Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
School Leaders ’ Influences on Student Learning : The Four Paths

This chapter rests on two fundamental assumptions about educational leadership. First, such leadership is about the exercise of influence and, second, the effects of such influence on student learning are mostly indirect. Premised on these two assumptions, we draw on recent evidence to describe four distinct paths along which the influence of successful leadership practices flow in order to improve student learning. As Figure 1 indicates, these are the Rational, Emotional, Organizational, and Family paths. Each path is populated by distinctly different sets of variables, each with a more or less direct impact on students’ experiences. Such variables might include those relating to school culture, teachers’ practices, teachers’ emotional states, or parents’ attitudes. Selecting the most promising of these variables and improving their status are two of the three central challenges facing leaders intending to improve learning in their schools. As the status of variables on each path improves, through influences from leaders and other sources, the quality of students’ school and classroom experiences are enriched, resulting in greater learning. Since exercising leadership influence along one path alone, or just one path at a time, has rarely resulted in demonstrable gains for students, alignment of leadership influence across paths is the third leadership challenge. Selection and improvement of variables, the first two leadership challenges, are addressed in the next four sections of this chapter, each section focuses on one path. Using the results of recent research, some of the most powerful variables located on each path are identified. One or two of these variables are explored in more detail; evidence of their impact on students is summarized, and leadership practices likely to influence their status in a positive direction are outlined. Alignment of leadership influence across paths is taken up in the fifth section. Hattie’s (2009) recent and remarkably comprehensive synthesis of meta-analyses is frequently used to estimate the impact on student learning of selected variables found on three of the four paths; these estimates are reported as effect sizes (or “d”). We are not the first to offer a conceptualization of varying strategic orientations to leadership for school improvement. House (1981), for example, distinguished technical, political, and cultural perspectives on the implementation of educational change, each characterized by differing change agent assumptions and strategies for mobilizing and supporting change. This framework has proven useful as a way of describing and comparing change facilitator assumptions and strategies for mobilizing and supporting specific educational change initiatives (see Corbett & Rossman, 1989; Rolheiser-Bennett & Anderson, 1991-1992; House & McQuillan, 1998). However, scholars applying the framework have not explicitly linked the
Comparison of the influence of different elicitors on hyoscyamine and scopolamine content in hairy root cultures of Brugmansia candida

SummaryHairy roots of Brugmansia candida were exposed to different elicitors, such as pectinase, B. candida root homogenate, Hormonema ssp. homogenate, and the acetate control buffer. Pectinase increased intracellular hyoscyamine (200–300%) and the release of both alkaloids up to 1500% (scopolamine) and 1100% (hyoscyamine). However, the increment observed in both alkaloids in roots with the acetate control buffer was superior than with pectinase, obtaining increases of 700% in hyoscyamine and 200% in scopolamine. The B. candida root homogenate enhanced the accumulation (50–600%) and specific production of both alkaloids (ca. 150%). Hormonema ssp. homogenates induced different responses according to the original medium in which the fungus was cultured. The effect of each elicitor is discussed.
Training and Development ; and Performance Improvement : Making a Case for Investment in Human Capital .

Though organisations seem to go comfortably along with the dictum that human resources are the most important assets any organisation could have, few really mean what they say;which is reflective in the way they regard human capital.and organisations in Ghana as a country, is not an exception! Taking into account the significance of human capital in our knowledge-based society, this paper focusses on a review of literature and research work on employee training and development and emphasises the importance of such investments on organisational performance and particularly, for organisations in sub-Saharan Africa, like Ghana.
Glutathione and HIV infection: reduced reduced, or increased oxidized?

Glutathione is the main intracellular defence against oxidative stress and regulates the cellular redox potential. HIV infection is accompanied by severe metabolic and immune dysfunctions. Several laboratories have demonstrated that the intracellular redox balance is disturbed in CD4+ T cells from HIV‐seropositive subjects, which may potentiate HIV replication and partly explain the immunological abnormalities associated with HIV disease. The importance of glutathione for immune function, regulation of gene expression, as well as therapeutic interventions with redox‐active drugs are discussed in this commentary.
Spatial and Temporal Variation of Phenanthrene-Degrading Bacteria in Intertidal Sediments

ABSTRACT Phenanthrene-degrading bacteria were isolated from a 1-m2 intertidal sediment site in Boston Harbor. Samples were taken six times over 2 years. A total of 432 bacteria were isolated and characterized by biochemical testing. When clustered on the basis of phenotypic characteristics, the isolates could be separated into 68 groups at a similarity level of approximately 70%. Several groups (a total of 200 isolates) corresponded to well-characterized species belonging the genera Vibrio andPseudomonas. Only 51 of the 437 isolates (<11.7% of the total) hybridized to a DNA probe that encodes the upper pathway of naphthalene and phenanthrene degradation in Pseudomonas putida NCIB 9816. A cluster analysis indicated that the species composition of the phenanthrene-degrading community changed significantly from sampling date to sampling date. At one sampling time, 12 6-mm-diameter core subsamples were taken within the 1-m2 site to determine the spatial variability of the degrading communities. An analysis of molecular variance, performed with the phenotypic characteristics, indicated that only 6% of the variation occurred among the 12 subsamples, suggesting that the subsamples were almost identical in composition. We concluded that the communities of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria in the sediments are very diverse, that the community structure undergoes significant change with time but does not vary significantly on a spatial scale of centimeters, and that the predominant genes that encode phenanthrene degradation in the communities are not well-characterized.
Eye movements reveal impaired inhibitory control in adult male fragile X premutation carriers asymptomatic for FXTAS.

OBJECTIVE Fragile X premutation carriers (fXPCs) have an expansion of 55-200 CGG repeats in the FMR1 gene. Male fXPCs are at risk for developing a neurodegenerative motor disorder (FXTAS) often accompanied by inhibitory control impairments, even in fXPCs without motor symptoms. Inhibitory control impairments might precede, and thus indicate elevated risk for motor impairment associated with FXTAS. We tested whether inhibitory impairments are observable in fXPCs by assessing oculomotor performance. METHOD Participants were males aged 18-48 years asymptomatic for FXTAS. FXPCs (n = 21) and healthy age-matched controls (n = 22) performed four oculomotor tasks. In a Fixation task, participants fixated on a central cross and maintained gaze position when a peripheral stimulus appeared. In a Pursuit task, participants maintained gaze on a square moving at constant velocity. In a Prosaccade task, participants fixated on a central cross, then looked at a peripheral stimulus. An Antisaccade task was identical to the Prosaccade task, except participants looked in the direction opposite the stimulus. Inhibitory cost was the difference in saccade latency between the Antisaccade and Prosaccade tasks. RESULTS Relative to controls, fXPCs had longer saccade latency in the Antisaccade task. In fXPCs, inhibitory cost was positively associated with vermis area in lobules VI-VII. CONCLUSION Antisaccades require inhibitory control to inhibit reflexive eye movements. We found that eye movements are sensitive to impaired inhibitory control in fXPCs asymptomatic for FXTAS. Thus, eye movements may be useful in assessing FXTAS risk or disease progression.
Influence of a glucose load in fed or unfed lambs on blood metabolites and hormone patterns.

Four Suffolk wether lambs were used in a crossover design to determine the effects of a 3-d feed and water deprivation period on metabolic and hormonal responses to a glucose load. During each period of the crossover design all lambs were limit-fed a 36% concentrate diet for 16 d then two lambs were deprived of feed and water for 3 d. All lambs were then limit-fed the 36% concentrate diet. Glucose loading tests were performed before feeding on d 1, 5, and 9 of the realimentation period. Ten milliliters of a 2.5 M glucose solution were infused into the right jugular vein and blood samples were obtained from the left jugular vein at intervals for 4 h after infusion. Plasma or serum samples were analyzed for insulin, growth hormone (GH), somatostatin, prolactin, glucose, free fatty acids (FFA), and urea N. At the end of the period in which feed was withheld, fed lambs had greater (P < .09) serum insulin and lower plasma FFA (P < .01) and somatostatin (P < .05). On d 1 of realimentation, previously unfed lambs had greater postinfusion GH (P < .01), FFA (P < .01), and glucose (P < .04) concentrations. Previously unfed lambs also had a slower (P < .01) glucose fractional removal rate and longer (P < .02) glucose half-life than fed lambs on d 1 of realimentation, but they had a shorter (P < .13) glucose half-life than fed lambs on d 5 of realimentation. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Do Hedge Funds Hedge ? Be cautious in analyzing monthly returns

6 DO HEDGE FUNDS HEDGE? FALL 2001 I n a poor year for traditional investments, 2000 was a good year for hedge funds in aggregate and a great year for some particular hedge fund styles. The year 2000 represents a textbook example of the diversification that investors desire from hedge funds. Unlike traditional investments, hedge funds can take long and short positions, and therefore have the ability to isolate a manager’s security selection or timing skill from the asset class in which the manager trades. In this way, hedge funds can offer an investment not only with potentially attractive returns, but also with low to zero correlation with most traditional portfolios.1 In recent years, hedge funds seem to have delivered. Over 1994–2000 the CSFB/Tremont index of hedge funds produced compound annual net returns of 13.2% with 10.0% annualized monthly volatility. Agarwal and Naik [2000b], Liang [2001], and Peskin et al. [2000], among others, examine monthly hedge fund returns and find only moderate correlation with most traditional asset class indexes. After adjusting for equity market exposure and other sources of systematic risk, these studies find that hedge funds still produce significant excess returns or alphas. We argue that these results based on monthly data may be misleading. Many hedge funds hold, to various degrees and combinations, illiquid exchange-traded securities or difficult-to-price over-the-counter securities, which can lead to non-synchronous price reactions. Illiquid exchangetraded securities often do not trade at, or even near, the end of every month (even smalland medium-capitalization stocks may be subject to thin trading). Moreover, publicly available traded prices often do not exist for hard-to-price CLIFFORD ASNESS is the managing principal with AQR Capital Management, LLC, in New York (NY 10020). cliff.asness@aqrcapital.com
EFFECT OF INTERLAYER COOLING TIME ON DISTORTION AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES IN METAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Laser Metal Deposition with wire (LMD-w) is one of the novel Direct Energy Deposition (DED) processes that is gaining the attention of various industries, especially aerospace, due to the potential cost and lead time reductions for complex parts. However, subjects of development include optimization of process parameters (for example laser power, wire feed speed, robotic travel speed, inter-layer cooling time etc.) for large scale adaption of this process. These parameters influence residual stress which potentially results in distortion and subsequent mechanical properties. Inter-layer cooling time is one of the main influences on production volume and is typically used to help control the cooling conditions to mitigate part distortion. Therefore, this paper is aimed at investigating different inter-layer cooling times on distortion and resulting mechanical properties of the parts produced by LMD-w. Distortion of deposited Ti-6Al-4V walls was measured automatically using a laser scanner, which was attached to the robotic arm itself. Finally, suitable recommendations are discussed to optimize the inter-layer cooling time to produce parts with desired mechanical properties.
Participating in a Culture of Consent May Be Associated With Lower Rape-Supportive Beliefs

With the recent national focus on rates of sexual violence, many interventions have been proposed, including those that focus on affirmative consent (e.g., “Yes Means Yes” campaign). The goal of the present study was to test whether individuals within a subculture with long-standing norms of affirmative consent—the bondage and discipline/dominance and submission/sadism and masochism (BDSM) community—report lower rape-supportive attitudes compared to individuals not from within this subculture. BDSM practitioner participants, adult participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and college student participants completed measures of hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, rape myth acceptance, victim blaming, expectation of sexual aggression, and acceptance of sexual aggression. BDSM practitioners reported significantly lower levels of benevolent sexism, rape myth acceptance, and victim blaming than did college undergraduates and adult MTurk workers. BDSM practitioners did not differ significantly from college undergraduates or adult MTurk workers on measures of hostile sexism, expectations of sexual aggression, or acceptance of sexual aggression. Limitations and implications are discussed.
Correlation of intrinsic chemoresistance of non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines with HER-2/neu gene expression but not with ras gene mutations.

BACKGROUND At diagnosis, most small-cell lung cancers (SCLCs) are chemosensitive, whereas non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) are usually chemoresistant. Activation of ras genes and HER-2/neu genes (also known as ERBB2) is encountered in subpopulations of NSCLC but not in SCLC and has been linked to shortened survival. Therefore, activation of these genes may be associated with intrinsic chemoresistance in NSCLC. Studies have also suggested that the multidrug-resistant phenotype expressed by the MDR1 gene (also known as PGY1) does not correlate with the in vitro chemosensitivity of NSCLC cells or with clinical response to therapy and does not explain the spectrum of cross-resistance to drugs. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between chemoresistance and the presence of ras gene point mutations and overexpression of the HER-2/neu gene in NSCLC cell lines, which indicates gene activation. METHODS Using a panel of 20 NSCLC cell lines established from untreated patients, we assessed the differences in HER-2/neu messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in the cell lines with or without ras mutations. We performed in vitro drug sensitivity testing by the tetrazolium-based MTT [i.e., 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H- tetrazolium bromide] assay with doxorubicin, carmustine, cisplatin, melphalan, mitomycin, and etoposide, and we determined the differences in IC50 values (i.e., the drug concentrations required to inhibit cell growth by 50%) for the cell lines. RESULTS We found a statistically significant correlation between the IC50 values for all six drugs and the degree of HER-2/neu gene expression in all 20 cell lines (r = .67-.86; P < .005) as well as in the subpopulation of eight cell lines with ras mutations (r = .83-.98; P < .05). The IC50 values for doxorubicin, carmustine, cisplatin, and melphalan were not significantly different in the cell lines with or without ras mutations, but the values for mitomycin and etoposide in lines with ras mutations were slightly lower than in those without ras mutations (borderline significance, P = .031). Levels of HER-2/neu expression in cell lines with ras mutations were lower than those without ras mutations, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that overexpression of HER-2/neu is a marker for intrinsic multidrug resistance in NSCLC cell lines. IMPLICATIONS If the clinical relevance of our findings is confirmed, HER-2/neu gene expression can be used as a predictor of therapeutic failure in NSCLCs. The relationships between HER-2/neu gene expression, cell proliferation, and chemoresistance in NSCLC require further investigation.
A Novel Planar 2-D Unit Structure of Double Negative Material

A novel unit of planar distributed structure with double negative materials (DNM) is proposed. The new unit consisted of microstrip line is of composite structure only on single-layer but not two layers as did in the literature. The new structure greatly debases the left-handed frequency by using inter-digital capacitor instead of the old mushroom capacitor as well as with conductive coil as an inductance to the ground rather than the old conductive cylinder. In addition, a new method to extract parameters of the structure is presented. And the equivalent circuit parameters have been extracted from full-wave simulation and composite right/left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL) theory.
Effect of intravenous iron saccharate on the requirements of erythropoietin in hemodialysis patients.

We attempt in this study to evaluate the effect of intravenous iron saccharate (i.v. Sach) on the erythropoietin (EPO) requirements during the initial phase of replacement therapy with recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) in adult chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. We evaluated 96 study patients who completed 12 weeks of treatment with EPO. There were 69 (72%) males and 27 (28%) females with a mean age of 44 +/- 10 years (range 24 to74 years). The patients were initiated on EPO at 50 units/kg body weight subcutaneously post-dialysis two to three times weekly. Intravenous iron was administered to maintain the ferritin levels and transferrin saturation ratio within normal range. There were 36 (37.5%) patients who received i.v. Sach at doses of 100 mg at the end of dialysis two or three times per week during the whole study period (total dose 2400-3600 mg). Of the 96 study patients, 91 (94.8%) responded to the EPO. The mean hemoglobin (Hb) at entry to the study was 72 +/- 84 g/L (range 52-88 g/L). There was a significant increase of the mean Hb to 108 +/- 10 g/L (range 70-120 grams/L) at the end of the study (P< 0.0001). The mean total weekly dose per kg per patient per week of EPO was 149 +/- 11 (range 100-225) units/kg/week and decreased significantly to 141 +/- 24 units/kg/week at the end of the study (P< 0.0006). The study patients were stratified by the baseline ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT) into three sub-groups: group I: patients with TSAT < 0.2 and ferritin < 100 ng/ml; group II: patients with TSAT> 0.2 and ferritin < 100 ng/ml; group III: patients with TSAT> 0.2 and ferritin> 100 ng/ml. There were 19 patients in group I (13 received i.v. Sach), 26 in group II (16 received i.v. Sach) and 44 in group III (seven received i.v. Sach). There was a group of seven patients who had TSAT < 0.2 and ferritin> 100 ng/ml, however, none received i.v. Sach and they were not included in the stratification. There was no significant difference in the mean Hb between patients who received and those who did not receive i.v. Sach in the sub-groups studied. However, there was a significant decrease in the mean weekly dose of EPO in the patients who received i.v. Sach. We conclude that routine use of i.v. iron supplementation in chronic HD patients receiving recombinant EPO may be beneficial in the initial phase of treatment in attaining the target Hb with lower doses of EPO, regardless of the status of the iron indices.
Impaired recognition of faces and objects in dyslexia: Evidence for ventral stream dysfunction?

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to establish whether or not dyslexics are impaired at the recognition of faces and other complex nonword visual objects. This would be expected based on a meta-analysis revealing that children and adult dyslexics show functional abnormalities within the left fusiform gyrus, a brain region high up in the ventral visual stream, which is thought to support the recognition of words, faces, and other objects. METHOD 20 adult dyslexics (M = 29 years) and 20 matched typical readers (M = 29 years) participated in the study. One dyslexic-typical reader pair was excluded based on Adult Reading History Questionnaire scores and IS-FORM reading scores. Performance was measured on 3 high-level visual processing tasks: the Cambridge Face Memory Test, the Vanderbilt Holistic Face Processing Test, and the Vanderbilt Expertise Test. RESULTS People with dyslexia are impaired in their recognition of faces and other visually complex objects. Their holistic processing of faces appears to be intact, suggesting that dyslexics may instead be specifically impaired at part-based processing of visual objects. CONCLUSIONS The difficulty that people with dyslexia experience with reading might be the most salient manifestation of a more general high-level visual deficit.
Numerical investigations of flow over a confined circular cylinder

© 2018 Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society. All rights reserved. The unsteady flow over a cylinder confined by two parallel walls using direct numerical simulation (DNS) is investigated. The effects of two parameters, namely the Reynolds number and the blockage ratio, are the main focus for this study. The three-dimensional flow is simulated where the circular cylinder is placed symmetrically in a planar channel with a blockage ratio of β = 0.5 at Re = 200, 300 and 500. Quantitative analysis of the flow is conducted where the lift, CL and drag coefficient, CD and Strouhal number, St are investigated as β and Re are systematically varied. In the present study, it is found that different instability regimes are observed as the Re of the flow increases. The presence of a distinct shedding frequency is observed at Re = 200. However, increasing the Reynolds number further, the contribution of a range of frequencies surrounding the peak frequency appears as shown in the spectral analysis of the lift coefficient. The confinement effects played an important role in changing the properties of the wake. Counter rotating spanwise vortices are formed as a result of the interaction between the cylinder wake and the boundary layer of the walls in the channel which is entrained into the vortex street.