Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weight of Evidence: a framework for the appraisal of the quality and relevance of evidence

Knowledge use and production is complex and so also are attempts to judge its quality. Research synthesis is a set of formal processes to determine what is known from research in relation to different research questions and this process requires judgements of the quality and relevance of the research evidence considered. Such judgement can be according to generic standards or be specific to the review question. The judgements interact with other judgements in the review process such as inclusion criteria and search strategies and can be absolute or weighted judgements combined in a Weight of Evidence framework. Judgements also vary depending upon the type of review that can range from statistical meta analysis to meta ethnography. Empirical study of the ways that quality and relevance judgements are made can illuminate the nature of such decisions and their impact on epistemic and other domains of knowledge. Greater clarity about such ideological and theoretical differences can enable greater participative debates about such differences.
Silence Speaks Volumes: Parental Sexual Communication Among Asian American Emerging Adults

Although parents greatly influence children’s early understandings of sexuality, little is known about how sexual communication transpires in Asian American families. Accordingly, the authors examined the amount and type of parental sexual communication recalled by 165 Asian American college students. Parents were perceived as providing very little information about a range of sexual topics. Communication was most minimal from fathers, among sons, and in homes marked with language barriers. At the same time, however, most participants could recall receiving restrictive sexual messages, in particular, daughters and participants having less acculturated parents. Qualitative results shed light on the specific types of sexual messages that parents provided. Together, results suggest that Asian American parents use implicit and nonverbal ways to communicate their sexual values.
AN IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GROUP A STREPTOCOCCUS AND MAMMALIAN MUSCLE

By means of the immunofluorescent staining technique, antisera to a wide variety of serological types of Group A and A variant streptococci were found to contain an antibody which reacted with mammalian striated muscle, both skeletal and cardiac, as well as with smooth muscle in the endocardium and in the media of arterioles. Similar heart-reactive antibodies were not present in antisera to most other groups of hemolytic streptococci and to other Gram-positive cocci. Chemical and serological studies clearly pointed to the cell (protoplast) membrane of the Group A streptococcus as the locus of the antigenic determinant of this heart-reactive antibody. In addition, preliminary studies suggested that the reaction between this streptococcal antibody and cardiac tissue represented an immunological relationship between the sarcolemma, the membrane of a mammalian muscle cell and the cell membrane of a bacterium, the hemolytic streptococcus.
Learning to Answer Questions from Image Using Convolutional Neural Network

In this paper, we propose to employ the convolutional neural network (CNN) for the image question answering (QA) task. Our proposed CNN provides an end-to-end framework with convolutional architectures for learning not only the image and question representations, but also their inter-modal interactions to produce the answer. More specifically, our model consists of three CNNs: one image CNN to encode the image content, one sentence CNN to compose the words of the question, and one multimodal convolution layer to learn their joint representation for the classification in the space of candidate answer words. We demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed model on the DAQUAR and COCO-QA datasets, which are two benchmark datasets for image QA, with the performances significantly outperforming the state-of-the-art.
Hemoglobin enhances oxygen uptake in larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) but only under conditions of extreme hypoxia

SUMMARY The role of hemoglobin (Hb) in O2 uptake by zebrafish larvae ranging in age from 5 to 42 days postfertilization was assessed under conditions of normoxia, moderate hypoxia and extreme hypoxia. This was achieved by exposing larvae with and without functional Hb to continuously declining oxygen levels (PO2) in closed-system respirometers. Exposure to 5% CO for 2–4 h was used to render Hb effectively non-functional in terms of its ability to transport O2. Routine metabolic rate (rṀO2), critical dissolved oxygen level (Pc) and residual oxygen level (Pr) were determined and used, respectively, as indicators of response in normoxia, moderate hypoxia and extreme hypoxia. rṀO2 was defined as the average rate of O2 uptake before O2 became limiting (i.e. at high PO2s). Pc is the PO2 at which rṀO2 first becomes O2-limited and Pr is the PO2 below which larvae are no longer able to extract O2 from the ambient medium. CO poisoning had no significant impact on rṀO2 or Pc at any age, indicating that the lack of functional Hb does not impair routine O2 usage in normoxia or at moderate levels of hypoxia [down to at least 25–50 torr (1 torr≈0.133 kPa), depending on age]. Pr, however, was significantly lower overall for control larvae (6.7±1.1 torr; mean ± 95%CI) than for CO-poisoned larvae (11.2±2.1 torr). It would appear that the presence of functional Hb allows zebrafish larvae to extract O2 from water down to lower PO2s under conditions of extreme hypoxia. This is the first documented (as opposed to inferred) benefit of Hb in developing zebrafish. However, given the relatively small magnitude of the effect it is unclear if this benefit on its own is sufficient to balance the costs associated with Hb production and maintenance.
Analysing the Gendered Insecurities of Migration

This article examines the experiences of female migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa aiming to reach Europe via Morocco. The article argues that European immigration policies and policies of co-operation with neighbouring countries on the other side of the Mediterranean, have increased the sources of insecurity for migrants attempting to reach Europe, and shows how these insecurities are gendered.
Dienogest reduces proliferation, aromatase expression and angiogenesis, and increases apoptosis in human endometriosis

Abstract Dienogest is a novel progestin that is highly selective for progesterone receptors and inhibits endometriosis. However, it remains unknown how the administration of dienogest to patients with endometriosis impacts on their lesion tissues. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo effect of dienogest on endometriosis tissue. We collected endometrioma tissues from patients treated with dienogest (N = 7) or not treated (N = 11, controls). Cell proliferation, aromatase expression and blood vessel density were evaluated by staining for Ki67, aromatase and the von Willebrand factor, respectively. Apoptosis was detected using the TUNEL assay. The proportion of Ki67 and aromatase positive epithelial cells was significantly lower in the dienogest group than in controls (p < 0.05, respectively). The number of TUNEL positive cells was significantly higher in the dienogest group (p < 0.05). The density of blood vessels in endometrioma was marginally lower in the dienogest group compared with controls (p = 0.20). Our study demonstrates that endometrioma taken from patients treated with dienogest show remarkable histological features such as reduction of proliferation, aromatase expression and angiogenesis, and increase of apoptosis. This study clarified the impact of dienogest on local histological events that explain its therapeutic effect on endometriosis. Chinese abstract 地诺孕素是一种新型的孕激素，具有孕激素受体高度选择性，可抑制子宫内膜异位症。 但是，地诺孕素作用于内异症患者受损组织的机理现在仍未明确。 本研究的目的在于评估地诺孕素在体内对子宫内膜异位组织的影响。 我们采集经地诺孕素治疗（N = 7）与未经治疗（N = 11，对照组）的患者的子宫内膜异位组织。 通过对Ki67染色、芳香化酶及von Willebrand因子的测定，评估细胞增殖、芳香化酶表达及血管密度。 细胞凋亡情况通过TUNEL检验测定。 结果显示，地诺孕素组的Ki67与芳香化酶阳性上皮细胞比例显著低于对照组（均为p < 0.05）。 地诺孕素组的TUNEL阳性细胞数目显著高于对照组（p < 0.05）。 地诺孕素组子宫内膜异位组织中血管密度略低于对照组（p = 0.20）。 本研究结果表明，经地诺孕素治疗的子宫内膜异位症患者可出现显著的组织学特征改变，如降低细胞增殖、芳香化酶表达及血管生成减少及细胞凋亡增加。 研究明确了地诺孕素对局部组织的影响，证实了其治疗子宫内膜异位症的效果。
Coding Algorithm for Grayscale Images - Design of Piecewise Uniform Quantizer with Golomb-Rice Code and Novel Analytical Model for Performance Analysis

Scalar quantizer selection for processing a signal with a unit variance is a diﬃcult problem, while both selection and quantizer design for the range of variances is even tougher and to the authors’ best knowledge, it is not theoretically solved. Furthermore, performance estimation of various image processing algorithms is unjustiﬁably neglected and there are only a few analytical models that follow experimental analysis. In this paper, we analyse application of piecewise uniform quantizer with Golomb-Rice coding in modiﬁed block truncation coding algorithm for grayscale image compression, propose design improvements and provide a novel analytical model for performance analysis. Besides the nature of input signal, required compression rate and processing delay of the observed system have a strong inﬂuence on quantizer design. Consequently, the impact of quantizer range choice is analysed using a discrete designing variance and it was exploited to improve overall quantizer performance, whereas variable-length coding is applied in order to reduce quantizer’s ﬁxed bit-rate. The analytical model for performance analysis is proposed by introducing Inverse Gaussian distribution and it is obtained by discussing a number of images, providing general closed-form solutions for peak-signal-to-noise ratio and the total average bit-rate estimation. The proposed quantizer design ensures better performance in comparison to the other similar methods for grayscale image compression, including linear prediction of pixel intensity and edge-based adaptation, whereas analytical model for performance analysis provides matching with the experimental results within the range of 1 dB for PSQNR and 0.2 bpp for the total average bit-rate.
Oxygen Challenge Test in Septic Shock Patients: Prognostic Value and Influence of Respiratory Status

ABSTRACT Transcutaneous oxygen pressure (PtcO2) value in response to an increase of FiO2 or oxygen challenge test (OCT) in ventilated patients has been reported to be related to peripheral perfusion and outcome during septic shock. However, patients with sepsis-related acute respiratory distress syndrome could demonstrate compromised arterial oxygenation with OCT impairment decoupled to circulatory failure. The aims of this study were to confirm the prognostic value of OCT and to explore the influence of respiratory status on OCT results. This was a prospective study set in an intensive care unit of a tertiary teaching hospital. Fifty-six mechanically ventilated patients with septic shock criteria were studied. Transcutaneous oxygen pressure was measured at baseline and after OCT, at intensive care unit admittance (T0), and 24 h later (T24). Survival at day 28 and hemodynamic and respiratory parameters were analyzed and compared according to outcome and respiratory status. Central hemodynamic parameters or static transcutaneous data did not differ between survivors and nonsurvivors at enrollment. The OCT was statistically different at T24 according to outcome (P < 0.001), but sensitivity was low (53%). Moreover, patients with low OCT results at T24 exhibited more severe respiratory failure (P < 0.01). The OCT at T24 is related to outcome but is influenced by the severity of respiratory failure. Our results suggest considering with caution hemodynamic management based on OCT in septic shock patients with altered pulmonary function.
The negotiation of culture in foster care placements for separated refugee and asylum seeking young people in Ireland and England

Little is known about separated asylum seeking young people in foster care. This article addresses this gap by drawing together findings from qualitative research conducted with separated refugee and asylum seeking young people in two studies – one in England and one in Ireland. Focusing on the role of culture, the authors examine similar findings from the two studies on the significance of culture in young people’s experiences of foster care. Culturally ‘matched’ placements are often assumed to provide continuity in relation to cultural identity. This article draws on young people’s accounts of ‘matched’ and ‘non-matched’ placements to examine the extent to which this may be the case for separated young people. It was found that young people regarded it as important to maintain continuity in relation to their cultures of origin, but that cultural ‘matching’ with foster carers according to country of origin and/or religion was not the only means for achieving this. The authors suggest that practitioners need to adopt an individualised approach in determining whether a ‘matched’ or a cross-cultural placement best meets the various needs of separated young people, including their identity development needs.
Disability Studies and Phenomenology: The carnal politics of everyday life

This paper is an attempt to develop a sociology of impairment and to theorise embodiment in the lebenswelt. Disability studies has failed to address adequately the fundamental issue of bodily agency. The impaired body is represented as a passive recipient of social forces. Such a conception of the body is losing ground within social theory. This paper attempts to overcome disability studies' disembodied view of disability by utilising a phenomenological concept of embodiment. Phenomenology offers the opportunity to transcend the traditional Cartesian dualisms which posit the body as a passive precultural object. However, such a view, when extended to impairment is empty of political content since phenomenological analyses have relied upon medicalised and individualised understandings of disability. In order to counter the disablism evident in phenomenology on the one side and disability studies' disembodied view of disability on the other, we argue for a radical phenomenological approach to the (impaired).
Managing Problem Behaviors in Cognitively Impaired Older People: The Competence and Preparedness of Healthcare Providers in Long-Term Care Facilities

Background: The prevelance of cognitive impairment in older individuals is increasing in Taiwan. Most healthcare providers (HCPs) experience deep frustration while caring for residents of long-term care facilities who are cognitively impaired. Competence and preparedness of HCPs represent key factors in being able to successfully create and maintain a safe environment for elderly wards and are one of the main concerns of cognitive impairment care. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the competence and preparedness of HCPs to manage the problem behaviors of cognitively impaired elders living in long-term care facilities. Methods: This study utilized a correlational research design and included 221 participants that were recruited using a stratified random sampling process. Structured and semistructured questionaires on competence and preparedness of caring for cognitively impaired elders were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and univariate and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the relationship between HCP demographic characteristics and their competence or preparedness in managing cognitive impairment care. Results: Ninety-five percent of participants were women. The top scoring item in the competence dimension was "preventing problem behaviors from occurring" (M ± SD = 3.89 ± 2.89), and the lowest scoring item was "reading related books and articles" (2.91 ± 0.85). In the preparedness dimension, "modification of environment" (3.22 ± 1.07) was the highest scoring item, and "resources referral skills" was the lowest scoring item (3.02 ± 1.03). Results showed supervisors (F = 7.89, p = .001) and college graduates (F = 2.89, p = .047) to have higher levels of competency than other participants. Participant knowledge level in dealing with problem behaviors was significantly and positively correlated with frequency of continuing education participation (F = 28.73, p < .001). Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Results point to the need for continuing education, practicum, counseling, staffing resources, and involvement of other professionals to increase HCP readiness and competence.
IL-21 Promotes CD4 T Cell Responses by Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase–Dependent Upregulation of CD86 on B Cells

The cytokine IL-21 is a potent immune modulator with diverse mechanisms of action on multiple cell types. IL-21 is in clinical use to promote tumor rejection and is an emerging target for neutralization in the setting of autoimmunity. Despite its clinical potential, the biological actions of IL-21 are not yet fully understood and the full range of effects of this pleiotropic cytokine are still being uncovered. In this study, we identify a novel role for IL-21 as an inducer of the costimulatory ligand CD86 on B lymphocytes. CD86 provides critical signals through T cell–expressed CD28 that promote T cell activation in response to Ag engagement. Expression levels of CD86 are tightly regulated in vivo, being actively decreased by regulatory T cells and increased in response to pathogen-derived signals. In this study, we demonstrate that IL-21 can trigger potent and sustained CD86 upregulation through a STAT3 and PI3K-dependent mechanism. We show that elevated CD86 expression has functional consequences for the magnitude of CD4 T cell responses both in vitro and in vivo. These data pinpoint CD86 upregulation as an additional mechanism by which IL-21 can elicit immunomodulatory effects.
The reciprocal interaction between LV remodelling and allograft outcomes in kidney transplant recipients

Objective This study aimed to investigate the incidence and related clinical factors of LV hypertrophy (LVH) regression after kidney transplantation and its effect on graft outcome. Methods Among the 3373 kidney transplant recipients who were enrolled in a multicentre cohort from 1997 to 2012, a total of 767 patients who underwent echocardiography before and after transplantation were included in this study followed for a median of 7.5 years. Results LVH regression steadily increased from 7.4% at 1 year to 35.4% at 5 years over the 5-year post-transplantation period. The probability of LVH regression decreased in the patients who received a kidney transplant due to end-stage renal disease of unknown aetiology (p=0.041) or who underwent pretransplant haemodialysis (p=0.020). The probability of LVH regression also decreased as the pretransplant LV mass index (p<0.001) and post-transplant systolic blood pressure increased (p=0.005). Conversely, LVH regression was significantly associated with the highest tertile of the pretransplant haemoglobin level (p=0.029). Furthermore, in the 5th year after transplantation, persistent LVH was independently associated with allograft failure (HR 1.95; 95% CI 1.14 to 3.33; p=0.015) and the LV mass index reliably predicted graft outcome. Conclusions LVH consistently regressed after kidney transplantation in most patients. Persistent LVH, low haemoglobin levels and elevated blood pressure were associated with an increased risk of allograft failure in kidney transplant recipients.
Being there: creating music-making opportunities in a childcare centre

In this case study of the impact of professional development (PD) activities in music on staff at a childcare centre, the researcher was also the provider of PD. The needs of the staff and their preferred mode of PD delivery were negotiated with the researcher, resulting in a number of sessions where new resources and teaching ideas were modelled with children, with staff observing and participating in activities. The study reports on staff reaction to the sessions and how they used material from the PD sessions in their own music teaching.
The stimulus properties of gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

Fourteen rats were trained to discriminate the effects of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) (sodium salt, 200 mg/kg) and saline in a two-lever choice task using a fixed ratio 10 schedule of water reinforcement. Intermediate responding, i.e., responding not fully appropriate for either training condition was observed in tests following morphine, lysergic acid diethylamide, chlordiazepoxide, and the presumed GABA-mimetics muscimol, gamma-butyrolactone, baclofen, and 3-aminopropane sulfonic acid. Naloxone blocked the intermediate results following morphine, but had no effect on GBH-induced stimulus control. The GABA antagonist bicuculline partially blocked GHB, but pizotyline, phentolamine, and butaclamol were without effect. It is concluded that the compound stimulus produced by GHB is most closely associated with GABAergic systems, but that minor opiate and serotonergic components are present as well.
Subpopulation of Dorsal Horn Neurons Displays Enhanced N-methyl-d-aspartate Receptor Function after Chronic Morphine Exposure

Background: Morphine tolerance may be attributed to enhancement of glutamatergic neurotransmission, in particular to increased function of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. The cellular mechanisms responsible for these changes remain poorly defined. The authors identified and characterized a specific subpopulation of dorsal horn neurons, displaying NMDA receptor plasticity in response to chronic morphine administration. Methods: The authors undertook current clamped and voltage clamped recordings of NMDA receptor–mediated responses from cultured rat dorsal horn neurons that were untreated or treated for 7 days with 1 or 100 μm morphine. Results: Smaller (capacitance ≤ 22 pF), tonic firing neurons showed a significantly enhanced NMDA receptor–mediated peak current after prolonged morphine treatment, whereas larger and phasic firing neurons showed no enhancement. With high-concentration but not low-concentration morphine treatment, Mg2+ blockade of NMDA receptors at resting membrane potentials was reduced. Furthermore, the chronic opioid–induced increase in NMDA current was attenuated by pretreatment with either a μ-opioid receptor inhibitor (naloxone) or an NMDA receptor inhibitor (2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate) (low-concentration > high-concentration morphine). Conclusions: In an electrophysiologically defined subpopulation of dorsal horn neurons, enhanced NMDA receptor function after chronic morphine exposure was shown to be mechanistically dependent on morphine concentration and sensitive to both NMDA and μ-opioid receptor antagonism. Therefore, these changes observed in this population of sensory spinal neurons can be used to study the development and prevention of opioid tolerance described in multiple laboratory and clinical reports.
Book Reviews: Data-Intensive Text Processing with MapReduce by Jimmy Lin and Chris Dyer

This half-day tutorial introduces participants to data-intensive text processing with the MapReduce programming model [1], using the open-source Hadoop implementation. The focus will be on scalability and the tradeoffs associated with distributed processing of large datasets. Content will include general discussions about algorithm design, presentation of illustrative algorithms, case studies in HLT applications, as well as practical advice in writing Hadoop programs and running Hadoop clusters.