Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of High-Stakes Testing on Instruction.

The effellts of standardized testing on instruction were studied in two school districts with high-stakes testing. The present study was part of a larger research project concerned with the gffect of testing on instruction and student learning. A total of 360 teachers in grades 3, 5, and 6 in approximately 100 schools in two districts answered a questiontrare addressing test preparation/coaching practices and the effects of testing on instruction. A limitation of the study was the overall response rate of 42%, suggesting that the respondents were not necessarily representative of all teachers. Teachers reported that they felt pressured to improve test scores by the district administration and the media. Because of the importance of testing, teachers gave greater emphasis to basic skills instruction. They felt that content not tested suffered because of the focus on the standardized tests. Testing further distorted teaching because of the extensive time given to test preparation. While it was agreed that flagrant cheating was rare, practices that would clearly boost test scores, such as rephrasing questions, were considered to occur more frequently. Teachers were aware of extensive use of test results for external purposes such as comparisons of schools or districts. In open-ended questions, teachers could point to many benefits from standardized testing, but they felt that these were outweighed by the drawbacks. Fourteen tables st laxize the questionnaire results. A 13-item list of references is 1 luded. (SLD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************
Longitudinal Research and Data Collection in Primary Care

PURPOSE This article reviews examples of and experience with longitudinal research in family medicine. The objective is to use this empirical information to formulate recommendations for improving longitudinal research. METHODS The article discusses 3 longitudinal studies from the Nijmegen academic family practice research network: 1 on the prognosis of depression and 1 each on the prognosis of and outcomes of care for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The Nijmegen network has recorded all episodes of morbidity encountered in Dutch family medicine since 1971 in a stable practice population. This network’s experience is evaluated to identify lessons that may help other practice-based research networks (PBRNs) in pursuing longitudinal research. RESULTS In terms of external conditions (conditions related to the general setting), the stability of a population and a high level of continuity of care substantially enhance the ability to perform longitudinal research. In terms of internal conditions (conditions related to the PBRN), motivation of family physicians and their staff to conduct ongoing data collection, and their ownership of the data are key for success. Other critical internal conditions include standardization of data; collection of data by clinician-friendly means; training of family physicians and their staff in data collection, as well as meetings for discussion of this task; provision of feedback to practices on the research findings; use of standard procedures to promote adherence to data collection; availability of facilities for regular measurement of patients’ health status or chart review; and use of mechanisms for tracking patients who leave the practice area. CONCLUSIONS Insight from existing experience suggests that longitudinal research can be enhanced in PBRNs. The best way forward is to build longitudinal data collection by drawing on lessons from successful studies. Primary care research policy should advocate for a role of longitudinal research and stimulate its development in PBRNs under favorable population circumstances.
Embedded-Particle Computation in Evolved Cellular Automata

In our work we are studying how genetic algorithms (GAs) can evolve cellular automata (CAs) to perform computations that require global coordination. The "evolving cellular automata" framework is an idealized means for studying how evolution (natural or computational) can create systems that perform emergent computation, in which the actions of simple computation, in which the actions of simple components with local information and communication give rise to coordinated global information processing.
Patching the gaps towards the 90–90–90 targets: outcomes of Nigerian children receiving antiretroviral treatment who are co-infected with tuberculosis

Nigeria has a high burden of children living with HIV and tuberculosis (TB). This article examines the magnitude of TB among children receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART), compares their ART outcomes with their non‐TB counterparts and argues that addressing TB among children on ART is critical for achieving the 90–90–90 targets.
Boundary Conditions of the High‐Investment Human Resource Systems‐Small‐Firm Labor Productivity Relationship

Although a few published, multiindustry, firm-level, empirical studies have linked systems of high-investment or high-performance human resource management practices to enhanced small-firm performance, this stream of strategic human resource management research is underdeveloped and equivocal. Accordingly, in this study, we use a sample of for-profit, private-sector, small Canadian firms with fewer than 100 employees from a variety of industry sectors to examine boundary conditions of the relationship between firm-level high-investment human resource systems and objective small-firm labor productivity. Congruent with contingency theory, this study's results indicate that the extent and nature of the influence of high-investment human resource systems on objective small-firm labor productivity is contingent on internal (differentiation strategy and firm capital intensity) and external boundary conditions (industry dynamism and industry growth). Implications and limitations of this research study as well as avenues for future research are discussed.
A Categorization Algorithm for Harmful Text Information Filtering

Harmful text information filtering is a typical pattern recognition problem of small sample, the prediction result of classifier was biased towards the class with more samples, because of the samples that including the harmful information were difficult to gain. Construct virtual samples is an effective means to solve the problem of pattern recognition in the small sample, using the up-sampling method to construct virtual samples in the data layer, the traditional KNN algorithm has been improved: a small sample set is divided into clusters by using the K-means clustering, the virtual samples are generated and verified the validity in the cluster. The experimental results show that this method can construct the virtual samples which are similar to the real sample characteristics, and expand the small sample collection in order to effectively identify the harmful text information.
Combining Strategic Learning and Tactical Search in Real-Time Strategy Games

A commonly used technique for managing AI complexity in real-time strategy (RTS) games is to use action and/or state abstractions. High-level abstractions can often lead to good strategic decision making, but tactical decision quality may suffer due to lost details. A competing method is to sample the search space which often leads to good tactical performance in simple scenarios, but poor high-level planning. We propose to use a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to select among a limited set of abstract action choices, and to utilize the remaining computation time for game tree search to improve low level tactics. The CNN is trained by supervised learning on game states labelled by Puppet Search, a strategic search algorithm that uses action abstractions. The network is then used to select a script --- an abstract action --- to produce low level actions for all units. Subsequently, the game tree search algorithm improves the tactical actions of a subset of units using a limited view of the game state only considering units close to opponent units. Experiments in the microRTS game show that the combined algorithm results in higher win-rates than either of its two independent components and other state-of-the-art microRTS agents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful application of a convolutional network to play a full RTS game on standard game maps, as previous work has focused on sub-problems, such as combat, or on very small maps.
Organization and expression of the Escherichia coli K-12 dad operon encoding the smaller subunit of D-amino acid dehydrogenase and the catabolic alanine racemase

A fragment of the Escherichia coli K-12 chromosome complementing the D-amino acid dehydrogenase and catabolic alanine racemase deficiency of a dad operon deletion mutant was cloned in a mini-Mu plasmid. The dadA and dadX genes were localized to a 3.5-kb part of the plasmid insert. The nucleotide sequence of this fragment revealed two open reading frames encoding 432- and 356-amino-acid-long proteins. We show here that they correspond to the dadA and dadX genes. The dadA gene can encode only the smaller of the two subunits of D-amino acid dehydrogenase. A computer search revealed the presence of a flavin adenine dinucleotide-binding motif in the N-terminal domain of the deduced DadA protein sequence. This is in agreement with biochemical data showing that the D-amino acid dehydrogenase contains flavin adenine dinucleotide in its active center. The predicted dadX gene product appeared to be 85% identical to a dadB-encoded catabolic alanine racemase of Salmonella typhimurium. The organization of the dadA and dadX genes confirmed our previous conclusion based on the genetic data (J. Wild, J. Hennig, M. Lobocka, W. Walczak, and T. Kłopotowski, Mol. Gen. Genet. 198:315-322, 1985) that these genes form an operon. The main transcription start points of the dad operon were determined by primer extension. They are preceded by a putative sigma 70 promoter sequence and two cyclic AMP-cyclic AMP receptor protein (cAMP-CRP) binding sites, one of higher and one of lower affinity to CRP. We propose that the high-affinity site, centered 59.5 bp upstream of the main transcription start point, plays a role in cAMP-CRP-mediated activation of dad operon expression in the absence of glucose.
Using Information Networks to Study Social Behavior: An Appraisal

Social network analysis investigates relationships between people and information created by people. The field is presently in flux due to the increasing amount of available data and the concomitant interest in networks across many disciplines. This article reviews some of the recent advances in the field, such as p* modeling and community detection algorithms alongside some of the societal transitions that facilitate these advances. The latter third of the article raises some issues for data engineers to consider given the state of the field. These issues focus mainly on querying and managing large and complex datasets, such as those commonly found through online scraping.
Parallel-RC Feedback Low-Noise Amplifier for UWB Applications

A two-stage 3.1- to 10.6-GHz ultrawideband CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) is presented. In our design, a parallel resistance-capacitance shunt feedback with a source inductance is proposed to obtain broadband input matching and to reduce the noise level effectively; furthermore, a parallel inductance-capacitance network at drain is drawn to further suppress the noise, and a very low noise level is achieved. The proposed LNA is implemented by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 0.18-μm CMOS technology. Measured results show that the noise figure is 2.5-4.7 dB from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz, which may be the best result among previous reports in the 0.18-μm CMOS 3.1- to 10.6-GHz ultrawideband LNA. The power gain is 10.9-13.9 dB from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. The input return loss is below -9.4 dB from 3.1 to 15 GHz. It consumes 14.4 mW from a 1.4-V supply voltage and occupies an area of only 0.46 mm2.
Storytelling and story testing in domestication

Significance Our knowledge of the domestication of animal and plant species comes from a diverse range of disciplines, and interpretation of patterns in data from these disciplines has been the dominant paradigm in domestication research. However, such interpretations are easily steered by subjective biases that typically fail to account for the inherent randomness of evolutionary processes, and which can be blind to emergent patterns in data. The testing of explicit models using computer simulations, and the availability of powerful statistical techniques to fit models to observed data, provide a scientifically robust means of addressing these problems. Here we outline the principles and argue for the merits of such approaches in the context of domestication-related questions. The domestication of plants and animals marks one of the most significant transitions in human, and indeed global, history. Traditionally, study of the domestication process was the exclusive domain of archaeologists and agricultural scientists; today it is an increasingly multidisciplinary enterprise that has come to involve the skills of evolutionary biologists and geneticists. Although the application of new information sources and methodologies has dramatically transformed our ability to study and understand domestication, it has also generated increasingly large and complex datasets, the interpretation of which is not straightforward. In particular, challenges of equifinality, evolutionary variance, and emergence of unexpected or counter-intuitive patterns all face researchers attempting to infer past processes directly from patterns in data. We argue that explicit modeling approaches, drawing upon emerging methodologies in statistics and population genetics, provide a powerful means of addressing these limitations. Modeling also offers an approach to analyzing datasets that avoids conclusions steered by implicit biases, and makes possible the formal integration of different data types. Here we outline some of the modeling approaches most relevant to current problems in domestication research, and demonstrate the ways in which simulation modeling is beginning to reshape our understanding of the domestication process.
Sildenafil citrate therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension.

BACKGROUND Sildenafil inhibits phosphodiesterase type 5, an enzyme that metabolizes cyclic guanosine monophosphate, thereby enhancing the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-mediated relaxation and growth inhibition of vascular smooth-muscle cells, including those in the lung. METHODS In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we randomly assigned 278 patients with symptomatic pulmonary arterial hypertension (either idiopathic or associated with connective-tissue disease or with repaired congenital systemic-to-pulmonary shunts) to placebo or sildenafil (20, 40, or 80 mg) orally three times daily for 12 weeks. The primary end point was the change from baseline to week 12 in the distance walked in six minutes. The change in mean pulmonary-artery pressure and World Health Organization (WHO) functional class and the incidence of clinical worsening were also assessed, but the study was not powered to assess mortality. Patients completing the 12-week randomized study could enter a long-term extension study. RESULTS The distance walked in six minutes increased from baseline in all sildenafil groups; the mean placebo-corrected treatment effects were 45 m (+13.0 percent), 46 m (+13.3 percent), and 50 m (+14.7 percent) for 20, 40, and 80 mg of sildenafil, respectively (P<0.001 for all comparisons). All sildenafil doses reduced the mean pulmonary-artery pressure (P=0.04, P=0.01, and P<0.001, respectively), improved the WHO functional class (P=0.003, P<0.001, and P<0.001, respectively), and were associated with side effects such as flushing, dyspepsia, and diarrhea. The incidence of clinical worsening did not differ significantly between the patients treated with sildenafil and those treated with placebo. Among the 222 patients completing one year of treatment with sildenafil monotherapy, the improvement from baseline at one year in the distance walked in six minutes was 51 m. CONCLUSIONS Sildenafil improves exercise capacity, WHO functional class, and hemodynamics in patients with symptomatic pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Removal of haze and noise from a single image

Images of outdoor scenes often contain degradation due to haze, resulting in contrast reduction and color fading. For many reasons one may need to remove these effects. Unfortunately, haze removal is a difficult problem due the inherent ambiguity between the haze and the underlying scene. Furthermore, all images contain some noise due to sensor (measurement) error that can be amplified in the haze removal process if ignored. A number of methods have been proposed for haze removal from images. Existing literature that has also addressed the issue of noise has relied on multiple images either for denoising prior to dehazing1 or in the dehazing process itself.2, 3 However, multiple images are not always available. Recent single image approaches, one of the most successful being the "dark channel prior",4 have not yet considered the issue of noise. Accordingly, in this paper we propose two methods for removing both haze and noise from a single image. The first approach is to denoise the image prior to dehazing. This serial approach essentially treats haze and noise separately, and so a second approach is proposed to simultaneously denoise and dehaze using an iterative, adaptive, non-parametric regression method. Experimental results for both methods are then compared. Our findings show that when the noise level is precisely known a priori, simply denoising prior to dehazing performs well. When the noise level is not given, latent errors from either "under"-denoising or "over"-denoising can be amplified, and in this situation, the iterative approach can yield superior results.
Allosteric equilibrium model explains steady-state coupling of beta-adrenergic receptors to adenylate cyclase in turkey erythrocyte membranes.

We used a simple experimental approach to clarify some contradictory predictions of the collision coupling and equilibrium models (e.g. ternary complex, two-state ternary complex or quinternary complex), which describe G-protein-mediated beta-adrenergic receptor signalling in essentially different manners. Analysis of the steady-state coupling of beta-adrenoceptors to adenylate cyclase in turkey erythrocyte membranes showed that: (1) in the absence of an agonist, Gpp(NH)p (a hydrolysis-resistant analogue of GTP) can activate adenylate cyclase very slowly; (2) this activity reaches a steady state in approx. 5 h, the extent of activity depending on the concentration of the nucleotide; (3) isoprenaline-activated steady-state adenylate cyclase can be inactivated by propranolol (a competitive antagonist that relaxes the receptor activation), in the presence of Gpp(NH)p (which provides a virtual absence of GTPase) and millimolar concentrations of Mg2+ (the rate of this inactivation is relatively fast); (4) increasing the concentration of Gpp(NH)p can saturate the steady-state activity of adenylate cyclase. The saturated enzyme activity was lower than that induced by isoprenaline under the same conditions. This additional agonist-induced activation was reversible. In the light of these results, we conclude that agonist can also activate the guanine nucleotide-saturated system in the absence of GTPase by a mechanism other than guanine nucleotide exchange. We explain these phenomena in the framework of a quinternary complex model as an agonist-induced and receptor-mediated dissociation of guanine nucleotide-saturated residual heterotrimer, the equilibrium concentration of which is not necessarily zero. These results, which suggest a continuous interaction between receptor and G-protein, can hardly be accommodated by the collision coupling model that was originally suggested for the present experimental system and then applied to many other G-protein systems. Therefore we attempt to unify the equilibrium and collision coupling approaches to provide a consistent theoretical basis for the G-protein-mediated beta-adrenergic receptor signalling in turkey erythrocyte membranes.
What explains human attainments Author ' s personal copy

Recent research indicates that perceptual learning (PL)—experience-induced changes in the way perceivers extract information—plays a larger role in complex cognitive tasks, including abstract and symbolic domains, than has been understood in theory or implemented in instruction. Here, we describe the involvement of PL in complex cognitive tasks and why these connections, along with contemporary experimental and neuroscientific research in perception, challenge widely held accounts of the relation ships among perception, cognition, and learning. We outline three revisions to common assumptions about these relations: 1) Perceptual mechanisms provide complex and abstract descriptions of reality; 2) Perceptual representations are often
Motor Control in Childhood Onset Dopa-Responsive Dystonia (Segawa Syndrome)*

To elucidate the pathophysiological features of childhood onset dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) we used a variety of quantitative analysis techniques to evaluate aspects of reflex- and voluntary motor control in two brothers with this disorder. The observed patterns were compared with those obtained in patients with adult onset Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD). In both brothers onset of the disease was in the first decade. Both responded either to treatment with L-Dopa or a combination of L-Dopa with trihexiphenidyl. Neurophysiological studies revealed slowing of different upper extremity voluntary motor activities and a low frequency postural tremor similar to results in other basal ganglia disorders including PD. In contrast to adult onset PD, fastest isometric voluntary index finger contractions did not show the typical kinetic tremor oscillations superimposed on the force trajectories. Also, different to adult PD, no impairment of stance regulating reflexes or saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements was found in DRD. Magnetoelectrical stimulation of motor cortex showed normal efferent cortical spinal activity. Data indicate that like in other basal ganglia diseases slowing of voluntary motor activity is also a constant feature in DRD. DRD patients show, however, a clear difference to the pattern of motor abnormalities obtainable in PD. Both the pattern of motor control abnormalities is different, and the longlasting effect. In contrast to PD the pathophysiological mechanism in DRD possibly involves a lack of maturation of dopaminergic substantia nigra neurons rather than a degenerative process.