Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular epidemiology of Coxsackievirus A16 strains isolated from children in Yamagata, Japan between 1988 and 2011

To clarify the longitudinal molecular epidemiology of coxsackievirus A16, phylogenetic analysis based on the VP1 region of 220 isolates in Yamagata, Japan was performed. The resultant phylogenetic tree indicates that the Yamagata isolates and reference strains can be readily genotyped into three genogroups, and 0, 12 and 208 isolates belonged to the first, second, and third genogroups, respectively. The first genogroup includes only the prototype strain, the second strains that had disappeared by the end of the 20th century and the third comprises those that have been circulating since then in local communities, such as Yamagata.
Stochastic Primal-Dual Methods and Sample Complexity of Reinforcement Learning

We study the online estimation of the optimal policy of a Markov decision process (MDP). We propose a class of Stochastic Primal-Dual (SPD) methods which exploit the inherent minimax duality of Bellman equations. The SPD methods update a few coordinates of the value and policy estimates as a new state transition is observed. These methods use small storage and has low computational complexity per iteration. The SPD methods find an absolute-$\epsilon$-optimal policy, with high probability, using $\mathcal{O}\left(\frac{|\mathcal{S}|^4 |\mathcal{A}|^2\sigma^2 }{(1-\gamma)^6\epsilon^2} \right)$ iterations/samples for the infinite-horizon discounted-reward MDP and $\mathcal{O}\left(\frac{|\mathcal{S}|^4 |\mathcal{A}|^2H^6\sigma^2 }{\epsilon^2} \right)$ for the finite-horizon MDP.
Two‐year follow‐up after advanced core decompression

The so‐called “Advanced Core Decompression” (ACD) is a new option that tries to remove the necrotic tissue in patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (AVN) in a minimally invasive way by the use of a percutaneous expandable reamer and refilling with a resorbable and osteoinductive bone‐graft substitute. Seventy‐two hips of sixty patients with a mean follow‐up of 29.14 months after ACD have been included in this study. Patients underwent physical examination preoperatively and six weeks after surgery as well as at two further follow‐ups. Certain phases in disease progression and size of the necrotic lesion were differentiated on the basis of the classification of osteonecrosis of the femoral head by Steinberg.The femoral heads had collapsed in 24 cases (33%). Analysis of the survival rates with regard to defect size revealed that the largest defects had a significantly higher rate of femoral head collapse than the smaller defects. Clinical scores were also depending on defect size but also on disease stage. The current ACD technique has not yet achieved any significant improvement in the success rate of core decompression procedures. It can be concluded that the success of ACD depends especially on the defect size. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Creativity and Breast Cancer

ABSTRACT: A study of the relation between creativity and prognosis was performed in a group of 59 premenopausal women with breast cancer. For the majority of these patients it could be shown that high creativity, as measured by the Creative Functioning Test, correlated with a favorable prognosis as evidenced by tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and rate of tumor growth. Because high creativity has been shown to correlate with openness to aggressive impulses, we concluded that suppression of aggression could be a negative factor in the development of cancer growth. However, as in a previous study of 70 pre- and postmenopausal women in a small group of patients with comedo carcinoma, these relations were reversed. Low creativity was now a positive predictor. At the same time, the test results in these people suggested they could not handle their aggression in a constructive manner. Here, creative openness to primitive impulses entailed danger to the stability of the self. To predict cancer growth, one must qualify creativity. A general conclusion would be that there is a covariation between personality profile and type of breast cancer.
Genome Sequence of a Recently Emerged, Highly Transmissible, Multi-Antibiotic- and Antiseptic-Resistant Variant of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Sequence Type 239 (TW)

ABSTRACT The 3.1-Mb genome of an outbreak methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain (TW20) contains evidence of recently acquired DNA, including two large regions (635 kb and 127 kb). The strain is resistant to a wide range of antibiotics, antiseptics, and heavy metals due to resistance genes encoded on mobile genetic elements and also mutations in housekeeping genes.
British adolescents who sexually abuse : a descriptive study

Abstract The seriousness of the problem posed by adolescents who sexually abuse has been increasingly recognized and documented in recent years. The background characteristics of 51 adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years whc were referred to a specialist assessment and treatment facility for young sexual abusers are presented. Victim and abuse characteristics are also described. The results of this study were found to be broadly consistent with those reported in the recent North American and British literature, and support a multifactorial aetiological explanation for adolescent sexual abuse in terms of environmental, familial, interpersonal and developmental elements. Of particular note is a prior history of abuse and victimization and lack of protective parenting. Increasing knowledge about adolescent sexual abusers will aid the various agencies working with young people to recognize those who are at risk of future sexual abusing and to develop appropriate therapeutic interventions.
Understanding Whole Systems Change in Health Care: The Case of Nurse Practitioners in Canada

Nurse practitioners (NPs) were introduced into the Canadian health system almost half a century ago. Despite early evidence of their effectiveness, it took decades to establish a substantial critical mass of NPs. Using the NP as a case study exemplar, we adopted a whole system change perspective to understand what else besides evidence was needed to ensure the success of desirable health systems innovations. We identified elements of whole systems change to analyze literature on the NP movement in terms of leverages, blockages, and system dynamics. Results suggest that evidence was only one of many factors shaping the uptake of NP services as part of larger, ongoing, adaptive whole systems change. The changes required to integrate the NP role within the health system reflect a socio-ecological perspective that may be used to understand sustainable health systems innovation and improvement.
Research and Publications Output: A Survey of the Psychology Department at UNISA

This study explored factors influencing the production of research and publications by members of the Psychology Department of the University of South Africa. With regard to external factors, it was found that lack of a culture of research and lack of recognition for research and publication in the Department tended to inhibit research. But support offered by the University in terms of recess leave, funding and library resources were sources of encouragement and motivation. Interpersonal factors, such as contact with other academics and students, and publication were also motivating. Internal personal factors, such as self-discipline, enthusiasm and interest, were not as frequently mentioned as external factors. It was recommended that a departmental research committee with a participative approach and clear duties be established to address the needs of staff members. Given the National Department of Education's call for increased research output it follows that academic departments will have to adapt to the proposed funding shift by assessing and strenghtening their existing research capacitites.
Proteinases of the Bone Morphogenetic Protein-1 Family Convert Procollagen VII to Mature Anchoring Fibril Collagen*

Collagen VII is the major structural component of the anchoring fibrils at the dermal-epidermal junction in the skin. It is secreted by keratinocytes as a precursor, procollagen VII, and processed into mature collagen during polymerization of the anchoring fibrils. We show that bone morphogenetic protein-1 (BMP-1), which exhibits procollagen C-proteinase activity, cleaves the C-terminal propeptide from human procollagen VII. The cleavage occurs at the BMP-1 consensus cleavage site SYAA↓DTAG within the NC-2 domain. Mammalian tolloid-like (mTLL)-1 and -2, two other proteases of the astacin enzyme family, were able to process procollagen VII at the same site in vitro. Immunohistochemical and genetic evidence supported the involvement of these enzymes in cleaving type VII procollagen in vivo. Both BMP-1 and mTLL-1 are expressed in the skin and in cultured cutaneous cells. A naturally occurring deletion in the human COL7A1 gene, 8523del14, which is associated with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa and eliminates the BMP-1 consensus sequence, abolished processing of procollagen VII, and in mutant skin procollagen VII accumulated at the dermal-epidermal junction. On the other hand, deficiency of BMP-1 in the skin of knockout mouse embryos did not prevent processing of procollagen VII to mature collagen, suggesting that mTLL-1 and/or mTLL-2 can substitute for BMP-1 in the processing of procollagen VII in situ.
Black and White Faculty in White Research Universities

The claims regarding the failures and successes of affirmative action programs (herein restricted to female and male black faculty) are appreciably more extensive than is the evidence to support various contentions. Furthermore, both the debates and the data contain contradictory and conflicting assertions. There is agreement that the number of black faculty in white universities is small (less than 3 percent) [6, 13, 17], and that enrollments in professional schools (dentistry, law, and medicine) [3, pp. 74-78] increased during the 1970s; however, the rate of increase in the percentage of black faculty is very small [24]. The Ladd and Lipset [25] survey of U.S. faculty members of the professoriate of major research universities found that the "proportion has remained basically the same over the last decade. " Moreover, according to Ladd and Lipset, "blacks are no more heavily represented in the young faculty groups than in the older, and they remain clustered at the less prestigious schools. " Steele and Green [39] also see little likelihood of an increase. As for those blacks who are on the faculties of white colleges and universities, the rhetoric is strong but the evidence is scarce. That blacks are used as showcases in ceremonial functions, have to serve on innumerable committees to guarantee a black presence, and give a disproportionately high amount of their time to the counseling of black students [30, p. 20] is countered by innuendos that blacks receive favored treatment with, for example, lighter teaching loads. One hears of negative tenure decisions centered on the issue of whether publications in "black"
Voices from the Greek Community Schools: Bilingual Pedagogy and Teachers’ Theories

Abstract This paper describes the findings of a qualitative study focussing on teachers from Greece working in Community Schools in the UK, and follows the development of their teaching theories and practices as they adapt to working intensively with minority-language speakers. Teachers’ voices are explored using a hermeneutic approach to analysis, foregrounding interpretation in order to uncover the ‘tacit’ as well as the more explicit theories which shape their practice. The study shows that teachers’ theories are dynamic, and develop in a broadly reflective manner. The teachers informally ‘research’ problems they encounter in the language classroom, developing a rich local knowledge of the students (including the form of diglossia in the community, students’ learning styles, forms of motivation, etc.). Their reflections feed into practice as their teaching methods become more closely tailored to the needs of their students. In this process the teachers develop more critical perspectives towards issues of organisation and policy as they relate to the needs of their students. Implications include the need to involve experienced teachers more closely in teacher-education, and the research and policy process, as they are ideally placed to understand the complexity which characterises issues relating to language in contemporary heterogeneous classrooms.
Adoption of the World Wide Web by American Political Candidates, 1996-1998

The diffusion of the establishment of World Wide Web sites as a campaign tactic into the 1998 Congressional and Gubernatorial elections is examined based on the presumption that the more relative advantages a campaign perceives in establishing a site, the more likely they will be to adopt. Thus, campaigns which spent more money more frequently adopted. Incumbents, many of whom have non-campaign presences on the Web and thus see fewer benefits, adopted less frequently.
Names for Things: A Study in Human Learning

Four chapters in the book's first section, Matters Mainly Psychological, describe empirical observations that explore how a child copes with the fact that many different name-like words can be applied to a single object.A second major section, Matters Mainly Linguistic, contains chapters on phonology, the learning of grammatical categories, the definite and indefinite articles, and the plural. A third section, Matters Mainly Philosophical, focuses entirely on the complex issues of reference and meaning. A final chapter reflects on the implications of the book for developmental psychology.John Macnamara is a world-recognized developmental psychologist and Professor of Psychology at McGill University. An MIT Press/Bradford Book.
A QR Code Based Zero-Watermarking Scheme for Authentication of Medical Images in Teleradiology Cloud

Healthcare institutions adapt cloud based archiving of medical images and patient records to share them efficiently. Controlled access to these records and authentication of images must be enforced to mitigate fraudulent activities and medical errors. This paper presents a zero-watermarking scheme implemented in the composite Contourlet Transform (CT)—Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) domain for unambiguous authentication of medical images. Further, a framework is proposed for accessing patient records based on the watermarking scheme. The patient identification details and a link to patient data encoded into a Quick Response (QR) code serves as the watermark. In the proposed scheme, the medical image is not subjected to degradations due to watermarking. Patient authentication and authorized access to patient data are realized on combining a Secret Share with the Master Share constructed from invariant features of the medical image. The Hu's invariant image moments are exploited in creating the Master Share. The proposed system is evaluated with Checkmark software and is found to be robust to both geometric and non geometric attacks.
The Acquisition of General Purpose Strategic Knowledge for Argumentation

We describe the implementation and testing of a program designed to develop critical-reading and writing skills in psychology students through the acquisition of a general knowledge structure for argumentation. To investigate the acquisition of this knowledge structure, two introductory psychology classes, one getting critical-thinking skills instruction and another not receiving it, were compared on their use of argumentative language in constructing generic outlines for a persuasive term paper at the beginning and end of the course. After training, the critical thinking-trained group showed greater use of language similar to that used in instruction and significantly greater use of argumentative language, judged to be appropriate by critical-thinking experts, than the group not getting the instruction.
The possibilities and constraints of multimedia as a basis for critical reflection

The use of video evidence as a vehicle for promoting discussion and critical reflection is well established in educational literature in the field of professional development and is gradually becoming more accepted as a research method. There is general agreement also that in relation to image‐based research the combination of video evidence of practice and professional dialogue promote critical reflection and can be instrumental in bringing about changes to that practice. Our aim in this paper is firstly to explore briefly our use of video images as a catalyst for promoting rich dialogue that supports multiple perspectives, meanings and interpretations of classroom events. We describe from a very practical perspective the trials and tribulations of developing a methodology for collecting and analyzing video recordings of classroom practice. Secondly, we describe our attempts to capture and narrate the experience as a multimodal account (Kress & Leeuwen, 2001) for dissemination purposes. The experience of coming to understand and work with the possibilities and constraints offered by the integration of media such as graphic/video image, text, music and becoming familiar with the language of ‘roll‐overs’, ‘one‐stop‐shops’, ‘rendering’ was for us a very steep learning curve which proved both exciting and challenging.
Resource Allocation in Public Research Universities

A study of internal resource allocation in public Research I universities is particularly timely and important as the patterns of expenditures and revenues at public universities, after a period of substantial change, stabilized in 1999. After 1999, a period of new retrenchments ensued as a result of intensified budget cutting that, in some cases, resulted in budget rescissions for some universities in fiscal years 2001–2002 and 2002–2003. An analysis of the revenue streams for public institutions of higher education over the 15 years from 1985 to 1999 reveals a decline in the proportion of current-fund revenue provided from the state from 45.1% to 35.8%, an absolute decrease of 21%. During the same period, tuition and fees rose sharply from 14.6% in 1985 to 18.5% in 1999, an absolute increase of 27% while private gifts, grants, and contracts rose from 3.1% in 1985 to 4.8% in 1999, an absolute increase of 55% (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 1993, p. 322; NCES, 1996, p. 4; NCES, 2003, p. 372). In the period between 1986 and 1999, institutional expenditures (measured in 1999 constant dollars, using the Higher Education Price Index [HEPI] deflator) increased by $38 billion, from $103 billion in 1986 to $141 billion in 1999, a 37% increase (inflation adjusted) while government funding increased by $11 billion, from $62 billion in 1986 to $73 billion in 1999, a 17% increase
The survivor syndrome: aftermath of downsizing

Reports that the fundamental problem with corporate restructuring as it is practised today ‐ as an ongoing strategy even in profitable times, rather than as an emergency move ‐ is that it is based on a flawed vision of what makes people and organizations work well. Excessive downsizing experiences create a new psycho‐social problem: the “survivor syndrome”. Examines survivor syndrome, identifies its causes and suggests remedies that lead to rebuilding employee commitment to the new organization.
Cognitive and Functional Outcomes following Inpatient Rehabilitation in Patients with Acquired Brain Injury: A Prospective Follow-up Study

ABSTRACT Objectives: To study the effects of cognitive retraining and inpatient rehabilitation to study the effects of cognitive retraining and inpatient rehabilitation in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Design and Setting: This was a prospective follow-up study in a neurological rehabilitation department of quaternary research hospital. Patients and Methods: Thirty patients with ABI, mean age 36.43 years (standard deviation [SD] 12.6, range 18–60), mean duration of illness 77.87 days (SD 91.78, range 21–300 days) with cognitive, physical, and motor-sensory deficits underwent inpatient rehabilitation for minimum of 14 sessions over a period of 3 weeks. Nineteen patients (63%) reported in the follow-up of minimum 3 months after discharge. Type of ABI, cognitive status (using Montreal Cognitive assessment scale [MoCA] and cognitive Functional Independence Measure [Cog FIM]®), and functional status (motor FIM®) were noted at admission, discharge, and follow-up and scores were compared. Results: Patients received inpatient rehabilitation addressing cognitive and functional impairments. Baseline MoCA, motor FIM, and Cog FIM scores were 15.27 (SD = 7.2, range 3–30), 31.57 (SD = 15.6, range 12–63), and 23.47 (SD = 9.7, range 5–35), respectively. All the parameters improved significantly at the time of discharge (MoCA = 19.6 ± 7.4 range 3–30, motor FIM® = 61.33 ± 18.7 range 12–89, Cog FIM® =27.23 – 8.10 range 9–35). Patients were discharged with home-based programs. Nineteen patients reported in follow-up and observed to have maintained cognition on MoCA (18.8 ± 6.8 range 6–27), significantly improved (P < 0.01) on Cog FIM® (28.0 ± 7.7 range 14–35) and motor FIM® =72.89 ± 16.2 range 40–96) as compare to discharge scores. Conclusions: Cognitive and functional outcomes improve significantly with dedicated and specialized inpatient rehabilitation in ABI patients, which is sustainable over a period.
ATP8B1 and ABCB11 analysis in 62 children with normal gamma‐glutamyl transferase progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC): Phenotypic differences between PFIC1 and PFIC2 and natural history

Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) types 1 and 2 are characterized by normal serum gamma‐glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity and are due to mutations in ATP8B1 (encoding FIC1) and ABCB11 (encoding bile salt export pump [BSEP]), respectively. Our goal was to evaluate the features that may distinguish PFIC1 from PFIC2 and ease their diagnosis. We retrospectively reviewed charts of 62 children with normal‐GGT PFIC in whom a search for ATP8B1 and/or ABCB11 mutation, liver BSEP immunostaining, and/or bile analysis were performed. Based on genetic testing, 13 patients were PFIC1 and 39 PFIC2. The PFIC origin remained unknown in 10 cases. PFIC2 patients had a higher tendency to develop neonatal cholestasis. High serum alanine aminotransferase and alphafetoprotein levels, severe lobular lesions with giant hepatocytes, early liver failure, cholelithiasis, hepatocellular carcinoma, very low biliary bile acid concentration, and negative BSEP canalicular staining suggest PFIC2, whereas an absence of these signs and/or presence of extrahepatic manifestations suggest PFIC1. The PFIC1 and PFIC2 phenotypes were not clearly correlated with mutation types, but we found tendencies for a better prognosis and response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) or biliary diversion (BD) in a few children with missense mutations. Combination of UDCA, BD, and liver transplantation allowed 87% of normal‐GGT PFIC patients to be alive at a median age of 10.5 years (1‐36), half of them without liver transplantation. Conclusion: PFIC1 and PFIC2 differ clinically, biochemically, and histologically at presentation and/or during the disease course. A small proportion of normal‐GGT PFIC is likely not due to ATP8B1 or ABCB11 mutations. (HEPATOLOGY 2010)