Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sex differences in psychological effects of exercise

The purpose of this study was to investigate sex differences in psychological effects of exercise on university students. University students (73 female and 65 male) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups by equating sex in each group. The experimental group participated in step dance sessions of 50 min per day, 3 days per week for 10 weeks with 60–80% of their heart rate reserves. Throughout the 10‐week period, the lecture control group was told not to participate in any organized or structured exercise and participated in a lecture that was about the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise. Self‐concept, belief in external control, and trait anxiety of the groups were measured before and after the exercise program. A significant improvement in the psychological variables after the exercise program and more improvement for female exercise participants were expected. Analysis revealed no significant initial differences in self‐concept, belief in external control, and trait .
Using Multilevel Modeling in Language Assessment Research: A Conceptual Introduction

This article critiques traditional single-level statistical approaches (e.g., multiple regression analysis) to examining relationships between language test scores and variables in the assessment setting. It highlights the conceptual, methodological, and statistical problems associated with these techniques in dealing with multilevel or nested data and discusses an alternative approach, multilevel modeling (MLM), that can handle such data appropriately. An example focusing on contrast effects in essay rating is used to illustrate the main points discussed in the paper and the applications and advantages of MLM. The article also discusses some of the main considerations and issues in MLM (e.g., model building and testing, centering) and concludes by pointing out areas where MLM can be applied in language assessment research.
A Method of Using Nonidentical Resonant Coils for Frequency Splitting Elimination in Wireless Power Transfer

In this paper, an efficient method is proposed to eliminate frequency splitting in nonradiative wireless power transfer via magnetic resonance coupling. In this method, two nonidentical resonant coils (NIRCs) are used as wireless power transmitter and receiver, respectively. According to the elliptic integral term in the analytical expression, the pole of the mutual inductance function with respect to transfer distance can be eliminated by using the two NIRCs, and hence overcoupling between transmitter and receiver with close transfer distance is avoided. Therefore, frequency splitting caused by overcoupling can be suppressed and stable output power can be achieved. The NIRCs are analytically calculated, numerically simulated and finally, fabricated and tested to verify the theory. All the calculated and experimental results show that frequency splitting is completely eliminated and uniform voltage across the load is achieved. Furthermore, lateral misalignment between the NIRCs barely introduces frequency splitting, and the suppression level of frequency splitting can also be controlled freely.
Bringing mobile into meetings: enhancing distributed meeting participation on smartwatches and mobile phones

Most teleconferencing tools treat users in distributed meetings monolithically: all participants are meant to be interconnected in more-or-less the same manner. In practice, people connect to meetings in different contexts, sometimes sitting in front of a laptop or tablet giving their full attention, but at other times mobile and concurrently involved in other tasks or as a liminal participant in a larger group meeting. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of two applications, MixMeetWear and MixMeetMate, to help users in non-standard contexts flexibly participate in meetings.
An analysis of modality in Chinese courtroom discourse

Abstract This paper analyzes modality in Chinese courtroom discourse, using the audio recording transcripts of eight court trials as data. Based on the findings, four major types of modal expressions are used by courtroom participants: modal verbs, modal adjuncts, interpersonal metaphors, and personal pronouns. In general, powerful courtroom participants tend to use a powerful style of speech and avoid powerless words in terms of attitude expression whereas powerless participants use less powerful styles. Specifically, judges' (i.e., powerful participants) expressions of modality help them clarify rights and duties as well as realize the functions of regulation, permission, authorization and prohibition whereas those employed by powerless (non-institutional) participants generally have a negative impact on the credibility of their statements and the accuracy of the meanings they want to express.
Organizational theory social supports and mortality rates: a theoretical convergence.

Theorists and researchers have explicitly or implicitly made use of primary groups to explain a wide range of social behaviors such as work productivity mass media communication combat morale job search services to elderly and mortality rates. Typically they have not systematically distinguished primary group from formal organization effects. Consequently it is not known what primary groups uniquely contribute to social behavior. An expanded organizational contingency theory of group structure is advanced which fills in this gap and shows that primary group theory and organizational contingency theory share a common framework. To demonstrate the power of this formulation [U.S.] national data on mortality are analyzed to predict which causes of death can and which cannot be reduced by primary groups. (EXCERPT)
Randomized clinical trial of ultrasonic versus electrocautery dissection of the gallbladder in laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is frequently complicated by gallbladder perforation and loss of bile or stones into the peritoneal cavity. The aim of this study was to compare the use of ultrasonic dissection and electrocautery with respect to the incidence of gallbladder perforation and intraoperative consequences.
Variational Inference for Gaussian Process Modulated Poisson Processes

We present the first fully variational Bayesian inference scheme for continuous Gaussian-process-modulated Poisson processes. Such point processes are used in a variety of domains, including neuroscience, geo-statistics and astronomy, but their use is hindered by the computational cost of existing inference schemes. Our scheme: requires no discretisation of the domain; scales linearly in the number of observed events; and is many orders of magnitude faster than previous sampling based approaches. The resulting algorithm is shown to outperform standard methods on synthetic examples, coal mining disaster data and in the prediction of Malaria incidences in Kenya.
Verbal Guidance through Remembering the Goals of Actions.

MEACHAM, JOHN A. Verbal Guidance through Remembering the Goals of Actions. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 188-193. In light of criticisms of earlier attempted replications, several changes were introduced in the experimental paradigm employed by Luria and others in order to investigate more appropriately the development of verbal-motor interactions in children. 48 preschoolers were asked to ride a tricycle appropriately following commands presented at 3-sec intervals. Half of the children also were asked to repeat the commands aloud. No differences in frequency of inappropriate motor activity were found for children in the verbal and nonverbal conditions. Reaction times for verbal activity were slower than those for motor activity, a finding that is inconsistent with verbal mediation interpretations of Luria's investigations. Evidence is provided that verbal activity may play an indirect role in guiding changes from an inappropriate to an appropriate motor action by facilitating the remembering of anticipated goals.
Survival in medically treated patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia.

BACKGROUND The prognosis of patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia (thalassemia major) has been improved by transfusion and iron-chelation therapy. We analyzed outcome and prognostic factors among patients receiving transfusions and chelation therapy who had reached the age at which iron-induced cardiac disease, the most common cause of death, usually occurs. METHODS Using the duration of life without the need for either inotropic or antiarrhythmic drugs as a measure of survival without cardiac disease, we studied 97 patients born before 1976 who were treated with regular transfusions and chelation therapy. We used Cox proportional-hazards analysis to assess the effect of prognostic factors and life-table analysis to estimate freedom from cardiac disease over time. RESULTS Of the 97 patients, 59 (61 percent) had no cardiac disease; 36 (37 percent) had cardiac disease, and 18 of them had died. Univariate analysis demonstrated that factors affecting cardiac disease-free survival were age at the start of chelation therapy (P < 0.001), the natural log of the serum ferritin concentration before chelation therapy began (P = 0.01), the mean ferritin concentration (P < 0.001), and the proportion of ferritin measurements exceeding 2500 ng per milliliter (P < 0.001). With stepwise Cox modeling, only the proportion of ferritin measurements exceeding 2500 ng per milliliter affected cardiac disease-free survival (P < 0.001). Patients in whom less than 33 percent of the serum ferritin values exceeded 2500 ng per milliliter had estimated rates of survival without cardiac disease of 100 percent after 10 years of chelation therapy and 91 percent after 15 years. CONCLUSIONS The prognosis for survival without cardiac disease is excellent for patients with thalassemia major who receive regular transfusions and whose serum ferritin concentrations remain below 2500 ng per milliliter with chelation therapy.
A Model for Adversarial Wiretap Channels

In the wiretap model of secure communication, Alice is connected to Bob over a noisy channel that is eavesdropped by Eve. The goal is to provide (asymptotic) reliability and perfect secrecy assuming that the Eve has unlimited computational power. The model has attracted considerable attention in recent years because it provides a natural model for passive eavesdropping in wireless communication. We consider a wiretap model with active adversaries, and define adversarial wiretap (AWTP) channels using a (ρr, ρw) wiretap adversary who can read a fraction ρr, and modify a fraction ρw of a sent codeword. The code components that are read and/or modified can be chosen adaptively, and the subsets of read and modified components could be different. AWTP codes provide secrecy and reliability for communication over AWTP channels. We define the security and reliability of AWTP channels and use these definitions to evaluate the security and reliability of codes for these channels. This paper has two main contributions. First, we prove an upper bound on the rate of AWTP codes for (ρr, ρw)-AWTP channels. Second, we give an explicit construction of a perfectly secure AWTP code family with efficient decoding that achieves the bound and, hence, obtain the secrecy capacity of AWTP channels for large alphabets. AWTP model is a natural extension of Wyner's wiretap models, and somewhat surprisingly, it is also closely related to a seemingly unrelated cryptographic primitive, secure message transmission (SMT). This relation results in a new (and the only known) bound on the transmission rate of 1-round (ε, δ)-SMT protocols. We discuss our results, give their relations to other works, and propose directions for future work.
Morphine Patient-Controlled Analgesia Is Superior to Meperidine Patient-Controlled Analgesia for Postoperative Pain

The choice between morphine and meperidine for postoperative pain is usually based on the preference of the prescriber, as few objective comparative data are available.This blind, randomized study compared the efficacy and side effects of morphine and meperidine administered by patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) for postoperative pain. One hundred two consenting patients scheduled for major abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to receive PCA with morphine (0.75, 1.0, or 1.5 mg bolus dose size) or meperidine (9, 12, or 18 mg) for pain control. Postoperative assessments included pain at rest and on sitting, nausea, unusual dreams, the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (a measure of mood), and the trailmaking tests A and B (measures of ability to concentrate). Pain on sitting (P = 0.037) but not pain at rest (P = 0.8) was significantly less in patients receiving morphine. Meperidine use was associated with poorer performance in the trailmaking tests and a greater incidence of dryness of the mouth. Severity of nausea, mood, and incidence of unusual dreams did not differ significantly between drugs. We conclude that meperidine should be reserved for those patients in whom morphine is judged inappropriate. (Anesth Analg 1997;84:794-9)
Endothelin receptors in the human amnion, chorion laeve, decidua vera and placenta.

The levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and the characteristics of endothelin (ET) receptors were investigated in the amnion, chorion laeve, decidua vera and placenta by using a specific radioimmunoassay for ET-1 and a saturation binding assay for ET. ET receptor gene expression in these tissues was also examined by Northern blot analysis. The levels of ET-1-like immunoreactivity (ET-1-LI) in the human amnion, chorion laeve, decidua vera and placenta obtained at elective Caesarean section before labour onset at term (mean +/- s.e.m.) were 1260 +/- 380 (n = 6), 3740 +/- 980 (n = 4), 4550 +/- 780 (n = 4) and 2450 +/- 470 (n = 4) pg g-1 wet weight, respectively. The levels of ET-1-LI in the tissues obtained after spontaneous vaginal deliveries at term did not differ from these. Gel-permeation chromatography and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography revealed that the ET-1-LI in these tissues was mainly composed of ET-1. Scatchard analysis of the saturation binding assay for [125I]-labelled ET-1 and [125I]-labelled ET-3 indicated that high concentrations of both ET-A and ET-B subtypes of receptor were present in membrane fractions from the chorion laeve, decidua vera and placenta. However, in membrane fractions from the amnion, no ET receptors could be detected. These results were confirmed by Northern blot analysis using human ET-A and ET-B receptor cDNA probes. Taken together, these results suggest that the amnion is not the site of action of amniotic ET, and that ET may be involved in the regulation of functions of the chorion laeve or decidua vera.
Implicit Memory for Age Stereotypes

The study addressed two interrelated questions concerned with automatic or unconscious manifestations of age prejudice: (a) Is there greater implicit memory for adjectives associated with negative stereotypes about older people than for adjectives not associated with such stereotypes; and (b) Is this effect moderated by consciously held attitudes toward older people? Eighty people, classified as low or high in age prejudice, studied adjectives that were either consistent or inconsistent with negative stereotypes of older people. Later, participants were instructed to complete fragments of the adjectives with either one of the studied adjectives or a new adjective. The influence of controlled and of implicit memory on participants' performance was estimated. Implicit memory was greater for stereotype consistent than for stereotype inconsistent words. A simple effects analysis also disclosed that among high prejudice participants there was significantly more implicit memory for stereotype consistent than fo.
Another look at across-crime similarity coefficients for use in behavioural linkage analysis: an attempt to replicate Woodhams, Grant, and Price (2007)

Abstract In the absence of physical evidence, investigators must often rely on offence behaviours when determining whether several crimes are linked to a common offender. A variety of factors can potentially influence the degree to which accurate linking is possible, including the similarity coefficient used to assess across-crime similarity. The current study examines the performance of two similarity coefficients that have recently been compared to one another, Jaccard's coefficient (J) and the taxonomic similarity index (Δs), using samples of two crime types, serial homicide (N=237) and serial burglary (N=210). In contrast to previous research, the results indicate that Δs does not significantly outperform J with respect to linking accuracy. In addition, both coefficients lead to higher levels of linking accuracy in cases of serial homicide compared to serial burglary. Potential explanations for these findings are presented and their implications are discussed.
Survey Propagation Revisited

Survey propagation (SP) is an exciting new technique that has been remarkably successful at solving very large hard combinatorial problems, such as determining the satisfiability of Boolean formulas. In a promising attempt at understanding the success of SP, it was recently shown that SP can be viewed as a form of belief propagation, computing marginal probabilities over certain objects called covers of a formula. This explanation was, however, shortly dismissed by experiments suggesting that non-trivial covers simply do not exist for large formulas. In this paper, we show that these experiments were misleading: not only do covers exist for large hard random formulas, SP is surprisingly accurate at computing marginals over these covers despite the existence of many cycles in the formulas. This re-opens a potentially simpler line of reasoning for understanding SP, in contrast to some alternative lines of explanation that have been proposed assuming covers do not exist.
Framingham Risk Score and Early Markers of Atherosclerosis in a Cohort of Adults Infected with HIV

Background The utility of the Framingham risk score among individuals infected with HIV is poorly understood. We examined the association of Framingham risk scores with surrogate markers of atherosclerosis in a carefully characterized cohort of adults infected with HIV. Methods We calculated Framingham risk scores and measured carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) and coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores in 334 participants from the Nutrition for Healthy Living study. Cardiovascular risk factors, c-IMT and CAC scores were assessed for each Framingham risk subgroup (low versus intermediate/high risk). We used adjusted and unadjusted linear and logistic regression to examine the association between clinical factors and Framingham risk group with c-IMT and CAC scores. Results Patients with intermediate/high Framingham risk scores were more likely to have internal c-IMT≥1.0 mm (26% versus 12%; P=0.003) and common c-IMT≥0.8 mm (22% versus 5%; P<0.001). These patients were also more likely to have detectable CAC (78% versus 48%; P<0.001). Intermediate/high Framingham risk scores were significantly associated with internal c-IMT≥1.0 mm (odds ratio 2.65 [95% confidence interval 1.37–5.13]) and common c-IMT≥0.8 mm (odds ratio 5.24 [95% confidence interval 2.39–11.50]). Intermediate/high Framingham risk scores were also significantly associated with detectable CAC (odds ratio 3.84 [95% confidence interval 2.05–7.16]). The addition of HIV-related variables did not improve the accuracy of the Framingham risk score. Conclusions Our study shows that increased Framingham risk scores are associated with abnormal early and late surrogate markers of atherosclerosis in adults infected with HIV, and might predict the risk of cardiovascular complications in this population.
Blood as a Substitute for Tumor Tissue in Detecting EGFR Mutations for Guiding EGFR TKIs Treatment of Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer

AbstractTumor tissues are often absent or insufficient for testing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations to guide EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) treatment of patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether blood can be used as a substitute for tumor tissue in detecting EGFR mutations.MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies that provided data to estimate the accuracy of blood testing against tissue testing in NSCLC patients and/or those directly compared the efficacy of EGFR TKIs in EGFR mutant and wild-type patients according to sources of specimens.Sensitivity, specificity, and concordance rate were used as measures of the accuracy. Risk ratio (RR) for objective response and hazard ratio (HR) for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were used as measures for treatment efficacy. We combined the effects by using the fixed-effects model unless there was evidence of heterogeneity, in which case a random-effects mode was used.This systematic review included 25 studies with 2605 patients. The pooled overall sensitivity, specificity, and concordance rate were 0.61, 0.90, and 0.79, respectively. Serum showed lower sensitivity (0.56 vs 0.65) but higher specificity (0.95 vs 0.85) and higher concordance (0.86 vs 0.74) than plasma. EGFR mutations (exon 19 or 21) in blood were significantly associated with objective response (RR: 4.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.48–6.70), PFS (HR: 0.72; 95% CI 0.64–0.80), and OS (HR: 0.71; 95% CI 0.50–0.99). Importantly, the association of the mutations with the 3 clinical outcomes for serum was similar to that for tumor tissue and higher than that for plasma.Blood, in particular serum, is a good substitute when tumor tissue is absent or insufficient for testing EGFR mutations to guide EGFR TKIs treatment in patients with NSCLC. EGFR mutation positivity in blood could be used to recommend EGFR TKIs treatment, but the absence of blood positivity should not necessarily be construed with confirmed negativity.
Quantitative Evaluation of Inflammatory and Immune Responses in the Early Stages of Chronic Helicobacter pylori Infection

ABSTRACT The early consequences of Helicobacter pylori infection and the role of bacterial virulence determinants in disease outcome remain to be established. The present study sought to measure the development of host inflammatory and immune responses and their relationship to the putative bacterial virulence factors cag pathogenicity island (cagPAI), vacA allele, and oipA in combination with bacterial colonization density in a feline model of the early stages of H. pylori infection. Gastric tissues obtained from infected and uninfected cats were evaluated for H. pylori ureB, cagPAI, vacA allele, and oipA and colonization density (urease, histology, and real-time PCR). Inflammation was assessed by measuring mRNA upregulation of gamma interferon (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-12 p40 and histopathology. The mucosal immune response was characterized by morphometric analysis of lymphoid follicles and by differentiating lymphocyte populations with antibodies against surface markers. Infecting H. pylori strains were positive for vacAs1 but lacked cagPAI and an active oipA gene. Colonization density was uniform throughout the stomach. Upregulation of IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-8 and increased severity of inflammatory infiltrates and fibrosis were observed in infected cats. The median number and total area of lymphoid aggregates were 5 and 10 times greater, respectively, in the stomachs of infected than uninfected cats. Secondary lymphoid follicles in uninfected cats were rare and positive for BLA.36 and B220 but negative for CD3 and CD79α, whereas in infected cats they were frequent and positive for BLA.36, CD79α, and CD3 but negative for B220. Upregulation of IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-8 and marked hyperplasia of secondary lymphoid follicles are early consequences of H. pylori infection in cats. The response appears to be similar to that of infected people, particularly children, can develop independently of the pathogenicity factors cagPAI and oipA, and is not correlated with the degree of colonization density or urease activity.