Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic efficacy of topical application of dexamethasone to the round window niche after acoustic trauma caused by intensive impulse noise in guinea pigs.

OBJECTIVE To assess the therapeutic efficacy of dexamethasone administered topically to the round window niche, following acoustic trauma induced by intensive impulse noise, in guinea pigs. METHODS Adult, male, albino guinea pigs with a normal Preyer's reflex were exposed to 80 impulse noises (peak value 167 dB, duration 0.5 ms, interval 2 s). Dexamethasone (40 mg/ml) or saline was then topically applied to the round window niche. Each animal's auditory brainstem response was measured before and one day after exposure, and three weeks after topical treatment. Cochlear morphology was examined to assess hair cell loss and spiral ganglion cell damage. To assess oxidative activity, cochlear malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase concentrations were determined three weeks post-treatment. Following topical application, the pharmacokinetic characteristics of dexamethasone in cochlear perilymph were analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS Animals receiving dexamethasone showed reduced noise-induced outer hair cell loss (three weeks post-treatment), and significant attenuation of noise-induced auditory brainstem response threshold shifts (one day post-exposure and three weeks post-treatment), compared with controls. There was no difference in spiral ganglion morphology. Animals receiving dexamethasone also showed a significantly lower malondialdehyde concentration and a higher superoxide dismutase concentration, post-exposure. Following topical application, the perilymph dexamethasone level peaked at 5330.522 µg/ml (15 minutes post-treatment), and was 299.797 µg/ml 360 minutes later. CONCLUSION Topical application of dexamethasone to the round window niche has protective effects against intensive impulse noise induced trauma in the guinea pig cochlea. This drug can diffuse into the inner ear through the round window membrane and persist in the perilymph for a relatively long period. The mechanism of protection may involve an anti-oxidant effect.
Internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence: general and dimension-specific effects of familial loadings and preadolescent temperament traits

Background. We investigated the links between familial loading, preadolescent temperament, and internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence, hereby distinguishing effects on maladjustment in general versus dimension-specific effects on either internalizing or externalizing problems. Method. In a population-based sample of 2230 preadolescents (10–11 years) familial loading (parental lifetime psychopathology) and offspring temperament were assessed at baseline by parent report, and offspring psychopathology at 2·5-years follow-up by self-report, teacher report and parent report. We used purified measures of temperament and psychopathology and partialled out shared variance between internalizing and externalizing problems. Results. Familial loading of internalizing psychopathology predicted offspring internalizing but not externalizing problems, whereas familial loading of externalizing psychopathology predicted offspring externalizing but not internalizing problems. Both familial loadings were associated with Frustration, low Effortful Control, and Fear. Frustration acted as a general risk factor predicting severity of maladjustment; low Effortful Control and Fear acted as dimension-specific risk factors that predicted a particular type of psychopathology; whereas Shyness, High-Intensity Pleasure, and Affiliation acted as direction markers that steered the conditional probability of internalizing versus externalizing problems, in the event of maladjustment. Temperament traits mediated one-third of the association between familial loading and psychopathology. Findings were robust across different composite measures of psychopathology, and applied to girls as well as boys. Conclusions. With regard to familial loading and temperament, it is important to distinguish general risk factors (Frustration) from dimension-specific risk factors (familial loadings, Effortful Control, Fear), and direction markers that act as pathoplastic factors (Shyness, High-Intensity Pleasure, Affiliation) from both types of risk factors. About one-third of familial loading effects on psychopathology in early adolescence are mediated by temperament.
Smarnet: Teaching Machines to Read and Comprehend Like Human

Machine Comprehension (MC) is a challenging task in Natural Language Processing field, which aims to guide the machine to comprehend a passage and answer the given question. Many existing approaches on MC task are suffering the inefficiency in some bottlenecks, such as insufficient lexical understanding, complex question-passage interaction, incorrect answer extraction and so on. In this paper, we address these problems from the viewpoint of how humans deal with reading tests in a scientific way. Specifically, we first propose a novel lexical gating mechanism to dynamically combine the words and characters representations. We then guide the machines to read in an interactive way with attention mechanism and memory network. Finally we add a checking layer to refine the answer for insurance. The extensive experiments on two popular datasets SQuAD and TriviaQA show that our method exceeds considerable performance than most state-of-the-art solutions at the time of submission.
Testing aspect-oriented programming Pointcut Descriptors

Pointcut Descriptors (PCDs) are used to specify sets of program join points with a common property where additional behavior should be applied. If PCDs are wrongly formulated, faults are injected into the program, because additional behavior will be applied to unintended join points or will fail to be applied to intended join points. In this paper we classify the types of faults that can occur in PCDs -- in terms of selected join points -- and present a two-step strategy to: 1) help the tester identifying extra join points selected by PCDs; and 2) help the tester identifying neglected join points that should be selected by PCDs in the first place. We focus on the first step but provide motivating examples and directions for both.
Assessing and managing the benefits of enterprise systems: the business manager's perspective

This paper focuses on the benefits that organizations may achieve from their investment in enterprise systems (ES). It proposes an ES benefit framework for summarizing benefits in the years after ES implementation. Based on an analysis of the features of enterprise systems, on the literature on information technology (IT) value, on data from 233 enterprise systems vendor-reported stories published on the Web and on interviews with managers of 34 organizations using ES, the framework provides a detailed list of benefits that have reportedly been acquired through ES implementation. This list of benefits is consolidated into five benefits dimensions: operational, managerial, strategic, IT infrastructure and organizational, and illustrated using perceived net benefit flow (PNBF) graphs. In a detailed example, the paper shows how the framework has been applied to the identification of benefits in a longitudinal case study of four organizations.
A Psychometric Evaluation of the Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale

ence to the similarity (101 vs., 108) between(he mean score originally obtained by Spanierand that of the present sample. (The limita¬tions of this aspect of the data analysis areobvious; but as an exploratory measure, thisprocedure was utilized. As will be seen below,the principal use of this data was to extractthose items which could be most powerfullyused to form a separate instrument.)
Male–male competition facilitates female choice in sticklebacks

In many species, secondary sexual characteristics are used in both male–male competition and in attracting females. This suggests that social control of deception could contribute to the maintenance of honest sexual signalling. In the three–spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, male red breeding coloration plays a dual role in sexual selection by functioning as both a threat signal in male–male competition and as a cue for female choice. To investigate whether male competition determines the level of signalling, the expression of red coloration and courtship activity were recorded both before and after male interactions. The results show that male competition influences signal expression by increasing the difference between males in signalling level. This in turn facilitates female choice and induces a preference for dominant males. Since a preference for dominant males may benefit females both directly and indirectly in this species with exclusively paternal care, male–male competition seems to increase the honesty of signalling and, thus, facilitates female choice in relation to male quality. This may increase the intensity of sexual selection and promote the evolution of breeding aggregations.
Accuracy and precision of cap thickness in small incision lenticule extraction

Aims To report and compare the cap thickness predictability of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and flap thickness of femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (femto-LASIK). Settings and design Beyoglu Eye Training and Research Hospital, Refractive Surgery Department, Istanbul, Turkey. Retrospective pilot study. Materials and methods Medical records of patients who had SMILE in one eye and femto-LASIK in the other eye were reviewed. Visante corneal Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images at 1 week and 1 month post-surgery were analyzed. Both cap and flap thickness at the temporal edge and the nasal edge were measured and compared to each other. Statistical analyses used PAWS Statistics 18 and unpaired student t-test were used to compare the groups. Results The study included 66 eyes of 33 patients (24.7 ± 3.8 years, 20 females and 13 males). Mean flap thickness was 114.88 μm ± 4.96 μm, and mean cap thickness was 114.63 μm ± 5.18 μm. In group 1 (SMILE), cap thickness values were 115.84 μm ± 6.84 μm, 114.75 μm ± 7.36 μm, 113.66 μm ± 6.88 μm, and 114.27 μm ± 6.90 μm in measurement zones 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. In group 2 (FemtoLASIK), flap corneal thickness values were 115.96 mmHg ± 7.01 mmHg, 114.72 mmHg ± 7.17 mmHg, 113.54 mmHg ± 6.45 mmHg, and 115.30 mmHg ± 6.64 mmHg in measurement zones 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. In both groups, no statistically significant change within the measurement zones was observed. Conclusion The predictability of cap thickness in SMILE surgery does not differ from the femto-LASIK flaps created using the same femtosecond laser platform.
Decreased progesterone receptor isoform expression in luteal phase fallopian tube epithelium and high-grade serous carcinoma

We previously reported that BRCA1/2-mutated fallopian tube epithelium (FTE) collected during the luteal phase exhibits gene expression profiles more closely resembling that of high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) specimens than FTE collected during the follicular phase or from control patients. Since the luteal phase is characterised by high levels of progesterone, we determined whether the expression of progesterone receptor (PR) and PR-responsive genes was altered in FTE obtained from BRCA mutation carriers during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. RT-qPCR confirmed a decreased expression of PR mRNA in FTE during the luteal phase relative to follicular phase, in both BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and control patients. Immunohistochemistry using isoform-specific antibodies confirmed a low level of both PR-A and PR-B in HGSC and a lower level of staining in FTE samples obtained during the luteal phase compared with the follicular phase. No significant difference in PR-A or PR-B staining was found based on patient BRCA mutation status. Analysis of our previously reported gene expression profiles based upon known PR-A- and PR-B-specific target genes did not partition samples by BRCA mutation status, indicating that overall FTE PR response is not altered in BRCA mutation carriers. HGSC samples grouped separately from other samples, consistent with the observed loss of PR expression. These findings indicate no overall difference in PR signalling in FTE as a function of BRCA mutation status. Thus, the molecular similarity of BRCA1/2-mutated luteal phase FTE and HGSC likely results from an altered response to luteal phase factors other than progesterone.
Force generation examined by laser temperature-jumps in shortening and lengthening mammalian (rabbit psoas) muscle fibres

We examined the tension change induced by a rapid temperature jump (T‐jump) in shortening and lengthening active muscle fibres. Experiments were done on segments of permeabilized single fibres (length (L0) ∼2 mm, sarcomere length 2.5 μm) from rabbit psoas muscle; [MgATP] was 4.6 mm, pH 7.1, ionic strength 200 mm and temperature ∼9°C. A fibre was maximally Ca2+‐activated in the isometric state and a ∼3°C, rapid (< 0.2 ms), laser T‐jump applied when the tension was approximately steady in the isometric state, or during ramp shortening or ramp lengthening at a limited range of velocities (0–0.2 L0 s−1). The tension increased to 2‐ to 3 ×P0 (isometric force) during ramp lengthening at velocities > 0.05 L0 s−1, whereas the tension decreased to about < 0.5 ×P0 during shortening at 0.1–0.2 L0 s−1; the unloaded shortening velocity was ∼1 L0 s−1 and the curvature of the force–shortening velocity relation was high (a/P0 ratio from Hill's equation of ∼0.05). In isometric state, a T‐jump induced a tension rise of 15–20% to a new steady state; by curve fitting, the tension rise could be resolved into a fast (phase 2b, 40–50 s−1) and a slow (phase 3, 5–10 s−1) exponential component (as previously reported). During steady lengthening, a T‐jump induced a small instantaneous drop in tension, followed by recovery, so that the final tension recorded with and without a T‐jump was not significantly different; thus, a T‐jump did not lead to a net increase of tension. During steady shortening, the T‐jump induced a pronounced tension rise and both its amplitude and the rate (from a single exponential fit) increased with shortening velocity; at 0.1–0.2 L0 s−1, the extent of fibre shortening during the T‐jump tension rise was estimated to be ∼1.2%L0 and it was shorter at lower velocities. At a given shortening velocity and over the temperature range of 8–30°C, the rate of T‐jump tension rise increased with warming (Q10≈ 2.7), similar to phase 2b (endothermic force generation) in isometric muscle. Results are discussed in relation to the previous findings in isometric muscle fibres which showed that a T‐jump promotes an early step in the crossbridge–ATPase cycle that generates force. In general, the finding that the T‐jump effect on active muscle tension is pronounced during shortening, but is depressed/inhibited during lengthening, is consistent with the expectations from the Fenn effect that energy liberation (and acto‐myosin ATPase rate) in muscle are increased during shortening and depressed/inhibited during lengthening.
The Psychometric Properties of the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS) and the Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CAS) in Hebrew

We examined the factor structure, reliability, and construct validity of a Hebrew translation of Lennox and Wolfe’s Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS) and Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CAS) in a large Israeli population sample. A total of 1,294 individuals (1,010 females and 284 males), divided into two samples, completed the RSMS, the CAS, the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire Harm Avoidance Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. With the exception of RSMS Item 12, the total and subscale structure of the English versions of the scales was replicated in both samples. Internal consistencies compared very favorably with those of the original scales. The CAS and the RSMS were moderately correlated yet appeared to be distinct, correlating as expected in opposite directions with harm avoidance and self-esteem. Confirmatory factor analysis justified the use of the RSMS and the CAS as separate scales with two subscales in each. Whereas the fit of our data to the RSMS was very good, the fit to .
Parental health and stress in families with a child who has multiple disabilities

Abstract The presence of a disabled child is known to increase family stress and parental ill-health. However, it is unclear the extent to which support services can alleviate this. Families using two, short-break services - both residential and domiciliary - formed the study population (N = 68). Measures were taken using standardised instruments of children's development and maladaptive behaviours, parental stress, parental health and the supports that the families received from services, professionals and relatives and friends. Significant proportions of these service users were stressed and had high levels of psychiatric morbidity. The sole predictor of stress was parental ill-health which in turn was linked with children who had higher scores on motor skills and the presence of other disabled dependants in the family. Families who were most stressed or in poorer health received no greater amounts of support. The findings reinforced the complexity of disentangling the relationships between family needs and service supports. They also suggest that existing presumptions about more services reducing family stress are too simplistic. It is argued that the meaning of support for families needs to be critically reviewed along with an examination of the coping strategies used by families. This should result in better matching of support services to individual family needs.
Segregation and Crime

Among the handful of studies that examine the influence of segregation on crime, there is a heavy reliance on the idea that segregation is a structured form of inequality that generates high crime rates in ways similar to that of other forms of inequality. The authors attempt to sharpen the link between Black segregation and Black crime by considering whether the centralization of urban Blacks to inner-city areas is associated with high rates of Black violence in the United States. Using racially disaggregated U.S. census and Uniform Crime Report data for 1990, the authors estimate sequential ordinary least squares models that examine the link between segregation and Black violence. A positive relationship between the city rates of Black homicide and the geographic centralization of Blacks relative to Whites is found. The evidence suggests that the structural impediments unique to the inner city are strongly related to the rates of Black homicide in those areas.
The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale for Assessing Progress Toward CSWE Accreditation—Related Objectives: A Replication

Objective: The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE) is being developed as an outcomes assessment instrument for social work courses focusing on evaluation. Method: This scale, based on social cognitive theory, was pretested, revised, and then used with a final sample of 85 master's-level students in the original study. Using a single-group, pretest-posttest retrospective design, the current study (N = 111) is a direct replication of the original ESE study. Results: In this replication, Cronbach's alphas for the ESE were . 95 (pretest), . 95 (posttest), and . 96 (retrospective pretest). Evidence for the construct validity of the ESE is obtained. Conclusion: The results provide additional evidence supporting the psychometric properties of data obtained using the ESE, suggesting that it may be appropriate for use in educational outcomes assessment in general and accreditation-related research in particular.
Towards a social reality of dyslexia

Accessible summary • In recent years, some academics have dismissed the legitimacy of dyslexia. • This approach implies that diagnoses cannot distinguish between general reading difficulties and dyslexia and educational support is the same for both groups. • The article confronts this ‘anti-labelling approach’ by reflecting on life experiences of people with dyslexia. • By doing this it confronts certain stereotypes associated with dyslexia to develop a meaningful response to the label of learning difficulties. Summary Despite recent advances in understanding dyslexia as a neurological condition, a number of academics in both the United Kingdom and United States have dismissed the validity of this impairment. The key thinking behind this approach is twofold. Firstly, individuals labelled as having dyslexia cannot be separated from individuals with general reading difficulties. Secondly, educational ‘treatment’ of dyslexia is consistent with educational support for children labelled as having general reading difficulties. Rather than expand on a psycho-cognitive approach, this article endeavours to reflect on individual subjectivities. This is to analyse the social aspects of dyslexia and its symptoms. By discussing the life stories of people diagnosed with dyslexia, the article confronts certain stereotypes associated with this syndrome. In doing so, the study concludes by developing a meaningful response to the label of learning difficulties.
The binding role of knowledge: an analysis of nursing students’ knowledge ties

The paper discusses the challenges individualisation and de‐traditionalisation represent for professional learning and commitment. We point to the fact that integration via human bonds, face‐to‐face interaction and stable communities has become increasingly less effective in modern society, and to the need for professionals to establish modes of social integration that go beyond the interpersonal and local levels of traditional communities of practice. Drawing on the work of Karin Knorr Cetina on ‘object‐centred sociality’, it is suggested that knowledge and alignment to the more abstract world of theory may play such a role. In this paper, we do this by way of a two‐step procedure. First, a brief summary of the key concepts and ideas in the development of Knorr Cetina’s theory is provided. Thereafter, these are used as a sensitising device to analyse the results from a project which has studied identity formation among students of nursing. The data, although quite exploratory in nature, illustrate how weakened social ties are being strengthened through commitments to more abstract and open‐ended knowledge projects and how these, in turn, contribute to the development of new and more timely modes of social integration among the students.
Impact of physical activity on inflammation: effects on cardiovascular disease risk and other inflammatory conditions

Since the 19th century, many studies have enlightened the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis, changing our perception of “vessel plaque due to oxidized lipoproteins”, similar to a “rusted pipe”, towards a disease with involvement of many cell types and cytokines with more complex mechanisms. Although “physical activity” and “physical exercise” are two terms with some differences in meaning, compared to sedentary lifestyle, active people have lower cardiovascular risk and lower inflammatory markers. Activities of skeletal muscle reveal “myokines” which have roles in both the immune system and adipose tissue metabolism. In vitro and ex-vivo studies have shown beneficial effects of exercise on inflammation markers. Meanwhile in clinical studies, some conflicting results suggested that type of activity, exercise duration, body composition, gender, race and age may modulate anti-inflammatory effects of physical exercise. Medical data on patients with inflammatory diseases have shown beneficial effects of exercise on disease activity scores, patient well-being and inflammatory markers. Although the most beneficial type of activity and the most relevant patient group for anti-inflammatory benefits are still not clear, studies in elderly and adult people generally support anti-inflammatory effects of physical activity and moderate exercise could be advised to patients with cardiovascular risk such as patients with metabolic syndrome.