Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting reading performance from neuroimaging profiles: The cerebral basis of phonological effects in printed word identification.

This study linked 2 experimental paradigms for the analytic study of reading that heretofore have been used separately. Measures on a lexical decision task designed to isolate phonological effects in the identification of printed words were examined in young adults. The results were related to previously obtained measures of brain activation patterns for these participants derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The fMRI measures were taken as the participants performed tasks that were designed to isolate orthographic, phonological, and lexical-semantic processes in reading. Individual differences in the magnitude of phonological effects in word recognition, as indicated by spelling-to-sound regularity effects on lexical decision latencies and by sensitivity to stimulus length effects, were strongly related to differences in the degree of hemispheric lateralization in 2 cortical regions.
Rifampicin Protects PC12 Cells from Rotenone-Induced Cytotoxicity by Activating GRP78 via PERK-eIF2α-ATF4 Pathway

Rifampicin has been proposed as a therapeutic candidate for Parkinson's disease (PD). We previously showed that rifampicin was neuroprotective in PD models in vivo and in vitro. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying are not fully elucidated. In this study, using the comprehensive proteomic analysis, we identified that the 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), a hallmark of the unfolded protein response (UPR), was upregulated in rifampicin-treated PC12 cells. Western blot analysis confirmed GRP78 activation. GRP78 functions cytoprotectively in stressed cells, therefore, we hypothesized that GRP78 mediated rifampicin-induced neuroprotection. Using RNA interference, we found that GRP78 gene knockdown significantly attenuated the neuroprotective effects of rifampicin. Next, we examined three UPR transducers, namely, protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), inositol requiring kinase α (IREα) and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF 6), and how they regulated rifampicin-stimulated GRP78 expression. Our results showed that PERK, eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) were activated in rifampicin-treated PC12 cells. Silencing the ATF4 gene using RNAi inhibited GRP78 stimulation. Interestingly, we did not detect significant IREα activation, X-box binding protein 1 mRNA splicing, or ATF6 cleavage up to 24 h after rifampicin treatment. Taken together, our data suggested that rifampicin induced GRP78 via the PERK-eIF2α-ATF4 pathway to protect neurons against rotenone-induced cell damage. Targeting molecules in this pathway could be a novel therapeutic approach for PD treatment.
Cortical Excitability and Agressive Behavior in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

INTRODUCTION Hyperarousal and alertness play an important role in the clinical presentation of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Strenuous effort has been made to shed light on the mechanisms that cause these symptoms of patients. Based on the claim that there is a relationship between some subtypes of hyperarousal symptoms and aggression in patients with PTSD, we aimed to examine the relationship between electrophysiological measurements that was measured through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and aggression scale scores of PTSD patients in this study. METHODS The study included 37 patients with a diagnosis of PTSD according to DSM-IV criteria and 25 healthy volunteers. Electrophysiological measurements of participants were made with TMS. The Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaires was administered to patients and control group. RESULTS In the patient group, a positive correlation was found between scores of aggression and arousal symptoms. Motor excitability threshold, one of TMS measurements, which is a sign of cortical excitability, was significantly lower in the patient group than the control group. There was a negative correlation between aggression scale scores and the parameters of motor excitability threshold and cortical silent period which both shows cortical excitability of the patients. CONCLUSION We concluded that there was an increase in cortical excitability in PTSD patients and we suggest that this increase might be associated with hyperarousal symptoms and aggressive behavior.
Vascular Health and Risk Management Dovepress Cardiovascular Outcomes during Treatment with Dabigatran: Comprehensive Analysis of Individual Subject Data by Treatment

Background: Dabigatran 150 mg twice daily was shown to be superior to warfarin in preventing stroke in subjects with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (SPAF) in the RELY (Randomized Evaluation of Long-term anticoagulation therapY) trial. Numerically, more myocardial infarctions occurred in patients receiving dabigatran compared with well-controlled warfarin. This observation prompted a comprehensive analysis of cardiovascular outcomes, including myocardial infarction, in all completed Phase II and III trials of dabigatran etexilate. Methods: The analysis included comparisons of dabigatran with warfarin, enoxaparin, and placebo. Data were analyzed for the occurrence of cardiovascular events from 14 comparative trials (n = 42,484) in five different indications. Individual study data were evaluated, as well as pooled subject-level data grouped by comparator. Results: In the pooled analysis of individual patient data comparing dabigatran with warfarin (SPAF and venous thromboembolism treatment indications), myocardial infarction occurrence favored warfarin (odds ratio [OR] 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96–1.76 for dabigatran 110 mg twice daily and OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.07–1.88 for dabigatran 150 mg twice daily). The clinically relevant composite endpoint of myocardial infarction, total stroke, and vascular death demonstrated numerically fewer events in dabigatran 150 mg patients (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77–1.00), but was similar for dabigatran 110 mg (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.87–1.13). Dabigatran had similar myocardial infarction rates when compared with enoxaparin or placebo. Conclusion: These analyses suggest a more protective effect of well-controlled warfarin, but not enoxaparin, compared with dabigatran in preventing myocardial infarction in multiple clinical settings. Dabigatran showed an overall positive benefit-risk ratio for multiple clinically important cardiovascular composite endpoints in all evaluated clinical indications. In conclusion , these data suggest that myocardial infarction is not an adverse drug reaction associated with use of dabigatran.
Expanding and Cultivating the Hispanic STEM Doctoral Workforce

The prospects for colleges and universities becoming places where Hispanic students are engaged and integrated into the life of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are enhanced if college faculties become more diverse. For colleges and universities to become more diverse, a larger number of Hispanic students must enter and complete doctoral programs. This article presents new research on the funding, mentoring, publishing, and degree completion experiences of Hispanic and other doctoral students. Some of the social and academic challenges that doctoral students face as they progress through doctoral programs are identified.
E-learning content adaptation for deaf students

Deaf students hardly ever finish higher studies. One of the biggest difficulties they have to face in studying for their degrees is reading comprehension. This paper presents a study about their needs when reading a text, and proposes several measures to alleviate this problem. The methodology proposed in this paper, when applied to adapt an e-learning Computing course, has achieved a promising improvement of the understanding level of this kind of student.
The Power of Everyday Politics: How Vietnamese Peasants Transformed National Policy

Preliminary pages 1. Introduction 2. Theorizing Everyday Politics in Collective Farming 3. Building on Wobbly Foundations, 1955-1961 4. Coping and Shoring Up, 1961-1974 5. Collapsing from Within, 1974-1981 6. Dismantling Collective Farming: Expanding the Family Farm, 1981-1990 7. Conclusion Appendixes, Vietnamese Glossary, Selected Places and Terms, Abbreviations, Bibliography, Index.
Assessment of clinical diagnostic accuracy compared with pathological diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma

Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer, afflicting light skin more than dark skin people. This malignancy metastasizes rarely and has unique histological properties. Aims and Objectives: We focused on the accuracy of clinical diagnoses of BCC by specialists. Materials and Methods: Patients′ information for 4-year period between 2007 and 2011 was extracted from files at a Pathology Department. The results were analyzed using the Chi-square method and SPSS software. Results: From 367 referred cases dermatologists diagnosed 41% as direct BCC cases, 43.4% through excluding other skin diseases, 4% incorrectly and 1.11% unidentified. For other specialists (including plastic surgeons, ophthalmologists, general surgeons, and general practitioners) these were respectively 47.8%, 22.4%, 6.3% and 23.5%. Dermatologists had diagnosed 107 cases of all skin diseases as BCC through clinical examination of which 78.5% were correctly and 21.5% incorrectly diagnosed. The same parameters for all other specialists were respectively 77.36% and 22.64%. Diagnostic sensitivity, positive reportability, clinical conjecture indicator (CCI) and clinical diagnostic indicator were respectively 84.4%, 78.5%, 121.5% and 75.6%; whereas for other specialists these indicators were 70 among cases diagnosed by dermatologists as BCC, where pathological results showed other causes. The most common diagnosis by pathologists and other specialists was reported as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Among cases not diagnosed by dermatologists as BCC, where pathological results indicated BCC, the most common clinical diagnosis was malignant melanoma by dermatologists and SCC by other specialists. Conclusion: Dermatologists diagnosed BCC with higher sensitivity and positive reportability; also, CCIs and clinical diagnostic correctness was higher among dermatologists. The necessity for consulting with dermatologists and referring all skin diseases samplings to pathologist is thus clearly visible.
The Wilkins lecture, 1988 hand and mind in time measurement: the contributions of art and science

I was dining some years ago at the Society of Fellows—a now venerable Harvard institution modelled largely on the Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge—and had the good fortune to be seated next to a handsome grey-haired gentleman by the name of Norman Ramsey. What do you do? I asked. I’m a physicist, he said. What kind of physics? I measure time. Imagine that, I said, it so happens that I’m writing a book on the history of time measurement. Well it was a good dinner, and I learnt a great deal about today’s methods of high-frequency time measurement, of which more later. But the one sentence that made the most impression on me and that I have never forgotten was the remark: ‘Any stable frequency is a clock. The counting we can leave to the technicians. ’ The importance of this remark, to me at least, was twofold. First it transformed my sense of the priorities. All the material I had been reading on antiquarian horology and the history of clockmaking focused on the escapement mechanism: that part of the clock which, among other things, counts the beats and thus ticks the passing of time. Now I came to understand (why hadn’t I understood this sooner? ) the primary significance in time measurement of the controller—the device that generates the frequency whose even rhythm tries to match the perfectly even units of ideal passing time.
The Importance of Discussing Crime Victimization in Criminal Justice Courses: An Empirical Assessment of a New Curriculum to Enhance Student learning

Victimization and the costs of crime sometimes can be an afterthought in courses on crime and criminal justice, which often are focused on offenders. However, shifting attention to victims of crime potentially motivates students to better understand the causes and consequences of criminal victimization, thereby improving the learning of course concepts and producing better-prepared criminal justice practitioners. A new curriculum kit on understanding crime victims was implemented in two of three sections of a criminological theory course, with the third section acting as a control group having a unit on “offenders” instead of “victims. ” In short, the kit did improve student knowledge of crime victimization, but so did a lecture on offenders. Interestingly, students exposed to the kit coupled with a service learning component continued to improve knowledge of crime victimization throughout the course, while the control group did not. Implications are discussed.
Significance of an absent or reversed end-diastolic flow velocity in Doppler umbilical artery waveforms.

Doppler velocity waveform analysis has been introduced as part of antenatal fetal biophysical assessment. Abnormal waveforms are associated with maternal and fetal complications. The most severe waveform patterns observed, absent end-diastolic velocity (AEDV) and reversed end-diastolic velocity (REDV), are of ominous significance in many cases but the incidence of these waveforms is low and the outcome is varied. The purpose of this study is to assess perinatal outcome in patients showing absent end-diastolic velocity (AEDV) and reversed end-diastolic velocity (REDV) in umbilical artery flow velocity waveforms. We reviewed our experience of patients showing AEDV and REDV in the umbilical artery flow velocity waveforms over nineteen months. Fifteen patients, all in high risk pregnancies, were identified during this period; 9 with AEDV and 6 with REDV. The results were not used in the clinical management. Twelve babies died (3 fetal deaths, 4 stillbirths and 5 neonatal deaths); giving the perinatal mortality is this group as 80 per cent. The interval between the abnormal waveform recording and fetal death or delivery was between 2 hours and 4 weeks. In three fetuses with abnormal diastolic flow, analysis of umbilical vein blood gases revealed severe acidosis and hypoxia. There was also significant perinatal morbidity as judged by low Apgar scores, days in neonatal intensive care, growth retardation and lethal anomalies. These findings suggest that once the diastolic component of umbilical artery flow velocity waveforms become absent or reversed, the fetus is in a state of hypoxia and acidosis and perinatal outcome is catastrophic. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Implicit Theories and Self-Perceptions of Traitedness Across Cultures

From the trait perspective, traitedness, or consistency of behavior, is expected in all cultures. However, cultural psychologists argue that behavior may be more determined by traits in individualistic than collectivistic cultures. The authors investigated implicit theories and self-perceptions of traitedness in two individualistic cultures, the United States (n = 342) and Australia (n = 172), and four collectivistic cultures, Mexico (n = 400), Philippines (n = 363), Malaysia (n = 251), and Japan (n = 192). Although implicit trait beliefs were endorsed in all cultural groups, they were stronger in individualistic than collectivistic cultures. Cultural differences in self-perceptions of one’s own traitedness, as operationalized by self-monitoring, were also found, and comparisons involving the United States and most collectivistic cultures were consistent with cultural psychology perspectives. The ability of self-construals to predict implicit beliefs and self-perceptions of traitedness was also investigated. Overall, the results supported efforts to integrate trait and cultural psychology perspectives.
The Effect of Anticipated Future Interaction and Initial Impression Valence on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction

Prior research on social information processing theory (SIPT; Walther, 1992) has established the anticipation of future interaction (AFI) as a motivator of online relationship development (Walther, 1994). The present study tests the proposition that, although initial development may be the product of AFI, continued development occurs as a function of the valence of the impression formed in the initial interaction (Sunnafrank, 1986). An experiment with a 2 (AFI versus No AFI) × 2 (positive versus negative impression) × 2 (time) design was conducted to assess this proposition along five relational communication dimensions. Results from four of the tests revealed support for the prediction. The implications of the results for SIPT and the study of online relational communication are discussed.
A Study of the Determinants and of the Impact of Flexibility on Employee Benefit Satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of individual characteristics and organizational justice on employee benefit satisfaction, and to explore the role of flexible benefit plans. Employees from three Canadian organizations were surveyed. A total of 285 usuable questionnaires were returned, for a response rate of 42%. The variables in the model accounted for more than 40% of the variance in benefit satisfaction. The findings showed that while distributive and procedural justice were useful in predicting benefit satisfaction, the concept of process justice had the greatest effect on satisfaction. Among the variables, communication had the greatest impact. The effect of flexibility, although significant, was ambiguous. Sociodemographic factors had a very limited effect when perceptual variables were introduced into the equation. The paper also sets out the limitations of the study and its practical implications, and makes some suggestions for future research.
A More Secure Steganography Method in Spatial Domain

This paper presents a new approach for hiding message in digital image in spatial domain. In this method two bits of message is embedded in a pixel in a way that not only the least significant bit of pixel is allowed to change but also the second bit plane and fourth bit plane are allowed to be manipulated, But the point is in each embedding process only one alternation in one bit plane is allowed to happen. As it is compared by the method LSB-Matching, the results shows this method has an acceptable capacity of embedding data and hardly is detectable for steganalysis algorithm.
Acceptance of virtual worlds as learning space

This study investigated relationships among perceived usefulness (PU), ease of use and perceived enjoyment, plus their relationships with the behavioural intention (BI) of individuals to use virtual worlds as a learning space. Participant responses to a questionnaire were analysed, and results indicated that while PU seemed to affect BIs most, perceived enjoyment (PE) and ease of use also played a role. Moreover, PE and ease of use also affected PU. Namely, if students found a virtual world enjoyable and easy to use, they perceived it as useful for learning and performance. In addition, the effect of PE on perceived ease of use showed that if students found a virtual world enjoyable, they underestimated difficulties using it. Findings highlighted important issues for the acceptance and adoption of virtual worlds as learning spaces.
Measuring quantitative effects of methylation on transcription factor–DNA binding affinity

We describe a new method for measuring the effects of epigenetic marks on protein-DNA interactions. Methylation of CpG (cytosine-phosphate-guanine) dinucleotides is a common epigenetic mark that influences gene expression. The effects of methylation on transcription factor (TF) binding are unknown for most TFs and, even when known, such knowledge is often only qualitative. In reality, methylation sensitivity is a quantitative effect, just as changes to the DNA sequence have quantitative effects on TF binding affinity. We describe Methyl-Spec-seq, an easy-to-use method that measures the effects of CpG methylation (mCPG) on binding affinity for hundreds to thousands of variants in parallel, allowing one to quantitatively assess the effects at every position in a binding site. We demonstrate its use on several important DNA binding proteins. We calibrate the accuracy of Methyl-Spec-seq using a novel two-color competitive fluorescence anisotropy method that can accurately determine the relative affinities of two sequences in solution. We also present software that extends standard methods for representing, visualizing, and searching for matches to binding site motifs to include the effects of methylation. These tools facilitate the study of the consequences for gene regulation of epigenetic marks on DNA.
Enacting Stories, Seeing Worlds: Similarities and Differences in the Cross-Cultural Narrative Development of Linguistically Isolated Deaf Children

The stories that children hear not only offer them a model for how to tell stories, but they also serve as a window into their cultural worlds. What would happen if a child were unable to hear what surrounds them? Would such children have any sense that events can be narrated and, if so, would they narrate those events in a culturally appropriate manner? To explore this question, we examined children who did not have access to conventional language – deaf children whose profound hearing deficits prevented them from acquiring the language spoken around them, and whose hearing parents had not yet exposed them to a conventional sign language. We observed 8 deaf children of hearing parents in two cultures, 4 European-American children from either Chicago or Philadelphia, and 4 Taiwanese children from Taipei, all of whom invented gesture systems to communicate. All 8 children used their gestures to recount stories, and those gestured stories were of the same types, and of the same structure, as those told by hearing children. Moreover, the deaf children seemed to produce culturally specific narrations despite their lack of a verbal language model, suggesting that these particular messages are so central to the culture as to be instantiated in nonverbal as well as verbal practices.
Mining Pharmacovigilance Data Using Bayesian Logistic Regression with James–Stein Type Shrinkage Estimation

Spontaneous adverse event reporting systems are widely used to identify adverse reactions to drugs following their introduction into the marketplace. In this article, a James–Stein type shrinkage estimation strategy was developed in a Bayesian logistic regression model to analyze pharmacovigilance data. This method is effective in detecting signals as it combines information and borrows strength across medically related adverse events. Computer simulation demonstrated that the shrinkage estimator is uniformly better than the maximum likelihood estimator in terms of mean squared error. This method was used to investigate the possible association of a series of diabetic drugs and the risk of cardiovascular events using data from the Canada Vigilance Online Database.
Domestic Violence Between Same-Sex Partners: Implications for Counseling

Over the past 2 decades, awareness and concern about the incidence and severity of domestic violence have increased. Although information about domestic violence has grown, much of the literature does not address domestic violence between same-sex partners. This article discusses the dynamics of domestic violence between partners of the same sex. The social and cultural issues in the gay and lesbian communities play a large part in perpetuating the myths of domestic violence, which keeps the abuse hidden. This article is based on an extensive review of the literature and a clinical consensus among experts in the field.