Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intensive interdisciplinary outpatient pain management program for chronic back pain: a pilot study

Background Chronic back pain is relatively resistant to unimodal therapy regimes. The aim of this study was to introduce and evaluate the short-term outcome of a three-week intensive multidisciplinary outpatient program for patients with back pain and sciatica, measured according to decrease of functional impairment and pain. Methods The program was designed for patients suffering from chronic back pain to provide intensive interdisciplinary therapy in an outpatient setting, consisting of interventional injection techniques, medication, exercise therapy, back education, ergotherapy, traction, massage therapy, medical training, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, aquatraining, and relaxation. Results Based on Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores, a significant improvement in pain intensity and functionality of 66.83% NRS and an ODI of 33.33% were achieved by our pain program within 3 weeks. Conclusion This paper describes the organization and short-term outcome of an intensive multidisciplinary program for chronic back pain on an outpatient basis provided by our orthopedic department, with clinically significant results.
EXPLICIT BACK-CHANNEL STRATEGY TRAINING AND IMPROVEMENT OF SPEAKING SKILL: CASE OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS

This study explores the effect of explicit back-channel strategy training on Iranian EFL language learners’ success in speaking skill. Back-channels are turn taking responses uttered by the listeners. Forty homogenous learners (20 male, 20 female) were randomly assigned to four groups (2 experimental, 2 control). They were at intermediate level in terms of general English proficiency based on the results of Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and pre-test oral Proficiency Interview. After 18 sessions of treatment of back-channels for experimental groups, that were based on the methodological theory of English language teaching suggested by Doff (1990) and Harmer (1991), post- test oral proficiency test was administered for experimental and control groups. The findings of pretest and posttest oral exams revealed that EFL language learners’ oral performance (speaking) in experimental groups improved. The result revealed that females employed back-channels more often than males when they were participating in a conversation. The type of back-channel both genders employed the most was short utterances, such as ‘yes’, and the most used function of back-channel was request for clarification. The results of this thesis will provide language teachers, EFL language learners, researchers, material developers, and readers, useful information about the types and functions of back channels that are needed to develop speaking ability appropriately through explicit teaching. Keywords: back channel strategy, communication strategy, explicit training
Making Sense of Innovation

“Innovation” is a ubiquitous and value-laden term in many journalism organizations, and one that is often ill-defined or unquestioned. This study examines the management and meaning of innovation within public radio organizations. The question I address is, how do employees and managers make sense of innovation within their organizations in relation to a rapidly evolving digital media environment? I apply an interdisciplinary body of literature on innovation stemming from strategic management and journalism research to data from interviews with 56 employees and experts from 11 different public radio stations. Results show how people in public media organizations make sense of innovation by relying primarily on process-oriented, rather than product-oriented frames. I also introduce the terms “autodisruption,” or how organizations attempt to disrupt themselves, and “storytelling innovation,” a hybrid way of operationalizing process and product innovation in this industry context. The findings provide insight into the meaning and practice of innovation within the understudied environment of public service broadcasting, and contribute to innovation research in journalism institutions more broadly.
Does Negative Mood Confer an Advantage in the Recall of Negative Life Events?

Models of depression suggest that depression, which is characterized by sad mood, should confer a recall advantage for negative stimuli, including stressful life events. The current study examined the effects of mood congruent recall on the quantity and accuracy of recall of negative life events. Forty-two college students received a negative or positive mood induction and then listened to narratives of 11 negative life events which mapped onto a well-known life events checklist measure. One week later, participants returned to the lab, received the same mood induction, and were asked to recall the narratives in open-ended recall and when using the life events checklist as a memory measure. There were no significant group differences on numerous measures of quantity and accuracy of recall including false memories. These results suggest that negative mood does not confer a recall advantage nor disadvantage for narratives of negative life events. Possible implications for depression and recall of negative life events are discussed.
A Particle Swarm Optimizer to cluster short-text corpora: a performance study

Short-text clustering is currently an important research area because of its applicability to web information retrieval, text generation and text mining. Some previous works have demonstrated the effectiveness of a discrete Particle Swarm Optimizer algorithm, named CLUDIPSO, for clustering corpora containing very short documents. In these studies, CLUDIPSO was evaluated with small collections and, in all the considered cases, it outperformed the performance of algorithms representative of the state-of-the-art in the area. An interesting aspect to consider with CLUDIPSO (and other bio-inspired methods) is how well it can scale up to larger (more realistic) corpora. This paper presents a preliminary study showing the performance of CLUDIPSO on short-text corpora of different sizes. The results were compared with those of the most effective clustering algorithms in the area. The experimental work gives strong evidence about the effectiveness of CLUDIPSO on small collections and some drawbacks of this algorithm to manage larger collections. With respect to this last aspect, some possible reasons of the poor behavior of CLUDIPSO in these cases is discussed and the current work to solve this weakness is briefly described.
Quantitative assessment of the influence of surface roughness on soil stiffness

The nature of soil stiffness at small strains remains poorly understood. The relationship between soil stiffness (e.g. shear stiffness, G0) and isotropic confining pressure (p′) can be described using a power function with exponent (b), that is, G0 = A (p′/pr)b, where A is a constant and pr is an arbitrary reference pressure. Experimentally determined values of b are usually around 0·5 and these are higher than the value of 0·33 that can be analytically determined using Hertzian theory. Hertzian theory considers contact between two smooth, elastic spheres; however, in reality, inter-particle contacts in soil are complex with particle shape and surface roughness affecting the interaction. Thus Hertzian theory is not directly applicable to predict real soil stiffness. It has, however, provided a useful basis to develop an analytical framework to consider the influence of particle surface roughness on small-strain soil stiffness. Here, earlier contributions using this framework are extended and improved by p.
Investigating the Effects of Brand Identity on Customer Loyalty from Social Identity Perspective

A key challenge to brand managers is how to gain a better understanding of the relationship between brand and customer loyalty constructs. Researchers have recognized that brand identity plays a key role in brand management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of brand identity and brand identification on brand loyalty through perceived value, customer satisfaction, and trust. To test the study hypotheses, a questionnaire was distributed among cellular-phone customers in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad. The collected data were subject to correlational analysis and path analysis modeling. The results revealed that both brand identity and brand identification have indirect effect on brand loyalty through perceived value, trust, and satisfaction. Thus, it is concluded that social identity perspective, when used in conjunction with other existing perspectives, may be useful in predicting the brand loyalty mechanisms.
Expression and T cell recognition of hybrid antigens with amino- terminal domains encoded by Qa-2 region of major histocompatibility complex and carboxyl termini of transplantation antigens

Coding potential of the Q6 gene from the Qa-2a region of BALB/c Crgl mice was analyzed by a combination of hybrid class I gene construction and DNA-mediated gene transfer. Recombinant genes were created by exon shuffling of the 5' coding region of the Q6 gene and the 3' coding region of a gene encoding a transplantation antigen (Kd, Dd, or Ld), or the inverse. Some of these hybrid class I genes were expressed in the transfected mouse fibroblasts (L cells). The hybrid class I molecules encoded by the 5' end of the Q6 gene and the 3' end of the Ld gene precipitated as 45,000 mol wt molecules associated with beta 2- microglobulin. The expression of the hybrid proteins indicates that 926 basepairs of the 5' flanking region upstream of the structural Q6 gene contain a promoter that functions as a transcription initiation site in L cells. The 3' portion of the Q6 gene appears to be responsible for the lack of cell surface expression of the intact Q6 and the hybrid Ld/Q6 genes in mouse fibroblasts. Accordingly, this portion of the Q6 class I gene may play a regulatory role in tissue-specific expression. Serological analyses of hybrid Q6 proteins suggested that Q6 may be a structural gene for CR (H-2 crossreactive) antigen found normally on subpopulations of lymphocytes. If this identification is correct, Q6 gene will define a new category of class I genes encoding approximately 40,000 mol wt molecules and carrying a characteristic truncated cytoplasmic tail. Analysis of L cells transfected with Q6 hybrid genes demonstrated also that the cytotoxic T cells specific for Qa-2a region- coded antigens recognize the amino-terminal alpha 1-alpha 2 domain of Q6 fusion products. This recognition can be blocked by anti-Qa-2a alloantiserum and monoclonal antibodies reactive with the alpha 3-beta 2-microglobulin portion of the Q6 hybrids. We propose that the structural requirements for the anti-Qa-2a cytotoxic T lymphocyte- specific epitopes on target molecules are the same as for anti-H-2- alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocyte determinants on transplantation antigens and that the mechanism of target recognition is similar in both cases. This interpretation is consistent with the following structural similarities found in both categories of class I molecules: (a) Kd and Q6 alpha 1-alpha 2 domains share serologically defined epitopes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Measuring the response of students to assessment: the Assessment Experience Questionnaire

A review of literature on student assessment (Gibbs and Simpson, in press) has identified eleven conditions under which assessment supports student learning. A questionnaire has been developed to measure the extent to which assessment is experienced by students as meeting these conditions. Questionnaire items were generated, based on pilot interviews with students on a range of science courses, and on published accounts of student experience of assessment, to form a prototype Assessment Experience Questionnaire (AEQ). This prototype AEQ contains six scales, each containing six items, that address the eleven conditions: 1 Time demands and student effort 2 Assignments and learning 3 Quantity and timing of feedback 4 Quality of feedback 5 Use of feedback 6 The examination and learning This prototype has been administered to a total of 1,050 students on seven science courses at Institution A and also to 529 students on seven science courses at Institution B. The three scales concerning feedback (Scales 3, 4 and 5) have also been administered to 700 students on a wide range of other courses at Institution A. The AEQ is being used to diagnose where assessment could be modified to improve student learning. In a three year study, modifications will be made to assessment patterns on the courses being surveyed and the AEQ administered on the revised courses to monitor the impact of changes. The paper describes the theoretical and empirical basis of the prototype AEQ, describe its characteristics, and outlines plans for its further development. Contact
Suppression of Tregs by anti-glucocorticoid induced TNF receptor antibody enhances the antitumor immunity of interferon-α gene therapy for pancreatic cancer

We have reported that interferon (IFN)‐α can attack cancer cells by multiple antitumor mechanisms including the induction of direct cancer cell death and the enhancement of an immune response in several pancreatic cancer models. However, an immunotolerant microenvironment in the tumors is often responsible for the failure of the cancer immunotherapy. Here we examined whether the suppression of regulatory T cells (Tregs) within tumors can enhance an antitumor immunity induced by an intratumoral IFN‐α gene transfer. First we showed that an intraperitoneal administration of an agonistic anti‐glucocorticoid induced TNF receptor (GITR) monoclonal antibody (mAb), which is reported to suppress the function of Tregs, significantly inhibited subcutaneous tumor growth in a murine pancreatic cancer model. The anti‐GITR mAb was then combined with the intratumoral injection of the IFN‐α‐adenovirus vector. The treatment with the antibody synergistically augmented the antitumor effect of IFN‐α gene therapy not only in the vector‐injected tumors but also in the vector‐uninjected tumors. Immunostaining showed that the anti‐GITR mAb decreased Foxp3+ cells infiltrating in the tumors, while the intratumoral IFN‐α gene transfer increased CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the tumors. Therefore, the combination therapy strongly inclined the immune balance of the tumor microenvironment in an antitumor direction, leading to a marked systemic antitumor effect. The CCR5 expression on Tregs was downregulated in the antibody‐treated mice, which may explain the decrease of tumor‐infiltrating Tregs. The combination of Treg‐suppression by GITR mAb and the tumor immunity induction by IFN‐α gene therapy could be a promising therapeutic strategy for pancreatic cancer.
Innovative Biomedical Equipment’s for Diagnosis and Treatment

The current issue of the journal Volume No. 6, Issue 2, comprised of 9 articles. They were addressing the cutting edge research of biomedical sciences such as, antiviral drug discovery, diagnosis of breast cancer assessment, tissue engineering, epilepsy diagnosis, ovarian cancer disorder and bimolecular computing. Present issue crucially contributing to the biomedical research fraternity since it published original research articles from various countries like Italy, USA, Iran, Canada, Mexico, Tunisia and Pakistan.
Effect of Music Training on Promoting Preliteracy Skills: Preliminary Causal Evidence

the present study investigated whether music training fosters children9s preliteracy skills. Sixty children were randomly assigned to participate in a 20-day training program in either music or visual art. Before and after training, children9s phonological awareness and their ability to map visual symbols onto words (i.e., visual-auditory learning) were assessed. Equivalent improvement after training was observed for both groups on the phonological awareness measure, but the children with music training improved significantly more than the art-trained children on the visual-auditory learning measure. Music training appears to benefit certain skills necessary for reading.
Cervical Cancer Prevention Knowledge and Attitudes among Female University Students and Hospital Staff in Iran

Background: Cervical cancer is a major preventable cancers. The, current study aimed to assess relevant knowledge and attitude of female students and hospital staff in Iran. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Medical and Nursing faculties and hospitals of East-Azerbaijan Province of Iran. Participants were medical and paramedical female students and female staff in hospitals selected by stratified random sampling techniques. Tools for data collection were questionnaires for which validity and reliability had been verified (α=0.8). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data with SPSS.16. Result: Response rates were 71 % (426 from 600) and 63.5% (254 from 400) for students and staff, respectively. Some 29.1% admitted that they had no information about cervical cancer, only 70 (10.3%) thinking their knowledge as high, 360 (52.9%) as intermediate, and 237 (34.9%) as low. While 93% of participants considered cervical cancer as a severe health problem, the only statistically significant relationships with knowledge were for education (p<.001) and occupation (p<.001) variables. Conclusion: Given the importance of the roles of medical students and personnel as information sources and leaders in health and preventive behavior, increasing and improving their scientific understanding seems vital. Comprehensive and appropriate education of all people and especially students and personnel of medical sciences and improving attitudes towards cervical cancer and its monitoring are to be recommended.
Three Useful Dimensions for Domain Applicability in QSAR Models Using Random Forest

One popular metric for estimating the accuracy of prospective quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) predictions is based on the similarity of the compound being predicted to compounds in the training set from which the QSAR model was built. More recent work in the field has indicated that other parameters might be equally or more important than similarity. Here we make use of two additional parameters: the variation of prediction among random forest trees (less variation among trees indicates more accurate prediction) and the prediction itself (certain ranges of activity are intrinsically easier to predict than others). The accuracy of prediction for a QSAR model, as measured by the root-mean-square error, can be estimated by cross-validation on the training set at the time of model-building and stored as a three-dimensional array of bins. This is an obvious extension of the one-dimensional array of bins we previously proposed for similarity to the training set [Sheridan et al. J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci.2004, 44, 1912-1928]. We show that using these three parameters simultaneously adds much more discrimination in prediction accuracy than any single parameter. This approach can be applied to any QSAR method that produces an ensemble of models. We also show that the root-mean-square errors produced by cross-validation are predictive of root-mean-square errors of compounds tested after the model was built.
Self-Compassion: An Alternative Conceptualization of a Healthy Attitude Toward Oneself

This article defines and examines the construct of self-compassion. Self-compassion entails three main components: (a) self-kindness—being kind and understanding toward oneself in instances of pain or failure rather than being harshly self-critical, (b) common humanity—perceiving one's experiences as part of the larger human experience rather than seeing them as separating and isolating, and (c) mindfulness—holding painful thoughts and feelings in balanced awareness rather than over-identifying with them. Self-compassion is an emotionally positive self-attitude that should protect against the negative consequences of self-judgment, isolation, and rumination (such as depression). Because of its non-evaluative and interconnected nature, it should also counter the tendencies towards narcissism, self-centeredness, and downward social comparison that have been associated with attempts to maintain self-esteem. The relation of self-compassion to other psychological constructs is examined, its links to psychological functioning are explored, and potential group differences in self-compassion are discussed.
Potassium secretion in rat distal colon during dietary potassium loading: role of pH regulated apical potassium channels

Background Chronic dietary K+ loading increases the abundance of large conductance (210 pS) apical K+ channels in surface cells of rat distal colon, resulting in enhanced K+ secretion in this epithelium. However, the factors involved in the regulation of these K+ channels are at present unclear. Aims To evaluate the effect of dietary K+ loading on intracellular pH and its relation to large conductance apical K+ channel activity in surface cells of rat distal colon. Methods/Results As assessed by fluorescent imaging, intracellular pH was higher in K+ loaded animals (7.48 (0.09)) than in controls (7.07 (0.04); p<0.01) when surface cells were bathed in NaCl solution, and a similar difference in intracellular pH was observed when cells were bathed in Na2SO4 solution (7.67 (0.09) and 6.92 (0.05) respectively; p<0.001). Ethylisopropylamiloride (EIPA; an inhibitor of Na+-H+ exchange; 1 μM) decreased intracellular pH when surface cells from K+ loaded animals were bathed in either solution, although the decrease was greater when the solution contained NaCl (ΔpH 0.50 (0.03)) rather than Na2SO4 (ΔpH 0.18 (0.02); p<0.05). In contrast, EIPA had no effect in cells from control animals. As assessed by patch clamp recording techniques, the activity of large conductance K+ channels in excised inside-out membrane patches from distal colonic surface cells of K+ loaded animals increased twofold when the bath pH was raised from 7.40 to 7.60. As assessed by cell attached patches in distal colonic surface cells from K+ loaded animals, the addition of 1 μM EIPA decreased K+ channel activity by 50%, consistent with reversal of Na+-H+ exchange mediated intracellular alkalinisation. Conclusion Intracellular alkalinisation stimulates pH sensitive large conductance apical K+ channels in rat distal colonic surface cells as part of the K+ secretory response to chronic dietary K+loading. Intracellular alkalinisation seems to reflect an increase in EIPA sensitive Na+-H+ exchange, which may be a manifestation of the secondary hyperaldosteronism associated with this model of colonic K+ adaptation.
Synergistic Effects of Expectancy and Value on Homework Engagement: The Case for a Within-Person Perspective

Historically, expectancy–value models of motivation assumed a synergistic relation between expectancy and value: motivation is high only when both expectancy and value are high. Motivational processes were studied from a within-person perspective, with expectancies and values being assessed or experimentally manipulated across multiple domains and the focus being placed on intraindividual differences. In contrast, contemporary expectancy–value models in educational psychology concentrate almost exclusively on linear effects of expectancy and value on motivational outcomes, with a focus on between-person differences. Recent advances in latent variable methodology allow both issues to be addressed in observational studies. Using the expectancy–value model of homework motivation as a theoretical framework, this study estimated multilevel structural equation models with latent interactions in a sample of 511 secondary school students and found synergistic effects between domain-specific homework expectancy and homework value in predicting homework engagement in 6 subjects. This approach not only brings the “×” back into expectancy–value theory but also reestablishes the within-person perspective as the appropriate level of analysis for latent expectancy–value models.