Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationships among middle level teachers' assessment practices, instructional leadership, and student achievement

Purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships among teachers’ assessment practices, instructional leadership, and student achievement in the middle level schools in Missouri. The method of analysis was primarily quantitative, with survey data being used to determine, (a) what is descriptive of the demographics of Missouri middle level schools, (b) what is descriptive of the assessment practices of teachers in Missouri middle level schools, (c) what is descriptive of the instructional leadership practices of the school leader, and (d) if any relationships exist between the teachers’ assessment practices, the principal as instructional leader and student achievement. Supplementing the quantitative data were data obtained through written responses to open-ended questions. Findings. The study found significant relationships among teachers’ assessment practices and instructional leadership as measured through instructional improvement and curriculum improvement. One assessment practice that revealed significance was collaboration through assessment, which is the process when teachers and administrators come together and analyze assessment data to plan for instruction and discuss student achievement. Other practices were assessment during instruction, which describes the strategies that teachers employ before and during assessment, like planning for classroom
Economic Effect of Following HbA1c Testing Practice Guidelines in the Elderly Medicare Population: An Instrumental Variable Analysis

This retrospective follow-up study aimed to evaluate the effect of following glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) testing practice guidelines on Medicare expenditures. The authors identified 12 635 incident diabetes patients from 1998 and 1999 Medicare 5% claims data and calculated Medicare payments from 2000 to 2003. They applied a 2-stage least-squares model with instrumental variable (IV) methodology to estimate the effect of receiving ≥2 HbA1c tests annually on Medicare expenditures. Only 27.7% (3503/12 635) of the sample received ≥2 HbA1c tests annually. IV estimation results showed that receiving the tests was associated with a $953 decrease in Medicare payments per patient-year. Improved HbA1c test rates could save Medicare costs. For each year, 2000 to 2003, the authors estimate that approximately $174 million in Medicare expenditures could have been saved through Medicare patients aged ≥67 years who developed diabetes in 1998 and 1999, had no diabetes complications at baseline, and subsequently did not receive ≥2 HbA1c tests annually.
Critical role for serum opsonins and complement receptors CR3 (CD11b/CD18) and CR4 (CD11c/CD18) in phagocytosis of Francisella tularensis by human dendritic cells (DC): uptake of Francisella leads to activation of immature DC and intracellular survival of the bacteria

Francisella tularensis is one of the most infectious human pathogens known. Although much has been learned about the immune response of mice using an attenuated live vaccine strain (LVS) derived from F. tularensis subspecies holarctica (Type B), little is known about the responses of human monocyte‐derived immature dendritic cells (DC). Here, we show that optimal phagocytosis of LVS by DC is dependent on serum opsonization. We demonstrate that complement factor C3‐derived opsonins and the major complement receptors expressed by DC, the integrins CR3 (CD11b/CD18) and CR4 (CD11c/CD18), play a critical role in this adhesion‐mediated phagocytosis. LVS induced proinflammatory cytokine production and up‐regulation of costimulatory surface proteins (CD40, CD86, and MHC Class II) on DC but resisted killing. Once taken up, LVS grew intracellularly, resulting in DC death. DC maturation and cytokine production were induced by direct contact/phagocytosis of LVS or interaction with soluble products of the bacteria, and enhanced activation was seen when LVS was pretreated with serum. Sonicated LVS and supernatants from LVS cultures were potent activators of DC, but LVS LPS failed to activate DC maturation or cytokine production. Serum‐treated LVS rapidly induced (within 6 h) a number of cytokines including IL‐10, a potent suppressor of macrophage functions and down‐regulator of Th1‐like responses and the Th1 response inducer IL‐12. These results suggest that the simultaneous production of an activating (IL‐12, IL‐1β, and TNF‐α) and a suppressing (IL‐10) cytokine profile could contribute to the immunopathogenesis of tularemia.
Extended duration strategies for the pharmacologic treatment of diabetic retinopathy: current status and future prospects

ABSTRACT Introduction: Intraocular pharmacotherapy (vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] inhibitors and corticosteroids) has become first-line therapy for diabetic retinopathy (DR). A series of intraocular injections is usually required before disease modulation decreases the treatment burden in some patients, but others with chronic diabetic macular edema may require intensive longer-term therapy. Areas covered: Recent studies showing successful pharmacologic treatment of proliferative DR will probably lead to increased use of pharmacotherapy, thereby further emphasizing the need for longer duration drugs. Recently approved anti-VEGF drugs (aflibercept) and corticosteroids (dexamethasone and fluocinolone inserts) provide extended durations of action. Longer action anti-VEGF molecules, sustained release devices and pumps, and encapsulated cell technology, may further decrease treatment burden, though regulatory approval may not occur for at least 5 years. Oral medications (danazol and minocycline) and modified topical drugs (loteprednol) will require daily administration but may decrease the frequency of visits to physicians’ offices. Intravitreally administered drugs that target different biochemical pathways are being developed as monotherapy and combination therapy, and their effects on durability remains to be seen. Expert opinion: The rich development pipeline promises to provide improved therapeutic options in addition to drugs and devices with longer duration of action.
Structural Determinants of Activity of Chlorhexidine and Alkyl Bisbiguanides Against the Human Oral Flora

We assayed chlorhexidine and a series of its analogues, in which the chlorophenyl terminal substituents were replaced with alkyl chains, for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against the Gram-negative and Gram-positive oral bacteria. Changes in antimicrobial activity were correlated with changes in agent structure for identification of structural criteria which may be important in the optimization of agent activity. Chlorhexidine showed substantial antimicrobial activity against the Gram-negative as well as the Gram-positive oral bacteria. The alkyl agents were comparable with chlorhexidine in their activity against Bacteroides gingivalis and Bacteroides intermedius, black-pigmented Gram-negative obligate anaerobes associated with periodontal disease in adults. Alkyl agents alexidine, heptihexidine (1,6-bis-n-heptylbiguanidohexane), hexoctidine (1,8-bis-n-hexylbiguanidooctane), and hexhexidine (1,6-bis-n-hexylbiguanidohexane), as well as chlorhexidine, were active against Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, a Gram-negative organism associated with localized juvenile periodontitis. Hexidecidine (1,10-bis-n-hexylbiguanidodecane) and heptoctidine (1,8-bis-n-heptylbiguanidooctane) were more active, and hexhexidine was as active as chlorhexidine against Fusobacterium nucleatum, also associated with periodontal disease. Seven of the agents were more active than chlorhexidine against Actinomyces species. All test agents were active against Streptococcus mutans, a Gram- positive coccus associated with dental caries. Hexidecidine had activity equal to that of chlorhexidine when evaluated against the entire battery of organisms. Analysis of structure-activity relationships revealed that alkyl chains could replace chlorophenyl groups with retention or improvement of antimicrobial activity. Agents with lower lipophilicity were generally more active than those with higher lipophilicity. Within an isolipophilic series, activity increased as methylene bridge length increased, with a requirement for a bridge of at least six carbons for activity against most bacteria. Agents with branched terminal groups were more active than agents of the same bridge length but with unbranched terminal groups. The alkyl bisbiguanides, agents which do not contain chlorophenyl moieties, have activity against the oral flora comparable with that of chlorhexidine. Of the alkyl agents evaluated in this study, hexidecidine, hexhexidine, and alexidine offer the most promise for use in control of oral diseases.
Tests of phenotypic and genetic concordance and their application to the conservation of Panamanian golden frogs (Anura, Bufonidae)

Evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) differ in the extent to which they capture, or even consider, adaptive variation, and most such designations are based solely on neutral genetic differences that may not capture variation relevant to species’ adaptabilities to changing environmental conditions. While concordant patterns of divergence among data sets (i.e. neutral and potentially non‐neutral characters) can strengthen ESU designations, determining whether such criteria are met for highly variable taxa is especially challenging. This study tests whether previously defined ESUs for endangered Panamanian golden frogs (Atelopus varius and Atelopus zeteki) exhibit concordant variation among multiple phenotypic traits and mitochondrial DNA sequences, and the extent to which such divergence corresponds to environmental differences. Multivariate analyses identify phenotypic and genetic differentiation consistent with proposed ESUs and support the status of A. varius and A. zeteki as separate species. Moreover, the significant association detected between ESU co‐membership and genetic similarity, which remained strong after removing the effect of geographic distance, also indicates that genetic differences are not simply due to isolation by distance. Two phenotypic characters (body size and the extent of dorsal black patterning) that differ among ESUs also co‐vary with environmental differences, suggesting that to the extent that these phenotypic differences are heritable, variation may be associated with adaptive divergence. Lastly, discriminant function analyses show that the frogs can be correctly assigned to ESUs based on simultaneous analysis of multiple characters. The study confirms the merit of conserving the previously proposed golden frog ESUs as well as demonstrates the utility and feasibility of combined analyses of ecological, morphological and genetic variation in evaluating ESUs, especially for highly variable taxa.
Direct Posterior Reduction and Fixation for the Treatment of Basilar Invagination With Atlantoaxial Dislocation

OBJECTIVETo report the surgical technique and clinical results for the treatment of basilar invagination (BI) with atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) by direct posterior reduction and fixation using intraoperative distraction between the occiput and C2 pedicle screws. METHODSFrom May 2004 to June 2008, 29 patients who had BI with AAD were surgically treated in our department. Pre- and postoperative dynamic cervical x-rays, computed tomographic scans, and 3-dimensional reconstruction views were performed to assess the degree of dislocation. Ventral compression of the cervicomedullary junction was evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging. For all patients, reduction of the AAD was conducted by intraoperative distraction between the occiput and C2 pedicle screws using a direct posterior approach. RESULTSFollow-up ranged from 6 to 50 months in 28 patients. Clinical symptoms improved in 26 patients (92.9%) and were stable in 2 patients (7.1%) without postoperative deterioration. Radiologically, complete or more than 50% reduction was achieved in 27 of 28 patients (96.4%). In 1 patient, the reduction was less than 50% because the direction of the facets on 1 side of the C1–C2 joint was vertically oriented, instead of horizontal. Overall, good decompression and bone fusion were shown on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, or x-ray scans for all patients. There was 1 death in the series because of basilar artery thrombosis 1 week after the operation. CONCLUSIONThe direct posterior distraction technique between occiput and C2 pedicle screws is an effective, simple, fast, and safe method for the treatment of BI with AAD. Transoral odontoidectomy and cervical traction for the treatment of BI with AAD should be reconsidered.
Travelling the 'Work-First' Road to Welfare Reform

This paper examines the radical sectoral shift effected by the Government's 2005/6 welfare-to-work reforms. For the affected group - sole parents (and parenting payment partnered recipients), the partially disabled, and the long-term unemployed - these reforms will be shown to have transformed 'social security policy' into a form of 'labour policy' (or more accurately 'labour-market policy'). They also alter the lines of responsibility for, and the content of welfare for these groups, other than those in 'protected' categories (such as disabled people unable to work for more than 15 hours) or those covered by the temporary 'transitional' measures (such as people in receipt of payments when the reforms were announced). It is suggested that for most people of workforce age (including transitional categories), social security is now effectively an individual-responsibility-gateway into labourmarket exposure (or delayed exposure in the case of transitional Parenting Payment recipients). For these groups, the primary role of social security payments is to impose a set of conditions (backed by a strong compliance regime) which serves to oblige people to accept any job, of almost any duration or terms, which the labourmarket generates.It is argued that genuine welfare reform requires that attention return to the social rights of welfare recipients (their 'social rights of citizenship') and the community's reciprocal social responsibilities to ensure that collective state (or governmental) action is taken to ameliorate the risks of participating in an (increasingly deregulated) labour market.
Dental caries in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina.

OBJECTIVES To present the prevalence of dental caries in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). METHODS A survey focused on dmft and DMFT indices was carried out in four cantons of the Federation of BH in 1997. The dental health of 6- and 12-year-olds was assessed in random samples (n = 238 and 318, respectively). DMFT index in adult population was assessed in clients coming to dental offices in the same area (35-44-year-olds; n = 401). All the subjects were clinically investigated. RESULTS During the 1991-95 war, all four cantons were affected by the migration of population. The population per dentist ratio considerably increased in three cantons. In 6-year-olds, the average dmft (+/-SD) was 4.9 +/- 4.0, and 86% of the children were affected with dental caries. The average DMFT of 12-year-olds was 6.2 +/- 3.9. On the average, 94% of the 12-year-olds were affected with dental caries. Mean DMFT of adult clients was 15.1 +/- 7.0. Almost every adult (98%) was affected with dental caries. CONCLUSIONS The dental status in postwar BH is rather poor and the mean DMFT in all investigated age groups may be considered high. The detrimental effect of 1991-95 war on social conditions and the health care system should be considered in explaining such poor dental health. Despite the limitations, the presented data may be used to assess the treatment needs, assure the visibility for dental issues in BH, and help the west European countries to plan dental services for refugees from BH.
A Significant Bilateral Field Advantage for Shapes Defined by Static and Motion Cues

Matching performance is better when pairs of visual stimuli are presented in bilateral conditions—in which one stimulus is presented to each side of the visual field—than in unilateral presentations—when both stimuli are presented to one side of the field. This is called the bilateral field advantage (BFA). The processing of visual motion has also been found to be more strongly integrated across the cerebral hemispheres than is processing of static cues. However, in these studies higher-order motion tasks, such as processing motion-defined form, have not been examined. To determine if the BFA generalises to such tasks, we measured the magnitude of the effect using a shape-matching task in which the stimuli were random polygons that were either in motion, motion-defined, or static. The polygon pairs were presented either: (i) bilaterally, one to either side of the vertical meridian; (ii) unilaterally, both to one side of the vertical meridian (left or right visual fields); or (iii) centrally, vertically separated across the horizontal meridian (a control condition). An equal advantage of bilateral conditions over unilateral ones was found for all three types of polygon shape cues, showing that the BFA generalises to conditions where shapes are in motion and where shape is defined by motion. These findings are compatible with the notion that motion processing is strongly integrated across the cerebral hemispheres, and with the idea that this integration manifests itself with simple motion information, rather than with higher-order motion processing such as matching shapes defined by motion.
Research on Dynamic Service Composition Based on Object Petri Net for the Networked Information System

In contrast to a typical pyramid information system, resources and services in a networked information system are often distributed, published, accessed and updated by multiple service providers. The networked information systems need to support the logistical aspects of business processes at hand. How to invoke these services to satisfy the users’ requirement? A lot of research work has been done in the fields of service discovery and service composition. A feasible method is making use of service API schema classification to inquire suitable service, and then designing a workflow mechanism to consume a serial of services on the fly. But this method cannot guarantee the high service recall and precision rate. And up to now there is no appropriate method to realize the dynamic service composition. Object Petri Nets (OPN) are a well-founded process modeling technique which have been used to model and analyze several types of processes including protocols, manufacturing systems, and business processes. This paper brings forward dynamic service composition based on OPN for networked information system. A service behavior is basically a partial ordered set of operations, which can interact with each other by standard network protocol and interface. The paper brings forward the mapping rules from service to Object Petri Net, based on which the eight tuple description is presented. Secondly the five basic service composition models of sequence, alternative, parallel, arbitrary sequence, iteration are determined, and the mathematical characteristics are studied. Finally the paper brings forward service dynamic composition flow chart. Through the research on dynamic service composition based on OPN, it is adaptable to model and simulate for the networked information system.
Hydrogen diffusion in the metallic glass a-Zr

A series of NMR experiments has been conducted on /sup 1/H in the metallic glass a-Zr/sub 3/RhH/sub 3.5/ to establish the temperature dependence of the mean H-atom jump rate. Temperature and frequency dependence of the /sup 1/H spin-lattice relaxation rates and, at three temperatures, the H-atom translational (tracer) diffusion coefficient D have been measured. The pulsed-field-gradient, stimulated-echo technique was used to measure D. At 525 K, D = 3.9 x 10/sup -7/ cm/sup 2//s. Atomic jump rates deduced from D measurements are consistent with those calculated from relaxation-rate data, indicating that translational diffusion is responsible for /sup 1/H spin-lattice relaxation. It is demonstrated that a distribution of activation energies about a mean energy, E-bar/sub a/ = 0.46 eV/atom, is needed to fit relaxation-rate data. The width, 0.12 eV, and the mean energy of the distribution are independent of temperature. A procedure is suggested for using NMR measurements to establish the existence of a distribution of activation energies for atomic motion.
Overview of QA4MRE at CLEF 2012: Question Answering for Machine Reading Evaluation

This paper describes the Question Answering for Machine Reading (QA4MRE) task at the 2012 Cross Language Evaluation Forum. In the main task, systems answered multiple-choice questions on documents concerned with four different topics. There were also two pilot tasks, Processing Modality and Negation for Machine Reading, and Machine Reading on Biomedical Texts about Alzheimer's disease. This paper describes the preparation of the data sets, the definition of the background collections, the metric used for the evaluation of the systems' submissions, and the results. Eleven groups participated in the task submitting a total of 43 runs in seven languages.
Organizational Socialization of Hospital Employees A Comparative View of Occupational Groups

As the delivery of high-quality medical care becomes increasingly dependent on the attitudes and behaviors of health care workers, more analysis of personnel programs designed for hospital employees is needed. This research examines the organizational socialization of hospital employees—the ways in which employees are attracted to, recruited by, and developed and trained within hospitals. Using interview and questionnaire data collected from one hundred eighteen hospital employees (nurses, nurse's aides, radiology technologists, tradesmen, and accounting clerks), the research first identifies three distinct stages of socialization and specifies the activities engaged in by employees at each stage. Secondly, the research identifies four variables as possible outcomes of the socialization process (general satisfaction, mutual influence, internal work motivation, and job involvement) and empirically links important aspects of the socialization process to those outcomes. Finally, some differences between the experiences of professional, paraprofessional, and nonprofessional workers are identified and explained, and implications for the conduct of hospital socialization programs are drawn.
Recent Advances in Understanding the Control of Secretory Proteins by the Unfolded Protein Response in Plants

The membrane transport system is built on the proper functioning of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The accumulation of unfolded proteins in the ER lumen (ER stress) disrupts ER homeostasis and disturbs the transport system. In response to ER stress, eukaryotic cells activate intracellular signaling (named the unfolded protein response, UPR), which contributes to the quality control of secretory proteins. On the other hand, the deleterious effects of UPR on plant health and growth characteristics have frequently been overlooked, due to limited information on this mechanism. However, recent studies have shed light on the molecular mechanism of plant UPR, and a number of its unique characteristics have been elucidated. This study briefly reviews the progress of understanding what is happening in plants under ER stress conditions.