Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching Mothers of Low Socioeconomic Status to Use Decontextualized Language During Storybook Reading

This study investigated the effects of teaching mothers of low socioeconomic status (SES) to use decontextualized language during storybook reading with their preschool-age children. A multiple baseline design across behaviors and participants evaluated the effects of the intervention for five dyads. Mothers' and children's use of decontextualized language and measures of dyadic interaction during storybook reading were examined. Mothers were able to learn decontextualized language strategies, and children's use of decontextualized language covaried with mothers' use of the strategies. Changes in the content of talk during storybook reading resulted in modest increases in dyadic interaction. An implication of this study is that caregivers of low SES can be taught to use the type of language that should help prepare their children for the language demands of the classroom.
How trustworthy are forecasts of international migration between Poland and the European Union?

The paper examines forecasts of international migration between Poland and the EU. It focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the methodology and results of some of these forecasts from a demographic point of view. The first issue considered is the diversity of forms of international mobility of population and its significance for migration forecasting. Then the impact of the difference in definitions of international migrations and differences in migration data arising from them are discussed. An estimate of the maximum net migration from Poland to the European Union based on historic flows is made. This information is used to evaluate the feasibility of selected forecasts of international migration from Poland after entry to the European Union.
Semantics: Primes and Universals

Conceptual primitives and semantic universals are the cornerstones of a semantic theory which Anna Wierzbicka has been developing for many years. Semantics: Primes and Universals is a major synthesis of her work, presenting a full and systematic exposition of that theory in a non-technical and readable way. It delineates a full set of universal concepts, as they have emerged from large-scale investigations across a wide range of languages undertaken by the author and her colleagues. On the basis of empirical cross-linguistic studies it vindicates the old notion of the 'psychic unity of mankind', while at the same time offering a framework for the rigorous description of different languages and cultures.
Managing Complex Educational Change: Large-Scale Reorganisation of Schools

The book provides a valuable resource for postgraduate students and their tutors and each chapter is likely to be equally informative and helpful for those in leadership roles in schools and colleges. The authors provide very useful cross-reference to current literature and research in making their case and each chapter is accompanied by suggested further reading. We are given a clear indication of changing paradigms in the field of education and their likely impact on management processes. There are strong signs, too, of the importance of cross-cultural, comparative research, as well as the need to take account of those policy studies, such as those produced by Ball, Bowe and Gewirtz, that criticise the emergence of new forms of control.
Impact of providing audiotapes of primary adjuvant treatment consultations to women with breast cancer: a multisite, randomized, controlled trial.

PURPOSE Women with breast cancer were provided with an audiotape of their primary adjuvant treatment consultation, and the following patient outcomes were measured at 12 weeks postconsultation: perceived degree of information provision, audiotape satisfaction and use, communication satisfaction with oncologist, mood state, and cancer-specific quality of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS Participants included 628 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and 40 oncologists from six cancer centers in Canada. The patients were block randomized to one of four consultation groups: standard care control, not audiotaped; audiotaped, no audiotape given; audiotaped, patient given audiotape; and audiotaped, patient offered choice of receiving audiotape or not. RESULTS Patients receiving the consultation audiotape had significantly better recall of having discussed side effects of treatment than patients who did not receive the audiotape. Audiotape benefit was not significantly related to patient satisfaction with communication, mood state, or quality of life at 12 weeks postconsultation, and was not significantly affected by choice of receiving the audiotape. Patients rated the audiotape intervention positively, with an average score of 83.9 of 100. CONCLUSION Audiotape provision benefits patients by facilitating their perception of being informed about treatment side effects, but does not significantly influence patient satisfaction with communication, mood state, or quality of life.
When the Dust Settles: The Four Behaviors of LiDAR in the Presence of Fine Airborne Particulates

This paper describes the behavior of a commercial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor in the presence of dust. This work is motivated by the need to develop perception systems that must operate where dust is present. This paper shows that the behavior of measurements from the sensor is systematic and predictable. LiDAR sensors exhibit four behaviors that are articulated and understood from the perspective of the shape‐of‐return signals from emitted light pulses. We subject the commercial sensor to a series of tests that measure the return pulses and show that they are consistent with theoretical predictions of behavior. Several important conclusions emerge: (i) where LiDAR measures dust, it does so to the leading edge of a dust cloud rather than as a random noise; (ii) dust starts to affect measurements when the atmospheric transmittance is less than 71%–74%, but this is quite variable with conditions; (iii) LiDAR is capable of ranging to a target in dust clouds with transmittance as low as 2% if the target is retroreflective and 6% if it is of low reflectivity; (iv) the effects of airborne particulates such as dust are less evident in the far field. The significance of this paper lies in providing insight into how better to use measurements from off‐the‐shelf LiDAR sensors in solving perception problems.
Power and Problem Appraisal: Perceptual Foundations of the Chilling Effect in Dating Relationships

Previous research indicating that a dating partner's power exerts a chilling effect on confrontation has highlighted the role of anticipated negative consequences in decisions to withhold complaints. We suggested that a second reason for avoiding confrontation, perceiving problems to be trivial, is also promoted by attributing power to dating partners. We investigated the extent to which perceptions of a partner's power influenced the appraised severity of hypothetical problem scenarios and the likelihood that individuals would avoid confrontation in those situations. Results indicated that attributing either dependence or punitive power to dating partners corresponded with less severe appraisals of problems and plans to avoid confrontation. Contrary to our expectations, problem severity appraisals did not mediate associations between perceptions of a partner's power and plans to avoid confrontation. The discussion highlights the implications of these results for investigations of power in dating relationships and research on relationship maintenance.
Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Using Images to Create a Concreteness Effect for Abstract Words: Evidence from Beginning L2 Learners of Spanish

This study examines the lexical representation and recall of abstract words by beginning L2 learners of Spanish in the light of the predictions of the dual coding theory (Paivio 1971; Paivio and Desrochers 1980). Ninety-seven learners (forty-four males and fifty-three females) were randomly placed in the picture or non-picture group and taught twelve concrete and twelve abstract words they did not previously know. Subjects performed a recall task on an immediate and a delayed posttest. The results showed that associating abstract words with pictures had a significant effect on their recall on the immediate posttest, but no such effect was found on the delayed posttest. The results suggest that associating abstract lexical items with pictures has a significant effect on memory representation and recall in the short term. The findings also support the predictions of the dual coding theory and show that a concreteness effect can be created for abstract words by associating them with visual images.
Establishment of POP-1 asymmetry in early C. elegans embryos

In Caenhorabtidis elegans embryos, the nuclei of sister cells that are born from anterior/posterior divisions show an invariant high/low asymmetry, respectively, in their level of the transcription factor POP-1. Previous studies have shown that POP-1 asymmetry between the daughters of an embryonic cell called EMS results in part from a Wnt-like signal provided by a neighboring cell, called P2. We identify here additional signaling cells that play a role in POP-1 asymmetry for other early embryonic cells. Some of these cells have signaling properties similar to P2, whereas other cells use apparently distinct signaling pathways. Although cell signaling plays a critical role in POP-1 asymmetry during the first few cell divisions, later embryonic cells have an ability to generate POP-1 asymmetry that appears to be independent of prior Wnt signaling.
Culturally adapted cognitive behaviour therapy for Māori with major depression

Abstract Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand and in 2006 comprised approximately 15% of the country's population. Epidemiological data suggests Māori experience rates of depression that are higher than the general population and are less likely to engage in treatment for mental health issues. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an adapted approach to psychotherapy with Māori. The broad goals of which were to provide empirically grounded guidance for therapists aspiring to provide best practice to their Māori clients. This paper documents the evaluation of a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) treatment protocol specifically designed and adapted for delivery to adult Māori clients with a diagnosis of depression. The treatment protocol was administered to 16 Māori clients with a primary diagnosis of depression. The adapted treatment incorporated Māori processes for engagement, spirituality, family involvement and metaphor. The intervention exhibited considerable promise with large significant reductions in depressive symptomatology in the participant group. Furthermore, significant reductions in negative cognition were observed. This is the first piece of applied clinical research that has examined the effectiveness of an individual psychological therapy exclusively with Māori and the first to examine individual psychotherapy outcomes with an indigenous population using an effectiveness study. The findings have a number of implications for the treatment of Māori clients with depression. This study provides useful guidelines for clinicians providing psychological treatment to Māori and provides strong support for the cultural adaptation of psychological treatment with ethnic minority groups.
On a Stokes-Like System for Mixtures of Fluids

We consider a simplified model that describes steady flows of a miscible mixture of fluids. The corresponding system of equations is studied in the whole space $\R^3$. The densities $\rho_i$ of the species and their velocity fields $\ui$ are prescribed at infinity: $\rho_i|_{\infty} = \rho_{i \infty} > 0\,,\;\; \ui|_{\infty} = 0$. We prove the existence of weak solutions to the system under consideration.
Learning Optimal Dialogue Strategies: A Case Study of a Spoken Dialogue Agent for Email

This paper describes a novel method by which a dialogue agent can learn to choose an optimal dialogue strategy. While it is widely agreed that dialogue strategies should be formulated in terms of communicative intentions, there has been little work on automatically optimizing an agent's choices when there are multiple ways to realize a communicative intention. Our method is based on a combination of learning algorithms and empirical evaluation techniques. The learning component of our method is based on algorithms for reinforcement learning, such as dynamic programming and Q-learning. The empirical component uses the PARADISE evaluation framework (Walker et al., 1997) to identify the important peribrmance factors and to provide the performance function needed by the learning algorithm. We illustrate our method with a dialogue agent named ELVIS (EmaiL Voice Interactive System), that supports access to email over the phone. We show how ELVIS can learn to choose among alternate strategies for agent initiative, for reading messages, and for summarizing email folders.
The epidermal growth factor receptor is associated with phospholipase C-gamma 1 in meningiomas.

In this study we evaluated phospholipase C-gamma 1 (PLC-gamma 1) expression, activity, and association with the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor in a series of human meningiomas as well as cultured meningioma cells. Phospholipase C-gamma 1 was detectable by immunoblot and immunohistochemistry in 13 of 13 meningioma specimens. Epidermal growth factor receptors were detected by immunoblot in six of nine meningiomas (67%) and by immunohistochemistry in 13 of 19 meningiomas (68%) but not in normal leptomeningeal cells. In two of three meningiomas EGF receptors and/or a 170-kd phosphotyrosine band precipitated with a PLC-gamma 1 antiserum. Both PLC-gamma 1 and EGF receptors also exhibited the same pattern of immunostaining on meningioma tissue sections. Phospholipase C-gamma 1 catalytic activity, measured in a PIP2 hydrolysis assay, was higher in nine EGF receptor-positive meningiomas than in six EGF receptor-negative meningiomas (P = .05; t test). Finally, treatment of cultured meningioma cells with transforming growth factor-alpha induced a 78% increase in PLC-gamma 1 catalytic activity. Thus, these data are consistent with the possibility that the EGF receptor tyrosine kinase regulates PLC-gamma 1 activity in native meningioma tissue.
Anti-Mac-1 selectively inhibits the mouse and human type three complement receptor

Anti-Mac-1 (M1/70), a rat monoclonal antibody that reacts with mouse and human macrophages, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL), and natural killer cells, selectively inhibited complement receptor-mediated rosetting by murine macrophages and human PMNL. Preincubation of macrophages with anti-Mac-1 inhibited formation of rosettes with sheep erythrocytes bearing IgM antibody and murine C3 fragments. No inhibition was observed when other monoclonal antibodies that react with macrophages (such as anti-Ly5, anti-H-2, or anti-pan-leukocyte) were tested at 10-fold higher concentrations. Anti-Mac-1 did not affect macrophage Fc receptor-mediated rosetting. Erythrocytes bearing homogeneous human C3 fragments C3b (EC3b) or C3bi (EC3bi) were used to test the specificity of the murine macrophage and human PMNL complement receptor inhibited by anti-Mac-1. In both cases, anti-Mac-1 inhibited CR3-mediated rosetting of EC3bi but not CR1-dependent rosetting of EC3b. The results show that Mac-1 is either identical to CR3 or closely associated with CR3 function. This is one of the first cases in which a monoclonal antibody-defined differentiation antigen has been associated with a specific cell surface function.
Randomized trial of oral teriflunomide for relapsing multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND Teriflunomide is a new oral disease-modifying therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. METHODS We concluded a randomized trial involving 1088 patients with multiple sclerosis, 18 to 55 years of age, with a score of 0 to 5.5 on the Expanded Disability Status Scale and at least one relapse in the previous year or at least two relapses in the previous 2 years. Patients were randomly assigned (in a 1:1:1 ratio) to placebo, 7 mg of teriflunomide, or 14 mg of teriflunomide once daily for 108 weeks. The primary end point was the annualized relapse rate, and the key secondary end point was confirmed progression of disability for at least 12 weeks. RESULTS Teriflunomide reduced the annualized relapse rate (0.54 for placebo vs. 0.37 for teriflunomide at either 7 or 14 mg), with relative risk reductions of 31.2% and 31.5%, respectively (P<0.001 for both comparisons with placebo). The proportion of patients with confirmed disability progression was 27.3% with placebo, 21.7% with teriflunomide at 7 mg (P=0.08), and 20.2% with teriflunomide at 14 mg (P=0.03). Both teriflunomide doses were superior to placebo on a range of end points measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Diarrhea, nausea, and hair thinning were more common with teriflunomide than with placebo. The incidence of elevated alanine aminotransferase levels (≥1 times the upper limit of the normal range) was higher with teriflunomide at 7 mg and 14 mg (54.0% and 57.3%, respectively) than with placebo (35.9%); the incidence of levels that were at least 3 times the upper limit of the normal range was similar in the lower- and higher-dose teriflunomide groups and the placebo group (6.3%, 6.7%, and 6.7%, respectively). Serious infections were reported in 1.6%, 2.5%, and 2.2% of patients in the three groups, respectively. No deaths occurred. CONCLUSIONS Teriflunomide significantly reduced relapse rates, disability progression (at the higher dose), and MRI evidence of disease activity, as compared with placebo. (Funded by Sanofi-Aventis; TEMSO ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00134563.).
Psychiatric morbidity in dermatological conditions

Abstract Objective. A relationship between psychological factors and skin diseases has long been hypothesized. The objective of this study is to investigate the association of dermatology conditions with depression, anxiety and personality disorders. Method. A total of 144 dermatology outpatients and 100 controls were selected and assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM III-R personality disorders and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for presence of personality disorders and anxiety and depression. Results. A total of 77 (70%) of the patients and 26 (20%) of the control group reported moderate to severe anxiety and depression. Twenty-two patients (15.27%) and five controls (5%) suffered from personality disorders. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder was the most diagnosed personality disorder followed by avoidant, borderline and dependent personalities. Conclusion. The association between dermatological diseases and psychiatric and personality morbidity underscores the deep emotional suffering that can be associated with skin diseases and confirms the importance of psychiatric evaluation of dermatology patients. Our findings highlight the need for a biopsychosocial approach to patients with skin disease.
Psychiatric evaluation of married women who exposed to domestic violence

The aim of this study was to examine sociodemographic data of psychiatric outpatients married women who reported exposed to domestic violence and to compare their anxiety, depression and dissociation inventory scores with healthy controls. The study included 30 married women who reported exposed to domestic violence admitted psychiatry outpatient clinic of the Haydarpasa Teaching and Research Hospital and 30 healthy individuals without a history of domestic violence recruited from the community. The Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and sociodemographical form were administered to participants. Socioeconomic level is lower in abused women than in control group. Physical and verbal violence methods by husbands were applied (96.6% in both). The beck depression, the beck anxiety and dissociation experience scores were higher in abused women than in control group (p=0.023, p=0.034, p=0.045). Domestic violence may contribute development of psychiatric illness. Domestic violence should be questioned in psychiatry outpatient examination.
Social withdrawal and maladjustment in a very group-oriented society

Elementary-school children in Cuba and Canada participated in measures of loneliness, sociometric status, friendship, aggression, and social withdrawal. Withdrawal was associated with loneliness in the Cuban data from both cohorts, Grade 4 and Grade 6. In the Canadian data, withdrawal was only linked to loneliness in Grade 6. In contrast with North American data, aggression was a significant correlate of loneliness in the Cuban data from both cohorts. Social withdrawal was more strongly linked with loneliness in a Grade 6 cohort than among children in Grade 4. Especially in the Cuban Grade 6 data, there was considerable evidence that peer acceptance/rejection mediates the link between problematic social withdrawal and loneliness. These data are interpreted in light of the known functions of the peer group in Cuban society in regulating social behaviours that may be interpreted as not participating in the collective group or undermining its behavioural norms.
Yeast infection of burns

Summary. In a prospective study, 132 patients were investigated for yeast infection of burn wounds. Ten patients (7.6%) were infected with Candida species. All patients with yeast infections were also infected with bacteria with the exception of one patient who was infected with Candida tropicalis alone. The predominant yeast recovered was Candida krusei. Yeast infection was found to be more common in the younger age group. The isolation of a Candida species alone from one patient and Candida isolation from patients with sepsis in burn wounds indicate a significant role for yeasts in the production of infection in burn wounds. Therefore, special cultures for yeasts are recommended for all cases of burn wound infection.
Influence of a D-aspartic Acid/Sodium Nitrate/Vitamin D3 Dietary Supplement on Physiological Parameters in Middle-aged Men: A Pilot Study

D-aspartic acid (DAA), nitrate, and vitamin D3 have received considerable attention in recent years for their potential health-enhancing properties. Using an open-label design, we evaluated the impact of a DAA/sodium nitrate/ vitamin D3 dietary supplement on blood testosterone and nitrate/nitrite, as well as subjective indicators of health, in middle-aged men. Methods: 10 overweight or obese men (mean age: 42 years) were assigned to ingest a DAA/sodium nitrate/ vitamin D3 supplement (either one or two servings per day) for 28 days. Blood total and free testosterone and nitrate/nitrite was measured before and after 14 and 28 days of supplementation. Subjective assessment of to health indicators (e.g., energy level, libido) was included at each collection time. Results: Total and free testosterone increased on average 5-10%, which was not of statistical significance (p>0.05). The response was highly variable; some men failed to respond to treatment, while men with relatively low basal testosterone values experienced increases exceeding 20%. Plasma nitrate/nitrite was increased approximately 6-10 fold after treatment with the supplement, with a trend noted for a time effect (p=0.07). Men reported a significantly better feeling following supplement use, as evidenced by a time effect for both vitality (p=0.02) and libido (p=0.04), with a trend noted for increased energy level (p=0.08) and mental outlook and mood (p=0.10). Conclusion: Twenty-eight days of treatment with a DAA/sodium nitrate/ vitamin D3 dietary supplement increased blood nitrate/nitrite and improved subjective feelings of vitality and libido in middle-aged men. In selected men with low basal testosterone values, the supplement increased circulating levels of this hormone.