Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SELF-CONCEPT OF STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS

The present evaluation case study investigates the self-concept of the students from 7th grade in regular primary school. The study results indicate that, in comparison to their hearing peers, integrated students with a hearingimpairment have a lower academic and social self-concept, as well as a general self-concept but a higher physical self-concept. There are differences among students with a hearing impairment in both the individual dimension and general self-concept. There are no statistically significant differences between the class with integrated students, on the one hand, and the class without them, on the other; however, there is a noticeable advantage for the students from the class with integrated learners over the other class serving as control group in all three individual dimensions as well as in general self-concept.
THE IRRELEVANCE OF LOAD DYNAMICS FOR THE LOADING MARGIN TO VOLTAGE COLLAPSE AND ITS SENSITIVITIES

The loading margin to a saddle-node or foldbifurcation is a useful andbasic ind ex of proximity to voltage collapse. Sensitivities of the loading margin can be usedto select controls to avoidvoltage collapse. This paper justifies the use of static power models to com- pute loading margins and their sensitivities. In particular, dynamic load models may be reduced to static equations andthen simplifiedwithout affecting loading margins and their sensitivities. Alternatively, if dynamic models are not well known, the computations may be done with static models and conclusions drawn about a general and sensi- ble class of underlying dynamic models. Explicit assump- tions and mathematical underpinnings are presented.
Wideband dipole antennas with parasitic elements for underwater communications

Propagation of underwater electromagnetic signals for real-time transmission and reception of data gathered during a survey mission between an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and underwater sensor nodes or a docking station, continues to generate a lot of interest worldwide. To this end, underwater antennas will play a significant role in ensuring good data rates and propagation distances for various underwater applications. In this paper, the performance of two dipole antennas with different parasitic elements is assessed through simulation for usage in fresh water and operating in the High Frequency (HF) band. The antennas were designed in FEKO, an electromagnetic simulation software and their performance is assessed in terms of bandwidth, directivity and antenna-to-antenna distance. The results obtained show that these antennas exhibit wide bandwidth, which is important to achieve high data rates. Experimental results of the reflection coefficient of the fabricated antenna measured in fresh water are given that agree well with the simulation results.
Atitudes em relação à diversidade cultural: implicações psicopedagógicas

Abordamos neste artigo dois padroes de atitudes necessarios para que todos os grupos culturais possam encontrar as vias para conviverem conjuntamente numa sociedade multicultural: a ideologia multicultural e a tolerância etnica. A amostra foi constituida por duzentas e quatro pessoas, oscilando entre os 18 e os 83 anos. As escalas de Ideologia Multicultural e de Tolerância Etnica revelaram um funcionamento psicometrico adequado. Os resultados deste estudo denotam a existencia de uma atitude predominantemente positiva em relacao a diversidade cultural. O apoio a diversidade cultural variava segundo o sexo, mas nao variava segundo a idade, o estado civil e a pratica religiosa. O multiculturalismo e a tolerância apresentaram correlacoes positivas com a ideologia do papel de genero, a integracao e a auto-estima, e correlacoes negativas com o idadismo, a assimilacao, a separacao e a marginalizacao. As variaveis psicossociais contribuiram mais para a predicao das atitudes em relacao a diversidade cultural que as variaveis sociodemograficas. Sao discutidas algumas implicacoes psicopedagogicas desta investigacao.
Time course of action potentials recorded from single human afferents.

It was the object of this study to measure the time course of the action potential in individual human sensory nerve fibres in relation to conduction properties of the axons. For this purpose, the technique of percutaneous microneurography was combined with intradermal electrical stimulation of distal portions of the axons. Recordings were made at the wrist level from 57 type-identified mechanoreceptive median nerve afferents [mainly rapidly adapting (RA) and slowly adapting type I (SAI)] innervating the glabrous skin of the hand. Measurements were made of the duration and time-to-peak of the positive peak of the diphasic (large positive phase followed by smaller, slower negative phase) action potential typically recorded using microneurography. Durations ranged from 0.31 to 0.75 ms (mean 0.50 ms) and times-to-peak from 0.12 to 0.45 ms (mean 0.21 ms), with no difference between afferent categories (RA, SAI). Time-to-peak was strongly positively correlated with duration (linear r = 0.81). Conduction velocity was measured over the distance extending from the point of intradermal stimulation (typically in the fingertips) to the point of recording at the wrist (distal conduction velocity). Absolute refractory period was measured using paired stimuli applied at the point of intradermal stimulation, within the receptive field of the afferent (distal absolute refractory period). Distal conduction velocities ranged from 15 to 60 m/s (mean 33 m/s), and distal refractory periods from 0.7 to 4.5 ms (mean 2.1 ms), with no difference between afferent types (RA, SAI). Distal absolute refractory period was inversely correlated with distal conduction velocity. The data were slightly better described assuming a non-linear (exponential) relationship; the non-linear correlation coefficient was -0.77. The time course of the action potential varied inversely with distal conduction velocity and directly with distal absolute refractory period. The time-to-peak versus conduction velocity data were slightly better described by a power than a linear relationship. Coefficients of correlation were: duration versus conduction velocity, linear r = -0.76; time-to-peak versus conduction velocity, non-linear r = -0.64; duration versus absolute refractory period, r = 0.70; time-to-peak versus absolute refractory period, r = 0.76. Extensive intercorrelation between the variables duration, distal conduction velocity and absolute refractory period was revealed by multiple correlation techniques. Inter- and intra-subject skin temperature variation was within 5 degrees C. Correcting the time course, conduction velocity and absolute refractory period values for temperature variation within this limited range did not affect the results. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Dynamics of Insulin Secretion in Hypoglycemia

Data have been presented on dynamic changes in plasma insulin concentrations in normal and pathologic states and the relationship between plasma insulin levels and insulin secretory rates has been considered. Hypoglycemia secondary to absolute or relative hyperinsulinism can follow stimulation by glucose or pharmacologic agents, abnormal sensitivity to leucine, uncontrolled secretion by insulinomas and exogenous insulin administration; hypoglycemianot associated with significant elevation of plasma insulin may occur with nonpancreatic neoplasms, fructose intolerance, idiopathic hypoglycemia of childhood and hepatic malfunction. The occasional failure of the body's counterregulatory mechanisms to alleviate hypoglycemia in the absence of significant hyperinsulinism may be attributable to different factors in individual cases and requires independent study.
An Antibiotic-Responsive Mouse Model of Fulminant Ulcerative Colitis

BACKGROUND The constellation of human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, which both display a wide spectrum in the severity of pathology. One theory is that multiple genetic hits to the host immune system may contribute to the susceptibility and severity of IBD. However, experimental proof of this concept is still lacking. Several genetic mouse models that each recapitulate some aspects of human IBD have utilized a single gene defect to induce colitis. However, none have produced pathology clearly distinguishable as either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, in part because none of them reproduce the most severe forms of disease that are observed in human patients. This lack of severe IBD models has posed a challenge for research into pathogenic mechanisms and development of new treatments. We hypothesized that multiple genetic hits to the regulatory machinery that normally inhibits immune activation in the intestine would generate more severe, reproducible pathology that would mimic either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. METHODS AND FINDINGS We generated a novel mouse line (dnKO) that possessed defects in both TGFbetaRII and IL-10R2 signaling. These mice rapidly and reproducibly developed a disease resembling fulminant human ulcerative colitis that was quite distinct from the much longer and more variable course of pathology observed previously in mice possessing only single defects. Pathogenesis was driven by uncontrolled production of proinflammatory cytokines resulting in large part from T cell activation. The disease process could be significantly ameliorated by administration of antibodies against IFNgamma and TNFalpha and was completely inhibited by a combination of broad-spectrum antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS Here, we develop to our knowledge the first mouse model of fulminant ulcerative colitis by combining multiple genetic hits in immune regulation and demonstrate that the resulting disease is sensitive to both anticytokine therapy and broad-spectrum antibiotics. These findings indicated the IL-10 and TGFbeta pathways synergize to inhibit microbially induced production of proinflammatory cytokines, including IFNgamma and TNFalpha, which are known to play a role in the pathogenesis of human ulcerative colitis. Our findings also provide evidence that broad-spectrum antibiotics may have an application in the treatment of patients with ulcerative colitis. This model system will be useful in the future to explore the microbial factors that induce immune activation and characterize how these interactions produce disease.
Effects Of Peer Ratings On Supervisor Ratings Of Job Performance

The influence of peer rating information on supervisor performance ratings was investigated using a 2 x 2 x 2 crossed factorial experimental design. Participants were undergraduate business students who assumed the role of “supervisor” and evaluated a fictitious “subordinate” whose performance was either good or poor. Participants were given fictitious information about peer ratings (high or low) from either one or three co-workers. As expected, peer rating information resulted in inflated performance ratings for poor performers and deflated ratings for good performers. No differences in performance ratings were found for a single versus multiple peer ratings. Contrary to expectations, rater personality characteristics (conscientiousness and agreeableness) did not moderate the influence of peer rating information on performance ratings.
Features of Similarity

The metric and dimensional assumptions that underlie the geometric representation of similarity are questioned on both theoretical and empirical grounds. A new set-theoretical approach to similarity is developed in which objects are represented as collections of features, and similarity is described as a feature-matching process. Specifically, a set of qualitative assumptions is shown to imply the contrast model, which expresses the similarity between objects as a linear combination of the measures of their common and distinctive features. Several predictions of the contrast model are tested in studies of similarity with both semantic and perceptual stimuli. The model is used to uncover, analyze, and explain a variety of empirical phenomena such as the role of common and distinctive features, the relations between judgments of similarity and difference, the presence of asymmetric similarities, and the effects of context on judgments of similarity. The contrast model generalizes standard representations of similarity data in terms of clusters and trees. It is also used to analyze the relations of prototypicality and family resemblance
Dementia with Lewy bodies: findings from an international multicentre study

Objectives. To describe the baseline demographic, neuropsychiatric and neurological data of a large selected clinical sample of patients with dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) from an international multicentre trial with rivastigmine. To examine the usefulness of the Consensus Criteria for the diagnosis of DLB in different countries.
Re‐credentialling experiences of immigrant teachers: negotiating institutional structures, professional identities and pedagogy

Teachers immigrating to Canada with credentials from non‐Canadian jurisdictions are regarded as desirable immigrant professionals because of their high levels of education and yet, nevertheless, are required to redo some or all of their professional training. This research examines sociocultural notions of voice, agency, authorship and identity in considering how a group of 28 teachers with diverse professional and personal backgrounds, and with initial teaching credentials from outside Canada, perceive and respond to the institutional/structural constraints imposed by mainstream ‘gate‐keeping’ institutions. Analysis of data from interviews and questionnaires indicates that teachers initially credentialled outside of Canada potentially have much to add to the education of students in Canadian schools. However, to achieve this potential it is necessary that these educators' encounters with Canadian educational institutions engage rather than silence their voices.
Families Living in Poverty

This study examined family-centeredness and experiences in early intervention from the perspectives of families living near or below the federal poverty level. Data were collected from 17 families (11 were single-parent families) across three early intervention service districts in Tennessee, as a subset of a larger investigation of the Pathways to Family Empowerment Project. Qualitative inquiry guided the investigation, and families participated in one-on-one interviews. Notable findings include families’ satisfaction with experiences in early intervention, how demographic variables influenced families’ experiences, families’ suggestions to improve practices, acknowledgment of effective practices, and families’ perceptions of their quality of life. Researchers found contradictions in that some families described specific practices as barriers to positive outcomes whereas other families described those same practices as effective. The study’s contributions are discussed in relation to developing comprehensive early intervention practices that meet families’ unique needs and are consistent with the goals of family-centeredness.
Lower Preoperative Hounsfield Unit Measurements Are Associated With Adjacent Segment Fracture After Spinal Fusion

Study Design. Retrospective case-control study. Objective. To determine the association of Hounsfield unit (HU) measurements with adjacent segment fractures after spinal fusion. Summary of Background Data. Adjacent segment fracture is a potentially devastating complication after spinal fusion surgery in osteoporotic patient. Recently, a technique for assessing bone mineral density using HU measurements from computed tomography was described and correlated with both dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry–assessed bone mineral density and compressive strength in an osseous model. Methods. Patients with adjacent segment fractures after spinal fusion were identified from a prospectively collected patient database and matched 1:1 with nonfracture controls on the basis of age, sex, and fusion construct. Minimum follow-up was 6 months. Patients with metabolic bone disease other than osteoporosis or those taking medications known to negatively alter bone strength were excluded. HU assessment was done according to the previously published protocol using the preoperative computed tomography. Results. Twenty patients had complete imaging data and could be matched to nonfracture controls. The groups were well matched with respect to age, sex, body mass index, and number of levels fused. Following the index surgical procedure, the fracture group had more positive sagittal balance than the control group (10.7 cm vs. 9.1 cm). Analysis of HU values at the fracture level showed a significantly lower value in the fracture group than in the controls (145.6 vs. 199.4, P = 0.006). Similarly, global assessment of HU across the thoracic and lumbar spines was significantly lower in the fracture group (139.9 vs. 170.1, P = 0.032). Conclusion. HU was significantly lower both locally and globally in the fracture cohort. Because computed tomographic scans are frequently part of preoperative planning for spinal fusion, this information should be incorporated in preoperative planning. Studies to prospectively validate HU as a predictor of adjacent segment fracture risk and to assess the effect of increasing HU preoperatively with medications for osteoporosis are needed. Level of Evidence: 3
The Changes of P-glycoprotein Activity by Interferon-γ and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α in Primary and Immortalized Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells

The purpose of this study was to investigate the modification of expression and functionality of the drug transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) at the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We used immortalized human brain microvessel endothelial cells (iHBMEC) and primary human brain microvessel endothelial cells (pHBMEC) as in vitro BBB model. To investigate the change of p-gp expression, we carried out real time PCR analysis and Western blotting. To test the change of p-gp activity, we performed rhodamin123 (Rh123) accumulation study in the cells. In results of real time PCR analysis, the P-gp mRNA expression was increased by TNF-α or IFN-γ treatment for 24 hr in both cell types. However, 48 hr treatment of TNF-α or IFN-γ did not affect P-gp mRNA expression. In addition, co-treatment of TNF-α and IFN-γ markedly increased the P-gp mRNA expression in both cells. TNF-α or IFN-γ did not influence P-gp protein expression whatever the concentration of cytokines or duration of treatment in both cells. However, P-gp expression was increased after treatments of both cytokines together in iHBMEC cells only compared with untreated control. Furthermore, in both cell lines, TNF-α or IFN-γ induced significant decrease of P-gp activity for 24 hr treatment. And, both cytokines combination treatment also decreased significantly P-gp activity. These results suggest that P-gp expression and function at the BBB is modulated by TNF-α or/and IFN-γ. Therefore, the distribution of P-gp depending drugs in the central nervous system can be modulated by neurological inflammatory diseases.
The year in cardiology 2014: acute coronary syndromes.

This review provides an overview of key findings published in 2014 on the pathophysiology, early diagnosis, prognosis, and acute and long-term treatment of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). A perspective on future research is provided at the end. We did not report on the progress made with mechanical interventions as this topic will be covered in another review. As so many studies have been published on ACS and because of the restrictions imposed by the journal, the selected papers unavoidably reflect the interests and personal opinion of the authors to a certain extent. As in many other studies ACS covers all types of non-ST-segment elevation and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI and STEMI). Little data have been provided on unstable angina patients in recent years. The increasing use of high-sensitivity troponins (hsTn) makes the diagnosis of unstable angina very unusual if not impossible. Plaque rupture, plaque erosion, and functional alterations of coronary circulation are responsible for ACS. Niccoli et al . 1 found that these different mechanisms, identified by optical coherence tomography, were associated with different patterns of biomarker levels. Indeed, patients with plaque rupture displayed a marked elevation of C-reactive protein suggesting a systemic active inflammatory process that progressively leads to cap thinning and rupture. Patients with erosion, on the other hand, exhibited higher myeloperoxidase levels, which might trigger thrombus formation at the site of an eroded plaque expressing hyaluronan. Finally, cystatin-C levels were higher in patients who did not exhibited fissure or erosion of the culprit plaque, thus suggesting functional mechanisms operating in epicardial coronary arteries or in the microcirculation. Biomarkers able to identify the mechanism of instability operating in the individual patient might …
Reputation for Resolve, Interests, and Conflict

Schelling’s work laid the foundation for a reputational theory of conflict behavior, claiming that a state’s reputation for resolve, as established through its past behavior, should provide it with bargaining leverage in future conflicts. This argument is scrutinized both theoretically and empirically in this study and also juxtaposed to an alternative framework that modifies the impact of “face-saving” stakes with those of a more inherent nature, such as the interests in a dispute. We advance an argument about the interplay between a state’s reputation from past behavior and its current interests in order to predict its crisis behavior. Our empirical expectations are subsequently tested in a quantitative analysis of deterrence crises for the period 1895–1985. The findings indicate that, while reputation matters, its impact is indirect at best and contingent on a state’s interests. Given the strong empirical support, we expect the interaction between reputation and interests as specified in our analysis to further contribute to a better understanding of conflict behavior.
Relative Importance of Perceived Value, Satisfaction and Perceived Risk on Willingness to Pay More

The consumer perceived value construct is a very important component in the consumer value literature and it has been identified as one of the most important measures for gaining a competitive advantage. All its consequences can be combined in a construct, defined as consumer behavior. The present article sustains the idea that consumer’s perceived value can been associated with satisfaction, which leads a behavioral intention such as willingness to pay (WTP) a higher price. In the case of potentially undesirable and risky conditions, perceived risk (PR) can also be determinant of consumer behavior. Regarding the value and risk perceptions of consumers on a specific sector, this paper contributes to define these perceptions’ influences on a mobile phone industry. Accordingly, this study posits a path model of satisfaction, perceived value, risk and WTP a higher price. The results suggest a link of perceived value dimensions and satisfaction with the product, also the hypothesized assumptions of the link of satisfaction and WTP a higher price were supported by the results. The results also reveal negative influence of PR on behavioral intention.