Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can States Take Over and Turn Around School Districts? Evidence From Lawrence, Massachusetts

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to identify and turn around struggling schools, with federal school improvement money required to fund evidence-based policies. Most research on turnarounds has focused on individual schools, whereas studies of district-wide turnarounds have come from relatively exceptional settings and interventions. We study a district-wide turnaround of a type that may become more common under ESSA, an accountability-driven state takeover of Massachusetts’s Lawrence Public Schools (LPS). A differences-in-differences framework comparing LPS to demographically similar districts not subject to state takeover shows that the turnaround’s first 2 years produced sizable achievement gains in math and modest gains in reading. We also find no evidence that the turnaround resulted in slippage on nontest score outcomes and suggestive evidence of positive effects on grade progression among high school students. Intensive small-group instruction over vacation breaks may have led to particularly large achievement gains for participating students.
Measurements Used in Software Quality Evaluation

The paper presents the results of two quantitative studies. which look at the measurements used in software evaluation. These measurements are extremely important, as they are the means for conducting the evaluation of the software. The first study collected a list of measurements. which were then tested by the second study. The results showed that in software evaluation, stakeholders do not differ greatly in the measurements used; though in previous studies it was clearly shown that stakeholders differ in the level of importance placed on . the software characteristics. This means that the same measurements can be used for the evaluation regardless of the stakeholders though the algorithms used to calculate the quality and the predicted effects on desired consequences and values may differ for each stakeholder. The results of this study are important as it identifies the metrics, perceived by stakeholders as essential for applying the Software Evaluation Framework to software evaluation.
Study of anti‐dengue NS1 antibody by Western blot

The presence of anti‐nonstructural protein (NS1) antibody in natural dengue infections has been suspected to be associated with development of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). The Western blot technique was used to study the dynamics of the immune response to NS1 and to determine the frequency of anti‐NS1 antibody among confirmed dengue patients in Indonesia, where DHF is common, and in Puerto Rico, where DHF is less frequently observed. Anti‐NS1 antibody was rarely found in those with primary infections in either group. The antibody occurred at a significantly higher frequency in acute‐phase serum samples from secondary infections in Indonesia than in those from Puerto Rico. No difference was observed, however, in Indonesian patients with secondary infection who had dengue fever or DHF.
On sign changes of cusp forms and the halting of an algorithm to construct a supersingular elliptic curve with a given endomorphism ring

Chevyrev and Galbraith recently devised an algorithm which inputs a maximal order of the quaternion algebra ramified at one prime and infinity and constructs a supersingular elliptic curve whose endomorphism ring is precisely this maximal order. They proved that their algorithm is correct whenever it halts, but did not show that it always terminates. They did however prove that the algorithm halts under a reasonable assumption which they conjectured to be true. It is the purpose of this paper to verify their conjecture and in turn prove that their algorithm always halts. More precisely, Chevyrev and Galbraith investigated the theta series associated with the norm maps from primitive elements of two maximal orders. They conjectured that if one of these theta series "dominated" the other in the sense that the $n$th (Fourier) coefficient of one was always larger than or equal to the $n$th coefficient of the other, then the maximal orders are actually the same. We prove that this is the case.
Early Results of a New Highly Porous Modular Acetabular Cup in Revision Arthroplasty

Background The ‘Tritanium’® (Stryker, New Jersey, USA) highly porous acetabular cup is a new implant used in revision hip arthroplasty. Aim To determine the early results of this device. Methods A prospective study of 43 acetabular component revisions performed using the implant between March 2007 and February 2008 was undertaken. All procedures were performed at a single centre with standard approach and follow up. Results The mean age of patients at surgery was 66 years. Mean follow up was 18.2 months. AAOS classification revealed 17% type 1, 49% type 2, 24% Type 3 and 5% Type 4 defects at surgery. 5% had no bone defect. Bone graft was used to in 73% of patients. Mean Harris Hip Score improved from 68 pre-operatively to 86 at the last follow-up. Cup integration was seen in 95% of patients by 6 weeks. One patient with pelvic discontinuity had symptomatic aseptic loosening which was revised. Conclusion The ‘Tritanium'acetabular cup has been successful in achieving rapid osseointegration with few complications. The management of pelvic discontinuity continues to be a challenge.
Ethnic Identity: Similarities and Differences in White Groups Based on Cultural Practices

The present study examined variability in ethnic identity among the ethnic groups that comprise the White racial category. Based on participants' ethnic self-labels, high school and college students (n = 495) were assigned to one of six groups: Armenian, Greek, Jewish, European, Mixed White ancestry (“Irish and Italian”), and Pan-ethnic (“White”). Individuals who identified with Specific White groups (Armenian, Greek, Jewish) had higher ethnic identity scores than individuals who identified with Nonspecific White groups (European, Mixed, Pan-ethnic). Specific White groups also had more heritage education, ethnic language competency, and religious participation than Nonspecific White groups. Regression analyses indicated that ethnic language competency and religious participation positively predicted ethnic identity for both Specific and Nonspecific White groups, controlling for age, sex, and generation. For the Specific White group, heritage education interacted with ethnic language to increase ethnic identity for students with low (but not medium or high) competency.
Electron microscope observations on LH-induced oocyte maturation in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

The aim of this study was to describe the temporal sequence of ultrastructural changes in the boundary between the preovulatory oocyte and its surrounding follicular wall during maturation induced by injection of LH. Female Japanese quail were injected with ovine LH (20 micrograms per bird) 10-12 h before the expected time of ovulation. The largest and second largest follicles were excised before or 1, 2, 4 or 6 h after injection. The oocyte and the surrounding follicular wall were processed for observations using light and electron microscopy. Before injection of LH, cytoplasmic projections of granulosa cells interdigitated with microvilli on the surface of the oocyte and formed spot desmosomes and gap junctions with the oolemma. Two hours after injection of LH, the germinal vesicles in the largest but not in the second largest follicles began to break down and membrane-bound vesicles increased in number and size in the surrounding germinal disc. The junctions between the oocyte surface and the granulosa cell projections started to dissociate and a perivitelline space began to develop, possibly as the result of an accumulation of fluids transported from the capillary sinus in the theca interna. The first maturation spindle was formed 4 h after injection of LH, whereas the first polar body and the second maturation spindle were formed 6 h after LH stimulation. These observations suggest that the dissociation of connections between the oocyte and granulosa cells 2 h after exposure to increased concentration of LH is the first process of oocyte maturation. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Early Exposure to IL-4 Stabilizes IL-4 mRNA in CD4+ T Cells via RNA-Binding Protein HuR1

The mechanisms regulating IL-4 mRNA stability in differentiated T cells are not known. We found that early exposure of CD4+ T cells to endogenous IL-4 increased IL-4 mRNA stability. This effect of IL-4 was mediated by the RNA-binding protein HuR. IL-4 mRNA interacted with HuR and the dominant binding site was shown within the coding region of IL-4 mRNA. Exposure of CD4+ T cells to IL-4 had no effects on HuR expression or subcellular localization, but triggered HuR binding to IL-4 mRNA. Thus, IL-4 plays a positive role in maintaining IL-4 mRNA stability in CD4+ T cells via a HuR-mediated mechanism.
Novel mutations and structural implications in R‐type pyruvate kinase‐deficient patients from southern Italy

Deficiency of the R‐type pyruvate kinase (R‐PK) causes an autosomal recessive, hereditary, nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia (HNSHA). We screened seven unrelated patients from the south of Italy for the known mutations and found one patient homozygous for the 1529A (R510Q) mutation, two others bearing the 1456T (R486W) mutation, one homozygous and another heterozygous, and two heterozygotes for the 994A mutation (G332S). We also found three novel mutations at the heterozygote status: a G to C transversion in position 1010 (1010C; R337P) and a C to T transition in position 1492 (1492T; R498C), which are missense, and a T to G transversion in position 1523 (1523G; L508Z), which produces a stop codon with a subsequent loss of the C‐terminal protein domain. The structural features of R‐PK in the mutation‐bearing regions were examined. In all cases the mutations altered the local conformation of the enzyme. Both G332S and R337P are in highly conserved sequence regions. In particular, the R337P mutation significantly affects the intersubunit interactions, because it is located in a region subjected to a large conformational change that occurs during the R→T allosteric transition, which is essential for the enzyme activity. The R486W mutation affects an external pocketlike region, producing only a local conformational change; the R498C mutation changes the interactions among neighbouring residues; the R510Q mutation involves the loss of interdomain interactions that may reduce enzyme stability and activity. Our data also indicate that in patients from Southern Italy, pyruvate kinase deficiency is heterogeneous, the 1529A mutation, which is the most frequent mutation in the U.S. Caucasian population, having a lower frequency. Hum Mutat 11:127–134, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Ca2+ Mobilized by Caffeine from the Inositol 1,4,5‐Trisphosphate‐Insensitive Pool of Ca2+ in Somatic Regions of Sympathetic Neurons Does Not Evoke [3H]Norepinephrine Release

Abstract: The effects of electrical stimulation, muscarinic and serotonergic agonists, and caffeine on [3H]inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate ([3H]Ins(1,4,5)P3) content, intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), and release of [3H]norepinephrine ([3H]NE) were studied in cultured sympathetic neurons. Neuronal cell body [Ca2+]i was unaffected by muscarinic or serotonergic receptor stimulation, which significantly increased [3H]Ins(1,4,5)P3 content. Stimulation at 2 Hz and caffeine had no effect on [3H]Ins(1,4,5)P3, but caused greater than two‐fold increase in [Ca2+]i. Only 2‐Hz stimulation released [3H]NE. Caffeine had no effect on the release. When [Ca2+]i was measured in growth cones, only electrical stimulation produced an increase in [Ca2+]i. The other agents had no effect on Ca2+ at the terminal regions of the neurons. We conclude that Ins(1,4,5)P3‐insensitive, but caffeine‐sensitive Ca2+ stores in sympathetic neurons are located only in the cell body and are not coupled to [3H]NE release.
Targeted integration of adeno‐associated virus (AAV) into human chromosome 19.

A key feature in adeno‐associated virus (AAV) replication is efficient integration of the viral genome into host cell DNA to establish latency when helper virus is absent. The steps involved in this process remain largely uncharacterized, even though AAV integration was first documented 20 years ago. Using a protein‐‐DNA binding method we isolated AAV‐‐cellular junction DNA sequences. The cellular component hybridized to a single restriction fragment in the virus‐free parental cell line, and also co‐migrated with AAV‐specific sequences in numerous latently infected cell lines. Analysis of somatic cell hybrids indicated that this cellular sequence maps to the distal portion of the q arm of human chromosome 19. In situ hybridization of AAV DNA to chromosomes from latently infected cells confirms the physical location of AAV integrations to be q13.4‐ter of chromosome 19. Sequence analysis of several independent integration sites shows breakpoints occurring within a 100 bp cellular region. This non‐pathogenic parvovirus thus appears to establish viral latency by integrating its DNA specifically into one chromosomal region. Such specific integration is so far unique among the eukaryotic DNA viruses. The incorporation of site‐specific integration into AAV vector schemes should make this vector system attractive for human gene therapy approaches.
Class II Integrase Mutants with Changes in Putative Nuclear Localization Signals Are Primarily Blocked at a Postnuclear Entry Step of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication

ABSTRACT Integrase has been implicated in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nuclear import. Integrase analyses, however, can be complicated by the pleiotropic nature of mutations: whereas class I mutants are integration defective, class II mutants display additional assembly and/or reverse transcription defects. We previously determined that HIV-1V165A, originally reported as defective for nuclear import, was a class II mutant. Here we analyzed mutants containing changes in other putative nuclear localization signals, including 186KRK188/211KELQKQITK219 and Cys-130. Previous work established HIV-1K186Q, HIV-1Q214L/Q216L, and HIV-1C130G as replication defective, but phenotypic classification was unclear and nuclear import in nondividing cells was not addressed. Consistent with previous reports, most of the bipartite mutants studied here were replication defective. These mutants as well as HIV-1V165A synthesized reduced cDNA levels, but a normal fraction of mutant cDNA localized to dividing and nondividing cell nuclei. Somewhat surprisingly, recombinant class II mutant proteins were catalytically active, and class II Vpr-integrase fusion proteins efficiently complemented class I mutant virus. Since a class I Vpr-integrase mutant efficiently complemented class II mutant viruses under conditions in which class II Vpr-integrases failed to function, we conclude that classes I and II define two distinct complementation groups and suggest that class II mutants are primarily defective at a postnuclear entry step of HIV-1 replication. HIV-1C130G was also defective for reverse transcription, but Vpr-integraseC130G did not efficiently complement class I mutant HIV-1. Since HIV-1C130A grew like the wild type, we conclude that Cys-130 is not essential for replication and speculate that perturbation of integrase structure contributed to the pleiotropic HIV-1C130G phenotype.
Selective blockade of 5-HT2A receptors attenuates the increased temperature response in brown adipose tissue to restraint stress in rats

Previous studies have demonstrated that 5-HT2A receptors may be involved in the central control of thermoregulation and of the cardiovascular system. Our aim was to test whether these receptors mediate thermogenic and tachycardiac responses induced by acute psychological stress. Three groups of adult male Hooded Wistar rats were instrumented with: (i) a thermistor in the interscapular area (for recording brown adipose tissue temperature) and an ultrasound Doppler probe (to record tail blood flow); (ii) temperature dataloggers to record core body temperature; (iii) ECG electrodes. On the day of the experiment, rats were subjected to a 30-min restraint stress preceded by s.c. injection of either vehicle or SR-46349B (a serotonin 2A receptor antagonist) at doses of 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg. The restraint stress caused a rise in brown adipose tissue temperature (from, mean ± s.e.m., 36.6 ± 0.2 to 38.0 ± 0.2°C), transient cutaneous vasoconstriction (tail blood flow decreased from 12 ± 2 to 5 ± 1 cm/s), increase in heart rate (from 303 ± 15 to 453 ± 15 bpm at the peak, then reduced to 393 ± 12 bpm at the steady state), and defaecation (6 ± 1 pellets per restraint session). The core body temperature was not affected by the restraint. Blockade of 5-HT2A receptors attenuated the increase in brown adipose tissue temperature and transient cutaneous vasoconstriction, but not tachycardia and defaecation elicited by restraint stress. These results indicate that psychological stress causes activation of 5-HT2A receptors in neural pathways that control thermogenesis in the brown adipose tissue and facilitate cutaneous vasoconstriction.
Management of upper airway obstruction secondary to warfarin therapy: the conservative approach

Airway obstruction secondary to bleeding from warfarin therapy is difficult to manage and uncommon but has been previously described. Previous reports have emphasized the need for reversal of therapy using vitamin K and fresh frozen plasma (FFP). Where a definitive airway has been required, cricothyroidotomy or tracheostomy seem to have been favoured. Several authors have reported failed attempts at endotracheal intubation due to the obstructive effects of a sublingual haematoma. We report here a case which illustrates how endotracheal intubation can be used successfully under the right conditions. It also highlights the superiority of prothrombin complex concentrate over FFP in achieving rapid reversal of abnormal international normalized ratio in the emergency situation.
Milk yield and survival of Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle after laparoscopic correction of left-displaced abomasum

The milk yield and survival of 91 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows that had had a left-displaced abomasum (lda) corrected laparoscopically were compared with those of 193 control cows matched for herd, parity and calving date. Ninety per cent of the lda treatments were performed within four weeks after calving. The risk of being culled during the whole observational period of at least three years was 1·5 times greater for the lda cows than for their matched herdmates (P<0·01). The risk of being culled in the current lactation was 1·8 times greater for the lda cows (P=0·01), but risk of being culled after the next calving following the lda correction was similar for both groups. For the lactation in which the lda was corrected, there was no difference in the 305-day milk production of 80 of the lda cows and 182 of the matched cows; however, the mean interval from calving to first service during the same lactation was longer for the lda cows (115 v 98 days) and the mean calving interval was also longer (451 v 418 days).
End-to-End Video Classification with Knowledge Graphs

Video understanding has attracted much research attention especially since the recent availability of large-scale video benchmarks. In this paper, we address the problem of multi-label video classification. We first observe that there exists a significant knowledge gap between how machines and humans learn. That is, while current machine learning approaches including deep neural networks largely focus on the representations of the given data, humans often look beyond the data at hand and leverage external knowledge to make better decisions. Towards narrowing the gap, we propose to incorporate external knowledge graphs into video classification. In particular, we unify traditional "knowledgeless" machine learning models and knowledge graphs in a novel end-to-end framework. The framework is flexible to work with most existing video classification algorithms including state-of-the-art deep models. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments on the largest public video dataset YouTube-8M. The results are promising across the board, improving mean average precision by up to 2.9%.
The relationship between radiographic and clinical changes in the periodontium.

Change in clinical attachment level (CAL) and radiographic change in crestal bone height are often used to assess periodontal breakdown and disease progression. These two variables are also used to monitor the effect of treatment. The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to evaluate the correlation between changes in CAL and alveolar bone loss. Following initial screening, 79 subjects with established periodontitis were monitored quarterly for 1 yr, using a pressure-sensitive automated probe. CAL and relative attachment level (RAL) were recorded at 6 sites for each tooth. Radiographs were obtained at baseline and 1 yr. Crestal bone changes were determined using an image enhancement technique. Mean change in attachment level was 0.16 mm. Similarly, mean proximal bone loss measured radiographically was 0.16 mm. In 6.9% of all the sites, and 13.7% of all pooled interproximal sites, AL loss was in excess of the threshold defined as 2 s.d. of repeated measurements (mean 1.54 mm). Similar percentages of sites (12.9%) had radiographic evidence of proximal bone loss exceeding the threshold (0.55-1.08 mm). A site-based analysis of active sites revealed an overall poor correlation between the 2 variables (kappa value = 0.03) which was the result of a very poor sensitivity (0.16) despite a relatively good specificity (0.81). A patient-based comparison of clinical and radiographical changes revealed an overall kappa value of 0.08, with sensitivity and specificity of 0.51 and 0.56, respectively. However, baseline CAL and crestal bone height showed good correlation (r = 0.73; p = 0.0001). It is suggested that changes in CAL and radiographic bone level progress somewhat independently. Over a short-term period of time they might not follow the same course; however, in the long term, these differences seem to level off. For longitudinal monitoring of disease progression and response to therapy both methods may be needed; while for cross-sectional evaluation and long-term prospective studies, either variable may be used alone.