Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Factors Affecting Women of Childbearing Age to Screen Using Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid

Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient factors such as knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socio-economic status and travel time to health facilities and assess how these factors affected patients’ decision to pursue cervical cancer screening with visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). Methods A total of 80 women of childbearing age who visited Kenjeran and Balongsari Public Health Centers for health assessments were involved in this study. Patients who agreed to participate in the study underwent a verbal questionnaire to evaluate various factors. Results Bivariate analysis concluded that knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socioeconomic status, and travel time to health facilities were significantly different between women who received VIA screening and women who did not receive VIA screening (p < 0.05). The factors of knowledge, attitudes, motivation, perception, socio-economic status, and the travel time to health facilities accounted for 2.920-fold, 2.043-fold, 3.704-fold, 2.965-fold, 3.198-fold and 2.386-fold possibility, respectively, of patients to pursue cervical cancer screening with VIA. Multivariate analysis showed that perception, socio-economic status, and travel time to health facilities were the most important factors influencing whether or not women pursued VIA screening. Conclusion Knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socio-economic status, and travel time to health facilities appears to affect women’s’ decision to pursue cervical cancer screening with VIA, with the largest intake being the motivational factor.
Social Beliefs, Agonistic Goals, Anger, and Biased Perceptions of Outgroups: A Social Action Theory of Covert Racial Prejudice

Racial prejudice and discrimination are an important societal and public health problem. Approaches to understanding the origins of prejudice and discrimination have focused on attitudes, both overt (explicit) and covert (implicit). But attitudes correlate only modestly with implicit biases and explicit discriminatory behavior. Drawing on Social Action Theory, this study tested the hypothesis that the relationship between racial attitudes and implicit biases / overt discrimination is moderated by socially-induced personal regulatory struggles that take the form of agonistic striving, or persistently seeking to influence or control other people. The research tested the hypotheses that agonistic striving fosters implicit racial biases and discrimination by (a) inducing states of hyper-alert vigilance to social threats; and (b) fostering reactive anger when personal strivings are threatened. These reactions magnify the connection between disparaging social beliefs about subordinate groups and the perception that individuals from this group are dangerous. Participants were 150 college students (mean age = 18.8 +1.4 years); 57% female; Caucasian) enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Social beliefs were assessed with the Modern Racism Scale and the Social Dominance Orientation scale; agonistic strivings with the Social Competence Interview; covert racial biases with the Race Implicit Association Test; and explicit racial discrimination behavior with a job qualifications rating task. The social action theory taxonomy of regulatory strivings was replicated in this sample. Tests of study hypothesis indicated that implicit racial biases were associated with social dominance beliefs but not with modern racism, agonistic vigilance, or reactive anger. Overt racial discrimination was associated with agonistic reactive anger but not with agonistic vigilance or social beliefs. Findings suggest ways to improve research on racial discrimination, and point to social-structural and psychoeducational interventions to curb discrimination and enhance public health.
Folic Acid Transport to the Human Fetus Is Decreased in Pregnancies with Chronic Alcohol Exposure

Background During pregnancy, the demand for folic acid increases since the fetus requires this nutrient for its rapid growth and cell proliferation. The placenta concentrates folic acid into the fetal circulation; as a result the fetal levels are 2 to 4 times higher than the maternal level. Animal and in vitro studies have suggested that alcohol may impair transport of folic acid across the placenta by decreasing expression of transport proteins. We aim to determine if folate transfer to the fetus is altered in human pregnancies with chronic alcohol consumption. Methodology/Principal Findings Serum folate was measured in maternal blood and umbilical cord blood at the time of delivery in pregnancies with chronic and heavy alcohol exposure (n = 23) and in non-drinking controls (n = 24). In the alcohol-exposed pairs, the fetal∶maternal serum folate ratio was ≤1.0 in over half (n = 14), whereas all but one of the controls were >1.0. Mean folate in cord samples was lower in the alcohol-exposed group than in the controls (33.15±19.89 vs 45.91±20.73, p = 0.04). Conclusions/Significance Our results demonstrate that chronic and heavy alcohol use in pregnancy impairs folate transport to the fetus. Altered folate concentrations within the placenta and in the fetus may in part contribute to the deficits observed in the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
Effects of amphetamine on the human brain opioid system – a positron emission tomography study

Studies in rodents have shown that psychostimulant drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine cause endorphin release in the brain reward system. There is also evidence for the involvement of the opioid system in human psychostimulant dependence. The acute effects of an i.v. psychostimulant drug on the brain opioid system, however, have not yet been investigated in humans. We hypothesized that an i.v. dose of amphetamine as compared to placebo would cause an opioid release in the human brain reward system, measurable as a reduction of the binding potential of the μ-opioid receptor radioligand [11C]carfentanil. Ten healthy young men were examined using positron emission tomography (PET) and [11C]carfentanil in three sessions: at baseline; after placebo; after an i.v. amphetamine dose of 0.3 mg/kg bodyweight. The order of amphetamine and placebo was double-blinded and randomized. PET examinations were performed with a Siemens high resolution research tomograph. Data were analysed with the simplified reference tissue model, applying manually drawn regions of interest for every subject. Using repeated measures analysis of variance, we found no significant differences in [11C]carfentanil binding potential between amphetamine and placebo conditions in any of the investigated brain regions. In contrast to data from rodent studies and a recent study of oral amphetamine administration in humans, an i.v. dose of amphetamine does not cause any acute opioid release in healthy human subjects. The postulated role of the opioid system in mediating the effects of amphetamine needs to be further investigated in animal models of the disease as well as in patient populations.
Trametinib with or without Vemurafenib in BRAF Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

V-Raf Murine Sarcoma Viral Oncogene Homolog B (BRAF) mutated lung cancer is relatively aggressive and is resistant to currently available therapies. In a recent phase II study for patients with BRAF-V600E non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), BRAF V600E inhibitor demonstrated evidence of activity, but 30% of this selected group progressed while on treatment, suggesting a need for developing alternative strategies. We tested two different options to enhance the efficacy of vemurafenib (BRAF V600E inhibitor) in BRAF mutated NSCLC. The first option was the addition of erlotinib to vemurafenib to see whether the combination provided synergy. The second was to induce MEK inhibition (downstream of RAF) with trametinib (MEK inhibitor). We found that the combination of vemurafenib and erlotinib was not synergistic to the inhibition of p-ERK signaling in BRAF-V600E cells. Vemurafenib caused significant apoptosis, G1 arrest and upregulation of BIM in BRAF-V600 cells. Trametinib was effective as a single agent in BRAF mutated cells, either V600E or non-V600E. Finally, the combination of vemurafenib and trametinib caused a small but significant increase in apoptosis as well as a significant upregulation of BIM when compared to either single agent. Thus, hinting at the possibility of utilizing a combinational approach for the management of this group of patients. Importantly, trametinib alone caused upregulation of p-AKT in BRAF non-V600 mutated cells, while this effect was nullified with the combination. This finding suggests that, the combination of a MEK inhibitor with a BRAF inhibitor will be more efficacious in the clinical setting for patients with BRAF mutated NSCLC.
The Direct and Indirect Effects of Small Business Administration Lending on Growth: Evidence from U.S. County-Level Data

Conventional wisdom suggests that small businesses are innovative engines of Schumpetarian growth. However, as small businesses, they are likely to face credit rationing in financial markets. If true then policies that promote lending to small businesses may yield substantial economy-wide returns. We examine the relationship between Small Business Administration (SBA) lending and local economic growth using a spatial econometric framework across a sample of 3,035 U.S. counties for the years 1980 to 2009. We find evidence that a county's SBA lending per capita is associated with direct negative effects on its income growth. We also find evidence of indirect negative effects on the growth rates of neighboring counties. Overall, a 10% increase in SBA loans per capita is associated with a cumulative decrease in income growth rates of about 2%.
Gene expression variations are predictive for stochastic noise

Fluctuations in protein abundance among single cells are primarily due to the inherent stochasticity in transcription and translation processes, such stochasticity can often confer phenotypic heterogeneity among isogenic cells. It has been proposed that expression noise can be triggered as an adaptation to environmental stresses and genetic perturbations, and as a mechanism to facilitate gene expression evolution. Thus, elucidating the relationship between expression noise, measured at the single-cell level, and expression variation, measured on population of cells, can improve our understanding on the variability and evolvability of gene expression. Here, we showed that noise levels are significantly correlated with conditional expression variations. We further demonstrated that expression variations are highly predictive for noise level, especially in TATA-box containing genes. Our results suggest that expression variabilities can serve as a proxy for noise level, suggesting that these two properties share the same underlining mechanism, e.g. chromatin regulation. Our work paves the way for the study of stochastic noise in other single-cell organisms.
Particle swarm optimization based precoder in CoMP with measurement data

Coordinated multipoint (CoMP) schemes have been identified as one of the key technologies for mitigating inter-cell interference (ICI) in future communication systems [1], [2]. Under this framework, both coordinated beamforming/scheduling and the more advanced joint processing between base stations (BSs) are included. In the downlink, coordinating BSs to improve the capacity was initially proposed in [3]. A subset of joint processing CoMP is a joint transmission approach where the user data and the channel state information (CSI) needs to be available at all the coordinating BSs, such that simultaneous transmission of user data can be performed coherent or non-coherently from one or more BSs. With this approach ICI is mitigated, as other BSs aid the transmission of useful signals instead of introducing interference. In the coordinated beamforming/scheduling approach, the user data is only available at the serving BS. However, the CSI of all the users are shared between the BSs such that ICI can be controlled based on user scheduling and beamforming. To realize the gains of joint transmission CoMP in a frequency division duplex system, the users need to feedback the CSI, typically to its serving BS, such that it is aggregated at a central coordination node (CCN) for jointly mitigating interference via precoding. The aggregated CSI knowledge is used create the precoding weights consisting of power allocated beamforming weights that needs to be available at the corresponding BSs in the backhaul when transmitting to the users involved in joint transmission CoMP. Under the assumption of perfect channel knowledge, perfect synchronization among BSs and negligible delays, the theoretical gains with joint processing CoMP are substantially larger than with coordinated beamforming. How much of these gains can be preserved under more realistic assumptions is addressed to some extent in this work. Joint transmission CoMP is very sensitive to CSI errors. When users are moving fast, obtaining reliable CSI at the transmitter can be very difficult. In practice, the CSI obtained at the CCN is imperfect. The imperfection is primarily due to prediction errors and quantization errors. The process of feeding back the CSI to the BS, aggregating the CSI at the CCN and making the precoding weights available at the corresponding BS in the backhaul introduces delay in this closed loop system. With delay introduced in the system, outdated Fig. 1. Prediction errors were generated based the statistics of this drive route measurements from a suburb in Kista, Sweden.
USE OF AUTHENTIC VIDEO MATERIALS IN TEACHING LISTENING

The current article is focused on the analysis of the impact that authentic videos have on the development of listening skills in a foreign language teaching process and on the ways to increase the effectiveness of authentic video lessons in terms of listening skills development. The implementation of authentic videos into the process of listening comprehension development has demonstrated good results in increasing the motivation of student officers, involving them into real communication process, demonstrating them the natural way of speaking, providing them with authentic cultural information and facilitating cultural adaptation. The involvement of students into a real communicative situation leads to freer adaptation of student officers to the foreign language environment while carrying out tasks in combined exercises or peacekeeping missions.
Maternal prenatal smoking and hearing loss among adolescents.

IMPORTANCE Although smoking and secondhand smoke exposure are associated with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in children and adults, the possible association between prenatal smoke exposure and hearing loss has not been investigated despite the fact that more than 12% of US children experience such prenatal exposure each year. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether exposure to prenatal tobacco smoke is independently associated with SNHL in adolescents. DESIGN Cross-sectional data were examined for 964 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006. PARTICIPANTS Participants underwent standardized audiometric testing, and serum cotinine levels and self-reports were used to identify adolescents exposed to secondhand smoke or active smokers. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Prenatal exposure was defined as an affirmative parental response to, "Did [Sample Person's Name] biological mother smoke at any time while she was pregnant with [him/her]? " Sensorineural hearing loss was defined as an average pure-tone hearing level more than 15 dB for 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz (low frequency) and 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz (high frequency). RESULTS Parental responses affirmed prenatal smoke exposure in 16.2% of 964 adolescents. Prenatal smoke exposure was associated with elevated pure-tone hearing thresholds at 2 and 6 kHz (P < .05), a higher rate of unilateral low-frequency SNHL (17.6% vs 7.1%; P < .05) in bivariate analyses, and a 2.6-fold increased odds of having unilateral low-frequency SNHL in multivariate analyses (95% CI, 1.1-6.4) after controlling for multiple hearing-related covariates. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Prenatal smoke exposure is independently associated with higher pure-tone hearing thresholds and an almost 3-fold increase in the odds of unilateral low-frequency hearing loss among adolescents. These novel findings suggest that in utero exposure to tobacco smoke may be injurious to the auditory system.
Low-Sensitivity, Low-Power Active-RC Allpole Filters Using Impedance Tapering

A procedure for the design of allpole filters with low sensitivity to component tolerance is presented. The filters are based on resistance-capacitance (RC) ladder structures combined with single operational amplifiers. It is shown that by the use of impedance tapering, in which L-sections of the RC ladder are successively impedance-scaled upwards, from the driving source to the amplifier input, the sensitivity of the filter characteristics to component tolerances can be significantly decreased. Impedance tapering is achieved by the appropriate choice of component values. The design procedure, therefore, adds nothing to the cost of conventional circuits; component count and topology remain unchanged, whereas the component values selected for impedance tapering account for the considerable decrease in tolerance sensitivity.
Availability Modeling and Analysis on Virtualized Clustering with Rejuvenation

Summary Nowadays, more stringent compliance regulations, businesses of all sizes are required to implement security measures to ensure their systems and data are readily available and quickly recoverable. Virtualized clustering is inherently designed for maximum data integrity and minimal recovery time in the case of site failure. Virtualization allows multiple operating system instances to run concurrently on a single physical machine. In this paper, we present a technique that can increase availability of application servers through the use of virtualization, clustering and software rejuvenation. Using analytical modeling, we analyze multiple design choices when a single physical server and dual physical servers are used to host multiple virtual machines. Analysis results are included to show the performance of the proposed method. By integrating virtualization, clustering and software rejuvenation, it is possible to benefit from increased availability, manageability and savings from server consolidation through virtualization without decreasing uptime of critical services.
Application of the perfectly matched layer (PML) absorbing boundary condition to elastic wave propagation

Hastings, F.D. , J.B. Schneider, and S.L. Broschat, ���Application of the perfectly matched layer (PML) absorbing boundary condition to elastic wave propagation,�� J. Acoust. Soc. Am. , Vol. 100, No. 5, 3061-3069, Nov. 1996. http://dx.doi. org/10.1121/1.417118.
THE RHETORICAL SITUATION FOR KNOWLEDGE SHARING OF BEST PRATICES IN CORPORATE ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS

This paper focuses on the situation to be addressed, when designing IT systems for Knowledge Workers that are expected to participate in both sharing and innovating work processes within a large corporation in communities of best practices. The work presented is based on: philosophical analysis, qualitative data from a global corporation and Web 2.0 design artifacts from the World Wide Web. It is argued that we may benefit from addressing the design a Knowledge Management Systems with rhetorical communications theory as an alternative way of prescribing designs that would make the users feel the need to communicate knowledge.
Activity and subcellular distribution of cathepsins in primary human monocytes

Cathepsins (Cat) in antigen presenting cells (APC) control antigen processing as well as major histocompatibility complex class II transport and function. The set of active Cat and the subcellular architecture of the class II antigen presentation compartment are largely unknown in primary human APC, including peripheral blood monocytes. We used novel chemical tools to visualize Cat in an activity‐dependent manner. Primary human monocytes cntained active CatS, ‐B, and ‐H, while CatL was absent. Expression and activity patterns of Cat in human myelo‐monocytoid cell lines were distinct from those found in primary cells. On a subcellular scale, the bulk of active Cat was concentrated in lysosomes in primary monocytes. In late endosomes, only active CatS was found in sizable amounts, colocalizing with C‐terminal processing of the class II invariant chain and with cystatin C, the major endogenous Cat inhibitor. Late endosomes of human peripheral blood monocytes contain a well‐controlled proteolytic machinery distinct from lysosomes, which is likely to play a key role in class II function.
Retinoic Acid Restores Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Reverses Spatial Memory Deficit in Vitamin A Deprived Rats

A dysfunction of retinoid hippocampal signaling pathway has been involved in the appearance of affective and cognitive disorders. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. Hippocampal granule neurons are generated throughout life and are involved in emotion and memory. Here, we investigated the effects of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) on neurogenesis and memory and the ability of retinoic acid (RA) treatment to prevent VAD-induced impairments. Adult retinoid-deficient rats were generated by a vitamin A-free diet from weaning in order to allow a normal development. The effects of VAD and/or RA administration were examined on hippocampal neurogenesis, retinoid target genes such as neurotrophin receptors and spatial reference memory measured in the water maze. Long-term VAD decreased neurogenesis and led to memory deficits. More importantly, these effects were reversed by 4 weeks of RA treatment. These beneficial effects may be in part related to an up-regulation of retinoid-mediated molecular events, such as the expression of the neurotrophin receptor TrkA. We have demonstrated for the first time that the effect of vitamin A deficient diet on the level of hippoccampal neurogenesis is reversible and that RA treatment is important for the maintenance of the hippocampal plasticity and function.
Organization, segregation and object recognition

Organisation, separation en profondeur et reconnaissance d'objet. Il n'existe pas a l'heure actuelle de reponse definitive a la question de savoir si l'experience passee exerce une influence sur la perception en elle-meme, ou si l'experience ne fait que moduler les sorties d'un processus perceptif universel. La premiere partie de cet article presente la reponse gestaltiste a cette question telle qu'elle s'est elaboree a l'epoque, c'est-a-dire comme une critique de l'approche empirique. La critique gestaltiste fut couronnee de succes au point que ses principes servent d'hypotheses de base dans les recherches contemporaines sur la vision, recensees dans la deuxieme partie de cet article. L'une de ces hypotheses est qu'une separation en profondeur doit etre effectuee en tout ou en partie avant de pouvoir acceder aux souvenirs des objets (c.a.d. avant que l'experience passee puisse exercer une quelconque influence). La troisieme partie de cet article resume un certain nombre d'indications experimentales qui tendent a montrer que cette hypothese n'est pas correcte. Certaines de ces experiences datent des premiers travaux de l'ecole gestaltiste ; d'autres sont plus recentes. En conclusion, la question de savoir si ces experiences contradictoires justifient une reprise de la psychologie empiriste est discutee.