Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Moving with music for stroke rehabilitation: a sonification feasibility study

Gross‐motor impairments are common after stroke, but efficacious and motivating therapies for these impairments are scarce. We present a novel musical sonification therapy especially designed to retrain gross‐motor functions. Four stroke patients were included in a clinical pre–post feasibility study and were trained with our sonification training. Patients’ upper‐extremity functions and their psychological states were assessed before and after training. The four patients were subdivided into two groups, with both groups receiving 9 days of musical sonification therapy (music group, MG) or a sham sonification training (control group, CG). The only difference between these training protocols was that, in the CG, no sound was played back. During the training the patients initially explored the acoustic effects of their arm movements, and at the end of the training the patients played simple melodies by moving their arms. The two patients in the MG improved in nearly all motor function tests after the training. They also reported in the stroke impact scale, which assesses well‐being, memory, thinking, and social participation, to be less impaired by the stroke. The two patients in the CG did benefit less from the movement training. Taken together, musical sonification may be a promising therapy for impairments after stroke.
The Use of Video Self-Modeling to Increase On-Task Behavior in Children With High-Functioning Autism

ABSTRACT In the present study, the researchers implemented a video self-modeling intervention for increasing on-task classroom behavior for three elementary school students diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The researchers observed the students' on-task engagement three times a week during their respective math classes. A multiple baseline design across participants was utilized. Throughout the intervention phase, the students' teachers showed each student a video in which each student was successfully engaged in on-task classroom behavior. All videos were viewed prior to the start of math class. After watching the videos, the students resumed participating in their independent math classwork and the researchers observed their subsequent on-task engagement. All three students showed an increase in on-task engagement from baseline to intervention phases. Two of the three students maintained or improved their on-task engagement post-intervention. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Muscle stem cells and recovery of function by electrical stimulation of permanent denervated , regenerated muscle

Long-term permanent denervation induces severe atrophy of skeletal muscle accompanied by apoptotic loss of myonuclei. Morphologic characteristics of the longterm denervated muscle suggest that the original fibers are lost and those seen are the results of repeated cycles of cell death and regeneration. Myoblasts and myotubes express peculiar isomyosins. Light and heavy chains of embryonic myosin are sensitive indicators of myogenic events in adult muscles. Electrical stimulation of permanent denervated muscle increases the mean size of the myofibers, maintains the sarcomers and possibly prevents secondary degeneration and apoptosis/necrosis. Since satellite cells activity is required for hypertrophy of overloaded adult muscles, positive regulation of activation, division and fusion of myoblasts may be important to the understanding of the limits of recovery of neurogenic muscle myopathies by functional electrical stimulation. Mechanisms underlying the recruitment of satellite cells for regenerative or hypertrophic processes have not been established, but cytokine interactions among macrophages and satellite cells seem to be essential. Here we show that long-term denervated muscles increase in size and change their isomyosin content after full regeneration is induced by bupivacaine treatment. In spite of a severe atrophy (around 90%), the regenerated muscles have twice the area at the muscle belly of the respective long-term denervated muscles.
Ten-year association of coronary artery calcium with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA)

Aims While coronary artery calcium (CAC) has been extensively validated for predicting clinical events, most outcome studies of CAC have evaluated coronary heart disease (CHD) rather than atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events (including stroke). Also, virtually all CAC studies are of short- or intermediate-term follow-up, so studies across multi-ethnic cohorts with long-term follow-up are warranted prior to widespread clinical use. We sought to evaluate the contribution of CAC using the population-based MESA cohort with over 10 years of follow-up for ASCVD events, and whether the association of CAC with events varied by sex, race/ethnicity, or age category. Methods and results We utilized MESA, a prospective multi-ethnic cohort study of 6814 participants (51% women), aged 45-84 years, free of clinical CVD at baseline. We evaluated the relationship between CAC and incident ASCVD using Cox regression models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, sex, education, income, cigarette smoking status, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, diabetes, lipid-lowering medication, systolic blood pressure, antihypertensive medication, intentional physical exercise, and body mass index. Only the first event for each individual was used in the analysis. Overall, 500 incident ASCVD (7.4%) events were observed in the total study population over a median of 11.1 years. Hard ASCVD included 217 myocardial infarction, 188 strokes (not transient ischaemic attack), 13 resuscitated cardiac arrest, and 82 CHD deaths. Event rates in those with CAC = 0 Agatston units ranged from 1.3% to 5.6%, while for those with CAC > 300, the 10-year event rates ranged from 13.1% to 25.6% across different age, gender, and racial subgroups. At 10 years of follow-up, all participants with CAC > 100 were estimated to have >7.5% risk regardless of demographic subset. Ten-year ASCVD event rates increased steadily across CAC categories regardless of age, sex, or race/ethnicity. For each doubling of CAC, we estimated a 14% relative increment in ASCVD risk, holding all other risk factors constant. This association was not significantly modified by age, sex, race/ethnicity, or baseline lipid-lowering use. Conclusions Coronary artery calcium is associated strongly and in a graded fashion with 10-year risk of incident ASCVD as it is for CHD, independent of standard risk factors, and similarly by age, gender, and ethnicity. While 10-year event rates in those with CAC = 0 were almost exclusively below 5%, those with CAC ≥ 100 were consistently above 7.5%, making these potentially valuable cutpoints for the consideration of preventive therapies. Coronary artery calcium strongly predicts risk with the same magnitude of effect in all races, age groups, and both sexes, which makes it among the most useful markers for predicting ASCVD risk.
Taxonomic revision of the genus Mesechinus (Mammalia: Erinaceidae) with description of a new species

Hedgehogs in the genus Mesechinus (Family Erinaceidae), which include two currently recognized species (M. dauuricus and M. hughi), are distributed from northeast Mongolia to the upper Amur Basin in Russia and adjacent areas in northeast and northern China. In recent years, a population of Mesechinus hedgehogs was discovered from Mt. Gaoligong, southwestern Yunnan, China, far from the known distribution range of the genus. Furthermore, these hedgehogs are the only known population to be distributed at elevations higher than 2 100 m and in sympatry with gymnures. To evaluate the taxonomic status of these hedgehogs, we examined specimens representing Mesechinus taxa in China and further conducted morphometric and karyotypic analyses. Our results supported the existence of four species in China. Specifically, we identified the hedgehogs from Mt. Gaoligong as a new species, Mesechinus wangi sp. nov., and recognized M. miodon, previously considered as a synonym of either M. dauuricus or M. hughi, as a distinct species. Interestingly, we observed a supernumerary M4 on all specimens of Mesechinus wangi sp. nov., which is an extremely rare event in the evolution of mammalian dentition.
Are Paranoids Schizophrenics?

This paper reports an investigation in which it was found that, by dividing “paranoids” on a scale of “non-integrated psychosis”, two groups were formed which differed significantly from each other on several independent measures. When the same division was made within non-paranoid schizophrenics and within melancholics, very few such differences were disclosed. The evidence suggests that integrated and non-integrated “paranoids” can usefully be regarded as differentiable groups, the latter being more closely related to other forms of schizophrenia.
Examining Organic and Mechanistic Structures: Do We Know as Much as We Thought?

Burns and Stalker's theory of organic/mechanistic structures (1961, The Management of Innovation. London: Tavistock) has been widely used. However, review of the empirical literature revealed inconsistencies in how the concepts have been operationalized. These inconsistencies may interfere with the ability to consolidate knowledge. This paper reviews the various ways in which researchers have operationalized the concepts, and summarizes the empirical findings derived from these operationalizations. In doing so, it highlights gaps and opportunities for future empirical and methodological work, suggesting the need to further our theoretical conceptualization of the concepts and to draw attention to Burns and Stalker's (1961) largely neglected corollary of the employee experience. As such, this review provides a road map for future exploration of the wide-ranging implications associated with organic and mechanistic structures.
The value of song lyrics for teaching and learning English phrasal verbs: a corpus investigation of four music genres

ABSTRACT Phrasal verbs are a notoriously difficult feature of English for most second language and foreign language learners to master. Different sources, such as movies, music, games and books, can provide learners with exposure to the most common phrasal verbs in English. This study aims to investigate the degree to which music can play a role in exposing learners to phrasal verbs through analyzing their frequency in song lyrics from different genres (i.e., Pop, Rock, Hip-hop and Metal). For this purpose, a corpus of 400 song lyrics by different artists from these four genres was searched for all existing phrasal verbs. The resulting list of phrasal verbs was compared to Garnier and Schmitt’s (2014) Phrasal Verb Pedagogical List in order to determine their value for learners. Further comparisons were subsequently drawn to determine which genre could be of greater use to language learning and instruction. The results revealed that song lyrics can potentially be a beneficial source for learning these constructions. Differences in the type and token frequency of phrasal verb among the four genres can also be used to determine the usefulness of each genre to students from various levels of proficiency.
A Systematic Review of Research on Questioning as a High-Level Cognitive Strategy.

Given the significance of questioning as a high-level cognitive strategy in language teaching and learning in the literature on TEFL as well as in education in general, this study sought to make a systematic review of research studies conducted in the span of the last three decades on the issue of questioning across different disciplines with a special focus on second or foreign language teaching and learning. It encompasses the questioning behavior of both teachers and learners. In the first phase of the study, it reviews and synthesizes the findings of 60 studies conducted on questioning in education since 1974. It also illustrates the impact of different questioning patterns on various types of learning and literacy areas. In the second phase of the study, an in-depth review is made of 40 studies between 2000 and 2014 examining the role of questioning in different academic fields and various educational fields. The findings of the in-depth review reveal the indispensable role of teacher and student questioning in facilitating critical thinking, writing ability, reading comprehension, subject matter learning, metacognitive skills, and scaffolding learning process. Finally, the implications and applications of the research findings are mentioned along with suggestions for further research.
Tyrosine Phosphorylation of MyD88 Adapter-like (Mal) Is Critical for Signal Transduction and Blocked in Endotoxin Tolerance*

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) recognition of lipopolysaccharide triggers signalosome assembly among TLR4, sorting (e.g. MyD88 adapter-like (Mal)) and signaling (e.g. MyD88) adapters, initiating recruitment and activation of kinases, activation of transcription factors, and production of inflammatory mediators. In this study we examined whether tyrosine phosphorylation of Mal regulates its interactions with TLR4, MyD88, interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor-associated kinase (IRAK)-2, and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor (TRAF)-6 and is important for signaling. Overexpression of wild-type Mal in human embryonic kidney 293T cells induced its constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation and led to activation of p38, NF-κB, and IL-8 gene expression. Mutagenesis of Tyr-86, Tyr-106, and Tyr-159 residues within the Toll-IL-1 receptor domain impaired Mal tyrosine phosphorylation, interactions with Bruton tyrosine kinase, phosphorylation of p38, and NF-κB activation. Lipopolysaccharide triggered tyrosine phosphorylation of endogenous Mal and initiated Mal-Bruton-tyrosine kinase interactions in 293/TLR4/MD-2 cells and human monocytes that were suppressed in endotoxin-tolerant cells. Compared with wild-type Mal, Y86A-, Y06A-, and Y159A-Mal variants exhibited higher interactions with TLR4 and MyD88, whereas associations with IRAK-2 and TRAF-6 were not affected. Overexpression of Y86A- and Y106A-Mal in 293/TLR4/MD-2 cells exerted dominant-negative effects on TLR4-inducible p38 phosphorylation and NF-κB reporter activation to the extent comparable with P125H-Mal-mediated suppression. In contrast, tyrosine-deficient Mal species did not affect NF-κB activation when signaling was initiated at the post-receptor level by overexpression of MyD88, IRAK-2, or TRAF-6. Thus, tyrosine phosphorylation of Mal is required for adapter signaling, regulates Mal interactions with TLR4 and receptor signaling, and is inhibited in endotoxin tolerance.
Predisposition and Pressure: Mutual Influence and Adolescent Drunkenness

Many explanations of adolescent alcohol use patterns rely on a combination of individual, family, and peer influences to explain transitions and levels of use. Peer use of alcohol is often found to be the most important predictor of an adolescent’s own use of alcohol. The predominant inference drawn from this consistent finding is that an adolescent’s peers influence him or her to use alcohol. A methodological limitation of these studies is that they rely on information from only one member of the friendship pair. I posit that the traditional psychosocial model gives an incomplete understanding of the peer influence process. This study uses the sociometric design of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to demonstrate that adolescent friends influence one another to establish and maintain alcohol use patterns over time. I estimate the effect of mutual peer influence in the context of a broader model of adolescent alcohol use that controls for individual background factors of each friend. The mutual influence process demonstrated in cross-sectional analysis persists in two longitudinal model specifications that control for prior behavioral similarity between the friends.
Effects Of Caffeine On Repeated Upper/lower Body Wingates And Handgrip Performance: 2751 Board #37 May 30, 2

International Journal of Exercise Science 8(3): 243-255, 2015. Caffeine enhances aerobic performance, but research is equivocal regarding anaerobic performance. This study examined effects of caffeine (7 mg/kg) on anaerobic performance in anaerobically active males (n = 10). Participants completed counterbalanced, double blind caffeine (Caf) and placebo (Pl) trials including a) 6 x 15 s upper body Wingates (UWant), b) 6 x 15 s lower body Wingates (LWant) and c) 6 x15 s maximal effort static hand grip test (HG) with 3 min recovery between bouts, 30 min between exercises. Peak power (Ppeak), mean power (Pmean), and heart rate (HR) as well as perceptual measures included ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), muscle pain perception (MPP), and perceived recovery status (PRS) were recorded per bout. Session RPE (S-RPE) (15 min post) for each exercise mode and trial RPE (T-RPE) [10 min post relative to testing period for each treatment (Caf vs. Pl)]. A series of 2 (trial) x 6 (bout) ANOVA’s assessed differences and Tukey’s LSD post hoc test were used when necessary. Results showed increased performance (main effect) (UWant) for Ppeak (Caf: 6.72 + 1.2 W/kg vs. Pl: 6.41 + 1.0 W/kg); and Pmean (Caf: 5.39 + 0.8 W/kg vs. Pl: 5.18 + 0.8 W/kg); however no significant main effect for LWant or HG was observed. No significant differences were observed for perceptual measures. Caf improved anaerobic performance in repeated UWant (bouts 1-4) but not LWant or HG. Further studies are warranted to examine Caf ergogenic properties in repeated exercises dominated by anaerobic metabolic pathways given the equivocal results.
The Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Organizational commitment among Teachers

There is a growing importance for concept like emotional intelligence, which plays an essential role in improving commitment of people in various fields, in particular to educational field where constant interaction with students is required. Emotional intelligence has become as an important research tool influencing various organizational parameters like self-efficacy, commitment. Very few researches have been done to study the impact of emotional intelligence on the relationship between teachers commitment and self-efficacy. This study analyses the inter-relationship between self-efficacy, emotional intelligence and Organizational commitment. Correlation shows that there exists a positive association between self-efficacy and Organizational commitment. Regression analysis shows there exist a moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship among self-efficacy and Organizational commitment. The results of the study provide a better understanding and gave a new dimension for the researchers to focus on importance of emotion-related parameters, which affect the teachers with their commitment towards their school, the work they do in school. This study delivers the importance of increasing the quality of teaching in the educational sector via improving self-efficacy of teachers. The implications of this research are not restricted to teachers alone but also to policy makers of education department and the management of educational institution.
Hourglasses and Hamilton cycles in 4‐connected claw‐free graphs

We show that if G is a 4‐connected claw‐free graph in which every induced hourglass subgraph S contains two non‐adjacent vertices with a common neighbor outside S, then G is hamiltonian. This extends the fact that 4‐connected claw‐free, hourglass‐free graphs are hamiltonian, thus proving a broader special case of a conjecture by Matthews and Sumner. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 267–276, 2005
Oxygen tension regulates the miRNA profile and bioactivity of exosomes released from extravillous trophoblast cells – Liquid biopsies for monitoring complications of pregnancy

Our understanding of how cells communicate has undergone a paradigm shift since the recent recognition of the role of exosomes in intercellular signaling. In this study, we investigated whether oxygen tension alters the exosome release and miRNA profile from extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells, modifying their bioactivity on endothelial cells (EC). Furthermore, we have established the exosomal miRNA profile at early gestation in women who develop pre-eclampsia (PE) and spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB). HTR-8/SVneo cells were used as an EVT model. The effect of oxygen tension (i.e. 8% and 1% oxygen) on exosome release was quantified using nanocrystals (Qdot®) coupled to CD63 by fluorescence NTA. A real-time, live-cell imaging system (Incucyte™) was used to establish the effect of exosomes on EC. Plasma samples were obtained at early gestation (<18 weeks) and classified according to pregnancy outcomes. An Illumina TrueSeq Small RNA kit was used to construct a small RNA library from exosomal RNA obtained from EVT and plasma samples. The number of exosomes was significantly higher in EVT cultured under 1% compared to 8% oxygen. In total, 741 miRNA were identified in exosomes from EVT. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that these miRNA were associated with cell migration and cytokine production. Interestingly, exosomes isolated from EVT cultured at 8% oxygen increased EC migration, whilst exosomes cultured at 1% oxygen decreased EC migration. These changes were inversely proportional to TNF-α released from EC. Finally, we have identified a set of unique miRNAs in exosomes from EVT cultured at 1% oxygen and exosomes isolated from the circulation of mothers at early gestation, who later developed PE and SPTB. We suggest that aberrant exosomal signalling by placental cells is a common aetiological factor in pregnancy complications characterised by incomplete SpA remodeling and is therefore a clinically relevant biomarker of pregnancy complications.
New Keynesian macroeconomics: entry for new Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition

This dictionary entry defines the development of new Keynesian macroeconomics (NKM) since the 1980s. I argue that the key defining feature NKM is the introduction of imperfect competition, making price and/or wage setting endogenous and hence allowing for a rigorous understanding of nominal rigidity. This has led to a shift away from perfect competition in macroeconomics. The combination of NKM with dynamic macroeconomic modelling has led to the current orthodoxy: the new-neoclassical synthesis. Dynamic wage and price models lead to monetary neutrality in steady-state, non-neutrality out of steady-state. Other themes in NKM include efficiency wage theory and coordination failure.