Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diversity factors and preferential treatments in selecting employees

This study examines the effect of hiring managers' demographic characteristics on employee selection preferences, and the strength of the manager's selection preferences towards candidates' demographic characteristics when the candidate's relative qualification changes. A sample of 156 respondents from various industries in Malaysia was acquired and analysed using cross‐tabulation, Chi‐square and t‐test of differences in means. Six variables examined were age, gender, race, religion, marital status, and locality of education. The effect of hiring managers' demographic characteristics on the decision to hire a candidate is significant for two variables: race and religion. Also, the strength of preference, based on the candidate's race and religion, remains high even though their qualification was lower. Implications of the study are discussed.
Ethnic minority consumer behaviour: A study of brand loyalty and its antecedents in the UK

The main purpose of the present study is to advance the ethnic minorities' consumer behaviour literature in the UK, since the majority of research in this field has been conducted in the US. This is achieved by investigating the consumer behaviour of first and second/third generation British-Pakistanis in relation to their mobile phone purchases, addressing the lack of product category breath in current academic studies on micro-cultural consumption in the UK. The conceptual model integrates cultural dimensions such as: generational differences, acculturation, ethnic identification and the independent and interdependent self as antecedents of susceptibility to normative and informational influence, as well as brand loyalty. Furthermore, this study examines the effect of normative and informational influence on self-congruity, brand trust, brand attitude and brand loyalty and the way in which British-Pakistanis with different cultural dimensions vary in regards to brand loyalty, brand trust, brand attitude, normative and informational influence. In doing so, the study represents on of the few attempts made to compare the consumption patterns between first and second/third generation ethnic consumers in relation to important consumer behaviour phenomena, such as brand loyalty. Given the significance of the study, findings and contributions are advocated. The results show that generational differences in consumer behaviour between first and second /third generation British-Pakistanis exist, with the younger generation showing a higher disposition to act like the mainstream consumer population. Additionally, it was found that the combined effect of self-congruity, brand trust and brand attitude on brand loyalty revealed a strong effect (adjusted R2 = 0.52) and that the cultural dimensions such as acculturation level and the independent and interdependent self have an effect on susceptibility to interpersonal influence and brand loyalty. The present study advances the ethnic minorities' consumer behaviour literature by showing that generational differences in the consumption of fast moving consumer goods exist, and that ethnic minorities are not a homogeneous groups as has been assumed, but that strong consumption differences due to varying cultural dimensions exist.
Night‐to‐night variability of obstructive sleep apnea

One night of a sleep study is the standard for diagnosis and exclusion of obstructive sleep apnea. Single testing requires high sensitivity of the test method and a stable disease of interest to warrant a low rate of false‐negative tests. Obstructive sleep apnea is diagnosed and graded by conventional thresholds of apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep, and treatment is usually initiated in the presence of symptoms. The aim of this study was to assess night‐to‐night variability of obstructive sleep apnea to reassess the current practice. Seventy‐seven patients previously diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, randomised to continuous positive airway pressure withdrawal within four trials, performed nightly pulse‐oximetry over 2 weeks while off continuous positive airway pressure. The main outcome of interest was the coefficient of variation of the oxygen desaturation index marking night‐to‐night variability in obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea was categorised according to conventional thresholds using oxygen desaturation index (no obstructive sleep apnea: <5 per h; mild: 5–15 per h; moderate: 15–30 per h; and severe: >30 per h). High night‐to‐night variability of obstructive sleep apnea was evidenced by a coefficient of variation of oxygen desaturation index of 31.1% (SD 16.5). Differences in oxygen desaturation index of >10 per h between nights were found in 84.4% and shifts in obstructive sleep apnea severity category in 77.9% of patients. The probability of missing moderate obstructive sleep apnea was up to 60%. Variability was higher in less severe obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea shows a considerable night‐to‐night variability. Single‐night diagnostic sleep studies are prone to miscategorise obstructive sleep apnea if arbitrary thresholds are used. Thus, treatment decisions should be based less on the conventional derivatives from sleep studies, especially in patients with less severe obstructive sleep apnea. Clinical trial registration: www.controlled-trials.com (ISRCTN 93153804, ISRCTN 73047833) and www.clinicaltrials. gov (NCT01332175 & NCT02050425).
KIT variants in bovine ovarian cells and corpus luteum

We report the presence of KIT variants in granulosa and thecal cells of the follicle and endothelial and steroidogenic cells of the corpus luteum. Transcripts of both full-length splice variants, KIT and KITA, were ubiquitously detected in all cell types, in contrast to transcripts for truncated KIT. RT-PCR with exon-intron-specific primers suggested that KIT transcripts retained intron sequences. We used domain-specific KIT antibodies to identify truncated KIT proteins in cell conditioned media and lysates. These proteins represented soluble KIT and a so far disregarded intracellular KIT fragment, and were ubiquitously present. In contrast, glycosylated variants of full-length KIT were predominantly detected in thecal and endothelial cells. All KIT variants were encountered again in COS-7 cells transfected with a vector containing KITA. Phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate treatment induced levels of truncated KITs, and this effect was repressed by the metalloproteinase inhibitor TAPI-1. Our findings show that ectodomain cleavage of full-length KIT generates an intracellular KIT. Our experiments suggest that replenishing full-length KIT differs among various ovarian cell types.
Frequency of Toxocariasis among Patients Clinically Suspected to Have Visceral Toxocariasis: A Retrospective Descriptive Study in Sri Lanka

Introduction Human toxocariasis is caused by several species of the nematode Toxocara. Two common clinical syndromes are ocular and visceral larva migrans. Objectives To determine the Toxocara antibody positivity in clinically suspected VLM patients and to describe demographic factors and clinical manifestations of seropositive patients. Methods 522 clinically suspected patients were studied between 1993 and 2014. Relevant data was gathered from referral letters. Serum samples were subjected to Toxocara antigen ELISA. Results Overall, seropositivity was 50.2% (262), of which 109 (40.8%) were positive at high level of Toxocara antibody carriage and 153 (58.4%) were positive at low levels. The seropositives ranged from 3 months to 70 years (mean = 7.8). Younger age group had higher levels of seropositivity and it was statistically significant. Majority of children under 5 years were seropositive (47.7%, n = 125). Seropositivity was common in males (55.3%, n = 145). Clinical manifestations of seropositives include lymphadenopathy (24.1%) skin rash (22.5%), dyspnoea (21.7%), fever (21%), hepatosplenomegaly (9.2%), and abdominal pain (3.8%). 197 (75.2%) seropositive cases had eosinophilia. These symptoms were not statistically significant. Conclusions This study confirms toxocariasis as an important cause of childhood ill health identifying common clinical symptoms recommending preventive measures to limit transmission.
Lack of Benefit of Early Intervention with Dietary Flax and Fish Oil and Soy Protein in Orthologous Rodent Models of Human Hereditary Polycystic Kidney Disease

Rationale for dietary advice in polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is based in part on animal studies that have examined non-orthologous models with progressive development of cystic disease. Since no model completely mimics human PKD, the purpose of the current studies was to examine the effects of dietary soy protein (compared to casein) or oils enriched in omega-3 fatty acids (fish or flax oil compared to soy oil) on early disease progression in two orthologous models of PKD. The models studied were Pkd2WS25/- mice as a model of autosomal dominant PKD, and PCK rats as a model of autosomal recessive PKD. After 13 weeks of feeding, dietary fish (but not flax) oil resulted in larger kidneys and greater kidney water content in female Pkd2WS25/- compared to control mice. After 12 weeks of feeding male PCK compared to control rats, both fish and flax compared to soy oil resulted in enlarged kidneys and livers, greater kidney water content and higher kidney cyst area in diseased rats. Dietary soy protein compared to casein had no effects in Pkd2WS25/- compared to control mice. In PCK rats, kidney and liver histology were not improved, but lower proteinuria and higher urine pH suggest that soy protein could be beneficial in the long term. Therefore, in contrast to studies in non-orthologous models during the progressive development phase, these studies in orthologous PKD models do not support dietary advice to increase soy protein or oils enriched in omega-3 oils in early PKD.
Turning a Mobile Device into a Mouse in the Air

A mouse has been one of the most successful user interfaces due to its intuitive use. As more devices are equipped with displays and offer rich options for users to choose from, a traditional mouse that requires a surface to operate is no longer sufficient. While different types of air mice are available in the market, they rely on accelerometers and gyroscopes, which significantly limit the accuracy and ease of use. In this paper, we develop a system that can accurately track hand movement to realize a mouse. A unique advantage of our scheme is that it achieves high tracking accuracy using the existing hardware already available in the mobile devices (e.g., smart phones and smart watches) and equipment to be controlled (e.g., smart TVs). More specifically, our approach sends inaudible sound pulses at a few selected frequencies, and uses the frequency shifts to estimate the speed and distance traveled. We then develop techniques to quickly calibrate the distance between speakers and narrow down the device's initial position using its movement trajectory. Based on the information, we continuously track the device's new position in real time. This is feasible because many devices, such as smart TVs, PCs, and laptops, already have multiple speakers. When only one speaker is available, we can leverage the frequency shift of sound along with the phase of received WiFi signal to enable tracking. Our evaluation and user study demonstrate that our system achieves high tracking accuracy (e.g., median error of around 1.4 cm) and ease of use.
Immunohistochemical expression of Caspase 7 and Annexin V as apoptosis markers in oral squamous cell carcinoma (A clinicopathological study).

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an aggressive and lethal malignancy . It is an epithelial malignancy with morphologic features of squamous cell differentiation without additional features suggestive of other differentiated tissues. Caspase 7 is a caspase involved in execution phase of apoptosis. The genetic alteration of caspase 7 might be involved in the development of human cancer. Annexin V belongs to a family of phospholipids binding proteins. It binds in the presence of Ca+2 ions with high affinity to negatively charged phospholipids like phosphatidylserine(PS) exposed on cell surface during apoptosis. Materials and Methods: The study is a prospective one in which twenty cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma and eleven retrospective of paraffin embedded formalin fixed of oral squamous cell carcinoma blocks. H&E stain was done for each block for reassessment of histological examination. An immunohistochemical staining done by using monoclonal antibodies for caspase-7 and annexin V. The aim of the study: The aim of the study is to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of caspase 7 and Annexin V as apoptosis markers in correlation with various clinicopathological parameters in oral squamous cell carcinoma Results: The results of 31 oral squamous cell carcinoma cases included in this Study. Age group of studying samples was more than 50 years. Immunohistochimical expressions were as follows in all cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma for caspase 7 and Annexin V tumor markers: The expression of caspase-7 was weak positive in 12 cases (38%), strong positive in 11 cases (35%) and 8 (25%) cases were negative. The expression of Annexin V was weak positive 16 cases (51%), strong positive 10 cases (32%) and 5 cases (16%) were negative. Statistical result for caspase 7 and AnnexinV with clinlinicopathological parameters was no significant correlation between them. Conclusions: Immunohisto chemical expression were observed in studying samples of oral squamous cell carcinoma of both annexin V and caspase 7, however, statistically non significant correlation with all clinicopathological findings were found and between both markers.
Regularised Spectral Estimation for High Dimensional Point Processes

Advances in modern technology have enabled the simultaneous recording of neural spiking activity, which statistically can be represented by a multivariate point process. We characterise the second order structure of this process via the spectral density matrix, a frequency domain equivalent of the covariance matrix. In the context of neuronal analysis, statistics based on the spectral density matrix can be used to infer connectivity in the brain network between individual neurons. However, the high-dimensional nature of spike train data mean that it is often difficult, or at times impossible, to compute these statistics. In this work, we discuss the importance of regularisation-based methods for spectral estimation, and propose novel methodology for use in the point process setting. We establish asymptotic properties for our proposed estimators and evaluate their performance on synthetic data simulated from multivariate Hawkes processes. Finally, we apply our methodology to neuroscience spike train data in order to illustrate its ability to infer connectivity in the brain network.
Effectiveness of Stretch for the Treatment and Prevention of Contractures in People With Neurological Conditions: A Systematic Review

Background Contractures are a disabling complication of neurological conditions that are commonly managed with stretch. Objective The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of stretch for the treatment and prevention of contractures. The review is part of a more-detailed Cochrane review. Only the results of the studies including patients with neurological conditions are reported here. Data Sources Electronic searches were conducted in June 2010 in the following computerized databases: Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA), MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), EMBASE, SCI-EXPANDED, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). Study Eligibility Criteria The review included randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials of stretch applied for the purposes of treating or preventing contractures in people with neurological conditions. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods Two reviewers independently selected studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. The primary outcome measures were joint mobility (range of motion) and quality of life. Secondary outcome measures were pain, spasticity, activity limitation, and participation restriction. Meta-analyses were conducted using random-effects models. Results Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies provide moderate-quality evidence that stretch has a small immediate effect on joint mobility (mean difference=3°, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0° to 5°) and high-quality evidence that stretch has little or no short-term or long-term effects on joint mobility (mean difference=1° and 0°, respectively, 95% CI=0° to 3° and −2° to 2°, respectively). There is little or no effect of stretch on pain, spasticity, and activity limitation. Limitations No studies were retrieved that investigated the effects of stretch for longer than 6 months. Conclusion Regular stretch does not produce clinically important changes in joint mobility, pain, spasticity, or activity limitation in people with neurological conditions.
Barrett's Esophagus Is Common in Older Men and Women Undergoing Screening Colonoscopy Regardless of Reflux Symptoms

BACKGROUND:Although Barrett's esophagus (BE) is the precursor of esophageal adenocarcinoma (ACA), most patients with ACA present outside of a BE surveillance program. This could be due to undiagnosed symptomatic GER and BE or BE/ACA occurring in patients without reflux symptoms. We have, therefore, studied the prevalence of BE and symptom status in older patients referred for colonoscopy.METHODSAll patients referred for outpatient colonoscopy were eligible if they were at least 65 yr old and had not previously undergone esophagoscopy. After informed consent, the patients completed detailed GER questionnaires. During the research endoscopy, the endoscopist recorded the squamocolumnar junction (SCJ) as either long-segment BE (LSBE), short-segment BE (SSBE), or normal. If the SCJ was felt to be “irregular” the endoscopist was asked to predict, in their judgment, if BE was present. All patients had biopsies below the SCJ, which were examined by a gastrointestinal pathologist who was blinded to the endoscopic findings.RESULTSBE esophagus was present in 50 of the 300 patients studied (16.7%). BE was more common in men (35 of 161, 21.7%) than in women (15 of 139, 10.8%) (p < 0.025). GERD symptoms were reported in 106 patients (35%) and BE was present in 19.8% of symptomatic and 14.9% of asymptomatic cases (NS). The majority of the BE in this study was less than 3 cm in length (92%). The questionnaires did not predict the presence of BE.CONCLUSIONSBE is common in unscreened male and female patients at least 65 yr of age who are referred for colonoscopy. Men were more likely than women to have BE although it occurred in both sexes. Reflux symptoms were fairly common but a poor predictor of BE.
A glimpse into your vision

Invasive recordings of local field potentials (LFPs) have been used to “read the mind” of monkeys in real time. Here we investigated whether noninvasive field potentials estimated from the scalp‐recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) using the ELECTRA source localization algorithm could provide real‐time decoding of mental states in healthy humans. By means of pattern recognition techniques on 500‐ms EEG epochs, we were able to discriminate accurately from single trials which of four categories of visual stimuli the subjects were viewing. Our results show that it is possible to reproduce the decoding accuracy previously obtained in animals with invasive recordings. A comparison between the decoding results and the subjects' behavioral performance indicates that oscillatory activity (OA), elicited in specific brain regions) codes better for the visual stimulus category presented than the subjects' actual response, i.e., is insensitive to voluntary or involuntary errors. The identification of brain regions participating in the decoding process allowed us to construct 3D‐functional images of the task‐related OA. These images revealed the activation of brain regions known for their involvement in the processing of this type of visual stimuli. Electrical neuroimaging therefore appears to have the potential to establish what the brain is processing while the stimuli are being seen or categorized, i.e., concurrently with sensory‐perceptual processes. Hum Brain Mapp 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Leveraging Spatial and Semantic Feature Extraction for Skin Cancer Diagnosis with Capsule Networks and Graph Neural Networks

In the realm of skin lesion image classification, the intricate spatial and semantic features pose significant challenges for conventional Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based methodologies. These challenges are compounded by the imbalanced nature of skin lesion datasets, which hampers the ability of models to learn minority class features effectively. Despite augmentation strategies, such as those using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), previous attempts have not fully addressed these complexities. This study introduces an innovative approach by integrating Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) with Capsule Networks to enhance classification performance. GNNs, known for their proficiency in handling graph-structured data, offer an advanced mechanism for capturing complex patterns and relationships beyond the capabilities of traditional CNNs. Capsule Networks further contribute by providing superior recognition of spatial hierarchies within images. Our research focuses on evaluating and enhancing the Tiny Pyramid Vision GNN (Tiny Pyramid ViG) architecture by incorporating it with a Capsule Network. This hybrid model was applied to the MNIST:HAM10000 dataset, a comprehensive skin lesion dataset designed for benchmarking classification models. After 75 epochs of training, our model achieved a significant accuracy improvement, reaching 89.23% and 95.52%, surpassing established benchmarks such as GoogLeNet (83.94%), InceptionV3 (86.82%), MobileNet V3 (89.87%), EfficientNet-B7 (92.07%), ResNet18 (92.22%), ResNet34 (91.90%), ViT-Base (73.70%), and IRv2-SA (93.47%) on the same dataset. This outcome underscores the potential of our approach in overcoming the inherent challenges of skin lesion classification, contributing to the advancement of image-based diagnosis in dermatology.
Identity, language learning, and social change

In this review article on identity, language learning, and social change, we argue that contemporary poststructuralist theories of language, identity, and power offer new perspectives on language learning and teaching, and have been of considerable interest in our field. We first review poststructuralist theories of language, subjectivity, and positioning and explain sociocultural theories of language learning. We then discuss constructs of investment and imagined communities/imagined identities (Norton Peirce 1995; Norton 1997, 2000, 2001), showing how these have been used by diverse identity researchers. Illustrative examples of studies that investigate how identity categories like race, gender, and sexuality interact with language learning are discussed. Common qualitative research methods used in studies of identity and language learning are presented, and we review the research on identity and language teaching in different regions of the world. We examine how digital technologies may be affecting language learners' identities, and how learner resistance impacts language learning. Recent critiques of research on identity and language learning are explored, and we consider directions for research in an era of increasing globalization. We anticipate that the identities and investments of language learners, as well as their teachers, will continue to generate exciting and innovative research in the future.