Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ABILITY GROUPING 3 Ability Grouping : Effects of Grouping on Math Achievement for Third Grade Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping on the mathematical achievement of students in third grade. Participants were 16 third graders in a self-contained classroom, assigned to either small homogeneous or heterogeneous group for math instruction for 7 weeks. Pretest-posttest scores and growth of students in both groups were statistically analyzed to determine effect on student achievement. Results indicate that there was no statistically significant difference in effect on student math performance between the heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping types. Both grouping types resulted in comparable academic gains for students. There was not a significant difference between the two groups. Classroom implications are discussed.
Ethanol Is a Fast Channel Inhibitor of P2X4 Receptors

P2X receptors (P2XRs) are ion channels gated by synaptically released ATP. The P2X4 is the most abundant P2XR subtype expressed in the central nervous system and to date is the most ethanol-sensitive. In addition, genomic findings suggest that P2X4Rs may play a role in alcohol intake/preference. However, little is known regarding how ethanol causes the inhibition of ATP-gated currents in P2X4Rs. We begin to address this issue by investigating the effects of ethanol in wild-type and mutant D331A and M336A P2X4Rs expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells using whole-cell patch-clamp methods. The results suggest that residues D331 and M336 play a role in P2X4R gating and ethanol inhibits channel functioning via a mechanism different from that in other P2XRs. Key findings from the study include: 1) ethanol inhibits ATP-gated currents in a rapid manner; 2) ethanol inhibition of ATP-gated currents does not depend on voltage and ATP concentration; 3) residues 331 and 336 slow P2X4 current deactivation and regulate the inhibitory effects of ethanol; and 4) ethanol effects are similar in HEK293 cells transfected with P2X4Rs and cultured rat hippocampal neurons transduced with P2X4Rs using a recombinant lentiviral system. Overall, these findings provide key information regarding the mechanism of ethanol action on ATP-gated currents in P2X4Rs and provide new insights into the biophysical properties of P2X4Rs.
The Role of Antibiotics in the Treatment of Chronic Prostatitis:A Consensus Statement

Practical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic prostatitis are presented. Chronic prostatitis is classified as chronic bacterial prostatitis (culture-positive) and chronic inflammatory prostatitis (culture-negative). If chronic bacterial prostatitis is suspected, based on relevant symptoms or recurrent UTIs, underlying urological conditions should be excluded by the following tests: rectal examination, midstream urine culture and residual urine. The diagnosis should be confirmed by the Meares and Stamey technique. Antibiotic therapy is recommended for acute exacerbations of chronic prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis and chronic inflammatory prostatitis, if there is clinical, bacteriological or supporting immunological evidence of prostate infection. Unless a patient presents with fever, antibiotic treatment should not be initiated immediately except in cases of acute prostatitis or acute episodes in a patient with chronic bacterial prostatitis. The work-up, with the appropriate investigations should be done first, within a reasonable time period which, preferably, should not be longer than 1 week. During this period, nonspecific treatment, such as appropriate analgesia to relieve symptoms, should be given. The minimum duration of antibiotic treatment should be 2–4 weeks. If there is no improvement in symptoms, treatment should be stopped and reconsidered. However, if there is improvement, it should be continued for at least a further 2–4 weeks to achieve clinical cure and, hopefully, eradication of the causative pathogen. Antibiotic treatment should not be given for 6–8 weeks without an appraisal of its effectiveness. Currently used antibiotics are reviewed. Of these, the fluoroquinolones ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin are recommended because of their favourable antibacterial spectrum and pharmacokinetic profile. A number of clinical trials are recommended and a standard study design is proposed to help resolve some outstanding issues.
New Mutations Associated with Rasopathies in a Central European Population and Genotype–Phenotype Correlations

We performed the genetic analysis of Rasopathy syndromes in patients from Central European by direct sequencing followed by next generation sequencing of genes associated with Rasopathies. All 51 patients harboured the typical features of Rasopathy syndromes. Thirty‐five mutations were identified in the examined patients (22 in PTPN11, two in SOS1, one in RIT1, one in SHOC2, two in HRAS, three in BRAF, two in MAP2K1 and two in the NF1 gene). Two of them (p.Gly392Glu in the BRAF gene and p.Gln164Lys in the MAP2K1 gene) were novel with a potentially pathogenic effect on the structure of these proteins.
Evaluation of different spelling layouts for SSVEP based BCIs

Brain-computer interface (BCI) systems enable humans to communicate with their environment by directly using brain signals. This way, body movement is not explicitly required for communication making this technology especially useful for people with limited mobility. In this study, the system performance and well-being of 38 subjects are investigated using two different layouts of graphical user interfaces (GUI) presented on a computer screen. A steady state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) based BCI speller is used. Furthermore, three different predefined stimulus frequency sets are tested. Results show that the system works best for 55 % of the test subjects using visual stimuli in the range of 8.57 Hz-15 Hz. The majority of subjects (71 %), prefers the graphical user interface layout called Layout 2. Main advantage of this layout is that each desired letter or symbol can be selected with only two commands in contrast to Layout 1, where usually more than two commands are needed to select a desired object.
The relationships between economic growth, financial deepening, and information and communication technology: Empirical evidence from Lebanon

The impact of financial deepening and the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Lebanon"s economy is empirically investigated by estimating a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) using data from 1993 to 2009. In the short-run, our empirical results show that neither financial deepening nor ICT seems to impact economic growth. However, there is a unidirectional causality running from economic growth to financial deepening implying that the `demand-following" hypothesis, in which financial development is a by-product of growth, is supported in the case of Lebanon. In the long-run, economic growth is found to be strongly related to financial deepening and ICT levels. This suggests the absence of evidence for a dampening effect from either financial deepening or ICT developments on cyclical fluctuations in the shortrun, but strong effects in the long-run growth in Lebanon. A major implication of our results is that growth volatility reductions in Lebanon expected from developments of financial markets, or ICT will be slow to materialize.
How Unemployment Experience Affects Support for the Welfare State: A Real Panel Approach

This article investigates whether self-interest as compared with values or ideological dispositions shapes individual attitudes towards the welfare state. Causal interpretations of how self-interest, values, and welfare state attitudes are linked have been difficult to sustain so far, as the research mainly relies on static, cross-sectional analyses. We address this empirical challenge using data from the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel (2008–2013) that covers the period of the international economic crisis. We investigate how individuals change their attitudes in times of economic hardship. Our findings confirm theoretical expectations that people change their support for unemployment benefits in reaction to changes in their individual material circumstances. Job loss leads to an increased support for public provision of unemployment benefits. The analysis also suggests that this attitude change is persistent. After the temporarily unemployed have found a new job, they do not return to their pre-unemployment attitude. In contrast, individual support for life course-related domains of the welfare state such as health care or pensions is not affected by changes in individual material circumstances. Our results show that individual material circumstances and thus self-interest have a sizable effect on how individuals change their welfare state attitudes.
Does social capital improve watershed environmental governance

In Brazil, water management has been both sectored and centralized. In the 1990s, a series of state level reforms granted substantial participation to civil society and water users' organizations by incorporating Integrated Water Resourse Management principles and Watershed Committees as its guideline. However, its full implementation should produce quite different outcomes, understood as improved or poorer watershed environmental governance. That means that the key reason why some of these new institutions fail while others succeed is a question that remains to be fully understood. This paper examines the institutional performance of two watershed committees in Sao Paulo's Metropolitan Area, in Brazil. Specifically, we analyze why do two watershed committees, facing very similar social, economical and environmental scenarios present distinct institutional performances. Two hypothesis were considered: a) the amount of social capital within the watershed committee has a direct impact on the overall institutional performance of these committees, and therefore on the watershed environmental governance; and b) the way civil society organizations, municipalities and State representatives articulate themselves within the committee – from a social network point of view – also impacts the watershed's environmental governance. Results showed that both social capital and the social organization have an impact on the governance of these institutions over the watershed. Likewise, it is highly advisable that policy makers working on watershed management and related issues should take into account the interactions and roles played by local policy networks, as well as the relationships among relevant actors
Creativity and social alienation: the costs of being creative

Although creativity is a widely praised merit, the psychological costs that an employee may pay for being creative are less examined. The present study advances the research paradigm on the dark side of creativity by focusing on the negative psychological state (social alienation) of creative employees. By building on the studies on the homophily principle and on the cultural perspective of creativity, we investigated why creative employees are more likely to experience social alienation. Drawing on the social capital theory, we point out that social alienation of creative employees depends on their networking ability and harmony enhancement motive. A two-wave survey among 311 employees from 59 Chinese organizations supported the hypotheses. Implications of the findings are discussed for creativity and alienation literature as well as management practice.
A Novel Carrier-Based PWM Method for Vienna Rectifier With a Variable Power Factor

The Vienna rectifier, which is a nongenerative-boost type rectifier, is used in many applications such as telecommunication systems and wind turbine systems. The Vienna rectifier has a special operating requirement. Many switching methods considering this requirement were proposed. These methods generally take into account the Vienna rectifier's operation with the unity power factor because the Vienna rectifier aims to provide the power to the load. However, as the applications for the Vienna rectifier are diversified, control requirements have been suggested, including the dc-link voltage balance control and the novel control under severely unbalanced grids. In this paper, we propose a carrier-based pulse-width modulation (CB-PWM) method for Vienna rectifier operation with a variable power factor. The proposed CB-PWM method adds the compensation voltage to the three-phase reference voltages, depending on the power factor, to maintain the sinusoidal input currents of the Vienna rectifier. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed CB-PWM method are verified by simulation and experiment.
Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans Participate in Hepatic Lipaseand Apolipoprotein E-mediated Binding and Uptake of Plasma Lipoproteins, Including High Density Lipoproteins*

High density lipoprotein (HDL) particles and HDL cholesteryl esters are taken up by both receptor-mediated and non-receptor-mediated pathways. Here we show that cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) participate in hepatic lipase (HL)- and apolipoprotein (apo) E-mediated binding and uptake of mouse and human HDL by cultured hepatocytes. The HL secreted by HL-transfected McA-RH7777 cells enhanced both HDL binding at 4 °C (∼2–4-fold) and HDL uptake at 37 °C (∼2–5-fold). The enhanced binding and uptake of HDL were partially inhibited by the 39-kDa protein, an inhibitor of low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP), but were almost totally blocked by heparinase, which removes the sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains from HSPG. Therefore, HL may mediate the uptake of HDL by two pathways: an HSPG-dependent LRP pathway and an HSPG-dependent but LRP-independent pathway. The HL-mediated binding and uptake of HDL were only minimally reduced when catalytically inactive HL or LRP binding-defective HL was substituted for wild-type HL, indicating that much of the HDL uptake required neither HL binding to the LRP nor lipolytic processing. To study the role of HL in facilitating the selective uptake of cholesteryl esters, we used HDL into which radiolabeled cholesteryl ether had been incorporated. HL increased the selective uptake of HDL cholesteryl ether; this enhanced uptake was reduced by more than 80% by heparinase but was unaffected by the 39-kDa protein. Like HL, apoE enhanced the binding and uptake of HDL (∼2-fold) but had little effect on the selective uptake of HDL cholesteryl ether. In the presence of HL, apoE did not further increase the uptake of HDL, and at a high concentration apoE impaired or decreased the HL-mediated uptake of HDL. Therefore, HL and apoE may utilize similar (but not identical) binding sites to mediate HDL uptake. Although the relative importance of cell surface HSPG in the overall metabolism of HDL in vivo remains to be determined, cultured hepatocytes clearly displayed an HSPG-dependent pathway that mediates the binding and uptake of HDL. This study also demonstrates the importance of HL in enhancing the binding and uptake of remnant and low density lipoproteins via an HSPG-dependent pathway.
Seroprevalence of certain bacterial and viral infections among the Irula tribal population of Marakkanam, Tamil Nadu state, India

Aim Seroprevalence study in Irula tribe of Marakkanam, Tamil Nadu State was carried out for certain bacterial (typhoid, syphilis and leptospirosis) and viral infection (hanta,hepatitis B and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)). Result Highest seroprevalence was observed for leptospirosis (61.1%) followed by, hepatitis B virus surface antigen (11.11%), syphilis (9.72%), typhoid (8.33%), hantavirus (6.9%) and HIV (2.77%). Observation The seroprevalence of leptospirosis and hantavirus may be attributed to their professional exposure to rodent that they catch in the open field and the syphilis, hepatitis B and HIV prevalence may be related to their sexual behavior and social customs.
Impaired Photosynthesis in Phosphatidylglycerol-Deficient Mutant of Cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC7120 with a Disrupted Gene Encoding a Putative Phosphatidylglycerophosphatase1

Phosphatidylglycerol (PG) is a ubiquitous phospholipid in thylakoid membranes of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts and plays an important role in the structure and function of photosynthetic membranes. The last step of the PG biosynthesis is dephosphorylation of phosphatidylglycerophosphate (PGP) catalyzed by PGP phosphatase. However, the gene-encoding PGP phosphatase has not been identified and cloned from cyanobacteria or higher plants. In this study, we constructed a PG-deficient mutant from cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC7120 with a disrupted gene (alr1715, a gene for Alr1715 protein, GenBank accession no. BAB78081) encoding a putative PGP phosphatase. The obtained mutant showed an approximately 30% reduction in the cellular content of PG. Following the reduction in the PG content, the photoautotrophical growth of the mutant was restrained, and the cellular content of chlorophyll was decreased. The decreases in net photosynthetic and photosystem II (PSII) activities on a cell basis also occurred in this mutant. Simultaneously, the photochemical efficiency of PSII was considerably declined, and less excitation energy was transferred toward PSII. These findings demonstrate that the alr1715 gene of Anabaena sp. PCC7120 is involved in the biosynthesis of PG and essential for photosynthesis.
The Availability of Folates in Man: Effect of Orange Juice Supplement on Intestinal Conjugase

The mechanisms of the low availability of endogenous folates in orange juice and the inhibitory effects on the availability of pteroylheptaglutamate (PteGlu7) caused by orange juice supplements were investigated in man by the use of simulated orange juice (containing the principal components: citric acid, malic acid, etc.) with several different pHs.
The influence of cultural dimensions on entrepreneurial intention in Madagascar's rural areas

ii DECLARATION iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vii LIST OF TABLES xiv LIST OF FIGURES xvi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH 1 1.2 CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH 1 1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT 8 1.3. 1 MAIN PROBLEM 8 1.3. 2 SUB-PROBLEM 1 8 1.3. 3 SUB-PROBLEM 2 8 1.3. 4 SUB-PROBLEM 3 8 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH 9 1.5 DELIMITATION OF THE RESEARCH 10 1.6 ASSUMPTIONS 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 12 2.
Cytotoxic effect and possible mechanisms of Tetracaine on human corneal epithelial cells in vitro.

AIM To demonstrate the cytotoxic effect and possible mechanisms of Tetracaine on human corneal epithelial (HCEP) cells in vitro. METHODS In vitro cultured HCEP cell were treated with Tetracaine hydrochloride at different doses for different times, and their morphology, viability, and plasma membrane permeability were detected by light microscopy, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, and acridine orange (AO)/ethidium bromide (EB) staining, respectively. Their cell cycle progression, phosphatidylserine orientation in plasma membrane, and mitochondrial membrane potential (MTP) were assessed by flow cytometry. DNA fragmentation, ultrastructure, caspase activation, and the cytoplasmic apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) and cytochrome c (Cyt. c) along with the expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family proteins were examined by gel electrophoresis, transmission electron microscope, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS After exposed to Tetracaine at doses from 10.0 to 0.3125 g/L, the HCEP cells showed dose- and time-dependent morphological abnormality and typical cytopathic effect, viability decline, and plasma membrane permeability elevation. Tetracaine induced phosphatidylserine externalization, DNA fragmentation, G1 phase arrest, and ultrastructural abnormality and apoptotic body formation. Furthermore, Tetracaine at a dose of 0.3125 g/L also induced caspase-3, -9 and -8 activation, MTP disruption, up-regulation of the cytoplasmic amount of Cyt. c and AIF, the expressions of Bax and Bad, and down-regulation of the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. CONCLUSION Tetracaine above 0.3125 g/L (1/32 of its clinical applied dosage) has a dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity to HCEP cells in vitro, with inducing cell apoptosis via a death receptor-mediated mitochondrion-dependent pathway.
Loss of IL‐7 receptor alpha‐chain (CD127) expression in acute HCV infection associated with viral persistence

Interleukin‐7 (IL‐7) is required for the establishment and maintenance of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, and cells lacking IL‐7Rα (CD127) demonstrate impaired IL‐2 secretion and have a short life‐span. Chronic HCV is characterized by T cells that are functionally impaired and exhibit an immature phenotype. To investigate the potential role of IL‐7/IL‐7Rα in the outcome of HCV infection, we used multiparameter flow cytometry to characterize patients with acute infection (n = 24), long‐term chronic infection (12) and normal subjects (13). HCV infection per se resulted in downregulation of CD127 on total CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes as compared to normal controls. Total expression was lowest in those patients who subsequently developed persistence and intermediate in those patients with acute‐resolving infection. This reduction affected both naïve and effector/memory T cells. CD127 correlated phenotypically with upregulation of chemokine receptors CCR7 and CXCR4, expression of the anti‐apoptotic molecule B cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl‐2), and enhanced IL‐2 production. In six HLA A2‐positive patients, we longitudinally tracked tetramer responses to HCV and CMV epitopes; at baseline, reflecting the expression of CD127 on whole T cell populations, viral‐specific CTLs in patients who became chronic demonstrated lower CD127. In conclusion, CD127 is a useful marker of functional CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and its expression correlates with virologic outcome of acute HCV. These data provide a mechanistic basis for the observation that CTLs generated in early infection rapidly decline as chronicity is established; CD127 expression should be considered in the design of novel immunotherapeutic approaches. (HEPATOLOGY 2006;44:1098–1109.)