Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soluble syndecan-1 at diagnosis and during follow up of multiple myeloma: a single institution study

Background Syndecan-1 is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan expressed on plasma cells, especially myeloma cells, and can exist in serum as soluble syndecan-1 after shedding from the cell surface. Soluble syndecan-1 has been suggested to promote myeloma cell growth and to be an independent prognostic factor for multiple myeloma. We aimed to evaluate the effect of soluble syndecan-1 levels at the time of diagnosis and during therapy on therapeutic response and prognosis for patients with multiple myeloma. Methods We analyzed soluble syndecan-1 levels in 28 patients with multiple myeloma and 50 normal controls, and compared its levels with Durie-Salmon stage and other markers of myeloma. In addition, we evaluated the therapeutic response and determined the 3-year survival rates of these patients. Results We observed that the median soluble syndecan-1 level in myeloma patients was higher than that in the normal controls (P <0.0001), and the soluble syndecan-1 levels in 21 (75%) patients were higher than the cut-off level (162 ng/mL). Soluble syndecan-1 levels correlated with disease stage, percentage of plasma cells in the bone marrow, β2 microglobulin level, serum M-component concentration, and creatinine level. The baseline levels of soluble syndecan-1 at the time of diagnosis in the patients who responded to chemotherapy were lower than those in the non-responders (P=0.04); however, the baseline level was not a significant predictor of therapeutic response. The 3-year overall survival rate of the patients with high soluble syndecan-1 levels at the time of diagnosis and 6 months after chemotherapy was lower than the corresponding survival rates of the patients with low levels of soluble syndecan-1; however, the overall survival rate was not statistically significant. Conclusion The use of soluble syndecan-1 has limitations in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Soluble syndecan-1 levels correlate with known prognostic factors; however, we could not assess the prognostic value of high levels of soluble syndecan-1 at the time of diagnosis and after chemotherapy.
SEE & SAY: UTILIZING VISUALS TO STIMULATE NOVICE LEARNERS’ VERBALIZATION OF IDEAS IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE

The rise of information technology has transformed our way of communicating to each other as visuals have become as significant as verbal messages. Novice English language learners usually find it difficult to orally verbalize their understanding and ideas when they are given word-based texts. This research aimed to elicit oral responses from English language learners towards wordless still graphics by encouraging them to decode visuals through a specific strategy. The strategy is a set of hierarchical steps developed according to the model of understanding known as Structured Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy with elements from several techniques including Visible Thinking Routine. The subjects were an intact class of 12 students of lower English language proficiency. Their responses towards a language outputs from novice students. Hence, it is essential to consider viewing as the fifth language skill.
Study on the Display Positions for the Haptic Rotary Device-Based Integrated In-Vehicle Infotainment Interface

Integrated multimodal systems is one promising direction to improve human-vehicle interaction. In order to create intelligent human-vehicle interfaces and reduce visual load during secondary tasks, combining a haptic rotary device and a graphic display will provide one practical solution. However, in literature, the proper display position for the haptic rotary device is not fully investigated. In this paper, one experimental infotainment system is studied (including a haptic rotary control device and a graphic display) to evaluate the proper display position. Measurements used include task completion time, reaction to road events, lane/velocity keeping during secondary tasks, and user preference. Three display positions are considered: high mounted position, cluster position, and center stack position. The results show that, with increased on-road and off-road visual loads, the cluster display position can reduce lane position deviation significantly compared to high mounted and center stack positions. In addition, the high mounted and cluster display positions are better toward two different road events, including strong wind gust and extreme deceleration of the lead car.
Classification and Cue Weighting of Multidimensional Stimuli with Speech-like Cues for Young Normal Hearing and Elderly Hearing-impaired Listeners

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate how young normal-hearing (YNH) and elderly hearing-impaired (EHI) listeners make use of redundant speech-like cues when classifying nonspeech sounds having multiple stimulus dimensions. Design: A total of four experiments were conducted with 10 to 12 listeners per group in each experiment. There were 27 stimuli, making use of all possible combinations of three stimulus values along each of three cue dimensions. Stimuli were comprised of two brief sequential noise bursts separated by a temporal gap. Stimulus dimensions were: (1) the center frequency of the noise bursts; (2) the duration of the temporal gap separating the noise bursts; and (3) the direction of a frequency transition in the second noise burst. Results: Experiment 1 verified that the stimulus values selected resulted in adjacent steps along each stimulus being easily discriminable [(P(c) ≥90%]). In experiment 2, similarity judgments were obtained for all possible pairs of the 27 stimuli. Multidimensional scaling confirmed that the three acoustic dimensions existed as separate dimensions perceptually. In experiment 3, listeners were then trained to classify three exemplar stimuli. After the training, they were required to classify all 27 stimuli and these results led to the derivation of attentional weights for each stimulus dimension. Both groups focused their attention on the frequency-transition dimension during the classification task. Finally, experiment 4 demonstrated that the attentional weights derived in experiment 3 were reliable and that both EHI and YNH participants could be trained to shift their attention to a cue dimension (temporal-gap) not preferred in experiment 3, although older adults required much more training to achieve this shift in attention. Conclusion: For the speech-like, multidimensional acoustic stimuli used here, YNH and EHI listeners attended to the same dimensions of the stimuli when classifying them. In general, the EHI listeners required more time to acquire the ability to categorize the stimuli, and to change their focus to alternate stimulus dimensions.
A study of possible temporal and latitudinal variations in the properties of the solar tachocline

Temporal variations of the structure and the rotation rate of the solar tachocline region are studied using helioseismic data from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) obtained during the period 1995-2000. We do not find any significant temporal variation in the depth of the convection zone, the position of the tachocline or the extent of overshoot below the convection zone. No systematic variation in any other properties of the tachocline, like width, etc., is found either. The possibility of periodic variations in these properties is also investigated. Time-averaged results show that the tachocline is prolate with a variation of about 0.02 R ⊙ in its position. Neither the depth of the convection zone nor the extent of overshoot shows any significant variation with latitude.
Monitoring the Changes of Material Properties at Bone-Implant Interface during the Healing Process In Vivo: A Viscoelastic Investigation

The aim of this study was to monitor the changes of viscoelastic properties at bone-implant interface via resonance frequency analysis (RFA) and the Periotest device during the healing process in an experimental rabbit model. Twenty-four dental implants were inserted into the femoral condyles of rabbits. The animals were sacrificed immediately after implant installation or on day 14, 28, or 56 after surgery. Viscoelastic properties at bone-implant interface were evaluated by measuring the implant stability quotient (ISQ) using RFA and by measuring the Periotest values (PTVs) using the Periotest device. The bone/implant specimens were evaluated histopathologically and histomorphometrically to determine the degree of osseointegration (BIC%). The BIC% values at different time points were then compared with the corresponding ISQ values and PTVs. The mean ISQ value increased gradually and reached 81 ± 1.7 on day 56, whereas the mean PTV decreased over time, finally reaching −0.7 ± 0.5 on day 56. Significant correlations were found between ISQ and BIC% (r = 0.701, p < 0.001), PTV and BIC% (r = −0.637, p < 0.05), and ISQ and PTV (r = −0.68, p < 0.05). These results show that there is a positive correlation between implant stability parameters and peri-implant-bone healing, indicating that the RFA and Periotest are useful for measuring changes of viscoelastic properties at bone-implant interface and are reliable for indirectly predicting the degree of osseointegration.
Reduced left angular gyrus volume in first-episode schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE Research suggests that the normal left-greater-than-right angular gyrus volume asymmetry is reversed in chronic schizophrenia. The authors examined whether angular gyrus volume and asymmetry were abnormal in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. METHOD Magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained from 14 inpatients at their first hospitalization for psychosis and 14 normal comparison subjects. Manual editing was undertaken to delineate postcentral, supramarginal, and angular gyri gray matter volumes. RESULTS Group comparisons revealed that the left angular gyrus gray matter volume in patients was 14.8% less than that of the normal subjects. None of the other regions measured showed significant group volume or asymmetry differences. CONCLUSIONS Patients with new-onset schizophrenia showed smaller left angular gyrus volumes than normal subjects, consistent with other studies showing parietal lobe volume abnormalities in schizophrenia. Angular gyrus pathology in first-episode patients suggests that the angular gyrus may be a neuroanatomical substrate for the expression of schizophrenia.
Dysfunctional consequences of the Korean performance budgeting system and their policy implications

In 2005, the South Korean government implemented a system of performance budgeting: Self-Assessment of Budgetary Programmes (SABP). Most studies on this system have focused on the relationship between SABP results and subsequent budget allocations. These studies are based on the premise that the SABP system itself is operating well, and consequently SABP results are reliable. However, this thesis questions that premise and analyses the process for arriving at SABP results, especially focusing on differences in views on the merit of programmes between the spending ministries and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF), which controls SABP. The thesis addresses four key research questions: Which factors affect differences in views in the SABP process? What are the dysfunctional consequences of SABP? What is the impact of these dysfunctional consequences? And, lastly, what feasible policy alternatives can be proposed? The study suggests that there is a tendency to optimism bias by spending ministries in their self-assessment programmes, often leading to a subsequent drastic downward review of such assessments by the MOSF. These results are established by both quantitative and qualitative analysis. This thesis also provides evidence of dysfunctional effects arising from the SABP process, some of which are “unintended” by both spending ministries and the MOSF, while others are “unintended” by the designers of the SABP system but are likely to be “intended” by the spending ministries, as “agents” in the principal-agent relationship. The thesis concludes that both the unintended and intended dysfunctional consequences of SABP are sufficiently important to suggest that the performance budgeting system needs to be carefully re-designed, and proposals are made for feasible refinements to the SABP process.
What Social Scientists Have Learned About Civic Education: A Review of the Literature

Abstract Historically there has been a relative dearth of social science research into civic education—even in political science, a discipline that had civic education as one of its founding objectives. This is partly due to the mistaken impression that civics instruction has no effect on civic and political participation, a conclusion that was once conventional wisdom but has since been refuted. More and more evidence has accumulated that well-designed civic education—both formal and informal—has meaningful, long-lasting effects on the civic engagement of young people. Existing research finds four aspects of schooling that affect civic learning and engagement: classroom instruction, extracurricular activities, service learning, and a school’s ethos. Furthermore, state-level civics exams can positively affect knowledge about politics and government. The unifying theme that arises from this burgeoning literature is that effective civic education can compensate for a dearth of civic resources in the home and community. However, the renaissance of research into civic education is only just beginning, as more needs to be done. The existing data are too limited, and randomized studies are rare. Truly advancing our understanding of civic education will require a large-scale, multi-method, interdisciplinary effort.
Author ' s personal copy A new algorithm for age recognition from facial images

In this paper, a new algorithm for age-group recognition from frontal face image is presented. The algorithm classifies subjects into four different age categories in four key stages: Pre-processing, facial feature extraction by a novel geometric feature-based method, face feature analysis, and age classification. In order to apply the algorithm to the problem, a face image database focusing on people’s age information is required. Because there were no such databases, we created a database for this purpose, which is called Iranian face database (IFDB). IFDB contains digital images of people from 1 to 85 years of age. After pre-processing, then primary features of the faces in the database will be accurately detected. Finally, a neural network is used to classify the face into age groups using computed facial feature ratios and wrinkle densities. Experimental results show that the algorithm identifies the age group with accuracy of 86.64%. & 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Blood pressure and contraceptive use

In a survey of 461 women routinely attending family planning clinics those taking oral contraceptives had significantly higher mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures than those using non-hormonal contraception. There appeared to be a dose-response relation of blood pressure to the progestogen component of two oral contraceptives with an identical 30 μg ethinyloestradiol component. This supports the idea that the progestogen as well as the oestrogen component has an aetiological role in the rise in blood pressure. There was a significant correlation of blood pressure with duration of current use of oral contraceptive but not with total duration of use. There was also a significant negative correlation of blood pressure with time since oral contraceptives were last taken, and women who had stopped using oral contraceptives over a month previously had similar blood pressures to those who had never taken them. In women taking oral contraceptives those who had either a history of hypertension in pregnancy or a family history of hypertension had significantly higher mean blood pressures than those who did not. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressures correlated independently with weight and body mass index, but controlling for the effect of this and age did not affect the above relations. No significant differences in mean blood pressures were found between different ethnic groups, and there was no relation of blood pressure to reported marital state, social class, parity, smoking, or alcohol use. Any oral contraceptive that has a less adverse effect on blood pressure has implications for general prescribing policy; thus even small differences in the progestogen contents of low-dose oestrogen pills may be important.
The Role of Social Media in Maintaining Minority Languages: A Case Study of Chechen Language in Jordan

This study investigates factors motivating the Chechen people in Jordan to use their indigenous language in social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook. It also explores their attitudes towards using the Chechen language in social media. In order to achieve the aims of this study, the researchers have selected a sample that consists of 340 Chechen people who reside in the Jordanian cities and towns: Al-Suknah, Sweileh and Az zarqa. The instruments of the study were a sociolinguistic questionnaire and an open-ended interview. The findings reveal that Chechens use social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp to preserve the Chechen language and their culture. Also, Chechens of Jordan use their ethnic language to communicate with their friends who understand the Chechen language. Besides, the Chechen language has been used in whatsApp and Facebook to promote unity among family members. Moreover, many Chechen people use social media to communicate with other Chechen speakers regardless of familial ties. Results also indicate that Chechens of Jordan have a high positive attitude towards including the Chechen language in social media.
Surgical Treatment of Patients with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Phenotype

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a devastating and refractory generalized epilepsy affecting children and adolescents. In this study we report the results of resective surgery in 18 patients with LGS phenotype who underwent single-lobe/lesionectomy or multilobe resection plus multiple subpial transection and/or callosotomy. After surgery, seven patients became completely seizure-free (Engel Class I) and five almost seizure-free (Engel Class II). Additional four had significant seizure control (Engel Class III), and two had no change in seizure frequency (Engel Class IV). Of the 4 patients without any lesion on brain MRI, 2 ended with Engel Class II, 1 with III and the other with IV in Engels' classification. Mean intelligence quotient (IQ) increased from 56.1 ± 8.1 (mean ± SD) before operation to 67.4 ± 8.2 (mean ± SD) after operation, a significant improvement (P = 0.001). Results also indicated that the younger the patient at surgery, or the shorter the interval between onset of seizure and resective operation, the better the intellectual outcome. Our data suggest that resective epilepsy surgery can be successful in patients with LGS phenotype as long as the EEG shows dominance of discharges in one hemisphere and corresponding ipsilateral imaging findings, even with contralateral ictal discharges.
Revisiting the Forward Premium Anomaly : Market Inefficiency or Risk Premium

This paper revisits the two popular explanations for the predictability of foreign excess returns, using the nonparametric serial dependence test which provides a testable restriction on the sign of the serial dependence of excess returns for the identification of a certain economic alternative. Using an extended data set of weekly US bilateral spot and forward rates in 19752007, we find that statistically significant positive serial dependence of foreign excess returns is opposite to the prediction of the rational expectations risk premium alternative, while the systematic expectational errors alternative is supported by the data. We also find that the rejections against the unbiased hypothesis of forward exchange rates are significantly affected by a particular influential subset of the data mainly in 80-87. We link this new empirical evidence with the speculative bubbles hypothesis proposed by Froot and Frankel (1990a).
Introducing the Illustris Project: simulating the coevolution of dark and visible matter in the Universe

We introduce the Illustris Project, a series of large-scale hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation. The highest resolution simulation, Illustris-1, covers a volume of $(106.5\,{\rm Mpc})^3$, has a dark mass resolution of ${6.26 \times 10^{6}\,{\rm M}_\odot}$, and an initial baryonic matter mass resolution of ${1.26 \times 10^{6}\,{\rm M}_\odot}$. At $z=0$ gravitational forces are softened on scales of $710\,{\rm pc}$, and the smallest hydrodynamical gas cells have an extent of $48\,{\rm pc}$. We follow the dynamical evolution of $2\times 1820^3$ resolution elements and in addition passively evolve $1820^3$ Monte Carlo tracer particles reaching a total particle count of more than $18$ billion. The galaxy formation model includes: primordial and metal-line cooling with self-shielding corrections, stellar evolution, stellar feedback, gas recycling, chemical enrichment, supermassive black hole growth, and feedback from active galactic nuclei. At $z=0$ our simulation volume contains about $40,000$ well-resolved galaxies covering a diverse range of morphologies and colours including early-type, late-type and irregular galaxies. The simulation reproduces reasonably well the cosmic star formation rate density, the galaxy luminosity function, and baryon conversion efficiency at $z=0$. It also qualitatively captures the impact of galaxy environment on the red fractions of galaxies. The internal velocity structure of selected well-resolved disk galaxies obeys the stellar and baryonic Tully-Fisher relation together with flat circular velocity curves. In the well-resolved regime the simulation reproduces the observed mix of early-type and late-type galaxies. Our model predicts a halo mass dependent impact of baryonic effects on the halo mass function and the masses of haloes caused by feedback from supernova and active galactic nuclei.
Web Site Design, Self‐Monitoring Style, and Consumer Preference

This study aims to advance understanding of Internet interactions by considering the impact of Web site design and self-monitoring style on consumer preference. Four quasi-commercial Web sites were constructed containing identical information presented via a context-based (animated) or content-based (unanimated) design, and 2 advertisements of either image- or information-oriented style. Using a between-participants design, the study found that all individuals favored context-based over content-based Web site design. Matching advertising appeal to individual self-monitoring needs was found to increase Web site effectiveness of consumer preference for high self-monitors, and within Web site satisfaction and level of persuasion for low self-monitors. Results suggest that to reach their potential as a consumer-sensitive tool, Web sites must be engaging in their design and tailor their communications to accommodate individual differences.