Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal study of speech perception, speech, and language for children with hearing loss in an auditory-verbal therapy program

This study examined the speech perception, speech, and language developmental progress of 25 children with hearing loss (mean Pure-Tone Average [PTA] 79.37 dB HL) in an auditory-verbal therapy program. Children were tested initially and then 21 months later on a battery of assessments. The speech and language results over time were compared with those for a control group of children with typical hearing who were matched for initial language age, receptive vocabulary, gender, and socioeconomic level. Speech perception scores for the children with hearing loss showed significant improvement (p 0.05). At the 21-month test point, 84% of the children with hearing loss scored within the typical range for total language age, compared to 58.6% at the initial assessment. Receptive vocabulary scores were an exception, with the children with typical hearing showing significantly more gain than the children with hearing loss (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, the group with hearing loss scored within the typical range for receptive vocabulary. Overall, the results show that the children with hearing loss had improved speech perception skills over time and that their rate of progress for speech and language skills was similar to that of children with typical hearing.
Comparative study of the radial and femoral artery approaches for diagnostic coronary angiography.

OBJECTIVES Femoral artery access is the standard approach for coronary procedures; however, the radial approach has gained sound recognition as an alternative to femoral access. We present our early experience with the transradial approach. METHODS A prospective, non-randomised study of 221 candidates for diagnostic coronary angiography was carried out at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman between December 2008 and April 2009. The patients had their procedure performed from radial or femoral access according to operator discretion and the results were compared. Femoral and radial groups included 116 and 105 patients respectively. RESULTS Radial access was associated with a significantly higher rate of procedural failure (17.1%) versus 0% in femoral group (p = 0.001). There were no local vascular complications in the radial group as opposed to 12.1% in the femoral group (p < 0.01). Hospital length of stay was significantly reduced in the radial group (4.06 versus 23.5 hours, p < 0.01). Total procedure time was longer in the radial group (23.7 ± 13.7 min versus 20.1 ± 7.4 min, p < 0.001), but radiation exposure was similar in both groups. There was a trend for a higher risk of major adverse cardiac events noticed in the femoral group; however, it did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION The transradial approach for coronary angiography is associated with significantly reduced local vascular complications and shorter hospital stays. The femoral approach is the standard access site for coronary angiography; however, interventional cardiologists should acquire experience in the radial approach as an alternative in specific situations.
Pain experience and satisfaction with postoperative pain control among surgical patients.

Alleviating acute pain and providing pain relief are central to caring for surgical patients as pain can lead to many adverse medical consequences. This study aimed to explore patients' experience of pain and satisfaction with postoperative pain control. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 107 respondents who had undergone abdominal surgery in the surgical ward of an urban hospital using the Revised American Pain Society's Patient Outcome and Satisfaction Survey Questionnaires (APS-POQ-R). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Chi-square test showed significant association between race (P = 0.038), education level (P ≤ 0.001), previous operation status (P = 0.032) and operation status (P ≤ 0.001). Further analysis on nominal regression, association between dissatisfaction with factors of operation status (46.09 (95% CI 7.456, 284.947)) and previous operation status (13.38 (95% CI 1.39, 128.74)) was found to be significant. Moderate to high levels of pain intensity in the last 24 h after surgery, as well as moderate to high rates of pain-related interference with care activities were most reported. Pain still remains an issue among surgical patients, and effective pain management and health education are needed to manage pain more effectively after surgery.
Optimal Action Extraction for Random Forests and Boosted Trees

Additive tree models (ATMs) are widely used for data mining and machine learning. Important examples of ATMs include random forest, adaboost (with decision trees as weak learners), and gradient boosted trees, and they are often referred to as the best off-the-shelf classifiers. Though capable of attaining high accuracy, ATMs are not well interpretable in the sense that they do not provide actionable knowledge for a given instance. This greatly limits the potential of ATMs on many applications such as medical prediction and business intelligence, where practitioners need suggestions on actions that can lead to desirable outcomes with minimum costs. To address this problem, we present a novel framework to post-process any ATM classifier to extract an optimal actionable plan that can change a given input to a desired class with a minimum cost. In particular, we prove the NP-hardness of the optimal action extraction problem for ATMs and formulate this problem in an integer linear programming formulation which can be efficiently solved by existing packages. We also empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework by conducting comprehensive experiments on challenging real-world datasets.
Can Risk-Taking Be an Endophenotype for Bipolar Disorder? A Study on Patients with Bipolar Disorder Type I and Their First-Degree Relatives

Abstract Risk-taking behavior and impulsivity are core features of bipolar disorder. Whether they are part of the inherited aspect of the illness is not clear. We aimed to evaluate risk-taking behavior as a potential endophenotype for bipolar disorders, and its relationship with impulsivity and illness features. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) were used to assess risk-taking behavior and impulsivity respectively in 30 euthymic bipolar I patients (BD), their 25 asymptomatic first-degree relatives (BD-R), and 30 healthy controls (HC). The primary BART outcome measure was the behavioral adjustment score (number of pumps after trials where the balloon did not pop minus the number of pumps after trials where the balloon popped). BD (p < .001) and BD-R (p = .001) had similar and significantly lower adjustment scores than HC. Only BD scored significantly higher on BIS-11 total (p = .01) and motor (p = .04) subscales than HC. Neither the BART, nor impulsivity scores associated with illness features. A limitation of this study is medicated patients and a heterogeneous BD-R were included. Riskiness may be a candidate endophenotype for bipolar disorder as it appears independently from illness features, presents similarly in BD and BD-R groups and differs from impulsivity. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–9)
Bilingual Education: The Legal Mandate

The Lau v. Nichols decision of the Supreme Court, which upheld the right of non-English-speaking students to educational programs designed to meet their language- skill needs, has suddenly created a presumption in favor of bilingual education that is causing nationwide repercussions. In this article attorneys Herbert Teitelbaum and Richard Hiller review Lau and subsequent cases and point out that the bringing and winning of such cases will not overcome all the obstacles to equitable education. One hurdle may be the sluggish federal enforcement of remedies to Lau violations; another may be school districts' resistance, explained on the grounds of increased costs, contract rights of teachers, the small number of students involved, or the need to avoid segregation. Although such defenses are rarely successful in court, Teitelbaum and Hiller acknowledge that fears of segregation may impede the implementation of bilingual programs. Accordingly, they present options for remedying discrimination against linguist.
Modelling the spectral energy distribution of galaxies. III. Attenuation of stellar light in spiral galaxies

We present new calculations of the attenuation of stellar light from spiral galaxies using geometries for stars and dust which can reproduce the entire spectral energy distribution from the ultraviolet (UV) to the Far-infrared (FIR)/submillimeter (submm) and can also account for the surface brightness distribution in both the optical/Near-infrared (NIR) and FIR/submm. The calculations are based on the model of Popescu et al. ([CITE]), which incorporates a dustless stellar bulge, a disk of old stars with associated diffuse dust, a thin disk of young stars with associated diffuse dust, and a clumpy dust component associated with star-forming regions in the thin disk. The attenuations, which incorporate the effects of multiple anisotropic scattering, are derived separately for each stellar component, and presented in the form of easily accessible polynomial fits as a function of inclination, for a grid in optical depth and wavelength. The wavelength range considered is between 912 A and 2.2 ${\mu}$m, sampled such that attenuation can be conveniently calculated both for the standard optical bands and for the bands covered by GALEX. The attenuation characteristics of the individual stellar components show marked differences between each other. A general formula is given for the calculation of composite attenuation, valid for any combination of the bulge-to-disk ratio and amount of clumpiness. As an example, we show how the optical depth derived from the variation of attenuation with inclination depends on the bulge-to-disk ratio. Finally, a recipe is given for a self-consistent determination of the optical depth from the ${\rm H\alpha}/{\rm H\beta}$ line ratio.
Identification of G protein-coupled receptors for Drosophila PRXamide peptides, CCAP, corazonin, and AKH supports a theory of ligand-receptor coevolution

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are ancient, ubiquitous sensors vital to environmental and physiological signaling throughout organismal life. With the publication of the Drosophila genome, numerous “orphan” GPCRs have become available for functional analysis. Here we characterize two groups of GPCRs predicted as receptors for peptides with a C-terminal amino acid sequence motif consisting of −PRXamide (PRXa). Assuming ligand-receptor coevolution, two alternative hypotheses were constructed and tested. The insect PRXa peptides are evolutionarily related to the vertebrate peptide neuromedin U (NMU), or are related to arginine vasopressin (AVP), both of which have PRXa motifs. Seven Drosophila GPCRs related to receptors for NMU and AVP were cloned and expressed in Xenopus oocytes for functional analysis. Four Drosophila GPCRs in the NMU group (CG11475, CG8795, CG9918, CG8784) are activated by insect PRXa pyrokinins, (−FXPRXamide), Cap2b-like peptides (−FPRXamide), or ecdysis triggering hormones (−PRXamide). Three Drosophila GPCRs in the vasopressin receptor group respond to crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP), corazonin, or adipokinetic hormone (AKH), none of which are PRXa peptides. These findings support a theory of coevolution for NMU and Drosophila PRXa peptides and their respective receptors.
Differential targeting and functional specialization of sodium channels in cultured cerebellar granule cells

The ion channel dynamics that underlie the complex firing patterns of cerebellar granule (CG) cells are still largely unknown. Here, we have characterized the subcellular localization and functional properties of Na+ channels that regulate the excitability of CG cells in culture. As evidenced by RT‐PCR and immunocytochemical analysis, morphologically differentiated CG cells expressed Nav1.2 and Nav1.6, though both subunits appeared to be differentially regulated. Nav1.2 was localized at most axon initial segments (AIS) of CG cells from 8 days in vitro DIV 8 to DIV 15. At DIV 8, Nav1.6 was found uniformly throughout somata, dendrites and axons with occasional clustering in a subset of AIS. Accumulation of Nav1.6 at most AIS was evident by DIV 13–14, suggesting it is developmentally regulated at AIS. The specific contribution of these differentially distributed Na+ channels has been assessed using a combination of methods that allowed discrimination between functionally compartmentalized Na+ currents. In agreement with immunolocalization, we found that fast activating–fully inactivating Na+ currents predominate at the AIS membrane and in the somatic plasma membrane.
Supplementary Material for Dependent Normalized Random Measures A. Notation & Preliminary

This is the supplementary material for the ICML 2013 paper Dependent Normalized Random Measures by the same authors. We list some of the notation used in this paper in Table 1 for reminder. For completeness, we restate the definition of MNRM and TNRM. We are given a Poisson process on a product space R + × Θ × R with intensity measure ν(dw, dθ, da) (we will use the notation ν r (dw, dθ) = ˜ Rr ν(dw, dθ, da)), denote the corresponding Poisson random measure as N (dw, dθ, da), the constructions are then defined as follow: Mixed Normalized Random Measures (MNRM) ˜ µ r (dθ) = R + × ˜ Rr wN (dw, dθ, da), r = 1, · · · , #R ˜ µ t (dθ) = #R r=1 q rt˜µ r (dθ) t = 1, · · · , T µ t (dθ) = 1 Z t ˜ µ t (dθ) , where Z t = ˜ µ t (Θ) (1)
Evaluation of Chest Pain in the Emergency Department

TO THE EDITOR: We read with interest Kaul and Abbott's recent editorial on evaluation of chest pain in the emergency department [1]. We have been applying these methods at William Beaumont Hospital for the last 2 years [2, 3]. Patients presenting to our chest pain clinic are immediately evaluated by a team of emergency physicians, cardiologists, and specially trained nurses. Patients with definite evidence of acute coronary ischemia are immediately triaged and treated. Those whose chest pain remains unexplained have radioisotope single-photon emission computed tomographic imaging in the emergency center with Tc-99m sestamibi using a dedicated camera. The resulting images are immediately sent by computer network to a nuclear medicine physician for interpretation. Thus, 24-hour coverage is provided. The activation of this chest pain clinic using Kaul and Abbott's strategy has improved efficiency and reduced cost. The addition of radionuclide imaging has had an additional dramatic effect. In patients with unexplained chest pain, the radionuclide scan changed the physicians' management decision in 34 of the first 50 patients (68%). All but one of these patients were sent to a lower-intensity destination. Twenty-nine of these 34 patients (29 of the first 50 patients [58%]) were sent home from the emergency center on the basis of the scan. Initial follow-up has shown that no patient sent home on the basis of the scan subsequently had a significant adverse cardiac event. The cost savings was $1771 per patient. A total of 69.4 inpatient hospital days were avoided in the first 50 patients seen. This team approach using emergency, cardiology, and nuclear medicine physicians has permitted patients with chest pain to be evaluated and managed quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. Although Kaul and Abbott are correct that nuclear imaging techniques are not yet widely used in this setting, these results indicate that their implementation would be economically advantageous. The use of nuclear perfusion imaging combined with today's rapid computer networks allows skilled nuclear medicine physicians (at centralized or remote locations) to quickly and cost-effectively provide physicians who are evaluating patients with chest pain in the emergency center with critical diagnostic and prognostic information.
Identification of Putative Stage-Specific Grapevine Berry Biomarkers and Omics Data Integration into Networks1[C][W][OA]

The analysis of grapevine (Vitis vinifera) berries at the transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic levels can provide great insight into the molecular events underlying berry development and postharvest drying (withering). However, the large and very different data sets produced by such investigations are difficult to integrate. Here, we report the identification of putative stage-specific biomarkers for berry development and withering and, to our knowledge, the first integrated systems-level study of these processes. Transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data were integrated using two different strategies, one hypothesis free and the other hypothesis driven. A multistep hypothesis-free approach was applied to data from four developmental stages and three withering intervals, with integration achieved using a hierarchical clustering strategy based on the multivariate bidirectional orthogonal projections to latent structures technique. This identified stage-specific functional networks of linked transcripts, proteins, and metabolites, providing important insights into the key molecular processes that determine the quality characteristics of wine. The hypothesis-driven approach was used to integrate data from three withering intervals, starting with subdata sets of transcripts, proteins, and metabolites. We identified transcripts and proteins that were modulated during withering as well as specific classes of metabolites that accumulated at the same time and used these to select subdata sets of variables. The multivariate bidirectional orthogonal projections to latent structures technique was then used to integrate the subdata sets, identifying variables representing selected molecular processes that take place specifically during berry withering. The impact of this holistic approach on our knowledge of grapevine berry development and withering is discussed.
Positive emotion in sport performance: current status and future directions

Emotions have firmly established their place in sport psychology research over the past 40 years. For many decades following World War II, mainstream psychology researchers placed negative emotions (e.g., anxiety) ahead of positive emotions (e.g., happiness) but positive emotions are now a genuine, promising field of research because of their influence on specific components of performance (e.g., attention) and psychological well-being. The benefits of these emotions have hitherto not been wholly realized in a sport context, especially in their capacity to generate greater self-efficacy, motivation, attention, problem-solving, and coping with adversity. Although the sport emotion literature is sprinkled with studies that specifically examined positive emotion in sport settings, the breadth and depth of this research is too thin to make bold claims about the value of positive emotions in the emotion-performance relation. There are, however, at least three theoretical models available to sport psychologists to better understand the influence of positive emotions on sport performance and two of these models are specifically designed for sport contexts. Not only can these models deepen and widen this knowledge base, but they can also support interventions in applied settings to improve performance and psychological well-being.
A Process Change-Oriented Model for ERP Application

Though the application of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems has become widespread, many organizational experiences have shown that resulting outcomes fall short of expectations. Best-practice experiences, however, have proven that effective application is centered on an integrative approach that seeks to achieve a balance between certain key organizational elements. This article presents a novel process change management-oriented model that considers the key areas in ERP implementation, including strategy, business processes, structure, culture, information technology, and managerial systems. The model is grounded by empirical-based evidence drawn from a survey of various organizational practices with ERP implementation.
Assessment of echocardiographic abnormalities in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with levels of antiphospholipid antibodies.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of morphologic and functional cardiac abnormalities in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and correlate the data with antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) levels. METHODS Ninety-one patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were enrolled and divided into two groups according to the presence (Group 1, n = 45) or absence of aPL (Group 2, n = 46). All patients underwent standard two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic examination. aPL were detected by a standardized and validated ELISA test. Five patients with regional ventricular dysfunction also underwent coronary angiography. The chi2 test was used for the statistical analysis of the data. For smaller groups of samples the Fisher's exact test was employed. RESULTS Pericardial effusion was detected in 19 patients without any statistical difference between the two groups. A valvular involvement was present in 39 patients: a moderate-severe degree was more frequent in Group 1 (p = 0.02). Regional wall motion abnormalities were observed in 8 patients: only 1 in Group 2 and 7 in Group 1 (p = 0.03). Coronary angiography showed normal arteries in all patients of Group 1. CONCLUSIONS aPL play a role in the pathogenesis of the severity of valvular lesions as well as in regional myocardial dysfunction, suggesting a small vessel disease.
THE SUN PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING BEACHWEAR

Clothing represents a significant though underutilised form of sun protection but the literature reveals few studies dealing with this subject. This study used a solar simulator to assess in vivo sun protection factors (SPF) for two clothing items of beachwear ‐ a synthetic surf shirt and a combination cotton/polyester T‐shirt. The tests showed that the T‐shirt had a relative SPF of 15, and the surf shirt an SPF of 36. This however decreased by a factor of 1/3 in both cases when the material was wet. Overall, this compares favourably with conventional sunscreens and also has the advantage of a wide spectrum of cover.
Effect of feedback of treatment outcome in specialist mental healthcare: meta-analysis

Background Feedback of treatment outcome during the course of therapy (outcome management) is increasingly considered to be beneficial for improving the quality of mental healthcare. Aims To review the impact of feedback of outcome to practitioners and/or patients in specialist mental health services. Method A systematic search and meta-analysis of controlled trials using outcome management in mental health services published in English or German language. Results Twelve studies met inclusion criteria. Feeding back outcome showed a small, but significant (d = 0.10; 95% CI 0.01–0.19) positive short-term effect on the mental health of individuals that did not prevail in the long run. Subgroup analysis revealed no significant differences regarding feedback modalities. Outcome management did not contribute to a reduction of treatment duration. Conclusions Evidence on the effects of outcome management in mental healthcare is promising. More targeted research is needed in order to identify the effective ingredients of outcome feedback and to assess its cost-effectiveness.