Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Continuous Assessment in Educational Video Games: A Roleplaying approach

Evaluating competency-based learning requires a continuous assessment process which enables the skills and capabilities that students develop to be detected. Using video games allows a great deal of information to be recorded and merged effectively, which makes them an advantageous option in assessing this kind of learning. Consequently, in this paper we present a design process for educational video games to enable learning and assessment on the basis of competencies. In addition, a mechanism to assess education and games is presented, which allows feedback to be given to students in a similar way to role-playing games, as well as informing the teacher about the learning progress of players. Both proposals have been applied to a video adventure game designed to foster the competency of reading comprehension.
Organizational Climate, Perceived Work-Related Symptoms And Sickness Absence: A Population-Based Survey

Very few reports have been published on organizational climate, health, and sickness absence in a representative sample of the entire workforce. The aim of this study was to determine how the perceived organizational climate of a workplace is related with work-related symptoms and sickness absence and how these factors vary according to sociodemographic and work-related characteristics. Data were collected in computer-assisted telephone interviews of a random sample of 4209 currently employed Finns drawn from the population register. A tense and prejudiced climate was associated with a higher risk of work-related symptoms than a relaxed and supportive climate (odds ratio [OR] 3.0 (95% CI = 2.4–3.7). The corresponding ORs were 4.3 (95% CI = 3.3–5.6) for psychological symptoms, 1.6 (95% CI = 1.2–2.0) for musculoskeletal symptoms, and 1.6 (95% CI = 1.3–2.1) for more than the average number of sick-leave days. Part of the impact of organizational climate on sickness absence is not caused by an increase in work-related symptoms. Thus, organizational climate seems not only to correspond with organizational practices and leadership but also occupational health. Organizational climate could be used as a research tool in attempts to reduce work-related ill health and sickness absenteeism.
Redistribution of red blood cell flow in microcirculatory networks by hemodilution.

The effect of isovolemic hemodilution on red blood cell flow distribution was studied in complete self-contained microvessel networks of the rat mesentery. Hematocrit, diameter, and length of all vessel segments as well as the topological structure were determined in control networks (systemic hematocrit, 0.54) and after hemodilution (systemic hematocrit, 0.30). Hemodilution was performed by exchanging blood with hydroxyethyl starch (MW 450,000; 6%) or homologous plasma. With hemodilution, the decrease of microvessel hematocrit exceeded that of systemic hematocrit. The average discharge hematocrit in capillaries was 79% of systemic hematocrit in the control group and 73% with hemodilution (p less than 0.001). The heterogeneity of capillary hematocrit within the network, expressed by the coefficient of variation, increased from 0.4 to 0.7. By using the morphological and topological data of four networks, the distribution of hematocrits was also calculated using a hydrodynamic flow model. The modeling results were found to be in close agreement with the experimental data. This indicates that the observed changes can be deduced from established rheological phenomena, most of all phase separation at arteriolar bifurcations. The changes in hematocrit distribution after hemodilution are accompanied by a redistribution of red blood cell flow within the network: relative to total red blood cell flow, red blood cell flow in the distal capillaries of the network increases by about 40% at the expense of the proximal capillaries that are close to the feeding arteriole and that exhibit the highest red blood cell flow under control conditions. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
C1q and Mannose Binding Lectin Engagement of Cell Surface Calreticulin and Cd91 Initiates Macropinocytosis and Uptake of Apoptotic Cells

Removal of apoptotic cells is essential for maintenance of tissue homeostasis, organogenesis, remodeling, development, and maintenance of the immune system, protection against neoplasia, and resolution of inflammation. The mechanisms of this removal involve recognition of the apoptotic cell surface and initiation of phagocytic uptake into a variety of cell types. Here we provide evidence that C1q and mannose binding lectin (MBL), a member of the collectin family of proteins, bind to apoptotic cells and stimulate ingestion of these by ligation on the phagocyte surface of the multifunctional protein, calreticulin (also known as the cC1qR), which in turn is bound to the endocytic receptor protein CD91, also known as the α-2-macroglobulin receptor. Use of these proteins provides another example of apoptotic cell clearance mediated by pattern recognition molecules of the innate immune system. Ingestion of the apoptotic cells through calreticulin/CD91 stimulation is further shown to involve the process of macropinocytosis, implicated as a primitive and relatively nonselective uptake mechanism for C1q- and MBL-enhanced engulfment of whole, intact apoptotic cells, as well as cell debris and foreign organisms to which these molecules may bind.
Recovery from Cyclophosphamide-Induced Lymphopenia Results in Expansion of Immature Dendritic Cells Which Can Mediate Enhanced Prime-Boost Vaccination Antitumor Responses In Vivo When Stimulated with the TLR3 Agonist Poly(I:C)1

Recent preclinical studies suggest that vaccination following adoptive transfer of CD8+ T cells into a lymphopenic host can augment the therapeutic antitumor responses of the transferred cells. However, the mechanism by which the lymphopenic microenvironment benefits Ag-specific CD8+ T cell responses remains elusive. We show herein that induction of lymphodepletion by a single 4 mg cyclophosphamide (CTX) treatment induces a marked expansion of immature dendritic cells (DCs) in the peripheral blood on days 8–16 post-CTX (termed restoration phase). In vitro, these DCs were functional, because they showed normal phagocytosis and effective Ag presentation capability upon activation. In vivo, administration of the TLR3 agonist poly(I:C) at the peak of DC expansion (day 12 postlymphopenia) induced inflammatory cytokine production and increases in the number of activated DCs in lymph nodes. Importantly, boosting with gp10025–33 melanoma peptide combined with poly(I:C) 12 days after an initial priming with the same regimen significantly increased the expansion and the antitumor efficacy of adoptively transferred pmel-1 CD8+ T cells. These responses were abrogated after depletion of activated DCs during Ag boosting. In conclusion, our data show that CTX treatment induces, during the restoration phase, expansion of immature DCs, which are functional and can be exploited in vivo to foster more effective antitumor adoptive immunotherapy strategies.
Stochastic Multiperiod OPF Model of Power Systems With HVDC-Connected Intermittent Wind Power Generation

This paper presents a new model for a stochastic multiperiod optimal power-flow (SMP-OPF) problem which includes an offshore wind farm connected to the grid by a line-commutated converter high-voltage dc link. The offshore wind farm is composed of doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs), and the DFIG's capability curve is considered in order to obtain a more realistic dispatch for wind farms. The uncertainties of wind power generation are also taken into account using a scenario-based approach which can be adopted by the system operator to obtain the optimal active and reactive power schedules for thermal and wind power generation units. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, it is applied on the IEEE 118-bus test system. The obtained results demonstrate the capability of the proposed SMP-OPF model for the determination of the optimal operation of power systems.
Combined diffusion and perfusion MRI with correlation to single-photon emission CT in acute ischemic stroke. Ischemic penumbra predicts infarct growth.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE More effective imaging methods are needed to overcome the limitations of CT in the investigation of treatments for acute ischemic stroke. Diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) is sensitive in detecting infarcted brain tissue, whereas perfusion-weighted MRI (PWI) can detect brain perfusion in the same imaging session. Combining these methods may help in identifying the ischemic penumbra, which is an important concept in the hemodynamics of acute stroke. The purpose of this study was to determine whether combined DWI and PWI in acute (<24 hours) ischemic stroke can predict infarct growth and final size. METHODS Forty-six patients with acute ischemic stroke underwent DWI and PWI on days 1, 2, and 8. No patient received thrombolysis. Twenty-three patients underwent single-photon emission CT in the acute phase. Lesion volumes were measured from DWI, SPECT, and maps of relative cerebral blood flow calculated from PWI. RESULTS The mean volume of infarcted tissue detected by DWI increased from 46.1 to 75.6 cm(3) between days 1 and 2 (P<0.001; n=46) and to 78.5 cm(3) after 1 week (P<0.001; n=42). The perfusion-diffusion mismatch correlated with infarct growth (r=0. 699, P<0.001). The volume of hypoperfusion on the initial PWI correlated with final infarct size (r=0.827, P<0.001). The hypoperfusion volumes detected by PWI and SPECT correlated significantly (r=0.824, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Combined DWI and PWI can predict infarct enlargement in acute stroke. PWI can detect hypoperfused brain tissue in good agreement with SPECT in acute stroke.
Low cost instruction cache designs for tag comparison elimination

Tag comparison elimination (TCE) is an effective approach to reduce I-cache energy. Current research focuses on finding good tradeoffs between hardware cost and percentage of comparisons that can be removed. For this purpose, two low cost innovations are proposed in this paper. We design a small dedicated TCE table whose size is flexible both horizontally (entry size) and vertically (number of entries). The design also minimizes interactions with the I-cache. For a 64-way 16K cache, the new design reduces the tag comparisons to 4.0% with a fraction only 20% of the hardware cost of the way memoization technique. The result is 40% better compared to a recent proposed low cost design of comparable hardware cost.
Integrating Signals from the T-Cell Receptor and the Interleukin-2 Receptor

T cells orchestrate the adaptive immune response, making them targets for immunotherapy. Although immunosuppressive therapies prevent disease progression, they also leave patients susceptible to opportunistic infections. To identify novel drug targets, we established a logical model describing T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling. However, to have a model that is able to predict new therapeutic approaches, the current drug targets must be included. Therefore, as a next step we generated the interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) signaling network and developed a tool to merge logical models. For IL-2R signaling, we show that STAT activation is independent of both Src- and PI3-kinases, while ERK activation depends upon both kinases and additionally requires novel PKCs. In addition, our merged model correctly predicted TCR-induced STAT activation. The combined network also allows information transfer from one receptor to add detail to another, thereby predicting that LAT mediates JNK activation in IL-2R signaling. In summary, the merged model not only enables us to unravel potential cross-talk, but it also suggests new experimental designs and provides a critical step towards designing strategies to reprogram T cells.
EEG source space analysis of the supervised factor analytic approach for the classification of multi-directional arm movement

Objective. In electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) systems for motor control tasks the conventional practice is to decode motor intentions by using scalp EEG. However, scalp EEG only reveals certain limited information about the complex tasks of movement with a higher degree of freedom. Therefore, our objective is to investigate the effectiveness of source-space EEG in extracting relevant features that discriminate arm movement in multiple directions. Approach. We have proposed a novel feature extraction algorithm based on supervised factor analysis that models the data from source-space EEG. To this end, we computed the features from the source dipoles confined to Brodmann areas of interest (BA4a, BA4p and BA6). Further, we embedded class-wise labels of multi-direction (multi-class) source-space EEG to an unsupervised factor analysis to make it into a supervised learning method. Main Results. Our approach provided an average decoding accuracy of 71% for the classification of hand movement in four orthogonal directions, that is significantly higher (>10%) than the classification accuracy obtained using state-of-the-art spatial pattern features in sensor space. Also, the group analysis on the spectral characteristics of source-space EEG indicates that the slow cortical potentials from a set of cortical source dipoles reveal discriminative information regarding the movement parameter, direction. Significance. This study presents evidence that low-frequency components in the source space play an important role in movement kinematics, and thus it may lead to new strategies for BCI-based neurorehabilitation.
Thin-Ideal Internalization and Comparison Process as Mediators of Social Influence and Psychological Functioning in the Development of Disturbed Eating Habits in Croatian College Females

This study examined the role of internalization and comparison as mediators of relationships between socio-cultural pressures to be thin, psychological factors, restrictive and bulimic behaviours in college females. Participants were 262 Croatian college females (mean age = 21.22 ± 1.47 years) who completed selfreport questionnaires. Regression analysis was used to test a model in which internalization and social comparison mediated the impact of socio-cultural pressure (parents and peers dieting, teasing, pressure to be thin, media influences), self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and perfectionism in restrictive and bulimic behaviours. Internalization is a significant mediator of the relationships between all predictors included in this research and disturbed eating habits. Social comparison is relevant as a mediator between social influence, negative affect, self-esteem, perfectionism and restrictive behaviour but does not mediate bulimic behaviour. These findings could be useful in understanding processes that may predispose young women to develop eating dysfunctions and indicate the need for prevention programs that incorporate formative influences and processes such as internalization of societal norms and comparison in the construction of therapeutic strategies.
Lyme Disease

During the summer of 1989, a 67-year-old, healthy man spent several weeks at Lake George near Kuujjuaq. Kuujjuaq is slightly south of Ungava bay in northern Quebec, and is located 1,300 km north of Quebec City. The day before he left Lake George, he noted a skin lesion on his right posterior shoulder, which he thought was an insect bite. The lesion rapidly expanded in a centrifugal manner. He was evaluated 72 hours after the initial lesion was noted. He had not travelled outside the province of Quebec and had not taken any oral medications. He was completely asymptomatic. Examination of the skin showed an annular plaque measuring 15 cm in diameter located on the posterior aspect of right shoulder, expanding on the back of his arm. The center was pale and the border brightly erythematous, warm, and edematous. No epidermal change was noted and there was no evidence of insect bite on the skin (Fig. 1). The histopathology showed a mild superficial perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate. The indirect immunofluorescence assay was not significantly positive at 1/64. The other biologic parameters, including a venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL), were negative or within normal limits. A diagnosis of erythema migrans was made on a clinical basis, and the patient was treated with penicillin V 300 mg qid for 10 days. Ten days later, the eruption was completely resolved and the patient remained symptom free.
Pathogen Reduction Technology Treatment of Platelets, Plasma and Whole Blood Using Riboflavin and UV Light

Bacterial contamination and emerging infections combined with increased international travel pose a great risk to the safety of the blood supply. Tests to detect the presence of infection in a donor have a ‘window period’ during which infections cannot be detected but the donor may be infectious. Agents and their transmission routes need to be recognized before specific tests can be developed. Pathogen reduction of blood components represents a means to address these concerns and is a proactive approach for the prevention of transfusion-transmitted diseases. The expectation of a pathogen reduction system is that it achieves high enough levels of pathogen reduction to reduce or prevent the likelihood of disease transmission while preserving adequate cell and protein quality. In addition the system needs to be nontoxic, non-mutagenic and should be simple to use. The Mirasol® Pathogen Reduction Technology (PRT) System for Platelets and Plasma uses riboflavin (vitamin B2) plus UV light to induce damage in nucleic acid-containing agents. The system has been shown to be effective against clinically relevant pathogens and inactivates leukocytes without significantly compromising the efficacy of the product or resulting in product loss. Riboflavin is a naturally occurring vitamin with a well-known and well-characterized safety profile. The same methodology is currently under development for the treatment of whole blood, making pathogen reduction of all blood products using one system achievable. This review gives an overview of the Mirasol PRT System, summarizing the mechanism of action, toxicology profile, pathogen reduction performance and clinical efficacy of the process.
Causal Evidence for Learning-Dependent Frontal Lobe Contributions to Cognitive Control

The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) plays a central role in the prioritization of sensory input based on task relevance. Such top-down control of perception is of fundamental importance in goal-directed behavior, but can also be costly when deployed excessively, necessitating a mechanism that regulates control engagement to align it with changing environmental demands. We have recently introduced the “flexible control model” (FCM), which explains this regulation as resulting from a self-adjusting reinforcement-learning mechanism that infers latent statistical structure in dynamic task environments to predict forthcoming states. From this perspective, LPFC-based control is engaged as a function of anticipated cognitive demand, a notion for which we previously obtained correlative neuroimaging evidence. Here, we put this hypothesis to a rigorous, causal test by combining the FCM with a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) intervention that transiently perturbed the LPFC. Human participants (male and female) completed a nonstationary version of the Stroop task with dynamically changing probabilities of conflict between task-relevant and task-irrelevant stimulus features. TMS was given on each trial before stimulus onset either over the LPFC or over a control site. In the control condition, we observed adaptive performance fluctuations consistent with demand predictions that were inferred from recent and remote trial history and effectively captured by our model. Critically, TMS over the LPFC eliminated these fluctuations while leaving basic cognitive and motor functions intact. These results provide causal evidence for a learning-based account of cognitive control and delineate the nature of the signals that regulate top-down biases over stimulus processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A core function of the human prefrontal cortex is to control the signal flow in sensory brain regions to prioritize processing of task-relevant information. Abundant work suggests that such control is flexibly recruited to accommodate dynamically changing environmental demands, yet the nature of the signals that serve to engage control remains unknown. Here, we combined computational modeling with noninvasive brain stimulation to show that changes in control engagement are captured by a self-adjusting reinforcement-learning mechanism that tracks changing environmental statistics to predict forthcoming processing demands and that transient perturbation of the prefrontal cortex abolishes these adjustments. These findings delineate the learning signals that underpin adaptive engagement of prefrontal control functions and provide causal evidence for their relevance in behavioral control.
Bone morphogenetic protein- and mating-dependent secretory cell growth and migration in the Drosophila accessory gland

The paired male accessory glands of Drosophila melanogaster enhance sperm function, stimulate egg production, and reduce female receptivity to other males by releasing a complex mixture of glycoproteins from a secretory epithelium into seminal fluid. A small subpopulation of about 40 specialized secretory cells, called secondary cells, resides at the distal tip of each gland. We show that these cells grow via mechanisms promoted by mating. If aging males mate repeatedly, a subset of these cells delaminates from and migrates along the apical surface of the glandular epithelium toward the proximal end of the gland. Remarkably, these secretory cells can transfer to females with sperm during mating. The frequency of this event increases with age, so that more than 50% of triple-mated, 18-d-old males transfer secondary cells to females. Bone morphogenetic protein signaling specifically in secondary cells is needed to drive all of these processes and is required for the accessory gland to produce its normal effects on female postmating behavior in multiply mated males. We conclude that secondary cells are secretory cells with unusual migratory properties that can allow them to be transferred to females, and that these properties are a consequence of signaling that is required for secondary cells to maintain their normal reproductive functions as males age and mate.
Interventions for caregivers of someone with an eating disorder: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE A variety of interventions have been developed for caregivers of people with an eating disorder either to help them cope with the burden and distress that commonly accompanies this role or to make them more effective at providing support. The aim of the study is to perform a meta-analysis of quantitative studies that have described the impact of these interventions on caregivers. METHOD Electronic databases were searched between September 2001 and September 2013. Thirteen studies were finally selected for inclusion. Pooled effect size estimates were summarized. Meta-regressions were used to determine whether type of intervention, team, measure used or risk of bias were effect modifiers of the relationship. We also summarized the content and form (amount of professional help) of the interventions. RESULTS Most interventions produced a moderate sized reduction in carer distress and a small/moderate reduction in carer burden and expressed emotion post treatment and these changes were maintained over follow-up. DISCUSSION Carer distress, burden and expressed emotion can be reduced by a variety of psychoeducational interventions and these changes are sustainable over time. The interventions themselves are easy to disseminate and deliver.