Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning From Crowds

For many supervised learning tasks it may be infeasible (or very expensive) to obtain objective and reliable labels. Instead, we can collect subjective (possibly noisy) labels from multiple experts or annotators. In practice, there is a substantial amount of disagreement among the annotators, and hence it is of great practical interest to address conventional supervised learning problems in this scenario. In this paper we describe a probabilistic approach for supervised learning when we have multiple annotators providing (possibly noisy) labels but no absolute gold standard. The proposed algorithm evaluates the different experts and also gives an estimate of the actual hidden labels. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method is superior to the commonly used majority voting baseline.
Premarital Relationship Enhancement: Its Effect on Needs to Relate to Others.

The purpose of this study is to determine if premarital couples training in a relationship enhancement program changed characteristic needs in ways of relating to others. The study was designed to evaluate the effects on the interpersonal needs of control, affection, and inclusion in a group trained in Guerney's Relationship Enhancement Program, in contrast to a lecture/discussion control group. Both groups participated in 24 hours of training. Comparisons indicate significant group and gender differences. Discussion focuses on changes in needs for inclusion, control, and affection. Implications for family life educators and counselors are identified.
Ecological Interactions among Phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an Agroforestry Environment of Northeast Brazil

ABSTRACT: Phlebotomine vectors transmit parasites and can cause visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or cutaneous leishmaniasis (TL). Phlebotomine females are hematophagous but need to ingest carbohydrates, possibly promoting the development of protozoan parasites in their digestive tract. The present study evaluated the species composition and abundance across several habitats in a metropolitan landscape, as well as associations among phlebotomines, plants, and local climatic parameters. Three consecutive monthly collections were carried out in an Atlantic Forest fragment, using CDC light traps in peridomestic areas and cashew, coconut, and mango tree.plantations. Eight species of phlebotomine were captured: Evandromyia evandroi, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Psathyromyia shannoni, Sciopemyia sordellii, Evandromyia walkeri, Psychodopygus wellcomei, Nyssomyia whitmani, and Nyssomyia intermedia, primarily from the forest environment. L. longipalpis was confirmed as a species adapted to anthropic environments, while P. wellcomei was shown to be predominately forest-dwelling. Phlebotomines exhibited diversified food consumption patterns in relation to carbohydrate sources. They fed on both native and exotic species of arboreal and shrubby vegetables and gramineous plants.
Evaluating Interventions for Children Exposed to Family Violence

Abstract This paper presents a critical overview of the state of evaluation research with regard to intervention programs for children who witness family violence. The range and types of programs include universal preventive interventions as well as targeted interventions designed to prevent problems for at-risk children who have observed and experienced violence in their families. While few programs have been assessed to date, a summary of what appear to be the best ways to intervene in the prevention of and aftermath of family violence with children is offered, followed by ten suggestions for improving research in this area.
Improving Search Experience on Distributed Leisure Events

This paper examines how simple changes to a search system can influence the user's experience when using the system. In previous work, we evaluated user behaviour with a search tool designed to help people discover events distributed over a city of interest to them personally. We established, contrary to our expectations, that users mostly searched for events they already knew about, made several spelling errors and often achieved poor search performance. Taking these findings as inspiration, we made changes to how the system works. In this paper, we describe and motivate the changes and present a naturalistic log-based study (n=860) to examine the effect on user search behaviour.
Raising the curtain: Exploring dancers’ perceptions of obligation through the psychological contract lens

The current study takes an exploratory approach to investigate which situational factors influence perceptions of psychological contracts, as well as the content that comprises psychological contracts in the dance training industry. Semi-structured interviews (n = 10) were conducted with students enrolled in a higher education institution in Australia. Results indicated that intending dancers take several factors into consideration when contemplating a professional dance career: natural progression of skill, employment opportunities, location, and peer recommendation. In addition, intending dancers have several perceived institutional obligations: skill development, quality of teachers and training, and networking opportunities. The current article adds novel insights to dance education literature by considering the trainee–institution relationship through the psychological contract lens. It is anticipated that the findings will assist future research that seeks to incorporate student perceptions into dance curriculum development.
The effectiveness of a forest therapy (shinrin-yoku) program for girls aged 12 to 14 years: A crossover study

Several complementary and alternative regimens have been developed to encourage relaxation and control stress. Recently, “shinrin-yoku” (walking in a forest and viewing the forest landscapes) has been recognized as a successful relaxation activity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a “shinrin-yoku” program on stress and relaxation for adolescent girls. Twenty-seven girls, aged 12 to 14 years, participated in a program that included walking in a forest and viewing the forest landscape; performing the same activities in a city area was used as a control experience. Salivary amylase activities, the Mood Inventory, and subjective relaxation were measured. The mean values of salivary amylase activities decreased in the forest and increased in the city. The responses to the Mood Inventory indicated a relaxed mood after walking the forest. In addition, the presence of negative moods in the forest was significantly lower than in the city, and the subjective relaxation level in the forest was significantly higher than in the city. Our results indicated that the forest environment was effective in increasing relaxation and decreasing stress and fatigue. Shinrin-yoku may play a role in improving or maintaining the psychological health of adolescent girls.
At issue: predicting drug-free treatment response in acute psychosis from the Soteria project.

Although an estimated 25 to 40 percent of acute psychoses remit without antipsychotic drug treatment, only limited efforts have been made to identify individuals in early episodes who might be able to recover without medications. This retrospective exploratory study uses baseline information from the Soteria project (young, unmarried, first and second episode DSM-II schizophrenia, n = 179) to develop a preliminary model for this purpose. Forty-three percent of experimentally treated subjects received no antipsychotic medications during the 2-year followup period and were designated "drug-free responders. " At followup, this group had better outcomes (+ 0.82 of a standard deviation [SD]) on a composite outcome scale (representing rehospitalization, psychopathology, independent living, social and occupational functioning). A predictive model using three variables (age, the Goldstein Adolescent Social Competence Scale score, and number of diagnostic symptoms) correctly identified this subgroup 79 percent of the time (boot-strapped 95% confidence interval [CI], 65-90%). Predicted drug-free responders exhibited moderately better outcomes (effect size: 0.38 to 0.61 of an SD) when treated at Soteria. These data advance the hypothesis that an identifiable subgroup of individuals with early episode psychosis might fare better when receiving specialized psychosocial intervention and minimal or no use of antipsychotic medications.
Review Article: Cytokines and Cancer Anorexia Cachexia Syndrome

Cancer anorexia cachexia syndrome is frequent yet still a not well understood cancer-related problem. The pathophysiology of cancer cachexia is multifactorial. It is suggested to be the result of tumor—host interactions and studies of the disturbances seen during cancer anorexia cachexia syndrome, such as anorexia, hyper-metabolism, tissue wasting, metabolic abnormalities, and hormonal changes, all point to the involvement in one way or another of one key factor: cytokines. The purpose of this review is to summarize the latest developments in the field of cytokines and their role in cancer anorexia cachexia syndrome. The emphasis is on the role of cytokines in anorexia and tissue wasting.
Work, Life and Time in the New Economy

Introduction There is little agreement over what the Onew economyO is: its size, in financialand employment terms; its impact on the work men and women do inside andoutside of the formal labour market; or its geographical implications. And yetdespite this lack of conceptual and empirical clarity the term Onew economyOhas found its way into all manner of publications, from government press releases, white papers and more populist journalistic accounts of contemporaryBritain through to high social theory.At the same time, and in the context of concerns about equal opportunities,the desire to retain highly qualified female employees and more generally tofacilitate and raise female employment rates, interest in flexible working, workÐlife balance, and reconciling work and family life has grown among tradeunions, corporations and government. These issues are related because thegrowing use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), as part ofthe emergence of the Onew economyO, appears to be extending the temporal andspatial boundaries of paid work, allowing people to work more flexibly and sopotentially reconcile paid work with other activities, including unpaid caring.And yet, ICTs are also conducive to more intense and longer working hours,with more critical interpretations of the Onew economyO linking it with pre-carious, fragmented and insecure working patterns, all of which could make itmore difficult to effect workÐlife balance policies and realize equal opportuni-ties. Moreover, changes in educational attainment levels, lifestyle choices andfamily formation, together with the changes in working arrangements, have
Effects of alcohol on subjective ratings of prospective and everyday memory deficits.

BACKGROUND Research has shown that heavy alcohol use has a detrimental effect on retrospective memory. Less is known about the effect of alcohol on everyday memory. METHODS This study examined self-ratings of two aspects of memory performance: prospective memory (for example, forgetting to pass on a message) and everyday memory (measured by cognitive failures, such as telling someone a joke that you have told them before). To ensure anonymity and expand on the numbers of participants used in previous studies, data were collected by using the Internet. Data from 763 participants remained after data screening. RESULTS After controlling for other drug and strategy use, there was clear evidence that differential use of alcohol was associated with impairments in the long-term aspect of prospective memory and with an increased number of cognitive failures. CONCLUSIONS These results support and extend the findings of previous research: our findings are consistent with the idea that heavy use of alcohol does have a significant and negative effect on everyday cognitive performance. Possible causes of these impairments are discussed.
Predicting Peak Oxygen Uptake From the 6-Minute Walk Test in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension

PURPOSE: To determine whether the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is a predictor of peak oxygen uptake ( O2) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). METHODS: A total of 157 patients treated for IPAH completed a 6MWT in accordance with American Thoracic Society standards. Heart rate, pulse oximetry, and Borg rating of perceived exertion were determined at baseline and posttest. A cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) was performed on a cycle ergometer using a ramp protocol. Participants were stratified post hoc by age into 3 groups: children (n = 26), adolescents (n = 49), and adults (n = 82). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict peak O2 from the 6MWT. RESULTS: The regression equation generated for the children was the only model to strongly predict peak O2 (r = 0.87; P < .001). Similar models for adolescent (r = 0.59; P < .001) and adult groups (r = 0.68; P < .001) did not achieve the same level of correlation. CONCLUSION: Six-Minute Walk Test was able to accurately predict peak O2 in children (6-12 years) with IPAH; however, the model was weaker for predicting peak O2 in older populations. These findings suggest that 6MWT may be as valid a test for predicting peak O2 in children with IPAH as CPET measured peak O2. In older IPAH populations, CPET is the only reliable method for the evaluation of peak O2.
Implications of Racial Diversity in the Supervisor‐Subordinate Relationship

This study addresses the impact of race on the supervisor-subordinate relationship. The purpose is to examine this relationship with minority subordinates reporting to both majority and minority group members. Using the subordinates needs framework identified by Baird and Kram (1983), 5 areas were addressed: supervisory support, developmental opportunities, procedural justice, acceptance or assimilation, and discrimination. The results indicated that African American subordinates with White supervisors experience less supervisory support, developmental opportunities, procedural justice, assimilation, and more discrimination than African American subordinates with African American supervisors.
Socio-economic Differences in Hostility Measures - a Population Based Study

The socio-economic differences in five hostility measures were studied using a population survey that covered 1,547 men and 1,856 women, aged 25-64 years. Respondents completed the cynical distrust (CynDis), trait anger ( Anger ), anger suppression ( AX/In ), control ( AX/Con ), and expression ( AX/Out ) scales. Respondents in lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups had higher cynical distrust scores but anger expression scores were higher among respondents in higher SES groups. AX/Out and CynDis were not related to each other, but both correlated positively with trait anger. Among lower SES groups trait anger and anger suppression have a strong positive correlation compared to higher SES groups. It can be argued that anger expression reflects higher self-confidence among higher SES groups in their ability to express anger when necessary, while elevated cynicism among lower SES groups may be a consequence of cumulative negative experiences during their respective lifetimes. Divergent results between hostility-related measures on SES variables suggest that the general notion of hostility is too broad a concept to use.
Trajectories of Therapeutic Alliance in Couple Versus Individual Therapy: Three-Level Models

Research concerning therapeutic alliance and outcome is prevalent but relies heavily on data from individual treatment. In this article, the authors present data from cases in which an individual was seen and cases in which a couple was seen in order to investigate differences in therapeutic alliance and its trajectory depending on case type, therapist experience, and therapist sex. Participants included 96 couples and 52 individuals with 15 therapists from a large Midwestern training clinic for couple and family therapy. Data include the use of the Working Alliance Inventory–Shortened Version, and three-level models were estimated using hierarchical linear modeling. The results highlight differences in the trajectories of individual and couple clients’ therapeutic alliance, including evidence for a curvilinear trend in work scores for individual clients but not couple clients. The results also highlight differences in the sources of variation for couple cases versus individual cases. There is clearly complexity in the building of alliance with clients in general, and even more so with couple clients.
The Skeletal Response to Teriparatide Is Largely Independent of Age, Initial Bone Mineral Density, and Prevalent Vertebral Fractures in Postmenopausal Women With Osteoporosis

In a recent study of women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, treatment with teriparatide for a median of 19 months increased bone mineral density and decreased the risk of vertebral and nonvertebral fractures. Using the same cohort, the current study evaluated the relationship between these therapeutic effects and the patient's baseline age, vertebral bone mineral density, and prevalent vertebral fractures. In women over 65 years of age, treatment resulted in a greater increase in vertebral bone mineral density than in younger women (treatment‐by‐age interaction, p = 0.037), but baseline age had no effect on the relative risk reduction for vertebral fractures (treatment‐by‐age interaction, p = 0.558). In women receiving placebo (with calcium and vitamin D), there was an inverse relationship between baseline vertebral bone mineral density and vertebral fracture risk. When compared across bone mineral density tertiles, the effects of teriparatide on the relative risk for developing new vertebral fractures and increase in vertebral bone mineral density did not differ significantly (p = 0.817 and p = 0.615, respectively). Teriparatide treatment significantly decreased vertebral fracture risk in patients with a vertebral bone mineral density T score of less than −3.3 or a score between −2.1 and −3.3 (p < 0.001 and p = 0.027, respectively) and showed a trend toward reduced fracture risk in the group with a T score greater than −2.1 (p = 0.115). Placebo‐treated women with two or more prevalent vertebral fractures had a significantly greater risk of developing new vertebral fractures than women with zero or one prevalent vertebral fracture (p < 0.001). When compared within prevalent vertebral fracture subgroups, the effects of teriparatide on the relative risk for developing new vertebral fractures were similar. The results of this study indicate that teriparatide offers clinical benefit to patients across a broad range of age and disease severity.
Mutually violent attitudes: effects on intimate partner violence and mental health symptoms among couples in Botswana, Africa

The present study investigated the prevalence of mutual violence, violent attitudes and mental health symptoms among students in Botswana, Africa. The sample consisted of 562 university students from Botswana University in heterosexual relationships. Participants completed self‐report surveys that asked about violent attitudes, partner violence, controlling behaviours, and mental health symptoms. Results were that respondent and respondent partner's violent attitudes, partner violence and controlling behaviours were significantly related, revealing the mutuality of aggression within couples. Males reported higher violent attitudes but were just as likely as females to report controlling behaviours and physical partner perpetration. Multivariate analyses found that violent victimisation (physical and sexual), controlling behaviours and violent attitudes were significantly related to violent perpetration. Violent attitudes of the partner contributed to the respondent's violent perpetration of the partner. Respondents were likely to report more mental health symptoms if they experienced sexual violence and controlling behaviours by their intimate partners. Similarly, mental health symptoms of the respondents were associated with the partner's violent attitudes.
Materialism among adolescents in urban China

Looks at attitudes of Chinese adolescents to materialism, including the effect of age on materialism and the influence of family and peers. Outlines the values of Chinese culture: thrift, respect for parents, group orientation, social harmony, good manners, face, and academic achievement; these values could impact both positively and negatively on endorsement of materialistic values. Points out that parental expectations of their children’s material success have increased since the one child per family policy. Finds that older adolescents were more materialistic than younger ones, that more materialistic adolescents tended to communicate more with their peers and less with their parents, and that television (which now reaches 92 per cent of households) has no effect because the Chinese government’s strict rules about TV programmes’ content requires them to reflect traditional values.
Religion and conflict in India: A Sikh perspective

Abstract The author was caught up in the violence against Sikhs following Mrs Gandhi's assassination in 1984. She places this in historical and religious context, describing the desire for an independent Sikh state, the impact of partition, the role of Sikhs in independent India from 1947 to the present, the appointment of the first Sikh prime minister, the rise and decline of Sikh fundamentalism and militancy, the continuing debates over Sikh identity and the ‘true spirit of Sikhism’.
Cognitive function and all-cause mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment is common in hemodialysis patients and is associated with significant morbidity. Limited information exists about whether cognitive impairment is associated with survival and whether the type of cognitive impairment is important. STUDY DESIGN Longitudinal cohort. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Cognitive function was assessed at baseline and yearly using a comprehensive battery of cognitive tests in 292 prevalent hemodialysis patients. PREDICTOR Using principal component analysis, individual test results were reduced into 2 domain scores, representing memory and executive function. By definition, each score carried a mean of 0 and SD of 1. OUTCOMES Association of each score with all-cause mortality was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for demographics and dialysis and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. RESULTS Mean age of participants was 63 years, 53% were men, 23% were African American, and 90% had at least a high school education. During a median follow-up of 2.1 (IQR, 1.1-3.7) years, 145 deaths occurred. Each 1-SD better executive function score was associated with a 35% lower hazard of mortality (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.55-0.76). In models adjusting for demographics and dialysis-related factors, this relationship was partially attenuated but remained significant (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.98), whereas adjustment for CV disease and heart failure resulted in further attenuation (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.72-1.06). Use of time-dependent models showed a similar unadjusted association (HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.54-0.72), with the relationship remaining significant after adjustment for demographics and dialysis and CV risk factors (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.66-0.94). Better memory was associated with lower mortality in univariate analysis (HR per 1 SD, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.69-0.96), but not when adjusting for demographics (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83-1.19). LIMITATIONS Patients with dementia were excluded from the full battery, perhaps underestimating the strength of the association. CONCLUSIONS Worse executive function and memory are associated with increased risk of mortality. For memory, this association is explained by patient demographics, whereas for executive function, this relationship may be explained in part by CV disease burden.