Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validity of Faculty Judgments of Student Performance: Relationship between Grades and Credits Earned and External Criterion Measures.

In national reports critical of the state of higher education [1, 6, 14, 15], criticism has been leveled at the traditional measures colleges and universities have utilized to determine student academic achievement grades and accumulation of credits. The reports' authors take the position that other forms of assessment will provide better evidence of student learning. Moreover, it is their belief that, if implemented, these forms of assessment would provide evidence of student learning that public and governmental officials could then use to judge the institutions' worthiness [8]. Indeed some states have undertaken or contemplated extensive assessment efforts to address this issue. These positions on higher education assessment practices are most curious considering the extent to which colleges and universities go to assess students. Boyer [4, p. 251] alludes to this paradox most succinctly, "American undergraduates are forever being measured. They go to class, take notes, write papers, have pop quizzes, report orally, and receive interim marks and final grades in every course. " The discrepancy between the claims of the national reports and the practices of colleges and universities is evident. The national reports claim that grades and credits are neither valid nor reliable measures of student learning, whereas colleges and universities believe that they are. And though the claims of the national reports have not been substantiated and may reflect greater concern with the level of academic
AN OPTIMAL LINEAR ESTIMATION APPROACH TO THE PARALLEL SOLUTION OF LINEAR ALGEBRAIC SYSTEMS OF EQUATIONS

Stochastic optimal linear estimation of parameters is used to generate a new iterative method for the parallel solution of systems of linear algebraic equations. In the limit the approach proposed leads to iterative algorithms which in parallel can solve linear systems, variable by variable. It is shown, for both determined and undetermined systems, that the parallel iterative method developed is in each iteration equivalent to apply to a quadratic positive definite functional a modified Newton method, with guaranteed convergence. The motivation is to have a method which explores the possibilities offered by parallel processing and that can be useful in the efficient solution of large scale systems, especially those with sparse coefficient matrices. It is shown also that the more general stochastic approach taken leads to a method which generalizes and which as a consequence is expected to perform better than the usual Jacobi method. Though numerical examples are presented, this paper does not yet address the aspect of testing and evaluation of numerical performance and is focused in presenting the heuristic development and verification of convergence of the proposed method.
Recombinant adeno-associated virus BMP4 / 7 fusion gene confers ossification activity in rabbit bone marrow stromal cells

The biological effects of transfection of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector with bone morphogenetic proteins 4 and 7 (BMP-4/7) fusion gene (AAV-BMP-4/7) were determined in rabbit bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). BMP-4 and BMP-7 genes were obtained through one-step reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction from human placental cells. The BMP-4/7 fusion gene was then generated through recombination. Rabbit BMSCs were transfected with the recombinant AAV vectors carrying AAV-BMP-4/7 with multiplicity of infection values. Cell growth curves were drawn to evaluate the biological effects of AAVBMP-4/7 on cell activity. The transfection efficiency was measured using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The ossification of cells was evaluated by observing alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OC) activity after transfection for 7 and 14 days. The cells were then transfected with AAV-BMP-4/7 and AAV-enhanced green fluorescent protein. We successfully constructed the recombinant adeno-associated virus with the BMP-4/7 fusion gene. The transfection efficiency of AAV-BMP-4/7 was approximately 72% without significant biological effects on cell activity. Cell ossification was significant after
Pathophysiology of exercise hypertension.

The blood pressure is not a fixed entity but rather a parameter subject to substantial situational fluctuations. Studies based on ambulatory blood pressure measurement as well as exercise testing have shown that the highest blood pressure values in an individual can be recorded during physical exercise. During exercise in healthy subjects, in association with an increase in cardiac output and decrease in peripheral resistance, there is an increase in systolic arterial pressure with nearly constant diastolic pressure. In contrast to normotensive individuals, during dynamic exercise hypertensive patients demonstrate excessive pressure increases due to impaired vasodilatation. The mechanism responsible may be structural changes in the arteriolar walls but age is also an important determinant. The extent of blood pressure increase is more dependent on the mass of contracting muscle than on the mode of contraction. During isometric exercise, there is an increase in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, predominantly reflex-induced, which is more marked in patients with manifest hypertension at rest than in those with borderline hypertension or in normotensive subjects. During dynamic exercise in a subgroup of patients with coronary artery disease, in contrast to normal subjects in whom the diastolic pressure remains constant, an increase in up to 15 mm Hg in this parameter may be found as a result of ischemia induction with left ventricular dysfunction, inadequately increased cardiac output and reflex vasoconstriction. During dynamic exercise, there is an increase in norepinephrine, more marked in hypertensive than normotensive subjects together with an increase in plasma renin activity; plasma aldosterone changes are in parallel with those of renin activity. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lifelong learning: links between policy and practice

The books reviewed fall under two main categories: policy about lifelong learning and teaching within the lifelong learning sector. With the exception of Post-compulsory education and lifelong learning across the United Kingdom: policy, organisation and governance, none of the books take into account the changes that have taken place since the formation of the Coalition Conservative–Liberal Democrat Government formed in May 2010. Overcoming the barriers to higher education by Gorrard presents an engaging argument throughout that challenges notions and assumptions underlying the widening participation agenda within higher education (HE). The 10 chapters (maximum 15 pages each) fall into five sections: an introduction to HE and associated problems of access; establishing the nature of the problem in relation to which students are missing and the evidence base for this; leading to HE with a focus on perceived barriers in education and the impact of early life and schooling; experiencing HE including difficulties for non-traditional learners in making the transition to HE their experiences of HE; beyond graduation and finally a concluding chapter on overcoming the barriers to participation. The book covers undergraduate courses and provision at level 4 or equivalent (under the National Qualification Framework). London Review of EducationAquatic Insects Vol. 9, No. 2, July 2011, 271–278
The population of England (1539-1873): An issue of Demographic Homeostasis

Hubert PH. Nusteling. La population anglaise (1539-1873) : une interpretation homeostatique. S'appuyant sur l'hypothese d'un equilibre homeostatique, cet article presente l'evolution quantifiee de la population anglaise sur plus de trois siecles. Ces donnees s'appuient sur les statistiques de mariages disponibles et elles sont comparees avec celles publiees par Wrigley et Schofield en 1971. L'auteur conclut que les totaux homeostatiques, calcules avec une formule simple, sont clairement plus justes que les anciennes series. Les statistiques homeostatiques proposent ainsi une meilleure idee de l'histoire economique et demographique de l'Angleterre.
Cognitive Function in Younger Type II Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To examine central nervous system involvement as a possible complication of diabetes by performing a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation of relatively young (age < 55 years) NIDDM patients and a group of control subjects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A cross-sectional comparative study of 28 patients, with duration of diabetes 5–18 years (mean ± SD ± 3.2 years), screened for acceptable glycemic control and absence of hypoglycemia on the day of examination, compared with 28 demographically similar, nondiabetic control subjects. Neuropsychometric tests performed were Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE), and P300 latencies (endogenous evoked potentials). RESULTS Seven (25.0%) patients reported history suggestive of cognitive impairment during day-to-day activities, and 17 (60.7%) had distal symmetrical polyneuropathy. Average P300 latencies were significantly delayed among the diabetic patients compared with the control subjects (349.5 ± 28.2 vs. 312.9 ± 19.3 ms; t = 5.68, P < 0.001). Although there was no significant difference in MMSE scores, compared with control subjects significantly more patients had impairment in NCSE tests of attention (χ2 = 7.38, P < 0.01), repetition (χ2 = 4.073, P < 0.05), and memory (χ2 = 5.83, P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in tests of comprehension, naming, construction, and calculation. Duration of diabetes, HbA1c levels, and the presence of distal symmetrical polyneuropathy among patients each did not correlate with any of the parameters of cognitive function evaluated. Higher blood glucose levels during the electrophysiological testing were associated with less delay in P300 latencies among the patients. CONCLUSIONS Central nervous system impairment, manifesting as mild impairments in certain cognitive skills, should be recognized as a possible complication of long-standing NIDDM, even in relatively younger individuals.
Hispanic Familism and Acculturation: What Changes and What Doesn't?

This investigation studied the effects of acculturation on attitudinal familism in 452 Hispanics compared to 227 white nonHispanics. Despite differences in the national origin of Hispanics, Mexican-, Central -and Cuban-Americans reported similar attitudes toward the family indicating that familism is a core characteristic in the Hispanic culture. Three basic dimensions of familism were found: Familial obligations, perceived support from the family and family as referents. The high level of perceived family support, invariable despite changes in acculturation, is the most essential dimension of Hispanic familism. Familial obligations and the perception of the family as referents appear to diminish with the level of acculturation, but the perception of family support doesn't change. Although these two dimensions of familism decrease concurrently with the level of acculturation, the attitudes of persons with high levels of acculturation are more familistic than those of white nonHispanics.
Stone, Ken, Practicing Safer Texts: Food, Sex and Bible in Queer Perspective

Ken Stone’s claim that Christians tend to view sex as a more serious moral issue than food is hardly contentious. Variation in food practices among Christians simply does not provoke the same ‘cosmic warfare’ as variation in sexual practices. It is this relative lack of concern for food issues which Stone both problematizes and exploits in Practicing Safer Texts. This is not, however, merely a theology of food and sex. Instead, by skilful, imaginative, and at times virtuosic close reading of the Hebrew Bible, Stone, dialoguing with lesbian, gay, and queer studies, seeks to show how reading food and sex together, especially where food and sex imagery are employed as metaphors for one another can challenge ‘normative and heteronormative assumptions that are too frequently made about sex and the Bible by the Bible’s contemporary readers’ (p. 15). Two contemporary assumptions which Stone frequently has in view are the tendencies to repress sexual desire (particularly of women and gay men), and the assumption that the only form of sexual activity promoted in the Bible is within monogamous married relationships. Comparing sex with food does not trivialize sex. In fact, as Stone insists, food, with its associated dangers (eating disorders, food poisoning, its scarcity in many global regions) should be a more serious subject of Christian ethical reflection. Indeed, it is the risks associated with both food and sex which sets off his approach to the biblical texts; interpreting the Bible carries risk. Certain readings have resulted in, or legitimized violence against women, lesbians and gays; justified slavery; and promoted political and ethnic violence. This book develops a strategy to practise ‘safer texts’: ‘if we think about the dangers of biblical interpretation in relation to the ways in which we handle risks associated with food and sex, we might conclude that the best course of action is neither to eschew biblical interpretation altogether nor to approach the Bible uncritically with a blindness to its dangers but, rather, to concentrate on the creation of safer practices of textual intercourse’ (p. 12). Nonetheless, Stone does not imagine that his conclusions are prescriptive. It is for readers to create their own practices of safer sex in their own contexts. Theology & Sexuality
Communitarianism, Vickers, and Revisioning American Public Administration

Classical liberalism and the unrestrained individualism that is of its essence are inappropriate for current ever-increasing interdependence. Recent communitarian thinking in the United States suggests that the exclusive pursuit of private interest is, in fact, inimical in the long run to individual liberty. Sustained policy change depends, however, on a fundamental rethinking of ethics and epistemology; Vickers's concept of appreciation is an important contribution to this task. The authors conclude that there is a need both for more government and for more democracy; greater intrusions on autonomy are inevitable if Western culture in its present form is to survive. The sanest like the maddest of us cling like spiders to a self-spun web, obscurely moored in vacancy and fiercely shaken by the winds of change. Yet this frail web, through which many see only the void, is the one enduring artifact, the one authentic signature of humankind, and its weaving is our prime responsibility. —Geoffrey Vickers “The Psychology of Policymaking and Social Change”
Non-Linear EMG Parameters for Differential and Early Diagnostics of Parkinson’s Disease

The pre-clinical diagnostics is essential for management of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Although PD has been studied intensively in the last decades, the pre-clinical indicators of that motor disorder have yet to be established. Several approaches were proposed but the definitive method is still lacking. Here we report on the non-linear characteristics of surface electromyogram (sEMG) and tremor acceleration as a possible diagnostic tool, and, in prospective, as a predictor for PD. Following this approach we calculated such non-linear parameters of sEMG and accelerometer signal as correlation dimension, entropy, and determinism. We found that the non-linear parameters allowed discriminating some 85% of healthy controls from PD patients. Thus, this approach offers considerable potential for developing sEMG-based method for pre-clinical diagnostics of PD. However, non-linear parameters proved to be more reliable for the shaking form of PD, while diagnostics of the rigid form of PD using EMG remains an open question.
A Black-Box Strategy to Migrate GUI-Based Legacy Systems to Web Services

While legacy systems are becoming incompatible with evolving web service applications, migration of legacy systems towards service-oriented computing is arousing wide concern for the purpose of salvaging the past investments on those systems. In this paper, a black-box strategy is proposed to export customized interactive functionality of legacy systems towards web services using a wrapping methodology suitable to GUI-based legacy systems. Our strategy also proposes a solution to deploy web services that consist of interoperations between user and legacy systems in a service-oriented architecture. Finally, a distributed framework that executes web services and integrates graphical user interfaces of legacy systems is presented.
Using natural image properties as demosaicing hints

Most digital cameras use filter arrays to sample red, green, and blue according to the Bayer pattern or similar ones. At each pixel only one color sample is taken and the values of the other colors must be interpolated from neighboring samples. This color interpolation is known as demosaicing. One of the main problems in demosaicing is that it is not always clear how to use information from one channel in order to enhance another. As a result, in highly detailed image regions all the efficient demosaicing algorithms tend to fail. In this article we suggest using natural image properties to enhance the demosaicing in those regions.
Plurilingualism in TESOL: Promising Controversies

he idea for this special issue grew out of the editors’ involvementin TESOL’s ESL in Bilingual Education Interest Section (BEIS). As we respectively took leadership roles within BEIS, we took part inBEIS’s record of “pushing the boundaries to make way for a more mul-tilingual TESOL” (Taylor, 2009, p. 310). While Shelley co-conducted asurvey of TESOL members regarding the need for a multilingual lan-guage policy within TESOL (Taylor, Smith, Daniel, & Schwarzer,2009), Kristin spearheaded a resolution regarding Deaf learners’language rights that subsequently became a TESOL (2009) positionstatement. These activities were rooted in the belief that learners’linguistic repertoires have a crucial role to play in learning English.This special issue’s focus on plurilingualism, or multilingualism at thelevel of the individual (Council of Europe, 2001), is intended tofurther illuminate the role and value of learners’ and teachers’ ﬁrstlanguages (L1s) and additional languages, and policies that supporttheir plurilingual repertoires in relation to TESOL’s mission ofadvancing excellence in English language teaching in a highly diverse,multilingual world.As we undertook the work of this special issue, we were aware thatwe were promising controversies on several fronts. Since the 1950s,TESOL has faced controversies regarding the status of languages otherthan English within the organization (Fishman, 2009). From a practi-tioner’s perspective, the idea of including a learner’s L1 in the class-room is still viewed cautiously, as a recent online discussion on “Whatis the Role of L1 in L2 Teaching? ” on TESOL’s LinkedIn platformshows (Aftat, 2013). Bilingual education remains so marginalized inconcept and practice that plurilingualism is a radical notion in manyrespects (Garc! ia, personal communication). As with other radical
On Translational Motion Planning of a Convex Polyhedron in 3-Space

Let B be a convex polyhedron translating in 3-space amidst k convex polyhedral obstacles A1,. ,Ak with pairwise disjoint interiors. The free configuration space (space of all collision-free placements) of B can be represented as the complement of the union of the Minkowski sums $P_i=A_i\oplus (-B)$, for i= 1,. ,k. We show that the combinatorial complexity of the free configuration space of B is O(nk log k), and that it can be $\Omega(nk\alpha(k))$ in the worst case, where n is the total complexity of the individual Minkowski sums P1,. ,Pk. We also derive an efficient randomized algorithm that constructs this configuration space in expected time O(nk log k log n).
Evaluation of the Genotoxic and Antigenotoxic Effects of Chios Mastic Water by the In Vitro Micronucleus Test on Human Lymphocytes and the In Vivo Wing Somatic Test on Drosophila

Chios mastic gum, a plant-derived product obtained by the Mediterranean bush Pistacia lentiscus (L.) var. chia (Duham), has generated considerable interest because of its antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant and other beneficial properties. Its aqueous extract, called Chios mastic water (CMW), contains the authentic mastic scent and all the water soluble components of mastic. In the present study, the potential genotoxic activity of CMW, as well as its antigenotoxic properties against the mutagenic agent mitomycin-C (MMC), was evaluated by employing the in vitro Cytokinesis Block MicroNucleus (CBMN) assay and the in vivo Somatic Mutation And Recombination Test (SMART). In the former assay, lymphocytes were treated with 1, 2 and 5% (v/v) of CMW with or without MMC at concentrations 0.05 and 0.50 µg/ml. No significant micronucleus induction was observed by CMW, while co-treatment with MMC led to a decrease of the MMC-induced micronuclei, which ranged between 22.8 and 44.7%. For SMART, larvae were treated with 50 and 100% (v/v) CMW with or without MMC at concentrations 1.00, 2.50 and 5.00 µg/ml. It was shown that CMW alone did not modify the spontaneous frequencies of spots indicating lack of genotoxic activity. Τhe simultaneous administration of MMC with 100% CMW led to considerable alterations of the frequencies of MMC-induced wing spots with the total mutant clones showing reduction between 53.5 and 74.4%. Our data clearly show a protective role of CMW against the MMC-induced genotoxicity and further research on the beneficial properties of this product is suggested.
Measuring Doctors' Self-insight into their Treatment Decisions

We report two studies here. Both focus on the nature and measurement of self-knowledge in judgement making. In the first study we asked 32 British family physicians (GPs) to identify their own policy from sets of policies describing their own and their contemporaries' prescription behaviour. They were no better at identifying their own stated policies than the policies we had statistically generated to describe their behaviour. In the second study we measured the information 30 GPs selected while making judgements about prescription. Patterns of information selection were similar to the way the GPs rated the influence of the information but dissimilar to the pattern of information use as measured in a judgement analysis. The pattern of results in both studies is consistent with the possibility that the knowledge GPs have is of the extent to which they attend to information. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Rheumatoid Arthritis : A Complex Gene Environmental Interaction

Rheumatoid arthritis is most prevalent systemic autoimmune disorder. In condition of RA immune system target joint via attacking synovial membrane and inflammation in joints occur resulting in chronic pain, difficulty in movement and joint destruction. Mortality in RA is increased because the patients are susceptible for other disease like cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Many genetic factors and environmental factors have been found to be associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis but neither genetic nor environmental factors alone are able to cause RA alone. A complex gene environmental interaction is possibly responsible for the RA and its Pathophysiology. The therapeutics used for the treatment are not very significant and effective.