Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Practitioner Appraisals of Their Desired and Current Use of the 2014 Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices

A survey of 955 early childhood practitioners in one Midwestern state was conducted to assess judgments of their desired use versus their current use or implementation of 10 sets of recommended practices from the Division for Early Childhood of the Council of Exceptional Children. Practitioners from early intervention, preschool, preschool special education, Early Head Start, Head Start, and other early childhood programs participated in the study. Results indicated large effect size differences in practitioners’ judgments of their desired versus current use of the practices, differences in terms in which practices were considered most valued and most frequently used by the practitioners, and a continued gap in the use of practices compared with results reported in similar studies conducted 15 and 22 years ago, respectively. The findings are discussed in terms of the need to adopt and use effective professional development practices to ensure practitioner use of valued practices and the need to develop a comprehensive system of personnel development to provide an infrastructure to support practitioners’ knowledge and skills of recommended practices.
It Takes a Region to Raise an Artist: Understanding the East Midlands’ Visual Arts Economy

The It Takes a Region to Raise an Artist research offers the first in-depth survey of the visual arts in the East Midlands. Its purpose is to take stock of the region’s visual arts sector, identifying its key institutions, as well as its strengths and constraints, and to discover what members of the community might need in order to fulfil their professional and artistic potential. The research was conducted through mapping existing provision and support, an online workforce survey, and conducting 15 one-to-one interviews. This new evidence will inform the development of It Takes a Region to Raise an Artist, CVAN EM’s future programme to further develop the East Midlands as a region where artists and visual arts practitioners can flourish – artistically and economically. 466 individual artists and visual arts practitioners participated in an online survey with 399 meeting the inclusion criteria of: a) professional (not self-defining as an amateur); b) living/working within the East Midlands; and c) self-identifying as a member of the visual arts community. This research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through a 10-month Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship awarded by the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (M4C) in 2019. The research was undertaken by the CAMEo Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies at the University of Leicester, in partnership with CVAN EM.
An assessment of oral health status and treatment needs of professional bus drivers in Chennai

Background: Bus drivers represent a special population group or community who deserve to be attended both on oral and general health due to the various occupational and environmental hazards they encounter in their daily life. The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and treatment needs of professional bus drivers in Chennai. Methods: Cross sectional data was collected from 860 professional bus drivers in Chennai city. A specially designed questionnaire was used to assess the demographic variables, oral hygiene practices, tobacco usage, sweet consumption and work related stress. A clinical examination was done according to WHO criteria 1997 and recorded using WHO oral health assessment form. Results: The mean age of the study population was 40.25 years. With regard to sweet score, about 739 (85.9%) drivers were in “watch out” zone. There was significant correlation between sweet scores and DMFT (P = .000). About 524 (60.9%) drivers felt stress at work, 78(9.1%) drivers had leukoplakia, 5 (0.6%) had ulceration, 7 (0.8%) had candidiasis and 30(3.5%) had other conditions. The mean DMFT was 5.53. About 471 (54,8%) had dental calculus, 107 (12.4%) had periodontal pocket depth 6mm or more. Conclusion: The oral health status of bus drivers was poor with high prevalence of periodontal disease and dental caries.
Altered protein and iron levels of patients with active tuberculosis in a Nigerian reference health facility

Backgound: Tuberculosis as a state of chronic inflammation impacts on haematologic functions of the body. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing iron parameters and serum protein levels of ninety tuberculosis patients aged fifteen to sixty years, enrolled from Dr Lawrence Henshaw Memorial Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. Ninety apparently healthy individuals age and gendermatched served as control subjects. Methods: Packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, total protein, albumin and serum ferritin were determined using standard methods. Transferrin saturation, globulin concentration and albumin-globulin ratio were derived by calculation. Data were analysed using student T-test on SPSS version 20 software. Statistical significance was set at P-value less than 0.05. Results: Packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin saturation, albumin levels and albumin-globulin ratio of tuberculosis patients were found to be significantly lower while serum ferritin and globulin were significantly increased (p<0.05) as compared with control values. Serum ferritin improved towards control values as anti-tuberculosis therapy progressed. Conclusion: A reduction in haemoglobin, serum iron, total iron binding capacity and transferrin saturation and increase in serum ferritin as well as altered serum protein levels, occur in tuberculosis infection. Keywords: Tuberculosis, iron, serum protein
Effects of AIDET Communication Program on Satisfaction among Patients and Families in Cardiac Care Unit, Bangkok Heart Hospital

Objective: To investigate the effects of Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, and Thank you (AIDET) communication program on satisfaction among patients and families at cardiac care unit, Bangkok Heart Hospital. Material and Methods: This study was done using pre-post study design. A patients and families satisfaction report was collected by the Quality Information Management Department, Bangkok Hospital. Data were collected precommunication program implementation from January to December of 2014 and post AIDET communication program implementation from January-December of 2015 with a telephone structured interview guideline. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics using percentage and comparing two proportions using Test of two proportion. Results: A total of 882 respondents were accepted to provide their information. After the communication program implementation, patients and families satisfaction raised from 46.1-54.8% to 56.4-62.2% and was higher than those before the program implementation. Conclusion: This communication program could be an effective intervention to increase patients and families satisfaction. Health care providers could employ this communication program to improve communication behavior in which to improve quality of care.
Tuberculosis of Gallbladder A Case Report

Gall bladder is considered a rare site for occurrence of tuberculosis and is usually found in association with gallstones or cystic duct obstruction. The diagnosis is very difficult prior to surgery unless there is strong suspicion of tuberculosis, with the confirmation being possible only after histopathological examination of gall bladder. Here we present a case of gall bladder tuberculosis in a 40-year-old female, who came with symptoms of chronic cholecystitis due to gallstones. Ultrasound of abdomen revealed a single gall stone located in the fundal region. The patient underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and was treated with anti-tubercular drugs.
The genetic landscape of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have a vast number of advantages that have caused a growth in their application for uncovering the genetics of complex diseases. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one such disease that could benefit from this technique. As a rapid-onset disease, the time to diagnosis must match this speed if we want to increase our chances of finding a treatment drug that works. In a number of ALS cases, the diagnosis can be aided by genetics. However, we currently do not understand the full genetic background of ALS and so to address this issue, I have designed a screening panel to sequence 25 ALS-associated genes in 1,235 patients. This data was compared against 613 controls to perform a case-control analysis. Alongside mutation burden tests and tests for an oligogenic basis, I have additionally created a novel method, a pipeline assisted by machine learning, for uncovering high-dimensional genetic patterns that predispose an individual to ALS. The results indicate that there is an increase burden of rare variants in the UTRs of the genes SOD1, TARDBP, FUS, VCP, OPTN and UBQLN2 collectively. Additionally, we discovered an increased number of patients with two mutations in different ALS genes than would be expected by chance alone. Encompassed in these results is the finding of a novel ALS gene, MATR3, which we aided the first publication of. We have also screened CHCHD10 in ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) finding confirmations of previously published mutations plus additional novel variants. A selection of 26 Argentinian ALS samples were included in the study which reveal 27 known and novel mutations across 17 patients. Lastly, machine learning methods are able to perform better than chance at predicting patients on the basis of their genetics. In conclusion, many cases of ALS, sporadic included, show a complex genetic interplay which, combined with the overall mutation burden, determine the risk and course of ALS.
Improving Microbe Detection and Optimizing Antibiotic Use in Neonatal Sepsis With Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction

Use of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) along with blood culture increases the microbe detection rate in the setting of suspected healthcare associated infection in neonates. Candida and Acinetobacter were the most common microbes detected. Resistance to antibiotics was uncommon in the tested gram-negative bacteria. A negative PCR increases confi dence in stopping antibiotics. Duration of antibiotics after negative culture and PCR reports were lesser than when culture alone was used. Background Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can overcome the drawbacks of culture in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Many reports have shown potential benefit. Aim We compared microbe detection rate between 2 groups—when PCR was used along with blood culture (culture + PCR, CP) versus when culture alone was used. We also sought to describe, in CP, the causal organisms and their resistance patterns and to study duration of antibiotic therapy in CP versus culture alone groups. Methods We studied a prospective cohort of babies where both culture and PCR could be sent and a retrospective cohort when only culture was used; in those who required antibiotic for suspected health care–associated infection. Results When PCR was used along with culture, microbes were detected in 40.3% samples, as against only 24.6% with culture alone. Gram-negative bacilli were the most common organism detected (56.5% of positive samples) followed by Candida species. Resistance was reported in only 3 of the tested gram-negative organisms. Empiric antibiotics were stopped significantly earlier in the cohort where PCR was also used as compared with when culture alone was relied upon (median duration of therapy 3 vs 7 days, respectively). Conclusions Polymerase chain reaction improves diagnostic yield in neonatal health care–associated infection and can help decrease duration of antibiotic therapy. Resistance to broad spectrum antibiotics is uncommon.
Inductive links for biomedical wireless power and data telemetry : circuits and methods

Inductive Links for Biomedical Wireless Power and Data Telemetry: Circuits and Methods Implantable medical devices (IMDs) have been a subject of much commercial and academic interest and research since their inception in the form of the first pacemakers. Over time they have been developed to perform a wide range of functions, including neurostimulation, pressure sensing, and neural recording, to name a few. A key building block of IMDs is telemetry; they must have some way to receive power from, and communicate with, the outside world. One of the most common methods of providing this telemetry is through an inductive link. While inductive telemetry has existed in some form since the inception of IMDs, it is still a subject of research today; there is increasing pressure to design links that are more power efficient, more resilient, and that can carry more data. This thesis contributes developments to the field of inductive link based telemetry for IMDs in the form of analyses and methods, as well as circuit and system designs. Firstly, the theory behind inductive links is extensively discussed and built upon, in order to provide a series of simple methods that can be used for inductive link design. A free software tool, the Coupled Coil Configurator (CuCCo) was produced to accompany the analyses, and aid in the design of inductive links. Secondly, a system was developed for tracking the optimum frequency of an inductive link, for use in powering passive implants. This systemwas fabricated and tested, and found to greatly improve the resilience of the link against coupling variations when overcoupled. Third, a methodology and system were developed together to allow a remote capacitive sensor to be easily interrogated through an inductive link. A proof-of-concept device was fabricated in 180 nm CMOS, and was found to agree well with the theory when measured, with a low power consumption. Fourth, the principles of stagger tuning for inductive links were investigated, and a dual-purpose power and data link was constructed using stagger-tuning. This approach was confirmed to greatly reduce the sensitivity of the link to coupling variations, as well as improving its performance when transferring data. Finally, a novel impulse-based system for data transfer via an inductive link was developed, allowing for high-speed low-power data transfer, without the need for carriers or local oscillators. This system was fabricated using 0.35 μm CMOS, and confirmed to achieve data transfer at up to 52Mbps, with a power consumption of 8.11 pJ/b.
Safety and effectiveness of microvascular decompression for treatment of hemifacial spasm through mini craniotomy

Abstract Background: The hemifacial spasm (HFS) defined as involuntary intermittent twitching of the muscles of the face (usually unilateral). The spasms characteristically begin around the eye and then extend to affect other muscles of the ipsilateral face. It is caused by vascular element compressing the facial nerve that may be either the anterior or the posterior inferior cerebellar arteries in most cases. Objective of our work: to describe the operative technique (pearls and common mistakes), the efficacy and morbidity of microvascular decompression technique for hemifacial spasm through mini craniotomy, determine the prognostic factors affecting success rate of the surgery. Material & method: A retrospective study of 23 cases of hemifacial spasm treated by mini craniotomy retro sigmoid approach and microvascular decompression at neurosurgery dept., Mansoura University Hospital in last 10 years was investigated. This include Epidemiological, clinical and imaging details, selected treatment options and patients’ outcome. Results: complete resolving of symptoms was conducted in 19 cases 82.6% while reoperated in 2 cases with improvement in one case. Facial palsy appeared postoperative in 6 cases 4 of them improved in 3 months, transient hearing loss in 4 cases17.4% which improved later, cerebrospinal fluid leak appeared in 3 cases 13% which managed conservatively. Conclusions: MVD relieves symptoms of HFS in about 80% of patients while recurrence still in low percentage. The study reported low permanent Complications and generally transient.
Popular Music, Sentiment, and Noise Trading

We construct a sentiment indicator as the first principal component of thirteen emotion metrics derived from the lyrics and composition of music-chart singles. This indicator performs well, dominating the Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment and bettering the Baker-Wurgler index in long-horizon regression tests as well as in out-of-sample forecasting tests. The music-sentiment indicator captures both signal and noise. The part associated with fundamentals predicts more distant market returns positively. The second part is orthogonal to fundamentals, and predicts one-month-ahead market returns negatively. This is evidence of noise trading explained by the emotive content of popular music.
The Organizational Landscape of Schools: School Employees’ Conceptualizations of Organizations in Their Environment

A growing body of evidence suggests that schools’ partnerships with neighborhood organizations can improve educational outcomes, but less is known about how educators, who play a crucial role in procuring, carrying out, and maintaining such partnerships, conceptualize the different organizations in their environment. This study uses data from 52 qualitative interviews to systematically examine how educators working in different types of urban schools and neighborhoods make sense of their interactions with external organizations. The findings contribute to scholarship on school-community partnerships by demonstrating that neighborhood organizations provide unique benefits to educators, brokering relationships between the school and the community and generating opportunities for the co-creation of resources by educators and community members. Furthermore, the study shows that educators’ sense-making about the local organizational landscape is related both to the availability of geographically proximate organizations and to where students and families reside.
Saying and Doing: Social Responsibility Declared and Applied

The purpose of this work is to examine the relationships between and among firms' commitment to social responsibility, their declarations&#8212;or reporting&#8212;on their social responsibility, the application of social responsibility in the form of social innovation, and customer acceptance. A research model drawing on the attributes of stakeholder theory is tested using data collected from 355 firms. The findings indicate that firms with commitments to social responsibility are likely to report on their social responsibility and are also likely to be engaged in social innovation. However, a negative relationship was found between reporting on social responsibility and social innovation. This highlights the importance of differentiating between saying and doing. Finally, social innovation was found to contribute to customer acceptance, while reporting on social responsibility was not. When it comes to social responsibility, it might be fair to say that &#8220;talk is cheap&#8221;, while social innovation &#8220;speaks louder than words&#8221;.
Truly Stripping Functionality for Logic Locking: A Fault-Based Perspective

Logic locking is a holistic solution to counter manufacturing threats, such as intellectual property (IP) piracy and overbuilding at the hardware level. However, years of research has exposed various flaws in locking, including a Boolean satisfiability (SAT)-based attack. Consequently, several SAT-resilient locking techniques, such as SARLock, Anti-SAT, and SFLL have been proposed, although certain instances of them have also been broken by a class of attacks, called removal attack. In this article, we approach logic locking by leveraging well-known principles from very large-scale integration (VLSI) testing and elicit logic locking properties that dictate the resilience of a locking technique against different attacks. We present a revised version of SFLL, namely SFLL-rem, that not only retains all security properties of SFLL, delivering resilience to all the state-of-the-art attacks SFLL can thwart, but also to the latest removal attacks that broke some SFLL instances. Further, we develop a security-aware CAD framework integrated with industry tools that incurs only −1.5%, 0%, and 4.13% overhead for power, performance, and area, respectively. We demonstrate a silicon implementation of SFLL-rem on ARM Cortex-M0 microprocessor in 65 nm. Moreover, we provide a framework for an SoC designer to customize logic locking based on the SoC blocks and their threat models; this is illustrated by locking a multimillion-gate SoC provided by DARPA, and taking the SoC all the way to GDSII layout.
Teachers’ Content Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practice after a Project-Based Professional Development Program with Ultrasound Scanning

ABSTRACT This research investigated 20 middle and high school teachers’ use of project-based learning curriculum after engaging in a 115-hour professional development program that was developed collaboratively with medical school and education faculty. The project-based learning (PBL) unit centered on the case of Marcus Brown (a pseudonym), a high school football player, who collapsed suddenly while playing football. The teachers engaged in scientific investigations, including ultrasound investigations of standard patients’ internal anatomy, and research into various inherited cardiovascular diseases to determine a final diagnosis for Marcus. The teachers, using this PBL as a model, developed and taught their own project-based learning unit to their students during the following year. Through pre and post-program interviews, classroom observations, and content assessments, our results show that the teachers improved their content knowledge and quality of inquiry-based instruction over the program. The teachers also modified their instructional beliefs to align with more reform-based beliefs about student learning and teaching. Our analysis of teacher interviews provides insights into the elements of PBL instruction that teachers struggle with implementing. This study also provides insight into the value of using ultrasound scanning technology with K-12 teachers and students. These findings can improve professional development targeting the integration of NGSS scientific and engineering practices and disciplinary core ideas (content).
Selection indexes in the simultaneous increment of yield components in topcross hybrids of green maize

The objective of this work was to define the most suitable selective strategy for the simultaneous increment of yield components of green maize, by comparing three selection indexes weighted by economic weights and by the REML/BLUP method, in the assessment of predicted genetic gains for traits of interest. An experiment with 75 topcross hybrids from partially inbred S1 lines of green maize was carried out in Jataí, in the state of Goiás, Brazil, using a randomized complete block design, with four replicates. The following yield traits were evaluated: straw ears and commercial ears, grain mass, ear length, ear diameter, and number of ear rows. The selection indexes of Smith and Hazel, Williams, and Mulamba & Mock were applied and weighted for four economic weights (1, CVg, CVg/CVe, and h2). Among the tested selection indexes, those of Williams and Mulamba & Mock are the best-fit ones for the selection of topcross hybrids of green maize, as they provide positive and more balanced selection gains for all evaluated traits. The REML/BLUP method shows better predicted genetic gains than those achieved by the three selection indexes, besides being efficient for the selection of topcross hybrids of green maize.