Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrastructural study of endocytosis of Chlamydia trachomatis by McCoy cells

The entry of Chlamydia trachomatis into McCoy cells (fibroblasts) was studied by transmission electron microscopy. On adsorption of elementary bodies (EBs) to host cells at 37 degrees C, the EBs were bound primarily to preexisting cell-surface microvilli. They were also observed in coated pits located at the bases of the microvilli and along smooth surfaces of the host cells and were internalized within coated vesicles at this temperature. Postembedding immunogold labeling on Lowicryl thin sections with anti-clathrin antibody as the primary reagent revealed the gold marker localized in pits and vesicles containing chlamydiae. Some EBs were present in smooth-surfaced invaginations at or near the bases of microvilli and in vesicles devoid of distinguishable coat material. A similar entry process was observed with centrifugation-assisted inoculation of EBs onto the McCoy cells. Individual EBs were initially internalized into tightly bound endocytic vesicles. However, within 1 to 3 h postinfection, multiple C. trachomatis EBs were observed in large, loosely bound vesicles. Evidence suggests that vesicles containing C. trachomatis may have fused with one another early in the infectious process. These results indicate that chlamydiae can exploit the specific process of adsorptive endocytosis for entry into host cells and for translocation to a given intracellular destination, which may be different for each species.
Repetition of lesson presentation as a tool for improving teaching efficiency

Studies in industry link routine in work to efficiency level. Routine may contribute to boredom and decline in efficiency for some workers; others cope well with repetitive tasks and improve output. This study was conducted to determine whether repetition of a lesson by the same teacher to a second class within a week increases or decreases efficacy. Seventy-nine teachers completed a questionnaire after presenting a lesson once, and again later that week after giving it to a parallel class. The findings show that the repeated lesson was better than the first by 6–9% with respect to three of the five dimensions of successful teaching. The contribution of reflective insights to the improvement of repeated lessons and the implications for planning school programs are discussed.
Development for a Speaker Independent Spontaneous Urdu Speech Recognition System

This paper reports the design and development of an 82 speaker Urdu speech corpus for speaker independent spontaneous speech recognition using the CMU Sphinx Open Source Toolkit for Speech Recognition. The corpus consists of 45 hours of spontaneous and read speech data from 82 speakers (42 male and 40 female), recorded over a microphone and a telephone line. The speech was collected from speakers ranging from 20 to 55 years of age. Recording sessions were conducted in office and home environments.
Transitional experiences of international postgraduate students utilising a peer mentor programme

Background: Mentoring provides a range of benefits and one of them is social support. The number of students in transnational education has been increasing, and their transition into university is often fraught with difficulties. Universities can support transition through the use of a peer mentor programme (PMP). Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate the transitional issues that international postgraduate students (IPSs) face in their transition to an Australian University. The study also investigated the role played by a mentoring programme, and how this assists students with their transition. Sample: The sample included 31 IPSs, who had come from Asian European, Middle Eastern, African and South American countries, 15 being male, and 16 being female, with an average age of 24; most had been studying at the Australian University for more than 12 months. Design and methods: The study utilised a qualitative research method to examine the experiences of IPSs undergoing transition from their home universities to an Australian university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students, who were asked about their transition experiences and the assistance of the mentor programme. Thematic analysis was then conducted to determine themes from the research. Results: IPSs reported mixed experiences with their transition. Those with difficulties referred to loneliness, different studying practices, finding accommodation and making friends. IPSs reported that the PMP helped, as mentors provided the necessary social support, friendship, information and confidence to overcome those difficulties. Those students who did not have problems with their transition had reported that they had friends or family that assisted them with their transition. As a result, these students did not need the support of mentors to the same degree as those students having problems. Conclusions: It is concluded that mentor programmes were important for transitioning IPSs who had difficulties. Therefore, this study identified a role for a PMP in universities where there are a high proportion of IPSs who are going through transitional problems.
Making interpretable forgetting comparisons: Explicit versus hidden assumptions.

G. R. Loftus (1985a), R. S. Bogartz (1990a), and others have questioned forgetting comparisons based on tests of interaction between retention and a second variable. A method for comparing forgetting between conditions on the basis of an article by N. H. Anderson (1963) is presented here. The shape method compares the underlying «shapes» of the performance curves. Anderson's shape method is outlined for memory studies, and its inherent assumptions are stated. A statistical test is developed to apply the shape method to realistic situations in which zero retention interval or asymptotic performance data are not available. A power analysis varied the memory curve shape, sample size, and standard deviation and demonstrated the method's ability to detect shape differences
Family connectedness, school attachment, peer influence and health-compromising behaviours among young Vietnamese males†

ABSTRACT Vietnamese males have one of the highest rates of smoking and alcohol consumption in the world. Research on the role of social and family resources in promoting healthy behaviours among Vietnamese youth is very limited. We examine the proposition that family support, attachment to school and peer influence are strongly associated with cigarette use, alcohol consumption and violence among Vietnamese youth. We used data from a nationally representative survey of males aged 14–25 years in 2009 (N = 4705). Three measures of social and family resources and three indicators of health-compromising behaviours were used. Multinomial and logistic regression models were employed to examine the relationships. The regression results showed that a positive and cohesive family environment and attachment to school reduced the odds of smoking, alcohol consumption and violence. However, peer pressure had the opposite effect of increasing the odds. Higher socio-economic status was associated with lower odds of smoking, but higher odds of alcohol consumption among those at school. Excessive alcohol consumption increased the odds of violence by over three times. We conclude that positive and supportive environments within family, at school and among peers can discourage smoking, alcohol consumption and violence among Vietnamese youth.
Gene expression data clustering analysis: A survey

The advent of DNA microarray technology has enabled biologists to monitor the expression levels (MRNA) of thousands of genes simultaneously. In this survey, we address various approaches to gene expression data analysis using clustering techniques. We discuss the performance of various existing clustering algorithms under each of these approaches. Proximity measure plays an important role in making a clustering technique effective. Therefore, we briefly discuss various proximity measures. Finally, since evaluation of the effectiveness of the clustering techniques over gene data requires validity measures and data sources for numeric data, we discuss them as well.
Preferences of patients undergoing hemodialysis – results from a questionnaire-based study with 4,518 patients

Background Chronic kidney disease is an increasing health problem worldwide and in its final stage (stage V) can only be treated by renal replacement therapy, mostly hemodialysis. Hemodialysis has a major influence on the everyday life of patients and many patients report dissatisfaction with treatment. Little is known about which aspects of treatment are considered important by hemodialysis patients. The objective of this study was to rate the relative importance of different outcomes for hemodialysis patients and to analyze whether the relative importance differed among subgroups of patients. Patients and methods Within the framework of a yearly questionnaire which is distributed among patients receiving hemodialysis by the largest hemodialysis provider in Germany, we assessed the relative importance of 23 outcomes as rated on a discrete visual analog scale. Descriptive statistics were used to rank the outcomes. Subgroup analyses were performed using Mann–Whitney U or Kruskal–Wallis tests. Results Questionnaires of 4,518 hemodialysis patients were included in the analysis. The three most important outcomes were safety of treatment, health-related quality of life, and satisfaction with care. Further important outcomes were hospital stays, accompanying symptoms, hemodialysis duration, and the improvement or preservation of a good emotional state. Age, profession, and education had the strongest influence on relevant differences of preferences for outcomes; no relevant influence of sex or comorbidity was observed. Conclusion Outcomes concerning the delivery or provision of care and aspects influencing quality of life are rated by patients to be at least as important as clinical outcomes. Many of the outcomes judged to be important by the patients are not regularly considered in research, evaluation studies, or quality programs.
Contribution of voltage‐gated sodium channels to the b‐wave of the mammalian flash electroretinogram

Voltage‐gated sodium channels (Nav channels) in retinal neurons are known to contribute to the mammalian flash electroretinogram (ERG) via activity of third‐order retinal neurons, i.e. amacrine and ganglion cells. This study investigated the effects of tetrodotoxin (TTX) blockade of Nav channels on the b‐wave, an ERG wave that originates mainly from activity of second‐order retinal neurons. ERGs were recorded from anaesthetized Brown Norway rats in response to brief full‐field flashes presented over a range of stimulus energies, under dark‐adapted conditions and in the presence of steady mesopic and photopic backgrounds. Recordings were made before and after intravitreal injection of TTX (∼3 μm) alone, 3–6 weeks after optic nerve transection (ONTx) to induce ganglion cell degeneration, or in combination with an ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonist 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione (CNQX, 200 μm) to block light‐evoked activity of inner retinal, horizontal and OFF bipolar cells, or with the glutamate agonist N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA, 100–200 μm) to reduce light‐evoked inner retinal activity. TTX reduced ERG amplitudes measured at fixed times corresponding to b‐wave time to peak. Effects of TTX were seen under all background conditions, but were greatest for mesopic backgrounds. In dark‐adapted retina, b‐wave amplitudes were reduced only when very low stimulus energies affecting the inner retina, or very high stimulus energies were used. Loss of ganglion cells following ONTx did not affect b‐wave amplitudes, and injection of TTX in eyes with ONTx reduced b‐wave amplitudes by the same amount for each background condition as occurred when ganglion cells were intact, thereby eliminating a ganglion cell role in the TTX effects. Isolation of cone‐driven responses by presenting test flashes after cessation of a rod‐saturating conditioning flash indicated that the TTX effects were primarily on cone circuits contributing to the mixed rod–cone ERG. NMDA significantly reduced only the additional effects of TTX on the mixed rod–cone ERG observed under mesopic conditions, implicating inner retinal involvement in those effects. After pharmacological blockade with CNQX, TTX still reduced b‐wave amplitudes in cone‐isolated ERGs indicating Nav channels in ON cone bipolar cells themselves augment b‐wave amplitude and sensitivity. This augmentation was largest under dark‐adapted conditions, and decreased with increasing background illumination, indicating effects of background illumination on Nav channel function. These findings indicate that activation of Nav channels in ON cone bipolar cells affects the b‐wave of the rat ERG and must be considered when analysing results of ERG studies of retinal function.
Probabilistic robotic grid mapping based on occupancy and elevation information

This paper proposes an alternative environment mapping method for accurate robotic navigation based on 3D information. Typical techniques for 3D mapping using occupancy grid require intensive computational workloads to both build and store the map. We introduce an occupancy-elevation grid (OEG) mapping technique, which is a discrete mapping approach where each cell represents the occupancy probability, the height of the terrain and its variance. This representation allows a mobile robot to know if a spot in the environment is occupied by an obstacle and the height of such obstacle, thus, it can decide if it is possible to traverse the obstacle. In general, the map representation introduced can be used in conjunction with any kind of distance sensor. In this work, we have used laser range data with a probabilistic treatment. The resulting maps allow the execution of tasks like decision making for autonomous navigation, exploration, localization and path planning, considering the existence and the height of the obstacles. Experiments carried out with real data demonstrate that the proposed approach yields useful maps for autonomous navigation.
Detección y descripción de rasgos psicopáticos en adolescentes utilizando el MACI

This study reports psychometric characteristics for two Psychopathy scales developed with the MACI and assess their utility for screening and describing high psychopathic adolescents. Four groups representing the social adjustment and maladjustment continue answered the MACI and a self report about adolescent social behaviour. A factorial analysis of the psychopathy scales determined structures formed by two and three factors which are supported by the models of psychopathy presented by Hare and by Cookie and Michie. An algorithm developed with these scales-scores identified and allowed to characterize a group of 49 adolescents (11.2 % of the sample) with high psychopathy. Psychometric characteristics and the utility of these two scales for identifying adolescents with psychopathic profiles are discussed.
Identification of Transcription Factor Binding Sites Using GA and PSO

Identification of transcription factor binding sites from the upstream regions of genes is a highly important and unsolved problem. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for using evolutionary algorithm to solve this challenging issue. Under this framework, we use two prevalent evolutionary algorithms: genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) to find unknown sites in a collection of relatively long intergenic sequences that are suspected of being bound by the same factor. This paper represents binding sites motif to position weight matrix (PWM) and introduces how to code PWM to genome for GA and how to code it to particle for PSO. We apply these two algorithms to 5 different yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae transcription factor binding sites and CRP binding sites. The results on saccharomyces cerevisiae show that it can find the correct binding sites motifs, and the result on CRP shows that these two algorithms can achieve more accuracy than MEME and Gibbs sampler
Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancement Through Nanostructures on Silicon Microchannels

Uniform silicon nanowires (SiNW) were successfully fabricated on the top, bottom, and sidewall surfaces of silicon microchannels by using a two-step electroless etching process. Different microchannel patterns with the channel width from 100 to 300 lm were first fabricated in a 10 mm 10 mm silicon chip and then covered by SiNW with an average height of 10–20 lm. The effects of the microchannel geometry, micro/ nano-hierarchical structures on pool boiling were studied and the bubble dynamics on different sample surfaces were compared. It was found that the combination of the micro/nanostructures promoted microbubble emission boiling under moderate heat fluxes, and yielded superior boiling heat transfer performance. At given wall superheats, the maximum heat flux of the microchannel with SiNW was improved by 120% over the microchannel-only surface, and more than 400% over a plain silicon surface. These results provide a new insight into the boiling mechanism for micro/nano-hierarchical structures and demonstrate their potential in improving pool boiling performance for microchannels. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4007425]
Sociality influences thermoregulation and roost switching in a forest bat using ephemeral roosts

Abstract In summer, many temperate bat species use daytime torpor, but breeding females do so less to avoid interferences with reproduction. In forest‐roosting bats, deep tree cavities buffer roost microclimate from abrupt temperature oscillations and facilitate thermoregulation. Forest bats also switch roosts frequently, so thermally suitable cavities may be limiting. We tested how barbastelle bats (Barbastella barbastellus), often roosting beneath flaking bark in snags, may thermoregulate successfully despite the unstable microclimate of their preferred cavities. We assessed thermoregulation patterns of bats roosting in trees in a beech forest of central Italy. Although all bats used torpor, females were more often normothermic. Cavities were poorly insulated, but social thermoregulation probably overcomes this problem. A model incorporating the presence of roost mates and group size explained thermoregulation patterns better than others based, respectively, on the location and structural characteristics of tree roosts and cavities, weather, or sex, reproductive or body condition. Homeothermy was recorded for all subjects, including nonreproductive females: This probably ensures availability of a warm roosting environment for nonvolant juveniles. Homeothermy may also represent a lifesaver for bats roosting beneath loose bark, very exposed to predators, because homeothermic bats may react quickly in case of emergency. We also found that barbastelle bats maintain group cohesion when switching roosts: This may accelerate roost occupation at the end of a night, quickly securing a stable microclimate in the newly occupied cavity. Overall, both thermoregulation and roost‐switching patterns were satisfactorily explained as adaptations to a structurally and thermally labile roosting environment.
New Specimens of the Rare Taeniodont Wortmania (Mammalia: Eutheria) from the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Comments on the Phylogeny and Functional Morphology of “Archaic” Mammals

Background Taeniodonta is a clade of Late Cretaceous – Paleogene mammals remarkable for their relatively extreme cranial, dental, and postcranial adaptations and notable for being among the first mammals to achieve relatively large size following the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Previous workers have hypothesized that taeniodonts can be divided into two clades: Conoryctidae, a group of small-bodied taeniodonts with supposedly “generalized” postcranial skeletons, and Stylinodontidae, a group of large-bodied, robust animals with massive forelimbs and claws adapted for scratch-digging. However, many taeniodont taxa are poorly known and few are represented by postcranial material, leaving many details about their anatomy, biology, and evolution ambiguous. Methodology/Principal Findings In this paper, we describe three new specimens of the rare taxon Wortmaniaotariidens from the early Paleocene (Puercan) of New Mexico. Among these specimens is one that includes remarkably complete cranial and dental material, including associated upper and lower teeth, and another that consists of partial forelimbs. These specimens allow for an updated anatomical description of this unusual taxon, supply new data for phylogenetic analyses, and enable a more constrained discussion of taeniodont biology and functional morphology. Conclusions/Significance The new specimen of Wortmania that includes associated upper and lower teeth indicates that previous interpretations of the upper dentition of this taxon were not accurate and the taxon Robertschochiasullivani is a junior synonym of W . otariidens . New specimens that include partial forelimbs indicate that Wortmania is very similar to later, large-bodied taeniodonts, with marked and distinctive adaptations for scratch-digging. Comparisons with other taeniodont taxa that include postcranial material suggest that all taeniodonts may have had scratch-digging adaptations. A phylogenetic analysis shows that Schowalteria and Onychodectes are basal taeniodonts, Stylinodontidae (including Wortmania) is monophyletic, and a monophyletic Conoryctidae (but not including Onychodectes) is only recovered when certain characters are ordered.
Java as a better C++

One of the great difficulties educators have with C++ is that it is such a complex language. Another is that it contains a large number of very low-level constructs that must be mastered. While it is possible to build high-level constructs in C++, the language doesn't require it, nor does it isolate you from low level details while you are building high level abstractions. At some level of your project, you need to get down into the pointer morass and wade about. Some reports from industry are that on large projects, half of the programming effort is spent in getting memory management right.
Dominant plane recognition in interior scenes from a single image

Recognition of dominant planes is an important task used in areas such as robot navigation, augmented reality, 3D reconstruction, among others. There are several approaches for recognizing planar structures, however, most of these approaches are based on processing two or more images captured from different camera views or on processing 3D data in the form of point clouds associated with the camera images. An alternative is to process a single image seeking to interpret areas of the images where the planar structure may be observed, thus removing parallax dependency, but adding the challenge of having to correctly interpret image ambiguities. Motivated by the latter, this work presents initial results of a novel methodology for dominant planes recognition in a single image by combining three key strategies: a learning algorithm, a segmentation scheme and a contour detection method. We constraint our approach to work with interior scenes as an attempt to identify key elements that may help in the recognition process in this sort of scenes. In this sense, our results show a recognition accuracy of 60.17% with an error of 3.14%, which indicate the feasibility of our approach.