Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunosuppressant Nonadherence in Heart, Liver, and Lung Transplant Patients: Associations With Medication Beliefs and Illness Perceptions

Background Nonadherence to immunosuppressant medication is a significant problem among solid organ transplant recipients. Previous research suggests that patients’ perceptions about their medications may be a better predictor of nonadherence than demographic factors. This study aimed to further investigate the role of patients’ perceptions about their transplant and medication beliefs in nonadherence. Methods This was a cross-sectional observational study. Participants were 87 heart, 46 lung, and 193 liver transplant patients. All surviving heart, lung, and liver transplant patients from Auckland City Hospital and Greenlane Hospital older than 16 years who had received their transplant at least 3 months before study commencement were mailed questionnaires. Standardized self-report measures were used to assess illness perceptions, medication beliefs, and adherence. Results Nonadherent patients had lower perceptions about the necessity of medication, weaker beliefs that medication could prevent rejection, and higher concerns about its harms, than adherers. Nonadherers perceived that their transplant and immunosuppressant medication caused more symptoms and were more distressed about symptoms than adherers; they understood their transplant less, perceived their transplant had a larger impact on their lives, affected them more emotionally, and caused greater concern, than patients who were more adherent. A regression model that included these perceptions and demographic variables correctly classified 71% of patients as adherent or nonadherent. Conclusions The perceptions that patients hold about their transplant and medications are associated with adherence to immunosuppressant medications. Future research could investigate whether a psychologic intervention could change patients’ perceptions to improve adherence.
The Development of a Questionnaire to Explore Stigma from the Perspective of Individuals With Serious Mental Illness

The stigma associated with mental illness impacts individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). We developed a questionnaire to explore stigma from the perspective of individuals with SMI. In the first of two studies, we examined content validity, internal consistency, and convergent validity. In Study 2 we explored test-retest reliability, interrater reliability, and concurrent validity. Internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's α = 0.852), convergent validity (p < 0.001) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.75) were demonstrated, while analyses of concurrent validity were in the expected direction (p < 0.01). The final questionnaire is short with good psychometric properties.
Role of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in FLT3/ITD-positive AML.

In the November 15, 2005, issue of Blood, Gale et al[1][1] examined the role of stem cell transplantation (SCT) in patients with fetal liver tyrosine kinase 3/internal tandem duplication (FLT3/ITD)-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and concluded that the presence of FLT3/ITD is not an indication
Distributed IP mobility management from the perspective of the IETF: motivations, requirements, approaches, comparison, and challenges

The recent explosion of mobile Internet traffic is accelerating the evolution of mobile network architectures toward flat architectures with all IP backhaul support. IP mobility support protocols are thus required to be adopted in such mobile network architectures. Accordingly, the IETF Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) working group was recently chartered to address such architectural changes with rapidly increasing mobile Internet usages. Unlike existing IP mobility support protocols, DMM protocols being considered at the IETF aim at distributing mobile Internet traffic in an optimal way while not relying on centrally deployed mobility anchors. In this article, we first discuss motivations and requirements of DMM. We then present two different possible approaches: host-based and network-based DMM approaches. Furthermore, comprehensive comparison results are provided. Finally, we discuss challenges in developments of DMM protocols.
Host Cytokine Production, Lymphoproliferation, and Antibody Responses during the Course of Ancylostoma ceylanicum Infection in the Golden Syrian Hamster

ABSTRACT The Syrian Golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) has been used to model infections with the hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum. New molecular immunological reagents to measure cellular immune responses in hamsters were developed and used to determine the impact of A. ceylanicum hookworm infection on host cytokine responses and lymphoproliferation. Initial larval infection with 100 third-stage A. ceylanicum larvae resulted in predominant Th1 responses (upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines) that lasted for the duration of larval migration and continued up to 14 days postinfection (prepatency). Subsequently, development of larvae into egg-laying adult hookworms (patency) coincided with a switch to Th2 predominant responses (interleukin-4 [IL-4]) as well as a marked increase in IL-10 production. This switch also concurred with reduced host lymphoproliferative responses to hookworm antigens. The findings demonstrate a similarity in immune responses between hamsters and humans infected with hookworms, suggesting that hamsters will be a useful animal model species for examining host immunity to human hookworm infections.
Opportunity or Necessity?: Disaggregating Self-Employment and Entry at Older Ages

Bridging the literatures on entrepreneurship and the aging workforce, we study the factors, particularly job loss, wealth, education, and risk aversion, associated with entry into self-employment at older ages using a multinomial logit hazard model. Using the Health and Retirement Study, we disaggregate self-employment by defining four types through an interaction along two scopes: one that divides along those with supervisory responsibilities or business asset ownership and the other divided into so-called “knowledge” and “non-knowledge” occupations. We find that job loss shows a strong association with entry into self-employment, particularly with less desirable forms of self-employment. In addition, we show that there are large differences between individuals in these alternative measures of self-employment and that there are distinctive factors that influence entry into these types. Additionally, we show that there are some differences in the factors affecting men’s and women’s entry into self-employment.
Consumer knowledge and religious rulings on products: Young Muslim consumer’s perspective

Purpose – This study aims to provide insights on the influence of Muslim consumers’ knowledge on products subjected to contemporary fatwa ruling and their subsequent cognitive and behavioural responses. Design/methodology/approach – MANOVA and MANCOVA were used to examine the influence of religious orientation on young Malaysian Muslims’ product knowledge, and the extent of religious orientation and gender on Muslim consumers’ attitude and behaviour towards three contemporary fatwa rulings of products. Findings – Respondents’ religious orientation differentiates their knowledge on fatwa prohibition ruling of selected brand and behaviours. Consumers’ religious orientation and gender explain consumers’ behavioural responses to variables of the Theory of Planned Behaviour for three behaviours. Evidence suggests that ruling types affects (conditional and unconditional) consumers’ responses. Research limitations/implications – Greater insights are provided on Muslims’ motivation to search information of contro.
PENGARUH KUALITAS PELAYANAN TERHADAP KEPUASAN KONSUMEN PADA DEALER PT. RAMAYANA MOTOR SUKOHARJO

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh kualitas pelayanan terhadap kepuasan konsumen Dealer PT. Ramayana Motor Sukoharjo secara parsial dan simultan.Sumber data primer diperoleh dari kuesioner yang dibagikan pada konsumen dengan jumlah sampel 100 orang , sedang data sekunder diperoleh dari Dealer PT. Ramayana Motor Sukoharjo. Alat analisis yang digunakan adalah dengan analisis deskriptif kuantitatif. Berdasa r hasil uji t dapat disimpulkan bahwa bahwa ada pengaruh secara parsial antara variabel tangible, reliabelity, responsible, assurance, empathy terhadap kepuasan konsumen pada Dealer PT. Ramayana Motor Sukoharjo Hasil uji F menunjukkan bahwa terdapat pengaruh secara simultan antara variabel tangible, reliabelity, responsible, assurance, empathy terhadap kepuasan konsumen pada Dealer PT. Ramayana Motor Sukoharjo Hasil uji regresi linier berganda diperoleh persamaan Y = 7,386 – 0,341 X 1 + 0,504 X 2 + 0,302 X 3 - 0,322 X 4 + 0,257 X 5 + €. Dari persamaan regresi tersebut dapat diketahui bahwa varibel yang paling dominan berpengaruh terhadap kepuasan konsumen adalah variabel reliabelity (kehandalan) dengan koefisien 0,504 Uji R 2 (R Square) didapatkan hasil sebesar 0.944 atau 94.4 % yang berarti bahwa kepuasan konsumen pada Dealer PT. Ramayana Motor Sukoharjo dipengaruhi oleh variabel tangible, reliabelity, responsible, assurance, empathy sebesar 94,4%. Dan faktor lain yang mempengaruhi kepuasan konsumen pada Dealer PT. Ramayana Motor Sukoharjo. sebesar 5,6%. diharapkan Dealer PT. Ramayana Motor Sukoharjo perlu menerapkan dan mengembangkan aspek pelayanan terhadap kepuasan konsumen yang mencakup tangible (wujud fisik), reliability (kehandalan), responsiveness (daya tanggap), assurance (jaminan), empathy (empati), sehingga dapat memperoleh pangsa pasar yang lebih baik
Coinheritance of Hb D-Punjab and β-Thalassemia: Diagnosis and Implications in Prenatal Diagnosis

Abstract Hb D-Punjab (HBB: c.364G>C) is an abnormal hemoglobin (Hb) associated with genetic risk in association with Hb S (HBB: c.20A>T). In addition, misdiagnosing homozygosis for hemizygosis may have implication for genetic risk assessment. We present the diagnostic utility of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in differential diagnosis between the Hb D-Punjab homozygote and the Hb D-Punjab/β-thalassemia (β-thal) genotype. The Hb A2 level measurement may not be a reliable parameter to differentiate between the two conditions. In a screening program for risk prediction, the genotype should be confirmed by family study and/or molecular analysis. Misdiagnosis can have potentially adverse implications in a prenatal diagnosis (PND) program, particularly in areas where consanguinity is common and this Hb D-Punjab variant occurs.
Brownface Minstrelsy: “José Jiménez,” the Civil Rights Movement, and the legacy of racist comedy

This study examines US comedian Bill Dana, of Hungarian-Jewish descent, and his Latino minstrel character, “José Jiménez,” during the civil rights period. By situating Dana and Jiménez within the social and political context of Latinos in the US during the 1960s, I argue Dana’s comedy continued the tradition of racial ridicule at a time when blackface minstrelsy was increasingly unpopular: a result of contestation by African American civil rights groups. Analyzing primary sources (oral histories, news articles, and audio/visual media), I examine the initial popularity of José Jiménez in the early 1960s, the mechanisms used to ridicule Latinos, the role of media in constructing narratives of non-racism and acceptance by Latinos, and the resulting contestation of the character by Chicano/Latino media activists and civil rights organizations. I conclude that public racial ridicule of Latinos has not been constrained as some have suggested, but that it has changed since the civil rights era.
Assessing model fit in phylogeographical investigations: an example from the North American sandbar willow Salix melanopsis

Coalescent models enable the direct estimation of parameters with clear biological relevance (i.e. divergence time, migration rate and rate of expansion), but they have typically been applied to phylogeographical research without a priori assessment of their fit to the empirical system. Here we explore the extent to which phylogeographical inference can be misled by evaluating the fit of several population genetic models to empirical data collected from the sandbar willow, Salix melanopsis.
Enhancing the usability and performance of NESPOLE!: a real-world speech-to-speech translation system

NESPOLE! is a speech-to-speech machine translation project designed to provide fully functional speech-to-speech capabilities within real-world settings of common users involved in e-commerce applications. The project is a collaboration between three European research groups (IRST in Trento, Italy; ISL at Universitat Karlsruhe (TH); and CLIPS at Universite Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France), one US research group (ISL at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA) and two industrial partners (APT; Trento, Italy -- the Trentino provincial tourism board, and AETHRA; An-cona, Italy -- a tele-communications company). The project is funded jointly by the European Commission and the US NSF. Over the past year, we have developed a fully functional showcase of the NESPOLE! system within the domain of travel and tourism, and have significantly improved system performance and usability based on a series of studies and evaluations with real users. Our experience has shown that improving translation quality is only one of several important issues that must be addressed in achieving a practical real-world speech-to-speech translation system. This paper describes how we tackled these issues and evaluates their effect on system performance and usability. We focus on three main issues: (1) a study on the usage and utility of multi-modality in the context of multi-lingual communication; (2) assessing system performance under various network traffic conditions and architectural configurations; and (3) an end-to-end evaluation of the demonstration system.
Antigen-Specific Immune Modulation Targets mTORC1 Function To Drive Chemokine Receptor–Mediated T Cell Tolerance

To contain autoimmunity, pathogenic T cells must be eliminated or diverted from reaching the target organ. Recently, we defined a novel form of T cell tolerance whereby treatment with Ag downregulates expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 and prevents diabetogenic Th1 cells from reaching the pancreas, leading to suppression of type 1 diabetes (T1D). This report defines the signaling events underlying Ag-induced chemokine receptor-mediated tolerance. Specifically, we show that the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a major target for induction of CXCR3 downregulation and crippling of Th1 cells. Indeed, Ag administration induces upregulation of programmed death-ligand 1 on dendritic cells in a T cell–dependent manner. In return, programmed death-ligand 1 interacts with the constitutively expressed programmed death-1 on the target T cells and stimulates docking of Src homology 2 domain-containing tyrosine phosphatase 2 phosphatase to the cytoplasmic tail of programmed death-1. Active Src homology 2 domain-containing tyrosine phosphatase 2 impairs the signaling function of the PI3K/protein kinase B (AKT) pathway, leading to functional defect of mTORC1, downregulation of CXCR3 expression, and suppression of T1D. Thus, mTORC1 component of the metabolic pathway serves as a target for chemokine receptor-mediated T cell tolerance and suppression of T1D.
Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism: Where Do the Emotional Differences Lie?

Narcissism can be conceptualized as existing on a continuum between grandiose and vulnerable phenotypes (Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010). Previous studies found differences between narcissistic phenotypes in terms of behavioral task performance (Wallace & Baumeister, 2002) and emotional reactions to threatening conditions (Besser & Priel, 2010; Zeigler-Hill, Clark, & Pickard, 2008); however, research on emotion dysregulation was lacking in narcissistic populations. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to explore the subjective and objective emotional differences between the grandiose and vulnerable phenotypes of narcissism. In a laboratory manipulation, participants (N=63) completed self-report questionnaires, read emotionally-evocative vignettes describing achievement failure and interpersonal rejection, and completed a behavioral persistence task. Electrodermal activity was also measured to explore emotional variances in narcissism. Results suggest individuals with higher vulnerable narcissistic characteristics will report more negative affectivity following either threatening situation, and higher levels of narcissism predicted an increase in positive affect following an achievement failure scenario. Furthermore, positive relationships exist between various levels of narcissism (i.e., pathological, grandiose, and vulnerable) and difficulties in emotion regulation. These findings depict how grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism differ in their emotional reactivity and self-regulation when faced with threatening situations. NARCISSISM AND EMOTIONAL DIFFERENCES 3
The Effects of Music on Education and Early Literacy: An Insight on Defining Literacy and the Use of Music in the Classroom

3 Introduction.4 The Effects of Music on Education and Early Literacy.8 Conclusion.18 References.22 THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON EDUCATION AND EARLY LITERACY 3 Abstract The purpose of this essay is to examine the effects that music has on education and literacy, and to provide insight on how to go about using music in a classroom. First, the essay will define the word ‘literacy,’ and prove why this is important, and then describe how literacy is taught in a classroom using phonics. Then, it will take a look at how music affects the student brain, and how those effects are linked directly to the way students process reading, writing, and communication. Finally, this essay will look at the direct effects that music has on education and literacy, and how both music instruction and music integrated into a lesson correlate positively with student academic success. It will also take a moment to provide examples of how music can be effectively implemented in a traditional classroom setting. To conclude, the essay considers how this study affects other aspects of education such as the idea of extra-curricular activities, standardized testing, and students with disabilities.
Confidence in Scientists and Engineers to Solve Global Warming

Trust in scientists has emerged as a key variable used to explain attitudes toward global warming and other environmental issues. Previous studies have shown that the more trust one has in scientists, the more likely one is to be concerned about global warming, to believe that steps should be taken to limit it, and to take action oneself. A closely related concept that has not been investigated is the extent to which people have confidence in scientists to solve our environmental problems. In this paper, we ask two questions. Do people believe that scientists can save us from global warming? What are the consequences of people's confidence in scientists? We see two conflicting hypotheses. First, people who are confident that scientists can solve our environmental problems might not think that they need to take any action themselves. Second, people who have confidence in scientists might also trust the calls of scientists to take action on climate change now. Despite the fact that they say that they are confident in science, they might believe that they must do what they can to prevent global warming. We use a 2008 internet sample of the U.S. population to test a scale measuring confidence in scientists to solve climate change problems. We use the scale to predict individual willingness to take action on climate change.
Bacterial Selection during the Formation of Early-Stage Aerobic Granules in Wastewater Treatment Systems Operated Under Wash-Out Dynamics

Aerobic granular sludge is attractive for high-rate biological wastewater treatment. Biomass wash-out conditions stimulate the formation of aerobic granules. Deteriorated performances in biomass settling and nutrient removal during start-up have however often been reported. The effect of wash-out dynamics was investigated on bacterial selection, biomass settling behavior, and metabolic activities during the formation of early-stage granules from activated sludge of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) over start-up periods of maximum 60 days. Five bubble-column sequencing batch reactors were operated with feast-famine regimes consisting of rapid pulse or slow anaerobic feeding followed by aerobic starvation. Slow-settling fluffy granules were formed when an insufficient superficial air velocity (SAV; 1.8 cm s−1) was applied, when the inoculation sludge was taken from a WWTP removing organic matter only, or when reactors were operated at 30°C. Fast-settling dense granules were obtained with 4.0 cm s−1 SAV, or when the inoculation sludge was taken from a WWTP removing all nutrients biologically. However, only carbon was aerobically removed during start-up. Fluffy granules and dense granules were displaying distinct predominant phylotypes, namely filamentous Burkholderiales affiliates and Zoogloea relatives, respectively. The latter were predominant in dense granules independently from the feeding regime. A combination of insufficient solid retention time and of leakage of acetate into the aeration phase during intensive biomass wash-out was the cause for the proliferation of Zoogloea spp. in dense granules, and for the deterioration of BNR performances. It is however not certain that Zoogloea-like organisms are essential in granule formation. Optimal operation conditions should be elucidated for maintaining a balance between organisms with granulation propensity and nutrient removing organisms in order to form granules with BNR activities in short start-up periods.