Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preparing Pluralistic Urban Superintendents.

The United Nations projects that the United States will have the highest migration rates of any nation in the world between 2000 and 2050. As American society becomes increasingly diverse, it is paramount that superintendent preparation programs produce pluralistic urban superintendents capable of synergistically energizing an increasingly heterogeneous work force. Inherent in this charge is the egalitarian approach to graduate program design. Pluralistic leadership development is premised upon egalitarian principles that transcend individual cultural norms. Graduate programs seeking to enhance pluralistic leadership development must permeate egalitarianism through the amalgamation of both acquiescence and expectation. Students must feel welcomed into the pluralistic professional learning community yet be simultaneously challenged by the high expectations of a progressive superintendent preparation program. note: This module has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and sanctioned by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a signi cant contribution to the scholarship and practice of education administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this module is published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 1 Volume 4, Number 4 (October December 2009). Formatted and edited in Connexions by Theodore Creighton, Virginia Tech.
Comparison of pharmacological and electrical cardioversion in permanent atrial fibrillation after prosthetic cardiac valve replacement: A prospective randomized trial

Objective To compare the efficacy of electrical versus pharmacological cardioversion following prosthetic cardiac valve replacement in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods Patients with permanent AF who had undergone prosthetic cardiac valve replacement, who had a cardiothoracic ratio ≤0.5 and a left atrial diameter ≤50 mm for ≥6 months after surgery were randomly divided to receive either electrical or pharmacological cardioversion. Patients in the electrical cardioversion group were given direct-current synchronized electrical defibrillation under general anaesthesia. Patients in the pharmacological cardioversion group were given oral combination therapy with amiodarone, captopril and simvastatin for 3 months. Results A total of 115 patients received either electrical cardioversion (n = 59) or pharmacological cardioversion (n = 56); reversion to sinus rhythm occurred in 98.3% and 26.8%, respectively. Recurrence rates were similar in the two groups (3.4% and 6.7% for electrical and pharmacological cardioversion, respectively). No deaths or severe complications were reported. Conclusion Electrical cardioversion has a favourable safety profile and appears to be a more effective method than pharmacological cardioversion for the treatment of permanent AF after cardiac valve replacement, once the heart has returned close to its normal size.
Breast cancer risk factor evaluation in a Western Himalayan state: A case–control study and comparison with the Western World

Abstract Context: Breast cancer incidence is increasing rapidly in India. The lifestyle, built, genetic makeup, reproductive and breastfeeding patterns are quite different in Indian females when compared to the Western population. Generalizing the Western data to the population residing in the Himalayan region would breed inaccuracies. Aim: The aim of our study was to identify risk factors in our own population in a Western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Subjects and Methods: A case–control study with 377 cases of invasive breast cancer and 346 hospital-based controls was conducted for 1 year. The data were collected by interviewing the individuals during their visit to hospital using a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using standard statistical techniques using SPSS version 17 software. Results: Factors found to have strong association with invasive breast cancer on multivariate analysis are late age at first childbirth >30 years, which is the strongest risk factor associated, late age of menopause > 50 years, high socioeconomic class, and age of female above 50 years. Conclusion: In our females, age >50 years, late age of menopause (>50 years), late age at first childbirth (>30 years), and high socioeconomic status were found to be major risk factors associated with breast cancer. Several factors implicated in the Western data were not found to be significant in our study. We need to identify such aspects in reproductive and breastfeeding patterns of women and spread awareness regarding the same.
Salbutamol infusion to treat neonatal hyperkalaemia

Salbutamol infusion, 4 micrograms/kg in 5 ml of water infused for 20 minutes, was given to treat hyperkalaemia (potassium level > 6.0 mmol/l) in 10 critically ill preterm infants (median gestational age 26 weeks). Seven infants had acute renal failure, two had persistent metabolic acidosis without renal failure and the remaining infant had a combination of acute renal failure and persistent metabolic acidosis. No infant developed a tachycardia or became hyperglycaemic in response to the infusion. Seven of the 10 infants ultimately died but this was at a mean of 9 days following the infusion and as a consequence of complications due to their extreme prematurity or major congenital abnormality. In response to the infusion the potassium level fell in 7 infants with acute renal failure by a median of 1.1 mmol/l (range 0.7-1.8) at one hour but in the three infants with a persistent metabolic acidosis, the potassium level continued to rise. We conclude that salbutamol infusion achieves, without side-effects, at least a temporary reduction in hyperkalaemia in preterm infants with renal failure, but not metabolic acidosis. Its effect is of sufficient duration to allow ample time for definitive therapy to be instituted and thus may be a useful alternative for infants in whom the possible hypoglycaemic side-effects of glucose and insulin should be avoided.
Caecal transcriptome analysis of colonized and non-colonized chickens within two genetic lines that differ in caecal colonization by Campylobacter jejuni.

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of human bacterial enteritis worldwide. The molecular mechanisms of the host responses of chickens to C. jejuni colonization are not well understood. We have previously found differences in C. jejuni colonization at 7-days post-inoculation (pi) between two genetic broiler lines. However, within each line, not all birds were colonized by C. jejuni (27.5% colonized in line A, and 70% in line B). Therefore, the objective of the present experiments was to further define the differences in host gene expression between colonized and non-colonized chickens within each genetic line. RNA isolated from ceca of colonized and non-colonized birds within each line was applied to a chicken 44K Agilent microarray for the pair comparison. There were differences in the mechanisms of host resistant to C. jejuni colonization between line A and line B. Ten times more differentially expressed genes were observed between colonized and non-colonized chickens within line B than those within line A. Our study supports the fact that the MAPK pathway is important in host response to C. jejuni colonization in line B, but not in line A. The data indicate that inhibition of small GTPase-mediated signal transduction could enhance the resistance of chickens to C. jejuni colonization and that the tumour necrosis factor receptor superfamily genes play important roles in determining C. jejuni non-colonization in broilers.
An algorithm for Left Atrial Thrombi detection using Transesophageal Echocardiography

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is widely used to detect left atrium (LA)/left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombi. In this paper, the local binary pattern variance (LBPV) features are extracted from region of interest (ROI). And the dynamic features are formed by using the information of its neighbor frames in the sequence. The sequence is viewed as a bag, and the images in the sequence are considered as the instances. Multiple-instance learning (MIL) method is employed to solve the LAA thrombi detection. The experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve better performance than that by using other methods.
Reactive hyperemia and interleukin 6, interleukin 8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the diagnosis of early-onset neonatal sepsis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic value of peripheral circulatory reactive hyperemia and serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in early-onset neonatal sepsis. METHODS Reactive hyperemia in the dorsal hand and serum levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha were studied in newborn infants (n = 32; gestational age 39 +/- 3 weeks) who had been admitted to the neonatal unit because of suspected sepsis <48 hours after birth. On admission, reactive hyperemia after a standardized arterial occlusion was measured with laser Doppler technique, and blood samples were taken for cytokine analyses. On the basis of predetermined criteria, the infants subsequently were classified as septic (n = 12) or not (n = 20). RESULTS The degree of reactive hyperemia was higher in the group with sepsis (median + 170% perfusion increase) than in that without (+37%). On admission, serum levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha all were higher in septic (median values: 1620, 331, and 22 pg/mL, respectively) than in nonseptic neonates (median values: 42, 63, and 13 pg/mL, respectively). In the group with sepsis, the degree of reactive hyperemia correlated to log IL-6 (r = 0.80) and log IL-8 values (r = 0.71). CONCLUSION Newborn infants with septicemia have increased reactive hyperemia and elevated cytokine levels very early in their disease. Reactive hyperemia in skin can be analyzed at the bedside and noninvasively and therefore may serve as an additional diagnostic tool in neonatal sepsis.
Votando por el ambiente: La importancia de la democracia y educación en América Latina

Abstract: This study found that doubling the level of democracy in Latin America reduces CO 2 emissions per capita by up to 6%. This relationship is estimated by using a fixed effects panel system of equations for 19 Latin American countries, between 1995 and 2008. Democracy acts as a conduit for increasing demands on environmental quality in Latin America, due to urban population growth and economic prosperity. Nevertheless, this study has, at least, two caveats: first it cannot unveil the long run relationship between democracy and environmental quality in the region; and, secondly, this study assumes that democracy entails positive outcomes for countries adopting this political system. This study found that doubling the level of democracy in Latin America reduces CO 2 emissions per capita by up to 6%. This relationship is estimated by using a fixed effects panel system of equations for 19 Latin American countries, between 1995 and 2008. Democracy acts as a conduit for increasing demands on environmental quality in Latin America, due to urban population growth and economic prosperity. Nevertheless, this study has, at least, two caveats: first it cannot unveil the long run relationship between democracy and environmental quality in the region; and, secondly, this study assumes that democracy entails positive outcomes for countries adopting this political system. Keyword: Democracy, Environmental Quality, CO 2 Emissions per Capita, Latin America, Panel System of Equations. JEL Codes: C33, N46, Q53, Q56.
Accounts Receivable Management – Important Task under Conditions of Globalization

Accounts receivable management is the important task under conditions of globalization, having in mind that the contemporary world is characterized by frequent business changes, uncertainty and risks. Therefore, good business requires good capital but it is rare in today’s conditions. Although accounts receivable are less solvent form of working capital than money, the present value of timely payment will not cause troubles largely regarding to liquidity, and in the enterprise solvency. Investments are resources connected to accounts receivable. We must have in mind that accounts receivable are not “real” investments, they are result of advancing sale, not a determination (long-term and planned) by the enterprise to invest capital shares from accounts receivable. All accounts receivable, disregarding the basis of their origin, due to date and security (except long-term accounts receivable included in the group of financial investments) are part of working assets, in the balance sense of accounts receivable.
Age and perception of dental appearance and tooth colour.

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of satisfaction with dental appearance and own tooth colour in the UK and investigate the impact of ageing on these perceptions. METHODS Data about ageing and satisfaction with dental appearance and tooth colour was gathered by means of a questionnaire completed at face-to-face interview. The questionnaire was first tested and then used by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in a stratified random sample of adults drawn from the UK. A total of 3384 adults were interviewed. RESULTS Three quarters of the population were satisfied with their own dental appearance and two-thirds were satisfied with their tooth colour. Subjects over the age of 55 were significantly more likely to be satisfied with their dental appearance and tooth colour (p < 0.05) compared with younger age groups. CONCLUSIONS Ageing is not necessarily associated with negative self-perception of dental appearance or tooth colour. Greater dissatisfaction with dental appearance or colour in younger ages may suggest that perceived appearance is linked to cognitive factors other than social or cultural ones.
Prospective Randomized Comparison of 8‐mm Gold‐Tip, Externally Irrigated‐Tip and 8‐mm Platinum‐Iridium Tip Catheters for Cavotricuspid Isthmus Ablation

Introduction: Radiofrequency (RF) ablation of the cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) can be performed using different types of ablation catheter. Gold tip electrodes have the theoretical advantage of creating bigger lesions than standard platinum‐iridium electrode. This prospective, randomized study compares the clinical efficacy of 8‐mm gold tip catheter, externally irrigated and 8‐mm platinum‐iridium tip (Pt tip) catheters.
Learning Question Similarity with Recurrent Neural Networks

The measurement of semantic similarity is a fundamental task in natural language processing. In the settings of a community question answering (cQA) system, it is essentially a classification problem: given a pair of questions, label it similar, relevant, or irrelevant. Traditional methods, either those at word level or at sentence level, typically require many lexical and syntactic resources, which are not available in languages other than English. In addition, there does not exist a finely annotated dataset for our purpose. In this paper, we constructed a dataset containing 4,322 labelled question pairs in Chinese, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first open Chinese dataset for question similarity classification. We propose a novel framework for measuring the semantic similarity between sentences based on the architecture of a recurrent neural network (RNN) encoderdecoder, which does not require lexical or syntactic resources. We solve the problem of lacking labelled data by first training the RNN using a larger dataset of question pairs that are automatically labelled with heuristic scores, and then fine-tuning it with our smaller, manually labelled dataset. The two-step training scheme improves the accuracy of classification compared to single-step training, and also outperforms other traditional models. The proposed model is capable of both classification and candidate ranking.
Research on Cost-recovery Policy for Grid-connected PV Project Based on the Real Option

To speed up the grid-connected solar power generation market-oriented operation and to cultivate strategic new industry,the Government will compensate the grid-connected PV project based on the total project investment.By the real option theory,this paper researches the investment and the cost-recovery policy in the grid-connected photovoltaic power generation projects under the uncertainty of the cost and the on-grid price.First,the best investment timing for the power generation enterprises and the effect of the cost-recovery policy on investment strategy are derived.Second,the accessibility of the best investment opportunities is discussed,and a necessary condition for the successful implementation of the cost-recovery policy is also obtained.Finally,we get the cost-recovery ratio under the expected waiting time for investing,and furthermore,conclude the cost-recovery policy for the government.
Injection pain of bupivacaine with epinephrine vs. prilocaine plain.

BACKGROUND Prilocaine plain has been described in the literature as causing less pain on injection than bupivacaine with epinephrine, possibly because of the higher pH of the prilocaine anesthetic solution. METHODS In a double-blind study design, 681 consecutive patients in a general dental practice received maxillary buccal infiltration, posterior palatal infiltration or inferior alveolar block injections, administered under clinical conditions by one of two dentists. Immediately after injection, patients rated the pain from each injection on a six-point scale. The pain response was analyzed according to treating dentist, location of injection, patient's sex and anesthetic administered. RESULTS The reported pain on injection of bupivacaine with epinephrine was significantly greater than that of prilocaine plain. Patients reported no significant difference in pain at different injection locations, except that palatal injections caused significantly more reported pain than did anterior maxillary infiltration, posterior maxillary infiltration or inferior alveolar block injections. CONCLUSIONS Under clinical conditions, the injection of bupivacaine with epinephrine causes significantly more perceived pain than does the injection of prilocaine plain. Clinical Implications. Bupivacaine with epinephrine and prilocaine plain have certain advantages and disadvantages that should be considered before choosing an anesthetic for a dental procedure. A disadvantage of bupivacaine with epinephrine is that it produces more perceived pain than does prilocaine plain.
Synthesis of superparamagnetic nanotubes as MRI contrast agents and for cell labeling.

AIMS Magnetic nanoparticles have been studied widely as MRI contrast agents to increase the sensitivity of this technique. This work describes the synthesis and characterization of magnetic nanotubes (MNTs) as a novel MRI contrast agent. METHODS MNTs with high saturation magnetization were fabricated by the synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) directly in the pores of silica nanotubes (SNTs). The MNTs were characterized by electron microscopy, superconducting quantum interference device and MRI. Preliminary studies on in vitro cytotoxicity and cell labeling were carried out. RESULTS The MNTs retained the superparamagnetic characteristics in bulk solutions with a considerably high saturation magnetization of 95 emu/gFe. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxivities for MNTs of 500 nm in length and of 60 nm in diameter were r(1) = 1.6 +/- 0.3 mM(-1)s(-1) and r(2) = 264 +/- 56 mM(-1)s(-1) and, for the MNTs of 2 microm in length and 70 nm in diameter, the r(1) and r(2) were 3.0 +/- 1.3 and 358 +/- 65 mM(-1)s(-1), respectively. In vitro cell labeling showed promising results with excellent labeling efficiency. No cellular toxicity was observed in vitro. CONCLUSIONS The integration of SPIONs with SNTs imparts the superparamagnetic characteristics of SPIONs onto the SNTs, creating unique magnetic nanoparticles with multifunctionality. The MNTs showed promising results as a MRI contrast agent with high NMR relaxivities, little cytotoxicity and high cell-labeling efficiency.
Assessment of ST‐Elevation Myocardial Infarction–Related Diastolic Dysfunction with Compensatory Rise in Left Atrial Ejection Force

Background: It is well known that patients with ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) show both systolic and diastolic left ventricular dysfunction. The aim of this study was to assess post–myocardial infarction diastolic dysfunction using left atrial ejection force (LAEF) in patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Results: We enrolled 58 patients presenting with STEMI who were treated with primary PCI and 23 healthy subjects as a control group. A detailed transthoracic echocardiogram, including mitral flow velocities, tissue Doppler mitral annular velocities, and left atrial (LA) phasic volumes, was performed in both groups. We also measured the level of B‐type natriuretic peptide (BNP). LAEF was calculated using the formula: 0.5 × P × Mitral orifice area × (Peak A velocity)2. Correlations between variables were studied using “Pearson and Spearman's rho” test. In the test group, we found that the level of BNP in the plasma, E/E′ ratio, and the LA volume measurements were higher than that of the control group, and those differences were statistically significant. LAEF was increased in patients with myocardial infarction (MI); moderately correlated to BNP (r = 0.383 and P = 0.001) and E/E′ (r = 0.473 and P = 0.001), and strongly correlated to A‐wave velocity (r = 0.731 and P = 0.001). LAEF was also negatively correlated to E/A ratio (r = −0.419 and P = 0.001) and LVEF (r = −0.339 and P = 0.003). Conclusion: Impaired diastolic function in STEMI affects LA and increased LAEF is one of its manifestations. LAEF may also have diagnostic importance in diastolic dysfunction, but these findings should be confirmed by further studies.
Normal flora and bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy: an overview

Abstract The female genital tract is an intricate, yet balanced ecosystem that hosts a variety of different residential microflora. The physiological changes that occur during pregnancy may disrupt this balanced ecosystem and predispose women to a potentially pathogenic microbiota. Bacteria that are associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV) are opportunistic pathogens that frequently form part of this microbiota. The overgrowth of and infections with these bacteria are linked to poor obstetric outcomes and increased transmission of other reproductive tract infections (RTIs). These infections increase women's susceptibility of acquiring HIV, the rates of HIV shedding and the development of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in HIV-infected patients. It is unknown how the plethora of bacterial species associated with BV contributes to the dynamics of this condition. The use of high-throughput methods have led to the in-depth investigation of different BV-related bacterial species and the functional capabilities of these species. However, the pathogenesis of BV is still poorly defined and the role of individual BV-related bacterial species in specific pregnancy complications is unclear and controversial. The majority of BV infections are asymptomatic and successful diagnosis is complicated by the lack of reliable and standardized diagnostic tests.