Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TEST ANXIETY INVENTORY (TAI): VALIDIZATION AND PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF CZECH VERSION

This study details the development and validation of a Czech language version of the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI). The TAI instrument has been created to allow acquisition of empirical evidence on the two abovementioned components in practical situations. This measurement tool addresses identification of worry and emotionality during tests. Spielberger et al. (1978) created TAI (Test Anxiety Inventory), a self-report based scale used for measuring both test anxiety factors. According to Spielberger (1980), TAI was designed to measure anxiety in high school and university students. It consists of two subgroups: measurement of worry (TAI-W) and measurement of emotional distress (TAI-E). In our research, we assess psychometric properties of the TAI scale and test the scale among student population in the Czech Republic and we also debate options of application of this method on respondents at the lower limit of the recommended age. In this study, the TAI scale was adapted and administered to a sample of 185 students aged 12 to 15 years. The aim of this study was to examine factor structure and explore the psychometric properties for Czech version of Test Anxiety Inventory. Alpha reliability values for different scales of TAI (TAI-Worry, and TAI-Emotionality) ranged was 0.877 (TAI-E) and 0.851 (TAI-W). The correlation between the two subscales measured by the Pearson correction coefficient is positive and very strong (r = 0.769) and statistically significant (p <.001). The two-factor structure consisting of TAI-Worry and TAI-Emotionality components showed acceptable discriminant validity and internal reliability. The item analysis and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were made showing that Czech TAI Scale has acceptable psychometrical properties and can be used in Czech school children.
Impact of an EHR-Based Diabetes Management Form on Quality and Outcomes of Diabetes Care in Primary Care Practices

Health information technology shows promise for improving chronic disease care. This study assessed the impact of a diabetes management form (DMF), accessible within an electronic health record. From 2007 to 2009, 2108 diabetes patients were seen in 20 primary care practices; 1103 visits involved use of the DMF in 2008. The primary outcome was “optimal care”: HbA1c ≤8%, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol <100 mg/dL, blood pressure <130/80 mm Hg, not smoking, and aspirin prescription in patients ≥40 years. After adjusting for number of visits, age, sex, and insulin use, DMF-exposed patients showed less improvement in attaining “optimal care” (estimated difference-in-difference [DID] = −2.06 percentage points; P < .001), LDL cholesterol (DID = −2.30; P = .023), blood pressure (DID = −3.05; P < .001), and total cholesterol (DID = −0.47; P = .004) targets. Documented microalbumin tests, aspirin prescription, and eye and foot exams increased more. Thus, DMF use was associated with smaller gains in achieving evidence-based targets, but greater improvement in documented delivery of care.
Teaching medical students about communication in speech-language disorders: Effects of a lecture and a workshop

Abstract Purpose: This study aims to explore the effects of an interactive workshop involving speech-language pathology students on medical students’ knowledge about communication in relation to speech-language disorders. Method: Fifty-nine medical students received a lecture about speech-language disorders. Twenty-six of them also participated in a workshop on communication with patients with speech-language disorders. All students completed a 12-item questionnaire exploring knowledge and attitudes towards communication before and after the lecture or the workshop. The results from the two groups’ self-ratings of confidence in knowledge were compared with expert-ratings of their ability to choose suitable communicative strategies. Result: Both the lecture and the workshop increased the students’ confidence in knowledge about speech-language disorders and how to support communication. Only the workshop group also displayed a statistically significant increase in expert-rated ability and changed their attitude regarding responsibility for the communication in cases of speech-language disorders. There were no statistically significant correlations between the student’s own confidence ratings and the experts’ ratings of ability. Conclusion: Increased confidence in knowledge from learning is not always reflected in actual knowledge in how to communicate. However, an interactive workshop proved to increase medical students’ expert-rated ability and attitudes related to communication in cases of speech-language disorders.
An Interdisciplinary Approach Measuring Returns to Education, Family Background, Cultural and Social Capital in Germany

The German educational system is criticized by the OECD in its Programme for International Student Assessment. Family background would heavily influence children's academic achievements. In fact, the German poverty review reports that a child stemming from a high-class family has a 3.1 times higher chance to attend secondary school than a child from a working class family, controlling for ability. The chance for taking up university studies is even 7.4 times higher for children from high-class families. In search of an explanation for this misery Pierre Bourdieu's and James Coleman's theories about cultural and social capital prove to be valuable. This study appears to be the fi rst one following an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating measures of cultural and social capital along with family background and further variables into a common Mincerian income equation. Taking data from the German SOEP for the years 2001 and 2008 indices measuring cultural, social capital and ability are constructed applying polychoric principal component analysis. Education is endogenized and adequate regression techniques are applied. Results show that social background determines both an individual's income and education. An individual's level of education does signi cantly depend on parents' education, the parents being blue-collar workers, the level of cultural and social capital and ability. As a policy recommendation, it can be stated that educational policy in Germany should concentrate on enhancing access to education for children from low-class families. In research, the influence of cultural and social capital for educational outcomes should not be neglected.
Bridging the boundaries? A study of mainstream mathematics, academic support and "disadvantaged learners" in an independent, secondary school in the Western Cape

A small-scale study was conducted within a historic and traditional, independent, all -boys secondary school in the Western Cape, the focus of which is the exploration of subject positions potentially available to the black male students of the "Black Scholarship Programme" in their study of school mathematics . This includes an examination of the particular nature of the schooling ethos and culture, and its role in creating and maintaining boundaries, producing and reproducing forms of power and control which assist in holding these black students to positions of subordination. It is proposed that the hierarchical and differentiating rituals and codes within the school context provide the means by which the Black Scholarship students are constructed as disadvantaged . Particular emphasis is placed on the discourse of mathematics within the Academic Support Programme of the school, designed to assist these black students in "bridging the gap" in their academic knowledge and experience; and in the differentiated nature of the mathematics discourse available to the Black Scholarship students within the Mainstream Programme. There is an examination of the power relations between these two discourses and other discourses within the social domain which shape the way in which these students are positioned in terms of deficit and disadvantage. Four students of the Black Scholarship Programme were interviewed in their initial year at the secondary school (Standard Six) as were the two teachers of the Academic Support Programme. The discussions were taped and transcribed and formed the basis of the analysis. Field notes were taken of discussions with academic staff within the Mathematics Department and school documentation reflecting school policies and discussions within the school were used, where relevant, in relation to the Black Scholarship students and mathematics . The methodological framework was drawn, in the main, from the work of Basil Bernstein and Paul Dowling in focusing on context, discourse and subjectivity. The study was used to interrogate previous research work in the area of Social Inequality and Mathematics Education. It also raised questions about taken-for-granted assumptions, both within the school as well as the wider community, regarding race, social class, language and cultural difference. The study attempts to investigate and bring into focus how "difference" is created and maintained, produced and reproduced within the context of the school, providing boundaries rather than bridges, and how this difference is recontextualised into disadvantage in relation to the Black Scholarship students and mathematics.
The Simulated Clinical Environment as a Platform for Refining Critical Thinking in Nursing Students: A Pilot Program

Aim. This research explores the use of clinical simulations as a platform for stimulating critical thinking in nursing students. Background. This study takes place in an associate degree nursing program with a clinical group of nursing students. Method. Utilizing a faculty partnership approach, information was presented to the clinical group. Students were divided into small groups to create simulation scenarios. Results. Students were able to appreciate complexity of care and research differential diagnoses as they applied to care and management of changes in client condition scenarios. Conclusions. Use of a small‐group teaching method to develop, implement, and critique clinical simulation scenarios facilitated critical thinking and clinical judgment of nursing students.
Dual Elasticities of Substitution

We argue that, for more than two inputs, different elasticity of substitution concepts must be used to answer different questions about substitutability among inputs. To assess the effects of price changes, direct elasticities should be used; to assess the effects of quantity changes, dual elasticities should be used. (Direct) AllenUzawa elasticities are ubiquitous; (direct) Morishima elasticities are gradually working their way into the literature. Dual Allen-Uzawa and Morishima elasticities (for multiple-output, non-homogeneous technologies) have been formulated but have not yet been applied. We show that the dual Allen-Uzawa elasticity is identical to the Hicks elasticity of complementarity (for a single output) iff there are constant returns to scale, an assumption we easily reject when we apply each of these these elasticity concepts to the Swiss labor market for domestic and guest workers. J.E. L. classification numbers: D2 and J0.
Variation in Transfusion Practices and the Effect on Outcomes After Noncardiac Surgery.

OBJECTIVES To identify the patient-level effects of blood transfusion on postoperative outcomes and to estimate the effects of different transfusion practices on hospital-level risk-adjusted outcomes. BACKGROUND Postoperative transfusion practices and their effects on short-term outcomes in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery are not well understood. METHODS Demographic, operative, and outcomes data for 48,720 patients undergoing general or vascular surgery at 52 hospitals between July 2012 and April 2014 were obtained. The main exposure variable was receipt of any blood transfusion within 72 hours after surgery. Thirty-day mortality, any morbidity, infectious complications, and postoperative myocardial infarction were the outcomes of interest. Propensity score matching was used to minimize confounding by indication. Hospitals were categorized as having a restrictive, average, or liberal transfusion practice based on average trigger hemoglobin values. RESULTS A total of 2243 (4.6%) patients received a postoperative blood transfusion. After propensity matching, a postoperative transfusion was associated with increased 30-day mortality (3.6% excess absolute risk), any morbidity (4.4% excess absolute risk), and infectious morbidity (1.0% excess absolute risk). However, a transfusion was associated with 3.5% absolute risk reduction in postoperative myocardial infarction. At the hospital level, there was a wide variation in transfusion practices. Hospitals with liberal practices were twice as likely to transfuse patients and had higher risk-adjusted mortality rates than restrictive hospitals (3.1% vs 2.2%; P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Postoperative transfusions after noncardiac surgery are associated with increased adverse postoperative outcomes, with the exception of postoperative myocardial infarction. Hospitals that are liberal in their transfusion practices have higher 30-day mortality rates, suggesting potential interventions for quality improvement.
Effect of Instant Controlled Pressure Drop on IgE Antibody Reactivity to Peanut, Lentil, Chickpea and Soybean Proteins

Background: The use of legume seeds is being expanded in the food industry due to their excellent nutritional and technological properties. However, legumes have been considered causative agents of allergic reactions through ingestion. Previous studies indicated that processing methods combining heat and steam pressure, such as instant controlled pressure drop (DIC®), could decrease allergenicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of DIC treatment on peanut, lentil, chickpea and soybean IgE antibody reactivity. Methods: Peanut, lentil, chickpea and soybeanseeds were subjected to DIC treatment at different pressure and time conditions (3 and 6 bar for 1 and 3 min). Control (raw) and DIC-treated extracts were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting using a serum pool from sensitized patients. Results: DIC treatment did not affect the total protein content of legume seeds. Nevertheless, modifications of protein profiles after DIC showed a general decrease in IgE binding to legume proteins that was correlated to a higher steam pressure and longer treatment. The immunoreactivity of soybean proteins was almost abolished with treatment at 6 bar for 3 min. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that DIC treatment produces a reduction in the overall in vitro IgE binding of peanut, lentil and chickpea and a drastic reduction in soybean immunoreactivity.
A transparent and ubiquitous access framework for networking and embedded system laboratories

With the advances in network technology and development of an e‐learning population, using the Internet to realize a distance laboratory has become prevalent and the distance laboratory can be accessed anytime from anywhere. However, it is difficult to present a seamless environment from the traditional physical laboratory into a distance laboratory. Practical devices in the traditional laboratory rarely supported distance access functions, and thus, constructing distance laboratories is difficult and time consuming. Hence, this work presents a distance laboratory framework with transparent and ubiquitous access platforms for various console‐based experiments, especially for networking and embedded system laboratories. The proposed system can support multiple users to access a device at the same time. Thus, students can easily share their experiences with each other to increase cooperative learning chances. Moreover, the proposed framework can be integrated to various distance laboratories and the user can access multiple platforms in one or several distance laboratories at the same time. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework can effectively improve the learning effect and the access platform can be used to increase the utilization of system resources. It can also reduce the cost of conducting laboratories and enhance student learning interest. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 20: 321–331, 2012
YM022 [(R)-1-[2,3-dihydro-1-(2'-methylphenacyl)-2-oxo-5-phenyl- 1H-1,4-benzodiazepin-3-yl]-3-(3-methylphenyl)urea], a potent and selective gastrin/cholecystokinin-B receptor antagonist, prevents gastric and duodenal lesions in rats.

We evaluated the effect of YM022 [(R)-1-[2,3-dihydro-1-(2'- methylphenacyl)-2-oxo-5-phenyl-1H-1,4-benzodiazepin-3-yl]-3- (3-methylphenyl)urea], a potent and selective gastrin/cholecystokinin-B receptor antagonist, on gastric acid secretion and gastric and duodenal lesions in rats. Oral YM022 (0.1-10 mumol/kg), famotidine (0.3-30 mumol/kg) and omeprazole (3-100 mumol/kg) dose-dependently suppressed acid secretion in pylorusligated rats with ED50 values of 0.83, 1.63 and 10.9 mumol/kg, respectively. YM022 (1-10 mumol/kg p.o.), famotidine (1-10 mumol/kg p.o.) and omeprazole (10-100 mumol/kg p.o.) prevented indomethacin-induced gastric lesions in a dose-related manner. The potency of YM022 was comparable to that of famotidine and was 8 times greater than that of omeprazole. YM022 and famotidine partially inhibited gastric damage induced by water-immersion and restraint stress, whereas omeprazole abolished these lesions. In an acidified ethanol-induced gastric injury model, all three drugs inhibited the formation of erosions. The YM022 dosage required in this model was much greater than that required in the inhibition of gastric acid. The inhibitory effect of YM022 was partially reversed by indomethacin, indicating the involvement of a prostaglandin-mediated pathway. YM022 (3-100 mumol/kg p.o.), famotidine (1-30 mumol/kg p.o.) and omeprazole (3-100 mumol/kg p.o.) inhibited mepirizole-induced duodenal ulcers. On the basis of ED50 values, YM022 was 5 times less potent than famotidine and as potent as omeprazole against mepirizole-induced duodenal ulcers. These results suggest that YM022 possesses antisecretory and antiulcer activities that are as potent as those of famotidine in rats and that YM022 represents a useful therapeutic agent in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease.
Altered brain phosphocreatine and ATP regulation when mitochondrial creatine kinase is absent

In cerebral gray matter, ATP concentration is closely maintained despite rapid, large increases in turnover and low substrate reserves. As seen in vivo by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, brain ATP is stable early in seizures, a state of high energy demand, and in mild hypoxia, a state of substrate deficiency. Like other tissues with high and variable ATP turnover, cerebral gray matter has high phosphocreatine (PCr) concentration and both cytosolic and mitochondrial creatine kinase (UbMi‐CK) isoenzymes. To understand the physiology of brain creatine kinases, we used 31P NMR to study PCr and ATP regulation during seizures and hypoxia in mice with targeted deletion of the UbMi‐CK gene. The baseline CK reaction rate constant (k) was higher in mutants than wild‐types. During seizures, PCr and ATP decreased in mutants but not in wild‐types. The k‐value for the CK catalyzed reaction rate increased in wild‐types but not in the mutants. Hypoxic mutants and wild‐types showed similar PCr losses and stable ATP. During recovery from hypoxia, brain PCr and ATP concentrations returned to baseline in wild‐types but were 20% higher than baseline in the mutants. We propose that UbMi‐CK couples ATP turnover to the CK catalyzed reaction rate and regulates ATP concentration when synthesis is increased. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Characterization of membrane‐bound prolyl endopeptidase from brain

Prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) is a serine protease that cleaves small peptides at the carboxyl side of an internal proline residue. Substance P, arginine–vasopressin, thyroliberin and gonadoliberin are proposed physiological substrates of this protease. POP has been implicated in a variety of brain processes, including learning, memory, and mood regulation, as well as in pathologies such as neurodegeneration, hypertension, and psychiatric disorders. Although POP has been considered to be a soluble cytoplasmic peptidase, significant levels of activity have been detected in membranes and in extracellular fluids such as serum, cerebrospinal fluid, seminal fluid, and urine, suggesting the existence of noncytoplasmic forms. Furthermore, a closely associated membrane prolyl endopeptidase (PE) activity has been previously detected in synaptosomes and shown to be different from the cytoplasmic POP activity. Here we isolated, purified and characterized this membrane‐bound PE, herein referred to as mPOP. Although, when attached to membranes, mPOP presents certain features that distinguish it from the classical POP, our results indicate that this protein has the same amino acid sequence as POP except for the possible addition of a hydrophobic membrane anchor. The kinetic properties of detergent‐soluble mPOP are fully comparable to those of POP; however, when attached to the membranes in its natural conformation, mPOP is significantly less active and, moreover, it migrates anomalously in SDS/PAGE. Our results are the first to show that membrane‐bound and cytoplasmic POP are encoded by variants of the same gene.
Space adaptation back pain: a retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION Back pain is frequently reported by astronauts during the early phase of spaceflight as they adapt to microgravity. The epidemiology of space adaptation back pain has not been well defined. This study aims to develop a case definition of space adaptation back pain, determine its incidence, and assess the effectiveness of available treatments. METHODS Medical records from the Mercury, Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), Skylab, Mir, International Space Station (ISS), and Shuttle programs were reviewed. All episodes of in-flight back pain that met the criteria for space adaptation back pain were recorded. Pain characteristics, including intensity, location, and duration of the pain, were noted. The effectiveness of specific treatments was also recorded. RESULTS The incidence of space adaptation back pain among astronauts was determined to be 52% (382/728). Most of the affected astronauts reported mild pain (86%). Moderate pain was reported by 11% of the affected astronauts and severe pain was reported by 3% of the affected astronauts. The most effective treatments were fetal positioning (91%) and the use of analgesic medications and exercise (primarily treadmill and cycle ergometer), which were both 85% effective. DISCUSSION This retrospective study examines the epidemiology of space adaptation back pain. Space adaptation back pain is usually mild and self-limited. However, there is a risk of functional impairment and mission impact in cases of moderate or severe pain that do not respond to currently available treatments. Therefore, the development of preventive measures and more effective treatments should be pursued.