Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The incidence of parasomnias in child bruxers versus nonbruxers.

Bruxism in children has been reported to occur in association with certain parasomnias (i.e., sleep talking, bed wetting). Various dental, medical, neurological, and psychological risk factors also have been correlated with bruxism. A case-control study was therefore conducted to test the null hypothesis that there is no difference between bruxers and nonbruxers in the occurrence rate of other parasomnias and these reported risk factors. A 54-item survey questionnaire was developed and mailed to 342 pediatric patients, half of whom were avowed to be bruxers by their parents. These patients were selected randomly from a private pediatric practice in Northern California. One-hundred fifty-two subjects (77 bruxers and 75 controls) returned the questionnaire, and stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that five of the 54 factors (nocturnal muscle cramps, bed wetting, colic, drooling while sleeping, and sleep talking) showed significant differences between bruxers and controls (odds ratios ranged from 3.11 to 1.95). These findings strongly suggest the possibility of a common sleep disturbance underlying these nonsleep-stage specific parasomnias.
Recognition memory for words and faces in schoolchildren: A female advantage for words

Normal schoolchildren aged 9 to 11 years were tested on Warrington's Recognition Memory Test for words and faces (Warrington, 1984) which was originally designed for use with neurological patients. Amongst the schoolchildren, there was an overall task advantage for words over faces, which was of greater magnitude than that previously recorded for adults. Whilst boys and girls performed at comparable levels for recognition memory for faces, there is a significant female advantage on recognition memory for words. The material-specific task effects suggest that distinct processing mechanisms are involved in analysing these two sets of visually complex objects and support modularity in the development of cognitive functions.
Quantification via Probability Estimators

Quantification is the name given to a novel machine learning task which deals with correctly estimating the number of elements of one class in a set of examples. The output of a quantifier is a real value, since training instances are the same as a classification problem, a natural approach is to train a classifier and to derive a quantifier from it. Some previous works have shown that just classifying the instances and counting the examples belonging to the class of interest classify count typically yields bad quantifiers, especially when the class distribution may vary between training and test. Hence, adjusted versions of classify count have been developed by using modified thresholds. However, previous works have explicitly discarded (without a deep analysis) any possible approach based on the probability estimations of the classifier. In this paper, we present a method based on averaging the probability estimations of a classifier with a very simple scaling that does perform reasonably well, showing that probability estimators for quantification capture a richer view of the problem than methods based on a threshold.
Effects on skin blood flow by provocation during local analgesia.

Although topical analgesia cream has been used for several years, little is known about its effects on the microcirculation. Previous studies have shown a vasoconstrictive effect after short application times and a vasodilatation after longer application. It has also been shown that vasomotion does not occur in the analgesized skin. The present study was undertaken to investigate the alterations in skin blood perfusion following local cooling, local heating and pin-pricking after the establishment of analgesia. In 11 healthy volunteers, skin analgesia was attained by use of a eutectic mixture of lidocaine and prilocaine (EMLA, Astra Pain Control AB, Sweden) applied to the skin three hours prior to provocation. The changes in skin blood perfusion, after applying three different provocation methods, were studied using the laser Doppler technique. Local cooling and heating to temperatures of +10 and +45 degrees C, respectively, were applied for 9 s by use of a copper probe (O12 mm). In the pin-prick provocation method, a combined effect of deflection and penetration of the skin to in total 3 mm was attained. Identical provocation methods were applied to placebo treated and untreated skin areas. After heat provocation, significant differences in the perfusion response between the treatments were seen (P < 0.0001). Skin areas treated with analgesia cream responded with a slow increase in perfusion that persisted beyond the four minute measurement period. Placebo and untreated areas decreased their perfusion over time. After cooling a significant reduction in skin perfusion was seen, irrespective of the treatment. Similarly, after pin-pricking a perfusion increase was seen for all treatments. The findings indicate that topical analgesia influences the myogenic control of the blood flow in those vascular plexa measured by laser Doppler following heat provocation. No differences could be seen in the response to pin-pricking and cooling for the different treatments.
Identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa genes required for epithelial cell injury

We have developed a simple, reproducible and rapid genetic screen for Pseudomonas aeruginosa‐induced epithelial cell cytotoxicity in cultures of MDCK cells. This screen was used to isolate isogenic transposon‐tagged non‐cytotoxic mutants of a cytotoxic and lung‐virulent strain of P. aeruginosa (PA103). The transposon‐insertion site was determined by using an inverse polymerase chain reaction followed by DNA‐sequence analysis. On the basis of phenotype and sequence analysis, these mutants fell into four classes. One class had absent or defective pili, based on their resistance to phage PO4 and/or loss of twitching motility (twt−). A second class exhibited decreased adherence. A third class of mutants exhibited probable defects in the machinery or targets of type III protein secretion. A final class of mutants exhibited decreased but not absent cytotoxicity. This class included members of the first three classes as well as other mutants. These results suggest that localized cytotoxicity is likely to require several steps and several components, including pili and other (unidentified) extracellular proteins. The type III protein‐secretion apparatus appears to be involved in this process.
Who Drops Out of and Who Continues Beyond High School? A 20-Year Follow-Up of Black Urban Youth

The antecedents of dropping out of high school and continuing beyond high school are explored in a 20-year follow-up of the first-born children of about 250 Black teenage mothers who gave birth in the late 1960s in Baltimore. In 1988, the first-born children of the teenage mothers were making the transition to young adulthood (M age = 19 years). Thirty-seven percent had dropped out of school, 46% had completed high school, and 17% had gone on for postsecondary school education. Predictors of completing high school versus not completing high school were estimated as well as antecedents of continuing beyond high school versus completing high school. Events and characteristics occurring during the mothers' pregnancy in the first year of life, young childhood, middle childhood, and young adolescence were examined. Family circumstances (welfare use, presence of father or grandmother), maternal commitment to education, child's elementary grade school failure, child's preschool cognitive ability, and young adole.
An Empirical Test of the Association Between Disgust and Sexual Assault

Research has increasingly suggested disgust is related to sexual assault. The current study uniquely contributed to this literature by comparing retrospective ratings of disgust reported by 63 adolescents (ages 10.08 to 17.92 years) in relation to sexual and physical assaults. As hypothesized, participants were more likely to endorse the presence of disgust during sexual as compared to physical assault. The intensity of disgust was also rated higher by sexual assault victims. Additionally, adolescents who reported exposure to both types of assault rated the sexual assault as more disgusting. These findings support ongoing work linking disgust to sexual assault. Directions for future research are considered in order to further our understanding of the implications of an association between disgust and sexual assault for the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Age Effects and Sample Size in Free Listing

The literature in the psychology of aging shows cognitive declines among older adults in many abilities. This study addresses the question of whether informant age affects production in free listing. The study compares numbers of free-listed items across four quotidian domains by groups of older (n = 30) versus younger ( n = 31) adults. Smaller samples of five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five were also analyzed to assess age by sample size interaction at smaller sample sizes. Results show that at the level of the group and at every sample size, older adults produce more unique items than younger adults but that when idiosyncratic items (mentioned by only one person) are eliminated from the analysis, older and younger adults produce equivalent numbers of items. Finally, we varied the size of target sets (ten, fifteen, twenty) of most frequently cited items at thirty participants and examined the percentage of those items present for sample sizes of five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five participants. For all set sizes and for both age groups, approximately 74—79% of items were present at n = 20 and 80—87% were present at n = 25. No effects were found for either different target set sizes or for age groups. These results suggest a modest advantage for older versus younger adults in free listing.
68Ga-Siderophores for PET Imaging of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis: Proof of Principle

The diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is difficult and lacks specificity and sensitivity. In the pathophysiology of Aspergillus fumigatus, iron plays an essential role as a nutrient during infection. A. fumigatus uses a specific and highly efficient iron uptake mechanism based on iron-complexing ferric ion Fe(III) siderophores, which are a requirement for A. fumigatus virulence. We aimed to evaluate the potential of siderophores radiolabeled with 68Ga, a positron emitter with complexing properties comparable to those of Fe(III), as a radiopharmaceutical for imaging IPA. Methods: 68Ga radiolabeling of the A. fumigatus siderophores desferri-triacetylfusarinine C (TAFC) and desferri-ferricrocin (FC) was performed at high specific activity. Stability, protein binding, and log P values were determined. In vitro uptake in A. fumigatus cultures was tested under varying conditions. Biodistribution was studied in healthy noninfected BALB/c mice, and uptake was studied in a model of A. fumigatus infection using immunosuppressed Lewis rats. Results: High-specific-activity 68Ga labeling could be achieved, and resulting complexes were stable in serum, toward diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid and Fe(III) challenge. Both siderophores showed hydrophilic properties (68Ga-TAFC, log P = −2.59; 68Ga-FC, log P = −3.17) with low values of protein binding for 68Ga-TAFC (<2%). Uptake of both siderophores was highly dependent on the mycelial iron load and could be blocked with an excess (10 μM) of siderophore or NaN3, indicating specific, energy-dependent uptake. In noninfected mice, 68Ga-TAFC showed rapid renal excretion and low blood values (1.6 ± 0.37 percentage injected dose per gram [%ID/g] at 30 min); in urine only intact 68Ga-TAFC was detected. In contrast, 68Ga-FC revealed high retention in blood (16.1 ± 1.07 %ID/g at 90 min) and rapid metabolism. In the rat IPA model, lung uptake of 68Ga-TAFC was dependent on the severity of infection, with less than 0.04 %ID/g in control rats (n = 5) and 0.29 ± 0.11 %ID/g in mildly infected (n = 3) and 0.95 ± 0.37 %ID/g in severely infected (n = 4) rats. PET showed focal accumulation in infected lung tissue. Conclusion: Both siderophores bound 68Ga with high affinity, and 68Ga-TAFC, especially, showed high stability. 68Ga-TAFC displayed highly selective accumulation by A. fumigatus subspecies in vitro and in vivo. The high and specific uptake by A. fumigatus proves the potential of 68Ga-labeled siderophores for the specific detection of A. fumigatus during infection. They hold promise as new PET agents for IPA.
The impact of left ventricle assist device on circulating endothelial microparticles - pilot study.

OBJECTIVES Recent technological breakthroughs in the design of reliable systems for long term non-pulsatile mechanical heart support offer the possibility to study the effect of continuous blood flow in the vascular system. Generally, it is assumed that the absence of physiological pulsatile flow leads to prothrombogenic and proatherogenic changes. We investigated the change in the circulating endothelial microparticle concentration as a marker of endothelial damage in patients implanted with a continuous-flow left ventricle assist device (LVAD). METHODS Endothelial microparticles were measured in 8 males (mean age 54.1±11.5 years) with terminal heart failure before and 3 months after implantation of an LVAD. The group consisted of 3 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, 3 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, 1 patient with both conditions and 1 patient with congenital valvular disease. The concentration of endothelial microparticles was determined by ELISA Zymutest MP activity test. RESULTS We did not observe a significant change in the concentration of circulating endothelial microparticles measured before and 3 months after implantation (p=0.669). High inter-individual variability in response to implantation was found. However, no association between a change in endothelial microparticle concentration and heart failure aetiology or a significant clinical complication attributed to LVAD implantation was observed. CONCLUSION Results from this preliminary pilot study do not indicate that LVADs contribute to short-term vascular damage as defined by an increase in circulating endothelial microparticles.
Alternate Assessment as the "Ultimate Accommodation": Four Challenges for Policy and Practice

Alternate assessments are intended for use with students who are unable to participate in general state and district assessment systems even with accommodations, and have been described as the "ultimate accommodation" for promoting the inclusion of students with significant disabilities in accountability systems. This article examines four challenges to be addressed in designing and implementing alternate assessments for students with disabilities: (a) deciding who should participate in alternate assessments, (b) deciding what skills and knowledge should be assessed, (c) creating reliable and valid assessments, and (d) defining proficient performance on alternate assessments.
Skilled Reading and Orthographic Processing

Orthographic knowledge can be regarded as stored information about the regularities and exceptionalities of the spelling system, and orthographic processing skill as the ability to use such information efficiently in a range of reading and spelling tasks. This paper focuses on the role of orthographic processing skill in adults' reading proficiency. A case study is discussed in which orthographic processing skill was perfected despite phonological deficiencies, allowing highly skilled silent reading. Data are also presented which indicate that orthographic skill plays a significant independent role in fluent reading aloud of connected text. The importance of studying the various aspects of orthographic processing capability and their contribution to the process of attaining adequate literacy competence is stressed.
Factors influencing teachers' adoption and integration of information and communication technology into teaching: A review of the literature

Global investment in ICT to improve teaching and learning in schools have been initiated by many governments. Despite all these investments on ICT infrastructure, equipments and professional development to improve education in many countries, ICT adoption and integration in teaching and learning have been limited. This article reviews personal, institutional and technological factors that encourage teachers’ use of computer technology in teaching and learning processes. Also teacher-level, school-level and system-level factors that prevent teachers from ICT use are reviewed. These barriers include lack of teacher ICT skills; lack of teacher confidence; lack of pedagogical teacher training; l lack of suitable educational software; limited access to ICT; rigid structure of traditional education systems; restrictive curricula, etc. The article concluded that knowing the extent to which these barriers affect individuals and institutions may help in taking a decision on how to tackle them.
Medicines of hope? The tough decision for anti-retroviral use for HIV in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Abstract The provision of free anti-retroviral treatment for AIDS in Zanzibar since March 2005 is the result of enormous struggles at a global scale and has provided immense relief for sufferers. At the same time, the new “medicines of hope”, as they quickly became known, have produced new uncertainties about how best to respond to HIV/AIDS, both for the infected individual and for the society at large. ART programmes make possible a biologised, pharmaceutical life. Drawing on three case studies this paper shows how HIV-positive people struggle to make decisions in an environment characterised by deep uncertainties about the nature and causes of HIV/AIDS in particular, and about the continuity of Zanzibari society in general. It argues that health interventions cannot be orientated to “life itself”; they must be attuned to the contexts in which life takes place. Analysing people's actions and behaviours in the context of their lives-as-lived throws light onto apparently irrational decisions and emphasises the importance of an in-depth understanding of local moral worlds and social contexts.
Analysis of the iterative decoding of LDPC and product codes using the Gaussian approximation

We propose a novel density evolution approach to analyze the iterative decoding algorithms of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and product codes, based on Gaussian densities. Namely, for these classes of codes we derive a one-dimensional (1D) map whose iterates directly represent the error probability both for the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and the Rayleigh-fading channel. These simple models allow a qualitative analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of the decoding algorithm. As an application, we compute the decoding thresholds and show that they are consistent with the simulation results available in the literature.
On Language Management in Multinational Companies in the Czech Republic

In this paper, we demonstrate the dialectical relationship between micro and macro language planning: macro planning influences micro planning and yet macro planning results (or should result) from micro planning. The relation between the two planning perspectives is illustrated within the framework of Language Management Theory (Jernudd & Neustupný, 1987; Neustupný & Nekvapil, 2003). We deal with the relations between various levels of ‘organised management’, and with the role of the ‘simple, i.e. discourse-based management’ in organised language management. Attention is also given to the impact of organised language management on naturally occurring discourses and discourse-based management. The paper is empirically based on research carried out during the past two years in branches of multinational companies or corporations founded in the Czech Republic by German, Austrian or Swiss owners. We focus primarily on the situation in a subsidiary of a Siemens corporation. The languages which have become the subject of management activities here are German, English, and Czech. The data we work with were obtained using various types of interviews (semi-structured, follow-up) as well as audio-recordings and participant observation.
In-Group Favoritism and Self-Esteem: The Role of Identity Level and Trait Valence

The self-esteem hypothesis in intergroup relations is a continuing source of controversy. The present study aims to clarify some of the divergence in findings by means of self-categorization theory and by looking at the positive-negative asymmetry in social discrimination. The focus is on the level of identity (personal as well as national) and in-group favoritism in the positive and negative domain. In an experimental questionnaire study among Dutch participants, personal self-esteem was found to predict in-group favoritism when personal identity was salient, whereas national self-esteem was found to be a predictor when national identity was salient. These effects were found for the negative trait dimension, but not for the positive one. In addition, in-group favoritism on positive traits was seen to lead to a momentary increase of self-esteem, whereas in-group favoritism on negative traits led to decreased momentary self-esteem. These outcomes for self-esteem were found under the condition of national identity salience.
Linear programming and convex hulls made easy

We present two randomized algorithms. One solves linear programs involving <italic>m</italic> constraints in <italic>d</italic> variables in expected time <italic>&Ogr;</italic>(<italic>m</italic>). The other constructs convex hulls of <italic>n</italic> points in R<italic><supscrpt>d</supscrpt>, d</italic> > 3, in expected time <italic>&Ogr;</italic>(<italic>n</italic><supscrpt>⌈<italic>d</italic>/2⌉</supscrpt>). In both bounds <italic>d</italic> is considered to be a constant. In the linear programming algorithm the dependence of the time bound on <italic>d</italic> is of the form <italic>d</italic>! The main virtue of our results lies in the utter simplicity of the algorithms as well as their analyses.
Knowledge organization as a factor in career intervention outcome : A multidimensional scaling analysis

Multidimensional scaling techniques (MDS) were used to examine the learning outcomes associated with J. L. Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS; J. L. Holland, 1990). One hundred forty-six participants were randomly assigned to 3 conditions: the SDS, an attentional control, and a no treatment control. Based on the speculations of J. L. Holland, T. M. Magoon, and A. R. Spokane (1981), we hypothesized that participants who had completed the SDS would acquire Holland's complete RIASEC organizing scheme. No evidence of Holland's 2-dimensional RIASEC configuration was found for any of the groups. Examination of the 3-dimensional MDS solutions, however, suggested the presence of a prestige dimension and supported Holland's scheme as represented by D.J. Prediger's (1981) Things-People and Data-Ideas constructs.