Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Poorer Prognosis With Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid-dependent Pseudothrombocytopenia

AbstractIn ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia (PTCP), automated platelet counts are lower than actual counts because of EDTA-induced aggregation. Factors contributing to the incidence of EDTA-PTCP are unknown, and no study has assessed the prognosis of EDTA-PTCP patients.This retrospective study assessed characteristics in EDTA-PTCP patients and matched controls to determine differences in prognosis.A retrospective case–control study was designed. From the University of Tokyo Hospital database, we identified patients diagnosed with EDTA-PTCP between 2009 and 2012, and performed 1:2 case:control matching for age and sex. A control group of sex- and age-matched patients was selected at random from the same database. We investigated differences in the frequency of complications, medication history, and blood transfusion history between the groups at the time of blood collection. Prognosis was evaluated using multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, autoimmune disease, liver disease, and malignant tumor.We identified 104 EDTA-PTCP patients and 208 matched controls. The median age was 69.0 years (interquartile range: 54–76), with men comprising 51%. EDTA-PTCP patients had a higher frequency of malignant tumor and a lower frequency of hypertension and diabetes than controls. After adjustment for background factors, prognosis of EDTA-PTCP patients was significantly poorer than controls (hazard ratio, 11.8; 95% confidence intervals, 2.62–53.54). In conclusion, EDTA-PTCP patients had higher mortality, and EDTA-PTCP may need to be recognized as an indicator of worse prognosis.
Accuracy of Item Performance Predictions Based on the Nedelsky Standard Setting Method

The Nedelsky standard setting procedure utilizes an option elimination strategy to estimate the probability that a minimally competent candidate (MCC) will answer a multiple-choice item correctly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of predicted item performance from the Nedelsky ratings. The results indicate that test taking behavior of MCCs does not match the underlying Nedelsky assumption that MCCs randomly guess among the options judges believe should be attractive. Further, the accuracy of predicted item performance appears to vary as a function of item difficulty and content domain. However, an analysis of the relationship between judges' rating of distractor difficulty and proportion of examinees selecting item distractors indicated that useful information about examinee item performance is obtainable from Nedelsky-based judgments.
An ROI Privacy Protection Scheme for H.264 Video Based on FMO and Chaos

With the increase of terrorist and criminal activities, closed circuit television (CCTV) is widely used on many occasions. However, abuse of surveillance video may result in the leakage of personal privacy. To protect the privacy in the video of CCTV, an encryption scheme for region of interest (ROI) of H.264 video based on flexible macroblock ordering (FMO) and chaos is proposed in this paper, where human face regions are selected as an example of ROI. First, the human face regions in the video are detected and extracted. Then, they are mapped into slice groups by using FMO technology in H.264. After that, these regions are encrypted using selective video encryption based on chaos. Experimental results and analysis show that the proposed scheme can effectively protect the private information of H.264 video and, therefore, can strike a good balance among the security, encryption efficiency, and coding performance. It has great potential to be used in the privacy protection of the video of CCTV.
Estrogen Receptor and PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway Involvement in S-(-)Equol-Induced Activation of Nrf2/ARE in Endothelial Cells

S-(-)equol, a natural product of the isoflavone daidzein, has been reported to offer cytoprotective effects with respect to the cardiovascular system, but how this occurs is unclear. Interestingly, S-(-)equol is produced by the human gut, suggesting a role in physiological processes. We report that treatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and EA.hy926 cells with S-(-)equol induces ARE-luciferase reporter gene activity that is dose and time dependent. S-(-)equol (10–250 nM) increases nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) as well as gene products of Nrf2 target genes heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H (nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide-phosphate) quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1). Endothelial cells transfected with an HA-Nrf2 expression plasmid had elevated HA-Nrf2, HO-1, and NQO1 in response to S-(-)equol exposure. S-(-)equol treatment affected Nrf2 mRNA only slightly but significantly increased HO-1 and NQO1 mRNA. The pretreatment of cells with specific ER inhibitors or PI3K/Akt (ICI182,780 and LY294002) increased Nrf2, HO-1, and NQO1 protein, impaired nuclear translocation of HA-Nrf2, and decreased ARE-luciferase activity. Identical experiments were conducted with daidzein, which had effects similar to S-(-)equol. In addition, DPN treatment (an ERβ agonist) induced the ARE-luciferase reporter gene, promoting Nrf2 nuclear translocation. Cell pretreatment with an ERβ antagonist (PHTPP) impaired S-(-)equol-induced Nrf2 activation. Pre-incubation of cells followed by co-treatment with S-(-)equol significantly improved cell survival in response to H2O2 or tBHP and reduced apoptotic and TUNEL-positively-stained cells. Notably, the ability of S-(-)equol to protect against H2O2-induced cell apoptosis was attenuated in cells transfected with an siRNA against Nrf2. Thus, beneficial effects of S-(-)equol with respect to cytoprotective antioxidant gene activation may represent a novel strategy to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.
Didactic Psychological Counselling Œ A Real Challenge

Questionnaires were issued to fourth year students and to psychologists in trainee posts who had taken part in the didactic psychological counselling course at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. This article reviews the various challenges posed by this type of counselling in the university context little accustomed to addressing issues arising in professional practice. This qualitative evaluation shows that the students and trainee psychologists viewed training that combined a university course with practical experience in the future professional . eld as essential. The evaluation also con.rmed that the students believed the objectives and the corresponding teaching tools employed on the course to be relevant. The objectives are also in line with the ‘transdisciplinarity‘ approach proposed by the authors and supported by the CIRET-UNESCO report (1997) extolling the virtues of ‘the four pillars of a new kind of education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together with and learning to be‘. Understood in this context, the educational and clinical aims of our counselling course satisfy the new expectations of the university of tomorrow.
Advantages of Array-Based Technologies for Pre-Emptive Pharmacogenomics Testing

As recognised by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), microarray technology currently provides a rapid, inexpensive means of identifying large numbers of known genomic variants or gene transcripts in experimental and clinical settings. However new generation sequencing techniques are now being introduced in many clinical genetic contexts, particularly where novel mutations are involved. While these methods can be valuable for screening a restricted set of genes for known or novel mutations, implementation of whole genome sequencing in clinical practice continues to present challenges. Even very accurate high-throughput methods with small error rates can generate large numbers of false negative or false positive errors due to the high numbers of simultaneous readings. Additional validation is likely to be required for safe use of any such methods in clinical settings. Custom-designed arrays can offer advantages for screening for common, known mutations and, in this context, may currently be better suited for accredited, quality-controlled clinical genetic screening services, as illustrated by their successful application in several large-scale pre-emptive pharmacogenomics programs now underway. Excessive, inappropriate use of next-generation sequencing may waste scarce research funds and other resources. Microarrays presently remain the technology of choice in applications that require fast, cost-effective genome-wide screening of variants of known importance, particularly for large sample sizes. This commentary considers some of the applications where microarrays continue to offer advantages over next-generation sequencing technologies.
A mobile sensor configuration and multi-object tracking algorithm

This paper proposes a mobile sensor configuration algorithm for multi-object tracking issues. The configuration process involves the selection of sensor and sensor controlling of direction. We will show that the configuration process will affect the precision of observation and further the estimated performance. Previous studies rarely consider the sensor configuration and multi-object tracking jointly under cluttered environment. We first built the dynamical and controlling models for the mobile sensors, where the observational noises are depended on the relative state changes, or specifically, the relative difference of distance and velocity between sensors and objects in x and y axles respectively. Based on our previously metric of Power and Cost (PaC), we further proposed a new criterion named probability of missing detection, power and cost (PMD-PaC) and describe the configuration as the linear program issue and derive the trajectories for the mobile sensors. The association and object estimation are respectively given by the proposed sequence multiple hypothesis tractor (S-MHT) and Kalman filter. The final experiment is given to verify the proposed algorithm.
Percutaneous PFO closure for cryptogenic stroke in the setting of a systematic cardiac and neurological screening and a standardised follow-up protocol

Background There are no uniform workup and follow-up (FU) protocols for patients presenting with cryptogenic embolism (CE) who undergo percutaneous closure of a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Methods We prospectively performed a systematic cardiac and neurological FU protocol in all patients who underwent percutaneous PFO closure in order to assess the incidence of subsequent cardiac and neurological adverse events. All patients received dual antiplatelet therapy for 6 months and were systematically included in a 12-month standardised FU protocol including: clinical evaluation—transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography, 24-hour Holter monitoring and/or 1-week R-test, and transcranial Doppler. Late FU (>12 months) was performed by reviewing medical records. Results Over a 10-year period, 221 consecutive patients underwent PFO closure for CE and 217 of them (98%) completed the 12-month FU. Ischaemic event recurrence at 12-month and late FU (mean time 69±35 months, median time 65 months, Q1:38 months, Q3:98 months) was observed in 6 (2.8%) and 3 patients (1.4%), respectively. The initial diagnosis of CE was reconsidered in 17 cases (7.8%), as the clinical and paraclinical FU exams showed possible alternative aetiologies for the initial event: 13 patients (6.0%) presented at least 1 episode of atrial fibrillation, while in 4 cases (1.8%) a non-ischaemic origin of the initial symptoms was identified. Conclusions Alternative diagnoses explaining the initial symptoms are rarely detected with an in-depth screening for alternative diagnoses before PFO closure. Despite extensive screening, atrial fibrillation is the most frequently observed alternative aetiology for cryptogenic stroke.
T‐follicular helper cells survive as long‐term memory cells

T‐follicular helper (TFH) cells represent the subpopulation of CD4+ T cells that provides help for antigen‐specific B cells in the GC response. They are generated from naïve T cells during an immune response and are imprinted by their master transcription factor Bcl‐6. It has been a long‐standing question if TFH cells contribute to the CD4+ memory pool after the GC response has been terminated. To answer this question, we sorted antigen‐specific TFH and non‐TFH effector cells from an ongoing GC response and transferred them into naïve mice. Without further signals via the TCR, transferred cells rapidly contracted with a small population of both TFH and non‐TFH cells surviving as memory cells in peripheral lymphoid organs for at least 4 weeks in the absence of antigen. TFH cells strongly downregulated their signature genes Bcl‐6, CXCR5, and PD‐1 in the memory phase. Upon rechallenge with antigen they rapidly upregulated these markers again. An enhanced potential to produce IL‐21, paired with higher expression of CXCR5 and lower expression of CCR7, should enable TFH memory cells to provide more efficient help for antigen‐specific B cells than their non‐TFH counterparts.
Embracing diversity in the history curriculum: a study of the challenges facing trainee teachers

This paper explores the issues that secondary history teachers on an initial teacher education (ITE) programme in England encounter in attempting to incorporate more cultural and ethnic diversity into the history curriculum. It also assesses the impact that changes in their training course had on their views and pedagogical practice. Using questionnaires and scenario based interviews with three cohorts of trainee teachers, key challenges were identified, which were related to the purposes of teaching history and diversity, appropriate pedagogy and content, dealing with pupils, and teachers’ personal concerns. A framework for analysing trainees’ stances towards cultural and ethnic diversity based upon a confident-uncertain-uncomfortable continuum was developed. The research revealed that the course had had an impact, although this was in subtle rather than marked ways, which raises further questions about what is possible within the confines of an ITE training programme and the need for additional support beyond the course.
EFFECTS OF BENEFITS APPEALS, MANDATORY APPEALS, AND VARIATIONS IN STATEMENTS OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON COMPLETION RATES FOR CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRES

This study examines the effects of two different prominently displayed appeals in combination with two different prominently displayed confidentiality assurances on mail-back completion rates for census questionnaires. The experiment was carried out on a national probability sample of 30,000 household units, using occupant-addressed questionnaires that contained the content of the 1990 decennial census short form. Neither the benefits appeal nor the variation between two confidentiality assurances had a significant effect on completion rates. The mandatory appeal, however, significantly improved completion rates, even when it appeared on the envelope only
Cheap versus expensive trades: Assessing the determinants of market impact costs

This paper assesses the determinants of market impact costs of institutional equity trades, using unique data from the world's second largest pension fund. We allow the impact of trade characteristics and market conditions on trading costs to depend on the level of trading costs itself and establish significant differences in the responses of cheaper and more expensive trades. We explain the distinct responses from differences in information content and demand for liquidity between trades with high and low trading costs. Finally, to illustrate the practical relevance of the approach, we use our method to forecast future trading costs.
Effects of Partial Analogies on Solving an Ill-Defined Problem

Two experiments were carried out to verify whether in Duncker's radiation problem undergraduates and secondary school students take advantage of partial analogies (i.e, analogies providing subjects with only one element of the solution) and can integrate two partial analogies to deduce a solution plan which may be transferred successfully to the target problem. Subjects were initially presented verbal stories (Exp. 1, n = 112) or visual patterns (Exp. 2, n = 80) describing situations structurally similar to Duncker's problem and to one of its possible solutions. Then subjects had to solve the target problem. Results of both experiments showed that partial analogies play weak heuristic functions and that two partial analogies can provide a complete problem-solving strategy for the target problem only if their order of presentation corresponds to the sequence of the solution steps.
The Two Traditions in the Sociology of Emotions

The sociology of emotions is an established specialism within the discipline and its products have become increasingly visible parts of the sociological landscape since the late 1970s. This specialism has also demonstrated, at least to its own satisfaction, the importance of emotions for social action and order, and for those related moral issues concerned with self-determined and other-oriented action. Paradoxically, however, the relationship between the sociology of emotions and mainstream sociology remains relatively cool. Emotional issues are still portrayed in many general accounts of the discipline as a luxurious curiosity that properly resides on the outer reaches of the sociological imagination. Just as unfortunately, certain sociologists of emotions have accused the foundations of the discipline of neglecting emotional issues, and have sometimes excluded classical theorists from their discussions. This chapter argues that emotional phenomena occupy an important place in sociology's heritage which has yet to be explicated fully by the sub-discipline. The subject of emotions, like the closely related subject of the body, may fade from various classical writings. Nevertheless, the major traditions of sociological theory developed particular orientations towards the social and moral dimensions of emotional phenomena. I begin by examining the relevance of emotions to the context out of which the discipline emerged, and then focus on how the major theorists of order (Comte and Durkheim) and (inter)action (Simmel and Weber) conceptualized emotional phenomena. The chapter concludes with a brief assessment of Parsons's contribution, and suggests that his analysis of the religious foundations of instrumental activism provides a provocative account of the relationship between values, emotions and personality that can usefully be built on.
‘Get Some Secured Credit Cards Homey’: Hip Hop Discourse, Financial Literacy and the Design of Digital Media Learning Environments

In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, there exists a deficit of compelling financial education curricula in urban schools that serve financially vulnerable working-class students. Part of a design-based research investigation aimed at creating culturally-relevant financial literacy learning environments, this study is a Discourse analysis of a discussion of personal finance on a web-based fan forum dedicated to hip hop music and culture. In this analysis the author claims that the discourse strategies and participant roles present in this discussion are an example of the organic production of what has been called a borderlands Discourse that bridges school-based knowledge of financial literacy with the youth culture of hip hop. The analysis presented here highlights the complex and overlapping ways that discursive hybridity in both representational practices and textual performances of identity figure importantly in the financial literacy practices of community participants. The author further contends that the understandings that emerge from this analysis can help design researchers attempt to ‘engineer’ the values, identities and modes of interaction of hip hop discourse communities into academically-oriented learning environments.
The roles of lipid and glucose metabolism in modulation of β-amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease

Diabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD). Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and several genes related to AD have recently been identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as being closely linked to lipid metabolism. Lipid metabolism and glucose-energy metabolism are closely related. Here, we review the emerging evidence regarding the roles of lipid and glucose metabolism in the modulation of β-amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration during the pathogenesis of AD. Disruption of homeostasis of lipid and glucose metabolism affects production and clearance of β-amyloid and tau phosphorylation, and induces neurodegeneration. A more integrated understanding of the interactions among lipid, glucose, and protein metabolism is required to elucidate the pathogenesis of AD and to develop next-generation therapeutic options.
Review: Hypercholesterolemia-associated endothelial progenitor cell dysfunction

Hypercholesterolemia has been associated with increased cardiovascular risk by contributing to mechanical endothelial injury and dysfunction. There is evidence that chronic exposure to increased plasma cholesterol levels might also impair the repair of lipoprotein-mediated endothelial injury, possibly by reducing the availability and function of circulating endothelial progenitors. This review summarizes current knowledge about the mechanisms of lipoprotein-mediated endothelial injury and endothelial progenitor cell assisted vascular repair; the influence of hypercholesterolemia on endothelial progenitor cell dysfunction will be also addressed.
Masculinity and Child Care: The Reconstruction of Fathering

In this article we focus on a group of fathers who use parental leave and how they include care-giving in their construction of masculinity. The fathers shape their own masculine form of care-work differently from the mothers' interaction with the child. Both mothers and fathers, however, take part in the process of reproducing masculinity as the norm by giving masculine care higher status. Care-giving activities are adopted by the hegemonic form of masculinity with its strong connection to paid work.
Distinctive Effect of Donepezil Treatment on P300 and N200 Subcomponents of Auditory Event-Related Evoked Potentials in Alzheimer Disease Patients

Background Latency of P300 subcomponent of event-related potentials (ERPs) increases in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients, which correlate well with cognitive impairment. Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) reduce P300 latency in AD patients with parallel improvement in cognition. It is not known whether N200 response to ChEIs is similar to that of P300. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare characteristics of P300 and N200 in AD patients, treatment-naïve and on stable donepezil treatment, matched by age, education, sex, and cognitive function. Material/Methods We recruited 22 consecutive treatment-naïve AD patients (AD-N group), 22 AD patients treated with a stable donepezil dose of 10 mg/day for at least 3 months (AD-T group), and 50 healthy controls were recruited. Neuropsychological testing (MMSE, ADAS-Cog, and additional tests) and ERP recording was performed and analyzed. Results All groups did not differ according to age, duration of education, or sex (p>0.05). AD-N and AD-T groups did not differ according to cognitive function. The AD-T group had longer duration of disease than the AD-N group (p<0.001). The AD-T and AD-N groups did not differ in P300 latencies (p=0.49). N200 latency was longer in the AD-T group (p<0.001). The general linear model showed that significant predictors of P300 latency were age (p=0.019) and AD treatment status (p<0.001). Duration of AD was a significant predictor of N200 latency (p=0.004). Conclusions The response of N200 latency to donepezil treatment differs from the response of P300. P300 is a better marker of ChEI treatment-dependent cognitive functions. N200 is more dependent on the duration of AD.