Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cultural perspectives, thinking, educators and globalisation: a critical analysis of the Future Problem Solving Program

Globalisation in its modern phase has inevitably included a strong educational element, in which learning programs that originate in one part of the world have been transported to another. In concordance with economic trends in the contemporary era, this export trade has been primarily one-way. Curricula that have been devised in the industrialised societies of more ‘developed’ States the so-called ‘West’ – have been introduced into regions that have very different cultural, socioeconomic and educational characteristics and traditions. Contemporary models of teaching higher order thinking as a discrete curriculum focus have been part of this movement, particularly since the notion of thinking skills came to be perceived as central to an advanced school education since at least the 1970s. As a result, while a number of thinking skills programs have been developed in educational systems within economically advanced countries, Future Problem Solving (FPS) Program International remains one of the few that has adopted a deliberate line of internationalism, moving into regions beyond its initial base of the USA, Australia and New Zealand, such as Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa, with varying degrees of success. However, as with similar learning programs, the Future Problem Solving Program has been introduced into new territories on the premise that the notion of thinking does not vary across cultures, and that, regardless of the socio-economic and cultural background of the new FPS region, this form of educational transference is both possible and inevitably successful. This research project investigated the validity of transplanting thinking skills programs from one system to another on an international scale by focusing on a trinity of concepts that delineates the centre of this conundrum: culture, thinking and international education. The Future Problem Solving Program, along with the specific thinking skills on which it is instituted, provided the context of the investigation, which employed a comparative analysis of educators in the multicultural societies of Malaysia and South Africa, with a view to establishing the degree to which cultural background determined how thinking skills are conceived and enacted by educators. Using a grounded theory perspective, the findings of the project were threefold: first, that, different cultures do tend to conceptualise elements of thinking in different ways; that a converging spectrum of cultural dispositions towards thinking can be identified; and that those whose cultural dispositions of thinking are more towards the middle of the convergence, where a balance across cultural dispositions is more in evidence, tend to be those who are either more exposed to cultures outside their country of origin, or who are more inclined to support the cultural transformation of a society in the name of social, or national, stability.
Analysis of the Gastric H,K ATPase for Ion pathways and Inhibitor Binding Sites

New homology models of the gastric H,K ATPase in the E1K and E2P states are presented as the first structures of a K+ countertransport P2 type ATPase identifying ion entry and exit paths. The new E2P model showed separation between transmembrane segments M3 through M8 and addition of water in this space showed not only an inhibitor entry path to the luminal vestibule but also a channel leading to the ion binding site. Addition of K+ to the hydrated channel with molecular dynamics modeling of ion movement identified a pathway for K+ from the lumen to the ion binding site to give E2K. Concentrations of K+ ~ten fold higher than the Km for ATPase activation inhibit the H,K ATPase. In contrast to the high affinity K+ site for ATPase activation accessed from the extracytoplasmic surface (Km,app = 0.2 mM), this low affinity inhibitory site (Km,app = 8 mM) is accessed from the cytoplasmic surface. In order to explain K+ exit to the cytoplasm from the E1K conformation of the H,K ATPase, a homology model was constructed based on the backbone coordinates of pdb.1su4, the srCa ATPase in the E12Ca2+ conformation. Hydronium and K+ were substituted for Ca2+ in sites I and II. The possibility that mutants of Q159 and E160 would affect activity and apparent ion affinity in a manner consistent with a role in the ion exit mechanism was investigated. These conserved residues are in close proximity to the ion gating residue, E343, in the E1K conformation but not in E2K.
An Evaluation of High-Dose Vitamin D for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Vitamin D receptors (VDR) are present in T-lymphocytes, macrophages, chondrocytes, and synovial cells of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but not healthy individuals [1]. As recently reviewed [1], 1,25(OH)2D inhibits T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in vitro, and ameliorates murine RA [2, 3]. We hypothesized that correction of hypovitaminosis D in subjects with RA would decrease parathyroid hormone (PTH), increase bone mineral density (BMD), improve functional capacity (Health Assessment Questionnaire, HAQ) and down-regulate inflammatory cytokines, thereby diminishing RA disease activity (RA-DAS) scores and improving quality of life.
Contextual effects on a well learned task: Isolated or broad?

Skill transfer is a fundamental feature in the domain of skill acquisition, however different theories present conflicting ideas regarding prediction of transfer. Anderson's (1982) Adaptive Control of Thought theory posits that the amount of transfer is proportional to the number of shared productions. Logan's (1988) Instance theory in contrast, posits that complete transfer will only occur on tasks which have been experienced before. However, work by Speelman and Kirsner (1997), Speelman, Forbes and Giesen (2004) and Johnson (2005) have produced results that counter the implicit assumptions of these theories. More specifically a disruption fi:om the predicted learning curve was found in situations where both Logan and Anderson would predict complete transfer. Such findings have implications on the theoretical nature of skill acquisition. However these findings involved data that was averaged over many trials, and as such a more specific trial by trial account of the underlying nature of this disruption is not known.
Learning vocabulary through situational games by pupils of mixed ability in lower primary class.

Chapter I P s y c h o ]o g ic a l and P h i lo s o p h ic a l bases o f the study Review of R e la ted L i t e r a t u r e R a t io n a le o f th e study R eferences Chapter I I Pro . iect Design ------u-----i-ss-----=— School P u p i ls Groups Teacher Time Methodology Lesson P lan s Sect ion Page
Euphemism in Arabic: A Gricean Interpretation

This paper investigates the nature of euphemism in Arabic. It shows that speakers of Arabic employ four major devices for euphemizing: figurative expressions, circumlocutions, remodelings, and antonyms. The study argues that there is close interaction between the Politeness Principle (Leech 1983) and the Cooperative Principle's maxims of conversation (Grice 1975). Most importantly, it is argued that Arabic euphemisms flout one or more of the maxims of conversation, thus giving rise to Particularized Conversational Implicatures. Consequently, floutings are shown to play an important role in lexical choices in addition to their well-established roles in structural and discoursal choices. used in order to avoid possible loss of face. The dispreferred expression may be taboo, fearsome, distasteful, or for some other reason have too many negative connotations to felicitously execute speaker's communicative intention on a given occasion. " A close look at the two definitions will show that they both revolve im- plicitly around the same idea, that is, the intentional utilization of lexical re- sources in language by interactants to achieve the expression of politeness and demureness in human interaction. Such expression is manifest in the con- scious selection of a more polite and demure lexis instead of a less polite one. However, the second definition surpasses the first in two major respects. First, it makes use of the notion of face, which is a key factor to understanding the speaker's intentions and subsequently the lexical correlates in his or her utter- ances. Face wants, whether they be positive or negative (Brown and Levinson 1987), involve watching one's language, among other things, and are meant to facilitate, smooth, and refine interaction. Second, this definition incorporates the notion of felicity (appropriateness), which plays an important role because
Decision Tree Classification with Differential Privacy

Data mining information about people is becoming increasingly important in the data-driven society of the 21st century. Unfortunately, sometimes there are real-world considerations that conflict with the goals of data mining; sometimes the privacy of the people being data mined needs to be considered. This necessitates that the output of data mining algorithms be modified to preserve privacy while simultaneously not ruining the predictive power of the outputted model. Differential privacy is a strong, enforceable definition of privacy that can be used in data mining algorithms, guaranteeing that nothing will be learned about the people in the data that could not already be discovered without their participation. In this survey, we focus on one particular data mining algorithm—decision trees—and how differential privacy interacts with each of the components that constitute decision tree algorithms. We analyze both greedy and random decision trees, and the conflicts that arise when trying to balance privacy requirements with the accuracy of the model.
Tracing Twitter: the rise of a microblogging platform

This article uses 'interpretative flexibility' as a concept to analyse the early development of one specific microblogging site: Twitter. By tracing microblogging's instable meaning in its early years (2006-10), we try to understand how the platform's meaning was shaped by a variety of human and non-human actors: technological design, usage, content and business models. By tracking microblogging's instable meaning in its infant years, we may get a fuller understanding of how this new technology plays out in a complex Internet milieu of push-and-pull forces. Reconstructing interpretative flexibility while the technology is still in flux - and thus open to manoeuvring - may give rise to new perspectives on how power relationships transpire in a networked environment.
Rat Mast Cells Enhance Fibroblast Proliferation and Fibroblast-Populated Collagen Lattice Contraction through Gap Junctional Intercellular Communications

Background: Mast cells' association with fibrosis is known, but the mechanics of that association are unclear. The hypothesis is that mast cells promote fibroblast profibrotic activities through heterocellular gap junctional intercellular communications. Casting populated collagen lattices with both human mastocytoma cell line (HMC-1), an established mast cell line, and fibroblasts enhances lattice contraction via gap junctional intercellular communications. Unfortunately, in monolayer culture, HMC-1 cells and fibroblasts do not form heterocellular gap junctional intercellular communications. Freshly isolated rat peritoneal mast cells, however, establish these communications with fibroblasts in monolayer culture. Isolated rat peritoneal mast cells, however, survive only 7 days. Establishing a rat mast cell line that grows in the same medium as fibroblasts advances the study of mast cell-fibroblast interactions. HMC-1 cells thrive without supplements, suggesting that they release the factor(s) necessary for their viability. Spent HMC-1 medium may contain the factor(s) that generate a viable rat mast cell line. Methods: Rat peritoneal-isolated mast cells grew in culture medium containing spent HMC-1 medium for 4 weeks. At 4 weeks, rat mast cells (RMC-1) were successfully maintained in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium with 10% serum. Results: RMC-1 cells formed heterocellular gap junctional intercellular communications with fibroblasts, enhancing both fibroblast proliferation and co-cultured RMC-1/fibroblast/populated collagen lattice contraction. Enhanced fibroblast proliferation and lattice contraction failed to occur by including RMC-1 cells unable to establish gap junctional intercellular communications with fibroblasts, but cell proliferation was not affected by including degranulated RMC-1 cells. Conclusion: Heterocellular gap junctional intercellular communications with mast cells increase in fibroblast proliferation and fibroblast PCL contraction, two hypertrophic scar fibroblast activities.
Interlaced social worlds: exploring the use of social media in the kindergarten

Abstract The study presented in this article examines mediatization processes in an American kindergarten. The kindergarten is considered as a social world in which forms of communication, as well as the identities of those involved (children, teachers, parents), evolve through the use of digital technologies. The relationships between the different stakeholders are intensified through increased exchange. The role of children in this exchange process undergoes a particularly significant shift, since they come to be seen as active learners. Such developments are only possible if the teacher is prepared to be transparent and to invest a great deal of time. Parents warmly welcome the inclusion of such technologies in the kindergarten classroom and the contribution they make to the children’s learning and family life. Digital technologies, however, are not entirely free of exclusion mechanisms.
Adenovirus binding to cultured synoviocytes triggers signaling through MAPK pathways and induces expression of cyclooxygenase‐2

Recombinant adenovirus can be administered in vivo to achieve transduction of a number of cell types including human synoviocytes. Immunogenicity of adenoviruses has limited their utility as vectors for gene delivery; however, specific mechanisms underlying the acute inflammatory response to adenovirus are not well understood. Activation of a number of signal transduction pathways occurs rapidly upon adenovirus binding to cell‐surface receptors. We investigated stimulated expression of mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPKs), cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in human primary synovial fibroblasts to adenovirus expressing the E. coli β‐galactosidase gene.
The Ews-ERG Fusion Protein Can Initiate Neoplasia from Lineage-Committed Haematopoietic Cells

The EWS-ERG fusion protein is found in human sarcomas with the chromosomal translocation t(21;22)(q22;q12), where the translocation is considered to be an initiating event in sarcoma formation within uncommitted mesenchymal cells, probably long-lived progenitors capable of self renewal. The fusion protein may not therefore have an oncogenic capability beyond these progenitors. To assess whether EWS-ERG can be a tumour initiator in cells other than mesenchymal cells, we have analysed Ews-ERG fusion protein function in a cellular environment not typical of that found in human cancers, namely, committed lymphoid cells. We have used Ews-ERG invertor mice having an inverted ERG cDNA cassette flanked by loxP sites knocked in the Ews intron 8, crossed with mice expressing Cre recombinase under the control of the Rag1 gene to give conditional, lymphoid-specific expression of the fusion protein. Clonal T cell neoplasias arose in these mice. This conditional Ews gene fusion model of tumourigenesis shows that Ews-ERG can cause haematopoietic tumours and the precursor cells are committed cells. Thus, Ews-ERG can function in cells that do not have to be pluripotent progenitors or mesenchymal cells.
Laboratory Investigation of the Contribution of Complex Aromatic/Aliphatic Polycyclic Hybrid Molecular Structures to Interstellar Ultraviolet Extinction and Infrared Emission

We have demonstrated by experiment that, in an energetic environment, a simple polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) such as naphthalene will undergo chemical reactions that produce a wide array of more complex species (an aggregate). For a stellar wind of a highly evolved star (post-asymptotic giant branch [post-AGB]), this process would be in addition to what is expected from reactions occurring under thermodynamic equilibrium. A surprising result of that work was that produced in substantial abundance are hydrogenated forms that are hybrids of polycyclic aromatic and polycyclic alkanes. Infrared spectroscopy described here reveals a spectral character for these materials that has much in common with that observed for the constituents of circumstellar clouds of post-AGB stars. It can be demonstrated that a methylene (–CH2–) substructure, as in cycloalkanes, is the likely carrier of the 6.9 μm band emission of dust that has recently been formed around IRAS 22272+5433, NGC 7027, and CPD -56 8032. Ultraviolet spectroscopy previously done with a lower limit of 190 nm had revealed that this molecular aggregate can contribute to the interstellar extinction feature at 2175 Å. We have now extended our UV spectroscopy of these materials to 110 nm by a vacuum ultraviolet technique. That work, described here, reveals new spectral characteristics and describes how material newly formed during the late stages of stellar evolution could have produced an extinction feature claimed to exist at 1700 Å in the spectrum of HD 145502 and also how the newly formed hydrocarbon material would be transformed/aged in the general interstellar environment. The contribution of this molecular aggregate to the rise in interstellar extinction at wavelengths below 1500 Å is also examined. The panspectral measurements of the materials produced in the laboratory, using plasmas of H, He, N, and O to convert the simple PAH naphthalene to an aggregate of complex species, provide insight into possible molecular structure details of newly formed hydrocarbon-rich interstellar dust and its transformation into aged material that becomes resident in the interstellar medium. Specifically the presence of naphthalene-like and butadiene-like conjugated structures as chromophores for the 2175 Å ultraviolet extinction feature is indicated.
Exercise Preferences Are Different after Stroke

Objective. To explore exercise preferences in stroke survivors and controls. Methods. A novel scale—the Exercise Preference Questionnaire—was developed for this study. This questionnaire, together with established assessments of physical activities, mood, and quality of life, was completed in a single assessment session. Results. Twenty-three adult stroke survivors (mean age 63, 65% male) and 41 healthy controls (mean age 61, 66% male) participated. The groups differed on 4 of the 5 a priori exercise preference factors: relative to controls, stroke survivors preferred exercise to be more structured, in a group, at a gym or fitness centre, and for exercises to be demonstrated. Factor analysis yielded 6 data-driven factors, and these factors also differentiated stroke and control groups. There was evidence that group differences were diminished when activity levels and psychological wellbeing were accounted for. Individual variability in exercise preferences and reported barriers to exercise are outlined. Conclusion. Stroke survivors have different exercise preferences, and a better understanding of these preferences can be used to inform rehabilitation programs and increase adherence.
Unusual findings in appendectomy specimens: Evaluation of 2458 cases and review of the literature

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common acute surgical condition of the abdomen. Obstruction of the lumen is the dominant factor for acute appendicitis. Although fecaliths are the usual cause of obstruction, some unusual factors could be the reason. Aim: Our aim was to document the unusual findings in appendectomy specimens. Methods and Material: The hospital records of 2458 patients (834 F) who were diagnosed as acute appendicitis and underwent open appendicectomy during last six years were retrospective according to age, sex, histopathological diagnosis, coexisting pathologies and unusual findings on histology. Statistical Analyses: All data were stored using SPSS 9.05 for Windows. Frequency and distrubution of data were analysed. Results: Unusual findings were determined in 19 (0.7%) cases by histology. Parasites were found in six (0.3%) (Enterobius Vermicularis, Balantidum Coli, Schistosoma Haematobium), mucocele in 5 (0.2%), carcinoid tumour in three (0.1%), B cell malignant lymphoma in one (0.05%), leiomyoma in one (0.05%), primary appendiceal adenocarcinoma in one (0.05%), acute appendicitis with dysplastic changes in one (0.05%) and inflammatory bowel polyp was reported in remaining one case (0.05%). Conclusion: Although unusual or coexisting pathologies can be seen rarely during appendectomy, this should be kept in mind and meticulous exploration and evaluation should be performed in each cases.
A Syntactical Approach to Weak omega-Groupoids

When moving to a Type Theory without proof-irrelevance the notion of a setoid has to be generalized to the notion of a weak omega-groupoid. As a first step in this direction we study the formalisation of weak omega-groupoids in Type Theory. This is motivated by Voevodsky's proposal of univalent type theory which is incompatible with proof-irrelevance and the results by Lumsdaine and Garner/van de Berg showing that the standard eliminator for equality gives rise to a weak omega-groupoid.
The Power of Modeling - a Response to PDDL2.1

In this commentary I argue that although PDDL2.1 is a very useful standard for the planning competition, its design does not properly consider the issue of domain modeling. Hence, I would not advocate its use in specifying planning domains outside of the context of the planning competition. Rather, the field needs to explore different approaches and grapple more directly with the problem of effectively modeling and utilizing all of the diverse pieces of knowledge we typically have about planning domains.
The Protective Effects of Areca catechu Extract on Cognition and Social Interaction Deficits in a Cuprizone-Induced Demyelination Model

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric illness with an unclear cause. One theory is that demyelination of white matter is one of the main pathological factors involved in the development of schizophrenia. The current study evaluated the protective effects of Areca catechu nut extract (ANE) on a cuprizone-induced demyelination mouse model. Two doses of ANE (1% and 2%) were administered orally in the diet for 8 weeks. Animals subjected to demyelination showed impaired spatial memory and less social activity. In addition, mice subjected to demyelination displayed significant myelin damage in cortex and demonstrated a higher expression of NG2 and PDGFRα and AMPK activation. ANE treatment not only significantly enhanced cognitive ability and social activity, but also protected myelin against cuprizone toxicity by promoting oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation. In addition, ANE treatment demonstrated significant dephosphorylation of AMPKα, indicating a regulatory role for ANE in schizophrenia. This study showed that ANE treatment may enhance cognitive ability and social activity by facilitating OPC differentiation and protecting against myelin damage in cortex. Results also suggest the AMPK signaling pathway may be involved in this process.