Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Engagement in community music classes sparks neuroplasticity and language development in children from disadvantaged backgrounds

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds often face impoverished auditory environments, such as greater exposure to ambient noise and fewer opportunities to participate in complex language interactions during development. These circumstances increase their risk for academic failure and dropout. Given the academic and neural benefits associated with musicianship, music training may be one method for providing auditory enrichment to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We followed a group of primary-school students from gang reduction zones in Los Angeles, CA, USA for 2 years as they participated in Harmony Project. By providing free community music instruction for disadvantaged children, Harmony Project promotes the healthy development of children as learners, the development of children as ambassadors of peace and understanding, and the development of stronger communities. Children who were more engaged in the music program—as defined by better attendance and classroom participation—developed stronger brain encoding of speech after 2 years than their less-engaged peers in the program. Additionally, children who were more engaged in the program showed increases in reading scores, while those less engaged did not show improvements. The neural gains accompanying music engagement were seen in the very measures of neural speech processing that are weaker in children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our results suggest that community music programs such as Harmony Project provide a form of auditory enrichment that counteracts some of the biological adversities of growing up in poverty, and can further support community-based interventions aimed at improving child health and wellness.
Authenticity Revisited: Text Authenticity and Learner Authenticity.

The term ‘authenticity’ has sparked off a lot of discussion in the fields of linguistics, materials design, and language learning; a consensus, however, has not been reached on a precise definition. In this article, a distinction is made between text authenticity and learner authenticity. A set of guiding principles for making textually authentic materials learner authentic is suggested. Finally, a three-week supplementary English programme, which was devised for a group of Hong Kong Polytechnic students based on these principles, is described.
Incorrect diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. A clinicopathologic study.

OBJECTIVES To examine the accuracy of clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in subjects enrolled in the Rochester Alzheimer's Disease Project (RADP) who were examined at autopsy, and to present a list of clinical "red flags. " DESIGN Autopsy examination of both prospective and retrospective subjects consecutively enrolled in this clinicopathologic study of the RADP. SETTING University hospital and research center, using a multidisciplinary geriatric neurology clinic, satellite clinics, nursing home visits, and home visits. PATIENTS One hundred seventy subjects clinically diagnosed as having AD who were enrolled in the RADP between 1983 and 1993 underwent neuropathologic examination. Of these, 93 had been enrolled prospectively and 77 retrospectively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Agreement between clinical and pathologic diagnoses. RESULTS One hundred forty-nine subjects of 170 clinically diagnosed as having AD fulfilled the pathologic criteria for AD, yielding an accuracy rate of 88%. Of 93 subjects enrolled prospectively and diagnosed as having AD, 83 (90%) met the histologic criteria for AD. Of the 77 subjects enrolled retrospectively, neuropathologic examination indicated definite AD in 66 (86%). CONCLUSIONS There was a high correlation between clinicians' diagnoses and final pathologic diagnoses. The most common clinical errors involved the misdiagnosis of dementias due to Parkinson's disease and cerebrovascular disease. There was no significant difference in the accuracy rates of subjects enrolled prospectively and retrospectively.
tRNA processing defects induce replication stress and Chk2‐dependent disruption of piRNA transcription

RNase P is a conserved endonuclease that processes the 5′ trailer of tRNA precursors. We have isolated mutations in Rpp30, a subunit of RNase P, and find that these induce complete sterility in Drosophila females. Here, we show that sterility is not due to a shortage of mature tRNAs, but that atrophied ovaries result from the activation of several DNA damage checkpoint proteins, including p53, Claspin, and Chk2. Indeed, we find that tRNA processing defects lead to increased replication stress and de‐repression of transposable elements in mutant ovaries. We also report that transcription of major piRNA sources collapse in mutant germ cells and that this correlates with a decrease in heterochromatic H3K9me3 marks on the corresponding piRNA‐producing loci. Our data thus link tRNA processing, DNA replication, and genome defense by small RNAs. This unexpected connection reveals constraints that could shape genome organization during evolution.
Autophagy hijacked through viroporin-activated calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase-β signaling is required for rotavirus replication

Significance This study describes a unique mechanism of virus-initiated autophagy and exploitation of autophagy membranes for virus replication. Autophagy is a highly regulated cellular process in which cells destroy and recycle their own components in lysosomes. The mechanism most viruses use to induce autophagy is unknown. We show a rotavirus pore-forming protein activates a calcium-dependent signaling pathway to initiate autophagy. Rotavirus hijacks autophagy membranes to transport viral proteins to sites of virus replication for assembly of infectious particles and interferes with autophagy maturation. Inhibition of the signaling pathway blocks virus production, suggesting a therapeutic target to fight infection. Autophagy is a cellular degradation process involving an intracellular membrane trafficking pathway that recycles cellular components or eliminates intracellular microbes in lysosomes. Many pathogens subvert autophagy to enhance their replication, but the mechanisms these pathogens use to initiate the autophagy process have not been elucidated. This study identifies rotavirus as a pathogen that encodes a viroporin, nonstructural protein 4, which releases endoplasmic reticulum calcium into the cytoplasm, thereby activating a calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase-β and 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase-dependent signaling pathway to initiate autophagy. Rotavirus hijacks this membrane trafficking pathway to transport viral proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to sites of viral replication to produce infectious virus. This process requires PI3K activity and autophagy-initiation proteins Atg3 and Atg5, and it is abrogated by chelating cytoplasmic calcium or inhibiting calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase-β. Although the early stages of autophagy are initiated, rotavirus infection also blocks autophagy maturation. These studies identify a unique mechanism of virus-mediated, calcium-activated signaling that initiates autophagy and hijacks this membrane trafficking pathway to transport viral proteins to sites of viral assembly.
The Link Between Surprise and Satisfaction: An Exploratory Research on how best to Measure Surprise

This research examines the emotion of surprise and its influence on consumer satisfaction. After having discussed the relevance of this particular marketing issue and the concepts of surprise and satisfaction, it is explained how the emotion of surprise is theoretically related to consumer satisfaction. Then, the general research methodology and the main results of the first part of the exploratory research - the goal of which was to define how best to measure surprise in studies on satisfaction – are then described. Finally the section on conclusion, discussion and contribution brings the paper to an end.
New insights on attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder pharmacogenomics

Although there is an impressive literature documenting both a strong participation of genetics in the etiology of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a high rate of response to stimulants and atomoxetine, surprisingly few studies on the pharmacogenomics of ADHD were conducted. This review aims to present a critical discussion of findings from recent investigations on this emerging new area of research. We performed a systematic computer review of the literature on ADHD pharmacogenomics. In addition, we contacted some research centers involved in research on ADHD genetics, asking for any kind of nonpublished data relevant for the topic of this revision. This review strategy identified only seven papers presenting nonduplicated research findings on ADHD pharmacogenomics. Contact with other investigators resulted in five more studies presented in medical meetings or still nonpublished. The majority of investigations are on dopaminergic genes, especially on polymorphisms at the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1). Although there were some instigating preliminary results suggesting the association between the homozygosity for the 10‐repeat allele at DAT1 gene and response to methylphenidate, recent studies were not able to replicate these previous findings. Very few investigations addressed the role of nondopaminergic genes, or gene‐to‐gene interactions in ADHD pharmacogenomics. Pharmacogenomic studies of ADHD are in their infancy. We presented a discussion on the limitations and possible future directions of the research in the field. Drug Dev. Res. 62:172–179, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Research on Teaching: Process-Product Research Findings and the Feeling of Obviousness.

To address the charge that research findings are obvious, this study examined the perceived obviousness of 12 findings of process-product research on teaching. Twelve hundred and fifteen volunteers in Singapore and in the San Francisco Bay Area rated the degree of obviousness of each finding after (a) attempting to select the actual finding from two possible opposite outcomes, (b) reading a single outcome that was either the actual or the direct opposite of the actual finding, or (c) reading a single outcome plus an explanation for the outcome. The selections of actual findings and the ratings of obviousness of actual or opposite-of-actual findings indicated that respondents could not always distinguish the true findings from their opposites. Explanations tended to increase the rated obviousness of the findings. Differences in gender, knowledge about teaching, and cultural background had inconsistent effects on the judgments of obviousness.
Planning by Opportunity: An Analysis of Periurban Environmental Conflicts in Indonesia

In this paper we seek to extend ideas about communicative planning and capacity building in collective action. In doing so, we combine political opportunity structure and Kingdon's policy window in order to develop an agency-centered approach to opportunity. We argue that we need to see the moments and structures of opportunity not simply as fixed, but as something that actors can ‘make’. The moments of opportunity refer to the dynamic, emerging factors of opportunity. Meanwhile, the structures of opportunity consist of relatively consistent, stable factors of opportunity. This theoretical insight is then applied to two debates on development planning projects in the periurban area of North Bandung Area, Indonesia. Three aspects of institutional capacity result from the practice of ‘constructing’ opportunity in the case study: mobilization of social resources, empowerment of weak actors, and focusing of politicians and policymakers' attention.
Schooling Girls, Queuing Women: Multiple Standpoints and Ongoing Inequalities

products of think-tank messaging, Medvetz goes the other way, burdening his text with stylistic excesses of the academy. There is an almost absurd amount of sign-posting, as he densely instructs the reader about what he will say and in what order, and self-absorbedly prefaces remarks with such non-substantive prologues as ‘‘Let me point out. ’’ ‘‘The next part of my argument concerns. ’’ ‘‘I would like to point out’’ ‘‘Later in the chapter, I will. ’’ and ‘‘As I noted in Chapter 2. ’’ (All these quotes are from sentences that appear on a single page, page 91). He also tells the reader what ‘‘is crucial to recognize,’’ what he ‘‘argues,’’ ‘‘suggests,’’ and ‘‘insists’’ upon and whose views he does or does not ‘‘share’’—as though in dialogue with other great thinkers at the tables of intellectual history. This posturing needlessly interferes with making points. Meanwhile, various subjects that do arise in recent intellectual histories are absent here. So although we gain some sense of social class as think-tank subject and strategizing, we have nothing by way of sex, gender or much about race. How did the tanks respond to external shifts in the proximate fields of social movements and politics? By ignoring them? By opposition? By absorption? The natural environment and its advocates do not come up either. And how about the role of think tanks in other countries (they do exist around the world) for policy development as well as more general social scientific purposes? They, too, share space in the U.S. think tank field and their existence reveals possible variations in the ways such institutions might function. Where are they in all this? Of course no book can reasonably be expected to explore every relevant issue, but Medvetz’s devotion to abstract and formalistic hair-splitting uses up valuable time and space (and thinking! ) that could have been more profitably invested elsewhere. In what has been accomplished, we do have a gain and a stimulus perhaps to other treatments of this important dynamic of opinion making and policy formation. Let the foundations take note and the reports be cogent and on-point. Schooling Girls, Queuing Women: Multiple Standpoints and Ongoing Inequalities, by Helen A. Moore. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2013. 249pp. $35.95 paper. ISBN: 9781594518065.
Psychological adjustment of adolescent girls with chronic fatigue syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To examine psychosocial problems and adaptation of adolescent girls with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). METHODOLOGY Thirty-six adolescent girls with CFS (mean age: 15.2 years; mean syndrome duration: 19.7 months) who fulfilled the criteria of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were examined by interviews regarding premorbid problems and by questionnaires regarding psychosocial functioning and distress, psychological attitudes, and coping resources. Data were compared with normative data. RESULTS Of the adolescents, 86.1% reported 1 or more premorbid problems (58.3% physical, 38.9% psychological, and 52.8% familial). Normal adjustment was reported for psychosocial self-esteem, social abilities, and attentional abilities. High adjustment to adult social standards of behavior was found, but low perceived competence in specific adolescent domains, such as athletic ability, romance, and participation in recreational activities. The girls reported predominantly internalizing problems. Normal achievement motivation, no debilitating fear of failure, and high internal locus of control were observed. Palliative reaction patterns and optimism were predominantly used as coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS The large number of premorbid problems suggests a possible contributing factor to the onset of the syndrome, although there were no reference data of healthy adolescents. In distinct domains of psychosocial adjustment, the adolescent girls with CFS showed strengths such as adequate self-esteem and scholastic and social abilities, and weaknesses such as low competence in adolescent-specific tasks and internalizing distress, which may partly be explained by syndrome-specific somatic complaints. The use of optimistic and palliative reaction patterns as coping strategies in this patient group indicates that the patients with CFS seem to retain an active and positive outlook on life, which may result in a rather adequate psychological adaptation to the syndrome, but also in maintenance of the syndrome by exceeding the physical limits brought about by the CFS. Our results on adjustment and coping strategies may be helpful to implement (individual) rehabilitation programs.
Appreciating Stockbroking: Constructing Conceptions to Make Sense of Performance

The performance of individual stockbrokers differs. This paper aims to make sense of these differences. In a study of 14 stockbrokers, the high performing brokers described their working life in a systematically different way, compared to the low performing brokers. The brokers gave different and conflicting accounts of what, from an outsider's viewpoint, seemed to be very similar work and working conditions. The brokers' different accounts are interpreted and reconstructed into two opposing conceptions of stockbrokers' world of working. In an ideal typical sense these two conceptions make sense of, and maybe even explain the stockbrokers' different levels of performance. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2004.
Validation of scale-reading estimates of age and growth in a brown trout Salmo trutta population

In this study, we validated a scale-reading method estimating age and growth in brown trout Salmo trutta in wild, landlocked, stream-dwelling populations from mountain headwaters in the Elbe catchment area of the Czech Republic. The values estimated from scale reading were compared with measured values, collected using a mark-recapture program over eight consecutive years. The age-corrected absolute percentage error was 10.71%, primarily because the ages of the oldest individuals according to scale reading were underestimated, and the ages of juvenile individuals were slightly overestimated. The back-calculated length was slightly underestimated (the mean error was −4.60 mm), but it was not significantly different from the real measured length. This study suggests that in cold mountain headwaters, scale reading is a sufficiently accurate method for age and growth estimation in juvenile brown trout; however, the results for adult individuals must be taken with caution.
Use of a simple symptom questionnaire to predict Barrett's esophagus in patients with symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux

OBJECTIVE:Accurately predicting Barrett's esophagus (BE) in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is difficult. Using logistic regression analysis of symptom questionnaire scores we created a model to predict the presence of BE.METHODS:We conducted a logistic regression analysis of symptom data collected prospectively on 517 GERD patients and created a prediction model based on patient gender, age, ethnicity, and symptom severity.RESULTS:There were 337 (65%) males and 180 (35%) females, of whom 99 (19%) had Barrett's esophagus (BE). Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive ability of gender, age, and ethnicity along with symptoms of heartburn, nocturnal pain, odynophagia, presence of belching, dysphagia, relief of symptoms with food, and nausea. The only significant predictors (at the 0.05 level) were male gender, heartburn, nocturnal pain, and odynophagia (all with positive effects on the presence of BE) and dysphagia (which had a negative effect). A nomogram was produced to show the effect of a given predictor on the probability of having BE in the context of the effects of the other predictors, and to estimate the probability of having BE for a given individual. The mean score (±SD) for the BE patients in our sample was 397.4 ± 46.2 with a range of 292–530. For the patients without BE, the mean score (±SD) was 351.3 ± 60.3 with a range of 190 – 528 (p < 0.001). If screening for BE is performed at a score of 375 or more, our model would have a specificity of 63% with a sensitivity of 77% (95% CI 61–86% given the 63% specificity). CONCLUSIONS:By asking seven questions about symptom severity, clinicians may be able to assign a probability to the presence of BE, and thus, determine the need for endoscopy in GERD patients.
What Is Social Informatics and Why Does It Matter?

It is a field that is defined by its topic (and fundamental questions about it) rather than by a family of methods, much like urban studies or gerontology. Social informatics has been a subject of systematic analytical and critical research for the last 25 years. This body of research has developed theories and findings that are pertinent to understanding the design, development, and operation of usable information systems, including intranets, electronic forums, digital libraries and electronic journals.
Service Work and Employee Experience of the Service Encounter

Due to the very nature of service work, a vast majority of research has focused on interpersonal aspects. There are mainly two perspectives; the first takes departure from the customers’ point of view and focus on customer satisfaction and business success.The second, rather critical, perspective highlights the employees’ experiences of the service interaction. Our purpose is to combine, summarize, and test – often the oreticaland sometimes normative – proposals and statements from both these perspectives. The empirical data is derived from (a) a questionnaire to a random sample of 2000 Swedish employees with daily customer/client contact in their work, and (b) in-depth interviews with 21 employees, working as shop assistants, receptionists, travel agents etc. The study covers areas such as routinization; superiority and subordination; customer identification; rapport; aesthetic labour; the use of humour, charm and flirt; and the dealing with troublesome or rude customers. Our research shows how service encounters are a source of well-being, satisfaction, and commercial success, as well as a source of control and stress. The employees have to suppress their own feelings; they lie to customers, and are often mistreated. As many as half of the employees state that they regularly have to deal with troublesome or rude customers. This situation is even worse for women.
Cyclophilin A Mediates Vascular Remodeling by Promoting Inflammation and Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation

Background— Oxidative stress, generated by excessive reactive oxygen species, promotes cardiovascular disease. Cyclophilin A (CyPA) is a 20-kDa chaperone protein secreted from vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in response to reactive oxygen species that stimulates VSMC proliferation and inflammatory cell migration in vitro; however, the role CyPA plays in vascular function in vivo remains unknown. Methods and Results— We tested the hypothesis that CyPA contributes to vascular remodeling by analyzing the response to complete carotid ligation in CyPA knockout mice, wild-type mice, and mice that overexpress CyPA in VSMC (VSMC-Tg). After carotid ligation, CyPA expression in vessels of wild-type mice increased dramatically and was significantly greater in VSMC-Tg mice. Reactive oxygen species–induced secretion of CyPA from mouse VSMCs correlated significantly with intracellular CyPA expression. Intimal and medial hyperplasia correlated significantly with CyPA expression after 2 weeks of carotid ligation, with marked decreases in CyPA knockout mice and increases in VSMC-Tg mice. Inflammatory cell migration into the intima was significantly reduced in CyPA knockout mice and increased in VSMC-Tg mice. Additionally, VSMC proliferation assessed by Ki67+ cells was significantly less in CyPA knockout mice and was increased in VSMC-Tg mice. The importance of CyPA for intimal and medial thickening was shown by strong correlations between CyPA expression and the number of both inflammatory cells and proliferating VSMCs in vivo and in vitro. Conclusions— In response to low flow, CyPA plays a crucial role in VSMC migration and proliferation, as well as inflammatory cell accumulation, thereby regulating flow-mediated vascular remodeling and intima formation.