Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Counselor, Coordinator, Monitor, Mom: The Roles of Counselors in the Puente Program

This article analyzes the roles of counselors in Puente, a reform to address weak high school counseling. Compared to most schools with one-on-one advising, Puente counselors arrange group meetings about college, cooperate with English teachers, set up meetings with parents to enhance participation in their children’s academic lives, arrange field trips to colleges, and carry out many other activities beyond conventional roles. Their perspectives about students and parents reveal the complexity of Puente and of moving students toward college. Several problems continue to plague Puente—many common to other school reformefforts—including inadequate staff development, insufficient funding, and varying support from schools. However, Puente still provides a compelling model of how counseling roles could be revised, especially in small learning communities, to enhance the progress of all students.
TrustStore: Making Amazon S3 Trustworthy with Services Composition

The enormous amount of data generated in daily operations and the increasing demands for data accessibility across organizations are pushing individuals and organizations to outsource their data storage to cloud storage services. However, the security and the privacy of the outsourced data goes beyond the data owners' control. We propose a service composition approach to preserve privacy for data stored in untrusted storage service. A virtual file system, called Trust Store, is prototyped to demonstrate this concept. It allows users utilize untrusted storage service provider with confidentiality and integrity of the data preserved. We deployed the prototype with Amazon S3 and evaluate its performance.
Academic Governance of Universities

This article, dealing with the topic of academic governance, is based on the experiences and reflections of a previous chair of a university senate. Grounded in recognition of the ever-increasing turbulence and complexity of the context of universities, it reveals some of the gaps and what gets silenced in the process and explores the paradoxical and inherently political nature of governance. Building on the current literature, the article attempts to extend and differentiate our conceptualization of governance and leadership as critical functions for university performance. In particular, governance is conceived of as the reframing, challenging, and questioning of the leadership vision and interpretation of reality and focuses on both external as well as internal trends over the long term and in ways that maximize responsiveness and strategic opportunities.
Effects of Transport Inhibitors on the Cellular Uptake of Carboxylated Polystyrene Nanoparticles in Different Cell Lines

Nanotechnology is expected to play a vital role in the rapidly developing field of nanomedicine, creating innovative solutions and therapies for currently untreatable diseases, and providing new tools for various biomedical applications, such as drug delivery and gene therapy. In order to optimize the efficacy of nanoparticle (NP) delivery to cells, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms by which NPs are internalized by cells, as this will likely determine their ultimate sub-cellular fate and localisation. Here we have used pharmacological inhibitors of some of the major endocytic pathways to investigate nanoparticle uptake mechanisms in a range of representative human cell lines, including HeLa (cervical cancer), A549 (lung carcinoma) and 1321N1 (brain astrocytoma). Chlorpromazine and genistein were used to inhibit clathrin and caveolin mediated endocytosis, respectively. Cytochalasin A and nocodazole were used to inhibit, respectively, the polymerisation of actin and microtubule cytoskeleton. Uptake experiments were performed systematically across the different cell lines, using carboxylated polystyrene NPs of 40 nm and 200 nm diameters, as model NPs of sizes comparable to typical endocytic cargoes. The results clearly indicated that, in all cases and cell types, NPs entered cells via active energy dependent processes. NP uptake in HeLa and 1321N1 cells was strongly affected by actin depolymerisation, while A549 cells showed a stronger inhibition of NP uptake (in comparison to the other cell types) after microtubule disruption and treatment with genistein. A strong reduction of NP uptake was observed after chlorpromazine treatment only in the case of 1321N1 cells. These outcomes suggested that the same NP might exploit different uptake mechanisms to enter different cell types.
Gang violence as survival strategy in the context of poverty in Davidsonville

Gang violence is discussed as a survival strategy in the deprived Coloured community of Davidsonville on the West Rand of Johannesburg. Ethnographic data was generated through a variety of qualitative methods over a period of three years (from 1991 to 1994) to contextualise gang violence at microlevel. An in-depth study was undertaken of literature exploring poverty and violence as Interrelated social phenomena. The operationallsation of the experiences of boys and youth gangs was established and ‘mediated’ through ethnographical descriptions. The conclusion was reached that violence, in its capacity as a cyclical process, constituted a complex and multifaceted phenomenon and that it manifested itself in various forms. Violence is one of humanity's universal traits that poses an ‘effective’ survival option for young men and boys living in the context of poverty to satisfy their needs, to use as a strategy, to solve problems and to assert themselves
Dimensionality and Hierarchy of the Sdq in a Non-Western Milieu

This study tested the construct validity and invariance of a multidimensional measure of self-concept, the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-I), on a non-Western sample of boys and girls. Separate exploratory factor analyses of data from a sample of 566 students (302 boys, 264 girls) clearly identified five of the seven proposed factors. The covariance analysis supported a seven-factor model for boys and girls. The number of factors and the pattern of factor loading and uniqueness were invariant across genders. Factor covariances were not clearly invariant across genders, thus providing support for the differential socialization hypothesis. That is, the Arab girls made a better distinction of their worthiness in different areas than boys did. A model with two higher-order factors was found to be better than models with one or three higher-order factors. Coefficients alpha for the subscales ranged from . 74 to . 92 for girls and . 76 to . 93 for boys.
Antibodies to Reticulocyte Binding Protein-Like Homologue 4 Inhibit Invasion of Plasmodium falciparum into Human Erythrocytes

ABSTRACT Plasmodium falciparum invasion into human erythrocytes relies on the interaction between multiple parasite ligands and their respective erythrocyte receptors. The sialic acid-independent invasion pathway is dependent on the expression of P. falciparum reticulocyte binding protein-like homologue 4 (PfRh4), as disruption of the gene abolishes the ability of parasites to switch to this pathway. We show that PfRh4 is present as an invasion ligand in culture supernatants as a 160-kDa proteolytic fragment. We confirm that PfRh4 binds to the surfaces of erythrocytes through recognition of an erythrocyte receptor that is neuraminidase resistant but trypsin and chymotrypsin sensitive. Serum antibodies from malaria-exposed individuals show reactivity against the binding domain of PfRh4. Purified immunoglobulin G raised in rabbits against the binding domain of PfRh4 blocked the binding of native PfRh4 to the surfaces of erythrocytes and inhibited erythrocyte invasion of parasites using sialic acid-independent invasion pathways and grown in neuraminidase-treated erythrocytes. Our results suggest PfRh4 is a potential vaccine candidate.
The development of the tectum in Xenopus laevis: an autoradiographic study.

The development of the optic tectum in Xenopus laevis has been studied by the use of autoradiography with tritiated thymidine. The first part of the adult tectum to form is the rostroventral pole; cells in this position undergo their final DNA synthesis between stages 35 and 45 or shortly thereafter. Next, the cells comprising the ventrolateral border of the tectum form. These cells undergo their final DNA synthesis at or shortly after stage 45. Finally the cells comprising the dorsal surface of the adult tectum form, mainly between stages 50–55. This part of the tectum originates from the serial addition of strips of cells medially, which displace the pre-existing tissue laterally and rostrally. The formation of the tectum is virtually complete by stage 58. The tectum in Xenopus thus forms in topographical order from rostroventral to caudo-medial. The distribution of labelled cells, several stages after the time of injection of isotope, indicates that, at any one time, a segment of tectum is forming which runs normal to the tectal surface and includes all layers from the ventricular layer out to the surface. In Xenopus, therefore, the times of origin of tectal cells appear to be related not to cell type or tectal layer but to the topographical position of the cells across the surface of the tectum.
Aggregate Economy Risk and Company Failure: An Examination of UK Quoted Firms

Considerable attention has been directed in the recent finance and economics literature to issues concerning the effects on company failure risk of changes in the macroeconomic environment. This paper examines the accounting ratio-based and macroeconomic determinants of insolvency exit of UK large industrials during the early 1990s with a view to improve understanding of company failure risk. Failure determinants are revealed from estimates based on a cross-section of 369 quoted firms, which is followed by an assessment of predictive performance based on a series of time-to-failure-specific logit functions, as is typical in the literature. Within the traditional for cross-sectional data studies framework, a more complete model of failure risk is developed by adding to a set of traditional financial statement-based inputs, the two variables capturing aggregate economy risk - one-year lagged, unanticipated changes in the nominal interest rate and in the real exchange rate. Alternative estimates of prediction error are obtained, first, by analytically adjusting the apparent error rate for the downward bias and, second, by generating holdout predictions.More complete, augmented with the two macroeconomic variables models demonstrate improved out-ofestimation-sample classificatory accuracy at risk horizons ranging from one to four years prior to failure, with the results being quite robust across a wide range of cut-off probability values, for both failing and non-failed firms. Although in terms of the individual ratio significance and overall predictive accuracy, the findings of the present study may not be directly comparable with the evidence from prior research due to differing data sets and model specifications, the results are intuitively appealing. First, the results affirm the important explanatory role of liquidity, gearing, and profitability in the company failure process. Second, the findings for the failure probability appear to demonstrate that shocks from unanticipated changes in interest and exchange rates may matter as much as the underlying changes in firm-specific characteristics of liquidity, gearing, and profitability. Obtained empirical determinants suggest that during the 1990s recession, shifts in the real exchange rate and rises in the nominal interest rate, were associated with a higher propensity of industrial company to exit via insolvency, thus indicating links to a loss in competitiveness and to the effects of high gearing. The results provide policy implications for reducing the company sector vulnerability to financial distress and failure while highlighting that changes in macroeconomic conditions should be an important ingredient of possible extensions of company failure prediction models.
Genome-Wide SNP Detection, Validation, and Development of an 8K SNP Array for Apple

As high-throughput genetic marker screening systems are essential for a range of genetics studies and plant breeding applications, the International RosBREED SNP Consortium (IRSC) has utilized the Illumina Infinium® II system to develop a medium- to high-throughput SNP screening tool for genome-wide evaluation of allelic variation in apple (Malus×domestica) breeding germplasm. For genome-wide SNP discovery, 27 apple cultivars were chosen to represent worldwide breeding germplasm and re-sequenced at low coverage with the Illumina Genome Analyzer II. Following alignment of these sequences to the whole genome sequence of ‘Golden Delicious’, SNPs were identified using SoapSNP. A total of 2,113,120 SNPs were detected, corresponding to one SNP to every 288 bp of the genome. The Illumina GoldenGate® assay was then used to validate a subset of 144 SNPs with a range of characteristics, using a set of 160 apple accessions. This validation assay enabled fine-tuning of the final subset of SNPs for the Illumina Infinium® II system. The set of stringent filtering criteria developed allowed choice of a set of SNPs that not only exhibited an even distribution across the apple genome and a range of minor allele frequencies to ensure utility across germplasm, but also were located in putative exonic regions to maximize genotyping success rate. A total of 7867 apple SNPs was established for the IRSC apple 8K SNP array v1, of which 5554 were polymorphic after evaluation in segregating families and a germplasm collection. This publicly available genomics resource will provide an unprecedented resolution of SNP haplotypes, which will enable marker-locus-trait association discovery, description of the genetic architecture of quantitative traits, investigation of genetic variation (neutral and functional), and genomic selection in apple.
Military reform and the problem of centralization in the Ottoman empire in the eighteenth century

A number of modern studies discuss eighteenth-century Ottoman military reform from the perspective of its relevance to the processes of modernization which the Ottoman empire and republican Turkey underwent in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This approach has its merits. Occasionally, however, it has come close to a 'heroes and villains' interpretation of Ottoman history. Some works may not say as much explicitly, but by highlighting the 'progressive' aspects of military reform they suggest that an ongoing conflict between reform and conservatism was the central theme of Ottoman political development in the eighteenth century. Based on this approach a non-specialist could conclude that whenever reform failed it was due to not much more than 'the adamant conservatism of the Janissaries and ulema'. ' Moreover, since students of Ottoman history have become preoccupied with this theme, other significant aspects of military reform have received only little attention. In Armies and Societies in Europe, 1494-1789, Andre Corvisier discusses the emergence of the modern military and makes the following generalizations:
Psychiatric morbidity among homicide offenders: a Swedish population study.

OBJECTIVE The authors examined psychiatric diagnoses of all individuals convicted of homicide and attempted homicide in Sweden from 1988 to 2001 (N=2,005). METHOD High-quality national crime and hospital registers were linked to investigate standardized psychiatric diagnoses of homicide offenders. RESULTS The presence or absence of psychiatric diagnoses was ascertained for 1,625 (81%) of the homicide offenders; 1,464 (90%) of these offenders had a psychiatric diagnosis. Twenty percent (N=409) of all 2,005 offenders had a psychotic illness, and 54% (N=589) of a subgroup of 1,091 offenders with information on secondary diagnoses had a personality disorder as a principal or secondary diagnosis. Only 10% of the offenders for whom psychiatric diagnostic information was available had no diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS Using a comprehensive method for identifying psychiatric illness in homicide offenders, the authors found higher rates of psychiatric morbidity than previous studies. Their findings underline the importance of psychiatric assessment in homicide offenders and suggest that treatment might have a preventive role.
N-Acetylcysteine Use in Non-Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Failure

This article will review the available evidence related to the management of non-acetaminophen induced acute liver failure with N-acetylcysteine. Randomized controlled trials and a meta-analysis were included in this review. The efficacy of N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of acute liver failure from causes other than acetaminophen toxicity was evaluated. The efficacy of N-acetylcysteine in non-acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure is limited to specific patient populations. Patients classified as Coma Grade I or II are more likely to benefit from the use of this agent. The use of N-acetylcysteine is associated with improved transplant-free survival, not overall survival, in adults. N-Acetylcysteine does not improve the overall survival of patients with non-acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure but may be beneficial in those patients with Coma Grades I–II. Liver transplantation remains the only definitive therapy in advanced disease.
Visual aids improve diagnostic inferences and metacognitive judgment calibration

Visual aids can improve comprehension of risks associated with medical treatments, screenings, and lifestyles. Do visual aids also help decision makers accurately assess their risk comprehension? That is, do visual aids help them become well calibrated? To address these questions, we investigated the benefits of visual aids displaying numerical information and measured accuracy of self-assessment of diagnostic inferences (i.e., metacognitive judgment calibration) controlling for individual differences in numeracy. Participants included 108 patients who made diagnostic inferences about three medical tests on the basis of information about the sensitivity and false-positive rate of the tests and disease prevalence. Half of the patients received the information in numbers without a visual aid, while the other half received numbers along with a grid representing the numerical information. In the numerical condition, many patients–especially those with low numeracy–misinterpreted the predictive value of the tests and profoundly overestimated the accuracy of their inferences. Metacognitive judgment calibration mediated the relationship between numeracy and accuracy of diagnostic inferences. In contrast, in the visual aid condition, patients at all levels of numeracy showed high-levels of inferential accuracy and metacognitive judgment calibration. Results indicate that accurate metacognitive assessment may explain the beneficial effects of visual aids and numeracy–a result that accords with theory suggesting that metacognition is an essential part of risk literacy. We conclude that well-designed risk communications can inform patients about healthrelevant numerical information while helping them assess the quality of their own risk comprehension.
Do You Ever Disagree With Your Students? Avoiding Personal Politics in Human Geography Teaching

This paper considers the possibility of overt political disagreement between human geographers and their students. Recent literature suggests that geographers should encourage their students to become more politically engaged through innovative teaching methods that could include frank discussion of the various positions taken by lecturers and students alike. Yet this same strategy could easily run against established pedagogical arguments about how teacher neutrality gives students the space to develop their views in whatever direction they choose. This paper investigates the practical management of this tension by drawing on qualitative interviews with a sample of current practitioners that centred on the occasions when personal politics have previously featured in their undergraduate teaching. It describes why overt political discussion is often squeezed out of these encounters, the careful ways in which these academics manage their political views during the times when such discussion occurs along with the degree to which they felt they should reveal them, and how students themselves commonly seemed to perform opinion in a relatively superficial way because doing so could be much less stressful. The conclusion that follows reflects on the broader implications of these findings for current debate and future practice in the discipline where it particularly emphasizes the importance of being sensitive to the interpersonal dynamics at hand.
Epidermal Growth Factor–Induced Heparanase Nucleolar Localization Augments DNA Topoisomerase I Activity in Brain Metastatic Breast Cancer

Identification of molecular mechanisms responsible for brain metastatic breast cancer (BMBC) is imperative to develop novel therapies. However, current understanding of the molecular circuitry that governs BMBC dissemination remains fragmentary. Heparanase (HPSE) is the only functional mammalian endoglycosidase whose activity correlates with cancer metastasis, angiogenesis, and the reduced postoperative survival of cancer patients, making it an active target for anticancer therapeutics. We hypothesized that human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation promotes HPSE function in human BMBC. To address this, we examined HPSE content, activity, and intracellular trafficking in a HER2/EGFR-expressing BMBC model system and show that HPSE is present, functional, and correlates with HER2 status. Further, we showed that EGF induced nucleolar translocation of HPSE in these cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner upon activation of HER2/EGFR. Knockdowns of HER2/EGFR by small interference RNA abolished EGF-induced HPSE nucleolar translocalization. It was also noted that nucleolar HPSE modulates DNA topoisomerase I (Topo I), an enzyme that is highly present in nucleoli, essential for DNA replication and transcription in a variety of tumors, and inhibited by heparan sulfate. Evidence is provided that HPSE can regulate Topo I activity, which subsequently affects BMBC cell proliferation. Finally, we showed that the nucleolar presence of HPSE with Topo I colocalization is detected only in HER2-overexpressing BMBC patient specimens. Altogether, these findings support the notion that HPSE is a critical downstream target of HER2 mechanisms driving BMBC and is potentially relevant for BMBC therapeutic interventions. Mol Cancer Res; 8(2); 278–90
Production , Manufacturing and Logistics Concerning the theory of workload control

An existing taxonomy of workload control rules is adapted to classify 25 workload control rules and their components examined in prior research to create a basis to model how three workload control rule components – order selection, work aggregation and buffer limits – affect shop performance in environments that differ in their bottleneck utilization and protective capacity levels. Two of the most frequently studied rules in the literature – CONWIP and DBR – were included in the simulation. Data analysis found that the workload control rules had a significant positive effect on the shop performance measures only in environments with the highest bottleneck utilization and the lowest protective capacity. However, the work aggregation method was found to be an important component of the workload control rule. Suggestions were made for future research that could increase our understanding of workload control rules and integrate this research with our understanding of lean production. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.