Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Professional Practice Portfolio for Quality Learning

This article focuses on the extent to which a portfolio may address the challenges of assessment for quality learning in professional education programmes. A four-year action research study investigated the development and implementation of a portfolio for the assessment of practice in a professional development programme preparing special education resource teachers to undertake a new role. A conceptual framework for an effective professional practice portfolio, derived from the refinement of the portfolio and teaching programme throughout the four years, is presented. Findings indicate that a well-designed portfolio may support quality learning through the integration of theory and practice, the promotion of self-assessment, autonomy, reflection and meta-cognition, and the enhancement of the programme's relevance to workplace practice. The findings support the use of a portfolio as a tool to assess and promote the generic skills included in graduate attribute lists or profiles and in evaluation of programme effectiveness.
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Is Involved in Stress-Induced Hypothalamic Neuronal Injury in Rats via the PERK-ATF4-CHOP and IRE1-ASK1-JNK Pathways

Objective As a high-level nerve center that regulates visceral and endocrine activity, the hypothalamus plays an important role in regulating the body’s stress response. Previous studies have shown that stress can cause damage to hypothalamic neurons. The present study aimed to further clarify the mechanism of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) involvement in hypothalamic neuronal injury. Methods A 7-day stressed rat model was established with daily restraining for 8 h and forced ice-water swimming for 5 min. The rats were randomly divided into control, stress, stress + GSK2606414 (PERK phosphorylation inhibitor), stress + KIRA6 (IRE1 phosphokinase activity inhibitor), GSK2606414, and KIRA6 groups. The pathological changes of hypothalamic neurons were observed by thionine staining. Expression of ERS proteins GRP78, ATF4, ASK1, JNK, and CHOP in the hypothalamic neurons were observed by immunohistochemical staining. The expression of JNK and CHOP mRNA in the hypothalamic neurons were observed by RNA in situ hybridization (RNA Scope) and the expression of related proteins and mRNA was semiquantitatively analyzed by microscopy-based multicolor tissue cytometry (MMTC). Results Thionine staining revealed that stress exposure resulted in edema, a lack of Nissl bodies, and pyknosis in hypothalamic neurons. Immunohistochemistry and RNA Scope showed that stress exposure significantly increased the expression of GRP78, ATF4, ASK1, CHOP, JNK, JNK mRNA, and CHOP mRNA. Treatment with PERK and IRE1 inhibitors attenuated pathological damage and downregulated the expression of ATF4, ASK1, JNK, CHOP, JNK mRNA, and CHOP mRNA. Conclusion Stress caused pathological changes in rat hypothalamic neurons. ERS PERK-ATF4-CHOP and IRE1-ASK1-JNK pathways were involved in the injury process.
Effect of apelin hormone on renal ischemia/reperfusion induced oxidative damage in rats

Abstract Apelin is a peptide hormone defined as a ligand for G-protein clamped receptor (APJ) receptor. It is indicated in the literature both apelin and APJ are synthesized on the peripheral tissues including the renal tissues. Which roles does the apelin play on the renal tissue has not been completely illuminated yet. This study is designed to determine the possible protective effect of apelin-13 on the kidney I/R injury. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. In the sham group, right kidneys of the animals were dissected. In the I/R group, right kidney was dissected and ischemia of 45 min was performed, and then reperfusion was applied for 3 h. In the treatment groups, three different doses of apelin were injected at the beginning of the ischemia unlike the I/R group. BUN, Cre, Na, K, Cl, total protein and albumin from serum samples were determined and TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, TAS and TOS parameters were read with ELISA reader. MDA, SOD, CAT and GSH-Px enzyme activations from renal tissues were measured. In comparison with the sham and I/R groups, while the serum BUN, CRE, CI and TNF-α levels showed an increase in the groups on which the apelin-13 was applied, Na, total protein, albumin, TAS levels decreased. Serum TOS level of other groups showed an increase by comparison with the sham group. Our results showed that apelin-13 applied after I/R increased the antioxidant enzyme activity in a dose dependent manner, prevented the lipid oxidation and improved the renal functions.
Ventilatory management of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

CONTEXT The acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome are critical illnesses associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Mechanical ventilation is the cornerstone of supportive therapy. However, despite several important advances, the optimal strategy for ventilation and adjunctive therapies for patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome is still evolving. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION To identify reports of invasive ventilatory and adjunctive therapies in adult patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome, we performed a systematic English-language literature search of MEDLINE (1966-2005) using the Medical Subject Heading respiratory distress syndrome, adult, and related text words, with emphasis on randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses. EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were similarly searched. The search yielded 1357 potential articles of which 53 were relevant to the study objectives and considered in this review. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS There is strong evidence to support the use of volume- and pressure-limited lung-protective ventilation in adult patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The benefit of increased levels of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers is uncertain and is being further evaluated in ongoing trials. Existing randomized controlled trials of alternative ventilation modes, such as high-frequency oscillation and adjunctive therapies, including inhaled nitric oxide and prone positioning demonstrate no significant survival advantage. However, they may have a role as rescue therapy for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome with refractory life-threatening hypoxemia. CONCLUSIONS Volume- and pressure-limited ventilation strategies should be used in managing adult acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome patients. Further research is needed to identify barriers to widespread adoption of this strategy, as well as the role of alternative ventilation modes and adjunctive therapies.
How Attachment Affects the Strength of Peer Influence on Adolescent Consumer Behavior

This research examined how attachment affected the peer influence on adolescent consumer behavior. Results showed that attachment toward family and toward peers emerged together. Adolescent attachment anxiety strengthened the peer influence in consumption while attachment avoidance weakened the peer influence. Anxiety was positively related to adolescents’ perception of friends’ greater knowledge, spending when shopping with friends, and motivation to comply with friends’ suggestions on purchases directly and indirectly through consumer susceptibility to informational and normative influence. In contrast, attachment avoidance decreased the tendency to shop often with friends and the motivation to comply in a purchase. This study revealed that the influence of individual attachment orientations on interpersonal relationships can be extended to the field of consumption.
First‐year Biology Students’ Understandings of Meiosis: An investigation using a structural theoretical framework

Meiosis is a biological concept that is both complex and important for students to learn. This study aims to explore first‐year biology students’ explanations of the process of meiosis, using an explicit theoretical framework provided by the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) model. The research was based on responses of 334 first‐year biology students to practical and examination questions about meiosis, together with student interviews. Students’ written responses were coded, which resulted in a hierarchy of qualitatively different categories consistent with recent developments in the SOLO model. Most responses described a number of the less abstract elements of meiosis, but not in a coherent, relational manner, and interviews elucidated several areas of confusion about meiosis and its subordinate concepts. These findings are consistent with much previous research, and provide insights into both the use of the SOLO model as a research tool and students’ understandings of meiosis. In conjunction with previous research, the results of this study raise questions beyond its local context about the match between students’ apparent understandings and university expectations. The implications of the study relate to the use of terminology, the treatment of meiosis in textbooks, and some specific issues of pedagogy.
Surgical Strategy in Patients with Secondary and Tertiary Hyperparathyroidism. A Bi-Institutional Series

Abstract Background: Although total parathyroidectomy with forearm autotransplantation is a widely accepted treatment for patients with secondary/tertiary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) some debate persists about the optimal surgical strategy. In particular, the question what to do when less than four parathyroid glands can be found during surgery has yet to be resolved. The aim of this retrospective study was to review the outcome of total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation and to assess the proper procedure (to autotransplant or not) when finding less than 4 glands after extensive surgical exploration. Methods: Between 1995 and 2005, parathyroidectomy was performed in 74 patients in two affiliated centers. In this case-control study both clinical and biochemical outcomes of a total or subtotal parathyroidectomy were compared. The parathyroid hormone (PTH), serum calcium concentration, phosphate and alkaline phosphatase levels were monitored preoperatively, 1 and 12 months postoperatively. Results: Sixty five patients underwent a total parathyroidectomy and nine patients underwent a subtotal parathyroidectomy. Persistent HPT was seen in nine patients (12%). Recurrent HPT was seen in eight patients (11%). There were no significant differences between the group with > 4 glands excised and the group with three glands excised regarding serum PTH levels after 12 months and the number of patients with a hypo-or hyperparathyroidism (persistent or recurrent). Procedure related morbidity was minimal. Conclusions: Total parathyroidectomy with forearm autotransplantation is safe and effective for patients with secondary/tertiary hyperparathyroidism. In case of not finding a fourth gland after extensive surgical exploration, our general advice is to proceed as planned with the autotransplantation.
On Spectral Learning

In this paper, we study the problem of learning a matrix W from a set of linear measurements. Our formulation consists in solving an optimization problem which involves regularization with a spectral penalty term. That is, the penalty term is a function of the spectrum of the covariance of W. Instances of this problem in machine learning include multi-task learning, collaborative filtering and multi-view learning, among others. Our goal is to elucidate the form of the optimal solution of spectral learning. The theory of spectral learning relies on the von Neumann characterization of orthogonally invariant norms and their association with symmetric gauge functions. Using this tool we formulate a representer theorem for spectral regularization and specify it to several useful example, such as Schatten p-norms, trace norm and spectral norm, which should proved useful in applications.
Online Format vs. Live Mode of Instruction: Do Human Capital Differences or Differences in Returns to Human Capital Explain the Differences in Outcomes?

Our paper asks the question: Does mode of instruction format (live or online format) effect test scores in the principles of macroeconomics classes? Our data are from several sections of principles of macroeconomics, some in live format, some in online format, and all taught by the same instructor. We find that test scores for the online format, when corrected for sample selection bias, are four points higher than for the live format, and the difference is statistically significant. One possible explanation for this is that there was slightly higher human capital in the classes that had the online format. A Oaxaca decomposition of this difference in grades was conducted to see how much was due to human capital and how much was due to the differences in the rates of return to human capital. This analysis reveals that 25% of the difference was due to the higher human capital with the remaining 75% due to differences in the returns to human capital. It is possible that for the relatively older student with the appropriate online learning skill set, and with schedule constrains created by family and job, the online format provides them with a more productive learning environment than does the alternative traditional live class format. Also, because our data are limited to the student s academic transcript, we recommend future research include data on learning style characteristics, and the constraints formed by family and job choices.
Distinct neural correlates of washing, checking, and hoarding symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

CONTEXT Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is clinically heterogeneous, yet most previous functional neuroimaging studies grouped together patients with mixed symptoms, thus potentially reducing the power and obscuring the findings of such studies. OBJECTIVE To investigate the neural correlates of washing, checking, and hoarding symptom dimensions in OCD. DESIGN Symptom provocation paradigm, functional magnetic resonance imaging, block design, and nonparametric brain mapping analyses. SETTING University hospital. PARTICIPANTS Sixteen patients with OCD (11 inpatients, 5 outpatients) with mixed symptoms and 17 healthy volunteers of both sexes. Intervention All subjects participated in 4 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments. They were scanned while viewing alternating blocks of emotional (washing-related, checking-related, hoarding-related, or aversive, symptom-unrelated) and neutral pictures, and imagining scenarios related to the content of each picture type.Main Outcome Measure Blood oxygenation level-dependent response. RESULTS Both patients and control subjects experienced increased subjective anxiety during symptom provocation (patients significantly more so) and activated neural regions previously linked to OCD. Analyses of covariance, controlling for depression, showed a distinct pattern of activation associated with each symptom dimension. Patients demonstrated significantly greater activation than controls in bilateral ventromedial prefrontal regions and right caudate nucleus (washing); putamen/globus pallidus, thalamus, and dorsal cortical areas (checking); left precentral gyrus and right orbitofrontal cortex (hoarding); and left occipitotemporal regions (aversive, symptom-unrelated). These results were further supported by correlation analyses within patients, which showed highly specific positive associations between subjective anxiety, questionnaire scores, and neural response in each experiment. There were no consistently significant differences between patients with (n = 9) and without (n = 7) comorbid diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that different obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions are mediated by relatively distinct components of frontostriatothalamic circuits implicated in cognitive and emotion processing. Obsessive-compulsive disorder may be best conceptualized as a spectrum of multiple, potentially overlapping syndromes rather than a unitary nosologic entity.
Increased expression of pigment epithelium-derived factor in aged mesenchymal stem cells impairs their therapeutic efficacy for attenuating myocardial infarction injury

Aims Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can ameliorate myocardial infarction (MI) injury. However, older-donor MSCs seem less efficacious than those from younger donors, and the contributing underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we determine how age-related expression of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) affects MSC therapeutic efficacy for MI. Methods and results Reverse transcriptase–polymerized chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analyses revealed dramatically increased PEDF expression in MSCs from old mice compared to young mice. Morphological and functional experiments demonstrated significantly impaired old MSC therapeutic efficacy compared with young MSCs in treatment of mice subjected to MI. Immunofluorescent staining demonstrated that administration of old MSCs compared with young MSCs resulted in an infarct region containing fewer endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, and macrophages, but more fibroblasts. Pigment epithelium-derived factor overexpression in young MSCs impaired the beneficial effects against MI injury, and induced cellular profile changes in the infarct region similar to administration of old MSCs. Knocking down PEDF expression in old MSCs improved MSC therapeutic efficacy, and induced a cellular profile similar to young MSCs administration. Studies in vitro showed that PEDF secreted by MSCs regulated the proliferation and migration of cardiac fibroblasts. Conclusions This is the first evidence that paracrine factor PEDF plays critical role in the regulatory effects of MSCs against MI injury. Furthermore, the impaired therapeutic ability of aged MSCs is predominantly caused by increased PEDF secretion. These findings indicate PEDF as a promising novel genetic modification target for improving aged MSC therapeutic efficacy.
Do Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder Process Own- and Other-Race Faces Differently?

A growing literature has demonstrated a robust other-race effect (ORE) in typically developing (TD) individuals. That is, they recognize and discriminate own-race faces more accurately than faces from other racial groups. Considering that there is inconsistency in the evidence regarding the existence of a behavioral ORE in autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Chien et al., 2014; Wilson, 2011), we investigated face scanning patterns using eye tracking, to provide a different measure of processing race information from faces. It has been shown that Chinese observers tend to focus on the central region (i.e., the nose) of Chinese faces and the eye region of Caucasian faces (Fu et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2011). The present study examined whether individuals with ASD would, like typical individuals, show differential patterns of visual scanning when viewing own- and other-race faces. The study included Chinese adolescents and young adults with ASD, age-matched TD individuals, and IQ-matched individuals with intellectual disability (ID). Participants completed a face recognition task with both Chinese and Caucasian faces, while their eye movements were tracked. Results indicated that (a) in terms of recognition, the ASD and ID groups, although not the TD group (due to a ceiling effect), displayed superior recognition of own-race relative to other-race faces; (b) different from TD and ID groups, individuals with ASD showed atypical face processing patterns regardless of face race; (c) similar to TD and ID individuals, individuals with ASD fixated on the eyes of other-race faces longer than those of own-race faces, whereas they looked at the nose and mouth of own-race faces longer than those of other-race faces. The results suggest that similar to TD individuals, individuals with ASD are sensitive to face race information: their visual scanning and recognition of faces are both influenced by asymmetrical experience with different types of faces. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.
Silicon carrier for computer systems

System-on-package (SOP) based on silicon carriers has the potential to provide modular design flexibility and high-performance integration of heterogeneous chip technologies for a wide range of two- and three-dimensional product applications. Key technology enablers include silicon through-vias, high-density wiring, high-I/O chip interconnection, and supporting test and assembly technologies. This paper describes the electrical characterization of key technical elements of the silicon carrier and discusses the significance of those elements in enhancing the overall system performance. The paper also discusses some methodologies that may allow silicon carrier technical elements to be easily integrated within existing EDA tools
Contextual Influences on Thinking in Organizations: Learner and Tutor Orientations to Organizational Learning

This paper examines the orientations, or frames of reference, of participants in five bank training programmes run by three banks in the United Kingdom. Adopting a symbolic interactionist approach and ethnographic methods of investigation, the paper attempts to elucidate the ways in which both learners and tutors thought about their roles in the learning events and the goals and strategies they adopted in order to cope with their situation. It is suggested that in order to understand the participants' behaviour it is necessary to take into account the contexts in which their actions were constructed. In particular it is proposed that the organizational context of the training programmes, which exposed the participants to the gaze of ‘hidden audiences’ of organizational superiors, inhibited the potential of the programmes as vehicles for learning. It is also argued that interactionist approaches using ethnographic methods, which enable organizational actors to be studied in situ, have an important contribution to make to the wider study of organizational cognition.
When Rationality and Fairness Conflict: The Role of Cognitive-Control in the Ultimatum Game

The ultimatum game models social exchange in situations in which the rational motive to maximize gains conflicts with fairness considerations. Using two independent behavioral measurements, the authors tested two contradicting predictions: that the preference for fairness is a deliberative cognitive-controlled act or that it is an automatic act. In Experiment 1, participants whose cognitive-control resources were depleted rejected more unfair offers compared to control participants. In Experiment 2, it took longer to accept than to reject unfair offers. These results suggest that fairness considerations operate more automatically than rational considerations, and that the latter depend on the availability of limited cognitive control resources.
A study of relationship between parenting styles and self-esteem : self-esteem's indicator-parenting styles

Parenting style is an important topic to discuss nowadays. Previous research has reported a relation between parenting styles and self-esteem across different ethnic groups as well as various countries. This study examines the association and relationship between different parenting styles and self-esteem on Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). A sample of 100 UTAR students completed questionnaires that include Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE). Result displayed that authoritative parenting style is the predominant parenting style and there was significant correlation between different parenting styles and self-esteem. Significant association was found between authoritative and authoritarian parenting style on levels on self-esteem. Greater numbers of students from authoritative families have high level of self-esteem than authoritarian families. Limitations have been stated and recommendations are provided in the discussion part. As a conclusion, present study stated that parents’ roles and their parenting styles play critical role in influencing self-esteem of children.