bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Facet and Overall Satisfaction of Teachers
Authors: Holdaway Edward A. 
Published: August 2008

This article presents data on the levels of and relationships between overall job satisfaction and facet satisfaction for a sample of 801 Alberta teachers. Relevant literature is discussed. The relationships are investi gated using correlation and factor analyses of questionnaire data, as well as analysis of written responses. Edward A. Holdaway is a Professor in the Department of Educational Administration, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
A Low Complexity Technology for Developing Computer Simulations: Implications for Decision Making
Authors: Pogrow Stanley 
Published: August 2008

This study explores the potential of specialized computer simulation languages to facilitate the development of more sophisticated and valid models for use in the analysis of administrative planning and decision making problems. A case study of estimating school lunchroom facility needs is used to illustrate the technique, as well as the advantages, of ap plying computer simulation to planning problems. Implications of com puter simulation for practice and preparatory programs are discussed. Stanley Pogrow is Assistant Professor of Educational Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana.
The Influence of Interpersonal Relationships on Group Decision Making
Authors: Heimovics Ricnard D. , Zemelman David 
Published: August 2008

The study investigated relationships among compatibility, decision making structure, and work group performance. Twenty-four groups in two different decision-making conditions participated in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Decision Game. Signifi cant interaction effects between compatibility and decision-making structure point to further refinement of the Fundamental Interpersonal Orientation Behavior (FIRO-B) compatibility postulate. Richard D. Heimovics and David Zemelman are Assistant Professors of Organizational Behavior in the School of Administration, University of Missouri — Kansas City.
Pupil Control Ideology in Predicting Teacher Discipline Referrals
Authors: Foley Walter J. , Brooks Robert 
Published: August 2008

Are scores on the Pupil Control Ideology (PCI) Form related to the teacher behavior of referring pupils to the administration for disciplinary reasons? To answer this question, PCI scores were included in a multiple regression equation after six other intercorrelated teacher measures were entered as independent variables. The PCI's unique contribution to the criterion and the implications for teacher selection and in-service training are discussed. Walter J. Foley is a Professor in the College of Education, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, and Robert Brooks is an administrator in the public schools of Iowa.
`If Michael Owen drinks it, why can't I?' — 9 and 10 year olds' perceptions of physical activity and healthy eating
Authors: Gosling Rachael , Stanistreet Debbi , Swami Viren 
Published: August 2008

Objective To explore the perceptions of physical activity and healthy eating among children from two north west of England primary schools, with the ultimate aim of improving healthy lifestyle choices. Design A qualitative study in which each child participated in two focus groups. Setting Two primary schools in a deprived ward of Warrington, chosen to contrast with the focus of earlier research on relatively affluent communities. Method A sample of 32 9 and 10 year olds was randomly selected from two Year 5 classes. Four focus groups were held in total; two in each school. The first explored perceptions of physical activity and the second examined views on food and eating. Discussions were recorded, transcribed verbatim and findings emerged through a process of thematic analysis. Results Children reported being involved in a range of physical activities and recognized the health benefits associated with being active. Boys and girls differed in their attitude towards physical activity, with boys appearing competitive about sport while girls enjoyed a wider range of activities. Children were able to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods, but there was uncertainty over the healthiness of foods containing multiple ingredients (for example, salad in burgers). Children also identified the impact of the local environment, parents, school, the food industry and their peers on their diet and involvement in physical activity. Conclusions Children receive contradictory messages about food and diet, which they make sense of through their social interactions. The development of obesity prevention strategies and weight management programmes must take into account children's perspectives. Children should be given the opportunity to contribute to the development of initiatives that are set up to prevent and treat obesity.
Cardiovascular risk reduction for African-American men through health empowerment and anger management
Authors: Stephens Torrance , Braithwaite Harold , Johnson Larry , Harris Catrell , Katkowsky Steven , Troutman Adewale 
Published: August 2008

Objective To examine impact of CVD risk reduction intervention for African-American men in the Atlanta Empowerment Zone (AEZ) designed to target anger management. Design Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was employed as a non-parametric alternative to the t-test for independent samples. This test was employed because the data used in this analysis involved two correlated samples that failed to meet the assumptions of the t-test. The t-test was employed to determine whether a significant difference exists between the means of two distributions or the mean of one distribution and a target value. Setting The study was conducted in the City of Atlanta's Empowerment Zone, which is made up of 30 neighbourhoods, has a poverty rate of 57.4 per cent and a population of 50,000. Method Baseline and follow-up data were collected via survey instrumentation from 192 and 128 participants respectively. The data collection instrument collected information on participants' demographic characteristics, knowledge of cardiovascular disease risk and health practices regarding physical activity and dietary behaviour. Results Findings regarding the anger management component of the intervention revealed significant differences on three of the ten behavioural variables examined, with just one (`I fly off the handle') approaching significance ( p < .07). The findings emphasize that empowerment interventions which focus on health empowerment models that are culturally, racially and ethnically appropriate are needed and effective. Conclusion Intervention programmes aimed to integrate anger management and lifestyle change approaches with cardiovascular disease education, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programmes would be beneficial for patients who want to avail themselves of these interventions (e.g. AMEN).
English general dental practitioners' views on the new contract: The problems of collecting information in a time of change
Authors: Blinkhorn Anthony , Tickle Martin , Kearney-Mitchell Paula , Lucarotti Steven , Milsom Keith 
Published: August 2008

Aim To record English general dental practitioners' views on the new contract. Sample One thousand and forty nine general dental practitioners working under the PDS or GDS contract. Locations Randomly selected general dental practitioners working within the NHS in England. Methods Postal questionnaire, made up of two components: closed questions and a free answer section. Three waves of mailings were undertaken. Results Poor response rate of 28.5 per cent. Dentists felt marginalized by the government and disillusioned with the new contract. The free answer section was characterized by angry responses and worry about the impact of the changes on patient care and income. Discussion The fact that the Dental Practice Board circulated the questionnaire made many of the respondents suspicious of the overall aim of the research. This factor may have contributed to the low response rate. Conclusion More care should have been taken when piloting the questionnaire as the researchers under estimated the difficulties of collecting information in a time of change.
A prevalence study on partner abuse in six Asian American ethnic groups in the USA
Authors: Leung Patrick , Cheung Monit 
Published: August 2008

English In a survey of 1577 Asian Americans, the average partner abuse prevalence was 16.4 percent, that is, 22.4 percent among Vietnamese, 21.8 percent among Filipinos, 19.5 percent among Indians, 19.5 percent among Koreans, 9.7 percent among Japanese and 9.7 percent among Chinese. Asian partner abuse victims are likely to seek help from medical professionals or friends. French Cette étude qui porte sur 1577 Asiatiques Américains révèle que le pourcentage d'abus commis au sein des groupes étudiés était de 16,4 pour cent, et se répartissait comme suit: 22,4 pour cent chez les Vietnamiens, 21,8 pour cent chez les Philippins, 19,5 pour cent chez les Indiens, 19,5 pour cent chez les Coréens, 9,7 pour cent chez les Japonais et 9,7 pour cent chez les Chinois. Les victimes asiatiques d'abus de la part du conjoint sont enclines à chercher de l'aide dans le milieu médical ou auprès d'amis. Spanish En una encuesta de 1,577 asiático americanos, el porcentaje de prevalencia de abuso de pareja fue de 16.4 percent, el cual estima que el 22.4 percent se da entre vietnamitas, el 21.8 percent entre filipinos, 19.5 percent entre indios, 19.5 percent entre coreanos, 9.7 percent entre japoneses y 9.7 percent entre chinos. Es probable que las víctimas asiáticas de abuso de pareja busquen ayuda de profesionales médicos o amigos.
The emancipation of economics from morality: Mandeville's Fable of the Bees
Authors: Dumont Louis 
Published: August 2008

The following essay is part of a study in intellectual history bearing on one aspect of the configuration of ideas and values characteristic of modern civilisation or, as the author calls it, "modern ideology" *. This system of ideas and values has the category of "the economic" as one of its major categories, one of its basic dimensions or reference coordinates. Yet the economic category has not always been there, and it is possible to isolate some of the stages or changes by which it became what it is. A new category, if it is to attain a separate existence, must in particular be emancipated from the old categories which had hitherto dominated the ideological field and prevented its independent assertion. It must get disentangled or, as Karl Polanyi would have said, dis-embedded from the configuration that still ignored it. In this case, emancipation was necessary in two directions, in relation to politics on the one hand, to morality on the other. Locke's Two Treatises of Govemment contains a choice expression of the first aspect, while the second can be documented from Mandeville's Fable.
Electrical and Mechanical Investigations on Polyvinyl Chloride Filled with HAF Black
Authors: El-Nashar D.E. , Eid M.A.M. , Abou Aiad T.H. , Abd-El-Messieh S.L. 
Published: August 2008

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was chosen to be loaded with various amounts of high abrasion furnace black (HAF). The mechanical as well as electrical properties of the prepared composites were investigated. The dielectric properties of these composites were investigated in the frequency range 102—10 5 Hz at a temperature range of 30—1208C. In addition to the conductivity term, the experimental data of the dielectric losses ε'' were analyzed using a computer program based on both Havriliak—Nagami and Fröhlich equations into two relaxation processes. The first relaxation process in the lower frequency range could be attributed to the Maxwell—Wagner effect. The second relaxation could be attributed to the combination of the large scale mobilization of the chains i.e., the glass—rubber relaxation process in addition to a contribution of the motion of the large aggregates caused by the movement of the main chain, which are expected to be formed by the addition of different ingredients to PVC such as a plasticizer. The percolation threshold concentration, which is the concentration after which the conductivity increases many orders of magnitude with very little increase in the filler amount for PVC/HAF composites, depends upon the measuring temperature, whether it is below or above the glass transition of the polymer matrix. Stress—strain plot, hardness, and other mechanical properties such as stress at yield, stress at rupture, strain at yield, strain at rupture, and Young's modulus were investigated at room temperature. This investigation led to the conclusion that all the mechanical properties are improved by increasing HAF content and reaches its optimum values at about 30 phr HAF loading. On the other hand, the addition of HAF black by concentration up to 40 phr increases the electrical conductivity to be 10-10 Sm-1 at 30°C and 10-9 Sm-1 at 120°C which highly recommends such composites to be used in antistatic applications as the suitable range of electrical conductivity for such application is 10-9—10-14 S m-1.
Analysis of T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in the individuals exposed to arsenic
Authors: Biswas R , Ghosh P , Banerjee N , Das JK , Sau T , Banerjee A , Roy S , Ganguly S , Chatterjee M , Mukherjee A , Giri AK 
Published: August 2008

Over six million people in nine districts of West Bengal, India are exposed to very high levels of arsenic primarily through their drinking water. More than 300,000 people showed arsenic-induced skin lesions in these districts. This is regarded as the greatest arsenic calamity in the world. Chronic arsenicosis causes varied dermatological signs ranging from pigmentation changes, hyperkeratosis to non-melanocytic cancer of skin, and also malignancies in different internal organs. Higher incidences of opportunistic infections are found in the arsenic-exposed individuals, indicating that their immune systems may be impaired somehow. We have thus investigated the effect of arsenic on T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in 20 individuals with arsenic-induced skin lesions and compared the results with 18 arsenic-unexposed individuals. A marked dose-dependent suppression of Concanavalin A (Con A) induced T-cell proliferation was observed in the arsenic-exposed individuals compared with the unexposed ( P < 0.001) individuals. This correlated with a significant decrease in the levels of secreted cytokines by the T cells (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL2, IL10, IL5, and IL4) in the exposed individuals ( P < 0.001). Thus it can be inferred that arsenic exposure can cause immunosuppression in humans.
Synthesis and characterisation of sputtered hard coatings of Cr–N/MoSx
Authors: Budna K. P. , Walter C. , Spicak R. , Mitterer C. 
Published: August 2008

For protective coatings to be applied to engine components, a combination of high wear resistance with low friction is needful to increase performance and lifetime. Auspicious candidates have to conjoin the properties of a conventional hard coating with the low friction coefficient of a solid lubricant. This study reports about thin films synthesised by reactive magnetron sputtering of a Cr target with 25 area-%MoS2 inlays. Nitrogen at different partial pressures was used as reactive gas. The chemical composition and microstructure were analysed by electron probe microanalysis, X-ray diffractometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Residual stress was determined with the substrate curvature method and the mechanical properties were investigated by microindentation. To examine the tribological behaviour, ball on disc tests were performed at room temperature. The desired low friction behaviour could not be observed due to an insufficient content and lack of crystalline structure of the MoS2 phase in the coatings.
A robust linear regression based algorithm for automated evaluation of peptide identifications from shotgun proteomics by use of reversed-phase liquid chromatography retention time
Authors: Xu Hua , Yang Lanhao , Freitas Michael A 
Published: August 2008

Abstract

Background
Rejection of false positive peptide matches in database searches of shotgun proteomic experimental data is highly desirable. Several methods have been developed to use the peptide retention time as to refine and improve peptide identifications from database search algorithms. This report describes the implementation of an automated approach to reduce false positives and validate peptide matches.

Results
A robust linear regression based algorithm was developed to automate the evaluation of peptide identifications obtained from shotgun proteomic experiments. The algorithm scores peptides based on their predicted and observed reversed-phase liquid chromatography retention times. The robust algorithm does not require internal or external peptide standards to train or calibrate the linear regression model used for peptide retention time prediction. The algorithm is generic and can be incorporated into any database search program to perform automated evaluation of the candidate peptide matches based on their retention times. It provides a statistical score for each peptide match based on its retention time.

Conclusion
Analysis of peptide matches where the retention time score was included resulted in a significant reduction of false positive matches with little effect on the number of true positives. Overall higher sensitivities and specificities were achieved for database searches carried out with MassMatrix, Mascot and X!Tandem after implementation of the retention time based score algorithm.
Implementation of a model for identifying Essentially Derived Varieties in vegetatively propagated Calluna vulgaris varieties
Authors: Borchert Thomas , Krueger Joerg , Hohe Annette 
Published: August 2008

Abstract

Background
Variety protection is of high relevance for the horticultural community and juridical cases have become more frequent in a globalized economy due to essential derivation of varieties. This applies equally to Calluna vulgaris, a vegetatively propagated species from the Ericaceae family that belongs to the top-selling pot plants in Europe. We therefore analyzed the genetic diversity of 74 selected varieties and genotypes of C. vulgaris and 3 of Erica spp. by means of RAPD and iSSR fingerprinting using 168 mono- and polymorphisms. The same data set was utilized to generate a system to reliably identify Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs) in C. vulgaris, which was adapted from a method suggested for lettuce and barley. This system was developed, validated and used for selected tests of interest in C. vulgaris.

Results
As expected following personal communications with breeders, a very small genetic diversity became evident within C. vulgaris when investigated using our molecular methods. Thus, a dendrogram-based assay to detect Essentially Derived Varieties in this species is not suitable, although varieties are propagated vegetatively. In contrast, the system applied in lettuce, which itself applies pairwise comparisons using appropriate reference sets, proved functional with this species.

Conclusion
The narrow gene pool detected in C. vulgaris may be the genetic basis for juridical conflicts between breeders. We successfully tested a methodology for identification of Essentially Derived Varieties in highly identical C. vulgaris genotypes and recommend this for future proof of essential derivation in C. vulgaris and other vegetatively propagated crops.
Randomized Phase II Trial of a Toll-Like Receptor 9 Agonist Oligodeoxynucleotide, PF-3512676, in Combination With First-Line Taxane Plus Platinum Chemotherapy for Advanced-Stage Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Manegold Christian , Gravenor Donald , Woytowitz Donald , Mezger Jörg , Hirsh Vera , Albert Gary , Al-Adhami Mohammed , Readett David , Krieg Arthur M. , Leichman Cynthia Gail 
Published: August 2008

Purpose This study assessed the efficacy of the combination of standard taxane plus platinum chemotherapy with the synthetic Toll-like receptor 9–activating oligodeoxynucleotide PF-3512676 in patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and Methods Chemotherapy-naive patients with stage IIIB to IV NSCLC were randomly assigned (one to two ratio) to receive four to six cycles of taxane/platinum chemotherapy alone or with 0.2 mg/kg of subcutaneous PF-3512676 on days 8 and 15 of each 3-week cycle. The primary end point was objective response rate (ORR). Results Baseline demographics were similar between treatment arms, although significantly more patients in the PF-3512676 arm had stage IV disease (85% compared with 62% in the chemotherapy-alone arm). The modified intent-to-treat analysis (n = 111) demonstrated a 38% ORR (confirmed and unconfirmed) in the PF-3512676 arm (n = 74) and 19% in the chemotherapy-alone arm (n = 37) by investigator evaluation. Blinded, independent radiologic review for 90 patients showed a similar trend in confirmed response rate (19% and 11%, respectively). Median survival was 12.3 months in the PF-3512676 arm and 6.8 months in the chemotherapy-alone arm, and 1-year survival was 50% and 33%, respectively. Mild to moderate local injection site reactions and flu-like symptoms were the most common PF-3512676–related adverse events, but grade 3/4 neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and anemia were all reported more commonly for patients in the PF-3512676 arm. Conclusion The addition of PF-3512676 to taxane plus platinum chemotherapy for first-line treatment of NSCLC improves objective response and may improve survival. Confirmatory phase III trials are ongoing.
Gene Panel Model Predictive of Outcome in Men at High-Risk of Systemic Progression and Death From Prostate Cancer After Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy
Authors: Cheville John C. , Karnes R. Jeffrey , Therneau Terry M. , Kosari Farhad , Munz Jan-Marie , Tillmans Lori , Basal Eati , Rangel Laureano J. , Bergstralh Eric , Kovtun Irina V. , Savci-Heijink C.D. , Klee Eric W. , Vasmatzis George 
Published: August 2008

Purpose In men who are at high-risk of prostate cancer, progression and death from cancer after radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), limited prognostic information is provided by established prognostic features. The objective of this study was to develop a model predictive of outcome in this group of patients. Methods Candidate genes were identified from microarray expression data from 102 laser capture microdissected prostate tissue samples. Candidates were overexpressed in tumor compared with normal prostate and more frequently in Gleason patterns 4 and 5 than in 3. A case control study of 157 high-risk patients, matched on Gleason score and stage with systemic progression or death of prostate cancer as the end point, was used to evaluate the expression of candidate genes and build a multivariate model. Tumor was collected from the highest Gleason score in paraffin-embedded blocks and the gene expression was quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Validation of the final model was performed on a separate case-control study of 57 high-risk patients who underwent RRP. Results A model incorporating gene expression of topoisomerase-2a, cadherin-10, the fusion status based on ERG, ETV1, and ETV4 expression, and the aneuploidy status resulted in a 0.81 area under the curve (AUC) in receiver operating characteristic statistical analysis for the identification of men with systemic progression and death from high grade prostate cancer. The AUC was 0.79 in the independent validation study. Conclusion The model can identify men with high-risk prostate cancer who may benefit from more intensive postoperative follow-up and adjuvant therapies.