Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Getting Serious About Student Success: High School-College Alignment.

The efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's human capital pipeline has become a prime area of focus in the policy arena, spurred on by international data that show the U.S. lagging in high school and college completion. For policymakers, education leaders, and even students and parents, it is becoming increasingly clear that the transition between secondary and postsecondary education remains a "dead zone," a place where confusion reigns and dreams die. The high school-college handoff leaves too many students underprepared-or even unprepared-for what's next, which in turn leads to remediation and attrition. Sealing the cracks in our educational pipeline and thus boosting student success rates means addressing a combination of financial, social, and academic factors. Of these, it is the academic dimension, specifically, the alignment of curricula and standards, that is at once the most intractable and ripest for change. While efforts to smooth secondary-postsecondary transitions have been underway for the better part of the last two decades, a wealth of current data shows that much work remains: * According to the American Diploma Project, only about one-third of American high school students graduate with the basic skills needed for college or the workplace (lower for African American and Hispanic students). * A survey conducted for the National Governors Association (NGA) found that 29 percent of high school students surveyed termed the senior year a "complete waste of time," while nearly half (49 percent) indicated that the senior year is somewhat useful but could be made a lot more meaningful. * States are ratcheting up course requirements and are developing exit standards, but these do not adequately reflect the tools needed for success, particularly in trouble spots such as mathematics. So what must be done to keep the United States competitive in the race to develop and employ human capital? Policy initiatives in the area of alignment should focus on three simple observations: * Students are not taking enough of the right courses to succeed in college. Research by the National Association of System Heads (NASH) reveals the breakdown between high schools and colleges regarding the number and content of courses on the college prep track. In English, just over half the states (28) are aligned on the number of courses required, but only four are fully aligned on course topics. The situation in mathematics is even worse-only ten states are aligned on the number of courses required, and only one is fully aligned on content. Such a situation is simply unacceptable, particularly since there is solid research showing the essential coursework for college persistence and completion. * Student assessments are poorly timed and are not rigorous enough. On the positive side, the K-12 standards movement has brought the development of high school exit exams (in half the states within the next five years), which have significant potential to gauge college readiness. That potential, however, remains largely untapped. …
Counting good deeds and days of life : The quantification of fate in medieval China

Cet article traite des croyances religieuses en Chine medievale et en particulier de la quantification des bonnes et mauvaises actions selon des regles tres precises. Influencees par le Taoisme, ces pratiques etaient la garantie d'une vie plus longue et d'un meilleur destin.
Community level diabetes management through public private partnership initiative in Gujarat-results from Changing Diabetes® Barometer

Abstract Introduction: Diabetes is a huge and growing problem in developed and developing countries. For tackle this situation in effective manner a new approach is required in diabetes health-care setup. Objectives: To understand the changing diabetes® barometer program impact in Ahmedabad district, Gujarat. Materials and Methods: A total of 12,140 screened populations at five primary health centers from June 2012 to August 2012 are used in this report. Results: 13.1% diabetic and 11.3% pre-diabetes (PD) population were found in the screening camps. Diabetes detection rate was more among males (16.4%) and geriatric population (21.9%). High correlation was observed for people with diabetes and PD with high body mass index and high waist-to-hip ratio. Two-third of the total people turned out to the screening camps was found to be either hypertensive or pre-hypertensive. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) results shown that nearly half of the diabetes patients (57.7%) having HbA1c more than or equal to 9%. Conclusion: Government of Gujarat and Novo Nordisk Education Foundation has jointly demonstrated to create awareness and education on diabetes management in the Ahmedabad district under private public partnership framework.
Love's Hidden Symmetry

Solo exhibition by Paul Simon Richards at Andor, London. Love’s Hidden Symmetry is a large scale video project, incorporating footage produced over several months of intensive collaboration with a selected group of actors. The work focuses on the intricate flows of power within a friendship group comprising of four main characters. Action is played out through semi-structured improvisation with each character’s experience unfolding in both remembered and imagined events. The resulting multi-channel video installation presents a deterioration of the chronological passing of time through a landscape of melodramatic relationships.
Origines et développement de la robotique

[eng] Robotic developpement occurs with prior creations to Unimate and is strongly transformed by the diffusion of electronics' technologies which modified the artefact, Increasing adoption of new technical solutions in motorization, programmation and peripheries was not linear because innovations combine themselves with old technical devices inducing a partial substitution. Moreover actors had not convergent choices as well in traditional applications like welding as in new projects like local network area. Different strategies and technological sophistication's throw-in brakes intensive electronics development. [fre] Le developpement de la robotique s'est realise avec des creations bien anterieures a l'Unimate et est fortement marque par l'introduction des technologies electroniques modifiant profondement l'artefact. L'adoption croissante de ces nouvelles solutions techniques dans le sous-ensemble de motorisation, le systeme de commande et des peripheriques n'a pas ete lineaire car les innovations se sont combinees avec les anciens principes techniques entrainant une substitution tres partielle. Les acteurs de plus n'ont pas eu des choix convergents tant pour les applications classiques (le soudage) que pour les projets novateurs (reseaux locaux industriels). Leur strategie disparate et leur remise en cause de la sophistication technologique a freine le developpement intensif de l'electronnisation.
Incremental evaluation of OCL constraints

Integrity checking is aimed at efficiently determining whether the state of the information base is consistent after each operation execution. Incremental integrity checking exploits available information about the structural events that define the operation effect to compute integrity constraint violations considering as few entities of the information base as possible. In this paper we propose a new method to cope with incremental integrity checking at the conceptual level, in particular in UML conceptual schemas with OCL integrity constraints. Our method ensures an incremental verification of constraints regardless the concrete syntactic definition chosen by the designer.
Compendium on Optimization Methods (Summary on Optimization Methods with Applications and Examples)

This paper aims to illustrate the subject in a simple and complete fashion, and it is accompanied by exercises for teaching the related computational techniques. The optimization framework is applicable to decision problems modeled in terms of functions of several variables, in which the optimal points are found with or without constraints (expressed by equations, inequations and possibly by derivatives). The discussion includes linear programming (where the constraints or the objective function are linear) and nonlinear programming (where some of the constraints or the objective function are nonlinear).
Dynamically Generalizing Web Pages Based on Users’ Search Intentions

In this paper, based on the classification of search intentions, required information for every intention is further analyzed, and a dynamic model of generalizing Web pages based on the intentions is proposed, which dynamically creates a concept hierarchy concerning snippets, keywords, navigation types, and document formats for searched Web pages, and provides further retrieval navigations for different intentions by generalizing content, format and type of the pages, to return more relevant results to the intentions. Comparing with related work, this paper does not focus on users' intentions themselves, but on the creation of generalization models based on users' intentions and implementation for Web pages generalizing. Experimental results show that the generalization model can automatically acquire users' search intentions under navigation, and provide relevant results and further
Ergonomics of Prehensility in Pushing and Pulling Motions: An Anatomical and Biomechanical Overview

The hand represents one of the most remarkable expressions of humanization of the anterior limb. The anterior limb, at first ambulatory, underwent continuous evolution acquiring innumerable new functions. In the course of human evolution the hand has undergone continual structural and functional adaptations, characterized, among others, by enrichment of peripheral innervation and further development of the thumb. This development was accompanied by important changes in the brain and the relocation of the eyes, together allowing the muscle control and stereoscopic vision, necessary for a controlled grip. The anatomy of the hand is complex, intricate, and fascinating. Its integrity is absolutely essential for our everyday functional living. It is intimately correlated with the brain, both in the evolution of the species and in the development of the individual. Actually, we can state that we “think” and “feel” with our hands, hence, their contribution is essential to the mental processes of thought and feeling. The aim of this review is to evaluate the most typical hand quality, the prehensility and hence, the possibility of manoeuvring tools. Our attention is mainly focused on the hand anatomy and prehensility during pushing and pulling motions. In particular, our attention is directed toward the relationship existing between the hand prehensility and the volume of the object to be gripped. As an example, we use a grip of the paddle and, pushing and pulling motions during kayak paddling. Indeed, we are firmly convinced that the prehensility plays a crucial role not only in performing the stylistically correct paddling, but especially in realizing a more effective and powerful paddle stroke. This review highlights a great link existing between biomechanical and anatomical notions and sporting performance.
Multimodal Analgesia Prolongs Duration of Postoperative Analgesia and Decreases Postoperative Pain Intensity in Short Surgical Procedures: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: We examined the effect of preoperative combination of different analgesics and the role of each individual analgesic compared to control regarding postoperative pain, Methods: patients were randomly allocated into either control; multiple treatment, perfalgan, opioid and voltaren group. The time for first request for analgesia and visual analogue score were compared by analysis of variance and tuckey Kramer test. Results:There was a main effect of treatment p>0.0001 in favor of multi-analgesia and opioid groups. Multi-analgesia group was better than opioid group p=0.016. There was a little improvement with paracetamol (perfalgan) but no effect of voltaren on duration of analgesia nevertheless;both have reduced VAS relative to control. Conclusion: Combination ofnon-opioid analgesicsDiclofenac Na (voltaren), Paracetamol (perfalgan) with low dose morphine and dexamethasone have greatly prolonged duration of analgesia and reduced pain intensity without displaying notable side effects.
Ectopic Pregnancy with Atypical Presentation

pregnancy is a term used for implantation of the fertilized ovum in a location other than the uterine mucosa. This patient was referred without specific symptoms and after several examinations, ectopic pregnancy was finally diagnosed after sonography. Then salpingectomy was done. (JAEM 2012; 11: 249-51)
Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism in General Surgical Patients: Results of Meta‐analysis

The results of randomized clinical trials evaluating commonly used methods of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis in moderate- and high-risk general surgery patients were pooled to obtain an unbiased estimate of efficacy and risks. Low-dose heparin (LDH), dextran, heparin-dihydroergotamine (HDHE), intermittant pneumatic compression (IPC), and graded elastic stockings significantly reduced the incidence of DVT; aspirin was ineffective. In contrast to other methods, elastic stockings have not been adequately studied to determine their value in reducing DVT in high-risk patients, such as those with malignancy. Only LDH and dextran were studied in numbers of patients sufficient for demonstrating a clear reduction in pulmonary embolism (PE). In comparison studies, LDH was superior to dextran in preventing DVT, but the two agents were equivalent in protecting against PE. Although HDHE was marginally better than LDH in preventing DVT, it appeared to have no advantage in preventing PE—at least in moderate-risk patients. The incidence of major hemorrhage was not increased with any of the prophylactic agents. However, wound hematomas occurred significantly more frequently with LDH, an effect noted in the pooled data from double-blind and open trials. In comparison trials with LDH, both dextran and HDHE had significantly fewer wound hematomas. LDH administered every 8 hours appeared more effective in reducing DVT than LDH administered every 12 hours; the incidence of wound hematomas was equivalent with both regimens.
RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Influence of Dietary Habits on Health Risk Factors

Dietary habits play an important role in cardiovascular risks by maintaining health and preventing diseases. The present study aimed to determine the influence of dietary habits on health risk factors. A cross sectional study was conducted to relate physical activity, body mass index, alcohol, metabolic syndrome, stress, age, gender, employment, and education with dietary habits. The results were analysed by Chi Square test with statistically significance of p value 50 years (76.08%), low education level (66.50%; p<0.05), upper socioeconomic status (38.76%), unemployment (76.55%; p<0.001), and sedentary lifestyle (65.07%) was found associated with vegetarianism. Contrarily, omnivorous was found related with male gender (66.20%; p<0.001), alcohol consumption (54.93%; p<0.001), insomnia (28.87%), and active lifestyle (38.03%). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (33.80%; p<0.05), hypertension (51.41%), dysglycemia (27.46%), obesity (56.34%), and dyslipidemia (34.51%) was more in omnivores than vegetarians (metabolic syndrome: 23.92% (p<0.05); hypertension: 43.06%; dysglycemia: 22.01%; obesity: 48.32%; and dyslipidemia: 27.75%). Vegetarianism plays a protective role against metabolic syndrome and its components. Hence, it can be concluded that high risk individuals, once-identified can be encouraged to familiarize themselves with meatless options through recipes, cookbooks, online resources, and classes; and their medical care-givers can enlist the expertise of dietetic professionals in ensuring complete nutrition and providing group or individual instruction on menu planning and related topics.
Analysis of Anaphora, Cataphora and Exaphora for Demonstrative Pronoun of Hindi

Co-reference resolution is one of those issues of paramount importance that are required be addressed for fool proof translation and other application in which co-reference is used, especially, when target language is a free word order language. A number of algorithms have been devised to resolve co-reference resolution. The accuracy of co-reference resolution (anaphora + cataphora + exaphora) algorithm depends on the percentage of all these types of references in corpus. In order to determine its viability, we have conducted a study on Hindi corpus to find the percentage of sentences of anaphora and cataphora. Percentage of these types of sentences pave the way to evaluate the accuracy of co-reference resolution algorithms which can resolve either anaphora, cataphora or exaphora. This will guide the researchers to evaluate the parameters to consider relevance of these phoric types in study. In this paper we have considered one of the features proposed by Botley, which has been engaged to resolve the anaphora in Hindi. This tag has been analysed empirically and its values tested for a corpus. We analysed 165 news items of Ranchi Express from EMILEE corpus of plain text, wherein we exploited tag set proposed by different authors. Three values are considered of this tag. In this study there are twelve files of Ranchi Express, and have 1515 sentences from monologue. Eight files of dialogue of EMILEE corpus having 877 sentences. It is evident from the study that hundred percent accuracy of co-reference resolution is not attainable until anaphora, cataphora and exaphora is addressed to. Keywords— Coreference resolution, anaphora resolution, cataphora, exaphora, annotation.
On health effects of cold spells with a special reference to sudden cardiac death

There is substantial evidence on the associations between cold ambient temperature and adverse health effects. Less is known about the role of prolonged episodes of cold weather denoted as cold spells. This study assessed relations between cold spells and adverse health effects globally, and quantified and elaborated the associations between cold spells and sudden cardiac death (SCD) in northern Finland. Based on random-effects models in the meta-analyses of evidence from 9 studies around the world, cold spells were associated with increased mortality rates from all or all non-accidental causes (RR 1.10; 95% CI: 1.04–1.17), cardiovascular diseases (RR 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03–1.19), and respiratory diseases (RR 1.21; 95% CI: 0.97–1.51). Suggestive evidence of other health effects was identified. Investigating 51-years of coordinate-specific weather data at the home coordinates of autopsy-verified cases of SCD, conditional logistic regression in a case-crossover setting produced an estimate for the association between cold spells and the risk of SCD (OR 1.33; 95% CI: 1.00–1.78). A greater number of cold days preceding death increased the risk of SCD approximately 19% per day (OR 1.19; 95% CI: 1.07–1.32). The association between season-specific cold spells and SCD was strongest during autumn and winter, and lowest during spring and summer. The association was stronger for ischemic (OR 1.55; 95% CI: 1.12–2.13) than for non-ischemic SCD (OR 0.68; 95% CI: 0.32–1.45) (Q-statistic 3.85, p 0.05), confirmed by the autopsy finding. Among cases suffering ischemic SCD, the association seemed stronger in those without a prior diagnosis of ischemic heart disease than in those diagnosed during lifetime. The association seemed stronger with severe coronary stenosis (OR 1.60; 95% CI: 1.11–2.30), and weaker with moderate stenosis (OR 0.97; 95% CI: 0.37–2.55). The use of aspirin, βblockers, and nitrates seemed to decrease the risk of ischemic SCD during cold spells. In conclusion, cold spells increased the risk of ischemic SCD, and patients without appropriate diagnosis and medications for ischemic heart disease seemed most susceptible. The results indicate that coronary stenosis plays a central role in the cold-related pathogenesis of SCD. Timely diagnosis and treatment of ischemic heart disease might reduce weather-related SCDs in a community.
A five-year retrospective on the Arkansas Department of Education Co-teaching Project

The Arkansas Department of Education Co-teaching Project was designed to assist Arkansas schools in the implementation of more inclusive service delivery models for students with disabilities. The project began due to a need to increase the number of students being served in less restrictive environments, but evolved into a systematic statewide program that has impacted both service delivery as well as general and special education teacher practice. Support for the systemic change project was provided annually through a comprehensive professional development model including face-to-face and online professional development, technical assistance, informational resources, and ongoing evaluation. This article provides the details of the systemic change occurring over a five-year period through a comprehensive evaluation model. Participants in the project included five cohorts, 143 school districts, 208 schools, 789 teachers and 3920 students. The results of the comprehensive evaluation plan indicate, over time, increases in the implementation of building-level supports, rated performance of co-teaching partnerships and grades for students with disabilities in co-taught classrooms. The evolution of the model extended to include web resources, interactive webinars, onsite coaching and specific evaluation feedback and recommendations to individual schools and teachers. This comprehensive approach to professional development was considered critical to the overall changes in state, district and classroom-based practices.
Effects of nicotine and streptozotocin on the cardiovascular system

Our study investigated the potential for a combination of diabetes and nicotine treatment to affect blood pressure in the rat. We used streptozotocin injection and oral nicotine feeding as models of type-1 diabetes and smoking respectively. Blood pressure was assessed using the indirect tail-cuff technique. In an attempt to further characterize our experimental model, we also observed body weight, plasma glucose and the contractility of aortic segments in various treatment groups. Our data was expressed as mean ± SEM, and significance was regarded as P < 0.05. We found that a combination of streptozotocin and nicotine treatment resulted in a significant elevation of systolic blood pressure compared with either treatment alone, or control. Furthermore, assessment of aortic contractility showed alteration of reactivity to both phenylephrine and sodium nitroprusside as a result of the combination treatment. We also observed a trend for our combination treatment to exacerbate the elevation of plasma glucose level seen in streptozotocin induced diabetic rat models. This study serves as an experimental basis to underline the importance of cessation of tobacco use for individuals with diabetes mellitus.
Educational Policy Issues Related to Computer Literacy in Rural School Systems

This study investigated the major policy issues associated with computer literacy in rural school systems. The inquiry was directed toward ascertaining if educational disparity existed, related to computer education between rural and urban schools. The findings of the study indicated that a disparity of educational opportunity does exist among rural schools, particularly the ones with less than 500 pupils. The study also revealed that organizational description, enrollment size, and geographic location are interrelated factors regarding computer educational opportunity.