Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The rolling hotspot? Perceptions of behavioral problems on school buses among a nationally representative sample of transportation officials

ABSTRACT This study presents results from a nationally representative survey of school district transportation officials (N = 2,595) to understand how common seven types of behavioral problems (fighting, bullying, substance use, sexual harassment, sexual behaviors, profanity, violations of basic rules) are perceived to be on school buses. Ordinary least-squares regression is used to examine respondent- and district-level predictors of behavioral problems. Results indicate that violations of basic rules (e.g., moving seats), profanity, and bullying are perceived to be the most common problems on the nation’s buses. Several respondent (e.g., sex, race, title) and district characteristics (e.g., percentage of special education students) are statistically associated with perceptions of misconduct, number of disciplinary reports filed in the previous school year, or the frequency with which reports were filed. Implications of findings are discussed.
Belonging in Brexit Britain: Central and Eastern European 1.5 generation young people's experiences

In this paper, we examine the experiences of young people born in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) who are part of the 1.5 migrant generation living in ‘Brexit Britain’. We focus on two key themes: 1) young people’s feelings of belonging to Britain, their countries of birth and Europe, and the ways in which these have been impacted by the EU Referendum result; 2) young people’s future plans, in an intergenerational context, with particular regard to their feelings of belonging and the ruptures of migration and Brexit. Britain’s decision to leave the EU caused uncertainty for CEE 1.5 generation young people at a time when many of them were consciously reflecting on their beings, becomings and belongings. The majority of young people asserted a sense of belonging to Britain whilst simultaneously feeling a sense of ‘in-between-ness’. Many young people wanted to remain living in Britain, at least in the short term, and felt a sense of belonging to Britain. Our focus on the potential intergenerational impact of Brexit suggests that CEE young people and parents may view possibilities for the future differently; we examine some of the key reasons for these differences from the young people’s perspectives.
Private Enforcement of Corporate Law: An Empirical Comparison of the UK and US

IIt is often assumed that strong securities markets require good legal protection of minority shareholders. This implies both "good" law -- principally corporate and securities law -- and enforcement, yet there has been little empirical analysis of enforcement. We study private enforcement of corporate law in two common law jurisdictions with highly developed stock markets, the United Kingdom and the United States, examining how often directors of publicly traded companies are sued, and the nature and outcomes of those suits. We find, based a comprehensive search for filings over 2004-2006, that lawsuits against directors of public companies alleging breach of duty are nearly nonexistent in the UK. The US is more litigious, but we still find, based on a nationwide search of decisions between 2000-2007, that only a small percentage of public companies face a lawsuit against directors alleging a breach of duty that is sufficiently contentious to result in a reported judicial opinion, and a substantial fraction of these cases are dismissed.We examine possible substitutes in the UK for formal private enforcement of corporate law and find some evidence of substitutes, especially for takeover litigation. Nonetheless, our results suggest that formal private enforcement of corporate law is less central to strong securities markets than might be anticipated.
Internationalization of Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions: Manifestations of a Nascent System

The changing landscape of higher education over the past few decades has increasingly brought internationalization to the fore as one major manifestation of the educational systems of both developed and developing countries alike. As part of this global trend, the Ethiopian higher education sector has, in the past decade, begun to exhibit some of the emerging trends of internationalization despite the paucity of data that portray the phenomenon in an organized manner. This study was conducted to address the prevailing deficiencies with particular focus on identifying the dominant manifestations of internationalization in Ethiopia’s public and private higher education institutions. Data were drawn from nine public and six private institutions using questionnaire and focus group discussion. The major findings of the study revealed that institutions consider internationalization as an important activity for the purposes of promoting teaching and resource mobilization, international research projects, and academic quality and standards. However, in most of the surveyed universities, internationalization was found to be more of an ad hoc and reactive process than a systematically administered proactive undertaking. On the basis of the findings that portray the features of a nascent system, the need for cohesive policies, strategic directions, and operational efficiencies both at national and institutional levels has been projected.
Trust in Public Institutions Over the Business Cycle

We document that trust in public institutions--and particularly trust in banks, business and government--has declined over recent years. U.S. time series evidence suggests that this partly reflects the pro-cyclical nature of trust in institutions. Cross-country comparisons reveal a clear legacy of the Great Recession, and those countries whose unemployment grew the most suffered the biggest loss in confidence in institutions, particularly in trust in government and the financial sector. Finally, analysis of several repeated cross-sections of confidence within U.S. states yields similar qualitative patterns, but much smaller magnitudes in response to state-specific shocks.
The Relationship between Seven Common Polymorphisms from Five DNA Repair Genes and the Risk for Breast Cancer in Northern Chinese Women

Background Converging evidence supports the central role of DNA damage in progression to breast cancer. We therefore in this study aimed to assess the potential interactions of seven common polymorphisms from five DNA repair genes (XRCC1, XRCC2, XRCC3, XPA and APEX1) in association with breast cancer among Han Chinese women. Methodology/Principal Findings This was a case-control study involving 606 patients diagnosed with sporadic breast cancer and 633 age- and ethnicity-matched cancer-free controls. The polymerase chain reaction - ligase detection reaction method was used to determine genotypes. All seven polymorphisms were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in controls. Differences in the genotypes and alleles of XRCC1 gene rs25487 and XPA gene rs1800975 were statistically significant between patients and controls, even after the Bonferroni correction (P<0.05/7). Accordingly, the risk for breast cancer was remarkably increased for rs25487 (OR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.07–1.51; P = 0.006), but decreased for rs1800975 (OR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.67–0.90; P = 0.001) under an additive model at a Bonferroni corrected alpha of 0.05/7. Allele combination analysis showed higher frequencies of the most common combination C-G-G-C-G-G-G (alleles in order of rs1799782, rs25487, rs3218536, rs861539, rs1800975, rs1760944 and rs1130409) in controls than in patients (PSim = 0.002). In further interaction analysis, two-locus model including rs1800975 and rs25487 was deemed as the overall best model with the maximal testing accuracy of 0.654 and the cross-validation consistency of 10 out of 10 (P = 0.001). Conclusion Our findings provide clear evidence that XRCC1 gene rs25487 and XPA gene rs1800975 might exert both independent and interactive effects on the development of breast cancer among northern Chinese women.
The Demise of the Classical Broad-Line Region in the Luminous Quasar PG 1416–129

New observations of the broad-line quasar PG 1416-129 reveal a large decline in its continuum luminosity over the past 10 years. In response to the continuum change, the "classical" broad component of Hβ has almost completely disappeared (a factor of 10 decrease in flux). In its place there remains a redshifted/redward asymmetric very broad emission line component. The significance of this change is multifold. (1) It confirms the existence of a distinct redshifted very broad line region (VBLR) component that persists after the demise of the broad component and that is frequently observed, along with the broad component, in radio-loud sources. (2) The smaller (decrease by a factor of 2) intensity change in the Hβ very broad component supports the previously advanced idea that the VBLR is physically distinct and likely to arise in an optically thin region close to the central source. (3) The presence of a strong very broad component in the radio-quiet quasar PG 1416-129 reinforces the notion that such "population B" quasars share similar spectroscopic (and hence geometrical and kinematical) properties to radio-loud sources. (4) AGNs can show broad, very broad, or both line components simultaneously, making statistical comparisons of source profile widths difficult. (5) The interpretation, in reverberation studies, of the presence or lack of correlated response in broad-line wings will be affected by this composite BLR/VBLR structure.
Mother-infant colonization and neonatal sepsis in prelabor rupture of membranes.

OBJECTIVE This study aims to determine the incidence of prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM) in a tertiary care institution, the bacterial pathogens involved in maternal and neonatal colonization, and the major bacterial pathogens of neonatal sepsis in PROM. METHODS This prospective study was conducted over 2 years from March 1999 to February 2001 in Abha Maternity Hospital, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Consecutive admissions of infant-and-mother pairs with PROM constitute the subjects of this survey. Every mother had endocervical swab taken before delivery, and their infants had surface swabs and sepsis screening before starting antibiotic therapy. RESULTS The incidence of PROM was 12.6 per 1000 live births. Premature delivery rate was 54.6% while, the overall prematurity rate was 7.2%. The major microorganisms involved in genital colonization of the mothers were coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CONS) (24%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (13%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11.3%) and Enterococcus species (11.3%). The infants were colonized largely with CONS (31%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (18%) and Escherichia coli (E.coli) (17%). Fourteen percent of the infants were infected but in only 6% was septicemia documented (Staphylococcus aureus, 3 cases and 1 case each with CONS, group B Streptococci (GBS) and E.coli). In contrast to Western experience, the incidence of GBS was uncommon in both mothers and infants. The bacterial pattern suggests vancomycin and cefotaxime or aminoglycoside combination as empirical antibiotic therapy for both infected infants and selected contaminated mothers with PROM. CONCLUSION Generally, it appears wasteful to routinely admit, screen and empirically treat all infants born after PROM; only ill infants, febrile mothers, or either, with associated chorioamnionitis deserve antibiotic treatment.
Factors affecting numerical typing performance of young adults in a hear-and-type task

Numerical hear-and-type tasks, i.e. making immediate keypresses according to verbally presented numbers, possess both practical and theoretical importance but received relatively little attention. Effects of speech rates (500-ms vs. 1000-ms interval), urgency (urgent condition: performance-based monetary incentive plus time limit vs. non-urgent condition: flat-rate compensation) and finger strategies (single vs. multi-finger typing) on typing speed and accuracy were investigated. Fast speech rate and multi-finger typing produced more errors and slower typing speed. Urgency improved typing speed but decreased accuracy. Errors were almost doubled under urgent condition, while urgency effect on speed was similar to that of speech rate. Examination of error patterns did not fully support Salthouse's (1986) speculations about error-making mechanisms. The results implied that urgency could play a more important role in error-making than task demands. Numerical keyboard design and error detection could benefit from spatial incidence of errors found in this study. Statement of Relevance: This study revealed that classic speculations about error-making mechanisms in alphabetical typing do not necessarily translate to numerical typing. Factors other than external task demands such as urgency can affect typing performance to a similar or greater extent. Investigations of intrinsic error-making factors in non-traditional typing tasks are encouraged.
Effects of Local Administration of Platelet Rich Plasma on Functional Recovery after Bridging Sciatic Nerve Defect Using Silicone Rubber Chamber; An Experimental Study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of local administration of platelet rich plasma (PRP) on peripheral nerve regeneration in rat sciatic nerve transection model. METHODS Forty-five male white Wistar rats were randomized into three experimental groups (n=15): Normal control group (NC), silicon group (SIL), PRP treated group (SIL/PRP). In NC group left sciatic nerve was exposed through a gluteal muscle incision and after homeostasis muscle was sutured. In SIL group left sciatic nerve was exposed the same way and transected proximal to tibio-peroneal bifurcation leaving a 10-mm gap. Proximal and distal stumps were each inserted into a silicone conduit and filled with 10 µL phosphate buffered solution. In SIL/PRP group silicon conduit was filled with 20 µL PRP. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups of five animals each and were studied 4, 8, 12 weeks after surgery. RESULTS The animals were comparable regarding the baseline characteristics. Behavioral testing, sciatic nerve functional study and gastrocnemius muscle mass showed earlier regeneration of axons in SIL/PRP than in SIL group. CONCLUSION Local administration of PRP combined with silicon grafting could accelerate functional recovery of peripheral nerve. Easily available growth factors and bioactive proteins present in PRP may have clinical implications for the surgical management of patients after nerve transection.
Competition in career tournaments: Investigating the joint impact of trait competitiveness and competitive psychological climate on objective and subjective career success

This study investigates the joint impact of trait competitiveness (i.e., the enjoyment of interpersonal competition and the desire to win and be better than others) and competitive psychological climate (i.e., the degree to which employees perceive organizational rewards as contingent upon comparisons of their performance against that of their peers) on objective and subjective career success. Based on tournament and person–environment fit theory, we assumed that the positive effects of trait competitiveness on different indicators of objective (i.e., salary, promotions) and subjective (i.e., career satisfaction, internal marketability, and meaningful work) career success are stronger under conditions of a highly competitive psychological climate. Moderated regression analyses using data from a 6-month time-lagged study of 340 employees working in diverse occupational fields in their early careers revealed joint effects of the two competition variables. For both objective and subjective career success, the effect of trait competitiveness was strengthened under conditions of a highly competitive psychological climate. We discuss the results by integrating theoretical reasoning from a tournament and person–environment fit perspective on the attainment of career success.
True and False Memories: Neuropsychological and Neuropharmacological Approaches

Some recent studies have explored the false memory and its mechanisms. True memories depend on draw in the past, retrieve of the information, remember past events plus recombine (reorganize) them with new information to finally re-encode these elements creating a new memory. But, sometimes failures in this system lead to memory errors collaborating to false memory formation. This chapter will address new neuropsychological tools to evaluate true and false memory performance. Some neuropharmacological aspects as possible mechanisms of agonist and antagonist modulation of false memory will be discussed.
Investigating the potential of post-ordering SMT output to improve translation quality

Post-ordering of Statistical Machine Translation (SMT) output to correct word order errors could be a promising area of research to overcome structural divergence between language pairs. This is especially true when it is difficult to incorporate rich linguistic features into the baseline decoder. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for generating oracle reorderings of MT output. We use the oracle reorderings to empirically quantify an upper bound on improvement in translation quality through post-ordering techniques. In our study encompassing multiple language pairs, we show that significant improvement in translation quality can be obtained by applying reordering transformations on the output of the SMT system. This presents a strong case for investing effort in exploring the post-ordering problem.
PRIMA-1MET induces apoptosis through accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species irrespective of p53 status and chemo-sensitivity in epithelial ovarian cancer cells

There is an intensive need for the development of novel drugs for the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), the most lethal gynecologic malignancy due to the high recurrence rate. TP53 mutation is a common event in EOC, particularly in high-grade serous ovarian cancer, where it occurs in more than 90% of cases. Recently, PRIMA-1 and PRIMA-1MET (p53 reactivation and induction of massive apoptosis and its methylated form) were shown to have an antitumor effect on several types of cancer. Despite that PRIMA-1MET is the first compound evaluated in clinical trials, the antitumor effects of PRIMA-1MET on EOC remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of PRIMA-1MET for the treatment of EOC cells. PRIMA-1MET treatment of EOC cell lines (n=13) resulted in rapid apoptosis at various concentrations (24 h IC50 2.6–20.1 µM). The apoptotic response was independent of the p53 status and chemo-sensitivity. PRIMA-1MET treatment increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and PRIMA-1MET-induced apoptosis was rescued by an ROS scavenger. Furthermore, RNA expression analysis revealed that the mechanism of action of PRIMA-1MET may be due to inhibition of antioxidant enzymes, such as Prx3 and GPx-1. In conclusion, our results suggest that PRIMA-1MET represents a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of ovarian cancer irrespective of p53 status and chemo-sensitivity.
The Role of Synaptic and Voltage-Gated Currents in the Control of Purkinje Cell Spiking: A Modeling Study

We have used a realistic computer model to examine interactions between synaptic and intrinsic voltage-gated currents during somatic spiking in cerebellar Purkinje cells. We have shown previously that this model generates realistic in vivo patterns of somatic spiking in the presence of continuous background excitatory and inhibitory input (De Schutter and Bower, 1994b). In the present study, we analyzed the flow of synaptic and intrinsic currents across the dendritic membrane and the interaction between the soma and dendrite underlying this spiking behavior. This analysis revealed that: (1) dendritic inward current flow was dominated by a noninactivating P-type calcium current, resulting in a continuous level of depolarization; (2) the mean level of this depolarization was controlled by the mean rate of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input; (3) the synaptic control involved a voltage-clamping mechanism exerted by changes of synaptic driving force at different membrane potentials; (4) the resulting total current through excitatory and inhibitory synapses was near-zero, with a small outward bias opposing the P-type calcium current; (5) overall, the dendrite acted as a variable current sink with respect to the soma, slowing down intrinsic inward currents in the soma; (6) the somato-dendritic current showed important phasic changes during each spike cycle; and (7) the precise timing of somatic spikes was the result of complex interactions between somatic and dendritic currents that did not directly reflect the timing of synaptic input. These modeling results suggest that Purkinje cells act quite differently from simple summation devices, as has been assumed previously in most models of cerebellar function. Specific physiologically testable predictions are discussed.
Distributed Algorithms for Max-Min Fair Rate Allocation in ALOHA Networks

This paper addresses the problem of max-min fair rate allocation in ALOHA networks. In spite of the nonseparability and non-convexity of the problem, we show how globally optimal rates can be obtained in a distributed manner, using only local coordination. We propose two iterative, decentralized algorithms for this problem, and demonstrate their convergence to optimality through analysis and simulation. We also argue that these algorithms can be used to attain lexicographic max-min fair rates under some additional assumptions on the communication graph.
Treatment of dyslipidemia

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (including coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral arterial disease) is the leading cause of death globally. Abnormal blood lipids (dyslipidemia), smoking, and high blood pressure are responsible for more than 75% of cases. Aggressive low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol lowering therapy, particularly statins, appear to be the most effective of the therapeutic approaches, but even with their use, cardiovascular disease event rates remain relatively high, underpinning the quest for novel treatments. In this review we discuss recent advances in the field and what remains to be done to reduce this rate further. In particular, in addition to development and investigation of new LDL-cholesterol lowering therapies, there has been a major focus on treatments to favorably influence high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. However, to this time, approaches to the latter have been somewhat disappointing, but they may have particular benefits in people with diabetes. As atherosclerosis is a largely preventable process, which is driven particularly by behavioral and lifestyle factors, attention to other modifiable risk factors is imperative.
Revision of the Cognitive Assessment for Dementia, iPad Version (CADi2)

Early detection of dementia is crucial because it is the time when intervention is most effective. Therefore, a simple and short test is necessary for primary mass screening in community-based medical facilities. We developed the Cognitive Assessment for Dementia, iPad version (CADi) which consists of 10 simple questions and is self-administered. In this paper we present a revised version which improves the detection of dementia. Two questions of the CADi were replaced in the latest version (CADi2). We examined the validity and reliability of the CADi2 in 27 Alzheimer’s disease patients and age-matched healthy controls. The Alzheimer’s disease patients had lower CADi2 scores and longer total response times to questions compared to the controls. The CADi2 had high sensitivity (0.85−0.96) and specificity (0.81−0.93), and showed significant correlations with existing standard neuropsychological tests. Cronbach’s alpha analysis revealed moderate consistency of the CADi2. These results support the utility of the CADi2 for primary screening for dementia.