Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leadership at a local level – Enhancing educational development

This paper explores, mainly through a socio-cultural perspective, the role of mid-level leadership in higher education in relation to educational development. It is argued that supporting and engaging local-level leaders, such as academic programme directors, increases the potential for development of local teaching and learning cultures. The paper describes a programme in a research-intensive university, where leaders conduct scholarly projects focused on contextualised educational development and leadership. Projects are reported in writing and peer-reviewed within the programme. In this article 25 project reports are analysed through a framework focusing on the relational and contextual aspects of leadership. Four projects are specifically elaborated to illustrate important aspects of leadership that become visible through the analysis. These aspects relate to external and internal mandates to lead, i.e. the potential actions available to leaders when navigating the need to build and maintain legitimacy in the formal organisation as well as in the group/s that they as leaders try to influence.
The ‘Renaissance Child’: high achievement and gender in late modernity

This paper draws on the concept of the ‘Renaissance Child’ to illustrate the ways in which gender influences the opportunities and possibilities of high-achieving pupils. Using data from a study of 12–13-year high-achieving boys and girls based in schools in England, the paper considers the ways in which a group of popular boys was able to show an interest and success in literacy and English without posing threats to their masculine subjectivities. In contrast, a group of high-achieving girls experienced greater constraints in their attempts to balance an interest and success in physical education and sports whilst also performing acceptable constructions of femininity. The paper concludes that the concept of ‘Renaissance Child’ is fruitful for research in education that is concerned with the production of neoliberal subjectivities. However, whilst boys can access and perform ‘Renaissance Masculinity’, constructions of femininity impede even the highest-achieving girls from equivalent subject positions.
EVALUATION THE EFFECT OF INCORPORATED HYDROXYAPATITE PREPARED FROM DRIED EGG SHELL ON SOME PROPERTIES OF RELINED DENTURE BASE

ABSTRACT Objective: Hydroxyapatite (HA) [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] was used in various biomedical fields such as dental material, bone substitute and hard tissue paste. Hydroxyapatite (HA) reinforced polymer have many potential clinical applications like bone cement, dental implants, coating of joint replacement prosthesis (Tham and Chow, 2010). So the aims were to determine the effect of incorporation of recently synthetized Hydroxyapatite from egg shell in different concentration on dimensional accuracy, transverse strength, FTIR of RESPAL NF heat cured acrylic denture base, with, and without relining, and biocompatibility test on rabbit. Materials and Methods: 171 samples of heat cured acrylic resin (HCAR) were prepared, and divided into five groups; the 1st group (Control) heat cured acrylic resin, the 2nd groups heat cured acrylic resin mixed with 2% of Hydroxyapatite (HA), the 3rd groups (HCAR) relined with 2% (HA), the 4th group (HCAR) mixed with 5% of Hydroxyapatite, and the 5th group (HCAR) relined with 5% of Hydroxyapatite. The samples were tested after 48 hours from preparation for (biocompatibility tests through implantation of samples in subcutaneous layer of the mandible of the local bred rabbit, FTIR test, microscopical examination of Hydroxyapatite, indentation hardness, transverse strength, water sorption and solubility, tensile strength, dimensional accuracy, residual monomer. Results: showed significant differences in the transverse strength, no residual monomer release, no dimensional changes after adding Hydroxyapatite to (HCAR). FTIR spectra of pure poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), and the (PMMA) with Hydroxyapatite extracted from egg shells showed no difference in the peaks before, and after addition of Hydroxyapatite to the polymer. Results of implantation samples showed increased bone formation. Conclusions: after adding Hydroxyapatite to heat cured acrylic resin showed an increase in strength of denture base with high dimensional accuracy, good biocompatibility with new bone formation in both 2%, and 5% Hydroxyapatite. FTIR spectra of polymer with and without Hydroxyapatite showed homogeneous distribution which will improve the mechanical properties of heat cured acrylic resin. supervised by: Prof. Dr. Nadira Hatim and Prof. Dr. Amer Taqa
Camera Calibration Using Line Correspondences

In this paper, a method of determining the essential matrix for uncalibrated cameras is given, based on line matches in three images. The three cameras may have different unknown calibrations, and the essential matrices corresponding to each of the three pairs of cameras may be determined. Determination of the essential matrix for uncalibrated cameras is important, forming the basis for many algorithms such as computation of invariants image rectification, camera calibration and scene reconstruction. In the case where all the three cameras are assumed to have the same unknown calibration, the method of Faugeras and Maybank ([3, 4]) may be used to calibrate the camera. The scene may then be reconstructed exactly (up to a scaled Euclidean transformation). This extends previous results of Weng, Huang and Ahuja ([12]) who gave a method for scene reconstruction from 13 line correspondences using a calibrated camera. The present paper shows that the the camera may be calibrated at the same time that the scene geometry is determined. The research described in this paper has been supported by DARPA Contract #MDA97291-C-0053
Using the BacMam Baculovirus System to Study Expression and Function of Recombinant Efflux Drug Transporters in Polarized Epithelial Cell Monolayers

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily includes several membrane-bound proteins that are critical to drug pharmacokinetics and disposition. Pharmacologic evaluation of these proteins in vitro remains a challenge. In this study, human ABC transporters were expressed in polarized epithelial cell monolayers transduced using the BacMam baculovirus gene transfer system. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of BacMam baculovirus to transduce cells grown in monolayers. In a porcine kidney cell line, LLC-PK1 cells, baculoviral transduction is successful only via the apical side of a polarized monolayer. We observed that recombinant ABC transporters were expressed on the cell surface with post-translational modification. Furthermore, sodium butyrate played a critical role in recombinant protein expression, and preincubation in the presence of tunicamycin or thapsigargin enhanced protein expression. Cells overexpressing human P-glycoprotein (P-gp) showed vectorial basolateral-to-apical transport of [3H]-paclitaxel, which could be reversed by the inhibitor tariquidar. Similarly, coexpression of human P-gp and ABCG2 in LLC-PK1 cells resulted in higher transport of mitoxantrone, which is a substrate for both transporters, than in either P-gp– or ABCG2-expressing cells alone. Taken together, our results indicate that a high level of expression of efflux transporters in a polarized cell monolayer is technically feasible with the BacMam baculovirus system
The Structural Validity of Daidalos: A measure of career maturity

A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the structural validity of Daidalos, a 20‐item inventory designed to assess the factors that might inhibit or promote successful career decision making, or career maturity. The sample consisted of 776 high school students; 367 were male and 409 were female. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 54 years (M = 18). Goodness‐of‐fit statistics provided strong support for a two‐factor hierarchical model and slightly less for a five‐factor non‐hierarchical model. The two higher‐order factors were identified as a Pre‐process and a Process latent construct. Separate analysis for men and women showed that the model was far more appropriate for women than for men. Item loadings ranged from . 46 to . 81, first‐order factor intercorrelations ranged from −. 15 to . 68, and the correlation between the two higher‐order factors was −. 42.
Reconsidering the Measurement of Teacher Power Use in the College Classroom

Three studies were conducted to (a) re-examine the internal properties of Roach's Power Base Measure (PBM), (b) test the PBM for measurement invariance across different samples, and (c) develop an alternative measure of observable teacher behaviors that communicate power in the classroom. Results of Studies 1 and 2 provide some support for the PBM, as confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized item loadings for each dimension and demonstrated strong metric invariance. Aggregate scores for each dimension of the PBM, however, produced poor model fit when hypothesized to represent the latent construct of teacher power. Results of Study 3 yielded a new measure of teacher power, the Teacher Power Use Scale. Validity estimates for both measures are offered, and theoretical implications are discussed.
The Switch from Low-Pressure Sodium to Light Emitting Diodes Does Not Affect Bat Activity at Street Lights

We used a before-after-control-impact paired design to examine the effects of a switch from low-pressure sodium (LPS) to light emitting diode (LED) street lights on bat activity at twelve sites across southern England. LED lights produce broad spectrum ‘white’ light compared to LPS street lights that emit narrow spectrum, orange light. These spectral differences could influence the abundance of insects at street lights and thereby the activity of the bats that prey on them. Most of the bats flying around the LPS lights were aerial-hawking species, and the species composition of bats remained the same after the switch-over to LED. We found that the switch-over from LPS to LED street lights did not affect the activity (number of bat passes), or the proportion of passes containing feeding buzzes, of those bat species typically found in close proximity to street lights in suburban environments in Britain. This is encouraging from a conservation perspective as many existing street lights are being, or have been, switched to LED before the ecological consequences have been assessed. However, lighting of all spectra studied to date generally has a negative impact on several slow-flying bat species, and LED lights are rarely frequented by these ‘light-intolerant’ bat species.
The stretched exponential distribution of internet media access patterns

The commonly agreed Zipf-like access pattern of Web workloads is mainly based on Internet measurements when text-based content dominated the Web traffic. However, with dramatic increase of media traffic on the Internet, the inconsistency between the access patterns of media objects and the Zipf model has been observed in a number of studies. An insightful understanding of media access patterns is essential to guide Internet system design and management, including resource provisioning and performance optimizations. In this paper, we have studied a large variety of media workloads collected from both client and server sides in different media systems with different delivery methods. Through extensive analysis and modeling, we find: (1) the object reference ranks of all these workloads follow the stretched exponential (SE) distribution despite their different media systems and delivery methods; (2) one parameter of this distribution well characterizes the media file sizes, the other well characterizes the aging of media accesses; (3) some biased measurements may lead to Zipf-like observations on media access patterns; and (4) the deviation of media access pattern from the Zipf model in these workloads increases along with the workload duration. We have further analyzed the effectiveness of media caching with a mathematical model. Compared with Web caching under the Zipf model, media caching under the SE model is far less effective unless the cache size is enormously large. This indicates that many previous studies based on a Zipf-like assumption have potentially overestimated the media caching benefit, while an effective media caching system must be able to scale its storage size to accommodate the increase of media content over a long time. Our study provides an analytical basis for applying a P2P model rather than a client-server model to build large scale Internet media delivery systems.
Dynamic faces speed up the onset of auditory cortical spiking responses during vocal detection

Significance We combine facial motion with voices to help us hear better, but the role that low-level sensory areas such as the auditory cortex may play in this process is unclear. We combined a vocalization detection task with auditory cortical physiology in monkeys to bridge this epistemic gap. Surprisingly, and contrary to previous assumptions and hypotheses, changes in firing rate had no clear relationship to the detection advantage that dynamic faces provided when listening for vocalizations. Instead, dynamic faces uniformly sped up the onset of spiking activity in the auditory cortex, and this faster onset partially explains the behavioral benefits of combining faces and voices. How low-level sensory areas help mediate the detection and discrimination advantages of integrating faces and voices is the subject of intense debate. To gain insights, we investigated the role of the auditory cortex in face/voice integration in macaque monkeys performing a vocal-detection task. Behaviorally, subjects were slower to detect vocalizations as the signal-to-noise ratio decreased, but seeing mouth movements associated with vocalizations sped up detection. Paralleling this behavioral relationship, as the signal to noise ratio decreased, the onset of spiking responses were delayed and magnitudes were decreased. However, when mouth motion accompanied the vocalization, these responses were uniformly faster. Conversely, and at odds with previous assumptions regarding the neural basis of face/voice integration, changes in the magnitude of neural responses were not related consistently to audiovisual behavior. Taken together, our data reveal that facilitation of spike latency is a means by which the auditory cortex partially mediates the reaction time benefits of combining faces and voices.
Spacetime metric from linear electrodynamics II

Following Kottler, ´E.Cartan, and van Dantzig, we formulate the Maxwell equations in a metric independent form in terms of the ﬁeld strength F = ( E, B ) and the excitation H = ( D , H ). We assume a linear constitutive law between H and F . First we split oﬀ a pseudo-scalar (axion) ﬁeld from the constitutive tensor; its remaining 20 components can be used to deﬁne a duality operator # for 2-forms. If we enforce the constraint ## = − 1, then we can derive of that the conformally invariant part of the metric of spacetime. ﬁle
Optimum Radio Capacity Estimation of a Single-Cell Spread Spectrum MIMO System under Rayleigh Fading Conditions

— In this paper, the problem of estimating the optimal radio capacity of a single-cell spread spectrum (SS) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) system operating in a Rayleigh fading environment is examined. The optimisation between the radio capacity and the theoretically achievable average channel capacity (in the sense of information theory) per user of a MIMO single-cell SS sys-tem operating in a Rayleigh fading environment is presented. Then, the spectral efficiency is estimated in terms of the achievable average channel capacity per user, during the operation over a broadcast time-varying link, and leads to a simple novel-closed form expression for the optimal radio capacity value based on the maximization of the achieved spectral efficiency. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the proposed analysis.
Bone morphogenetic protein‐10 (BMP‐10) inhibits aggressiveness of breast cancer cells and correlates with poor prognosis in breast cancer

Our recent study showed that a novel member of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family, BMP‐10, was decreased in prostate cancer. In the present study, we investigated the implication of BMP‐10 in breast cancer, particularly the relation of its expression with clinical aspects. The expression of BMP‐10 was examined in a cohort of human breast cancer specimens (normal, n = 23; cancer, n = 97), using both quantitative real‐time PCR and immunohistochemical staining. The full‐length human BMP‐10 was cloned into a mammalian expression plasmid vector and then transfected into breast cancer cells. The effect on growth, cell matrix adhesion, motility, and invasion of MDA‐MB‐231 cells by BMP‐10 was then investigated using in vitro growth assays. Immunohistochemical staining and quantitative real‐time PCR revealed a decreased expression of BMP‐10 in breast cancer. Further analysis of BMP‐10 transcript level against the clinical aspect demonstrated that the decreased BMP‐10 expression correlated with disease progression, bone metastasis, and poor prognosis. The disease‐free survival of the patients with a higher level of BMP‐10 was 132.8 (95% CI, 122.0–143.5) months, significantly longer compared to 93.7 (95% CI, 60.3–127.2) months for patients with a lower level of BMP‐10 expression (P = 0.043). The overexpression of BMP‐10 has broad inhibitory effects on the in vitro growth, invasion, and motility of breast cancer cells. Taken together, BMP‐10 can inhibit the cell growth of breast cancer cells, and decreased BMP‐10 expression correlates to poor prognosis and disease progression, particularly the lymphatic and bone metastasis. Bone morphogenetic protein‐10 (BMP‐10) may function as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer. (Cancer Sci 2010)
Images of immigrants: a study on the xenophobia and permeability of intergroup boundaries

An experimental questionnaire study was carried out in order to test partly contradictory hypotheses associated with respectively a threat discourse and a delegitimization discourse. The dependent variable was the images of the immigrant. The central independent variable was the permeability (subjects anticipated a European policy of open-frontiers) versus impermeability (subjects anticipated a European policy of closed-frontiers) of intergroup boundaries. The immigrants' status (operationalized by specifying the target group either as immigrants from the Third World or from other European Union countries) was the second independent variable. Consistent with the threat discourse, the anticipation of open borders led to more negative descriptions of immigrants from Third World countries and those descriptions could be interpreted as negative reactions due to threatening insecurity. However, consistent with the delegitimization hypothesis, the anticipation of closed borders detracted considerably from the positive images of the immigrants from European countries and even involved main effects indicating that also the image of the Third World immigrants was negatively affected (in different dimensions than those associated with the negative reactions triggered by the open-border policy).
New K-Oximes (K-27 and K-48) in Comparison with Obidoxime (LuH-6), HI-6, Trimedoxime (TMB-4), and Pralidoxime (2-PAM): Survival in Rats Exposed IP to the Organophosphate Paraoxon

ABSTRACT Oximes are cholinesterase reactivators used in organophosphorus compound poisoning. The purpose of the study was to compare the protective effect of the K-oximes (K-27 and K-48) in male rats with that of obidoxime (LuH-6), trimedoxime (TMB-4), and HI-6, using paraoxon (POX) as a cholinesterase inhibitor. Pralidoxime (2-PAM) was also retested. Seven groups of six rats each were used. Group 1 (G1) received 1 μmol/rat POX (≈ LD75), the other groups (G2–7) received 1 μmol/rat POX + one of the six reactivators. The animals were monitored for 48 h and time of mortality was recorded. The procedure was repeated seven times. Subsequently, experiments as described were repeated using 10 and 15 μmol/rat POX. Mortality data were compared and hazards ratios (relative risks) ranked with the Cox proportional hazards model using the POX dose and group (reactivator) as time-independent covariables. K-27 followed by K-48 were the most potent reactivators. K-27 was statistically significantly superior to all other reactivators except K-48. The relative risk of death estimated by Cox analysis in K-27– and K-48–treated animals when compared with untreated animals, adjusted for the POX dose, was 0.22 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.31) and 0.26 (95% CI, 0.18 to 0.37), respectively. We concluded that in the animal model used K-27 and K-48 are superior to older oximes in their ability to protect from paraoxon effects. They should be tested further using methyl- and propyl-organophosphates as toxic agents.
Nested frailty models using maximum penalized likelihood estimation

The frailty model is a random effect survival model, which allows for unobserved heterogeneity or for statistical dependence between observed survival data. The nested frailty model accounts for the hierarchical clustering of the data by including two nested random effects. Nested frailty models are particularly appropriate when data are clustered at several hierarchical levels naturally or by design. In such cases it is important to estimate the parameters of interest as accurately as possible by taking into account the hierarchical structure of the data. We present a maximum penalized likelihood estimation (MPnLE) to estimate non‐parametrically a continuous hazard function in a nested gamma‐frailty model with right‐censored and left‐truncated data. The estimators for the regression coefficients and the variance components of the random effects are obtained simultaneously. The simulation study demonstrates that this semi‐parametric approach yields satisfactory results in this complex setting. In order to illustrate the MPnLE method and the nested frailty model, we present two applications. One is for modelling the effect of particulate air pollution on mortality in different areas with two levels of geographical regrouping. The other application is based on recurrent infection times of patients from different hospitals. We illustrate that using a shared frailty model instead of a nested frailty model with two levels of regrouping leads to inaccurate estimates, with an overestimation of the variance of the random effects. We show that even when the frailty effects are fairly small in magnitude, they are important since they alter the results in a systematic pattern. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.