Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alternative Observation Tools for the Scope of Contemporary Education Supervision: An Action Research

In this study, in-class lesson observations were made with volunteer teachers working in primary and secondary schools using alternative observation tools regarding the scope of contemporary educational supervision. The study took place during the fall and spring semesters of the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years and the class observations were made with six alternative volunteer teachers in the primary and secondary schools in the provincial and district centers using alternative observation tools. In the classroom observations, the teacher's verbal flow scheme, teacher's movement scheme and student behaviors both during tasks and not, were analyzed. Observations were made during the two classes with teacher's permission. After the first observation, an information meeting was held and then the second observation was made. Following the observations, interviews were held with the teachers. In interviews, the information about the class observations was shared with teachers and their opinions about research were asked. It has been found that alternative observations, in general, have a positive effect on the professional development of teachers. It is concluded that this type of observation approach positively affects teachers' in-class activities, helps in classroom management and teaching arrangements and positively affects student's unwanted behaviors .
Conceptualization of frailty in rehabilitation interventions with adults: a scoping review

Abstract Purpose: We aimed to synthesize the literature that considered frailty in the evaluation of rehabilitation interventions for adults (aged ≥18) by answering: (1) how is frailty defined in rehabilitation intervention research? ; (2) how is frailty operationalized in rehabilitation intervention research? ; (3) what are the characteristics of rehabilitation interventions for frail adults and what frailty related outcomes are assessed? Materials and methods: A scoping review was conducted. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Results: 53 articles met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were conducted in Europe and involved randomized control trials. The included studies reported on rehabilitation interventions that only included individuals aged 50 or older. Thirteen studies used Fried’s definition of frailty, but most (n = 27) did not use any definition. Many studies did not differentiate between the conceptualization (e.g., definition) and operationalization (e.g., use of inclusion/exclusion criteria, outcome measures) of frailty. Most interventions focused on exercise. Instrumental activities of daily living reported most frequently as outcomes (n = 11). Conclusions: There is an absence of consistent definitions of frailty in rehabilitation interventions and current definitions tend to focus on physical functioning. The authors suggest rehabilitation researchers consider an expanded definition of frailty informed by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Rehabilitation professionals should use an expanded definition of frailty, informed by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework, should include physical, mental, personal, environmental, and social factors to decrease, delay, or prevent frailty in adults. Rehabilitation professionals should consider a broader operationalization of frailty that is not dependent on age and physical functioning. Rehabilitation professionals that consider a broader conceptualization of frailty should tailor interventions to the specific needs of frail adults.
Artefacts in the mechanical characterization of porcine articular cartilage due to freezing

Abstract Many experimental protocols for investigating articular cartilage mechanics have involved the use of a freeze-thaw cycle for storage or tissue manipulation. It was hypothesized that mechanical properties are altered due to freeze-thaw cycling. The aim of this study, therefore, was to examine the possibility of protocol-induced artefacts in the mechanical properties of porcine articular cartilage specimens related specifically to freeze-thaw events. Twenty-eight osteochondral specimens [14 from the femoral condyles (FCs) and 14 from the patella-femoral (PF) groove] were tested in confined compression before and after being frozen at -20°C for 7 days. The fluid-independent and fluid-dependent mechanical properties (aggregate modulus of the solid phase and the half-life of stress relaxation respectively) were determined and compared. The aggregate modulus decreased by 13.5 per cent and 20.1 per cent for the PF and FC regions respectively (p = 0.002) and the half-life of the stress relaxation at 10 per cent strain decreased by 6.4 per cent and 12.6 per cent for the PF and FC specimens respectively (p = 0.0341). In conclusion, it has been shown that the protocol used, which involved freezing to -20°C and thawing after 7 days, caused artefacts in the mechanical properties of porcine osteochondral specimens. It is suggested that protocols requiring freezing must be critically reviewed to eliminate such artefacts.
Quantity Processing in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children: Evidence From Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Comparison Tasks

Deaf Children usually achieve lower scores on numerical tasks than normally hearing peers. Explanations for mathematical disabilities in hearing children are based on quantity representation deficits (Geary, 1994) or on deficits in accessing these representations (Rousselle & Noël, 2008). The present study aimed to verify, by means of symbolic (Arabic digits) and nonsymbolic (dot constellations and hands) magnitude comparison tasks, whether deaf children show deficits in representations or in accessing numerical representations. The study participants were 10 prelocutive deaf children and 10 normally hearing children. Numerical distance and magnitude were manipulated. Response time (RT) analysis showed similar magnitude and distance effects in both groups on the 3 tasks. However, slower RTs were observed among the deaf participants on the symbolic task alone. These results suggest that although both groups’ quantity representations were similar, the deaf group experienced a delay in accessing representations from symbolic codes.
Efficient Sum-of-Sinusoids-Based Simulation of Mobile Fading Channels with Asymmetrical Doppler Power Spectra

In this paper, we deal with the problem of designing efficient sum-of-sinusoids (SOS) based simulators for frequency non-selective mobile fading channels under non-isotropic scattering conditions. To cope with this problem, we propose a new parameter computation method that can be applied on any given asymmetrical Doppler power spectrum (DPS). With the aim to reduce the computational costs associated with the simulation of high-quality channel waveforms, we also present an efficient simulation approach that combines the proposed parameter computation method with the principle of set partitioning. By considering a reference model for a fading channel with asymmetrical DPS, it is shown that the resulting SOS- based channel simulator satisfactorily emulates the channel's autocorrelation function (ACF). Owing to its characteristics, the proposed channel simulation procedure proves to be a helpful tool for the test and performance analysis of modern wireless communication systems under non-isotropic scattering scenarios.
Does an Islamic label cause stock price comovements and commonality in liquidity?

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the effects of shared beliefs and the personal preferences of individual investors on their trading and investment decisions. We expect that the process of classifying stocks into Sharia-compliant (Islamic) and non-Sharia-compliant (conventional) has an effect on the investibility and acceptance of the stocks especially by unsophisticated or individual investors. The wider acceptance of Islamic stocks among individual investors promotes and facilitates the circulation of firm-specific information among certain groups of investors. Our results indicate that stock classification has an effect on stock price comovements through increased stock trading correlation among the groups of Islamic investors. The commonality in preferences among holders of Islamic stocks generates commonality in trading activity and in stock liquidity. We find that classifying a stock as an Islamic stock increases its price comovement with other Islamic stocks and also increases its commonality in liquidity.
Role for nitrosative stress in diabetic neuropathy: evidence from studies with a peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst

Nitrosative stress, that is, enhanced peroxynitrite formation, has been documented in both experimental and clinical diabetic neuropathy (DN), but its pathogenetic role remains unexplored. This study evaluated the role for nitrosative stress in two animal models of type 1 diabetes: streptozotocin‐diabetic mice and diabetic NOD mice. Control (C) and streptozotocin‐diabetic (D) mice were treated with and without the potent peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst FP15 (5 mg kg−1 d−1) for 1 wk after 8 wk without treatment. Sciatic nerve nitrotyrosine (a marker of peroxynitrite‐induced injury) and poly(ADP‐ribose) immunoreactivities were present in D and absent in C and D+FP15. FP15 treatment corrected sciatic motor and hind‐limb digital sensory nerve conduction deficits and sciatic nerve energy state in D, without affecting those variables in C. Nerve glucose and sorbitol pathway intermediate concentrations were similarly elevated in D and D+FP15 vs C. In diabetic NOD mice, a 7‐day treatment with either 1 or 3 mg kg−1 d−1 FP15 reversed increased tail‐flick latency (a sign of reduced pain sensitivity); the effect of the higher dose was significant as early as 3 days after beginning of the treatment. In conclusion, nitrosative stress plays a major role in DN in, at least, type 1 diabetes. This provides the rationale for development of agents counteracting peroxynitrite formation and promoting peroxynitrite decomposition, and their evaluation in DN.
Change in the prevalence of leisure activity with the number of activities recalled.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine how the estimated prevalence of leisure activity changed when respondents self-reported up to four activities, compared with using information only from the respondent's one, two, and three most commonly performed leisure activities. METHODS Information on leisure activities, sociodemographics, and body mass index (BMI) categories was collected in the year 2000 during a telephone interview of 1813 randomly selected adults living in six North Carolina counties. Recommended activity was defined as moderate leisure activity > or =5x wk(-1) for > or =30 min per session or vigorous leisure activity > or =3x wk(-1) for > or =20 min per session. RESULTS Among respondents, 32.1% reported participation in no leisure activity, 41.7% reported one activity, 21.5% reported two activities, 3.8% reported three activities, and 0.9% reported four activities during the past month. The largest change in prevalence occurred when using two activities compared with one activity for recommended activity, overall and by sociodemographic and BMI categories. The prevalence of recommended activity determined by using 1, 2, 3, or 4 activities was 21.0%, 26.0%, 26.5%, and 26.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION In this study, collecting information on two leisure activities was the most efficient balance for population specific accuracy of recommended activity.
Capital structure as a control mechanism of a CSR entrenchment strategy

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the use of level of debt as an external control mechanism against an entrenchment strategy based on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a database of 1,916 international companies for the years 2002 to 2010. Findings The evidence obtained confirms in a context of asymmetric information, bounded rationality and divergent interests, the use of debt as a control mechanism of managers’ discretionary comportment. In other words, CSR practices can be used by managers as an entrenchment strategy and self-defence with the aim of decreasing the possibility of being identified by those shareholders and stakeholders whose interests have been damaged. In this context, the market demands higher debt levels to solve agency frictions, playing an active role in monitoring the management. Moreover, the demand of higher debt as a control mechanism that minimises the expropriation risk by managers through CSR is lower in contexts of greater investor protection. Originality/value The findings reveal that CSR engagement can be explained by the hypothesis of being a strategy of entrenchment and self-defence. Overall, this study differs from previous literature in this field by taking an alternative approach to CSR practices, in contrast to the conventional wisdom of the benefits of CSR practices. The authors contribute by empirically testing the theoretical model proposed by Cespa and Cestone (2007) who suggest the discretionary use of CSR from an agency perspective. They also give empirical relief showing the use of CSR as an entrenchment strategy. Moreover, they demonstrate that the capital market of debt decreases in a context with a greater degree of investor protection, likewise under CSR promoted as an entrenchment tool, the demand for debt as a disciplinary mechanism is less necessary to control managers. In addition, the study is enriched by the database analysis.
The Role of Place in Adapting to Climate Change: A Case Study from Ladakh, Western Himalayas

This research explores the nexus of climate change and socio-economic change with a focus on the significance that local conditions (physical and cultural) can have in influencing vulnerability and resilience. In order to better examine how climate change impacts interact with socio-economic changes and are experienced at the community scale, this research integrates household survey data with geospatial processing techniques. Two comparative study sites, one rural and one urban, were selected in the region of Ladakh; an area experiencing severe climate change impacts alongside rapid socioeconomic and political changes. Archival data was used to supplement survey responses and provide additional historical context. Survey responses were then combined with Hot Spot and Kernel density analysis in ArcGIS to identify areas of high and low spatial concentration and correlation. While climate change is widely perceived in many Western Himalayan mountain communities, impacts of climate change as an issue of high importance are moderated by other pressing socioeconomic, cultural, and political concerns. The role of locality and place-based themes such as community attachment, social cohesion, and sense of place, emerged as influential factors in enhancing social resilience and thereby reducing dimensions of local vulnerability to climate change impacts.
[Total generalized variation minimization based on projection data for low?dose CT reconstruction].

OBJECTIVE To obtain high? quality low? dose CT images using total generalized variation regularization based on the projection data for low? dose CT reconstruction. METHODS The projection data of the CT images were transformed from Poisson distribution to Gaussian distribution using the linear Anscombe transform. The transformed data were then restored by an efficient total generalized variation minimization algorithm. Reconstruction was finally achieved by inverse Anscombe transform and filtered back projection (FBP) method. RESULTS The image quality of low? dose CT was greatly improved by the proposed algorithm in both Clock and Shepp? Logan phantoms. The signal? to? noise ratios (SNRs) of the Clock and Shepp-Logan images reconstructed by FBP algorithm were 17.752 dB and 19.379 dB, which were increased by the proposed algorithm to 24.0352 and 23.4181 dB, respectively. The NMSE of the Clock and Shepp? Logan images reconstructed by FBP algorithm was 0.86% and 0.58%, which was reduced by the proposed algorithm to 0.2% and 0.23%, respectively. CONCLUSION The proposed method can effectively suppress noise and strip artifacts in low? dose CT images when piecewise constant assumption is not possible.
A mixed methods evaluation of the Brain Injury Family Intervention.

OBJECTIVE To describe and compare caregivers' and patients' helpfulness and goal attainment ratings of the Brain Injury Family Intervention (BIFI), and qualitatively evaluate their perceptions of most important things learned. METHODS 76 caregivers and 76 patients with acquired brain injury participated in the BIFI, a structured family intervention program which includes educational, skill building, and psychological support components. Outcome measures were obtained following each of the five intervention sessions and following completion of the entire program. RESULTS Session helpfulness ratings for caregivers and patients were uniformly high as were ratings of the extent to which session goals were met. Between group comparisons did not indicate differences for individual session helpfulness or goal attainment ratings. Qualitative analysis of most important things learned provided corroboratory evidence that BIFI topics were relevant and consistent with program goals. CONCLUSIONS The present investigation provides evidence that the BIFI is perceived as helpful and that treatment methods facilitate achievement of goals. The investigation also suggests that investigators may benefit from using mixed methods to evaluate outcomes, complementing traditional quantitative methods with qualitative approaches.
Culture‐independent analysis of the soil bacterial assemblage at the Great Salt Plains of Oklahoma

The Great Salt Plains (GSP) of Oklahoma is a natural inland terrestrial hypersaline environment that forms evaporite crusts of mainly NaCl. Previous work described GSP bacterial assemblages through the phylogenetic and phenetic characterization of 105 isolates from 46 phylotypes. The current report describes the same bacterial assemblages through culture‐independent 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. Although from similar hypersaline mud flats, the bacterial libraries from two sites, WP3 and WP6, were quite different. The WP3 library was dominated by cyanobacteria, mainly Cyanothece and Euhalothece. The WP6 library was rich in anaerobic sulfur‐cycle organisms, including abundant Desulfuromonas. This pattern likely reflects differences in abiotic factors, such as frequency of flooding and hydrologic push. While more than 100 OTUs were identified, the assemblages were not as diverse, based on Shannon indexes, as bacterial communities from oligohaline soils. Since natural inland hypersaline soils are relatively unstudied, it was not clear what kind of bacteria would be present. The bacterial assemblage is predominantly genera typically found in hypersaline systems, although some were relatives of microbes common in oligohaline and marine environments. The bacterial clones did not reflect wide functional diversity, beyond phototrophs, sulfur metabolizers, and numerous heterotrophs. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
A point mutation at Asn‐534 that disrupts a conserved N‐glycosylation motif of the E2 glycoprotein of hepatitis C virus markedly enhances the sensitivity to antibody neutralization

The molecular basis of antibody neutralization against hepatitis C virus (HCV) is poorly understood. The E2 glycoprotein of HCV is critically involved in viral infectivity through specific binding to the principal virus receptor component CD81, and is targeted by anti‐HCV neutralizing antibodies. A previous study showed that a mutation at position 534 (N534H) within the sixth N‐glycosylation motif of E2 of the J6/JFH1 strain of HCV genotype 2a (HCV‐2a) was responsible for more efficient access of E2 to CD81 so that the mutant virus could infect the target cells more efficiently. The purpose of this study was to analyze the sensitivity of the parental J6/JFH1, its cell culture‐adapted variant P‐47 possessing 10 amino acid mutations and recombinant viruses with the adaptive mutations to neutralization by anti‐HCV antibodies in sera of HCV‐infected patients. The J6/JFH1 virus was neutralized by antibodies in sera of patients infected with HCV‐2a and ‐1b, with mean 50% neutralization titers being 1:670 and 1:200, respectively (P < 0.00001). On the other hand, the P‐47 variant showed 50‐ to 200‐times higher sensitivity to antibody neutralization than the parental J6/JFH1 without genotype specificity. The N534H mutation, and another one at position 416 (T416A) near the first N‐glycosylation motif to a lesser extent, were shown to be responsible for the enhanced sensitivity to antibody neutralization. The present results suggest that the residues 534, and 416 to a lesser extent, of the E2 glycoprotein are critically involved in the HCV infectivity and antibody neutralization. J. Med. Virol. 84:229–234, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Augmenting CNS glucocerebrosidase activity as a therapeutic strategy for parkinsonism and other Gaucher-related synucleinopathies

Mutations of GBA1, the gene encoding glucocerebrosidase, represent a common genetic risk factor for developing the synucleinopathies Parkinson disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies. PD patients with or without GBA1 mutations also exhibit lower enzymatic levels of glucocerebrosidase in the central nervous system (CNS), suggesting a possible link between the enzyme and the development of the disease. Previously, we have shown that early treatment with glucocerebrosidase can modulate α-synuclein aggregation in a presymptomatic mouse model of Gaucher-related synucleinopathy (Gba1D409V/D409V) and ameliorate the associated cognitive deficit. To probe this link further, we have now evaluated the efficacy of augmenting glucocerebrosidase activity in the CNS of symptomatic Gba1D409V/D409V mice and in a transgenic mouse model overexpressing A53T α-synuclein. Adeno-associated virus-mediated expression of glucocerebrosidase in the CNS of symptomatic Gba1D409V/D409V mice completely corrected the aberrant accumulation of the toxic lipid glucosylsphingosine and reduced the levels of ubiquitin, tau, and proteinase K-resistant α-synuclein aggregates. Importantly, hippocampal expression of glucocerebrosidase in Gba1D409V/D409V mice (starting at 4 or 12 mo of age) also reversed their cognitive impairment when examined using a novel object recognition test. Correspondingly, overexpression of glucocerebrosidase in the CNS of A53T α-synuclein mice reduced the levels of soluble α-synuclein, suggesting that increasing the glycosidase activity can modulate α-synuclein processing and may modulate the progression of α-synucleinopathies. Hence, increasing glucocerebrosidase activity in the CNS represents a potential therapeutic strategy for GBA1-related and non-GBA1–associated synucleinopathies, including PD.
EFFECT OF THE COMMUNICATION AND CLARITY OF THE FISCAL AUTHORITY ON MARKET EXPECTATIONS: EVIDENCE FROM THE BRAZILIAN ECONOMY

This study relates to the literature on the communication and clarity of the policymakers. The novelty concerns the investigation of the effect of the communication and clarity of the fiscal authority on market expectations on public debt. The article addresses empirical evidence, based on the Brazilian experience, regarding the idea that communication is essential for the coordination between the policymaker and the market participants in order to lead expectations. The findings suggest that the communications from the Brazilian National Treasury concerning fiscal policy represent an important tool to improve the effects of the management of the public debt on market expectations regarding public debt.