Examination of Student–Teacher Interpersonal Relationships Circumplex Model in the Greek Educational Context

Student–teacher interpersonal relationships contribute significantly to the academic trajectory and achievement of children and adolescents. The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) is one of the most widely applied measures for assessing students' perceptions about the teachers’ interpersonal behaviour. QTI comprises eight subscales that are assumed to follow a circumplex model. Prior studies on QTI’s psychometric properties are inconclusive and report mixed findings. The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of QTI in the Greek cultural context, by testing its circumplex structure and levels of reliability. QTI was administered to 1669 secondary education students, from 85 different classrooms. A cross-validation approach and a variety of statistical techniques were employed. Subscales’ internal consistency and their ability to discriminate among classes were satisfactory. Exploratory statistical techniques provided initial support of the circular pattern. Application of a specifically designed package for testing the circumplex structure of an instrument, showed that a model in which the eight QTI subscales are placed on the circumference of a circle with equal distances form the centre was tenable. However, the assumption of equal distances was not confirmed. Deviation from the theoretical position of the subscales was mainly due to students’ difficulty to discriminate teachers’ proximity behaviour, a finding reported in various studies and across different cultural contexts. Suggestions for improving the psychometric properties of the QTI are discussed.

Study of Tumor Cells in the G0 or G1 Nerve Growth State

The cell cycle of such a subject has been thoroughly studied, yet here we are examining for the second time that we have entered a new phase; Biology always has new insights to show us. This data was amazing. This map is based on this beautiful circular pattern that we have identified as all the different stages of the cell cycle. Have a disease. When Placer and colleagues used the ccAF tool to analyze cell data for glioma tumors, we found that tumor cells were often in the G0 or G1 nerve growth state. With tumor aggression, fewer cells remain at rest in the G0 nerve state. This means that more cells are growing and growing in the tumor. Keywords: Cancer; Cells; Tissues; Tumors; Prevention; Prognosis; Diagnosis; Imaging; Screening, Treatment; Management

Fast acquisition protocol for X-ray scattering tensor tomography

Microstructural information over an entire sample is important to understand the macroscopic behaviour of materials. X-ray scattering tensor tomography facilitates the investigation of the microstructural organisation in statistically large sample volumes. However, established acquisition protocols based on scanning small-angle X-ray scattering and X-ray grating interferometry inherently require long scan times even with highly brilliant X-ray sources. Recent developments in X-ray diffractive optics towards circular pattern arrays enable fast single-shot acquisition of the sample scattering properties with 2D omnidirectional sensitivity. X-ray scattering tensor tomography with the use of this circular grating array has been demonstrated. We propose here simple yet inherently rapid acquisition protocols for X-ray scattering tensor tomography leveraging on these new optical elements. Results from both simulation and experimental data, supported by a null space analysis, suggest that the proposed acquisition protocols are not only rapid but also corroborate that sufficient information for the accurate volumetric reconstruction of the scattering properties is provided. The proposed acquisition protocols will build the basis for rapid inspection and/or time-resolved tensor tomography of the microstructural organisation over an extended field of view.

Preliminary Results of Vitamin D3 Application Combined With Anisodamine In the Treatment of Alopecia Areata in Children

Alopecia areata is a form of inflammatory hair loss that has been known for a long time, but its cause is largely unexplored. It is characterized by the patient's hair falling out in a circular pattern, which is why this disease is also called circular hair loss. This occurs in 80% of cases in the head area but can also affect the beard in men and in exceptional cases the entire body hair.

Epigenetic Regulation of Hematopoiesis and Acute Leukemia

The cell cycle of such a subject has been thoroughly studied, yet here we are examining for the second time that we have entered a new phase; Biology always has new insights to show us. This data was amazing. This map is based on this beautiful circular pattern that we have identified as all the different stages of the cell cycle. Have a disease. When Placer and colleagues used the ccAF tool to analyze cell data for glioma tumors, we found that tumor cells were often in the G0 or G1 nerve growth state. With tumor aggression, fewer cells remain at rest in the G0 nerve state. This means that more cells are growing and growing in the tumor. Keywords: Cancer; Cells; Tissues, Tumors; Prevention, Prognosis; Diagnosis; Imaging; Screening; Treatment; Management

Spatial Sensitivity of ECG Electrode Placement

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a well-known technique used to diagnose cardiac diseases. To acquire the spatial signal characteristics from the thorax, multiple electrodes are commonly used. Displacements of electrodes affect the signal morphologies and can lead to incorrect diagnoses. For quantitative analysis of these effects we propose the usage of a numerical computer simulation. In order to create a realistic representation of the human thorax including the heart and lung a three-dimensional model with a simplified geometry is used. The electrical excitation of the heart is modelled on a cellular level via the bidomain approach. To numerically solve the differential equations, describing the signal propagation within the body, we use the finite element method in COMSOL Multiphysics®. The spatial gradients of the simulated body potentials are calculated to determine placement sensitivity maps. The simulated results show that the sensitivity is different for each considered point in time of each ECG wave. In general, the impact of displacement is increased as an electrode is more closely located to the signal source. However, in some specific regions associated with differential ECG leads the placement sensitivity distribution deviates from this simple circular pattern. The results provide useful information to enhance the understanding of placed specific effects on classical ECG features. By additional consideration of patient-specific characteristics in the future, the used model has the ability to investigate additional body-related aspects such as geometrical body shape or composition of various tissue types.

Leaf spot caused by Colletotrichum fructicola on star anise (Illicium verum) in China

Star anise (Illicium verum) has been cultivated for centuries in southern China, and its fruit is an important seasoning spice, and can be used as a medicine (Wang et al. 2011). It is grown mainly in Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces, in China. Anthracnose is one of the important diseases of star anise, which seriously affects the yield and quality by infecting twigs, pedicels, fruit stalks and fruits (Liao et al. 2017). When leaf spots first appear, they are round, water-stained, small, dark brown spots, which expands into round separated spots, then the spots become yellowish brown with small black acervuli arranged in a circular pattern. On 22 August 2019, four leaf spot samples of star anise were collected, with two each from Shanglin County and Jinxiu County in Guangxi Province. The plantations in this area of around 8 ha had more than 80% leaf spot incidence. Small pieces of tissues (5 mm × 5 mm) were taken from the zone between symptomatic and healthy plant tissues, surface-disinfected in 75% ethanol for 10 s and 1% NaClO (sodium hypochlorite) for 1 min, and washed three times in sterilized distilled water. The sterilized leaf tissues were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 28°C in darkness for a week. Hyphae growing from tissue pieces were subcultured onto fresh PDA. Three of the four leaves yielded cultures resembling Colletotrichum spp. Four fungal isolates were obtained by a single-spore isolation method. The isolates JX1-2 and JX1-5 were collected from Jinxiu County while SL1-2 and SL2-1 were collected from Shanglin County. Genomic DNA was extracted from these four fungal isolates, followed by PCR amplification and sequencing of the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), actin (ACT), Apn2-Mat1-2 intergenic spacer, partial mating type (Mat1-2) (ApMat), calmodulin (CAL), chitin synthase (CHS-1), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) (Weir et al. 2012). The sequences have been deposited in GenBank (ITS: MW301215 to MW301218; ACT: MW348965 to MW348968; ApMat: MW348973 to MW348976; CAL: MW348957 to MW348960; CHS-1: MW348969 to MW348972; GAPDH: MW348961 to MW348964). For phylogenetic analysis, MEGAX (Kumar et al. 2018) was used to produce a Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree with 1000 bootstrap replicates, based on a concatenation of the sequenced genomic regions for each of the four isolates from this study as well as sequences of other Colletotrichum species obtained from GenBank. The results revealed that isolates JX1-2, JX1-5, and SL1-2 were C. horii, and SL2-1 was C. fructicola (Weir et al.2012). The resulting colonies were initially white with abundant aerial hyphae, and white-gray after three days at 28°C on PDA. Isolate SL2-1 eventually turned greenish-grey after 14 days, while the center of C. horii isolates turned iron-gray with white-gray marginal. Both species of Colletotrichum had hyaline conidia that were terete, smooth, apex obtuse, base truncate, and there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in conidial size between C. horii (10.5 to 33.6 × 3.6 to 9.3 μm) (n=300) and C. fructicola (13.1 to 16.2 × 4.7 to 7.1 μm) (n=100). Pathogenicity tests were conducted in the greenhouse on 1-year-old star anise seedlings, and performed with a conidial suspension (10 µL of 106 conidia/mL) containing 0.1% Tween 20 placed onto lightly wounded sites on healthy leaves. Light cross-shaped wounds were made with sterilized toothpicks, gently scratching the surface without piercing the leaf. Each isolate was inoculated onto three seedlings, with at least eight leaves per seedling inoculated in two spots after light wounding. Control seedlings were inoculated with water containing 0.1% Tween 20. All inoculated seedlings were maintained in the greenhouse (12 h/12 h light/dark, 25±2°C), and covered with plastic bags to maintain high humidity throughout. The wounded sites inoculated with C. horii darkened to greenish-brown after 24 h, and C. fructicola gave similar symptoms after 36 h. Then the wounds turned to light brown round spots, and after 5 days, the spots expanded to water-stained spots with dots of acervuli arranged in a circular pattern. No symptoms were observed for the non-inoculated control. Each fungal isolate was consistently re-isolated from inoculated leaves, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in aggressiveness between the two species, with C. horii showing larger diameter lesions (averaging 10.2 mm) than C. fructicola (averaging 8.4 mm). Anthracnose of star anise caused by C. horii (Liao et al. 2017) and C. coccdes (Wu et al. 2003) has been previously reported in China; however, to our knowledge, this is the first report of C. fructicola infecting star anise in China. This study may provide reference for further epidemiological study and prevention of anthracnose on star anise.

Mapping Hydrothermal Alteration at the Fentale-Dofan Magmatic Segment of the Main Ethiopian Rift

The Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) is characterized by extensional tectonics and volcanism, associated with active hydrothermal systems, hydrothermal alteration and fumarolic deposits. The spatial distribution of these hydrothermal products and their link with faults and rock types provides important clues to what controls fluid flow in the subsurface. However, little is known about this in the East African Rift. We address this issue with a multidisciplinary approach in the Fentale-Dofan magmatic segment of the MER, an area characterized by intense volcanic and tectonic activity and a geothermal prospect. Primarily we conduct mapping of hydrothermal alteration and fumarolic deposits, and rock lithologies using a surface feature classification technique of multispectral satellite images. Then we interpret the map using a new database of faults and active hydrothermal manifestations such as hot-springs and fumaroles. We find that the surface hydrothermal alteration and deposits are mainly focused near Fentale and the Dofan Volcanic Complex (DVC). At DVC the hydrothermal products are focused on rhyolites on the western side of the volcano, in an area of intense NNE striking, rift parallel faults. At Fentale volcano the hydrothermal products are mainly associated with ignimbrite and show a circular pattern around the volcanic edifice, but also in places follow the NNE striking faults. At Fentale, the more complex association of hydrothermal products and active manifestations around the edge of the ignimbrite suggests formation contacts may also localize fluid flow in places. At both volcanoes the association between hydrothermal products with either the rhyolites and ignimbrites is likely due to them being relatively easily altered (in comparison to basalt), and also their brittle nature allows for fracturing through which localized fluid flow can occur (as opposed to the sediments). The general pattern of hydrothermal products suggests a stronger structural influence at the DVC with respect to Fentale. The presence of hydrothermal products and active hydrothermal manifestations, along with other lines of evidence such as locus of subsurface dike intrusion at the volcanic centres, suggest that discrete and localized magma reservoirs beneath Fentale and the DVC are the heat source for hydrothermal circulation. Our study also demonstrates that geology, including hydrothermal deposits, can be successfully mapped using automated remote sensing based classification.

Iterative feature detection of a coded checkerboard target for the geometric calibration of infrared cameras

The geometric calibration of cameras becomes necessary when images should be undistorted, geometric image information is needed or data from more than one camera have to be fused. This process is often done using a target with a checkerboard or circular pattern and a given geometry. In this work, a coded checkerboard target for thermal imaging cameras and the corresponding image processing algorithm for iterative feature detection are presented. It is shown that, due in particular to the resulting better feature detectability at image borders, lower uncertainties in the estimation of the distortion parameters are achieved.