Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Translation of Measurement Instruments and their Reliability: An Example of Job-Related Affective Well-Being Scale

The translation of measurement instruments, like al l cross-cultural research, presents many problems for researchers. B ecause of cultural and linguistic differences, the questions or items can have quite different meaning in the translated instruments, thus threate ning the validity and reliability of measurement. These problems are (or should be) addressed by translation back-translation procedure. To illustrate the problems, the case of Job-related Affective Well-Being Scale is presented. The scale was translated from E nglish to Slovene and applied directly in the research without backtransl ation or other form of testing the translation. The Cronbach's alpha is used to compare reliability of the results obtained with original (English) version reported b y authors of the scale and with the translated (Slovene) version. In the item analysis some items have been singled out as problematic by item diagnostics . Especially the item »excited«, translated as »vznemirjen«, is discussed , since it is possible that backtranslation procedure could fail to detect the problem. At the end some tentative solutions are suggested.
Optimisation of a multipartite human immunodeficiency virus based vector system; control of virus infectivity and large‐scale production

We have previously described a five‐plasmid HIV‐1 vector system that utilises a codon‐optimised gagpol gene. While this system was shown to be safer than systems using proviral type helpers, the titre of virus produced was relatively low. Therefore, a process of optimising all aspects of virus production was initiated.
Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 on an absorbable collagen sponge with an osteoconductive bulking agent in posterolateral arthrodesis with instrumentation. A prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) on an absorbable collagen sponge has been shown to be a safe and effective replacement for iliac crest bone graft when used with a threaded fusion device in anterior lumbar interbody arthrodesis. Use of rhBMP-2 on an absorbable collagen sponge in posterolateral lumbar arthrodesis requires the addition of a bulking agent to provide resistance against compression and to serve as an osteoconductive scaffold for new bone formation. METHODS We performed a prospective, randomized, multicenter pilot study to investigate the use of rhBMP-2 on an absorbable collagen sponge combined with a ceramic-granule bulking agent as a replacement for autogenous iliac crest bone graft in single-level posterolateral lumbar arthrodesis with instrumentation. The investigational group (twenty-five patients) was treated with a 1.5 mg/mL solution of rhBMP-2 on two strips of absorbable collagen sponge (total dose of rhBMP-2, 12 mg) combined with 10 cm(3) of ceramic granules. The control group (twenty-one patients) received iliac crest bone graft. Clinical outcomes were assessed with use of well-established instruments. Radiographs were reviewed to assess consolidation of fusion. RESULTS Eighty-eight percent (twenty-two) of the twenty-five patients in the investigational group and 86% (eighteen) of the twenty-one patients in the control group were considered to have completed the twenty-four-month follow-up. At all follow-up intervals, there were significant improvements in the clinical outcome measures, including the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, Short Form-36 scores, and back and leg pain scores, in both groups. At twenty-four months, the improvement in the mean ODI score, as compared with the preoperative score, was 28.2 points in the investigational group and 23.0 points in the control group. By twenty-four months, 95% (eighteen) of nineteen patients in the investigational group compared with 70% (fourteen) of twenty in the control group had a radiographically documented fusion. The overall success rate was 81% (seventeen of twenty-one) in the investigational group and 55% (eleven of twenty) in the control group (p = 0.345). CONCLUSIONS Compared with an iliac crest bone graft, the combination of an absorbable collagen sponge soaked with rhBMP-2 and ceramic granules resulted in trends toward improvements in clinical outcomes and toward a higher rate of radiographic fusion. This combination of an osteoinductive agent with an osteoconductive matrix may be an effective replacement for autograft in single-level posterolateral lumbar arthrodeses with instrumentation.
Increase in cell mass during the division cycle of Escherichia coli B/rA

Increase in the mean cell mass of undivided cells was determined during the division cycle of Escherichia coli B/rA. Cell buoyant densities during the division cycle were determined after cells from an exponentially growing culture were separated by size. The buoyant densities of these cells were essentially independent of cell age, with a mean value of 1.094 g ml-1. Mean cell volume and buoyant density were also determined during synchronous growth in two different media, which provided doubling times of 40 and 25 min. Cell volume and mass increased linearly at both growth rates, as buoyant density did not vary significantly. The results are consistent with only one of the three major models of cell growth, linear growth, which specifies that the rate of increase in cell mass is constant throughout the division cycle.
Antibacterial Activity of Joint Fluid in Cemented Total-Knee Arthroplasty: an In Vivo Comparative Study of Polymethylmethacrylate with and without Antibiotic Loading

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activities of joint fluids of patients undergoing total-knee arthroplasty (TKA). Thirty patients who were scheduled for primary cemented TKA were enrolled in the study. The patients were grouped on the basis of whether the cement was without antibiotic loading (control group) or loaded with oxacillin (oxacillin group) or vancomycin (vancomycin group). Cefazolin was administered to every patient as the perioperative prophylactic antibiotic. Samples of joint fluids were collected from the knee joints at 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, and 48 h after prosthesis implantation. We assessed the bioactivities of the joint fluids against methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The antibiotic contents of the joint fluid samples were further evaluated by using high-performance liquid chromatography. Against MSSA, all joint fluid samples exhibited at least 24 h of bacterial inhibition activity. The oxacillin (43.2 h ± 2 h) and vancomycin (40.8 h ± 1.8 h) groups exhibited significantly longer durations of antibacterial activities than the control group (28 h ± 1.3 h; P < 0.05). However, antibacterial activity against MRSA was observed only in the vancomycin group. In conclusion, cefazolin, which was administered as a prophylactic antibiotic in TKA, exhibited good ability for knee joint penetration and was sufficient to inhibit MSSA during its administration. The use of antibiotic-loaded cement can prolong the antibacterial activity of joint fluid in TKA. Further, vancomycin-loaded cement had antibacterial activity against MRSA superior to that of cement loaded with oxacillin or without antibiotic loading.
The Evaluation of Software Quality

Software Quality comprises all characteristics and significant features of a product or an activity which relate to the satisfaction of given requirements. The totality of characteristics of a software product depends upon its ability to satisfy given needs: for example (a) the degree to which software possesses a desired attribute or combination of attributes. (b) The degree to which a customer or user perceives that software meets their expectations, (c) the characteristics of software that determine the degree to which the software in use will meet the customer expectation. This study has three objectives. The first objective is to identify the Software quality dimensions that are relevant from the user perspective. The second objective is to identify if the software quality dimensions behave differently across different user levels. The third objective is to find out the software quality dimensions that are relevant for different softwares and generate a model for these softwares. The data were collected for Novice and Expert users for MS WORD, MINITAB, MS OUTLOOK and GOOGLE SKETCH softwares. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis was performed on these data to find out the software quality dimensions that are relevant from the end users' perspective and determine the relationship between the software quality dimensions and the dependent variable; overall software quality and Software rating. The ANOVA showed that consistency, maintainability, reliability, security, usability, and user interface (UI) aesthetics were significantly influenced by the user group. The regression analysis showed that, For MS Word software, Overall Software Quality (OSQ) was significantly affected by accessibility, security, interoperability, usability and stability. The OSQ was significantly affected by layout, security, interoperability, usability and stability, in case of Minitab software. In case of MS Outlook software, the OSQ was significantly affected by functionality, operability, user interface aesthetic, and maintainability. And For Google Sketch software, the OSQ was significantly affected by accessibility, maintainability, backward/forward convertibility (bfc), stability, operability, and precision. From this regression analysis, it is recommended that the above mentioned significant dimensions are the important dimensions to improve the respective softwares' quality and software rating. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor Dr. Ram R. Bishu. His guidance not only remained in the academic research but also extended in many issues of my life. Throughout my graduate schooling, he provided motivation, best advice and teaching. I am profoundly indebted to Dr. Bishu for teaching me how …
The Impact of Communication and Collaboration Between Test Developers and Teachers on a High-Stakes ESL Exam: Aligning External Assessment and Classroom Practices

In Quebec the high-stakes Secondary Five ESL exit writing exam developed by the Education Ministry (MELS) is administered and corrected by classroom teachers. In this distinctive situation, the MELS works toward aligning classroom-based assessment (CBA) and the writing exam by making ongoing teacher involvement part of its development and validation process. This article presents data from Year 1 (2010) and Year 2 (2011) of a three-year study using a mixed-methods design to examine the consequences of this unique process. The participants from each administration of the exam include 2 MELS evaluation officials, 11 MELS-trained raters from the research marking centers, and approximately 500 students. Data consist of student scores rated by raters at the marking centers, interviews with raters, teacher and rater survey information, and notes from the marking centers. Comparative analyses of student scores, Rasch analyses of rater behavior, and content analyses of interviews, surveys, and notes were conducted. The findings show two-way benefits for teachers and MELS administrators, creating a value-added validation process: teacher comments for rubric and task revisions improved scoring and exam construct validity; increased teacher exam knowledge helped align CBA practices, enhancing student learning and enabling mentoring of colleagues in interpreting rubric criteria.
Relationships among Facial, Prosodic, and Lexical Channels of Emotional Perceptual Processing

This study was designed to address the issue of whether there is a general processor for the perception of emotion or whether there are separate processors. We examined the relationships among three channels of emotional communication in 100 healthy right-handed adult males and females. The channels were facial, prosodic/intonational, and lexical/verbal; both identification and discrimination tasks of emotional perception were utilised. Statistical analyses controlled for nonemotional perceptual factors and subject characteristics (i.e. demographic and general cognitive). For identification, multiple significant correlations were found among the channels. For discrimination, fewer correlations were significant. Overall, these results provide support for the notion of a general processor for emotional perceptual identification in normal adult subjects.
Ethical Behavior and Employees Job Performance in Education Sector of Pakistan

2 Abstract: Ethical behavior is a very important concept. The aim in this investigation is to examine the impact of ethical behavior on job performance of employees in education sector of Pakistan and to see how the factors of ethical behavior contribute in this. Education sector is selected in this study because of its development day by day and not so much research is done in this sector on this topic. In this study ethical behavior, in terms of ethical guidance similar to ethical leadership and ethical values, is taken as independent variable and employees' job performance as dependent variable. Sample size is 150. Questionnaire is selected as an instrument for collection of data and for the sake of analysis of that data SPSS is selected. With SPSS's help regression analysis is applied. Different educational institutions are taken for the investigation of the study.
Summer Residential Programs: Academics and Beyond

Every summer, bright students participate in highly challenging residential programs on university campuses. Since many students return year after year, they must be finding something of great value. Although we have confirmation of their academic achievement, little has been done to ascertain the students' own perceptions of the total program experience. This study employed the qualitative research tool of interview and the principles of phenomenology to discern how a group of students saw and interpreted the value of the summer programs. Twelve students who attended Purdue University's residential programs for at least 3 years were interviewed to discover what stood out in their minds as important events during the programs; how they interpreted the effect of the programs on their academic, social, and emotional lives; and what brought them back year after year. A telephone interview was also conducted with a parent of each student to collect their perceptions of the value of the programs for their children. The interviews revealed the importance of summer program experiences for these students. The satisfaction of challenging course work taught by caring, expert teachers and the opportunity to live on a university campus were significant to them; making friends and gaining confidence in their own abilities were equally vital.
Qualitative and quantitative job insecurity: relations with nine types of performance

This study adds to the understanding of the negative effect of job insecurity on employee performance, by investigating the differences between qualitative and quantitative job insecurity when predicting individual performance at task, team, and organization level, taking into account the individual’s proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity. We expect both types of job insecurity to be negatively related to performance. The hypotheses were examined using structural equation modelling on a sample of 225 Romanian employees. Data were collected at a single point in time. Results indicate job insecurity as negatively associated mostly with the proficiency facet of performance, and minimally with the proactivity dimension. Our analyses also indicate that qualitative job insecurity is negatively associated with more performance facets than quantitative job insecurity. This research contributes to the job insecurity literature by being one of the few studies to compare qualitative and quantitative job insecurity effects. Additionally, the in-depth look at performance facets sheds light on a possible reason as to why existing research on the relationship between job insecurity and performance has not been consistent in results. Being cross-sectional in nature, our study does not allow us to draw conclusions as regards causality. Given the importance of the topic, it would be warranted to replicate the study on different samples.
Does Awareness on Tobacco Control Legislations Pertaining to Tobacco Sellers Lead to Compliance? – A Study from Chennai, India

Background: Tobacco Sellers (TS) are key stake holders in tobacco control and their compliance with the legislation is crucial to achieve the intended outcome. The current study was conducted to assess the awareness of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) among TS and their response. Methodology: TS (N=527) were randomly chosen from ten zones of Chennai city. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to assess awareness and compliance regarding sections 4, 5 and 6. Results: Awareness of COTPA sections-4, 5, 6a, 6b among the TS was 42.0%, 31.0%, 69.3% and 57.2%, respectively, and 65.4% were of the opinion that the tobacco menace can be controlled through legislation. One fourth of the sellers reported that they were contemplating stopping selling tobacco and 13.4% had been requested by various people to stop doing so. The overall profit from tobacco sales was less than 10% for 58.1% of the sellers. There was no change in the sale trends of tobacco products and the smoking form of tobacco was reported to be highly sold (56.2%). Only 54.6% had displayed signboards mentioning the prohibition of smoking in public places as directed under section 4, and 90% of the sellers continued to supply accessories to smoker. In contravention of section-5, 85.6% continued to advertise tobacco in some form and total non-compliance with section-6a and 6b was observed. Conclusion: Awareness on tobacco control legislations among TS was found to be moderate. Furthermore, compliance with the COTPA was minimal.
A-to-I editing in the miRNA seed region regulates target mRNA selection and silencing efficiency

Hydrolytic deamination of adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) by adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) is a post-transcriptional modification which results in a discrepancy between genomic DNA and the transcribed RNA sequence, thus contributing to the diversity of the transcriptome. Inosine preferentially base pairs with cytidine, meaning that A-to-I modifications in the mRNA sequences may be observed as A-to-G substitutions by the protein-coding machinery. Genome-wide studies have revealed that the majority of editing events occur in non-coding RNA sequences, but little is known about their functional meaning. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of target mRNAs with complementarities to their seed region. Here, we confirm that A-to-I editing in the miRNA seed duplex globally reassigns their target mRNAs in vivo, and reveal that miRNA containing inosine in the seed region exhibits a different degree of silencing efficiency compared to the corresponding miRNA with guanosine at the same position. The difference in base-pairing stability, deduced by melting temperature measurements, between seed-target duplexes containing either C:G or I:C pairs may account for the observed silencing efficiency. These findings unequivocally show that C:G and I:C pairs are biologically different in terms of gene expression regulation by miRNAs.
Evidence of a conserved functional role for DNA methylation in termites

Many organisms are capable of developing distinct phenotypes from the same genotype. This developmental plasticity is particularly prevalent in insects, which can produce alternate adaptive forms in response to distinct environmental cues. The ability to develop divergent phenotypes from the same genotype often relies on epigenetic information, which affects gene function and is transmitted through cell divisions. One of the most important epigenetic marks, DNA methylation, has been lost in several insect lineages, yet its taxonomic distribution and functional conservation remain uninvestigated in many taxa. In the present study, we demonstrate that the signature of high levels of DNA methylation exists in the expressed genes of two termites, Reticulitermes flavipes and Coptotermes formosanus. Further, we show that DNA methylation is preferentially targeted to genes with ubiquitous expression among morphs. Functional associations of DNA methylation are also similar to those observed in other invertebrate taxa with functional DNA methylation systems. Finally, we demonstrate an association between DNA methylation and the long‐term evolutionary conservation of genes. Overall, our findings strongly suggest DNA methylation is present at particularly high levels in termites and may play similar roles to those found in other insects.
THE EFFECT OF ANXIETY SENSITIVITY AND GENDER ON THE EXPERIENCE OF PAIN

Anxiety sensitivity is defined as a trait tendency to experience a fear of anxiety-related sensations. Although closely associated with panic disorder, recent research suggests that anxiety sensitivity is related to a wider range of pathological conditions. Indeed, it has been noted that anxiety sensitivity may play a role in mediating negative experiences and sensations associated with pain. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of anxiety sensitivity on reported negative sensations to experimentally induced pain. Measures of pain threshold and tolerance were taken, as were self-report measures of affective and sensory experiences. Because differences between males and females have been found with both anxiety sensitivity and pain experience, gender differences were also investigated. As expected, gender was found to moderate pain experiences. Females had a lower pain threshold and were less tolerant to pain than males. Gender differences were also found to be associated with sensory p.
Nitrate limitation and ocean acidification interact with UV-B to reduce photosynthetic performance in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Abstract. It has been proposed that ocean acidification (OA) will interact with other environmental factors to influence the overall impact of global change on biological systems. Accordingly we investigated the influence of nitrogen limitation and OA on the physiology of diatoms by growing the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin under elevated (1000 μatm; high CO2 – HC) or ambient (390 μatm; low CO2 – LC) levels of CO2 with replete (110 μmol L−1; high nitrate – HN) or reduced (10 μmol L−1; low nitrate – LN) levels of NO3- and subjecting the cells to solar radiation with or without UV irradiance to determine their susceptibility to UV radiation (UVR, 280–400 nm). Our results indicate that OA and UVB induced significantly higher inhibition of both the photosynthetic rate and quantum yield under LN than under HN conditions. UVA or/and UVB increased the cells' non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) regardless of the CO2 levels. Under LN and OA conditions, activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were enhanced, along with the highest sensitivity to UVB and the lowest ratio of repair to damage of PSII. HC-grown cells showed a faster recovery rate of yield under HN but not under LN conditions. We conclude therefore that nutrient limitation makes cells more prone to the deleterious effects of UV radiation and that HC conditions (ocean acidification) exacerbate this effect. The finding that nitrate limitation and ocean acidification interact with UV-B to reduce photosynthetic performance of the diatom P. tricornutum implies that ocean primary production and the marine biological C pump will be affected by OA under multiple stressors.