Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning about Teaching Initial Findings from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project

In fall 2009, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project to test new approaches to measuring effective teaching. The goal of the MET project is to improve the quality of information about teaching effectiveness available to education professionals within states and districts— information that will help them build fair and reliable systems for measuring teacher effectiveness that can be used for a variety of purposes, including feedback, development, and continuous improvement. The project includes nearly 3000 teachers who volunteered to help us identify a better approach to teacher development and evaluation, located in six predominantly urban school districts across the country: Charlotte-Mecklenburg of the project, multiple data sources are being collected and analyzed over two school years, including student achievement gains on state assessments and supplemental assessments designed to assess higher-order conceptual understanding; classroom observations and teacher reflections on their practice; assessments of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge; student perceptions of the classroom instructional environment; and teachers' perceptions of working conditions and instructional support at their schools.
A single-phase active power filter with one-cycle control under unipolar operation

In this paper, analysis and design for a single-phase active power filter (APF) with one-cycle control is presented. The proposed control method eliminates the need of sensing the load current, a nontrivial task of calculating the harmonics and reactive current components, as well as the use of multipliers, as reported by many previously reported approaches. In addition, the switching loss is reduced by employing unipolar operation, where only two out of four switches are operated at switching frequency while the other two are stationary on or off during an entire half-line cycle. The design methodology taking electromagnetic interference filter into account is also discussed in detail. The theoretical analysis is verified by experiments.
Inflammation is associated to volume status in peritoneal dialysis patients

Abstract Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between inflammation and volume status in patients underwent peritoneal dialysis (PD). Patients and method: This cross-sectional study included 159 PD patients. The median duration of PD was 17 (range, 1–151) months. All patients were examined using bioelectrical impedance analysis to estimate the ratio of extracellular water to total body water (ECW/TBW), which was used to assess their volume status. The patients were categorized as having one of the following three volume statuses: hypervolemic (above +2 SD from the mean, which was obtained from healthy controls), normovolemic (between +2 SD and −2 SD), or hypovolemic (below −2 SD from the mean). Five patients with hypovolemia were excluded from the study. Fifty-six patients were hypervolemic whereas 98 patients were euvolemic. High-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured to evaluate inflammation in all patients. Results: hs-CRP value levels were significantly higher in hypervolemic patients compared with euvolemic patients [7.1 (3.1–44.0) mg/L vs. 4.3 (3.1–39.6), p: 0.015, respectively]. Left ventricular hypertrophy was more frequent in hypervolemic patients compared with euvolemic patients (53.6% vs. 30.6%, p: 0.004, respectively). ECW/TBW ratio positively correlated with hs-CRP (r: 0.166, p: 0.039). Gender, hs-CRP, and residual Kt/V urea were found to be independent risk factors for hypervolemia in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Inflammation is associated with hypervolemia in PD patients. Residual renal functions play an important role to maintain euvolemia in PD patients.
Learning styles for e-learning systems over virtual desktop infrastructure

By introducing the technology of the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to e-learning systems, the identical learning environment can be? provided to the learner at any time, and at any place, and also even if the learner stops learning or working, he can restart it by different terminals including different operating systems. On the other hand, the quality of screen images on the desktop would be affected by the quality of service (QoS) of the network, since the screen images are transferred to the client from the server by their transfer protocol. In this paper, we discuss the influence of the QoS upon the learning styles caused by the usability over the VDI. By constructing the experimental network using network emulators, we evaluate and discuss the influence of the QoS such as a round trip delay time (DT) and a bandwidth (BW) upon learning style measured by the quality of experience (QoE). As a result, we clarify the relationships between the QoS of the network and the QoE of the e-learning styles.
Diagnosis and management of spinal cord sarcoidosis.

BACKGROUND Sarcoidosis of the spinal cord is very rare, affecting less than 1% of patients with sarcoidosis. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients with biopsy proven sarcoidosis and spinal cord involvement seen in our Interstitial Lung Disease and Sarcoidosis Clinic at the University of Cincinnati over a nineteen year period. Presentation of disease, method of diagnosis, and response to immunosuppressive therapy (methotrexate, azathioprine, or cyclophosphamide) were noted. RESULTS Seventeen patients with spinal cord sarcoidosis were identified. All patients presented with insidious parethesias or weakness. Diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy of spinal cord lesions in two patients, dural biopsy in three patients, mediastinoscopy in eight patients, bronchoscopy in two patients, skin biopsy in one patient, and liver biopsy in one patient. Only four patients were diagnosed with sarcoidosis prior to spinal cord involvement. Cytotoxic therapy was initiated to reduce the daily dose of prednisone to less than 10 mg. Fourteen patients were evaluated at least six months after starting cytotoxic therapy. Of these evaluable patients, ten patients received methotrexate plus low dose prednisone and five responded. One patient received azathioprine plus low dose prednisone and responded. One patient received azathioprine, methotrexate, and low dose prednisone and responded. All seven patients that received cyclophosphamide responded. CONCLUSIONS Spinal cord sarcoidosis should be considered in any patient presenting with gradual onset of paresthesias or weakness regardless of the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Prompt treatment is important in long term outcome. Cyclophosphamide was an effective, well tolerated corticosteroid-sparing agent for patients with spinal cord sarcoidosis.
Protective Role of Glutathione Peroxidase 4 in Laser-Induced Choroidal Neovascularization in Mice

Purpose To evaluate the influence of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4) expression in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid tissue using a mouse model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Methods In this study, GPx4+/−, GPx4+/+, and GPx4-overexpressing transgenic mice were created for comparison. The mRNA and protein expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A in RPE/choroid tissue were evaluated before and after CNV induction by laser. Moreover, we investigated the changes in the VEGF-A mRNA level in RPE/choroid tissue in the CNV model that have not been clearly shown previously. Lipid peroxidation in RPE/choroid tissue was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using antibody against 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal. To investigate the protective role of GPx4, the size of laser-induced CNV was compared on day 7 among the mice expressing different levels of GPx4. Results In the laser-induced CNV mouse model, laser treatment reduced the VEGF-A mRNA level in RPE/choroid tissue, while it increased the VEGF-A protein level. Evaluation of VEGF-A expression in RPE/choroid tissue of the GPx4+/−, GPx4+/+, and GPx4 transgenic mice revealed that GPx4 increased the VEGF-A protein level under physiological conditions (i.e., without laser treatment), while GPx4 suppressed the increase in the VEGF-A protein level under pathological conditions (i.e., after CNV induction by laser). In addition, GPx4 reduced the CNV size in a dose-dependent manner in vivo. Conclusions GPx4 suppresses the increase in the VEGF-A protein level, which occurs during the development of pathological CNV, thus partly explaining the protective effect of GPx4 against CNV.
Analysis of factors affecting the epidemiology of tuberculosis in China.

SETTING The tuberculosis (TB) epidemic situation is both a public health problem and a socio-economic issue in China. OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of socio-economic development and of the TB control strategy on the TB epidemic in China. METHODS Based on the four National Epidemiological Surveys of TB and the indices of socio-economic development in China, correlation co-efficiency was used to analyse the relationship between changes in the TB epidemic situation, the socio-economic level and the Health V TB control Project. RESULTS The prevalence of smear-positive TB had significant medium correlation with the per capita net income of the rural population, the consumption level of the urban population, the per capita GDP, the population density, and the proportion of rural to total population, among which the correlation with the first four was negative and with the last was positive. The decline in prevalence in the project areas was much greater than in the non-project areas (44.4% vs. 12.3%), while their GDP increases were similar. CONCLUSION With socio-economic development, correlation between the socio-economic indices and the TB epidemic becomes more significant. The TB control project is vital to reduce the prevalence of TB in China.
Cytoskeletal dynamics in growth-cone steering

Interactions between dynamic microtubules and actin filaments are essential to a wide range of cell biological processes including cell division, motility and morphogenesis. In neuronal growth cones, interactions between microtubules and actin filaments in filopodia are necessary for growth cones to make a turn. Growth-cone turning is a fundamental behaviour during axon guidance, as correct navigation of the growth cone through the embryo is required for it to locate an appropriate synaptic partner. Microtubule-actin filament interactions also occur in the transition zone and central domain of the growth cone, where actin arcs exert compressive forces to corral microtubules into the core of the growth cone and thereby facilitate microtubule bundling, a requirement for axon formation. We now have a fairly comprehensive understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the cytoskeleton in growth cones, and the stage is set for discovering the molecular machinery that enables microtubule-actin filament coupling in growth cones, as well as the intracellular signalling pathways that regulate these interactions. Furthermore, recent experiments suggest that microtubule-actin filament interactions might also be important for the formation of dendritic spines from filopodia in mature neurons. Therefore, the mechanisms coupling microtubules to actin filaments in growth-cone turning and dendritic-spine maturation might be conserved.
Cone Crusher Model Identification Using Block-Oriented Systems with Orthonormal Basis Functions

In this paper, block-oriented systems with linear parts based on Laguerre functions is used to approximation of a cone crusher dynamics. Adaptive recursive least squares algorithm is used to identification of Laguerre model. Various structures of Hammerstein, Wiener, Hammerstein-Wiener models are tested and the MATLAB simulation results are compared. The mean square error is used for models validation. It has been found that Hammerstein-Wiener with orthonormal basis functions improves the quality of approximation plant dynamics. The mean square error for this model is 11% on average throughout the considered range of the external disturbances amplitude. The analysis also showed that Wiener model cannot provide sufficient approximation accuracy of the cone crusher dynamics. During the process it is unstable due to the high sensitivity to disturbances on the output. The Hammerstein-Wiener model will be used to the design nonlinear model predictive control application.
Structural Mechanisms for Regulation of Membrane Traffic by Rab GTPases

In all eukaryotic organisms, Rab GTPases function as critical regulators of membrane traffic, organelle biogenesis and maturation, and related cellular processes. The numerous Rab proteins have distinctive yet overlapping subcellular distributions throughout the endomembrane system. Intensive investigation has clarified the underlying molecular and structural mechanisms for several ubiquitous Rab proteins that control membrane traffic between tubular‐vesicular organelles in the exocytic, endocytic and recycling pathways. In this review, we focus on structural insights that inform our current understanding of the organization of the Rab family as well as the mechanisms for membrane targeting and activation, interaction with effectors, deactivation and specificity determination.
Postmodern synergistic knowledge creation: extending the boundaries of disability studies

The tensions between the competing discourses of the medical and the social models of disability have traditionally provided a platform for discussion and research in the fields of disability studies and special needs education. Over the last 30 years a wealth of literature has consolidated the debate and produced particular knowledge of impairment and disability. In this paper we argue that by privileging notions of ‘deficit’ within these medical or social model perspectives the richness of the lived experience of people with impairments is denied. The individual becomes lost within a framework of medical symptoms or social inequalities. This paper considers alternative approaches which reveal a fuller picture of the lives of people with impairments. The authors conducted two separate empirical studies, one employing a Deleuzo‐Guattarian perspective, the other a Bourdieusian perspective. In this paper we illustrate how these theories of practice can reveal situated understandings of the individual with impairments and his/her daily life. By embracing new understandings and different theoretical perspectives we show how new knowledge can emerge to illuminate the fluid and ever‐changing notions of ‘disability’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’, which form elements of the individual lived experience of the research participants.
Hepatocellular carcinoma is accelerated by NASH involving M2 macrophage polarization mediated by hif-1αinduced IL-10

ABSTRACT Obesity-related inflammation promotes cancer development. Tissue resident macrophages affect tumor progression and the tumor micro-environment favors polarization into alternatively activated macrophages (M2) that facilitate tumor invasiveness. Here, we dissected the role of western diet-induced NASH in inducing macrophage polarization in a carcinogen initiated model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Adult C57BL/6 male mice received diethyl nitrosamine (DEN) followed by 24 weeks of high fat–high cholesterol–high sugar diet (HF-HC-HSD). We assessed liver MRI and histology, serum ALT, AFP, liver triglycerides, and cytokines. Macrophage polarization was determined by IL-12/TNFα (M1) and CD163/CD206 (M2) expression using flow cytometry. Role of hif-1α-induced IL-10 was dissected in hepatocyte specific hif-1αKO and hif-1αdPA (over-expression) mice. The western diet-induced features of NASH and accelerated HCC development after carcinogen exposure. Liver fibrosis and serum AFP were significantly increased in DEN + HF–HC–HSD mice compared to controls. Western diet resulted in macrophage (F4/80+CD11b+) infiltration to liver and DEN + HF–HC–HSD mice showed preferential increase in M2 macrophages. Isolated hepatocytes from western diet fed mice showed significant upregulation of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor, hif-1α, and livers from hif-1α over-expressing mice had increased proportion of M2 macrophages. Primary hepatocytes from wild-type mice treated with DEN and palmitic acid in vitro showed activation of hif-1α and induction of IL-10, a M2 polarizing cytokine. IL-10 neutralization in hepatocyte-derived culture supernatant prevented M2 macrophage polarization and silencing hif-1α in macrophages blocked their M2 polarization. Therefore, our data demonstrate that NASH accelerates HCC progression via upregulation of hif-1α mediated IL-10 polarizing M2 macrophages.
Le rôle du travail discursif des Majors de l’industrie musicale dans la reproduction de l’ordre institutionnel.

L’institution, par definition, reflete une notion de persistance. Elle cadre durablement la pratique des acteurs a travers un ensemble d’elements reglementaires, normatifs et cognitifs. Par ailleurs, cette persistance n’est pas le resultat d’un pur effet institutionnel. Elle s’explique aussi, en grande partie, par un travail institutionnel : certains individus s’engagent dans un ensemble d’actions afin de participer a la reproduction des institutions et de l’ordre etabli. Ces actions de maintien sont cruciales pour instruire la question de persistance des institutions, mais restent cependant quasiment inexploree dans la litterature institutionnelle. Dans cette etude, nous traitons la question du maintien en accordant une attention particuliere a l’agence des individus. Certains acteurs ont interet a maintenir l’ordre institutionnel, ce qui se traduit par des efforts pour reproduire des croyances et schemas de pensee. Le discours comme objet d’analyse est ici central pour etudier les efforts sur les croyances et schemas cognitifs, d’autant plus que les institutions sont, a plusieurs egards, des constructions sociales discursivement constituees. Cet article se propose ainsi d’explorer les processus agentiels qui participent a la reproduction de l’ordre institutionnel. Plus specifiquement, nous etudions les travaux discursifs des acteurs dominants visant a stabiliser croyances et significations. Dans ce dessein, nous nous interessons a un cas unique, celui de l’industrie musicale en France ou la stabilite du champ est remise en question avec le developpement d’Internet. Le projet de « licence globale » offre un potentiel important de changement, et laisse apparaitre des efforts pour maintenir le systeme existant. Nous avons realise une etude longitudinale portant sur un corpus de textes de 2004 a 2008 produits autour de la question de « licence globale » et sur une serie d’entretiens. Une analyse discursive lexicometrique, avec le logiciel Alceste, a permis de mettre en evidence, dans le discours des Majors, la manipulation et le renforcement des croyances existantes a travers la circulation, l’association et la repetition de certains mots. En particulier, nous mettons en evidence le travail discursif opere sur la notion d’artiste. La dimension marchande de l’artiste est renforcee et naturalisee pour reproduire l’ordre existant malgre un environnement instable.
Effects of chloramphenicol on growth, size distribution, chlorophyll synthesis and ultrastructure of Euglena gracilis.

Multiplication of Euglena cells treated by 0.5-1.0 mg/ml chloramphenicol was not disturbed for the first 36 h and inhibition appeared only at later stages. The mean cell volume of treated dividing cells was decreased, although the initial rise in cell volume, which normally occurred during the first 12 h of incubation, was not prevented. The antibiotic also lowered the chlorophyll content of green dividing cells. In dard-grown cells transferred to light, inhibition of chlorophyll synthesis was immediate but not complete, and was followed by a decreased rate of plastid elongation and thylakoid formation. Our findings suggest that chloramphenicol does not cause the loss of existing pigment and that impaired chlorophyll synthesis is a secondary effect of inhibition of protein synthesis. The results also indicate that the greening process is more sensitive than cell division to the antibiotic.
Spontaneous Autoreactive Memory B Cell Formation Driven by a High Frequency of Autoreactive CD4+ T Cells1

Although somatically mutated autoantibodies are characteristic of many autoimmune diseases, the processes that can lead to their development remain poorly understood. We have examined the formation of autoreactive memory B cells in PevHA mice, which express the influenza virus PR8 hemagglutinin (HA) as a transgenic membrane bound neo-self-Ag. Using a virus immunization strategy, we show that PR8 HA-specific memory B cell formation can occur in PevHA mice, even though a major subset of PR8 HA-specific B cells is negatively selected from the primary repertoire. Moreover, PR8 HA-specific memory B cells develop spontaneously in TS1 × PevHA mice, which coexpress a transgenic PR8 HA-specific TCR and contain a high frequency of HA-specific CD4+ T cells. Notably, autoreactive memory B cell formation occurred in TS1 × PevHA mice even though approximately half of the HA-specific CD4+ T cells were CD25+Foxp3+ cells that could significantly attenuate, but did not completely abolish HA-specific autoantibody production in an adoptive transfer setting. The findings provide evidence that a high frequency of autoreactive CD4+ T cells can be sufficient to promote autoreactive memory B cell formation in the absence of signals provided by overt immunization or infection and despite the presence of abundant autoantigen-specific CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells.
THE ROLE OF PARENTAL ATTITUDES IN CHILDREN'S MOTIVATION TOWARD HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

Completing homework assignments is part of students' daily routine. Because this task is embedded within the home environment, parents play an important role in homework-related attitudes and behaviors. Recent findings have demonstrated that effort and cognitive engagement while doing homework are better proximal predictors of positive outcomes than merely the time spent on it. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether parental goal emphasis explains children's motivational orientation toward homework and the perceived dissonance between home and school. Participants included parent–child dyads (N = 220), who completed surveys adapted from the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales. Path analysis using structural equation modeling indicated that parents’ emphasis on mastery goals was associated with children's mastery goals, which was in turn linked with higher achievement in school. Parents’ emphasis on performance goals was associated with children's performance goals and a higher sense of dissonance between home and school.