Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends in three decades of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Thailand by nonparametric backcalculation method

Objectives:To reconstruct the past HIV incidence and prevalence in Thailand from 1980 to 2008 and predict the country's AIDS incidence from 2009 to 2011. Methods:Nonparametric backcalculation was adopted utilizing 100 quarterly observed new AIDS counts excluding pediatric cases. The accuracy of data was enhanced through a series of data adjustments using the weight method to account for several surveillance reporting issues. The mixture of time-dependent distributions allowed the effects of age at seroconversion and antiretroviral therapy to be incorporated simultaneously. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess model variations that were subject to major uncertainties. Future AIDS incidence was projected for various predetermined HIV incidence patterns. Results:HIV incidence in Thailand reached its peak in 1992 with approximately 115 000 cases. A steep decline thereafter discontinued in 1997 and was followed by another strike of 42 000 cases in 1999. The second surge, which happened concurrently with the major economic crisis, brought on 60 000 new infections. As of December 2008, more than 1 million individuals had been infected and around 430 000 adults were living with HIV corresponding to a prevalence rate of 1.2%. The incidence rate had become less than 0.1% since 2002. The backcalculated estimates were dominated by postulated median AIDS progression time and adjustments to surveillance data. Conclusion:Our analysis indicated that, thus far, the 1990s was the most severe era of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Thailand with two HIV incidence peaks. A drop in new infections led to a decrease in recent AIDS incidence, and this tendency is likely to remain unchanged until 2011, if not further.
Examination of the Effects of Self-Modeling on Autobiographical Memory

The intent of this preliminary study is to explore the effectiveness of self-modeling in altering maladaptive behavior in children through the mediating effect of modifying their autobiographical memories of their dysfunctional behaviors. We proposed that the alteration of inappropriate classroom behaviors afforded by the self-modeling intervention would be accompanied by commensurate alteration in the memory of those behaviors and changes in self-concept. The process of a self-modeling intervention capitalizes on a broad range of experimentally confirmed phenomenal and experimental factors and mechanisms involved in memory alteration, providing sufficient cognitive, perceptual, contextual, semantic, and affective information to closely approximate a “true” memory, and facilitate source misattribution, suggestibility, biases, and thereby, memory alteration/implantation. Results of this study provided evidence of autobiographical memory alteration in narrative recall, recollective experience, and self-concept reports following self-modeling intervention. These initial findings support memory alteration as a mediating factor in eliciting behavior change through self-modeling intervention. However, this study should be replicated and expanded to definitively build the research on the relationship between malleability of memory relative to positive behavior changes. Cette recherche préliminaire visait à explorer l’efficacité de l’automodelage pour modifier les comportements mésadaptés en classe chez les enfants, au moyen de l’effet médiateur de la modification de leur mémoire autobiographique des comportements dysfonctionnels. Nous proposions que cette transformation des comportements par l’automodelage s’accompagnerait, d’une part, d’une modification substantielle de la mémoire de ces comportements et, d’autre part, de changements dans le concept de soi. Le processus de l’automodelage tire profit d’une kyrielle de facteurs phénoménaux et expérimentaux et de mécanismes sous-jacents à la modification de la mémoire, en fournissant une information cognitive, perceptuelle, contextuelle, sémantique et affective qui s’approche beaucoup du « vrai » souvenir, et facilite la mauvaise attribution de la source, la suggestibilité, les idées préconçues et, par conséquent, la modification ou l’implantation d’un souvenir. Les résultats obtenus relèvent la présence d’une modification de la mémoire autobiographique dans le rappel narratif, l’expérience de remémoration et les rapports sur le concept de soi après l’intervention par automodelage. Ces résultats préliminaires soutiennent l’hypothèse que la modification de la mémoire soit un facteur médiateur du changement de comportement par l’automodelage. Cela dit, il faudrait corroborer cette étude et la développer afin de bâtir un corps de recherche solide sur la relation entre la malléabilité de la mémoire et les changements positifs du comportement.
Contractile and electrical properties of human motor units in neuropathies and motor neurone disease

The contractile and electrical properties of motor units in the first dorsal interosseous muscle of the hand have been studied in 26 patients with ulnar neuropathies and motor neurone disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Among patients with unilateral pressure or entrapment ulnar neuropathies, there was a tendency for the twitch tensions for single motor units to be smaller, while the surface EMG amplitudes were generally larger in the affected hands. Very large EMG amplitudes but normal size twitch tensions were observed among the motor neurone disease patients, indicating that, in general, motor units enlarged by sprouting are less efficient contractile units than units of normal physiological size.
Calculating the optimal hedge ratio: constant, time varying and the Kalman Filter approach

A crucial input in the hedging of risk is the optimal hedge ratio – defined by the relationship between the price of the spot instrument and that of the hedging instrument. Since it has been shown that the expected relationship between economic or financial variables may be better captured by a time varying parameter model rather than a fixed coefficient model, the optimal hedge ratio, therefore, can be one that is time varying rather than constant. This study suggests and demonstrates the use of the Kalman Filter approach for estimating time varying hedge ratio – a procedure that is statistically more efficient and with better forecasting properties.
The multi‐dimensional nature of organisational commitment in a non‐western context

Examines the validity and reliability of affective, continuance and normative commitment in the Jordanian context. Using a self‐administered questionnaire, 1,000 employees were surveyed. The study questionnaire was piloted in three industrial firms before being used in the main study. The results from the pilot and main studies reveal that of the three dimensions mentioned above, two are prevalent in the Jordanian work environment, namely: the affective and continuance commitments. The existence of normative commitment in the Jordanian work setting is not supported by the findings of the study. Implications for our understanding of commitment’s role in Jordan and other Arab countries are also discussed in the paper.
Citizenship education in France and Britain: evolving theories and practices

In the late 1990s both the British and the French governments gave new impetus to citizenship education. This article examines the theories and world views that underpin the formal syllabuses for citizenship education in England and France. It notes that whereas the English curriculum aspires to create a diverse society founded on multicultural citizenship, an insufficiently strongly agreed statement of values undermines the implementation of the project. The French syllabus, on the other hand, emphasizes a commitment to anti-racism, human rights and civil action against injustice. Its theoretical basis in the French Republic, committed to individual equality without distinction, denies any recognition to the existence of social groups based on culture or ethnicity. This blindness to difference also tends to undermine citizenship education as a social project intended to promote integration through schools. Whereas French citizenship education is intended to integrate individuals into a predetermined, existing republican framework, English citizenship education apparently aims to create a new society and a new national identity. The article concludes that such a project requires an explicit commitment to and promotion of human rights as the basis for a social consensus and citizenship.
Reach Height and Jump Displacement: Implications for Standardization of Reach Determination

Ferreira, LC, Schilling, BK, Weiss, LW, Fry, AC, and Chiu, LZF. Reach height and jump displacement: implications for standardization of reach determination. J Strength Cond Res 24(6): 1596-1601, 2010-Vertical jump performance is often assessed using jump-and-reach tests. The exact procedure used for determining standing reach height and jump height has a large effect on the resultant displacement. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of 4 methods of standing reach height measurement and Vertec™ jump height measurement against 2 force plate methods of jump displacement determination (impulse and flight-time methods). Fifteen men with various training backgrounds performed 2 each of countermovement, restricted (no arm swing) and static start vertical jumps. Reach height was determined using 4 methods; either a 1- or overlapped 2-hand reach, flat footed or with plantar flexion. All jumps were performed on a force platform. The best jump of each type based on Vertec™ displacement was used for analysis. Repeated-measures of analysis of variance for each jump type was used for analysis with Bonferroni post hoc for pairwise comparisons of jump measurement style. All jump displacements for similar types were significantly intercorrelated with a minimum r-value of 0.84. Impulse vs. flight time was the only pairwise comparison of measurement type for which similar values were noted. The one-hand reach with plantar flexion was the method of reach that was closest to the impulse and flight-time methods, and thus should be the preferred choice when using jump-and-reach tests to determine jump displacement. In all cases, the Vertec™ overestimates the displacement of the COM based on force plate methods. When comparing groups of individuals from different data sets, one must consider both the method of reach height (if performed) and jump displacement to make valid comparisons. If plantar flexion with a 1-hand reach is not used during reach measurement, jump displacement will be erroneously high.
Mass Sensitivity Optimization of a Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor Incorporating a Resonator Configuration

The effect of the sensitive area of the two-port resonator configuration on the mass sensitivity of a Rayleigh surface acoustic wave (R-SAW) sensor was investigated theoretically, and verified in experiments. A theoretical model utilizing a 3-dimensional finite element method (FEM) approach was established to extract the coupling-of-modes (COM) parameters in the absence and presence of mass loading covering the electrode structures. The COM model was used to simulate the frequency response of an R-SAW resonator by a P-matrix cascading technique. Cascading the P-matrixes of unloaded areas with mass loaded areas, the sensitivity for different sensitive areas was obtained by analyzing the frequency shift. The performance of the sensitivity analysis was confirmed by the measured responses from the silicon dioxide (SiO2) deposited on different sensitive areas of R-SAW resonators. It is shown that the mass sensitivity varies strongly for different sensitive areas, and the optimal sensitive area lies towards the center of the device.
Optimizing MOM diode performance via the oxidation technique

This work presents a study of the effect of a simple oxidation technique on the electrical performance of Ti/TiOx/Pt MOM (metal-oxide-metal) diodes. A fabrication process has been designed to produce devices with a high yield. The I–V characteristics show good diode behavior: subsequent mathematical analysis to extract the key parameters of curvature coefficient and resistance at zero bias demonstrate how these numbers depend on the curve fitting method. Nevertheless, diodes with high curvature (typically 5.5 V−1 unbiased, 15 V−1 biased) represent results among the best to date. Complimentary physical information from the structures has been obtained via AFM and RBS analysis.
Evolution and applications of pine microsatellites

The evolution of microsatellites was studied within and between the pine species. Sequences showed that microsatellites do not necessarily mutate in a stepwise fashion and that size homoplasy is common due to flanking sequence and repeat area changes within and between the species. Thus, some assumptions of statistical methods based on changes in repeat numbers may not hold. Sequences from cross-species amplifications revealed evidence of duplications of microsatellite loci in pines. On two independent occasions, the repeat area of the microsatellite had undergone a rapid expansion during the last 10-25 million of years. Microsatellite markers were used together with other molecular markers (allozymes, RFLPs, RAPDs, rDNA RFLPs) and an adaptive trait (date of bud set) to study patterns of genetic variation in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Finland. All molecular markers showed high level of within population variation, while differentiation among populations was low (FST = 0.02). Of the total variation in bud set, 36.4 % was found among the populations which experience a steep climatic gradient. Thus, the markers applied were poor predictors of population differentiation of the quantitative trait studied The distribution of genetic variation was studied in five natural populations of radiata pine (Pinus radiata), species which has gone through bottlenecks in the past. Null allele frequencies were estimated and used in later analyses. Microsatellites showed high level of variability within populations (He = 0.68-0.77). Allele length distributions and average number of alleles per locus showed some traces of bottlenecks. Instead, comparison of observed genetic diversities and expected diversities suggested post-bottleneck expansion of populations. Genetic differentiation (FST and RST) among populations was over 10 %, reflecting situation in the isolated radiata pine populations. Using microsatellites and a newly developed Bayesian method, individual inbreeding coefficients were estimated in five populations of radiata pine. Most individuals were outbred while some were selfed. Presumably, in ancestral radiata pine populations the recessive deleterious alleles have been eliminated after bottlenecks and the mating system has changed as a consequence.
Kindergarten Teachers’ Orientations to Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered Pedagogies and Their Influence on Their Students’ Understanding of Addition

This study examined the influence of kindergarten teachers’ orientations toward student-centered teaching and their influence on their students’ understanding of addition. The study examined 120 students across 10 classrooms. Based on an interview and two classroom observations, 10 teachers were classified as either student centered or mainly teacher centered. Twelve students in each classroom—four above grade level, four at grade level, and four below grade level—were given a task-based interview focused on their understanding of addition. Inductive analysis suggests that students in both types of classrooms could complete addition problems correctly, but students in student-centered classrooms scored better on tasks that involved writing story problems and tasks that involved missing addends. Implications for future research are also discussed.
A Quasi-Randomized Trial of a School-Wide Universal Prevention Program: Results and Lessons Learned

Prevention in School (PS) is a comprehensive program which aims to improve the learning climate and reduce problem behavior in elementary schools. Core components are teaching of school rules, praise and rewards to support prosocial behavior, and a forum involving parents. This trial investigated the effects of PS on its intended outcomes, and includes 23 schools, 3,207 students, and 188 teachers. Multilevel regression analyses indicated no program effects two years after the start of the program. Problems with program components, implementation and study limitations may have contributed to the null findings. The lessons learned may be used to guide program revisions, and are important to consider in future attempts to implement and evaluate similar school interventions in a Swedish context.
Adolescent Reasoning about Advertisements: Preliminary Investigations.

LINN, MARCIA C. ; DE BENEDICTIS, TINA; and DELUCCHI, KEVIN. Adolescent Reasoning about Advertisements: Preliminary Investigations. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 1599-1613. These 3 preliminary studies investigate the role of competence factors, defined as acquisition of Piagetian formal reasoning, and performance factors, defined as influences from content and expectations, on reasoning about advertisements reporting product tests. Subjects were 126 seventh and eighth graders. Study 1 focused on adolescent skepticism of advertisers. We found that adolescents tend to be skeptical of advertisers. Study 2 investigated adolescent response to ads reporting product tests. We found that adolescents can criticize the procedures used to generate the results in these ads when asked, but that they still often believe the results. Study 3 investigated how adolescents would design their own product tests. We found that about two-thirds would design unconfounded tests, but that fewer than half would design tests relevant to the decision they were asked to make. While competence factors related only slightly to reasoning about advertising, performance factors suggested when adolescents employ critical thinking and what rules of evidence adolescents employ.
Tutorial Assistance in College Core Courses

AbstractThe study Investigated the effectiveness of a supplementary tutorial program at Parsons College. A random sample of 345 students enrolled in one trimester were categorised according to course load “advanced standing” and previous GPA. These categories were tested (chi-square .05 level) for significant relationships between tutor treatment and change in GPA. Utilization of tutorial assistance was found to be in proportion to the composition of categories in the sample. Generally" tutored students were as successful as non-tutored students. However, of low achievers carrying a reduced load (83 percent of low achievers), those tutored were significantly more successful. Conclusion: The tutorial system filled Instructional needs over the whole spectrum of the student body, but was most helpful to low achievers carrying a reduced course load.
Arthritis in rats after systemic injection of streptococcal cells or cell walls

Further investigation of the biological properties of streptococcal cells and their components has produced a model of erosive synovitis in rats. A single intraperitoneal injection of an aqueous suspension of whole cell sonicate of group A streptococci into Sprague-Dawley rats induced an acute arthritis which evolved into a prolonged inflammatory process characterized by several complete or partial remissions, joint deformity, and ankylosis. The toxic moiety is a peptidoglycan- polysaccharide fragment of the cell wall which persists in tissue. Histologic features of the arthritis include an acute exudative phase followed by an erosive synovitis that leads to destruction of cartilage and subchondral bone and fibrous ankylosis of the joints. The arthropathic properties of whole cell sonicates of several species of streptococci are compared along with studies of the ability of heat- killed, whole cells of groups A, B, and C streptococci to induce arthritis in rats. Whole cells induce arthritis after a latent period of 57-120 days when group A cells are injected and 7-10 days when group B cells are tested.
Leaders and values: a cross‐cultural study

This paper examines the value orientations of executives and their linkages to leadership behaviors. The 181 executives in this study were randomly selected from the top 500 Australian companies. Value orientations of Australian executives compared with their Russian, Japanese, and Chinese counterparts reveal as many similarities as there are differences. In general, transformational leadership styles were most closely related to personal values orientations. The implications of the findings are discussed, and practical suggestions for leadership development and research are proposed.
Recruitment and Early Retention of Women with Advanced Breast Cancer in a Complementary and Alternative Medicine Trial

More than 80% of women with breast cancer are now reported to be using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies during conventional treatment. A randomized clinical trial (RCT) of reflexology with late stage breast cancer patients serves as the data source for this article. The purposes were to investigate: (i) reasons for refusal to participate in a RCT of reflexology; (ii) the differences between those who completed the baseline interview and those who dropped out before baseline; and (iii) the utility of the Palliative Prognostic Score (PPS) as a prognostic screening tool in minimizing early attrition (before baseline) from the trial. Eligible women (N = 400) approached at 12 cancer centers in the Midwest had advanced breast cancer, were on chemotherapy or hormonal therapy, and had a PPS of 11 or less. Comparisons of those who dropped out early (N = 33) to those who stayed in the trial (N = 240) were carried out using Wilcoxon rank, t-, chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests. The reasons of being “too sick” or “overwhelmed” were given by less than 12% of the women who refused to participate. There was a higher early dropout rate among black women compared to other (primarily white) women (P = .01). Cancer recurrence and metastasis, age, and the PPS were not predictive of early retention of women. Specialized techniques may be needed to ensure black women remain in the trial once consented. Women with advanced disease were likely to enter and remain in the trial despite deterioration in health.
Inhibition of native TRPC6 channel activity by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in mesenteric artery myocytes

The present work investigates the effect of phosphatidylinositol‐4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) on native TRPC6 channel activity in freshly dispersed rabbit mesenteric artery myocytes using patch clamp recording and co‐immunoprecipitation methods. Inclusion of 100 μm diC8‐PIP2 in the patch pipette and bathing solutions, respectively, inhibited angiotensin II (Ang II)‐evoked whole‐cell cation currents and TRPC6 channel activity by over 90%. In inside‐out patches diC8‐PIP2 also inhibited TRPC6 activity induced by the diacylglycerol analogue 1‐oleoyl‐2‐acetyl‐sn‐glycerol (OAG) with an IC50 of 7.6 μm. Anti‐PIP2 antibodies potentiated Ang II‐ and OAG‐evoked TRPC6 activity by about 2‐fold. Depleters of tissue PIP2 wortmannin and LY294002 stimulated TRPC6 activity, as did the polycation PIP2 scavenger poly‐l‐lysine. Wortmannin reduced Ang II‐evoked TRPC6 activity by over 75% but increased OAG‐induced TRPC6 activity by over 50‐fold. Co‐immunoprecipitation studies demonstrated association between PIP2 and TRPC6 proteins in tissue lysates. Pre‐treatment with Ang II, OAG and wortmannin reduced TRPC6 association with PIP2. These results provide for the first time compelling evidence that constitutively produced PIP2 exerts a powerful inhibitory action on native TRPC6 channels.