Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Prognostic Effects of Poststroke Cognitive Impairment No Dementia and Domain-Specific Cognitive Impairments in Nondisabled Ischemic Stroke Patients

Background and Purpose— There is some evidence that poststroke dementia, cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND), and mild cognitive impairment predict for poor outcomes such as dementia, death, and institutionalization. However, few studies have examined the prognostic value of CIND, CIND severity, and domain impairments in a poststroke cohort. Methods— A cohort of ischemic stroke patients with baseline cognitive assessments 3 months poststroke were followed up annually for outcomes of dependency, vascular events, and death for up to 5 years. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional regression was performed to determine the ability CIND, CIND severity, and domain impairments to predict dependency, vascular outcomes, and death. Results— Four-hundred nineteen patients without dementia (mean age 60±11 years, 32% female) were followed for a mean of 3.2 years. Older age, diabetes, more severe strokes, CIND-mild, and CIND-moderate were independently predictive of dependency. There were no independent predictors of recurrent vascular events. Older age, diabetes, and CIND-moderate were independently predictive of death. In analyses of individual cognitive domains, impairments in visuomotor speed were independently predictive of dependency. Conclusions— In poststroke patients, CIND predicts dependency and death, while CIND severity discriminates patients with poor survival. Impairments in visuomotor speed independently predict dependency. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT00161070.
Optical Properties of Human Melanocytic Nevi In Vivo

We present an in vivo study of the optical properties of melanin present in melanocytic nevi of human subjects with Fitzpatrick skin type III (Caucasian descent) using optical spectroscopy. We show that the melanin absorption spectrum exhibits an exponential dependence on wavelength with a decay constant which follows a normal distribution characteristic of a random biological variable. Moreover, we demonstrate lack of correlation among melanin optical properties, melanin concentration and skin light scattering properties, which indicates that the true optical absorption of melanin can be measured free from confounding scattering effects. We also show that the average melanin absorption spectrum in vivo is in very good agreement with a previously reported oxygen photoconsumption action spectrum of melanin. Finally, we provide an overview of the emerging picture of the melanin absorption properties in vivo among various skin types and also among various skin lesions such as melanocytic nevi and melanoma.
Grammar Clinical Marker Yields Substantial Heritability for Language Impairments in 16-Year-Old Twins.

Purpose There is a need for well-defined language phenotypes suitable for adolescents in twin studies and other large-scale research projects. Rice, Hoffman, and Wexler (2009) have developed a grammatical judgment measure as a clinical marker of language impairment, which has an extended developmental range to adolescence. Method We conducted the first twin analysis, along with associated phenotypic analyses of validity, of an abridged, 20-item version of this grammatical judgment measure (GJ-20), based on telephone administration using prerecorded stimuli to 405 pairs of 16-year-olds (148 monozygotic and 257 dizygotic) drawn from the Twins Early Development Study (Haworth, Davis, & Plomin, 2012). Results The distribution of scores is markedly skewed negatively, as expected for a potential clinical marker. Low performance on GJ-20 is associated with lower maternal education, reported learning disability (age 7 years), and low scores on language tests administered via the Twins Early Development Study (age 16 years) as well as General Certificate of Secondary Education English and Math examination performance (age 16 years). Liability threshold estimates for the genetic influence on low performance on GJ-20 are substantial, ranging from 36% with a lowest 10% criterion to 74% for a lowest 5% criterion. Conclusions The heritability of GJ-20 scores, especially at more extreme cutoffs, along with the score distribution and association with other indicators of language impairments, provides additional evidence for the potential value of this measure as a clinical marker of specific language impairment.
Nutritional value of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) for broilers

1. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of three cultivars (Wallan, Tanjil and Borre) of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) for broilers. 2. In Experiment 1, the apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and the apparent ileal amino acid digestibility of the three cultivars were determined. The cultivar effects were not significant for AME and apparent ileal amino acid digestibility coefficients. In general, amino acids in narrow-leafed lupin were well digested, with the notable exception of methionine. Among the indispensable amino acids, arginine had the highest digestibility coefficient (0·92–0·95), while the lowest was for methionine (0·74–0·83). 3. In Experiment 2, using the energy and digestible amino acid values determined in Experiment 1, diets containing 200 g/kg of the three lupin cultivars were formulated and the effects of feeding these diets on the performance and the digestive tract development of broiler starters were investigated. 4. Weight gain, feed intake and feed per gain of broilers fed narrow-leafed lupins diets were similar to those fed on the maize-soy basal diet. The performance of birds fed on diets containing different cultivars of lupins was also similar. Birds fed on lupin diets had similar excreta scores to those fed on the basal diet. 5. Inclusion of 200 g/kg lupins in broiler diets had no effects on the relative weight and length of the intestinal tract. Broilers fed on lupin diets, however, had higher relative weights of liver. 6. These results suggest that narrow-leafed lupins are good sources of protein, but poor sources of AME and sulphur-containing amino acids. It is concluded that, when diets are properly balanced in terms of AME and digestible amino acids, lupins can be included at 200 g/kg inclusion level in broiler starter diets with no adverse effects on performance.
Personality Hardiness as a Predictor of Officer Cadet Leadership Performance

Abstract : Future military officers must be highly resilient, resourceful, and quick to adjust in rapidly changing situations. In view of this, the time may be now to reconsider the role of normal personality traits that might influence leader performance. A promising personality dimension in this regard is known as "hardiness". High hardy persons have a strong sense of life and work commitment, a greater belief of control, and more openness to change and challenges in life. The present study examined one class of United States Military Academy cadets over time, testing the power of hardiness and several additional cognitive and personality variables to predict military leadership performance over a four-year period. In regression models predicting Military Development (MD) grades for each of four college years, as well as cumulative MD grades over four years, hardiness proved a strong and consistent predictor of military development grades for these officer cadets. It appears that hardiness -- this pervasive and steady sense of commitment, control, and challenge -- facilitates adaptation and performance in the highly stressful world of West Point Army officer cadets. Evidence from this study suggests that personality hardiness is advantageous for young and future U.S. Army officers. These findings have implications for officer selection and training.
Jordanian Quantum Algebra ${\cal U}_{\sf h}(sl(N))$ via Contraction Method and Mapping

Using the contraction procedure introduced by us in Ref. \cite{ACC2}, we construct, in the first part of the present letter, the Jordanian quantum Hopf algebra ${\cal U}_{\sf h}(sl(3))$ which has a remarkably simple coalgebraic structure and contains the Jordanian Hopf algebra ${\cal U}_{\sf h}(sl(2))$, obtained by Ohn, as a subalgebra. A nonlinear map between ${\cal U}_{\sf h}(sl(3))$ and the classical $sl(3)$ algebra is then established. In the second part, we give the higher dimensional Jordanian algebras ${\cal U}_{\sf h}(sl(N))$ for all $N$. The Universal ${\cal R}_{\sf h}$-matrix of ${\cal U}_{\sf h} (sl(N))$ is also given.
Modeling the hERG potassium channel in a phospholipid bilayer: Molecular dynamics and drug docking studies

The hERG potassium channel has recently been a matter of extensive studies both at experimental and computational levels, because of its possible involvement in the potentially lethal drug‐induced long QT syndrome. In this context, in the absence of an experimentally determined 3D structure, to acquire a detailed description of the channel pore and an understanding of atomic determinants for drug binding is of enormous interest at both academic and industrial levels. To contribute to this aim, we first built the open and closed states of the channel by homology modeling techniques, and then submitted both channel models to ns‐time‐scale MD simulations in explicit membrane. An in‐depth analysis of the dynamical behavior of the channel pore with particular attention to the cavity volume was carried out. Finally, using hERG conformations coming from MD simulations, docking experiments were performed to identify a possible binding mode for the most potent hERG channel blocker so far known, the antihistaminic drug astemizole. We show that the combined use of MD and docking is suitable to identify a possible binding mode of drugs in a fairly good agreement with experiments. Moreover, the exploitation of MD snapshots in the docking experiments allowed us to capture some induced‐fit effects related to the side chain conformations of Tyr652 and Phe656, which are residues playing a pivotal role in the hERG drug binding. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2008
Overlapping Roles of the Methylated DNA-binding Protein MBD1 and Polycomb Group Proteins in Transcriptional Repression of HOXA Genes and Heterochromatin Foci Formation*

Methylated DNA binding domain (MBD) proteins and Polycomb group (PcG) proteins maintain epigenetic silencing of transcriptional activity. We report that the DNA methylation-mediated repressor MBD1 interacts with Ring1b and hPc2, the major components of Polycomb repressive complex 1. The cysteine-rich CXXC domains of MBD1 bound to Ring1b and the chromodomain of hPc2. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that MBD1 and hPc2 were present in silenced Homeobox A (HOXA) genes which could be reactivated by knockdown of either MBD1 or hPc2, suggesting that MBD1 and hPc2 cooperate for transcriptional repression of HOXA genes. In the nuclei of HeLa cells, MBD1 existed in close association with these PcG proteins in some heterochromatin foci, whereas an MBD1 mutant lacking the CXXC domains or an hPc2 mutant lacking the chromodomain lost this colocalization in foci. Use of the DNA demethylating agent 5-azadeoxycytidine abolished the formation of MBD1 foci but not PcG foci. Knockdown of MBD1 by small interfering RNAs did not affect the foci containing hPc2 and Ring1b, whereas the MBD1 foci were not influenced by knockdown of hPc2. These indicate that the heterochromatin foci showing MBD1 and hPc2 colocalization arise through the interaction of MBD1 and hPc2 and that the foci of MBD1 are separable from those of the PcG proteins per se. Our present findings suggest that MBD1 and PcG proteins have overlapping roles in epigenetic gene silencing and heterochromatin foci formation through their interactions.
Unmet dental needs and barriers to care for children with significant special health care needs.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to conduct the first known large scale survey of parents of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) to determine their child's: oral health status; access to dental care; perceived barriers (environmental/system and nonenvironmental/family); and oral health quality of life, accounting for each child's medical diagnosis and severity of diagnosis. METHODS A 72-item survey was sent to 3760 families of CSHCN throughout urban and rural Massachusetts. RESULTS The study yielded 1,128 completed surveys. More than 90% of the children had seen a dentist within the past year; 66% saw a pediatric dentist, and 21% needed intense behavioral interventions. Although most families had high education levels, private dental insurance, and above average incomes, 20% of CSHCN had an unmet dental need. Children with craniofacial anomalies had twice as many unmet needs and children with cystic fibrosis had fewer unmet needs. Children with cerebral palsy, autism, developmental delay, and Down syndrome had more aversions to dental treatment, more treatment complications posed by their medical conditions, and more difficulty finding a dentist willing to provide care. Children with cystic fibrosis, metabolic disorders, or hemophilia encountered fewer barriers to care. CONCLUSIONS The data paint a picture of high unmet dental needs with subpopulations of children with special health care needs who are more at risk for system barriers and internal family barriers to care based on their medical diagnoses.
Effect of ISO Standards on Exports of Firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : An Application of the Control Function Approach June 8 , 2011

Growing number of firms in developing countries have earned certifications such as International Standards Organization (ISO) as it enhances reputation of their company or brand and attract buyers particularly in export market. This study evaluates the effect of international standards certification on firm’s export performance in Europe and Central Asia by applying the control function approach with endogenous treatment effect to firm-level data. Certification is found to increase export share in firm’s sales by 44.9% on average. The results suggest that ignoring the effect of self-selection of certification leads to a substantial bias in the estimated treatment effect.
Emergency medicine residents' beliefs about contributing to an online collaborative slideshow.

OBJECTIVE Collaborative writing applications (CWAs), such as the Google DocsTM platform, can improve skill acquisition, knowledge retention, and collaboration in medical education. Using CWAs to support the training of residents offers many advantages, but stimulating them to contribute remains challenging. The purpose of this study was to identify emergency medicine (EM) residents' beliefs about their intention to contribute summaries of landmark articles to a Google DocsTM slideshow while studying for their Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) certification exam. METHOD Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, the authors interviewed graduating RCPSC EM residents about contributing to a slideshow. Residents were asked about behavioral beliefs (advantages/disadvantages), normative beliefs (positive/negative referents), and control beliefs (barriers/facilitators). Two reviewers independently performed qualitative content analysis of interview transcripts to identify salient beliefs in relation to the defined behaviors. RESULTS Of 150 eligible EM residents, 25 participated. The main reported advantage of contributing to the online slideshow was learning consolidation (n=15); the main reported disadvantage was information overload (n=3). The most frequently reported favorable referents were graduating EM residents writing the certification exam (n=16). Few participants (n=3) perceived any negative referents. The most frequently reported facilitator was peer-reviewed high-quality scientific information (n=9); and the most frequently reported barrier was time constraints (n=22). CONCLUSION Salient beliefs exist regarding EM residents' intention to contribute content to an online collaborative writing project using a Google DocsTM slideshow. Overall, participants perceived more advantages than disadvantages to contributing and believed that this initiative would receive wide support. However, participants reported several barriers that need to be addressed to increase contributions. Our intention is for the beliefs identified in this study to contribute to the design of a theory-based questionnaire to explore determinants of residents' intentions to contribute to an online collaborative writing project. This will help develop implementation strategies for increasing contributions to other CWAs in medical education.
HnRNP A1/A2 and SF2/ASF Regulate Alternative Splicing of Interferon Regulatory Factor-3 and Affect Immunomodulatory Functions in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoparticule A1/A2 (hnRNP A1/A2) and splicing factor 2/alternative splicing factor (SF2/ASF) are pivotal for precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing. Interferon regulatory factor-3 (IRF-3) plays critical roles in host defense against viral and microbial infection. Truncated IRF-3 proteins resulting from alternative splicing have been identified and characterized as functional antagonists to full-length IRF-3. In this study, we examined the molecular mechanism for splicing regulation of IRF-3 pre-mRNA and first reported the regulatory effect of hnRNP A1/A2 and SF2/ASF on IRF-3 splicing and activation. RNA interference-mediated depletion of hnRNP A1/A2 or SF2/ASF in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells increased exclusion of exons 2 and 3 of IRF-3 gene and reduced expression levels of IRF-3 protein and IRF-3 downstream effector molecules interferon-beta and CXCL10/IP-10. In addition, direct binding of hnRNP A1 and SF2/ASF to specific binding motifs in IRF-3 intron 1 was confirmed by RNA electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Subsequent minigene splicing assay showed that IRF-3 minigenes with mutated hnRNPA 1/A2 or SF2/ASF binding motifs increased exclusion of exons 2 and 3. Moreover, knockdown of hnRNP A1/A2 or SF2/ASF in NSCLC cells reinforced phytohemagglutinin-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) but suppressed that of interleukin-10 in NSCLC/PBMC co-cultures. Taken together, our results suggest that specific knockdown for hnRNP A1/A2 or SF2/ASF increase exclusion of exons 2 and 3 of IRF-3 pre-mRNA and influence immunomodulatory functions of human NSCLC cells.
Social Psychology of Religion

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. "John Polkinghorne’s description of God offers an insight into what supports his belief in God. Each religion has a specific description of who God is understood to be. Polkinghorne believes that God must have a purpose, and a mind with which to ponder this purpose and make decisions. While we may not be clear on what this purpose is and to what extent this mind reaches, Polkinghorne believes that the universe would not otherwise exist without the presence of God. He does not explain why God’s presence is veiled, but there has never been a case of anyone claiming to be the almighty creator and proving it. Many religions teach that God is always with us, (in our hearts, in our minds, in the flowers, etcetera,) and that we must have faith even though we cannot see or hear him. Because of this “veiled presence,” he is worthy of worship. The idea of God fosters hope among believers. Those who believe are comforted in knowing that this hidden being has a plan for everyone, and while we might not know what that plan is, we have faith that God will us pull through somehow. " This research paper is available in Verbum: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/verbum/vol6/iss1/11 Social Psychology of Religion
Writing the Discipline: A Generic History of English Studies

iterary and composition and rhetoric scholars are all, in some way, chroniclers of change-observers of the ways that language interacts with and forms people and culture. Yet when it comes to the shifts of our own academic culture, the role of language, and especially writing, is curiously overlooked. While there is a growing body of literature on the history of and present crisis in the humanities, we have yet to understand how writing by academics about their work is intimately connected to the kind of work we have done in the past and continue to do now. The rhetoric of "crisis" about the "fate of the field" is not some elusive idea; it is the material of a new genre of writing. And this genre, emerging as I write, is reshaping the culture of academia. In Carolyn Miller's description, genres are "social actions," formed in and from "recurrent rhetorical situations. " Miller writes that the "new is made familiar through the recognition of relevant similarities; those similarities become constituted as a type" (29). This "recurring" function is the key to making the connection between genres and what Wittgenstein calls "life forms. " In what follows, I provide a history of disciplinary discourse in English studies. This history reveals that this new kind of writing-self-conscious, reflective prose-is creating a new "life form" in academic culture. In order to recognize this culture, we need research into the language academics use to define, describe, and change their work. To make the case that this writing is more than symptomatic of a "crisis" or "impasse" as some scholars have claimed (see Kroeber, Poovey), I provide a history of this genre's language, from the late nineteenth century to the present, focusing on what Raymond Williams calls a history's "whole series of changing relationships which are evident in the
The Effects of L1 on L2 Writing and Translation: A Case Study1

This article examines the perceptions and attitudes of Japanese university students regarding two types of writing tasks: writing directly in L2 and translating from L1 into L2. A total of 128 Japanese undergraduate students participated in the study and completed two activities – composition in English and translation of a passage from Japanese into English – followed by a questionnaire. An analysis of performance and results leads to the following conclusions: (1) while L2 writing was perceived to be more difficult, it received a higher preference rating, (2) when writing in L2, participants rely heavily on L1 during the drafting stage and translate their ideas from L1 into L2 in the composing stage, and (3) most participants draft in L1 and then translate into L2, restricting their choices to shorter sentences. The implications of the findings are applied to alternative teaching strategies to help learners succeed in their L2 writing endeavors.
Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources: Evidence for Very Efficient Formation of Population III Stars Contributing to the Cosmic Near-Infrared Background Excess?

Accumulating evidence indicates that some ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), but the formation process of IMBHs is unknown. One possibility is that they were formed as remnants of Population III (Pop. III) stars, but it has been thought that the probability of being a ULX is too low for IMBHs distributed in galactic halos to account for the observed number of ULXs. Here we show that the number of ULXs can be explained by such halo IMBHs passing through a dense molecular cloud if Pop. III star formation is very efficient as recently suggested by the excess of the cosmic near-infrared background radiation that cannot be accounted for by normal galaxy populations. We calculate the luminosity function of X-ray sources in our scenario and find that it is consistent with observed data. Our scenario can explain the fact that ULXs are preferentially found at the outskirts of large gas concentrations in star-forming regions. A few important physical effects are pointed out and discussed, including gas dynamical friction, radiative efficiency of the accretion flow, and radiative feedback to the ambient medium. ULXs could last for ~105-106 yr to emit a total energy of ~1053 ergs, which is sufficient to power the ionized expanding nebulae found by optical observations.