Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Task-based language teaching: sorting out the misunderstandings

This paper begins by offering a definition of ‘task’ and by emphasizing that there is no single ‘task-based teaching’ approach. It then evaluates a number of criticisms of TBT, drawing on recent critiques by Widdowson, Seedhouse, Sheen, and Swan. It is argued that many of these criticisms stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of what a ‘task’ is, and of the theoretical rationales that inform task-based teaching. These criticisms also reflect a failure to acknowledge that multiple versions of task-based teaching exist. In particular, it is argued that task-based teaching need not be seen as an alternative to more traditional, form-focused approaches but can be used alongside them. The paper concludes with an examination of a number of genuine problems with implementing task-based teaching, as reflected in evaluation studies.
T Cell Receptor Revision Does Not Solely Target Recent Thymic Emigrants1

CD4+Vβ5+ T cells enter one of two tolerance pathways after recognizing a peripherally expressed superantigen encoded by an endogenous retrovirus. One pathway leads to deletion, while the other, termed TCR revision, results in cellular rescue upon expression of an alternate TCR that no longer recognizes the tolerogen. TCR revision requires the rearrangement of novel TCR β-chain genes and depends on recombinase-activating gene (RAG) expression in peripheral T cells. In line with recent findings that RAG+ splenic B cells are immature cells that have maintained RAG expression, it has been hypothesized that TCR revision is limited to recent thymic emigrants that have maintained RAG expression and TCR loci in a recombination-permissive configuration. Using mice in which the expression of green fluorescent protein is driven by the RAG2 promoter, we now show that in vitro stimulation can drive reporter expression in noncycling, mature, peripheral CD4+ T cells. In addition, thymectomized Vβ5 transgenic RAG reporter mice are used to demonstrate that TCR revision can target peripheral T cells up to 2 mo after thymectomy. Both sets of experiments strongly suggest that reinduction of RAG genes triggers TCR revision. Approximately 3% of CD4+Vβ5+ T cells in thymectomized Vβ5 transgenic reporter mice have undergone TCR revision within the previous 4–5 days. TCR revision can also occur in Vβ5+ T cells from nontransgenic mice, illustrating the relevance of this novel tolerance mechanism in unmanipulated animals.
Institutional Changes in Delivery of Agricultural Inputs and Services to Farm Households in India

This paper has examined the major institutional changes in agricultural input markets and use of inputs across the farming community of the country in the previous decade. More specifically, it discusses the three aspects of inputs: (i) trend in major agricultural inputs use, (ii) their accessibility to small farmers, and (iii) institutional changes in the delivery of input and services. The study has sourced the data from various government reports mainly from NSSO, input survey and CACP. A significant growth in input-use has been recorded in the previous decade and a noticeable change has been observed in the shares of public and private sectors in the factor markets. Accessibility to institutional credit has been limited for marginal and small farmers; however, chemical fertilizer and pesticide use has been found highest among these farmers vis-a-vis other category of farmers. About 40 per cent of the farmers have access to information on modern technology from any source and progressive farmers have emerged as the major source. Easing procedural norms in accessing institutional credit is essential for inclusion of marginal and small farmers in the formal credit system. In addition, extension system should be rejuvenated with recent developments of information and communication technologies for better dissemination of farm information, particularly among the remotely located farm households.
11C-PiB PET studies in typical sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease

Objective: Brain amyloid imaging using positron emission tomography (PET) is of increasing importance in the premortem evaluation of dementias, particularly in relation to Alzheimer disease (AD). The purpose of this study was to explore the premortem diagnostic utility of 11C-PiB PET in sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). Methods: Two patients, 72 and 59 years old, underwent evaluation for rapidly progressive cognitive decline, dying after illness durations of 5 and 7 months, respectively. As part of their comprehensive assessment, 18F-FDG PET and 11C-PiB PET studies were performed approximately 2–4 weeks prior to death, and the brain regional distributions compared with those from cohorts of healthy controls (HC) and AD patients. Results: Routine investigations, including brain MRI scans, revealed changes typical of sporadic CJD, with the diagnosis confirmed at autopsy in both patients. The 18F-FDG PET showed global hypometabolism in one patient and thalamic and frontal hypometabolism with unexpected hypermetabolism in the dentate nuclei of the cerebellum in the other. Neither patient displayed cerebral cortical 11C-PiB PET retention above the levels observed in HC. Conclusions: No grey-matter 11C-PiB retention was observed in two pathologically confirmed cases of typical sporadic CJD. We speculate that low PrP plaque density and small plaque size, as well as a relatively low affinity of the radioligand, explain the absence of 11C-PiB retention. More studies to validate this hypothesis are warranted.
MICROBIAL EXTRACTION OF CHITIN AND CHITOSAN FROM PLEUROTUS SPP, ITS CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY

Objective: The aim of the present work was to extract the chitin and chitosan from two species of Pleurotus, its characterization and its antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi. Methods: The fungi were grown in MGYP medium for 15 d. The chitin and chitosan were extracted using the alkaline method and various biochemical methods and compared with commercial chitin and chitosan. The FTIR and SEM were also performed. Antimicrobial activity was performed using well diffusion method. Results: The maximum yield of mycelia and the chitin and chitosan were obtained on 12 th day of incubation. P. folrida gave maximum yield (201.3 mg/l of chitin and 65.61 mg/l of chitosan). Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy comparing the results obtained with results for commercial chitin and chitosan. Our results showed that chitin and chitosan obtained from Pleurotus spp. had a significant similitude with commercial. SEM image also carried out to study the surface morphology. The fungal chitin and chitosan had more antimicrobial activity against the gram+ve, gram–ve and the various fungus. Conclusion: In the present study the chitin and chitosan were extracted from the Pleurotus spp. ( P. florida and P. eous ). The yield was maximum in P. florida after 12 th day of fermentation. The FTIR and SEM also confirmed the chitin and chitosan. The extracted chitin and chitosan were subjected to antimicrobial activity, and it was found the extracted chitin and chitosan were active against the bacteria and fungi. Our findings suggest that the Pleurotus spp. are the potential candidate to produce eco-friendly chitin and chitosan in the development of drugs, artificial bone and raw material for the food industries in the near future.
Facial nerve injury in congenital aural atresia surgery.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine those patients who have sustained a facial nerve injury during surgery for congenital aural atresia and pinpoint the site of injury vis-a-vis the operative approach. STUDY DESIGN The study design was a retrospective review of >1,000 patients undergoing atresia repair. SETTING The study was performed at a tertiary referral center. PATIENTS The study consists of 10 patients with a facial nerve injury from atresia surgery. INTERVENTION In 1 of 10 patients, the facial nerve was transected. This occurred during the skin incision at the level of the helix. A sural nerve cable graft was used to repair the severed nerve. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES High-resolution computed tomography of the temporal bone was the most important preoperative study. However, in cases of aural stenosis with cholesteatoma, the course of the facial nerve may be camouflaged. RESULTS Ten of >1,000 patients operated on sustained a facial nerve injury from atresia surgery. Seven of these patients were those of the authors, whereas three had the initial surgery elsewhere, each by a different surgeon. CONCLUSIONS For the inexperienced surgeon, the facial nerve is at its greatest risk in the inferoposterior portion of atretic bone just lateral to the middle ear. For the experienced surgeon, the facial nerve is at its greatest risk in those patients with low-set ears, canal stenosis, and an accompanying cholesteatoma.
Noninvasive diagnosis of solitary pulmonary lesions in cancer patients based on 2‐fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose avidity on positron emission tomography/computed tomography

2‐Fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose (FDG) imaging is highly accurate for assessing solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) in patients without known malignancy. In the current study, the authors evaluated FDG‐positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for the characterization of SPN in cancer patients.
Design of overlay networks for internet multicast

Multicast is an efficient transmission scheme for supporting group communication in networks. Contrasted with unicast, where multiple point-to-point connections must be used to support communications among a group of users, multicast is more efficient because each data packet is replicated in the network—at the branching points leading to distinguished destinations, thus reducing the transmission load on the data sources and traffic load on the network links. To implement multicast, networks need to incorporate new routing and forwarding mechanisms in addition to the existing unicast methods. Unfortunately, the necessary functions needed to realize multicast are not adequately supported in the current networks. The IP multicast solution has serious scaling and deployment limitations, and cannot be easily extended to provide more enhanced data services. Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, IP multicast has ignored the economic nature of the problem, lacking incentives for service providers to deploy the service in wide area networks. Overlay multicast holds promise for the realization of large scale Internet multicast services. An overlay network is a virtual topology constructed on top of the Internet infrastructure. The concept of overlay networks enables multicast to be deployed as a service network rather than a network primitive mechanism, allowing deployment over heterogeneous networks without the need of universal network support. This dissertation addresses the network design aspects of overlay networks to provide scalable multicast services in the Internet. The resources and the network cost in the context of overlay networks are different from that in conventional networks, presenting new challenges and new problems to solve. Our design goals are the maximization of network utility and improved service quality. As the overall network design problem is extremely complex, we divide the problem into three components: the efficient management of session traffic (multicast routing), the provisioning of overlay network resources (bandwidth dimensioning) and overlay topology optimization (service placement). The combined solution provides a comprehensive procedure for planning and managing an overlay multicast network. We also consider a complementary form of overlay multicast called application-level multicast (ALMI). ALMI allows end systems to directly create an overlay multicast session among themselves. This gives applications the flexibility to communicate without relying on service providers. The tradeoff is that users do not have direct control on the topology and data paths taken by the session flows and will typically get lower quality of service due to the best effort nature of the Internet environment. ALMI is therefore suitable for sessions of small size or sessions where all members are well connected to the network. Furthermore, the ALMI framework allows us to experiment with application specific components such as data reliability, in order to identify a useful set of communication semantics for enhanced data services.
Effect of Wavefront on Impulse Breakdown Voltages of Slightly Nonuniform Field Gaps in Nitrogen, Air and SF6

The influence of the wavefront on impulse breakdown voltages for enclosed slightly-nonuniform-field gaps is reported. A 25 mm sphere-plane gap and a 20/50 mm diameter coaxial electrode system were used to obtain different fielt nonuniformity factors and different critical volumes. The wavefronts used in this work were 0.45, 1.35, 20, 50 and 90 ¿s while the wavetail was around 450 , ¿s for all cases. A 30 W UV lamp and 2 mCi caesium isotope were employed as irradiation sources. Experimental results show that strongly wavefront-dependent breakdown characteristics for small enclosed gaps reported by some other investigators were probably due to insufficient irradiation conditions. On the other hand, for the coaxial cylinder gap having a large critical volume, artificial irradiation was not necessary.
Guidelines for Perioperative Blood Transfusion and Conservation in Cardiac Surgery: Lessons and Challenges

In a recent issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, Likosky et al. reported the results of a survey designed to assess the penetration and effect on clinical practice of the 2007 Society of Thoracic Surgeons/Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (STS/SCA) Clinical Practice Guidelines on perioperative blood transfusion and conservation in cardiac surgery. Their principal findings were that although three-quarters of the anesthesiologists surveyed and two-thirds of the perfusionists had read all or parts of the guidelines, unfortunately in only 20% of the institutions had the guidelines been discussed formally, and in only 14% had an institutional multidisciplinary group been established to monitor changes in practice. Overall, despite the wide variability in transfusion practices, many of the recommendations were practiced in fewer than 50% of the institutions, and only 3 recommended practices were followed by more than 75% of the respondents. Only 26% reported practice changes as a consequence of the guidelines, and only 4 of 37 guideline recommendations were reported by more than 5% of the respondents to have been changed. This would appear to be an unfortunate circumstance because, as pointed out by these authors, the adverse effects of bleeding and transfusion on outcomes after cardiac surgery are well known. Likosky et al. accomplished a daunting task in designing, testing, distributing, and subsequently analyzing their survey, but unfortunately their report suffers from 2 major limitations, which the authors have acknowledged. The most obvious limitation is that cardiac surgeons did not participate in the survey and the second is the subjective nature and potential bias of surveys of this type. Also, this survey raises broader questions regarding the value and limitations of clinical guidelines in cardiac surgery and in other aspects of perioperative practice, and calls into question where we should concentrate our efforts in the future.
Detection of Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma parvum (biovar 1) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (biovar 2) in patients with non‐gonococcal urethritis using polymerase chain reaction‐microtiter plate hybridization

Abstract Aim: To use polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐microtiter plate hybridization assays to detect Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma parvum (biovar 1) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (biovar 2) in first‐voided urine specimens from patients with non‐gonococcal urethritis (NGU).
Interobserver Variation in the Diagnosis of Neurologic Abnormalities in the Horse

Background The diagnosis of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) relies heavily on the clinical examination. The accurate identification of neurologic signs during a clinical examination is critical to the interpretation of laboratory results. Objective To investigate the level of agreement between board‐certified veterinary internists when performing neurologic examinations in horses. Animals Ninety‐seven horses admitted to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at The Ohio State University from December 1997 to June 1998. Methods A prospective epidemiologic research design was used. Horses enrolled in the study were examined by the internist responsible for care of the horse, and later by an internist who was not aware of the presenting complaint or other patient history. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and kappa (K) statistics were calculated to assess interobserver agreement. Results Ninety‐seven horses were enrolled in the study. Overall, examiners, also referred to as observers, agreed that 60/97 (61.9%) were clinically abnormal, 21/97 (21.6%) were clinically normal, and the status of 16/97 (16.5%) of horses was contested. There was complete agreement among the examiners with regard to cranial nerve signs and involuntary movements. Disagreement involving severity of clinical signs occurred in 31 horses, and 25 of those horses (80.6%) were considered either normal or mildly affected by the primary observer. When examining the results of all paired clinical examinations for 11 different categories, there was wide variability in the results. When examiners rated the presence or absence of any neurologic abnormalities, lameness, or ataxia, the agreement among observers was either good or excellent for 80% of horses. When assessing truncal sway, the agreement among observers was good or excellent for 60% of the horses. When examining the horses for asymmetry of deficits, agreement was either good or excellent for 40% of the horses. Agreement among observers was excellent or good for only 20% of the horses when assessing muscle atrophy, spasticity (hypermetria), and overall assessment of the severity of neurologic abnormalities. Conclusions and Clinical Importance This study underscores the subjectivity of the neurologic examination and demonstrates a reasonable level of agreement that may be achieved when different clinicians examine the same horse.
Influence of VPM afferents on putative inhibitory interneurons in S1 of the awake rabbit: evidence from cross-correlation, microstimulation, and latencies to peripheral sensory stimulation.

1. Responses of thalamocortical projection neurons and suspected cortical interneurons (SINs) to very brief peripheral stimuli were examined within the vibrissae, the sinus hair, the lip, and the chin representations of ventroposterior medial thalamus (VPM) and primary somatosensory cortex (S1). VPM thalamocortical neurons (N = 40) were identified by their antidromic activation after electrical stimulation of S1. SINs were identified by a high-frequency (> 600 Hz) burst of three or more spikes elicited by suprathreshold stimulation of one or more afferent pathways. SINs also had spikes of very short duration. 2. Previous work has shown that electrical stimulation of VPM elicits a very early and powerful synaptic response in many S1 SINs. Three experimental strategies were employed to test the hypothesis that such responses reflect a monosynaptic VPM input onto SINs and to examine the effects of such input. 1) After a brief peripheral stimulus, the arrival times of VPM thalamocortical impulses in S1 were determined and compared with the initial response times of S1 SINs. 2) Shift-corrected cross-correlograms (CCGs) were constructed from the spike trains of pairs of VPM neurons and SINs that were in precise topographic alignment. 3) Inferences of connectivity based on such CCGs were supported by applying very low-intensity (1-10 microA) microstimulation pulses to the recording microelectrode in VPM and observing evoked responses in the cortical SIN. 3. VPM thalamocortical neurons responded to a brief air puff stimulus at a median latency of 5.05 ms, and the estimated arrival time of the VPM impulses at S1 had a median value of 5.97 ms. This estimate was obtained by adding the antidromic latency of each VPM neuron to the latency of the peripheral stimulus and was supported by similar values obtained from three VPM thalamocortical axons recorded near their termination site within S1. SINs of S1 were among the first cortical neurons to respond to the peripheral stimulus, responding to the air puff at a median latency of 6.6 ms (range 5.7-13.0 ms). The latency of SINs to the peripheral stimulus was strongly related to the latency to gross electrical stimulation of VPM (median value 1.52 ms, r2 = +0.44, P < 0.0001). Many SINs (23 of 34) showed significant shift-corrected CCGs with VPM neurons that were in precise topographic alignment. Most significant CCGs revealed a very brief increase in SIN spike probability (half-amplitude response of approximately 1 ms) that reached a peak value at intervals of 1.4-2.0 ms after the VPM spike. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Bayesian Modelling, Monte Carlo Sampling and Capital Allocation of Insurance Risks

The main objective of this work is to develop a detailed step-by-step guide to the development and application of a new class of efficient Monte Carlo methods to solve practically important problems faced by insurers under the new solvency regulations. In particular, a novel Monte Carlo method to calculate capital allocations for a general insurance company is developed, with a focus on coherent capital allocation that is compliant with the Swiss Solvency Test. The data used is based on the balance sheet of a representative stylized company. For each line of business in that company, allocations are calculated for the one-year risk with dependencies based on correlations given by the Swiss Solvency Test. Two different approaches for dealing with parameter uncertainty are discussed and simulation algorithms based on (pseudo-marginal) Sequential Monte Carlo algorithms are described and their efficiency is analysed.
Vascular perfusion of human lung cancer in a rat orthotopic model using dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among cancers. Early detection and diagnosis present a major goal in the efforts to improve survival rates of lung cancer patients. Changes in angiogenic activity and microvascular perfusion properties in cancers can serve as markers of malignancy. The aim of this study was to employ MRI means to measure the microvascular perfusion parameters of orthotopic nonsmall cell lung cancer, using the experimental rat model. Anatomical and dynamic contrast‐enhanced lung images were acquired at high spatial resolution, and registered and analyzed, pixel by pixel and globally, by means of a model‐based algorithm. The MRI output yielded color‐coded parametric images of the influx and efflux transcapillary transfer constants that indicated rapid microvascular perfusion. The transfer constants were about 1 order of magnitude higher than those found in other tumors or in nonorthotopic lung cancer, with the influx constant median value of 0.42 min−1 and the efflux constant median value of 1.61 min−1. The rapid perfusion was in accord with the immunostaining of the capillaries, which suggested the tumor exploitation of the existing alveolar vessels. The results showed that high resolution, dynamic, contrast‐enhanced MRI is an effective tool for the quantitative measurement of spatial and temporal changes in lung cancer perfusion and vasculature. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.