Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting the FSH threshold dose in women with WHO Group II anovulatory infertility failing to ovulate or conceive on clomiphene citrate

BACKGROUND The objective of this investigation was to establish independent predictors of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) threshold dose in anovulatory women undergoing ovulation induction with FSH preparations. METHODS One hundred and fifty-one patients with WHO Group II anovulatory infertility failing to ovulate or conceive on clomiphene citrate underwent ovarian stimulation with FSH-only preparations following a low-dose step-up protocol. The individual FSH threshold dose was defined as the FSH dose when meeting the human chorionic gonadotrophin criteria (one follicle ≥17 mm, or 2–3 follicles ≥15 mm). The influence of demographics, physical characteristics, obstetric and infertility and menstrual cycle history, ovarian ultrasonography, endocrine parameters and type of gonadotrophin preparation on the FSH threshold dose was assessed through multiple regression analysis. RESULTS In the univariate analysis, age, body mass index (BMI), failure to ovulate with clomiphene citrate, menstrual cycle history (amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea or anovulatory cycles of 21–35 days), mean ovarian volume, LH/FSH ratio, testosterone and free androgen index were significant (P < 0.05) predictors of FSH threshold dose. In the multivariate analysis, menstrual cycle history, mean ovarian volume and BMI remained significant (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The individual FSH threshold dose for ovulation induction in anovulatory women can be predicted based on three variables easily determined in clinical practice: menstrual cycle history, mean ovarian volume and BMI. A FSH dosage nomogram was constructed based on these parameters.
HMGB1 Promotes Intraoral Palatal Wound Healing through RAGE-Dependent Mechanisms

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is tightly connected to the process of tissue organization upon tissue injury. Here we show that HMGB1 controls epithelium and connective tissue regeneration both in vivo and in vitro during palatal wound healing. Heterozygous HMGB1 (Hmgb1+/−) mice and Wild-type (WT) mice were subjected to palatal injury. Maxillary tissues were stained with Mallory Azan or immunostained with anti-HMGB1, anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), anti-nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p50 and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibodies. Palatal gingival explants were cultured with recombinant HMGB1 (rHMGB1) co-treated with siRNA targeting receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGEs) for cell migration and PCNA expression analysis. Measurement of the wound area showed differences between Hmgb1+/− and WT mice on Day 3 after wounding. Mallory Azan staining showed densely packed of collagen fibers in WT mice, whereas in Hmgb1+/− mice weave-like pattern of low density collagen bundles were present. At three and seven days post-surgery, PCNA, NF-κB p50 and VEGF positive keratinocytes of WT mice were greater than that of Hmgb1+/− mice. Knockdown of RAGE prevents the effect of rHMGB1-induced cell migration and PCNA expression in gingival cell cultures. The data suggest that HMGB1/RAGE axis has crucial roles in palatal wound healing.
Striving for Perfection or for Creativity?

ABSTRACT The extent to which creativity and perfection can be considered compatible aims for dancers was investigated. Also investigated were how creativity and perfectionism are (1) nurtured versus inhibited, and (2) related to basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness). Seventy-seven ballet students (12–19 years old) in Stockholm, Sweden completed standardized questionnaires, and eight were recruited for interviews. Additionally, five teachers were interviewed. It was found that flexible perfectionistic strivings (PS) were seen to support creativity, whereas rigid PS and perfectionistic concerns (PC) were seen as inhibiting. Creative work was proposed to reduce PC. Creativity appeared to be nurtured when basic needs were met via inspiration and imagery; this was experienced more in contemporary dance. Perfectionism appeared to be nurtured when basic needs were thwarted or unsupported, and when teachers were perfectionistic. This was experienced more in ballet. In conclusion, dance teachers who support basic needs likely support dancers’ creativity and aid in perfectionism management.
POSTURE IN TOP-LEVEL CROATIAN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTS AND NON-TRAINEES

The main goal of the study was to determine the influence of the long-term rhythmic gymnastics training process on certain motor abilities and on the posture of elite Croatian rhythmic gymnasts. The sample was composed of 35 girls aged 12.89 (±2.32) years from Zagreb, Croatia. Fifteen of them were rhythmic gymnasts who have trained 8.93 hours per week on average, for at least 5 years. The control group consisted of 20 female pupils of the primary school “Borovje” who were not engaged in any regular sporting activity beside physical education classes. The measures consisted of 17 postural variables and 8 tests assessing motor abilities. The t-test for independent samples showed marked statistical differences in arithmetic means between the two groups for all the motor variables. Mann-Whitney U test showed no differences between the two groups in all the posture variables, but one. The two groups differed significantly only in the variable kyphosis, showing that poor kyphotic posture was more frequent in non-trainees (p=.03). The variables Lorenz’s triangle and frontal shoulder position almost reached statistical significance (p=.06 and p=.07, respectively). Although the mentioned results failed to fall within the range of statistical significance, they are of substantial clinical importance, showing the tendency to a greater frequency of poor scoliotic posture in rhythmic gymnasts. The obtained results pointed out the positive side of sport: a good level of motor abilities and a minor incidence of poor kyphotic posture. Clinically, the results also indicate some sport-specific postural problems that may occur due to asymmetric overload. however, since statistical significance was not reached, there is a need to investigate further the influence of persistent asymmetric overloading of the spine on rhythmic gymnasts̀ posture.
Investigation of the three-dimensional lattice HP protein folding model using a genetic algorithm

An approach to the hydrophobic-polar (HP) protein folding model was developed using a genetic algorithm (GA) to find the optimal structures on a 3D cubic lattice. A modification was introduced to the scoring system of the original model to improve the model's capacity to generate more natural-like structures. The modification was based on the assumption that it may be preferable for a hydrophobic monomer to have a polar neighbor than to be in direct contact with the polar solvent. The compactness and the segregation criteria were used to compare structures created by the original HP model and by the modified one. An islands' algorithm, a new selection scheme and multiple-points crossover were used to improve the performance of the algorithm. Ten sequences, seven with length 27 and three with length 64 were analyzed. Our results suggest that the modified model has a greater tendency to form globular structures. This might be preferable, since the original HP model does not take into account the positioning of long polar segments. The algorithm was implemented in the form of a program with a graphical user interface that might have a didactical potential in the study of GA and on the understanding of hydrophobic core formation.
Identity Negotiation of Young Arab Muslim Women Attending College in the United States and France

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how young Arab Muslim women attending college, in the United States and France, negotiate their identity vis-a-vis multiple contexts of citizenship in secular state, gender, religion, culture, and race. Sixteen interviews were conducted, eight in Paris and eight in Chicago. Using the theoretical frameworks of social identity, cultural studies, and critical race feminism, this study approached identity negotiation in terms of integration and differentiation from others; influence of dominant culture and attempt to redefine identity; gender and specificity of the experience of women of color as well as interrelation of multiple identities. The following themes were identified: hijab is central to the experience of being a young Arab Muslim woman in college; being Muslim is a way of life; there are strong similarities in college experience across sample; there are contextual differences in college experience between French and American samples. Based on these findings, this study supports a moderate secularism that takes religion into account as a minority identity with specific rights and protection. It objects to French bans on the veil, which single out veiling women and penalize them by politicizing an intention to be modest. This study also supports alternative approaches to Western dominant discourse on women's rights, as such values are not necessarily compatible with young Arab Muslim women's self-perception and personal context. Finally, this study finds that, as imperfect as it may be, the American model of multiculturalism initiatives offers young Arab Muslim women in college better opportunities in terms of identity negotiation, than the French model of assimilation does.
Poverty and Violent Conflict: A Micro-Level Perspective on the Causes and Duration of Warfare

This article discusses how endogenous mechanisms linking processes of violent conflict and the economic well-being of individuals and households in combat areas provide valuable micro foundations to the ongoing debate on the causes and duration of armed conflict. Notably, the endogenous relationship between conflict processes and household economic status leads to the emergence of symbiotic associations between armed groups and households living in areas they control that affect substantially the probability of a conflict starting and its effectiveness thereafter. Households in conflict areas draw on local armed groups to protect their economic status when anticipating violence and during the conflict, while armed groups make use of different levels of (either reluctant or voluntary) participation, support and cooperation from local populations to advance their strategic objectives at the onset and throughout the conflict. The level of household participation at the start and during the conflict is a function of two interdependent variables, namely household vulnerability to poverty and household vulnerability to violence. The poorer the household is at the start of the conflict, the higher is the probability of the household participating and supporting an armed group. The higher the risk of violence, the higher is the probability of the household participating and supporting armed groups. The interaction between these two variables varies with the conflict itself and is defined by the direct and indirect effects of conflict-induced violence on the economic behaviour and decisions of households in combat areas.
In Vitro Anti-Oxidant and Anti-Microbial Potentiality Investigation of Different Fractions of Caryota urens Leaves

Background: Caryota urens is a member of the Arecaceae family and a common plant in the Southeast Asian region. This plant has been reported as an anti-microbial agent in recent years. Thus, we aimed to find out the MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) against different pathogenic microorganism. Methods: The leaves of C. urens were extracted and fractioned using different reagents (chloroform, n-hexane and carbon tetrachloride). Disc diffusion method was implemented for the assessment of in vitro anti-microbial potency (500 and 250 µg/disc). Result: The entire fraction showed good effect (with the zone of inhibition 19–25 mm) against both gram positive (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus cereus, Sarina lutea) and gram negative (Vibrio mimicus, Shigella boydii, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacterial pathogens and fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The plants also possess effective free radical scavenging potency with an IC50 of 130.32 µg/mL. Conclusion: This finding reflects a link between the presence of anti-oxidative material and a substantial anti-microbial activity, and substantiates all previous claims against C. urens.
Those Who Dared To Be Different: Integrated Education in Northern Ireland

Abstract This paper examines the long-term impact of segregated and integrated educationon the political identities and attitudes of the adult population in Northern Ireland.Using a pooled sample from the 1998 and 2003 Northern Ireland Election Surveysand the Northern Ireland Life and Times and Social Attitudes Surveys from 1998onwards, we address, for the first time, the question of whether or not religiouslyintegrated education – both formal and informal – has a significant effect on politicaloutlooks. The results suggest that attendance at an informally or formally religiouslyintegrated school has some positive long-term benefits in promoting a moreintegrationist and less sectarian stance in relation to national identity andconstitutional preferences. Irrespective of whether members of the Protestant orCatholic community were considered, individuals who had attended an informallyor formally integrated school were notably more likely to abandon traditionalidentities and territorial allegiances than those whose educational experiences wereexclusively restricted to a religiously segregated setting. These results add weight toprevious case studies which have shown that an integrated school can and does havean impact on the outlooks of those who attend them and that the positive effects ofintegrated schooling extends into later life. As the numbers experiencing integratedschooling grows, these individuals have the potential to create a new commonground in Northern Ireland politics.
Filipino women and their citizenship in Australia: in search of political space

This research examined the meaning and practise of Australian citizenship in the lives of migrant Filipino women in Australia. It utilized the life story approach and participant observation in Sydney and Wollongong. The narratives were analysed using a combination of feminist theoretical models of women's citizenship to underscore the different ways they constmct a political space in negotiating their subject position as wives, mothers, paid workers, volunteers, electors, and members of community groups. Filipino women have a high valuation of Australian citizenship. Their motivations to become Australian citizens are not only based on the practical benefits derived from that status vis a vis retaining thefr Philippine citizenship but also the idea of belonging to the Australian community. They have employed their understanding of Australian citizenship to empower themselves in their personal and professional lives. This research explored three spaces where Australian citizenship is practised - the home, the workplace, and the commtmity. Women in both Filipino homes and bi- cultural homes have made use of their knowledge of Australian citizenship in their relationships with their husbands and children. Those tmdertaking paid work have actively sought to participate in the economic benefits of citizenship although their entry into the labour market has been marked by stmctural and social constraints such as non-recognition of overseas qualifications, racism and sexism. In the community, the women are engaged in citizenship practice as volunteers in local schools and in community associations. Their participation in varied activities is mutually beneficial - enhancing their personal confidence and potentials and at the same time contributing to the needs of others. Filipino women have dual identitiesa Filipino identity and an Australian identity as citizens. These two identities coexist in their lives. A Filipino identity is directed towards a particular social unit, the family; while an Australian identity is directed towards an abstract state perceived to be multicultural. They embrace an 'Australian' identity through shared experiences such as language and democratic practices.
Prevalence and possible causes of anemia in the elderly: a cross-sectional analysis of a large European university hospital cohort

Background Anemia in later life is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and possible causes of anemia in the elderly in a well defined hospital cohort. Methods Participants in this cross-sectional, retrospective analysis included all inpatients and outpatients aged ≥64 years with complete blood counts treated at Innsbruck Medical University Hospital between October 1, 2004 and September 29, 2005 (n=19,758, median age 73 years). Results According to World Health Organization criteria, 21.1% of these patients were anemic, ie, 30.7% and 37.0% at 80+ years and 90+ years, respectively. The prevalence of anemia was significantly correlated with advanced age (r=0.21; P<0.001) and male sex (P<0.001). In anemic patients, renal insufficiency with a glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (11.3% versus 2.1%), hyperinflammation (62.1% versus 31.4%), absolute (14.4% versus 6.9%) or functional (28.2% versus 11.8%) iron deficiency, and folate deficiency (6.7% versus 3.0%) were observed significantly more often than in nonanemic subjects (P<0.001). The pathogenesis of anemia was multifactorial, with decreased renal function (glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2), signs of inflammation, and functional iron deficiency detected in 11.4% of anemic patients. Hemoglobin was significantly correlated with elevated C-reactive protein (r= −0.296; P<0.001) and low transferrin saturation (r=0.313; P<0.001). Mean corpuscular volume correlated only weakly with the various anemia subtypes. Cytopenias and morphologic alterations suggestive of underlying myelodysplastic syndromes were found in a substantial proportion of anemic patients, including thrombocytopenia (5.4%), leukopenia (8.26%), and macrocytic alterations (18.4%). Conclusion Anemia was frequently diagnosed in this series of elderly patients. Partly treatable nutritional deficiencies, such as iron or folate deficiency, were identified as possible causes. A complex and heterogeneous interplay of chronic inflammation, functional iron deficiency, and renal impairment was identified in a large proportion of patients. A hitherto undiagnosed myelodysplastic syndrome can be assumed in a relevant proportion of patients. Morphologic classification based on mean corpuscular volume is inadequate from the standpoint of pathogenesis. New parameters are needed to differentiate the multifactorial pathogenesis of anemia in the elderly.
A Model of Customer Satisfaction with Service Encounters Involving Failure and Recovery

Customers often react strongly to service failures, so it is critical that an organization's recovery efforts be equally strong and effective. In this article, the authors develop a model of customer satisfaction with service failure/recovery encounters based on an exchange framework that integrates concepts from both the consumer satisfaction and social justice literature, using principles of resource exchange, mental accounting, and prospect theory. The research employs a mixed-design experiment, conducted using a survey method, in which customers evaluate various failure/recovery scenarios and complete a questionnaire with respect to an organization they recently had patronized. The authors execute the research in the context of two different service settings, restaurants and hotels. The results show that customers prefer to receive recovery resources that “match” the type of failure they experience in “amounts” that are commensurate with the magnitude of the failure that occurs. The findings contribute to the understanding of theoretical principles that explain customer evaluations of service failure/recovery encounters and provide managers with useful guidelines for establishing the proper “fit” between a service failure and the recovery effort.
Automatic de-identification of medical records with a multilevel hybrid semi-supervised learning approach

In recent years, sharing electronic medical records (EMRs) for more researchers outside the associated institutions is significant. For privacy preservation of the corresponding patients and the associated institutions, a de-identification task on the EMRs to be shared is a must. Although the deidentification task has been considered with positive research outcomes worldwide, especially those from the i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside) shared tasks in 2006 and 2014, the task has not yet been a solved problem and still needs more investigation realistically. In this paper, we propose an automatic de-identification solution in a multilevel hybrid semi-supervised learning paradigm with a key focus on correctly identifying protected health information (PHI) in the EMRs. Similar to the existing works, our work defines a hybrid approach by combining a machine learning-based method with a conditional random fields model and a rule-based method in a post-processing phase to handle the PHI types with disambiguity. Nevertheless, our work is more general and practical. First, it considers the structure complexity of each EMR so that each section can be treated properly for more correct PHI identification up to its structure complexity: structured, semi-structured, or un-structured. Second, each EMR is then examined in our approach at three different levels of granularity such as a token level in the supervised learning phase, an entity level in the rule-based post-processing phase, and a section level along with the structure complexity in the semi-supervised learning phase. Many various detail levels will give our approach a deeper look at each EMR for more effectiveness. Third, our solution is conducted in a self-training manner so that it can get started with a small annotated data set in practice and get more effective with new EMRs over time. Evaluated with the i2b2 data set in comparison with the related works, our solution is effective with better F-measure values for the AGE, LOCATION, and PHONE PHI types and comparable for the other PHI types.
An evolutionary algorithm with species-specific explosion for multimodal optimization

This paper presents an evolutionary algorithm, which we call Evolutionary Algorithm with Species-specific Explosion (EASE), for multimodal optimization. EASE is built on the Species Conserving Genetic Algorithm (SCGA), and the design is improved in several ways. In particular, it not only identifies species seeds, but also exploits the species seeds to create multiple mutated copies in order to further converge to the respective optimum for each species. Experiments were conducted to compare EASE and SCGA on four benchmark functions. Cross-comparison with recent rival techniques on another five benchmark functions was also reported. The results reveal that EASE has a competitive edge over the other algorithms tested.