Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical education at preschools: the meaning of ‘physical education’ to practitioners at three preschool settings in Scotland

Background: Preschool physical education has been largely unexplored by researchers. This article examines the meaning of the term ‘physical education’, in relation to preschool contexts, to 14 practitioners working at three preschool settings in Scotland. Our focus on preschool physical education reflects a change in the language associated with young children's physical education in Scottish educational policy. The recently implemented Curriculum for Excellence refers to ‘physical education’ in relation to preschool education, whereas the previous Scottish preschool curriculum referred to ‘physical development and movement’. Methods: The study employed a poststructural type of discourse analysis concerned with identifying patterns in language use. Research methods employed were observations and interviews. Findings: Practitioners generally indicated that they were uncomfortable with the term ‘physical education’ in relation to preschool contexts. Terms they preferred included ‘physical play’, ‘exercise’ and ‘health and wellbeing’. Drawing on developmental discourses, they tended to associate ‘physical education’ with schools, positioning it as something more formal and structured than what preschool children would (or should) experience. It seemed that, for some practitioners, their privileging of play clashed with the notion of ‘physical education’. Conclusion: We suggest that researchers and policy-makers need to be aware that using the terms ‘physical education’ or ‘PE’ with preschool practitioners may be a problematic endeavour. Consulting with preschool practitioners is important for understanding why particular language, discourses and practices associated with physical education may be supported or resisted in preschool contexts. Furthermore, we suggest that preschool practitioners should critically reflect on taken-for-granted developmental discourses that position preschool children as ‘too young’ for particular experiences.
Philosophy as a way of life

Michel Foucault surveyed the history of Western philosophy in terms of the Delphic ‘Know thyself’ and the Socratic ‘care of the self’. The former generates academic philosophy as we know it today whereas the latter conceives of philosophy as a ‘way of life’. At issue are competing notions of ‘truth’ and the philosophical relevance of the discursive/nondiscursive domains. Comparing this account with a similar but distinct reading of the same Greek texts by Greco-Roman historian Pierre Hadot, I underscore the ‘existentialist’ tenor of this distinction and assess the challenges and liabilities of pursuing philosophy as a ‘way of life’.
MetaGrad: Multiple Learning Rates in Online Learning

In online convex optimization it is well known that certain subclasses of objective functions are much easier than arbitrary convex functions. We are interested in designing adaptive methods that can automatically get fast rates in as many such subclasses as possible, without any manual tuning. Previous adaptive methods are able to interpolate between strongly convex and general convex functions. We present a new method, MetaGrad, that adapts to a much broader class of functions, including exp-concave and strongly convex functions, but also various types of stochastic and non-stochastic functions without any curvature. For instance, MetaGrad can achieve logarithmic regret on the unregularized hinge loss, even though it has no curvature, if the data come from a favourable probability distribution. MetaGrad's main feature is that it simultaneously considers multiple learning rates. Unlike previous methods with provable regret guarantees, however, its learning rates are not monotonically decreasing over time and are not tuned based on a theoretically derived bound on the regret. Instead, they are weighted directly proportional to their empirical performance on the data using a tilted exponential weights master algorithm.
Psychological Sense of Community in a Politically Constructed Group

McMillan and Chavis' (1986) psychological sense of community (PSC) model was used to build a profile of a politically constructed group. Twenty-three people, who were classified as Coloured in South Africa, now residing in Melbourne, Australia were interviewed with an instrument to assess PSC. The data indicated that the model presented two dimensions for this group. The first dimension reflected the externally constructed and imposed definitions of group membership under the apartheid laws. The second dimension related to the ways in which the people socially constructed notions of community within their subgroup. Results also showed that the people rejected the imposed label of “Coloured,” but they still internalized some of the negative stereotypes associated with the label and status. The people also internalized positive experiences of support and group membership that developed within the enforced groupings. It is suggested that the PSC model provides a useful tool for investigating group-specific meanings and understandings of community. It is argued that a PSC facilitates experiences of belonging, security, and relatedness, while PSC, in turn, facilitates adaptation to new contexts. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Perceived understanding, interaction involvement, and college student outcomes

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived understanding and interaction involvement and student outcomes (i.e., perceived affective learning, state motivation, satisfaction) in the college classroom. Participants were 176 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory communication course at a large midwestern university. Results indicated that students who feel understood, and to a lesser degree are involved in classroom interaction, report high amounts of affect toward the instructor, state motivation, and satisfaction as well as moderate amounts of affect toward the course content and the recommended course behaviors. Future research should consider exploring what experiences or interactions affect students’ perceived understanding and/or interaction involvement in the classroom.
A Data-driven Model for Timing Feedback in a Map Task Dialogue System

We present a data-driven model for detecting suitable response locations in the user’s speech. The model has been trained on human–machine dialogue data and implemented and tested in a spoken dialogue system that can perform the Map Task with users. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a dialogue system that uses automatically extracted syntactic, prosodic and contextual features for online detection of response locations. A subjective evaluation of the dialogue system suggests that interactions with a system using our trained model were perceived significantly better than those with a system using a model that made decisions at random.
Production, Reproduction, and Underdevelopment: Petty Commodity Producers in Ujung Pandang, Indonesia

This paper examines a group of petty commodity producers in the Indonesian city of Ujung Pandang. It is argued that in order to understand the reasons for the stagnation of petty production in the city, one must appreciate both the internal structure of petty production and also the relationship between petty production and the capitalist and peasant sectors of the economy. The transfer of economic surplus out of petty commodity production which characterises these relations is important to an understanding of the poverty of the petty producers in the city, whereas the class formation this fosters perpetuates the underdeveloped character of the economy. The same processes also mean that petty commodity production plays an important part in the reproduction of the dominant capitalist sector of production because of the support it unwittingly gives to the wage labour force.
What Can the Literature on Communities of Practice Tell Us about Educational Research? Reflections on Some Recent Proposals.

Several writers have appealed to the literature on communities of practice as a way of thinking about the nature of educational research. In this paper, I look at the benefits and dangers of doing this. There seem to be two main sorts of lesson that have been drawn from this literature, one about research as an activity in its own right, the other about its relationship to educational practice. These ideas certainly suggest some important points about educational research itself, for example countering the notion that it could involve merely following an abstract set of methodological rules derived from the model of natural science. However, there have long been criticisms of this type of naturalism, and so there is a question about whether the literature on communities of practice adds anything distinctive in this respect, for example by comparison with the work of Kuhn in the history and philosophy of science. There is also the issue of whether educational research is a single community of practice, or .
Effects of Ouabain and Isoproterenol on Left Ventricular Diastolic Function During Low‐Flow Ischemia in Isolated, Blood‐Perfused Rabbit Hearts

Myocardial ischemia causes both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. A variety of positive inotropic agents with different subcellular mechanisms may be used clinically in an attempt to reverse ischemic contractile failure. We tested the hypothesis that two inotropic agents, isoproterenol (a β-adrenergic agonist) and ouabain (a sodium pump inhibitor), might have different effects on left ventricular (LV) diastolic function during ischemic failure despite an equivalent inotropic effect. Isolated isovolumk (balloon-in-LV) blood perfused rabbit hearts were paced at constant physiological heart rate (4 Hz), given either no drug (controls, n = 7), isoproterenol (n = 7), or ouabain (n = 7), and then subjected to 6 minutes of low flow ischemia (75% reduction of baseline coronary flow). The doses of isoproterenol and ouabain were selected to produce equivalent modest inotropic effects (15% increase in LV +dP/dt) in each heart during baseline perfusion conditions. During the ischemic period, there was a marked decrease in contractility, and neither isoproterenol nor ouabain demonstrated a positive inotropic effect relative to the control group. However, these agents had markedly different effects on diastolic chamber distensibility (assessed by end-diastolic pressure at constant LV volume) during ischemia. In the control and isoproterenol groups, diastolic chamber distensibility did not change during the ischemic period. In contrast, ouabain treatment resulted in a marked decrease in diastolic chamber distensibility during ischemia; this change was not completely reversible during the 10-minute reperfusion period. The mechanism by which ouabain decreased diastolic chamber distensibility relative to isoproterenol was assessed indirectly. The ouabain and isoproterenol groups were subjected to equivalent degrees of ischemia as assessed by oxygen supply/demand imbalance; during ischemia, each drug group did not differ with regard to myocardial perfusion rates, determinants of myocardial oxygen demand (heart rate, LV developed pressure, LV +dP/dt), myocardial oxygen consumption, lactate production, and ATP and creatine phosphate content. We therefore inferred that the greater decrease in diastolic distensibility in the ouabain group was not due to a greater metabolic severity of ischemia. These observations are consistent with a mechanism of cytosolic calcium overload induced by ouabain, resulting in persistent active myofilament tension development throughout diastole, to cause the observed decrease in diastolic chamber distensibility during ischemia in the ouabain group. Regardless of the subcellular mechanism, the results suggest that digitalis glycosides may have deleterious effects on diastolic function during low flow ischemia. (Circulation Research 1988;63:457–467)
CONSISTENT CONDOM USE DYNAMICS AMONG SEX WORKERS IN CENTRAL AMERICA: 1997–2000

The paper aims to provide evidence on consistent condom use dynamics among sex workers in Central America between 1997 and 2000, and to examine the most important predictors of use behaviour important for policy and programme interventions in the region. Data on 3500 sex workers, 1500 from 1997 and 2000 from the year 2000, were analysed. The samples represented sex workers in low socioeconomic neighbourhoods who met their clients at known sex establishments or by the roadside. Sex workers were more likely to have used condoms consistently in 2000 than in 1997 (Odds Ratio (OR)=1·4, p≤0·05). Sex workers who discussed condoms with their partners or lovers used them consistently with all clients more than those who did not (OR=1·3, p≤0·10). Knowledge of condom advantages had a positive influence on consistent use. Sex workers who reported using condoms to prevent pregnancy or STDs used them consistently with all clients more than those who did not (OR=1·2, and 1·3 respectively, p≤0·10). The source of condoms is an important predictor of consistent condom use. Sex workers who bought condoms from health establishments or from brothels used them consistently more than those who did not (both OR=1·3, p≤0·10, and p≤0·05, respectively). Self-efficacy had a positive effect on consistent condom use. Sex workers who reported that they would use condoms even if clients offered to pay more for unprotected sex used them consistently with all clients more than those who did not (OR=1·8, p≤0·001). The findings suggest that having condom skill is positively related to condom use. Sex workers who had all four skills used condoms more consistently than those who had none (OR=1·6, p≤0·01). In order to increase consistent condom use and avert more incidences of HIV/AIDS and other STIs, programme interventions need to use the most efficient way to provide quality information, and provide repeated training on condom negotiation and use skills to sex workers.
A Computational Model of Language Acquisition: the Emergence of Words

In this paper, we discuss a computational model that is able to detect and build word-like representations on the basis of sensory input. The model is designed and tested with a further aim to investigate how infants may learn to communicate by means of spoken language. The computational model makes use of a memory, a perception module, and the concept of 'learning drive'. Learning takes place within a communicative loop between a 'caregiver' and the 'learner'. Experiments carried out on three European languages with different genetic background (Finnish, Swedish, and Dutch) show that a robust word representation can be learned in using less than 100 acoustic tokens (examples) of that word. The model is inspired by the memory structure that is assumed functional for human cognitive processing.
On actor-network theory : A few clarifications

Three resources have been developed over the ages to deal with agency. The first one is to attribute to them naturality and to link them with nature. The second one is to grant them sociality and to tie them to the social fabric. The third one is to consider them as a semiotic construction and to relate agency with building of meaning. The originality of science studies comes from the impossibility of clearly differentiating between these three resources. Microbes, neutrinos of DNA are at the same time natural, social and discourse. They are real, human and semiotic entities in the same breath. The article explores the consequences of this peculiar situation which has not been underlined before science studies forced us to retie the links between these three resources. The actor-network theory as developed by M. Callon and his colleagues is an attempt to invent a vocabulary to deal with this new situation. The article reviews those difficulties and tries to overcome them by showing how they may be used to account for the construction of entities, that is for the attribution of nature, society and meaning
Measuring Chronic Stress in the Emergency Medical Services

This study validates an instrument assessing work-related chronic stress in emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. The instrument was distributed to a systematic probability sample of EMS personnel (N = 1633). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor, 34 item solution (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = .943, χ2 = 23344.38, df = 561, p ≤ .001). Confirmatory factor analysis suggested a two-factor, 20 item solution (χ2 = 632.67, df = 168, p < .001, root mean square error of approximation = .06, comparative fit index = .92, Tucker-Lewis Index = .91, standardized root mean square residual = .04). The factors demonstrated good internal reliability as well as acceptable convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities. Chronic workplace stress may lead to psychological distress; this validation contributes to the tools available to assess the health and well-being of EMS providers.
The Status of Knowledge Related to the Emergency Management of Avulsed Tooth amongst the Medical Practitioners of Nagpur, Central India.

INTRODUCTION Tooth avulsion is a frequently reported traumatic injury amongst young children and whenever it occurs, the parents or teachers of those children often seek the help of Medical Practitioners to provide the first line of treatment. Therefore, the general physician's knowledge regarding the same is an important issue to be taken into consideration. AIM To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of general medical practitioners of Nagpur city of Central India regarding emergency management of avulsed tooth and highlight the importance of avulsed tooth education in schools and medical colleges in order to increase the knowledge of the same among teachers, parents and general physicians. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional survey was carried out amongst 1045 medical doctors after a comprehensive search made in Google database using the keywords "Medical", "doctors" "Nagpur". Data regarding the emergency management of avulsed tooth was collected using a self administered close ended questionnaire. RESULTS A total of 1045 medical practitioners (718 males, 327 females) voluntarily participated in this survey. It was observed that 56.8% of the medical practitioners had no prior knowledge of management of an avulsed tooth. A 81.6% of practitioners were unaware of transport medium for an avulsed tooth whereas, more than half practitioners (64.7%) were naive about an ideal time for replantation of an avulsed tooth. A little more than one third of the practitioners (26.5%) were unacquainted about the method of holding an avulsed tooth. CONCLUSION Regardless of the level of education, the general medical practitioners of Nagpur lack most of the knowledge required for the emergency management of an avulsed teeth. Keeping the in mind the present scenario, it was recommended that education regarding avulsed tooth should be incorporated in school and medical curriculum to increase awareness among parents, teachers and medical practitioners. Also, it is the responsibility of the dentist to make the society aware of this situation.
Creation of an Atrial Septal Defect In Utero for Fetuses With Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Intact or Highly Restrictive Atrial Septum

Background—Infants born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and an intact or highly restrictive atrial septum face a neonatal mortality of at least 48% despite early postnatal left atrial decompression and palliative surgery. Prenatal left atrial decompression has been suggested as a means of improving these outcomes. This study reports the feasibility of fetal catheterization to create an interatrial communication and describes technical considerations. Methods and Results—Seven fetuses at 26 to 34 weeks’ gestation with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and intact or highly restrictive atrial septum underwent attempted prenatal intervention. Under ultrasound guidance, the atrial septum was approached with a needle introduced percutaneously from the maternal abdominal surface. In 6 of 7 fetuses, the atrial septum was successfully perforated, with balloon dilation of this iatrogenic defect resulting in a small but persistent interatrial communication. There were no maternal complications. One fetus died after the procedure. The remaining fetuses were liveborn at term, although 4 died as neonates. Conclusions—Ultrasound-guided fetal atrial septoplasty consisting of septal puncture and balloon dilation is feasible and can be performed percutaneously to minimize maternal risk. Although we have not demonstrated any positive clinical impact to date, it is our hope that further technical evolution will ultimately enable prenatal left atrial decompression and improvement of outcomes in fetuses with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and intact atrial septum.
A systematic review of yoga for state anxiety: Considerations for occupational therapy / Revue systématique sur l’efficacité du yoga pour traiter l’anxiété réactionnelle : Facteurs à considérer en ergothérapie

Background. State anxiety can result from a variety of life situations. This type of anxiety can disrupt occupational engagement and performance, thereby affecting rehabilitation and recovery. Occupational therapists need to address the connection between mind-body-spirit and its relationship to performance and engagement in meaningful occupations. Yoga, when used as an adjunct to therapy, has the potential to address state anxiety. Purpose. The aim was to systematically review the evidence concerning the effectiveness of yoga as a treatment approach for state anxiety. Methods. Six electronic databases, the authors’ own files, and the references of included studies from 1990 to July 2011 were searched. Findings. A total of 25 unique studies represented by 26 publications made up the sample: two systematic reviews; 16 randomized controlled trials, and seven prospective, controlled, non-randomized studies. Evidence suggests yoga can be a viable therapeutic option for reducing state anxiety in certain situations. Implications. In making the determination to recommend yoga as an intervention, occupational therapists should consider the client’s circumstances and values as well as the type and intensity of the yoga program. Description. L’anxiété réactionnelle peut être provoquée par diverses situations de vie. Ce type d’anxiété peut perturber la participation occupationnelle et le rendement occupationnel et, par conséquent, la réadaptation et le rétablissement. Les ergothérapeutes doivent examiner la connexion esprit-corps-émotion et sa relation avec le rendement et la participation à des occupations significatives. Lorsqu’il est utilisé comme thérapie complémentaire à l’ergothérapie, le yoga peut permettre d’aborder l’anxiété réactionnelle. But. Effectuer une revue systématique des données probantes relatives à l’efficacité du yoga pour traiter l’anxiété réactionnelle. Méthodologie. Six bases de données électroniques, de même que les dossiers des auteurs et les références des études retenues ont été analysées de 1990 à juillet 2011. Résultats. L’échantillon était composé d’un total de 25 études de cas uniques représentées par 26 publications, c’est-à-dire: deux revues systématiques; 16 essais cliniques randomisés et sept études cliniques prospectives contrôlées et non randomisées. Des données probantes indiquent que, dans certaines situations, le yoga peut être un traitement efficace pour réduire l’anxiété réactionnelle. Conséquences. Lorsqu’ils prennent la décision de recommander le yoga comme traitement, les ergothérapeutes doivent prendre en considération la situation et les valeurs du client, de même que le type et l’intensité du programme de yoga.