Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of recovery colleges in supporting personal goal achievement.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the types of goals set, the degree to which goals were achieved, and the factors influencing goal attainment for participants in a Recovery College, a recovery-based mental health education program that uses peer learning advisors to facilitate individual student learning plans. METHOD Students of the Recovery College set baseline goals that were rated in terms of importance and difficulty in line with the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) framework and reviewed at follow-up points. Goals were reviewed to determine areas of priority and an analysis of goal attainment was conducted using multinomial logit regression analysis. RESULTS Sixty-four students recorded their goals. The most common goal areas identified related to education, socialization, physical health, mental health, and employment. Seventy percent of goals were fully or partially achieved with goals rated as having a lower difficulty more likely to be achieved. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Recovery College is a program model that can effectively support personal goal achievement, a recommended indicator of personal recovery and program success. The GAS proved to be a useful instrument for measuring goal setting and attainment in students' recovery journeys and peer learning advisors were effective in facilitating this process. The setting and achievement of physical health goals is of clinical significance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Intratympanic Steroid for Menière's Disease: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the beneficial effects and safety of intratympanic steroid installation compared with placebo in patients with Menière's disease. METHODS We performed a systematic literature search in MEDLINE and EMBASE for existing systematic reviews and individual randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Studies were included if they investigated the usage intratympanic steroids in patients aged 18 and above, with definite or probable Menière's disease. The quality of the identified existing reviews was assessed using the AMSTAR tool. The risk of bias in RCTs was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and overall quality of the individual outcomes was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) method. RESULTS The literature search provided four systematic reviews, from which one yielded a sufficient AMSTAR evaluation and subsequently provided three RCTs relevant for inclusion. Due to the lack of sufficient reporting of the data, quantitative synthesis was not applicable. In the qualitative synthesis for the primary outcome, the results from the RCTs showed that there was a slight indication of steroid treatment reducing the frequency of vertiginous attacks. No serious adverse events were reported. Based on the GRADE approach the quality for both findings is very low. No studies reported on the secondary outcomes. CONCLUSION The effect of intratympanic steroid treatment in Menière's disease is questionable. There is a great need for further research to sufficiently assess whether steroid treatment may be considered as a safe and effective treatment for patients with Menière's disease.
The impact of delayed source control and antimicrobial therapy in 196 patients with cholecystitis-associated septic shock: a cohort analysis

Background Cholecystitis-associated septic shock carries a significant mortality. Our aim was to determine whether timing of source control affects survival in cholecystitis patients with septic shock. Methods We conducted a nested cohort study of all patients with cholecystitis-associated septic shock from an international, multicentre database (1996–2015). Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine associations between clinical factors and in-hospital mortality. The results were used to inform a classification and regression tree (CART) analysis that modelled the association between disease severity (APACHE II), time to source control and survival. Results Among 196 patients with cholecystitis-associated septic shock, overall mortality was 37%. Compared with nonsurvivors (n = 72), survivors (n = 124) had lower mean admission APACHE II scores (21 v. 27, p < 0.001) and lower median admission serum lactate (2.4 v. 6.8 μmol/L, p < 0.001). Survivors were more likely to receive appropriate antimicrobial therapy earlier (median 2.8 v. 6.1 h from shock, p = 0.012). Survivors were also more likely to undergo successful source control earlier (median 9.8 v. 24.7 h from shock, p < 0.001). Adjusting for covariates, APACHE II (odds ratio [OR] 1.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06–1.21 per increment) and delayed source control > 16 h (OR 4.45, 95% CI 1.88–10.70) were independently associated with increased mortality (all p < 0.001). The CART analysis showed that patients with APACHE II scores of 15–26 benefitted most from source control within 16 h (p < 0.0001). Conclusion In patients with cholecystitis-associated septic shock, admission APACHE II score and delay in source control (cholecystectomy or percutaneous cholecystostomy drainage) significantly affected hospital outcomes.
PKM2 Knockdown Induces Autophagic Cell Death via AKT/mTOR Pathway in Human Prostate Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is essential for aerobic glycolysis. Although high PKM2 expression is observed in various cancer tissues, its functional role in cancer metabolism is unclear. Here, we investigated the role of PKM2 in regulating autophagy and its associated pathways in prostate cancer cells. METHODS Immunohistochemistry was performed to compare the expression level of PKM2 in prostate cancer patients and normal human, whereas expression of PKM2 in several cell lines was also examined by using western blot. PKM2 expression was silenced using various small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Cell viability was examined using IncuCyte ZOOM™ live cell imaging system. Western blotting and immunofluorescence were performed to investigate the PKM2 knockdown on other cellular signaling molecules. Acridine orange and Monodansylcadaverine staining was performed to check effect of PKM2 knockdown on autophagy induction. High performance thin layer chromatography was carried out to quantify the level of different cellular metabolites (pyruvate and lactate). Colony formation assay was performed to determine the ability of a cells to form large colonies. RESULTS PKM2 was highly expressed in prostate cancer patients as compared to normal human. PKM2 siRNA-transfected prostate cancer cells showed significantly reduced viability. Acridine orange, Monodansylcadaverine staining and western blotting analysis showed that PKM2 downregulation markedly increased autophagic cell death. Results of western blotting analysis showed that PKM2 knockdown affected protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin 1 pathway, which consequently downregulated the expression of glycolytic enzymes lactate dehydrogenase A and glucose transporter 1. Knockdown of PKM2 also reduced the colony formation ability of human prostate cancer cell DU145. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that PKM2 inhibition alters prostate cancer cell metabolism and induces autophagy, thus providing new perspectives for developing PKM2-targeting anticancer therapies for treating prostate cancer.
Seeing the Forest and the Trees: A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents to Information Security Policy Compliance

A rich stream of research has identified numerous antecedents to employee compliance (and noncompliance) with information security policies. However, the number of competing theoretical perspectives and inconsistencies in the reported findings have hampered efforts to attain a clear understanding of what truly drives this behavior. To address this theoretical stalemate and build toward a consensus on the key antecedents of employees’ security policy compliance in different contexts, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relevant literature. Drawing on 95 empirical papers, we classified 401 independent variables into 17 distinct categories and analyzed each category’s relationship with security policy compliance, including an analysis for possible domain-specific moderators. A meta-analytic relative weight analysis determined the relative importance of each category in predicting security policy compliance, while adding robustness to our findings. At a broad level, our results suggest that much of the security policy compliance literature is plagued by suboptimal theoretical framing. Our findings can facilitate more refined theory-building efforts in this research domain and serve as a guide for practitioners to manage security policy compliance initiatives.
Profiles of circulating estradiol-17β after different estrogen treatments in lactating dairy cows

The objective of this study was to characterize the circulating concentrations of estradiol-17β (E-17β) after treatment with different types or doses of estrogens in the absence (Experiment 1) or presence (Experiment 2) of a dominant follicle in lactating cows. In Experiment 1, cows (n = 12) had all follicles > 5 mm removed by ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration every 12 h throughout the blood sampling period. Estrogen treatments started 48 h after the first follicular aspiration. Treatments were: no treatment, E-17β (0.5 mg), or estradiol benzoate (EB, 0.5 mg). Seven days after the end of the first trial, cows were then re-randomized to receive: no treatment, E-17β (1.0 mg), EB (1.0 mg), or estradiol cypionate (ECP, 1.0 mg). In Experiment 1, cows treated with E-17β had greater peak circulating concentrations of E-17β than ECP-treated cows, and EB-treated cows had intermediate concentrations. Similarly, E-17β-treated cows had the shortest intervals from treatment to peak concentrations and from peak until return to nadir; ECP-treated cows had the longest intervals, and EB-treated cows had intermediate intervals. In Experiment 2, circulating E-17β was evaluated near the time of AI (artificial insemination) in cows (n = 24) that received Ovsynch with or without E-17β supplementation 48 h after PGF2α treatment. Treatments were: no treatment, E-17β (0.5 mg), or E-17β (1.0 mg). Cows treated with 1.0 mg E-17β had a shorter time to peak circulating E-17β concentrations and greater maximum concentrations (5.0 h; 18.5 pg/ml) than controls (9.5 h; 5.5 pg/ ml), and cows treated with 0.5 mg E-17β were intermediate (5.5 h; 10.6 pg/ ml). Thus, the presence of a dominant follicle and treatment with differing types of estrogen produce substantial differences in the circulating E-17β profile. In lactating dairy cows, a 1.0 mg dose of E-17β increased circulating E-17β concentrations during Ovsynch without disrupting the normal decline in circulating E-17β after the LH surge.
Mutational Scan of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 Integrase Protein

ABSTRACT Retroviral integrase (IN) cleaves linear viral DNA specifically near the ends of the DNA (cleavage reaction) and subsequently couples the processed ends to phosphates in the target DNA (integration reaction). In vitro, IN catalyzes the disintegration reaction, which is the reverse of the integration reaction. Ideally, we would like to test the role of each amino acid in the IN protein. We mutagenized human immunodeficiency virus type 2 IN in a random way using PCR mutagenesis and generated a set of mutants in which 35% of all residues were substituted. Mutant proteins were tested for in vitro activity, e.g., site-specific cleavage of viral DNA, integration, and disintegration. Changes in 61 of the 90 proteins investigated showed no phenotypic effect. Substitutions that changed the choice of nucleophile in the cleavage reaction were found. These clustered around the active-site residues Asp-116 and Glu-152. We also found alterations of amino acids that affected cleavage and integration differentially. In addition, we analyzed the disintegration activity of the proteins and found substitutions of amino acids close to the dimer interface that enhanced intermolecular disintegration activity, whereas other catalytic activities were present at wild-type levels. This study shows the feasibility of investigating the role of virtually any amino acid in a protein the size of IN.
Stochastic approximation with cone-contractive operators: Sharp 𝓁∞-bounds for Q-learning

Motivated by the study of $Q$-learning algorithms in reinforcement learning, we study a class of stochastic approximation procedures based on operators that satisfy monotonicity and quasi-contractivity conditions with respect to an underlying cone. We prove a general sandwich relation on the iterate error at each time, and use it to derive non-asymptotic bounds on the error in terms of a cone-induced gauge norm. These results are derived within a deterministic framework, requiring no assumptions on the noise. We illustrate these general bounds in application to synchronous $Q$-learning for discounted Markov decision processes with discrete state-action spaces, in particular by deriving non-asymptotic bounds on the $\ell_\infty$-norm for a range of stepsizes. These results are the sharpest known to date, and we show via simulation that the dependence of our bounds cannot be improved in a worst-case sense. These results show that relative to a model-based $Q$-iteration, the $\ell_\infty$-based sample complexity of $Q$-learning is suboptimal in terms of the discount factor $\gamma$.
Seven Transmembrane Receptor Core Signaling Complexes Are Assembled Prior to Plasma Membrane Trafficking*

Much is known about β2-adrenergic receptor trafficking and internalization following prolonged agonist stimulation. However, less is known about outward trafficking of the β2-adrenergic receptor to the plasma membrane or the role that trafficking might play in the assembly of receptor signaling complexes, important for targeting, specificity, and rapidity of subsequent signaling events. Here, by using a combination of bioluminescence resonance energy transfer, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and confocal microscopy, we evaluated the steps in the formation of the core receptor-G protein heterotrimer complex. By using dominant negative Rab and Sar GTPase constructs, we demonstrate that receptor dimers and receptor-Gβγ complexes initially associate in the endoplasmic reticulum, whereas Gα subunits are added to the complex during endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi transit. We also observed that G protein heterotrimers adopt different trafficking itineraries when expressed alone or with stoichiometric co-expression with receptor. Furthermore, deliberate mistargeting of specific components of these complexes leads to diversion of other members from their normal subcellular localization, confirming the role of these early interactions in targeting and formation of specific signaling complexes.
A Family of Hybrid Analog–Digital Beamforming Methods for Massive MIMO Systems

In massive MIMO systems, hybrid beamforming is an essential technique for exploiting the potential array gain without using a dedicated RF chain for each antenna. In this paper, we consider the data phase in massive MIMO communication, where the transmitter and receiver use fewer RF chains than antennas. We examine several different fully and partially connected schemes and consider the design of hybrid beamformers that minimize the estimation error in the data. For the hybrid precoder, we introduce a framework for approximating the optimal fully digital precoder with a feasible hybrid one. We exploit the fact that the fully digital precoder is unique only up to a unitary matrix and optimize over this matrix and the hybrid precoder alternately. Our alternating minimization of approximation gap (Alt-MaG) framework improves the performance over state-of-the-art methods with no substantial increase in complexity. In addition, we present a special case of Alt-MaG, minimal gap iterative quantization (MaGiQ), that results in low complexity and lower mean squared error (MSE) than other common methods, in the case of very few RF chains. MaGiQ is also shown to coincide with the optimal fully digital solution in some scenarios. For combiner design, we exploit the structure of the MSE objective and develop a greedy ratio trace maximization technique that achieves low MSE under various settings. All of our algorithms can be used with multiple hardware architectures.
Non-tone monolingual and bilingual infants' tone perception under perceptual reorganization

Perceptual reorganization (PR) for tones occurs from 6 to 9 months in the first year of life (Mattock & Burnham, 2006; Mattock, Molnar, Polka & Burnham, 2008). No previous study has discussed whether monolingual and bilingual infants follow the same trajectory in tonal PR. Monolingual Dutch infants and bilingual infants with Dutch as one of their native languages and a non-tone language as the other language were tested on their perception of two tonal contrasts. Results suggest that 1) both monolingual and bilingual infants show PR for tones at the same age range between 5-6 and 8-9 months; 2) bilingual infants seem to show greater sensitivity towards difficult tonal contrasts at a later age; 3) the acoustic salience of the tonal contrast alters infants' tone perception.
RobustTrust – A Pro-Privacy Robust Distributed Trust Management Mechanism for Internet of Things

In the promising time of the Internet, connected things have the ability to communicate and share information. The Internet of Things (IoT) cannot be implemented unless the security-related concerns have been resolved. Sharing information among different devices can compromise the private information of users. Thus, a suitable mechanism is needed to exclude the risk of malicious and compromised nodes. As follows, trust has been proposed in the literature as a useful technology to maintain users’ security. Prior studies have proposed diverse trust management mechanisms to achieve adequate trust. The approach of cross-domain trust management is neglected that requires enormous considerations to address the difficulties related to cross-domain communication. In this paper, a cross-domain robust distributed trust management (RobustTrust) system is proposed, which makes a device fit for assessing trust towards different devices locally. In this system, the trust is divided into three components of security that help IoT nodes to become robust against compromised and malicious devices/nodes. The novelty of the proposed mechanism can be summarized in these aspects: A highly scalable trust mechanism, multiple components of evaluation to enhance robustness against attacks, and use of recommendations along with the feedback to build knowledge. Furthermore, the proposed mechanism is event-driven that helps nodes to evaluate trust more effectively as well as enhance the system efficiency. The proposed work is compared with the available trust evaluation schemes by concentrating on various attributes, such as trustworthiness, usability, and accuracy among others. The RobustTrust is validated by the extensive simulations considering absolute trust value’s performance, the accuracy of trust estimation, and several potential attacks.
Effects of Digital Game-Based Learning on Elementary Science Learning: A Systematic Review

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has been perceived as an engaging teaching approach to foster students’ learning and motivation. There are different opinions about the potential benefits of gaming on students’ academic achievements, motivation, and skills in science courses due to the lack of empirical evidence and mixed results. To address this issue, this paper provides a review of relevant literature from 2006 to 2017 to examine the effects of using educational computer games in teaching science at the elementary education level. This paper employed a multidimensional framework to classify learning outcomes from studies of DGBL applications in the area of elementary science education. The findings of this review show a promising potential of DGBL, particularly in the area of content understanding. However, the findings of the review also suggest that there is a need to provide additional research in order to gain a more comprehensive picture of the educational effectiveness of DGBL. Hence, researchers are advised to conduct more randomized controlled trials (RCTs), various learning modes (e.g., collaborative and individual), and comparisons of DGBL to traditional methods of teaching. Furthermore, the researchers are highly encouraged to examine the effectiveness of DGBL applications in other areas, such as problem-solving and critical thinking. The findings of this review can benefit educational computer game designers, educators, and practitioners in the area of science education, particularly at the elementary level.
Indicator Proposal for Measuring Regional Political Support for the Electoral Process on Twitter: The Case of Spain’s 2015 and 2016 General Elections

Research on electoral events in conjunction with social media provides opportunities to describe an interesting phenomenon that can be analyzed using sentiment analysis techniques. The goal of the study is to analyze the support of political parties during electoral periods from Twitter comments, including 250 000 tweets regarding the Spanish general elections of 2015 and 2016, respectively. Text mining and natural language processing techniques enable information analysis, and the methodology emphasizes good practices for large-scale data collection retrieved from Twitter through a quantitative analysis of text collection written in the Spanish language. After information extraction obtained in three Spanish regions defined by geolocation, as well as feature selection based on keywords of the main four political parties, we conducted an in-depth examination of Twitter users’ support during the course of the election. By weighting the tendency of tweets, we were able to obtain a proposed indicator of support: the positiveness ratio (PR). The results suggest that PR is a feasible barometer to demonstrate the measurable patterns of support tendency regarding political parties and users’ behavioral activity to track their affinity on Twitter. The findings indicate consistent support behavior by users toward traditional parties and optimistic users’ behavior regarding emerging political parties.