Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of explicit instruction of expository text structure incorporating graphic organizers on the comprehension of third-grade students

Title of Dissertation: THE EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION OF EXPOSITORY TEXT STRUCTURE INCORPORATING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS ON THE COMPREHENSION OF THIRD-GRADE STUDENTS Lynn M. Newman, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation Directed By: Dr. Marilyn Chambliss Department of Curriculum and Instruction An important goal of education is to assist students to read and write expository text. Success in school, work, and society depends largely upon the ability to comprehend this type of text. However, there is ample research to suggest that many children are not learning to read and write expository text competently. Researchers noted that establishing effective instructional frameworks for teaching students how to read and write this material remains elusive. Therefore, developing effective expository reading comprehension instruction should be a research priority. Using a mixed qualitative and quantitative design, this study examined the effects of explicit instruction of expository text structure incorporating graphic organizers on the comprehension of three intervention classrooms of third-grade students in comparison to one control classroom. Within the three intervention classrooms, the students received the designed intervention presented by their classroom teacher or teaching assistant during their small-group instruction. The students in the control classroom received regular Guided Reading instruction presented by their classroom teacher or teaching assistant. The instructional framework for the designed intervention included explicit and scaffolded instruction embedded in an interactive learning environment. This framework also relied on multiple instructional strategies that appear to positively affect reading comprehension: modeling, thinking aloud, and graphic organizers. When compared with the control group, at post-testing, students receiving the intervention showed a statistically significant difference in their ability to comprehend expository text. The third-grade students who received explicit instruction incorporating graphic organizers scored significantly better on representing text structure graphically, using graphic organizers to compose a written summary, and accurately summarizing expository text. In addition, the intervention teachers and assistant were able to deliver the designed intervention effectively. Findings from this study revealed third-grade students can improve their expository text comprehension when given explicit instruction incorporating graphic organizers. Further, this study suggested the importance of creating a collaborative environment with appropriate scaffolded instruction. Outcomes in rhetorical pattern knowledge, graphic organizers, and scaffolded instruction, all support future research concerning pedagogically sound instructional methods for providing expository text instruction to students of all ages. THE EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION OF EXPOSITORY TEXT STRUCTURE INCORPORATING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS ON THE COMPREHENSION OF THIRD-GRADE STUDENTS
Exploring virulence and immunogenicity in the emerging pathogen Sporothrix brasiliensis

Sporotrichosis is a polymorphic chronic infection of humans and animals classically acquired after traumatic inoculation with soil and plant material contaminated with Sporothrix spp. propagules. An alternative and successful route of transmission is bites and scratches from diseased cats, through which Sporothrix yeasts are inoculated into mammalian tissue. The development of a murine model of subcutaneous sporotrichosis mimicking the alternative route of transmission is essential to understanding disease pathogenesis and the development of novel therapeutic strategies. To explore the impact of horizontal transmission in animals (e.g., cat-cat) and zoonotic transmission on Sporothrix fitness, the left hind footpads of BALB/c mice were inoculated with 5×106 yeasts (n = 11 S. brasiliensis, n = 2 S. schenckii, or n = 1 S. globosa). Twenty days post-infection, our model reproduced both the pathophysiology and symptomology of sporotrichosis with suppurating subcutaneous nodules that progressed proximally along lymphatic channels. Across the main pathogenic members of the S. schenckii clade, S. brasiliensis was usually more virulent than S. schenckii and S. globosa. However, the virulence in S. brasiliensis was strain-dependent, and we demonstrated that highly virulent isolates disseminate from the left hind footpad to the liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, heart, and brain of infected animals, inducing significant and chronic weight loss (losing up to 15% of their body weight). The weight loss correlated with host death between 2 and 16 weeks post-infection. Histopathological features included necrosis, suppurative inflammation, and polymorphonuclear and mononuclear inflammatory infiltrates. Immunoblot using specific antisera and homologous exoantigen investigated the humoral response. Antigenic profiles were isolate-specific, supporting the hypothesis that different Sporothrix species can elicit a heterogeneous humoral response over time, but cross reaction was observed between S. brasiliensis and S. schenckii proteomes. Despite great diversity in the immunoblot profiles, antibodies were mainly derived against 3-carboxymuconate cyclase, a glycoprotein oscillating between 60 and 70 kDa (gp60-gp70) and a 100-kDa molecule in nearly 100% of the assays. Thus, our data broaden the current view of virulence and immunogenicity in the Sporothrix-sporotrichosis system, substantially expanding the possibilities for comparative genomic with isolates bearing divergent virulence traits and helping uncover the molecular mechanisms and evolutionary pressures underpinning the emergence of Sporothrix virulence.
Performance Benchmarking and Analysis of Prognostic Methods for CMAPSS Datasets

Six years and more than seventy publications later this paper looks back and analyzes the development of prognostic algorithms using C-MAPSS datasets generated and disseminatedby the prognostic center of excellence at NASA Ames Research Center. Among those datasets are five run-to-failure CMAPSS datasets that have been popular due to various characteristicsapplicable to prognostics. The C-MAPSS datasets pose several challenges that are inherent to general prognostics applications. In particular, management of high variability due to sensor noise, effects of operating conditions, and presence of multiple simultaneous fault modes are some factors that have great impact on the generalization capabilities of prognostics algorithms. More than seventy publications have used the C-MAPSS datasets for developing datadriven prognostic algorithms. However, in the absence of performance benchmarking results and due to common misunderstandings in interpreting the relationships between these datasets, it has been difficult for the users to suitably compare their results. In addition to identifying differentiating characteristics in these datasets, this paper also provides performance results for the PHM’08 data challenge wining entries to serve as performance baseline. This paper summarizes various prognostic modeling efforts that used C-MAPSS datasets and provides guidelines and references to further usage of these datasets in a manner that allows clear and consistent comparison between different approaches.
Circulating platelets as a source of the damage-associated molecular pattern HMGB1 in patients with systemic sclerosis

The link between platelet activation and vascular injury in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is poorly characterized. Here we report that platelet activation results in i) the translocation from the cytoplasm to the surface of HMGB1, a prototypical DAMP signal associated with tissue regeneration and ii) the release of platelet derived microparticles (PDμP) expressing HMGB1. Decreased HMGB1 content (334.6 ± 21.2 vs 587.1 ± 11.1 AUF, P < 0.001) and HMGB1 translocation to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane (17.8 ± 3.5 vs 4.5 ± 0.5%, P < 0.001) characterize circulating platelets of SSc patients (n = 29) when compared with age-matched healthy controls (HC, n = 20). Conversely, a significantly higher fraction of PDμP in the blood of SSc patients, but not of HC, consistently expose (HMGB1 (MFI 62.8 ± 3.95 vs 4.3 ± 0.7). Platelet HMGB1 depletion is significantly associated in SSc patients with degranulation and with expression of P-selectin and of tissue factor as well as with fibrinogen binding to their plasma membrane. These findings indicate that platelets represent a source of HMGB1, an ancestral signal of necrosis, in the vasculature of SSc patients, possible contributing to persistent microvascular injury and endothelial cell activation.
Giant unusual shaped chronic subdural hematoma in a patient with untreated congenital hydrocephalus

Subdural hematoma is a well known complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion for hydrocephalus and usually spreads out over the cerebral convexity, and appears as a crescent shaped lesion on imaging. Chronic subdural hematoma in a case of untreated compensated congenital hydrocephalus has not been reported in English literature. We report the rare case of an adult with congenital hydrocephalus with a huge unusual shaped hemispheric subdural hematoma.
Experimental testing of passive phase conjugation for underwater acoustic communication

This paper describes the results of an underwater acoustic communications experiment to apply passive phase conjugation for the reception of a phase shift keyed digital data stream. The experiment took place in May 2000 in Puget Sound, Washington State. A single point source of 10 kHz bandwidth centered at 12.5 kHz transmitted over distances up to 2.5 km to a vertical array, first using a probe and followed by a data signal. The probe response was measured and used as a spatial matched filter or passive phase conjugator, by the receiver. Delay spread approached 20 msec with a very sparse structure. The experimental results show the efficacy of the spatial matched filter for removing the multipath introduced by the acoustic channel.
Fast Solution of Toeplitz- and Cauchy-Like Least-Squares Problems

The least‐squares solution of overdetermined linear systems with Toeplitz‐ or Cauchy‐like structure is studied with an “augmented matrix” approach. A fast algorithm for the computation of the pseudoinverse in the full‐rank case is developed, based on the displacement properties of the matrices involved, and the parameters on which the algorithm depends are determined optimally. Finally, the performance of the method is tested through numerical experimentation.
Subjektivität und Intersubjektivität

Zusammenfassung Die Etablierung kriteriologischer Diagnosesysteme seit den 80er Jahren hat zwar zu einer aus wissenschaftlichen und praktischen Grunden wunschenswerten Prazisierung der Diagnostik gefuhrt, andererseits jedoch zu einem erkennbaren Ruckgang psychopathologischer Erfahrung und individualisierender, personenbezogener Diagnostik. Um diese Entwicklung zu korrigieren, sollten drei hauptsachliche Ansatze zur Erfassung psychischer Storungen Berucksichtigung finden: 1. ) Der positivistische, objektivierende Ansatz aus der 3. Person-Perspektive, auf den sich DSM-IV und ICD-10 stutzen, 2. ) der phanomenologische, subjekt-orientierte Ansatz aus der 1. Person-Perspektive, 3. ) der hermeneutische, intersubjektive Ansatz aus der 2. Person-Perspektive. Diese drei Ansatze werden hinsichtlich ihres Wertes fur die psychopathologische Beschreibung, Diagnose, Forschung und therapeutische Prozesse verglichen.
Potentiation of Immune Response from Polymer-Entrapped Antigen: Toward Development of Single Dose Tetanus Toxoid Vaccine

Poly(lactide) (PLA) polymer particles entrapping immunoreactive tetanus toxoid (TT) were used for generation of immune response using single point immunization. Immunization with different sizes of polymer particles encapsulating immunoreactive TT elicited anti-TT antibody titers that persisted for more than 5 months. However, antibody response generated by single point immunization of either nanoparticles or microparticles were lower than the conventional two doses of alum adsorbed TT. To overcome this limitation, alum was used with particles that improved anti-TT antibody response. Immunization with nanoparticles along with alum resulted in very high and early immune response: high anti-TT antibody titers were detected as early as 15 days postimmunization. However anti-TT antibody titers declined rapidly with time. Immunization with admixture of microparticles and alum elicited higher antibody titers than the particles alone and the antibody titers were high particularly during the later part of the postimmunization period. Single point immunization with admixture of PLA microparticles and alum resulted in an antibody response very close to that achieved by two injection of alum-adsorbed TT. Physical mixture of both a nano- and microparticles along with alum resulted in sustained anti-TT antibody response from very early days of postimmunization until 150 days. The antibody titers were maintained around 50 μg/ml for more than 5 months. These results indicated that immune response from polymer particles can be further improved by use of additional adjuvant. Furthermore, using various size particles or physical mixture of different size particles along with alum, it is possible to modulate the kinetics of immune response using polymer particles based immunization.
Identification of a basal/reserve cell immunophenotype in benign and neoplastic endometrium: a study with the p53 homologue p63.

BACKGROUND Metaplastic differentiation, including squamous, mucinous, and tubal (ciliated), is common in both benign and neoplastic endometrium, and the cell of origin for this pathway is poorly understood. In this study, expression of a marker for basal and reserve cells in cervical squamous mucosa, designated p63, was investigated in a spectrum of endometrial alterations. METHODS One hundred ninety different endometria from 132 patients were examined, including fetal (6), premenarchal (3), benign cyclic (29) and noncyclic (54), hyperplastic (14), and neoplastic (93) endometrial glandular epithelia. The latter included conventional endometrioid carcinomas with and without mucinous, ciliated, and squamous metaplasia, and uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC). RESULTS p63 expression was identified in basal/subcolumnar cells in the fetal endometrium in a distribution similar to that in basal/reserve cells of the cervix. Staining was confined to individual scattered basal and suprabasal cells in cycling endometrium. In polyps and postmenopausal endometria, focal clusters of p63-positive cells were identified in inactive glands or surface epithelium. Metaplastic (squamous or mucinous) epithelia, either alone or in conjunction with hyperplasias or carcinomas, exhibited the most intense staining, primarily in basal or subcolumnar cells. In some cases, immediately adjacent nonmetaplastic columnar epithelium also stained positive. UPSCs contained only rare scattered p63-positive cells. CONCLUSIONS Cells with a basal or reserve cell phenotype exist in the endometrium during fetal life, are not conspicuous during the reproductive years, but may emerge during shifts in differentiation. Whether these cells signify specialized multipotential endometrial cells is not clear, but the similarity of these cells to basal/reserve cells of the cervix and their association with neoplasia merit further study.
Bayesian Software Reliability Models Based on Martingale Processes

This article proposes new Bayesian models for software reliability based on a piecewise constant failure rate. A martingale process prior is assumed on the failure rate. Three different hyperprior models on the martingale process are considered. The first two models assume that the conditional variance is dependent on the mean, whereas the third model assumes constant conditional variance. Markov chain sampling–based posterior analysis and prequential predictions are developed for these models and are illustrated in a software failure dataset. In addition, model comparison is studied via the Bayes factor criterion. General techniques are described for estimating the marginal likelihood of the proposed models as well as of many existing software reliability models, and these are illustrated in two datasets.
Mouse Amelogenin Exons 8 and 9: Sequence Analysis and Protein Distribution

Amelogenin is the major protein of the developing enamel. Two additional exons, termed 8 and 9, have been characterized in the rat. Our aim was: to identify the mouse amelogenin exons 8/9 sequences; to investigate the potential presence of the alternative spliced isoforms of amelogenin exons 8/9; and to immunolocalize proteins containing sequences encoded by exons 8/9 during odontogenesis. RT-PCR analysis with exon 9 anti-sense primer generated 2 major amplicons with the use of a mouse tooth cDNA library and dental cell lines. DNA sequence analysis showed 93% identify with the rat exons 8/9 sequence. Alternative splicing of exon 3 was also found, but only in cDNAs lacking exons 8 and 9. Immunohistochemistry localized exons 8/9-encoded proteins in ameloblasts, young odontoblasts, and stratum intermedium cells. Analysis of our data supports the hypothesis that: (1) AMELX contains 2 additional exons; (2) ameloblasts and odontoblasts synthesize amelogenin 8/9; and (3) amelogenin splice variants may have unique functions during tooth formation.
Hospital Coding of Dementia: Is it Accurate?

This paper investigates the coding of dementia in the episode of care in a pilot study group (N=48) post hospital discharge and the possible implications of under-coding. The assigned ICD-10-AM codes and Diagnosis Related Groups were reviewed. Results demonstrate under-coding of dementia and of cognitive deficits; poor correlation between admission diagnoses and dementia codes on separation; and changes in individual patients' cognitive status across forms and assessments in the same admission. The complexities of accurately coding dementias will impact upon planning for future treatments and service provision and will have a flow-on effect for patients, hospitals, and patient care in Australia.
Spontaneous formation of germinal centers in autoimmune mice

The mechanisms of autoantibody production are not well understood. Germinal centers (GC) may be important sites of immune disregulation in autoimmune diseases. In this study, we document the presence of spontaneous GC formation in the spleens of several autoimmune mouse strains that spontaneously develop autoimmune Type I diabetes and a lupus‐like disease. In contrast, mouse strains that do not develop lupus did not exhibit spontaneous formation of GC. In all of the autoimmune strains studied, GC were present at 1–2 months of age, a time that closely parallels the appearance of autoantibodies. Like the GC that develop after purposeful immunization, GC in autoimmune mice contained B220+, PNA+, and GL‐7+ B cells, and FDC‐M1+ follicular dendritic cells. In addition, spontaneously formed GC in autoimmunity and those caused by immunization were abrogated in a similar way by a short‐term treatment with anti‐CD40 ligand antibody. These data indicate that spontaneously forming GC in autoimmunity are similar to those appearing after purposeful immunization.
Thermal and electronic contributions to switching in melanins.

Melanins respond at a critical applied electrical field by changing their conductivity. The nature of the response depends upon the hydration and temperature of the sample and, to some extent, on the external circuitry. The response falls into two categories: threshold and memory switching. Threshold switching occurs when a sample cycles from an off (low conductivity) to an on (high conductivity) state at a critical electric field and returns to the off state when the electric field is removed. Memory switching, on the other hand, refers to a sample which remains in the on state when the field is removed but can be restored to the off state by larger electric fields or currents. Both threshold and pseudomemory switching have been reported in melanins. The memory state was found to return slowly to the off state; however, Culp et al., were unable to restore the on state electrically. This communication presents criteria which are particularly useful in separating thermal from electrical contributions. The memory state is reversible, destroyed by heating above 110/sup 0/C, suggesting the existence of a true memory state.
An Odyssey into Virtual Worlds: Exploring the Impacts of Technological and Spatial Environments

Although research on three-dimensional virtual environments abounds, little is known about the social and business aspects of virtual worlds. Given the emergence of large-scale social virtual worlds, such as Second Life, and the dramatic growth in sales of virtual goods, it is important to understand the dynamics that govern the purchase of virtual goods in virtual worlds. Employing the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, we investigate how technological (interactivity and sociability) and spatial (density and stability) environments in virtual worlds influence the participants' virtual experiences (telepresence, social presence, and flow), and how experiences subsequently affect their response (intention to purchase virtual goods). The results of our survey of 354 Second Life residents indicate that interactivity, which enhances the interaction with objects, has a significant positive impact on telepresence and flow. Also, sociability, which fosters interactions with participants, is significantly associated with social presence, although no such significant impact was observed on flow. Furthermore, both density and stability are found to significantly influence participants' virtual experiences; stability helps users to develop strong social bonds, thereby increasing both social presence and flow. However, contrary to our prediction of curvilinear patterns, density is linearly associated with flow and social presence. Interestingly, the results exhibit two opposing effects of density: while it reduces the extent of flow, density increases the amount of social presence. Since social presence is found to increase flow, the net impact of density on flow depends heavily on the relative strength of the associations involving these three constructs. Finally, we find that flow mediates the impacts of technological and spatial environments on intention to purchase virtual products. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the theoretical and practical contributions of our findings.