Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attitudes of Ethiopian college students toward people with visible disabilities

Although the attitudes of non-disabled individuals toward people with disabilities (PWDs) have been studied extensively for years, most of those studies were conducted outside of Ethiopia and very little has been written about Ethiopians and their attitudes toward PWDs. The current study examined the attitudes of a self-selected sample of Ethiopian college students toward persons with visible disabilities. Secondarily, the study identified and utilized selected variables that may affect individual personal responses to the development of these attitudes. Past studies identified that negative and seemingly pejorative personal attitudes of some nondisabled adults have often created general societal barriers affecting all aspects of the quality of life of PWDs. The non-participation of PWDs in society has been limited in Ethiopia to date based on the reports of Ethiopian local experts and governmental report documents; however, because negative attitudes are frequent barriers, without identification and adequate measurement of these attitudes, understanding, identifying, and changing them is very difficult. This study provided preliminary information about the attitudes of a group of university students at Addis Ababa University who might be influential in the future inclusion of PWDs in Ethiopia as they likely represent future elite professionals in Ethiopian society who could potentially impact PWDs in that society in relation to these attitudes. This study collected self-reported data on Ethiopian college students’ attitudes toward people with visible disabilities as measured by the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities (MAS). This study examined the students’ attitudes and also identified key variables from the literature related to attitude formation toward PWDs. The results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis, T-test, ANOVA, and correlation analyses provided some preliminary findings. The CFA was conducted because the MAS has only been used once with an Israeli sample, and there were no other groups for comparison. In order to compare the loadings of items of the MAS, a
Family-focused Treatment for Childhood-onset Depressive Disorders: Results of an Open Trial

Study objectives were to develop a treatment manual for a family-focused intervention for depressed school-aged children, evaluate its feasibility and acceptability, and complete an initial open trial to examine treatment effects. Nine young people meeting criteria for depression (major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, or depression not otherwise specified), completed a 12-week family intervention, and were assessed immediately and at 9 months following treatment completion. The intervention presented an interpersonal model of how depressive symptoms are maintained, and emphasized developing family strategies for altering interpersonal processes, supporting recovery and enhancing resilience. At posttreatment 66% of the young people had recovered from their depressive episodes; by 9 months posttreatment 77% had recovered. Significant improvements in global functioning were noted. There were no relapses in the follow-up period and no instances of suicidal behavior during the intervention or follow-up. Mothers' and fathers' Child Behavior Checklist reports and children's self reports indicated significant symptom reductions. Exploratory analyses suggest particular benefit for young people with parents high in criticism. The family-focused intervention for childhood-onset depression demonstrated gains similar to those seen with empirically supported treatments for depressed adolescents and superior to those seen in naturalistic studies of depression outcomes. This favorable risk/benefit profile supports the value of a randomized controlled trial.
Lithium Augmentation Therapy in Tricyclic-Resistant Depression

Thirty-four patients with tricyclic-resistant depressive illness took part in a nine-week, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial of lithium augmentation. In addition to the maximum tolerated doses of their tricyclic antidepressant, the experimental group (n = 16) received 250 mg lithium daily for three weeks, followed by 750 mg lithium daily for six weeks, while the controls (n = 18) received placebo for three weeks followed by three weeks each of 250 mg lithium daily and 750 mg lithium daily. There was no significant difference between placebo and 250 mg lithium for weeks 0-3 of the trial. However, there was a significantly greater improvement on the MADRS for weeks 3-6 for those subjects on 750 mg lithium than for those on 250 mg lithium. In addition, using a 50% fall in the HRSD as a criterion of drug responsiveness, 22% responded to placebo, 18% to 250 mg lithium, and 44% to 750mg lithium. Thus, lithium in normal, but not in low, dose has a significant antidepressant effect in TCA-resistant depression. Further controlled studies using lithium in normal dose in trials which have a greater duration of placebo exposure are required to confirm the lithium augmentation effect.
Multiple cardiovascular comorbidities and acute myocardial infarction: temporal trends (1990–2007) and impact on death rates at 30 days and 1 year

Background The objectives of this community-based study were to examine the overall and changing (1990–2007) frequency and impact on 30-day and 1-year death rates from multiple cardiovascular comorbidities in adults from a large central New England metropolitan area hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods The study population consisted of 9581 patients hospitalized with AMI at all 11 medical centers in the metropolitan area of Worcester, MA, during 10 annual periods between 1990 and 2007. The comorbidities examined included atrial fibrillation, diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, and stroke. Results Thirty-five percent of participants had a single diagnosed cardiovascular comorbidity, 25% had two, 12% had three, and 5% had four or more comorbidities. Between 1990 and 2007, the proportion of patients without any of these comorbidities decreased significantly, while the proportion of patients with multiple comorbidities increased significantly during the years under study. An increasing number of comorbidities was associated with higher 30-day and 1-year postadmission death rates in patients hospitalized with AMI. Conclusion Patients hospitalized with AMI carry a significant burden of comorbid cardiovascular disease that adversely impacts their 30-day and longer-term survival. Increased attention to the management of AMI patients with multiple cardiovascular comorbidities is warranted.
Validation of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis and spa Typing for Long-Term, Nationwide Epidemiological Surveillance Studies of Staphylococcus aureus Infections

ABSTRACT Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of genomic macrorestriction fragments has been used by the Belgian Reference Laboratory for Staphylococci for national hospital surveys of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus since 1992. The sequencing of the polymorphic X region of the protein A gene (spa typing) offers significant advantages over PFGE in terms of speed, ease of interpretation, and exportability. To validate its potential use for national surveillance, we evaluated the robustness of spa typing compared with that of PFGE based on a collection of 217 S. aureus strains representative of the Belgian S. aureus epidemiology during the last 13 years. spa typing and PFGE both showed high discriminatory power (discriminatory indexes of 0.98 and 0.96, respectively) and achieved high concordance (95.9%) in type classification. Both methods also showed good concordance with multilocus sequence typing (MLST) (95.5%). However, we observed occasional “violations” of MLST clonal complex assignment by spa typing. Our results suggest that both PFGE and spa typing are reliable methods for long-term, nationwide epidemiological surveillance studies. We suggest that spa typing, which is a single-locus-based method, should preferably be used in combination with additional markers, such as staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec typing or resistance or virulence gene detection.
Regularization Framework for Large Scale Hierarchical Classification

In this paper, we propose a hierarchical regularization framework for large-scale hierarchical classification. In our framework, we use the regularization structure to share information across the hierarchy and enforce similarity between class-parameters that are located nearby in the hierarchy. To address the computational issues that arise, we propose a parallel-iterative optimization scheme that can handle large-scale problems with tens of thousands of classes and hundreds of thousands of instances. Experiments on multiple benchmark datasets showed significant performance improvements of our proposed approach over other competing approaches.
Discontinuing antiepileptic drugs in children with epilepsy. A comparison of a six-week and a nine-month taper period.

BACKGROUND The optimal regimen for discontinuing antiepileptic medications in children with epilepsy is unknown. METHODS We randomly assigned 149 children to either a six-week or a nine-month period of drug tapering, after which therapy was discontinued. Each group was composed of patients who had been seizure-free for either two or four years before drug tapering was begun. Most patients were receiving one antiepileptic drug; none were taking more than two. The children were evaluated periodically during and after the taper period. Sixteen patients were lost to follow-up before the beginning of the taper period. Proportional-hazards regression analysis was used to assess the risk of seizure recurrence among the remaining 133 patients. RESULTS Seizures recurred in 53 patients (40 percent). The mean duration of follow-up was 39 months (range, 11 to 105) for the patients who did not have a recurrence of seizures. Neither the length of the taper period (six weeks vs. nine months, P = 0.38) nor the length of time the patients were free of seizures before the taper period was begun (two years vs. four years, P = 0.20) significantly influenced the risk of seizure recurrence. The presence of mental retardation (relative risk, 3.1, 95 percent confidence interval, 1.5 to 6.2) or spikes in the electroencephalogram at the time of tapering (relative risk, 1.9, 95 percent confidence interval, 1.0 to 3.4) increased the risk of seizure recurrence. CONCLUSIONS The risk of seizure recurrence during drug tapering and after the discontinuation of antiepileptic drug therapy in children with epilepsy is not different whether the medications are tapered over a six-week or a nine-month period.
Methods for Association Analysis and Meta‐Analysis of Rare Variants in Families

Advances in exome sequencing and the development of exome genotyping arrays are enabling explorations of association between rare coding variants and complex traits. To ensure power for these rare variant analyses, a variety of association tests that group variants by gene or functional unit have been proposed. Here, we extend these tests to family‐based studies. We develop family‐based burden tests, variable frequency threshold tests and sequence kernel association tests. Through simulations, we compare the performance of different tests. We describe situations where family‐based studies provide greater power than studies of unrelated individuals to detect rare variants associated with moderate to large changes in trait values. Broadly speaking, we find that when sample sizes are limited and only a modest fraction of all trait‐associated variants can be identified, family samples are more powerful. Finally, we illustrate our approach by analyzing the relationship between coding variants and levels of high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in 11,556 individuals from the HUNT and SardiNIA studies, demonstrating association for coding variants in the APOC3, CETP, LIPC, LIPG, and LPL genes and illustrating the value of family samples, meta‐analysis, and gene‐level tests. Our methods are implemented in freely available C++ code.
Mutual information for symmetric rank-one matrix estimation: A proof of the replica formula

Factorizing low-rank matrices has many applications in machine learning and statistics. For probabilistic models in the Bayes optimal setting, a general expression for the mutual information has been proposed using heuristic statistical physics computations, and proven in few specific cases. Here, we show how to rigorously prove the conjectured formula for the symmetric rank-one case. This allows to express the minimal mean-square-error and to characterize the detectability phase transitions in a large set of estimation problems ranging from community detection to sparse PCA. We also show that for a large set of parameters, an iterative algorithm called approximate message-passing is Bayes optimal. There exists, however, a gap between what currently known polynomial algorithms can do and what is expected information theoretically. Additionally, the proof technique has an interest of its own and exploits three essential ingredients: the interpolation method introduced in statistical physics by Guerra, the analysis of the approximate message-passing algorithm and the theory of spatial coupling and threshold saturation in coding. Our approach is generic and applicable to other open problems in statistical estimation where heuristic statistical physics predictions are available.
Comprehensive workspace calibration for visuo-haptic augmented reality

Visuo-haptic augmented reality systems enable users to see and touch digital information that is embedded in the real world. Precise co-location of computer graphics and the haptic stylus is necessary to provide a realistic user experience. PHANToM haptic devices are often used in such systems to provide haptic feedback. They consist of two interlinked joints, whose angles define the position of the haptic stylus and three sensors at the gimbal to sense its orientation. Previous work has focused on calibration procedures that align the haptic workspace within a global reference coordinate system and developing algorithms that compensate the non-linear position error, caused by inaccuracies in the joint angle sensors. In this paper, we present an improved workspace calibration that additionally compensates for errors in the gimbal sensors. This enables us to also align the orientation of the haptic stylus with high precision. To reduce the required time for calibration and to increase the sampling coverage, we utilize time-delay estimation to temporally align external sensor readings. This enables users to continuously move the haptic stylus during the calibration process, as opposed to commonly used point and hold processes. We conducted an evaluation of the calibration procedure for visuo-haptic augmented reality setups with two different PHANToMs and two different optical trackers. Our results show a significant improvement of orientation alignment for both setups over the previous state of the art calibration procedure. Improved position and orientation accuracy results in higher fidelity visual and haptic augmentations, which is crucial for fine-motor tasks in areas including medical training simulators, assembly planning tools, or rapid prototyping applications. A user friendly calibration procedure is essential for real-world applications of VHAR.
TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY OF THE CLOSED KINETIC CHAIN UPPER EXTREMITY STABILITY TEST (CKCUEST) IN ADOLESCENTS: RELIABILITY OF CKCUEST IN ADOLESCENTS.

BACKGROUND The Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test (CKCUEST) has been proposed as an option to assess upper limb function and stability; however, there are few studies that support the use of this test in adolescents. PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to investigate the intersession reliability and agreement of three CKCUEST scores in adolescents and establish clinimetric values for this test. STUDY DESIGN Test-retest reliability. METHODS Twenty-five healthy adolescents of both sexes were evaluated. The subjects performed two CKCUEST with an interval of one week between the tests. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC3,3) two-way mixed model with a 95% interval of confidence was utilized to determine intersession reliability. A Bland-Altman graph was plotted to analyze the agreement between assessments. The presence of systematic error was evaluated by a one-sample t test. The difference between the evaluation and reevaluation was observed using a paired-sample t test. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Standard error of measurements and minimum detectable changes were calculated. RESULTS The intersession reliability of the average touches score, normalized score, and power score were 0.68, 0.68 and 0.87, the standard error of measurement were 2.17, 1.35 and 6.49, and the minimal detectable change was 6.01, 3.74 and 17.98, respectively. The presence of systematic error (p < 0.014), the significant difference between the measurements (p < 0.05), and the analysis of the Bland-Altman graph infer that CKCUEST is a discordant test with moderate to excellent reliability when used with adolescents. CONCLUSION The CKCUEST is a measurement with moderate to excellent reliability for adolescents. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2b.
Effectiveness of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease in children aged 7-59 months. A matched case-control study

Background The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) was licensed based on the results of immunogenicity studies and correlates of protection derived from randomized clinical trials of the 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine. We assessed the vaccination effectiveness (VE) of the PCV13 in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children aged 7–59 months in a population with suboptimal vaccination coverage of 55%. Methods The study was carried out in children with IPD admitted to three hospitals in Barcelona (Spain) and controls matched by hospital, age, sex, date of hospitalization and underlying disease. Information on the vaccination status was obtained from written medical records. Conditional logistic regression was made to estimate the adjusted VE and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results 169 cases and 645 controls were included. The overall VE of ≥1 doses of PCV13 in preventing IPD due to vaccine serotypes was 75.8% (95% CI, 54.1–87.2) and 90% (95% CI, 63.9–97.2) when ≥2 doses before 12 months, two doses on or after 12 months or one dose on or after 24 months, were administered. The VE of ≥1 doses was 89% (95% CI, 42.7–97.9) against serotype 1 and 86.0% (95% CI, 51.2–99.7) against serotype 19A. Serotype 3 showed a non-statistically significant effectiveness (25.9%; 95% CI, -65.3 to 66.8). Conclusions The effectiveness of ≥1 doses of PCV13 in preventing IPD caused by all PCV13 serotypes in children aged 7–59 months was good and, except for serotype 3, the effectiveness of ≥1 doses against the most frequent PCV13 serotypes causing IPD was high when considered individually.
"I have a soul that dances like Tina Turner, but my body can't": physical activity and women with mobility impairments.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and meanings of physical activity for women with disabilities and to interpret the implications of physical activities specifically for women with mobility impairments. In-depth qualitative interviews were used to uncover data about how women with mobility impairments experienced physical activity and leisure. Emerging themes addressed the value of physical activity, attitudes toward one's disability and participation in physical activity, and conditions necessary for involvement in physical activity. Four values were associated with physical activities: leisure, therapy, maintenance, or perceived little value. Attitudes toward one's disability and physical activity resulted in conforming, resisting, or adjusting behavior. Energy/stamina/low pain level, transportation, removal of social fears, accessibility, and social support were the individual or combined conditions that influenced values and attitudes regarding physical activities. The results of this study highlighted the need to consider and improve opportunities for physical activity for women with mobility impairments.
Embodied cognition and circular causality: on the role of constitutive autonomy in the reciprocal coupling of perception and action

The reciprocal coupling of perception and action in cognitive agents has been firmly established: perceptions guide action but so too do actions influence what is perceived. While much has been said on the implications of this for the agent's external behavior, less attention has been paid to what it means for the internal bodily mechanisms which underpin cognitive behavior. In this article, we wish to redress this by reasserting that the relationship between cognition, perception, and action involves a constitutive element as well as a behavioral element, emphasizing that the reciprocal link between perception and action in cognition merits a renewed focus on the system dynamics inherent in constitutive biological autonomy. Our argument centers on the idea that cognition, perception, and action are all dependent on processes focussed primarily on the maintenance of the agent's autonomy. These processes have an inherently circular nature—self-organizing, self-producing, and self-maintaining—and our goal is to explore these processes and suggest how they can explain the reciprocity of perception and action. Specifically, we argue that the reciprocal coupling is founded primarily on their endogenous roles in the constitutive autonomy of the agent and an associated circular causality of global and local processes of self-regulation, rather than being a mutual sensory-motor contingency that derives from exogenous behavior. Furthermore, the coupling occurs first and foremost via the internal milieu realized by the agent's organismic embodiment. Finally, we consider how homeostasis and the related concept of allostasis contribute to this circular self-regulation.
Single-Channel Characteristics of Wild-Type IKs Channels and Channels formed with Two MinK Mutants that Cause Long QT Syndrome

IKs channels are voltage dependent and K+ selective. They influence cardiac action potential duration through their contribution to myocyte repolarization. Assembled from minK and KvLQT1 subunits, IKs channels are notable for a heteromeric ion conduction pathway in which both subunit types contribute to pore formation. This study was undertaken to assess the effects of minK on pore function. We first characterized the properties of wild-type human IKs channels and channels formed only of KvLQT1 subunits. Channels were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes or Chinese hamster ovary cells and currents recorded in excised membrane patches or whole-cell mode. Unitary conductance estimates were dependent on bandwidth due to rapid channel “flicker. ” At 25 kHz in symmetrical 100-mM KCl, the single-channel conductance of IKs channels was ∼16 pS (corresponding to ∼0.8 pA at 50 mV) as judged by noise-variance analysis; this was fourfold greater than the estimated conductance of homomeric KvLQT1 channels. Mutant IKs channels formed with D76N and S74L minK subunits are associated with long QT syndrome. When compared with wild type, mutant channels showed lower unitary currents and diminished open probabilities with only minor changes in ion permeabilities. Apparently, the mutations altered single-channel currents at a site in the pore distinct from the ion selectivity apparatus. Patients carrying these mutant minK genes are expected to manifest decreased K+ flux through IKs channels due to lowered single-channel conductance and altered gating.