Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VQAMap: A Novel Mechanism for Mapping Objective Video Quality Metrics to Subjective MOS Scale

The reliable estimation of video quality has become increasingly important with the proliferation of online video services and users becoming more quality aware. A multitude of objective video quality assessment (VQA) metrics with various performance and complexity have been proposed. However, their applicability in real-world scenarios is limited by the lack of clear interpretations of how the metric values reflect the subjective user-perceived video quality. This paper proposes a novel mechanism called VQAMap, that uses data from public VQA databases and enables to automatically create generic rules for mapping the values of objective VQA metrics to the subjective MOS scale (i.e., 1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent). An extensive evaluation study of VQAMap was conducted using data from three public VQA databases, considering six objective VQA metrics. The results analysis has shown that VQAMap provides mapping rules with quality estimation accuracy as high as 95%, while the variation in performance being caused by the varying accuracy of the different objective metrics.
Characterizing organizational spirituality: An organizational communication culture approach

This study focuses and extends the academic literature on spirituality in organizations. Although spirituality has gained attention in organizational scholarship during the past decade, there has been little systematic development. Current literature on spirituality in organizations is characterized by divergent approaches to spirituality and a number of organizational foci. The present study, based on qualitative field research in a nursing home, advances understanding of spirituality in organizations by identifying three central characteristics of organizational spirituality: value alignment, personal spirituality, and relationship‐based organizing. These central characteristics, supported by the field research and current literature on spirituality in organizations, lead to issues for further research. The study concludes with an invitation for dialogue on the emergent topic of organizational spirituality.
Changing Diversity in U.S. Schools

Schools in the United States have experienced changes in their demographic profile during the last half century. During this changing time, schools have experienced court-involved desegregation and have experienced fluctuations in their populations with regard to both race and socioeconomic status. Existing studies on segregation have focused primarily on Black and White students, neglecting the increasing Hispanic population of U.S. schools. This study provides more data to the expanding research on the impact of diversity on student performance. The study examines whether diversity and teacher quality of a school can predict academic performance on state-mandated tests, while controlling for school level poverty. In this quantitative study, the researcher also analyzes whether a difference exists between the predictability of pass rates and advanced pass rates for African American, Hispanic, and White students in Virginia’s elementary schools. The data reveal that the impact of poverty is difficult to disentangle from the issues of diversity and teacher quality but that differences exist among student racial groups in their academic performance response based on school-level poverty, diversity, and teacher quality.
Heavy metal speciation in sediment of the South China Sea off the Pahang coast, Malaysia during the pre- and post- North-east monsoon period

In a study to determine whether or not the Northeast Monsoon has a major effect on the distribution of metals in sediments, total Al, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were measured in twenty six surface sediment samples were collected from the South China Sea in the near-shore area off Pahang State of peninsular Malaysia during the pre- and post-Northeast monsoon periods. To gain a better understanding of the influence of chemical processes affecting metal distribution in sediments as a result of the monsoon, the distribution of the metals in chemical fractionations of the sediment were also determined. The mean concentrations of total metals studied were considered low compared to crustal value and regional studies. The metal distribution is related to input from a number of rivers entering the study area. All metals studied (Al, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) and their chemical fractions were mostly higher in concentrations in the coastal sediments off Kuantan port, in the northern sector of the study area. This is possibly due to the runoff of metal contaminants from land through the Kuantan River estuary area which was a highly built up area, with oil and gas industries, a port and urban areas. In the southern sector of the study area, the relatively high concentrations of metals may originate from run-off from the Rompin River estuary and also from large coastal aquaculture activities in the Nenasi area. The monsoon was clearly seen to have some effect on metal distribution within the chemical fractions, because the proportion of metals increased in the bio-available fraction in sediments collected after the North-east monsoon. After the NE monsoon, a large reduction in enrichment factor (EF) values were found for Pb and Zn in the sediment throughout the study area suggesting that these metals were diluted and/or redistributed within the sedimentary environment. It is thought that input of fresh clean sediment from monsoon run-off via Pahang, Kuantan, Bebar, Merchong and Rompin rivers dilutes the metal contents in the Pahang coastal sediments. Alternatively or together with dilution, the sediments are redistributed and mixed resulting in overall dilution of metal concentrations. Metal fractionations patterns were significantly different between pre- and post- NE monsoon sediments, especially in exchangeable-Fe-Mn oxide, carbonate-Fe-Mn oxide and carbonate-residual fractions. This study shows that the Northeast Monsoon has the effect of redistributing the sediments as well as affecting the distribution of metals within the different chemical fractions of sediment.
Unsupervised domain adaptation for deep neural network based voice activity detection

The mismatching problem between the training and test speech corpora hinders the practical use of the machine-learning-based voice activity detection (VAD). In this paper, we try to address this problem by the unsupervised domain adaptation techniques, which try to find a shared feature subspace between the mismatching corpora. The denoising deep neural network is used as the learning machine. Three domain adaptation techniques are used for analysis. Experimental results show that the unsupervised domain adaptation technique is promising to the mismatching problem of VAD.
A patient with brain metastasis from ovarian cancer who showed complete remission after multidisciplinary treatment.

We describe a case with brain metastasis from ovarian cancer who showed complete remission after multidisciplinary treatment. The case was diagnosed as epithelial ovarian cancer, FIGO stage IIIc. She underwent cisplatin-based chemotherapy after optimal cytoreductive surgery and achieved clinical complete remission. Thirty-two months after surgery for ovarian cancer, a solitary metastasis occurred in the left frontal lobe of the brain. No recurrent lesions were observed outside the brain. The metastatic tumor was resected. Five days after operation, adjuvant chemotherapy comprising carboplatin and cisplatin was initiated (a total of three courses at 4-week intervals), and whole brain irradiation at 55 Gy was added. After these treatment methods, complete remission of the brain metastasis has been observed for 57 months with good quality of life.
Morita-Baylis-Hillman Adducts Display Anti-Inflammatory Effects by Modulating Inflammatory Mediator Expression in RAW264.7 Cells

Inflammatory response plays an important role not only in the normal physiology but also in pathologies such as cancers. The Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts (MBHA) are a novel group of synthetic molecules that have demonstrated many biological activities against some parasitic cells such as Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania amazonensis, and Leishmania chagasi, and antimitotic activity against sea urchin embryonic cells was also related. However, little is known about the mechanisms induced by MBHA in inflammatory process and its relation with anticancer activity. The present work investigated the cytotoxicity of three MBHA derivatives (A2CN, A3CN, and A4CN), on human colorectal adenocarcinoma, HT-29 cells, and their anti-inflammatory activities were examined in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells, being these derivatives potentially cytotoxic to HT-29 cells. Coincubation with A2CN, A3CN, or A4CN and LPS in RAW264.7 cells inhibited NO production, as well as the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was also repressed. The mRNA expressions of IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly downregulated by such MBHA compounds in RAW264.7 cells, but only A2CN was able to inhibit the COX-2 gene expression. We also showed that MBHA compounds decreased almost to zero the production of IL-1β and IL-6. These findings display that such MBHA compounds exhibit anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities.
Sexual dimorphism of proximal straight tubular cells in mouse kidney

The proximal straight tubular epithelium of the mouse kidney exhibited sexual dimorphism in conventional paraffin sections stained with periodic acid Schiff (PAS) in our preliminary observation. The purpose of this study was to clarify the sex‐dependent structural features in the proximal straight tubular cells of the mouse kidney, and to clarify the effects of sex hormones on this portion of the renal tissue.
AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Interacts with the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Delta to Induce Genes Affecting Fatty Acid Oxidation in Human Macrophages

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) maintains energy homeostasis by suppressing cellular ATP-consuming processes and activating catabolic, ATP-producing pathways such as fatty acid oxidation (FAO). The transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) also affects fatty acid metabolism, stimulating the expression of genes involved in FAO. To question the interplay of AMPK and PPARδ in human macrophages we transduced primary human macrophages with lentiviral particles encoding for the constitutively active AMPKα1 catalytic subunit, followed by microarray expression analysis after treatment with the PPARδ agonist GW501516. Microarray analysis showed that co-activation of AMPK and PPARδ increased expression of FAO genes, which were validated by quantitative PCR. Induction of these FAO-associated genes was also observed upon infecting macrophages with an adenovirus coding for AMPKγ1 regulatory subunit carrying an activating R70Q mutation. The pharmacological AMPK activator A-769662 increased expression of several FAO genes in a PPARδ- and AMPK-dependent manner. Although GW501516 significantly increased FAO and reduced the triglyceride amount in very low density lipoproteins (VLDL)-loaded foam cells, AMPK activation failed to potentiate this effect, suggesting that increased expression of fatty acid catabolic genes alone may be not sufficient to prevent macrophage lipid overload.
Engaging students in learning: a review of a conceptual organiser

Student engagement in learning is a complex process influenced by many factors. This article introduces a conceptual organiser developed from a review of the literature. It captures four key perspectives – motivation and agency, transactional engagement, institutional support and active citizenship – and suggested indicators for each perspective. Data from a project researching student engagement with first‐time enrolled students in Aotearoa New Zealand is then used to review the conceptual organiser. Findings show that the four perspectives were all evident, though some indicators were more clearly supported than others. As a result of the evaluation, changes were made to the organiser. We argue that it has value as a way for teachers and institutions to inform and evaluate their efforts to engage students in learning.
Ages and Stages: the place of theatre in the lives of older people

ABSTRACT Despite the growing interest amongst gerontologists and literary and cultural scholars alike, in arts participation, ageing and the artistic outputs of older people, comparatively little attention has yet been paid to theatre and drama. Likewise, community or participatory theatre has long been used to address issues affecting marginalised or excluded groups, but it is a presently under-utilised medium for exploring ageing or for conveying positive messages about growing older. This paper seeks to address this lack of attention through a detailed case study of the place of one particular theatre – the Victoria/New Victoria Theatre in North Staffordshire, England – in the lives of older people. It provides an overview of the interdisciplinary Ages and Stages project which brought together social gerontologists, humanities scholars, psychologists, anthropologists and theatre practitioners, and presents findings from: the archival and empirical work exploring the theatre's pioneering social documentaries and its archive; individual/couple and group interviews with older people involved with the theatre (as audience members, volunteers, employees and sources); and ethnographic data gathered throughout the study. The findings reaffirm the continuing need to challenge stereotypes that the capacity for creativity and participation in later life unavoidably and inevitably declines; show how participation in creative and voluntary activities shapes meanings associated with key life transitions such as bereavement and retirement; and emphasise the positive role that theatre and drama can play as a medium for the inclusion of both older and younger people.
‘They had a way of helping that actually helped’: a case study of a peer-assisted learning scheme

The Department of English Literature at Kingston University piloted an innovative Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) programme as part of a two-year pilot project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) Widening Participation Fund. The project aimed to enable first-year students to develop academic writing skills related to a specific level-one module. Part of the evaluation involved undertaking a student survey to determine student's perceptions of how PAL contributed to their writing skills and their ability to critique their own writing. Findings from the survey indicate that the PAL programme had a positive impact on student's perceptions of their learning in four areas: clarification of new knowledge; development of assessment (writing) skills; reduction in feelings of intimidation; and the creation of a safe environment for learning. Assessment results are also discussed. However, the most important findings were that the results support constructivist and situated learning theories about how students create meaning, and that, in the specific area of writing skills, successful students are better equipped and better placed than lecturers to pass on these skills to novice students in a peer-facilitated environment. The data supports to conclusion that, in this study, PAL enables them to become better learners.
The Psychological Well-Being of Divorced and Widowed Men and Women

In this article we focus on the psychological well-being of the widowed and divorced. The data are from a national stratified probability sample in which the divorced and widowed, particularly divorced and widowed males, were oversampled. Seven different indicators of psychological well-being are used. Compared to the married and, to a lesser extent the never married, the psychological well-being of the divorced and widowed is poor. Overall the psychological well-being of divorced males, divorced females and widowed females is roughly comparable and better than the psychological well-being of widowed males.
Thinking Otherwise: 'Bicultural' Hybridities in Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa/New Zealand

As people become more overtly aware of the embedded historical memories (O'Loughlin, 2001) that underpin conscious theorising the reflections cause people to re-consider long-held assumptions, re-minding them of complicities and non-complicities and their potential to re-shape their own subjectivities in relation to deepening insights and openness to alternate ways of being, knowing, and doing. People come to scrutinise their comfort with positions of privilege previously unconsciously validated through their perpetuation of Western knowledges and tools (Cannella & Viruru, 2004). Thus begins an ongoing process of reflexive change which is embodied, enacted and spiritually underpinned, rather than operating at a cosmetic programmatic level. This intra-personal re-consideration of demeanour, disposition and direction, is integral to generating possibilities for deepening the provision of symbolic worlds being validated and accessed by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children within educational settings.
Private tutoring in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: policy choices and implications

Private tutoring has become increasingly visible in Eastern Europe and Central Asia since the collapse of the socialist bloc in the early 1990s. Yet, this unprecedented growth of private tutoring, in its varied forms and arrangements, has remained largely unnoticed by policymakers in the region. Based on the data from the cross‐national studies of private tutoring in 12 countries, this explorative study examines factors driving the demand for private tutoring and discusses government responses to private tutoring in Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine (research conducted in 2004–2005) and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan (research conducted in 2005–2006). The article analyzes various policy contexts and examines challenges that confront education stakeholders and policymakers as they formulate their responses to the rapidly‐spreading and constantly‐changing phenomenon of private tutoring. Finally, the article discusses whether, and to what extent, the existence of regulatory mechanisms influences the scope, nature, and implications of private tutoring across the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Human Striatal Response to Salient Nonrewarding Stimuli

Although one proposed function of both the striatum and its major dopamine inputs is related to coding rewards and reward-related stimuli, an alternative view suggests a more general role of the striatum in processing salient events, regardless of their reward value. Here we define saliency as an event that both is unexpected and elicits an attentional-behavioral switch (i.e., arousing). In the present study, human striatal responses to nonrewarding salient stimuli were investigated. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the blood oxygenation level-dependent signal was measured in response to flickering visual distractors presented in the background of an ongoing task. Distractor salience was manipulated by altering the frequency of distractor occurrence. Infrequently presented distractors were considered more salient than frequently presented distractors. We also investigated whether behavioral relevance of the distractors was a necessary component of saliency for eliciting striatal responses. In the first experiment (19 subjects), the distractors were made behaviorally relevant by defining a subset of them as targets requiring a button press. In the second experiment (17 subjects), the distractors were not behaviorally relevant (i.e., they did not require any response). The fMRI results revealed increased activation in the nucleus accumbens after infrequent (high salience) relative to frequent (low salience) presentation of distractors in both experiments. Caudate activity increased only when the distractors were behaviorally relevant. These results demonstrate a role of the striatum in coding nonrewarding salient events. In addition, a functional subdivision of the striatum according to the behavioral relevance of the stimuli is suggested.
Neurologic disease Stroke Dementia Traumatic brain injury Myasthenia gravis Cerebral palsy Guillain – Barré syndrome Poliomyelitis Myopathy Progressive disease Parkinson ’ s disease Huntington disease Age-related changes Rheumatoid disease Polydermatomyositis Progressive systemic sclerosis Sjögren d

Livia Sura1,2 Aarthi Madhavan1,3 Giselle Carnaby1,4 Michael A Crary1,3 1Swallowing Research Laboratory; 2Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professions; 3Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, College of Public Health and Health Professions; 4Department of Behavioral Sciences and Community Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, Gainesville, FL, USA
Marker Aided Incorporation of Saltol, a Major QTL Associated with Seedling Stage Salt Tolerance, into Oryza sativa ‘Pusa Basmati 1121’

Pusa Basmati 1121 (PB1121), an elite Basmati rice cultivar is vulnerable to salinity at seedling stage. A study was undertaken to impart seedling-stage salt tolerance into PB1121 by transferring a quantitative trait locus (QTL), Saltol, using FL478 as donor, through marker assisted backcrossing. Sequence tagged microsatellite site (STMS) marker RM 3412, tightly linked to Saltol was used for foreground selection. Background recovery was estimated using 90 genome-wide STMS markers. Systematic phenotypic selection helped in accelerated recovery of recurrent parent phenome (RPP). A set of 51 BC3F2 lines homozygous for Saltol were advanced to develop four improved near isogenic lines (NILs) of PB1121 with seedling stage salt tolerance. The background genome recovery in the NILs ranged from 93.3 to 99.4%. The improved NILs were either similar or better than the recurrent parent PB1121 for yield, grain and cooking quality and duration. Biochemical analyses revealed significant variation in shoot and root Na+ and K+ concentrations. Correlation between shoot and root Na+ concentration was stronger than that between root and shoot K+ concentration. The effect of QTL integration into the NILs was studied through expression profiling of OsHKT1;5, one of the genes present in the Saltol region. The NILs had significantly higher OsHKT1;5 expression than the recurrent parent PB1121, but lower than FL478 on salt exposure validating the successful introgression of Saltol in the NILs. This was also confirmed under agronomic evaluation, wherein the NILs showed greater salt tolerance at seedling stage. One of the NILs, Pusa1734-8-3-3 (NIL3) showed comparable yield and cooking quality to the recurrent parent PB1121, with high field level seedling stage salinity tolerance and shorter duration. This is the first report of successful introgression of Saltol into a Basmati rice cultivar.