Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prioritizing Healthcare Worker Vaccinations on the Basis of Social Network Analysis

Objective. To use social network analysis to design more effective strategies for vaccinating healthcare workers against influenza. Design. An agent-based simulation. Setting. A simulation based on a 700-bed hospital. Methods. We first observed human contacts (defined as approach within approximately 0.9 m) performed by 15 categories of healthcare workers (eg, floor nurses, intensive care unit nurses, staff physicians, phlebotomists, and respiratory therapists). We then constructed a series of contact graphs to represent the social network of the hospital and used these graphs to run agent-based simulations to model the spread of influenza. A targeted vaccination strategy that preferentially vaccinated more “connected” healthcare workers was compared with other vaccination strategies during simulations with various base vaccination rates, vaccine effectiveness, probability of transmission, duration of infection, and patient length of stay. Results. We recorded 6,654 contacts by 148 workers during 606 hours of observations from January through December 2006. Unit clerks, X-ray technicians, residents and fellows, transporters, and physical and occupational therapists had the most contacts. When repeated contacts with the same individual were excluded, transporters, unit clerks, X-ray technicians, physical and occupational therapists, and social workers had the most contacts. Preferentially vaccinating healthcare workers in more connected job categories yielded a substantially lower attack rate and fewer infections than a random vaccination strategy for all simulation parameters. Conclusions. Social network models can be used to derive more effective vaccination policies, which are crucial during vaccine shortages or in facilities with low vaccination rates. Local vaccination priorities can be determined in any healthcare facility with only a modest investment in collection of observational data on different types of healthcare workers. Our findings and methods (ie, social network analysis and computational simulation) have implications for the design of effective interventions to control a broad range of healthcare-associated infections.
What Makes Children Like Learning Science? An Examination of the Attitudes of Primary School Students towards Science Lessons

This study examines attitudes to school science classes amongst primary school children, based on the assumption that these will influence their attitudes and choices later in life. 1298 primary school students in grades 4-6 were given a Likert-type questionnaire and asked to provide verbal explanations for their agreement/disagreement with each item. The items were divided into three "clusters," representing three central influences on student attitudes: "motivational factors", "locus of control" and "relevance of science. " Our results support the findings of previous research in elements such as students' enthusiasm for experiments, and reveal some interesting discrepancies in the way boys and girls assess the relevance of science they learn in school. While the questionnaire shows that most of the students saw discussion in science class as a source of interest, students' explanations and their answers to the open-ended questions also indicate that the most common model of a science lesson they see is readings from the textbook, accompanied by the teacher’s explanations. Only about one half of the students claim to take an active part in lessons, answering questions asked by the teacher in class, taking part in class discussions, and expressing their opinions. The teacher is perceived as a significant part of the learning process. The students’ explanations indicate that they see the teacher as a primary source of information and authority.
The Influence of Strategy and External Quality Audit on University Performance: An Australian perspective

External quality audits have been introduced in many parts of the world including Asia Pacific, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. While external quality audits have been introduced for more than a decade in some countries like New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), Denmark, and Sweden, there is limited research on the extent to which such audits have improved the performance of universities on educational measures. This paper is based on a large public university in Australia that has used strategy implementation and external quality audit as an opportunity for change and improvement. The paper argues that effective strategy implementation, external quality audits, and internal reviews and improvement processes, if effectively managed, could improve performance of the university on various educational measures. The paper compares various performance data of the university: two years pre-strategy implementation and external quality audit and three years post-audit. Finally, the paper argues that a systematic approach to reviews with evidence-based decision-making enables the university to address the areas needing improvement and address the priorities in a timely manner.
Effect of Xyfoglucan (Tamarind Seed Polysaccharide) on Conjunctival Cell Adhesion to Laminin and on Corneal Epithelium Wound Healing

Purpose TO explore the role of a natural polysaccharide extracted from tamarind seed (xyloglucan, or tamarind seed polysaccharide, TSP) on the integrin-substrate recognition system and on repair of corneal wounds. Methods a) Cultured human conjunctival cells were labeled by addition of a tritiated amino acid mixture. Their adhesion to laminin-coated culture wells in the absence or presence of TSP was checked by radioactivity count, b) The corneal epithelium of albino rabbits was damaged by applying a paper disc soaked with n-heptanol. The eyes were then treated with TSP, with a hyaluronate reference formulation and with normal saline solution (controls). The diameter of corneal wounds was measured daily, after fluorescein staining. Results Compared to hyaluronate, TSP slighthly but significantly increased the wound healing rate, TSP 1.0% exerted a positive influence on cell adhesion to laminin, up to a certain laminin concentration. Conclusions The ability of the polysaccharide to promote corneal wound healing might depend on its influence on the integrin recognition system.
Choosing Virtual – Rather than Real – Leisure Activities: An Examination of the Decision–making Process in Screen-Golf Participants

The objective of this study is to apply Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explicate the intention-formation process in the playing of screen golf. The study investigated how players' favorable/unfavorable attitudes toward screen golf, the social pressures they perceive related to screen golf, and their senses of capability and resources to play screen golf interact to build up or undercut the intention to play this virtual version of the sport. An Internet-based survey and field survey were conducted. Overall, the findings indicated that the fit of the proposed model was satisfactory, and that the proposed model involving the original variables in the TPB and past behavior effectively explained golfers' intention formation. In addition, golfers' concerns about the environment were found to be a moderator in forming their intention. This study illuminated the psychological and social factors that may influence recreation consumers to choose a “virtual”, rather than “real”, leisure activity.
Construct validation of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised: A structural equation model of the acquisition order of words.

An historicodevelopmental model of the acquisition order of words was applied to 175 words composing the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R; Form L). Results of a structural equation model, estimated using LISREL 7, demonstrated that the combination of date of entry, word length, polysemy, and frequency of usage accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in acquisition order as defined by the item ordering in the PPVT-R (R 2 =.62). On the basis of goodness-of-fit indices, this model fits the data well (GFI =.924, NFI =.952, CFI =.976, IFI = .977), suggesting that the model presented provides a tenable explanation of variables underlying the acquisition order of words. This structural equation model provides further evidence for construct validity of the PPVT-R
Prognostic Significance of the TEL-AML1 Fusion Gene in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Turkey

Purpose The t(12;21) translocation is the most common reciprocal chromosomal rearrangement in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This translocation fuses two genes, TEL and AML1, and results in the production of the TEL-AML1 fusion protein. The authors investigated the incidence and prognostic significance of the TEL-AML1 fusion gene in patients with ALL in Turkey. Methods The authors analyzed 219 children with ALL using the reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. Results The TEL-AML1 fusion transcript was detected in 20.1% (44/219) of newly diagnosed children with ALL. TEL-AML1-positive patients had precursor B-cell ALL and were 3 to 10 years old at diagnosis. TEL-AML1-positive patients had a significantly lower rate of relapse compared with TEL-AML1-negative patients. TEL-AML1-positive patients have a higher overall survival rate than TEL-AML1-negative patients. Conclusions These data support that the presence of TEL-AML1 at diagnosis is an independent favorable prognostic indicator in patients with ALL in Turkey.
Work–Family Conflict: Coping Strategies Adopted by Social Workers

There is a growing literature investigating the association between coping and work stress among social workers. An area that remains under-researched is the association between work–family conflict and coping. The present study explored the coping strategies adopted by social workers in dealing with the competing demands emanating from their work and family domains. In a larger study involving 439 Australian social workers, we analyzed the responses to two open-ended questions that explored the challenges experienced by social workers in meeting their work and family demands, and the coping strategies they adopt to deal with these challenges. The findings confirm that social workers experience work–family conflict and they adopt several coping strategies to deal with it including support from supervisors and colleagues, cognitive reframing, timely communication, setting clear expectations, time management, job flexibility and developing personal hobbies. We discuss the implications of our findings for social work policy and practice.
Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome: Treatment with Combined Intra-Arterial Verapamil Infusion and Intracranial Angioplasty

SUMMARY: We report a case of severe RCVS treated with a combination of selective intra-arterial verapamil infusions and intracranial angioplasty, resulting in angiographic and clinical improvement. Endovascular techniques more commonly used in the treatment of SAH-induced vasospasm are potentially important adjuncts to systemic drug therapy in the management of severe RCVS.
Identifiability and Exchangeability for Direct and Indirect Effects

We consider the problem of separating the direct effects of an exposure from effects relayed through an intermediate variable (indirect effects). We show that adjustment for the intermediate variable, which is the most common method of estimating direct effects, can be biased. We also show that, even in a randomized crossover trial of exposure, direct and indirect effects cannot be separated without special assumptions; in other words, direct and indirect effects are not separately identifiable when only exposure is randomized. If the exposure and intermediate never interact to cause disease and if intermediate effects can be controlled, that is, blocked by a suitable intervention, then a trial randomizing both exposure and the intervention can separate direct from indirect effects. Nonetheless, the estimation must be carried out using the G-computation algorithm. Conventional adjustment methods remain biased. When exposure and the intermediate interact to cause disease, direct and indirect effects will not be separable even in a trial in which both the exposure and the intervention blocking intermediate effects are randomly assigned. Nonetheless, in such a trial, one can still estimate the fraction of exposure-induced disease that could be prevented by control of the intermediate. Even in the absence of an intervention blocking the intermediate effect, the fraction of exposure-induced disease that could be prevented by control of the intermediate can be estimated with the G-computation algorithm if data are obtained on additional confounding variables. (Epidemiology 1992;3:143–155)
The Effect of Having Classmates with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and the Protective Nature of Peer Gender

ABSTRACT The authors explored how classroom gender composition moderated the relationship between having classmates with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and peers’ academic achievement in both kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms. Given the behavioral and social-cognitive styles of girls, it was hypothesized that classrooms with a higher percentage of girls would moderate (or reduce) the academic consequences associated with exposure to children with EBD. To address this hypothesis, this study relied on applying quasi-experimental methods to a nationally representative data set (i.e., Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class) of U.S. elementary school students. Consistent with prior research, the findings revealed that exposure to a classmate with EBD resulted in lower reading and mathematics scores for classmates. However, classrooms with a higher percentage of girls were found to protect other students’ academic achievement when in the presence of an EBD classmate. The findings presented in this study can be used to challenge educators and policy makers to develop support classroom environments for all students. Educational implications are discussed.
The Heart of the European Body Politic. British and German Perspectives on Europe's Central Organ

On the basis of a corpus of British and German press coverage of European Union (EU) politics over the 1990s, the paper analyses uses of the geopolitical heart metaphor. Over the course of the 1990s, successive British governments promised to work at the heart of Europe. However, no one ever claimed that Britain was in the heart of Europe, even though other geographically peripheral parts of Europe (e.g. the Balkan peninsula) have been situated there by the British press. Instead, British media and politicians tended to foreground scenarios of heart illness or even heart failure to express scepticism towards further political and economic integration. Conversely, in German public discourse, the heart of europe seems to be most often proudly identified as a German one, with selected places in central Europe (Prague, Vienna, Wroclaw/Breslau) as ‘runners‐up’. On the basis of the corpus evidence, it is argued that the heart of europe metaphor plays a central role in EU-related political discourse, which links it to the tradition of BODY POLITIC concepts.
Phosphorus and Nitrogen Regulate Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Petunia hybrida

Phosphorus and nitrogen are essential nutrient elements that are needed by plants in large amounts. The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis between plants and soil fungi improves phosphorus and nitrogen acquisition under limiting conditions. On the other hand, these nutrients influence root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi and symbiotic functioning. This represents a feedback mechanism that allows plants to control the fungal symbiont depending on nutrient requirements and supply. Elevated phosphorus supply has previously been shown to exert strong inhibition of arbuscular mycorrhizal development. Here, we address to what extent inhibition by phosphorus is influenced by other nutritional pathways in the interaction between Petunia hybrida and R. irregularis. We show that phosphorus and nitrogen are the major nutritional determinants of the interaction. Interestingly, the symbiosis-promoting effect of nitrogen starvation dominantly overruled the suppressive effect of high phosphorus nutrition onto arbuscular mycorrhiza, suggesting that plants promote the symbiosis as long as they are limited by one of the two major nutrients. Our results also show that in a given pair of symbiotic partners (Petunia hybrida and R. irregularis), the entire range from mutually symbiotic to parasitic can be observed depending on the nutritional conditions. Taken together, these results reveal complex nutritional feedback mechanisms in the control of root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
Global analysis of gene expression in cotton fibers from wild and domesticated Gossypium barbadense

SUMMARY Gossypium barbadense is widely cultivated because of its extra‐long staple cotton with superior luster, silkiness and high yield. These economically important traits were selected during initial domestication of an agronomically inferior wild ancestor, followed by millennia of human‐mediated selection. To reveal the effects of this history on the cotton fiber transcriptome, we conducted comparative expression profiling on mechanically isolated fiber cells at three different stages encompassing early, mid, and late fiber elongation in wild (K101) and domesticated (Pima S‐7) accessions, using a microarray platform that interrogates 42,429 unigenes. The distribution of differentially expressed genes across developmental stages was different in the two accessions, with a shift toward greater change earlier in cultivated than in wild G. barbadense. Approximately 4200 genes were differentially expressed between wild and domesticated accessions at one or more of the stages studied. Domestication appears to have led to enhanced modulation of cellular redox levels and the avoidance or delay of stress‐like processes. Prolonged fiber growth in cultivated relative to wild G. barbadense is associated with upregulation of signal transduction and hormone signaling genes and down‐regulation of cell wall maturation genes. Clues are provided into the processes and genes that may unwittingly have been selected by humans during domestication and development of modern elite lines. Several of the transcriptomic differences between wild and domesticated G. barbadense described here appear to have parallels in a second domesticated cotton species, Gossypium hirsutum, suggesting that replicated domestication of two different species has resulted in overlapping, parallel, metabolic transformations.
Concreteness as a Variable in Word Recognition.

Two experiments using five lists of words were conducted to explore the effects of the concreteness or abstractness of words on their tachistoscopic recognition. The first experiment, using two lists patterned after those of Galbraith and Underwood, was inconclusive. The second experiment showed a consistent effect of concreteness. It is argued that this effect is a result of effective (personal) word frequency over the course of development, rather than semantic factors. Galbraith and Underwood (1973) investigated the perceived frequency of concrete and abstract English words. They used pairs of words whose members represented opposite ends of the dimension from concreteness to abstractness; the members of a pair were equated on measured frequency of occurrence, length, and number of syllables. In paired-comparison tasks, their subjects rated the abstract words as more frequent in usage than the concrete words of the same measured (objective) frequency in natural language. Since Howes (1954) had previously found that judged frequency of occurrence in a paired-comparison task was highly correlated with measured frequency of occurrence in Thorndike and Lorge's (1944) word count, Galbraith and Underwood showed that Howes's conclusion needed to be qualified to include the finding that concreteness alters perceived frequency of usage. The present studies explored the relevance of these results for theories of word recognition. In studies of word recognition, word frequency has been shown to influence recognition thresholds (Howes and Solomon, 1951). An obvious question is whether that relationship is altered by concreteness or abstractness in the same manner that judgments of frequency are. Thus, words matched for frequency, length, and number of syllables, but either concrete or abstract, were presented for recognition in the tachistoscope. The basic research questions were whether the recognition thresholds for concrete words would differ from those for abstract words, and if so, the direction of that difference.
The relationship of facets of salesperson job satisfaction with affective organizational commitment

Purpose – This paper aims to examines the relationships between various facets of salesperson job satisfaction as assessed by the INDSALES measure and salesperson organizational commitment. The paper also seeks to explore salesperson gender as a moderator of the relationship between facets of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.Design/methodology/approach – This study uses survey research of one firm's business‐to‐business salespeople to examine the relationships between facets of salesperson job satisfaction and salesperson organizational commitment.Findings – Study results indicate that various facets of job satisfaction are more strongly related to organizational commitment. Findings also indicate that these relationships are not the same for male and female salespeople.Practical implications – Findings demonstrate to sales managers that not all types of satisfaction are related to organizational commitment, which has been strongly linked to a salesperson's propensity to leave an organizatio.
Privacy Online: Perspectives on Privacy and Self-Disclosure in the Social Web

Book review: Trepte, S. and Reinecke, L. (Eds.) "Privacy Online: Perspectives on Privacy and Self-Disclosure in the Social Web. " (Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag, 2011) ISBN 978-3-642-21521-6
"DON'T THINK FOR A MINUTE THAT I'M GETTING UP THERE": OPPORTUNITIES FOR READERS' THEATER IN A TUTORIAL FOR CHILDREN WITH READING PROBLEMS

Readers' theater activities may help children with reading problems gain oral reading fluency and confidence. In the present study, the author describes how readers' theater opportunities were included in a tutorial for elementary students facing serious reading problems. Results demonstrate that readers' theater can be successfully integrated into a broader, multi-faceted tutorial. Positive benefits of readers' theater preparation and practice were seen on readers' theater performance and, especially, on reading affect. Classroom implications concerning using readers' theater in other instructional contexts are also presented.