Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statin Treatment in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background and purpose We aimed to investigate the association of statin treatment with outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods Over a 4.5-year period (starting November 2007), 12 781 patients (mean age, 72·8 ± 12·6 years; 48·6% women) with acute ischemic stroke from 15 hospitals in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, were enrolled in a population-based study and prospectively evaluated. The primary outcomes were the mortality during hospitalization and the disability (modified Rankin Scale score ≥2) at discharge from hospital. The secondary outcomes were the mortality and disability at three-months after discharge. Results A total of 7535 patients (59%) with acute ischemic stroke were treated with statins. During hospitalization (mean, nine-days), the in-hospital mortality rate (4·7%; 95% confidence interval, 4·3–5·1%) was lower in patients treated with statins than in those without statins (2·3% vs. 7·9%, respectively; P < 0·001). At three-months after discharge, the mortality rate (6·9%; 95% confidence interval, 6·4–7·5%) was lower in patients treated with statins than in those without statins (5·0% vs. 10·6%, respectively; P < 0·001). Adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that statin treatment was associated with reduced rates of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 0·39; 95% confidence interval, 0·31–0·48; P < 0·001) and three-month mortality (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0·34–0·63; P < 0·001). A comparison of the patient groups revealed that patients on statins were likely to have lower disability rates at discharge (59% vs. 67%, respectively; P < 0·001) and after three-months (33% vs. 42%, respectively; P < 0·001) in patients who had survived the stroke. Conclusion Statin treatment may improve the outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Further studies are necessary to confirm this finding.
Techniques for estimating blood pressure variation using video images

It is important to know about a sudden blood pressure change that occurs in everyday life and may pose a danger to human health. However, monitoring the blood pressure variation in daily life is difficult because a bulky and expensive sensor is needed to measure the blood pressure continuously. In this study, a new non-contact method is proposed to estimate the blood pressure variation using video images. In this method, the pulse propagation time difference or instantaneous phase difference is calculated between two pulse waves obtained from different parts of a subject's body captured by a video camera. The forehead, left cheek, and right hand are selected as regions to obtain pulse waves. Both the pulse propagation time difference and instantaneous phase difference were calculated from the video images of 20 healthy subjects performing the Valsalva maneuver. These indices are considered to have a negative correlation with the blood pressure variation because they approximate the pulse transit time obtained from a photoplethysmograph. However, the experimental results showed that the correlation coefficients between the blood pressure and the proposed indices were approximately 0.6 for the pulse wave obtained from the right hand. This result is considered to be due to the difference in the transmission depth into the skin between the green and infrared light used as light sources for the video image and conventional photoplethysmogram, respectively. In addition, the difference in the innervation of the face and hand may be related to the results.
Comparison of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian Environmental Attitudes and Behavior

This study examined the environmental behavior and attitudes of Chinese-Australians, in comparison with Anglo-Australians, using a survey methodology. Two hundred and three Anglo-Australians and 98 Chinese-Australians participated. The results indicated that Chinese-Australians and Anglo-Australians differed in their environmental concern and their endorsement of New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) values. The results also suggested that, overall, environmental behavior was related to environmental concern, which was in turn related to NEP values. Among the Chinese-Australians, length of residence in Australia was positively related to environmental behavior but negatively related to environmental concern. Chinese-Australians who identified themselves as Asians or Chinese were less likely to engage in environmental behavior, compared with those who did not identify themselves with any ethnic group. Results are interpreted from within an acculturation framework.
Preservation of Propositional Speech in a Pure Anomic: The Importance of an Abstract Vocabulary

We describe a detailed quantitative analysis of the propositional speech of a patient, FAV, who became severely anomic following a left occipito-temporal infarction. FAV showed a selective noun retrieval deficit in naming to confrontation and from verbal description. Nonetheless, his propositional speech was fluent and content-rich. To quantify this observation, three picture description-based tasks were designed to elicit spontaneous speech. These were pictures of professional occupations, real world scenes and stylised object scenes. FAV’s performance was compared and contrasted with that of 5 age- and sex-matched control subjects on a number of variables including speech production rate, volume of output, pause frequency and duration, word frequency, word concreteness and diversity of vocabulary used. FAV’s propositional speech fell within the range of normal control performance on the majority of measurements of quality, quantity and fluency. Only in the narrative tasks which relied more heavily upon a concrete vocabulary, did FAV become less voluble and resort to summarising the scenes in an manner. This dissociation between virtually intact propositional speech and a severe naming deficit represents the purest case of anomia currently on record. We attribute this dissociation in part to the preservation of his ability to retrieve his abstract word vocabulary. Our account demonstrates that poor performance on standard naming tasks may be indicative of only a narrowly defined word retrieval deficit. However, we also propose the existence of a feedback circuit which guides sentence construction by providing information regarding lexical availability.
A Scalable Hierarchical Distributed Language Model

Neural probabilistic language models (NPLMs) have been shown to be competitive with and occasionally superior to the widely-used n-gram language models. The main drawback of NPLMs is their extremely long training and testing times. Morin and Bengio have proposed a hierarchical language model built around a binary tree of words, which was two orders of magnitude faster than the non-hierarchical model it was based on. However, it performed considerably worse than its non-hierarchical counterpart in spite of using a word tree created using expert knowledge. We introduce a fast hierarchical language model along with a simple feature-based algorithm for automatic construction of word trees from the data. We then show that the resulting models can outperform non-hierarchical neural models as well as the best n-gram models.
The “Litigation Mentality” in Organizations: A Test of Alternative Psychological Explanations

A “litigation mentality” increasingly pervades today's workplace, as an ever wider variety of managerial decisions are the target of employee-initiated lawsuits. In this paper we identify different psychological factors that could explain why employees consider suing their employers. One group of factors suggests that employee consideration of litigation is motivated primarily by self-interest , as employers perceive they have more to gain than lose by going to court. A second group of factors suggests that employees' decision to go to court is influenced largely by the perceived fairness of their dealings with the organization. In a survey of 141 currently employed workers, we found that the perceived fairness of organizational rules and procedures was the primary factor influencing whether employees consider a litigious response. In particular, employees were concerned about how the rules and procedures were implemented and the quality of interpersonal treatment received from managers. Job satisfaction also had an impact on employees considering litigation. We argue that while our findings support organizational efforts to create more formalized policies and procedures that emphasize due process or procedural justice, such efforts, in and of themselves, may undermine the intended goal of ensuring fairness and reducing employee litigation. The solution to this dilemma is not in the creation of formal procedures per se, but in the moral and interpersonal conduct of those implementing the procedures. We conclude by identifying directions for future research on employee litigation.
Language, meaning, context, and functional communication

Background : In the 1970s Audrey Holland first emphasised the importance of “functional communication” rather than “linguistic accuracy” for individuals with aphasia, noting that they could often “communicate” better than they could “talk”. Her approach inspired many to explore why and how this could be so, and to look for avenues that tapped everyday communication skills, rather than the person with aphasia's performance on decontextualised language tests. Aims: This paper addresses the kinds of issues that are involved in “functional communication” and specifically addresses the role of language in this endeavour. It aims to highlight language as a set of “meaning-making resources” rather than as a set of syntactic/semantic constructs that exist outside of the communicator's everyday environment, that have to be mastered before being put into practice and that exist regardless of specific contexts. Main Contribution: The paper discusses language's role in social life in which speakers not only convey information to each other but also maintain social relationships through communication. A taxonomy of the different kinds of social meanings that speakers use to communicate is proposed for use in aphasia research, based on the work of Halliday (1994)—those related to conveying ideas and experiences (e.g., vocabulary related to particular experiences, topics), those related to interpersonal relationships (e.g., speech acts, evaluative language devices, exchange structure), and those related to maintaining continuity and coherence across the speaker's discourse (e.g., cohesion). In addition, the systematic relationship existing between language and context and its clinical implications are explored. Conclusions: Language as information is only one form of language use. The paper argues for further consideration in aphasiology of the importance of multiple language uses and their relation to context. It is proposed that regarding language forms from these different perspectives of use will enable clinicians to further address the different aspects of communication required for meaningful and satisfying interactions in everyday social life.
Moving Object Detection for Dynamic Background Scenes Based on Spatiotemporal Model

Moving object detection in video streams is the first step of many computer vision applications. Background modeling and subtraction for moving detection is the most common technique for detecting, while how to detect moving objects correctly is still a challenge. Some methods initialize the background model at each pixel in the first N frames. However, it cannot perform well in dynamic background scenes since the background model only contains temporal features. Herein, a novel pixelwise and nonparametric moving object detection method is proposed, which contains both spatial and temporal features. The proposed method can accurately detect the dynamic background. Additionally, several new mechanisms are also proposed to maintain and update the background model. The experimental results based on image sequences in public datasets show that the proposed method provides the robustness and effectiveness in dynamic background scenes compared with the existing methods.
Can serum free light chains replace urine electrophoresis in the detection of monoclonal gammopathies?

Background: We investigated how sensitive serum free light chain (FLC) analysis was for the detection of Bence-Jones protein (BJP) and whether a serum κ/λ ratio could replace urine electrophoresis as part of the investigation algorithm for monoclonal gammopathy. Methods: Serum κ and λ FLC analysis was performed on 932 consecutive patients investigated for monoclonal gammopathy, along with serum electrophoresis, serum immunofixation where appropriate, and in 483 individuals urine immunofixation. A reference interval for the κ/λ ratio was derived from all patients who had normal serum and urine electrophoresis and no B-cell dyscrasia (n = 312). Results: The 100% reference interval was 0.21-1.44 (median 0.50), lower than that previously published. From the 483 patients who provided urines, BJP was detected in 34, with an abnormal κ/λ ratio in 26 of these. Using the reference interval, sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values of an abnormal κ/λ ratio for the presence of BJP were 0.76, 0.96, 0.98 and 0.59 respectively. Seven patients had an abnormal κ/λ ratio with no paraprotein. Conclusion: All κ/λ results should be interpreted against a reference interval appropriate for the analyser in use and the population under study. Some urines will be positive for BJP when the serum κ/λ ratio is normal, but there is little difference in outcome whether urine for BJP or serum FLC analysis is included in the screening strategy for monoclonal gammopathies. On balance, we believe that it is not yet time to dispense with urine BJP in the investigation of patients with suspected monoclonal gammopathy.
Self and Attitude Strength Parallels: Focus on Accessibility

Numerous parallels exist between the literatures on attitudes and the self, yet they are generally considered in isolation. In this paper, we focus on some parallels with respect to the concept of self-strength – that is, aspects of self-esteem and the self-concept that impart the qualities of durability and impactfulness. Using research on attitude strength as our foundation, we first introduce some relevant strength variables such as accessibility, certainty, and ambivalence. Then, as a case study we review existing research on self-view accessibility. Our review is organized based on parallel findings on attitude accessibility in order to demonstrate the utility of this approach. By considering research on attitude strength, we are able to organize, and in some cases reinterpret, previous self-related findings, make new predictions regarding the self, and increase the precision of predictions. We believe that this approach can foster integration between the areas of attitudes and the self, advancing theory and research on both.
THE QUENCHING OF THE ULTRA-FAINT DWARF GALAXIES IN THE REIONIZATION ERA

We present new constraints on the star formation histories of six ultra-faint dwarf galaxies: Bootes I, Canes Venatici II, Coma Berenices, Hercules, Leo IV, and Ursa Major I. Our analysis employs a combination of high-precision photometry obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope, medium-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph on the W. M. Keck Observatory, and updated Victoria-Regina isochrones tailored to the abundance patterns appropriate for these galaxies. The data for five of these Milky Way satellites are best fit by a star formation history where at least 75% of the stars formed by z ∼ 10 (13.3 Gyr ago). All of the galaxies are consistent with 80% of the stars forming by z ∼ 6 (12.8 Gyr ago) and 100% of the stars forming by z ∼ 3 (11.6 Gyr ago). The similarly ancient populations of these galaxies support the hypothesis that star formation in the smallest dark-matter sub-halos was suppressed by a global outside influence, such as the reionization of the universe.
Evidence that MRas1 and MRas3 proteins are associated with distinct cellular functions during growth and morphogenesis in the fungus Mucor racemosus.

The filamentous fungus Mucor racemosus provides a simple and unique model system for defining the function of individual ras genes in a gene family which is closely related to mammalian ras genes. The current study was designed to investigate the role of Mras1 and Mras3 in different stages of fungal morphogenesis, including sporangiospore germination, sporulation, and dimorphic transitions. The overall patterns of Mras1 and Mras3 transcript and protein accumulation were markedly different but, in general, transcripts and proteins were present at low levels during spherical growth and their accumulated level increased severalfold during polar growth (germ tube emergence and elongation). In contrast to Mras1, relatively high levels of Mras3 transcript accumulated during sporulation and MRas3 protein accumulated in sporangiospores. Transformation of M. racemosus with an activated allele of Mras3 reduced growth rate during aerobic sporangiospore germination, while a dominant-negative allele of Mras3 caused a 40% decrease in viable asexual spores. An activated allele of Mras1 increased growth rate during sporangiospore germination but neither activated nor dominant-negative alleles of Mras1 affected total number of asexual spores. Expression of MRas3 and MRas1 proteins appear to be subject to different regulatory mechanisms: exogenous dibutyryl-cAMP and fusidienol caused a strong repression of the level of MRas3 protein (but not MRas1) concurrent with the inhibition of polar growth. Differential posttranslational modification and intracellular localization of MRas1 and MRas3 proteins were also observed. The data strongly suggest that Mras3 and Mras1 play different roles in regulation of cell growth and morphogenesis in Mucor.
Annual vacation: Duration of relief from job stressors and burnout

To reveal the impact of an annual vacation on perceived job Stressors and burnout of industrial workers, we compared 51 workers who took their annual vacation during the summer months to 51 matched controls ‐workers in the same company who did not take their vacation during the same period. Each member of the “vacation group” and his/her control in the “comparison group” completed stress and burnout questionnaires shortly before the first left work for his/her vacation, after s/he returned and 3 weeks later. In the vacation group both parameters decreased after returning. Three weeks later, stress had reverted to its initial level, but burnout remained low. The comparison group showed no change. The ameliorative effect of annual vacation on job stress and burnout was the same for long vacations (more than 10 days) or short vacation (7–10 days). Practical applications aimed at reducing stress and burnout are discussed.
Trying Versus Not Trying: A Qualitative Exploration of Pregnancy Intentions, the Transition to Parenthood, and the Couple Relationship

Using qualitative phenomenology methodology, the authors investigated the impact of the transition to parenthood on the couple relationship. Conjoint, semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 heterosexual couples during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Couples were asked to describe childbearing decision-making processes, current pregnancy experiences, and the impact of pregnancy on the couple relationship. Through qualitative analysis one dominant category, pregnancy intentions, emerged, highlighting significant differences between couples who described “trying” versus “not trying” to conceive. Analysis indicated that subsequent themes and subthemes varied between trying and not trying couples. Couples’ descriptions offer clinical insight into the dynamics between childbearing decisions, pregnancy, and the couple relationship.
Arginine/Lysine Residues in the Cytoplasmic Tail Promote ER Export of Plant Glycosylation Enzymes

Plant N‐glycan processing enzymes are arranged along the early secretory pathway, forming an assembly line to facilitate the step‐by‐step modification of oligosaccharides on glycoproteins. Thus, these enzymes provide excellent tools to study signals and mechanisms, promoting their localization and retention in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus. Herein, we focused on a detailed investigation of amino acid sequence motifs present in their short cytoplasmic tails in respect to ER export. Using site‐directed mutagenesis, we determined that single arginine/lysine residues within the cytoplasmic tail are sufficient to promote rapid Golgi targeting of Golgi‐resident N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GnTI) and α‐mannosidase II (GMII). Furthermore, we reveal that an intact ER export motif is essential for proper in vivo function of GnTI. Coexpression studies with Sar1p provided evidence for COPII‐dependent transport of GnTI to the Golgi. Our data provide evidence that efficient ER export of Golgi‐resident plant N‐glycan processing enzymes occurs through a selective mechanism based on recognition of single basic amino acids present in their cytoplasmic tails.
OpenDial: A Toolkit for Developing Spoken Dialogue Systems with Probabilistic Rules

We present a new release of OpenDial, an open-source toolkit for building and evaluating spoken dialogue systems. The toolkit relies on an information-state architecture where the dialogue state is represented as a Bayesian network and acts as a shared memory for all system modules. The domain models are specified via probabilistic rules encoded in XML. OpenDial has been deployed in several application domains such as human‐robot interaction, intelligent tutoring systems and multi-modal in-car driver assistants.
Send Orders of Reprints at Reprints@benthamscience.net Vitamin B12 Supplementation in Treating Major Depressive Disorder: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background/Objective: Recent literature has identified links between vitamin B12 deficiency and depression . We compared the clinical response of SSRI-monotherapy with that of B12-augmentation in a sample of depressed patients with low normal B12 levels who responded inadequately to the first trial with the SSRIs. Methods: Patients with depression and low normal B12 levels were randomized to a control arm (antidepressant only) or treatment arm (antidepressants and injectable vitamin B12 supplementation). Results: A total of 199 depressed patients were screened. Out of 73 patients with low normal B12 levels 34 (47%) were randomized to the treatment group while 39 (53%) were randomized to the control arm. At three months follow up 100% of the treatment group showed at least a 20% reduction in HAM-D score, while only 69% in the control arm showed at least a 20% reduction in HAM-D score (p<0.001). The findings remained significant after adjusting for baseline HAM-D score (p=0.001). Conclusion: Vitamin B12 supplementation with antidepressants significantly improved depressive symptoms in our co-hort. INTRODUCTION Major Depressive Disorder is an important global public health problem associated with the significant burden and is projected to be the second leading cause of disability by 2020 [1]. Prevalence figures worldwide range between 4.2 – 17% and a systematic review of studies from Pakistan gave the estimates as high as 34% for anxiety and depressive disorders [2]. Clinical guidelines recommend the use of SSRIs as first-line treatment [3]. Remission rates in the acute phase of treatment are 30-40% and an overall 30% show poor response to anti-depressant monotherapy [4-6]. In such cases, addressing other co-morbid conditions is suggested in addition to upgrading or augmenting anti-depressant doses [3].