Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two approaches to the use of blogs in pre-service foreign language teachers' professional development: a comparative study in the context of two universities in the UK and the US

This article explores the use of blogs for pre-service language teacher education in two national settings, the UK (University of Cambridge) and the US (University of South Florida). Taking two approaches to blogging and to learning through blogging (one based on self-reflection and a constructivist approach and one based on social and collaborative learning and a sociocultural approach), the research examines how pre-service language teachers both use and understand the affordances of blogs for their professional development. Data were collected from the participants' blog entries during their eight/nine month courses and from individual interviews conducted and analysed inductively. Some distinct themes emerged from the two settings. In the UK setting, there was deep analytical reflection on professional development, on professional identity and on change, with the participants perceiving the benefits of the blog to be the distance it provides from events and the cathartic effects of writing. In the US setting, findings suggest that the blog was used as a space for joint sharing of resources and ideas, and for co-constructive learning. Participants noted the affordances to be sharing information, developing professionalism and collaborative learning. While the approach to blogging was different in the two settings, the engagement in both was dialogic; the blogs functioned as a ‘thinking device’ that enhanced professional development. Their use may transfer from pre-service teachers' learning to their teaching.
University of Birmingham The toxicological significance of post-mortem drug concentrations in bile

Context: Some authors have proposed that post-mortem drug concentrations in bile are useful in estimating concentrations in blood. Both the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) and the US Federal Aviation Administration recommend that samples of bile should be obtained in some circumstances. Furthermore, standard toxicological texts compare blood and bile concentrations, implying that concentrations in bile are of forensic value. Aim: To review the evidence on simultaneous measurements of blood and bile drug concentrations reported in the medical literature. Methods: We made a systematic search of EMBASE 1980–2016 using the search terms (“bile/” OR “exp drug bile level/concentration/”) AND “drug blood level/concentration/”, PubMed 1975–2017 for (“bile[tw]” OR “biliary[tw]”) AND (“concentration[tw]” OR “concentrations[tw]” OR “level[tw]” OR “levels[tw]”) AND “post-mortem[tw]”, and also MEDLINE 1990–2016 for information on drugs whose biliary concentrations were mentioned in standard textbooks. The search was limited to human studies without language restrictions. We also examined recent reviews, indexes of relevant journals, and citations in Web of Science and Google Scholar. We calculated the bile: blood concentration ratio. The searches together yielded 1031 titles with abstracts. We scanned titles and abstracts for relevance, and retrieved 230, of which 161 were considered further. We excluded 49 papers because: the paper reported only one case (30 references); the data referred only to a metabolite (1); the work was published before 1980 (3); the information concerned only samples taken during life (10); or the paper referred to a toxin or unusual recreational drug (5). The remaining 112 papers provided data for analysis, with at least two observations for each of 58 drugs.
Human papillomaviruses are not involved in the etiopathogenesis of salivary gland tumors.

BACKGROUND Tumor-related high risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) 16 and 18 have been repeatedly detected in head and neck cancers, particularly, they are well known risk factors in squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharyngeal and tonsillar region. Little is known, however, about the possible role of HPV in salivary gland tumors. METHODS Fifty-five cases of benign and malignant salivary gland tumors were tested using p16 immunohistochemistry followed by HPV DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using SPF, CPSGB, GP5+/GP6+ primers, and type specific primers for HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45 in the cases with strong immunohistochemical expression for p16 protein (score 3+). RESULTS Only 5 tumors of 55 (9 %) were completely devoid of any p16 staining, and in 10 cases (18 %), less than 25 % of tumor cells stained (score 1+). In the majority of cases (35 of 55; 64 %) there was a patchy nuclear and cytoplasmic strong staining in 26 to 50 % of tumor cells (score 2+). In five cases (9 %), strong nuclear and cytoplasmic staining in more than 51% of tumor cells was detected (score 3+). However, none of the p16-positive cases showed any evidence of high-risk HPV by PCR. CONCLUSIONS The results of the study indicate that HPV, in particular oncogenic types 16 and 18, are not involved in the etiology of benign and malignant epithelial tumors of salivary glands. Therefore, it is likely that salivary gland tumors belong to the category of tissues in which the p16 positive immunohistochemistry is not biologically relevant to the oncogenic role of HPV infection.
The effect of soft-tissue ultrasound on the management of cellulitis in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effect of diagnostic soft-tissue ultrasound (US) on management of emergency department (ED) patients with clinical cellulitis. METHODS This was a prospective observational study in an urban ED of adult patients with clinical soft-tissue infection without obvious abscess. The treating physician's pretest opinions regarding the need for further drainage procedures and the probability of subcutaneous fluid collection were determined. Emergency sonologists then performed US of the infected area, and the effect on management plan was recorded. RESULTS Ultrasound changed the management of patients with cellulitis in 71/126 (56%) of cases. In the pretest group that was believed not to need further drainage, US changed the management in 39/82 (48%), with 33 receiving drainage and 6 receiving further diagnostics or consultation. In the pretest group in which further drainage was believed to be needed, US changed the management in 32/44 (73%), including 16 in whom drainage was eliminated and 16 who had further diagnostic interventions. US had a management effect in all pretest probabilities for fluid from 10% to 90%. CONCLUSIONS Soft-tissue US changes physician management in approximately half of patients in the ED with clinical cellulitis. US may guide management of cellulitis by detection of occult abscess, prevention of invasive procedures, and guidance for further imaging or consultation.
The Effects of Topic Familiarity on User Search Behavior in Question Answering Systems

This paper reports on experiments that attempt to characterize the relationship between users and their knowledge of the search topic in a Question Answering (QA) system. It also investigates user search behavior with respect to the length of answers presented by a QA system. Two lengths of answers were compared; snippets (one to two sentences of text) and exact answers. A user test was conducted, 92 factoid questions were judged by 44 participants, to explore the participants’ preferences, feelings and opinions about QA system tasks. The conclusions drawn from the results were that participants preferred and obtained higher accuracy in finding answers from the snippets set. However, accuracy varied according to users’ topic familiarity; users were only substantially helped by the wider context of a snippet if they were already familiar with the topic of the question, without such familiarity, users were about as accurate at locating answers from the snippets as they were in exact set.
Nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In the not-so-distant past, type 2 diabetes mellitus was thought to be a relatively benign condition, at least in the elderly, with relatively little effect on life expectancy or renal function.1 It has now become obvious that type 2 diabetes must be taken every bit as seriously as type 1 diabetes, in part because of its renal complications.2 However, some recent and encouraging evidence indicates that diabetic nephropathy and deterioration of renal function are to a certain extent preventable. Epidemiology According to the reports of the U.S. Renal Data System,3,4 in the past two decades there has been a .
Demonstration of 30 Gbit/s Generation of Superconductive True Random Number Generator

True random number generators, which output truly random numbers by extracting entropy from physical phenomena such as thermal and electronic noises, are widely used in the field of the cryptographic communication systems. We have been developing a superconductive true random number generator that can generate truly random number sequences, impossible to be predicted, by utilizing the high-speed operation and high-sensitivity of superconductive integrated circuits. In this study, we have calculated the dependences of correlation of output random bits on the generation rate. Statistical tests have been performed on the basis of the NIST statistical test suite in order to evaluate the quality of the randomness of sequences generated by the superconductive true random number generator at high generation rate. We have generated a random number sequence consisting of 3.2 M-bit at the generation rate of 30 Gbit/s using the superconductive true random number generator, fabricated by the ISTEC-SRL 2.5 kA/cm2 Nb standard process. The generated random number sequences passed 13 kinds of the statistical tests in the NIST statistical test suit, although the 3 tests were not performed because of the shortage of the generated random numbers. The result sufficiently proves that a superconductive true random number generator can generate a high quality of random numbers that can be used for practical cryptographic applications, at a generation rate of up to 30 Gbit/s.
Web Third-Person Effect Hypothesis: Do likes and Shares Affect Users’ Perceptions?

This paper studies the web third-person effect (WTPE) hypothesis in the context of news websites and social media. Specifically, the study examines the role of social media metrics (i.e., shares and likes of news articles) in shaping users’ opinion about the websites. Users’ news sharing intention in social media is also investigated. Based on a structured online questionnaire (N = 7,404), the results confirm that WTPE can be found in social media metrics without the presence of specific message content. It should be noted that the effect was found at three perceptual levels, self, friends, and other users. Regarding intention for news sharing, text was indicated as the most important reason among Internet users. Finally, the work demonstrates significant correlations between WTPE and article characteristics that influence people’s attitudes to share news online.
Intercepting the First Pass: Rapid Categorization is Suppressed for Unseen Stimuli

The operations and processes that the human brain employs to achieve fast visual categorization remain a matter of debate. A first issue concerns the timing and place of rapid visual categorization and to what extent it can be performed with an early feed-forward pass of information through the visual system. A second issue involves the categorization of stimuli that do not reach visual awareness. There is disagreement over the degree to which these stimuli activate the same early mechanisms as stimuli that are consciously perceived. We employed continuous flash suppression (CFS), EEG recordings, and machine learning techniques to study visual categorization of seen and unseen stimuli. Our classifiers were able to predict from the EEG recordings the category of stimuli on seen trials but not on unseen trials. Rapid categorization of conscious images could be detected around 100 ms on the occipital electrodes, consistent with a fast, feed-forward mechanism of target detection. For the invisible stimuli, however, CFS eliminated all traces of early processing. Our results support the idea of a fast mechanism of categorization and suggest that this early categorization process plays an important role in later, more subtle categorizations, and perceptual processes.
Noninvasive Quantification of Myocardial 11C-Meta-Hydroxyephedrine Kinetics

11C-meta-hydroxyephedrine (11C-HED) kinetics in the myocardium can be quantified using a single-tissue-compartment model together with a metabolite-corrected arterial blood sampler input function (BSIF). The need for arterial blood sampling, however, limits clinical applicability. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of replacing arterial sampling with imaging-derived input function (IDIF) and venous blood samples. Methods: Twenty patients underwent 60-min dynamic 11C-HED PET/CT scans with online arterial blood sampling. Thirteen of these patients also underwent venous blood sampling. Data were reconstructed using both 3-dimensional row-action maximum-likelihood algorithm (3DR) and a time-of-flight (TF) list-mode reconstruction algorithm. For each reconstruction, IDIF results were compared with BSIF results. In addition, IDIF results obtained with venous blood samples and with a transformed venous-to-arterial metabolite correction were compared with results obtained with arterial metabolite corrections. Results: Correlations between IDIF- and BSIF-derived K1 and VT were high (r2 > =0.89 for 3DR and TF). Slopes of the linear fits were significantly different from 1 for K1, for both 3DR (slope = 0.94) and TF (slope = 1.06). For VT, the slope of the linear fit was different from 1 for TF (slope = 0.93) but not for 3DR (slope = 0.98). Use of venous blood data introduced a large bias in VT (r2 = 0.96, slope = 0.84) and a small bias in K1 (r2 = 0.99, slope = 0.98). Use of a second-order polynomial venous-to-arterial transformation was robust and greatly reduced bias in VT (r2 = 0.97, slope = 0.99) with no effect on K1. Conclusion: IDIF yielded precise results for both 3DR and TF. Venous blood samples can be used for absolute quantification of 11C-HED studies, provided a venous-to-arterial transformation is applied. A venous-to-arterial transformation enables noninvasive, absolute quantification of 11C-HED studies.
High thoracic segmental epidural anesthesia diminishes sympathetic outflow to the legs, despite restriction of sensory blockade to the upper thorax.

To evaluate whether, after high thoracic segmental epidural anesthesia, sympathetic blockade spreads caudally beyond sensory blockade, we assessed regional skin temperatures by infrared telethermometry in 53 nonpremedicated patients at constant ambient temperature. Either bupivacaine (4.2 ml, 0.75%, n = 10) or an equal volume of saline (placebo, n = 10) was injected at the C7-T2 epidural space in a randomized double-blinded fashion. Results were contrasted to those observed after midthoracic (T6-T9, n = 13) and lumbar (L2-T12, n = 10) epidural injection of an identical dose of bupivacaine or saline (n = 10). Despite restriction of sensory block to the upper thorax with high thoracic epidural anesthesia, skin temperatures increased significantly (P less than 0.05 vs. saline) on the foot (great toe: +1.2 degrees C +/- 2.9 SD; little toe: +0.9 degrees C +/- 2.6) and hand (thumb: +2.0 degrees C +/- 4.0, digit 5: +2.9 degrees C +/- 4.2) but decreased after saline. Midthoracic injection also increased significantly skin temperature on the foot (great toe: +4.0 degrees C +/- 4.9; little toe: +3.6 degrees C +/- 4.8) but not on the hand. In contrast, with lumbar epidural anesthesia, skin temperature increased significantly on the foot (great toe: +8.5 degrees C +/- 2.5; little toe: +8.6 degrees C +/- 2.8) but decreased significantly on the hand (thumb: -3.1 degrees C +/- 2.1; digit 5: -2.8 degrees C +/- 2.5). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Clinicopathological correlation and treatment response of primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in adults and adolescents

The incidence of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is approximately 10% in children <6 years, 20% in adolescents, and 20-25% in adults. A retrospective observational study was done to document clinicopathological correlation, treatment response, and risk factors in the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of primary FSGS in adults and adolescents. A total of 170 patients were studied with a mean follow-up of 4.32 ± 1.2 years. FSGS not otherwise specified was the most common subtype (56%) followed by tip variant (24%). About 32% had complete remission (CR) at a mean time of 6.4 months, 23% had partial remission (PR) at a mean time of 5.7 months, and 45% had no response to steroids. Persistent nephrotic proteinuria at 3rd and 6th month and presence of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy >30% in renal biopsy are the independent predictors of poor response to treatment. Presence of anemia, interstitial fibrosis, and tubular atrophy of >30% in renal biopsy and the absence of remission after treatment were the independent predictors of CKD progression. Overall renal survival was 78% at 3 years and 54% at 5 years. Renal survival difference with or without nephrotic proteinuria at onset was 39% and 69% at 5 years. Renal survival was higher in patients with normal renal function (66%) compared with those who had renal failure (42%) at 5 years. Renal survival at 5 years for CR was 69%, PR was 49%, and no remission was 42%.
Neutrophils and platelets accumulate in the heart, lungs, and kidneys after cardiopulmonary bypass in neonatal pigs.

OBJECTIVE Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass elicits a systemic inflammatory response. An exaggerated response is associated with organ dysfunction and increased morbidity and mortality. DESIGN The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the cardiopulmonary bypass procedure in itself results in accumulation of isotope-labeled platelets, polymorphonuclear neutrophils, and fibrinogen at organ levels in neonatal pigs and to monitor changes in organ function. SETTING Pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass setup with 60 mins of aortic cross-clamp time and 120 mins of hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass time. SUBJECTS Thirty piglets were allocated to sternotomy alone (sham group, n = 15) or to sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass (n = 15). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Isotope-labeled autologous polymorphonuclear neutrophils, platelets, and commercially available fibrinogen were infused, and the specific accumulation at organ level was measured in a gamma counter 4 hrs after termination of cardiopulmonary bypass. Concomitant changes in oxygenation index and cardiac output were registered. Animals exposed to cardiopulmonary bypass showed a significantly higher technetium-99m-polymorphonuclear neutrophil accumulation in the lungs and kidneys, whereas indium-111-platelets accumulated in the heart and kidneys compared with the sham group. There was a significantly larger increase in oxygenation index and significantly larger decrease in cardiac output between the pre- and postcardiopulmonary bypass period in the cardiopulmonary bypass group compared with the sham group. CONCLUSIONS The cardiopulmonary bypass procedure without cardiac surgery elicits organ dysfunction in terms of impaired respiratory and hemodynamic function. Platelets and polymorphonuclear neutrophils were entrapped in the heart, lungs, and kidneys of cardiopulmonary bypass animals, indicating that cell accumulation may contribute to the developing organ dysfunction.
Grid cell mechanisms and function: Contributions of entorhinal persistent spiking and phase resetting

This article presents a model of grid cell firing based on the intrinsic persistent firing shown experimentally in neurons of entorhinal cortex. In this model, the mechanism of persistent firing allows individual neurons to hold a stable baseline firing frequency. Depolarizing input from speed‐modulated head direction cells transiently shifts the frequency of firing from baseline, resulting in a shift in spiking phase in proportion to the integral of velocity. The convergence of input from different persistent firing neurons causes spiking in a grid cell only when the persistent firing neurons are within similar phase ranges. This model effectively simulates the two‐dimensional firing of grid cells in open field environments, as well as the properties of theta phase precession. This model provides an alternate implementation of oscillatory interference models. The persistent firing could also interact on a circuit level with rhythmic inhibition and neurons showing membrane potential oscillations to code position with spiking phase. These mechanisms could operate in parallel with computation of position from visual angle and distance of stimuli. In addition to simulating two‐dimensional grid patterns, models of phase interference can account for context‐dependent firing in other tasks. In network simulations of entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and postsubiculum, the reset of phase effectively replicates context‐dependent firing by entorhinal and hippocampal neurons during performance of a continuous spatial alternation task, a delayed spatial alternation task with running in a wheel during the delay period (Pastalkova et al., Science, 2008), and a hairpin maze task. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Media and Clergy: Influencing the Influential?

This article examines media use among clergy for purposes of gathering political information. More specifically, it examines the specific forms of both secular and religious media that clergy report using for such purposes. It assesses the extent to which clergy vary in terms of their different patterns of media use; how such differential patterns may be associated with theological, social, and political differences among clergy; and whether such differential patterns of media use are linked to different effects politically.
Event-driven Reactivity: A Survey and Requirements Analysis

Despite the huge popularity of event processing nowadays, there is a big gap between the potential usefulness of event-driven processing and the current state of the practice. One of the main reasons is the lack of a comprehensive conceptual model for the event-triggered reactivity and the corresponding framework for its management. In this paper we survey the current state of the art in event-driven architecture with special focus on event and action processing. We describe the prerequisites of a completely novel conceptual model for describing reactivity that is more close to the way people react on events: based on the ability to identify the context during which active behavior is relevant and the situations in which it is required. This approach opens a completely new view on the event processing as the way for managing a very valuable knowledge asset of every enterprise knowledge how to react (make decisions) in event-driven situations.