Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuroanatomical Characteristics and Speech Perception in Noise in Older Adults

Objectives: Previous research has attributed older adults' difficulty with perceiving speech in noise to peripheral hearing loss. However, recent studies have suggested a more complex picture and implicate the central nervous system in sensation and sensory deficits. This study examines the relationship between the neuroanatomical structure of cognitive brain regions and the ability to perceive speech in noise in older adults. In particular, the neuroanatomical characteristics of the left ventral and dorsal prefrontal cortex (PFC) are considered relative to standard measures of hearing in noise. Design: The participants were 15 older and 14 younger right-handed native speakers of American English who had no neurologic deficits and scored better than normal on standardized cognitive tests. We measured the participants' peripheral hearing ability and their ability to perceive speech in noise using established tests. Anatomical magnetic resonance images were taken and analyzed to extract regional volumes and thicknesses of several key neuroanatomical structures. Results: Younger adults had better hearing sensitivity and better speech perception in noise ability than older adults. For the older adults only, the volume of the left pars triangularis and the cortical thickness of the left superior frontal gyrus were significant predictors of performance on the speech in noise test. Discussion: These findings suggest that, in addition to peripheral structures, the central nervous system also contributes to the ability to perceive speech in noise. In older adults, a decline in the relative volume and cortical thickness of the PFC during aging can therefore be a factor in a declining ability to perceive speech in a naturalistic environment. These findings are consistent with the decline-compensation hypothesis, which states that a decline in sensory processing caused by cognitive aging can be accompanied by an increase in the recruitment of more general cognitive areas as a means of compensation. We found that a larger PFC volume may compensate for declining peripheral hearing. Clinically, recognizing the contribution of the cerebral cortex expands treatment possibilities for hearing loss in older adults beyond peripheral hearing aids to include strategies for improving cognitive function. We conclude by considering several mechanisms by which the PFC may facilitate speech perception in noise, including inhibitory control, attention, cross-modal compensation, word prediction and phonological working memory, although no definitive conclusion can be drawn.
Cultural Schemas, Social Class, and the Flexibility Stigma

Flexibility programs have become widespread in the United States, but their use has not. According to a recent study, 79% of companies say they allow some of their employees, and 37% officially allow all or most of their employees, to periodically change starting or quitting times (Galinsky, Bond, & Sakai, 2008). Although researchers often regard the official availability of flexibility and other work–life policies as an indicator of an organization’s responsiveness to employees’ work–life concerns (Davis & Kalleberg, 2006), having policies on the books does not always mean that workers feel comfortable using these policies (Blair-Loy, Wharton, & Goodstein, 2011). Studies that have assessed usage rates generally find that usage rates are low. This has proved a remarkably resilient problem. The basic forms of workplace flexibility have been around for decades: flextime, part-time schedules, compressed workweeks, job shares (Friedman, n.d.). Yet usage of these programs
Choroidal thickness in myopic and nonmyopic children assessed with enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE We examined choroidal thickness (ChT) and its topographic variation across the posterior pole in myopic and nonmyopic children. METHODS A total of 104 children aged 10 to 15 years (mean age, 13.1 ± 1.4 years) had ChT measured using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (OCT). Of these children 40 were myopic (mean spherical equivalent, -2.4 ± 1.5 diopters [D]) and 63 were nonmyopic (mean, +0.3 ± 0.3 D). Two series of 6 radial OCT line scans centered on the fovea were assessed for each child. Subfoveal ChT and ChT across a series of parafoveal zones over the central 6 mm of the posterior pole were determined through manual image segmentation. RESULTS Subfoveal ChT was significantly thinner in myopes (mean, 303 ± 79 μm) compared to nonmyopes (mean, 359 ± 77 μm, P < 0.0001). Multiple regression analysis revealed refractive error (r = 0.39, P < 0.001) and age (r = 0.21, P = 0.02) were associated positively with subfoveal ChT. Also, ChT exhibited significant topographic variations, with the choroid being thicker in more central regions. The thinnest choroid was observed typically in nasal (mean, 286 ± 77 μm) and inferior-nasal (306 ± 79 μm) locations, and the thickest in superior (346 ± 79 μm) and superior-temporal (341 ± 74 μm) locations. The difference in ChT between myopic and nonmyopic children was significantly greater in central foveal regions compared to more peripheral regions (>3 mm diameter, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Myopic children have significantly thinner choroids compared to nonmyopic children of similar age, particularly in central foveal regions. The magnitude of difference in choroidal thickness associated with myopia appears greater than would be predicted by a simple passive choroidal thinning with axial elongation.
The Relationship Between Parental Warmth and Parental Pressure to Achieve with Adolescent Depression and Anxiety in China

Title of Thesis: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL WARMTH AND PARENTAL PRESSURE TO ACHIEVE WITH ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY IN CHINA. Pamela Joy Riley, Master of Science, 2003 Thesis directed by: Professor Norman B. Epstein Department of Family Studies Adolescents in mainland China are under strong family pressure to excel academically, and they experience psychological symptoms at higher rates than those found in Western countries, but little attention has been paid to the association between the two. This study investigated the relationship between parental warmth and parental pressure to achieve academically, and two forms of adolescent psychological maladjustment (depression and anxiety). A sample of 997 students were surveyed in four high schools in Beijing, China. Results indicated that perceived parental warmth correlated negatively with adolescents’ levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, perceived parental pressure to achieve correlated positively with anxiety and depression symptoms, and parental warmth moderated the relationship between perceived parental pressure and adolescents’ depression symptoms but not adolescents’ anxiety symptoms. Gender differences were explored, with significantly stronger correlations found for boys than for girls between pressure and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Economic nationalism and cosmopolitanism: : a study of interpersonal antecedents and differential outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the differential influences of economic nationalism (EN) and cosmopolitanism (COS) on consumer behaviour, and how the two concepts are underpinned by different (normative versus informational) interpersonal influences. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys took place in two countries, South Korea (n = 257) and Taiwan (n = 258). Both are rapidly developing economies with a cosmopolitan consumer base. Two products, one representing conspicuous and one representing non-conspicuous categories, were used in each country’s survey. The data were subjected to exploratory and confirmation factor analyses and fitted using structural equation modelling. Findings – Contrary to past studies, EN and COS were unrelated. Economic nationalism was strong and biased towards domestic products. The results also suggest that COS may be related to bias against domestic products. EN related strongly to normative influence, whereas COS rested on informational influence. The re.
Factors that influence cancer patients' overall perceptions of the quality of care.

OBJECTIVE This study outlines predictors of cancer patients' overall perceptions of the quality of care. DESIGN AND SETTING Our sample included 2790 patients who received cancer care services during 2004 in 15 comprehensive cancer programmes across Ontario, Canada. Patients were classified into three groups: those receiving both chemotherapy and radiotherapy (n = 752), those receiving only chemotherapy (n = 1044), and those receiving only radiotherapy (n = 994). An ordinal logistic regression model for each patient group was performed to determine which variables most affected the probabilities of the patients' overall evaluations of the quality of care. Potential control variables were patients' age, sex, type of cancer, self-assessed health, and who completed the survey. RESULTS Among seven common predictors of the overall quality perception across the three models, four should be of particular interest because patients perceived them as relatively problematic aspects of care. These are 'was informed about follow-up care after completing treatment', 'knew next step in care', 'knew who to go to with questions', and 'providers were aware of test results'. These predictors explained between 25 and 34% of the variance (depending on the model) of the overall perception of quality. The explanatory power of these predictors did not change across sex and age group. 'Self-assessed health' was the only control variable that remained in all three models. CONCLUSIONS From a practical perspective, improvement efforts are best focused on factors that are strong predictors as well as on those for which there is a low score. Thus, on the basis of this study, practitioners' improvement efforts might be constructively focused on the four predictors mentioned above.
Arginine Relieves the Inflammatory Response and Enhances the Casein Expression in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells Induced by Lipopolysaccharide

As one of functional active amino acids, L-arginine holds a key position in immunity. However, the mechanism that arginine modulates cow mammary inflammatory response in ruminant is unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of L-arginine on inflammatory response and casein expression after challenging the bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The cells were divided into four groups, stimulated with or without LPS (10 μg/mL) and treated with or without arginine (100 μg/mL) for 12 h. The concentration of proinflammatory cytokines, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathways as well as the casein was determined. The results showed that arginine reduced the LPS-induced production like IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and iNOS. Though the expression of NF-κB was attenuated and the mTOR signaling pathway was upregulated, arginine had no effect on TLR4 expression. In addition, our results show that the content of β-casein and the total casein were enhanced after arginine was supplemented in LPS-induced BMECs. In conclusion, arginine could relieve the inflammatory reaction induced by LPS and enhance the concentration of β-casein and the total casein in bovine mammary epithelial cells.
Word Frequency and Generation Effects

Memory & Cognition Research Group City University, London, England Nairne, Pusen, and Widner (1985) described an experiment in which they found that, like nonwords, low-frequency words were no more likely to be recognized if they had been self- generated at study than if they had been read. These findings led Naime et al. to
Prospective Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life and Emotional Outcomes in Kidney Transplantation over 6 Years

Little is known on long-term outcomes in kidney transplantation. This study evaluated changes and predictors of generic and transplantation-specific health-related quality of life (HQoL) over six years in N = 102 kidney transplant survivors using the Short-form Health Survey-36 and the Transplant Effects questionnaire. Mixed models analysis was used to determine long-term outcomes. Emotional HQoL improved over time: Mental Component score, Mental Health, Energy (Ps = .000). Physical HQoL deteriorated: Physical Component Score (P = .001), Pain (P = .002). LRD transplant recipients had greater decline in physical functioning (P = .003) and PCS (P = .000) compared to cadaver recipients. Worry about the transplant (P = .036) and feelings of responsibility (P = .008) increased significantly over time. Worry about the transplant and perceived ability to work predicted 12.7% and 31.1% in variance in MCS and PCS, respectively. Efforts should be made to maintain HQoL and emotional outcomes with ongoing monitoring and support programs throughout the course of posttransplant care.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of source versus item memory

Both the frontal lobes and the medial temporal lobe (particularly the hippocampus) have been implicated in encoding and retrieval of episodic memory information. We report an experiment that manipulates whether source information, item information, or both are required at retrieval. Two sources were used in a factorial design in which the main effect of source and item retrieval, along with their interaction, could be measured by fMRI activations. When source information was required at retrieval the left frontal lobe showed significant activation but not when item retrieval was required. Hippocampal activation showed no difference between source and item retrieval. This pattern of results supports a model proposing a larger role for the frontal lobes in encoding and retrieval of source information.
Federal School Improvement Grants (SIGs): How Capacity and Local Conditions Matter

In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion nationwide to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. The U.S. Department of Education intended for the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to spur dramatic change.This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants in Washington State, which received $50 million in SIG funding over three years. Researchers hoped to see what school-level changes were underway, how they compared to the intent of the grants, and the early role that districts played in SIG implementation.The report provides findings from the state, district, and school level. Researchers found that, with some exceptions, districts and schools in Washington State are approaching the turnaround work in ways only marginally different from past school improvement efforts. Despite the hard work of administrators, principals, and especially teachers, the majority of schools studied show little evidence of the type of bold and transformative changes the SIGs were intended to produce.The report offers recommendations regarding the roles that federal, state, and local education agencies should play in support of school turnaround work. Those administering future grants targeted at the nation's lowest-performing schools could avoid the problems described here and improve their chances of affecting dramatic, not incremental, change.
The Heterotrimeric Protein Go Is Required for the Formation of Heart Epithelium in Drosophila

The gene encoding the α subunit of the Drosophila Go protein is expressed early in embryogenesis in the precursor cells of the heart tube, of the visceral muscles, and of the nervous system. This early expression coincides with the onset of the mesenchymal-epithelial transition to which are subjected the cardial cells and the precursor cells of the visceral musculature. This gene constitutes an appropriate marker to follow this transition. In addition, a detailed analysis of its expression suggests that the cardioblasts originate from two subpopulations of cells in each parasegment of the dorsal mesoderm that might depend on the wingless and hedgehog signaling pathways for both their determination and specification. In the nervous system, the expression of Goα shortly precedes the beginning of axonogenesis. Mutants produced in the Goα gene harbor abnormalities in the three tissues in which the gene is expressed. In particular, the heart does not form properly and interruptions in the heart epithelium are repeatedly observed, henceforth the brokenheart (bkh) name. Furthermore, in the bkh mutant embryos, the epithelial polarity of cardial cells was not acquired (or maintained) in various places of the cardiac tube. We predict that bkh might be involved in vesicular traffic of membrane proteins that is responsible for the acquisition of polarity.
Recurring chromosome abnormalities in Hodgkin's disease

Cytogenetic analysis was performed on lymph nodes or other tumor masses from 33 patients with Hodgkin's disease. Metaphase cells were obtained in 25 of the 33 cases. Analyzable abnormal clones were found in nine cases. Characteristic abnormalities included polyploidy and complex structural rearrangements nonrandomly involving certain chromosomal regions. Chromosomes most commonly gained were 2, 9, 11, 19, and 20, and those most often lost were 10, 13, 15, 16, 21, and Y. Translocation breakpoints clustered in bands 1p11–1p13, 1p36, 4q35, 14q11, and 15p11. In five patients, breakpoints were in bands to which T‐cell receptor genes have been mapped. No specific, recurring translocation was identified. There was, however, recurring loss of chromosomal material from 1q, 4q, 6q, and 17p. Loss or deletions of chromosomes 4 and 6 were found in five and six patients, respectively. Deletions overlapped; the smallest overlapping segments included bands 4q25–4q27 and 6q21 ‐6q23. The data suggest that loss of specific chromosomal regions may be important in the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's disease. With respect to tumor specificity, deletions of 4q are of particular interest because these have not been previously reported to occur nonrandomly in other human malignancies. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Developmental Psychopathology and Family Process: Theory, Research and Clinical Implications

This is a truly scholarly book of 494 pages including a very complete reference list of 58 pages! E. Mark Cummings, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Patrick T. Davies, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology at the University of Rochester, New York and Susan B. Campbell, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburg, having previously received her doctorate from McGill University, Montreal. The book is divided into three parts: Theory (chapters 1 to 5), Research (chapters 6 to 9) and Clinical Implications (chapters 10 and 11). The book begins with a helpful Foreward by Dante Cichetti which sets the tone for the book. He states that ‘ developmental psychopathology is an evolving interdisciplinary scientific field that seeks to elucidate the interplay among the biological, psychological, and social-contextual aspects of normal and abnormal development across the life course. ’ No mean task. The book itself offers two early clinical case examples which ably illustrate the diiferent clinical trajectories that clinicians encounter. In the first one, Jimmy is a child with multiple interacting risk factors that begin prenatally and continue throughout his life, changing with development but still placing him at risk for persistent and serious problems in adjustment. The authors point out his biological risk (e.g. possible genetic disposition for hyperactivity, alcoholism, antisocial personality disorder, reading and language delay; pregnancy and neonatal complications with possible neurodevelopmental delays) interacts with multiple environmental factors (e.g. inconsistent, harsh parenting, maternal depression and paternal alcohol abuse and impulsiveness). This, they say, sets the stage for a ‘ cascade’ of developmental processes likely to predict a poor outcome in adolescence. Although this may sound familiar and overwhelming, the authors slowly offer ways to intervene through out the lifespan. The second clincal example, Jenny, shows the pervasive effect of a negative family process on the developing child. Here, we have a normal pregnancy and delivery but into a very unhappy home where the mother develops chronic severe depression three months postpartum. The child appears well adjusted at times, but gradually becomes progressively depressed. The parents separated a number of times and the mother was hospitalized for depression. They received marital therapy, but did not follow through on the recommendations. Although there is a genetic loading for depression, the authors illustrate the persistent negativity of the home environment on the child’s development. Overall this is a very good reference textbook which intertwines many different management models and ultimately weaves a coherent whole. It is not easy reading as it introduces a new language at times, but ultimately it is well worth the time and effort!
Multi-method algorithms: Investigating the entity-to-algorithm allocation problem

This paper investigates the algorithm selection problem, otherwise referred to as the entity-to-algorithm allocation problem, within the context of three recent multi-method algorithm frameworks. A population-based algorithm portfolio, a meta-hyper-heuristic and a bandit based operator selection method are evaluated under similar conditions on a diverse set of floating-point benchmark problems. The meta-hyper heuristic is shown to outperform the other two algorithms.
About AGN ionization echoes, thermal echoes and ionization deficits in low-redshift Lyα blobs

We report the discovery of 14 Lyman-alpha blobs (LABs) at z~0.3, existing at least 4-7 billion years later in the Universe than all other LABs known. Their optical diameters are 20-70 kpc, and GALEX data imply Ly-alpha luminosities of (0.4-6.3)x10^43 erg/s. Contrary to high-z LABs, they live in low-density areas. They are ionized by AGN, suggesting that cold accretion streams as a power source must deplete between z=2 and z=0.3. We also show that transient AGN naturally explain the ionization deficits observed in many LABs: Their Ly-alpha and X-ray fluxes decorrelate below 10^6 years because of the delayed escape of resonantly scattering Ly-alpha photons. High Ly-alpha luminosities do not require currently powerful AGN, independent of obscuration. Chandra X-ray data reveal intrinsically weak AGN, confirming the luminous optical nebulae as impressive ionization echoes. For the first time, we also report mid-infrared thermal echoes from the dusty tori. We conclude that the AGN have faded by 3-4 orders of magnitude within the last 10^(4-5) years, leaving fossil UV, optical and thermal radiation behind. The host galaxies belong to the group of previously discovered Green Bean galaxies (GBs). Gemini optical imaging reveals smooth spheres, mergers, spectacular outflows and ionization cones. Because of their proximity and high flux densities, GBs are perfect targets to study AGN feedback, mode switching and the Ly-alpha escape. The fully calibrated, coadded optical FITS images are publicly available.
From Bureaucracy to Profession: Remaking the Educational Sector for the Twenty-First Century

In this essay, Jal Mehta examines the challenges faced by American schooling and the reasons for persistent failure of American school reforms to achieve successful educational outcomes at scale. He concludes that many of the problems faced by American schools are artifacts of the bureaucratic form in which the education sector as a whole was cast: “We are trying to solve a problem that requires professional skill and expertise by using bureaucratic levers of requirements and regulations. ” Building on research from a variety of fields and disciplines, Mehta advances a “sectoral” perspective on education reform, exploring how this shift in thinking could help education stakeholders produce quality practice across the nation.