Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Form and Substance in Inservice Teacher Education

Much of the reform rhetoric about professional development is geared toward the form that such development should take. This literature advocates collaboration among teachers, schoolwide participation in professional development, programs that extend over time and are interspersed with classroom practice, programs that include classroom visitations, and so forth. Much less has been said about what the content of such programs should be. This paper reviews studies of inservice programs that aim to enhance mathematics and science teaching. It focuses exclusively on studies that examine effects of programs on student learning. The review suggests that the differences among programs that mattered most were differences in the content that was actually provided to teachers, not difference in program forms or structures.
Indigenous Businesses and Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria: The First Bank Experience in Upholding Entrepreneurial and Economic Development

This review article aimed to present profile of a well known First Bank (Nigeria) Public Limited Company (PLC) as a socially responsible corporate citizen. However, corporate Nigeria would do well to take its cue from the international corporate world, as it’s clear by comparison to world standards, there has been a near total collapse of governance in Nigeria. As a result, corporate social responsibility initiatives in Nigeria are targeted at ameliorating the socio-economic development challenges of the country the like of infrastructure development, which is informed by socio-cultural influences like communalism and charity. Research shows that Nigerian organizations perceived and practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) as corporate philanthropy aimed at addressing socio-economic development challenges in Nigeria. This finding confirms the CSR is a localized and socially embedded construct, as the ‘waves’, ‘issues’ and ‘modes’ of CSR practices identified amongst indigenous firms in Nigeria reflect the responses of the firms to their socio-economic context. As a result of this philanthropic focus, corporate contributions in Nigeria have remained largely unregulated, unsupervised and unguided, depending entirely on the whims, caprices and generosity or otherwise of particular corporate executives in office. As such ad-hoc and unstructured corporate going patterns do little in the light of the tremendous challenges facing the country, this review article therefore believes that there is the need for indigenous businesses to be mindful of how their operations impact on the society, the environment and the lives of the people as being very imperative to socio-economic development. The article recommended that, even though, CSR is an expensive function and duty of businesses to society and to the community they operate in, hence indigenous business entities should also have social and ethical responsibilities besides their traditional economic roles to dispense to society and their host communities. Also, corporate firms should intensify efforts to educate the public on their primary responsibilities, various commitments to other stakeholders and operational financial limitations.
Assessment of the origin and geothermal potential of the thermal waters by hydro-isotope geochemistry: Eskisehir province, Turkey

ABSTRACT The thermal fluids vented over Eskisehir province have been investigated for their origin and to estimate the geothermal potential of the area. Thermal waters as well as bubbling and dissolved gases were collected and analysed for their chemical and isotopic features. Their isotopic composition varies in the range from −11.5 to −7.7 ‰ for δ18O, −84 and −57 ‰ for δ2H, and 0–7.2 TU for tritium. The gases (bubbling and dissolved) are mostly N2-dominated with a significant amount of CO2. The helium isotopic ratios are in the range of 0.2–0.66 R/Rac, indicate remarkable mantle-He contribution ranging between 2 and 10 % in the whole study area. Considering the estimated geothermal gradient about three times higher than the normal gradient, and the reservoir temperatures estimated to be between 50 and 100 °C using quartz and chalcedony geothermometers, a circulation model was built where possible mixing with shallow waters cool down the uprising geothermal fluids.
Hypertension treatment and implications of recent cardiovascular outcome trials

Clinical trials have shown that effective control of blood pressure reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in high-risk patients. For example, data from the Valsartan Antihypertensive Long-term Use Evaluation (VALUE) study show significant reductions in the incidence of cardiac events, stroke and all-cause mortality in patients in whom blood pressure control was achieved compared with those in whom blood pressure remained uncontrolled. Although the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering treatment to prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) demonstrated no significant difference in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity between patients receiving diuretics, calcium channel blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, this finding might have been confounded by differences in the blood pressure reductions achieved with the three treatments. Other studies have consistently shown that newer antihypertensive agents, such as ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers, reduce cardiovascular events to a similar, or possibly greater, extent as older therapies, such as diuretics and β-blockers. In particular, ACE inhibitors appear to offer additional benefits beyond blood pressure reduction in terms of reducing cardiovascular events and producing renoprotective effects. Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) have been less extensively studied, but there is evidence already that they have heart failure, stroke and renoprotective benefits. The ONgoing Telmisartan Alone and in combination with Ramipril Global Endpoint Trial (ONTARGET) is currently comparing the effects of the ARB telmisartan 80 mg and the ACE inhibitor ramipril 10 mg, alone and in combination, on cardiovascular events in high-risk patients.
Emotional intelligence of medical residents: further work is required.

Ghajarzadeh and Mohammadifar are to be praised for their excellent report into the emotional intelligence of their medical residents (1). Their results are clear and at the end, they state that the findings “should be considered in education of medical residents”. Certainly emotional intelligence is important in medicine and medical education – not least because it can help learners find their way around their new social environment (2). Emotional intelligence could also be seen as core to the medical consultation – encoding as it does the ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions in one and others (3). Some authorities say that emotional intelligence is not a form of intelligence but rather a set of skills (4). However, before we consider a wholesale roll-out of emotional intelligence training, we should consider the results in more detail and reflect on the question as to how these findings might be considered in the education of medical residents. First of all looking at the study in more detail reveals that the emotional intelligence scores relied on selfreport measures. Unfortunately, such self-report measures are not always reliable as responders to surveys often answer questions in ways that they think others will deem socially desirable (5). It is quite possible that the responders to this survey were thinking in a similar way. Secondly even if we do believe the results of the survey, the question remains as to what if anything we can do to improve emotional intelligence scores of those residents who have scores in the lower range. Some say that emotional intelligence is a fixed trait and that nothing can be done to change it. However, more recently some research has shown that emotional intelligence scores can change, and interventions can have a positive effect on this construct (6). However, such research has not been applied amongst residents or other healthcare professionals. The next challenge will be to see if the interventions, that have been tried elsewhere, will work with healthcare professionals and whether they will make a difference to professional behaviours plagiarism.
On the Strategy to Follow for Skeleton Pruning - Sequential, Parallel and Hybrid Approaches

Keywords: Shape Representation, Skeleton, Pruning. Abstract: Pruning is an important step in a skeletonization process and a number of pruning criteria have been suggested in the literature. However, the modality to be followed when checking the pruning criterion is not generally described in detail. In our opinion, two main pruning modalities can be envisaged and in this paper we discuss their impact on the performance of pruning. Moreover, we introduce a third modality, which we regard as able to provide a more satisfactory pruning performance.
Anti-TNFs: Originators and Biosimilars

In the last 20 years, the advent of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) biologics has revolutionized the treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but the cost of biologic therapy now constitutes a large proportion of all healthcare expenditures. Patent expiration has sparked the healthcare industry's interest in the production of biosimilar (BS) versions of first generation biologics (originators [ORGs]) for market sharing. Having no access to the production line of the ORG, the sponsor of a BS needs to develop his own manufacturing process to produce a highly similar version of the reference product. Similarity in structure, physicochemical properties, biologic activity, efficacy and safety must be demonstrated by a comprehensive comparability exercise that includes the most sensitive in vitro tests, models and clinical condition with pre-defined equivalence margins. Extrapolation of indications, inter-changeability and automatic substitution between BS and ORG depend on a legal framework that varies between different agencies. It is not, therefore, unexpected that marketing authorization by the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory agencies (but not Health Canada) of CT-P13 (Remsima™/Inflectra™) as infliximab (Remicade®) BSs for IBD by indication extrapolation has led to stormy discussions in the IBD community and beyond regarding the scientific adequacy of this decision. However, as we now have to live with BSs, we hope that the impeding automatic substitution in association with post-marketing pharmacovigilance, full traceability, registries and new studies will settle the controversy and will increase the confidence of physicians and patients. A universally adopted legal framework should be implemented because, as expected, the non-anti-TNFα BSs will be soon on the stage.
Deficiency in Msh2 affects the efficiency and local sequence specificity of immunoglobulin class‐switch recombination: parallels with somatic hypermutation

During maturation of the immune response, IgM+ B cells switch to expression of one of the downstream isotypes (IgG, A or E). This class switching occurs by region‐specific recombination within the IgH locus through an unknown mechanism. A lack of switch recombination in mice deficient in components of the DNA‐dependent protein kinase (DNA‐PK)–Ku complex has pointed to a role for non‐homologous end joining. Here we characterize a switching defect in mice lacking a protein involved in DNA mismatch recognition. Mice deficient in Msh2 give diminished IgG (but not IgM) responses following challenge with both T cell‐dependent and T cell‐independent antigens. This appears to reflect a B cell‐intrinsic defect since B cells from Msh2‐deficient mice also exhibit impaired switching (but not blasting or proliferation) on in vitro culture with lipopolysaccharide. Furthermore, those switches that do occur in Msh2‐deficient B cells reveal a shift in the distribution of recombination sites used: the breakpoints are more likely to occur in consensus motifs. These results, which intriguingly parallel the effects of Msh2 deficiency on hypermutation, suggest a role for Msh2 in the mechanics of class‐switch recombination.
Integration of Heterogeneous Medical Decision Support Systems Based on Web Services

This study employs the framework of web services in conjunction with Bayesian theorem and decision trees to construct a web-services-based decision support system for medical diagnosis and treatment. The purpose is to help users (physicians) with issues pertinent to medical diagnosis and treatment decisions. Users through the system key in available prior probability and through computation based on Bayesian theorem obtain the diagnosis. The process helps users enhance the quality and efficiency of medical decisions, and the diagnosis can be transmitted to a decision-tree-based treatment decision support service component via XML to generate recommendation and analysis for treatment decisions. On the other hand, features of web services enable this medical decision support system to offer more service platforms than conventional one. Users will have access to the system whether they use Windows, Macintosh, Linux or any other platforms that connect with the Internet via HTTP. More important is the fact that after the system is completed all Internet service providers will be able to access the system as a software unit freely and quickly. This way, the goal of this study to provide medical decision support tools and speedily integrate heterogeneous medical decision support systems can be effectively attained.
Banking sector reforms in the USA: a chronological overview

This paper gives an overview of the banking sector in the United States of America; it highlights the reforms since the late 19 century; it tracks the growth of the banking sector in response to the reforms implemented over the past seven decades; and finally, it highlights the challenges facing the banking sector in the US. The country’s banking sector consists of more than 6300 commercial banks and other significant authorised deposit-taking institutions, with the Federal Reserve System as the country’s central bank, at the apex. Since the 1930s, the US government has implemented a number of banking sector reforms – in order to safeguard and improve the banking sector. The response to these reforms, by the banking sector, has been varied. By any standard, the US currently has one of the most developed banking systems in the world. The country has enjoyed a substantial bank-based financial sector development over the years, and its institutional framework has also grown stronger. However, as developed as it is, the US banking system has its own challenges. These include prolonged low interest rates, increasing non-performing asset levels, weak economic growth, fiscal policy uncertainties and the threat of contagion from Europe.
Clinically Amyopathic Dermatomyositis: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of skin lesions typical of dermatomyositis and absent/low muscle involvement. One case of hypomyopathic dermatomyositis with early rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease in a 52-year old woman with fever, erythematous desquamating skin rash, arthralgia and pulmonary consolidation is here reported. The rapid progressive interstitial lung disease caused the patient's death, despite immunosuppressive treatment.
Ethylbenzene Dehydrogenase, a Novel Hydrocarbon-oxidizing Molybdenum/Iron-Sulfur/Heme Enzyme*

The initial enzyme of ethylbenzene metabolism in denitrifying Azoarcus strain EbN1, ethylbenzene dehydrogenase, was purified and characterized. The soluble periplasmic enzyme is the first known enzyme oxidizing a nonactivated hydrocarbon without molecular oxygen as cosubstrate. It is a novel molybdenum/iron-sulfur/heme protein of 155 kDa, which consists of three subunits (96, 43, and 23 kDa) in an αβγ structure. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the α subunit is similar to that of other molybdenum proteins such as selenate reductase from the related speciesThauera selenatis. Ethylbenzene dehydrogenase is unique in that it oxidizes the hydrocarbon ethylbenzene, a compound without functional groups, to (S)-1-phenylethanol. Formation of the product was evident by coupling to an enantiomer-specific (S)-1-phenylethanol dehydrogenase from the same organism. The apparent K m of the enzyme for ethylbenzene is very low at <2 μm. Oxygen does not affect ethylbenzene dehydrogenase activity in extracts but inactivates the purified enzyme, if the heme b cofactor is in the reduced state. A variant of ethylbenzene dehydrogenase exhibiting significant activity also with the homolog n-propylbenzene was detected in a relatedAzoarcus strain (PbN1).
Protection of Urban Water body Infrastructure – Policy Requirements

Water body is an important infrastructure of urban landscape. Water bodies like tanks and ponds are constructed to harvest rainwater for local use. Such water bodies serve many environmental functions including flood and soil erosion control and are useful for irrigation, drinking water supply and groundwater recharge. A large number of water bodies recently have been lost due to anthropogenic activities and the remaining water bodies are under stress due to risk of degradation. There are many phases to solve or control the problem; starting from stopping the abuse, to restoration to monitoring and maintenance. In this situation, the existing urban and peri-urban water bodies are to be preserved and rehabilitated. In this study, policy requirements for the protection (preservation and rehabilitation) of water bodies are analyzed with special reference to Thanjavur city. Thanjavur city has many water bodies and moat around the Big-Temple and the palace, and stands as an evidence for water management in ancient days. These water bodies are to be protected and used properly for sustainable growth of the city. This paper envisages the following three: (a) need for evaluation of hydraulic and hydrologic properties of the water bodies for conserving rainwater and controlling flood water in the existing urban water bodies; (b) need for evaluation of potential of socio-environmental services by the water bodies, and (c) need for developing a relative importance index for protection of water bodies to prioritize the remedial actions.
Coral Reef Recovery on Guam (Micronesia) After Catastrophic Predation by Acanthaster Planci.

At Tanguisson Reef, Guam, in 1968-1969 a population explosion of the coral-eating sea star Acanthaster planci devastated the coral community. In the wake of this predation, coral species richness, density, and cover were drastically reduced, and the species composition was altered. In two of three reef zones examined, < 1% coral cover remained. At the time of disturbance, some considered the magnitude of this and similar Acanthaster disturbances unprecedented, and predicted long recovery times because reefs were viewed as mature, stable communities. This major disturbance offered an opportunity to study the processes and rate of community recovery. Using the data from previous studies in 1970, 1971, and 1974, and my data from 1980-1981, I present a long-term analysis of coral community development. I have focused on coral recruitment, survivorship, and species settlement patterns in relationship to the remnant surviving population. The preference of Acanthaster planci for certain prey (e.g., Montipora and Acropora) shifted the species composition to one in which nonpreferred prey predominated (e.g., Porites and Leptastrea). The predominance of nonpreferred prey was short-lived, and by 1980, preferred prey were the primary colonists of two zones. The three biological zones (reef front, submarine terrace, and seaward slope) had their own characteristic species assemblages soon after the disturbance. Nonrandom recruitment or survival of juvenile corals (diameter ≤ 4 cm) established these zones. Although the percentage of juvenile corals fell throughout the survey, their highest density was reached after adult colonies were established. In 1980, of the 34 species examined, 79% showed a significant coefficient of association between adult and juvenile conspecifics. This association caused clumped species dispersion patterns to develop within zones. As the result of recruitment, species diversity rose from 84 species in 1970 to 154 species in 1981. As surviving corals and new recruits developed, the distribution of coral growth forms became more diversified. There was a drastic increase in coral cover (e.g., submarine terrace zone, 0.9% in 1970 to 65% in 1981). This increase in cover corresponded to an increase in size and number of the coral colonies In 12 yr, species richness, cover, and composition reached or exceeded measurements of comparable reefs before the disturbance. The recovery occurred faster than predicted by a stable equilibrium model because long-term successional changes were not required. Recovery was accelerated because Acanthaster did not destroy the structural integrity of reef framework. This rapid recovery from a natural disturbance demonstrates that some coral communities have a greater resilience than was once believed.
The Salmonella typhimurium invasion genes invF and invG encode homologues of the AraC and PulD family of proteins

We have identified two novel Salmonella typhimurium genes, invF and invG, which are required for the efficient entry of these organisms into cultured epithelial cells. invF and invG are located immediately upstream of invE, a previously identified gene also required for Salmonella entry. Non‐polar mutations in these genes rendered S. typhimurium severely deficient for entry into cultured epithelial cells. The nucleotide sequences of invF and invG indicated that these genes encode polypeptides with predicted molecular weights of 24373 and 62275, respectively. Proteins of similar sizes were observed when invF and invG were expressed in a bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase‐based expression system. Comparison of the predicted sequence of InvF with translated sequences in the existing databases indicated that this protein is homologous to members of the AraC family of prokaryotic transcription regulators. However, mutations in invF did not significantly affect the expression of other members of the inv locus. InvG was found to be homologous to members of the PuID family of specialized translocases. This homology suggests that InvG may be necessary for the export of invasion‐related determinants or involved in the assembly of a supramolecular structure that promotes entry.
Guidelines for the use of contrast agents in ultrasound. January 2004.

specific imaging techniques, are increasingly accepted in clinical use for diagnostic imaging and post-interventional workup in several organs. Presently, there is no guidance document providing a description of essential technical requirements, proposed investigator qualifications, suggested investigational procedures and steps, guidance on image interpretation, recommended and established clinical indications and safety considerations.
Risk factors for simultaneous carcinoma of the head and neck

The upper aerodigestive tract is a preferential site for multiple primary cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of patients presenting with at least two simultaneous cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract compared with patients with a single location. Men patients (2,738) with squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in the study. Of these, 120 (4.4%) presented with at least 2 simultaneous cancers (cancers detected within a 6‐month period). The group of patients with simultaneous cancers was compared with a group presenting with a single location. Two factors (the mean daily alcohol consumption and employment as a “blue‐collar” worker at any time during the working life) seem to be related to the occurrence of simultaneous cancers.