Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
University of Malaya from the Selectedworks of Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud Coffee and Tea Intake and Risk of Breast Cancer Coffee and Tea Intake and Risk of Breast Cancer

Known risk factors account for about 10–15% of breast cancer incidence suggesting that lifestyle exposures are crucial in its etiology. Previous epidemiological studies on the association between coffee and tea consumption and breast cancer risk have been inconsistent. We investigated the association of coffee and tea consumption with the risk of breast cancer among women in EPIC-NL cohort, a population-based prospective cohort in Nether-lands with 27,323 participants. Exposure was measured by a validated food frequency questionnaire, and the outcome was verified by direct linkage with the Netherlands Cancer Registry. A total of 681 invasive primary breast cancers were diagnosed in 9.6 years of follow-up. Coffee intake increased the risk of breast cancer by more than twofold as compared to non-consumers (HR; 2.25, 95% CI; 1.30– 3.90). This association did not hold after multivariate adjustment which resulted in a HR of 1.17, 95% CI; 0.65– 2.12. After adjustment to breast cancer risk factors and lifestyle, no association was observed between intake of coffee or tea and risk of breast cancer across all categories of intake. These results were also not altered by body mass index (BMI). Coffee and tea consumption does not seem to be related to the risk of breast cancer in women.
Fate of bone marrow-derived cultured mast cells after intracutaneous, intraperitoneal, and intravenous transfer into genetically mast cell- deficient W/Wv mice. Evidence that cultured mast cells can give rise to both connective tissue type and mucosal mast cells

Both connective tissue mast cells and mast cells grown in vitro are derived from multipotential hematopoietic stem cells, but these two mast cell populations exhibit many differences in morphology, biochemistry, and function. We investigated whether the phenotype of cultured mast cells or their progeny was altered when the cells were transferred into different locations in vivo. Cultured mast cells were immature by ultrastructure, and stained with alcian blue but with neither safranin or berberine sulfate, a fluorescent dye that binds to the heparin of connective tissue mast cell granules. By contrast, mast cells recovered from the peritoneal cavity of congenitally mast cell- deficient (WB X C57BL/6)F1-W/Wv (WBB6F1-W/Wv) mice 10 wk after intraperitoneal injection of cultured WBB6F1-+/+ or C57BL/6-bgJ/bgJ mast cells stained with both safranin and berberine sulfate. Staining with berberine sulfate was prevented by treatment of the cells with heparinase but not chondroitinase ABC, suggesting that the adoptively transferred mast cell population had acquired the ability to synthesize and store heparin. Furthermore, the recovered mast cells were indistinguishable by ultrastructure from the normal mature peritoneal mast cells of WBB6F1-+/+ mice, and contained substantially more histamine than mast cells studied directly from culture. Intravenous injection of cultured mast cells resulted in the development of safranin-and berberine sulfate-positive mast cells in the peritoneal cavity, spleen, skin, and glandular stomach muscularis propria. Mast cells also developed on the glandular stomach mucosa, but these cells stained with alcian blue rather than safranin, and did not stain with berberine sulfate. This result suggests that cultured mast cells can give rise to mast cells of either the connective tissue type or mucosal phenotype, depending on anatomical location. Furthermore, transplantation of cultured mast cells into WBB6F1-W/Wv mice had no measurable effect on the anemia of the recipient mice, suggesting a possible strategy for repairing the mast cell deficiency of WBB6F1-W/Wv mice without affecting other bone marrow-derived populations such as erythrocytes. Intravenous injection of representative connective tissue type mast cells (30-50% pure peritoneal mast cells derived from WBB6F1- +/+ mice) gave results similar to those obtained with cultured mast cells: mast cells developing in the peritoneal cavity, skin, spleen, and glandular stomach muscularis propria of WBB6F1-W/Wv recipients stained with safranin and berberine sulfate, whereas mast cells developing in the mucosa of the glandular stomach stained only with alcian blue. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Uncovering Cultural Bias in EFL Textbooks

This study lays the foundation for reasons and ways to investigate the biased treatment of non-native characters in model dialogues in current English as a Foreign/Second Language textbooks. The literature review shows that although a plethora of studies have been conducted on gender bias in textbooks, speaker bias, or labeled nativism here, has been largely ignored. This research addresses this neglect by systematically applying parts of two frameworks previously used in analyzing textbooks for gender bias to four current EFL textbooks. The resulting data is quantitative in nature with some necessary description and qualification and shows that only one text avoids bias against non-native speakers. In the other texts, speaker bias is exhibited by non-native speakers being segregated or being only allowed to interact with a native speaker. In addition, non-native speakers are limited to non-expert roles in two texts. Based on these results, suggestions for further research are offered.
Family adjustment and interventions in neurodevelopmental disorders

Purpose of review Developmental disabilities are increasingly recognized, and remarkable progress is being made on the genetic and neurobiological underpinnings of many disorders. Yet, only a tiny percentage of the disability literature addresses families of children with disabilities. A review of recently published family studies reveals salient trends and gaps. Recent findings Consistent with previous work, high levels of parent stress, illness, anxiety, and depression are apparent. Studies in the USA focused on parents of children with autism; in contrast, studies on parents of children with intellectual disabilities were almost always conduced abroad. Compared to other disabilities, families of children with psychiatric disorders and genetic syndromes are understudied. The majority of family studies are descriptive, with very few trials or interventions aimed at reducing parental stress. Of these, mindfulness practices and a peer-mentor model of treatment delivery hold much promise for effective stress reduction. Psychoeducational programs and respite care are differentially beneficial. Summary A new era of family intervention research is in order. This work can take advantage of many advances in telemedicine, peer-mentor models, smart technology, and biomarkers as indices of change. Benefit could also stem from group interventions with parents who share similar concerns, regardless of their child's diagnostic label.
The Schrodinger propagator for scattering metrics

Let g be a scattering metric on a compact manifold X with boundary, i.e., a smooth metric giving the interior X. the structure of a complete Riemannian manifold with asymptotically conic ends. An example is any compactly supported perturbation of the standard metric on Rn. Consider the operator H = 1 2. +V , where . is the positive Laplacian with respect to g and V is a smooth real-valued function on X vanishing to second order at iOX. Assuming that g is nontrapping, we construct a global parametrix U(z,w, t) for the kernel of the Schri§odinger propagator U(t) = e.itH , where z,w io X. and t = 0. The parametrix is such that the difference between U and U is smooth and rapidly decreasing both as t iae 0 and as z iae iOX, uniformly for w on compact subsets of X. Let r = x.1, where x is a boundary defining function for X, be an asymptotic radial variable, and let W(t) be the kernel e.ir2/2tU(t). Using the parametrix, we show that W(t) belongs to a class of i®Legendre distributionsi¯ on X i? X. i? R0 previously considered by Hassell-Vasy. When the metric is trapping, then the parametrix construction goes through microlocally in the nontrapping part of the phase space. We apply this result to determine the singularities of U(t)f, for any tempered distribution f and for any fixed t = 0, in terms of the oscillation of f near iOX. If the metric is nontrapping then we precisely determine the wavefront set of U(t)f, and hence also precisely determine its singular support. More generally, we are able to determine the wavefront set of U(t)f for t > 0, resp. t < 0 on the non-backward-trapped, resp. non-forward-trapped subset of the phase space. This generalizes results of Craig-Kappeler-Strauss and Wunsch.
Quantification of the severity and distribution of cerebral atrophy provides diagnostic information in dementing diseases

Purpose: The currently accepted view on the use of MRI in dementing disease is that it has little role to play in the diagnostic process. The hypothesis here is that this assertion is wrong. Materials and Methods: We show here how a reliable and fully automatic image analysis system is feasible which can provide a simple yet powerful analysis of the distribution of cerebrospinal fluid. The technique has been tested on a mixed group of 57 subjects. Analysis was performed using a combination of image processing segmentation and statistical classification techniques. All manual stages were performed by two independent operators in order to eliminate user error and to evaluate reproducibility. Results: The results indicate that this distribution, once corrected for normal ageing and head size, is highly characteristic of Fronto-temporal (FTD), Alzheimers (AD) and Vascular dementias (VD). The technique described here identified FTD patients from a population of AD and FTD with a sensitivity of 79 % and specificity of 72 % rising to 82 % and 92 % respectively after application of an 80 % probability threshold. These performance figures support the use of this approach as a diagnostic tool to help identify demented patients in whom a diagnosis of AD should be reviewed. Conclusions: Volumetric analysis of the distribution of cerebrospinal fluid provides a source of valuable information for diagnosis of dementing disease which is complementary to standard diagnostic practices.
An empirical investigation into the relationships among knowledge sharing behaviour,organizational citizenship behaviour, job satisfaction and organizational commitment

This study argues that knowledge sharing behaviour is a kind of organizational citizenship behaviour and that as such (i) the two should be strongly positively correlated and that (ii) strong predictors of organizational citizenship behaviour should also strongly predict knowledge sharing behaviour. Since the organizational behaviour literature identifies job satisfaction and organizational commitment as robust predictors of organizational citizenship behaviour, the study investigated the interrelationships among knowledge sharing behaviour, organizational citizenship behaviour, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The study employed a correlational survey design, sourcing the empirical data from secondary school teachers in a number of schools in and around Gaborone, Botswana. As expected, knowledge sharing behaviour and organizational citizenship behaviour were significantly positively correlated, organizational commitment was a significant predictor of organizational citizenship behaviour, and job satisfaction and organizational commitment were significantly positively correlated. Contrary to expectations, however, both job satisfaction and organizational commitment were unrelated to knowledge sharing behaviour. Not all study hypotheses were supported, and as such, it would be premature to conclude, on the strength of the evidence presented in this thesis, that knowledge sharing behaviour indeed is a kind of organizational citizenship behaviour. Nevertheless, the positive correlation between knowledge sharing behaviour and organizational citizenship behaviour would seem to suggest that the role of organizational citizenship behaviour in organizational knowledge sharing is worth investigating further.
Tumorigenicity of IL-1α– and IL-1β–Deficient Fibrosarcoma Cells

Analyzing the growth of fibrosarcoma lines derived from IL-1α-, IL-1β- , or IL-1αβ-knockout (-/-) mice in the immunocompetent host revealed that tumor-derived IL-1α and IL-1β exert strong and opposing effects on immune response induction, which prohibited the evaluation of a potential impact on tumorigenicity. Therefore, in vivo growth of IL-1-deficient tumor lines was evaluated in nu/nu mice and was compared with in vitro growth characteristics. All IL-1-deficient fibrosarcoma lines grow in immunocompromised mice. However, IL-1α-/-β-competent (comp) lines grow more aggressively, efficiently induce angiogenesis, and recruit inflammatory cells. Despite stronger tumorigenicity of IL-1βcomp lines, IL-1α strengthens anchorage-independent growth, but both IL-1α and IL-1β support drug resistance. Corresponding to the aggressive growth, IL-1βcomp cells display increased matrix adhesion, motility, and cable formation on matrigel, likely supported by elevated αv/β3 and matrix metalloroteinase expression. Recruitment of myeloid cells requires IL-1β but is regulated by IL-1α, because inflammatory chemokine and cytokine expression is stronger in IL-1α-/-βcomp than in IL-1wt lines. This regulatory effect of tumor-derived IL-1α is restricted to the tumor environment and does not affect systemic inflammatory response induction by tumor-derived IL-1β. Both sarcoma cell-derived IL-1α and IL-1β promote tumor growth. However, IL-1α exerts regulatory activity on the tumor cell-matrix cross-talk, and only IL-1β initiates systemic inflammation.
Regulation of MIR165/166 by class II and class III homeodomain leucine zipper proteins establishes leaf polarity

Significance Leaves, being the prime photosynthetic organ of plants, are critical in many ways to our current biosphere. A defining characteristic, which also optimizes their function, is their flat shape that depends on the correct patterning of their upper and lower tissues during development. Here, we show that the correct patterning of upper and lower leaf tissues depends on two types of transcription factors (class II and class III homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-ZIPs) that act together to repress a set of miRNAs (MIR165/166), which in turn, represses the activity of these transcription factors (class III HD-ZIPs). This three-way interaction maintains the balance of tissue identities during growth, leading to the formation of a flat leaf. A defining feature of plant leaves is their flattened shape. This shape depends on an antagonism between the genes that specify adaxial (top) and abaxial (bottom) tissue identity; however, the molecular nature of this antagonism remains poorly understood. Class III homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) transcription factors are key mediators in the regulation of adaxial–abaxial patterning. Their expression is restricted adaxially during early development by the abaxially expressed microRNA (MIR)165/166, yet the mechanism that restricts MIR165/166 expression to abaxial leaf tissues remains unknown. Here, we show that class III and class II HD-ZIP proteins act together to repress MIR165/166 via a conserved cis-element in their promoters. Organ morphology and tissue patterning in plants, therefore, depend on a bidirectional repressive circuit involving a set of miRNAs and its targets.
Low Latency, High Bisection-Bandwidth Networks for Exascale Memory Systems

Data movement is the limiting factor in modern supercomputing systems, as system performance drops by several orders of magnitude whenever applications need to move data. Therefore, focusing on low latency (e.g., low diameter) networks that also have high bisection bandwidth is critical. We present a cost/performance analysis of a wide range of high-radix interconnect topologies, in terms of bisection widths, average hop counts, and the port costs required to achieve those metrics. We study variants of traditional topologies as well as one novel topology. We identify several designs that have reasonable port costs and can scale to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of nodes with maximum latencies as low as two network hops and high bisection bandwidths.
Sound Musicianship: Understanding the Crafts of Music

Sound Musicianship is a book for music educators and musicians about musicianship—about musical skills, abilities, habits, sensibilities and understandings. Musicianship is explored as a form of craftsmanship. Like most crafts, music requires a balance of theoretical knowledge and practical skills that contribute to a highly tuned ability to appreciate and express music. In particular, the book explores general trends that influence musicianship in the twenty-first century, such as an increased reliance on digital media, greater awareness of the neurological basis for musical behaviour, a renewed interest in connections between bodily movements and musical expression, and increased cultural plurality resulting from more frequent travel, increased levels of migration and ubiquitous telecommunications. The book has a deliberate focus on the developmental aspects of musicianship, which will benefit those hoping to advance their own music learning or that of others. It includes a diverse range of views and perspectives on musicianship and is organised into five sections. The first four sections explore the implications of music understood as sound, experience, motion and culture, respectively. In these sections, leading researchers and thinkers outline important issues and debates that are relevant to developing the crafts of music making and they share insights into recent trends and understandings. The final section of the book looks at educational considerations and provides a series of case studies that document innovative approaches to developing musicianship. Readers will encounter some new, interesting and thought-provoking ideas within these pages. As we move further into the twenty-first century—with all the opportunities and challenges for music making it brings—the requirement to review our concepts of musicianship training will intensify, and the definition of a “sound basis” for a contemporary musicianship will evolve. This book is intended to help stimulate and inform that evolutionary process.
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) leaves suppressed oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in vitro and in human subjects

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) leaves are consumed as vegetables around the world, especially in Southeast Asia. The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of sweet potato leaves on low-density lipoprotein oxidation in vitro and in human subjects. We compared the antioxidant activity of 8 kinds of sweet potato leaves. Every sweet potato leaf had high radical scavenging activity and prolonged a lag time for starting low-density lipoprotein oxidation in vitro. We found that sweet potato leaves contained abundant polyphenol compounds and the radical scavenging activity and prolongation rate of lag time were highly correlated with total polyphenol content. We also confirmed that thiobarbituric acid reactive substances production was increased in endothelial cell-mediated low-density lipoprotein oxidation, which was decreased by treatment with sweet potato leaves. We further measured the low-density lipoprotein oxidizability in 13 healthy volunteers after their intake of 18 g of “Suioh”, raw sweet potato leaves. “Suioh” prolonged a lag time for starting low-density lipoprotein oxidation and decreased low-density lipoprotein mobility. These results suggest that sweet potato leaves have antioxidant activity leading to the suppression of low-density lipoprotein oxidation.
Toward a Social Psychological Programme for Improving Focus Group Methods of Developing Questionnaires

Focus groups are rapidly proliferating as tools for developing questions, designing questionnaires, and determining public opinions, beliefs, or behaviors in conjunction with quantitative surveys. Surprisingly, their proliferation has occurred in the absence of systematic investigations by survey and market researchers of the focus group method, and in the absence of a clear set of standards or measures to use to evaluate the quality of the method. In the nearly two decades that have passed between Biel’s (1978) remarks on ‘‘the most abused form of research’’ and Morgan’s (1996) more optimistic overview of research on focus group methods, recommendations for future research have changed but little. And, in these two decades, our literature search has identified fewer than ten studies that provide a systematic or experimental comparison of focus group methods. Conclusions about the value of focus groups in questionnaire design and development, such as Sudman, Bradburn and Schwarz’s assertion that ‘‘combining focus groups with other methods, especially thinkalouds, increases the value of all the methods’’ (1996, p.46), are therefore generally of unknown accuracy. The dearth of methodological studies evaluating the quality of focus group methods of pretesting is not surprising given the lack of scrutiny survey methodologists have paid to pretesting strategies more generally. Only a Although focus groups are being used increasingly by survey and market researchers who are developing questionnaires, research to evaluate focus group methodology is scant and the social psychological dimensions of focus group processes are insufficiently examined. We review social psychological research in the areas of non-verbal communication, gender and interaction, interaction process analysis, and brainstorming groups. We demonstrate how this research is relevant to three elements of focus group methods: group composition, group size, and moderator training. We conclude that social psychological research raises several fundamental questions about commonsensical focus group practices and, accordingly, sketch out the priorities for a social psychologically motivated research programme that would address these issues.
Temporal and Information Flow Based Event Detection from Social Text Streams

Recently, social text streams (e.g., blogs, web forums, and emails) have become ubiquitous with the evolution of the web. In some sense, social text streams are sensors of the real world. Often, it is desirable to extract real world events from the social text streams. However, existing event detection research mainly focused only on the stream properties of social text streams but ignored the contextual, temporal, and social information embedded in the streams. In this paper, we propose to detect events from social text streams by exploring the content as well as the temporal, and social dimensions. We define the term event as the information flow between a group of social actors on a specific topic over a certain time period. We represent social text streams as multi-graphs, where each node represents a social actor and each edge represents the information flow between two actors. The content and temporal associations within the flow of information are embedded in the corresponding edge. Events are detected by combining text based clustering, temporal segmentation, and information flow-based graph cuts of the dual graph of the social networks. Experiments conducted with the Enron email dataset and the political blog dataset from Dailykos show the proposed event detection approach outperforms the other alternatives.
Optimization Algorithm Applied to the Design of Few-Mode Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier for Modal and Spectral Gain Equalization

Gradient descent optimization algorithm is applied to design few-mode Er3+-doped fibers adapted to gain equalization over modes and wavelengths, for mode division multiplexing. Theoretical study is performed for fiber designs supporting six and ten spatial modes at signal wavelength. Flat gain is obtained by optimizing Er3+ doping profile of a micro-structured core and modal composition of the pump beam.