Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of instruction in the Hunter Instructional Model on teachers' sense of efficacy

This study investigated the effects of training in the Hunter Instructional Model and Teachers' Sense of Efficacy, an important expectation of performance for teachers based on Bandura's two-factor theoretical model of self-efficacy. Overall Efficacy was clarified by Ashton and Webb to include the Sense of Personal Efficacy, or the assessment by the individual teacher of his/her own competence, and the Sense of Teaching Efficacy, or the expectations that teaching can influence student learning. The purpose of the study was to determine if a teaching model such as the Hunter Instructional Model, which is designed to enhance individual teachers' skills and effectiveness, also contributed to their attitudes and feelings about how well they can perform their jobs and their feelings of whether they can effect student learning. Further, the study determined whether the variables of gender, grade level of students taught, teachers' experience, and the ability level of the students made a significant difference in Teachers' Sense of Efficacy. The Teacher Efficacy Scale, designed by Sherri Gibson, was used as the major instrument to gather the information based on a pre/post mean change score design. A series of two-way and one-way analysis of variance measures were used as the statistical measurements. A t-test was applied to determine the significant difference between the pre/post mean change scores. The study determined that training in the Hunter Instructional Model significantly changed the attitudes and opinions of the teachers about their ability to teach (Personal Efficacy) and their Overall Efficacy, but did not promote a significant change in the teachers' attitudes about students' ability to learn (Teaching Efficacy). Further, the study determined that the teachers' experience and grade level taught made a significant difference in Personal Efficacy and Overall Efficacy. THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTION IN THE HUNTER INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL ON TEACHERS''SENSE OF EFFICACY by Ronald Ray Bolinger A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree V ' of
Through the Eyes of Gay and Male Bisexual College Students: A Critical Visual Qualitative Study of their Experiences

THROUGH THE EYES OF GAY AND MALE BISEXUAL COLLEGE STUDENTS: A CRITICAL VISUAL QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THEIR EXPERIENCES BEING OUT AND STAYING SAFE ON CAMPUS by Matthew Kyle Robison Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) college students have a history of suffering from discriminatory, marginalizing, and prejudicial attitudes and practices on American college and university campuses. These homophobic and heterosexist environments often lead to an unwelcoming, hostile, and sometimes dangerous campus climate for LGBT college students, prohibiting them to lead out and open lives on campus. Implementing a critical qualitative methodology, this study examined the lived experiences of 9 out gay and bisexual male college students at an urban research university located in the southeastern United States. The study focused on the following three research questions: 1) What is the college experience like for an individual who identifies as an out gay or male bisexual student? 2) What does safety mean to an individual who identifies as an out gay or male bisexual student? 3) How does an individual navigate staying safe as an out gay or male bisexual student? The study specifically focused on the participants’ lived experiences of being out gay and male bisexual college students and their perceptions of safety and what safety meant to them as out members of the LGBT community on campus. It also incorporated the use of visual methods to compliment the traditional qualitative research approach. The results of the study centered around four major themes: 1) The presence of LGTB’ness is integral to the LGBT student experience. 2) Being involved and feeling connected to campus serves as a pivotal component of the LGBT student experience. 3) Navigating masculinity is complicated given traditional gender roles. 4) Classroom climate is a major factor for the success and safety of LGBT students. Reviewing the results of this study college faculty, staff, and administrators can begin to understand the unique experiences of LGBT college students; and through this meaning making process, higher education officials can learn what is needed to improve the college experience for this historically marginalized minority. LGBT students enroll in college expecting their voices to be heard, their needs to be met, and their campus climates to be safe and welcoming. This study directly informed what colleges and universities can do to better meet the needs of LGBT college students and ensure they have a welcoming and safe college environment. THROUGH THE EYES OF GAY AND MALE BISEXUAL COLLEGE STUDENTS: A CRITICAL VISUAL QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THEIR EXPERIENCES BEING OUT AND STAYING SAFE ON CAMPUS by Matthew Kyle Robison
Acute Gastrointestinal Infection Induces Long-Lived Microbiota-Specific T Cell Responses

Recognizing Escaped Commensals In order to coexist peacefully, the billions of bacteria in our gut and our immune system have reached a détente. An intestinal mucosal firewall exists, so bacteria remain localized to the gut, where the immune system is tightly regulated so that these bacteria are tolerated. Enteric infections, however, lead to a breach in this mucosal firewall, resulting in exposure of the peripheral immune system to the intestinal bacterial contents. What is the result? Using oral Toxoplasma gondii infection in mice, Hand et al. (p. 1553, published online 23 August) show that, besides the T. gondii–specific T cell response, a commensal bacteria–specific T cell response is elicited. The CD4+ T cell–specific response was tracked to a commensal-derived flagellin, and these T cells expanded after T. gondii infection and formed long-lived memory cells able to respond to subsequent challenges. Thus, enteric infections can lead to the formation of commensal bacteria–specific, long-lived memory T cells that reside throughout the body—which may play a role in intestinal pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease. Enteric infections induce lasting adaptive immunity against commensal bacteria that may play a role in intestinal problems. The mammalian gastrointestinal tract contains a large and diverse population of commensal bacteria and is also one of the primary sites of exposure to pathogens. How the immune system perceives commensals in the context of mucosal infection is unclear. Here, we show that during a gastrointestinal infection, tolerance to commensals is lost, and microbiota-specific T cells are activated and differentiate to inflammatory effector cells. Furthermore, these T cells go on to form memory cells that are phenotypically and functionally consistent with pathogen-specific T cells. Our results suggest that during a gastrointestinal infection, the immune response to commensals parallels the immune response against pathogenic microbes and that adaptive responses against commensals are an integral component of mucosal immunity.
Mycotoxicogenic fungal inhibition by innovative cheese cover with aromatic plants.

BACKGROUND The use of aromatic plants and their extracts with antimicrobial properties may be compromised in the case of cheese, as some type of fungal starter is needed during its production. Penicillium verrucosum is considered a common cheese spoiler. The aim of this study was to evaluate the innovative use of certain aromatic plants as natural cheese covers in order to prevent mycotoxicogenic fungal growth (P. verrucosum). A collection of 12 essential oils (EOs) was obtained from various aromatic plants by solvent-free microwave extraction technology, and volatile characterisation of the EOs was carried out by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. RESULTS The most effective EOs against P. verrucosum were obtained from Anethum graveolens, Hyssopus officinalis and Chamaemelum nobile, yielding 50% inhibition of fungal growth at concentration values lower than 0.02 µL mL⁻¹. All EOs showed high volatile heterogeneity, with α-phellandrene, pinocamphone, isopinocamphone, α-pinene, camphene, 1,8-cineole, carvacrol and trans-anethole being found to be statistically significant in the antifungal model. CONCLUSION The use of these aromatic plants as natural covers on cheese can satisfactorily inhibit the growth of some mycotoxicogenic fungal spoilers. Among the volatile compounds present, α- and β-phellandrene were confirmed as the most relevant in the inhibition.
Understanding ageing from an evolutionary perspective

There is clear heritability of human longevity. However, the genetics of ageing is likely to be complex. Evolution theory tells us not to expect genes that have been selected to promote ageing. Ageing is not programmed but results from accumulation of somatic damage, owing to limited investments in maintenance and repair. Genes controlling the levels of activities, such as DNA repair and antioxidant defence, thus regulate longevity. In addition, there may be contributions either from late‐acting deleterious genes that escape the force of natural selection or that trade benefit at an early age against harm at older ages. In some species, there is evidence that genes have evolved to detect and respond to changes in the environment, e.g. food supply. Evolutionary understanding can also help to understand important features of the human life history such as menopause.
Heat shock factor 1 regulates lifespan as distinct from disease onset in prion disease

Prion diseases are fatal, transmissible, neurodegenerative diseases caused by the misfolding of the prion protein (PrP). At present, the molecular pathways underlying prion-mediated neurotoxicity are largely unknown. We hypothesized that the transcriptional regulator of the stress response, heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), would play an important role in prion disease. Uninoculated HSF1 knockout (KO) mice used in our study do not show signs of neurodegeneration as assessed by survival, motor performance, or histopathology. When inoculated with Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) prions HSF1 KO mice had a dramatically shortened lifespan, succumbing to disease ≈20% faster than controls. Surprisingly, both the onset of home-cage behavioral symptoms and pathological alterations occurred at a similar time in HSF1 KO and control mice. The accumulation of proteinase K (PK)-resistant PrP also occurred with similar kinetics and prion infectivity accrued at an equal or slower rate. Thus, HSF1 provides an important protective function that is specifically manifest after the onset of behavioral symptoms of prion disease.
Prediction error and trace dominance determine the fate of fear memories after post-training manipulations

Different mnemonic outcomes have been observed when associative memories are reactivated by CS exposure and followed by amnestics. These outcomes include mere retrieval, destabilization–reconsolidation, a transitional period (which is insensitive to amnestics), and extinction learning. However, little is known about the interaction between initial learning conditions and these outcomes during a reinforced or nonreinforced reactivation. Here we systematically combined temporally specific memories with different reactivation parameters to observe whether these four outcomes are determined by the conditions established during training. First, we validated two training regimens with different temporal expectations about US arrival. Then, using Midazolam (MDZ) as an amnestic agent, fear memories in both learning conditions were submitted to retraining either under identical or different parameters to the original training. Destabilization (i.e., susceptibly to MDZ) occurred when reactivation was reinforced, provided the occurrence of a temporal prediction error about US arrival. In subsequent experiments, both treatments were systematically reactivated by nonreinforced context exposure of different lengths, which allowed to explore the interaction between training and reactivation lengths. These results suggest that temporal prediction error and trace dominance determine the extent to which reactivation produces the different outcomes.
Analysis of overhead and profitability in nested cloud environments

The on-demand provisioning of computing and storage resources and the corresponding pay-as-you-go billing have made cloud computing a popular paradigm to achieve a high technological utility. While most use cases can adequately be covered by the offers of existing public cloud providers, the granularity in provisioning and pricing is not high enough for several task execution scenarios. Nested cloud environments are among the concepts to circumvent these problems. They let consumers manage their allocations with a higher degree of flexibility, including the reselling or repurposing to other sub-consumers. In this paper, we take a critical look at the state of the art of nesting technologies and reason about the resource consumption overhead and the resulting economic profitability of employing a nested cloud. The results are validated within a cloud resource broker.
Business impacts of web accessibility in the Austrian hotel sector

Diese Magisterarbeit behandelt die wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen von barrierefreiem Web im Tourismus Bereich und fokussiert dabei insbesondere auf die osterreichische Hotelbranche. Ein Literatur Review gibt vorerst einen Uberblick uber die gegenwartige Situation von barrierefreiem Web und barrierefreiem Tourismus. Ferner werden mit Hilfe von statistikbasierten Schatzungen wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen von barrierefreiem Tourismus in der osterreichischen Hotelbranche ermittelt. Um die Komplexitat der Barrierefreiheit in der Tourismusbranche adaquat darstellen zu konnen, wird ein drei-dimensionales Hotelkategorisierungsmodell entwickelt, mit Hilfe dessen die Evaluierung des Status quo eines Hotels im Hinblick auf Barrierefreiheit vorgenommen werden kann. Daruber hinaus ist dieses Kategorisierungsmodell fur weiterfuhrende Benchmarking Aktivitaten einsetzbar. Eine Fallstudien-Analyse vereint quantitative und qualitative Forschungsmethoden und untersucht die betriebswirtschaftlichen Effekte von barrierefreiem Web in der Hotel Branche. Ergebnisse zeigen, dass derzeit nur ein Bruchteil der osterreichischen Hotels uber eine barrierefreie Webseite verfugt, obwohl durch die Implementierung von Barrierefreiheit zusatzliche Investitionen entfallen wurden sowie Vorteile fur alle Kunden generiert werden konnten. Die im Zuge dieser Magisterarbeit durchgefuhrten Studien bekraftigen bisherige Forschungsergebnisse, welche das fehlende Bewusstsein von Tourismus Akteuren in Bezug auf barrierefreies Web als Hauptgrund fur die mangelnde Implementierung identifizierten. Ferner kann festgestellt werden, dass Reisende mit Beeintrachtigungen eine wirtschaftlich signifikante Touristengruppe darstellen und in ihren Eigenschaften sehr loyal und zunehmend mobil sind.
Women and the personal meaning of competition: A qualitative investigation

Using a qualitative design, the purpose of this study was to investigate the personal meaning of competition to the female mountain bike racer. Interviews were conducted with nine female mountain bike racers of varying levels of experience, and were designed to elicit information relevant to the athlete’s understanding of her experience of competition, as well as, the personal meaning she attached to that experience. The codification of participant responses resulted in the identification of eight main themes including self-fulfillment, perceived competence, social support and camaraderie, health and fitness, joy of the experience, focus and self-control, external benefits derived from racing, and goal-direction. The findings of the study were, in general, supportive of the components of meaning posited by Personal Investment Theory (Maehr & Braskamp, 1986). Practical implications from this study include developing strategies for increasing the meaningfulness of the competitive experience for females in o.
Self-Expanding Nitinol Stent Implantation for Treatment of Aortic Coarctation

Purpose: To prospectively assess the efficacy of self-expanding nitinol aortic stents in the treatment of coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Methods: Between July 2005 and July 2008, 21 patients (14 men; mean age 19.2±5.5 years, range 11–34) with CoA were treated with self-expanding Sinus-Aorta stents. The predilation balloon was selected to be <5 times the stenosis diameter. The stent diameter was selected to be 20% to 30% greater than the diameter of the undiseased aorta at the level of the diaphragm. Results: All procedures were successfully performed without any major complications. Predilation (mean balloon diameter 12.3 mm) and postdilation (mean balloon diameter 15.4 mm) were performed in 12 and 14 procedures, respectively. The mean diameter of the stents was 21.6±2.3 mm (range 18–26). The mean peak transcoarctation pressure gradient decreased from 57.4±19.5 mmHg (range 30–100) before the procedure to 1.2±2.2 mmHg (range 0–7; p<0.001). Cephalad stent dislodgement with the first-generation device occurred in 3 of 12 patients; 2 were treated with a second stent overlapping the first, and the third received 3 overlapped stents after the second stent migrated distally. No stent dislodgement occurred in the subsequent 9 patients treated with longer second-generation stents with anti-jump markers. None of the patients had dissection, arterial rupture, or other complications. On follow-up, 1 (5%) patient had recoarctation and minor stent migration after 18 months; another stent was deployed successfully. No evidence of aneurysm formation was seen in 7 patients undergoing arch imaging. Conclusion: CoA can be successfully and safely managed with self-expanding nitinol aortic stents without aortic wall complications. Stent malpositioning can be overcome using oversized stents with anti-jump markers.
The choice between splenectomy and medical treatment in patients with advanced agnogenic myeloid metaplasia

The objective of the study was to explore the risks and benefits of splenectomy in advanced agnogenic myelod metaplasia (AMM). We searched the literature (Medline, 1970‐1987) for studies of postoperative survival, operative mortality and effects of splenectomy on painful splenomegaly, and portal hypertension or transfusion requirements in patients with AMM. We employed formal decision analysis to determine the relative value of medical and surgical treatment of advanced AMM.
Unconscious Learning versus Visual Perception: Dissociable Roles for Gamma Oscillations Revealed in MEG

Oscillatory synchrony in the gamma band (30–120 Hz) has been involved in various cognitive functions including conscious perception and learning. Explicit memory encoding, in particular, relies on enhanced gamma oscillations. Does this finding extend to unconscious memory encoding? Can we dissociate gamma oscillations related to unconscious learning and to conscious perception? We investigate these issues in a magnetoencephalographic experiment using a modified version of the contextual cueing paradigm. In this visual search task, repeated presentation of search arrays triggers an unconscious spatial learning process that speeds reaction times but leaves conscious perception unaffected. In addition to a high-frequency perceptual gamma activity present throughout the experiment, we reveal the existence of a fronto-occipital network synchronized in the low gamma range specifically engaged in unconscious learning. This network shows up as soon as a display is searched for the second time and disappears as behavior gets affected. We suggest that oscillations in this network shape neural processing to build an efficient neural route for learned displays. Accordingly, in the last part of the experiment, evoked responses dissociate learned images at early latencies, suggesting that a sharpened representation is activated without resort on learning gamma oscillations, whereas perceptual gamma oscillations remain unaffected.
Heterogeneity in responsiveness of perceived quality of life to body composition changes between adult- and childhood-onset Japanese hypopituitary adults with GH deficiency during GH replacement.

OBJECTIVE To examine the responsiveness of quality of life (QoL) associated with changes in clinical indices relevant to GH deficiency (GHD) in Japanese hypopituitary adults. DESIGN AND METHODS QoL was determined using the Short Form (SF)-36 in Japanese adults with adult-(AO; n = 27) or childhood- (CO; n = 37) onset GHD in a 24-week double-blind placebo-controlled study with a fixed GH dose, and a subsequent 48-week open-label extension study with GH doses individualized using serum IGF-I levels. RESULTS Baseline QoL was significantly decreased from the Japanese national reference in both onset types, more so in AO patients. Throughout the study, AO patients showed a trend for an increase in physical functioning and general health (P = 0.0564 and 0.0999 respectively), whereas CO patients showed no changes in these domains. Fat mass changes negatively correlated with the changes in physical functioning and general health in AO patients (r = -0.42 and -0.64 respectively), but to a lesser degree in CO patients (r = -0.36 and -0.32 respectively). CO patients displayed significant decreases in social functioning (P = 0.0305) and mental health (P = 0.0442) and a decreasing trend in bodily pain (P = 0.0769), although no correlation between these decreases and any measured clinical index was observed, except between changes in bodily pain and IGF-I levels (r = -0.43). CONCLUSIONS QoL impairment was evident in Japanese adults with GHD, particularly in AO patients. In AO patients, general health and physical functioning domains were responsive to fat mass changes during GH treatment; this association was not evident in CO patients. These relationships between QoL and body composition warrant verification.
Study on the prevalence of Foot and Mouth Disease in Borana and Guji Zones, Southern Ethiopia.

A cross sectional study was conducted on Borana plateau and Guji highlands of southern Ethiopia to determine the prevalence of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in bovine species. Seroprevalence investigation was performed using 3ABC- ELISA technique. The result indicated that the overall prevalence of Foot and Mouth Disease was 24.6 %(113/460). Significantly higher prevalence was recorded in Borana 53.6 % ( 82/153) compared to Guji 10.1 %( 31/307). From the various risk factors, geographical distribution (÷²=104.26, P
A Composite Approach to Self-Sustainable Transmissions: Rethinking OFDM

This paper proposes two novel strategies to extend the battery life of an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) receiver by exploiting the concept of wireless power transfer (WPT). First, a new receiver architecture is devised that does not discard the cyclic prefix (CP) but instead exploits it to extract power from the received signal, realizing a WPT between the transmitter and the receiver. Subsequently, a flexible composite transmit strategy is designed, in which the OFDM transmitter transmits to the receiver two independent signals coexisting in the same band. It is shown that, by means of this approach, the transmitter can arbitrarily increase the power concentrated within the CP at the OFDM receiver, without increasing the redundancy of the transmission. Feasibility conditions for the self-sustainability of the transmission are derived, in terms of power consumption at the receiver, for both legacy and composite transmission. Numerical findings show that, under reasonable conditions, the amount of power carried in the CP can be made sufficient to decode the information symbols, making the transmission fully self-sustainable. The potential of the proposed approach is confirmed by the encouraging results obtained when the full self-sustainability constraint is relaxed, and partially self-sustainable OFDM transmissions are analyzed.