Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The socio-pragmatics of dialectal codeswitching by Al-`Keidaat Bedouin speakers

Abstract While the dynamics of dialectal codeswitching in the Arabic-speaking context has been the center of much discussion and research, only a few studies have examined the role of socio-pragmatic factors in the code choices of Arabic speakers in everyday interactions. Using Bourdieu's (1977) social capital theory as a general framework, this study examines the role of pragmatic and capital-related factors in codeswitching in an understudied Arabic-speaking group, namely Al-`Keidaat Bedouins in Syria. Audio-recorded data was collected from two Bedouin wedding parties and 37 interactions involving Bedouins in the workplace. The data analysis indicates that Bedouin speakers use their multi-dialectal package mainly to manage their self-representation in relation to other speakers, enhance their ability to access different forms of social capital, and maximize their benefit from social interactions with different speakers. Based on the findings, I argue that the speakers' use of their linguistic repertoires is more socio-pragmatically driven than based on the often-invoked prestige of specific language varieties. Finally, while it uses Bourdieu's social capital theory as a general framework, the study seeks to expand this theory by reconceptualizing power as a multi-dimensional top-down, bottom-up process of defining social structures and relationships.
Treatment adherence of 717 patients with tuberculosis in a social security system hospital in Istanbul, Turkey.

SETTING Tuberculosis clinic in a teaching hospital run by the social security system, Istanbul, Turkey. OBJECTIVE To determine risk factors associated with treatment adherence. DESIGN Seven hundred and seventeen patients who commenced treatment for tuberculosis in our clinic from May 1991 to May 1997 were evaluated retrospectively with respect to treatment adherence. Factors with an effect on treatment adherence were investigated. RESULTS Sputum conversion was achieved in 88.9% of the cases within the first 2 months of treatment. Seven patients died during treatment; of the 710 patients remaining, 106 (14.9%) were non-adherent. This rate decreased from 34.4% in 1991 to 2.0% in 1997. In multi-variate logistic regression analysis, only previous treatment history for tuberculosis was related to non-adherence; treatment adherence rate in new cases was 88.9%, while it was 66.7% in previously treated cases (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION In new cases, a treatment adherence rate of 88.9% can be considered satisfactory. However, in previously treated cases, an adherence rate of 66.4% must be considered unsatisfactory. Previously treated cases in particular should therefore receive directly observed treatment.
A Qualitative Analysis of Athletes’ Voluntary Image Speed Use

Abstract The present study sought to describe the various reasons why athletes choose to manipulate the speeds of their images (i.e. image in slow motion, real-time, or fast motion). Athletes (N= 9) were interviewed using a one-on-one, semi-structured interview format. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and content analyzed for themes. Results suggested that the particular image speed selected by an athlete does often serve a specific purpose. Slow-motion images were primarily employed to enhance the learning, development, review, or refinement of skills and strategies. Real-time imagery was employed when athletes wanted to accurately represent movement tempo, relative timing, or absolute movement duration in their images. Fast motion images were used to enable strategy planning during competition, to increase or maintain confidence perceptions, to energize athletes, and to increase imagery session efficiency and focus. Furthermore, regarding the use of multiple image speeds, athletes emphasized the importance of avoiding exclusively imaging in fast- or in slow-motion, making note of the importance of real-time image speed use in ensuring accurate mental representations of temporal aspects of performance. The findings of the current study indicate that the timing guideline of the PETTLEP approach to motor imagery (Holmes & Collins, 2001) may require revision. The use of any given image speed may be a matter of personal preference rather than one of functional necessity. One exception, however, does appear to be images focused on learning some temporal aspect of performance. In these instances, real-time speed seems to be a necessary characteristic of one’s image.
Auditory features in consonant perception - a modeling perspective

Speech perception is often studied from a macroscopic perspective by presenting meaningful speech stimuli in a range of acoustic conditions to a panel of listeners and evaluating the speech intelligibility in terms of the percentage of correct responses (e.g. [1]). Speech intelligibility measured this way reflects a complex interaction between the acoustic cues available to the listeners and the syntactic structure, the semantic predictability and the lexical content of the speech stimuli. This makes it difficult to tease apart these influencing factors when trying to investigate the preservation/restoration of the speech signal’s acoustic cues (e.g. in acoustic transmission channels and/or through an impaired ear with or without hearing aid). Taking a microscopic perspective, this problem can be overcome using nonsense syllables (e.g., consonant-vowel combinations, CVs), thus excluding syntactic, semantic, and lexical effects. Many related studies have focused on the perception of consonants in steady-state noise at various signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and evaluated the responses in terms of consonant recognition and consonant confusions [2,3,4,5]. Several studies [5,6,7] demonstrated a large perceptual variability across different speech tokens of the same type (e.g., different utterances of /ba/). The results of a recent study [8] by the authors of the current study confirmed the large speech-token induced variability of consonant-in-noise perception and additionally showed that even different realizations of white Gaussian masking noise mixed with identical speech tokens had a perceptual effect.
Multimodality treatment of deep arteriovenous malformations: thalamus, basal ganglia, and brain stem.

THE THERAPEUTIC APPROACH toward arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) located in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and brain stem has evolved from microsurgical resection as the predominant therapy to a combination of microsurgery, embolization, and radiosurgery. This multimodality treatment was used in the management of 32 patients with deep AVMs of all sizes. Twenty-two patients with surgically accessible AVMs (i.e., typically located in the brain stem and thalamus) underwent microsurgical resection. The AVMs of half of these patients were devascularized preoperatively with transfemoral embolization. Five patients with residual AVMs were then treated with radiosurgery. Ten patients had AVMs, typically located in the basal ganglia, that were surgically inaccessible. These patients underwent embolization to reduce the AVM size, and the postembolization nidus was then treated with radiosurgery. For patients treated early in the series with a predominantly surgical approach, the complete resection rate was 43%. For patients treated later in the series after radiosurgery was incorporated into the management scheme, the complete elimination rate was 72%. Overall, there were no deaths in this series, and the permanent treatment-associated morbidity rate was 9%. These results indicate that an individualized, multimodality approach can be used to eliminate both large and small deep AVMs with an acceptably low morbidity and mortality rate.
Effect of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) leaf extract on diabetic nephropathy in rats

Diabetic nephropathy is a clinical syndrome characterized by albuminuria, hypertension and progressive renal insufficiency. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) leaf extract on diabetic nephropathy in rats. Streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats were orally treated with three doses (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) of strawberry leaf extract for 30 days. Nephropathy biomarkers in plasma and kidney were examined at the end of the experiment. The three doses of strawberry leaf extract significantly decreased the levels of blood glucose, urea nitrogen, plasma creatinine, kidney injury molecule (Kim)‐1, renal malondialdehyde (MDA), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α), interleukin (IL)‐ 6 and caspase‐3 in diabetic rats. Meanwhile, the levels of plasma insulin, albumin, uric acid, renal catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF‐A) were significantly elevated in diabetic rats treated with strawberry leaf extract. These results indicate the role of strawberry leaves extract as anti‐diabetic, antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory and anti‐apoptosis in diabetic nephropathy.
Subjective symptoms and their evolution in a small group of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) operators recently engaged

Abstract Using a specific questionnaire, we examined subjective symptoms in a group of 17 physicians (9 males and 8 females, mean age 32.9 ± 3.71), attending a Postgraduate Medical School in Radiology and engaged in MRI for less than 1 year. Sixteen subjects (94%) reported the presence of at least one of the investigated symptoms during the period of MRI activity. The main symptoms were: unusual drowsiness/tiredness (88%), concentration problems (82%), headaches (76%), sleep disorders (47%), nausea (47%), illusion of movement (47%) and dizziness/vertigo (35%); the former two were subjectively related to MRI by the majority of the operators. These symptoms appeared (or worsened) in more than 15 min and, in the vast majority disappeared 30 min, or more, after the end of exposure. In 13 subjects (81%), the symptom (or some symptoms) appeared at least weekly. In this small group of health care workers recently exposed to MRI, the prevalence of subjective symptoms was higher than reported in other similar studies but, notably, the majority of subjects (77%) reported a regression within 4–8 weeks, suggesting some form of adaptation.
Word Representations via Gaussian Embedding

Current work in lexical distributed representations maps each word to a point vector in low-dimensional space. Mapping instead to a density provides many interesting advantages, including better capturing uncertainty about a representation and its relationships, expressing asymmetries more naturally than dot product or cosine similarity, and enabling more expressive parameterization of decision boundaries. This paper advocates for density-based distributed embeddings and presents a method for learning representations in the space of Gaussian distributions. We compare performance on various word embedding benchmarks, investigate the ability of these embeddings to model entailment and other asymmetric relationships, and explore novel properties of the representation.
Snake richness in urban forest fragments from Niterói and surroundings, state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil

Abstract Background The Atlantic Forest is a hotspot for biodiversity, an area which houses high species richness and endemism, but with high level of threat. With reference to the herpetofauna, until recently there has been no detailed information regarding diversity of snakes recorded in the Atlantic Forest, the number of endemic species and their distribution ranges. While these basic data were missing, large areas of original forest have continued to be lost to increased urbanization and human population, representing a severe threat to the biodiversity. New information We recorded 28 snake species in our study area. Dipsadidae was the richest family with 14 species, followed by Colubridae (eight species), Boidae (two species), Viperidae (two species), and Anomalepididae, Elapidae and Typhlopidae (one species each). Most species were forest inhabitants (61%), of which 13 are endemic to the Atlantic Forest. There were no clearly defined species clusters regarding species composition. None of the species recorded in Niterói are listed as threatened in the Brazilian Redlist. However, most of them are strongly associated with forested areas and, perhaps, are not adapted to live in small fragments. Thus, more initiatives should be implemented to evaluate the true conservation status of these species in order to better protect them.
Subanalyses of secondary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator trials: antiarrhythmics versus implantable defibrillators (AVID), Canadian Implantable Defibrillator Study (CIDS), and Cardiac Arrest Study Hamburg (CASH).

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Controlled trials for secondary prevention of sudden death--Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators (AVID), Canadian Implantable Defibrillator Study (CIDS), and Cardiac Arrest Study Hamburg (CASH)--have been published and subanalyses of them provide useful clinical information on the outcome during the follow-up of this population. RECENT FINDINGS Results from a meta-analysis showed a significant risk reduction (RR) of 25 to 27% of total mortality (P < 0.001) and 50 to 52% of arrhythmic death (P < 0.001). Compared with amiodarone, patients treated with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in AVID had a maximal benefit in survival when the ejection fraction (EF) was between 20 and 34%. In CIDS, the group of higher risk (older than 70 years, EF less than 3.5%, and New York Heart Association class III-IV) presented a 50% RR of mortality. It has been demonstrated that the imbalance in beta-blocker use cannot explain the better survival in the ICD patients. After 3 years the recurrence of arrhythmia was 64% in the ICD group of the AVID trial. Patients enrolled after an episode of ventricular tachycardia were more likely to have appropriate therapy during follow-up. Older age, lower blood pressure, history of atrial fibrillation, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and prior pacemaker were parameters used for high-risk stratification. Conversely, inducibility of ventricular tachyarrhythmias on electrophysiology did not predict death. SUMMARY Patients with ICD after ventricular tachyarrhythmias have a 28% RR in total mortality. Individuals with EF between 20 to 34% received the highest benefit with ICD therapy.
TLR Signaling-induced CD103-expressing Cells Protect Against Intestinal Inflammation

Background:Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease is increased when compared with healthy controls. However, the impact of TLR signaling during inflammatory bowel disease is not fully understood. Methods:In this study, we used a murine model of acute phase inflammation in bone marrow chimeric mice to investigate in which cell type TLR2/4 signal induction is important in preventing intestinal inflammation and how intestinal dendritic cells are influenced. Mice were either fed with wild-type bacteria, able to initiate the TLR2/4 signaling cascade, or with mutant strains with impaired signal induction capacity. Results:The induction of the TLR2/4 signal cascade in epithelial cells resulted in inflammation in bone marrow chimeric mice, whereas induction in hematopoietic cells had an opposed function. Furthermore, feeding of wild-type bacteria prevented disease; however, differing signal induction of bacteria had no effect on lamina propria dendritic cell activation. In contrast, functional TLR2/4 signals resulted in increased frequencies of CD103-expressing lamina propria and mesenteric lymph node dendritic cells, which were able to ameliorate disease. Conclusions:The TLR-mediated amelioration of disease, the increase in CD103-expressing cells, and the beneficial function of TLR signal induction in hematopoietic cells indicate that the increased expression of TLRs in patients with inflammatory bowel disease might result in counterregulation of the host and serve in preventing disease.
Impact of Marital Status on 20-Year Subjective Well-being Trajectories.

BACKGROUND It is well-known that marital status has a significant impact on subjective well-being (SWB). However, research examining the long-term influence of marital status on SWB after spinal cord injury (SCI) is limited. OBJECTIVE To identify the relationship between marital status and SWB trajectories over time, using 20 years of longitudinal data. METHODS We conducted a cohort study, including 1,032 participants surveyed 5 times in 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013. Participants were identified from outpatient records of 2 Midwestern hospitals and 1 Southeastern specialty hospital. The Life Situation Questionnaire-Revised (LSQ-R) was used to measure multiple aspects of SWB. A multilevel model was applied to analyze the 5 repeated measurements. RESULTS The married or cohabitating participants enjoyed the best SWB at baseline, but their home satisfaction and global satisfaction declined over time and their social isolation increased slightly. For divorced, separated, or widowed people, the negative effects of marital loss attenuated over time. For single individuals, SWB, except for environmental barriers, did not change positively over time if they remained single. CONCLUSIONS Using longitudinal data with 5 repeated measurements, our study showed a complicated relationship between marital and relationship status with SWB and how these relationships change over time for people with chronic SCI.
Modeling and Stabilizability of Voltage-Actuated Piezoelectric Beams with Magnetic Effects

Models for piezoelectric beams and structures with piezoelectric patches generally ignore magnetic effects. This is because the magnetic energy has a relatively small effect on the overall dynamics. Piezoelectric beam models are known to be exactly observable and can be exponentially stabilized in the energy space by using a mechanical feedback controller. In this paper, a variational approach is used to derive a model for a piezoelectric beam that includes magnetic effects. It is proved that the partial differential equation model is well-posed. Magnetic effects have a strong effect on the stabilizability of the control system. For almost all system parameters the piezoelectric beam can be strongly stabilized, but it is not exponentially stabilizable in the energy space. Strong stabilization is achieved using only electrical feedback. Furthermore, using the same electrical feedback, an exponentially stable closed-loop system can be obtained for a set of system parameters of zero Lebesgue measure. These r.
Colchicine therapy in acute coronary syndrome patients acts on caspase-1 to suppress NLRP3 inflammasome monocyte activation.

Inflammasome activation, with subsequent release of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18, has recently been implicated in atherosclerosis-associated inflammation. This study aims to assess in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients (1) inflammasome activation in circulating monocytes and (2) whether short-term oral colchicine, a recognized anti-inflammatory agent that has been shown to be cardio-protective in clinical studies, might acutely suppress inflammasome-dependent inflammation. ACS patients (n=21) were randomized to oral colchicine (1 mg followed by 0.5 mg 1 h later) or no treatment, and compared with untreated healthy controls (n=9). Peripheral venous blood was sampled pre- (day 1) and 24 h post- (day 2) treatment. Monocytes were cultured and stimulated with ATP. Analysis of key inflammasome markers was performed by ELISA. IL-1β secretion increased by 580.4% (P<0.01) in ACS patients compared with controls but only with ATP stimulation. Untreated ACS patients secreted significantly higher levels of IL-18 compared with healthy controls independent of ATP stimulation (P<0.05). Colchicine treatment in ACS patients markedly reduced intracellular and secreted levels of IL-1β compared with pre-treatment levels (P<0.05 for both), as well as significantly reducing pro-caspase-1 mRNA levels by 57.7% and secreted caspase-1 protein levels by 30.2% compared with untreated patients (P<0.05 for both). Monocytes from ACS patients are 'primed' to secrete inflammasome-related cytokines and short-term colchicine acutely and markedly suppresses monocyte caspase-1 activity, thereby reducing monocyte secretion of IL-1β.
Current pattern of Salmonella Typhi antimicrobial susceptibility in the era of antibiotic abuse

Multidrug resistance in Salmonella Typhi has emerged as a significant problem. Given the difference in the sensitivity patterns reported for Salmonella Typhi, this study aimed to evaluate antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Salmonella Typhi in a tertiary care hospital, coimbatore in south India. Salmonella Typhi positive blood cultures from children up to 14 years of age, over a period of 18 months from June 2011 to November 2012 were analyzed . Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was used to evaluate antimicrobial susceptibility. Results: Of the total of 50 isolates studied, all the isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone, most were responsive to Ampicillin, Chloramphenicol, Cotrimoxazole, and Ciprofloxacin. Out of 50, only 4 cases were sensitive to Nalidixic acid. Isolates that showed high nalidixic acid resistant (34/50) had elevated minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for ciprofloxacin, ranging from 0.135 to 0.91 μg/mL (average 0.25 ± 0.11 μg/mL) RSC. Only 2 isolates were multi drug resistant. Though multi drug resistance is less common, high level of nalidixic acid resistance and elevated MIC for fluoroquinolones is a concern in this population.
Diurnal Variations of Plasma Homocysteine, Total Antioxidant Status, and Biological Markers of Muscle Injury During Repeated Sprint: Effect on Performance and Muscle Fatigue—A Pilot Study

The aim of this study was (i) to evaluate whether homocysteine (Hcy), total antioxidant status (TAS), and biological markers of muscle injury would be affected by time of day (TOD) in football players and (ii) to establish a relationship between diurnal variation of these biomarkers and the daytime rhythm of power and muscle fatigue during repeated sprint ability (RSA) exercise. In counterbalanced order, 12 football (soccer) players performed an RSA test (5 × [6 s of maximal cycling sprint + 24 s of rest]) on two different occasions: 07:00–08:30 h and 17:00–18:30 h. Fasting blood samples were collected from a forearm vein before and 3–5 min after each RSA test. Core temperature, rating of perceived exertion, and performances (i.e., Sprint 1, Sprint 2, and power decrease) during the RSA test were significantly higher at 17:00 than 07:00 h (p < .001, p < .05, and p < .05, respectively). The results also showed significant diurnal variation of resting Hcy levels and all biological markers of muscle injury with acrophases (peak times) observed at 17:00 h. These fluctuations persisted after the RSA test. However, biomarkers of antioxidant status' resting levels (i.e., total antioxidant status, uric acid, and total bilirubin) were higher in the morning. This TOD effect was suppressed after exercise for TAS and uric acid. In conclusion, the present study confirms diurnal variation of Hcy, selected biological markers of cellular damage, and antioxidant status in young football players. Also, the higher performances and muscle fatigue showed in the evening during RSA exercise might be due to higher levels of biological markers of muscle injury and lower antioxidant status at this TOD. (Author correspondence: n_souissi@yahoo.fr)