Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term consistency in speech/language profiles: I. Developmental and academic outcomes.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the 7-year developmental and academic outcome of speech/language-impaired and control children selected from a community sample. METHOD Speech/language and psychiatric measures were administered to the children at ages 5 and 12.5 years. Using children's age 5 speech/language test results, a cluster analysis was performed to ascertain whether specific linguistic subgroups would emerge. The long-term consistency of these subgroups was explored. The association between time 1 speech/language clusters and linguistic, cognitive and academic measures at time 2 were examined. RESULTS Four groups were identified in the cluster analysis: high overall, poor articulation, poor comprehension, and low overall. Children with pervasive language problems continued to perform poorly on linguistic, cognitive, and academic measures, while those with comprehension problems fared slightly better but still had more difficulties than those with normal language. The poor articulation cluster had few articulation errors at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Empirically supported speech/language classifications identified as early as age 5 continued to be relevant into late childhood. Pervasive speech/language impairment in early childhood was associated with increased risk of poor linguistic and academic outcome at follow-up, while isolated articulatory problems improved over time. These findings reveal the urgent need for early intervention among children with pervasive speech/language impairment.
Dialogue Learning With Human-In-The-Loop

An important aspect of developing conversational agents is to give a bot the ability to improve through communicating with humans and to learn from the mistakes that it makes. Most research has focused on learning from fixed training sets of labeled data rather than interacting with a dialogue partner in an online fashion. In this paper we explore this direction in a reinforcement learning setting where the bot improves its question-answering ability from feedback a teacher gives following its generated responses. We build a simulator that tests various aspects of such learning in a synthetic environment, and introduce models that work in this regime. Finally, real experiments with Mechanical Turk validate the approach.
Seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to SARS-coronavirus in asymptomatic or subclinical population groups

We systematically reviewed the current understanding of human population immunity against SARS-CoV in different groups, settings and geography. Our meta-analysis, which included all identified studies except those on wild animal handlers, yielded an overall seroprevalence of 0·10% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0·02–0·18]. Health-care workers and others who had close contact with SARS patients had a slightly higher degree of seroconversion (0·23%, 95% CI 0·02–0·45) compared to healthy blood donors, others from the general community or non-SARS patients recruited from the health-care setting (0·16%, 95% CI 0–0·37). When analysed by the two broad classes of testing procedures, it is clear that serial confirmatory test protocols resulted in a much lower estimate (0·050%, 95% CI 0–0·15) than single test protocols (0·20%, 95% CI 0·06–0·34). Potential epidemiological and laboratory pitfalls are also discussed as they may give rise to false or inconsistent results in measuring the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV.
What can be learnt about dispersivity from transport experiments in unsaturated double-porosity soils?

Dispersivity is assumed to be an intrinsic property which characterizes the heterogeneity scale of porous media. When the medium is unsaturated by two fluid phases (water and air), dispersivity depends strongly on the saturation. “Double-porosity” medium concept can be attributed to a class of heterogeneous soils and rocks in which a strong contrast in local pore size characteristics is observed. In this work, we revisited the intrinsicity of the dispersivity of a double-porosity soil with different saturations, by performing a series of one-dimensional experiments of chloride tracer dispersion under different boundary conditions. The physical double-porosity model was composed of solidified clayey balls, distributed periodically in a more permeable sandy matrix. The dependence of the dispersivity on the saturation in the double-porosity soil was established and compared with the trends obtained for the single-porosity soils in previous studies. RESUME Il est generalement admis que la dispersivite est une propriete intrinseque qui caracterise l'echelle d'heterogeneite des milieux poreux. Lorsque le milieu est sature par deux phases fluides (eau et air), elle depend fortement de la saturation. Le concept du milieu a « double-porosite » peut etre attribue a une classe de sols et de roches heterogenes dans lesquels on observe un fort contraste de tailles caracteristiques locales de pores. Dans ce travail, nous avons revisite la nature intrinseque de dispersivite d'un sol a double porosite avec des saturations differentes, en effectuant une serie d'experiences unidimensionnelles de la dispersion d’un traceur, pour differentes conditions aux limites. Le modele physique a double porosite a ete compose de spheres argileuses solidifiees, reparties periodiquement dans une matrice de sable plus permeable. La dependance de la dispersivite de la saturation dans le sol a double porosite a ete etablie et comparee avec les tendances obtenues pour les sols a simple-porosite dans des etudes anterieures.
Quasi 2D Ultrahigh Carrier Density in a Complex Oxide Broken‐Gap Heterojunction

Two‐dimensional (2D) ultra‐high carrier densities are of considerable current research interest for novel plasmonic and high charge‐gain devices. However, the highest 2D electron density obtained is thus far limited to 3 × 1014 cm–2 (½ electron/unit cell/interface) at GdTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces, and is typically an order of magnitude lower at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces. We show from experiment and modeling that carrier densities much higher than expected based on resolution of the polar discontinuity at perovskite oxide heterojunctions can be achieved via band engineering. The SrTiO3 (8 u.c.)/NdTiO3 (t u.c)/SrTiO3 (8 u.c.)/LSAT(001) heterostructure shows the expected electronic reconstruction behavior starting at t = 2 u.c. , but then exhibits a higher carrier density regime at t ≥ 6 u.c. due to additional charge transfer from band alignment.
Effectiveness of a free folic acid supplement program in family planning clinics.

BACKGROUND Adequate periconceptional folic acid consumption lowers the risk for neural tube defects. We report the results of an evaluation of a folic acid intervention in Georgia family planning clinics that provided free folic acid supplements or fortified breakfast cereal. METHODS Six family planning clinics participated in the evaluation. Three clinics provided folic acid pills and educational materials to clients, two provided super-fortified cereal and educational materials, and one clinic provided educational materials only. Participants between the ages of 18 and 45 who visited the clinics in 2000 completed a brief survey and provided a blood sample. Of the 1093 women who participated, we evaluated the 165 women who had returned to the clinic at least once during the study period. We compared participants' survey and serum folate data from their first and subsequent visits. RESULTS Participation in the intervention was associated with increased knowledge about folic acid, (odds ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.37-2.76), but was not directly associated with increased self-reported folic acid consumption or increased serum folate levels. Reported use of folic acid supplements or cereal within two days of a visit was associated with higher serum folate levels. Knowledge about folic acid was one of the best predictors of self-reported folic acid consumption. CONCLUSIONS Participation in the intervention increased clients' knowledge about folic acid but did not directly increase reported folic acid consumption. Because knowledge predicted folic acid consumption, the intervention may be indirectly associated with increased consumption of folic acid.
Safety, Efficacy, and Durability of Outcomes: Results from SECURE: A Single Arm, Multicenter, Prospective, Clinical Study on a Minimally Invasive Posterior Sacroiliac Fusion Allograft Implant

Introduction Research suggests that sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction is responsible for 15% to 30% of reported low back pain cases. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in SIJ fusion using minimally invasive surgery (MIS) due to safety. Initially, devices designed for MIS were intended for lateral approaches. A minimally invasive sacroiliac fusion implant for use with a posterior approach has been developed and is regulated for clinical use under the regulatory framework required for human cells, tissues, or cellular or tissue-based products (HCT/Ps). Methods A multi-center, prospective, single-arm study was launched after initial studies provided preliminary data to support safety, efficacy, and durability of this minimally invasive sacroiliac posterior fusion LinQ allograft implant (NCT04423120). Preliminary results were reported previously. Final results for the full participant cohort are presented here. Results One-hundred and fifty-nine (159) participants were enrolled across 16 investigational sites in the US between January 2020 and March 2022. One-hundred and twenty-two (122) participants were implanted. At the 1-month follow-up, 82 participants satisfied all criteria for the composite responder endpoint, representing 73.2% of the study cohort. These results stayed consistent across the remaining study timepoints with 66.0%, 74.4%, and 73.5% of participants classified as responders at the 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up visits, respectively. VAS scores were significantly reduced (p < 0.0001) and ODI scores were significantly improved (p < 0.0001). All domains of the PROMIS-29 were also significantly improved (all p’s <0.0001). Only one procedure-related serious AE was reported in the study. Conclusion These results suggest that the posterior approach LinQ Implant System is a safe and effective treatment for sacroiliac joint dysfunction at 12 months, with results that are favorable compared to outcomes reported for an FDA-cleared lateral approach.
Long-term remission of chronic hepatitis B after alpha-interferon therapy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether remissions of chronic hepatitis B induced by alpha-interferon therapy are of long duration. DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, a tertiary referral center. PATIENTS Sixty-four patients with chronic hepatitis B were treated with alpha-interferon between 1984 and 1986. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Patients were followed with frequent examinations and determinations of serum liver biochemical tests and hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers including hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), and HBV DNA using blot hybridization and polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Among 64 patients with chronic hepatitis B who were treated with alpha-interferon, 23 (36%) responded to treatment with loss of HBeAg and improvement in serum aminotransferases. All 23 have been followed for 3 to 7 years (mean, 4.3 years). During follow-up, 3 of 23 patients relapsed, with reappearance of HBeAg and abnormal serum aminotransferases, all within 1 year of therapy. The remaining 20 patients continued to have no detectable HBeAg or HBV DNA (using blot hybridization) in serum and to be asymptomatic for liver disease, although 3 had minimal elevations in serum aminotransferases. Thirteen patients (65%) became negative for HBsAg between 0.2 and 6 years (mean, 3 years) after loss of HBeAg. Although no patient had HBV DNA that was detectable by blot hybridization, the 7 patients who remained HBsAg positive all had HBV DNA in serum detected by polymerase chain reaction, but only 2 of 13 HBsAg-negative patients had viral genome using this method. Testing sequential samples indicated that HBV DNA detected by polymerase chain reaction usually disappeared at or around the time that test results for HBsAg became negative. CONCLUSIONS Remissions in chronic hepatitis B induced by alpha-interferon are of long duration and are followed, in most patients, by the loss of HBsAg and all evidence of residual virus replication.
Curcumin Supplementation Decreases Intestinal Adiposity Accumulation, Serum Cholesterol Alterations, and Oxidative Stress in Ovariectomized Rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of curcumin oral supplementation (50 and 100 mg/Kg/day, for 30 days) in circumventing menopause-associated oxidative stress and lipid profile dysfunctions in a rat ovariectomy (OVX) model. Female Wistar rats were operated and randomly divided into either sham-operated or OVX groups. Sham-operated group (n = 8) and one OVX group (n = 11) were treated with vehicle (refined olive oil), and the other two OVX groups received curcumin at 50 or 100 mg/Kg/day doses (n = 8/group). OVX vehicle-treated animals presented a higher deposition of intestinal adipose tissue as well as increased serum levels of IL-6, LDL, and total cholesterol when compared to sham-operated rats. In addition, several oxidative stress markers in serum, blood, and liver (such as TBARS, carbonyl, reduced-sulphydryl, and nonenzymatic antioxidant defenses) were altered toward a prooxidant status by OVX. Interestingly, curcumin supplementation attenuated most of these parameters to sham comparable values. Thus, the herein presented results show that curcumin may be useful to ameliorate lipid metabolism alterations and oxidative damage associated with hormone deprivation in menopause.
Scanning Transmission X-Ray, Laser Scanning, and Transmission Electron Microscopy Mapping of the Exopolymeric Matrix of Microbial Biofilms

ABSTRACT Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and soft X-ray scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) were used to map the distribution of macromolecular subcomponents (e.g., polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids) of biofilm cells and matrix. The biofilms were developed from river water supplemented with methanol, and although they comprised a complex microbial community, the biofilms were dominated by heterotrophic bacteria. TEM provided the highest-resolution structural imaging, CLSM provided detailed compositional information when used in conjunction with molecular probes, and STXM provided compositional mapping of macromolecule distributions without the addition of probes. By examining exactly the same region of a sample with combinations of these techniques (STXM with CLSM and STXM with TEM), we demonstrate that this combination of multimicroscopy analysis can be used to create a detailed correlative map of biofilm structure and composition. We are using these correlative techniques to improve our understanding of the biochemical basis for biofilm organization and to assist studies intended to investigate and optimize biofilms for environmental remediation applications.
Elevated carbon dioxide alters the plasma composition and behaviour of a shark

Increased carbon emissions from fossil fuels are increasing the pCO2 of the ocean surface waters in a process called ocean acidification. Elevated water pCO2 can induce physiological and behavioural effects in teleost fishes, although there appear to be large differences in sensitivity between species. There is currently no information available on the possible responses to future ocean acidification in elasmobranch fishes. We exposed small-spotted catsharks (Scyliorhinus canicula) to either control conditions or a year 2100 scenario of 990 μatm pCO2 for four weeks. We did not detect treatment effects on growth, resting metabolic rate, aerobic scope, skin denticle ultrastructure or skin denticle morphology. However, we found that the elevated pCO2 group buffered internal acidosis via accumulation with an associated increase in Na+, indicating that the blood chemistry remained altered despite the long acclimation period. The elevated pCO2 group also exhibited a shift in their nocturnal swimming pattern from a pattern of many starts and stops to more continuous swimming. Although CO2-exposed teleost fishes can display reduced behavioural asymmetry (lateralization), the CO2-exposed sharks showed increased lateralization. These behavioural effects may suggest that elasmobranch neurophysiology is affected by CO2, as in some teleosts, or that the sharks detect CO2 as a constant stressor, which leads to altered behaviour. The potential direct effects of ocean acidification should henceforth be considered when assessing future anthropogenic effects on sharks.
Madrasah Principal Leadership in Implementing the Motto "Amuntai the City of Fear" at Man 2 Amuntai, South Kalimantan Province

This study analyzes the leadership of the Madrasah Principal in implementing the motto Amuntai, the City of Fear at MAN 2 Amuntai. With the various challenges of the times and the explosion of information, madrasas are faced with being able to adapt to various changes that are so fast and result in changes to the learning system and curriculum that are applied. In the midst of this problem, the existence of madrasas in supporting local governments is shrinking. Through field research using a descriptive qualitative approach with transformational leadership indicators, this study proves that the leadership of the head of MAN 2 Amuntai in implementing the motto Amuntai Bertaqwa by taking the role of Idialized Influence, Individualized Consideration, Intellectual Stimulation.
Mechanisms of Fibre Bond Formation

The structure of interfibre bonding in hand sheets made of a hardwood BKP was investigated throughout the sheet formation stages using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a scanning laser microscope (SLM). The sample preparation techniques for TEM and SLM were newly developed for observation of the bond formation and bond structure. Observations were made on couched wet webs, pressed wet webs, drying stages of the wet webs and dry sheets . Structures of the bonded zone and bonded fibres were characterized based on these observations. In this paper we discussed how the structures are affected by beating, couching, pressing and drying. We also discussed the roles of these structures in the physical properties of the fibre bonding.
Dynactin and Num1 cooperate to establish the cortical anchoring of cytoplasmic dynein in S. pombe

Chromosome movement during meiosis is crucial for homologous pairing and meiotic recombination. During meiotic prophase in fission yeast, rapid nuclear migration is dependent on cytoplasmic dynein, which is anchored to the cell cortex and pulls microtubules, thereby driving nuclear migration. However, the precise mechanisms underlying dynein localization and activation remain unclear. Here, we identified three subunits of dynactin in fission yeast: Arp1, Mug5 and Jnm1 (also known as Mug1). These subunits transiently colocalized with dynein foci at the cell cortex and were essential for the cortical anchoring of dynein. Cortical factor Num1 (also known as Mcp5), which was also required for dynein anchoring, bound to dynein independently of dynactin. Whereas Num1 suppressed the sliding of dynein foci along the cortex, Arp1, Mug5 and Jnm1 were involved in the regulation of shrinkage and bundling of microtubules. From these data, we propose that dynein anchoring is established by cooperation of transient assembly of dynactin and function of Num1 at the cell cortex.
Integrating a WebQuest in the Primary School Curriculum Using Anchored Instruction: Effect on Learning Outcomes

Based on a literature review, a means for integrating WebQuests in day-to-day school activities is introduced using principles of Anchored Instruction. Following these ideas in an effect study, including 109 children in 4th, 5th and 6th grade, significant learning gains were found, with a large effect size. Differences in learning gain were found between groups of children from different teachers, and reading comprehension was an important predictor of learning gain. The study gives strong support for a more integrated approach in which learning to search for meaningful information and processing this information is part of the more general educational curriculum.
Peri-exercise co-ingestion of branched-chain amino acids and carbohydrate in men does not preferentially augment resistance exercise- induced increases in PI3K/Akt-mTOR pathway markers indicative of muscle protein synthesis

The effects of a single bout of resistance exercise (RE) in conjunction with peri-exercise branched chain amino acid (BCAA) and carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion on skeletal muscle signaling markers indicative of muscle protein synthesis (MPS) were determined. It was hypothesized that CHO + BCAA would elicit a more pro- found effect on these signaling markers compared to CHO. Twenty-seven males were randomly assigned to CHO, CHO + BCAA, or placebo (PLC) groups. Four sets of leg presses and leg extensions were performed at 80% 1RM. Supplements were ingested 30 min and immediately prior to and after RE. Venous blood and muscle biopsy samples were obtained immediately prior to supplement ingestion and 0.5 hr, 2 hr, and 6 hr after RE. Serum insulin and glu- cose and phosphorylated levels of muscle insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1), protein kinase B (Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p70S6 kinase (p70S6K), and 4E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) were assessed. Data were analyzed by two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Significant group x time interactions were observed for glucose and insulin (p < 0.05) showing that CHO and CHO + BCAA were significantly greater than PLC. Significant time main effects were observed for IRS1 (p = 0.001), Akt (p = 0.031), mTOR (p = 0.003), and p70S6K (p = 0.001). CHO and CHO + BCAA supplementation significantly increased IRS-1 compared to PLC (p = 0.002). However, pe- ri-exercise co-ingestion of CHO and BCAA did not augment RE-induced increases in skeletal muscle signaling markers indicative of MPS when compared to CHO.
Reduced-Variance Payoff Estimation in Adversarial Bandit Problems

A natural way to compare learning methods in nonstationary environments is to compare their regret. In this paper we consider the regret of algorithms in adversarial multi-armed bandit problems. We propose several methods to improve the performance of the baseline exponentially weighted average forecaster by changing the payoff-estimation methods. We argue that improved performance can be achieved by constructing payoff estimation methods that produce estimates with low variance. Our arguments are backed up by both theoretical and empirical results. In fact, our empirical results show that significant performance gains are possible over the baseline algorithm.
New preemption policies for DiffServ-aware traffic engineering to minimize rerouting in MPLS networks

The preemption policy currently in use in MPLS-enabled commercial routers selects LSPs for preemption based only on their priority and holding time. This can lead to waste of resources and excessive number of rerouting decisions. In this paper, a new preemption policy is proposed and complemented with an adaptive scheme that aims to minimize rerouting. The new policy combines the three main preemption optimization criteria: number of LSPs to be preempted, priority of the LSPs, and preempted bandwidth. Weights can be configured to stress the desired criteria. The new policy is complemented by an adaptive scheme that selects lower priority LSPs that can afford to have their rate reduced. The selected LSPs will fairly reduce their rate in order to accommodate the new high-priority LSP setup request. Performance comparisons of a nonpreemptive approach, a policy currently in use by commercial routers, and our policies are also investigated.