Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized Controlled Trial of an Early Discharge Rehabilitation Service: The Belfast Community Stroke Trial

Background and Purpose— To compare a community-based multidisciplinary stroke team (CST) approach with hospital-based rehabilitation in terms of hospital stay, functioning, quality of life, and service use and costs. Methods— Stroke patients who met pre-agreed criteria were allocated randomly to the CST service (n=59) or to usual inpatient rehabilitation and follow-up care (n=54). Assessments were completed at randomization and 12 months later. Caregiver strain and satisfaction (n=55) were also assessed. Cost data were collected for a subsample of 38 patients. Results— Almost 80% of surviving patients (n=691) were discharged home and a small number (n=55) were readmitted. Approximately 17% (113/649) were randomized. There were no statistically significant differences in hospital duration, costs, or outcome measures at baseline and 12 months except for higher satisfaction reported by CST patients. Overall, both groups recorded improvement in most domains over time. Carers reported a high level of satisfaction although the level of strain among carers is cause for concern. The community group (n=18) cost less than the hospital group (n=20). Conclusions— A mixed model of hospital-based and community-based rehabilitation services is likely to lead to increased patient choice and satisfaction and a potential reduction in bed pressures for less severe stroke patients.
DEVELOPMENT OF PACEMAKER TISSUE IN THE EMBRYONIC HEART

The rhythmic automaticity of the heart was demonstrated well over 300 years ago, when William Harvey’ removed the hearts from living animals and found that they continued beating with no external source of stimulus. It was not until the turn of the present century, however, tha t the experiments of Gaskell,’ Erlanger,3 Lewis,4 and their contemporaries showed tha t the beat of the heart normally arises in a restricted region of the sinoatrial junction, and that the stimulus is transmitted to the rest of the heart via specific routes of conduction. During the same period, anatomists such as His: Purkinje,‘ Keith and F l a ~ k , ~ Tawara,* and others were able to define morphologically the various components of the specialized sinoventricular conduction system, providing a total picture of the cardiac conduction mechanism which, with only minor modification^,^ is still valid today.
A Task-based Language Teaching Approach to Developing Metacognitive Strategies for Listening Comprehension

In second (L2) or foreign language (FL) learning, learning strategies help learners perform tasks, solve specific problems, and compensate for learning deficits. Of the strategy types, metacognitive strategies manage and regulate the construction of L2 or FL knowledge. Although learning strategies are frequently taught via teacher demonstration, an alternative but underresearched approach is through embedded instruction in tasks. To develop strategy awareness in language learning, the present study aimed to investigate how well a task-based teaching framework was able to develop intermediate Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students’ metacognitive awareness of listening comprehension. Eighty-eight sophomores participated in the study, which used a quasi-experimental design. The experimental group received strategy-embedded task-based listening instruction for 18 weeks, whereas the control group received only strategy-based instruction. Listening tests and questionnaires were used in the pretest and posttest stages. The results showed that the experimental group improved their metacognitive awareness of strategies for listening and outperformed the control group in the listening test. The students in the experimental group considered tasks to be an important medium of input enhancement for improving listening ability.
NMDA Spike/Plateau Potentials in Dendrites of Thalamocortical Neurons

Dendritic NMDA spike/plateau potentials, first discovered in cortical pyramidal neurons, provide supralinear integration of synaptic inputs on thin and distal dendrites, thereby increasing the impact of these inputs on the soma. The more specific functional role of these potentials has been difficult to clarify, partly due to the complex circuitry of cortical neurons. Thalamocortical (TC) neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus participate in simpler circuits. They receive their primary afferent input from retina and send their output to visual cortex. Cortex, in turn, regulates this output through massive feedback to distal dendrites of the TC neurons. The TC neurons can operate in two modes related to behavioral states: burst mode prevailing during sleep, when T-type calcium bursts largely disrupt the transfer of signals from retina to cortex, and tonic mode, which provides reliable transfer of retinal signals to cortex during wakefulness. We studied dendritic potentials in TC neurons with combined two-photon calcium imaging and whole-cell recording of responses to local dendritic glutamate iontophoresis in acute brain slices from mice. We found that NMDA spike/plateaus can be elicited locally at distal dendrites of TC neurons. We suggest that these dendritic potentials have important functions in the cortical regulation of thalamocortical transmission. NMDA spike/plateaus can induce shifts in the functional mode from burst to tonic by blockade of T-type calcium conductances. Moreover, in tonic mode, they can facilitate the transfer of retinal signals to cortex by depolarization of TC neurons.
Perceptual Changes of Interaction Between Hand and Object in an Experimental Phantom Hand

ABSTRACT The authors examined whether the wrist and elbow were perceived as flexed when a stick was fixed to the hand while the joints were extended during anesthesia. Ten healthy participants lay on their back on a bed with their eyes closed, and a stick was fixed to their right hand. Surprisingly, while the perceived position of the wrist and elbow moved toward flexion from 10 to 40 min after the ischemic block, the stick fixed to the hand was also perceived as having moved toward flexion from 10 to 20 min after the block. Such coupling the change in the perceived stick position with the change in body image suggests a new type of hand–object illusion.
Cardiac remodelling in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum in response to phenylhydrazine-induced anaemia

SUMMARY We examined the nature, extent and timing of cardiac ventricular remodelling in response to chronic, chemically induced anaemia in warm- and cold-acclimated rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Chronic anaemia was induced by bi-weekly injections of phenylhydrazine hydrochloride (PHZ) and resulted in transient but large decreases in haematocrit (Hct) and haemoglobin concentration. After 2 weeks of anaemia, relative ventricular mass (rMV) in warm-acclimated rainbow trout had already increased significantly and, by the eighth week of anaemia, rMV was 58% greater than in the sham-injected control fish. Temperature modulated the anaemia-induced ventricular remodelling and erythropoietic responses, as indicated by cold-acclimation reducing the extent of the cardiac remodelling and slowing erythropoietic recovery. For example, in cold-acclimated fish, PHZ reduced Hct to 8.8±1.9% (ranging from 4–16%) and increased rMV by 15% over a 4-week period, whereas the same treatment in warm-acclimated fish reduced Hct to only 17.4±2.1% (ranging from 6–29%) and yet increased rMV by 28%. Cold-acclimated fish also recovered more slowly from anaemia. In addition, warm-acclimated fish maintained compact myocardium between 32% and 37% during anaemia, while cold-acclimated fish responded with an increase in compact myocardium (from 29% to 37%). Routine cardiac output (Q̇) was continuously monitored following a single PHZ injection to examine the initial cardiac response to anaemia. Contrary to expectations, acute anaemia did not produce an immediate, proportionate increase in routine Q̇. In fact, Q̇ did not increase significantly until Hct had decreased to 10%, suggesting that rainbow trout may initially rely on venous oxygen stores to compensate for a reduced arterial oxygen-carrying capacity. Thus, we conclude that myocardial oxygenation, acclimation temperature and cardiac work load could all influence anaemia-induced cardiac remodelling in rainbow trout.
The role of the habenula in drug addiction

Interest in the habenula has greatly increased in recent years. The habenula is a small brain structure located posterior to the thalamus and adjacent to the third ventricle. Despite its small size, the habenula can be divided into medial habenula (MHb) and lateral habenula (LHb) nuclei that are anatomically and transcriptionally distinct. The habenula receives inputs from the limbic system and basal ganglia primarily via the stria medullaris. The fasciculus retroflexus is the primary habenular output from the habenula to the midbrain and governs release of glutamate onto gabaergic cells in the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) and onto the interpeduncular nucleus. The resulting GABA released from RMTg neurons inactivates dopaminergic cells in the ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra compacta. Through this process, the habenula controls dopamine levels in the striatum. Thus, the habenula plays a critical role in reward and reward-associated learning. The LHb also modulates serotonin levels and norepinephrine release, while the MHb modulates acetylcholine. The habenula is a critical crossroad that influences the brain’s response to pain, stress, anxiety, sleep, and reward. Dysfunction of the habenula has been linked to depression, schizophrenia, and the effects of drugs of abuse. This review focuses on the possible relationships between the habenula and drug abuse.
Draft 1: Thesis - Gossip, Exclusion, Competition, Spite

The glass ceiling has been defined as the impenetrable force that keeps women and minorities out of executive corner offices by excluding them from the “ old boys club,” the network of men who dominate the upper echelons of business (Callahan & Tomaszewski, 2007). Despite the growing number of female professionals, modern statistics tell a story of sex inequality and male-dominance across all disciplines; providing agency to the purveying thought of feminist scholars that the glass ceiling exists and endures to this day (Hon, 1995). This study examines the nature of female-tofemale relationships within the workforce to ascertain what inter-group dynamics may contribute to the enduring glass ceiling. Using a long interview qualitative study, research suggests that indirect social aggression is a part of the organizational experience and therefore may be a contributing factor to the lack of upward progression by women.
Changes in preservice teachers' personal epistemologies

While much has been written about the relationship between personal epistemologies and learning-teaching approaches, outcomes, and intentions, little has focused specifically on these relationships in the context of teacher education. This chapter addresses changes in preservice teachers’ personal epistemologies by overviewing this emerging body of research and arguing for a new approach to conceptualizing and supporting changes in personal epistemologies based on reflexivity. The overview includes definitions of key concepts and research traditions that have been used since the 1970s and a discussion of the emerging role of epistemic justification as a key mechanism of change in the process of belief development.
The expression of Claudin-4 in gastric cancer tissue: A single center experience.

PURPOSE Gastric cancer (GC) is still one of the most common malignancies with the majority of the tumors diagnosed at advanced stage. The need for identification of prognostic and early detection biomarkers is thus compulsory. Claudins are biomarkers that are currently evaluated in the literature in the frame of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The purpose of this investigation was to study the expression of claudin-4 in the various histological subtypes of GC and to evaluate its prognostic value. METHODS This investigation was performed on gastric tumors obtained from 66 (46 men and 20 women) patients with documented gastric adenocarcinoma who underwent total or partial gastrectomy and regional lymphadenectomy from 2003 till 2011. Features such as tumor size, depth of invasion, grade and histological subtype, lymphovascular space invasion and regional lymph nodes involvement were also evaluated. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used for assessing the expression of claudin-4 with a semi-quantitative model. RESULTS 66.7% of our cases showed abnormal claudin-4 expression in IHC. Claudin-4 was significantly correlated with tumor T stage and with intestinal type classification. The correlation of claudin-4 tissue expression with patient overall survival survival (OS) or disease-free survival (DFS) was not statistically significant, as well as with age, gender, tumor N stage, grade, TNM stage, positive lymph node ratio or lymphovascular invasion. CONCLUSIONS Literature stands equivocal about the exact role and prognostic value of claudin-4 and histopathology and tumor invasiveness in patients with GC. Our results further strengthen the need of larger studies to fully elucidate the predictive role of claudin-4 in the natural history of GC.
Exploring The Relationship of Associate Teachers And Teacher Candidates Within The Teaching Practicum

There is broad agreement that the practicum is a key part of teacher education. In the context of the classroom, the teacher candidate begins to adopt the role of teacher as outlined by the Ministry of Education in Ontario. One challenge for teacher candidates is to translate to the classroom what they have experienced in their university program. Associate Teachers influence this translation of pedagogy by how they shape what Student Teachers have explored in theory. The broad scope of research literature on the role of the Associate Teacher lacks clarity on the varied perceptions of the supportive roles of Associate Teachers. Research is needed on how Teacher Candidates and Associate Teachers perceive their pre-service practice experience and the impact of the Associate Teacher support. This study is a qualitative one. The research is based on a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers who were participants in the 2007/2008 elementary pre-service consecutive teacher education program at one Ontario University. Findings from the research suggest that the use of participatory dialogue throughout the practicum is essential to support the learning process of Student Teachers concerning teaching in the classroom. Additionally, differentiated mentored support by the Associate Teacher proved essential to the completion of the practicum by the Teacher Candidate. %%%%PhD
The Role of Anger/Hostility on Physiological and Behavioral Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of anger/hostility on physiological and behavioral coronary heart disease risk factors. It was hypothesized that anger/hostility would contribute to the severity of CHD via consummatory behaviors such as smoking, poor diet, and excessive alcohol consumption. Some researchers suggest that negative consummatory behaviors play a direct causal role in CHD. The present study proposed that hostility predisposes an individual to these behaviors, and that these behaviors in turn, contribute to CHD. Further, it was proposed that some of the anger that exists in CHD patients may result from the individual being unable to participate in some of their previous consummatory behaviors after suffering a myocardial infarction. Also, it was hypothesized that the construct of anger/hostility would be differentially related to consummatory behaviors.
Performance Analysis and Energy Efficiency of Random Network Coding in LTE-Advanced

Recent trends witness the shift of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution - Advanced (LTE-A) radio access network (RAN) architecture from a traditional macro-cellular layout towards smaller base stations moving closer to end users. The evolved LTE-A RAN offers rich environment for multi-point and multi-hop cooperation and coordination resulting in increased capacity and more predictable channel conditions between heterogeneous base stations and end users. While these opportunities are recently well investigated at the physical layer through various cooperative multi-point (CoMP) schemes, upper layer protocols preserve the design proposed for macro-cellular single-hop data delivery. In this paper, we address this issue by proposing and investigating in detail a cooperative RAN-wide MAC layer protocol based on random network coding (RNC) that is designed specifically for reliable and flexible data delivery over the evolved LTE-A RAN. The proposed RNC-based MAC protocol (MAC-RNC) is evaluated and compared with the existing HARQ-based (MAC-HARQ) protocol in various LTE-A RAN layouts using a customized packet-based link-level simulator based on Finite-State Markov Chain (FSMC) channel models. Our results show that the MAC-RNC protocol introduces simplicity and flexibility required for future LTE-A RANs, while preserving or improving the performance of the MAC-HARQ protocol in traditional single-point single-hop macro-cellular scenarios.
Reconfigurable computing for large-scale graph traversal algorithms

This thesis proposes a reconfigurable computing approach for supporting parallel processing in large-scale graph traversal algorithms. Our approach is based on a reconfigurable hardware architecture which exploits the capabilities of both FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) and a multi-bank parallel memory subsystem. The proposed methodology to accelerate graph traversal algorithms has been applied to three case studies, revealing that application-specific hardware customisations can benefit performance. A summary of our four contributions is as follows. First, a reconfigurable computing approach to accelerate large-scale graph traversal algorithms. We propose a reconfigurable hardware architecture which decouples computation and communication while keeping multiple memory requests in flight at any given time, taking advantage of the high bandwidth of multi-bank memory subsystems. Second, a demonstration of the effectiveness of our approach through two case studies: the breadth-first search algorithm, and a graphlet counting algorithm from bioinformatics. Both case studies involve graph traversal, but each of them adopts a different graph data representation. Third, a method for using on-chip memory resources in FPGAs to reduce off-chip memory accesses for accelerating graph traversal algorithms, through a case-study of the All-Pairs Shortest-Paths algorithm. This case study has been applied to process human brain network data. Fourth, an evaluation of an approach based on instruction-set extension for FPGA design against many-core GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), based on a set of benchmarks with different memory access characteristics. It is shown that while GPUs excel at streaming applications, the proposed approach can outperform GPUs in applications with poor locality characteristics, such as graph traversal problems. Declaration of Originality This document consists of research work conducted at Imperial College London in the Department of Computing, between October 2009 and December 2013. I declare that the work presented is my own, except where specifically acknowledged in the text. Copyright Declaration ‘The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence. Researchers are free to copy, distribute or transmit the thesis on the condition that they attribute it, that they do not use it for commercial purposes and that they do not alter, transform or build upon it. For any reuse or redistribution, researchers must make clear to others the licence terms of this work’
K+ channels and the cAMP–PKA pathway modulate TGF‐β1‐induced migration of rat vascular myofibroblasts

Our previous studies have indicated that TGF‐β1 exerts its effect on the expression of A‐type potassium channels (IA) in rat vascular myofibroblasts by activation of protein kinase C during the phenotypic transformation of vascular fibroblasts to myofibroblasts. In the present study, patch‐clamp whole‐cell recording and transwell‐migration assays were used to examine the effects of TGF‐β1‐ and phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate (PMA)‐induced expression of IA channels on myofibroblast migration and its modulation by the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway. Our results reveal that incubation of fibroblasts with TGF‐β1 or PMA up‐regulates the expression of IA channels and increases myofibroblast migration. Blocking IA channel expression by 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP) significantly inhibits TGF‐β1‐ and PMA‐induced myofibroblast migration. Incubation of fibroblasts with forskolin does not result in increased expression of IA channels but does cause a slight increase in fibroblast migration at higher concentrations. In addition, forskolin increases the TGF‐β1‐ and PMA‐induced myofibroblast migration but inhibits TGF‐β1‐ and PMA‐induced the expression of IA channels. Whole‐cell current recordings showed that forskolin augments the delayed rectifier outward K+ (IK) current amplitude of fibroblasts, but not the IA of myofibroblasts. Our results also indicate that TGF‐β1‐ and PMA‐induced expression of IA channels might be related to increase TGF‐β1‐ or PMA‐induced myofibroblast migration. Promoting fibroblast and myofibroblast migration via the PKA pathway does not seem to involve the expression of IA channels, but the modulation of IK and IA channels might be implicated. J. Cell. Physiol. 216: 835–843, 2008, © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Offending and Desistance: The importance of social relations

In Offending and Desistance, Beth Weaver examines the role of a co-offending peer group in shaping and influencing offending and desistance, focusing on three phases of their criminal careers: onset, persistence and desistance. While there is consensus across the body of desistance research that social relations have a role to play in variously constraining, enabling and sustaining desistance, no desistance studies have adequately analysed the dynamics or properties of social relations, or their relationship to individuals and social structures. This book aims to reset this balance. By examining the social relations and life stories of six Scottish men (in their forties), Weaver reveals the central role of friendship groups, intimate relationships and families of formation, employment and religious communities. She shows how, for different individuals, these relations triggered reflexive evaluation of their priorities, behaviours and lifestyles, but with differing results. Weaver’s re-examination of the relationships between structure, agency, identity and reflexivity in the desistance process ultimately illuminates new directions for research, policy and practice. This book is essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of criminology and criminal justice, delinquency, probation and criminal law.
Fast and accurate automatic structure prediction with HHpred

Automated protein structure prediction is becoming a mainstream tool for biological research. This has been fueled by steady improvements of publicly available automated servers over the last decade, in particular their ability to build good homology models for an increasing number of targets by reliably detecting and aligning more and more remotely homologous templates. Here, we describe the three fully automated versions of the HHpred server that participated in the community‐wide blind protein structure prediction competition CASP8. What makes HHpred unique is the combination of usability, short response times (typically under 15 min) and a model accuracy that is competitive with those of the best servers in CASP8. Proteins 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.