Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Civic Education Matter?: The Power of Long-Term Observation and the Experimental Method

Despite consensus regarding the civic shortcomings of American citizens, no such scholarly consensus exists regarding the effectiveness of civic education addressing political apathy and ignorance. Accordingly, we report the results of a detailed study of students enrolled in introductory American politics courses on the campuses of two large research universities. The study provides pre- and postmeasures for a broad range of political attitudes and behaviors and includes additional long-term observations in survey waves fielded 6, 12, and 18 months after the conclusion of the class. Long-term observation provides leverage absent in many prior studies and enables us to compare the changes we observe during the semester to those that take place beyond the confines of the classroom and during important political events, such as the 2012 presidential election. Also embedded in the study is an experiment designed to assess whether students’ enthusiasm for “new media” (e.g., blogs) can be harnessed in American politics courses to stimulate long-lasting political engagement. We find evidence that civic education matters for some, but not all, measures of political engagement. Moreover, we find evidence that what one does in the classroom also matters. For some dimensions of political engagement, this study finds evidence of lasting civic education effects and the experimental manipulation compellingly locates the source of some engagement variation in the classroom.
Apathy in Frontotemporal Dementia: Behavioral and Neuroimaging Correlates

We investigated the occurrence of goal-directed motivational change in the form of apathy in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), particularly those with behavioral variant social and executive deficits (bvFTD). Standardized behavioral inventory was employed to survey and compare apathy ratings from patients and caregivers. In cases of bvFTD, apathy ratings were further related to measures of social cognition, executive function, and atrophy on brain MRI. Results indicated that caregivers rated bvFTD patients as having significantly elevated apathy scores though patient self-ratings were normal. Caregiver and self-ratings of FTD samples with progressive nonfluent aphasia and semantic dementia did not differ from healthy controls and their informants. In the bvFTD sample, caregiver apathy scores were not correlated with general cognitive screening or depression scores, but were significantly correlated with social cognition and executive function measures. Voxel-based morphometry revealed that apathy ratings in bvFTD were related to prominent atrophy in the right caudate (including the ventral striatum), the right temporo-parietal junction, right posterior inferior and middle temporal gyri, and left frontal operculum- anterior insula region. Findings suggest that bvFTD is associated with a significant breakdown in goal-directed motivated behavior involving disruption of cortical-basal ganglia circuits that is also related to social and executive function deficits.
Parent–child relationship quality and family transmission of parent posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and child externalizing and internalizing symptoms following fathers' exposure to combat trauma

Abstract Transactional cascades among child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and fathers’ and mothers’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were examined in a sample of families with a male parent who had been deployed to recent military conflicts in the Middle East. The role of parents’ positive engagement and coercive interaction with their child, and family members’ emotion regulation were tested as processes linking cascades of parent and child symptoms. A subsample of 183 families with deployed fathers and nondeployed mothers and their 4- to 13-year-old children who participated in a randomized control trial intervention (After Deployment: Adaptive Parenting Tools) were assessed at baseline prior to intervention, and at 12 and 24 months after baseline, using parent reports of their own and their child's symptoms. Parents’ observed behavior during interaction with their children was coded using a multimethod approach at each assessment point. Reciprocal cascades among fathers’ and mothers’ PTSD symptoms, and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, were observed. Fathers’ and mothers’ positive engagement during parent–child interaction linked their PTSD symptoms and their child's internalizing symptoms. Fathers’ and mothers’ coercive behavior toward their child linked their PTSD symptoms and their child's externalizing symptoms. Each family member's capacity for emotion regulation was associated with his or her adjustment problems at baseline. Implications for intervention, and for research using longitudinal models and a family-systems perspective of co-occurrence and cascades of symptoms across family members are described.
The current status and teachers' relationship towards monitoring physical development and students' motor abilities in physical education teaching

Bearing in mind the importance given to the perception of feasibility and appropriateness of monitoring physical development and motor abilities of children and young people in physical education instruction in Europe and the U.S., a need has arisen to analyze the current situation and the relationship of our physical education teachers to this issue. This paper aims to identify and analyze the current situation regarding the monitoring of physical development and motor abilities of students in our country based on our previous views, relations and ways of monitoring the physical development and motor abilities of students in physical education instruction by physical education teachers. In a sample of 189 physical education teachers, a non-standardized questionnaire was used to obtain information about the current state and the relationship of teachers towards monitoring the physical development and motor abilities in physical education instruction. A high percentage of physical education teachers monitor and test physical development and motor abilities to some extent, which suggests that teachers are aware of how important and signifi cant this segment of physical education classes is. However, using a different battery of tests, individual tests in these batteries, as well as the interpretation of tests of teachers’ own choice in monitoring the physical development and motor abilities of students in physical education, conceptually speaking it is not good, both for understanding the usefulness of such monitoring, and from the aspect of continuous monitoring and comparability of the obtained results. The absence of a legitimate and meaningful concept in monitoring the physical development and motor abilities in physical education, and adequate battery of tests appropriate for school setting in which PE teaching is applied, suggests a necessity of establishing a uniform model in Serbia.
“Are they becoming more reflective and/or efficacious?” A conceptual model mapping how teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs might grow

Conceptual models can fulfil important educative roles, particularly in fields where there are few such models and where constructs are confused, as in research into teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. In this area, one model developed in the late twentieth century subsequently became dominant, but seems flawed. This article addresses criticisms of it and then presents an alternative, this centred on a reflective learning cycle. The new model emerged from a qualitative longitudinal multi-case study of English language teachers developing practical knowledge and self-efficacy beliefs while on an in-service teacher education programme in Oman. Its relevance for other contexts is considered.
Young people, digital media making and critical digital citizenship

A range of recent academic, policy and practice-focused work in the UK and internationally has identified a need for more focused attention on the role of digital literacies in enabling young people to more effectively navigate their way through an increasingly complex, digitally mediated world. In this article, we explore the main debates taking place around the prevalence of digital media in the early twenty-first century, with emphasis on the role of pervasive digital media in educational settings. Focusing on the practice-based project, Digital Commonwealth, a series of critical insights are drawn, highlighting the difficulties facing educational authorities and young people in dealing with the opportunities and threats brought about by digital media. We conclude that a critical digital citizenship agenda needs to be embedded in educational narratives, where young people are, through practice, asked to ponder how digitally mediated publics operate in the school setting and beyond. Integrating ‘making’ and ‘thinking critically’ about the benefits and dangers of pervasive digital media in and outside of school is imperative. Our study suggests that there remain significant inequities in terms of provision across schools, access to suitable infrastructure and equipment, and the presence of qualified and confident staff with the requisite digital leadership attributes to enable digital media projects to be integrated into everyday learning practices. Major events, like the Commonwealth Games, can precipitate and accelerate uptake of new approaches and innovative thinking but they do not represent a panacea for the systemic development of critical digital citizenship over time.
Erlotinib in salvage treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: results of an expanded access programme in Poland

Aim of the study Erlotinib and gefitinib are reversible EGFR-TKI administered orally. Results of the phase III study JBR.21 proved the clinical efficacy of erlotinib-based regimens as second- or third-line treatment of advanced NSCLC. We analyze efficacy of treatment with erlotinib in patients suffering from advanced stage NSCLC who participated in the multicentre, international phase IV study – MO 18109 TRUST (expanded access clinical program of Tarceva™ in patients with advanced stage IIIB/IV NSCLC). Our analysis was performed based on clinical data derived from centres with the largest number of patients who received erlotinib. Material and methods Between May and November 2005, a total of 56 patients (19 women and 37 men) with histologic or cytologic diagnosis of NSCLC were included in the study. The histological diagnosis was: squamous-cell (n = 23), adenocarcinoma (n = 20), broncho-alveolar carcinoma (n = 2). In 11 patients the type of NSCLC was not specified. Results Patients received erlotinib in a single dose of 150 mg per day. Partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) or progressive disease (PD) were observed in 5 (9%), 33 (59%) and 16 (29%) patients respectively. Median PFS was 16.0 weeks. In the study population adverse events (AE) were noted in 12 (21%) patients. Conclusions Results of the TRUST study in the Polish population confirmed the efficacy of erlotinib in advanced NSCLC after failure of prior platinum-based chemotherapy. Treatment with erlotinib was associated with longer PFS as compared to the JBR.2 study, whole TRUST study population and Italian population included in the TRUST study.
A "MAIN" ETHNIC GROUP? ETHNIC SELF-PRIORITISATION AMONG NEW ZEALAND YOUTH

Since 1991 a growing share of the New Zealand population has reported more than one ethnic group in the census, with rates especially high among children. A key challenge arising from the collection of ethnicity data is deciding where to count people who record more than one group. In this paper we explore how a self-prioritised measure of main ethnicity may facilitate and improve the usage of multiple-ethnic data. We do so using 2006 data from wave one of the Youth Connectedness survey of early adolescents. We find that three-quarters of youth who recorded more than one ethnic group were able to choose a main group when asked to do so. Though we have reservations about using a main ethnicity measure to output ethnic data, we see promise for research that seeks to better understand identification processes and their relations with ethnic identity and inequality.
Relationships between psychosocial working conditions and multiple employee performance measures

The outcomes of the current study suggest employee performance should be taken into account when examining the effects of stress-related working conditions. Furthermore, the current study highlights the need to pay careful attention to the types of analyses that are undertaken in stressor-performance research and not to assume the relationship between stress-related working conditions and employee performance parallels the stressor-health literature.
Mixed-Initiative Optimization in Security Games: A Preliminary Report

Stackelberg games have been widely used to model patrolling or monitoring problems in security. In a Stackelberg security game, the defender commits to a strategy and the adversary makes its decision with knowledge of the leader’s commitment. Algorithms for computing the defender’s optimal strategy are used in deployed decision-support tools in use by the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the Federal Air Marshals Service, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Those algorithms take into account various resource usage constraints defined by human users. However, those constraints may lead to poor (even infeasible) solutions due to users’ insufficient information and bounded rationality. A mixed-initiative approach, in which human users and software assistants (agents) collaborate to make security decisions, is needed. Efficient human-agent interaction process leads to models with higher overall solution quality. This paper preliminarily analyzes the needs and challenges for such a mixed-initiative approach.
The Influence of TESOL Teacher Assessment Literacy on the Ethicality of English Language Assessment and the Position of Kurdish TESOL teachers

In this paper, I start by demonstrating the importance of language assessmentespecially of English language. Then, in the second section,I attempt toconceptualize language testing and assessment by providing various definitions. Also in this section, there isa literature review of the major mainstream tenets of language assessment addedwith my critical views about their working, ethicality, validity and reliability. While the thirdsection is on CLT and allocated, firstly, for critical tenets of language testing and assessment particularlyofEnglish language, secondly, language assessment literacy, thirdly, ethicality of language assessment and fourthly the role of language assessment literacy on the language assessment ethicality; they are elucidated in different subsections. Also throughout this section, I explain CLTand its workingin the field, in what aspects and to what extent itprovidesethicality, reliability and validity with giving my critical views within CALxand critical pedagogy framework. Section four is for explaininghow appropriate and practicable to introduce criticalEnglish language testing and assessment to my professional context as a TESOL teacher in some English departments at the universities of Kurdistan Region/Iraq,making clear to what extent it is feasible and what are the educational challenges and obstacles to it.For explicating those issues, I refer to my recent experience as a TESOL teacherin my professional context.
Cytomegalovirus Blood Viral Load and Hearing Loss in Young Children With Congenital Infection

Background: This study was designed to determine whether elevated viral load in infants and young children is associated with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV)-related hearing loss. Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 135 children with congenital CMV infection. CMV DNA in the peripheral blood was quantitated with a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. Viral load measurements were analyzed in 3 different age groups (<2 months, 2–12 months, 12–36 months). Results: In children with symptomatic and asymptomatic infection, CMV DNA levels were not different between children with hearing deficit and those with normal hearing in all 3 age groups. In children with asymptomatic infection, the positive predictive value of a peripheral blood viral load >3500 genomic equivalents per milliliter (ge/mL) at <2 months and 2 to 12 months of age is 8%, and at 12 to 36 months of age is 11.8%. However, the negative predictive value of a viral load <3500 ge/mL is 94.4% at <2 months of age, and 100% at 2 to 36 months of age. Conclusions: Peripheral blood viral load is not associated with hearing loss in children with congenital CMV infection. However, a viral load of <3500 ge/mL is associated with a lower risk of hearing loss in children born with asymptomatic congenital infection.
Mechanism involved in the paradoxical effects of active smoking following primary angioplasty: a subanalysis of the Protection of Distal Embolization in High-Risk Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction trial

Objective Cigarette smokers have an unexplained low mortality following ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). Our aim was to determine whether the presence of active smoking has a beneficial effect on myocardial reperfusion following primary percutaneous intervention (PCI). Methods A total of 140 STEMI patients treated with primary PCI were included in the analysis. All patients have 24-h ST-segment monitoring, each analyzed by an independent, blinded core laboratory. We divided the population according to the smoking status: active (n = 56) and nonactive smokers (n = 84). Results Both groups had similar baseline characteristics, except that active smokers were younger than nonsmokers. Postprocedural thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade and TIMI frame were better in smokers whereas myocardial blush grade was similar between groups. Percentage of complete (≥70%) ST-segment resolution (STR) at 60 min was higher in active smokers than in nonactive smokers (76.4 versus 50%, P = 0.002). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified active smoking as an independent predictor of complete STR at 60 min (OR 3.47; 95% CI 1.48–8.14; P = 0.004). At 30 days, no significant differences were found either in mortality (P = 0.62) or in major adverse cardiac events rates (death, reinfarction and congestive heart failure; P = 0.82) between the two groups. Conclusion In STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI, active smoking is associated with better myocardial reperfusion than nonsmoking. This finding may be the mechanism behind the smoker's paradox and its beneficial effect in the short-term clinical outcome. These results await further confirmation in larger primary PCI databases.
Binocular tracking using log polar mapping

This paper describes a new binocular tracking method using log polar mapping (LPM) which approximately represents the mapping of the retina into the visual cortex in primate vision. Using LPM makes it possible not only to obtain both a high central resolution and a wide field of view, but also to significantly reduce the processing of image data. In this paper, LPM is performed in software by the lookup table method. Our tracking method utilizes a zero disparity filter (ZDF) for extracting the target object and virtual horopter method for estimating binocular disparities, respectively. The performance of both target extraction and disparity estimation is improved in comparison with the conventional methods, by using LPM. Some experimental results are also shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Maus-tratos infantis: conhecimento e atitudes de odontopediatras em Uberlandia e Araguari, Minas Gerais

Objective: To identify from pediatric dentistry educational experiences and knowledge concerning child abuse/neglect, numbers of suspected cases of child abuse and knowledge of local child protection. Method: A survey with 26 pedodontics in Araguari and Uberlandia (Minas Gerais, Brazil) was done and they were sent a postal questionnaire, 17 responded, giving a 65.4 percent response rate. The survey requested demographic details, responses to possible physical abuse or neglect, and details of suspected child abuse reporting behavior. Results: In their working lives 52.9 percent said that they had seen a suspicious child physical abuse case; however, only 14.3 percent had reported a suspicious case to the authorities. Twenty-nine percent of dentists did not know their legal responsibility concerning reporting child abuse; and 61 percent did know where to report child abuse. Conclusion: Due to lack of training, most practitioners were unsure what to do in the event of a suspicion of child abuse. There is need for continuing education of dentistry practitioners regarding symptoms and signs of physical abuse and the role of dental team in the multidisciplinary management of child abuse. Dental curricula should be revisited to ensure that students are adequately prepared for this professional task
Victim and Offender Correlates in the Commission of Elder Domestic Abuse and Mistreatment: Research for Future Prevention

Elder abuse is a crime that is often misunderstood, under detected, and improperly processed. While definitions of this abuse are clear within most states, the knowledge that most elder abuse occurs at the hands of those the victim most trusts – their friends and family – is seldom understood by the public. Further, many professionals lack the training to effectively assess and detect elder abuse. Most underlying indicators of such abuse have specific correlates based on both victim and offender characteristics. Persons in various human service professions must be trained on those characteristics and the dynamics that tend to enable an abusive relationship to occur. Effective means of assessing elder abuse are presented as well as arguments for improved training among human service professionals.
Some biochemical effects of sub-acute oral administration of L-arginine on monosodium glutamate-fed Wistar albino rats 1: body weight changes, serum cholesterol, creatinine, and sodium ion concentrations

The present study aimed to determine whether monosodium glutamate (MSG) could induce biochemical effects at low dose levels, and to examine the possible role of L-arginine (L-ARG) on MSG-induced effects. Thus, MSG, at a dose of 5 mg kg−1 of body weight (BW) was administered to adult male albino rats by oral intubation daily for 28 days. MSG treatment significantly increased BW, serum cholesterol (CHOL), and creatinine concentrations, but decreased serum sodium ion (Na+) levels. L-ARG 20 mg kg−1 of BW co-administered with MSG, significantly increased BW, serum CHOL, and creatinine concentrations, but reduced serum Na+ concentrations. Data show that these effects induced by MSG at a dose of 5 mg kg−1 were enhanced by L-ARG. Thus, L-ARG at 20 mg kg−1 may exacerbate MSG-induced adverse effects in rats.
Beyond Special Education: Toward a Quality System for All Students

A review of a decade's experience with the implementation of PL 94-142 provides an opportunity to assess the process of providing education to students with handicapping conditions and to study the larger general education system. In addition, such a review offers an opportunity to examine changes in the place of persons with disabilities in American society. Alan Gartner and Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky find both the practice and conceptualization of a separate special education system wanting, and they propose a single system, special for all students.