Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical manifestations of nocardiosis: Study of risk factors and outcomes in a tertiary care hospital

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the predisposing risk factors, clinical presentations, laboratory parameters, and treatments taken and outcomes in patients of nocardiosis in the span of 5 years in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: The patients whose specimens showed Nocardia like organism in Gram-staining, Kinyoun staining and characteristic colonies in culture were included in the retrospective analysis study. Retrospective analysis of associated risk factors, clinical presentations, and radiological findings was performed. Results: Of the thirteen patients, 11 (76.9%) had immunosuppressive pathologies including solid organ transplantation, autoimmune disease, use of steroids, and immunosuppressive drugs as important risk factors. Four types of clinical manifestations were observed, pulmonary (46.1%), cutaneous (23.07%), cerebral (15.3%), and bacteremia (15.3%). The most common presentation was pulmonary with steroid therapy as a significant risk factor. Consolidation and pleural effusion were the common radiological findings in these cases. In eight of the nine patients anti-nocrdial drugs were given. Cotrimoxazole as monotherapy was given in four cases (44.44%), cotrimoxazole in combination with meropenem in two cases (22.22%); minocycline and linezolid were given in one case each. The overall mortality was 36.36% and was seen in patients with pulmonary nocardiosis. Conclusions: The study indicates that Nocardial infections are re-emerging on account of an increase in numbers of immunocompromised patients due to increased organ transplants, autoimmune diseases, malignancies, and use of immunosuppressive drugs and steroids. The diagnosis is often missed/not suspected and delayed because of the clinical resemblance to many other infections. Nocardial infection should be suspected and assessed particularly in immunocompromised patients not responding to treatment/improving clinically.
Human Papillomavirus-Related Ovarian Metastasis With Endocervical Adenocarcinoma: Report of 2 Cases and Review of Literature

Background Most endocervical adenocarcinomas are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Studies suggest that synchronous endocervical and ovarian tumors can contain identical HPV subtypes and that, in this setting, the ovarian tumors likely represent metastases from the endocervical adenocarcinoma rather than 2 independent primaries. However, there are still relatively few reports in the literature. Results We describe 2 patients with HPV-related endocervical adenocarcinoma or adenocarcinoma in situ who had metastatic ovarian tumors that simulated primary ovarian neoplasms. After total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, patient 1, in her mid-40s, was diagnosed with endocervical adenocarcinoma in situ and patient 2, in her early 50s, was diagnosed with endocervical adenocarcinoma showing early focal stromal invasion. The ovarian tumors in both cases simulated independent borderline mucinous tumors without evidence of surface involvement or spread beyond the ovary. However, in both cases, the cervical and ovarian tumors showed diffuse, strong P16 staining and contained identical high-risk HPV subtypes (subtypes 16 and 18 in patient 1 and subtype 16 in patient 2). Patient 1 was treated with radiation therapy and remains recurrence free 5 years after diagnosis, and patient 2 has recently completed combined modality treatment with radiation therapy and cisplatin chemotherapy and remains recurrence free 10 months after diagnosis. Conclusions A high index of suspicion and ancillary testing, including P16 immunostaining and molecular genetic testing for HPV, is required to properly diagnose and subclassify HPV-related endocervical adenocarcinoma metastatic to the ovary.
The False Promises of Community Colleges: Class Conflict and Vocational Education

Vocational education in public community colleges has been touted as an attractive alternative to the bachelor's degree. Arguing that vocational education has been developed in response to the rising educational aspirations of the working class and the decreasing opportunities for young college graduates to find employment, Fred Pincus reviews the history and controversies surrounding its establishment and growth and examines available data about its economic payoff for students. The data raise serious questions about the likelihood of such rewards, and these findings make it difficult to promote vocational education as a prerequisite to satisfying, well-paid jobs.
Learning a Spatially Smooth Subspace for Face Recognition

Subspace learning based face recognition methods have attracted considerable interests in recently years, including principal component analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), locality preserving projection (LPP), neighborhood preserving embedding (NPE), marginal fisher analysis (MFA) and local discriminant embedding (LDE). These methods consider an n1timesn2 image as a vector in Rn 1 timesn 2 and the pixels of each image are considered as independent. While an image represented in the plane is intrinsically a matrix. The pixels spatially close to each other may be correlated. Even though we have n1xn2 pixels per image, this spatial correlation suggests the real number of freedom is far less. In this paper, we introduce a regularized subspace learning model using a Laplacian penalty to constrain the coefficients to be spatially smooth. All these existing subspace learning algorithms can fit into this model and produce a spatially smooth subspace which is better for image representation than their original version. Recognition, clustering and retrieval can be then performed in the image subspace. Experimental results on face recognition demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.
Kohlberg's Moral Development Model: Cohort Influences on Validity.

An overview of Kohlberg's theory of moral development is presented; three interviews regarding the theory are reported, and the author's own moral development is compared to the model; finally, a critique of the theory is addressed along with recommendations for future enhancement. Lawrence Kohlberg's model of moral development, also referred to as moral reasoning theory, is outlined. Three phases of moral development are listed with the six stages and their developmental significance. In order to validate or invalidate the Kohlbergian theory of moral development, the author surveyed three individuals whose demographics span the spectrum of gender, race, socioeconomic status, and life experiences. Interviewees were asked to place statements derived from the theory in order and provide examples of their own moral development. They also responded to several additional questions. A synopsis of each interview is presented. Findings suggest that there is definitely a launching point for moral reasoning, but the progression is not always linear or uniform. Additional findings and future directions are discussed. The interview questions are appended. (EMK) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** Kohlberg's Moral Development Model 1 Running head: KOHLBERG'S MORAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL Kohlberg's Moral Development Model: Cohort Influences on Validity Ashleah Bechtel The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to:
Intraspinal Delivery of Neurotrophin-3 Using Neural Stem Cells Genetically Modified by Recombinant Retrovirus

Neural stem cells have been shown to participate in the repair of experimental CNS disorders. To examine their potential in spinal cord repair, we used retroviral vectors to genetically modify a clone of neural stem cells, C17, to overproduce neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). The cells were infected with a retrovirus construct containing the NT-3.IRES. lacZ/neo sequence and cloned by limiting dilution and selection for lacZ expression. We studied the characteristics of the modified neural stem cells in vitro and after transplantation into the intact spinal cord of immunosuppressed adult rats. Our results show that: (i) most of the genetically modified cells express both NT-3 and lacZ genes with a high coexpression ratio in vitro and after transplantation; and (ii) large numbers of the xenografted cells survive in the spinal cord of adult rats for at least 2 months, differentiate into neuronal and glial phenotypes, and migrate for long distances. We conclude that genetically modified neural stem cells, acting as a source of neurotrophic factors, have the potential to participate in spinal cord repair.
A new cytogenetic mechanism for bacterial endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis in Hymenoptera

Vertically transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria, such as Wolbachia, Cardinium and Rickettsia, modify host reproduction in several ways to facilitate their own spread. One such modification results in parthenogenesis induction, where males, which are unable to transmit the bacteria, are not produced. In Hymenoptera, the mechanism of diploidization due to Wolbachia infection, known as gamete duplication, is a post-meiotic modification. During gamete duplication, the meiotic mechanism is normal, but in the first mitosis the anaphase is aborted. The two haploid sets of chromosomes do not separate and thus result in a single nucleus containing two identical sets of haploid chromosomes. Here, we outline an alternative cytogenetic mechanism for bacterial endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis in Hymenoptera. During female gamete formation in Rickettsia-infected Neochrysocharis formosa (Westwood) parasitoids, meiotic cells undergo only a single equational division followed by the expulsion of a single polar body. This absence of meiotic recombination and reduction corresponds well with a non-segregation pattern in the offspring of heterozygous females. We conclude that diploidy in N. formosa is maintained through a functionally apomictic cloning mechanism that differs entirely from the mechanism induced by Wolbachia.
Incremental placement of PMUs for enhancing state estimation accuracy

This paper proposes a new algorithm for solving the problem of PMU placement for improving the numerical stability of the State Estimation (SE) solution. The proposed method is designed for power systems monitored using conventional measurements, but with an inaccurate SE solution. An efficient and adaptable approach for determining the optimal locations of the Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) to improve the SE performance is proposed. Accordingly, the PMUs number is restricted to the locations that require accurate measurements using the PMUs. Simulation tests on IEEE 14-and 30-bus systems have been implemented to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Outage probability scaling laws for SISO and MIMO ad‐hoc networks

In this paper, the outage probability scaling laws for ad‐hoc networks with an arbitrary topology is studied. In single‐input single‐output ad‐hoc networks, the outage probability is tightly bounded as the number of users goes to infinity in case that channel gains are independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.). If channel gains are not i.i. d. or calculating the distribution function is complicated because path loss, it is still possible to bound the outage probability if the distances between transmitter–receiver pairs are bounded. However, there is a gap between the upper and lower bounds. Unlike previous results, our analysis is completely general and is not limited to specific node and fading distributions. In multiple‐input multiple‐output ad‐hoc networks, the calculations are much more complicated, and it is hard to tightly bound the outage probability. For a special case of i.i. d. Gaussian channel matrices, the outage probability is asymptotically bounded in terms of Chi‐square distribution functions. Finally, as an application, the outage probability analysis is utilized to study delay scaling laws in random ad‐hoc networks. Simulation results show accuracy of this estimation for different scenarios. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inhibition of return and visuospatial attention in healthy older adults and individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Covert orienting of visuospatial attention in response to peripherally presented cues was assessed in healthy younger and older adults and those with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) during a simple detection task. The results yield both an age-related increase (Experiments 1 and 2) and a DAT-related increase (Experiment 2) in the facilitatory effect of a single peripheral cue on detection. By contrast, equivalent inhibition of return (i.e., a slowing of target detection at previously cued locations) was observed for all 3 groups when a 2nd cue was presented at central fixation. Results suggest that both healthy older adults and individuals with DAT experience changes in the posterior attention system thought to subserve visuospatial attention. Results also suggest limitations on the generality of inhibitory deficits in healthy aging and DAT.
Learning About Language Assessment: Dilemmas, Decisions, and Directions

1. Assessment As Information Gathering 2. Analyzing Tests 3. Conflicting Purposes of Assessment 4. The Role of Background Knowledge in the Assessment 5. A Cloze-knit Family 6. Another Dilemma 7. Some Useful Statistical Tools 8. The Correlation Family 9. Multiple-choice Tests and Item Analyses 10. Measuring Meaning 11. Eliciting Speech Samples in Role Plays 12. Three Approaches to Scoring Writing Samples 13. Alternative Assessments 14. Self-assessment in Language Learning
A decreased level of FtsZ is responsible for inviability of RNase E‐deficient cells

The endoribonuclease RNase E, encoded by the essential gene rne, plays a major role in cellular RNA metabolism, i.e. maturation of functional RNAs such as rRNA and tRNA, degradation of many mRNAs and processing of the ftsZ mRNA which encodes the essential cell division protein FtsZ. RNase E function is somehow regulated by the RNA binding protein Hfq. We found that temperature‐sensitive colony formation of a rne‐1 mutant was partially suppressed by introduction of a hfq::cat mutation. Neither accumulation of rRNA and tRNAPhe precursors nor incomplete processing of ftsZ mRNA in the rne‐1 mutant was rescued by the hfq::cat mutation. However, the amount of FtsZ protein that was decreased in the rne‐1 mutant was recovered up to a level similar to that of wild‐type cells by the hfq::cat mutation. Overproduction of Hfq inhibited cell division because of decreased expression of FtsZ. Artificial expression of the FtsZ protein from a plasmid‐borne ftsZ gene partially suppressed the temperature‐sensitivity of the rne‐1 mutant. These results suggest that the decreased level of FtsZ is, at least in part, responsible for the inviability of RNase E‐deficient cells.
A Surface-based Analysis of Language Lateralization and Cortical Asymmetry

Among brain functions, language is one of the most lateralized. Cortical language areas are also some of the most asymmetrical in the brain. An open question is whether the asymmetry in function is linked to the asymmetry in anatomy. To address this question, we measured anatomical asymmetry in 34 participants shown with fMRI to have language dominance of the left hemisphere (LLD) and 21 participants shown to have atypical right hemisphere dominance (RLD). All participants were healthy and left-handed, and most (80%) were female. Gray matter (GM) volume asymmetry was measured using an automated surface-based technique in both ROIs and exploratory analyses. In the ROI analysis, a significant difference between LLD and RLD was found in the insula. No differences were found in planum temporale (PT), pars opercularis (POp), pars triangularis (PTr), or Heschl's gyrus (HG). The PT, POp, insula, and HG were all significantly left lateralized in both LLD and RLD participants. Both the positive and negative ROI findings replicate a previous study using manually labeled ROIs in a different cohort [Keller, S. S. , Roberts, N. , Garcia-Finana, M. , Mohammadi, S. , Ringelstein, E. B. , Knecht, S. , et al. Can the language-dominant hemisphere be predicted by brain anatomy? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 2013–2029, 2011]. The exploratory analysis was accomplished using a new surface-based registration that aligns cortical folding patterns across both subject and hemisphere. A small but significant cluster was found in the superior temporal gyrus that overlapped with the PT. A cluster was also found in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex corresponding to the visual word recognition area. The surface-based analysis also makes it possible to disentangle the effects of GM volume, thickness, and surface area while removing the effects of curvature. For both the ROI and exploratory analyses, the difference between LLD and RLD volume laterality was most strongly driven by differences in surface area and not cortical thickness. Overall, there were surprisingly few differences in GM volume asymmetry between LLD and RLD indicating that gross morphometric asymmetry is only subtly related to functional language laterality.
Fast Linearized Bregman Iteration for Compressive Sensing and Sparse Denoising

Abstract : We propose and analyze an extremely fast, efficient and simple method. This method was first described with more details and rigorous theory given. The motivation was compressive sensing, which now has a vast and exciting history, which seems to have started with Candes, Donoho, et.al. Our method introduces an improvement called "kicking" of the very efficient method and also applies it to the problem of denoising of undersampled signals. The use of Bregman iteration for denoising of images began and led to improved results for total variation based methods. Here we apply it to denoise signals, especially essentially sparse signals, which might even be undersampled.
Outcomes of Antiretroviral Therapy in Children in Asia and Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the IeDEA Pediatric Multiregional Collaboration

Background:We investigated 18-month incidence and determinants of death and loss to follow-up of children after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in a multiregional collaboration in lower-income countries. Methods:HIV-infected children (positive polymerase chain reaction <18 months or positive serology ≥18 months) from International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS cohorts, <16 years, initiating ART were eligible. A competing risk regression model was used to analyze the independent risk of 2 failure types: death and loss to follow-up (>6 months). Findings:Data on 13,611 children, from Asia (N = 1454), East Africa (N = 3114), Southern Africa (N = 6212), and West Africa (N = 2881) contributed 20,417 person-years of follow-up. At 18 months, the adjusted risk of death was 4.3% in East Africa, 5.4% in Asia, 5.7% in Southern Africa, and 7.4% in West Africa (P = 0.01). Age < 24 months, World Health Organization stage 4, CD4 < 10%, attending a private sector clinic, larger cohort size, and living in West Africa were independently associated with poorer survival. The adjusted risk of loss to follow-up was 4.1% in Asia, 9.0% in Southern Africa, 14.0% in East Africa, and 21.8% in West Africa (P < 0.01). Age < 12 months, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor I–based ART regimen, World Health Organization stage 4 at ART start, ART initiation after 2005, attending a public sector or a nonurban clinic, having to pay for laboratory tests or antiretroviral drugs, larger cohort size, and living in East Africa or West Africa were significantly associated with higher loss to follow-up. Conclusions:Findings differed substantially across regions but raise overall concerns about delayed ART start, low access to free HIV services for children, and increased workload on program retention in lower-income countries. Universal free access to ART services and innovative approaches are urgently needed to improve pediatric outcomes at the program level.
SPB stars in the open SMC cluster NGC 371

Pulsation in β Cep and slowly pulsating B (SPB) stars are driven by the K mechanism which depends critically on the metallicity. It has therefore been suggested that β Cep and SPB stars should be rare in the Magellanic Clouds which have lower metallicities than the solar neighbourhood. To test this prediction we have observed the open Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) cluster NGC 371 for 12 nights in order to search for β Cep and SPB stars. Surprisingly, we find 29 short-period B-type variables in the upper part of the main sequence, many of which are probably SPB stars. This result indicates that pulsation is still driven by the K mechanism even in low-metallicity environments. All the identified variables have periods longer than the fundamental radial period which means that they cannot be β Cep stars. Within an amplitude detection limit of 5 mmag no stars in the top of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram show variability with periods shorter than the fundamental radial period. So if β Cep stars are present in the cluster they oscillate with amplitudes below 5 mmag, which is significantly lower than the mean amplitude of β Cep stars in the Galaxy. We see evidence that multimode pulsation is more common in the upper part of the main sequence than in the lower. We have also identified five eclipsing binaries and three periodic pulsating Be stars in the cluster field.
Individual differences in second-language vowel learning

Adults often have difficulty in acquiring non-native vowels especially when the vowel inventories in first (L1) and second language (L2) are very different. However, even when testing L2 groups with similar profiles, there are great individual differences in the perception and production of non-native sounds. Similarly, computer-based training studies of L2 sounds report that improvement after training can range greatly across individuals. This thesis explores possible sources of individual differences in Greek native speakers’ perception and production of Southern British English vowels. Study 1 examined the perceived relationship between English vowels (in /bVb/ and /bVp/ contexts) and Greek vowels along with English vowel discrimination by the same participants. Greek speakers were found to perceive English vowels via both spectral and temporal assimilation to their L1 categories despite the fact that Greek does not use duration in L1 vowel distinctions. Study 2 defined the endpoints for the synthetic vowel continua to be used in Study 3 using a best exemplars experiment. In study 3, Greek speakers from a homogenous population (in terms of L1 background, age of L2 learning, amount and quality of L2 input) were tested on a large test battery before and after receiving 5 sessions of high-variability perceptual training. The test battery examined their perception of natural and synthetic vowels in L1 (Greek) and L2 (English) and their frequency discrimination ability (F2 only) as well as their production of L2 vowels. Group results showed significant improvement in the trainees’ perception of natural L2 vowels and their L2 vowel production. However, large individual differences were evident both before and after training. Vowel processing in L2 was found to relate to individual variability in vowel processing in L1 and, importantly, to frequency discrimination acuity, a finding that favours an auditory processing hypothesis for L1 and L2 speech perception of vowels.