Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender differences in students’ ratings of university teachers in the Iranian education system

University students' ratings of teaching and teachers' performance are used in many parts of the world for the evaluation of faculty members at colleges and universities. Even though these ratings receive mixed reviews, there is little conclusive evidence on the role of the intervening variable of teacher and student gender in these ratings. Possible influences resulting from gender-related differences in different socio-cultural contexts, especially where gender combination in student and faculty population is not proportionate, have not been adequately investigated in previous research. This study aimed to examine Iranian university students' ratings of the professional performance of male and female university teachers and to explore the differences in male and female university students' evaluation of teachers of the same or opposite gender. The study was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey with a total of 800 randomly selected students in their different years of undergraduate study (307 male and 493 female students, reflecting the proportion of male and female students in the university) from different faculties at the University of Kashan, Iran. The participants rated male and female teachers’ performance in observing university regulations, relationship with colleagues, and relationships with students. The researchers used descriptive statistics, means comparison inferential statistics and focus-group interview data to analyze and compare the students’ ratings. The results of one-sample t-test, independent samples t-test, and Chi-square analyses showed that a) overall, male university teachers received significantly higher overall ratings in all areas than female teachers; b) male students rated male teachers significantly higher than female students did; and c) female students assigned a higher overall mean rating to male teachers than to female teachers but this mean difference was not significant. These results are studied in relation to the findings in the related literature and indicate that gender can be an important intervening variable in university students' evaluation of faculty members.
Twinning and oesophageal atresia.

Stillbirths and undiagnosed neonatal deaths with OA were ascertained only if a necropsy was performed. Diagnosed cases were ascertained from records of thoracic surgeons and from diagnostic indices from hospitals and paediatricians. Hospital paediatric and surgical records were examined in all live-born cases and wherever possible antenatal details were obtained from hospital records and from the general practitioner. Zygosity was established using information recorded
Towards implementation of IEC 61850 GOOSE messaging in event-driven IEC 61499 environment

IEC 61850 is a new standard for substation automation which attempts to standardize communication within substations by introducing a set of new communication services operating over the Ethernet framework. The communication of interest for protection is IEC 61850 GOOSE messaging. GOOSE messaging is a peer to peer service designed for protection applications within substations. There is a growing interest in filling the void of control in the IEC 61850 standard. The Intelligent Logical Nodes (iLN) architecture is one such solution which uses IEC 61499 as the complimentary control system for IEC 61850. The missing component in the iLN architecture is the various communication profiles introduced in the IEC 61850 standard. This paper presents an implementation of IEC 61850 GOOSE messaging for the IEC 61499 IDE that implements event-driven execution semantics by means of the SharpPcap library.
Clinical and pathological characteristics of Hispanic BRCA-associated breast cancers in the American-Mexican border city of El Paso, TX.

UNLABELLED Hispanics in El Paso, TX, a large American-Mexican border city constitute 85% of the population. Limited cancer research has been conducted in this population. We sought to study the prevalence of BRCA mutations among Hispanic patients of Mexican origin, identify reported Mexican founder or recurrent mutations, and study the breast cancer characteristics in mutation carriers. METHODS Hispanic women of Mexican descent with a personal history of breast cancer, who presented consecutively for genetic cancer risk assessment, were enrolled in an Institutional Review Board-approved registry and underwent BRCA testing based on national guidelines. The characteristics of tumors and patients with positive BRCA mutation were analyzed. RESULTS 88 patients were screened; 18 patients (20%) were BRCA carriers. Among BRCA carriers, 72% were diagnosed with breast cancer at younger than 50 years, 61% had "Triple negative disease". BRCA carriers had a significantly higher Body Mass Index (BMI) than non-carriers. Thirteen patients had BRCA1 mutations and five had BRCA2 mutations. A total of 17 deleterious BRCA Mutations were observed. Seven have been previously reported as specific genes from Mexico as country of origin. Five new mutations in BRCA carriers of Mexican descent were identified. CONCLUSION Hispanic breast cancer patients of Mexican origin present at a younger age, and have predominantly triple negative tumors and high BMI. We identified 5 new mutations not reported previously in Hispanic BRCA carriers of Mexican descent. Interestingly, 41% of BRCA mutations identified have been reported as recurrent mutations in Hispanic individuals from Mexico as the country of origin. A more cost-effective approach to initial screening of Hispanic individuals based on country of origin is desirable and would potentially decrease the number of cases requiring complete sequencing.
Priming of popout: III. A short-term implicit memory system beneficial for rapid target selection

The priming of popout (PoP) (Maljkovic & Nakayama, 1994, 1996) increases the speed of attentional deployment to subsequent targets having the same feature characteristic and relative position, it lasts for approximately 5-8 trials, and is cumulative. Here we establish PoP as an example of short-term implicit memory by showing that it is qualitatively different from explicit memory. Using a post-cued recall procedure embedded in the stream of search task trials, we show that explicit memory is not selective as is PoP and is of much shorter duration. As such we argue that explicit memory is unlikely to account for the properties of PoP. In examining the decay of PoP, we find that: PoP is not evident after a 90sec delay, it does not show passive decay over much shorter intervals (1-3sec), and it gets decremented by attentional deployments to visually dissimilar stimuli, the size of the decrement being related to task difficulty. The results, taken together, suggest that PoP reflects a functionally beneficial memory system, specialized for the rapid and automatic selection of items for focal attention and saccadic eye movements.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Women with Epilepsy: A Review

Summary: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) remains a controversial issue in women with epilepsy. The syndrome is characterized by clinical signs of endocrine dysfunction, such as irregular menstruation, hirsutism, and infertility, but its pathogenesis and presentation are heterogeneous. There are few data on the relationship between epilepsy and PCOS. Studies by a Finnish group have raised the issue of an association between valproate (VPA) and PCOS in young women with epilepsy. These studies, however, were retrospective, laid emphasis on polycystic ovary morphology rather than on clinical endocrine dysfunction, and were undertaken in selected populations. Further studies, both in Italy and Germany, failed to replicate the findings of the Finnish group. Future research should ideally be prospective and include baseline data in untreated women. No compelling data lead to a specific contraindication of the use of VPA in young women, and the drug remains a first‐line treatment option.
Promoter Activation by the Varicella-Zoster Virus Major Transactivator IE62 and the Cellular Transcription Factor USF

ABSTRACT The varicella-zoster virus major transactivator, IE62, can activate expression from homologous and heterologous promoters. High levels of IE62-mediated activation appear to involve synergy with cellular transcription factors. The work presented here focuses on functional interactions of IE62 with the ubiquitously expressed cellular factor USF. We have found that USF can synergize with IE62 to a similar extent on model minimal promoters and the complex native ORF28/29 regulatory element, neither of which contains a consensus IE62 binding site. Using Gal4 fusion constructs, we have found that the activation domain of USF1 is necessary and sufficient for synergistic activation with IE62. We have mapped the regions of USF and IE62 required for direct physical interaction. Deletion of the required region within IE62 does not ablate synergistic activation but does influence its efficiency depending on promoter architecture. Both proteins stabilize/increase binding of TATA binding protein/TFIID to promoter elements. These findings suggest a novel mechanism for the observed synergistic activation which requires neither site-specific IE62 binding to the promoter nor a direct physical interaction with USF.
Regulation of cell proliferation and migration by p62 through stabilization of Twist1

Significance The selective autophagy substrate p62 has been shown to regulate inflammatory and redox pathways in tumorigenesis following autophagy suppression. Here we have elucidated the critical role of p62 in promoting cell proliferation and migration in vitro and tumor growth and metastasis in vivo through its molecular interaction with the oncogenic transcription factor Twist1. Our findings suggest that targeting the interaction between p62 and Twist1 has potential for cancer prevention and therapy. The selective autophagy substrate p62 serves as a molecular link between autophagy and cancer. Suppression of autophagy causes p62 accumulation and thereby contributes to tumorigenesis. Here we demonstrate that autophagy deficiency promotes cell proliferation and migration through p62-dependent stabilization of the oncogenic transcription factor Twist1. p62 binds to Twist1 and inhibits degradation of Twist1. In mice, p62 up-regulation promotes tumor cell growth and metastasis in a Twist1-dependent manner. Our findings demonstrate that Twist1 is a key downstream effector of p62 in regulation of cell proliferation and migration and suggest that targeting p62-mediated Twist1 stabilization is a promising therapeutic strategy for prevention and treatment of cancer.
Age and temporal trends of total physical activity in Swedish men.

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE Despite a large public health interest in physical activity and its role in obesity and other chronic diseases, only few reports to date have addressed total levels and trends of physical activity. We have studied in a cross-sectional setting with a retrospective recall of physical activity an association of levels of total physical activity and different types of activities with age and with calendar-time. METHODS In a population-based study of 33,466 men aged 45-79 yr in central Sweden, information on physical activity and other lifestyle factors was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Level of total activity at ages 15, 30, and 50 yr was assessed quantitatively, based on six questions on different activities: work/occupation, housework, walking/bicycling, exercise, inactive leisure time, and sleeping. The physical activity levels were measured as metabolic equivalents, MET-hours per days. RESULTS Total daily physical activity decreased at age 30 yr (-1.6%, 95% CI: -1.7, -1.4) and at age 50 yr (-3.9%, 95% CI: -4.0, -3.7) compared with age 15 yr. Total physical activity decreased over a period of 60 yr in all three separate age groups (-9.1% among 15-yr-olds, 95% CI: -9.8, -8.5; -2.3% among 30-yr-olds 95% CI: -3.0, -1.6; and -2.9% among 50-yr-olds, 95% CI: -3.4, -2.5). CONCLUSION These negative trends in physical activity observed by age and with time might explain the trends in increasing prevalence of obesity.
Indoor positioning method integrating pedestrian Dead Reckoning with magnetic field and WiFi fingerprints

In this paper, we propose a high accuracy indoor positioning method that uses residual magnetism in addition to Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) and WiFi-based localization methods. Our proposed method needs WiFi and magnetic field fingerprints, which are created by measuring in advance the WiFi radio waves and the magnetic field in the target map. The fingerprints are represented by a Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) to reduce the amount of computation. Our proposed method estimates positions by comparing the pedestrian sensor and fingerprint values by particle filters. We evaluated this method in real environments and confirmed that it provides accurate indoor positioning with a mean error less than 8 m and more accurate position detection than existing techniques.
Quantifying Repetitive Transmission at Chemical Synapses: A Generative-Model Approach123

Abstract The dependence of the synaptic responses on the history of activation and their large variability are both distinctive features of repetitive transmission at chemical synapses. Quantitative investigations have mostly focused on trial-averaged responses to characterize dynamic aspects of the transmission—thus disregarding variability—or on the fluctuations of the responses in steady conditions to characterize variability—thus disregarding dynamics. We present a statistically principled framework to quantify the dynamics of the probability distribution of synaptic responses under arbitrary patterns of activation. This is achieved by constructing a generative model of repetitive transmission, which includes an explicit description of the sources of stochasticity present in the process. The underlying parameters are then selected via an expectation-maximization algorithm that is exact for a large class of models of synaptic transmission, so as to maximize the likelihood of the observed responses. The method exploits the information contained in the correlation between responses to produce highly accurate estimates of both quantal and dynamic parameters from the same recordings. The method also provides important conceptual and technical advances over existing state-of-the-art techniques. In particular, the repetition of the same stimulation in identical conditions becomes unnecessary. This paves the way to the design of optimal protocols to estimate synaptic parameters, to the quantitative comparison of synaptic models over benchmark datasets, and, most importantly, to the study of repetitive transmission under physiologically relevant patterns of synaptic activation.
A Recurrent Neural Network-based Forecasting System for Telecommunications Call Volume

A recurrent neural network-based forecasting system for telecommunications call volume is proposed in this work. In particular, the forecaster is a Block-Diagonal Recurrent Neural Network with internal feedback. Model's performance is evaluated by use of real-world telecommunications data, where an extensive comparative analysis with a series of existing forecasters is conducted, including both traditional models as well as neural and fuzzy approaches.
Acceptable noise levels in preschool children with normal hearing.

BACKGROUND The acceptable noise level (ANL) measure is an indicator of hearing aid use. The majority of research in this area has focused primarily on adults. Research using school-aged listeners, specifically 8 and 12 yr old children, demonstrated that the average ANL values, standard deviations (SDs), and distribution of ANL values for these children were similar to those of adult listeners. Additionally, the ANL measure is reliable over time, even in school-aged listeners. Although ANL values from adult and school-aged listeners have been investigated, no research to date has been conducted using preschool children. PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to determine if ANLs could be obtained in preschool children, aged 4 and 5 yr, with normal hearing. This study also aimed to investigate the reliability and distribution of ANL measurements from preschool children, as well as any effect that background noise might present in the listening environment. RESEARCH DESIGN Seated in a sound-treated test suite, listeners were tasked with adjusting speech stimuli to their most comfortable listening level; then, with speech present, listeners were tasked with adjusting the background noise to their most acceptable background noise level. Three trials of each measure were averaged and were used to calculate each listener's ANL. STUDY SAMPLE ANLs were attempted on 23 children, ages 4 yr (N = 14) to 5 yr (N = 9), with normal hearing. RESULTS Less than half of the 4 yr old listeners performed the ANL task, whereas all of the 5 yr old listeners completed the task successfully. Good test-retest reliability was found for those preschool children who were able to complete the task. Mean ANLs, SDs, ranges, and distributions demonstrated that these values agree with ANL data collected from older school-aged listeners. CONCLUSIONS Although ANL values were reliably measured in all of the 5 yr old listeners, this was not the case for 4 yr old listeners. ANL values were not reliably obtained from 4 yr old listeners; however, the ANL procedure is appropriate for use for 5 yr old listeners. Furthermore, ANL means, SDs, ranges, and distributions were in agreement with those from older school-aged children and adults, and ANLs in preschool listeners were unaffected by the type of background noise stimuli.
A Delphi Study to Determine Innovation Orientation Survey Items for Undergraduates in Malaysian Public University

This research aims to produce innovation orientation survey items for quantitative research use in the context of undergraduates in Malaysia. The hypothesized model of innovation orientation consists of creativity, innovation motivation, entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy constructs. These five constructs was established employing comprehensive literature reviews. 24 items was adapted and three rounds of Delphi study were conducted to validate them. Participants were 20 Malaysian higher education institutions’ academicians. The initial 24 items to measure the five constructs went through refinement and contextualization to conceive innovation orientation for undergraduates’ survey. Consensus achieved after three rounds of Delphi study. The qualitative comments written by the participants was collected, coded and changes made were translated into the 24 items until the quantitative result for all items received moderate and high level of agreement.
Detection of HIV‐1 DNA in Microglia/ Macrophages, Astrocytes and Neurons Isolated from Brain Tissue with HIV‐1 Encephalitis by Laser Capture Microdissection

In HIV‐1 encephalitis, HIV‐1 replicates predominantly in macrophages and microglia. Astrocytes also carry HIV‐1, but the infection of oligodendrocytes and neurons is debated. In this study we examined the presence of HIV‐1 DNA in different brain cell types in 6 paraffin embedded, archival post‐mortem pediatric and adult brain tissues with HIV‐1 encephalitis by Laser Capture Microdissection (LCM). Sections from frontal cortex and basal ganglia were stained by immunohistochemistry for CD68 (microglia), GFAP (astrocytes), MAP2 (neurons), and p24 (HIV‐1 positive cells) and different cell types were microdissected by LCM. Individual cells or pools of same type of cells were lysed, the cell lysates were subjected to PCR using HIV‐1 gag SK38/SK39 primers, and presence of HIV‐1 DNAwas confirmed by Southern blotting. HIV‐1 gag DNAwas consistently detected by this procedure in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia in 1 to 20 p24 HIV‐1 capsid positive cells, and in pools of 50 to 100 microglia/macrophage cells, 100 to 200 astrocytes, and 100 to 200 neurons in HIV‐1 positive cases but not in HIV‐1 negative controls. These findings suggest that in addition to microglia, the infection of astro‐cytes and neurons by HIV‐1 may contribute to the development of HIV‐1 disease in the brain.
The Period Adding and Incrementing Bifurcations: From Rotation Theory to Applications

This survey article is concerned with the study of bifurcations of discontinuous piecewise-smooth maps, with a special focus on the one-dimensional case. We review the literature on circle maps and quasi-contractions and provide paths through this literature to prove sufficient conditions for the occurrence of two types of bifurcation scenarios involving rich dynamics. The first scenario consists of the appearance of periodic orbits whose symbolic sequences and “rotation” numbers follow a Farey tree structure; the periods of the periodic orbits are given by consecutive addition. This is called the period adding bifurcation, and the proof of its existence relies on results for maps on the circle. In the second scenario, symbolic sequences are obtained by consecutive attachment of a given symbolic block, and the periods of periodic orbits are incremented by a constant term. This is called the period incrementing bifurcation, and its proof relies on results for maps on the interval. We also discuss the expan.
DAC-h3: A Proactive Robot Cognitive Architecture to Acquire and Express Knowledge About the World and the Self

This paper introduces a cognitive architecture for a humanoid robot to engage in a proactive, mixed-initiative exploration and manipulation of its environment, where the initiative can originate from both human and robot. The framework, based on a biologically grounded theory of the brain and mind, integrates a reactive interaction engine, a number of state-of-the-art perceptual and motor learning algorithms, as well as planning abilities and an autobiographical memory. The architecture as a whole drives the robot behavior to solve the symbol grounding problem, acquire language capabilities, execute goal-oriented behavior, and express a verbal narrative of its own experience in the world. We validate our approach in human-robot interaction experiments with the iCub humanoid robot, showing that the proposed cognitive architecture can be applied in real time within a realistic scenario and that it can be used with naive users.
Mining Negativity from Online Reviews: A Comparison between Search and Experience Goods

Online consumer reviews constitute an integral aspect of electronic transactions as they play a part in lowering customer uncertainty during purchase decision making. This paper studies the aspect of negativity exhibited on the justification of its valence by the review text (as a dependent variable) and the influence of product price and product type to either an experience or a search good and across the values of the review rating scale on a dataset consisting of N=667 products with a minimum number of 15 reviews per product. The study uses novel opinion mining methodology based on a phrase-based opinion list that has been extracted from a large corpus of online consumer reviews gathered from the German site of Amazon (Amazon.de). The study also provides (1) empirical evidence that product type (experience or search good) affects review text negativity, with experience goods receiving higher amounts of negative text in relation with search goods and (2) that higher product price results to fewer negative statements in the review text. The paper also provides discussion of the findings and practical implications in relation with the IS literature.