Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some Results on Reliability for the Longitudinal Measurement of Change: Implications for the Design of Studies of Individual Growth

When changes in educational or psychological status are being measured, every subject in the sample must be observed on several chronologically successive occasions. In the pursuit of such longitudinal data, traditional researchers have been content to administer only a pre-test and a post-test (thus collecting two waves of data on each subject). More recently, however, methodologists have argued that multiwave data (i.e., more than two waves) must be collected for the effective measurement of change. Multi-wave data allows a suitable mathematical model to be fitted to each of the individual growth records as a way of summarizing the growth of each subject. Subsequent investigations of between-individual differences in growth can then be based on the results of these fits. In this article, individual growth-modeling permits the reliability of change measurement to be examined. This reliability is shown to depend upon three factors: the magnitude of the inter-individual heterogeneity in true growth, the size of the measurement-error variance, and the number of waves of data that have been collected. The paper demonstrates that dramatic increases in the reliability of change measurement can be achieved by collecting relatively few additional waves of data, a finding that has considerable import for the informed design of longitudinal studies of individual change.
Gene Targeting to the Uteroplacental Circulation of Pregnant Guinea Pigs

Our study aimed to target adenoviral gene therapy to the uteroplacental circulation of pregnant guinea pigs in order to develop a novel therapy for fetal growth restriction. Four methods of delivery of an adenovirus encoding β-galactosidase (Ad.LacZ) were evaluated: intravascular injection using phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) into (1) uterine artery (UtA) or (2) internal iliac artery or external administration in (3) PBS or (4) pluronic F-127 gel (Sigma Aldrich). Postmortem examination was performed 4 to 7 days after gene transfer. Tissue transduction was assessed by X-gal histochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. External vascular application of the adenovirus vector in combination with pluronic gel had 91.7% success rate in terms of administration (85% maternal survival) and gave the best results for maternal/fetal survival and local transduction efficiency without any spread to maternal or fetal tissues. This study suggests an optimal method of gene delivery to the UtAs of a small rodent for preclinical studies.
Days of their lives: a mixed‐methods, descriptive analysis of the men and women at work in the principal’s office

This study examines the work of US school principals from the perspective of their workday using a distributed perspective to frame the investigation. Using data on 38 school principals in one mid‐sized urban school district in the US, it describes school principals’ work practices, examining both the focus of that work and how it is accomplished. Cluster analysis is used to analyse data from an experience sampling method (ESM) log, identifying three patterns of practice: administration‐centred, solo practitioners, and people‐centred. To explicate these patterns, qualitative interview and observation data were combined with quantitative survey and log data to construct mini‐cases of three principals, each representing one of the three patterns of practice. The study concludes with a discussion of how this analysis both confirms and challenges popular portrayals of the school principal in the literature.
Eine Validierungsstudie zum NEO-FFI in einer Stichprobe junger Erwachsener: Effekte des Itemformats, faktorielle Validität und Zusammenhänge mit Schulleistungsindikatoren

Zusammenfassung. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde das NEO-Funf-Faktoren-Inventar in der deutschen Fassung von Borkenau und Ostendorf (1993) in einer grosen Schulleistungsstudie (N = 4236 Schulerinnen und Schuler der 13. Jahrgangsstufe) eingesetzt. Entsprechend der Empfehlung von Rost, Carstensen und von Davier (1999) wurde ein vierstufiges Antwortformat verwendet. Befunde zu drei Fragestellungen werden dargestellt. Erstens resultierten zufriedenstellende Reliabilitaten (Cronbachs α zwischen .73 und .83) der Skalen. Zweitens lies sich die angenommene Funf-Faktoren-Struktur mit moderaten Skaleninterkorrelationen (r < |.37|) replizieren; die Faktorenstruktur erwies sich zudem in Subgruppenanalysen als invariant. Drittens wurde der Zusammenhang zwischen den funf Faktoren und schulischen Leistungen (Abiturgesamtnote, Mathematik- und Englischleistungen) in Mehrebenenanalysen uberpruft, wobei ein bedeutsamer Effekt der Gewissenhaftigkeit und der Offenheit fur Erfahrung auf die Abiturgesamtnote sowie ein positive.
Blocking low-eccentricity EMRIs: a statistical direct-summation N-body study of the Schwarzschild barrier

ABSTRACT The capture of a compact object in a galactic nucleus by a massive black hole (MBH),an extreme-mass ratio inspiral (EMRI), is the best way to map space and time aroundit. Recent work on stellar dynamics has demonstrated that there seems to be a complotin phase space acting on low-eccentricity captures, since their rates decrease signi -cantly by the presence of a blockade in the rate at which orbital angular momentachange takes place. This so-called \Schwarzschild barrier" is a result of the impactof relativistic precession on to the stellar potential torques, and thus it a ects theenhancement on lower-eccentricity EMRIs that one would expect from resonant relax-ation. We con rm and quantify the existence of this barrier using a statistical sampleof 2,500 direct-summation N body simulations using both a post-Newtonian andalso for the rst time in a direct-summation code a geodesic approximation for therelativistic orbits. The existence of the barrier prevents low-eccentricity EMRIs fromapproaching the central MBH, but high-eccentricity EMRIs, which have been wronglyclassi ed as \direct plunges" until recently, ignore the presence of the barrier, becausethey are driven by two-body relaxation. Hence, since the rates are signi cantly a ectedin the case of low-eccentricity EMRIs, we predict that a LISA-like observatory suchas eLISA will predominantly detect high-eccentricity EMRIs.Key words: Stellar dynamics { Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals { Schwarzschild barrier{ post-Newtonian dynamics.
Staff Attitudes Towards the Sexuality of Individuals with Learning Disabilities: A Service‐related Study of Organisational Policies

Numerous authors have discussed the need for empirical research concerning the sexuality of individuals with intellectual disabilities (Cambridge, 1997; Murray & Minnes, 1994). Within the present study, 332 employees from three different organisations (NHS, Social Services, and the private & voluntary sector) providing services to individuals with intellectual disabilities were invited to participate. Completed questionnaires were anonymously returned by 54% of the sample. Participants completed the 20-item Sexuality and Intellectual Disabilities Attitude Inventory (SIDAI) (Murray et ah, 1995), and answered questions about their organisation's formal policies concerning client sexuality. In general, moderate to highly liberal attitudes towards client sexuality were reported by participants. More specifically, health-care, management and professional staff reported significantly more liberal attitudes towards client sexuality than direct-care staff. Significantly fewer NHS participants were familiar with the formal policies concerning client sexuality than participants from Social Services and the Private & Voluntary sector. Additional findings were that 56% of all participants indicated that these formal policies did not influence their interactions with clients. The results are discussed within the context of improved staff training. Organisations providing services to individuals with intellectual disabilities are encouraged to bridge the gap between policies and practice concerning client sexuality. Limitations and directions for future consideration are also discussed.
Neoliberalism reified: suzhi discourse and tropes of neoliberalism in the People's Republic of China

Since the mid-1990s, ‘neoliberalism’ has grown in importance as an explanatory trope for socio-cultural anthropologists. This article seeks to unravel the various strands of neoliberalism's anthropological meaning and demonstrate the blind spots of using neoliberalism as an overarching trope. I begin by analysing the contradictions between two common forms of theorizing neoliberalism. The remainder of the article then focuses the initial discussion by examining a particular case: suzhi discourse in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Suzhi may be glossed as human quality, and suzhi discourse refers to the myriad ways in which this notion of human quality is used in processes of governing contemporary China. I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments of those who explain suzhi discourse in terms of neoliberalism and suggest ways in which this discourse might be contextualized more fruitfully than as a form of neoliberalism.
Optimisation of maintenance concept choice using risk-decision factor – a case study

The design of maintenance system and the corresponding logistic support is a very complex process, during which the aim is to find the compromise solutions regarding the relations among different maintenance procedures and the ways of their implementation. As a result of this, various solutions can be adopted, since this is conditioned by a series of important factors and criteria, which can be contradictory sometimes. There are different perspectives on ways of solving practical maintenance problems, that is dilemmas when it comes to the choice of maintenance concept. The principal dilemma is how and when to decide on carrying out maintenance procedures. Should the decision be based on theoretical grounds or experience, how does one reconcile those two extremes, who is to decide upon this? In this article we have offered one, basically new solution as a possibility for maintenance concept choice, based on a significant modification of the widely used failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) method. This solution is risk-decision factor (RDF). This is a result of seven parameters (of different importance and weight) that have the key impact on the process of production and logistic support. The application of this factor is illustrated by the example of planning, organisation and functioning of the maintenance system applied in The Institute for Manufacturing Banknotes and Coins (ZIN) in Belgrade.
Testosterone profile in older men with Alzheimer’s disease

Evidence suggests low testosterone levels in Alzheimer’s disease. Objectives To compare testosterone levels between older men with and without Alzheimer’s disease. Methods Fourteen men with Alzheimer’s disease were compared with twenty eight men without dementia. Demographic variables and clinical profiles were analyzed. Within fifteen days before or after the described evaluation, measures of total testosterone and Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) were performed. Free testosterone level was calculated based on total testosterone and SHBG. Quantitative variables were analyzed using Student’s t test or Kruskal-Wallis test, while qualitative variables were analyzed using chi-square or Fisher test. Results Mean age in the Control and Alzheimer’s disease groups were 72.0 (SD±4.8) years and 79.3(SD±5.9) years, respectively (p=0.001). Mean schooling between these two groups were 8.78 and (±5.86) years, respectively (p=0.022). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for testosterone levels, although a trend was observed for the Alzheimer’s disease group to present lower levels than the control group (p=0.066). There was no direct correlation between free testosterone and age, although a trend was evident (p=0.068). Conclusions There was no significant difference in testosterone between men with AD and those without dementia.
Interpersonal Behavior in an Isolated and Confined Environment

The article discusses a study that focused on interpersonal needs and investigated whether interpersonal behavior of Antarctic personnel deteriorated after the halfway point of prolonged isolation and confinement. Twenty-three personnel who resided in Antarctica for 14 months served as participants. The mean age of participants was 39 years (SD = 8.7 years). This study uses the FIRO-B questionnaire that assessed the dimensions of interpersonal behavior. The findings indicate a greater need to associate with other personnel but with less intimacy. Inversely, personnel want others to establish close relationships with them but with a low level of interaction. Besides, the overall interpersonal behavior (the mean score of six scales of FIRO-B) reveals a significant improvement in the first versus the second half of a prolonged isolated and confined environment.
Reactant Selectivity and Regiospecificity in the Catalytic Oxidation of Alkanes on Metal-Substituted Aluminophosphates

The rate of n-hexane reactions with O2 increased in parallel with the concentration of hexyl hydroperoxide (ROOH) intermediates and with the number of Mnredox sites in microporous MnAPO-5 and MnAPO-18 catalysts. These data confirmed the catalytic nature of oxidation pathways and the mechanistic resemblance between n-alkane and cycloalkane oxidation pathways. Cyclohexane oxidation turnover rates were higher on MnAPO-5 than on MnAPO-18, because small channels in the latter inhibit contact between reactants and Mn active centers. In contrast, n-hexane oxidation turnover rates (per redox-active Mn center) were similar on MnAPO-5 and MnAPO-18, because smaller n-hexane reactants diffuse rapidly and contact active sites in both microporous structures. MnAPO-18 is able to select reactants based on their size, but no regiospecificity was detected on MnAPO-18 or MnAPO-5 for n-hexane oxidation to alkanols, aldehydes, and ketones (7−8% terminal selectivity). The relative reactivity of primary and secondary C−H bonds .
An Information Retrieval Approach for Regression Test Prioritization Based on Program Changes

Regression testing is widely used in practice for validating program changes. However, running large regression suites can be costly. Researchers have developed several techniques for prioritizing tests such that the higher-priority tests have a higher likelihood of finding bugs. A vast majority of these techniques are based on dynamic analysis, which can be precise but can also have significant overhead (e.g., for program instrumentation and test-coverage collection). We introduce a new approach, REPiR, to address the problem of regression test prioritization by reducing it to a standard Information Retrieval problem such that the differences between two program versions form the query and the tests constitute the document collection. REPiR does not require any dynamic profiling or static program analysis. As an enabling technology we leverage the open-source IR toolkit Indri. An empirical evaluation using eight open-source Java projects shows that REPiR is computationally efficient and performs better than existing (dynamic or static) techniques for the majority of subject systems.
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): survey diagnostics and core data release

The Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey has been operating since 2008 February on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope using the AAOmega fibre-fed spectrograph facility to acquire spectra with a resolution of R ≈ 1300 for 120 862 Sloan Digital Sky Survey selected galaxies. The target catalogue constitutes three contiguous equatorial regions centred at 9h (G09), 12h (G12) and 14.5h (G15) each of 12 × 4 deg2 to limiting fluxes of rpet < 19.4, rpet < 19.8 and rpet <19.4 mag, respectively (and additional limits at other wavelengths). Spectra and reliable redshifts have been acquired for over 98 per cent of the galaxies within these limits. Here we present the survey footprint, progression, data reduction, redshifting, re-redshifting, an assessment of data quality after 3 yr, additional image analysis products (including ugrizYJHK photometry, S´ersic profiles and photometric redshifts), observing mask and construction of our core survey catalogue (GamaCore). From this we create three science-ready catalogues: GamaCoreDR1 for public release, which includes data acquired during year 1 of operations within specified magnitude limits (2008 February to April); GamaCoreMainSurvey containing all data above our survey limits for use by the GAMA Team and collaborators; and GamaCore-AtlasSV containing year 1, 2 and 3 data matched to Herschel-ATLAS science demonstration data. These catalogues along with the associated spectra, stamps and profiles can be accessed via the GAMA website: http://www.gama-survey.org/
Preschool Teachers' Beliefs of Creative Pedagogy: Important for Fostering Creativity

This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument, the Early Childhood Creative Pedagogy Questionnaire (ECCPQ), which can be used to understand preschool teachers' beliefs about creative pedagogy as a means of fostering creativity. Items were initially constructed from a review of the literature and interviews with 27 preschool teachers in Hong Kong regarding their beliefs about creative pedagogy. A sample of 564 Hong Kong preschool teachers completed the initial survey. Exploratory, followed by confirmatory, factor analysis resulted in a 22-item, 4-factor scale reflecting self-initiated pursuits, interpersonal exchanges, possibility thinking, and teacher-oriented pursuits. Although the first 3 domains align relatively well with the Western literature, the teacher-oriented pursuit factor seemed to be related to the Hong Kong educational context. These preliminary results suggest that the ECCPQ can be used for revealing Hong Kong preschool teachers' beliefs about creative pedagogy, and they provide a general framework for further research on the important aspects of fostering creativity in preschool classrooms. The findings also have implications for early childhood teacher education programs and professional development in Hong Kong.
Distributive Politics Around the World

We inventory more than 150 studies of distributive politics in more than three dozen countries other than the United States. We organize existing studies under two theories: theories of democratic accountability and theories of government responsiveness. Studies that concern democratic accountability conceptualize distributive allocations as attempts by politicians to protect themselves electorally by targeting specific groups of voters. We identify four subsets: (a) studies of whether politicians target goods to core or swing voters; (b) studies of general political favoritism in targeting government goods; (c) studies of whether goods are disbursed according to the electoral cycle; and (d) studies of whether elected officials gain votes from the disbursement of government goods. We illustrate each with examples from the literature. We then discuss distributive politics as responsiveness to the median voter. This perspective entails a focus on the redistributive consequences of government policy and inve.
Passive-Microwave-Enhanced Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme

Abstract The formulation and testing of an enhanced Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme (SHIPS) using new predictors derived from passive microwave imagery is presented. Passive microwave imagery is acquired for tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins between 1995 and 2003. Predictors relating to the inner-core (within 100 km of center) precipitation and convective characteristics of tropical cyclones are derived. These predictors are combined with the climatological and environmental predictors used by SHIPS in a simple linear regression model with change in tropical cyclone intensity as the predictand. Separate linear regression models are produced for forecast intervals of 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 h from the time of a microwave sensor overpass. Analysis of the resulting models indicates that microwave predictors, which provide an intensification signal to the model when above-average precipitation and convective signatures are present, have comparable importan.
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT Student Perceptions of Online Lectures and WebCT in an Introductory Drug Information Course

Objectives. To determine student perceptions regarding online lectures and quizzes during an introductory drug information course for first-year professional doctor of pharmacy students. Design. Formal and online lectures, online quizzes, written semester projects, a practice-based examination, a careers in pharmacy exercise, and a final examination were used to deliver the course content and assess performance. A multiple-choice survey instrument was used to evaluate student perceptions of WebCT and online lectures. Assessment. More than 47% of students reported that online lectures helped them learn the material better, 77% reported that lectures would be used to study for the final examination, and 59% reported that they would use WebCT lectures for future classes. Approximately 40% of students agreed that online lectures should be used in future courses. Conclusion. Students reported that WebCT was easy to use; however, the majority of students preferred in-class lectures compared to online lectures. A positive correlation was observed for those students who performed well on the online quizzes and those who performed well on the final examination.
Cooperation between CD4+ T Cells and Humoral Immunity Is Critical for Protection against Dengue Using a DNA Vaccine Based on the NS1 Antigen

Dengue virus (DENV) is spread through most tropical and subtropical areas of the world and represents a serious public health problem. At present, the control of dengue disease is mainly hampered by the absence of antivirals or a vaccine, which results in an estimated half worldwide population at risk of infection. The immune response against DENV is not yet fully understood and a better knowledge of it is now recognized as one of the main challenge for vaccine development. In previous studies, we reported that a DNA vaccine containing the signal peptide sequence from the human tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) fused to the DENV2 NS1 gene (pcTPANS1) induced protection against dengue in mice. In the present work, we aimed to elucidate the contribution of cellular and humoral responses elicited by this vaccine candidate for protective immunity. We observed that pcTPANS1 exerts a robust protection against dengue, inducing considerable levels of anti-NS1 antibodies and T cell responses. Passive immunization with anti-NS1 antibodies conferred partial protection in mice infected with low virus load (4 LD50), which was abrogated with the increase of viral dose (40 LD50). The pcTPANS1 also induced activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. We detected production of IFN-γ and a cytotoxic activity by CD8+ T lymphocytes induced by this vaccine, although its contribution in the protection was not so evident when compared to CD4+ cells. Depletion of CD4+ cells in immunized mice completely abolished protection. Furthermore, transfer experiments revealed that animals receiving CD4+ T cells combined with anti-NS1 antiserum, both obtained from vaccinated mice, survived virus infection with survival rates not significantly different from pcTPANS1-immunized animals. Taken together, results showed that the protective immune response induced by the expression of NS1 antigen mediated by the pcTPANS1 requires a cooperation between CD4+ T cells and the humoral immunity.