As a multicultural service-learning co-curricular activity, participants can acquire new knowledge, change attitudes and develop constructive behaviors through a genuine and caring environment and reflection. They are perceived to attain gains in leadership abilities, cultural competence skills and professional commitment.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS: A METAANALYSIS

Expanded efforts to detect and treat depression among college students, a peak period of onset, have the potential to bear high human capital value from a societal perspective because depression increases college withdrawal rates. However, it is not clear whether evidence‐based depression therapies are as effective in college students as in other adult populations. The higher levels of cognitive functioning and IQ and higher proportions of first‐onset cases might lead to treatment effects being different among college students relative to the larger adult population.