Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Environmental Education Program for Teacher Trainers in Finland

Abstract Finland's Ministry of Education sponsored the development of an environmental education (EE) course for practicing educators of teachers. One to 3 persons from each teacher training unit at various universities and training schools attended a tutor training session, during which a course for other teacher trainers was developed. The course focused on personal development and curriculum development. Tutors used distance education with some locally arranged contact teaching to teach the course. Tutors also led local study groups. Teacher trainers who attended the course learned and applied new teaching practices and produced new model lessons. They also reflected on their personal environmental philosophy and gained in environmental knowledge. Preliminary evaluation of the program indicated that high-quality learning experiences occurred. This 2-step distance education model could be used for large-scale implementation of EE for in-service teacher training.
Effect of Maturity on Phenolics (Phenolic Acids and Flavonoids) Profile of Strawberry Cultivars and Mulberry Species from Pakistan

In this study, we investigated how the extent of ripeness affects the yield of extract, total phenolics, total flavonoids, individual flavonols and phenolic acids in strawberry and mulberry cultivars from Pakistan. In strawberry, the yield of extract (%), total phenolics (TPC) and total flavonoids (TFC) ranged from 8.5–53.3%, 491–1884 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g DW and 83–327 mg catechin equivalents (CE)/100 g DW, respectively. For the different species of mulberry the yield of extract (%), total phenolics and total flavonoids of 6.9–54.0%, 201–2287 mg GAE/100 g DW and 110–1021 mg CE/100 g DW, respectively, varied significantly as fruit maturity progressed. The amounts of individual flavonols and phenolic acid in selected berry fruits were analyzed by RP-HPLC. Among the flavonols, the content of myricetin was found to be high in Morus alba (88 mg/100 g DW), the amount of quercetin as high in Morus laevigata (145 mg/100 g DW) while kaempferol was highest in the Korona strawberry (98 mg/100 g DW) at fully ripened stage. Of the six phenolic acids detected, p-hydroxybenzoic and p-coumaric acid were the major compounds in the strawberry. M. laevigata and M. nigra contained p-coumaric acid and vanillic acid while M. macroura and M. alba contained p-hydroxy-benzoic acid and chlorogenic acid as the major phenolic acids. Overall, a trend to an increase in the percentage of extraction yield, TPC, TFC, flavonols and phenolic acids was observed as maturity progressed from un-ripened to fully-ripened stages.
Continuity and change in older adults' perceptions of out-of-home mobility over ten years: a qualitative–quantitative approach

ABSTRACT This research report starts from the assumption that a solely geriatric and transport-related view of out-of-home mobility needs to be extended to incorporate other aspects of perceived and experienced mobility. In particular, our goal is to understand better the stability and change in people's perceptions of out-of-home mobility over ten years. We concentrate on: (a) the subjective meaning of mobility over time, including perceived changes in mobility and perceived reasons for change; (b) trends in satisfaction with various mobility domains; and (c) a case-oriented exploration of inter-individual variation over time. A qualitative–quantitative data-analytic approach was applied to data collected from 82 participants on three occasions over ten years in 1995, 2000 and 2005. The mean age of the sample in 2005 was 75.2 years. The results indicate overall stability in the meaning attached to mobility between 1995 and 2005, while the perceived changes point to major losses in the array of mobility experiences and decreasing satisfaction with mobility opportunities, out-of-home leisure activities and travelling, but in contrast satisfaction with public transport increased. Case studies exemplified the reasons for the pronounced variation in satisfaction with mobility dynamics over time. In conclusion, the findings confirm that out-of-home mobility remains of utmost importance when people move from late midlife into old age.
Student teachers' learning about child sexual abuse strategies for primary school: an exploratory study of surface and deep learning

This paper explores student teachers' understandings of child sexual abuse and strategies to deal with it that are appropriate for the primary school classroom. Evidence of surface and deep learning were obtained from a content analysis of student teachers' responses to an essay‐type exam question, using Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. The results show that participants were most likely to be rated as having achieved at intermediate levels, and less likely to be at either the lowest or highest levels. The data suggest that greater provision should be made for addressing child sexual abuse during the training of such professionals to enhance their deeper thinking about child sexual abuse and strategies to deal with it. Since pre‐service teacher education plays a significant role in enhancing the quality of future teachers, it is important that they are helped to achieve the highest levels associated with understanding universals, principles, generalizations and abstractions. The implications of these results for teaching in primary schools strongly suggest the importance of comprehensive, enhanced, longer, and on‐going programmes on child sexual abuse across pre‐service education.
Hydrolysis of Secreted Sialoglycoprotein Immunoglobulin A (IgA) in ex Vivo and Biochemical Models of Bacterial Vaginosis*

Background: Sialidase activity is a key feature of bacterial vaginosis (BV), but possible substrates have not undergone in-depth investigation. Results: We show that sialidase activity in BV clinical specimens removes sialic acids from secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) and other sialoglycans. Conclusion: Desialylation of SIgA promotes further exodeglycosylation and proteolysis. Significance: Hydrolysis of SIgA and other sialoglycans may contribute to the etiology of BV. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common polymicrobial imbalance of the vaginal flora associated with a wide variety of obstetric and gynecologic complications including serious infections and preterm birth. As evidenced by high recurrence rates following treatment, interventions for BV are still lacking. Several hydrolytic activities, including glycosidases and proteases, have been previously correlated with BV and have been hypothesized to degrade host sialoglycoproteins that participate in mucosal immune functions. Sialidase activity is most predictive of BV status and correlates strongly with adverse health outcomes. Here we combine clinical specimens with biochemical approaches to investigate secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) as a substrate of BV-associated glycosidases and proteases. We show that BV clinical specimens hydrolyze sialic acid from SIgA, but not in the presence of the sialidase inhibitor dehydro-deoxy-sialic acid. The collective action of BV-associated glycosidases exposes underlying mannose residues of SIgA, most apparent on the heavily N-glycosylated secretory component of the antibody. Terminal sialic acid residues on SIgA protect underlying carbohydrate residues from exposure and hydrolysis by exoglycosidases (galactosidase and hexosaminidase). It is known that both IgG and SIgA are present in the human reproductive tract. We show that the IgG heavy chain is more susceptible to proteolysis than its IgA counterpart. Gentle partial deglycosylation of the SIgA secretory component enhanced susceptibility to proteolysis. Together, these data support a model of BV in which SIgA is subject to stepwise exodeglycosylation and enhanced proteolysis, likely compromising the ability of the reproductive mucosa to neutralize and eliminate pathogens.
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of repair in acute and chronic wound healing

A considerable understanding of the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning healthy acute wound healing has been gleaned from studying various animal models, and we are now unravelling the mechanisms that lead to chronic wounds and pathological healing including fibrosis. A small cut will normally heal in days through tight orchestration of cell migration and appropriate levels of inflammation, innervation and angiogenesis. Major surgeries may take several weeks to heal and leave behind a noticeable scar. At the extreme end, chronic wounds – defined as a barrier defect that has not healed in 3 months – have become a major therapeutic challenge throughout the Western world and will only increase as our populations advance in age, and with the increasing incidence of diabetes, obesity and vascular disorders. Here we describe the clinical problems and how, through better dialogue between basic researchers and clinicians, we may extend our current knowledge to enable the development of novel potential therapeutic treatments.
What is teacher learning? A socio‐cultural perspective

This article responds to Evans’ (2002) framework for a research agenda for teacher development. The term teacher learning is introduced as the process by which novice teachers move towards expertise, and a distinction is made between teacher knowing and teacher identity. Cognitivism currently dominates considerations of teacher learning, but there are a number of limitations to this theoretical position which render it inadequate for understanding the complexity of teacher learning. It is argued that socio‐cultural theories are more helpful, providing insights into teacher learning which are used to respond to Evans’ proposed agenda. Finally, the implications of a socio‐cultural perspective for teacher learning are discussed and potential areas for future research identified.
Individual Differences in Rater Decision-Making Style: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study

Researchers of high-stakes, subjectively scored writing assessments have done much work to better understand the process that raters go through in applying a rating scale to a language performance to arrive at a score. However, there is still unexplained, systematic variability in rater scoring that resists rater training (see Hoyt & Kerns, 1999; McNamara, 1996; Weigle, 2002; Weir, 2005). The consideration of individual differences in rater cognition may explain some of this rater variability. This mixed-method exploratory case study (Yin, 2009) examined rater decision making in a high-stakes writing assessment for preservice teachers in Quebec, Canada, focussing on individual differences in decision-making style, or “stylistic differences in cognitive style that could affect decision-making” (Thunholm, 2004, p. 932). The General Decision Making Style Inventory questionnaire (Scott & Bruce, 1995) was administered to six raters of a high-stakes writing exam in Quebec, and information on the following rater behaviours was also collected for their potential for providing additional information on individual decision-making style (DMS): (a) the frequency at which a rater decides to defer his or her score, (b) the underuse of failing score levels, and (c) the comments provided by raters during the exam rating about their decisions (collected through “write-aloud” protocols; Gigerenzer & Hoffrage, 1995). The relative merits of each of these sources of data are discussed in terms of their potential for tapping into the construct of rater DMS. Although score effects of DMS have yet to be established, it is concluded that despite the exploratory nature of this study, there is potential for the consideration of individual sociocognitive differences in accounting for some rater variability in scoring.
Proteomic analysis of α4β1 integrin adhesion complexes reveals α-subunit-dependent protein recruitment

Integrin adhesion receptors mediate cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix interactions, which control cell morphology and migration, differentiation, and tissue integrity. Integrins recruit multimolecular adhesion complexes to their cytoplasmic domains, which provide structural and mechanosensitive signaling connections between the extracellular and intracellular milieux. The different functions of specific integrin heterodimers, such as α4β1 and α5β1, have been attributed to distinct signal transduction mechanisms that are initiated by selective recruitment of adhesion complex components to integrin cytoplasmic tails. Here, we report the isolation of ligand‐induced adhesion complexes associated with wild‐type α4β1 integrin, an activated α4β1 variant in the absence of the α cytoplasmic domain (X4C0), and a chimeric α4β1 variant with α5 leg and cytoplasmic domains (α4Pα5L), and the cataloguing of their proteomes by MS. Using hierarchical clustering and interaction network analyses, we detail the differential recruitment of proteins and highlight enrichment patterns of proteins to distinct adhesion complexes. We identify previously unreported components of integrin adhesion complexes and observe receptor‐specific enrichment of molecules with previously reported links to cell migration and cell signaling processes. Furthermore, we demonstrate colocalization of MYO18A with active integrin in migrating cells. These datasets provide a resource for future studies of integrin receptor‐specific signaling events.
Time-Frequency Channel estimation for MB-OFDM UWB Systems

Multiband OFDM (MB-OFDM) has been envisioned for ultrawide-band (UWB) systems. In this paper we discuss the aspects of designing a channel estimator for such a system, using the Saleh-Valenzuela (S-V) channel model specified by the UWB IEEE 802.15. 3a standard body. In a first step, the time-frequency correlation properties of the channel are derived based on the S-V model. In a second step we derive an iterative MMSE channel estimation algorithm, adapted for a UWB system using multiband OFDM and a channel code. The algorithm is tested using pilot-based and decision-directed iterative estimation on the four channel models specified by the IEEE 802.15. 3a model. The performance of the proposed algorithm is presented with simulation of its bit error rate as well as its estimation error variance and shows a significant improvement compared with previously published UWB channel estimators
Are There Visible Accession Effects? Comparing Some Key Indicators of the Trajectories of Central and Eastern European Countries Inside and Outside the EU since the 1990s

Comparing four groups of post-communist transition countries— those which became EU members, those with candidate status, and two groups which are considered mere partners with or without a future membership perspective—the authors examine to what extent there are visible accession effects. The basic assumption is that countries which were under the pressure of the Copenhagen criteria and under constant EU supervision should have developed more favourably than the others with respect to good governance, dynamic market economy growth, and public policies in line with the idea of a European social model. The empirical analysis seeks to clarify to what extent there were selection effects prior to EU candidacy, to what extent countries with and without a membership option diverged, and to what extent there was convergence within the groups of member states, of candidate countries and of other post-socialist countries. Accession effects are found to be more discernible in the fi elds of economic growth and of political democracy than in the fi elds of social cohesion and quality of life.
The Place of Knowledge A Methodological Survey

A generation ago scientific ideas floated free in the air, as historians gazed up at them in wonder and admiration. From time to time, historians agreed, the ideas that made up the body of scientific truth became incarnate: they were embedded into the fleshly forms of human culture and attached to particular times and places. How this incarnation occurred was a great mystery. How could spirit be made flesh? How did the transcendent and the timeless enter the forms of the mundane and the contingent? Platonist and providentialist perspectives offered ways of speaking about the mystery, but, in general, it remained unresolved at the core of orthodox idealist historiography.1
The Author Responds

Though Stuart Luppescu seems to share the common concern of developing and using tests and test items without differential item functioning (DIF), there are serious problems with his evidence, arguments, and interpretation regarding my study, in particular, and DIF research in general. At the very outset in his commentary, in the first paragraph, he concludes with a sweeping statement: “the fact that statistical and subjective procedures for identifying DIF cannot be relied upon dilutes the significance of his conclusions and of the conclusions of nearly all [italics added] studies which investigate the causes of DIF. ” Before responding substantially to this statement, I would first like to know what research evidence he has to support the assertion that there is a “fact” about statistical and subjective procedures for identifying DIF which compels him not to rely upon them. Second, I would like to know which studies are excluded from his assertion since he leaves the door open with “nearly all” studies. Luppescu pointedly criticizes the method I used in my study. My study was a posteriori analysis of an ESL placement test with 150 multiple-choice items. I used a method similar to the Delta-plot method within an overall one-parameter item response or Rasch model (see Angoff, 1982; Angoff & Ford, 1973; Chen & Henning, 1985, for procedural details). In addition to the justification I provided in my article for this approach, I would add that the Rasch model is quite suitable for multiple-choice items (see Henning, 1989). Luppescu specifically argues that because I used the 95% confidence interval for the regression plot to identify DIF based on item-difficulty indices, “we expect 5% of the items, even if there is no bias, to be selected by this method. ” This is misinterpreting and confounding the level of significance chosen for statistical tests of hypotheses with the percentage of items identified as having DIF. The two are not related and comparable and, therefore, cannot be used in the manner Luppescu does. Wainer’s (1991) “isthmus of acceptance” proposal, however, is an interesting one in this regard. Luppescu further argues that his simulation study of 1000 subjects and 75 items with’ no bias identified 6 items as containing DIF. He then concludes that since there was no generated bias in his data, “ordinary, expected, stochastic variation” identified DIF for items
Assessing News Media Influences on the Formation of Whites' Racial Policy Preferences

Researchers have shown that news discourse contains images, episodes, themes, and vocabulary that comprise a negative portrayal of Blacks. But evidence linking news media content to Whites' racial policy opinions has lacked clear specification of the opinion formation process and mechanisms of news media influences on such process. This study mimics Whites' reasoning process via a causal model involving ideological orientations, affect toward Blacks, assessment of situations of racial inequality, and causal attributions of the inequality. The characteristics of this reasoning process may be affected by the news media in several ways. By analyzing the National Election Study (NES) 1990 Post-Election Survey data, this study examines how Whites' reliance on ideological principles or affect in forming their opinions is contingent on news media exposure. The data show that increased information-oriented media use enhances the role of ideological orientation and, possibly, causal attributions in Whites' racial policy reasoning.
Does Forest Land Posted Against Trespass Really Mean No Hunter Access?

Hunters report diminishing access to private forest land in the United States due to increasing numbers of landowners posting their land against trespass. While many hunters assume posting is synonymous with prohibited access, the relationship between the two is not clear. To address this issue, we predicted the likelihood a family forest landowner who posts their property will, in fact, allow hunter access. Factors that influence this likelihood were identified. We found that the probability of a landowner who posts allowing access was approximately 47%, with all explanatory variables evaluated at their means. Factors decreasing the likelihood of access included a perception that allowing access would interfere with their own hunting or result in property damage. Factors increasing the likelihood of allowing access included increasing parcel size, a perception of excellent hunting opportunity on their parcel, and a high percentage of the surrounding area that is open to public hunting.
Upregulated UHRF1 Promotes Bladder Cancer Cell Invasion by Epigenetic Silencing of KiSS1

Ubiquitin-like with PHD and RING finger domains 1 (UHRF1), as an epigenetic regulator, plays important roles in the tumorigenesis and cancer progression. KiSS1 functions as a metastasis suppressor in various cancers, and epigenetic silencing of KiSS1 increases the metastatic potential of cancer cells. We therefore investigated whether UHRF1 promotes bladder cancer cell invasion by inhibiting KiSS1. The expression levels of UHRF1 and KiSS1 were examined by quantitative real-time PCR assay in vitro and in vivo. The role of UHRF1 in regulating bladder cancer metastasis was evaluated in bladder cancer cell. We found that UHRF1 levels are upregulated in most clinical specimens of bladder cancer when compared with paired normal tissues, and UHRF1 expression levels are significantly increased in primary tumors that subsequently metastasized compared with non-metastatic tumors. Forced expression of UHRF1 promotes bladder cancer cell invasion, whereas UHRF1 knockdown decreases cell invasion. Overexpression of UHRF1 increases the methylation of CpG nucleotides and reduces the expression of KiSS1. UHRF1 and KiSS1 expression level is negatively correlated in vivo and in vitro. Knockdown of KiSS1 promotes bladder cancer cell invasion. Importantly, forced expression of KiSS1 partly abrogates UHRF1-induced cell invasion. These data demonstrated that upregulated UHRF1 increases bladder cancer cell invasion by epigenetic silencing of KiSS1.