Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceptions and correlates of peer-victimization and bullying.

BACKGROUND The experiences of peer-victimization and bullying are often treated empirically as though they are conceptually indistinct. Both involve repeated aggression, but definitions of bullying additionally emphasize the importance of aggressor intent and imbalance of power between the aggressor and the victim (Olweus, 1978; Whitney & Smith, 1993). AIMS The present study aimed to examine the extent to which peer-victimization and bullying are empirically similar. SAMPLE The sample comprised 1,429 pupils (50.2% male) aged between 8 and 13 years attending mainstream Scottish schools. METHODS Self-report questionnaire assessing peer-victimization and bullying, coping strategy use (WCCL: Hunter, 2000), situational appraisal and depressive symptomatology (Birleson, 1981). RESULTS Almost one-third (30.7%) of pupils reported experiencing peer-victimization, and of these 38.1% (11.7% of whole sample) were categorized as victims of bullying. Victims of bullying perceived higher levels of threat and lower levels of perceived control. They also reported using more Wishful Thinking and Social Support coping strategies, but did not differ on Problem Focused coping. Bullied pupils also reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS Peer-victimization and bullying appear to be qualitatively different experiences for children and adolescents, with bullying being the more serious phenomenon.
Differential persistence of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance mutation classes.

BACKGROUND Transmitted human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) drug resistance (TDR) mutations can become replaced over time by emerging wild-type viral variants with improved fitness. The impact of class-specific mutations on this rate of mutation replacement is uncertain. METHODS We studied participants with acute and/or early HIV infection and TDR in 2 cohorts (San Francisco, California, and São Paulo, Brazil). We followed baseline mutations longitudinally and compared replacement rates between mutation classes with use of a parametric proportional hazards model. RESULTS Among 75 individuals with 195 TDR mutations, M184V/I became undetectable markedly faster than did nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) mutations (hazard ratio, 77.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 14.7-408.2; P<.0001), while protease inhibitor and NNRTI replacement rates were similar. Higher plasma HIV-1 RNA level predicted faster mutation replacement, but this was not statistically significant (hazard ratio, 1.71 log(10) copies/mL; 95% CI, . 90-3.25 log(10) copies/mL; P=. 11). We found substantial person-to-person variability in mutation replacement rates not accounted for by viral load or mutation class (P<.0001). CONCLUSIONS The rapid replacement of M184V/I mutations is consistent with known fitness costs. The long-term persistence of NNRTI and protease inhibitor mutations suggests a risk for person-to-person propagation. Host and/or viral factors not accounted for by viral load or mutation class are likely influencing mutation replacement and warrant further study.
Folksonomies-Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata

This paper examines user-generated metadata as implemented and applied in two web services designed to share and organize digital media to better understand grassroots classiﬁcation. Metadata - data about data - allows systems to collocate related information, and helps users ﬁnd relevant information. The creation of metadata has generally been approached in two ways: professional creation and author creation. In libraries and other organizations, creating metadata, primarily in the form of catalog records, has traditionally been the domain of dedicated professionals working with complex, detailed rule sets and vocabularies. The primary problem with this approach is scalability and its impracticality for the vast amounts of content being produced and used, especially on the World Wide Web. The apparatus and tools built around professional cataloging systems are generally too complicated for anyone without specialized training and knowledge. A second approach is for metadata to be created by authors. The movement towards creator described documents was heralded by SGML, the WWW, and the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. There are problems with this approach as well - often due to inadequate or inaccurate description, or outright deception. This paper examines a third approach: user-created metadata, where users of the documents and media create metadata for their own individual use that is also shared throughout a community.
Assessment of Knowledge of Breast Cancer and Screening Methods among Nurses in University Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2011

Background. According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.3 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer annually worldwide and about 465,000 will die from the disease. In Ethiopia breast cancer is the second most often occurring cancer among women. Early diagnosis is especially important for breast cancer because the disease responds best to treatment before it has spread. Objective. To assess knowledge of breast cancer and screening methods among nurses in university hospitals. Method. This cross-sectional descriptive study used simple random sampling on sample of 281 nurses. Structured questionnaires draw out responses about knowledge and screening method of nurses in regard to breast cancer. Bivariate analysis was used principally and variables were then entered to multiple logistic regressions model for controlling the possible effect of confounders and the variables which have significant association were identified on the basis of OR, with 95% CI and P value. Results. The findings of this study revealed that only 156 (57.8%) of them were knowledgeable about breast cancer and its screening and 114 (42.2%) were not. Knowledge of breast cancer was found to be significantly associated with regular course in nursing, family history of respondents, and unit of work. Conclusion and Recommendation. The results of this study indicate that the knowledge of nurses is not satisfying and highlight the need to improve the content in the nursing curriculum and to undergo more workplace training in the area of breast cancer and screening methods.
Free Distribution or Cost-Sharing? Evidence from a Malaria Prevention Experiment

It is often argued that cost-sharing -- charging a subsidized, positive price -- or a health product is necessary to avoid wasting resources on those who will not use or do not need the product. We explore this argument through a field experiment in Kenya, in which we randomized the price at which prenatal clinics could sell long lasting anti-malarial insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to pregnant women. We find no evidence that cost-sharing reduces wastage on those that will not use the product: women who received free ITNs are not less likely to use them than those who paid subsidized positive prices. We also find no evidence that cost-sharing induces selection of women who need the net more: those who pay higher prices appear no sicker than the average prenatal client in the area in terms of measured anemia (an important indicator of malaria). Cost-sharing does, however, considerably dampen demand. We find that uptake drops by 75 percent when the price of ITNs increases from zero to $0.75 (i.e. from 100 to 87.5 percent subsidy), the price at which ITNs are currently sold to pregnant women in Kenya. We combine our estimates in a cost-effectiveness analysis of ITN prices on child mortality that incorporates both private and social returns to ITN usage. Overall, our results suggest that free distribution of ITNs could save many more lives than cost-sharing programs have achieved so far, and, given the large positive externality associated with widespread usage of ITNs, it would likely do so at a lesser cost per life saved.
Exploit asymmetric error rates of cell states to improve the performance of flash memory storage systems

The reliability of flash memory is getting worse with the introduction of Multiple Level Cell (MLC) and Triple Level Cell (TLC) technologies. To account for possible errors, each page in a flash memory is equipped with an Error Correction Code (ECC) module. An ECC scheme is chosen according to the worst-case error occurrences across all pages in the flash memory. Recent studies show that an MLC flash cell in different states exhibits diverse error rates and the difference is dramatic. Consequently, pages with different data will exhibit quite different error rates. Existing technologies that use one uniform ECC scheme for all pages in a flash memory is far from optimal. This paper exploits the asymmetric error rates exhibited by the pages with different data for write performance improvement. Before a page is programmed, its specific error rate, called Content-Dependent Bit Error Rate (CDBER), is estimated according to the content of the page. The margin between the CDBER of a page and the maximal error rate correctable by the uniform ECC code is exploited for write performance improvement. Simulation results show that the proposed approach leads to significant write performance improvement.
Changing Course: American Curriculum Reform in the 20th Century

In Changing Course, Herbert Kliebard explores an array of efforts to reform the American curriculum. From revolutionary changes effected in a tiny one-room frontier schoolhouse in the late nineteenth century to a modern comprehensive high school, this accessible volume presents a chronological account of specific reform efforts--exposing factors likely to achieve success as well as the roots of many failures. Using a historical perspective to illuminate contemporary problems, this volume examines both the conceptual defects of various reform theories and the ways in which theory clashes with classroom reality. Kliebard argues that educators must examine the entire range of reform efforts in order to find the telltale patterns and fads that must be replaced with more meaningful structural changes.
Cost and Management Accounting in Pre-Industrial Revolution Spain

In traditional Anglo-Saxon accounting historiography the birth of sophisticated management accounting practices was dated at the end of the 19th century [Jonhson and Kaplan, 1987]. However, some more recent investigations have questioned this idea and demonstrate the existence of sophisticated management accounting and control techniques before the industrial revolution in differing contexts such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Spain. Fleischman and Parker [1991] have demonstrated that these practices were present in a significant number of British companies. However, evidence for Spain is based on isolated case studies. While case studies are essential to explain how these techniques were used, there has been no research to assess their frequency in Spain before the industrial revolution. By examining files concerning 13 large and medium-sized 18th century Spanish companies, this paper corroborates Fleischman and Parker's [1991] thesis. It reveals that knowledge of sophisticated cost account.
Comparing three vegetation monoterpene emission models to measured gas concentrations with a model of meteorology, air chemistry and chemical transport

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are essential in atmospheric chemistry because of their chem- ical reactions that produce and destroy tropospheric ozone, their effects on aerosol formation and growth, and their potential influence on global warming. As one of the im- portant BVOC groups, monoterpenes have been a focus of scientific attention in atmospheric research. Detailed re- gional measurements and model estimates are needed to study emission potential and the monoterpene budget on a global scale. Since the use of empirical measurements for upscaling is limited by many physical and biological fac- tors, such as genetic variation, temperature and light, wa- ter availability, seasonal changes, and environmental stresses, comprehensive inventories over larger areas are difficult to obtain. We applied the boundary-layer-chemistry-transport model SOSA (model to Simulate the concentrations of Or- ganic vapours and Sulphuric Acid) to investigate Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) monoterpene emissions in a boreal conif- erous forest at the SMEAR (Station for Measuring forest Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations) II site, southern Finland. SOSA was applied to simulate monoterpene emissions with three different emission modules: the semiempirical G95, MEGAN (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature) 2.04 with improved descriptions of temperature and light responses and including also carbonyl emissions, and a process-based model SIM-BIM (Seasonal Isoprenoid syn- thase Model - Biochemical Isoprenoid biosynthesis Model). For the first time, the emission models included seasonal and diurnal variations in both quantity and chemical species of emitted monoterpenes, based on parameterizations obtained from field measurements. Results indicate that modelling and observations agreed reasonably well and that the model can be used for investigating regional air chemistry questions re- lated to monoterpenes. The predominant modelled monoter- pene concentrations, -pinene and 1 3 -carene, are consistent with observations.
Dynamic 2D/3D registration for the Kinect

Image and geometry registration algorithms are essential components of many computer graphics and computer vision systems. With recent technological advances in RGB-D sensors, robust algorithms that combine 2D image and 3D geometry registration have become an active area of research. This course introduces the basics of 2D/3D registration algorithms and provides theoretical explanations and practical tools for designing computer vision and computer graphics systems based on RGB-D devices such as the Microsoft Kinect or Asus Xtion Live. To illustrate the theory and demonstrate practical relevance, the course briefly discusses three applications: rigid scanning, non-rigid modeling, and real-time face tracking.
Treatment of failing vein grafts in patients who underwent lower extremity arterial bypass

Purpose We attempted to determine risk factors for the development of failing vein graft and optimal treatment in patients with infrainguinal vein grafts. Methods We retrospectively reviewed a database of patients who underwent infrainguinal bypass using autogenous vein grafts due to chronic atherosclerotic arterial occlusive disease of lower extremity (LE) at a single institute between September 2003 and December 2011. After reviewing demographic, clinical, and angiographic features of the patients with failing grafts, we analyzed those variables to determine risk factors for the development of failing grafts. To determine an optimal treatment for the failing vein grafts, we compared results of open surgical repair (OSR), endovascular treatment (EVT) and conservative treatment. Results Two hundred and fifty-eight LE arterial bypasses using autogenous vein grafts in 242 patients were included in this study. During the follow-up period of 39 ± 25 months (range, 1 to 89 months), we found 166 (64%) patent grafts with no restenosis, 41 (15.9%) failing grafts, 39 (15.1%) graft occlusions, and 12 (4.7%) grafts lost in follow-up. In risk factor analysis for the development of a failing graft, no independent risk factors were identified. After 50 treatments of the 41 failing grafts (24 OSR, 18 EVT, 8 conservative management), graft occlusion was significantly more common in conservative treatment group and severe (>75%) restenosis was significantly more common following EVT than OSR (P = 0.001). Reintervention-free graft patency was also superior in the OSR group to that of the EVT group (87% vs. 42%, P = 0.015). Conclusion OSR of failing grafts has better outcomes than EVT or conservative management in treating failing grafts.
The joint effects of life stress and negative social exchanges on emotional distress.

OBJECTIVE Negative social exchanges detract considerably from older adults' emotional health, but little is known about the specific factors that make some older adults more vulnerable than others to such exchanges. This study examined whether stressful life experiences compound the impact of negative social exchanges on emotional distress. We examined both linear and nonlinear models of the joint effects of negative social exchanges and stressful life experiences. METHODS In-person interviews took place with a representative sample of 916 noninstitutionalized older adults. We examined linear and nonlinear models for three classes of stressful life experiences (relationship losses, disruptive events, and functional impairment). RESULT Regression analyses that included first-order and second-order interaction terms revealed a linear pattern for loss events and functional impairment, and a nonlinear pattern for disruptive events. DISCUSSION This study suggests that negative social exchanges and stressful life experiences jointly affect emotional distress, but the particular nature of the joint effects varies by type and level of stressor. Negative social exchanges appear to have more severe effects in the context of some stressors but less severe effects in the context of other stressors.
Inhibition of AMPK signalling by doxorubicin: at the crossroads of the cardiac responses to energetic, oxidative, and genotoxic stress.

AIMS Cardiotoxic side effects of anthracyclines, the most widely used anticancer drugs, are well documented, while mechanisms involved are not fully elucidated. The cellular energy sensor and regulator AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was suggested as a putative mediator of cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin, the leading anthracycline drug, by our earlier work. Here, we study the interference of doxorubicin with AMPK signalling and potentially involved mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS Effects of doxorubicin on cell signalling are studied in isolated Langendorff-perfused Wistar rat hearts and in hearts from doxorubicin-treated Wistar rats. In both models, doxorubicin induces energetic, oxidative, and genotoxic stress. Despite energy depletion and unaffected AMPK upstream signalling, doxorubicin does not activate the AMPK pathway and even reduces basal phosphorylation of AMPK and its downstream target acetyl-CoA carboxylase. In contrast, oxidative and genotoxic stress do activate pro-survival mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Akt pathways, the latter via DNA-dependent protein kinase activation triggered by DNA damage. Combined inhibition of AMPK and activation of Akt and MAPK lead to activation of growth-stimulating mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that in the doxorubicin-challenged heart, a combined energetic, oxidative, and genotoxic stress elicits a specific, hierarchical response where AMPK is inhibited at least partially by the known negative cross-talk with Akt and MAPK pathways, largely triggered by DNA damage signalling. Although such signalling can be protective, e.g. by limiting apoptosis, it primarily induces a negative feedback that increases cellular energy deficits, and via activation of mTOR signalling, it also contributes to the pathological cardiac phenotype in chronic doxorubicin toxicity.
HLA–DRB1 Amino Acid Positions 11/13, 71, and 74 Are Associated With Inflammation Level, Disease Activity, and the Health Assessment Questionnaire Score in Patients With Inflammatory Polyarthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility HLA–DRB1 haplotypes based on amino acid positions 11/13, 71, and 74 predict radiographic damage. The mechanism of action is unknown, but it may be mediated by inflammation. We undertook this study to systematically investigate the effect of these amino acids on nonradiographic measures of disease activity/outcomes.
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 the Role of 2,4-dihydroxyquinoline (dhq) in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Pathogenicity

Bacteria synchronize group behaviors using quorum sensing, which is advantageous during an infection to thwart immune cell attack and resist deleterious changes in the environment. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the Pseudomonas quinolone signal (Pqs) quorum-sensing system is an important component of an interconnected intercellular communication network. Two alkylquinolones, 2-heptyl-4-quinolone (HHQ) and 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4-quinolone (PQS), activate transcriptional regulator PqsR to promote the production of quinolone signals and virulence factors. Our work focused on the most abundant quinolone produced from the Pqs system, 2,4-dihydroxyquinoline (DHQ), which was shown previously to sustain pyocyanin production and antifungal activity of P. aeruginosa. However, little is known about how DHQ affects P. aeruginosa pathogenicity. Using C. elegans as a model for P. aeruginosa infection, we found pqs mutants only able to produce DHQ maintained virulence towards the nematodes similar to wild-type. In addition, DHQ-only producing mutants displayed increased colonization of C. elegans and virulence factor production compared to a quinolone-null strain. DHQ also bound to PqsR and activated the transcription of pqs operon. More importantly, high extracellular concentration of DHQ was maintained in both aerobic and anaerobic growth. High levels of DHQ were also detected in the sputum samples of cystic fibrosis patients. Taken together, our findings suggest DHQ may play an important role in sustaining P. aeruginosa pathogenicity under oxygen-limiting conditions.
Retinal Sensitivity over Hard Exudates in Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose: To evaluate retinal sensitivity over hard exudates in correlation with the spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings in eyes with diabetic retinopathy. Methods: Twelve eyes of 10 patients with hard exudates associated with diabetic retinopathy were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent a complete ophthalmic examination including SD-OCT (Copernicus, Zawiercie, Poland) and microperimetry (MP1; Nidek Technologies, Padova, Italy). Retinal sensitivity was measured, over the areas with hard exudates and compared to corresponding locations devoid of hard exudates, using a semi-automatic program. The size of the hard exudate plaque was measured using the measurement software in the microperimeter. Retinal thickness in the area of the hard exudates and foveal thickness were measured using SD-OCT. Results: Mean retinal sensitivity over hard exudates was 4.97 ± 4.17 dB which was significantly (P = 0.0001) reduced as compared to locations devoid of hard exudates. No significant correlation (r=-0.23, P = 0.45) was found between the size of the hard exudates and retinal sensitivity. A significant negative correlation was found between retinal sensitivity and retinal thickness at the area of the hard exudates (r=-0.65, P = 0.05), and between retinal sensitivity and foveal thickness (r=-0.91, P = 0.001). Conclusion: In eyes with diabetic retinopathy, retinal sensitivity was reduced due to the presence of hard exudates in the outer retinal layers and retinal thickening but this was not correlated with the size of the hard exudates.