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This paper is the second report of a research project involving collecting information via e-survey about occasions in which graduates of a California private University have encountered ethical issues/dilemma after graduation and the role that they think their education and the ethics course they had taken played in recognition and resolution of such issues. An associational analysis is made between the methods employed in teaching business ethics and its effectiveness in resolution of ethical dilemma. A clear difference of perception of modality of instruction is found between the male and female respondents attending the same ethics courses. "Perceptual sets" is suggested as a possible explanation. [A selected bibliography is included.]

This study documents the implementation of research-based strategies to minimize the occurrence of reading difficulties in a first-grade population. Three strategies were implemented: (a) A system of progress monitoring was used to assess student progress and skill acquisition; (b) instruction was characterized by high intensity through the use of groups with a low student-teacher ratio; and (c) an explicit instructional approach was used for children who lacked phonemic awareness or an understanding of the alphabetic principle. Furthermore, teachers were supported in working collaboratively with one another and were provided with ongoing support from a literacy coach. Ninety percent of participants met or exceeded grade-level expectations by the end of the year, and 75% of treatment resisters were eligible for special education. Challenges related to implementation are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

Purpose: To compare optic disk and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) imaging methods to discriminate eyes with early glaucoma from normal eyes.Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional study.Methods: In a tertiary care academic glaucoma center, 92 eyes of 92 subjects (46 with early perimetric open-angle glaucoma and 46 controls) were studied. Diagnostic performance of optical coherence tomography (StratusOCT; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, California, USA), scanning laser polarimetry (GDx VCC; Laser Diagnostic Technologies, San Diego, California, USA), confocal laser ophthalmoscopy (Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph [HRT] III; Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany), and qualitative assessment of stereoscopic optic disk photographs were compared. Outcome measures were areas under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUCs) and sensitivities at fixed specificities. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to evaluate combinations of quantitative parameters.Results: The average (+/- standard deviation) visual field mean deviation for glaucomatous eyes was -4.0 +/- 2.5 dB (decibels). Parameters with largest AUCs (+/- standard error) were: average RNFL thickness for StratusOCT (0.96 +/- 0.02), nerve fiber indicator for GDx VCC (0.92 +/- 0.03), Frederick S. Mikelberg (FSM) discriminant function for HRT III (0.91 +/- 0.03), and 0.97 +/- 0.02 for disk photograph evaluation. At 95% specificity, sensitivity of disk photograph evaluation (90%) was greater than GDx VCC (P = .05) and HRT III (P = .002) results, but not significantly different than those of StratusOCT (P > .05). The combination of StratusOCT average RNFL thickness and HRT III cup-to-disk area with CART produced a sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 96%.Conclusions: StratusOCT, GDx VCC, and HRT III performed as well as, but not better than, qualitative evaluation of optic disk stereophotographs for detection of early perimetric glaucoma. The combination of StratusOCT average RNFL thickness and HRT III cup-to-disk area ratio provided a high diagnostic precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying synthetic fibers is one of the most effective physical methods for soil improvement and stabilization. In this paper, we determine the effects of polypropylene (PP) and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers contents (0.2, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%) at environment temperature (25 °C) and various freezing soil temperatures (0, −5, −10 and − 15 °C) on stabilization of the clayey sand soil (SC) samples. The results show that for both types of fibers, by simultaneous increasing of fiber content and lowering the temperature, the values of the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus (EM), ductility and California bearing ratio (CBR) increase, and they all reach their maximum values for 1.5% fiber content at −15 °C. Moreover, we show that PVA fibers perform better compared to PP fibers in increasing of UCS, EM, ductility and CBR values for different fiber contents and temperatures. This can be attributed to the fact that PVA has higher tensile and flexural strength compared to PP fiber. • The effect of freezing soil temperatures (FSTs) on strength parameters of a clayey sand (SC) soil stabilized by poly propylene (PP) and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers is investigated. • For both types of PP and PVA fibers, by simultaneous increasing of fiber content and lowering the temperature (FSTs effect), the strength parameters of SC soil samples are increased. • The strength parameters of SC soil samples reinforced by PP and PVA fibers reach their maximum values for 1.5% fiber content at −15 °C. • The PVA fibers perform better compared to PP fibers in increasing of strength parameters for different fiber contents at environment temperature and FSTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) is an aggressive subtype of endometrial cancer. We studied survival outcomes in patients with stages I/II UPSC., Materials: A retrospective, multi-institutional study of patients with stages I/II UPSC was conducted. Patients underwent surgical staging followed by observation, adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy (CT), or radiation therapy (RT). Continuous variables were compared via Wilcoxon rank sum test; Fisher exact test was used for the unordered categorical variables. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate survival., Results: Thirty-nine women were diagnosed with stage I (n = 30) or II (n = 9) UPSC, with a median follow-up of 52 months. Of the 26 patients who did not receive adjuvant CT, 9 developed recurrences and 8 died of their disease. Of the 10 patients with no myometrial invasion who did not receive adjuvant CT, 3 developed recurrences and died. Of the 7 patients who underwent RT, 2 developed distant recurrences and died. Of the 13 patients who underwent CT, 1 developed vaginal recurrence. The 5-year overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates for the adjuvant CT group were 100% and 92%, respectively, compared with 69% and 65% for those who did not receive CT (P = 0.002 OS, P = 0.002 PFS). The 5-year OS and PFS rates for RT group were both 71%., Conclusions: Patients with stages I/II UPSC are at significant risk for distant recurrence and poor survival. Platinum-based adjuvant CT may decrease recurrence rate and improve survival in women with early and well-staged UPSC.

Objective: We investigated the potential impact of using the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) test as a primary screening tool for the detection of cervical cancer and its precursor lesions., Materials and Methods: From October 2005 to March 2006, conventional cervical cytological samples and Hybrid Capture II HPV tests were cocollected from all patients. Human papillomavirus tests were processed in all women aged 30 years and older and women younger than 30 years with a cytological finding of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. Patients with biopsy-proven cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) served as the study population., Results: We identified 263 women with CIN of whom 194 (73.8%) (95% confidence interval [CI] = 68.2%-78.8%) had HPV results. Human papillomavirus tests were negative in 4 (6.1%) of 66 CIN 3 cases (95% CI = 2.1%-14.5%), in 8 (16%) of 50 CIN 2 cases (95% CI = 7.3%-28.2%), and in 22 (22.8%) of 78 CIN 1 cases (95% CI = 18.6%-38.9%) distributed across all referral cytology categories. Negative HPV test rates were most significant for CIN 1 cases anteceded by a cytological finding of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (p =.0016). The mean age of women with HPV-negative CIN was 10 years older than that for women with HPV-positive CIN., Conclusions: Human papillomavirus testing may miss more CIN than previously reported, especially in older women. Prospective trials of HPV testing as a primary screen for cervical cancer should incorporate additional tests to minimize missed lesions.