Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rethinking professional issues in special education

Preface by James L. Paul and Ann Cranston-Gingras To Improve or Reconstruct Special Education: Issues Facing the Field by James L. Paul and Ann Cranston-Gingras The Demographics of Special Education by Harold Hodgkinson Interventions and Children with Special Needs by James J. Gallagher High-Stakes Testing and the Distortion of Care by Nel Noddings From the Old to the New Paradigm of Disability and Families: Research to Enhance Family Quality of Life by Ann P. Turnbull and H.R. Turnbull Addressing Home, School, and Community Violence for Children with Disabilities by Zena H. Rudo, Vestena Robbins, and Denise Smith Informing Professional Issues in Special Education Through Disability Studies by Ann Cranston-Gingras and Crystal Roberts Ladwig The Teacher Variable: Who Makes Education Special by James L. Paul and Patricia A. Parrish The Reflective Self: Becoming a Special Educator by Patricia Fagan and Ella L. Taylor Preparing African-American Male Teachers for Urban Special Education Environments by Brenda L. Townsend and Karen M. Harris Collaborative Professional Development Partnerships by Karen Colucci, Betty Epanchin, and Kathy Laframboise The Use of Educational Technology and Assistive Devices in Special Education by Barbara L. Loeding The Utilization of Distance Learning and Technology for Teaching Children with Disabilities by Michael W. Curton and Lynn Rejniak Charter Schools and Their Impact on Special Education by Myrrha Pammer, Lynn Lavely, and Cathy Wooley-Brown Reading the History of Special Education by Sherman Dorn Ethics and Special Education by James L. Paul, Peter French, and Ann Cranston-Gingras
Short-Term Efficacy of an Innovative Mobile Phone Technology-Based Intervention for Weight Management for Overweight and Obese Adolescents: Pilot Study

Background In the United States, approximately one-third of adolescents are now overweight or obese, and one in six is obese. This financial cost and the larger nonfinancial costs of obesity make obesity prevention and management for adolescents imperative for the health of the nation. However, primary care visits are typically brief, and primary care providers may lack adequate resources to help overweight or obese adolescents to manage weight issues. To augment the efficacy of primary care visits for adolescent weight management, mobile phone technology can be used as an adjunct treatment that provides additional opportunities for encouraging improvement in lifestyle, attainment, and maintenance of healthy weight. Objective The purposes of this study were to (1) measure effects of an innovative mobile phone technology-based intervention for overweight and obese adolescents and to (2) examine the intervention’s feasibility for use in primary care clinics. Methods The mobile phone-based intervention had three components: use of the Fitbit Flex, participation in an online educational program, and receipt of biweekly text messages during the maintenance phase. A randomized controlled study design was utilized. Data regarding anthropometrics (body mass index [BMI] and waist-to-hip ratio), blood pressure, levels of physical and sedentary activity, diet, and self-efficacy regarding physical activity and diet were collected at baseline and at 3 and 6 months after the baseline assessment. Results A total of 40 adolescents participated in the study. At the 6-month follow-up visit, compared to participants in the control group, the mobile phone-based intervention participants had significant improvement in BMI (z=–4.37, P=.001), diastolic blood pressure (z=–3.23, P=.001), physical activity days per week (z=2.58, P=.01), TV and computer time (z=–3.34, P=.001), servings of fruits and vegetables per day (z=2.74, P=.006), servings of soda and sweetened drinks (z=–3.19, P=.001), physical activity self-efficacy (z=2.75, P=.006), and dietary self-efficacy (z=5.05, P=.001). Medium to large effect sizes were found in these outcome variables. Conclusions The use of mobile technologies may offer a practical, reliable adjunct to weight management for overweight and obese adolescents in busy primary care clinics serving adolescents. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT 01693250; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01693250? term=Adolescent+ obesity+AND+mhealth&rank=5 (Archived by WebCite at )
Preoperative evaluation, premedication, and induction of anesthesia in infants and children.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Preparation for and induction of anesthesia in children has evolved significantly over the last decade, with particular reference to the reduction of perioperative anxiety reduction by nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic means. Several new large population studies and meta-analyses further scrutinize the current techniques. RECENT FINDINGS Many nonpharmacologic methods to reduce anxiety are effective λU similar to sedative premedications, with the exception of parent present induction of anesthesia. Healthcare providers can be taught to increase anxiety-reducing behaviors through an educational intervention. Clonidine and dexmedetomidine have many similar or superior qualities to midazolam. SUMMARY Larger studies still need to be conducted before wide-scale application of many nonpharmalogical interventions such as parental acupuncture. Similarly, more investigation should be done on outcomes such as onset, emergence, and discharge times, as well as the postoperative response with reference to emergence delirium and postoperative nausea and vomiting prevention to outline the differences among sedative premedications such as midazolam, clonidine, and dexmedetomidine.
A Longitudinal Twin Study of Skewed X Chromosome-Inactivation

X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is a pivotal epigenetic mechanism involved in the dosage compensation of X-linked genes between males and females. In any given cell, the process of XCI in early female development is thought to be random across alleles and clonally maintained once established. Recent studies, however, suggest that XCI might not always be random and that skewed inactivation may become more prevalent with age. The factors influencing such XCI skewing and its changes over time are largely unknown. To elucidate the influence of stochastic, heritable and environmental factors in longitudinal changes in XCI, we examined X inactivation profiles in a sample of monozygotic (MZ) (n = 23) and dizygotic (DZ) (n = 22) female twin-pairs at ages 5 and 10 years. Compared to MZ twins who were highly concordant for allelic XCI ratios, DZ twins showed much lower levels of concordance. Whilst XCI patterns were moderately stable between ages 5 and 10 years, there was some drift over time with an increased prevalence of more extreme XCI skewing at age 10. To our knowledge, this study represents the earliest longitudinal assessment of skewed XCI patterns, and suggests that skewed XCI may already be established in early childhood. Our data also suggest a link between MZ twinning and the establishment of allelic XCI ratios, and demonstrate that acquired skewing in XCI after establishment is primarily mediated by stochastic mechanisms. These data have implications for our understanding about sex differences in complex disease, and the potential causes of phenotypic discordance between MZ female twins.
Climate Sensitivity Uncertainty and the Need for Energy Without CO2 Emission

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. ” Even if we could determine a “safe” level of interference in the climate system, the sensitivity of global mean temperature to increasing atmospheric CO2 is known perhaps only to a factor of three or less. Here we show how a factor of three uncertainty in climate sensitivity introduces even greater uncertainty in allowable increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration and allowable CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, unless climate sensitivity is low and acceptable amounts of climate change are high, climate stabilization will require a massive transition to CO2 emission–free energy technologies.
Occurrence of high risk human papillomaviruses and cervical cancer among fertile-aged women in Finland

High risk human papilloma virus (hrHPV) infection is a necessary but not a sufficient cause of cervical cancer. In Finland, since 1990 the incidence of cervical cancer has increased among women younger than 40 years of age despite a nationwide screening programme. In this thesis, the overall objective is to address the role of possible, earlier hrHPV epidemic in this increased incidence of cervical cancer. The target population includes all fertile-aged women in Finland during 1983–2006. The actual study population comprised all women with a minimum of two pregnancies within five years and under 32 years of age in 1983–1997 and under 29 years of age in 1995–2003 identified from the Finnish Maternity Cohort (FMC). From this subpopulation, two subcohorts were selected for hrHPV antibody analysis by random sampling stratified by age and calendar time. All cases of cervical cancer diagnosed for women under 50 years of age during 1983–2002 and 1986–2006 were identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry. The case-cohort design, used for estimating population attributable fractions (PAF) associated with hrHPV, included the cases of cervical cancer and the first subcohort of FMC. A steady annual increase of 0.7% per year in the incidence of HPV16 was estimated to have taken place in Finland from 1983 to 1997 among the 23–31-year-old women with at least two pregnancies. The estimated seroprevalence of HPV16 increased from 17% to 24%, respectively. The PAF of hrHPV exposures in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (SCC) was estimated as 73% (95% CI: 13% to 93%). For 26–31-year-old women born in the 1960s and 1970s the incidence of SCC was roughly double compared with women born in the late 1950s. Mathematical modelling indicated that changes in the sexual behaviour partly accounted for the increase seen in the incidence of cervical cancer in the 1990s. The findings of this thesis indicate that growth in the background exposure to HPV16 preceded the increase of incidence of cervical cancer in Finland. At younger birth cohorts, the increase of the incidence of SCC is visible among fertile-aged women in Finland. Whether overall screening starting at 25 years of age, higher participation rate for cervical screening or HPV vaccination of early adolescents is the future solution to lowering the incidence of cervical cancer among young women remains to be seen.
Response of benthic invertebrate assemblages to metal exposure and bioaccumulation associated with hard-rock mining in northwestern streams, USA

Benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, environmental variables, and associated mine density were evaluated during the summer of 2000 at 18 reference and test sites in the Coeur d’Alene and St. Regis River basins, northwestern USA as part of the US Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn in water and (or) streambed sediment at test sites in basins where production mine density was ≥0.2 mines/km2 (in a 500-m stream buffer) were significantly higher than concentrations at reference sites. Zn and Pb were identified as the primary contaminants in water and streambed sediment, respectively. These metal concentrations often exceeded acute Ambient Water Quality Criteria for aquatic life and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Probable Effect Level for streambed sediment. Regression analysis identified significant correlations between production mine density in each basin and Zn concentrations in water and Pb in streambed sediment (r2 = 0.69 and 0.65, p < 0.01). Metal concentrations in caddisfly tissue, used to verify site-specific exposures of benthos, also were highest at sites downstream from intensive mining. Benthic invertebrate taxa richness and densities were lower at sites downstream than upstream of areas of intensive hard-rock mining and associated metal enrichment. Benthic invertebrate metrics that were most effective in discriminating changes in assemblage structure between reference and mining sites were total number of taxa, number of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa, and densities of total individuals, EPT individuals, and metal-sensitive Ephemeroptera individuals.
Prominent cerebellar symptoms with unusual magnetic resonance imaging findings in acquired hepatocerebral degeneration.

BACKGROUND Cerebellar lesions revealed by abnormal signals on magnetic resonance images are extremely rare in acquired hepatocerebral degeneration (AHCD). OBJECTIVE To report a case of AHCD with prominent cerebellar findings both clinically and radiologically. DESIGN AND SETTING Case report and tertiary-care hospital. PATIENT A 46-year-old man complained of progressive speech difficulties of 5 months' duration. Two years earlier, he had been diagnosed as having cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcoholism and hepatitis B virus infection. RESULTS The patient had progressive ataxic dysarthria and limb and gait ataxia as manifestations of AHCD. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed distinctive symmetrical T2 high-signal intensities in the bilateral cerebellar hemispheres and brachium pontis, which were consistent with his neurologic deficits. Simultaneously, high T1 signals in the bilateral pallidum and ventral midbrain were noted, which are typical manifestations of AHCD. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging 3 months later showed the same cerebellar signs and abnormal signals. CONCLUSIONS The cerebellar cortex and middle cerebellar peduncle are considered highly vulnerable structures to metabolic insults in liver disease. Findings from our patient suggest that dominant cerebellar deficits with compatible T2 high-signal lesions are another type of clinical manifestation in AHCD.
Telmisartan Exerts Antiatherosclerotic Effects by Activating Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-&ggr; in Macrophages

Objective—Telmisartan, an angiotensin type I receptor blocker (ARB), protects against the progression of atherosclerosis. Here, we investigated the molecular basis of the antiatherosclerotic effects of telmisartan in macrophages and apolipoprotein E–deficient mice. Methods and Results—In macrophages, telmisartan increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-&ggr; (PPAR&ggr;) activity and PPAR ligand-binding activity. In contrast, 3 other ARBs, losartan, valsartan, and olmesartan, did not affect PPAR&ggr; activity. Interestingly, high doses of telmisartan activated PPAR&agr; in macrophages. Telmisartan induced the mRNA expression of CD36 and ATP-binding cassette transporters A1 and G1 (ABCA1/G1), and these effects were abrogated by PPAR&ggr; small interfering RNA. Telmisartan, but not other ARBs, inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced mRNA expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-&agr;, and these effects were abrogated by PPAR&ggr; small interfering RNA. Moreover, telmisartan suppressed oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced macrophage proliferation through PPAR&ggr; activation. In apolipoprotein E−/− mice, telmisartan increased the mRNA expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1, decreased atherosclerotic lesion size, decreased the number of proliferative macrophages in the lesion, and suppressed MCP-1 and tumor necrosis factor-&agr; mRNA expression in the aorta. Conclusion—Telmisartan induced ABCA1/ABCG1 expression and suppressed MCP-1 expression and macrophage proliferation by activating PPAR&ggr;. These effects may induce antiatherogenic effects in hypertensive patients.
HGF/scatter factor selectively promotes cell invasion by increasing integrin avidity

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) controls a genetic program known as ‘invasive growth’, which involves as critical steps cell adhesion, migration, and trespassing of basement membranes. We show here that in MDA‐MB‐231 carcinoma cells, these steps are elicited by HGF/SF but not by epidermal growth factor (EGF). Neither factor substantially alters the production or activity of extracellular matrix proteases. HGF/SF, but not EGF, selectively promotes cell adhesion on laminins 1 and 5, fibronectin, and vitronectin through a PI3‐K‐dependent mechanism. Increased adhesion is followed by enhanced invasiveness through isolated matrix proteins as well as through reconstituted basement membranes. Inhibition assays using function‐blocking antibodies show that this phenomenon is mediated by multiple integrins including βl, β3, β4, and β5. HGF/SF triggers clustering of all these integrins at actin‐rich adhesive sites and lamellipodia but does not quantitatively modify their membrane expression. These data suggest that HGF/SF promotes cell adhesion and invasiveness by increasing the avidity of integrins for their specific ligands. –Trusolino, L. , Cavassa, S. , Angelini, P., Andò, M. , Bertotti, A. , Comoglio, P. M. , Boccaccio, C. HGF/scatter factor selectively promotes cell invasion by increasing integrin avidity. FASEB J. 14, 1629–1640 (2000)
Scene Labeling using Recurrent Neural Networks with Explicit Long Range Contextual Dependency

Spatial contextual dependencies are crucial for scene labeling problems. Recurrent neural network (RNN) is one of state-of-the-art methods for modeling contextual dependencies. However, RNNs are fundamentally designed for sequential data, not spatial data. This work shows that directly applying traditional RNN architectures, which unfold a 2D lattice grid into a sequence, is not sufficient to model structure dependencies in images due to the"impact vanishing"problem. A new RNN unit with Explicit Long-range Conditioning (RNN-ELC) is designed to overcome this problem. Based on this new RNN-ELC unit, a novel neural network architecture is built for scene labeling tasks. This architecture achieves state-of-the-art performances on several standard scene labeling datasets. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that scene labeling tasks benefit a lot from the explicit long range contextual dependencies encoded in our algorithm.
Transcriptional Organization and Regulation of Magnetosome Operons in Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense

ABSTRACT Genes involved in magnetite biomineralization are clustered within the genomic magnetosome island of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense. Their transcriptional organization and regulation were studied by several approaches. Cotranscription of genes within the mamAB, mamDC, and mms clusters was demonstrated by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) of intergenic regions, indicating the presence of long polycistronic transcripts extending over more than 16 kb. The transcription start points of the mamAB, mamDC, and mms operons were mapped at 22 bp, 52 bp, and 58 bp upstream of the first genes of the operons, respectively. Identified −10 and −35 boxes of the PmamAB, PmamDC, and Pmms promoters showed high similarity to the canonical σ70 recognition sequence. The transcription of magnetosome genes was further studied in response to iron and oxygen. Transcripts of magnetosome genes were detected by RT-PCR both in magnetic cells grown microaerobically under iron-sufficient conditions and in nonmagnetic cells grown either aerobically or with iron limitation. The presence of transcripts was found to be independent of the growth phase. Further results from partial RNA microarrays targeting the putative magnetosome transcriptome of M. gryphiswaldense and real-time RT-PCR experiments indicated differences in expression levels depending on growth conditions. The expression of the mam and mms genes was down-regulated in nonmagnetic cells under iron limitation and, to a lesser extent, during aerobic growth compared to that in magnetite-forming cells grown microaerobically under iron-sufficient conditions.
Cell Cycle Regulation of the Tobacco Ribonucleotide Reductase Small Subunit Gene Is Mediated by E 2 F-like Elements

Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) is a key enzyme involved in the DNA synthesis pathway. The RNR-encoded genes are cell cycle regulated and specifically expressed in S phase. The promoter of the RNR2 gene encoding for the small subunit was isolated from tobacco. Both in vivo and in vitro studies of the DNA–protein interactions in synchronized BY2 tobacco cells showed that two E2F-like motifs were involved in multiple specific complexes, some of which displayed cell cycle–regulated binding activities. Moreover, these two elements could specifically interact with a purified tobacco E2F protein. Involvement of the E2F elements in regulating the RNR2 promoter was checked by functional analyses in synchronized transgenic BY2 cells transformed with various RNR2 promoter constructs fused to the luciferase reporter gene. The two E2F elements were involved in upregulation of the promoter at the G1/S transition and mutation of both elements prevented any significant induction of the RNR promoter. In addition, one of the E2F elements sharing homology with the animal E2F/cell cycle–dependent element motif behaved like a repressor when outside of the S phase. These data provide evidence that E2F elements play a crucial role in cell cycle regulation of gene transcription in plants.
Frontal paralimbic network atrophy in very mild behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

BACKGROUND Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) strikes hardest at the frontal lobes, but the sites of earliest injury remain unclear. OBJECTIVE To determine atrophy patterns in distinct clinical stages of bvFTD, testing the hypothesis that the mildest stage is restricted to frontal paralimbic cortex. DESIGN A bvFTD cohort study. SETTING University hospital dementia clinic. PARTICIPANTS Patients with bvFTD with Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale scores of 0.5 (n = 15), 1 (n = 15), or 2 to 3 (n = 15) age and sex matched to each other and to 45 healthy controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Magnetic resonance voxel-based morphometry estimated gray matter and white matter atrophy at each disease stage compared with controls. RESULTS Patients with a CDR score of 0.5 had gray matter loss in frontal paralimbic cortices, but atrophy also involved a network of anterior cortical and subcortical regions. A CDR score of 1 showed more extensive frontal gray matter atrophy and white matter losses in corpus callosum and brainstem. A CDR score of 2 to 3 showed additional posterior insula, hippocampus, and parietal involvement, with white matter atrophy in presumed frontal projection fibers. CONCLUSIONS Very mild bvFTD targets a specific subset of frontal and insular regions. More advanced disease affects white matter and posterior gray matter structures densely interconnected with the sites of earliest injury.
Risk Aversion, Prospect Theory, and Strategic Risk in Law Enforcement: Evidence From an Antitrust Experiment

In this paper we investigate the effects of risk preferences and attitudes towards risk on optimal antitrust enforcement policies. First, we observe that risk aversion is negatively correlated with players' proclivity to form a cartel, and that increasing the level of fines while reducing the probability of detection enhance deterrence. This confirms that the design of an optimal law enforcement scheme must keep risk attitudes into account, as suggested by Polinsky and Shavell. We also notice that players' propensity towards communication drops right after detection even if the collusive agreement was successful, and it declines as the sum of the fines paid by a subject increases. This effect could be explained by availability heuristic, Â-a cognitive bias, where people's perception of a risk is based on its vividness and emotional impact rather than on its actual probability. Our results also confirm the crucial role of strategic risk considerations (analogous to risk dominance for one shot games) in determining the effects of leniency programs. Indeed, we show that the effectiveness of leniency programs in deterring cartels is mostly due to the increased risk of a cartel member being cheated upon when entering a collusive agreement, while the risk of a cartel being detected by an autonomous investigation of the Authority seems to play a less important role.