bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Learning Experience and Learning Effectiveness in Undergraduate Statistics: Modeling Performance in Traditional and Flexible Learning Environments*
Authors: Cybinski Patti , Selvanathan Saroja 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACTThis project investigates the relationship between student performance, past mathematics experience, and perceptions of statistics education for two groups of university students studying statistics in different learning environments. One group received the traditional form of teaching with lectures, whereas the other group studied in a more flexible learning mode where lectures were replaced with a computer‐managed learning tool and optional small‐group workshops facilitated by written lecture notes. The results on student learning experience show that, for both groups, student enjoyment of the course is positively related to their learning attitudes and to their perceived value of statistics education, and is negatively related to anxiety with regard to their performance in the course. There is some evidence that the group studying in the technology‐supported flexible learning environment experienced more assessment anxiety and consequently less enjoyment of the subject. There is also evidence that assessment anxiety has a negative effect on student performance that is exacerbated by a lack of prior mathematics experience. Hence, the flexible learning approach in statistics education, with minimal face‐to‐face teaching, may be especially inappropriate for these students.
An Expert System Helps Students Learn Database Design
Authors: Post Gerald V. , Whisenand Thomas G. 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACTTeaching and learning database design is difficult for both instructors and students. Students need to solve many problems with feedback and corrections. A Web‐based specialized expert system was created to enable students to create designs online and receive immediate feedback. An experiment testing the system shows that it significantly enhances student learning. The system also provides a more neutral learning environment in terms of personal factors such as gender and prior class work.
Pick a Number … Any Number?
Authors: Simons Jacob V. , Price Barbara A. 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACTA recent classroom revelation caused us to reconsider the adequacy of the instructions offered in our textbooks for one of our most elementary quantitative methods. Specifically, we found that many students were mystified concerning how to pick an initial objective function value when plotting an isoprofit line in order to graphically solve a linear programming problem. We observed that this seemingly insignificant issue was causing a surprising amount of wasted time, confusion, and even anxiety. Our experience indicated that students do not necessarily possess any consistent intuition for choosing an appropriate initial value. We confirmed this perception through informal experimentation. We reviewed several textbooks and found that most simply do not bother to address this issue. Therefore, we devised a simple, comprehensible method which we have taught our students to resolve or avoid this problem. Although we quickly found the method to be helpful for many students, we conducted an experiment to formally measure its effect.
Combining Operations Management and Information Systems Curricula: Assessing Alumni Preparations for the Workforce
Authors: Silva David , McFadden Kathleen L. 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to explore how well a curriculum that combines operations management and information systems uniquely prepares students for the workforce. To address our research questions, a Web‐based survey was developed. We sent our survey to 203 alumni that graduated from the Department of Operations Management and Information Systems at Northern Illinois University. We assess alumni perceptions of how well our department prepared them in general and technical skills as well as how important these skills were in their current position. We investigate factors useful in predicting preparedness for both general business and technical skills. Overall, students felt prepared in most of the important skills we studied. We also found a significant positive relationship between alumni‐perceived importance of general and technical skills and perceived preparedness for those skills. More recent graduates felt the most prepared for both general business and technical skills. Our findings highlight the importance of general skills for future advancement and caution educators against overemphasizing currently popular technical tools at the expense of teaching the more general business skills. Results presented here provide new knowledge for curriculum designers at the intended institution and lessons for other schools. This research also provides a methodology or process that can be repeated at other institutions that combine information systems with operations management, or with other functions such as decision sciences or accounting. An implication of the results is that schools redesigning their programs may want to consider a curriculum that combines operations management and information systems.
Political Resources for Policy Terminators
Authors: Frantz Janet E. 
Published: July 2005

Scholars of policy termination have long understood that there are tremendous difficulties associated with closing down public programs and facilities. This examination of one closure begins with that understanding and then, using Deborah Stone's conceptualization of politics in the policy arena, moves to categorize and analyze those difficulties.The case involves the U.S. government's policy of providing lifelong, residential care to victims of Hansen's Disease (leprosy). The investigation documents the government's decision in the 1950s to end the policy and follows the ensuing battle. The government terminators, despite the rationality of their position, were held at bay for nearly fifty years by politically savvy opponents including patients, staff, and the community that housed the leprosarium. Only when government officials reached into their own bag of political resources and skillfully employed those resources, was it possible to end the policy.
Abolition of Leprosy Isolation Policy in Japan
Authors: Sato Hajime 
Published: July 2005

The termination of a policy is often considered an important step for correcting existing policies and allocating resources efficiently. Scientific advances, for example, may make the existing policy obsolete and unjustifiable. Delay in terminating a flawed policy may result in increasing its harm. In many cases, however, it is suggested that inertia and other obstacles must be overcome before a termination can be accomplished. Health policy is no exception to these findings.The isolation of leprosy patients, a practice introduced early in this century, was maintained in Japan even after it proved scientifically unnecessary. It was only after a few decades of inertia and political struggles that the policy was abolished. As can be seen in previous studies in the other domains, a set of obstacles, such as intellectual reluctance, opposition of vested interests, and bias in expert opinions, existed, and hampered the timely termination of the isolation policy. Over a long time, policy adaptation was gradually made in practice through the loose administration of policy. It was only by the leadership of a skillful terminator that the issue was finally brought to the forefront, consensus achieved among key actors, and the policy abolished.
Psychometric properties of the Revised Dental Beliefs Survey
Authors: Coolidge Trilby , Heima Masahiro , Coldwell Susan E. , Weinstein Philip , Milgrom Peter 
Published: July 2005

Abstract – Objectives:  The objectives of this pair of studies were to examine the internal reliability, test–retest reliability, and construct validity of the Revised Dental Beliefs Survey.Methods:  A total of 108 college students completed two questionnaires containing the Revised Dental Beliefs Survey, as well as the Revised Iowa Dental Control Index, and Desirability of Control scales. As part of another experiment, 141 study participants with dental injection phobia completed the Revised Dental Beliefs Survey and the Dental Anxiety Scale.Results:  Both the internal and test–retest reliabilities of the Revised Dental Beliefs Survey were high. The measure demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validities.Conclusion:  The Revised Dental Beliefs Survey is well‐suited for use with clinical and nonclinical populations, in which a stable and valid measure of perceptions of the dental situation is desired.
Psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Oral Health Impact Profile–short form
Authors: de Oliveira Branca Heloisa , Nadanovsky Paulo 
Published: July 2005

AbstractObjective:  The aim of the study is to evaluate the measurement properties of the Brazilian version of the short form of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP14).Methods:  Data were obtained from a cross‐sectional study designed to assess the impact of toothache on quality of life during pregnancy. The sample consisted of 504 postpartum women (mean age 24 years; SD 6.2), most of whom had unsolved dental problems and belonged to low‐income families. The questionnaire was administered in the form of interviews by two trained interviewers who also performed clinical examinations. Reliability was assessed in terms of internal consistency and stability. Construct validity was evaluated based on comparison of the total scores among groups according to: self‐perceived and normative oral health care needs, self‐perceived general and oral health status, presence of carious lesions and tooth loss. It was also hypothesized that the scores of OHIP14 and Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (OIDP) would correlate with each other.Results:  Both test–retest stability and internal consistency, as measured by the intra‐class correlation coefficient (0.87) and by Cronbach's alpha (0.91), proved to be adequate. Construct validity was confirmed as the correlation between OHIP14 scores with self‐perceived general and oral health were in the expected direction, and the differences in scores of the groups formed according to the selected attributes were significant at values of P ≤ 0.05 (Mann–Whitney test). Moreover, the correlation coefficient between OIDP and OHIP14 was 0.76 (rs).Conclusion:  The Brazilian version of OHIP14 has good psychometric properties, which are similar to those of the original instrument.
An assessment of teenagers’ perceptions of dental fluorosis using digital simulation and web‐based testing
Authors: Edwards Maura , Macpherson Lorna M. D. , Simmons David R. , Harper Gilmour W. , Stephen Kenneth W. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractObjectives:  To develop a new model to establish teenagers’ perceptions of the aesthetic impact of fluorosis, in the context of overall facial appearance. This web‐based model was used to compare different degrees of fluorosis at any one distance, while also comparing the same level of fluorosis at different ‘distances’.Methods:  A 14‐year‐old subject was used as the model face. Different degrees of fluorosis were ‘built‐up’ on this subject's teeth using digital simulation. A web‐based questionnaire showed 30 photographs, displaying four levels of fluorosis, in addition to fluorosis‐free, at five different ‘distances’. The closest images were shown with and without retractors, while the more distant pictures showed more of the subject's face. Teenage pupils (n = 217) were then asked to grade the acceptability of the appearances and indicate if they would wish treatment for each such appearance.Results:  At any one distance, acceptability fell as fluorosis level increased. When the same degree of fluorosis was compared at different distances, acceptability improved as the teeth were viewed from further away. Pictures taken without retractors had higher acceptability than those taken with retractors in place.Conclusions:  Teenagers can discriminate between various degrees of fluorosis. However, more distant viewing of fluorosed teeth, within the overall context of the face, improves acceptability of the appearance.
Adult colonic intussusception
Authors: Lai Eric Chun‐Hung , Lee Janet Fung‐Yee , Ng Simon Siu‐Man , Yiu Raymond Ying‐Chang , Leung Ka‐Lau 
Published: July 2005

Objective:  To study the clinical characteristics, investigations, management and pathology in adult colonic intussusception.Methods:  A retrospective study of seven adult patients who were operated on for the diagnosis of colonic intussusception in our department from January 1999 to September 2003 was carried out. The case records of the seven patients were retrieved. Their clinical presentations, investigations, operative records and pathology were studied.Results:  The mean age of the patients was 67.4 years. There were four men and three women. Five of the patients presented with chronic non‐specific symptoms and the other two patients presented with acute symptoms. Transabdominal ultrasonography (USG) and computed tomography (CT) scan were used for investigation. In the majority of the patients (87.5%), radiological features of intussusception were shown by USG or CT scan. All seven patients underwent laparotomy exploration with bowel resection. Six patients (85.7%) had lead points with definable pathology. Within the lead points, five patients had primary malignant lesions.Conclusion:  With more liberal use of imaging techniques, more adult intussusception can be diagnosed before explorative surgery. Ultrasound would be an ideal tool for initial evaluation. In view of the high chance of associated malignancy, adult colonic intussusception should be resected without prior reduction at the time of surgery.
Laparoscopy for diagnosis and staging of hepatobiliary malignancies
Authors: Abdalla Eddie K. , Aloia Thomas A. , Vauthey Jean‐Nicolas 
Published: July 2005

Objective:  To review the role of diagnostic laparoscopy (DL) for staging of malignant diseases of the liver and biliary tract.Methodology:  Critical review of the current literature.Results:  Analysis of the utility of DL in hepatobiliary cancers depends on several criteria, particularly in the era of high quality prelaparotomy and pre‐DL imaging. Selection criteria for DL, selection criteria for resection, definition of resectability, patterns of intra‐ and extrahepatic spread, association with underlying liver disease and frequency of indications for palliative laparotomy impact the utility of DL depending on the disease studied.Conclusions:  DL has a very limited role for staging patients with colorectal liver metastases as a result of expanding definitions of resectability, multistage approaches to bilateral metastases, and methods to increase resectability such as portal vein embolization and preoperative chemotherapy. For hepatocellular carcinoma, DL can be useful for staging patients with advanced tumours and cirrhosis, and might have an emerging role for the evaluation of transplant candidates with equivocal imaging findings. For biliary cancers, DL is indicated for patients with advanced stage hilar cholangiocarcinoma and gall bladder carcinoma.
Effect of pH and Antibiotics on Microbial Overgrowth in the Stomachs and Duodena of Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Feeding
Authors: O'May Graeme A. , Reynolds Nigel , Smith Aileen R. , Kennedy Aileen , Macfarlane George T. 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACT

Enteral nutrition via a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube is often part of management in patients with dysphagia due to neurological or oropharyngeal disease. Gastrostomy placement can affect normal innate defense mechanisms in the upper gut, resulting in bacterial overgrowth. In this study microbiological investigations were done with gastric and duodenal aspirates from 20 patients undergoing PEG tube placement and PEG tubes from 10 patients undergoing tube replacement. Aspirate and PEG tube microbiotas were assessed by using viable counts and selective solid media followed by aerobic and anaerobic incubation to assess cell viabilities. The antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the isolates were determined by the disk diffusion method, and gas chromatography was used to study the bacterial metabolic products in the aspirates. The aspirates and PEG tubes contained mainly streptococci, staphylococci, lactobacilli, yeasts, and enterobacteria. Enterococci were detected only in PEG tube biofilms and not in aspirates. Gastric pH affected the composition of the aspirate microbiotas but not the total microbial counts. Staphylococci,
Escherichia coli
, and
Candida
spp. were isolated only from antibiotic-treated patients, despite the sensitivities of the bacteria to the agents used. Antibiotic treatment had no effect on the incidence of infection or the length of hospital stay in these patients.
Diagnostic Value of Measuring Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) DNA Load and Carcinoma-Specific Viral mRNA in Relation to Anti-EBV Immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgG Antibody Levels in Blood of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients from Indonesia
Authors: Stevens Servi J. C. , Verkuijlen Sandra A. W. M. , Hariwiyanto Bambang , Harijadi  , Fachiroh Jajah , Paramita Dewi K. , Tan I. Bing , Haryana Sophia M. , Middeldorp Jaap M. 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACT

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a prevalent malignancy in Southeast Asia and is strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). We investigated the primary diagnostic value of circulating EBV DNA and anti-EBV immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA levels in Indonesian NPC patients (
n
= 149). By a 213-bp Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1)-based real-time LightCycler PCR, 72.5% of patients were positive for EBV DNA in whole blood, with 29.5% having levels above a previously determined clinical cutoff value (COV) of 2,000 EBV DNA copies/ml, the upper level in healthy carriers. In a 99-bp LightCycler PCR, 85.9% of patients were positive and 60.4% had levels above the COV. This assay quantified a significantly higher EBV load than the 213-bp PCR assay (
P
< 0.0001), suggesting that circulating EBV DNA is fragmented. Using data from 11 different studies, we showed a significant inverse correlation between PCR amplicon size and the percentage of patients positive for circulating EBV DNA (Spearman's rho = −0.91;
P
< 0.0001). EBV DNA loads were unrelated to anti-EBV IgG or IgA levels, as measured by VCA-p18 and EBNA1-specific synthetic peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The presence of circulating tumor cells was assessed by amplification of BamHI-A rightward frame 1 (BARF1) mRNA, a viral oncogene abundantly expressed in EBV-carrying carcinomas but virtually absent from EBV-associated lymphomas. Despite high EBV DNA loads and the presence of EBNA1 and human U1A small nuclear ribonucleoprotein mRNA, BARF1 mRNA was never detected in blood. We conclude that amplicon size significantly influences EBV DNA load measurement in NPC patients. The circulating EBV DNA load is independent of serological parameters and does not reflect intact tumor cells. The primary diagnostic value of the EBV DNA load for the detection of NPC is limited.
Detection and Typing of Integrons in Epidemic Strains of
Acinetobacter baumannii
Found in the United Kingdom
Authors: Turton Jane F. , Kaufmann Mary E. , Glover Judith , Coelho Juliana M. , Warner Marina , Pike Rachel , Pitt Tyrone L. 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACT

Integrons were sought in
Acinetobacter
isolates from hospitals in the United Kingdom by integrase gene PCR. Isolates were compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and most belonged to a small number of outbreak strains or clones of
A. baumannii
, which are highly successful in the United Kingdom. Class 1 integrons were found in all of the outbreak isolates but in none of the sporadic isolates. No class 2 integrons were found. Three integrons were identified among the main outbreak strains and clones. While a particular integron was usually associated with a strain or clone, some members carried a different integron. Some integrons were associated with more than one strain. The cassette arrays of two of the integrons were very similar, both containing gene
aacC1
, which confers resistance to gentamicin, two open reading frames coding for unknown products (orfX, orfX′), and gene
aadA1a
, which confers resistance to spectinomycin and streptomycin. The larger of these integrons had two copies of the first (orfX) of the gene cassettes coding for unknown products. The third integron, with a cassette array containing gene
aacA4
, which codes for amikacin, netilmicin, and tobramycin resistance; a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase,
catB8
; and gene
aadA1
, conferring resistance to spectinomycin and streptomycin, was associated with an OXA-23 carbapenemase-producing clone, which has spread rapidly in hospitals in the United Kingdom during 2003 and 2004. These integron cassette arrays have been found in other outbreak strains of
A. baumannii
from other countries. We conclude that integrons are useful markers for epidemic strains of
A. baumannii
and that integron typing provides valuable information for epidemiological studies.
Genomic and Bioinformatics Analyses of HAdV-4vac and HAdV-7vac, Two Human Adenovirus (HAdV) Strains That Constituted Original Prophylaxis against HAdV-Related Acute Respiratory Disease, a Reemerging Epidemic Disease
Authors: Purkayastha Anjan , Su Jing , McGraw John , Ditty Susan E. , Hadfield Ted L. , Seto Jason , Russell Kevin L. , Tibbetts Clark , Seto Donald 
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACT

Vaccine strains of human adenovirus serotypes 4 and 7 (HAdV-4vac and HAdV-7vac) have been used successfully to prevent adenovirus-related acute respiratory disease outbreaks. The genomes of these two vaccine strains have been sequenced, annotated, and compared with their prototype equivalents with the goals of understanding their genomes for molecular diagnostics applications, vaccine redevelopment, and HAdV pathoepidemiology. These reference genomes are archived in GenBank as HAdV-4vac (35,994 bp;
AY594254
) and HAdV-7vac (35,240 bp; AY594256). Bioinformatics and comparative whole-genome analyses with their recently reported and archived prototype genomes reveal six mismatches and four insertions-deletions (indels) between the HAdV-4 prototype and vaccine strains, in contrast to the 611 mismatches and 130 indels between the HAdV-7 prototype and vaccine strains. Annotation reveals that the HAdV-4vac and HAdV-7vac genomes contain 51 and 50 coding units, respectively. Neither vaccine strain appears to be attenuated for virulence based on bioinformatics analyses. There is evidence of genome recombination, as the inverted terminal repeat of HAdV-4vac is initially identical to that of species C whereas the prototype is identical to species B1. These vaccine reference sequences yield unique genome signatures for molecular diagnostics. As a molecular forensics application, these references identify the circulating and problematic 1950s era field strains as the original HAdV-4 prototype and the Greider prototype, from which the vaccines are derived. Thus, they are useful for genomic comparisons to current epidemic and reemerging field strains, as well as leading to an understanding of pathoepidemiology among the human adenoviruses.